#i think most people can agree on this one

[thebreakfastgenie]

#idk us absorbing things from influcencers is a system YOU as adults made @casually-prish

This post got more way notes than I expected, so most people are seeing this little thought I had without any context, but for what it's worth I agree with your tags. I made this post because I've become more and more concerned about phones and social media, but I'm very aware of the pattern of society panicking about new technology. I think it's hard to talk about the negative impact of constant heavy social media use on adolescent health because we have years of adults looking down on teenagers for using cellphones. That's one of the reason I said I was thinking a lot about kids in high schools even though this is an issue that affects all age groups.

We've watched not just cellphone use but social media use shift away from people using that technology to form real social connections with each other and towards passively consuming influencer and AI content delivered by an algorithm. This didn't happen by accident. Social media companies did this on purpose, because it maximizes their profits. This technology grew so fast most of us didn't even realize it was happening, which is why I said I don't think people realize the conversation changed. The technology is not inherently bad, it's the way large corporations are using it. That's a different conversation than the traditional "the kids are on their damn phones all the time."

I am not remotely blaming teenagers, nor am I looking down on you or making fun of you. I'm identifying a systemic issue. That's not to say you can't find ways to make your individual social media use healthier. We can all do that, but I'm certainly not throwing stones from my chronically online glass house. I know a lot of young people who have healthier social media habits than I do. But I think individual solutions are a band-aid for a systemic issue that needs study and policy intervention.

The "kids are on their damn phones all the time" conversation has changed in an extremely significant way and I'm not sure people realize it. When kids had flip phones, and even in the early days of smartphones, kids were using their phones to text each other. It was part of an active social life. Now they're using their phones more and more to consume content from influencers or other accounts. It's more passive and it's increasingly what people are doing instead of socializing with each other. This applies to adults too, I just keep thinking about high school students.

[nymphus-fan-account]

Photo dump of Noah supporting Palestine 🇵🇸 (will be updating)

Comment section under one of videos on First Shadow Broadway premiere (most comments including this were deleted lately):

A Palestinian charity organiser coming out saying Noah donated to their children including Gazans.

This IG post:

Look who liked 👀

Noah's IG post from early 2024 (full post on the right):

"We will hope and pray for safety, justice, liberation and self-determination in Palestine"

Noah on the sticker videos drama, adding that he knows people who were held hostage in Gaza and talks with his Palestinian bestfriend about the situation a lot:

"Hey guys! I appreciate you reaching out. To give you context, I did not post this language or sticker. I was at breakfast with friends, it happened to be an Israeli cafe, and a girl was handing out stickers. Someone photographed me and posted and tagged me.

As you guys know better than most people, social media can be used however people want to use it. I understand the weight of the situation and take it very seriously.

I have friends of friends who are currently being held hostage in Gaza right now. My friends kids were killed in the massacre at the Israeli music festival. Standing up against this terrorism is important to me and why I made my statement after the attack. As one of the only few Jewish people with a platform, I absolutely think it's important to share my message against hatred for Jews around the world right now.

However, everyone online is obviously twisting everything and saying I support genocide and am islamophobic which is obviously entirely false and never have I stated either of those things. Seeing what is happening to the innocent people in Palestine pains me so much and I wish it would stop.

I fully support everyone in Palestine as I said in my post on instagram. One of my best friends in college is Palestinian and we talk about this issue alllll the time and agree on most things. I think people on social media are just animalistic right now so it's hard to even chime in because they just wanna rip me apart so now I'm staying out of it."

Slightly unrelated but here's a Palestinian defending Noah on tiktok (their comment was taken down soon)

Credits for screenshots to: @hawkins-batman

[crushpunky]

actress!reader gets asked about drew

masterlist | actress!reader masterlist

based on this ask. a sort of compilation of y/n telling cute stories <3

Y/n settled in the chair opposite the podcast’s host, Claire, adjusting the mic as the interview began.

“Hello and welcome to another episode of Chit-Chat with me, your host, Claire Hale!” Claire said cheerfully before turning to face y/n. “Today we are going to be talking with the wonderfully talented y/n y/ln. Welcome!”

“Hi, thank you so much for having me.” Y/n smiled, smoothing a hand along her pants as the two of them launched into casual conversation, ranging in topics from y/n’s childhood to her favorite movies and her morning routine.

“So, I think the people are dying to know, how is married life?” Claire said, dropping her jaw open exaggeratedly. Y/n laughed, absentmindedly fidgeting with the diamond ring adorning her finger.

“It is great.” Y/n smiled. “I didn’t think it was possible to be this happy, y’know? Like I thought that I was happy before we got engaged, but actually being married is a whole other level.”

“Ugh, that’s so cute.” Claire swooned, causing y/n’s cheeks to warm as she thought back to the memory of waking up this morning in Drew’s arms. It was something that happened nearly every morning, but each time it made her heart flutter and fall impossibly more in love with him.

“I’m not even trying to over exaggerate or put on an act, I am just genuinely so happy right now.” Y/n continued, folding her hands in her lap as she smiled to herself.

“I think we are all so happy to hear that.” Claire nodded. “You and Drew have been together for such a long time, it’s so nice to just see two people who truly love and care for their work and each other. Speaking of, how do you guys sort of find that balance between work life and personal life, with both of you spending so much time away acting or away on projects?”

“It’s taken a lot of practice,” y/n chuckled. “Lots of hours of late night FaceTime calls and missed dinners until we both kind of decided that we needed to set up some boundaries and some of what we call ‘no excusers’.”

“‘No excusers’?” Claire asked, leaning in intently with a quirk of her brow. Y/n nodded, thinking back to when Drew and her had originally come up with the term. It had been after Drew missed a dinner with y/n’s parents, a dinner he had promised to be at amidst his busy schedule, just a day after y/n had to cancel on one of their preplanned coffee dates.

“Yeah, Drew and I sort of set up this system where we have certain things that we call ‘no excusers’.” Y/n explained. “They are things that the other person has to be at, or at least help to reschedule to be at, no excuses.”

“Both of us have such busy schedules, so it can just be super easy to retreat into yourself and just say ‘oh I’m too busy’ or ‘I can’t’, but we both knew that we wanted to be there for the other person when they needed it most, even if it was hard.” Y/n continued. “So, with the ‘no excusers’ we are sort of making a promise to the other person that we can count on them to be there for us, no excuses.”

“Really making sure to set aside time for you guys and your relationship and what’s important to that relationship.” Claire clarified.

“Yes.” Y/n agreed. “Neither of us had really been in a relationship with another actor or person in the industry, so we knew we had to make time for each other in our busy schedules if we wanted to keep this relationship.”

“That’s really sweet.” Claire grinned. “So, speaking of busy schedules, how did you guys find time out of yours to get married? I mean both of you had such huge and busy years last year, so I think everyone was pretty shocked to hear that you guys got married.”

“I think we were pretty shocked that we found the time too.” Y/n joked, causing Claire to laugh. Y/n remembered back to all the hectic planning on sets and over FaceTimes, getting dresses tried on between meetings with producers, tasting different cakes from the comfort of their home, pajamas on.

“No, but in all seriousness, I think we were both just so excited to get married that we were going to find time for it no matter how busy our schedules were.” Y/n said. “Both of us could barely wait a minute longer, like I remember that we had a countdown on the whiteboard in our kitchen, ‘Days Until We’re Married’, and we just made a huge deal of it each day counting down. Music, dancing, cheering, the whole shabang.”

“Stop, that’s so funny.” Claire chuckled.

“Our neighbors probably hated us, but we didn’t care.” Y/n giggled. “Like, did you expect me to not be excited to marry the love of my life?”

“No, you’re right, I can only imagine how excited you guys were.” Claire nodded. “I mean, you’ve been together for so long, like, four years?”

“Publically, yes, but privately about five.” Y/n giggled as Claire’s eyes widened.

“How did you guys even manage that?” Claire asked incredulously. “I mean, Outer Banks, like, blew up during that time, you must’ve had so many eyes on you.”

“Ha ha, yeah, that was certainly a very interesting time.” Y/n chuckled, remembering how the two of them would try and sneak around downtown Charleston, ducking into darkened allies to kiss like teenagers.

“It was during COVID, so for a while we just stayed inside. There weren’t very many opportunities to catch us, aside from the occasional social media post or livestream, but I think that we kept it pretty lowkey. I mean we already lived together, so we weren’t going back and forth between each other's places or anything like that.” Y/n continued. “But when things kinda started going back to normal, and we were going out more and more eyes were on us, it certainly became a lot harder.”

Y/n thought about a particular time in which a fan had snuck a picture of the two of them sitting on a bench just off the beach. The two of them shared AirPods, chatting casually. They hadn’t even realized that y/n had ended up perched in Drew’s lap, his hands resting on her hips as their faces sat just inches away from each other. They were too caught up in the moment, and in each other, to realize they were in public until they saw the photos later that afternoon.

“There were… multiple times where people pointed out something or noticed something that we hadn’t even thought about and we thought like ‘oh shit, we’ve been caught’, but we always managed to sorta weasel our way out of it.” Y/n giggled, brushing a bit of hair away from her face. “It was hard, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

“Yeah,” Claire nodded. “That sort of situation definitely helps you guys to keep the relationship real, y’know? How did you guys decide to keep it private for so long? Was that a mutual decision?”

“Yes, yes it was definitely something we both agreed upon.” Y/n said. “I think we both wanted to make sure that our relationship was authentic and real, not just something shaped by other peoples’ perspectives or opinions. I really do think that that time where we kept things between ourselves helped to shape our relationship.”

“I know you said you kept it between yourselves, but other people definitely knew, right? They had to.” Claire asked.

“I honestly think that some of them knew before we knew ourselves.” Y/n laughed. There were so many moments and stares shared by the people around them who recognized the very obvious feelings between y/n and Drew. So many friends and family members would comment on the almost magnetic attraction the two exhibited, practically unable to go anywhere without the other. 

“But in all seriousness, yes people knew.” Y/n continued. “We kept it just between us for like… a month, month and a half maybe? But then we shared it with our friends, the Outer Banks cast, but they kinda already knew since we were all living together. Then a little after that we told our parents on FaceTime— because of COVID— and they also kinda had their suspicions.”

“That’s so funny.” Claire grinned. “Well, y/n, I really appreciate you taking the time to Chit-Chat with us! It was so much fun!”

“Thank you so much!” Y/n grinned. “Thank you for having me, it was a lot of fun.”

“Once again, thank you for watching and thank you for Chit-Chatting with us!” Claire said, her and y/n waving goodbye to the video and listeners at home.

[madzilla84]

Emmrich and ambition

Something I don’t see talked about much (although I could have missed it) is Emmrich’s ambitiousness. He’s not just interested in the Fade, he’s the foremost expert in the world. He doesn’t just want to be a Mourn Watcher, he wants to reach the highest possible rank it’s possible for a Watcher to achieve (lichdom). (Obviously there are multiple positive and negative motivations for him to consider lichdom, but his ambitiousness is definitely part of it). 

(under the read more to save your dash)

There’s a conversation he has with Harding where she asks him what he would have done if he wasn’t a Watcher, and he thinks about it and eventually says he’d have been a botanist. But not just *A* botanist, noodling around in his greenhouse - he specifically says, “one of the great botanists”. It isn’t enough to just be a botanist, he has to be the best at it.

I’m not at all saying this as a negative thing, fwiw - very often this sort of ambition can come with a sort of big-headedness, especially when one is at the top of one’s field, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Emmrich (the majority of the time, I’m sure he has his moments like most experts do). Rather, it spurs him on to greater heights and inspires him to share that passion with others. But that drive to Be The Best is definitely there.

It could explain why he was friends with Johanna - on the surface, it does seem a bit out-of-character considering her cruelty, unless you also consider her brilliance. They were on each other’s level academically, and he knew she could help him achieve (and she knew the same about him). I’ve no doubt her ambition was something he particularly admired … maybe *too* much, by his own recognition. Maybe it even spurred on his own.

I also raised an eyebrow when I chose Dorian for Archon and got a little ‘Emmrich approves’ pop up. While you could say it’s just because he likes the idea of a fellow necromancer being in charge - part of ambition is taking action to achieve your goals, and Dorian’s goals are definitely things Emmrich would agree with, even if he might not be in total agreement with his methods (which he might be! We don’t really know, he doesn’t say that much about it). So he’d probably, y’know, admire the conviction and determination if nothing else?

It’s likely something he also admires in Rook, whether romanced or not. Rook is the only person really in the world who is stepping up to tackle this issue, and yes they were already involved but they’re still doing it! It’s maybe also part of why he joins the Veilguard (all pretty ambitious people/the best in their respective fields).

I don’t really have a point here, I just wanted to ramble about an aspect of his personality I don’t see mentioned/explored all that much. Now he’s started seeing the world I’m sure he would like to continue doing that (and iirc his writer said essentially the same thing), but I’m sure he would also be involved in writing the inevitable books about what happened, wanting to be recognised for being part of it all, because - and we're getting into esoteric Waffle Territory here - if you dig into it his ambitiousness is likely all tied up with his fear of death, or perhaps more accurately, of being forgotten. Or perhaps even more accurately, of being left behind. By the world. Like he was by his parents. 

IT’S ALL CONNECTED!!

[dianea99]

Unpopular opinion (and you don't need to agree, I'm just getting this off my chest): Am I the only one who thinks Gi-hun has EVERY right not to talk to In-ho in Season 3?

I've seen a lot of people asking for a conversation between the two, as if Gi-hun needs to "see In-ho's human side," understand that "he's also a victim of the VIPs," and forgive him… And yes, there's some truth to that perspective. But I feel like, by repeating that narrative so often, it's brutally minimizing the pain In-ho caused him. Let's not forget that he killed Jung-bae.

That's no small feat. It's not an easy wound to process, especially with so little time between that event and the imminent end of the games. And what bothers me the most is that people idealize Gi-hun as if he were some kind of saint: pure compassion, pure empathy, incapable of hating anyone.

And no, that's not right either.

— Gi-hun is still a human being with intense emotions, with impulses. Do you really think that when he finds out In-ho is the Leader, he's going to stay calm, take a deep breath, and listen to his side of the story? — Besides, the author himself has said that Gi-hun won't be the same person we saw in the second season, and that could mean a lot of things… for better or worse.

It's not like in the fanfics where Gihun, upon learning the truth, almost reacts like, "Oh, you killed Jungbae, how embarrassing, now kiss me." 🥹

No, when he gets angry, seriously, he doesn't hesitate to attack. Look at how he was fighting with Sangwoo, who, despite loving him very much, got angry enough to fight over Sae Byeok, whom he had also grown attached to, but it was only because he could still manage to use his rational side that he didn't go so far as to kill him.

Remember that before, Gi-hun didn't even have anything personal against the frontman. I knew eliminating him wouldn't end the games because I understood that the VIPs were the root of the problem.

But after the rebellion… and after Jung-bae's death, things changed. This is now personal. And honestly, I think he's really going to seek revenge now. And that his anger is completely justified.

Don't get me wrong. We haven't even seen the third season yet, and anything can happen. I'm not closed to him eventually having an intense conversation with In-ho… BUT I do hope Gi-hun gets angry, causes a mess, and doesn't gloss over Jung-bae's death as if it didn't hurt. Because it hurt.

That's all. I just wanted to vent this pain I feel for Gi-hun. 😢

[pagesfromthevoid]

Future Fest | b. f.

Bob Floyd x teacher!reader

High school recruitment isn’t usually on the short list of things to do during the day, but it is today.

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: None

Author's Note: I don't even know what possessed me but here I am. Also, the feral things the students say in this are actual quotes from my actual students.

Masterlist | Talk to Me! | AO3

She really needs to learn how to say “no” when people ask her to do things at work.

It’s a bad habit –a combination of the incessant need to be liked by everyone and genuinely caring about what the students would want–that she just can’t seem to break. 

Today, it’s Future Fest. The very first event of the year where any student sixteen and older can ditch their regularly scheduled classes and come down to the gym to talk to different college representatives, explore career choices, and interact with military recruiters. About 75% of those students are there to actually get an idea about what they want to do after high school –that other 25% are there to get out of class.

Not that she blames them, of course. She probably would have done the same thing if this had been a thing when she was in school. 

The college and career counselor at the school had asked her to help out, since most of her students had signed up to go anyway (and unfortunately for those who didn’t, they got to go anyway because of her). It’s all hands on deck when it comes to these sorts of events, just to ensure that things go smoothly and none of the kids act like fools. Plus, she’s getting paid for “covering” a class three periods in a row –not a lot, but it’s certainly better than nothing. 

Her task is to just walk the aisles and keep an eye on things. Talk to some of the representatives, thank them for coming to the school, encourage kids to talk to them too. It’s easy enough, and she jokes with many of the representatives that she’s getting her steps in today.

“Miss!” One of her students practically screams, running up to her and grabbing her arm. A gaggle of sophomore girls are trailing behind, carrying pamphlets for the Navy. “Have you seen the military guys?”

She peers over the heads of the students, towards the back of the gym, where the recruiters are. She can sort of make out their faces, but she’s not truly all that interested.

“I haven’t made my way over there yet,” she offers, pulling her arm free from the girl. “Why?”

“They’re hot.”

“You know, normal teenagers don’t tell their teachers when they find people hot,” she points out, rolling her eyes.

She’s suddenly surrounded by teenage girls, and she wishes for a moment that the kids didn’t like her half as much as they did. Boundaries are important, and teenagers have no idea how they work. They tell her things she truly does not want or need to know –though it’s a double edged sword. For all the weird, practically feral comments they make, they tell her things that are important to know. How their lives at home are, if they need help, if they’re struggling. She reminds them that she loves them, but they need to remember they’re not friends.

“Yeah but we’re not normal and you’re our mom, so like…it’s fine.”

They call her the school mom, which is…better than being their friend, she supposes.

The girls are insisting she go and talk to the recruiters, or at least look at them, so she throws her hands up and heads over. But she tells the girls they have to talk to three college representatives if she does that –they agree quickly and hurry off, though they’re watching to make sure she actually goes over there.

Rolling her eyes, she holds her hands behind her back and strolls down the aisle until she sees the banner for the Navy –then below it, a sign advertising the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program. She thinks that’s a mouthful, though also knows the program is highly sought after by many of the students at the school. Being the closest high school to the naval air base will do that, though.

As she approaches, she can hear two of her students talking to the recruiters –one tall, blonde and holding a helmet that’s labelled “Hangman.” He’s confident, and he’s cute (she’ll give him that much), but she doesn’t particularly like how he’s talking to the boys in front of him. Beside him is another pilot, she assumes, since she’s wearing her flight suit and the helmet in front of her says “Phoenix.” She’s trying to cut in, but Hangman seems to be more interested in bragging than anything else. She catches the tail end of their conversation, something about their call signs and what they are. 

Beside Phoenix, however, is someone who looks too sweet to be in the military. He’s talking to a junior, showing him something on a tablet that looks like blueprints. But he’s smiling ear to ear, seemingly enjoying whatever he’s talking about. His glasses are slipping down the bridge of his nose, but he’s too caught up talking to the student to notice. 

He, she thinks, is cute. And he’s nice to the students, which is important to her.

She steps around the student, standing to the side as she waits for them to finish up. From this angle, she catches the name on his tag –Floyd –and makes a mental note. However, it’s Hangman who finishes up first, and approaches with an award-winning (and cocky) smile.

“Well hello there,” he offers, extending his hand. “Lieutenant Jake Seresin, at your service.”

She takes his hand politely, shaking it, and introducing herself. “Nice to meet you, lieutenant. I was just stopping over to thank you guys for coming out. It means so much to the school.”

His colleague Phoenix, extends her hand next, smiling as well. “Lieutenant Natasha Trace. It’s not a problem –we love coming out and doing stuff like this.”

“So you’re all pilots?” She asks, motioning towards their helmets. 

“Me and Phoenix are –Bob over there is a Weapons System Officer,” Lieutenant Seresin explains, though he’s smirking some as Natasha –Phoenix –elbows Bob to get his attention. 

Bob looks up, as if suddenly realizing she’s not a student and she’s an adult, and he turns a bit pink in the ears as he sets down his tablet.

“I’m sorry about that, ma’am,” he offers, then extends his hand to her. “Lieutenant Robert Floyd, though most people just call me Bob.”

She takes his hand and offers a real smile –not that she wasn’t smiling properly to his colleagues, but Bob seems sweet and it's hard not to offer him a proper one. She reintroduces herself one more time.

“It’s a pleasure –like I was saying, I just wanted to thank you guys for coming out and doing this. Future Fest is our big thing and the kids really love it. Having you guys join us is a big deal.”

“Oh, I love doing stuff like this,” Bob offers, and the smile on his face just hasn’t gone away.

She’s a bit distracted, caught up in just how genuinely interested he seems to be in the whole thing. Most people aren’t terribly excited to spend their day talking to high schoolers –but Bob actually seems to mean it. And she appreciates that, because she’s someone who also enjoys working with the students (though it would be a shame if she didn’t, given she’s a teacher). It helps that he’s got the prettiest blue eyes she’s ever seen, and he’s got some sort of accent that she can’t place but it’s nice to hear. 

Was it weird to flirt at school? She vaguely remembers her mom saying they used to flirt with the firemen when they came to her school, so it can’t be terribly inappropriate. It’s not like she’s doing anything lewd –she’s just talking. And smiling. 

“So what does a Weapons System Officer do, Lieutenant Floyd?” She asks, both because she’s interested and because she wants to keep hearing him talk. 

“Here we go,” Hangman says, rolling his eyes but Phoenix elbows him as they turn their attention to a student who approaches.

Bob beams at the chance to explain, taking up the tablet again and holding it out to her. “So WSO’s –that’s what I do –are responsible for manning the weapon systems of the F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter from that jet's aft seat. That’s just the back,” he explains, pointing to where he must be stationed when he’s in the plane. “Depending on the mission, when designated as the mission commander, I’m the one responsible for all phases of the assigned mission, especially if there are multiple aircraft involved.”

“So you’re in charge?” She asks, leaning against the table and zooming in on the inside of the plane. Though truthfully, she has no idea what she’s looking at. It’s just a lot of buttons and numbers she doesn’t quite understand. She’s certain, however, if she asked, he would explain it step by step to her.

“Like I said, it depends on the mission,” he offers, pulling the tablet back in front of him to show her something else. 

She must be staring, because from a few feet away, she hears her name being called, a handful of giggles and then,

“Ooh, miss! Get it!”

She blushes. Bob blushes. Hangman and Phoenix are paying attention suddenly and laughing.

“Savannah Johnson, you absolute menace,” she scolds, standing up straight. She turns to Bob, smiling sheepishly. “I’m sorry about that, Lieutenant Floyd. You’ll have to excuse me; I need to go remind the kids that they can’t be unhinged in mixed company.”

“Only in mixed company?” He jokes, but the blush has spread from his cheeks down his neck.

“I keep a running list of all the things they say in class all year,” she offers with a laugh, and she’s very aware that she’s being watched now but can’t help it.

“I’d love to see it,” he says and she really can’t help it now as she picks up a business card with his name on it.

“This your cell phone or your work phone?” She asks, holding it up in front of him. 

Bob swallows hard and shakes his head, but takes the card from her and a pen from his shirt pocket. He scribbles his number on the back and hands it back to her, almost timidly.

“I’ll send you a few when I go to lunch; then you can decide if you want the whole list.”

“Sounds great, miss.”

She turns on her heel to walk away, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks, as her students practically scream at her. She shoos them away, telling them they need to act better if they’re in public. 

The bell rings for lunch, and she’s waiting for the students to exit the gym, when he approaches her this time. She turns and smiles when she sees Bob, standing just a few inches taller than her, with a shy grin on his face. 

“Sorry to bother you, miss. I was just…,” He hesitates but she just smiles, waiting. “I was just wondering if you would like to have lunch with me? Phoenix and Hangman went off campus, but I brought my lunch.”

She bites her lip and nods some. “That sounds nice, actually. I usually eat in my classroom, if you want to go up there with me.”

She’d have to tell her velcro kids they need to go elsewhere today, but they would understand. Or they’d sit outside the door –either way. Bob nods and they make easy conversation as she leads him through the hallways of the school. She explains little things that he asks about –murals, artwork on display, awards. Everything he asks is tinged with actual interest and it makes her heart pound. 

There’s four or five kids sitting outside her door when they get upstairs, and they all look up at her in confusion as she opens the door. Bob waves at them politely.

“Sorry guys –I have a guest today,” she explains, though she still motions them inside. “Grab a snack and off you go.”

They huff and puff but grab whatever they need from a drawer at the front of the room, then leave with a flurry of goodbyes and thank you’s. Bob watches them for a moment before taking a seat at a desk. She leaves the door open –if anything because she doesn’t need anyone assuming the worst (and the kids will). Then she grabs her lunch from the mini fridge in the corner, setting it on a desk in front of him and turning it around.

“I haven’t sat in one of these in a long time,” he chuckles, taking out his very neatly organized meal. It makes her thrown together lunch look kind of sad, honestly. “I can’t imagine sitting here every day again.”

“They hate them, but I’m hoping I get some grant money to get something better next year.”

“It’s a shame you have to get grants just to have decent things in the classroom.”

“Well, all that military spending does make a dent in the education fund,” she teases, and she’s grinning at him playfully as she does it.

“Ouch,” he puts his hand over his heart, wincing some at the jab. “I don’t know what to say outside of I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” she reassures him, taking out her phone and opening her notes app. “Okay, you ready to hear some of the feral things high schoolers say when they’re way too comfortable with you?”

“I don’t know,” he laughs, leaning back in the seat. “It can’t be that bad, right?”

She gives him a look of warning, then scrolls down…and down…and down…

“That is…a long list,” he comments, peering over the top of her phone. He almost sounds concerned.

“Oh, it is,” she promises, then stops to find her favorite so far. “‘Laws are temporary but friends are forever.’”

Bob chuckles through a bite of his sandwich. “That’s not so bad.”

She puts her finger up. “‘His parents are getting divorced. I hope neither of them want him.’”

“Oh my god.”

“‘I’m going to be a legal pot dealer after college.’”

“What does that even mean?”

“He wants to be a pharmacist,” she explains with a laugh. “I’m just happy he isn’t dropping out.”

“Okay, that’s fair,” he concedes, motioning for her to continue.

“‘I learned the other day that my dad looks up goth girl ASMR online.’”

She pauses and looks at Bob, who's trying not to choke on his sandwich. Setting her phone down, she leans back and opens up her bag of grapes with a laugh. For a few minutes, that’s it —they’re eating and laughing. When they stop laughing, she reads another and they laugh again. This goes on for most of the lunch period, up until her alarm goes off to warn her she has three minutes before the bell rings. 

“Oh shit,” she says, quickly packing up her things. “I have to actually teach now. I didn’t realize what time it was —,”

Bob quickly stands and packs his own stuff up, then flips the desk around with ease for her. She stares for a moment, watching how his arms flex as he lifts the desk without issue. Oh dear. 

“I don’t want to be too forward,” he says as students are trying to trickle in. He quickly shuts the door, looking down at her. “But I…I would really like to take you out on a date, if you’d let me.”

Kids are peering through the little window, knocking on the door. She waves them off a bit, looking up at him with a soft smile. 

“I would really like that.”

He nods, opening the door now. Kids are pushing through to get settled in, but he’s awkwardly standing in the doorway with a boyish grin and a blush. She pushes him gently out the door, but follows him out as she waits at the door for stragglers. 

“I’ll text you after school.”

“I look forward to it.”

She waves him off, smiling dreamily as she watches him walk off. He turns and walks backwards for a moment, waving at her before finally disappearing out the hallway doors. 

When she shuts the door and returns to her classroom, her students are staring at her with wide eyes. 

And then the chaos ensues.

[therealmilfdennys]

Shy reader would definitely hide behind pope at parties oo and I feel like she'd be really sensitive like if something hurt her feelings he'd spend 15 mins calming her down

dude tbh i feel like these two just wouldnt GO to the party??

but like..smurf also WOULD throw a party and force him to go. so obviously he's calling his sweet girl because everything is better with you there!

i don't think he'd force you to go if you were like "umm..no thank you..i'm not a party girlie" but he would be over the moon (as over the moon as pope can be meaning " 🙂👍") if you agreed to go.

you guys hide out in a little corner on the pool deck and talk quietly about your day for the most part i think. and everything is going fine! you're actually having fun! until one of craigs little girlfriends for the night passes you while you're on the way to grab a water. says something mean about your jeans and sweater combo.

pope sees red when he realizes there's tears in your pretty eyes. he's ducking his head down, eyes wide, lips pressed together in a line, big hands cupping your cheeks like you're made of glass.

"what happened?" he's demanding, in that low, rough tone that brooks no room for argument.

and you feel silly because like- the girl was OBVIOUSLY high and she doesn't even know you so why are you so upset? (my people pleaser girlies get it)

idk what happens after that. i can see him wanting to confront the girl, or maybe even craig(he 100% WILL confront craig later though, after you go home of course) but you're like "no, no its not that big of a deal. i just wasn't expecting it. it hurt my feelings a little bit. thank you for worrying." and he melts, because he's tuned in to your needs, and the way you're clinging to his wrist right now tells him you need him Close. so he stays close.

[0ncem0rew1thfeel1ng]

I agree the study has some significant flaws. This upsets me because I am currently in the real world trying to figure out how to communicate to Very Important People who are mostly GenX and Boomers that 80% of the younger millennial and GenZ hires they’re bringing in are effectively reading at a 4th grade level and the jobs we do require 8th at least and specialty requires 12th. Bonus round: I need to persuade them this is a Problem, they must screen for it in hiring, and that it can (and must) be fixed in the existing workforce.

The patterns I see training and reviewing work reflect some of the same observations about reading difficulties listed in the study (though in my data gathered across several hundred trainees over five years there is no appreciable difference across gender lines and the only consistent ethnic data aside from specific instructors consistently providing trainees with deeply flawed expectations and lower competencies, was Black trainees outperforming all other categories when they produced work that could be reviewed). Readers who struggle with figures of speech and metaphor also struggle with if/then and either/nor comparisons and logical flowcharts, with gaining and retaining the specialized language in the work, with distinguishing the importance of continuing to read through the work after one(1) set of elements that fit A Known Scenario are found (as those elements may be modified, reversed, or completely altered by what they may read on the next page.)

My theory is that the functional drop in literacy competencies is correlated with the (deeply flawed) whole word/cueing theory gaining prominence in public education in the US. Folks who were in early grade school in the mid 90s on who were not taught to read at home or through supplemental programs may not have developed to tools to break down unfamiliar words into roots and parts early enough, resulting in difficulty with text that cannot be understood by reading known word-patterns and guessing at the rest. We are seeing adults in professional specialized work struggling to (for example) determine whether they are looking at any of five potential scenarios listed for a given top-level condition and which then path to take under that scenario based on the secondary or tertiary conditions present.

These are most definitely not problems caused by “the pandemic” (though older GenX and Boomers I work with are Very Sure it is and Developing Office Culture Again Will Magically Fix It) because I’m seeing these issues with low reading level and critical thinking in adults in the workforce who are otherwise bright, motivated people struggling every single time they have to read technical, logical, and legal texts. With about a third of the trainees I had the opportunity to discuss the concepts with them 1:1 or in small group settings (1:10) and verify their ability to reason through verbal scenarios, yet although 70% responded well in the two weeks after these sessions, within six to eight weeks as the trainees had to rely on reading more than recall, all quality gains were lost again. I’ve watched it happen over and over.

I don’t know how to fix it in the now, not yet, but a better-designed study iterating on the one above might help us figure it out.

i appreciated this study: "They Can't Read Very Well: A Study of the Reading Comprehension Skills Of English Majors At Two Midwestern Universities"

essentially, a pair of professors set out to test their intuitive sense that students at the college level were struggling with complex text. they recruited 85 students, a mix of english majors and english education majors - so, theoretically, people focusing on literature, and people preparing to teach adolescents how to read literature - and had them read-while-summarizing the first seven paragraphs of dickens's bleak house (or as much as they made it through in the 20 minute session). they provided dictionaries and also said students could use their phones to look up whatever they wanted, including any unfamiliar words or references. they found that the majority of the students - 58%, or 49 out of the 85 students - functionally could not understand dickens at all, and only 5% - a mere 4 out of the 85 students - proved themselves proficient readers (leaving the remaining 38%, or 32 students, as what the study authors deemed "competent" students, most of whom could understand about half the literal meaning - pretty low bar for competence - although a few of whom, they note, did much better than the rest in this group if not quite well enough to be considered proficient).

what i really appreciated about this study was its qualitative descriptions of the challenges and reading behaviors of what the authors call "problematic readers" (that bottom 58%), which resonated strongly with my own experiences of students who struggle with reading. here's their blunt big picture overview of these 49 students:

The majority of these subjects could understand very little of Bleak House and did not have effective reading tactics. All had so much trouble comprehending concrete detail in consecutive clauses and phrases that they could not link the meaning of one sentence to the next. Although it was clear that these subjects did try to use various tactics while they read the passage, they were not able to use those tactics successfully. For example, 43 percent of the problematic readers tried to look up words they did not understand, but only five percent were able to look up the meaning of a word and place it back correctly into a sentence. The subjects frequently looked up a word they did not know, realized that they did not understand the sentence the word had come from, and skipped translating the sentence altogether.

the idea that they had so many trouble with every small piece of a text that they could not connect ideas on a sentence by sentence basis is very familiar to me from teaching and tutoring, as was the habit of thought seen in the example of the student who gloms on to the word "whiskers" in a sea of confusion and guesses incorrectly that a cat is present - struggling readers, in my experience, seem to use familiar nouns as stepping stones in a flood of overwhelm, hopping as best they can from one seemingly familiar image to the next. so was this observation, building off the example of a student who misses the fact that dickens is being figurative when he imagines a megalodon stalking the streets of london:

She first guesses that the dinosaur is just “bones” and then is stuck stating that the bones are “waddling, um, all up the hill” because she can see that Dickens has the dinosaur moving. Because she cannot logically tie the ideas together, she just leaves her interpretation as is and goes on to the next sentence. Like this subject, most of the problematic readers were not concerned if their literal translations of Bleak House were not coherent, so obvious logical errors never seemed to affect them. In fact, none of the readers in this category ever questioned their own interpretations of figures of speech, no matter how irrational the results. Worse, their inability to understand figurative language was constant, even though most of the subjects had spent at least two years in literature classes that discussed figures of speech. Some could correctly identify a figure of speech, and even explain its use in a sentence, but correct responses were inconsistent and haphazard. None of the problematic readers showed any evidence that they could read recursively or fix previous errors in comprehension. They would stick to their reading tactics even if they were unhappy with the results.

i have seen this repeatedly, too - actually i was particularly taken with how similar this is to the behavior of struggling readers at much younger ages - and would summarize the hypothesis i have forged over time as: struggling readers do not expect what they read to make sense. my hypothesis for why this is the case is that their reading deficits were not attended to or remediated adequately early enough, and so, in their formative years - the early to mid elementary grades - they spent a lot of time "reading" things that did not make sense to them - in fact they spent much more time doing this than they ever did reading things that did make sense to them - and so they did not internalize a meaningful subjective sense of what it feels like to actually read things.

like, i've said this before, but the year i taught third grade i had multiple students who told me they loved reading and then when i asked them about a book they were reading revealed that they had absolutely no idea what was going on - on a really basic literal level like "didn't know who said which lines of dialogue" and "couldn't identify which things or characters given pronouns referred to" - and were as best as i could tell sort of constructing their own story along the way using these little bits of things they thought they understood. that's what "reading" was, in their heads. and they were, in the curriculum/model that we used at the private school where i taught, receiving basically no support to clarify that that was not what reading was, nor any instruction that would actually help them with what they needed to do to improve (understand sentences) - and i realized over the course of that year that the master's program that had certified me in teaching elementary school had provided me with very little understanding of how to help these kids (with perhaps the sole exception of the class i took on communications disorders, not because these kids had communications disorders but because that was the only class where we ever talked, even briefly, about things like sentence structures that students may need instruction in and practice with to comprehend independently). when it comes to the literal, basic understanding of a text, the model of reading pedagogy i was taught has about 6 million little "tools" that all boil down to telling kids who functionally can't read to try harder to read. this is not productive, in my experience and opinion, for kids whose maximum effort persistently yields confusion. but things are so dysfunctional all the way up and down the ladder that you can be a senior in college majoring in english without anyone but a pair of professors with a strong work ethic noticing that you can't actually read.

couple other notes:

obviously it's a small study but i'm not sure i see a reason to believe these are particularly outlierish results (ACT scores - an imperfect metric but not a meritless one IMO for reading specifically, where the task mostly really is to read a set of texts written for the educated layperson and answer factual questions about them - were a little bit above the national average)

the study was published last year, but the research was conducted january to april 2015. so there's no pandemic influence, no AI issue - these are millennials who now would span roughly ages 28-32 (i guess it's possible one of the four first-year students was one of the very first members of gen z lol). if you're in your late 20s or early 30s, we are talking about people your age, and whatever the culprit is here, it was happening when you were in school.

i think some people might want to blame this on NCLB but i find this unconvincing for a variety of reasons. first of all, NCLB did not pass because everyone in 2001 agreed that education was super hunky-dory; in fact, the sold a story podcast outlines how an explicit goal of NCLB was to train teachers in systematic phonics instruction, because that was not the norm when NCLB was passed, and an unfortunate outcome was that phonics became politicized in ed world. second, anyone who understands anything about reading should need about ten minutes max to spend some time on standardized test prep and recognize that if your goal is truly to maximize scores... then the vast majority of your instructional time should be spent on improving actual reading skills because you actually can't meaningfully game these tests by "practicing main idea questions" (timothy shanahan addresses this briefly near the top of this post). so i find it very difficult to believe that any school that pivoted to multiple choice drill time in an attempt to boost reading scores was teaching reading effectively pre-NCLB, because no set of competent literacy professionals would think that would work even for the goal of raising test scores. third, NCLB mandated yearly testing in grades 3-8 but only one test year in high school; kansas set its reading and math test year in high school as tenth grade. so theoretically these kids all had two years of sweet sweet freedom from NCLB in which their teachers could have done whatever the fuck they wanted to teach these kids to actually read. the fact that they didn't suggests perhaps there were other problems afoot. fourth, and maybe most saliently for this particular study, the sample text was the first seven paragraphs of a novel - in other words, the exact kind of short incomplete text that NCLB allegedly demanded excessive time spent on. i'm not really sure what universe it makes sense in that students who can't read the first seven paragraphs of a novel would have become much better reader if everything else had been the same but they had been making completely wack associations based on nonsense guesses for all 300 pages instead. (if you read the study it's really clear that for problematic readers, things go off the rails immediately, in a way that a good program targeted at teaching mastery of text of 500 words or less would have done something about.)

all but 3 of the students reported A's and B's in their english classes and, again, 69% of them are juniors and seniors, so like... i mean idk kudos to these professors for being like "hold up can these kids actually read?" but clearly something is wack at the college level too [in 2015] if you can make your way through nearly an entire english major without being able to read the first seven paragraphs of a dickens novel. (once again i really do encourage you to look at the qualitative samples in the study, lest you think i am being uncharitable by summarizing understandable misunderstandings or areas of confusion that may resolve themselves with further exposure to the text as "can't read.") not to mention the fact that most students could not what they had learned in previous or current english classes and when asked to name british and american authors and/or works of the nineteenth century, roughly half the sample at each college could name at most one.

the authors of the study are struck by the fact that students who cannot parse the first 3 sentences of bleak house feel very confident about their ability to read the entire novel, and discover that this seeming disconnect is resolved by the fact that these students seem to conceptualize "reading" as "skimming and then reading sparknotes." i think it's really tempting to Kids These Days this phenomenon (although again these are people who in some cases have now been in the workforce for a decade) and categorize it as laziness or a lack of effort, but i think that there is, as i described above, a real and sincere confusion over what "reading" is in which this makes a certain logical sense because it's not like they have some store of actual reading experiences to compare it to. i also think it's pretty obvious looking at just how wildly severed from actual textual comprehension their readings are that these are not - or at least not entirely - students who could just work harder and master the entirety of bleak house all on their own. like i don't think you get from "charles dickens is describing a bunch of dinosaur bones actually walking the streets of london" to comfortably reading nineteenth century literature by just trying harder. i really just don't (and i say that acknowledging i personally have had students who like... were good readers if i was forcing them to work at it constantly... but i have also had students, including ones getting ready to enter college, who were clearly giving me everything they had and what they had was at the present moment insufficient). i think that speaks to a missing skillset that they don't know are missing, because they don't have any other experience of "reading" to compare it to.

just wanna highlight again that although they don't give the breakdown some of these students are not just english majors but english education majors a.k.a. the high school english teachers of tomorrow. some of them may be teaching high school english right now, in case anyone wishes to consider whether "maybe some high school english teachers can't read the first seven paragraphs of bleak house?" should be kept in mind when we discuss present-day educational ills.

[saveahorserideaneddie]

alright it’s rant time bc i saw a post that made me wanna rip my goddamn hair out so yall have to put up with the rage it gave me so buckle up fuckers:

“it doesn’t make narrative sense for them to kiss right now it’d be rushed” my fucking brother in christ it’s been seven fucking years are yall stupid?

like not even respectfully at this point

i keep seeing people say “i want a slow burn” WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS HAS BEEN????

like i see some takes i disagree with but like sometimes i’ll just see a blog make the absolute most dumbfuck post about what they want and talk about how “it wouldn’t make narrative sense for x to happen bc it’s unrealistic”

It’s fiction???? it’s not meant to be realistic???? since when has anyone in this fandom wanted realism??? didn’t everyone JUST crash out over “realism” two weeks ago??????

it’s absolutely baffling to me how people who have only been here like a year or two can sit back and be so daft enough to say “the slowburn hasn’t been long enough” or “this is actually paced so well” when they’re not the ones who have neen waiting for this for SEVEN. YEARS.

like there are certain opinions that you can agree or disagree with in this fandom, but we are absolutely fucking beyond the time for “major hints” and shit like that. there either needs to be a BLATANTLY clear in-text confirmation that they have feelings for each other, or there needs to be a kiss.

also- to all of you out there who seem to think this- a kiss does not equal them getting together

they can absolutely kiss or have an almost kiss and then ignore it bc they’re idiots which would stir up angst without leaving plausible deniability for the show to backtrack again

yall are putting way too much trust and faith in these writers just because you want a “realistic canon arc” (mind you, buck’s canonical bi arc took approximately five minutes and no one batted a fucking eye bc it was a- about fuckin time and b- setup by subtext for SEASONS beforehand)

this show does not need to spoonfeed us development, this is not the time for baby steps- this has been building for well over half a decade now and stalling it sny longe just increases chances of the show getting cancelled before they actually go canon, people quit watching bc they’re tired of them dragging their feet/tired of the repetitiveness of the will they wont they that they’ve been setting up again for SEVEN YEARS whether intentional or not, or the writers (cough cough Tim Minear cough cough) just give up entirely and chsnge their mind snd we get a redo of s6 where they’re thrown w two shitty chemistyless LI’s.

the show is not fanfiction. there’s no guarantee that it’s going to end up exactly how we want it to end. it can’t drag the story out over 60 chapters and 100,000 words at this point. we already have eight seasons of canon to work with. the show is finite, and will end eventually, and unfortunately it’s becoming increasingly unheard of for procedurals that aren’t grey’s to make it past a s10 so if we do that will already be a miracle.

some of us actually would like to see payoff from the years of waiting. idk about yall but i haven’t sat here for 7 years just for them to go canon in the series finale bc someone who only started in s7 thinks that the slow burn wasn’t long enough.

anyway, rant over- i just genuinely do not understand how people’s brains work when they say they “don’t want a kiss in the finale” bc what are you even talking about right now?

[ysrjune]

hii there hope all is well i was curious if i could suggest a cute little fic or something of teen!dad scott’s first father’s day and/or mother’s day ? i love your teen!dad scott barringer it’s super cute

a/n: thank youuu ☺️ I love writing teen dad Scott. I'm so glad people are requesting him again!

For Father's Day, Scott's dad wanted to take a trip to Las Vegas with everyone. Your parents let you go since his parents would be the ones taking you (they just wanted you gone.. and you can imagine why.) Leo was now 1 year old. Mother's day had passed, so your first one was over, but now it was Scott's first Father's Day. It was just 2 days before Father's Day had actually come up. You all wanted to explore around the city before celebrating Scott and his father.

Waiting in the airport was fine. Leo didn't fuss much, but Scott did. He was hungry, and his back was hurting from sitting down. At least it was only an hour wait to board the plane. To pass time, he began to play with Leo. "Who's this?" Scott shows the mickey plushie to Leo. "Mick!!!" He claps with a smile. "Yeahh. Good job, weirdo." Scott smiles back.

The plane ride was also good. Leo didn't cry or make loud noises. He was calm and luckily, so was Scott. At the hotel, you and your family of 3 had your own room. It still had two beds, so you figured you could just leave the suitcases there or something since there was no use for it. "It's so hot here." Scott complains immediately. "I don't get why people actually live in Nevada. It's literally a desert." He groans and removes his shirt then quickly makes his way to turn on the AC. "You're so dramatic." You roll your eyes and set Leo on a bed.

"Aren't you hot, sport?" Scott lays on the bed with the baby and twirls his hair. The baby babbled nonsense, making Scott smile. "Me too but your mama thinks I'm crazy." He tsks and shakes his head. "One day you're gonna be just like me and walk around the house in your underwear to annoy her." He tickles Leo.

—

That night (to avoid the heat) you all went down to the strip to check what they had. Many restaurants and casinos. There were also girls who were practically half naked to take photos with. "Stop staring." You nudge Scott in the chest as they walk by. "I wasnt!" He whines. He definitely was.. but so were you if you were being honest with yourself.

The night was great. Walking around and then going to dinner then walking around again.. your feet and legs ached but it was worth it. Scott's parents wanted Leo that night because they just loved the cutie so much. So guess what that led to? Scott acting like the horny 17 year old he is. The only reason you agreed to have sex with him for the first time in a year was because he actually had condoms. Wouldn't want another baby..

—

Father's day finally came around, and Scott was actually excited. Another day out of the year that got to be about him! He showered before you did, so he was also ready before you. He watched you do your makeup and put on a pretty outfit after you got out. He was staring in awe. You're the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. "Stretchmarks look good on you." Scott compliments. Before you had Leo, he used to think they were sort of freaky looking, but now that you have them because of Leo, he thinks they're cool.

Scott knew you were insecure about them. They were mostly faded by now, but they were still there. Often, Scott would kiss them and make you feel like they were nothing to be ashamed of. "Baby's first drawings, they say." He chuckles and kiss your lips. Leo coos from the bed and Scott goes to pick him up. "Look at you, getting cuter and cuter by the day." Scott kisses his sons face. He's never like this in public. This is a side of Scott that no one else but you and occasionally his parents got to see.

In the morning, the plan was breakfast and then hit up a few stores. Then it would be lunch and walk around again, then head back to the hotel to rest, and for dinner, well.. dinner at a new restaurant. Going to stores was your favorite part. Scott had been wanting new sun glasses, so you took him to a store that sold them. He tried on a bunch of different styles of them and you got a ton of goofy photos out of it. He ended up wanting red ones (which was odd since he doesn't like colored sunglasses) just because they had cherries and dice on the side of them. "They're so badass." He explained them as.

By the end of the day, everyone was so tired and just wanted to rest in their rooms. You, Scott, and Leo were in the bed, under the blankets, in your pj's, watching TV. Leo was between you two, playing with his toys. Scott was dozing off. So basically, you were the one watching TV. "Daddy!!" Leo giggles and crawls over to Scott. The blonde groans dramatically. "Uuughhhh. Yes Leo? What do you want now? A bottle, a hug? my soul?" He says with no bark behind it. Of course Leo didn't understand. He just stared into his dad's eyes with his mouth open.

"I love you, ugly." He traps Leo in his arms and kisses him. "Hey, don't call him that!" You look at Scott. "He is though." He really wasn't. Leo was the cutest baby ever. "Mm," You hum. "Well, I love you. Ugly." You smile at Scott and kiss him. He laughs and shakes his head. "I love you more, Beautiful."

@bxbyysstuff @anakinstwinklebunny @lovethestarrs @valloos @anisangeldust @xo-yaaaaaasxo @anakinca @dollfilmz @alexlovesysrjune @sockiess @sythethecarrot @speaknow-sw @loveamira @alealuvshayden @mvst4far

[bongbongbangi]

YELENA BELOVA’s birthday with the THUNDERBOLTS headcannons .𖥔 ݁ ˖ ϟ ⚡︎

(or the new avengerz)

all photos are from Pinterest !!

i wrote this during class 😀😀

before Yelena joined the thunderbolts, she spent her most of her birthdays probably drinking

might get herself a cupcake and then call Natasha ☹️

BUT THEN SHE JOINED THE THUNDERBOLTSSSSSSSS

Ava, bob and Alexei wanted to do something special

Alexei seems like the type of guy to go all out on birthdays

he decroated the entire living room with balloons and banners

[ BEST GOALIE OF THE WEST CHESAPEAKE VALLEY THUNDERBOLTS]

he stormed into her room singing at 7am with breakfast he made in hand

“LENA ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY WHY ARE YOU STILL IN BED”

“dad im gonna kill you”

the breakfast was ok tho, not the most delicious but it’s the thought that counts

Yelena couldn’t stop smiling the entire time (awhhhshdhhsshsjsj 🥺🥺🥺)

yes this was in fact another time Alexei set three towels on fire

Ava had the idea of surprising her with everyone wearing Yelena’s signature eyeliner

Bob and Alexei thought it was a great idea

John and Bucky were harder to convince tho

I think Bucky would agree to it if they beg long enough

would still sigh and grunt the entire time (possibly add an eye roll in there)

no but like imagine applying eyeliner on Bucky while sitting on his lap and his arms are wrapped around your waist with his greyish blue eyes looking into yours and he’s slightly smirking up at you-

ANYWAYS 😁😁😁😁 (I volunteer as tribute 🙋‍♀️)

Ava ended up applying it on John while he was taking a nap on the couch, newspaper on his lap and everything

she may or may not have also drawn a cartoon penis on his cheek

and possibly cat whiskers as well

midday however they got called on a mission

this was when thunderbolts started trending on twitter for looking like they either just walked out of an Avril Lavigne music video or haven’t slept in 4 months

YELENA LOVED IT THO(that’s the only important part)

everyone knows yelena loves mac’n cheese

John had an idea to make a Mac’n cheese cake with bob’s help (cuz i firmly believe that bob can cook amazing Mac’n cheese 🤞)

Bob kept telling him it won’t work

but of course John wouldn’t listen

“walker it’s just gonna come out like sludge”

“no bobby you gotta trust me if you bake it it’ll come together i swear”

it came out like Mac’n cheese pie

but the kitchen smelled like Yelena’s heaven

which she greatly, greatly appreciated

“what is thiss😋” AND HER LIL YELENA SMILE AWHHHH

they did end up getting her an actual cake tho

a confetti cake 🥰

however the best part of her birthday didn’t come until later

Yelena was told they had another mission

but when Bob came on the jet too she was like 🤨

“why are you coming with us Bob 🤨”

“well i uh-“ “emotional support😁”- ava

guess where they went

OHIO BECAUSE THATS WHERE THE WEST CHESAPEAKE VALLEY THUNDERBOLTS TRAINEDDD

there were already kids playing there

but they new avengerz being the cheeky lil bitches they are joined 🥰

they totally cheated btw

some kids were on Bucky and John’s back screaming

Alexei was yelling out instructions but no one listened 😔

“NO BOB MY LEFT NOT YOUR LEFT”

Bob was trying his best ok ☹️ we love you for that Bob <3

ava started phasing around to scare the kids

it actually worked and some kid ended up crying

and Yelena was on the ground cackling the entire time

when they went back to the tower they were covered in dirt and mud

convinced that Yelena drew a happy face on John’s back with the mud and everyone was laughing while John’s all like “what are you guys laughing about 🤨😔”

damn idk why people keep drawing things on John in this post

that night when it was time to cut the cake

and everyone was singing happy birthday

John was trying to sing in tune , Bucky looked so done (but he was enjoyed the moment :), Bob was singing along shyly, Ava was clapping while singing and Alexei was the loudest one

after they finished alexei threw yelena up in his air and did the cliche “MY BABY DAUGHTERS ALL GROWN UP☹️🥺”

before they went to bed Alexei told stories of Yelena’s childhood

stuff like her at football training and lil moments with Nat 🥰

she was constantly trying to stop him but the others were laughing so hard

Bob actually fell off his chair

“I didn’t expect you were the type to actually throw a rock at the other teams coach”-walker

“I WAS LIKE 5”

and when yelena went to bed that night

even though she was exhausted and slightly annoyed,

she finally felt like she was home

[ghouljams]

Idk honestly I could probably write a really in depth analysis on the prevalence of the blue/brown eyed Ghost debate, and what it means in terms of fandom politics especially when coupled with whether Ghost is a natural blond or a brunet, but I doubt anyone wants to hear about the political implications of people pushing most popular character in the series as aryan...

well, i for one would absolutely love to hear about it, but to be fair my degree is in media studies so fork found in kitchen

but tbh is it surprising that this kind of discourse (along with the whole Gaz “not being interesting enough” bs) is a prevalent discussion in a military propaganda game fandom? probably not lol

i also agree with your take that his eyes are brown as part of his character development and that it feeds into the complexity of the dynamics between them

anyway, don’t feel pressured to talk more about it if you don’t feel like it, just wanted to let you know that at least one person would read all of it lol

Much love!!

- Morph

Ghoul thoughts under the cut because I love media analysis and rambling

You hit the nail on the head by bringing up the Gaz "not being interesting" bullshit in relation to this entire thing because I absolutely see the crux of the brown vs blue eyed Ghost debate being a debate over which eye color is "better" which has inherently racist roots.

And as an immediate disclaimer: I am not saying that headcanoning Ghost with blue eyes makes you racist, I am not saying that headcanoning Ghost as blond makes you racist. I am simply pointing out that the way we view certain traits has been and will be filtered through a lens which requires an examination of our own values/beliefs.

It is so intensely interesting to me that in a fandom with a history of racial exclusion, for a media property that upholds whiteness as the pinnacle of virtue, that upholds western ideals and values as the height of moral purity, that places the good guys in a position where they can do NO WRONG despite having a higher torture rate than the bad guys, that a faceless character would be arbitrarily assigned blue eyes and blond hair despite textual/in game evidence to the contrary (yes there is evidence).

Now maybe I am just sensitive to certain things because I paid attention in school and know what a dog whistle sounds like, maybe that's all this is. However, within a fandom that seems to cater so hard to white women and has racist bullshit popping up every other week, I think... maybe we should examine why we want Ghost to have blue eyes.

I find that with faceless characters headcanons always exist within the hopes of making them more attractive. The idea that they would be ugly under the mask is antithetical to the wish fulfilment of fandom, so it makes sense that people would come up with a face for them. But then why are so many faceless characters made into skinny white blonds? Surely people would want some diversity- oh no, wait...

So we make Ghost blond. Alright, I mean he was a brunet in the comics and in the one scene where we see him take his mask off he's got dark hair, but I guess there were too many people with dark hair on the 141 already, so we gotta mix in a blond. But then why the blue eyes? He has blue eyes in the '09 comic, but in every cutscene we see in the '22 remake his eyes are brown. There's already two members of the 141 with blue eyes, so we don't need another one for diversity. So then why give Ghost blue eyes? If you want him to be closer to the '09 version why make him blond as well?

It's because people want to make him attractive, and in the dominant racial zeitgeist blue eyes are attractive. Which... I mean do I need to ask why? It's because they're a white european trait and people still hold white features as the attractive ones. Same with the blond hair. That's why WW2 Germany designated Blond hair and Blue eyes as the "true German" traits and created a whole class for them "aryan."

So what are the political implications of creating an aryan character out of the most popular character in the series (one who has minimal voice lines and minimal canon backstory in the reboot) within a fandom that regularly disregards/ignores the main black character? It's the continued upholding of whiteness and a specific kind of whiteness as more valuable than others. I'm not even going to say more valuable than blackness, I would say more valuable than other white traits. Why are blue eyes more attractive than brown eyes? Because they're more "white." Why is blond hair more attractive than brown? Because it's more "white." Why is a blond haired blue eyed Ghost such a popular headcanon despite evidence to the contrary? Because he's more white that way.

Now I like blond haired Ghost. I think it's an interesting addition to the color pallet of the team, and I like that it makes him look more like a ghost to be so washed out. But I think fandom has a habit of following what becomes popular within head canon spaces and making it fandom canon, and so many of us don't examine why a headcanon might pop up. Where did Ghost having blond hair come from? When did we all decide that was what we were going with? Why is it even a debate whether or not he has blue or brown eyes, and why does it matter?

If I said right now that Ghost 100% in canon of the '22 game has brown hair and brown eyes, would people get mad at me? And why? Why would it matter if he had brown hair and brown eyes? Does that make him less attractive? Why? Why does it matter? Why do you want him to have blond hair and blue eyes? Why do you care? What is the difference between blue and brown that makes it so important? For God's sake look at the societal conditioning that you've been put through! Why does it "make more sense" for him to have blue eyes if he's blond? Why?

Every single idea we have of what is and isn't attractive has been designed for us by the society we live in. Consider what ideals are being upheld when deciding that the "hot" character is blond and blue eyed while also discarding the black character. Being anti-racist and dismantling your own racial biases is a long and constant process, but it is so vitally important. And once we start examining those biases all sorts of shit starts popping up.

And before someone comes in and tells me it isn't that deep: maybe you should look at why you need it to not be that deep, does it make you uncomfortable to think that you might be feeding into these biases without realizing? And who does it benefit to have it not be "that deep" is there perhaps a group of people that would want you to not examine your preference for blue eyes and blond hair? Some sort of brotherhood perhaps...

[0vergrowngraveyard]

on my hands and knees begging for kit’s redemption/healing arc to take longer than surge’s. it has to and it feels like we might already be going down that path what with surge actually making an effort to be heroic and kit doing whatever the hell he’s doing

i think in order for kit to even start in his redemption/healing, he has to overall make the choice for himself. he can agree all he wants when surge says that they should try genuinely becoming heroes, but thats him still following his programming. it can be a starting line, but overall he needs to come to the decision that he wants to be his own person, someone separate from surge. he needs to learn how to do his own thing and make his own choices without surge being there. he needs to learn to think for himself and part of that is him deciding what he wants to do with his own life

and because i’m a big fan of kit being tails’s number one hater, i don’t think he needs to learn to like tails in order to be redeemed, the same way surge doesn’t need to like sonic. if anything, i think they’d need to learn to pay no mind to them so surge and kit can start to build their own identity. maybe tails and kit become friends or just two people able to exist in the same room together with no issues, who knows. however, i do think kit gets one (1) attempt at tails’s life. as a treat

will tails probably end up playing a huge roll in kit’s redemption arc in through helping him learn to become his own person at all that? most likely yeah. but a bitch can dream……

anyway yeah just another surge and kit rambling. it will happen again

[yanderecrazysie]

Oikawa with an aromantic reader? She's one of his closest friends but unlike Iwa she doesn't act 90% pissy with him, she doesn't look at him with start struck eyes like his fangirls either. She's laid back and treats him like a normal human being who she happens to really like the company of, whether it'd be volleyball or anything else, and he fell hard. Unfortunately for him, his feelings are very one-sided as reader explained to him when he confessed that she's not into guys, she's not into girls either, she doesn't like people like that.

However, not being one to give up on what he wants he decided to use this against her, so he pretended to undertsand and stayed her friend. Eventually an opportunity for his true intentions arised when another boy confesses to her, and before she can explain her sexuality he swoops in and pretended to be her boyfriend. When the boy was gone and she questioned him on what the hell does he thinks he's doing he goes all

"Not everyone is going to understand your whole 'I can't fall in love' thing, hell I don't think they'll even believe you and think you're bullshitting. But I do, and I think dating me would be way easier to explain than your aromanticism"

Having a good point, she reluctantly agreed to fake dating him. But it got out of hand when he started acting like they're actually a couple. And she's scared that he might actually believe that they actually are one.

Title: Too Far

Pairings: Yandere! Oikawa Tooru x F! Reader

WARNINGS: yandere themes, aromantic reader, swearing

“You know,” Oikawa let out a light laugh, “I’ve played so many games where the pressure was unbearable, but this is the most stressful moment of my life.”

Silently, apprehensively, you waited for him to continue.

“I’ve been trying to gather up the courage to tell you this for a while, but I like you. A lot. More than a friend. You’re amazing, smart, and kind… And I think- no, I know, that I’m in love with you.” His brown eyes softened as he looked at you.

You cringed, “Oh, Tooru… that’s really nice of you to say, but…”

“But?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t feel the same way,” you admitted, “It’s not you, it’s just that I’m aromantic. I’m not interested in anyone that way.”

Oikawa kept quiet, the light fading from his eyes. An “oh” floated out of his mouth.

“I still want to be friends with you,” you said, desperately hoping he would understand, “We can still practice volleyball and watch alien documentaries.”

He remained silent for a few minutes, before he smiled and said, “Of course! I would never want to stop being friends with you!”

There was a strange light in his eyes as he gazed at you, but you took it with a grain of salt. It was just that he was feeling hurt, right?

Iwaizumi poked his head around the corner, “There you both are.” He gave Oikawa a suspicious look, but Oikawa waved cheerfully, as though nothing had happened.

“Everything alright?” Iwaizumi asked, looking from Oikawa’s too-broad smile to your awkward expression.

“Peachy,” Oikawa said carelessly.

“Well, coach is already in the gym. He’ll kill you if you make us wait on you.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Iwaizumi turned around with a second glance and disappeared around the corner. As soon as he was gone, you turned to your other friend. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Absolutely,” Oikawa replied, patting you on the head. But as you walked to your own club, you didn’t see the way his intense eyes lingered on you until you were out of sight.

There was something else blooming in the hollow space where hope had just died. Something that wasn’t ready to let go.

—---------------------------------------

Physical Education had just finished up and your throat was dry as a desert. You picked up your water bottle and took a swig, only to find that it was empty. You let out an annoyed noise and walked over to the water fountain, unscrewing the lid off your water bottle and filling it up.

You turned around to leave when a guy, tall and slightly dorky-looking, stepped into your path.

“Hey, um,” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “I know this is sudden, but I was wondering if you wanted to get a coffee together? Just the two of us?”

You blinked in surprise, then shook your head, “Sorry, but I am-”

“Taken.”

Hands came down on either shoulder as Oikawa pulled you close. Shocked, you looked up to see him smiling at the other boy, “She has a boyfriend. Sorry, buddy.” He didn’t sound sorry at all.

“Tooru-”

The other boy blushed, “Sorry, I didn’t know! Honest!” And he hurried off without looking back.

“Tooru!” you snapped, turning around, “What the hell was that?”

“What?” Oikawa asked innocently, “I saved you from an uncomfortable situation!”

“I had it under control,” you retorted.

Oikawa shook his head, an infuriating smile on his face, “Not everyone is going to understand your whole ‘I can’t fall in love’ thing,” he imitated you in a very unflattering way, “Hell, I don’t think they’ll even believe you and think you’re bullshitting. But I understand and I think pretending to date me would be easier to explain than your aromanticism.”

Doubt crept in. Maybe he was right. You’d gotten lots of confessions and they always gave you a weird look when you explained you were aromantic. One had even said “I can change that.” 

“Fine, but only when we’re around other people.”

Oikawa smiled, “Pinky promise.”

You rolled your eyes at his childish behavior and linked pinky fingers. It felt strangely final, as though you were signing away something more important than fake dating.

“Did everyone see her spike during PE?” Oikawa suddenly yelled out to a group of classmates, “So strong- that’s my girl!”

“What the fuck are you doing?” you growled under your breath.

Oikawa merely grinned at you, “Getting the word spread.”

He wasn’t wrong- by the end of the day, everyone in school knew that you, but more importantly Oikawa, was taken. You got a lot of glares from girls, but Oikawa continued to sell the image, linking arms with you and dragging you down hallways where you’d be seen by the most people.

“When were you going to tell me?” Iwaizumi huffed.

“It’s just fake,” you said simply, “He’s just helping me avoid confessions.”

“Huh,” Iwaizumi said, staring hard at Oikawa. For a moment, he looked at you and parted his lips, like he was going to tell you something, then shrugged and moved on. A sudden sense of foreboding flooded you.

—--------------------------------------------------------------

As days went on, Oikawa pushed his hand farther and farther.

Holding hands turned into pecks on the cheek, turned to kisses on the lips, turned to attempted make out sessions. He’d innocently whine, saying you had to “keep it realistic”.

“We’ve been ‘dating’ for six months,” he told you matter-of-factly while putting a diamond necklace around your neck, “It’s only natural that I’d give you a present for our anniversary.

“No more kissing,” you said, putting a hand up to stop his lips from crashing into yours.

“But we’ve been dating so long, it would be weird if we didn’t kiss,” Oikawa complained.

Your heart pounded, not in a romantic way, but in a stressed, suffocating way. You stepped back, necklace cold against your collarbone. “Tooru, I mean in. No more kissing.”

“But-”

“No!” You tried to be firmer this time, “This was supposed to be for appearances.”

Oikawa’s expression darkened, “So I’m just a prop in your little identity game?”

“That’s not fair! You were the one who came up with this idea!”

“Because I care about you,” he snapped, “And I thought if we spent enough time together, you’d realize you care about me too. Not like a perfect romance novel but something close enough.”

You choked up, “You’re trying to change me.”

“No, I’m showing you that you’re wrong about yourself.”

The words hit like bullets, “So you think I don’t know who I am?”

“I think you don’t know who you should be,” Oikawa snarled suddenly, rage contorting his face, “Now shut up and be grateful.”

[liorlenn]

(Spoilers for KCD2 romance)

One thing that really surprised me about Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (particularly the Hansry romance) was the direct reference to Galehaut and Lancelot (let me tell you I CHEERED), so I wanted to start talking about some other queer medieval Arthurian texts and Arthuriana adjacent texts.

I’m by no means an expert (I focus more on Welsh poetry and prose) but medieval Welsh literature includes some Arthurian literature, so I know a little about Arthurian Literature in general. Most of these stories are either Old French or German and about 13th century. SGATGK is 14th century.

For one, I want to say that the tale being referenced in the game is the Vulgate Cycle or the Lancelot-Grail Cycle (the Vulgate Cycle itself is multiple parts, with Lancelot’s (The Story of Lancelot/Prose Lancelot) being the largest). It’s a big ol’ mash up and retelling of a huge part of the early tradition + new stuff. There’s also the Post-Vulgate which is itself a retelling of the Vulgate Cycle. This is NOT the one you want if you’re looking for Lancelot and Galehaut.

Another thing of note about the Vulgate is that Galehaut and Lancelot are not the only ones I would give the old side eye. Gawain says (about Lancelot even!), “If God were to grant me my health… I’d immediately wish to be the most beautiful maiden in the world, happy and healthy, on condition that he would love me above all others…” Come on man.

Now, for other queer texts!

First up, I have to plug my best friend and my silly rabbit: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Thanks to the movie (which was good but fairly different) this one is a bit more well-known. I could talk endlessly about the moral of the original story and I think the Gawain Poet is incredibly talented at weaving together imagery. I also appreciate Gawain’s willingness to kiss women AND men. Some argue that it’s not queer because of differing social norms but personally I think Gawain wanted it. And by it, haha well let’s jusrt say—

Next we have Parzival/Percival (referencing the German “version” by Wolfram von Eschenbach here. Each iteration of a “Percival”, including Chrétien de Troyes’ earlier (and unfinished) Story of the Grail, all have their own differences). This one is even more up to interpretation than SGATGK. There’s a very explicitly performative aspect to Parzival’s presentation (his gender is “knight”), focusing distinctly on clothing and the role clothing plays in others’ reactions to him that I think is very relatable. I don’t have much else to say about this one unfortunately. I read parts of it once years ago but it was super interesting and there has been scholarship done on Parzival and gender so…. take what you will from it.

The next stories are Arthurian adjacent (as in, medieval stories about knights). First off: Le Roman de Silence is either about a woman knight or a trans knight who is… sighs. Forcibly outed. Interesting read but definitely a bit of a downer if you interpret Silence as a trans man.

Yde et Olive, however is very explicitly about a trans man! Happy ending too! I was incredibly surprised to read a 13th century story about a trans man getting magical/miraculous top and bottom surgery (yes, forreal).

And to cap off this small list, here is some medieval Welsh literature. This one is just me being a little wistful, but let me tell you about Blodeuedd/Blodeuwedd and the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi (Math fab Mathonwy). This one is…sad. It’s not a good ending for Blodeuedd, but I could wax poetic about her: how she was fashioned from flowers to fulfill a gendered role. How she failed to do so and was punished.

There are plenty of other stories with queer interpretations in Arthuriana and other medieval literature (do not get me started on Guinevere and Morgan le Fay’s whole… thing. Also Luned and her Lady…) and there are plenty of modern/early modern retellings that are explicitly queer. I just wanted to stick to medieval texts for this and also limit myself to a select few among that even.

[kirby-the-gorb]