#e a sick leave program)

[alienaiver]

IM SO ANXIOUS ABOUT TOMORROW IM LOCKED IN PARALYSIS GOING INSANE

[qqueenofhades]

I am FULLY ONBOARD the Harris/Waltz train, tho before this i was leaning towards Mark Kelly (AZ is a swing state! He's an ASTRONAUT!) If you want or have time, no pressure, but any thoughts on what makes Waltz a better pick?

I like Mark Kelly too, and since he's married to Gabby Giffords (having run for public office after she got shot and could no longer do so) he would have been an amazing pick in terms of supporting the first female POTUS. But he is a less charismatic public speaker than Walz (for whatever that's worth, but politics is a mess of Aesthetics and Vibes that matter as much and/or more than actual facts) and more moderate/conservative. He's been a great senator and picking him would defuse some of the BORDER IMMIGRATION BLAH BLAH!!! scaremongering that Republicans love to run on, but it would also leave open the possibility of losing a special election and other dangers with the Democratic senate that we really need to minimize. So Walz is a better choice for that alone, but also:

He really has serious progressive credentials as governor, even if he was a fairly mainstream Democrat (who flipped a rural red House district in Minnesota that Democrats have not been able to win again after he left) during his 12 years in the House. This is an INCOMPLETE LIST of what he was able to do in two years with a one-seat Democratic majority in Minnesota:

A Climate Action Plan that included:

Investing in energy infrastructure

100% carbon-free electricity by 2040 goal

Transition off of fossil fuels and onto clean energy resources

Building more electric vehicle charging stations

Providing funding to help workers acquire new skills through apprenticeship programs in clean energy fields

Direct state funding for transit

Money for rail

Tax credit for e-bikes

Permitting form to fast-track clean energy projects

And that was in addition to:

Codified abortion access in Minnesota

Guaranteed paid sick time and paid family and medical leave

Funded replacing ALL LEAD PIPES IN THE STATE

Free school breakfasts and lunches for all

Made public college free

Stronger labor protections

Drivers’ Licenses for All

Voting Rights Act to reverse recent court rulings that make voting harder, including restored voting rights to convicted felons

Banning medical debt from credit bureaus

The "Taylor Swift Bill" requiring all ticket "junk fees" be shown up front

Banning most "junk fees"

No book bans

Protection for tipped workers

Banned non-competes

Legalized recreational cannabis

Gun control, including increased penalties for straw purchases of firearms, expanded background checks and enacted red-flag laws, passing gun safety measures that the GOP has thwarted for years

Made MN a Trans Refuge State, and required health plans to cover “medically necessary gender-affirming care.”

Pay increase for Uber and Lyft drivers

Elimination of the so-called “gay panic defense”

A ban on “doxxing” election workers

A prohibition on “swatting” elected officials

In March, during the height of the Gaza/uncommitted primary protests against Biden, Walz said that young people should be listened to and they had a right to be speaking up and the situation in Gaza was horrible and intolerable, without directly slamming Biden or getting involved in the issue in a way to draw negative headlines. Regardless of what you think about any of it, that is a very deft way to handle it and pairs well with Kamala's better responsiveness on the Gaza issue overall. That was a big part of the reason why Gen Z/younger voters were very excited about Walz despite him being an "old" (actually the same age as Kamala but he has joked that teaching high school for 20 years will do that to a guy) white guy. If half the battle in politics is making the right pick to excite your core voters and reach out to new ones, then Harris nailed it. As I have said in earlier posts, there was just too much energy with young voters FINALLY checking in when Harris became the candidate, to risk introducing a big ideological split with Shapiro.

Aside from that: the most insufferable Smart White-Bro Political Pundits (TM) are big mad about Walz, many Never Trumper Republicans thought they were entitled to a "moderate" in exchange for oh-so-generously lending us their vote against Trump and not run the risk that we might end up with someone *gasp* progressive, and the regular MAGA Republicans are hysterical, which means they're terrified. It's also incredibly hard to paint Literal Midwestern Stereotype Dad (football coach, social studies high school teacher, military veteran, etc) as THE EVIL END OF AMERICA in the way they desperately want to do, though the fact that they're trying shows that they've got literally nothing. The fact that Kamala picked Walz against the PREVAILING WISDOM!!! that she had to take Shapiro (for whatever reason that might have been) is also a good sign, because by far the most genuine and extensive enthusiasm that I have seen from Democratic voters, especially those feeling burned out or disillusioned or angry with specific policy choices of the current administration, was for Walz. Having everyone excited for the pick beforehand, effectively using the "weird" line, and rallying behind the guy, only for her to actually go for him, is inspiring. It makes people feel like they're being heard and the Democrats have decided to win by being progressive, and not just endlessly Catering To The (Imaginary) Middle as they have always been told to do (and often done). That alone is MASSIVE.

Walz is tremendously funny, personable, has Democrats from AOC to Joe Manchin praising it (again, shocking), was right out the gate supporting Kamala, has already been majorly successful on TV, was by far the most progressive-on-policy picks of the VP finalists, is incredibly, hilariously wholesome and small-town Midwestern (he's the JD Vance that they wish JD Vance was), and is already sending ActBlue gangbusters with donations again. And when you're getting this kind of response on the Cursed Bird Hellsite, just:

Just. I don't know what's happening either. But let's enjoy it, and then work hard, because we gotta fucking do this and for possibly the first time this entire year, I really think we might. Heck yeah.

[nimuetheseawitch]

SGA Summer Vacation Recs

So, a few weeks ago, a friend asked for longfic recommendations to read while on vacation, and I did not really realize how many I was recommending at the time. Seemed like a good idea to make a post about it.

Time in a Bottle by astolat, 14K (not originally on my list because it was too short, but it's too perfect for a summer reading list, so I added it), McShep, Rated E, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings To see a World in a Grain of Sand / And a Heaven in a Wild Flower / Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand / And Eternity in an hour.

The Long Dark (series) by @logicgunn, 141K, McShep, Rated G-E but the first is M, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings An astronomical event causes two strangers to crash land on a remote island in the frozen Canadian north. Cue a fluffy slow burn in a survival setting.

Lord John Sheppard Versus Earth by LitGal, 61K, McShep, Rated M, Graphic Depictions of Violence Canon diverged before Jackson found Atlantis. The IOC stepped in and decided to make things more efficient. A gene testing program brought Major John Sheppard into the program earlier, but budget constraints and international treaties have kept Dr. Jackson out of the antarctic. So now John has to find his own team--and his own geek--or he's in danger of being stuck in the mountain forever as a light switch. However, as the universe changes, fate forces some things to return to proper form, and other things… they get wildly out of control. John isn't sure how he came to be Earth's enemy, but he's going to have to deal with the cards he's dealt.

Teamwork by onthewaters, 24K, McShep and others, Rated E, Graphic Depictions of Violence There is an Earth where things have turned out a little differently, and the people who go to Atlantis aren't quite the ones we know. AKA The one where Rodney is a Mountie.

The Doctor and the Sheppard by @hero-in-waiting, 70K, McShep, Rated E They've been in Pegasus for a year before Rodney is finally allowed to go off-world to meet with the mysterious leader of a group of allies against the wraith. The first meeting goes well, sending them down a path none of them could've foreseen, and leaving Rodney with thoughts of the mysterious leader with his bright eyes and dark hair.

The Hard Prayer by Rheanna, 30K, McShep, Rated M One year after the end of the world, John meets another survivor.

In Sickness and in Health by @a-storm-of-roses, 31K, McShep, Rated E "So I told a little lie, just to get you back to Atlantis. It was the only way, so try not to get too mad. I told them we were married.” When John suffers a major, life-changing injury on Earth, Rodney must pretend to be his husband to ensure his return to Atlantis. As he struggles to navigate recovery and accept his new reality, John must also come to terms with his new role as Rodney's husband and the new dynamics in their relationship. A story of healing, recovery, loss, love, and acceptance.

Enigma by sgamadison, McShep, 32K, McShep, Rated E, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings During an off-world mission, a piece of Ancient technology transports Rodney and John on a one-way trip to a deserted airfield. Working together to get back, it takes a vivid dream to make Rodney realize what's been in front of him all along.

Bridges by bussaiko, 52K, McShep, Rated E Engineer Rodney McKay went to North Carolina's Crystal Coast to help his sister design a series of bridges. He hoped to rebuild his career following a professional disaster; he didn't expect to be drawn into the small community of Athos Island, where he found friendship and perhaps something more with helicopter pilot John Sheppard. But when Rodney tries to learn more about John's past, what he discovers might tear them apart. (non-Stargate AU)

Apocalypse Rising by sian1359, 81K, McShep, Rated M, Graphic Depictions of Violence The Goa'uld are not the only ones who covet Earth.

Zen and the Art of Jumper Maintenance by Indybaggins, 39K, McShep, Rated M The one where Rodney gets sucked in and John… follows. Featuring a quirky John, Rodney in orange robes, crazy Ancient-worship, sheep milking and jumpers that aren't broken but need to be fixed anyway.

Black Helicopters (series) by whizzy, 141K, McShep, Rated T-E but the first is M, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Screw the bet. Rodney was going to prove the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Oh, and incidentally, he might just catch the United States Air Force with their pants around their ankles.

Pegasus Purgatorio by MrsHamill, 127K, McShep, Rated E, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings It is difficult to write a paradise when all the superficial indications are that you ought to write an apocalypse. It is obviously much easier to find inhabitants for an inferno or even a purgatorio. (Ezra Pound) Yeah, I'd say that about covers it, Ezra. John and Rodney are left behind when Atlantis (and, by extension, Pegasus) is evacuated. While returning to the Milky Way, they decide to bring a few friends along.

What A Wonderful Bunker You Would Make by ocdindeed, 50K, McShep, Rated M Summary in simple words: Rodney is recluse and John has a kid. Summary in not so simple words: Rodney McKay has given up on the world, living a simple life up on a mountain devoid of people. He likes it that way, at least he did until a kid with a full head of dark hair ambled up his dirt driveway and changed his sequestered life forever. (AU - Set during SG1 & Pre-SGA timeline.)

G******, Tramps, and Thieves* (series) by auburn, 372K, McShep and a whole lot more, Rated T-M, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, later fics Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Vala Mal Doran and her partners, renegades Jehan abd-Ba'al and Meredith McKay, hijack the Tau'ri ship Prometheus and leave the Milky Way behind in search of the Lost City of the Ancients, Atlantis.

*I censored this title due to a common racial slur

[rowdyluv]

Peter

based off of Taylor Swift’s song from The Tortured Poets Department

warning: a bit sad, longing for ex-lover, use of y/n

Ethan Edwards x fem!Reader

summary: Ethan and reader childhood friends —> lovers —> break up —> reader heartbreakingly waiting for his return.

author’s note: the photos are intended to tell the story them growing up. the last last picture are two quotes from the book “better than the movies” by Lynn Painter. (can be found on Amazon, books a million, barnes & noble, etc. links were too long to post)

Ethan and (y/n)’s older childhood friends always joked the two would fall in love one day. It was always a big laugh between the two of you because what business do 8 year olds have thinking about love?

In a blink of an eye you’re dancing at your end of the year eighth grade formal together, your heart has never reacted the way it was at that specific moment. Confused and a bit scared you kept your head staring at the floor while your hands were firmly placed on Ethan’s shoulders. His hands placed awkwardly on your waist. He cleared throat and paused both of your movements. “Hey (y/n)? Can I do something and you promise you not get mad if you don’t like it? We can just forget about it after if it’s weird.” His words were rushed and hands shaking. Your eyes connected with his, a slight nod yes to confirm you were okay with whatever it was he was asking for. As if the world moved in slow motion and no one else was in the school’s lobby, where the formal was happening but the two of you, Ethan ducked his head down just the few inches he needed to in order to give a quick kiss.

The first kiss for both of you.

Awkward, yet not weird for either of you. The beginning of what turned into a long beautiful journey. Until it wasn’t beautiful.

꧁꧂

“(Y/N) I am so tired of this repetitive argument. It happens over and over. I got accepted to Michigan and I got a scholarship for hockey. Their program is notorious for building up their athletes and getting them drafted. Drafted! You’ve known since we were kids that the NHL is what I wanted for myself.” Ethan tried to keep himself composed until he couldn’t. His desire, compassion, and dedication to chasing his dream often overshadowed his love and dedication to you. His childish mannerisms peaking through. “I just want to know where I fit into this plan? This future of yours.” You tried to keep your voice strong and unwavering but just like each time before the lump in your throat prevented you from even being able to breathe properly.

He sat down on the edge of your bed. Quiet minutes passed before he finally spoke again. “Maybe there isn’t an us in the future..” His words are so quiet you aren’t sure if you heard him correctly. “E?” You whimpered. Tears streaming one after the other. He didn’t look at you right away. Knowing if he did his resolve would shatter.

Taking a deep breath, starting over. Looking at you after a couple minutes had passed by and leaning over to wipe your cheeks dry. “I know this is going to be hard to hear. It’s killing me to even say it. It killed me to even think about it recently. I’m going to be gone for a long time for school. I won’t be returning home. My parents will be coming there over the holidays. It will be easier with training. I can’t ask you to sit here while you’re going to school yourself and be tied to me. Especially when we will never see each other. Neither of us have the money for traveling to and from. I’ve been so physically sick thinking about leaving you. We’ve only argued since I decided but honey this is what’s best for me and my dreams. I’m sorry I’m being so selfish but I can’t pass this up. If I stay here I take a chance at never having an opportunity at the NHL at least I know I’ll have an opportunity there.” Your tears stopped at some point. Sadness turned to numbness. Lost to the words he was saying.

“(Y/N/N). I can go and grow up while I’m gone. Get drafted. Or not. Then I’ll come find you if you’re still single. . We can live our dreams then. I just can’t ask you to sit here and be miserably alone.” Pressing a quick kiss to your forehead he left your house. That was the last thing he said to you in person. You didn’t see him again before he left. He tried but you declined. Not wanting to hurt anymore than you already were.

꧁꧂

You just watched Ethan’s NHL debut with the New Jersey Devil two weeks ago. Pride swelled in your heart for him but heartbreak also overtook you. He never came back for you. You’re both 24 now, he could’ve come back after college since he was drafted pre-degree but he never did. Since ‘goodbye for now’ turned into ‘goodbye’ you sat down at your desk and started writing him a letter. You were going to mail it to his mom’s house. She can mail it to him.

Dear Ethan,

I hoped you'd return with your feet on the ground, tell me all that you'd learned because love is never lost when perspective is earned and you said you would come and get me, but we were only 17. My shelf life on the fantasies has expired. Please forgive me, Ethan, I really tried to hold on to the days you were mine. But the young girl turned into a woman who sits by her window has turned out the light.

You said you were going to grow up and you were going to come find me. Promises that were oceans deep, but never to keep.

Sincerely,

(Y/N)

Little did you know he was back in town at his parents’ house and received the letter himself. He was there to see you. He was back for you now that he was settled and could care for you both properly. But he was too late. You had shut the door on him. You stopped supporting him quietly. Stopped following the scores of the games and watching. . Ethan played the rest of the season terribly, not having his number fan, supporter there. It didn’t matter if he knew or not that she was always cheering him on. It just solidified for him, he no longer had his rock. His reason for being. That he fucked up all those years ago. That he no longer had a reason for what he thought was his dream. His dream was really your dreams. He wanted the future you wanted with him and now he will never have it all because of his selfishness back at 17.

[y2katsuki]

shy!konig x bold!reader

short drabble - 703 words (i will be making a masterlist as i update more)

that one tiktok sound heh :)

sorry for the delay, i was finishing my application for my master's program (pls...i hope i get in) and i got really sick, but i'm feeling better now.

you walk down the halls of the barracks, looking for one person. you had always had your eyes on the big fella when you got contracted to work for kortac. it was difficult to break his tough shell but you managed. you thought your feelings were one-sided until you noticed him staring at you more often. the one clue that gave it away was that he always managed to slip away from you, ignoring you and making silly excuses to leave.

konig on the other hand was avoiding you all day. it was the team's day off, which meant one thing. you were in search to find him. he didn't know whether you truly liked him or liked to tease him. he didn't mean to fall in love with you, but you were the first person to ever come up to him and talk to him. most people tend to stay away due to his quiet personality and big frame. as much as he would like to sit in the same room as you and stare at your beautiful face, he couldn't. you always sat next to him, teasing him and making conversation. his heart couldn't handle it. he thought he found the perfect place to avoid you, the messy hall, the one place you hated to go. but at last...he was wrong.

"so konig, what do you have planned on this lovely day?" you sat right across from him. as you looked at him with your beautiful eyes.

"uh...nothing much. and you?" he cleared his throat, trying to avoid from tripping on his words.

"well...i was hoping you would spend time with me." you gave him a pretty smile as you leaned in closer.

you watched as he picked up his water bottle, noticing how it shakes a tad bit. your eyes never leave his face, as he nervously looks anywhere but you.

"why are you avoiding my eyes, konig?" you leaned closer, looking up at him through your eyelashes.

"i...um...i'm not?" he says it as a question before finally meeting your eyes as his heart beats fast in his chest.

"there's thoses pretty eyes." you teases. "so how about it? wanna spend your day off with a lonely gal." your lips curled up into a teasing smile.

"a-are you joking?" he asked. throughout his childhood, many people would like to invite konig to hang out only to ditch him. he would really hate if that was the case with you.

"oh come on, i'm not playing any games with you, am i?" you leaned closer, noticing how his eyes start to wander again, nervously.

"heh," he lets a nervous chuckle, "not any that i know of..." he rubs the back of his neck, nervous that you are looking right through him.

"you see so nervous...what's the matter?" you grab his hand that sat on the table. his eyes shoot down to see your hand grasping him and before he can think he lets out a nervous laugh. "what's so funny, konig?" you say with a teasing smile.

"no nothing." he can hear his blood pumping in his ear. he looks at you one more time before finally falling into your antics. "uh, sure. i would...e-enjoy to spend my day off w-with you." he avoids your gaze once more.

you leaned closer, your face mere inches away from his. loving this nervous demeanor of his. you had a big goofy grin on your face before whispering, "it's a date." you leaned back, standing up as you looked at his red face. "let's go." you held your hand out for him to grab.

he still can't believe someone like you could possibly like him, yet you finally crack his shell. he grabs your hand and lets you pull him away. everyone eyeing the big austrain man being dragged by your smaller frame like a love-sick puppy.

it’s been since about 3 months since that interaction. konig blushes every time you bring it up. you two were happily together. it took awhile for konig to finally accept that you really liked him back, but he was the happiest he’s been.

even if you still tease him on the regular, but he just allows you.

[angelsaxis]

"...[W]e must continue to challenge the societal arrangements that leads to preventable pain and suffering. Marriage can be quite beautiful and sacred, for example. Marriage can also privatize dependence: it encourages people to enter relationships for resources and benefits, like health care, savings, and tax deductions. I was nineteen years old when I got married, mostly informed by my faith tradition. I was also in love, but very poor, and marriage offered me a stability that I never had as a child. I was so lucky that the person I married was kind, thoughtful, and also very much trying to figure out his relationship to Christianity and his evolving manhood.

When we divorced nine years later and became friends and co-parents, I realized how the marital benefits I once aspire dot have did not make sense. I could remove him from my health insurance to account for the divorce, but I couldn't add any of my uninsured siblings, whom I would be related to forever. And our children had two options for insurance because they had parents who went to college and worked jobs that offered it, but independent contractors in my family did not have an option that wasn't a financial sacrifice.

If we focused on meeting the healthcare, employment, educational, and housing needs of people in society, then those who want to marry could more freely enter those relationships in their terms, and people who needed to escape because of violence could more easily leave without worrying what will happen if they get sick and need to see a doctor.

We should heed to calls for investment in the programs, opportunities, and laws that make everyone free and safe. Here too, universal basic income can help, allowing people to meet their basic needs and not rely on potentially sexually exploitative intimate relationships for income. Removing benefits from marriage accomplishes this, too. With universal health care, and other programs like free and quality childhood education, people vulnerable to violence have more free range to move, live, and practice healthy lifestyles."

-- Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom by Derecka Purnell

[allwaswell16]

A fic rec of One Direction fics with a long distance relationship in an alternate universe as requested in this ask. If you enjoy the fics please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other fic recs here. Happy reading!

—Louis/Harry—

✈️ Darling, so it goes by @disgruntledkittenface

(E, 195k, Grace Kelly au) Harry Styles is a world-famous actor at the height of his career but a personal low point when he meets His Serene Highness Prince Louis of Monaco by chance. 

✈️ Hold You Now by solvetheminourdreams / @cursethedaylight

(M, 131k, ex-fwb) When he accompanies his best friend to a family wedding across the Atlantic, he'll be forced to reopen old wounds and face his past—one that no one wants to hash out, but may just have to.

✈️ Heading for Limbo by @kingsofeverything

(E, 100k, friends to lovers) When Harry discovers some life-changing things about himself, Louis is there for him, however he needs. But it’s all temporary because Louis has plans that will move his life from New York all the way to L.A. and the distance isn’t the only thing between them.

✈️ Old Photographs & Times I'll Remember by @jaerie

(E, 54k, time travel) A camera, a suitcase, and a relationship forged through time.

✈️ Without you it's a season I ain't needing by @perfectdagger

(M, 38k, fashion designer Harry) A long distance relationship au in which Harry is away for a year and Louis is left to pick up the pieces.

✈️ Up On The Shore by wordsnnotes / @quelsentiment

(M, 33k, Eroda) Louis hides his feelings under sarcasm, Harry is too sweet for his own sake, everyone is a rebel, the mums are amazing, Harry's dad is a jerk

✈️ wait up, i'm coming home by @hattalove

(T, 28k, Italy) the one where louis finds harry, then loses him, then finds him again. a flawless performance from fate featuring some penguins, some celestial bodies, and a whole lot of tea.

✈️ some things fade (some never do) by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed

(T, 25k, magical tattoos) Three years after their break up, Harry calls.

✈️ Play (series) by @taggiecb

(E, 19k, famous/not famous) Right now he is working towards his before twenty five bucket list, and fate must have been smiling on him the day he won tickets for a show at Wembly, getting into one of the locker rooms is something he will have to think about later.

✈️ You're A Universe by Jiksa / @jiksax

(E, 15k, kid fic) Louis’s a stay-at-home dad in London and Harry’s a business expat in Qatar. Louis doesn’t know how much longer their marriage can survive the distance.

✈️ Paper Houses by @allwaswell16

(E, 11k, famous/famous au) When model Louis Tomlinson admits to having a celebrity crush on a very famous actor in an article in GQ magazine, he has no idea it will lead to anything.

✈️ Baby, I'm Right Here by @fallinglikethis

(E, 8k, drunken confessions) Harry and Louis are best friends who live on different continents and may or may not be in love with each other.

✈️ What Goes Up by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(NR, 5k, space) The six month program at the space station means a very long distance relationship and a very nervous Harry back on earth.

✈️ Talk the Night Through by @lululawrence

(NR, 4k, chat rooms) It's 1995 and a chat room is the last place Harry ever expects to find the love of his life.

✈️ With All My Surrendered Hearts by softandslow

(E, 4k, pwp) the one where they're long distance boyfriends, and Louis rides Harry while wearing his snapback.

✈️ Follow the sun by momentofclarity / @gaycousinlarry

(T, 3k, light angst) Louis feels like last night’s Skype call changed something though, even if the emotional distress is pretty common during their talks. 

✈️ It's All Mixed Up! by orphan_account

(G, 2k, deck officer Louis) 4 times Louis' crew mates get sick of hearing about his "girl" and the one time when they finally meet the mystery lover.

✈️ until you’re home by @nouies

(E, 1k, pwp) Louis lives in London, Harry lives in Tokyo. They make it work.

✈️ Looking for Life Out There by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird

(T, 1k, girl direction) Doctoral candidate Harry Styles moves to Boston to complete her Ph.D. leaving her professor girlfriend behind in London.

���Rare Pairs—

✈️ The New Posh and Becks by mistresscurvy

(E, 28k, Liam/Louis) 2016 is a big year for solo artist Liam Payne. After his amazing experience on X Factor, releasing his own album and touring with Little Mix seems like the height of success. Then he meets Arsenal midfielder Louis Tomlinson at a charity event, and suddenly everything else fades into the background.

✈️ Oceans and waves and wires between us by becka

(E, 8k, Niall/Zayn) Niall wants to meet his online girlfriend, Veronica, and enlists the help of MTV's Catfish to do it.

[longcovidshortstories]

Long covid has meant seeing lots of doctors, lots of times. I've met some amazing people. Doctors with empathy and curiosity. A long covid clinic doctor started our appointment but just telling me, "you're not crazy" and I burst into tears. A pulmonologist assured me that even if he couldn't figure out what was happening to me, he wouldn't let me leave his care until he'd exhausted his options and he felt he knew where to refer me next.

But seeing so many people, I can't help but have experiences that hurt. I've joined the chronic illness community; the invisible illness community. Long covid is new, poorly understood, and has the fun addition of having a political toxicity attached to it.

A bad doctor's appointment really stings. It holds onto me. It haunts me. Sometimes, it makes me angry. Why am I not being heard? Why am I being treated like my disease isn't real. Why is this doctor making recommendations that I couldn't possibly physically accomplish? I explained my physical limitations. They're real. I know that they're real.

It brings back all of the doubt that i already carry under the surface. Maybe I'm being dramatic. Is long covid even really a thing? Am I making this up? Maybe I just need to try harder. Have I tried yoga? Positive thinking?

Sometimes, it's small and inconsiderate things. Recommendations that ignore physical or financial circumstances that i just talked about in that same appointment. Test results read in snide tones alongside the "normal" range.

Sometimes, it's big and brash things. Recommendations of surgeries or programs that are extreme or inappropriate. Making me fight for my medical care.

Being sick is exhausting. Having long covid is exhausting. Having some kind of medical appointment nearly every week is exhausting. I live in a rural area and have to drive about an hour to reach any of these doctors. I don't want to feel like the expert on my disease when I go to the doctor. I'm tired. I have nightmares about hospitals. I want to at least know that when I give everything I have to be in that doctor's office, they will believe that I'm sick.

ENT 2021: No one really knows what's causing taste and smell changes in long covid, so there's not much I could really do for you. If it's really hard to live with food tasting like trash, I could sever your olfactory nerve. Then you shouldn't smell or taste anything. Maybe that's better? Although, if long covid is actually neurological, that might not actually help you at all!

Nutritionist 2021: Maybe try (insert very expensive home delivery food service).

GP 2021: Are you really, really sure you want to remove your IUD? Your insurance probably won't pay for another one for a while. The ultrasound showed it was still in the right place, so I can't imagine it's what's causing you any problems.

A Different Nutritionist 2022: I think you should sign up for an online eating disorder program. It's not long covid specific, so it'll mostly be group therapy with people with traditional eating disorders, but I'm just not sure how much I can help you.

Orthopedist 2023: You wrote "long covid" under preexisting conditions. What is that? I've never heard of it.

Speech Therapy 2024: Breathe out saying "e" for as long as you can....Hmmm, that was 4 seconds. You know the normal average for that is 20 seconds.

[multifandomfix]

Jude Martin Fluff Alphabet

A = Affection (Are they physically affectionate in public or just in private?)

Sister Jude is reserved in public due to her position. However, in private, she can be deeply affectionate, holding you close and showing you her softer side.

B = Babe (What would they use as pet names? Do they use them a lot?)

She prefers classic pet names like “darling” or “dear.” She uses them sparingly but each time with a warmth that makes you feel cherished.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Jude loves to cuddle in private. She likes to be the big spoon, wrapping her arms around you protectively, holding you close to her chest.

D = Domestic (What’s it like living with them? Do they do their share of chores?)

Living with Sister Jude is structured and orderly, but not without a little fun, like middle of the kitchen dancing in the evening. She ensures that chores are done efficiently and believes in sharing responsibilities equally.

E = Easy (What is the easiest way to win their heart?)

The easiest way to win Jude’s heart is through acts of kindness and understanding. Show her you see beyond her tough exterior and appreciate her more vulnerable side when it peeks through the cracks.

F = Fun (Where do they take you for fun? Are they flirty?)

Jude enjoys simple, quiet pleasures. She might take you on serene walks or to a cozy spot for a quiet lunch. She’s can definitely be a flirt, but it’s usually conveyed in whispered innuendos and knowing looks.

G = Gifts (Are they a gift giver? What kind of gifts do they give?)

Jude is a thoughtful gift giver, favoring meaningful over materialistic gifts. She might give you something with sentimental value or a book she thinks you’d love.

H = History (What’s their relationship history like? Do they have any plans on settling down?)

She has a complicated history, and prefers to leave it all in the past. Despite seeming cold, she does have the desire to settle down with someone who understands her and offers her peace of mind.

I = I Love You (Who says I love you first?)

You’d have to. She isn’t about to break that wall of hers without knowing how you feel about her first.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Jude can get quite jealous, though she tries to hide it. Her jealousy manifests in subtle, possessive gestures and a protective demeanor.

K = Kids (How are they around children? Would they want some of their own?)

Jude is surprisingly good with children, having a nurturing side that emerges around them. She’d not really want her own however, too damaged to think she’d make a good mother, even at this point in her life.

L = Love Language (How do they show their love to you?)

Jude shows her love through acts of service and quality time. She takes care of you in small, considerate ways and cherishes every moment spent together, almost clutching onto it like she fears it’ll come to an end any moment.

M = Meet (How did they meet you?)

You met Jude through a volunteer program at Briarcliff, where you were struck by her commanding presence and the glimpse of vulnerability in her eyes.

N = Nurture (Are they good at taking care of you if you’re hurt/sick?)

Listen, she’ll ensure you get better, but she can get impatient as a caretaker. It’s better if you aren’t the whiny and demanding type when you’re sick, but she’ll do her best regardless. She just might keep her distance from you emotionally until you’re better. She doesn’t want to lash out.

O = Options (What are some things they would like in a partner?)

Jude values honesty, resilience, and compassion in a partner. She needs someone who understands her complexities and offers unconditional support in those moments where she wavers and doubts herself and her path.

P = Protective (How protective are they? How would they protect you?)

Jude is fiercely protective, both emotionally and physically. She would stand up to anyone who threatens you and make sure you’re safe and secure.

Q = Quirk (What small habit/feature/quirk do they have that you find especially endearing?)

You find her habit of absentmindedly humming old tunes while doing chores especially endearing. It shows a softer, somewhat nostalgic side to her that she rarely reveals.

R = Realization (When and what makes them realize they’re in love?)

Jude realizes she’s in love during a quiet evening when she catches herself lost in thought about you and the future you might have together. It’s a moment of clarity and peace for her.

S = Sentimental (Are they the sentimental type? What things hold sentimentality for them?)

Jude is quite sentimental. She treasures personal mementos like old letters, photographs, and any gifts you’ve given her that remind her of the love you share. But she’ll keep them all locked up and tucked away, only to view them in private since she’d prefer you not know just how sentimental she can be.

T = Try (In what ways do they support or help you?)

Jude supports you through her strength and wisdom. She helps you face challenges, offers sage advice, and is always there to listen and encourage you.

U = Unique (What’s something they’d only do for you?)

Jude would sing for you. Her reserved and stoic nature would lead you to believe that she wouldn’t like to sing, she has a beautiful voice and would serenade you in a rare, intimate moments.

V = Vacation (Where would they take you on vacation? What would you do?)

Jude would take you to a quiet, picturesque place like a cabin in the woods or a secluded beach. You’d spend your days relaxing, enjoying nature, and savoring each other’s company.

W = Wardrobe (What would they wear to impress you?)

Jude would dress elegantly, opting for classic, timeless pieces that highlight her natural beauty and strength. She’d choose a dress that makes her feel confident and alluring. And of course, it would most likely be red. She loves to dazzle in the color and the look in your eye always tells her you think it suits her as much as she thinks it does.

X = XOXO (How do they kiss?)

Jude’s kisses are intense and passionate, filled with emotion, longing and a bit of pent up lust. She kisses you in a way that occasionally makes your head spin and every one is memorable.

Y = Yes (How do you/they propose?)

It would be at home with her, no grand public displays, knowing she wouldn’t want that. You’d lay out your intentions of spending your life with her and she’d humbly accept your proposal, sealed with one of her softer kisses.

Z = Zzz (What are their sleep habits?)

Jude has a somewhat restless sleep pattern, often staying up late with her thoughts. However, when she’s with you, she finds peace and sleeps more soundly, often cuddling close for comfort.

For anon

Forever Tag: @baubeautyandthegeek, @ghostsunderstoodmysoul, @immyowndefender, @valencethefriendlychangeling, @crimsonwidow666, @rebelbossheart, @thedailyspiritualist, @orangeisnttheonlyfruit, @woman-simp, @aperol-with-izzy, @leonoralessoem, @ellepossum69, @lakita-fisher, @nclgsticore, @analuw, @luvlesavyy, @malfoyfeed, @aliciabrower, @bitchr-mkay, @sparrowspixie, @imaginationismyworldlypleasure, @og-kxsh-420

Jude Martin: @brienneseveruscalaway, @derry-n, @bluenystic-blog, @peggycarter-steverogers, @mars-rivers, @gothtrash6969, @callsigncrash, @somelonelywriter, @babygirlscout

[growthgoddess]

Titanic Teacher

Ms. Amelia Reynolds was an unassuming teacher at Westwood Elementary School.

She taught Math to a class of fourth-graders and loved her job. However, what no one knew was that Ms. Reynolds harbored a dark secret.

Years ago, she had been involved with a nuclear weapons program and was accidentally exposed to a lethal amount of radiation.

But instead of suffering from radiation sickness, her hair turned white and she grew into an enormous giantess. When she turns giant, she loses all sense of self and runs amok. She had struggled with this power for years, trying to keep it under control and live a normal life. She has already leveled two cities in the past and is now keeping a low profile in this rural town. That was why she became a teacher, to avoid drawing attention to herself.

But on that fateful day, her powers would be put to the test.

It started as a typical Monday morning at Westwood Elementary School. The students were settling into their classes, and Ms. Reynolds was beginning her lesson for the day.

Suddenly, she heard a loud noise from the hallway, followed by screams. She rushed to the door and saw a man with a high powered rifle approaching her class from the corner. Ms. Reynolds knew what she had to do.

"Everyone, stand behind me," she ordered her students, trying to keep her voice calm.

The shooter kicked down the classroom door and swept his firearm around the room. When he noticed the teacher protecting her students, he trained his gun at Ms. Reynolds.

She stood her ground, shielding her students from harm. The man pulled the trigger, and a bullet struck Ms. Reynolds square in the chest. The round went right through her and hit the wall behind her.

The students cried in fear and Ms. Reynolds hunched over in pain. But then something amazing happened. Her wound healed almost instantly, and she started sweating profusely.

Ms. Reynolds roared with an inhuman voice and the shooter was taken aback by her sudden reaction. The children also ran to the other corner of the room.

Suddenly, she began expanding. Her buttons tore off after their vain attempts to contain her modesty to her students. Her curves burgeoned beneath the tightening fabric. Runs and holes began appearing throughout her pantyhose as her legs lengthened and widened.

Some of the children covered their eyes upon the sight of their teacher's indecency. But Ms. Reynolds was seething in rage to care. Audible pops and tears could be heard from her shrinking attire, her high heels cracked under her increasing weight and her feet burst out of their confines.

With one last flex, her muscles grew exponentially faster and she outgrew her clothes in seconds, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Ms. Reynolds had become a berserk giantess, standing over 20 feet tall. Bending down just to fit in the classroom. She could feel the power surging through her, but she struggled to keep it under control.

"Close your eyes, children!" she commanded with whatever willpower she had left.

The shooter tried to fire, but the gun just clicked. He had to eject a jammed bullet from his firearm, the sound of the dropped bullet was enough to turn her heated attention back to the gunman.

With all her might, she tackled the man to the ground with her body. She grabbed his arm and crushed it with just two of her fingers so he would drop his weapon. She then proceeded to smash him into the ground with her fist, ending his rampage.

But Ms. Reynolds wasn't done yet.

It wasn't noticeable at first, but she was beginning to grow uncontrollably, her body expanding at an alarming rate.

She struggled to stay in control, knowing that if she lost it, she could cause untold destruction and harm her students. With every ounce of willpower, she forced herself through the tiny door of the room, causing spiderweb cracks to form around its frame.

She crawled through the shrinking hallways of the school, trying to minimize any destruction in the process.

Along the way, she encountered the two other shooters who attacked the school. They shot her with their weapons, and their rifle rounds dug in her skin, but did not penetrate too deply, it felt like being stung by a swarm of bees, which infuriated her even more.

She grabbed Lucas's locker, pulled it off its hinges, and threw it at them to stun the duo. She used this opportunity to leap at one of the men and crush him beneath her weight.

The other man saw what she did with his partner and began to run away in fear. But she was too big and too fast, she stretched out her arm and grabbed him by him by his abdomen and flung him across the hallway and through the school exit.

The force was strong enough the send him careening against the flagpole in front of the school.

He shook his head and snapped back to reality when he heard the sounds of glass shattering and metal tearing apart from inside the building.

Then her face slowly emerged from the school entrance, its doors not large enough to accommodate Ms. Reynold's true size that it disintegrates as every inch of her womanly curves passed through it.

Her eyes still filled with malice and rage, the shooter felt paralyzed, he did not know whether to feel awestruck at the goddess before him, or fear for the monster that has come to end his life.

Finally, Ms. Reynolds forcefully burst through the school doors and stood with all her glory. Her height easily twice that of the building she came out from.

As she lifted her foot to crush the man, her students came out to her, pleading at at their giantess teacher to give him another chance.

"Ms. Reynolds, don't do it!" they cried. "The police are already here to catch the bad men!"

Ms. Reynolds pulled her leg back and got a bit off balanced, she had to lean on the schools rooftop for support.

She covered her face to try to come back to her senses. She had to resist her animalistic urge to cause even more havoc.

As her students anxiously awaited their giant teacher's response, the gunman got up and tried to escape the scene, only to bump into a group of patrol cars which easily surrounded him.

"Ms. Reynolds, please come back to us." Said a little boy who came to her leg and hugged it. Suddenly, she smiled down at them, feeling proud of what she had overcome her alter ego.

She had also protected her students and stopped a potential massacre from happening to her beloved school. But now, her cover is once again blow, her minds raced as to what she will need to do again.

Suddenly, everyone turned their attention to a helicopter blaring nearby. It lands on top of the school and shuts down its engines.

Out comes a woman wearing a thick coat escorted by a couple of women in white suits. Ms. Reynolds scowls, thinking that she will be taken in now that she is revealed.

Her beloved students, however, shouts at the women in the roof. "Please don't take away Ms. Reynolds! She has always been kind to us!" A unison of children's voices could be heard below.

The woman takes out a megaphone and says "Relax, kids, shes not going anywhere! Amelia Reynolds, you're a hard woman to find. calm down, I have only come to offer you an opportunity to join our organization"

There was a brief silence from the crowd below, only to be broken by Ms. Reynolds' booming voice. "What kind of organization...?"

The woman smirks and takes her shades off. "The kind that fights GTS Crime. We are part of the Liberator Corps."

[keganexe]

Okay I’ve learned a cool trick well enough to share it now

So I’ve been trying to do a lot of like physical manipulation to make cool digital effects for ttrpgs so I wanna show folks how to go from like this

to this

Using a combo of physical and digital manipulation. You’ll need a printer, a scanner, and something to cut with; and then I used the Affinity Suite for digital (especially photo), but you can probably do some similar shit with Adobe

The big things in here are “fucking up text with the scanner” and “creating threshold maps for texture and to hide issues”

so here we go

Okay so you’re gonna need a scanner I’m so sorry, but just print out whatever text (or images! It works on images too!) you can as big as your scanner bed will allow. You can go smaller, but you’ll lose a lot of sick texture on the way, and we don’t wanna do that tbh

The short version of this tutorial is “now drag it funny as the scanner goes down the page” but I’m gonna explain longer how that works practically haha

So print it out, cut off the white space on the left and right of the text to make it easier to work with (and I did under as well, but that’s less important). On the back of the paper with a pencil, mark the lines where you want the text to drag. For me that was above the midline on the E, but below the bottom of the top line

Like roughly here?

Set your scanner at a decent DPI, but beware the higher the DPI the harder this gets to do, because the super slow moving scanner light thing really highlights any amount of shaky. For my scanner the sweetspot is like 400 for good texture, but you’re gonna fuck up a lot doing it tbh so trial and error.

As the scanner comes though, keep the light between those lines, and drag it and wiggle it around! Just try to keep a consistent speed and have fun. After a number of scans you’ll pull something like this, there is a weird grey bit I don’t love and it’s gonna fuck us up just a little, but I’m gonna go over how I dealt with it as well~

Pull it into Affinity! If you have Publisher open it here, even if we are planning to work in Photo mostly, because the Persona manager is a life-saver when you’re doing cross program work.

So I first cut out the text, you don’t need to be super exact, but you only want the white paper, and the black text, not the grey of the scanner bed.

I usually then slap this text into a new document, because cropping is for idiots

then lets hop over to the Photo Persona~

Duplicate the layer that is just the text, lock it, and hide the bottom layer because we’re gonna start destroying shit and we want old copies that aren’t fucked up. With your fresh layer, hop into Adjustments>Threshold at the bottom of the Layers Menu, and drag around the preset until the text looks how you like. This gets us cool texture, but also hides that weird grey blob on the page from where I squeeze the paper during the scan and fucked it up some. For me that’s around here, but obv ymmv

After doing this right click and rasterize your later

Now at the top of Affinity go into Filters > Colors > Erase White Paper

Where this leaves you might be perfect on it’s own! For me there are some areas I don’t love, so now we’re gonna texturize the whole thing. I circled the areas that I don’t love, but the tldr is I need to hide my sins where I had fucked up the scan some, and as a result have no texture

So if we zoom in on the gain some it is strongly vertical instead of just square

If your grain is a different shape you’ll wanna find different stock for this, but this looks a lot like denim to me? So I’m going into the Stock screen (View>Studios>Stock will bring it up if you don’t have it enabled already, but it just goes to Pexels and Pixabay to grab images for you is the tldr) and grabbing a high quality scan of some denim. You’ll wanna resize it so the fabric texture is around the same size as what’s here already. This might mean making it smaller than the whole page and that’s fine, for me I just duplicated it till I had enough to cover the whole image, but the tldr here is “cover the whole page in denim or concrete or whatever texture you’re using”

If you used multiple images group them, rasterize the entire group, tldr make it one big image. Afterwards hop back into the Threshold page, and try to replicate the grain pattern! You’re gonna slap it over the whole image so don’t worry about getting it perfect. You want the image to be mostly white, with black as a the textured bits, BUT if you can only get it to mostly black with good white texture? Totally fine, you’ll just want to inverse the image at the end (I personally find this way easier, but like ymmv) 

anyway for me we ended up here

Because it’s mostly black we are gonna want to Adjustments>Invert on this. Same as before now we want to rasterize the image, and go to Filter>Colors>Erase White Paper. Set the blending mode to Erase

This whole thing requires a lot of patience, and a lot of trial and error, but eventually you’ll land on something like this

We aren’t going for a ton of texture, just enough hide some of our mistakes along the way

Group the whole thing, duplicate it, lock and hide the original again

Now on one group go ahead and rasterize it again, slap some color under it (or idk a book cover? That’s what this is for) and you’re good to go!

Anyway hope this is helpful, I do a lot of threshold maps on stock photos to get cool texture so I can zoom through this pretty quick, but like it takes some time and effort!

[madaboutmunson]

The Drive-In Part 14

Part 1 | Part 13 | Part 15 | Links to all Parts | AO3 Link

Taglist: @2btheanswertothequestion @cr0w-culture @panicatthediaz @rhyswritesreadsandcries @weirdspaceowl @duraffinity

Not even two hours have passed since leaving Eddie at the drive-in before Steve is tearing up the road toward Family Video. He knew he was going way too fast, but he needed to speak to Robin immediately.

He'd got home, chucked down some aspirin, and went for a swim to clear his head. Every other lap, he'd turn his head to breathe and catch a glimpse of the pool loungers. Then his brain, like a TV with a bad signal, gave him flashes of the program. Eddies face lit up in a cool blue light. Eddie's hand outstretched to him. Eddie's lithe torso stretched back on the lounger in front of him.

He felt that feeling again, nervous. No, not just nervous. It was something else. He'd gotten so annoyed with himself, being unable to pinpoint this feeling and given up on the swim, headed for the shower again and returned downstairs to tidy up.

He'd caught a glimpse of the refrigerator and noticed a small plastic bag with a few pre-rolled joints stuck to it and a note.

'For emergency recovery only!! E'

Steve smiled and shook his head, and started to load the dishwasher. He checked in the oven. There was indeed another stack and a half of pancakes. Eddie was bad at measuring for someone who played a game that seemed to Steve like a glorified math problem. Too good to waste, Steve had thought and wrapped them up. 

Then trash bag in hand, he'd begun the mission of locating all the randomly placed beer cans, including the tower of them in the den.

Jesus, they'd drank so much last night. Steve could hold his drink, but there was much more to him than Eddie. How neither of them had been violently sick somewhere in the house was a miracle.

Steve cringed a little as a sudden memory of him throwing his arm around Eddie a few times permeated his brain. He shrugs it off. Eddie hadn't mentioned it. Lots of people do that when they're drunk. It was fine.

He had left the doors open to air out the rooms. He knew the maid could have done all this tomorrow, but he didn't want her to wade through all this trash and the thick smell of weed, tobacco and beer that had consumed the house.

He'd disposed of the cans and returned to the furniture that Eddie had tried to move back the best he could, but nothing was exactly where it should be. Once it had been rearranged to perfection, Steve went to assess the damage and honestly, there wasn't much. A bit of a shoe mark on the table that Steve easily wipes away and a little pile of ash by the stereo next to the box of mix tapes.

Steve clears away the ash, looks back at the tapes, and wonders...Did they invite girls round? Steve vaguely recalled dancing, so they must have. When his curiosity had gotten the better of him, he'd opened the tape deck to read the name. Jackie? No, surely not. The Disco girl? That had not ended well, and Steve doesn't remember seeing her at all.

Steve rewound the tape a little hoping that music might jog his memory, and it did. He remembered someone dancing up on the table, and he got that nervous feeling again. No, it wasn't just nervousness. It was something else as well. Steve had shut his eyes and let the music take him back to seeing an outline of a tall, slender girl dancing on the table. That's when that nervous feeling translated for him finally. He'd fallen for them. His stomach flipped at the recognition like a reward.

He got flashes of zoomed-in pictures in his mind. Her smile, one of her eyes with beautiful long eyelashes, a wave of her dark hair, he's holding her hands, and he could almost feel her wrapped up in his arms.

Maybe Jackie paired off with Eddie, and this was one of her friends? That had made much more sense. Steve had figured the girls had probably decided not to stay over. Eddie had probably freaked Jackie out and messed up Steve's chances with this mystery girl.

Is it possible to fall for someone so quickly? One night. Maybe this was it? Some kind of kismet love at first sight?

Steve grabbed a cushion from the sofa and gripped it to his chest. A lovesick sigh escaped his mouth as he had lain on the floor looking at the ceiling. His heart beat so hard against his sternum when the little snippets ran through his mind again. Who was she? Steve had to know.

Steve had contemplated calling Jackie or even finding out Eddie's number to see if anything had come back to him yet like it had for Steve.

Steve cursed at his memory. He rewound the tape, played the song again, shut his eyes, and willed his brain to remember.

In hindsight, Steve can't decide if it was fortunate or unfortunate that his memory had finally decided to give him a snippet.

The room was dark. His hand grabbed her jeans, he called her beautiful, and she spun around.

No!

No! No! That's not right. He thought, no, he prayed, his brain had got this mixed up. It didn't make any sense.

Then this small memory retrieval broke the dam, and Steve remembered everything. Ev-ery-thing!

And that is how he'd ended up breaking the speed limit on the way to Robin.

He screeches into the parking lot, stalks out of his car and bursts through the door.

Robin nearly jumps out of her skin as the door slams open, and she looks him up and down in alarm. She jumps out of her seat, shouting, "Everybody out! I've just had a call. There is a rabid wave of rats headed this way." Most people drop what they're doing and head out, pushing a sweating, heavy-breathing Steve out of the way. Robin walks up to the last remaining customer, sporting a walkman. She lifts up their headphones and says urgently, "Out! Now!"

As soon as the last person is ushered out. Robin flips the sign to closed and locks the door before running back behind the counter, ducking down and coming back up repeatedly, putting box after box of fireworks on top of it.

"So-so wh-what are are we dealing with here. Russians? Giant slimy meat beasts? Government agents?" she asks in a panicked voice.

"No! It's way worse than all of that," Steve says, waving his hands in front of him.

Robin ducks down again and puts a machete on the counter.

"Robin! What the hell?" Steve looks at her in horror.

"Well, you just never know?!" She shrugs.

"Unfortunately, none of this is going to help," Steve says, wiping the sweat from his forehead as his tone relaxes.

Robin's hands go to her waist, and she tilts her head, "Please don't tell me I've exposed my secret weapon collection, lost five customers and shut the store for another episode of Steve's girl problems?"

They stare at one another in silence for a while.

"Just listen..." Steve starts as Robin throws her hands in the air and groans in frustration, stomping to the door to flip the sign to open.

Steve immediately flips it back and follows her around the store, begging, "Robin, please, this is serious this time. I really need your help."

Robin looks at him, shuts her eyes and shakes her head before grabbing some tapes and starting to set them out, ignoring him and flipping the sign back to open.

Steve continues to follow her, flipping the sign back to closed, "Please, Robin. You're my only hope."

"Did you just use half a Star Wars quote on me?" She turns and examines his face, "You are desperate", she says in realisation.

"Yes! Yes, I am!" Steve shouts in exasperation, slamming the side of one of his hand into the palm of the other, causing pain to shoot through his knuckle, and his brain flashes back to punching Eddie's van.

Steve rubs his face with his hands before dragging them down it in frustration.

Robin's expression softens, "Alright then." Steve sighs with relief as Robin points a finger at him, "But just the highlights, alright? No gory details. I would like to be able to stomach some food at some point today."

Steve takes the tapes from her hands and dumps them on the nearest shelf before holding her hands and sitting her down in the chair behind the counter. Steve reaches into his pocket, pulls out a foil parcel and hands it to Robin, "Banana Pancakes", he says as he begins pacing left and right in front of her as she tucks into the food, watching him.

"Wow, these are good!" She says quietly to herself, and Steve just goes for it.

"Ok, so last night I went to the drive-in with Felicity..."

Robin rolls her eyes. She had a deep dislike for this girl in particular.

"Don't worry, she ended up leaving with her friends, ok? But I met someone else whilst I was there."

"Whilst you were still there? Is that a new record?" She laughs.

Steve huffs and thinks for a moment. He wanted to know. He wanted to see if it was the same or if he had misread this friendly interaction as something more, so he bends the truth. Talk about it like this was a girl.

"So me and this...girl are sitting in my car, then she leaves, has car trouble, and I go to help. Some guys are harassing her, and they run away when they see me. We talk, and she laughs. A lot. With me, not at me. So then I offer her a ride, home or mine. She says mine. We go to mine, we have the best time, like a two-person party, talking for hours, drinking, getting high, dancing, she danced on a table...for me...and that was...well..." Steve lets out a long exhale and gets lost in his own thoughts.

"Steve! Highlights!" Robin reminds him.

"Then there was flirting. I called her beautiful and pretty. She put me to bed and slept in a separate room, and this morning she made me banana pancakes...from scratch." Steve gestures at the pancakes Robin is eating: "I take her back to her car. On the way, we sing together, and you should hear her voice. It's all raspy and stuff." Lost in his memories again, Steve's eyes roll to the back of his head, and he grips his jacket collar with both hands. He takes a deep breath and looks back to his potential saviour.

Robin is blinking at Steve. She's probably processing, "So what's the problem?"

"The problem! The problem, Robin, is I don't know. I'm not sure if I like her that way or if it was a friendship thing like I had with you, and I'm reading it all wrong. I feel like it's real. Like, really, real. But then I'm wondering if it can be. How can it be? And...I can not emphasise this enough. I can not get this wrong, ok? It would be social standing ending to get this wrong."

"You're asking me to tell you if a girl I've never met is into you or not?" Robin asks incredulously.

"Yes! Yes, that is what I'm asking!" Steve says, slightly agitated, "Sorry, Rob, I'm not annoyed at you. I'm just...my brain is all messed up. I just met her, you know, and it feels like a big deal, but it can't be, right? It was one night."

"Well, did you kiss or anything like that?" Robin asks

"No, but there was flirty touching. She said some flirty things, I think, and some hand-holding, but from what I can remember, most of that was me."

Someone starts knocking on the door.

Still staring intently at Steve, Robin shouts, "We're closed!"

"I'd give it a maybe. I'm your friend, and I would dance on a table. I'd even dance on a table with you, but for you? No way. We hold hands. And sometimes people say flirty things to be funny. "

Steve sits on the floor, runs his hands through his hair, and looks back at her. He felt hopeless. Nothing was any clearer. He wanted to just spill his guts, but he was worried. Not worried that Robin would turn on him, that would never happen, but that once the truth left his mouth, it would become real.

"Oh, no...no...uh-uh...i know that face. There's something else. Is she married? Is she someone we know? Is it my Mom, Steve?!" Robin leaps out of her seat dramatically. 

"No, it's not that," Steve says miserably.

The knocking at the door was getting louder. Robin tries to block it out and focuses on Steve, "Then what is it? Are they on the run from the law? Are they in league with a supervillain? Are they a monster from the hell dimension?"

Steve reaches for Robin's hand that doesn't contain pancake, "Don't freak out, ok. "

"Ohhh, why did you say that? I know I'm definitely gonna freak out now, Steve!" Robin whines, taking another bite of pancake.

Steve bites the bullet. He has to know, and Robin is the only person he knows that could know. So he blurts it out, "What if I told you it wasn't....it wasn't a she?"

Robin's eyes frantically search Steve's as she nervously takes another bite of a pancake. Takes her time chewing it, not losing eye contact with him and then says, "Can you please be explicit in your words right now, Steve, because I think I know what you're saying, but I want to be absolutely one hundred per cent sure, that what I think you're saying, is what you're saying"

"What if I said it was a guy?" Steve says quietly and then tucks his lips back into his mouth nervously, waiting for Robin's assessment.

Robin's eyes go wide. She open's her mouth to speak but is interrupted by a pounding at the door.

"Hey! Don't think I can't see you in there!! I swear to Christ, if I get a late fee!!" An annoyed voice shouts through the door.

Both their heads turn quickly towards the voice.

Steve weakly smiles up at Robin from under the counter, points at the door and whispers, "That guy."

[larcenywrites]

Talk more about the whole Tony Stark and the couch/guest bedroom thing? Like when and how does he decide that he's gonna sleep there, and is it just for a day or like how long does it last? Would you ever send him to sleep on the couch? (if yes, under what circumstances, like, why would you send him to the couch? And for how long?) And how does he feel about getting kicked out, how does he react, how does he try to be accepted back into the bedroom?

Idk I kinda got carried away-

I’m sure it doesn’t happen very often aside from the fact that Tony does occasionally fall asleep on the couch, bathtub, office chair, snd of course in the lab (and maybe even on a table in the lab), whether it’s because he’s kept working through his exhaustion or because he’s sick or sometimes because he’s been drinking too much. I’m sure he’s even fallen asleep in a chaise lounge by the pool some nights! Probably even in or on a floaty in the pool!

But moving on, there’s some occasions where it’s not an accident :( or an innocent decision where he was just in the lab and he was too tired to even go upstairs, or on the nights he felt a bit insecure about that arc reactor and felt bad that it was so bright. Now, Tony is… a lot of things. A lot of difficult things… one of those things being that he’s difficult! He can be pissy, stubborn, snappy, sarcastic, passive-aggressive, and snarky, which means that when fights do happen, they can probably get out of control rather quickly when he’s feeling defensive and attacked, and that’s the only way he knows how to respond. It’s not entirely his fault, but he should also probably learn to grow out of it too, and that’s not anyone else’s fault. He’s definitely not as bad the older he gets, but pre iron man between becoming CEO and Afghanistan will probably be the hardest time to be in a relationship with him, and early stages of post iron man will also be difficult when you include his lack of self-preservation and erratic and dangerous new behavior. Oh, and he’s always right.

Pre-Iron Man, an argument could really be around anything and he might start acting out, especially when he’s so young and fiery and confused and depressed and a whole list of problems. He doesn’t like feeling controlled, so stop confronting him about the drinking and asking him to stop. He doesn’t like feeling like he’s in the wrong, so stop probing about the weapons program and making him think about what and who they’re being used on. He gets testy and flighty, and while you may think he’s just mad snd doesn’t want to see you when he doesn’t come to bed or find him getting blankets on the couch or settling in a nearby guest room, he just doesn’t want to confront you. Because you’re probably right, first of all, whatever it was about, and seeing you kinda makes him face whatever demons the conversation brought up :/ and he’s scared you’ll bring it up again :/ so, even tho it honestly sucks and maybe he’s a little scared of the dark because he’s never actually been in this room properly before now, he’s going to be dramatic and sleep in another room. Well, probably not much sleep. And he also doesn’t wanna face you because he does feel guilty, believe it or not. He’s sparing you from having to look at him! He’s giving you your own space and leave and quiet! At least, he tells himself that to feel like he’s doing something right, and something right by you. It typically won’t last for more than that night, and maybe two if he unintentionally falls asleep elsewhere, but while he may apologize, he’ll probably never say that you were right. Once he comes back from work the next day, probably really late if he can get away with it tbh (and otherwise he’s just super quiet and keeps to himself where he can) he’ll stalk his way into the bedroom and carefully climb back into bed. He does hate it when you’re mad at him, and may just try to act like nothing has happened and try to cuddle 🙄 And while that’s pretty toxic of him, sometimes it’s easier to go along with it and move on until next time :/ though, he might still say he’s sorry, at least? If you do bring it up again, try to do so pretty quietly and gently. He’ll still probably just say he’s sorry and try to move on, even though that’s not entirely the point. Now, if it’s a situation where the argument ended in him being pretty mean, and you definitely tell him that you don’t even wanna look at him and to fuck off somewhere else, he’ll definitely realize his mistake right then and there and try to fix it. Probably to no avail, however. Because when he gets mean he can definitely push it too far. Talking about how you’re being nosy, controlling, finding a problem in nothing. Oh, you’re concerned about the weapons program? You sure don’t have an issue with spending the money it brings in. And ya know, he can’t really blame you for kicking him out. He’ll stutter your name and struggle to find anything to say but maybe he’s just stalling time. He’ll still feel shitty when he’s lying wherever he’s gone alone, but the difference is that now he’s kinda holding a grudge because you kicked him out! But he probably won’t last the night :( he’s restless and anxious and guilty (as he should be!) and he’s really gotta get it off his chest (as if he’s the victim too!). He’ll trudge in rather loudly and stand over you and say your name until you wake up, and that probably has you even grumpier now… but he will apologize and even admit you were right. He gets carried away, and his aggressive defensiveness isn’t exactly his fault, but that also doesn’t exactly excuse it either. He does try to do more of the things he probably used to do more often, like bouquets with promises of love written on them or spending more time upstairs. And he really wouldn’t blame you if you needed a break from him at this point, and maybe it would even be a good idea, but he’s really not sure if he could take it right now :( of course. He’s not always like this! In fact, it is probably not that often! But maybe that’s what makes it so much worse when it does happen.

Though, when he’s older and closer to that momentous trip overseas, still just a businessman, he’s definitely not going to be as bad. But just as he seems to be getting better, of course now there’s whole new problems. Those early stages of being a superhero will bring plenty of strife, and bring back plenty of that stress-induced defensiveness that’s meant to be his protective barrier for a few minutes that causes more harm than good. He’s being reckless! He’s being obsessive! Isn’t this a little crazy? It’s stressing you out more than anything, and he’s not really paying any mind or to his health, his property, his life, you! And he never has a proper answer, just more excuses and combative words. He’ll just stay down here in the lab for your sake. He’ll keep working on it and prove it’s fine! It’s going to help everyone! You, him, the world! Wasn’t that what he was supposed to do? He even shut down the weapons program! Wasn’t that what you wanted? Again, he’s confused and frustrated, and now he hurts everywhere— can’t you cut him some slack?! Everyone’s a victim here tbh, so it’ll probably end with you both apologizing. You may not understand fully yet as to why, but obviously this whole thing means a lot to him, but also he means a lot to you! He probably been avoiding you down in this lab for days, and now he’s just tired :( just take him to bed. Tony’s been through way too much by now, and you’ve both been through a lot together, so there’s probably not going to be many more escalating fights after this, and definitely no kicking him out. It would really take a toll of him, and now there’s no telling what he’ll do out there with an unclear head and those feelings he hates so much. Besides, there are definitely better ways to handle these things, especially when the problem is not longer his pettiness. If anything you’ll be begging him to come to bed! Which may still result in an argument, but something will sort of suddenly changed? It’s not like it used to be. In fact, it’s probably almost a little sad. It’s still the same bouquets with love notes and warm baths, but it’s… different. And unfortunately, it may have taken a near-death experience to get him to finally mellow out.

But from here and on, he definitely learns to be more communicative. If something is wrong, it finally gets talked about. It’s still not very easy for him to find words, nor is it easy for him to admit he’s wrong, but he’ll do it! He’s worked on a lot of things by now, and has more symbolically moved on from things, such as finally removing the arc reactor. He definitely doesn’t purposely hide anymore! And he’s learned to control his temper and bite his tongue— with you, at least 😅

[autobot2001]

I'll Take Care of You

Author: Autobot2001 Genre: Fanfiction Fandom: Transformers Rating: E Warning: None pairing: Drift X Jamie (OC) Description: Drift taking care of Jamie who has a cold.

@theocxcanonweek day 4; caring for one another

With Crosshairs, Lightning, and the terror twins on a mission, Drift and Jamie are staying at their friends Cade and Vivian’s house in Texas. They dislike going unless invited. Drift didn’t expect Vivian to propose staying at the house while the others went on the mission.

After three great days, Jamie woke up unwell this morning. Drift watches her try to get warm under the blankets. He already knows Jamie has a terrible cold yet again. “Twice this winter,” he jokes. “Shut up.” “I’m going to get the thermometer.” Jamie knows Drift worries she might have the flu. They came from the N.E.S.T. base in DC. Whether Jamie has a cold or the flu, the two know she got it from a soldier. Unless there’s an Autobot who’s waking up feeling sick today and might not pleased Ratchet programmed the holoforms to allow Autobots to get sick.

“As I thought, a terrible cold again with a 102° fever. I want you to eat before I give you medicine. I’ll go make toast.”

Drift knew the silver human-sized Cybertronian, Cogman would insist on making the soup Drift does when Jamie is sick. “I don’t care if I’m overreacting, but making the soup takes a while and I don’t think we should leave Jamie alone for long, even if she is sick,” Cogman argues. Drift understands how worried Cogman is about Jamie, everyone is. Drift knows he’d be worrying about leaving Jamie alone if he was making the soup. Drift makes tea and breakfast.

Drift does his best to make Jamie comfortable while sitting up to eat breakfast. He kept it simple. Making one bowl of scrambled eggs and three pieces of toast. Knowing getting Jamie to eat one piece and some eggs will be difficult. With the focus on getting Jamie to eat, Drift feeds Jamie eggs. Relieved she’s not pushing his hand away until he gets a few forkfuls of egg in her mouth. “Ok, that should be enough.” Drift gets the cold medicine and gives it to Jamie before finishing the eggs and three pieces of toast. Jamie gets comfortable to go back to sleep, which results in Drift looking at her back. Drift would rather Jamie wasn’t sleeping on her right side in case she needed to throw up. Uncertain if she’d realize there’s a trash bin by the bed. He finishes his breakfast and moves the bin before taking care of the dishes. Jamie didn’t have any tea, so it’s a second cup for him.

Drift returns to the room, and retrieves the cup of tea. He sits on the rocking chair out on the balcony. He finds the view of the field leading to the woods relaxing along with the rocking chair.

Drift didn’t realize how long he had been sitting on the rocking chair until Jamie walked outside with a blanket wrapped around her. Indicating he had been outside for at least two hours. He finished the tea. Drift puts the cup on the floor and picks Jamie up. She coughs before leaning on Drift who lets Jamie stay outside here for a while. Even though Jamie will be asleep for most of the duration of her cold, Drift wishes Crosshairs wasn’t part of the mission, but he knows the team of Autobots needed Crosshairs’ skills as a sniper. He doubted Crosshairs’ skills as a paratrooper were needed, as the skill hasn’t been needed on Earth. Drift knows Crosshairs misses paratrooping. Drift suspects Jamie misses Crosshairs. The three are like a family — or as odd as it is, a family within a family with how close the Autobots and some humans are. He decides twenty minutes is enough outside time for Jamie. He knows Cogman will have a fire going in the living room. He carries Jamie downstairs to the living room.

Drift gets comfortable on the lounge part of the sectional with Jamie lying on him. Jamie feels the warmth of the fire and goes back to sleep. Drift turns on the TV, not looking to move Jamie off him. He knows it’s better to avoid him getting sick, but he’ll be careful to wash his hands. He knows Jamie would take care of him if she had to.

Jamie slept until four, which doesn’t concern Drift. He figured the medicine would have worn off, but he dislikes how awful Jamie feels. Getting her to eat soup is out of the question, but he worries about her throwing up if she doesn’t eat first. Jamie is coughing while trying to clear out her nose. Fearing Jamie’s potential vomiting, Cogman hastily grabs a nearby trash bin. He puts it by the sectional. Once she thinks she’s done coughing, Jamie lies back down under the blanket. “No,” she says, seeing Drift sitting on his knees by the sectional. Drift sighs and rubs Jamie’s back. He wants her to have some soup before giving her medicine, but it appears out of the question. He has an idea.

After eating some soup for dinner, Drift takes Jamie back upstairs to the bedroom.

He lies her on the bed but waits to cover her with the rest of the blankets. Then he retrieves the syringes full of hot chicken broth, but not too hot to consume from his subspace. Hoping to get Jamie to drink the two sixty milliliter syringes of broth. He figured this would be easier than a cup. He knows this isn’t much, but likely the best he’ll get Jamie to have. Drift gets the medicine ready to give after Jamie finishes with the broth. Jamie disapproves of Drift’s intentions. All she wants is the medicine and to sleep. Drift gets the pillows on the bed and positions them behind Jamie to sit her up. Jamie drinks the broth from the syringes. “Good, now you can have the medicine,” Drift praises. Jamie knows Drift wouldn’t refuse to give her medicine if she didn’t have the broth. Drift ensures Jamie is comfortable. With Jamie asleep, Drift cleans the syringes and cup and washes his hands. He checks Jamie’s temperature, still 102°. He knows it’s too soon for Jamie’s temperature to go down. He’s relieved it’s not going up. It’s bad enough Jamie has a seldom occurring fever when sick with a cold.

Drift gazes at the stars from the rocking chair for a while. He then showers and goes to sleep. He sleeps on Crosshairs’ bed as a precaution.

Drift watches Jamie before he gets out of bed. She stands next to the bed with his water bottle. Drift smiles, believing this is Jamie’s idea of taking care of him. At least while she’s still sick. He knows how unwell she feels now that the medication has worn off. Though Cogman might handle the cooking, Drift knows Jamie would take care of him. Drift gets out of bed to put Jamie back in bed. After taking Jamie’s temperature — which remains at 102° — Drift makes breakfast. Aware that Jamie won’t want to eat and the days will be a repeat of yesterday until Jamie gets over her cold. Drift doesn’t mind taking care of the femme he loves.

[polishedforsurvival]

in levi's modern au, in terms of career i've always had him start off as a police officer, going from that to k-9 officer specifically, before getting sick of the corruption and leaving the force, taking his german shepherd with him (idk how realistic that is, i've read of retiring officers sometimes being able to have their k9 partner retire with them, this is a bit different but w/e it's rp right lol) and from there becoming a kickboxing/self-defense instructor. it's been that ever since i since i first came up with his au

recently though i've liked the idea of him working with at-risk youth in some way, it seems fitting for him especially since he himself could've easily been one growing up

so part of me's thinking to changing it just slightly. he was still a cop for a while, but instead of switching to the k-9 unit, becomes a juvenile probation officer for a bit instead, and gunner (his german shepherd) is just a regular pet dog lol. he still eventually leaves the whole realm of law enforcement to become an instructor, but maybe volunteers occasionally at youth programs for at-risk kids

or maybe we toss out the whole probation officer idea and have him go straight from cop to gym guy who volunteers lol

i just really like the idea of him working with troubled kids in some way. he probably sees his younger self in some of them.

[innytoes]

I got a little carried away for the charity toy drive and you’re the very overwhelmed but happy volunteer for Sunset Skater, please?

The day had been bad so far. Hell, the week had been bad so far. It was getting harder and harder to keep a cheerful smile on his face. They'd pulled out all the stops earlier in the day (and by that he meant some sick-ass yoyo tricks and juggling), but a lot of people had walked away once they got a better look at his table. One lady had told them he should be ashamed of himself.

He was thinking maybe he should just give up. He could get the money some other way. Maybe even crawl back to Caleb and admit they did need their trust fund after all. Not for him, but he couldn't bare the thought of any of the kids not getting presents this year.

Then, he heard it.

"Hang on guys, Alex is being drawn to a rainbow flag like a gay moth to a fabulous flame!" a guy in a leather jacket called over his shoulder, following a cute boy in a hoodie and a fanny pack.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say that," the guy complained, even though he was heading right Willie's way.

"Hi!" he said in their most perky volunteer voice. "I'm here on behalf of the Ortega Home for LGBTQ Youths, for our charity toy drive!"

"Oh my god it's one of those wish trees!" the guy in the leather jacket said, bouncing up to the tree next to the table. "I've always wanted to do one of these! And now we have like, money!" He looked so excited, it was adorable. At the last second though, he pulled his hand back. Oh no. Not again.

But the guy just turned to them and said, shyly: "Can I?"

"Yeah, totally!" Willie said. "We have wishes from kids of various ages in the tree."

"There's so many of them," Fanny Pack said. "Are the ones that have already been filled still up there?"

The perky volunteer voice slipped. "I'm afraid not. A lot of people see the flag, or read the cards, and suddenly the giving spirit leaves them." Perhaps this was the wrong mall to set up in, or something. But it was the only one he'd been able to get a permit for. The blonde guy looked sad, then squared his shoulders.

"We'll take five," he said, before turning and whistling. Out of nowhere, three other people popped up. "Each."

"To start," Leather Jacket said happily, already plucking cards out of the tree. "Oooh, this one is mine." He held up a card decorated in little trans and heart stickers. "B, age seven, wants a puppy and sparkly nail polish. Same!"

"What are we doing?" A guy with very impressive biceps said. "I thought we were going to the music store?"

"Wish tree," Fanny Pack said. "Queer wish tree."

With a tiny pout, Biceps muttered how he guessed the music store could wait.

"This one is for Alex," Leather Jacket declared. "Because it's written in sparkly pink gel pen." He passed it over. Fanny Pack, or Alex, read the card.

"No, this one is for Luke," he said. "K, 17, wants a guitar, a record player, and Julie and the Phantom's new LP." Biceps pretty much vibrated out of his skin, snatching up the card and practically running over to where the music store was. Willie didn't even have a chance to explain they didn't need to purchase everything on the card.

"Aaaand we've lost Luke to the music store," the exceptionally pretty person in red suspenders said. They were wearing a pleated leather skirt and torn leggings and amazing eyeliner and Willie kind of wanted to steal their entire look.

"If we find any more music related cards, I'll take them over to him later," the girl said, joining Leather Jacket at the tree. "This one's for you, Bobby. E, 15, nonbinary, wants a pretty, flowy skirt size 8, some dark lipstick, and a cool necklace."

"Bobby knows what's cool," Leather Jacket agreed.

They picked over the tree, more and more cards being handed out among the friend group. They all introduced themselves, asking Willie about the charity. He told them about Ortega House, about the support groups they had, the art therapy program he volunteered at, and the kids who lived there permanently after being kicked out for being, well, not-cis, not-straight.

Julie grabbed her phone and started texting someone named Flynn for a 'consult on the best make-up for dark skin tones' for J, 16. She had two neat stacks of cards on the table, a few with make-up and clothing requests, and a few music related ones for Luke.

Bobby ('he, they, she, please' she said when she noticed Willie’s he/they name sticker) got all the 'cool and edgy teen' cards, according to the others, and Alex grabbed a few that requested books and art supplies. Reggie ended up picking every single card for kids under ten, before running off to the toy store and shouting at them he'd 'be right back!'

"It's because he's never grown up," Alex said fondly.

"It's because he finally has an excuse to sneak in that new Star Wars Lego Set while we're not watching," Bobby grumbled.

One by one, the people left, and he ended up sitting next to the nearly empty tree, texting Kenny, Dante, and Fuego about what had just happened.There were a lot of emojis and exclamation points.

Alex was the first to arrive back. He had several bags filled with books, along with two rolls of... sparkly unicorn wrapping paper. He looked embarrassed. "You don't have to use it," he said. "I just saw it and thought it would be nice. I still need to hit up the art store for the rest, but..."

"This is amazing," Willie said. "You guys are... I mean... I thought we wouldn't be able to do it, that I'd failed, and you and your friends totally saved the day. Thank you."

Alex flushed rather prettily, and gave a sweet smile. "I wish I'd had a place like Ortega House when I came out," he told Willie. "I think we all do, probably." He made an exasperated face. "And Luke will take any excuse to spend more time in the music store."

"Your boyfriend?" Willie asked, because he was stupid, because they couldn't not, because he'd rather know now than before he made a fool out of themselves in front of this cute guy by slipping him their number and never getting called.

"One of them," Alex said, before looking flustered and hurrying off to the art store.

Oh. Well, maybe that meant he still had a shot.

Julie was back next, along with another girl, the infamous Flynn. She started grilling him about the Ortega House social media presence almost immediately, satisfied when he gave her a little pamphlet with all their information on the back. She disappeared off to the food court, declaring she would be back later with donuts.

"I'm going to go bring Luke his other cards now, before he buys out the entire store to give to K, 17," Julie said, amused, and left.

Reggie was the next person to arrive back, carrying so many bags he was waddling slightly.

"I may have gone a little overboard," he admitted. "But there was so much cool stuff, and really, who doesn't want a colour-changing dinosaur, huh?" He showed Willie the box. "Also, can I hide this Lego set under your table so the others don’t see it?"

Willie grinned, lifting up the table cloth and miming zipping his lips when Reggie slid the Star Wars Lego set under it. Reggie happily flopped down in the chair next to him and started helping him sort out the gifts, arranging them on the table behind him by the little cards. They chatted, and Reggie told him all about the others, about how they lived together, how they were in a band.

Willie subtly tried to figure out who was dating who, and if he maybe had a shot with Alex (or honestly, any of them). Reggie just happily rattled off a bunch of names. “Sometimes Alex says we need some kind of flow chart,” he said, gently placing the floppy stuffed dog on top of a pile. “But I don’t think it’s too hard to remember.”

“That’s because you’re literally dating everyone, Reginald,” Bobby said as they came back to the table, dropping her bags on the table. Reggie beamed, leaning over to bat his eyes at her. “These are all sorted by card, the card’s in the bag with the items. Now where’s the box?”

“I have no idea what you mean,” Reggie said, trying and failing to look not look guilty.

“The Lego Star Wars Set,” Bobby said, leaning over and giving Reggie a Look. He didn’t even flinch when Reggie leaned over to kiss his forehead. “I know you have it.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny,” Reggie said. “Oh look there’s Luke and Julie!” He pointed excitedly, and when Bobby looked away, nudged the box a little further under the table.

Luke, and Julie, who were not just carrying bags, but had stolen two shopping carts from a nearby store. There was a hot pink electric guitar (he was guessing for Katie), an amp, thee acoustic guitars, a keyboard with stand, a flute, a whole stack of ‘for beginners’ books, two record players, a radio slash CD player, and more CDs and records than Willie knew what to do with.

“Oh my god,” Bobby whispered. “I knew we should have sent Alex with him to keep him in check.”

“I dunno, I think this is exactly what these kids deserve,” Alex said happily, grinning when Bobby jumped and then punched him in the shoulder. He deposited the three large bags of art supplies on the table (sketchbooks and paints and brushes and the Good coloured pencils and oh god those were so expensive, these people were insane or angels or both.)

“I got some extra stuff,” Luke said. “You know, just some music I thought the kids would like, based on what they were asking for.” Next to him, Julie rolled her eyes.

“This is amazing,” Willie whispered. He wasn’t sure if anyone heard him, though, because Luke started to accost Alex, who pushed him away and fished a bunch of markers out of his fanny back with a ‘you could just ask!’

Then, he spread out a bunch of records on the table and started... defacing each one? No, not defacing. Signing them with a blue marker. Alex handed out the other markers (red for Reggie, white for Bobby, purple for Julie, and he kept a pink one for himself) and followed suit. Willie squinted at the records.

“Oh,” he managed. “You’re Julie and the Phantoms.”

“Tell your friends!” Reggie chirped, throwing him a wink.

“If Luke got too many and not all the kids are interested, a fully signed record can net your charity about 500 bucks on eBay, last I checked,” Bobby said. “Just space them out a little.”

“Also,” Julie said, checking her phone. “Flynn posted the links to your online donation drive on our socials, and she’ll be back with donuts and to take some pictures of us all, it’ll be good publicity for you.”

Oh my god Katie was going to flip. Kenny was going to flip.

“Oooh, I want sprinkles,” Reggie said. “Tell her I want sprinkles!”

“She knows, baby.”

“I just...” Willie said. How was any of this happening? He knows he should be like, channeling his inner Caleb, glad-handing and maybe securing a yearly donation, or a charity concert, or a freaking meet-and-greet with the kids. But they were just a lowly art therapist and honestly they were about to start crying and...

“Hey, we’re sorry,” Alex said. “We should have asked first.”

“No it’s... this is perfect.” They wiped at their eyes with a sleeve furiously. “This is all so perfect, the kids are going to be so happy.”

“You know,” Reggie said. “If you give Alex your number, we could maybe keep in touch. Hear what the kids thought.”

“Maybe set up a charity concert or something!” Luke piped up.

“And a date,” Bobby said, smirking when Alex went as pink as his hoodie.

“Really?” Willie whispered, awed.

At the end of the day, he sent out several texts. One in the Volunteer group chat, of him and the piles and piles of donations, and a request to please come help him get this all back to Ortega House. One to Kenny about the whole ‘so I met a famous band and they posted the charity to their socials, you’re welcome and also call this nice lady called Flynn to discuss a charity concert’ and one to Dante and Fuego in all caps that just said I’M GOING ON A DATE WITH THREE OR MAYBE FOUR PEOPLE and seventeen different emojis.