#i need you to know this

[moreespressoformydepresso]

So to get to the soulmate identifying mark and the actual story/fix-it part of the my Treech x Gaius x Festus soulmate AU, it uhm… took me longer than expected to type this. I was a dumbass who decided it was bedtime and then completely forgot to keep working on this draft lmao. Whoopsies.

There are many soulmate identifiers that could work in this AU, but I tend to stick with marks because it gives Treech a good excuse to already be aware of the bond. It adds an extra layer of character that he’d know about it and actively choose not to share this information. Their mark has a floral pattern, symbolizing Festus and Gaius’s positive personality traits. The aspect of the mark that represents Treech is the fact that this floral pattern is actually a wood carving. The wood texture is easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it, but it’s there. It represents not only Treech’s passion for wood carving, but just his creative side in general. He's also not scared to speak his mind, and art is a form of self-expression. Treech is present in the core of the mark, under the surface but undeniably there. Kind of like their eventual dynamic, where Gaius and Festus have power but they’re so in love that Treech is the one calling the shots. Since Capitol elite is a whole lot of social climbing Treech is arguably the first person to ever show outright disdain for them, and even when he starts to like them he’s not afraid to speak his mind. And since he’s their soulmate, they actually care about his opinion.

Alright, with that ramble out of the way, lets get fixing:

So this AU starts on the first day, where Coryo brings Lucy Gray the rose and she mentions it reminds me of her soulmark (part of the mark is a guitar with a white rose motif). Then in the zoo she mentions playing the guitar and the gears start turning in Coryo’s head. After a brief stint of denial he realizes that Sejanus is also his soulmate and from the districts so really it’s not that impossible. One trip to the zoo later confirms that yes they’re a threesome. Coryo goes through his mental gymnastics of “well she’s Covey so it’s fine” until Sejanus smacks down his pitiful grasping at straws. After all, he considers himself district, so Coryo’s logic isn’t logicing very well. He brings it to Tigris, who helps him come to the correct conclusion that maybe the world isn’t black and white. Maybe judging people based on where they were born isn’t good, actually. And also Lucy Gray is gonna be sent into an arena to die soon so really regardless of whether she’s district or not the clock is fucking ticking so he better figure something out and get a move on. Which he does by talking to Gaul, who does not listen to a word he says hammers on about her stupid theory about humanity.

One talk with Sejanus helps Coryo realize that maybe Gaul’s world isn’t gospel and actually she’s kind of crazy? Sejanus, meanwhile, has the realization that his boyfriend isn’t exactly healthy minded and hasn’t been all that upfront with him about how close he is with Gaul. What nonsense she’s been feeding him and all that. So he starts digging, as he does, and over the course of this story he and Lucy Gray slowly help Coryo realize that Gaul is wrong and that while the loss of his parents is sad, the Capitol has done much worse than the districts ever did for far longer. Their treatment of the districts caused the rebellion, so if anyone’s to blame it’s the Capitol. But before they can bring systematic change they need to make sure Lucy Gray doesn’t die next week, and while Coryo is planning to stick with cheating his soulmates aren’t about that. The other tributes deserve to live as well, so hey why not shoot high and try to cancel the games entirely? But Gaul isn’t gonna stop and Highbottom has no say so what can they do?

Expose the bond. That’s what they can do. They get a news crew to the zoo and reveal their shared soulmarks on camera, live so no Capitol censorship can take it down. It causes quite the problem for Gaul, who tries to save her precious games and thus basically “disowns” Coryo as her apprentice. This is the final push that gets Coryo to choose being a good person. However, he has two soulmates that are considered district and the Snow family lost a lot of influence so Gaul is using that to argue that this bond doesn’t “count” as proof that the district people aren’t vile animals. This is where Treech and his bond comes in. Gaius and Festus have been pushed as a power couple for a long while so at some point Treech caught a glimpse of their soulmark and realized it’s his own. It’s in a pretty hidden spot (either on their sides or torsos) so he decides to keep this information to himself. Until he realizes the games may actually at least be postponed if he reveals it.

But he has no idea how to go about it until Gaul’s pushing causes the interviews to come around. It’s the day before the games and it’s not like there’s anything to lose so Treech decides it’s time for a hail mary pass. And on live TV, in front of a massive audience, he reveals the mark. Lucky asks him whether he knows his soulmate and whether they’re waiting for him, so Treech smiles and says he’s never talked to them but he knows who they are, and he’s not sure whether it’s a blessing or a curse. Then when asked what that means, he starts lifting/pulling aside his shirt to show the mark while saying:

“Well, one of them lives in luxury thanks to the pain that me and everyone I’ve ever known has been put through. The other one openly jokes about said pain and clearly thinks it’s funny. I’m not sure if I really want to get to know them.”

Cue gasps all around. Shocked whispers and murmurs floating through the air while Lucky tries to figure out how to salvage this situation before a whole brawl breaks out because guess what? Treech has just irrefutably debunked the only thing that kept the games from being cancelled. Lucy Gray’s bond wasn’t with true capitolites? Well Gaius and Festus have been pushed as the greatest example of a golden capitol bond and now this nobody from the lumber district turns out to be a part of it! There isn’t really any arguing against that. To rub further salt into the wound Treech continues.

“It’s okay, they probably wouldn’t want me anyways. Since they need me dead to win a cash prize and all that. As if they need more money when the shoes they’re wearing right now are already more expensive than my entire existence.” Treech smirks. “And if they do want me, then too bad. I don’t want anything to do with them.”

“Why not?”

“Well again, one of them is the son of the guy behind all of my suffering. The other one… he was mean to Panlo. How dare anyone be mean to Panlo?!”

That accidental display of humanity (dismissing someone entirely because “they were mean to my friend”) is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, and finally there’s enough proof for those opposed to the games to grow in numbers and start mass-protesting the day of the games. Some gather in front of the president’s mansion while the rest groups in front of the arena to prevent the games from starting. And it works. I have several snippets of what happens after this but I’ll write those out later. And I’ll write a short post with all the quotes I’ve thought up for this AU. Eventually. For fun.

[moonsoakedcottage]

April⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁☆⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆.・゜✭・.・.・゜

ꔫ The month when spring gracefully emerges.

ꔫ Ushers us with warm and milder temperatures.

ꔫ Embraces the burgeoning blossoms, evoking a fresh sense of energy, renewal, and vitality.

ꔫ Celebrates the blooming beauty of nature, the awakening of nature's beauty.

💖 If you're reading this, I wish for April to be kind and gentle to you. May your days become brighter, easier, and filled with happiness and excitement. Remember to be patient with yourself and watch as wonderful things unfold.

💖 Accept this message as a token of love and positivity.

💕🐰 Bunny kisses to you! 🐰💕

[sharpace]

Hello! I’m opening up commissions and discounting my full color headshots! Also discounting the extra characters to $10 per extra instead of $25.

Last night I rescued a stray pet rabbit and, having never had one before, there were quite a lot of things to buy and set her up in my home as well as a pending vet visit. With the sudden costs, I figured now was a good time to open up commissions again. Thank you in advanced!!

[sigilmint]

i really need people to understand that it is not up to you if people like you

you make people's lives better just for existing. it's not conditional. it's not because you make something they consume. it's because you're the only source of you there is and people like that you are that.

[justaboot]

I won’t be, but in my heart, I’m posting art of the fam egg hunting

[potionpeddlerpatchy]

Our hubbys ♡

YES 👏THEY 👏 ARE!

And despite the fact they have 1 brain cell between them - they love us with their whole hearts.

Our tall, dumb, sweet hubby's 🥺💛

[andtheirmoonlight]

Yes, I have certain genre limitations nowadays. For instance, I’m very bad with horror and action (due to PTSD, for the most part), and I’m bad with sad endings (life is already bitter enough and have you guys checked for its ending’s spoilers?) and I can’t bear it when main characters needlessly suffer, much less die (once you lose a loved one for real, a lot changes in your perception of media; there are people out there who can either detach themselves or even process through fiction, but I can’t).

And yes, I do have fandom limitations. For instance, when I simply don’t understand whahs ‘appenink. Or when the lore itself is shtoopid, and my disbelief just won’t hang no matter how hard I tug and no matter how hard and diligently you try to salvage said lore. Or trauma. I'm fandomless, and it’s a safer way to be.

And sometimes I’m in such a shitty place emotionally that I can’t read anything but prim and cold nonfiction written by sleep-deprived academics.

But I want you to know that when I say I love your writing, it means that I love your writing. Your style, your mannerisms, your messages and themes, how it all makes me feel, what I see behind the words, whom I see behind them.

My enjoyment of your writing is not dependent on whether or not you plaster a certain name across your work. In truth, I often find myself thinking that I’d love your writing even more if the names plastered were unfamiliar to everyone but you. My enjoyment of your writing is not dependent on whether or not you include graphic descriptions of people putting their mouths to each other’s genitals; my attention will not wane without those. I will not look at the rating. I will not look at the word count. I will wait and be happy and grateful. Two tiramisu, ten tiramisu, gimme it. Children’s tiramisu! Yes, pass it over here, I'll try either way.

When I say I love your writing, I do not mean, for instance, 'only this one work that's E-rated and has this specific sex act, and includes this name'; in these circumstances saying that I love your writing would be a very, very dishonest, disgusting, disrespectful, hurtful and dumb thing to do, something that'd reveal that I see you as a machine or a content churner, and your writing as a product which for some reason you owe to me. Instead of what it actually is: a piece of your soul that you were gracious enough to share with me for free. 🙏

Either way, I do not say this thing lightly. I do not say it as an idle platitude. I would not lie. I’m as self-aware as your favorite stand-up comedian.

If I found you and loved your writing — alas, you’re stuck with my chaotic ass, and from time to time I will gush emotional word salad at you in between mooing noises, likely until you either ghost me or tell me to shut up.

Please rest assured. If I said I love your writing, I love your writing, and that’s it.

I need you to know this, okay?

[junglejim4322]

Something that I have noticed is I know almost nobody my age that goes to a food pantry. I know people who regularly run out of money for food and in general have to eat an unsuitable diet because that’s what they can afford and they still don’t go to a food bank, im not sure if it’s because they’re embarrassed or maybe if you didn’t grow up going you don’t know much about it but if you’re financially struggling I really recommend it. And look into other options for food assistance too like community fridges and gardens and other programs that can assist you, where I live Salvation Army pays for an allotted amount of grocery delivery for low income people every month, in the summer farmers take excess produce to the library to be taken by anyone who needs it, etc. There are a LOT of resources for free food that you can look into especially if you are literally not eating because of your financial situation

[bonesandthebees]

one of the most infuriating things about becoming an adult is when you realize that it actually is 10x easier to solve problems by making a phone call vs literally any other communication method

[lgbtlunaverse]

The world exists in such a baffling state of simultaneous sex-aversion and sex-hegemony. Every social platform on the internet is trying to banish sex workers to the shadow realm but I can't post a tweet without at least two bots replying P U S S Y I N B I O. People are self-censoring sex to seggs and $3× but every other ad you see is still filled with half-naked women. Rightwingers want queer people arrested for so much as existing in the same postal code as a child and are also drumming up a moral panic about how teenage boys aren't getting laid enough. I feel like I'm losing my mind.

[bamsara]

I love blocking people I've never interacted with based off their replies on some random popular post. Wow random user on a post with 50k notes with the worst take ever, I hope I never meet you and will make sure we never do

[inkskinned]

she's singing in another room and my dog is asleep at my feet. my grandma asked me why i haven't found a man yet and i laughed. oh, you know. i like my house clean.

my girlfriend is also my man is also "my partner" if i'm in a professional setting. yesterday we went to a ren faire and a man mimed at me - you're together? and at my delighted nod, his baffled, you're gay? made me laugh. a woman with rainbow hair said i love the two of you together. you're both so beautiful it's absurd.

my dad introduced my partner as my "..... friend. or whatever" the other day. he knows we're dating. in the same way, i was never able to get my sister's husband to stop saying that's gay like it's 2008. he still uses the word fa***t, and my sister's defense of him has always been well, he's just kidding.

my lover and i dance to old music in a tiny kitchen. we judge new music together and take food critique very seriously. we watch love is blind before we fall asleep and agree that if they had a queer season, it would be bloody but also make for excellent tv. of fucking course queer people would know someone for only 2 weeks and agree to get married. what are you saying.

at a bar with friends, a man puts his hand on my wrist. got a boyfriend? and yes, i do have a boyfriend, she's amazing. i am texting her while i wander around a gas station named after geese. i am visiting a swing state for a wedding. in the candy aisle i overhear: she's actually like a lesbian it's disgusting. two teenage girls with packaged sandwiches in their hands, giggling. no literally, like. i'm not, like. okay with her being there while we're all, like, naked and changing.

my girlfriend and i tailgate, drink gin and cider out of cups. from the frat group beside us, a man corrects himself with one of his friends: bro, i mean, nonbinary entity, and it makes everyone around him laugh, myself included. he razzes his friend the same way i would have killed for at 19 years old - like nothing happened, he continues: you apply sunscreen like an alien. he does a little sassy (and fairly accurate) dance interpretation of the motion. his friend is laughing so hard they're crying.

i am lucky, i live in a safe neighborhood in a safe state. my masc passenger princess comes up from DC. i drive her for an hour to where all the leaves are a violent arrangement of color. we walk along the trails, letting autumn into our blood. in this part of the state, there's a lot of pickup trucks and trump signs. when we chastely kiss before getting into the car, i accidentally make eye contact with a woman holding her child's wrist. she looks disgusted. she looks fucking pissed.

two hours later my girl and i are eating dinner on a patio, soaking in the last warmth of new england sun before the chill of winter sets in. we are giggling and trying to talk through plastic vampire teeth. at another table, i see a young woman sit up straighter. i watch her watch us. she blushes and takes her partner's hand from across the table. shy, like the taste of evening has just become something deeper.

it's worth it for this moment, i think. my lover is still humming the same song she's been singing for four days straight and i don't want to kill her for it. her guitar is beside my bed. her toothbrush is in my bathroom. in a few moments i will make us lunch. we are lucky enough to have found each other. it is lucky enough to be in love.

[noperopesaredope]

I wish we had more female characters like Eleanor Shellstrop. One of the most unlikable people you've ever met. Read a Buzzfeed article on most rude things you can do on a daily basis and decided to use that as a list of goals. Makes everyone's day worse just by being there. Dropped a margarita mix on the ground and tried to pick it up, only to get hit by a row of shopping carts which pushed her into the road where she was hit by a boner pill delivery truck, killing her instantly. Cannot keep a romantic partner despite being bisexual. Had a terrible childhood but will die before she gets therapy. Best employee at a scam company. Just the worst but also can't help but root for her to improve.

Absolute loser. Girl-failure. Bad at almost everything. Literally perfect female character.