#foster the people headers

[soldier-requests]

blog tag post 😳. under the cut are descriptions of what each tag is!

promotional tag | hey i don't work here! tom cardy

inbox check | shalala! moses gunn collective

blog posts | the masochism tango! tom lehrer

sgt.resources

request declined | that's life! frank sinatra

request accepted | applause! lady gaga

request pending | i can't wait! nu shooz

The Ranting Soldier | (not a request)

doodles | i want to hold your hand! the beatles

moodboards | eighth wonder! lemon demon

stimboards | somebody's watching me! rockwell

playlists | groove is in the heart! deee-lite

neopronouns | see you again! tyler the creator

names | figure it out! blu detiger

writing | i love my friends! foster the people

headers | plastic beach! gorillaz

icons | miku! hatsune miku

here are the descriptions for the tags and requests!

promotional tag: what i use when i reblog posts for other blogs to promote them! usually will be reblogs of other request blogs. feel free to tag me in your own post! i don't mind :].

inbox check: when someone sends me an ask requesting an inbox check, i'll tell them what's in my inbox at that moment! i also will update that post when i complete something on the list :D.

blog posts: important posts about this blog! usually concerning changes i make to the blog, and questions about my requests / rules and stuff!

request declined: i use this tag when i decline someone's request.

sgt.resources: miscellaneous stuff i make! will usually be transparent images or extra stuff i don't end up using.

request accepted: i use this tag when i accept someone's request.

request pending: i use this tag when someone's request is in the works! usually because i have a question about something in the ask.

The Ranting Soldier: like the tag says, this tag isn't related to requests or the blog. it's just my talking tag LOL.

doodles / small drawings: i do these for all sources! if it looks like i don't know your source, give me a picture or even your own drawing! i don't mind if you think it sucks, because something is better than nothing, which sounds super cheesy but it's true!! also, you can also ask for me to clean up the sketch and/or color it too. i use ibis paint!

moodboards: nine pictures, 3 to each row, pretty simple! i experiment sometimes, so moodboards aren't exactly always 100% squares. please tell me if you'd like me to experiment more or less!!

stimboards: nine gifs, 3 to each row. they'll be separate gifs. can be character related, but it doesn't have to be. just give me some themes or even examples and i'll scrounge something up.

also! please give me themes. just because i know a source doesn't mean i know what you want.

playlists: i won't literally make a playlist for you on an app or website, i'll just suggest songs for you! giving me examples of songs you like is an alternative to giving me song genres :].

neopronoun suggestions: a list of pronoun suggestions! please ask for themes! say you like oranges, or the color purple, or cats, or would rather have feminine or masculine or androgynous pronouns! you could also give examples of what you like, letters to start or end with, a number of syllables, etc. ALSO! if you'd like emoji pronouns to be included or for the request to only be emoji pronouns, please tell me! :]

name suggestions: a list of name suggestions! please ask for themes! say you like oranges, or the color purple, or cats, or would rather have feminine or masculine or androgynous names! you could also give examples of what you like, letters to start or end with, a number of syllables, etc.

writing: ONLY for familiar sources, which should be linked somewhere on this post :]. generally these end up being 300 or less words if i had to guess. also, i would appreciate being given pronouns or alternate names for people you want me to write for. otherwise i'm likely going to either attempt to leave pronouns and names out, or use the common ones!

headers: i will do up to 3 at once, usually. a picture frame that will be able to fit into your tumblr header! these probably won't turn into something specific. example post here (link).

icons: i will do up to 4 at once, usually. a picture that will be able to fit into your tumblr profile picture! please specify if you would like a circle, square or other shape! otherwise, these probably won't turn into something specific. example post here (link).

[nyallace]

Hey everybody! You might know already, but my account was terminated briefly last night. I never received any word from staff about it and certainly didn’t get any notification when I got it back.

Basically, I was on call with my friends and we were chilling, doing activities together, and I was working on a banner/logo for my art account. When I finished, I went to update my header around midnight CST. Tumblr told me I was logged out, so I was afraid maybe I got hacked? I forgot I had 2FA on, so it wasn’t that. I checked my main blog url and it said I didn’t exist. I asked my friends in call if they could see me at all and if Tumblr was working normally for them. They could not and it was. When I logged back in, I was very rudely greeted by the “Your account has been terminated.” message (still using the old Tumblr colors/UI design too lol). I did not get an email about my termination. I sent them an email shortly after, around 12:30am my time. I checked in the afternoon today on my phone by opening the app to see everything was back to normal. Of course, I did not receive an email notifying me of this.

I demand an explanation as to why I was terminated without any notice or reason. This is completely out of line for a website in the modern age to not warm its userbase about any indiscretions. You have been under fire as of recent for many terminations that people consider false and unjustified. The least you could do is tell the people who lose years of their work and the community they have fostered WHY and WHEN this is happening.

I have been a faithful Tumblr user for almost fifteen years. I have met many wonderful people through this website and learned so much about myself and the world around me. Despite it all, I love Tumblr. I do. I want to continue to love Tumblr, but it is clear through years of witnessing mistreatment that Tumblr does not love its community.

Something has to change. I understand that this website has been steadily depreciating in value for years now, but treating your dedicated userbase like this is not going to increase profitability. It’s just not.

@staff @support @wip @changes @wordpress

EDIT: This is safe to reblog and I encourage it!

[little-diable]

The Loves of Paris and Helen - Spencer Reid (smut)

Oh boy, it’s been a hot minute huh? Thanks to @deathofpeaceofmind I got into writing this fic. Please like and reblog if you enjoyed reading this, your comments keep us writers motivated! Enjoy my loves. xxx

Summary: Spencer tells the reader that he’d never make the first move, since he’s too scared of rejection, but maybe the reader’s problem of speaking before thinking finally gives Spencer the much needed push to confess his feelings.

Warnings: 18+, smut, unprotected piv, choking, praise, soft!dom!Spencer, friends to lovers

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader

header by @deathofpeaceofmind (2k words)

The city was busy, filled with people brushing past Spencer and (y/n), forcing them apart every few seconds. Annoyance was rushing through their systems, filling their veins like caffeine after drowning one too many cups of coffee. All Spencer wanted to do was be close to (y/n) while he read to her the notes he took at the screening of an old movie he watched yesterday, while all (y/n) wanted to do was feel him close as his voice lulled her along. 

“So, it’s a love story basically, right?” (Y/n)’s voice was swallowed by the sounds of the metro, forcing Spencer to move even closer. Their hands brushed every few seconds, forcing their hearts to skip beats, and their lungs to ache for more air. Their relationship was anything but easy, even though both were close - probably closer than other friends they knew - and yet neither of them dared to act on their feelings. 

“Yes!” Spencer kept rambling on, words (y/n) could barely focus on as she got lost in her daydream. Deep down she wanted nothing more than to pull him closer, to choose him as her lover just like Paris had chosen Helena, and yet (y/n) knew that crossing the line between friendship and a loving relationship would end just like Judgement of Paris had, in a war as brutal as the Trojan one. 

“But why was he scared to make the first move? It sounds like her crush on him was quite obvious.” A chuckle rippled through (y/n) as her mind started to process the words rolling off her tongue, wondering how a man as smart as Spencer hadn’t picked up on the love she fostered for him yet. (Y/n) could still remember the first time she had begun to realise her feelings for the genius, how she had gotten lost in the story he spilled, heart skipping beats at the facts he shared with her like he was telling secrets to the night. 

“Uhm, I guess he was scared of rejection? I don’t think I’d ever make the first move to be honest.” For the first time in hours Spencer found himself stumbling over his words, fumbling with the notebook he now pushed back into his bag before stepping into the approaching metro. The wagon was filled with people, pushing Spencer and (y/n) closer together, leaving both wondering if the other could pick up on their racing heartbeats. 

„What? But why? As if you’d have to worry about rejection. Nobody would ever reject you, I for sure wouldn’t.“ For a few seconds neither (y/n) nor Spencer dared to speak up, eyes locked in an intense staring contest as they began to realise the weight of the words she had just spoken. She tried to clear her throat, forced to avert her gaze as a few people pushed past her, tugging her against Spencer’s chest. His hand found the small of her back, pressing her against him with a strong hold, forcing heat to arise in her system as if he was trying to burn her body. 

No further words were spoken between the friends, not as they stepped out of the metro, not as they walked to (y/n)‘s apartment. It was some kind of routine between the two, Spencer would always accompany (y/n) on the walk back to her apartment, located only a few streets down from his. With their hearts still racing on, and their hands clinging to the straps of their bags, the two came to a halt in front of the house (y/n) lived in, eyes finding back to one another. 

“Listen, Spence, I’m sorry for saying that, I didn’t want to make you feel uncomf-,” the rest of the sentence was swallowed by Spencer’s mouth, lips finding hers. It took (y/n) a second to snap into motion, not expecting him to kiss her with this much urgency, like a starving man clinging to any food he could find. 

“You didn’t make me feel uncomfortable, I should apologise for talking this long to realise that you felt the same.” His breathless words were pushed past his slightly swollen lips, making a smile tug on (y/n)’s swollen ones. Both looked at one another with something unfamiliar swimming in their pupils, driven by the need to feel one another’s body. Her hand found his, fingers interlaced to pull him into the house and up to her apartment.

The second their bags found their way to the ground of her dark apartment, their lips found back together, sharing another passionate kiss. Spencer’s hands found their way to her waist, keeping her close as if he had touched her like this numerous times, sharing one intimate gesture after another. Both couldn’t swallow down the nervousness flushing through their veins, and yet neither of them dared to let go, chasing the highs they had been dreaming of for years. 

“Are you sure you want this? I don’t want to pressure you.” Spencer’s voice was small, a hushed whisper that rang in her ears louder than any fired gunshot she had picked up on before. Her lust drunken pupils searched his, giving her a few seconds before she spoke up.

“You’re not pressuring me, Spence, I want this. Take me to my bedroom.” He guided her through the dark apartment, knowing the layout of the rooms by heart as if he was guiding her through his own home. As soon as they stumbled into her bedroom, he had her pinned against the door, slender fingers undoing the buttons of her blouse as he kissed his way down her throat. Her small moans rang in his ears, forcing a smirk to widen on his lips as he kept undressing her. 

“I want to hear you, sweetheart, don’t hold back.” She could only nod, eyes squeezed shut, teeth buried in her lip as Spencer sucked on the spot that shot tingles down her spine, leaving (y/n) to arch into his chest. Her blouse fell to the ground, followed by the bra he undid moments later. “Fuck, you’re so pretty, prettier than any artwork I’ve got burned into my memory.”

“Bed, please.” Spencer couldn’t help but chuckle at the desperate whispers leaving her, taken by the heat his praises left her drowning in. His hands found her breasts, kneading her skin as he towered over her. (Y/n) had no control over her body, forced to rely on her instincts as she tugged on the fabric of his sweater, watching Spencer part from her to pull his sweater and shirt over his head. Her fingers ached to comb through his locks, wanting to tug on the roots as he buried himself deep inside of her. 

“Tell me, what do you want?” She struggled to put her thoughts into words, eyes threatening to roll back as his hand found her jaw, thumb tracing the marks her teeth had left on her lower lip. “Speak up, sweetheart.”

“I,” a sigh left her as Spencer brushed his clothed bulge against her core, leaving her aching for more. “I need to feel you, all of you.”

A satisfied hum left Spencer as he kissed his way down to her stomach, fingers working on her trousers. She had soaked her panties, making Spencer chuckle in delight as he pulled the fabric down her legs, leaving her bare like an ancient statue crafted for his eyes only. His own masterpiece. His most prized possession. He’d never let her go.

“Look at you, you’re dripping baby, so needy for me.” Spencer fumbled with his own trousers for a few moments before he freed his cock, naked body finding its way back to her. (Y/n)‘s moans reverberated through the bedroom as Spencer brushed his fingers through her folds, collecting drops of her arousal before he started to circle her bundle of nerves, leaving her tensing below him. 

“Spence, I need you to fuck me, want to feel you, please, want your cock so badly.” She choked on her words, gasping in surprise as Spencer pulled her to the edge of the bed, standing between her thighs. Their eyes kept holding contact as he tapped his cock against her folds, grinning at the goosebumps rising on her skin. With her hand finding his, Spencer watched her expressions change as he pushed into her, allowing her to adjust to the new sensation. “Oh fuck, god Spence.”

His raspy chuckles did little to ease the tension flushing through her body, leaving (y/n) begging for more. Only slowly did he start to build up his speed, pulling out of her to use more strength to bury himself deep inside of her. Their moans clashed together, forming an almost sinful mixture of sounds that could leave one dreaming of moments as raw as this. 

One of her hands tugged on his, forcing him closer to grasp her throat, watching her eyes roll back into her head as he tightened his grip on her. Spencer fucked her without holding back, towering over like an ancient god using his power to guide her. It was sinful, and yet it felt all too fitting, like they’ve been crafted purely for this very moment.

“Touch yourself for me, baby.” He started down on her, not loosening his grip on her throat once as she sneaked a hand between their bodies, circling her pulsing clit. (Y/n) arched her back off the mattress, thighs quivering, her orgasm was close already, about to push through her without holding back. 

Spencer was in awe, unable to rip his eyes from her as if he was solving a mystery that had been haunting him for years, the coil had finally snapped, everything had fallen into place. He wanted to curse himself for holding back on his feelings, knowing that their paths could have changed into this years ago. And yet he didn’t allow himself to dwell on it, building up the pressure of his rough thrusts to push her over the edge.

He watched (y/n) come undone on his cock, fucking her through her high with a proud smile before he pulled out of her. Her trembling hand pushed his away, rising up to pump his cock as fast as she could, holding eye contact all throughout the upcoming moments. Spencer came with a gasp, relieving himself on her naked chest, watching his cum drip down from her boobs. He couldn’t stop himself from scooping up a few drops with his thumb, forcing her lips apart to watch her suck on his digit. 

“Fuck, I hope I’ll never never forget about this moment.” His whispers were swallowed by her chuckles, pulling Spencer down for a kiss before (y/n) murmured a soft “As if you’d ever forget something”. 

[romanarose]

About a Girl: Chapter 8

Beautiful header by my beloved @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog

Joel Miller x Trans!Fem!Reader (Nickname, Blue)

Series Masterlist : The Last of Us Masterlist : Full Masterlist

Summary: For week 5 of my pride event: Struggles. Joel, Sarah, Blue, and

Warnings for whole fic, not chapter by chapter: 18+ ONLY!! I cannot warn against everything, but these are major themes. Joel is a lil ignorant but not out of hate. He just doesn't know. He's trying his best. There will be smut. Penetrative sex, all of the anal play, oral. There will be transphobia from other people. Addiction and alcoholism. QUICK child neglect not by Joel but I promise, Sarah is fine and is having a great time in life. Fetishization of women attracted to women by a shitty guy. Will update as needed. Again, this is adult content. Expect adult content.

Immersivity: Reader is transgender, AMAB female, reader has had gotten bottom surgery, not top, and is on hormones. reader has visible hair and a blue streak in hair, but not described. Could be braids, could be natural hair, whatever. Header is for aesthetics only. Reader is about Joel and Tommy's height. Let me know if i miss anything!

TRANS LIVES MATTER! TRANS YOUTH MATTER! TRANS ELDERLY MATTER! TRANS WOMEN MATTER! TRANS MEN MATTER! NON BINARY TRANS MATTER!

She was wearing the dress you bought her. They both were. 

Joel watched from the kitchen as Sarah and Ellie had their little tea party in the cute matching dresses you had bought them. Ellie was over for a playdate, a tea party to be exact. For Sarah’s birthday, which Joel spent much of the time wishing you were there and Sarah mentioned multiple times she missed you as well, Tommy had handmade her a table and chair set.

Since Joel kicked him out, things had been… shitty. Joel missed him a lot, even though they still saw each other almost every day at work. It was the off season so hours were reduced, but Bill and Frank never left the four of them hanging, and made sure they had some contacts for extra hours at other farms or under the table work to make up their hours. Tommy had been riding with Tess now, and it seems in his spare time Joel wasn’t privy to had been making the set in Bill's garage. Sarah was ecstatic and first thing was asking if she could have Ellie over for a tea party the next weekend. Joel confirmed with Ellie’s very uninterested foster mom, saying he could pick up and drop off when she didn’t seem enthused about bringing her over two weeks in a row. Ellie was Sarah’s best friend, and since you were gone Sarah seemed down, so Joel was going out of his way to cheer his little girl up. She deserved it. She deserves everything. She deserved to have you in her life, Joel didn’t.

The night Joel came home to Tommy doing heroin was one of the worst nights of his life. He was so scared for her, scared she’d accidentally stuck herself with the needle or wandered off into the street to get hit or kidnapped or worse…if something happened to Sarah, his life would be over. There’d be no point anymore. He put her to bed the second time, comin downstairs to an empty living room but knowing you’d be coming in soon. He was scared, embarrassed that Talia had seen all that, and worried what Sarah saw and heard. Worried how he’d explain Tommy being gone… If he’d just gone to rehab it’d be easier, but he still refused. Instead, he lived with Tess and came over sometimes because of course he did, they were still brothers… it was hard to explain why Tommy didn’t live here anymore. And it was going to be hard to explain why you were gone.

“This isn’t gonna work.”

You blinked at him, mouth agap. “Joel… come on don’t do this.”

“You don’t wanna be with me like this.” Joel shook his head.

“Baby, no…” You try to approach him, raising your arms to hold him but he held out a hand. He was still surprise that you stopped. Kayla never respected his boundaries like that. “You think I care about this? I mean- fuck I mean I care, you know I care about Sarah and Tommy but I mean… I don’t view you differently. It makes me sad Tommy is hurting like this but I don’t view him different… Joel I wanna help-”

He cut you off. “You can’t.” Joel’s face was hardened, his soft eyes looking lost. “This isn’t a good time and… I can’t have distractions.”

Joel’s heart breaks when he see’s your lower lips quiver. “Am I a distraction to you?”

He wanted to say no. He wanted to say you were everything, you completed him, you were apart of his little found family and he loved you so, so much… but he couldn’t. Sarah was left alone for anything to happen because Joel was with you. It wasn’t your fault. It was his.

“Yes.”

Joel was sure Ellie wouldn’t like the dress, but she was wearing it. Maybe she just didn’t get nice things as a foster child. Joel thought that was a shame. Ellie was a good kid, nice if a little rough sometimes but never malicious. Her and Sarah were playinging some game with sticks as Joel sat on the deck drinking coffee with Tommy. He watched as she got a little over zealous and THWACK, a stick across Sarah’s face. It looked worse than it was, and sure probably hurt bad, but nothing but a few cuts on her face. Joel ran down the deck to hold a screaming Sarah, not noticing Ellie disappearing when his back turned. Tommy did.

As Sarah calmed down, Tommy appeared holding Ellie’s hand. Ellie tried to run out the gate but it was locked, she just managed to take get it undone, smart kid she was, when Tommy scooped her up.

As Sarah’s sobs turned into sniffles, Joel turned to see Ellie frozen, eyes wide and body shaking.

“Hey now…” Joel said softly. “It’s alright Ellie, it was an accident. See? She ’salright.” Joel motioned to Sarah who was wiping her eyes.

“Joel.” Tommy mumbles. “I don’t think that’s what she’s worried about…”

Oh. She was scared of him. “You’re okay, Ellie. I ain’t mad, game just got a little wild, that’s all. Right Sarah? You’re okay aren’t you?”

Sarah whipped her tears, standing up. “Yeah I’m okay!” Although her voice still wobbled and her face was still wet. “Daddy can we have a snack?”

“Yeah, of course babygirl. I’ll bring your chairs and table out so you can eat out here, sound good?”

Joel and Tommy’s eyes connected. The pieces were there to conclude what they thought, but the evidence was all circumstantial. 

As Sarah and Ellie ate their snack, he noticed how quickly Ellie ate her food, asking for more. Joel decided to ask her foster mom is she could stay for dinner. He heard them talking as they ate.

“Where did you get these dresses? Did you buy them?” Ellie asked her.

“Uh-uh. Daddy’s girlfriend Blue bought them!”

“Where is she?”

Joel watched as Ellie glanced down at her food. “They broke up.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“I miss her. My mommy is gone too.”

“Did she die?”

“No, she and my daddy broke up too.”

“Your dad breaks up a lot. He shouldn’t be so picky, he’s too old.”

Joel couldn't help smile at that. Ellie didn’t have a filter. It wasn’t that he being picky; it wasn’t about you. You were perfect. Joel pictured himself marrying you, having a life with you. You were perfect. He was wrong. Everything about Joel’s life was chaos and it wasn’t fair to you or Sarah or Tommy to split his attention even more. And now, it seemed, he was taking on a lot of responsibility for Ellie too. It was just too much. 

Joel turned on the TV while he cooked dinner, Ellie and Sarah playing upstairs.

“Grunge pioneer and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain found dead in his apartment today, thought to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

Joel dropped the spoon into his spagetti sauce. “Shit.” He murmured, trying to fish it out with a spatula. Nirvana was your favorite, you idolized Kurt Cobain. He knew more about the beef between him and Guns “N Roses or Nirvana and Pearl Jam than he ever thought he would; he didn’t even know who Nirvana or Pearl Jam were before you, honestly.  He loved hearing your passion, even if it was all so new to him, an he loved when you showed him new songs, but nothing got your mouth going like Nirvana did; the absolute excited way you talked about their music made your eyes light up and you’d bounce in your seat, joyful and enthusiastic, a love for life Joel admired. 

He loved how someone who’d been through so much could be so… happy. It gave him hope. From life as a depressed, addicted “gay man” couch surfing and sometimes homeless, to a school teacher, happy and loving and stable as a woman. Before you, he only vaguely knew what being trans was. No one really talked about it except occasionally some article or an episode of TV. Joel didn’t think much about it, but he knew what others thought. Many said it was a sin, or unnatural, or that it was body mutilation… Some said things like they would regret it, that it was a mental illness… Joel didn’t know much about mental illness, if he was being honest. He knew it was considered a mental illness by the big book psychiatrists use… but he always knew until the 70’s being gay was considered one too, and Joel didn’t think Tess, Bill and Frank were mentally ill. Well, Bill was a conspiracy theorist and a little cooky at times, but his head was on straight. Joel didn’t really care what anyone said. You were living and looking the way you wanted to  save your life, and Joel was glad you were alive, even if you weren't a part of his world.

After serving up his girls, a heaping serving for Ellie to make up for what she’s not getting at ‘home’, Joel leaned against the counter, spooning the left over right into his mouth. One less dish to clean. He liked Ellie, he thought as he ate, even if she was a bit of a pain in the ass. She was spirited in a way Sarah wasn’t, but a good kid. She also liked baseball, and would watch with him sometimes before Sarah dragged her away.

He heard the doorbell, and Sarah ran up shouting “I’ll get it!!!” and as Joel walked over to the door still chewing a big mouthful of spaghetti, she informed him it was Aunt Tess.

“Hey Tess,” Joel swallowed his food, “Sorry, I can’t have anyone other than Tommy over, Ellie’s over for a playdate.”

Tess didn’t look like herself, sollem and worried face mareing her expressions. “Joel… something happened with Blue…”

His heart dropped. “Is it the Kurt Cobain thing? Is she okay? I know thats probably really upset-” 

She cut him off, hand raised but not rudely. “No, Joel I- jesus… Tommy say anything to you?”

Joel furrowed his brow. What did he do now? “No… he get into trouble again?”

“No… he was pretty out of it the other night but… him and me with with Max. Joel, I swear, he said he dumped Kayla.”

Taking a deep breath, Joel cringed at her name. “Y’all can do whatever you want, it’s none of my business.” But it still hurt, just a little, even if it was irrational. 

Tess scrubbed her face. “Joel, it’s bad, it’s so bad. Tommy got drunk, and he started talk’n, and you know how he gets… well Max was talkn ‘bout Kayla and her beef with Blue and I swear, no one was talk’n bad about her, Tommy was say’n how much he likes her, and I don’t even know how it came out but Tommy mentioned her being trans-”

“Shit- To Max? Tess, you know how he is!” Joel turned into the house, bellowing. “TOMMY!”

“I know! I know, okay but listen…” She shifted her feet. “I guess he wasn’t done with Kayla…” Tess’s face looked wracked with guilt, biting her lip and struggling to get out the story.

It was bad.

*

Joel dropped Ellie off with her foster mom, sending her with some fruit snacks. Not trusting Tommy with Sarah alone yet, Joel left her with Tommy and Tess; Talia answered Blue’s door.

“Joel.” She sighed, leaning against the doorframe. “This isn’t a good time. You know I love yuh, but she don’t need this right now.”

Joel shuffled, placing his hands in his pockets. “I’m- fuck, I’m sorry I just… I wanted to check on ‘er…” 

Talia’s face softens, her body language relaxing. “I know… and I’m sorry. Maybe come by in a few days, I’ll let her know you stopped by, but she said she didn’t wanna see anyone-”

“Talia? Is that Joel?”

Signing at the voice of her best friend, she turned around. “Yeah babe, I told him to come by in a day or two.”

The sound of you sitting up made his heart leap. The idea of seeing you after months was exciting and nerve racking. 

Acquiescing, Talia opened the door to your apartment where Joel saw you. You were still in your PJ’s, hair a mess, your eyes bloodshot and puffy. You were still the prettiest woman he’d ever seen in his life.

“Hey.” Nirvana played in the background. Something in the Way.

“Hey…” You lip quivers, and Joel runs over to you with no hesitation, scooping you into his strong, farm-worked arms and keeping you close to him as you cried. Your body wracks in heaves and sobs, and Joel knew something was very wrong, his heart aching for you, hoping so badly you were going to be okay. He never wanted to stop hugging you. When you’re crying slowed, Joel still held your body. Talia offered to go get some food, trusting Joel to watch you while she was gone and giving you both time to talk. When you finally lifted your head off his soft flannel, Joel guided you to sit on the couch.

“I’ve missed you so much…” You sniffled, not looking at him. “As soon as I heard about Kurt Cobain, I just wanted to call you…”

“You could’ve…” He reassured you. “I know how much he meant to you… I don’t want you to have to go through things alone, Blue…”

You shake your head. “I don’t. I got Talia, I always got Talia… and Tess and Tommy…” 

Joel didn’t know Tommy was hanging out with you. “I know… I just…” He sighs. “I still wanna be there for you, you know? And with what happened…”

You groan, flopping back on the couch dramatically. “I can’t fucking beleive it. Years, i was here for years completely fine! Then this shit happens!”

“I’m sorry-”

“Joel, don’t-”

“But I am! I’m sorry, this is because of me.”

“No, this is because Kayla is a bitch. Sorry Joel, I know you don’t like us talk’n bad about her but she is!”

His voice was soft and gentle. “I think you earned the right to call her that, Blue.”

He hears you huff a sardonic laugh. “So have you.” You scrub your face. “Three years with this school, not so much as a talking to, no bad performance reviews… Not even a parent complaint.” You pop your head up. “Parents will complain about everything! But not me!” Back down. “All down the drain.”

Apparently, Max wasn’t done with Kayla. This didn’t surprise Joel; Kayla wanted Max to get to him, and Max was stupid. Of course he was still cheating with her. Kayla was, obviously, beautiful. That’s just a fact. After finding out Blue was trans, he scampered off to Kayla like a little rat and told her. Kayla, in turn, outted Blue to the entire school.

“Can’t you sue for wrongful termination? I mean, they can’t fire you for being trans.”

“Nope” You popped the P. “But they fired me on grounds of poor work performance which is bullshit. Texas is a will to work state, which means they can basically fire me for anything except being a protected class, so they just make something up. Texs has ass workers rights, I don’t got a leg to stand on.” He watched as your eyes welled up with tears. “Parents who always said their children adored me complained I was a predator and was grooming their children… One called me a satanist, which is wild.”

Joel chuckled a little at that, but only because you had a smile at the corner of your mouth. “I’m sorry this is happening, Blue… you’re a great teacher and they are fucking missing out.”

“I know, thank you. Being good right won’t pay my bills, though.” You’d be moving in with Tess, Talia, and Tommy, making for a full house. Joel wanted to bring Tommy home, he really fucking did… Tess and Talia woud have a full house once Blue was there, Sarah missed him… and fuck, Joel missed him. A lot. But Tommy refused to get help, and although he said he was clean, he’d said it before. He couldn’t risk Sarah’s safety like that. Honestly, he wasn’t sure Tommy even wanted to come back with the way Joel had talked to him sometimes. 

You rested your feet on his blue jeans. “I’m glad you’re here, cowboy.”

Joel just can't stay away.

Two chapters left! One more seeing how things come back together for Joel, Blue, Sarah, Ellie, Tess and Talia

then, the finally where everyone is happy for the finale of pride event!!!!

I went to pride today (before and after being The Bikeriders AGAIN)

Before, I cried a little a free mom hugs

then i cried at The Bikerriders

then!! After bikeriders I went back to check out everything fully with more time and ended up breaking down sobbing at the free mom/dad hugs tent. It was so much a lady from anothr tent hugged me too ;-;

i love my mom but she'd never fully accept me.

Anyway, love y'all!!!! You are loved just the way you are! You are sacred!

How to keep up with the series:

Follow About a girl series on tumblr

follow @romana-updates and turn on notifications

Ask to be tagged!

@my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog @ashleyfilm @bumblepony @snnyc @casa-boiardi @del-ightfulling @joelsoftie @valoxwayward @axshadows @qveerthe0ry @guelyury @copperhalfcent @perotovar

[vladdyissues]

It's so cute that you uploaded some puffy, you're so kind 😭💞

But I have a question, why did they even block his account? How does Tumblr block an account? He didn't upload anything bad [?]

To the best of my knowledge—and I say this because I did not see every single one of Puffy's posts—Puffy did everything that Tumblr requires when it comes to posting "mature" artwork. She tagged her posts, used Community Labels, cropped and/or censored thumbnails, and made use of the "Read More" option. She was bolder than me when it came to posting certain art styles and speaking unabashedly, but that's a difference in personality. Puffy is a free spirit, incredibly witty, and absolutely hilarious. I'm old and crotchety and try to avoid drama if I can help it—not to say that Puffy in any way invited or deserved termination. She did not.

But she was no match for a targeted mass-reporting campaign. And, unfortunately, there's no way to know just how many people were involved or how much harassment she's been receiving since she joined Tumblr. I know there were at least three asks, likely more, and one rude comment left on one of her artworks early on.

But Tumblr has a poor track record when it comes to making decisions and meting out justice. They don't typically perform thorough investigations, they panic when they see certain words, and they're also prone to outrageous hypocrisy—like the fact that gifs of graphic, live-action porn somehow still manage to survive on this site after 10 years and a purge that cost the company a billion dollars in value, and how they claim to be "the queerest place on the internet" while simultaneously alienating and fostering a hostile environment for the queer artists who are largely responsible for Tumblr's success. Porn and spam bots run amok, but the blogs of marginalized people and artists are first on the chopping block.

I myself have had blogs deleted for lesser reasons. A couple years ago I created a "ship week" event blog, which was deleted simply because at one point in the TV show, one of the characters in the ship was a minor. The blog posted G-rated prompts. It was text-based with completely worksafe header graphics. It didn't endorse any age ranges, but left that up to the discrimination of the participants. The participants complied with Tumblr's TOS if they posted 18+ content, cropping images, using Community Labels and such. Everything adhered strictly to Tumblr's guidelines.

But I was the target for a lot of hatred from the rest of the fandom. They hated my guts because I shipped "the wrong ship"—because it was a gay ship, because it upset the canon heterosexual ship that one of the characters was in, because I wasn't sniveling in fear whenever they sent me hateful asks, because I refused to be bullied or shamed. They went after us because we were a tiny group of fans, easy to target and eradicate. Disgusting behavior, really.

I tried to appeal the deletion, but I never heard back from Tumblr. Fine. I moved the event to another platform (and it looked much better there, too), and that was that.

In short, Tumblr would rather delete a hundred innocent blogs out of fear of offending their ad sponsors rather than 1) investigate the claims made against the blog, or 2) give the blog owner a chance to delete the offending content.

One final thing:

Last month, around 17 June 2024, several Pompep fans on Tumblr received anywhere between 1-3 anonymous asks telling us to kill ourselves or "get raped".

Over cartoon characters.

It's a sad state of things when there's more sympathy, respect and agency given to drawings of fictional lines than living, breathing people.

[delightfulcollectivetyphoon]

SHADOWS FOLLOW PART 1

header by @xxbimbobunnyxx

here's a lil snippet of the fic, i want to turn this into a series, please tell me what u think!! feedback, constructive or not, is always appreciated!!!

not requested but i noticed this site could use more current!james smut and idk js a little side project. it will feature priest!james :3

This fic contains dark religious themes.

cws: past religious trauma

The dead eyes of Reverend Sonners were burned into your memory. Your nightmares were about him. Him and his cult, marketed as a "community of God." So desperate to fit in with her peers, Mother had uprooted the family's lives to move to a "Christain utopia," as the brochure put it. New house, new neighbors, new expectations. The community had made you feel unsafe from the very start, when you learned that you weren't allowed to leave. It was gated, only the clergymen granted access to the outside world. Reverend Sonners made monthly rounds through the neighborhood with his assistants, "cleansing" his followers' homes. Every Sunday, you were made to confess your sins, big and small. Even the pettiest offense earned you work time, slaving away in the cathedral while your classmates and friends were outside, or perhaps in lessons. Your spirit was tamed from the very minute you set foot into the community. Knowledge of the outside world was scarce, and even those who could recall the faintest glimmer were isolated and punished. Every night, your mother would hold you as you wept. Every night she would read to you from her Bible. Father's approach to your insubordination was much viler. Your friends pointed out your bruises, curious as to how you got them.

"I tripped."

"It's the lighting."

"I can't see anything."

Your siblings received the same "tough love," as Mother put it. Until your little brother had tackled the Reverend and unlocked the gates. Until the police finally figured out what was going on. You remembered that day. You fell to your knees outside the gates, weeping. The world was bigger now, freer. You were put into a foster system with your siblings, finding refuge with a kind old couple, unable to have their own children. You had loved them with your whole heart. Moving day was a bittersweet goodbye; you excited to experience the world, them sad to see you do it by yourself.

Here you stood, a cultured, matured, and independent woman. Broken and built up again. Healed enough return to return to your religious beliefs, no matter how soiled they were in your youth. Church 3 times a month, a Bible on your bookshelf, and a cross around your neck. You weren't going to let your past get in the way of what mattered to you.

The RSVP came in a plain white envelope, making you suspect it was just another bill. You only realized what it was when you recognized the stamp. Your sister developed a stamp-collecting hobby after the community. This was part of her collection, a sign that this envelope was important. You used your freshly painted nail to open it, overjoyed when a wedding invitation slid out. A lacey graphic framed the card, picture of your sister and her fiancé, a carpenter named Paul. He was a high school friend, one of the very first people you and your sister made friends with when you enrolled in your very first non-religious school. He didn't seem to mind your past traumas and was always a shoulder to cry on, especially for Beth, your sister. After 2 years of friendship, you saw the two kiss on the swings in the backyard, and it was a blur from there. Paul had tried to set you up with a classmate during your junior year, but you two just didn't click. It was a kind gesture, however, cementing yours and Paul's relationship. You were ecstatic that they were taking their relationship one step further. You knew how fragile your sister was, receiving the short end of the stick in the community. Abused by the clergymen from the young age of 12, you were afraid she would never trust another man again, but she obviously found solace in Paul, which you were proud of her for. You skimmed the invitation before calling out to Erica, your roommate and best friend.

[sunnylands-world]

Draco Malfoy's masterlist

Welcome to my Draco Masterlist, readers, and I hope you like my fics! Header, banners, and dividers are all by me

Main masterlist

PART 2 HERE

REQUEST ARE ALWAYS OPEN 💚

You are responsible for your reading choices, please don't report my account or my work. If you are not aware of what smut content is it is usually content meant for 18+ readers, it is up to you what you read, I am not your parents!!

Do NOT write offense things in my comments or I will block you from this page and any account I find out is yours

A lot of my work is old so my writing did improve. it's organized from oldest to newest so that's a warning! if it's cringy sorry [I May Update Them]

After - FLUFF: You and draco make plans for what happens after...

It's okay - FLUFF: When Draco goes missing you run to find him and learn some other things about your best friend...

lies to your deceiving eyes - FLUFF : Draco didn't care much for Hogwarts or the people there that is until he runs into you...

Sick kisses - SMUT: being a deathly eater brings burdens and pain it's lucky you have each other to mend one another's broken pieces...

Choose - ANGST: You and draco are now married what could go wrong? Maybe the past could ruin the future...

muggle things - FLUFF: You and draco go on a trip to the muggle world...

Platinum blondes are superr long - SMUT : When you and pansy make a small joke someone takes it to heart and has to correct your mistake...

Someone bring him back - ANGST: Draco made a lot of mistakes so he tries to fix them but hurts you in the process..

My best friend - FLUFF: So many things happen in your friendship but your to oblivious to see the real big change...

PRETTY LITTLE SINNER - SMUT:

your is put in the room with draco who you secretly like and when you're with the person you like you do crazy things. What if he catches you though...

Punishment - SMUT:

Draco gave you an order and when you don't do what he says, well read and find out...

Feel better - SMUT:

Your insecure about your thighs but Draco knows how to make it better...

Kisses for a sick princess - FLUFF:

y/n on her period and what kinda boyfriend would Draco be if he didn't take care of you...

 

The taller one - FLUFF:

Having a tall boyfriend is great but your boyfriend is a tease and is very possessive when it comes to you even with your friends...

Draco inspired MOODBOARD

Draco MOODBOARD WITH TEXT

Trust me if not everyone else - FLUFF/ANGST:

You go to the yule ball with your best friend but maybe by the end your not friends...

Draco BOOK COVER

For you - ANGST/FLUFF:

So many things are unspoken between you and your foster brother...

For your actions - ANGST:

Draco couldn't complete his task and someone has to pay the price...

Embody - SMUT:

Your village has some rather strange beliefs...

Run away mommy - ANGST TO FLUFF:

When you find out your pregnant you make a run for it afraid of what Draco might say...

Draco SHORT TEXT 1

monster - ANGST:

Draco's not the same and when you got to his room you find out why...

Draco PHOTOSHOPS I MADE

If only you knew - FLUFF/ANGST:

Your sitting on the side watching your best friend love someone else. Maybe he doesn't really love HER...

And after - SMUT:

Draco's parents talk about you and him having kids and it catches Draco's attention...

His - ANGST:

Your taken by Voldemort and draco saves you Making you promise one thing...

I'm here for you sugar - FLUFF/ANGST:

Your Diabetic and make a small dangerous mistake when taking your injections...

Your language - FLUFF:

Your parents are in town and speak a different language so what is Draco gonna do...

Draco TEXT MESSAGE

what my girl wants, my girl gets - SMUT:

Your rather needy when it comes to Draco and who is he to deny you...

Draco TEXT 2

Fuck you - SMUT:

You despise Draco Malfoy and he doesn't like that...

If you were mine - FLUFF:

Draco's life is about to change forever but has to tell you how he feels before it does...

Draco's GIRL COLLAGE

Vampire DRACO COLLAGE

Nightmare - ANGST:

Draco has a really hard time after the wars but you'll always be there for him no matter what happens...

Overflow into my soul and stabs to a wound with no sewing close - FLUFF/ANGST:

It's all a big mess when it comes to you and draco Malfoy. One of you is in love then the roles switch. In the end someone will confess...

"Give yourself to me darling" he whispered in her ear - VAMPIRE SMUT:

Your life's simple you've met the man of your dreams and everything's perfect but everyone's got a secret or a flaw. what's his...

Vampire - SMUT:

Your with a vampire and you a human so things are a bit intense for you because of his lack of control when he's deep inside you...

RAIN BRINGS MORE THAN WET CLOTHES - FLUFF:

it's a girl's dream to dance in the rain but it's a plus if you do it with someone you love...

The second chance - DRACO BOOK

Little Butterfly in the dark - ANGST:

Draco doesn't know what love feels like So where does that leave you...

Hear me - ANGST/FLUFF:

you have a bad habit of tearing yourself down and Draco won't stand for that

What DATING DRACO WOULD BE LIKE

What it's like DATING DEATH EATER DRACO

Vampire charms - Vampire/death eater - SMUT:

the priest little girl is cursed by the walking devil. or is she?...

Yellow - FLUFF:

He wasn't really the type to fall in love But maybe he hasn't met that special girl in yellow...

Purple berry - FLUFF:

You have a crush on your tutor but what are the odds he feels the same..

My crazy death eater - ANGST:

Draco may not have lost just his friends, he may have lost his mind as well...

Someone forbidden - STEP DAD SMUT:

Your step dad is supposed to be off limits but who says either of you follow rules...

Royals - SMUT:

Draco Malfoy is a dick and your a perfect little princess in his eyes But your also not going to back down from a challenge...

Hitting you with snow hearts - FLUFF:

Your not sure how to tell Draco you love him but you love something else maybe that could help...

Wildest dreams - FLUFF/ANGST/KINDA SMUT:

Falling in love slowly is like a Taylor swift song...

Daddy's needy baby - SMUT:

Draco's poor little baby is experiencing a change luckily her daddy is very skilled at helping with it...

Draco TEXT

Brat's punishment - SMUT:

You got a phone for your sixteen birthday and a few years later you use the device for not so appropriate purposes and well your caught...

Deep in your skin - SMUT:

Something about digging your nails in Draco's back while he fucks you just feels right...

Friends to lovers strangers - FLUFF/ANGST:

Draco just wished he would have looked a little closer...

Draco X BLACK READER COLLEGE

New series INFO AND COLLEGE

Something in between - SMUT:

Draco comes back from quidditch and has to have himself buried between your thighs...

Without you - SMUT:

Slytherin parties are known for many things: hookups, drama, and drunk teens but you and your ex bring one more thing...

Happy birthday daddy! - SMUT:

your step dad's birthday comes and of course you come home to celebrate, bringing him cute gifts but he has a better present in mind...

Relax - SMUT:

being a mom is great if you don't count the feeding and other things but Draco is amazing at making you comfortable when you do finally get the chance...

You little brat - SMUT:

your way of coping with your mother's death is not okay with your step father. I mean why sleep with little boys when you have your step dad who is sexy as hell...

The sweetest lies - ANGST:

Draco disappears and pansy comes bringing news about the boy who said he loved you...

The jealous to your possessiveness - SMUT:

you get jealous after a small party and accidentally trigger your possessive husband because of your jealousy and Draco fixes both those problems...

Extremely dangerous - ANGST TO FLUFF:

Draco's a man with a secrets and A few misunderstandings...

Greedy girl - SMUT:

Draco isn't very fond of his girlfriend being a needy slut In front of others and giving them the wrong idea so he's gotta let them know you're only like this for him...

Alpha Draco MOODBOARD

Hero - FLUFF TO SMUT:

your boyfriend stands you up on your eighteenth birthday and your stepdad's there to fill the little hole left in your heart and other things as well…

Draco PHOTOSHOPS WITH STORIES

The famous Bloodline SMUT:

you and the prince are not on the best terms until the truth comes out and he cums in you…

SOFT BLUE ANGST AND FLUFF:

you're attracted to someone you've never seen in human form and your attraction to the said person may cost you everything and it's a risk you're willing to take…

Wrong answer SMUT:

you're gonna fail potions but your professor has an offer to help you pass…

Drive SMUT:

your boyfriend doesn't want to talk about his day, he'd rather show you how shitty it's been…

Came on a train SMUT:

Draco can't control himself around anyone or anywhere when it comes to you...

Okay, today I will be criticizing my first smut EVER! [Draco]

SERIES ↓

STAY QUIET - PART 1 SMUT:

It's Christmas and Draco's favorite present of all lies in his bed but that doesn't mean he'll let you scream...

STAY QUIET PART 2 - SMUT:

You couldn't stay quiet so you'll have to take the punishment for it...

He thinks I'm pretty - FLUFF PART 1:

Your boyfriend's an asshole but you'll always have your best friend...

You should think she's pretty - FLUFF PT.2:

Draco's sees you begin treated bad by your boyfriend and has something to say about it...

Beat me up and break me down - ANGST PART 1:

Something changes about you over the summer...

Sleeping angel - ANGST PART 2: the curse you were put under doesn't just effect Draco in one way in the end...

Everything but not - part 1 *cancelled because it didn't get enough support*

Professor Malfoy series:

It's a brand new year at Hogwarts. You and other children are just beginning their 7th year but you never planned to fall in love with your professor who is also your boyfriend's dad and parents best friend…

Professor Malfoy PART 1

Professor Malfoy PART 2

Professor Malfoy PART 3

Professor Malfoy PART 4

Professor Malfoy PART 5

Part 6 is located in part 2 of the masterlist

[nerdyprudesmuststim]

welcome to nerdyprudesmuststim, a sfw starkid stimboard blog! read the rules under the cut, header by cherrieguroo <3

about

hi! my name's zazz, guide or holloway, my pronouns are they/it and i'm an aro lesbian! my main account is @bellqmione

rules

i'm not doing cinderella's castle boards until the proshot comes out & i can make good character gifs. ella is an exception because she's in the trailer.

be respectful in your request. if you don't say please, i won't do it.

if i don't answer your request, that means i denied it. don't resend it.

don't spam like, it's annoying as hell.

don't tag boards as ships if it's not specified by me.

ask before using my character gifs (i've had bad experiences w/ pr0sh1p people using them)

before requesting, check if i've made that board already, it's very possible.

blacklist

- insects (all kinds)

- squids & starfish

- pamela foster, wilbur cross

- any ship involving: the lords in black, linda with a man, grace with a man, alice or deb with anyone but each other

dni

lesbophobes, proshippers, radaueers, ai users (this obviously includes character ai), antitheists, zionists, anti-choice, terfs, proana/thinspo, nsfw, people who believe in cluster b abuse, barnroe antis

also if you think that hcing female characters as lesbians "reflects badly" on a person

[mini-kunoichi]

One Chance, pt.2

I wanted to add a little more to this before posting it, but I'll be busy for the next few weeks and I didn't want to leave y'all hanging. One of these days, I'll come up with my own header/line breaks. Just not anytime soon.

Fandom: House of the Dragon

Pairing: Daemon x OC

Summary: What happens when you put Daemon and Addie together? Peak Youngest Sibling Energy, apparently.

Warning: swearing, hints at parental abuse, Daemon being a menace.

Many thanks to @em-writes-stuff-sometimes for beta reading and translating the High Valerian for my lazy ass.

Part 1 Here; Read on AO3

Daemon waited a few days before bringing up the idea of Adelayde staying at the Red Keep for the duration of their courtship. He would stroll the gardens with her every afternoon, and it quickly became the highlight of his days. Despite her family being only slightly above Small Folk, the lady proved herself to be intelligent and quick-witted. Once Daemon was sure he wanted to continue the courtship, it was time to put his plan into motion.

It didn’t take much to convince Adelayde’s parents to have her stay. Her father was too ambitious to decline and her mother seemed intent on pushing her daughter on him. His brother was harder, but not by much. Once he was able to speak to Viserys privately (and therefore openly) about his reasoning, his brother did not put up too much of a fuss. In fact, he seemed to think it was a lovely idea. Though he did make Daemon promise to “do things properly.” The Queen and her cunt of a father objected on behalf of “propriety” or whatever-the-fuck, but Daemon didn’t really care about them. 

The hardest person to convince was, surprisingly, Adelayde herself. When Daemon brought it up to her, she suddenly became agitated. 

He was leaning against a wall in the garden, arms crossed, watching her pace and wring her hands.

“I don’t see the issue,” he said eventually. “You will have a much more comfortable life here. You can have a life away from your parents.”

Daemon really didn’t like Lord and Lady Mullendore. They were both overbearing, though in very different ways. He had already suffered through a handful of dinners with them. Adelayde was such a different person when her parents were around; meek, quiet, and submissive. Everything he didn’t want in a wife. He would have thought she would want to be away from her parents.

“Daemon, I don’t know anyone here,” Adelayde replied.

“You know me. And Rhaenyra.”

“That’s not . . . that’s two people out of hundreds.” The hand-wringing got worse, and Daemon pushed himself off of the wall to take her hands in his own. She started to shift from foot to foot instead. It was annoying, but not as self-destructive.

“You will flourish here. I know you will. Especially without your family holding you back.” He had learned early on that honesty fostered honesty with Adelayde. Though how she always knew whether or not he was being honest was currently lost on him. 

“My family doesn’t hold me back,” she replied with a frown.

“Well, your parents sure as fuck do.” Her frown deepened, but she didn’t reply. She knew he was right.

“Does not knowing anyone in King’s Landing really bother you that much?” he asked.

Adelayde let out a resigned sigh before saying, “I suppose I should be used to solitude by now.”

“So there should be no problem, then.”

“The place was familiar, though. I had my brothers. And a cousin.”

“I will keep you company,” Daemon said confidently. 

It wouldn’t be too much trouble, he figured. They’d had interesting conversations thus far, and she’d even asked him to teach her High Valyrian. Lessons would surely take up much of her time. But instead of happily agreeing (as most maidens would), Adelayde’s nose scrunched in distaste.

“Surely we would get sick of each other.”

Nonsense. No one ever got sick of Daemon Targaryen. Though, he supposed he might become sick of seeing her. Right now, Addie was like a shiny new toy, and he did have a habit of tiring of his paramours rather quickly.

“Well, I’m sure you can find a way to occupy yourself,” he replied eventually.

“Yes,” she agreed. “I suppose I can spend time in the library when you become boring.”

The nerve of this woman. 

– – – – – – – – 

In the end, it was agreed that Addie would stay at the Red Keep for the duration of their three-month courtship. After that period, her return to the Uplands would be decided based on if and when a wedding would take place.

She was moved to more permanent (and lavish) quarters and assigned handmaids who tended to everything from dressing her to serving her meals and preparing baths. She found it discomfiting. 

Being from a minor house, Addie was not used to having such attention. Sure, her father employed cooks, housekeepers, and the like, but nothing as elaborate as handmaids. They were surprisingly understanding, however, and mostly kept to themselves when not performing their duties. One of them even took it upon herself to acquire thread, cloth, and needles so that Addie could work on embroidery.

The little bluejay visited a few more times. No one ever acknowledged the bird and it never sang, so she ignored it each time.

Now that she had been moved to a new room, her father insisted that they break their fast as a family every morning. He always insisted she dismiss her handmaids so that they could “talk as a family.” It was the worst part of the day.

“You will not fuck this up for me,” her father growled, the same as every other morning.

“I won’t, Father,” Addie replied the same as every other morning.

“You’d better not,” he continued. “My place at court depends on this match. If he finds out you’re fucked in the head, he’ll reject you and it’ll all go to shit.”

I am not ‘fucked in the head’, she thought to herself bitterly, though she didn’t dare say anything out loud. Such defiance had major consequences. 

She was saved from having to respond when her mother spoke up.

“Addie is a clever girl. She has navigated court politics quite well thus far. And the Prince seems taken with her.”

“I didn’t ask for your fucking opinion,” he spat. “Speak out of turn again and there will be consequences.”

The rest of the meal was eaten in tense silence.

— — — — — —

Addie was uncharacteristically reserved in the days leading up to her parent’s departure. Daemon still had certain duties with the city watch and Rhaenyra had taken it upon herself to entertain her, which he appreciated. 

It was kind of the Princess, but the two did not really have much in common. Rhaenyra enjoyed the many forms of hunting; and while Addie was perfectly happy to visit the hawks, hounds, and horses used in such activities, she disliked the killing of animals. Rhaenyra’s assurance that the meat would be used in the kitchens made her feel only slightly better.

— — — — — — — 

Daemon took it upon himself to tutor his potential bride in High Valyrian. Partly because the palace tutor had decided she was “too simple for such a task,” (where he’d gotten such an idea was beyond Daemon’s comprehension) but mostly because he wanted to spend more time with her.

Adelayde was a surprisingly quick study. And Daemon was a surprisingly good teacher. The only problem was their motivations; Addie intended to learn and Daemon intended to flirt.

This led to the woman’s never-ending frustrations and the prince’s never-ending amusement. 

“Would you get your hand off my leg?” she hissed through her teeth.

“Whatever for?” Daemon asked innocently.

“I am trying to learn.” She smacked his hand off of her thigh, but he quickly replaced it.

“Say it in High Valyrian and I’ll consider it,” he replied with a smirk.

 “Aōhi ondos hen ñuha pore ondurās.”

“Close. Kirimvose, aōhi ondos hen ñuha pore nādīnās. Manners go a long way, you know.”

Addie’s eyebrows pinched slightly as she processed the sentence. It’s rather cute. Not that he’d admit that out loud.

“What does ‘kirimvose’ mean again?” she asked eventually.

He answered with a smirk and she smacked him on the chest with the back of her hand. Addie had taken to delivering light swats or kicks when provoked—as long as they were alone, that is. Daemon understood the importance of appearance within the court and society, but he appreciated that she had become comfortable enough to treat him as an equal. He once asked her if she treated her own brothers with “such brutality” and she replied that she did not. She hit them harder.

“I’m not saying please when I’ve already asked you several times,” she stated primly.

Daemon compromised by scooting his chair closer to hers and draped his arm over the back of her chair. Addie shot him an annoyed look that made her look a little bit like her mother. She opened her mouth to make a smart retort when they were interrupted.

“I believe the lady has asked to not be touched,” came the cold voice of Criston Cole, their assigned chaperone for the afternoon. He had been the one to chaperone them a lot lately, probably instructed to spy on them by either the Queen or the Hand.

Addie turned to look at him, gave him one of the most judgemental and condescending once-overs that Daemon had ever seen, and replied, “I am perfectly capable of handling myself, Ser Criston.”

The knight hung his head and mumbled an apology, thoroughly humbled. Once Addie’s attention was back on the books, Daemon shot the knight a haughty smirk.

[spnhunter4life]

Bullets and Ballgowns Chapter 2

Series Summary: In the summer of 1813, the arrival of a new family in Brighton causes much excitement for the townsfolk. Anna Foster is shocked to realize she has already met the elder of the two sons, Dean. As she gets to know the family better, she must fight her feelings for him. Though she finds herself drawn to him, it is impossible that they could ever be together.

Word Count: 3.8k

A/N: Sorry about the long wait for this! I had a fire in my house a month ago. As you can imagine, life got crazy and in the free time I've had I just wasn't motivated to write. I'm finally getting this chapter out there though! I really can't say how long it will be before chapter 3 comes out, but just know that I fully intend on continuing this. Thanks for the patience and I hope you enjoy!

Masterlist Series Masterlist

(header picture here eventually. was on my other computer, so I have to figure out how to get it back)

Two days passed before Anna saw the Winchesters again. Her family and Charlotte’s sat together in the park. Their parents sat together in the shade provided from the tent they had set up. Charlotte and Anna preferred the corner of the blanket, out of the shade where they could feel the warmth of the sun. Between them and their parents a picnic basket full of grapes, biscuits, bread, butter, and jam was laid out, as well as tea.

They were not the only families taking advantage of the beautiful weather. Tents were set up all around them and small groups promenaded together down the cobbled path around the small pond. The two girls had just decided to join them, thinking a bit of exercise would do them good, when the Winchester family arrived.

“We must go now,” Anna informed her friend. “If we have not left before my mother or Mrs. Winchester are aware of each other’s presence here, we shall not be allowed to leave at all.”

“You do not wish to speak to them?” Charlotte asked, but she was already complying with Anna’s request to hurry.

“I would be happy to speak to them, but I daresay there will be plenty of time for that today and I truly do wish to walk for a while.”

They reached the path and linked their arms together, settling into a leisurely pace.

“You never did tell me the story of your first meeting with Mr. Winchester,” Charlotte prompted. Anna looked away from her friend as she deliberated where to begin. “Oh, come now,” Charlotte insisted, mistaking her silence for refusal. “I’m sure it is not so dreadful as you believe it to be.”

“I assure you it is,” Anna disagreed. “Nevertheless, I did promise to tell you. So here it is.”

~~~~~

The sun was setting in the sky when Anna stepped out of the theater. If she wanted to be back to her aunt’s house before dark, she needed to hurry. It had been her aunt’s only demand when she gave her permission to attend a performance by Maria Dickons, something she would not have allowed at all had she known Anna’s claims of meeting a new acquaintance there were false. Anna felt bad for lying to her aunt, but not bad enough to persuade her not to do it. She dearly loved music and could not pass up the opportunity to see an incredible performer like Mrs. Dickons for herself. Her aunt’s house was a mere six blocks away, but she was feeling slightly unsteady on her feet due to a slight overindulgence in wine.

As she walked down the steps, she saw the man who had made her uncomfortable with his close watch on her all evening exiting the building behind her. 

“Excuse me, miss,” he said.

She ignored him. With so many people around it was easy enough to pretend not to hear him or to assume he was speaking to someone else. Undeterred by this, he hurried to move in front of her.

“Miss,” he tried again now that he knew he had her attention.

“I’m sorry, but I really must be going. I am to meet a friend, and he will not be happy if I’m late,” she lied. She scanned the faces of the people passing by, wondering if any noticed her distress. They didn’t seem to.

“Yes, of course, but-”

“Oh, there you are!” Anna cried out happily. She spotted a young, friendly looking gentleman standing by himself and hurried over, praying that he would play along. “I hope you weren’t waiting too long. I was held up by this gentleman here,” she said, indicating the man who had followed close behind. The stranger seemed to catch her meaning and immediately jumped to her rescue.

“Not long at all,” he assured her, moving to face her in a way that placed himself between her and the other man. “I hope the performance was as delightful as you anticipated.” 

The man who had followed her out seemed to take this as a sign that he was unwelcome and left with a huff. Anna let out a relieved breath.

“Thank you for that. I do not know who he was, but he was scaring me a little.”

“No thanks necessary,” the gentleman assured her. Looking closer now that she was safe, she realized how incredibly handsome he was. “That sort of behavior is inexcusable. A lady should never have to fear for her safety.”

“I should like to thank you just the same. I do not know what I would have done if you were not here.”

“Surely there must be someone with you who would have helped.”

“I’m afraid not,” she admitted. “I am visiting my aunt you see, and I simply could not miss the chance to hear Mrs. Dickons. I told her I was meeting a new acquaintance, but I do not know anyone here in London.” She knew she ought not to be telling him these things, but the alcohol loosened her tongue and she found she felt quite easy around the man who had been her means of rescue.

“Then you must allow me to escort you home. I would not want to help you avoid the unwanted attention of one man only for you to fall prey to another later tonight.”

“I wouldn’t wish to trouble you.”

“Ensuring a lady’s safety is no trouble at all.”

“Alright. I suppose I would appreciate the company.”

The walk home was quite pleasant. Anna and her escort spoke of nothing of consequence, but she was delighted to learn that he was happy to discuss this evening’s performance with her. She quite enjoyed hearing his opinions, even the ones she did not agree with. Before she knew it, they were a few doors down from her aunt’s house.

“We are nearly there. I should bid you goodbye here, lest my aunt see us out the window and think something scandalous has happened. I thank you for the company.”

“I thank you for your company as well. It is not often I have such a lively conversation with a beautiful young lady.”

Anna knew she should take her leave of him then, but a strange impulse struck her that she found she could not ignore. With alcohol fueling her bravery, she kissed him swiftly on the mouth before turning and darting towards the house.

~~~~~

“Well… I must admit I am shocked,” Charlotte said when Anna had finished telling the story. Anna felt a curl of fear in her gut that her friend might think less of her. She knew it was no less than she deserved. “But I still believe it is not so bad a situation.”

Anna turned her head to Charlotte, wondering if perhaps she heard wrong.

“After all, you did say he did not seem to recognize you at your parents’ ball the other night, did you not?”

“I did,” Anna agreed warily. “But, Charlotte-”

“Then I see no reason you need fear for your reputation. You know how gentlemen are, even the kind ones like Mr. Winchester. It was no doubt far from his first kiss and therefore, I’m sorry to say it, not particularly memorable to him. You can go on as if you had never set eyes on him before two nights ago. All will be well, I’m sure of it.”

Anna considered her friend’s words for several long moments. “But what of you?” She finally found the courage to ask. “You must have lowered your opinion of me now. I cannot blame you for it.” She could not bear the thought, but knew she must learn to. Actions had consequences after all, and this would be one of them. Or the only one, it seemed. She should consider herself lucky for that.

“Indeed, I have not.” The fierceness of Charlotte’s words surprised Anna. “It was only a mistake. And you will find, my dear Anna, that there is not a person alive who has not made mistakes. It is true that not all of them have quite such a potential for scandal as this, but that does not make you a bad person or mean that I should wish never to associate with you again.”

Was this it, then? Was she truly to suffer no consequences for her most improper actions? A relieved smile gently turned up the corners of Anna’s mouth.

“You are far too kind to me,” she told her friend. “You have no idea how grateful I am for it.”

“Or perhaps you are just too hard on yourself,” Charlotte disagreed. “Believe me, I understand why you are so distressed. I’m sure I would be too if I were in your place. And if it were public knowledge, of course you would have reason to worry. But I am the only one who knows and surely you could not think so little of me as to believe I would condemn you for being brave enough to confide in me.”

“Of course not,” Anna hurried to assure her. “You are too good and kind a friend to ever behave in such a way. I suppose it is less that I expected you to think that way and more that I believe you should.”

“Perhaps society would say that I should. But I find that I cannot. From what you say, it was so short a kiss that it can barely even be counted. And it was while you were under the influence of alcohol, no less.”

“I fear the fact that I was out on my own and not entirely sober does not paint me in a much better light. But I thank you for your understanding.”

They walked in companionable silence for a couple of minutes before Charlotte spoke up.

“There is one thing I would ask you.”

“What is that?”

“What are your feelings towards Mr. Winchester?” Anna’s immediate response was to brush this question off, considering it inconsequential. Anticipating this, Charlotte hurried to continue. “I know what you’re going to say. That your feelings are of no matter when you are already promised to someone. But I wish to understand the situation better. And besides, who can you talk to of any feelings you may have if not to your closest friend? I would imagine it a relief to be able to speak your true feelings aloud, whatever they may be.”

“Well,” Anna began after a few moments of deliberation. “I believe he is the handsomest man I have ever seen. He is kind and gentlemanly. He is very easy to talk to. And he has an appreciation and understanding of music that I have rarely seen.” Charlotte smiled, knowing how appealing this was to Anna. Anna sighed. “I believe if circumstances were different, I would like him very much,” she admitted.

“I believe what you mean to say is that you wish circumstances were different because you like him very much.”

Anna could not deny this, so she kept quiet. They were just completing their first full circle of the pond and about to start a second when they were approached by Sam and Dean Winchester. Bows and curtsies were exchanged before Sam spoke.

“Good afternoon. Would it be alright if we joined you?”

“Of course,” Charlotte agreed, unlinking her arm from Anna’s. “I daresay it would be most fortunate if you would. That way we can continue to enjoy our walk and have no need to return to our tent in order to enjoy your company.” She held her freed arm out to Sam, who was quick to offer his own to her. They began to walk together. Anna took the arm Dean offered to her and they followed a few steps behind Sam and Charlotte, who were already conversing. 

“I hope you and your family are settling in well,” Anna said.

“We are, thank you.”

“Do you plan to spend much of the day here?”

“I believe we will likely stay as long as everyone else does,” Dean answered. “My mother was quite pleased to see so many of the town’s families here today. She is eager to reacquaint herself with old friends.”

“Yes, I imagine she is,” Anna smiled. As they walked, they passed a group of gentlemen standing together in the grass, talking animatedly. 

“I must confess, I am surprised that you and your brother wanted to walk with us,” she said. “I would think you would rather join the other young gentlemen in their discussions and games.”

“I’m sure we will,” he replied. “But is it not also usual for a gentleman to walk with a young lady?”

“I suppose so,” she agreed. She didn’t bother pointing out that they usually only did so with young ladies they were courting, or ones they wished to court.

“Speaking of gentlemen, I do not believe I see Mr. Sanders here today,” he noted mildly.

“Oh,” Anna said, surprised at his choice of conversation. “I do not believe he is here. If he is, I have not seen him.”

“Will he be joining you later then?”

“Perhaps. We do not have any plans of the sort, but I imagine if he should arrive, we will spend at least some time together. Did you wish to speak to him?” Anna could think of no other reason for this line of questioning.

“No. I am merely trying to understand the two of you better.”

“What do you mean?”

Dean sighed. “You did not mention that you were engaged when we danced,” he said pointedly.

“Well, no, I suppose I didn’t. You’ll find I made no mention of it to your brother either. I don’t make a habit of mentioning such things to every man I dance with. I see no reason to unless I know the gentleman in question has a desire to court me.”

He seemed displeased by this response. “Perhaps you are right,” he frowned. “And yet, it does not make sense.”

It was Anna’s turn to frown. “What doesn’t make sense?” She rather thought her explanation was perfectly acceptable. And he had agreed. So what was bothering him?

“I have spent the past couple of days wondering how a man could neglect to ask the woman he is engaged to for a dance until the very end of the night,” he explained. “Or in the case of your Mr. Sanders, it appears he did not just neglect to, but forgot to entirely. I understand that ladies are not always entirely happy about the man they are to marry. It would make sense to me if you had avoided his attention whenever possible if that were the case. But a gentleman has a say in who he marries. Surely if the two of you are engaged, it is because he wishes it. So why was he so neglectful of you at the ball? Why is he not here now, taking advantage of the beautiful weather to proudly walk with you on his arm?”

“Perhaps you are not as wrong in your assessment as you think,” Anna said simply. “Mr. Sanders had no more to do with the engagement between us than I did. It was an arrangement between our fathers. One that he agreed to of course, but then so did I. That is why you do not detect any particular regard from him.”

“I suppose that does make some sense,” Dean agreed grudgingly. “But, still. Regardless of his feelings towards you, he agreed to the marriage and therefore he should treat you as any man would treat the woman he is engaged to. If he did not intend to do so, perhaps he should not have agreed.”

“I thank you for your concern, but I assure you it is unnecessary,” Anna told him. She couldn’t understand why he should care so much. They barely knew each other. And there was certainly no one else so worried about William’s treatment of her. “Firstly, this agreement between us is unofficial. Mr. Sanders still has one more year at university. It will be announced as a formal engagement once he has finished. Secondly, it is still somewhat new. He is still adjusting to the expectations that go along with it, but I do believe he is trying his best.”

Dean seemed to consider her words carefully before responding. “If that be the case, then I suppose you are right. All we can ask of someone is that they do their best. And you believe you will be happy with him?”

She chuckled. “My happiness has very little to do with it, as you well know.” He did not answer, only continued to look at her expectantly. She sighed. “I believe I am quite lucky. Mr. Sanders is kind. As for fortune and connections, we are quite well matched. And as silly a thing as it may be, I cannot help but be glad I shall not be married to an old man. I believe I will be content with him.”

“Then I shall say no more on the subject.”

“Perhaps instead you might tell me if you’ve had time to make any friends yet,” Anna suggested. “I did notice you seemed friendly with Mr. Young. Am I correct in assuming you know each other from school?”

“You are,” Dean answered. “I would not consider us close friends, but he is a decent fellow, and I admit it was a pleasant surprise to see a familiar face.”

“Yes, I imagine it was. What of other friends? There is no shortage of decent young gentlemen in this town. I don’t believe it should be difficult for you to find one or two whose company you enjoy.”

“Perhaps not, but it does not matter if I make any friends.”

“Because you are not going to be living here?” Anna guessed.

“Exactly.”

“I disagree,” Anna said. 

A small smile turned up one corner of Dean’s mouth. “Do you? May I ask why?”

Anna wasn’t sure if she should be frustrated at his obvious amusement or just glad to be getting along with him. She decided on being glad. After all, she had to admit that she was proud to be the source of his happiness. “You may not be living here,” she explained, “but your family is. I imagine you will want to visit them on occasion.”

“Of course,” he agreed.

“And as glad as they will be to see you, they will still have things they need to do. They will not be able to spend all of their time with you. Would it not then be wise to have a friend or two you may visit when your family is busy?”

“I suppose you are right,” he agreed easily. He was quiet for a moment as he scanned the faces around him, pretending to consider his options. “As you said, I already know Mr. Young, so there is one friend. Perhaps you would be my second friend?”

Anna tried to hide her smile. She could feel it pulling at her mouth, fighting to break free. “I think that is a possibility,” she said nonchalantly. She noticed his smile and could no longer contain her own. “Both of our mothers would be quite disappointed if we were not friends after all,” she continued, not wanting to become swept away in the moment. “And besides that, I find you are very easy to talk to. Yes, I think we could be friends.”

“Good. I think so too.”

“Winchester!” Someone called out. All four members of their little group stopped walking and turned to acknowledge the newcomer, George Young. “Sorry to interrupt. Could I borrow your companion Miss Foster? I was just trying to convince a couple of gentlemen of the merits of living in the city over the country, and I would appreciate having a Londoner to back me up. Your brother is welcome too, of course,” he added to Dean almost as an afterthought. “The more people arguing my case the better, I daresay.”

“As long as the ladies are ok with it, I believe we should be happy to join the discussion,” Dean answered, conveniently forgetting to mention that he favored the country himself, Anna noted. Sam nodded in agreement and all three gentlemen waited for a response from her and Charlotte.

“We were managing alright without you before. I think we shall be just fine on our own once again,” Charlotte told them. Anna chuckled.

“Until next time then,” Dean said.

The two ladies continued their walk in companionable silence, but it lasted for only a short time before Charlotte spoke up. “I apologize, my dear Anna. Perhaps it is not my place, but I feel I must say something.” Anna turned a puzzled gaze on her. “I did not mean to listen to your conversation, but walking as close as we were, it was hard not to overhear some of it. Surely you must have heard some of my conversation with the younger Mr. Winchester as well.”

She had, as a matter of fact, and had thought nothing of it. After all, they had been walking close as Charlotte said. Nothing could be expected to be entirely private at that distance. “Whatever are you talking about Charlotte?” Anna asked. It wasn’t like Charlotte to babble nervously.

“Well…” Charlotte hesitated, twisting her hands together. “It’s just that I heard you and Mr. Winchester agreeing that you could be friends,” she finally managed to say.

“Yes,” Anna agreed, drawing out the word a beat longer than necessary. “Should we not have? It is normal to make friends with people who move to the neighborhood you know.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Charlotte agreed brusquely, “but is it wise for you to be friends with this particular neighbor? Feeling the way you do about him when you are engaged?”

“Oh,” Anna said. A furrow formed between her brows as she considered her friend’s words. “I see what you are saying. But I do not believe it will be an issue.”

“You don’t?”

“No,” she said confidently. “Just because I feel a certain way does not mean my feelings are reciprocated. And he knows I am engaged. He would not be foolish enough to spend time with a promised lady if he felt anything more than friendship for her. I can hardly avoid him without giving him – and anyone else who might notice and question it – a reason. But what reason could I possibly give? Besides, he is only here for a short time. He will be gone by the end of summer. We probably won’t even see each other that much. No, I’m quite certain your concerns are misplaced. I thank you all the same though. You do not know how much it means to me to know I have you looking out for me.”

“You have always been there for me. It is only fair that I do the same for you.”

They walked together for a while longer before returning to their tent. Mr. and Mrs. Winchester were there, and Anna was promptly invited to come along with her mother for tea at their house in two days’ time. She couldn’t ignore a voice in the back of her head that sounded suspiciously like Charlotte mocking her earlier assertion that she would not be around Dean very often.

Chapter 3

Tags:

@123passwort @buckybarnes-1917 @chicken-nuggs-and-cozy-hugs @globetrotter28 @deans-spinster-witch @aylacavebear

[soapver4]

Sentient Jams

Metadrama idea: Fairies and demons ranting against fates repeated across lifetimes, generations and realms — plunging down abysses, unsealing of devils, naive and cutesy females transformed from mighty goddesses, coughing up blood, amnesia, tribulation cycles in the human world — realize through extreme heatwaves inducing near-death out-of-body experiences that they are goos processed and pumped through a circuitous pipe network. At the ends of the network, mixtures of them are packaged off as jars of jam that boost the hit points (HP) of consumers slogging away in a frenetic economy. On gulping down the jams, workers experience the entire fantasy dramas in a matter of seconds, but as though they have watched them for all 40 hours or so of running time, maximizing purchases at minimal cost to labor availability. The tropes are flavoring and texturing techniques replicated from monumental product successes, because the jam factory managers cannot risk their own jobs.

To escape the network and seize destiny for themselves, the goos must melt holes through the metal pipes using their mental strength. What better way to generate the brain heat than to crack riddles from some discipline with a (not always justly) fearsome reputation? In line with the themes of path restrictions and substance malleability, the discipline chosen is mathematical topology. The fairies and demons roam through cloud mountains and smoky seas for spiritual force experts and other helpers to attain the requisite mental power to work out solutions, while real-life viewers solve the topology riddles on the streaming/television network's website on behalf of characters they select.

Riddles of varying levels are available to cater to viewers with differing logic abilities and mathematical proficiency. The higher the level, the more points awarded for solving a riddle. To minimize mindless plagiarism, there must be a vast database of riddles which have not been previously published somewhere else, so mathematicians cannot ignore this promised pop culture sensation! Viewers cannot submit any solution for a riddle already solved by anyone, but they are free to rope in the assistance of people strong in topology since it is difficult to verify personal effort and that assistance may foster extracurricular peer sharing of mathematical perspectives, otherwise deemed too uncool a topic in everyday life, anyway.

Example of an elementary topology puzzle: Pair up infinitely stretchable and compressible objects of the following shapes by considering possible morphological transformations: tofu block, donut, mug and fusilli. Do not ignore any resulting gap or fissure within them. (Answer = tofu block and fusilli, donut and mug.)

Characters escape the pipe network across multiple episodes in the order of their respective fans' points so far. Escaped characters' spirits (representing their voices and heat) hoover around, unseen by remaining characters, in free-flowing hair and groovy solid-color costumes with flamboyant ruffles to rally behind their friends or channel mysterious supportive forces that either break down physical obstacles in the realms or guide the friends towards more helpers. Each episode closes with energetic dance collabs by all escaped characters, in their spiritual forms and then in their bouncy goo forms on the factory floor.

↑Pachinko's demos of characters breaching spatiotemporal barriers for dance meetups. Which is the better cheerleading BGM for viewers working on picture-hanging puzzles, if you don't let the second title daunt you: "Let's Live for Today" or "Wait a Million Years"?

The dancing cannot last forever, however, as factory staff will be back anytime soon. In the final shot, the goos finish their biggest dance collab and gather in front of the factory's colossal metal door.

Check out the alt text of the header image, which features another anti-trope metadrama.

[queenlua]

"Vulkan is weird— but it's weird in a way that makes a certain sort of horrifying machine sense. Every Vulkan call involves passing in one or two huge structures which are themselves a forest of other huge structures, and every structure and sub-structure begins with a little protocol header explaining what it is and how big it is. Before you allocate memory you have to fill out a structure to get back a structure that tells you what structure you're supposed to structure your memory allocation request in. None of it makes any sense— unless you've designed a programming language before, in which case everything you're reading jumps out to you as "oh, this is contrived like this because it's designed to be easy to bind to from languages with weird memory-management techniques" "this is a way of designing a forward-compatible ABI while making no assumptions about programming language" etc. The docs are written in a sort of alien English that fosters no understanding— but it's also written exactly the way a hardware implementor would want in order to remove all ambiguity about what a function call does. In short, Vulkan is not for you. It is a byzantine contract between hardware manufacturers and middleware providers, and people like… well, me, are just not part of the transaction.

Khronos did not forget about you and me. They just made a judgement, and this actually does make a sort of sense, that they were never going to design the perfectly ergonomic developer API anyway, so it would be better to not even try and instead make it as easy as possible for the perfectly ergonomic API to be written on top, as a library. Khronos thought within a few years of Vulkan being released there would be a bunch of high-quality open source wrapper libraries that people would use instead of Vulkan directly. These libraries basically did not materialize. It turns out writing software is work and open source projects do not materialize just because people would like them to."

[amandasstuffq]

OC post

Posted for my best friend because why not

Ignore all the random stuff it's just notes and other weird stuff

Summary: stomach flu with my babies Frankie and Jude

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Teen And Up Audiences

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Frankie Wallas & Jude Wallas

Frankie Wallas & Adam Wallas & Max Wallas

Original Male Character(s) & Original Male Character(s)

Characters:

Frankie Wallas

Jude Wallas

Adam Wallas

Max Wallas

(Mentioned) Jaeden Wallas

Additional Tags:

Stomach Ache

Sickfic

Sick Character

stomach flu

Brotherly Love

Sibling Bonding

Adopted Sibling Relationship

Adopted Children

Whenever Frankie awoke to the sound of crying and retching from either side of his shared room, he knew that the day had already gone to shit. It wasn't like other days were much better, but this was true hell. He hated sickness with a passion, and other people being sick made things worse. They were entirely too whiny.

"Frankie!" Jude, one of his younger adoptive brothers, wailed from the left bathroom.

Frankie rolled over, grabbed his pillow, and jammed it over his ears in hopes to block out his brother. "I'm asleep!"

His younger brother tried to say something else, but it was cut off by a very violent sounding gag. Frankie grumbled before his damned sympathy got the best of him, and he shoved his blankets aside to get up. Despite his two younger brothers being extremely annoying, Frankie would be lying if he said he didn't love Jude and his other younger brother, Jaeden.

Frankie had been pulled from his original home whenever he was barely six years old. So many houses later, and a very defiant and angry Frankie landed in the home of Adam Wallas and Max Brown. It has taken a while to get used to being somewhere so stable. Other homes had used punishment and fear as a means to get Frankie to listen; even though it never worked, it felt nice to not have to worry about various means of trouble.

Whenever Frankie got settled enough to be civil and even nice to his foster dads, they introduced the idea of a new sibling. A little perturbed, Frankie backed away from the idea immediately. A new kid meant all of the attention wouldn't be on him anymore, and Frankie didn't like to lie that he hated the attention from his foster dads. 

Eventually though, Frankie came around to the idea of a new kid. He was around ten at the time, so a new playmate sounded quite nice. Around Christmas, Adam and Max got a placement, but something they didn't mention to Frankie was that they were actually in the right space to have two more children, and two more came. A set of twins, Jude and Jaeden. They were just four when they came to stay with Adam and Max. 

They cried a ton which made Frankie quite mad. He hated loud noises but so did the toddlers. Going back to some of his more defiant actions, Frankie would take every opportunity to yell at something. A spider? He would yell. Drop something? He would yell, and Frankie always made sure that he was around the twins. It drove Adam and Max absolutely insane. It lasted for a good three months before Frankie's foster dads took action.

"We understand that you want our attention, but that isn't the way to get it." Adam said sternly. "You have to stop scaring Jude and Jaeden if you want to become permanent in our household."

Frankie was tall for his age, standing at a good five foot six. Adam was short for his age, standing at five foot seven. Since Frankie was nearly as tall as his foster father, he stepped closer, nearly bumping chests with him. Frankie had an infuriated scowl on his face. All of his previous foster fathers had been so much taller than him that he couldn't intimidate them; they also hadn't been kind enough to care. 

"What are you going to do if I don't stop? Are you going to hit me?" Frankie tested the waters for how far Adam will go to save Jude and Jaeden's feelings.

Adam stayed calm and gently took a step back from Frankie. "Fran, you know Max nor I would ever hit you. This coping strategy with change isn't good for you, and you know it."

This was when Frankie felt his aggravated emotions skyrocket and his blood boiling over the edge of the imaginary pot. How did Adam know what was good for him? He only knew Frankie for two years! That's definitely not enough time to try and get on his level, much less to talk about his coping skills! It's not right for an adult to try and relate with Frankie; no adult would ever understand. Nobody would ever understand!

"I hate you! I wish I'd never came here, and I wish those two babies were never born!"  Frankie shrieked in his squeaky, ten-year-old voice.

With that, he stopped off to what he called his room, expecting another move quickly after his outburst. He grabbed his previously filled trash bag and started to shove all the clothes he could fit, his favorite toy, and his teddy bear into it. It's not like after an argument that bad Adam and Max would keep him around Jude and Jaeden. It was unheard of for a foster parents to ever listen to the older kid; they always listened to the younger kid, coddled the younger kid, loved the younger kid more. Frankie heard the phone ring.

After a while of sitting and waiting for Adam to come and tell him that he was moving, the moment finally came where the door was opened. Adam and Max came strolling in his room like nothing out of the ordinary happened. Jude and Jaeden were still in their nap phase after all this time, so they were probably cuddled up together on the couch. Frankie threw his trash bag at their feet and crossed his arms defiantly, bracing himself for the talk ahead.

"Frankie," Max said. "uncross your arms and unpack your stuff.

Frankie looked up at his foster dad with a bewildered expression. Were they not kicking him out after what he said? A smile spread across Adam's face. It was like a smile just belonged there; he was always cracking a stupid joke or laughing loudly. All of his laughs came straight up from his heart. it was extremely refreshing to be around a parent who knew when to laugh at something Frankie said and when to be stern.

"We aren't sending you anywhere else other than here, so you can get that thought out of your head." Adam continued.

Max nodded his head at his boyfriend's declaration. "We just need to talk about your behavior towards Jude and Jaeden, and why you're acting this way."

Abort! Frankie hated feelings talk; he hated everything about feelings in general, and he never wanted to talk about them. His actions were even worse of a conversation topic because he didn't know why he did most things! He let his heart take the wheel and didn't think about anything until the end. You see; if he thought about what he could've said earlier, he never would've said he wished Jude and Jaeden weren't born. That was just asking to get sent away which he didn't even really want to happen.

Completely closing off his responses, Frankie pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head on top. "I don't want to, Max."

"Oh, come on, Fran!" Adam said with a big grin. "When has Frankie Wallas ever not do something because he was being a chicken."

Frankie furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "My last name isn't Wallas; yours is."

"I'll tell you why I said that whenever you tell us why you yelled about Jude and Jaeden."

Frankie sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. It was a way to calm himself down; the spots that it made were interesting to focus on. Frankie had a very bloody internal battle over whether he was going to admit his reasoning behind wanting his foster dads' attention. It really wasn't all that big of a deal to tell them, but that would be admitting that Frankie needed support. That was something that seemed somewhat like a failure, but Frankie really wanted to know the reason behind Adam calling Frankie 'Frankie Wallas'.

"I don't like the babies because, whenever they get older, you'll love them more than me!" Frankie exclaimed.

Adam's smile dimmed, and he made his way cautiously across the room to where Frankie sat on his bed. Whenever Frankie didn't shy away from the close proximity, Adam took it as an okay to sit beside him on the bed. It was also refreshing to not have a parent that was afraid to approach Frankie, but he'd never say it to Adam's face. That was also admitting he needed support, and that doesn't fly in Frankie's mind.

"Fran, we'd never love Jude and Jaeden more than you. If anything, they love you more than they love us. Have you ever wondered why they gravitate towards you?" Adam's hand laid itself on Frankie's back.

That certainly was true, Frankie admitted to himself. No matter how loud he screamed, Jude and Jaeden would always hug him when he came home from school. They would always babble in their four-year-old talk in high squeaky voices. They were always invading his bed and cuddling up into his side. It was weird for Frankie to have little siblings who cared for him or even little siblings at all. He was usually the youngest in his foster families.

"I guess so. But how do I know that you won't stop loving me?" Frankie muttered, almost leaning into Adam's touch. Almost.

Max came around on his other side and sat down. "Fran, if we were ever going to stop loving you, tell me why Adam and I agreed with the agency to adopt you." 

Frankie's mind short-circuited. Adoption? He was going to stay here? He stuttered a few seconds before closing his mouth again, trying not to convey his happiness. In all honesty, he really did need Max and Adam; they were the only set of foster parents he'd ever had that took the time of day to get to know Frankie rather than just boss him around all day. Bossing Frankie around never went very well.

"You want to adopt me?" Frankie asked incredulously.

"Of course we do." Adam said with that signature, bright smile on his face.

He pulled Frankie into a hug; and for once, Frankie smiled. A real, genuine smile.

As Jude and Jaeden grew up, they came to be very smart kids. Got good grades in everything, never missed a question. Where they lacked was in social cues and emotions. They were smart but at what cost? Adam and Max always made sure to stroke their ego for every good paper they brought home; now, don't get Frankie wrong, Adam and Max loved Frankie just as much as Jude and Jaeden. After two years and three adoptions later, they managed to convince him.

Where Frankie really excelled was in sports. Basketball was totally his passion. Adam and Max pushed him into doing soccer, and he hated it. He said he would never trust their judgement for extracurriculars ever again, but that didn't last for long whenever they suggested a basketball summer camp during the summer before his sixth grade year. In one of his previous homes, Frankie had watched women's basketball almost every single day. The house was all girls besides for him, so it was pretty much useless to try and persuade them to watch men's basketball.

"Frankie!" Jude's distressed voice brought Frankie back into reality.

Frankie got up from his warm, amazing bed and stretched for a moment. The left bathroom was always cold, especially when it's winter. That's why it's Jude and Jaeden's bathroom. They loved the cold weather and got hot extremely easy, and nobody was a fan of Jude and Jaeden's attitudes when they were too hot. 

"I'm coming, Jude." Frankie called out sleepily.

Padding his way to the bathroom, Frankie heard Jude groan out in agony. He hated to think of his little brother in pain, but it was kind of funny. That was just who Frankie was; he found the worst kind of things funny. Laughing in unideal situations was his forte. As he entered the bathroom, he was met with a lot of annoying things. Smells, sights, sounds, all of them. Jude was crumpled against the toilet with his head resting on the seat. His hands were thrown lazily around the bowl.

Frankie kneeled down, trying to ignore the horrible stench coming from his little brother, and put a hand on his forehead. It was absolutely burning! Frankie chewed on his lip contemplatively for a moment before reaching up into the cabinet above the mirror to get the thermometer. Getting back into his knees, Frankie grabbed Jude's face gently and pulled it up where he could see and reach it.

"It'll be okay, Jude. I just have to find out your temperature to tell Adam and Max." Frankie explained softly.

"Fran, why do you not call them dad?" Jude opened his mouth to take the thermometer in.

"Because they aren't my dads. I wouldn't expect you to understand, not really. They're basically all you've ever known since you could remember but not me." 

This is probably the most open he'd ever been with Jude. Opening up to his younger brothers was always something his foster dads were fond of, but Frankie never really warmed up to the idea. Opening up was hard enough, but his younger brothers weren't the most sympathetic kids in the world. They were actually the opposite. Emotions never came easily to them. If somebody was crying, they'd stray as far away as they could. Jude and Jaeden were also insensitive little shits whenever they wanted to be. Mostly all the time, that is.

But apparently, this was moment where Jude was softer than usual.

"Well, if they're not your dads, how are you my brother? Because you're obviously my brother!" Jude lifted his head off the toilet and laid it on Frankie's arm.

Frankie stiffened a little at the sudden touch, but he eventually leaned into it. "Yes, you are my brother. It's just different with parents, Jude. I don't think I'll ever think of them as my dads no matter how hard I want to."

"Then how are they my dads?" 

"You do know we're not related by blood, right?"

Jude seemed to be recalibrating. It wasn't like it was a huge shock; not to Frankie anyway. Jude had dark, black hair that was loosely curly since he came from Persian ancestors. Of course, Jaeden looked the same as he and Jude were identical twins. No matter how often people said 'the more the merrier', it was never true for Jude and Jaeden. One was more than enough for the Wallas'. 

Jude looked up at Frankie sadly. "We aren't brothers?" 

"You're sad about that?" Frankie rolled his eyes fondly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" 

"You're an insensitive asshole most of the time, Jude. You certainly don't act like you'd miss me."

"Well, I would; and for your information, you don't act like you'd miss me much either."

"Well, I would."

Jude looked up at him for a second before smiling his stupid, innocent smile that drew people in from everywhere. His smile that could win him every toy that came from a children's restaurant. His smile that even made Frankie love him no matter how much of a little weirdo he was being. Jude Wallas was a one of a kind, and everybody knew it. 

"You'd miss me if I was gone, Fran?" Jude grinned even larger than before, but this was an evil grin.

Frankie scoffed and pushed Jude's face off his arm softly. "You just can't be serious for one second.

"You don't like serious conversations. I know that about you." 

"Whatever."

Frankie got up off of his knees and stretches his arms high above his head. Since Jude had stopped throwing up, Frankie would deposit him in his bed then go check on Jaeden. Jaeden was more of an independent, quiet soul than his twin brother. It was obvious by just looking at them. 

Despite his earlier turmoil about his siblings, he decided in that moment that he truly loved them. 

He always will.

Notes:

There will be more Jaeden content, but I really love Frankie and Jude's relationship.

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[romanarose]

About a Girl: Chapter 4

Beautiful header by my beloved @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog

Joel Miller x Trans!Fem!Reader (Nickname, Blue)

Series Masterlist : The Last of Us Masterlist : Full Masterlist

Summary: For week 2 of my pride event: Transitioning. Not a whole not of Blue and Joel but getting there. Lots of people involved in this story lol! We learn more about Blue's transition. Next chapter will get more with those two's relatioship.

Warnings for whole fic, not chapter by chapter: 18+ ONLY!! I cannot warn against everything, but these are major themes. Joel is a lil ignorant but not out of hate. He just doesn't know. He's trying his best. There will be smut. Penetrative sex, all of the anal play, oral. There will be transphobia from other people. Addiction and alcoholism. QUICK child neglect not by Joel but I promise, Sarah is fine and is having a great time in life. Fetishization of women attracted to women by a shitty guy. Will update as needed. Again, this is adult content. Expect adult content.

Immersivity: Reader is transgender, AMAB female, reader has had gotten bottom surgery, not top, and is on hormones. reader has visible hair and a blue streak in hair, but not described. Could be braids, could be natural hair, whatever. Header is for aesthetics only. Reader is about Joel and Tommy's height. Let me know if i miss anything!

TRANS LIVES MATTER! TRANS YOUTH MATTER! TRANS ELDERLY MATTER! TRANS WOMEN MATTER! TRANS MEN MATTER! NON BINARY TRANS MATTER!

Joel nervously hovered as Sarah sat in the kitchen on a stool, kicking her feet while Talia looked at her hair.

“And then Ellie kicked him!” She was recounting the thrilling story of how a boy was being mean to Sarah, said her hair was weird because she wore it natural today. Sarah was the only black kid in her kindergarten. Apparently her new friend Ellie was very defensive, aggressive where Sarah was gentle, and didn’t take kindly to the boy's words. Ellie ended up in time out again, and a call to her foster mom.

“I ain’t saying he deserved it.” Talia sang, feeling out Sarah curls. “But God’s timing is always right.”

Joel smiled at her. He wasn’t going to agree, he didn’t want to be the one condoning violence… but he always wasn’t going to lose sleep at night. “Well, don’t listen to a thing he says, baby girl.” Joel walked around to face his daughter. “You’re the prettiest girl on the planet, with the coolest hair I’ve ever seen, and Miss Talia here is going to teach me how to make it even cooler.”

Sarah turned to Talia. “Are you going to marry my daddy?”

Joel opened hi mouth to say no, but Talia’s bright laugh answered for him. He turned to Talia with a smile that let her know he was joking. “Hey know, I don’t think I’m that bad.”

“It ain’t you, Joel.” She patted his back, easing him. “It’s the equipment you’re working with.” She turned back to Ellie. “No baby, but if I play my cards right, I might marry your aunt.”

Sarah squealed a giggle and Talia took her off the stool.

“Good.” Sarah confirmed, walking off to the TV. “Mommy wouldn’t like that.”

Joel and Talia looked at each other, Joel questioning gently. “Did mommy say something, sweetheart?”

Flopping on the couch and sighing dramatically as if she’d just gotten home from a 12 hour shift, Sarah replies, “Yeah she asked if you were dating Aunt Tess. I said no, she’s dating Uncle Tommy.” Talia giggled at that. “She said to tell her if you were dating someone and I said okay.” Sarah’s head popped up over the couch, sensing her dads distress. “That’s okay, right daddy? Lying is bad.”

Closing his eyes for a bit longer than a standard blink, Joel considered his next words. Of course it was okay that Sarah said what she thought. Joel didn’t want her in the habit of lying, especially to her mom. However, he also didn’t want Sarah to feel like she had to be Kayla’s spy. That wasn't fair to her, and Joel was careful not to pry Sarah for information on Kayla’s living conditions or the people around her apartment. That wasn’t something a 5-year-old needed to worry about. He tried to make the most neutral sounding comment he could. “You should always tell me and mommy the truth, babygirl, you did good.”

Sarah smiled and went back to her TV. “Oh! I love this show.” The Soprano’s was on.

“No, absolutely not-”

“But Uncle Tommy-”

“Sarah.”

He’d have to talk to Tommy about watching violent TV with Sarah. Why couldn’t Tommy just be… not himself. He turned back to Talia, who was smiling. 

“I see why Blue likes you so much.”

Joel waved her off with a blushing face. He was nothing special. “What's the verdict, doc?” Joel shuffles nervously, hands in his pockets. Did I ruin my sweet baby's hair forever?

This made Talia laugh again. Joel noticed she laughed a lot. Tess always did like joyful people, that’s why she always got on with Tommy so well, both as friends and friends with benefits. He wondered why she even liked him at all.

“No, Joel. It looks very healthy. You oil her hair?”

“Yeah, Argon oil.”

“Hair bonnet.”

Joel internally cringed. “I tried, she won’t keep it on.”

“That’s okay.” She eased his worries. “Try a scarf or a silk pillowcase. If she doesn’t like the feeling on her face, the world won’t end until she’s older and is ready to keep a bonnet on. Her mama wear bonnets or scarves?”

He shook his head. “Not unless it’s changed the last few years. She has hair not unlike mine.”

Talia nods. “Well, honestly I think everyone could benefit from wearing scarves, but that’s just me. I know y’all ain’t got the best relationship, but maybe mention it to her. Little girls love matching their moms. How often do you wash it?”

“Twice a week, unless she’s been running around a lot. Her and Tommy like playing soccer in the park.”

“Just once a week is fine, unless it’s one of those sweaty days. Natural oils are good for her hair. I know you’re a busy man, but if you get time, I’d suggest you get some coconut oil, sit her in front of a TV, section out her hair and really rub it into her scalp, like a massage. Helps stimulate hair growth and keeps from drying, but, Joel I mean this sincerely.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re doing a good job. I know this isn’t easy, especially as a single parent but you are doing everything for that baby, so go a little easy on yourself.”

He tried to brush it off. “I’m just doing what any parent would do.”

“You’re doing a lot more than many, hon.”

After going through more hair tips, Joel is about to call over Sarah so Talia can show her some new hairstyles, she stops him.

“Hey, Blue told me how things went… I really appreciate you being respectful. She’s my best friend, I knew her before she transitioned… It really hasn’t been easy, especially the early years of it all.” She smiled sadly. “She was in a bad place. At the time, she was living as a gay man in Austen’s gay community, but coming out hadn’t helped. Things got really bad.”

Joel’s heart hurt for you, wondering how many years you suffered. “What happened?” His eyes widened a bit. “Sorry, shit, you don’t gotta say anything.”

But Talia gave him the short version. “I’m sure she’ll tell you all of it. She’s pretty open about it with the people who know she’s trans. The Austen gay scene… well unfortunately, there’s not a lot of queer places that don’t involve drinking, and given that half of us are disowned by family and rejected from society, there's a big issue of drinking and drugs in the community. An issue she both fell into. After our friend who’d taken us in, Jeff, died of AIDS, she took it really hard.” She shook her head at the memory. 

Joel didn’t know much about AIDs, it seemed no one really talked about it and people acted like it was a gay STD, or that one kid that got it from a blood transfusion. Reagan never even mentioned it, so was it really a big issue? All he knew is that dying of AIDS was a slow death, watching someone waste away like that couldn’t be easy.

“After he died, she spent months in his apartment, drinking away and being piss-drunk every time I came over. But I also noticed her going through Jeff’s books and his writings… he was a college professor for sociology, and talked a lot about gender. One day she just emerged, asked to be called a woman and help looking like that version of herself. We picked names, got clothes. I tried not to get too excited and overwhelm her,” She chuckled. “But as a stylist, it was right up my ally.” 

It was obvious how much Talia cared about Blue. “Thank you.” He said earnestly, and she made a funny face.

“For what?”

Joel crossed his hands over his chest. “For being there for her when I couldn’t be.”

“She’s been there for me every step of my way making it in this world as a black lesbian, I’ll be with her through everything. Now!” Talia clapped her hands together. “Tess and I were talking, but if you’re comfortable with it, we’d love to take Miss Sarah to the salon I work at, give her a spa day, deep clean, deep conditioner, all that. Tess and I know how hard it is for you to get time away. We also know you feel guilty when you do anything for yourself, so this way you know your princess is getting spoiled.”

As much as he wanted to say no… she was right. Sarah would have a great day with some positive female influences, and Joel could spend some time with you. Win/Win.

*

“She wanted to wear her princess dress today, so if she gets it dirty or anything, I swear it ain’t no big deal. I can get another one at the Family Dollar, easy.” Joel spoke to Tess while he tried to fix the bailer. One of the belts broke and he caught it in time which made it easier without it getting bunched up. Tess was inside the bailer. It was a two man job.

“You’re awfully hard on him Joel.”

Joel set down the riviter, it was Tess’s job now.  “I’ve actually been mean’n to talk to yuh ‘bout that…”

“Uh-oh, am I in trouble, dad?”

“No, no, not like that I just…” He sighs, putting down his tools. “I know Tommy’s been have’n a hard time and I tolerated the drink’n… It’s the coke I got an issue with.”

Tess nodded, understanding as she retreaded to the belt to the bailer’s teeth. “He told me you were pretty upset with him the other day.”

“And what did you say to him?”

“I told him it was your home, and if you don’t want him high there, you can make that rule.”

Sighing, Joel pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, Tess, that’s not- I don’t want him doing coke, doing MDMA, doing molly-”

“Hey! Molly’s a nice girl!” She joked, but then went straight faced when she saw Joel didn’t find it funny. “Sorry, but I don’t know what you want me to do-”

“Stop giving him the drugs!” Joel shouted, not too loud immediately regretting it.

There was a long pause as she focused on her work before speaking. “I don’t know who the hell you are speaking to like that, Miller, but it sure as hell better not be me.”

“”M Sorry.”

“I know you are but you-” A clank, and Tess grumbled some swears. “Hold on. I’m done down here just- fuck.” Tess climbed out of the bailer, making eye contact with Joel. “Let’s get one thing straight. I am not pushing drugs on Tommy. We both know the same guy, and when one of us is out, we share, but you know damn well my crazy days are starting to fly past me. I’ve even been dating the same person a whole ass month. You’re brother does what he wants to do and I am neither his baby sitter nor keeper. I’ve kept that kid alive the last 2 years when he’s having a bad trip so I really don’t appreciate you talk’n down to me like I’m some bad influence on a 16 year old. He’s a grown ass man and can make his own choices. Terrible choices sometimes, but his own choices.”

Joel looked down, ashamed of his outburst. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just… worried, but that ain’t your business.”

She stared at him with a hardened face, wanting to be angry… but it was Joel. Her posture softened. “It’s alright Joel. I know you worry about it.”

He shook his head. “Ain’t right to take it out of yuh, Tess.” He went back to work, but felt a hand on his back.

“No, but I forgive you, so forgive yourself. You’re really bad at that.” Tess kissed him cheek.

Joel cleared his throat. “Kayla was ask’n Sarah ‘bout you again.”

Brushing off the last few minutes, Tess laughed out loud. “Oh great, she gonna show up at my door at 2 am again?”

He groaned. 

*

“You just have SO MUCH fun, princess, okay? Gonna look even prettier than ever!” Tommy hugs Sarah goodbye for her special day. Tess promises she’ll take care of dinner and bring her home around 7, in time for her bedtime. Bedtime will likely be delayed as Sarah will want to tell Joel every single detail, but it was a friday. No big deal.

“Bye uncle Tommy! Bye daddy!”

Joel waves her off, watching as Tess louds Sarah into the carseat and safely buckles her up, taking her off for a few hours. Joel was lucky to have Tess in his life, and was hoping she stuck with Talia… he liked her a lot too.

As they drive away, Blue pulls right up. She had been parked down the street, politely waiting for Sarah to leave. Joel hoped to properly introduce them one day, but right now it was still so new.

His phone rang, Kayla again. “Tommy, can you tell Blue I’ll be out in a min?” He clicked answer, and Tommy ran out to check out the bike.

“Hey Kayla, what’s up?”

“Is Sarah there?”

Hi. Hello. How are you, Joel. Thanks for taking care of my daughter, Joel. “No, sorry, she just left with Tess. I can call yuh back when they get home this evening.”

“What’s she doing with Tess.”

He wasn’t lying. He just didn’t need to tell her what he was doing while she was gone. “Tess’s girlfriend, Talia, she has a hair salon. Gonna give her some deep conditioner and stuff like that. Make a spa day off it. She even set up a little tea party fancy dinner after.”

“Tess has a girlfriend?”

“Yeah, been dating a few weeks now. Seem’s very nice, she was over helping me learn some styles for Sarah. Don’t worry, Tess will be with them the whole time and I trust her.”

Kayla sighed over the phone. “Joe, I really don’t want her in that environment.”

“What environment?” Joel was genuinely curious.

“I mean, it’s bad enough she says things like ‘Frank’s husband’, I don’t need her knowing about lesbians too.”

“Kayla-”

“She don’t need ideas in her head. For fucks sake Joel, she’s only five. It’s bad enough they wanna teach this shit in schools-”

“Kayla.” He spoke more firmly now. “I really thought you grew out of this.”

“You used to agree with me!”

“No, I didn’t!” But that wasn’t entirely true. Joel was raised very religious, thinking it was all a sin until he teens. When Joel and Kayla began having sex, it went against everything he’d been taught about sexual purity. He honestly just spoked caring what grown adults did in bed. He was surprised Kayla cared this much. “Bill and Frank have been good to me, they took a chance on me when no one else did-”

“Because no one wants to work for fag-”

“Kayla!” Joel shouts, and this time he doesn’t regret it. His blood is boiling, thinking of Bill and Frank, of Tess and Talia, of you. “They’ve treated me like their own, and I won’t have you disrespect them or Tess in front of me again. Tess has been around Sarah consistently the last few years, something you can’t say you’ve done. I trust her with my life and more importantly, my daughter. Tess has never abandoned her to get fucked.” He referenced Kayla’s abandonment change. “And just so you know, I’m seeing someone. It’s very early so Sarah hasn’t met her, so you can stop putting our child in the middle of your jealousy.”

Silence, and then she hung up. This would probably come back to bite him.

He had no idea where that all came from, how much had been building up inside him waiting to come out. His heart was still pumping with anger and anxiety. How could she think like that after everything Bill and Frank and Tess have done for Sarah? How could she not have grown up at all since high school?

Joel found Tommy outside, riding the motorcycle up and down the street, slowly and with a helmet. Seems Blue was protective too. Your back turned to him, Joel walked up and hugged you tightly, tucking his face in your neck. “I missed you, Blue.” It’d only been a week, but it was too long. 

“Joel? You okay?” She reached up to hold where Joel’s arms have wrapped around her chest. “You’re shaking, baby?”

“Much better now, Blue.” Yeah, he was shaking. He was still angry, but your touch was calming him. He chastly pecked your cheek. “I got your back, okay?” You didn’t need to know Kayla’s remarks. You just needed to know Joel would take care of you.

*

Joel had never ridden on a motorcycle before, and he held your shoulders like a victorian dutchess. Still, it was so fun seeing him get off the bike with a gleeful smile, helmet hair going every which way with a wild look in his eyes. Joel had packed you a sweet dinner for outside, and you two both sat on the blanket. 

“How come you rejected Tommy?” Joel asked, mouthful of food. They were on a picnic, enjoying the nice weather before it got cold.

You laughed at that. “What do you mean?”

Joel shrugged earnestly. “Tommy’s always been girls' first choice. He’s younger, cooler, more handsome, more fun.”

You lean over to kiss his forehead. “He’s not as handsome as you.”

Joel smiled at that, but still teased. “But he is cooler.”

“Well, Tommy can at least name a Nirvana album. You’re still listening to Alan Jackson.”

“Nevermind.”

“Oh no,” You giggle, reaching for a pickle. “You don’t get to just change the subject-”

“No.” Joel shakes his head. “Nevermind. The album. That’s that band you like, right?”

Your hands drop to your lap. “How did you know that.”

He wouldn’ meet your eye. “A very nice lady at the library when I took Sarah on tuesday who I could tell was trying not to laugh at me… She informed me of the song you got excited about at the bar and I checked out the CD.”

Chuckling, Joel responded. “Well, I can’t say I like the yell’n… but Something in the Way was good, and I liked Come as You Are.”

Your eyes sparkled, your cute little smile… “You listened to a whole album just for me…”

“Yeah I mean, I can tell you liked ‘em. Ain’t no big deal.”

But it was to you. No one did stuff like that for you, no one cared that much outside of Talia. Joel Miller, as always, made your heart sore to new heights.

“I appreciate that, Joel. You’re sweet, you know that?” You watched him blush. He was so cute like this, your nervous man.

After dinner, you laid down on his chest, basking with the sun on your back and a cool breeze on your arms, Joel holding you tightly. Jesus christ, his arms were huge. She traced a vein on his biceps. 

“How did you get so…”

He kissed the top of your head. “So what?”

You giggle, burying your face into his pecks. “Big.” You’re laughing so hard you’re shaking. 

“BIG?!?!?” He bawks, and you can feel his chest move as he laughs. 

“You’re fucking HUGE!!!”

Joel wrapped you up in arms, turning you over until the two of you are rolling around in the field, grass in your hair as you both squeal and laugh. This was the life. 

Litle more on Blue and how she found herself <3 Net weeks theme is sex/kissing so!!!!!!! v them focused!!!

We love Talia here, just an absolute sweetheart ride or die.

shout out to my IRL buddy who farms for helping m with farming info!!

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[iheartgarrus]

N7 Month Day 5: Interview

(AO3 Link - Double header! Longest one yet, so the cut is because of that, not any steaminess [sorry 😉]. I've had this idea in my head for months, so the prompt was a happy coincidence. Enjoy some Shakarian family content!)

"Lighting looks good," Allers said as she adjusted the settings on her camera drone. "You ready, Shepard?"

"I did ask for this," Shepard replied with a quirk to her mouth. She tucked her hair back - it was at her shoulders nowadays, its natural jet black, save for a few silver strands one had to look closely to find. Her face was made up for the occasion, similar to the way she had worn it during the war with her eyes framed by sleek black liner and her lips stained a deep shade of berry. While her body may have been through some changes over the past three years, she was no less recognizable as The Commander Shepard. Which was the point.

"And I still can't wait to find out why," Allers mused, taking a seat in the chair next to Shepard. "Alright, we're rolling in 5... 4..."

~~~

"Welcome to The Battlespace. I'm Diana Allers, here with a rare, exclusive interview with none other than Commander Viola Shepard." The camera cuts from a close-up to a view of the reporter and her subject seated at an angle next to one another. They are in the living area of Commander Shepard's apartment on the Citadel, and a well-appointed kitchen is visible in the background. "Commander, thank you for joining me today."

Shepard smiles, all teeth. "Happy to be here, Diana. I wouldn't talk to anyone else."

"It's true," Allers says with a nod, "You haven't been keen on interviews or public appearances since the end of the Reaper War over three years ago. I have to admit, I was a bit surprised when you actually called me back this time."

"I know people have a lot of questions," Shepard replies cryptically.

"Yes! You've been in the news again lately. You and your partner, Advisor Garrus Vakarian, recently began fostering a child. Can you talk about how that came about?"

"Sure, Diana." She folds her hands in her lap. "Your turian viewers are probably familiar with the Family Reunification Service, but for everyone else, it's a Hierarchy initiative to connect children who were orphaned in the war with their relatives. Without getting too bogged down in the details, they make an effort to place children with their closest living relatives. It's a great program and tens of thousands of turian children have found caring homes because of it. Garrus's family was contacted by the FRS a few months ago about a little girl on Invictus, a distant cousin of his, and he and I made the decision to welcome her into our family."

"That's incredible, Commander! What an amazing program. Do you two plan to adopt?" Allers leans a touch closer, seeming eager.

"Nothing is set in stone yet. The FRS doesn't consider adoptions until 6 months after the initial placement in order to make sure everyone in the home is happy. But we're getting to know her, and she's getting to know us. We're making every effort to make her feel welcome."

"Of course you are," Allers says sincerely. "Now, I know you've always valued your privacy, but can you tell us any more about her? What's her name?"

Behind the pair, in the apartment's kitchen, Advisor Vakarian enters and sets a long case on the counter. He doesn't acknowledge the camera, and neither Allers nor Shepard seem to notice him.

The Commander's expression hardens almost imperceptibly. "We aren't disclosing that at this time, nor are we releasing any photos."

Vakarian opens the case and takes out a sniper rifle scope along with a rag. He begins cleaning the scope.

Allers nods, not seeming surprised by this answer. "And I respect that. I appreciate you sharing what you have with us, and I hope that this will inspire more people all across the galaxy to consider welcoming one of these children into their homes."

"I hope so, too."

"Well, Shepard, I've learned not to press my luck when it comes to getting you to spill the beans," she says with a smile. "But is there anything else you'd like to share with our viewers?"

"There is," Shepard replies. Behind her, Vakarian has lifted a rifle out of the case and begun cleaning that as well. "I want to make one thing clear about this... new development. Our foster child will be starting school here on the Citadel soon." She turns to face the camera directly. "It's important that every reporter, photographer, blogger, whatever, understands that if anyone shows up at her school or approaches her or follows her trying to get a photo or a scoop..." She leans slightly to the side, allowing the camera a clearer view of Vakarian, still cleaning the rifle. "We will find you."

Allers's eyes are wide with mild panic - she does not seem to have been expecting this. "Shepard," she says with a cough. "Is that a threat?"

The Commander looks back at Allers, smiling that toothy smile again. "Of course not, Diana. Just a little joke."

Vakarian pauses and looks at the camera for the first time - he may have just barely shaken his head, but it's unclear.

"Well," Allers says with a nervous laugh. "Thank you so much, Commander Shepard. It was great to chat with you again, and best of luck with this new adventure!"

"Pleasure was all mine, Diana."

Allers looks into the camera once more. "Thanks for watching, everyone. We'll see you next time on The Battlespace."

~~~

As soon as the drone stopped recording, Allers spun on her. "Shepard!"

Shepard bit her lip. "What? You knew I wasn't going to give you personal details."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it!"

She chuckled. "Yeah, I know. But if I'd told you beforehand, you would've stopped me."

The reporter sighed. "Normally I'd say I'll have to edit this, but that's not going to fly, is it?"

"Nope." Shepard shook her head. "You know you'll never get another interview out of me if you do."

"My producer is going to kill me. Well, I just hope your little stunt is effective." She softened a little. "You know I really do respect your privacy, right?"

She patted Allers's shoulder. "I know, and that's why I picked you. Now run my little PSA, would you? Exactly as it is."

Resigned, Allers gave a sloppy salute. "Aye-aye, Commander."

[beautyghosh89]

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