#but nope! nothing about a link or needing to fill out an ADDITIONAL form before registration opened

[ladyjmontilyet]

college: hey, email us if you have any questions about repeating this module

me: well, i don't have any questions. all of the information they sent me is extremely straightforward. based on what i'm reading here i just need to show up to the class in september.

---

several months pass

---

me: hey, why am i not allowed to complete registration?

college: well, did you fill out the form? you know... the form we very clearly did NOT send you, nor did we ever inform you of its existence? you were supposed to email us for it!

me: i'm just going to cry, i think

[multi-fandom-inserts]

Show Me Going

Rosa Diaz x Female Reader (If this offends you, don’t read, simple as.)

This is set during the active shooter episode, I’ve changed a few details but just a warning if this subject is a trigger. ENJOY.

Masterlist.

XXX

“Come on Y/N, just a few more bits to fill in.” you mutter encouragingly to yourself, leaning back on your chair stretching out your back and fingers before rubbing your temples furiously in a desperate attempt to refocus on the computer screen in front of you but it was no luck, the new system the IT department had put in place took twice as long for warrants to be processed and approved as well as evidence to be categorised and assigned to cases which meant they take longer than average to fill out.

The atmosphere in the precinct was tense, the usually loud room with buzzing energy and laughter  had fallen silent with nothing but the echoing noises of fingers tapping on keyboards, coffee being drunk and the constant noise of the printer working in overdrive to keep up with the demands drowned out the frustrated groans made by your co-workers.

Everyone had fallen into their own miniature slums, Amy had reverted back to “secret” smoking and chewing the ends of her pens violently – which has caused more than one ink explosion – Terry was working in overdrive to keep everyone in upbeats spirits, running himself into the ground in the process, whilst Charles focused all his energy into waiting hand-and-foot on Jake who had managed to hurt himself more times in the last few weeks than his entire career in the police force and had been ordered to desk duty sorting through old case files as well as the odd open case that crept up, the boredom of which had now caused him to become even more childish and irritating – something the Nine-Nine didn't know was possible – and was currently entertaining himself by creating paper-areoplanes and throwing them around the bullpen.

“Here you go, Y/N.” spoke a voice that snapped you out of your day dream and made the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention.

Turning your head to the left, you see Rose Diaz, holding two brown take-out cups. She hands one over to you with a smile, you notice your name was written neatly on the side as you take the cup from her with a thank you; the detective watched you as you take a curious slip, she hadn't asked if you wanted a drink but as you let the delicious warm liquid of caramel Mocca fill your mouth, you hum intently.

It seemed like everyone was suffering except Rosa, and you could feel Jakes curious eyes settle on the pair of you as he listened and watched intently as the pair of you interacted. “When you've got a spare minute, could you help me search for some evidence on our case?” Rosa then asks, rather abruptly, also noticing Jakes eyes on the two of you, but from the side she manages to give you a half smile that wouldn't be seen by the prying detective.

You smiled back at her sweetly, “Yeah of course, let me just finish up the warrant requests and I'll be right with you.”

Rosa gave you a short nod and turned back to walk to her desk situated behind Charles who was sat in front of you typing away madly on his computer, from beside you, you could still feel Jakes hawk-like-eyes on you, one eyebrow raised and a stupid childish smile on his face.

“Is there something you wanted Peralta?” you ask in a short tone.

He snapped out of his trance and shook his head quickly, “Nope, Y/L/N. Nothing.” he stuttered, turning back to his computer; chuckling quietly to yourself, you turn back to your computer.

XXX

Twenty minutes later, you huff in annoyance and push yourself away from the desk, abandoning the warrant that won't process in a efficient amount of time and head for the Evidence Room, Rosa had disappeared from her desk ten minutes ago with a blue case file so you assumed she was in there but as you open the door; all the lights are turned off in the enclosed room; stepping in cautiously whilst attempting to feel for the light switch, the door shuts behind you, engulfing you in pitch black.

“Ah shit.” you hiss to yourself, turning swiftly to feel for the door handle but there was no luck, “I knew I should of listened to my mum when she said eat more carrots.”

Suddenly, a hand clamps down over your mouth from behind, muffling your squeak in surprise, instinctively you grab the wrist of your attacker, twisting your body and the arm around putting them into an arm-lock, pushing them against the chain link fence of the airlock.

“I taught you so well,” the familiar feminine voice whispers, immediately you let go of the figure in front of you allowing them to easily turn the main light on, sure enough, you were face-to-face with the beautiful chocolate brown eye of Rosa, who wore a huge shit-eating smirk on her face with pride. You roll your eyes and shove her playfully.

“You scared the shit out of me!” you whisper in fake annoyance, unable to stop the goofy smile creeping onto your face.

Rosa chuckles, taking your hand and pulling you closer, placing a gentle her lips on yours and lingering for a moment before separating, “We agreed we wouldn't do this at work,” you grumble, pulling her in for another kiss, this one more passionately as your tongue glides across her lower lip, asking for access as you deepen the kiss.

Rosa moans into the kiss before pulling your lips apart and hugging you tightly, “I know, but I couldn't sit there and watch you all stressed out and anxious anymore.”

Smiling, you rest your head on the front of her shoulder, inhaling deeply taking in the familiar smell of her perfume, motorbike oil and the leather jacket she wears religiously, “You know they'll figure out we are dating eventually, Jake seems to be on the trail.” you say to her.

You can feel her nod, “Yeah honey I know – but don't worry about that for now, we'll tell them when we are ready.” she assures you, squeezing you tightly before releasing you, “Why don't you get out of here for  bit? Go get some food and fresh air.”

“But we are busy with this case?” you ask her.

The detective smiles, rolling her eyes gently as she cups your chin in her hand, “Go, get out of here... before I get my taser and chase you ouy.” she playfully threatens, kissing you one last time.

XXX

You would never tell her to her face – but Rosa was right, getting away from work and some fresh air is exactly what you needed.

A short drive from work was a small café hidden amongst the busseling city, taking a seat outside you sip on your tea in-between eating your chocolate croissant. Breathing a sign of relief as you watch the city move around you, strangers going about their daily lives, going to work, seeing family, spending the day with loved ones. It causes a sinking feeling in your stomach, Rosa and yourself weren't out in the open with your relationship, you both have witnessed Captain Holt receive abuse because of his sexuality and neither yourself or Rosa were ready to face that in the work place let alone in your personal life.

And sadly, the sinking feeling doesn't stop there, as your radio crackles to life with a message no one in law enforcement wants to hear.

XXX

After you left, Rosa stayed in the Evidence Locker for a while as she really did have some evidence to find relating to the case the two of you were working on, but thanks to the new filing system and the lack of Evidence Attendant workers, it took twice as long to fins what she needed and when Rosa entered back into the bull-pen, evidence in hand, she is greeted with the sight of everyone crowded around Gina's desk with their backs to her.

“What's going on?” Rosa asks but is responded to with sharp, loud hushes.

She's taken aback but then she hears the buzzing static noise of a radio, quickly Rosa joins the half circle around the radio and listens carefully, “There's an active shooter in a hotel in Brooklyn Heights.” Holt tells Rosa, her heart sinks and the rest of the team takes a sharp inhale at the confirmation from their Captain.

“Requesting additional units.” a female voice speaks over the radio.

“Multiple causalities, ESU is en-route and nearby officers are responding to the scene right now.” Holt tells the squad keeping them updated.

Rosa's hands ball into fists, whitening the knuckles as her hands begin to sweat. Jake bits his lip as Amy chews her pen.

“Multiple shots fires, please be aware civilians running from scene and are on the streets.” Dispatch informs.

Charles takes a deep breath and holds it until it hurts before breathing out slowly as Terry flares his nostrils.

“Johnson, 2938, show me going” a male voice speaks over the radio.

“2938, I have you going.” Dispatch confirms.

“Gilbert, 9825, show me going.” another male speaks.

“9823, I have you going.” Dispatch confirms.

“What are they saying?” Gina asks – who had begun to pick at her nail polish – looking up at Captain Holt from her desk.

“Show me going and their badge number, they are telling Dispatch that they are close by and responding.” Holt explains calmly.

“Y/L/N, 2103, show me going.”

Everyone around Gina's desk freezes, the one line was spoken so quickly no one wanted to believe they heard it, until Dispatch confirms.

“2103, I have you going.”

“Y/L/N! As in our Y/N!” Charles shrieks worriedly.

“That's her badge number.” Jake then confirms, looking up at Rosa who looked over to him, the colour in her face had drained, her jaw hung loose in disbelief as her balled up hands began to shake. The squads eyes dart from one person to the next, everyone slowly coming to terms with what they had just heard.

“She's there.” Amy said quietly to herself, but in the silence atmosphere it echoed loudly.

Rosa swallows thickly, her heart beating a million miles an hour, echoing in her head making it pound, palms sweating with an uneasy lump forming in her throat choking her. Without a word, the detective turned sharply on her heels and took off in a fast, brisk walk towards the bathroom down the corridor, bile climbed her throat as her vision starts to blur at the edges.

Locking the main door to the bathroom, Rosa breaks into a sprint for the toilet, barely making it in time before her lunch made a reappearance. For twenty minutes, she stares into the toilet bowl eventually gaining the strength to push herself back up, flushing the toilet and heading over to the sink, gripping the edge of the sink with all her strength, running the water to mask the thick and fast tears that fell from her eyes.

A million thoughts rushed through the detectives head, was Y/N safe? Where was she in the hotel? Is she hurt?

Just as Rosa begins to panic, a loud knock echoes on the bathroom door, followed by Jakes voice.

“Rosa? Are you okay?”

Taking a deep breath, the detective tries to calm herself enough to respond, “Yeah, I'm fine.” she manages before a wave of new tears form.

Jake doesn't believe her, through their training at the academy and multiple cases together, Jake has learnt to read the seemingly emotionally unavailable woman pretty well; and he knows better than to push her as he hears the unevenness of her voice and attempted hidden sniffles.

“Captain is holding an emergency meeting in the Briefing Room in five minutes,” Jake then speaks, not wanting to push her.

Rosa nods as if he can see her, looking at her blood shot eyes, blotchy skin and pale complexion, “Okay, I’ll be out in a minute.” she responds.

Jake doesn't respond, instead he waits. Rosa washes her face with cold water, tries her tears and swallows her emotions as best as she can, unlocking the door she steps out and Jake engulfs her in a bear hug – something they never do often – but as Jake waits for Rosa to shove him away, instead she wraps her arms around him and returns the hug gratefully.

“Thank you buddy.” she mumbles, letting go.

Jake smiles softly at her before turning to walk towards the Briefing Room.

Holt and Terry stand at the front of the room, Jake by Charles, Amy and Rosa on their own tables and Gina stood in the corner. The tension is the room was thick, worry and anxiousness radiated off everyone, even Captain Holt had a nervousness about himself.

“A Captain at the 9-7 has given us a brief update, there's two possible three shooters in Brooklyn Heights – ” Holt started but Jake swiftly interrupted.

“Any casualties?”

“Three head, many wounded – all civilians.”  Holt speaks. “ESU is on scene and the area is being locked down, it's a zoo out there, we have been ordered to stay here on alert but not to respond.”

“That's crazy!” Amy yells.

The room is taken aback by her outburst but Holt doesn't seem fazed, “I know you're all worried about Y/N, but she is not alone, she is part of a massive NYPD response.  I promise I will keep you updated as the situation develops, in the meantime, you all have jobs to do. Dismissed.”

The room clears out, Rosa lingers as Jake and Amy talk.

“She'll be okay, Ams.” Jake comforts her.

Amy smiles through gritted teeth, touching her boyfriends shoulder, “I know. I love you.” she says.

“I love you too.” Jake smiles happily.

That's when it hit Rosa like a bus.

A realisation she never thought she'd have.

A feeling she never thought she'd feel.

She loves you.

XXX

Three Hours Later...

The echoing sound of gunshots rung in your ears, sending glass sparing over you and the officer you are paired with. The heavy bulletproof vest you wear constricts your chest more than the heavy sinking feeling of anxiety that sits in the pit of your stomach, when suddenly an officer in the squad next to yours yells in pain, turning swiftly you see a brief sight of red blood.

“Move! Move! Move!” you yell to your team as more bullets fly through the air.

“Squad Beta-Nine to Dispatch, we are pinned down.” a male next to you speaks over the radio, “Multiple shooters on west side, seventh window up. Do you have a clear shot?”

Your heart beat echoes in your head, white noise takes over blurring out everything else, holding your gun close  you check the bullets, secure your vest and helmet. As the bullets hit the wall you're all barricaded behind, you close your eyes and all you see is her – Rosa, with that stupid smirk she wears, her leather jacket she lets you wear when you get cold, the helmet she hands you when she forces you on the back of her bike.

Oh my god, you suddenly think, your eyes bursting open, “I love her.” you whisper to yourself.

XXX

“GUYS!” Charles screams – despite everyone in the squad being in a two metre radius of him.

“What is it?” Rosa asks, her voice strained.

Everyone gathers round Charles as he twitches from foot-to-foot, unable to stand still, “They just took three shooters into custody. Officers got injured in the action, they don't say how many or who they are.” he tells everyone, a small weight is lifted from everyone but tension still runs through them.

“Call Y/N.” Jake turns to Rosa, pointing at the phone in her pocket.

Amy raises her eyebrow, curious as to why Rosa would call Y/N when she was her best friend, but before the Sergeant had a chance to ask, Rosa already had her phone to her ear, the ring tone rhythmically humming away. “Her phone is off.” Rosa mutters.

“Fuck.” Holt lets slip.

Jakes eyes widen but now is not the time to react to the Captains potty mouth, no matter how incredible of  a moment it was.

Forty-Five Minutes Later...

The bull-pen was silent. No one spoke. No one worked. Everyone sat at their desks, anxious, scared and on edge.

“Listen up,” Holt's voice shatters the void, “I don't have the names of the injured officers, but is Y/N is unharmed, she should be contacting us shortly. Or, if her phone is dead, she might be walking out of the elevator at any moment.”

And almost as if by magic, the elevator ping’s and the door slides open... revealing... Scully holding a meatball sub.

“AH COME ON!” Rosa screams so loud it causes Scully to jump out of his skin, throwing the meatball sub all over the floor spilling the sauce, meat and bread all over the floor.

From the corner, you let out a laugh, “Damn it Rosa, that looked like a good sandwich.” you speak.

The entire room jumped to attention, all smiling, calling your name but before you got a chance to respond to everyone who moved to hug you, Rosa barged through the crowd, sending Jake and Charles flying into the nearby desks as she grabbed your face tightly and kissed you.

The entire room erupted in gasps as you returned the kiss, wrapping your arms around her neck, and when you both pulled apart, everyone in the bull-pen was staring at you, you took Rosa's hand in yours as you faced your boss, co-workers and friends, Jake and Holt had a huge grin on their faces – as did Gina, who insisted on slow clapping – Amy and Terry looked shocked as Charles looked like he was about to faint.

“So I guess the cats out of the bag.” You said with a laugh.

“We are all very happy for you.” Holt said, a soft smile settled on his usually emotionless expression.

The entire squad nodded in confirmation. “I knew you'd been happier for a reason.” Terry winked, punching Rosa's shoulder playfully.

Everyone laughed, it felt incredible not to hide it, the weight from your chest disappeared and you felt out of this world. Rosa squeezed your hand gently. “Y/N why don't you head home and get some rest, it's been a long and stressful day for you.” Holt says, you nod with a small smile, and head over to your desk to collect your things, “Oh, Detective, Take Diaz with you. The two of you deserve a afternoon off.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Rosa says, grabbing your hand again as the pair of you say your goodbyes and leave the precinct.

As the two of you step out into the fresh air, Rosa pulls you into a tight hug, her shoulder quiver slightly, “Hey, babe, I'm okay, I'm back with you.” you assure her, rubbing her back gently.

Rosa pulls away, her arms still wrapped around your waist, resting her forehead on yours, “I love you.” she whispers.

A large grin breaks onto your face, “I love you too.”

[thedeadflag]

I’m so confused! I know it’s not your responsibility to educate me but in your post bringing awareness to the negative aspects of g!p fanfic you say

“Why do these g!p characters rarely if ever involve experiences reflective of trans/intersex women? Why are they so utterly cis and perisex-washed? Why do nearly all writers have zero idea that tucking is a thing? “

Doesn’t that answer your original question? The reason they don’t reflect those groups of ppl is bc g!p isn’t trying to represent those groups of people or else it WOULD be transphobic to limit them to one specific fetish right? it just refers to a canonically female character with the addition of a penis (I don’t argue the name “g!p” should be changed bc that’s a no brainer why that could be offensive). But the fanfic in general, how could it be harmful? I’ve noticed in my time reading it as a non binary person it’s given me great gender euphoria reading a reader insert where reader has a penis while being a femme representing person just bc that’s a reflection of my personal experience. I don’t see anywhere where g!p fanfic ever references or tries to emulate the experiences of trans or intersex people so how could it be offensive?

Sorry this is way too long I’m just very confused

I'm going to try and lay this out as politely as I can. It's after 3:30 in the morning here, so this could be a bit disjointed and rambling. More under the cut:

In real life, ~99.999999% of women with penises are trans women. Which puts us in a tricky situation of (A) being the only women with penises around for media involving women with penises to reflect back on, and (B) being in the lovely position of precious few people actually having had meaningful real life exposure to trans women, meaning (C.) all those stigmas and all that misinformation are going to purely affect us and it’s going to be uncritically gobbled up by the masses, since they don’t have any meaningful information to fill in the blanks with instead.

When we peer into the depths of femslash fandoms and see all these folks who aren't trans women writing about women with penises, and using cis women’s bodies as platforms for these penises, it’s the simplest thing.

I mean, some of those folks might actually be struggling and confused about why they’re into it, what the real appeal is, why they get off on it, why they might have some feelings about wanting a penis of their own…

…but from our vantage point, it’s really easy to gauge 99.99% of the time. We can generally see valid, legitimate yearning to have a penis pretty damn easily in a piece of art/writing, and we can also see when people who create this media are just hung up on a boatload of baggage and fetishization.

And 99.9% of the time, the creators are just hung up on a boatload of baggage and fetishization, and see trans women’s bodies as a perfect vehicle to tap into that, generally due to deeply held cissexist views that link us and our bodies and genitals directly to cis men, to maleness. As if penises are rooted in maleness and masculinity (which is absolutely not true).

And I have sympathy for NB folks (certainly TME ones who have reached out to me in the past about this) who might be struggling with that, but just because they’re non-binary, it doesn’t mean they get to appropriate our bodies and reproduce transmisogyny and trans fetishization in their attempts at feeling better. Shit doesn't work like that.

Because again, the only women with penises in this world, essentially, are trans women. Meaning any woman with a penis in media is a trans woman, implicitly or explicitly. Meaning that when people who aren’t us want to write us, intent doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter if it’s just the writer’s fantasy, it’s still going to attach a variety of messages directly onto us.

And more often than not, due to cissexism, those messages are linking us to maleness, to toxic masculinity, etc..

While I do want to believe they're a fairly small minority, a lot of NB folks in fandom spaces like g!p characters in part because they see penises as male and the rest of the body as female and think that duality is interesting and would be comfortable, and is a nice balance of “both worlds” or a nice position “between male and female”, but that’s a wholly cissexist, transmisogynistic view to have, and it’s one that absolutely cannot be supported without directing sexual violence against trans women and invalidating our entire existence. Certainly not all NB folks into g!p like it for that reason, but holy shit a fair bit of them do and it’s weird and wrong and fetishistic.

g!p emerged from the idea that women can't have penises, and drew on the transmisogyny and cissexism of tr*nny porn to structure that frame of desire and the core patterns and trends within these works. It's always been trans women's bodies being used as a vehicle, whether or not the writers of these fics are explicitly aware of it, because the trope itself still holds true to its original patterns and cissexism. It's not the name that's the problem, it's the content; changing the name would be a surface level change that wouldn't affect anything.

g!p objectifies women with penises (trans women). A woman with a penis is more than just a woman with a penis, but the use of the term and trope is literally to (A) remind people that women don't have penises, otherwise the g!p term wouldn't be needed if people actually accepted women with penises as women, and that (B) this is a story centered on a scenario where there's a woman with a penis, with key focus on that genitalia specifically. it's the drawing point, it's the lure, it's what everything is centered on. It is a means for folks to write lesbian sex while also writing about penis in vagina and getting off to it. It's also no surprise that the penises so clearly emulate cis men's penises in these works, that is by design.

As I’ve said many times before, if you’re only writing trans women’s bodies to showcase cis men’s penises, you’re not respecting the womanhood of trans women, and this ultimately has nothing inherent to do with penis-owning women, it has to do with (cis) men and their penises, because trans women are just being used as a vehicle to emulate them. When NB folks do the same thing, and imagining themselves as those g!p characters, they are ultimately embodying cis men, their maleness, and often toxic masculinity, in a way that feels safe and distanced enough for them, a shell that they often code as cisnormative due to their own unprocessed cissexism.

And trans women don’t deserve that.

You seem caught in the idea that if something doesn't directly perfectly reflect trans women, that it can't be linked to us., which ignores the long long history of media being used to misrepresent marginalized peoples and cast us in insulting, dehumanizing lights. You show a lack of understanding of the g!p trope and the long history of its usage across a few other names, even if the content and patterns remained the same. It shows a lack of understanding of tr*nny porn and transmisogynistic stigmas, which the trope draws heavily from.

I think we can all recognize that most 'lesbian' prn that's made does not represent actual lesbians, it's overwhelmingly catered to the male gaze. We can also recognize that this category of porn has led to a lot of harassment towards lesbians from cis men who at the very least want to believe lesbians are just like they are in the porn he watches, that lesbians just need the right man. Lesbians are being used as a vehicle for a fantasy that was created externally to them, and doesn't represent their realities.

It's the same kind of situation here. The way g!p fics play out overwhelmingly doesn't reflect trans women's realities, but they are inherently linked to us regardless, as we're the vehicles for those fantasies, as unrealistic and harmful as they may be.

g!p characters are built in our fetishized image that’s based on a deeply cissexist misunderstanding of us, of the gender binary, and of bodies in general.

I mean, when 99% of cis folks don’t understand how trans women tend to be sexually intimate… when they don’t understand what dysphoria is and how it works and how it can affect us physically and emotionally…when they don’t understand almost any of our lived experiences…then they’re not going to be able to accurately portray us even if they wanted to.

And I’ve read enough g!p fics where authors wrote those as a means of trying to add trans rep, but because they didn’t understand us at all, it wasn’t remotely representative, and it was ultimately fetishistic, even if there was an undercurrent of sympathy and a lack of following certain common g!p patterns there that differentiated it from the norm.

If g!p fics were at all about reducing dysphoria or finding euphoria, then it wouldn’t be explicitly tied up in the performance of very specific sex acts, very specific forms of misogyny and toxic masculinity, very specific forms of sexual violence and exertion of sexual power, etc.

But it is.

So the notion that creating g!p fics helps NB folks? Nope. It CAN certainly prevent/delay those folks from facing a whole boatload of shit they’ve internalized, and coddle them at the expense of trans women.

Because if it was really about bodies and dysphoria/euphoria, there would be a considerable push (allying with out own) to end our fetishization and to represent us in and out of sexual contexts with accuracy, respect, and care. Because they wouldn’t care what sex acts were performed and what smut beats were hit, they’d just want to see someone with a body like their ideal being loved, being sexual, connecting, being authentic, etc. Which very much is not the case in the overwhelming majority of g!p fics. That's what we want, and it's not what g!p writers want, it's nothing they give a shit about.

Like, a ways back I started doing random pulls of g!p fics from various fandoms and assessing them for certain elements to provide some quantitative clarity. I started on The 100 here, and did OuaT here. Never finished the 100 one since the results leveled out and stayed pretty consistent as the sample size grew, so I didn't really see the point in continuing any further after about 140 fics when the data wasn't really changing much at all.

Lastly, media influences people. I've read countless posts and comments from people who use fanfiction as a sex ed guide, in essence. Which is ridiculous, but I also know sex ed curricula often isn't very accurate or extensive in a lot of areas, so people take what they can get. Representation in media can be powerful, and when it overwhelmingly misrepresents people, that's also powerful. Just because fandom is a bit smaller than televised media, it doesn't make that impact any lesser, certainly not for those whose primary media intake is within fandom.

Virtually all trans representation in f/f fanfiction is misrepresentative of us. That has a cost in how people understand us, how people react to us, and how people treat us. Not just online, but in physical spaces, and in intimate settings.

I invite you to read that post you referenced again, or perhaps this longer one which is a response to a trans guy who seemed to feel something similar to you with this trope.

All I can do is lay it out there and try to explain this. It's up to you how you handle this. All I know is whenever there's a big surge in g!p in a fandom, trans women generally leave it en masse, because it's a very clear and consistent message that we're not valued, respected, and that people value getting off on us over finding community with us.

[creepichan]

El Capitano

Don’t ask, I dreamed of this last night XD But it was way too cute to not write it

Words: 1800

Characters: Roman, Logan, Patton, Some random Girls

Pairing: Logicality, mentioned Roman x unknown, (I leave it to you tho if you want to read it as additional Logincecality)

TW: Mentions of Alcohol, Curse, mentions of car accident ao3 link -----

“Go over the fire ladder! I’ll catch up to you” ,He whisper-shouted over to the pair that already made it half through the window, as they heard the headmaster approaching from the hall. There wouldn’t be enough time for Roman to follow them, he needed to hide and that fast if he didn’t want to get caught in the girls commons and risk to fly from the school. Logan and Patton were already on their way, and Roman ran out of options. Why did they think taking this shortcut was a good idea? Oh yeah, they didn't. Roman did all alone and now that’s what he would get from it. But, the deus ex machina decided to be merciful to him, and made him see that one of the room doors was ajar. So he quickly took the chance and sneaked into the girls room to hide. Thankfully it was empty so he could stay here for a bit. A sigh of relief flooted him, as he took a few steps back, running a hand through his reddish hair.

 “Fuck that was close”

Tho he wished to have just climbed after Pat and Lo. Would have been easier and maybe fast enough on second thought. Oh well… too late now. He only prayed he didn’t have to wait too long here. The girls who this room belonged to could come back any minute and they already were lucky enough no one saw them. Plus: He REALLY wanted to be with the two right now. This day has already been stressful enough and today the deadline would end. Which meant Patton would be finally safe… In the past month Patton had to live with a curse. Roman and Logan had been on edge this whole time to keep him safe from all sorts of things that the universe threw at them. Don’t ask how it came to that, just don’t. It was already enough stress to calm his racing heart and get his breathing under control to not make too much noise. He put his ear to the door and- DAMMIT- she was still outside. And not only that, she talked with other teachers and a few students now. 

“Good fuck, what are they even doing here anyways?!” ,Roman cursed. He couldn’t stay here. What would they think of him? Standing all dirty and with a ragged jacket in a girls room he didn’t even know? So he began to look around. Nothing. No Vents, no side doors, only a window. Wait… a window. On silent soles he stepped closer and carefully opened the window, looking out. Perfect. Just above was their room, but with no ladder. He would have to pray that the ivy on the wall could hold him. Slowly he climbed on the desk, ready to climb out of the- “Ah, so El Capitano honors us again with his visit” 

If Roman had already put a leg outside the window, he might as well would have fallen out. But fortunately he was still enough inside to just let out a startled squee. Welp… there they were. Four girls that this room belonged to. Great… “uh…. ‘El Capitano’?” ,Roman asked perplex while lifting a brow. The girls didn’t seem hostile as they got in and went about their things as if Roman wasn’t even there. Like this was something normal. The redhead came closer with a confused grin. “Wait, seriously? Are you sneaking through so many windows that you already forgot?” His brows knitted together as he tried to recall. When realization hit him, a red flush filled his cheeks. “oh- oh god, yes.” 

The girl let out a small chuckle, her friends joined in. “You were so drunk that you mistook our room for yours and wanted to climb up to yours through the window. And you kept throwing spanish word in while you wanted us to call you ‘El Capitano’” As embarrassing as this was, it was also kinda funny thinking back. He didn’t remember much from that night, only that he woke up with a bottle of tequila in a girls dorm with a pink shirt on. He was so paranoid that he slept with one of them, that his mind tried desperately to forget that hungover. 

“From that on, always when one of us was about to do something stupid on alcohol, we call it “Don’t do a capitano”” Roman grinned a bit honored. “Well in my defense: If I hadn’t been this wasted I would have nailed that climb!” 

“Suuuure” ,a girl sitting on her bed chuckled. The redhead walked to her cabinet, where they hoarded most of their food and pulled out a nearly finished bottle of tequila. “Ever since we were waiting for you to come back and finally get your trash” “You kept it? Couldn’t you have just thrown it out?” 

“Is it our job to clean after the man, after he vanished that morning from our bathtub? Without even a thank you for hiding him or saving his stupid ass?” ,she smirked back. “Okay fair.” ,he rubbed his neck, “Thanks for that, but i cannot climb with a bottle in my hand” 

“Well guess you’ll have to come back another time then. Now if you allow the question El Capitano-” “Actually my name is-” 

“Nope.” ,she interrupted back, “El Capitano suits you. Besides, if anyone asks us whose bottle this is, it’s better if no one of us knows your name. But I’m Ella” ,she shook his hand with a smirk, which he returned. “Now then, Cap. Why are you here?” “Oh well… it’s a long story” That statement didn’t seem to bother the girls much, they leaned forward interest and Roman quickly noticed: They’d be an attentive audience. So he sat back on the table and began to tell them from the most deathly month of his life.

One and a half hours later, Roman said in a braid train that the girls spontaneously decided to form while listening to Roman’s tale. He didn’t know if they REALLY believed anything he said, but at least they were nice enough to act like it and not mock him. Outside the sun slowly came closer to the horizon and the hot summer air warmed the room together with the red light of the oncoming sunset. With Roman’s soft, yet melodic voice, it was really nice to listen to him, while he caught up to the events from today. Where they left the town library and were so close to getting hit by several cars, while trying to escort Patton back to the campus. Dodging a wild raccoon and a bicyclist who just HAD to run him over and ruin his favorite jacket.

“It was like the universe was against us. Well… it had been this whole month, but as we checked the dates again and knew we were close to the end, it was like it was giving us all it had on the home stretch. So we needed to run to the last safe place to wait out the last few hours of the curse. But we couldn’t walk over the campus-” “Why not?” ,asked Edna. Turning around, her braid finally finished by Roman, to face him. Roman’s face lit up a bit red for the second time that evening. “Because my crush was there and I embarrassed myself last thursday in front of him. So he clearly didn’t need to see me all dirty and raggedy. The group let out some soft chuckles and exchanged a few gentle grins. “You are such a himbo, I’m sure he would have found it cute.” “Well ladies, not taking that chance. YET. In this moment all that mattered was getting Patton home safe and- … oh CRAP! I totally forgot-” ,he exclaimed, getting on his feet. “Oh right where are your friends right now?” ,Helia asked. “They went to our room, I need to check on them” ,he said more quiet, putting an ear against the door and fuck- there were now multiple girls in the hallway. He had no chance. Unless… “Hey what are you doing?” ,Ella asked as Roman climbed on the desk once again. “I’m going to prove to you that I can nail this climb” ,a confident grin crept up on his face. “Well then, El Capitano must say farewell now, myladies! But we will see each other again” He received playfull eyerolls from Edna and Mina, enthusiastic clapping from Helia and even a Salut from Ella. “Yes oh Captain my Captain” ,she grinned, having learned about Roman’s love for theater in their conversation. Roman saluted back with a proud grin before he grabbed hard on the thick ivy and other plants that grew on the wall. Slowly climbing up he thanked the stars that their window was slightly opened, but the curtains were closed. Didn’t matter, because with some sweat he made it to the window without too much scratches. Shifting caruffly through the blue curtains that painted the room in calm blue light. He climbed in very carefully, as he saw that Patton and Logan were both in their separate beds, holding hands across. They didn’t seem to be asleep yet tho, since they both peaked their heads up as he climbed in. “Oh there you are, we were already getting worried” ,said Patton, as he carefully put his glasses on. “Sorry, dearest puffball. I caught up with a few… old friends” ,he smiled. Turning to Logan, who mirrored Patton with putting on his glasses, he asked: “How long?” For the first time this month Logan could manage to smile calm while looking at his clock. “It’s still two hours until the sun rises in Azerbaijan” 

A bit unsure if he understood the whole concept Roman carefully fully asked “So… we did it?” And he would lie, if he said that Logan nodding smiling, whispering a small “Yes”, didn’t fill him with the biggest joy he has felt in this whole time. A bright grin planted itself on his face as he looked to Patton, who smiled back just as bright. 

“What even is your arrangement here? Sleeping across like that! Come here!” ,he exclaimed, picking Patton up, who squeed and tightly grabbed around his neck. “Roman!” 

He walked across and put Patton gently down next to Logan, who quickly pulled his arms around the smaller man. Just like Roman who joined on the other side. Finally having their victory cuddle after all these hardships and the fear of losing one another. Holding each other warm and comfortable, even through the summer heat. They didn’t mind. All what counted that they were finally here and finally safe.

Patton sniffed, smiling soft. “Thank you so much, you two… you saved me”

“Anytime” ,they replied in unison. ------ Again, please don’t ask what this curse is and why it’s connected to Azerbaijan. Dreams are WEIRD. But the scene in which Roman climbs back in and sees how they are holding hands across was too cute to not eternalize this moment X3

[bylerly]

alright everyone. after my rush of emotions after that season, i’ve had time to decompress, and make an actually cohesive list of my thoughts about the season. as you could probably guess - MAJOR SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!

first, let’s get the (much) shorter list out of the way. here’s what I enjoyed:

the acting. i want to mention how good millie was, because she was fantastic, but i almost feel like i shouldn’t, bc el took SO MUCH screen and plot time, that millie was given every opportunity to be good. she doesn’t really need any more special mention. otherwise - noah (with the little he was given) and sadie were particularly great. so were winona & david, but that goes without saying.

the elmax friendship. these two deserved it. and max bringing el out of her shell, showing her how to become her own person.... incredible. 10/10 i love them both

alexei. feels weird saying this, but he was probably the new addition I enjoyed watching the most. it would have been kind of cool to see him live past season 3.

an lgbt+ confirmed character. this one is a little.... tricky for me. as happy as I am that there is a queer woman written into the show... I feel like it’s a cop out to not have to confirm will’s sexuality. robin confirms her sexuality in less than a season, but after three with will, we still only get ~subtext~? still, this is a positive portion, so.... I guess that was something I was happy with

el moving in with the byers at the end. finally. this is one of the only things that is keeping me excited for s4. i guess i can only hope for there to FINALLY be some good willel interactions next season, but if this season has taught me anything, it’s not to get my hopes too high :-)

jancy ending s3 on a good note. parts of their storyline were fantastic, some were disappointing. but i really dug their dynamic, and the realistic struggle between the two of them, with nancy not really understanding jonathan’s class struggles, and jonathan not grasping the weight of the misogyny being thrown at nancy. their final moments at the empty byers house at the end were especially lovely.

el no longer being OP, and not being undefeatable. i love el. i really, genuinely do. i love her character, i love her traits, i lover her power. but the duffers were relying too heavily on her to constantly save the day with her powers, and it was happening too often. one of the faults of s2 was the constant thought of how easily el could’ve fought off all these threats if she was just there. i think it’s incredibly interesting to not only see her get completely worn out, but totally lose her powers. like mike said, i’m sure they’ll come back, but i want so badly for el to not just be defined by her powers.

a platonic m/f friendship. yes, one of them is confirmed queer, and they would’ve probably been romantically linked if she was straight. but i’ll take what i can get when it comes to this. platonic opposite sex relationships?? r i s e

now for the meat of my thoughts ~ what I didn’t like:

mike’s characterization. the writers completely made him into a dick this season. i get it, he’s a teenager, so he’s going to be an asshole sometimes. hell, in a recent post, I defended that, saying it’s good writing. but I underestimated just how awful he’d be, completely blowing off his friends for any chance for a second alone with el. I understand that he loves his girlfriend of course, but s1-2 mike loved his friends just as much. he was so utterly unlikable this season, that it seemed like he was a different character.

lucas as comic relief. this is so lazy, and i’m so angry for both the character and caleb, both of whom deserve so much better. he really had nothing to do if it wasn’t related to max, and the writers further reduced him down to a one-dimensional, kind of dumb, mediocre boyfriend, and that is not the highly intelligent, brave, kind lucas that i know and love.

will’s sidelining. god, this made absolutely no sense. noah fucking shined last season. he stole pretty much the entire thing. every critic, even those who disliked the season, had nothing but good things to say about his performance. furthermore, will has so much potential in so many different directions in so many aspects of his character. however, once he revealed to his friends that he was feeling the upside down/MF’s presence... they may as well have written out his character. he was sidelined almost to the point of background character. they gave him very little to do emotionally after that castle byers scene, and even fewer lines.

total lack of willel scenes. phew, if this wasn’t a bummer. will spoke a single line to el, and maybe one or two throwaway lines about her. if there is one thing most of the fans can agree on, it’s that will and el have the biggest connection to the upside down, the biggest unspoken connection, the most parallels, and the most intriguing potential relationship... and they really just said “fuck it” and didn’t have them interact at all. (that’s poor writing folks!) they better make up for this now that they’re living together.

amount of eleven scenes. i love her so dearly. i really do. and i’m so happy she grew into her own, not through mike or hopper. but the amount of el plot and screen time this season was actually difficult to watch. every other scene centered around her. so many characters and so much of the story went undeveloped, while she got way, way more than was necessary. additionally, take any kid’s plot (other than dustin), and guaranteed, it revolved around el. people were starting to catch on that the show was favoring her character more than even most shows’ mains.... and this season took it to a level i actual didn’t think it would.

the comedy. it was so awkwardly written. so much of it threw off the pace of the show. it seemed forced, and just... not very stranger things-esque, where the comedy was typically well-written and blended into dialogue.

the baddies. this was a huge letdown, too. i understand that the monster was large, but it was far less menacing to me than, say, the MF’s physical form. it had gore points, sure. it felt incredibly boring and predictable. in the same vein, i thought the ‘zombie’ style storyline of heather & co. would be deeper than that, but that was literally all it was. again... not interesting to me. billy was a rehash as well. the russians definitely had potential, but even that plot wound up being incredibly one-dimensional.

billy’s screentime. this was one of the things i was absolutely furious about. he got more screentime than the party (minus el) combined. they wanted for us so badly to empathize with him, to humanize him... i’m sorry, but you wrote a character that almost killed a boy for being black, that abuses his sister, and is a misogynistic asshole. abuse doesn’t excuse that, and it’s insulting to abuse survivors to say that billy inevitably became this way because of his dad, and that he deserves our uwus for it... and actually got el’s. he took screen time away from characters who desperately needed it, and that’s something i will never look at the duffers the same way for.

the scoops troop. I wanted to love erica... but i feel so indifferent to her. she was way too much this season. and robin. again, i love that she’s confirmed queer. and i dug her character more. but even then... i don’t know. i would have rather never had her introduced, and allowed established characters to have been better developed. and as a whole, the whole storyline of the troop was just what I feared: underwhelming and awkwardly placed.

high steve & robin. won’t elaborate on this too much, bc there’s not much to elaborate on. it just felt so wildly out of place and unnecessary.

that dustin/suzie number. what the hell was that? what could have been a 20 second joke was stretched out WAY too long and was bizarrely placed. just because you have an actor from broadway, doesn’t mean he needs to sing. and even if he does sing... you couldn’t have found a better time or situation? i literally was just staring at my screen in disbelief as that whole thing happened. entirely unneeded.

the amount of flashbacks. i understand most casual viewers wouldn’t remember certain things because of how long it’s been. but they literally put a recap at the beginning of the season. that’s what it’s for. and there were also plenty from like.... the episode before??? the amount they included took away so much time, that it almost just seemed like they didn’t have enough footage, and they had to fill their time stamp somehow. at some point, it just becomes insulting to the audience’s intelligence.

the overall tone. this season did not feel like stranger things in the slightest. off the top of my head, the castle byers scene and the byeler scene in mike’s garage were the exceptions. the first few episodes did have some moments. but overall... it kind of felt like some weird, high budget commercial or something. the charm, distinct aesthetic, and nuance of seasons 1 and 2 was non-existent.

the post-credit scene. there was some last-minute hype up in the reviews for this. was that supposed to be shocking in some way? i suppose this is more the fault of the reviewers who hyped it, but... really? a demodog? we’ve seen that before... i guess more the point was to show that the russians officially have some kind of technology for this. but still, an underwhelming reveal. more intriguing to me, was if hopper was the american in the cell he mentioned at the start of it. or maybe brenner?

the neutral:

that ending. on one hand, it was incredibly predictable. they literally placed an obvious shot of it in the trailer (easy to deduce that the byers had moved out, and that it was fall, so it was an epilogue scene). i was convinced that there would be a twist element they weren’t showing us, but nope. on the other hand, i thought some things were done beautifully (which wasn’t exactly a trend this season). as i mentioned, i loved the jancy moments. i really did like the hopper voiceover, although it was a little trope-y and heavy-handed... i still got a little emo, ngl. those goodbye hugs were somethin’. and, as i said before... el! moving in! with the byers! gimme

so uh... that’s it, i guess. no one really asked, but i needed to get my thoughts out. what did you guys think of the season?

[ivedonestranger]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Teen Titans (Animated Series) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dick Grayson/Raven Characters: Raven (DCU), Robin (DCU) Additional Tags: Awkward Romance, Secret Crush, Horny Teenagers, Flirting Series: Part 2 of RobRae Week 2019 Summary:

Life was so good until Robin saw Raven at the pool. Life and thoughts were never the same again. Nonprompt RobRae for RobRae Week 2019!

Read here under the cut or on one of your favorite sites!

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18389072 FF.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13255189/1/Lose-the-Cloak

A/N: Not only another RobRae week 2019 addition but also a gift for @omegansamurai .

Biology. It's a bitch. At least that was what Robin was thinking after the week they had gone to the Jump City community pool. It had been a scorcher of an afternoon that fateful day and Beast Boy was desperate to swim. As usual, anything to do with water, Starfire was all ready for since her planet did not have a lot and the fact that humans of Earth swam in it fascinated her. Robin would go as a chaperone while Cyborg and Raven usually found an excuse to avoid it. This day, Raven decided to go too.

Since the defeat of Trigon and the disappearance of Slade, Jump City had become calm. Most of the HIVE 5 had disbanded to follow more legal careers. Robin had seen Gizmo a few times at the tower working with Cyborg on some technology he was developing as a freelancer for Wayne Enterprises. Jinx had taken up a mercenary position with the HIVE, acting as a hero in her own right, though it was more about protecting dignitaries in foreign lands so they would not get kidnapped. Mammoth, of course, did not go far from the mistress of Bad luck's side and acted as her tank when needed.

Now, the city mostly dealt with the usual criminals which meant the Titans now had to keep PR in mind. Robin had decided the outing would be great for Public Relations, the Titans side by side with the people they protected. He knew how it would go. The kids would absolutely enjoy Garfield changing into all sorts of different animals (though Robin specifically warned him about any shark forms), while the boys would be chatting up Starfire. The innocent Tamaranian Princess would just love the attention. He, on the other hand, would camp out under an umbrella with his computer and finish up paperwork, fielding a few questions from the men about his job and his teammates. That's how it always went. None of those plans took Raven into consideration.

The pool was not packed but it had a decent amount of people. The public was ecstatic when they walked in, Robin in his trunks and white t-shirt while still sporting his mask, Beast Boy in his own maroon trunks and a ducky floater that he had to wear because of a lost bet with their resident sorceress, and Starfire in a two-piece bikini in the same color as her usual clothes. Her hair was back in a pony tail, and Robin had taken a moment just to appreciate the girl's natural beauty before going right back to his computer screen. He had more important things to handle then interest in women. That, was before Raven took off her cloak.

She had arrived a little later than the others and Robin had looked up to watch her to make sure she got comfortable. She had set up under an umbrella on the opposite side of the pool and dropped her cloak and tossed it on the lawn chair beside her. His heart skipped a beat when he caught sight of the black one-piece swimsuit with a small red gem at her throat. It was not a low cut top but it showed off every curve the azerathian girl had. His heart skipped a few beats, and she moved around her little nest, laying out her blanket and piling two or three books besides her. She had her sunglasses on and quickly laid out and began to read.

Why was he staring? Why the hell was he staring at his best friend and thinking the thoughts he did? It was not the first time he had seen her without her cloak, and there was no much difference between the leotard and the swimsuit she presently wore, but there was something, sensual about the way she laid on the blanket absently kicking her feet she had lifted of the ground.

Richard Grayson was glad that he was in his own mind and nobody else could hear him. His mind was no longer on the paperwork he wanted to finish but on his friend. The angle of her hips, the swell of her chest as she breathed and curves of her ass. Irresistible curiosity struck him of what she looked like without the swimsuit. At that point, he immediately shifted his computer a bit lower to make sure nobody knew what he was thinking.

'What the hell is wrong with me?'

Since that day, Robin could not help but notice Raven as they worked, fought, and trained together. She was alluring with every move and caused his heart to beat rapidly when he instructed her personally. Things have gotten so uncomfortable and had opted for looser training clothing lately.

Raven's leg made contact with the training bag, and it was followed by a curse and the sound of her landing on her butt. Raven growled and pushed herself up while Robin tried to look everywhere but the woman on the ground.

"What the hell am I doing wrong, Robin?" Raven demanded. "it's a simple kick but I can't keep my balance."

"Ummm…." What was she doing? All he could remember was the sway of her body and how nicely she was filling out her uniform that day.

"Earth to Robin," Raven chimed right in front of him. The smell of her scent and sweat mixed together and he immediately snapped to.

"Sorry, I was...distracted."

"What is so distracting in here?" Raven asked hands planted on beautiful hips.

'Oh, I wish I could tell you,' he thought but kept it to himself. He shook his head and tried to focus.

"You're shifting your weight to quick and also have a tendency to stand on your toes," Robin explained. "You also need to put the turn in your hip, not your leg."

"What?" Raven glared. "I hate this combat stuff. Can't I just smack the bag with a spell and call it a day?"

"No, You have to get this in case you are disabled of your powers. We have no idea who we will be fighting next."

"Yeah, I know," Raven grumbled pushing a bit of her purple hair out of her eyes. She walked back over to the bag and stood there. Robin watched her, admiring the view.

"You gonna help or what?"

"What?"

"The kick," she said. "I saw you showing Beast Boy. You can touch me for this part."

Robin almost had a heart attack right there. Raven never allowed anyone to touch her and had made it clear that there had to be specific permission before anyone else was allowed. She had seen him training Beast Boy, probably the clumsiest of the Titans, showing him how to swing his hip in a way that allowed the most power in his kick. Now, the dark goddess in front of him said he could touch her.

Gingerly, he walked over and stood behind her, looking at the fantastic view that presented itself. He placed his hands on waist and slid his hands down until he felt the bones of the hips. Damn, she felt good to touch. Did he hear her gasp? Did she like being touched?

"You enjoying yourself?" she asked sarcastically.

Nope. She probably didn't.

"Sorry, Just making sure I had the right position. Now, start your kick."

That was the most glorious fifteen minutes of the day.

Sleep was difficult, his dreams filled with erotic adventures with the other bird in the tower. He woke up a few times through the night thinking that she was nestled in with him only to find the bed empty and his heart aching. Emotions of all kinds rioted in his brain. Robin knew he loved Raven as a best friend and compatriot, but lately, he had found other desires. A love of her that seemed more profound and also correlated with his desire to have her to himself.

The morning he awoke with only a few hours of sleep, he walked in to be greeted with a view of Raven bent over fishing through the dishwasher for a spoon. She had yet to put on the cloak that was sitting on the counter.

Robin groaned to himself.

Raven peered around at him. "You okay?"

"Was sick most of the night," Robin lied trying to keep his eyes on the coffee pot and not the presented derriere.

Raven continued fishing for the spoon, took it to the sink for another scrub, and then finished her brewed tea. Through this Robin had finished his own cup of coffee and was sitting at the island where she took up the seat in front of him.

"You've been weird lately, you okay?" Raven asked after taking a sip.

"Me weird?" Robin asked.

"I'm not blind, Rob, I've seen you staring at me."

"Sorry, lost in thought sometimes," he lied again. He felt her mind probe his gently through their special link but he quickly blocked it, and she retreated through a frown replaced her neutral expression.

"It's not like you to lie to me, Robin. What's going on?" she pressed.

"Nothing. I'm just observant."

"About what?"

"About...things."

"Like?"

"You know...things."

"What type of things is there that you need to stare at me all the time?"

"I was just observing, Raven, no harm."

"I'm not worth observing, Robin. What did you see that made you concerned?"

"I'm not concerned. I just thought-"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What, Robin?"

"I said-"

"Robin!"

"Fine. I thought you look pretty good and should spend more time not wearing your cape."

The color fled his face as he blurted the words in frustration. He wanted to backpedal, to retreat, to run to his room, seal the door, and never come out again. His own saving grace was that no other members of the team were there to hear what he had said.

Raven, on the other hand, was stunned, but that expression wore off, and a smile and twinkle appeared in her eyes.

"Robin," Raven said cooing. "Are you saying you find me….sexy?"

'Oh, god,' Robin choked as she leaned forward on her hands giving him an accidental view of her cleavage. The message must have blared through their emotional link like an air horn because her grin grew even wider.

"So, the boy wonder is actually human. Bumblee and I were wondering if you were asexual, gay or a machine. I guess we just did not know what you liked."

'Please kill me now?' Where was Slade when you wanted to be put out of your misery? Raven leaned in close not releasing the hold she had on him.

"So, what about me caught your attention? Was it my eyes?" she blinked them quickly and his heart felt like it was going to explode.

"or..." she stood and came over to him and leaned in close, so her voice was a whisper. "were you thinking of other things. Was Robin really thinking of things he could do to my body? Were you thinking of taking me to your bed, undressing me, and doing all sorts of perverted things to me?"

It was not his heart that almost exploded that time.

Raven pulled back, and the rarest and lightest laughs escaped her. It was like an angel had found his situation funny.

"Oh, Robin, you are such a ding dong," Raven said with a broad smile. "I'm so flattered you found me interesting but trust me, I'm quite boring and there are much prettier girls to think about."

'but I don't want to,' Robin thought to himself and wishing she was close again.

"I'm going to go drink my tea while you calm down," Raven said planting a kiss on his forehead. "I'll see you at training."

Robin had hoped that the shutdown and dismissal of his feelings would have been the end of it. His infatuation of Raven had hit so suddenly that he was sure that it was some sort of fluke. As loving and pleasant as her laugh was, it should have been a bucket of cold water on his interest. It had not. What did not help was the fact that she was aware and did not mind taking advantage of him.

He was sure she was doing it for a laugh as best friends do, but it was sheer torture at times to have her so close yet so far. Robin just wanted to take her in his arms, to hold her, to make her his.

So, for the next week, he dealt with her snuggling into him in training, joining beast boy in a dancing competition, right in front of Robin, ass eye level in front of the community couch, on his side, so that was all that filled his vision and other torments.

As much as he hated it, he loved the secret games with her, and Raven seemed to be enjoying the undivided attention he was giving her. Having been freed of Trigon's influence, she was able to experiment with her emotions and why not do it with a trusted friend?

Today, Robin sat in his room sweating as Cyborg had been upgrading the tower and it malfunctioned. Everything was on the fritz including the air conditioning, and Cyborg did not think he was going to get it repaired to some parts were delivered. That meant suffering for a day or two.

The reports were done, and Robin was presently reading one of the autobiographies he collected when there was a sharp rap on the door.

"Enter," Robin said absentmindedly as he flipped the page. The door swished open, and he looked up to see something he was not expecting.

Raven stood there with her clothes clutched in one hand, and the hand holding a towel that was wrapped around her body. Robin's mouth went dry at the lovely visage.

"Damn him," Raven swore as she stood there, hip jutted to the side in anger.

"Wha...what happened?" Robin asked.

"Cyborg's upgrades. Put all the showers on the fritz. I did a check of the systems, and it seems yours is fine since you decided to keep your room's system on a different subnet. Thank goodness for your paranoia."

"Okay," Robin asked trying to keep his eyes above her lovely smooth collarbone.

"I need to use your shower and get this sweat off. It's really bothering my skin today," Raven asked. "Can I use your shower?"

"Go..go ahead."

"Thanks, I appreciate. I owe you."

'Just let me join you,' Robin thought to himself.

He watched her go in and tried to swallow when a bit of beautiful gray skin peeked through the folds of her towel.

'I need to lie down,'

Robin grabbed his book and laid on his back on his bed and closed his eyes trying to concentrate and ignore the fact that there was a naked girl in his shower only a few feet away. The world felt like it got quite more complicated since he discovered his love for Raven and the hormones that he was able to ignore, no longer willing to remain quiet. What had he become? Why was he acting like this?

"It's my fault,"

Robin's eyes jerked open blinking and feeling the taste of sleep in his mouth. He had actually passed out. Raven sat on the bed beside him, her wet hair still fresh and skin glowing from the shower.

"What's your fault?"

"The explicit thoughts," Raven said with red caressing her beautiful cheeks. "I...I looked in your mind without permission. I'm sorry."

"Why did you do that?" Robin asked angrily, more upset the fact she may have seen the fantasies he had over the fact she was in his mind. There was no one else he would trust.

"I wanted to know what was really bothering you and I didn't realize what was happening to you." she admitted sheepishly. "it started at the pool, didn't it."

"Yeah," Robin answered quietly.

"I...I was reading an adult romance novel with some...um...erotic scenes in it and I think when you looked at me, and I glanced at you, I may have initiated a connection and implanted some of my thoughts into your mind."

"So, I'm horny because you made me so?"

"Well, I can't take full responsibility," she scoffed. "There has to be something there beforehand to work."

Her eyes looked at him closely, and she asked the question he wanted to hear but was scared to.

"Are...are you interested in me...more than friends, Robin?"

"Hell yes!"

Well, that was not as romantic or suave as he had wanted it to be, but a big smile appeared on her face.

"You're just so beautiful, Raven," Robin exploded. "You have been my friend for such a long time, and I have always had faith and you and wanted the best. Only recently have I realized I need more of you than just your company. I need your companionship, your touch, your laugh, those eyes. I want you, Raven your mind, heart, and soul."

"..and body, I hope?" She asked sarcastically, but there was a hint of concern.

"You are the most beautiful woman on this planet, Raven. It's been miserable not having you. You're bloody gorgeous and that ass of yours-"

He abruptly stopped choking on what he said, but she giggled. "I'm glad it's appreciated. Robin, I really like you to. I think...I think we should talk about maybe...being more than just friends?"

It was a question, but Robin did not hesitate, he sat up and gently took her face in his hands and kissed the lips that he had wanted to kiss for so long. At first, Raven was startled by the illegal personal contact but melted into his kiss passionately giving as much as she was getting. Breaking free, they both gulped in air.

"Well, I can see we have feelings for each other," Raven gasped trying to breathe.

"I can't live without you, Rae," Robin answered honestly.

Raven took his hand and gave him a gentle smile. "There would be no life without you, Robin. I think we should tell the others before we do anything else. They need to know, so they understand the dynamic."

Great, the waggling eyebrows, and the inevitable questions from Starfire of what "human sexual intercourse was like" and wanting it described in detail.

"I think you're right," Robin said with a heavy sigh as if a weight was off his shoulders.

"On the plus side," she grinned and poke him in the arm. "You might be able to show me some of those fantasies you were thinking about."

'Damn,'Robin thought to himself. 'What a woman.'

'You know I am,'she responded in his mind.

[aristarshower]

Star Catcher

Masterpost

Adventure Twenty-The Many Uses Of a Harvester

 “So quick recap we are somehow back in time and our ship is disintegrating very very slowly.”

Yup.

“The new dust is some kind of super dust that can drive us fast but the shark can catch up anyway and eat us all.”

Yah.

“Even if we find a way to get rid of the shark, we might not have a way to get back after Jai’s link broke.”

Mmmhmm.

“And if we get out the shark will probably follow us and eat us anyway.”

Mmmmmm.

“Harpie.” V sighed. “Why the fuck are you taking a break now?”

Harpie shrugged with their mouth full of glass shards.

***

“Amani, how much firepower do we need to get this thing off our backs.” Alina demanded as Star Catcher zoomed around the shark. Both Dex and Nisha were concentrating on navigating the ship away from the huge mass of space shark chasing them.

“More than what we have, cap.”

“Shit.”

“Unless…”

“I’m willing to listen to anything, Amani, we can’t let this thing follow us to the other side.”

And we need to leave before we all die. Dig added helpfully.

“Right.” Amani licked her lips. “This is fucking crazy but do you know that The Element is super explosive. I’m talking horrible enough to fuck up entire star systems.”

“Woah.”

“It is a big secret for obvious reasons but I had a chance to activate some once and it was…” Amani mimed her head being blown off.

Alina considered her options. “Well it’s this or die so let’s do it.”

“That’s the problem, cap.”

“What?”

“One of us will have to go with it.”

***

I stress eat, okay? Harpie hissed.

“Hey, it will be alright.” V tried his best soothing voice. It came out a bit strangled when the ship turned suddenly.

I really doubt that, V. Harpie crunched for a few seconds , dusted their hands and got up. But let’s take that fucking shark with us if we are going.

***

“Look this discussion is pointless, I’m the only one who knows how to do this.” Amani shouted into the control room.

I do too. Dig said softly in the following silence. Four pairs of eyes swiveled to them.

What? You are not the only one with a “past”.

“Alright, that’s two of us but I am the older one. I’ve lived a whole life…”

I’m in no hurry to die. Why are you? Dig cocked their head at Amani.

“I am not.” Amani hung her head. The gesture shocked Alina out of the panic Amani’s declaration out her in. Amani never looked weak. “I brought us into this. Yoen was going to give this job to someone else. He thought it was too dangerous.” She held up a hand at Alina’s half formed protest. “He loves you and he is scared. For good reason, it seems.” She gazed around the room miserably not meeting anyone’s eyes.

“Did you convince him?”

“No, I did something worse. I went over his head. Talked to the client.” Nisha gasped.

“Yeah, I don’t know who they are but I contacted them when I went back to get Dex.” Dex’s face shut down completely and he turned away.

“It was easy after that. But I never thought it would come to this. I’m so sorry.”

What did we miss? Harpie asked.

“Amani might be the reason we are in this mess and one of us is going to be shark dinner and then we can blow it up.” Dex said in a mechanical voice like he was counting things off a grocery list.

Woah.

***

“Are you okay?” V curled his fingers around Dex’s shoulders. Behind them, Alina and Nisha were having a whispered argument with Amani and Dig.

“Not really.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Everything.” V hugged Dex still in his chair. Dex could also feel the tip of V’s head brushing against his neck.

“Amani didn’t come back for me.”

“What?”

“She came back for the project. She just needed an excuse.” V spun the chair around and the whole ship lurched.

“Harpie, can you handle this for a bit?”

Sure. Harpie had abandoned their own control room in favor of staying with the rest of them.

V dragged Dex to the privacy of the kitchens. Mel was the only one there and she was whistling softly at a containment chamber.

“Aww you poor thing, didn’t Dig feed you today?” Dex cooed and tried to push some food towards Mel but she whistled louder and put herself in front of the container.

“What is in there?” Mel’s whistling got louder. “Alright alright you demon we’ll leave you alone.”

“Do you think she’s okay? Should we call someone?” Dex sounded so worried V wanted to hug him harder.

“If we get out of this alive, I’ll take her to …a doctor?”

“Sure.”

“Hey.” V pulled Dex closer. “I want you here. We all want you here. You are a part of this team. We love you. I…I love you.” V whispered.

“V…”

***

“So who’s gonna die?” V and Dex burst into the main control room, flushed and rumpled.

“V!”

“Okay, that was insensitive but Dex noticed that we are disintegrating faster and we don’t have unlimited dust so what are we gonna do?” Alina bit her lip.

“What?”

“We are going to toss a coin?” Amani seemed confused by the suggestion. Dig was the only happy one present.

“Right.”

***

Amani’s hands shook. They  did not have a coin on board. No one in the crew was sentimental enough to carry one. So they were flipping a plate.

“This is stupid.” But her hands kept shaking.

She threw the plate into the air and it landed face down and shattered.

“Maybe someone should call it next time?” Nisha suggested gently.

Call what?

“Heads?”

Heads? Dig said uncertainly.

Another plate shattered on the floor and Amani won.

“Wait, is the winner going out or the loser?” Dex asked and Alina groaned.

***

Dig shrugged on the bio suit and then the space suit. Harpie tapped a few buttons on the panel in their control room. Dig had specifically requested to dress there.

We don’t have much time. I don’t want to tell others in case this fails but we have to try it.

Agreed. Harpie tapped a few more times. It might work.

Alright. No harm in trying.

Give me a second then.

***

Dex couldn’t watch. He clung to V and missed Dig’s cheeky salute as they floated away. The panel beeped to indicate that the escape pod was off. Dex rubbed at his face and sat down in his seat. He slowly shut down all but essential functions in his mind. The mechanical additions in his brain did not deal well with distress. They assumed that something was wrong with their host and tried to fix him in the worst ways possible.  He felt his limbs get heavier as the systems shut down one after the other. V’s arms were still around him, warm and soothing.

Dex flipped a few switches at Nisha’s command. The plan was simple. They would distract the shark when Dig got in place and once they started extracting the dust, the shark would turn to them and Star Catcher could turn tail and run. Dig would set off The Element once the shark was close enough so they didn’t have to worry about it following them. A very simple, foolproof plan. Dex’s gut clenched.

***

Dig enjoyed the flight out as much as they could. It was a nice place to be. It was a good enough place to die. They had a sliver of hope but the odds were stacked against. They did a few loops around the tip of the ship right around Amani’s station and heard a strangled sob from her. They opened a direct line of communication to her.

Amani, I need you to tell me how to activate The Element.

“DIG!”

Sorry, Ams. I couldn’t let you die but I need this information now before you leave.

In the group channel, Harpie announced that they had ten seconds before they went opposite ways.

“I hate you.”

No you don’t.

“No, I don’t.” Ams whispered and rattled off instructions.

***

Nisha angled the ship away from the star and towards the wormhole. It would take one quick blast of dust and they would be out but the timing had to be right. The shark was right on their tail. Dig fired up the harvester and the shark bellowed in rage. This time they felt the vibrations through the ship even if they couldn’t hear it.

“Ready, Dig?”

Yes.

Nisha choked on her next words but managed to get them out. “Last words?”

Nope.

“Fine.”

And they were off.

***

Dig watched the shark get torn up between following the ship or following the escape pod trailing the dust. They decided to make it worse. They had very little dust in the pod but the harvester was right there. It was already set up the best it could be. Dig attached a few canisters, turned it on and threw it as hard as they could away from the pod and sped up chasing it. The harvester sputtered at the lack of dust first but caught on the star and the canisters were filling up. The Element was heating up inside, everything blinking red.

Dig saw the shark move from the corner of their eyes.

Not yet. Not yet. Not yet.

The shark was close. They could see the array of teeth bigger than entire Star Catcher. It roared again making Dig shake.

Not yet. Not yet. Not yet.

The canisters on the harvester dinged. Dig dove after them abandoning the pod. They were close enough to land on top of the harvester easily. The shark opened its mouth wide and swallowed them all whole.

***

Alina slumped in her chair. The wormhole was right in front of them. An explosion sounded behind.

“Dig?” Dex whispered. The comms were all dead.

The ship moved forward before the shockwave could hit them.

The other side looked too normal, too simple, too nothing compared to what they left behind. The shockwave reached the wormhole and the beacons on this side sputtered at the ferocity of the blast.

The entire crew had collapsed. They had to leave. To get away before the shockwave raised an alarm but no one moved.

The smaller links worked alright, captain. Harpie said gently.

Bless them. Alina pulled herself up and assessed their situation.

One of the comms let out a strangled whine and something shot out of the wormhole.

***

Dex blinked through the haze of half functioning brain. They were out and safe. He just wanted to curl up and cry for a few days. But the comms were screaming and there was something out of the wormhole. It looked suspiciously like the tooth of a space shark.

Previous/ First / Next

[stevecanmakeanythingnerdy]

RANDOM RECORD WORKOUT SEASON 5 Battle 15 Single Bullet Theory: S/T (Side 1) Vs. The Alarm: Strength (Side 2) Single Bullet Theory: S/T (Side 1) I literally know nothing about this band, other than this: When I came across this album, I was immediately drawn in. I saw a colorful, attention grabbing cover filled with squirt guns, and on the flip side were five regular looking dudes with one exception. They looked (respectively) like the children of Ric Ocasik, Dee Dee Ramone, and Bun E. Love. Now mind you, in my eyes, those are NOT bad things. Also, I took note that this was released on Nempor records (home of power pops like The Romantics) so I figured it was a least worth the 99 cent admission price. In short, another of my cut out bin gambles. So this is literally my first spin of this record. My initial impression: I was not wrong to pick this up. Elements of all three aforementioned fathers are present (Cars, Ramones, Cheap Trick) and some Romantics and even a little of The Kings and things! A little research reveals that the band came up with the cover concept that I was drawn to all by themselves! It is actually common practice for a label to appoint someone for art design, so that is fairly rare. It really is pretty neat though. Single Bullet Theory are legit power pop dudes from Richmond, Virginia. The band was originally founded in 1976 under the name X-Breed. SBT adopted the new moniker after the addition of a guitarist and bassist to the original three-person lineup. They self-released an EP in 1977 and by 1979 were opening for Patti Smith. After landing a song on the Asylum Sharp Cuts compilation album, they signed with Mike Curb Productions, but left the label before releasing any material. In 1982 they signed to CBS Records subsidiary Nemperor and released a full-length album. The single "Keep it Tight" appeared on MTV and is effectively song one, side one. The video (see below) is hilarious BTW. Basically the EP and this album are their full dscog. "Keep it Tight" - Right off the bat, you are hit with sweet power pop bliss. A short and tight (they were not joking!) tune. "Slide Away" was probably slated as a single if I were guessing. Slick keyboard presence with nice rhythms and power chords. A Pretty layered dip here. Nice and with a little harder edge. "Hang on to Your Heart" is complete, 100% 80's night tracks, baby. If there isn't a video somewhere for this I would be surprised. "A Blink of an Eye" is probably the biggest highlight here for me. Holy $#!7!! A great, floating melody surrounded by hooks, lines, and sink my battleship! This one is SURELY a radio jam. If not, I hope someone at the label lost a job for not making it so. The final number is "Das Madchen" (translation: the Lady). It's umlaut core Essets!! Ironically, no Deutsch is spoken(???) Power chord peppered pieces of pop corn. I smell Phil Spector...no??? At any rate, it was a fine find, and a great specimen of the power pop genre. The Alarm: Strength (Side 2) The Alarm are generally billed as a Clash style knock off. Or maybe what The Clash would have evolved into if they hadn't self destructed. Personally, I even hear some Stray Cats. Stand outs are certainly the drums and vocals. The Alarm are a Welsh alternative rock/new wave band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, "The Toilets" in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced rock, displaying marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular alternative rock band of the 1980s. Strength is their second studio offering, and experienced some delay in the recording process. The band had a producer lined up, that agreed to come overseas to record. However, they never showed and some crucial dates for a summer tour were about to take place. The band adapted though, and did the dates, then found a new producer and in October of 1985, Strength his the shelves. "Deeside" starts off poppy, nice and choppy. I totally hear the Clash thing. Even a bit of The Lords of the New Church. The energy level never lets up. "Father to Son" is more of a Reggae-ish tune, sounds more funky than anything. Maybe Men without Hats if they did just straight up punk. "Only The Thunder" is something I can only describe as a kind of punk-country version of U2. I am starting to become confused and disoriented. "The Day The Ravens Left The Tower" is next on the set list. While I love the evil sounding title, the fitting somber tone of the guitar licks that follow are the real impressive quality. Then...it gets serious. Fly Away!!!! "Absolute Reality" brings back the blitzy fitz and frantic vocals that reel you in. I can't really find an accurate descriptor, but it seems to be a lighthearted, almost folk and acoustic version of the Clash. I don't mean B. A. D. Either (#seewhatididthere). "Walk Forever By My Side" just ruins the whole credibility of anything up to this point, though. Complete rubbish and piano ballad. Honey bunches of NOPE! And Really, not even needed if you ask me. Single Bullet Theory didn't call in a second shooter (#seewhatididthere) but they did call in one heck of a performance. They blitzed through 5 songs in 18 minutes and burned 140 calories in the process. That is 28 calories per song and 7.78 calories per minute. The Alarm used their "Strength" to overcome production woes and to sound the Alarm. They burned 168 calories over 24 minutes and 6 songs. That is 28 calories per song and 7 calories flat per minute. Impressive, but not enough to avoid the Single Bullet, shot straight to number 1! Single Bullet Theory wins!! Listen for yourself! Check out the links: Single Bullet Theory: "Keep It Tight" (I'm pretty sure this video features Gary Busey as, "guy in the shower") https://youtu.be/e6GlwoUR1e8 The Alarm: "Deeside" https://youtu.be/WCFv4XL2E6g #RANDOMRECORDWORKOUTSEASON5 #RANDOMRECORDWORKOUT