#i treat my work friends and my real friends very differently lol. i don't know (⁠´⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠.̫⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠`⁠) aaa

[egg-emperor]

Why I love how Eggman talks about Maria in the Shadow 101 + the connection that can be made to his feelings on Shadow:

I love this part so much and I wanna go into way too much detail and depth to explain why lol

The things this could imply are things I've thought about for a long time and to keep getting new official things that align with my theories on how he feels about Maria lately with Frontiers and now this is awesome!

First of all, I wouldn't say him taking Maria's death personally is an example of him having good standards or implying genuine moral goodness above G.U.N, considering he was cool with pointing a gun at Amy's head, who is around the same age as his cousin was who died via bullet, aboard the very place she died on.

He really didn't care about how he would've been no better than the soldier that killed his similarly aged cousin, with the same weapon, in the same place!

With the harshness of his threats and how he gets increasingly pissed during Crazy Gadget like "Sonic, if you don't come here, she WILL die!" and how he already tried to kill Tails and tried to kill Sonic and Tails again after this, his threats weren't empty.

So I'm seeing it as him taking it personally on the basis that she's a member of the family, the Robotnik family name, so an attack on a family member makes them a threat and enemy to him too.

Think about it, there's a conflict you're not a part of at all, you're just an observer but then two members of your family/your people/community etc become a target- that's when you go "oh this just got personal" because they're related to you, of your blood, and it means you're now a part of it too with your connection to them.

It's like that, except with Eggman's selfish nature, he's looking at it for how it poses as a threat to himself personally for his connection. They killed his grandfather and cousin in their slimy shady operations and they don't want to stop at them, that's when it became personal and a threat to him too and they have tried to directly take him out since multiple times in SA2 and Shadow 05.

Plus he's making Maria's tragedy all about himself with that in true Eggman fashion too, which we'll also get into.

And I want to note the very interesting difference in how Eggman acts on the subject of Maria when in private all alone to himself with his private memos, where he seemed to express absolutely no care about her tragedy and only expressed jealousy and resentment for how he feels he should've got all the attention instead.

He didn't expect anyone to ever hear these memos, he said many private things he'd never say to anyone else in them, a real intimate glimpse into his thoughts and feelings and that's what makes them so cool. He can express his bitterness and jealousy and resentment towards Maria to his heart's content.

Then compare that to how he talks about her in the Shadow 101- which isn't a private memo, it's a data log that he can present to someone else, us, the viewers. Which is why he talks like he's actually talking to someone else (Ex: The "treat him as extremely dangerous" part)

It's certainly very interesting difference to how he talks about her when people aren't supposed to hear at all in the memos huh 👀 After how much he heard "everyone" talking about her like she was so special, he knows what others want to hear.

And what comes right after this? Eggman's rant about how he was the one that released Shadow and he had to go ahead and be such an ingrate. This is very important to note because it works as him attempting to convince the viewer that Shadow not being on his side is this horrible disservice to him “after all he did for Shadow” and how he “cared so much about Shadow's only friend, my cousin” and he clearly actually finds the former amusing and scoffs at, by the way!

Two key things here, he's establishing Maria's importance to Shadow with her being his "only friend" and he's stating his own connection to Maria in being related to her as his cousin.

While he literally couldn't help but scoff at Shadow just wanting to live in peace with his only friend Maria, he still recognizes how he can use that in his attempted manipulation and argument for why Shadow should be on his side- and use the way that she's his cousin.

I'm related to his only friend Maria, I recognize how tragic her death was (because he heard everyone talk about her like she was special instead of giving him the attention he wants! He's putting it to use, eh 👀), I found and released him- these are all reasons he can feel and argue that he's entitled to owning Shadow

I'm also reminded of how Flynn said Eggman can be an unreliable narrator, which he specifically said when asked about implications to his past with the Egg Memo about Maria.

He's extremely biased and unreliable in his intended to be kept private memos, of course he's not going to be entirely truthful in his data logs and presentations too!

And his usual manipulative streak is very important to consider, especially on the subject of Shadow with his entitlement to him. It's his whole deal in the story of Shadow the Hedgehog 2005 which I've done extensive analysis of.

This 101 history video gave us yet another example of his "I'm entitled to him as a member of the family, I did so much for him, he's so ungrateful" attitude that he's always had towards Shadow. Behold, the entitlement compilation lol:

The first few examples are when he's saying how dare Shadow disobey him because he "made him" in lies and gaslighting. But in the route where Shadow knows the truth, even then he pulls the "it was MY grandfather who created you" card to express his entitlement. Literal emphasis on the MY:

He has always felt entitlement based on family connection, he can use both Gerald and Maria for this.

So he's still using a combination of that and now the way he was the one who found and released him as the reasons why he's still entitled to him now, creator or not.

And man the ME? ME! being the only word on his screen at the end of both sentences is perfect, really emphasizes how it's all me me me in his mind. Of course he's going to make everything about him, that's his whole mindset as the most egotistical self-centred narcissist of all time.

Of course he's gonna take it personally if something bad happens to a family member and he's gonna take even the smallest opportunity to make something about him. How can I make this thing about me, how does this affect me, how can this either benefit or harm me, etc. And whenever he can use it to his advantage, he will.

So yeah, I believe his words on the subject are very carefully chosen in this 101. He knows how to set up his case for why Shadow should be on his side, his weapon, his puppet, his property that he tried to trick and manipulate him into in Shadow 05 too. When lying about the origin of his creation with attempted gaslighting of him being an android doesn't work, he starts taking advantage of the truths.

I always theorized that Eggman would also try to use Maria's tragedy as a way to do so as well, if he were to actually mention her, many years prior to Frontiers. The way the only times he's cared to mention her was her name being the password in SA2, on the topic of his bitterness and jealousy in Frontiers, and as a precursor to his rant about Shadow- those are all under very interesting circumstances that are important to note. And boy do I like the implications hehe 💜

[alienpossession]

After a very demanding workout session and having several hours to spend before his date, Dean decided to slide into his Instagram and treated his close friends with some personal Q&A sesh

But, all the close friend and Dean himself are not necessarily of this world, to put it simply. Hence, the question that started to pile up might not sound like a series of question that you would ask in a normal human conversation

"How can you end up in his body? What's the trick? My host is a decent-sized jock and the battle to gain control over his body was crazy tough, cannot imagine yours,"

I just followed the manual, you know. Caught them off-guard and ensure that they are tired. He fell asleep inside this personal sauna after a grueling workout. Add the fact that he was cutting to prep himself for a bodybuilding competition, well, that's a cocktail for success to tame a beastly jock this size

"Is the sexual stamina better compared to your previous host, noting the size differences 😜😜"

LOL, sorry for the disappointment back then, Gustavo. There's not a lot of people that can withstand your sexual prowess anyway, but I'm definitely the top if we are ever hooking up again

"How do you handle the first 24 hours? The crash after all his memory become accessible must've been out of this world!"

Messed my bed like a baby, but it's cum and sweat instead of piss HAHAH. Yeah, crazy shit, dude is a horny, power-hungry muscle beast

"So, have you converted his significant others? Or do you plan to just mindfuck them later so they will be working as indentured labor?"

Nope, not yet. He lived on his own anyway so we gotta wait for the 4th of July break for it to happen. But the girlfriend already fell though, bitch never stood a chance once I plugged her throat with this monster, she was a sobbing flailing mess when mini-mes swarmed her throat and entire body. Now I told her to help out on slowly infecting my friends. Gotta do it subtly though, no reason actually, just love to play with those oblivious human

"Favorite thing to do as human, aside from sex obviously,"

To be honest, partying. It's just so nice being a 6'6", 225 lbs mass of a presence in a dark, packed club or even festival grounds with great music. I always have party or at least a night out inside my calendar for most of the week, such a blast. And of course, sex also involved to really spice things up, but honestly I don't mind if there's any sex or not as long as the party is lit

And Dean keep on answering all sort of other questions, thinking that his identity as a converted alien puppet remain hidden due to the close friends feature. But his little brother, a 21 years old sophomore living 300 miles away from him, took screenshot of every single close friend stories that Dean made, his mind distraught by the fact that his older brother practically no longer exist but his dick chubbed up to the point of leaking pre as his wildest sexual kink manifested in real time and happened to someone he personally knows.

So, like any horny 21 years old, he decided to rub one out while letting his brother stories played in loop. Should he confront Dean about all of this? Or will that risk him turned into a puppet too?

[sansaorgana]

I’m not quite sure if your requests are open or not so if they aren’t just ignore this!♥️ but if they are, hi!!! I was wondering if you could do an Austin Butler/Buck Cleven x Reader who plays hard to get with him. She is like head nurse or something, a badass who was trained by her daddy in the arts of war, like I’m talking knowing how to throw hand grenades, shooting rifles or knowing how to work a plane despite her role in modern day 1940s society. I don’t like reading abt Y/N being naive yk?

hello! 💕 this story takes place when the boys are still in the USA and training. I believe I've read somewhere they actually spent two years in Texas so... the Reader is a girl from Texas and a daughter of one of the badass Colonels at the base who is training Buck and others. she is also a head nurse at that base (I assume they also had sickbays even though those were training bases...? I literally know nothing about the military lmao). I hope she will be strong enough for you 😌 I personally don't find every sweet and more period-accurate female character to be weak or naive but it was still nice to write a different type of character for once 😅

I might post less frequently in the upcoming days because I am catching up with my uni work finally after a few weeks of abandoning it to write fics lol

my inbox is open for blurb/short fic requests for major cleven 🤗

Bucky laughed at the sight of his friend going inside the sickbay after a training flight. He was going there for the fifth time this week and it was all because his friend had a crush on the head nurse, young (Y/N) (Y/L/N).

Miss (Y/L/N) was a daughter of Colonel (Y/L/N) – the Colonel (Y/L/N) – the scariest and the roughest man around. He had a scar right across his face and he was known for being so strong he could rip the tree out of the ground with his bare hands… or so the legend said.

His daughter was just like her father. She was feminine of course in her nurse’s apron and her hair done up neatly so it wouldn’t interrupt her work. Her hands were soft and her lips covered with red lipstick. But she was a tough girl who didn’t mind swearing a little and scolding all the boys at the base for their irresponsible behaviour. She probably didn’t know that they all acted this way just so they could get to the sickbay and be treated by her.

At least that was the case for Buck.

She sighed at the sight of him and rolled her eyes as she approached him when he entered the room.

“Major Cleven… Again?” She raised her eyebrows at him and he blushed. “What is it this time?”

“I am… I am dizzy,” he made up a pathetic lie and she huffed at that as she pointed at the chair for him to sit down on.

“I will give you something for that but if you keep having troubles of this sort, I’m gonna tell my daddy to not send you to Europe, you know?” She teased and he swallowed thickly at that comment.

“Please, don’t, Miss (Y/L/N),” he pleaded, his eyes carefully following her every movement as she looked at him with a smirk.

“Well, we don’t want weak pilots like you to defend our country, do we?” She teased.

“It’s not because of flying… It’s… I don’t know, it’s something else,” Buck hated himself for the way he acted around her. She was so intimidating but so tempting at the same time. The fragile part of his masculinity was simply scared of her but his other, brave side wanted to be around her all the time. And he was very well aware how many other men wanted her, too. But his feelings were real. It had very little to do with desire. He was serious about her.

She approached him and handed him a pill and a glass of water. He swallowed it and she squinted her eyes at him.

“I swear to God, you boys are the worst bunch I’ve ever dealt with,” she shook her head. “I hope in Europe I will handle real men,” she rolled her eyes.

“You’re going to Europe, too?” Buck asked as he widened his eyes.

“Of course, Major. It brings me no pleasure to be here and help buffoons like you,” she chuckled. “I signed up already and my daddy wants me to be assigned to the 100th.”

“That’s where I will go, too,” Buck’s eyes sparkled as he realised that she wouldn’t get rid of him so easily.

“Oh God…” (Y/N) sighed. “I hope you’ll be long gone by the time I get there.”

“I hope not,” he blurted out and she froze for a second before laughing.

“Oh, you’re cute, Major,” she admitted before walking away to deal with the next man entering the sickbay, coming up with some fake injury just to feel her hands examining him and hear her mocking tone scolding him for his irresponsibility.

You liked Bucky Egan because he was funny and he didn’t care about you. He could have any woman he wanted so he wasn’t showing off when you were around – or playing a victim like so many “injured” Majors, Captains and Lieutenants. You were growing sick of all of them, coming to you with every single papercut and making puppy eyes at you.

You were having a beer with Bucky behind one of the buildings in the evening. Consuming alcohol was forbidden but who would fire you? You were a daughter of the roughest Colonel in that base. And Bucky was under your protection – and one of the best pilots around.

“Alright, but if you had to go out with any of them, who would that be?” Bucky asked, teasingly.

“For fuck’s sake, John,” you rolled your eyes and leaned your head back to rest it on the wall. “It would be you.”

“But I don’t want you,” he laughed.

“You…,” you hissed at him and you both giggled. “That’s why I would go out with you.”

“Oh, you like the ones who don’t want you?”

“No, I like real men,” you told him. “Like my daddy is.”

“You know that my best friend is madly in love with you, right?” Bucky pushed your arm playfully.

“Curt Biddick?” You asked. God, that one was insufferable.

“Yeah, him too. But I mean the other one.”

“Buck Cleven?” You asked as you felt your cheeks heating up for some mysterious reason.

“Yeah, that one,” Bucky nodded. “He’s a good guy and a hell of a pilot. He’s tough, too, just in a different way.”

“Yeah, he’s cute, bless his heart,” you admitted.

“So, you’d go out with him?” Bucky raised his eyebrow at you.

“Stop playing matchmaker, it’s not gonna happen. I ain’t dating any man from this base,” you took a sip of your beer as you shook your head.

“Why not, though? You don’t want to marry a man like your daddy? I thought you wanted to,” Bucky asked.

“Y’all would be scared of a gal like me, let me tell you,” you giggled. “I can shoot a rifle and throw a grenade. My daddy wanted a son, you see. But my momma gave him only girls so he raised us like boys,” you told him. “All that discipline, I ain’t joking, Bucky,” you pushed him because he was laughing. “We had to get up at 5am, make our bed, do morning gymnastics,” you teased.

“Really?” His face became more serious.

“Nah,” you shook your head. “Only sometimes. But he took the whole business of teaching us self-defence very seriously. I remember asking him, where the hell would I even get a grenade from in case some boy was following me home, daddy? And he said: easy, sugar, they’re in my drawer next to the gun,” you laughed and so did Bucky.

“You know what I think?” Bucky put his bottle of beer down and shot you an odd glance you did not like at all.

“What, Egan?”

“You’re gonna get angry when I tell you.”

“Just tell me,” you rolled your eyes.

“I think you need a man who’s gonna see a woman in you. Like yeah, we all know you’re tough and shit. And all these boys want to be around you because you’re like a mother that they have left back home in the way you scold them and take care of them. But I think you just need someone to see a woman in you. Has anyone ever…?”

“You asshole,” you indeed got angry. You didn’t want him to be right and react in such a predictable way but you did.

You stood up and went back to the building to go to sleep, leaving Bucky Egan without a word.

You didn’t know what Bucky had said to Buck but Major Cleven hadn’t visited the sickbay in a week now and you hated to admit but you missed it. In fact, you were the most excited when it was him coming inside with some adorable injury or illness. There was something about him that was making you swoon even though you would never ever admit that. 

On that weekend most boys had a night out and you stayed inside the sickbay to deal with the paperwork. One of the head nurse’s duties sadly required filling some papers, too.

After a while, you heard a light knocking upon the front door and you sighed before standing up and opening them, shocked to see Major Cleven.

“Major?” You asked. “What is it again? The mysterious dizziness has had its comeback?”

“N-no,” he shook his head.

“Why aren’t you out with all the boys?”

“I didn’t want to go,” he admitted and you squinted your eyes at him.

“So you decided to catch me in an empty room instead? I have a gun here and I know how to use it,” you threatened although it was hard to believe that a man like Major Cleven would ever hurt any woman.

“I wanted to ask you if you’d go out on a walk with me, Miss (Y/L/N),” he widened his eyes at your threats. “It’s a warm and nice night.”

“Ugh, fine,” you shrugged your arms and grabbed a cardigan to put over your nurse’s outfit. He waited for you outside nervously with his hands in his pockets.

“I don’t want to be a bother, we don’t have to…” Buck told you as you were locking the door behind you.

“You’re lucky, Major, I needed a distraction from the papers,” you told him and joined him.

“Yeah, the paperwork. I don’t like it either,” he looked down and you two began to walk slowly towards the gates leading out of the base.

“And who does?” You chuckled and looked at him as you bit on your lip. He was adorable; something about him was making you feel protective. But on the other hand you knew from your father he was one of the best pilots and he was a man of honour. Your father was usually rolling his eyes at the mention of most men at the base. But never about Major Cleven. Your father rarely respected the young and new ones but something about that Major was making your daddy go easy on him.

“I wanted to apologise, actually,” Buck told you when you two finally left the base and began to walk alongside its fence.

“Hm? About what?” You asked.

“Bothering you five times a week with made up dizziness or papercuts,” he laughed nervously.

“And what made you apologise? You’re not the only one who’s been doing that, Major, but you’re surely the first actually saying he’s sorry,” you raised an eyebrow.

“Bucky told me it’s annoying you and that it’s not really a way to get to you,” he admitted as he looked up at your face.

“Why the hell would you want to get to me? You’re a sweet man,” you snorted at him. In the dim light of the moon and the base’s lights from afar you could see him blushing.

“What does it have to do with it, Miss (Y/L/N)?” Buck asked.

“I’m not sweet, Major Cleven. A guy like you… You should be out there in town with them boys and look for a sweet little naive doll for yourself,” you teased him. But deep down it hurt you that it was true – you were raised for a tough girl but sometimes… Sometimes you wished you were softer.

“You think so low of me, Miss?” He only shook his head with a nervous chuckle. “That type of woman you’ve mentioned… They’re nice and kind, I don’t mind them, they’re sweet, yeah. And they make good wives to lots of men but you… You’re the first one who actually impressed me,” he confessed.

You went silent for a moment. You liked that he wasn’t complimenting you while saying mean things about others.

“You’re a real gentleman, Cleven,” you pointed out. “And so smooth. You’d be a sensation if you stayed here in Texas.”

“Would I?” He stopped his walk and so did you as he turned around to face you better.

“Yeah. But if you stayed here, you’d soon realise there are more gals like me ‘round here. And I’d lose all the charm,” you teased.

“Then maybe I’d finally leave you alone, which I assume is your wish.”

“Oh, far from that,” you risked as you raised your eyebrows, waiting for his next move.

He hesitated for a while and then he smiled smugly and joined his lips with yours in a sweet but passionate kiss that took your breath away.

Bucky had been right – it was nice to be treated like a woman.

“Will your daddy shoot me for that?” Major Cleven asked with a chuckle after finally breaking the kiss.

“It’s not him you should be worried about. I can shoot, too, Major, and my daddy wouldn’t get rid of the best pilot,” you teased.

“But you would?” He grabbed your chin gently.

“The best pilot? Surely. But would I get rid of Major Cleven? Never,” you chuckled. “God, I’ve missed your made up migraines,” you confessed.

“I can fake more of them,” he smirked.

“Yes, please,” you chuckled and leaned in to kiss him again. “But let’s keep it a secret for now.”

“Why?”

“Because if my daddy finds out about us, he’ll make sure we won’t be sent to the same base in Europe and we don’t want that, do we…?” You looked up at him, your heart pounding so fast in your chest as it had never done before for any man.

“Oh, no, no, we don’t want that at all,” Major Cleven bopped you on the nose. “Who will deal with my headaches there otherwise?”

MASTERLIST || BUCK MASTERLIST

[stormblessed95]

Hello Storm,

where is the ending line between "good" shipping and "bad" shipping?

I'm talking about fictional characters AND real persons from various media and genres ,canon and non-canon.

As a BL fan and mostly a fanfic reader for almost 15+ years (!), four years ago Jikook became my first rps couple and I decided it will be definitely the LAST .

Some limits and boundaries around BTS' shipping community got crossed several times with poor taste and insane thoughts .

So now I started to questioning things ..for example, maybe it's better to go back to canon BL-media, leave the members alone and focusing - only musically speaking - to the group ?

Going cold turkey on Ao3 ? Avoiding shipping AND supporting spaces in general?

Too many questions and I admit I'm a overthinker, but after the Tkk french book maybe is really getting out of control for everyone.

Hello my love! As a very avid shipper since a very young age, who before Jikook, doesn't really engage in RPS spaces either, I 1000% get what you mean. So here is where I'm going to link you to a bunch of different posts I've made before that cover this topic. Will you come back and let me know if they helped or not? 💜

This post covers the question what is shipping culture in kpop

This post is about the question, what are ship wars?

This post is I think where I draw that line of what is good shipping (supporting Jikook as individuals and potentially queer ones at that) and bad shipping.

Dealing with rumors about RPS ships by shippers post here

Respecting Privacy Post here

And here is my post where I talk about fanfiction in real person ships. You'll notice the tkkr hate book is an example that falls directly under my "things not to do and cross lines and aren't okay" paragraph. Lol

In the end, do whatever you are most comfortable with. Outside of my blog and a few others, I do not engage with a ton of RPS fics. I read some that are sent to me from friends I trust to engage in that stuff nicely and correctly and that's basically it. I've gotten a few recs from here also and only read the ones that sounded like I would be comfortable with. In fandom spaces, you have to interact with them in whatever way works best for you personally. And if you can quit ao3 cold turkey, I would so shocked and impressed 😂 I could never. I have 10 ao3 tabs open right now lmfao

Hope those posts help 💜💜💜

[milfswriter]

Innocent

Alma Peregrine x Reader

Request by @queerpersonified: Peculiars assuming reader is dangerous and shouldn’t be around kids, when in reality she’s a very loving, nurturing supportive wife and parent (I have a feeling that would get on Alma’s nerves REAL FAST)

Notes and warnings: reader's peculiarity is being able to show memories (like transform the room into that specific memory? get it? and no it can't be tampered with lol)

You walked into Ditch house after finishing a shift with Sharon to monitor who enters and exits the loop through the panloopticon, sighing as you saw the children from different loops disperse at the sight of you.

It wasn't anything new, you'd been living here for the past few weeks and you should've gotten used to the weird looks and Ymbrines hiding their children behind them at the sight of you already.

But how could you? They were judging you based on a lie that the peculiar press has been spreading for the past 30 years. you bit your lip nervously, looking around the house for Alma or anyone you knew but you couldn't find them. You brushed it off and sat on a couch, reading a book before hearing someone clearing their throat.

You looked up to see a boy you recognized to be from Miss Cuckoo's loop. "Who allowed you to sit here?"

You raised an eyebrow, "Do I need permission to sit? I thought we shared this house"

He scoffed, walking away before Enoch stopped him with a hand to his chest. "Don't ever talk to Y/n like that"

_________________

You tried to ignore the staring as you carried Claire around the house, their wary looks making you feel like they were about to snatch her from you any second.

Later that day, you were invited by Alma to join her in the council meeting to discuss dealing with the desolations Caul has been causing. As you reached the meeting room, you knocked on the door hesitantly before coming in, a flood of relief washing over you as the first thing you saw was Alma's soft smile.

"Now that we're all here, I'd like to-"

"What is she doing here?" You turned to see Miss Cuckoo grimace at you, her cane hitting the table.

You stayed in your place near the door, waiting for Alma to kick you back out.

"I beg your pardon" Alma's questioning tone made you feel the slightest of relief before Miss Cuckoo made her way to you, pointing at you with her cane.

"For all I know," she spat, her french accent thickening "she's working with Caul! She shouldn’t be in here!”

"Isabel!" Alma's tone was hard, a glare burning holes at her friend. She couldn't understand her fellow ymbrines, why would they treat you like you were a time bomb, about to explode any second.

"How. Dare You!" you yelled, the room falling into silence once again. Even Miss Avocet was too shocked to say anything.

You were always respectful, holding doors for Ymbrines and bowing your head to them whenever you saw one of them even when the look of disgust was apparent on their faces, so seeing you yell at one was nothing less of shocking.

"I..have been trying for DECADES to rectify my mistake! it was an accident! I DID NOT CONTROL THAT HOLLOW! I did not order the deaths of those children!" you were fuming, you had enough.

"Y/n. That is enough" Miss Avocet said, moving her wheelchair as if she was about to ask one of the ymbrines to escort you out.

"No, it is not. I am sick of this treatment which I absolutely do not deserve! I am not a monster, nor a killer" you caught your breath before turning to Miss Cuckoo.

"And you!" you pointed to her, her face contorted in surprise "how dare you accuse me of working with the one person who ruined my wife's life? hm? you dare say that so openly, too"

"ENOUGH!" Alma's voice echoed through the room, you were waiting for her to kick you out of the room, but she herself left the room after pulling your hand.

You were following her silently. "This! is Y/n Y/l/n! an innocent woman who had done nothing wrong in her entire life! whatever lie you've been told has to stop. NOW!" the children watched with horror, whispering to one another.

"Show us" she told you, looking back at you as you stood behind her shamefully.

"Alma, you don't have t-"

"Show. Us" you gulped, closing your eyes as you began to remember that wretched day, sighing as you felt the room change into that dark alley.

You watched your past self's hands tremble at the sight of the children behind that hollow, you didn't know what to do.

"get away! run!!" you yelled but they couldn't hear you from the hollow's growls. You kept on screaming for them to run since they couldn't see the damn thing, but they kept in their place, looking around for any sign of danger but found none other than the sounds of the hollows.

You didn't have any weapons, you couldn't have possibly fought the beast by hand but you still tried to run.

You fell on you knees as you saw the hollow scoop the three children up with its tongues, closing your eyes as their screams echoed through the alley.

The memory faded as you hid behind Alma, whose hands were shaking as she closed her eyes. She's never asked you to talk about any of that, let alone show it.

The room was silent and as you looked up Alma's shoulder, they were all staring at you. Ymbrines children and even Addison, who's always told you he believed your story.

You looked at Alma's still-frozen frame, you'd scared her, you shouldn't have shown this memory. Your thoughts were interrupted by your wife clearing her throat, turning to look at you with teary eyes.

Your lips trembled at her stare, gulping as the older woman pulled you into her embrace, which elicited a soft sob from you as you clung to her for dear life.

"oh, y/n/n" she whispered, "I'm sorry you had to witness that" You shook your head, letting go of the woman in front of you and looking at the others.

"I was a hollow hunter" you admitted, "just like Abe Portman, but one day, things went wrong and..those children died. It wasn't my fault and I would never work with Caul Bentham even if it cost my life" you felt a tug at your pants to see Olive with tears in her eyes as she hugged you.

"I know you would never do that to us" she hiccuped, making you sigh as you leaned down and picked her up. You shouldn't have shown the damn memory, now you scared your children for others' stupid opinions.

Alma cleared her throat after seconds of silence, her hand resting on your lower back.

“I believe you all owe miss y/l/n an apology”

Taglist:-

@ara-a-bird @mmemalwa @multifandomfix @thenazwife @mistysswampmud @yelenablshop @acornacre @yourfavdummy @jestercat28

[puckpocketed]

weird/bad interactions always remind me about the good things. feeling very sentimental under the cut <3

housekeeping

The gist of this is that I'm very grateful every day my first encounters with hockey on here were primarily with kraken lb and sharks lb. You can stop here if you aren't in the mood for an essay LOL

I'm thankful in general for everyone who has ever welcomed me into their hockey spaces for giving me role models to emulate. I feel especially thankful after such a strange, off-putting experience in a new tag just now.

On the off-chance you're the person who took a screenshot of my post to tell me to leave your space and you're reading this: thanks for the chat, no hard feelings and no grudges held. If you're one of the people who uncritically reblogged that post... I can't tell you what to do with your blog but dog piling is a pretty good way to bully people and drive new fans, artists and gifmakers away from your community.

I'm not here to guilt people into being friends with me. and honestly, I don't want friends who would do that. I sincerely hope you grow and the next new fan you encounter gets a warmer welcome than I did. I know most people in the tag aren't like that, but I think I'll shelf that team for now. (my quest to fall in love with 32 teams carries on!)

Anyway, I get pretty mushy about my friends and communities semi-regularly on here so it’s not anything people haven’t heard before, but it’s MY blog and I get to write love letters to my teams and their communities if i want!!!!!

kraken

I take my cues from the way people in this tag treated me. The warm welcome is something I'll always think about, no matter how my relationship to the team and the community at large evolves over time. Sparking my interest in writing again, making new friends, and learning about The Beautiful Game was such a highlight during my summer last year. I am very very tender about this team and community. It’s hard to talk about them sometimes because it’s like… my feelings are so big <3 they are eating me like a soup dumpling. my head is being ripped off and my soupy insides are being sipped <- don’t know where i’m going with that....!

I confess I often feel overwhelmed and lost in the hockey tumblr space as someone who doesn’t participate in shipping/rpf and isn’t attracted to men, but I’ve never felt like people wanted me out because of it. Thank you for accepting me, and accepting the way I love this team and sport.

sharks

Tiny but mighty!! the kraken crossover likely contributed a lot to this, but I've met such amazing people in this tag. We may have different/conflicting opinions about non-sharks teams but we are united in our love for this flop train and my life is enriched by it. Would not commit to a months long research project with any other people ! Mwah <3

There's a whole iceberg's worth of things to say here. I'm trying to keep it short otherwise it would be like.... a whole post of its own LMAO.... i should definitely write a puck-mortem on the primer work one day.

But to give anyone reading this an example: I still think about a sharks writing prompt challenge where the organiser went out of the way to include non-shipping/nonfiction works in their list of acceptable submissions. I won't name or @ anyone in this because that's sooo embarrassing aslkjasdkljdjkl but. we exchanged a few messages about it, and learning that they did that specifically to make sure people like me were included genuinely made me tear up.

I love u sharkudablr <33

kings

Somehow even smaller. Many of us don't have LAK as our primaries, and honestly why would we? The community tinyyy... and only recently we're coming back to life it seems. I really can count on two hands every active kings blog I've met and interacted with. But I value every 6 note post so much <3 also we may be very funny for real actually. incredible memes and collective sense of humour. The memes and gifs and photo edits + reposts are so important to me .

I love our kings, our little family, our little liveblog tag. The way I follow LA is unlike how I follow any other team. they really are my eldest daughter, in that I am holding them to SUCH high standards. Perhaps because out of all my teams their fate seems the most uncertain? Are we on the verge of collapse ? are we cup contenders? are we ever gonna escape the round 1 time loop? <3

I hope one day we're as big and warm as my other beloved team tags. I think we're on our way :)

golden knights

another small but close community. I'm so grateful I saw Adin Hill go ultra instinct and got interested in this team <3 aside from saving me a bit of heartbreak during the trade deadline, I've met amazing new people.

Also, loving this team makes for a great litmus test + rent lowering shots. To be loud about enjoying this team is to filter unserious people out of my tumblr experience <3 Those who were wishing injury on m.stone in particular and those who were uncritically repeating conspiracy theories, thanks for exposing yourself during playoffs. Those who are in the tags of my vgk gifs saying how much you hate this team, thanks for exposing yourselves. I do not go out of my way to be spiteful on here, I think it really does no good. but I fear I don't want to sit with you at lunch if you are doin all that!!

what's really special to me is how our community is small and safe. it is the safest I've felt in a hockey community. I am so happy our discord is place I can go to without fear of seeing one of my other teams/players randomly smeared, I love that it was started with the express intention to avoid simply repeating the unfiltered hatred we experience in other spaces. building with purpose, choosing to be kind... i think that's also something I want to take and run with in my own community building efforts. thanks for being bold enough to be different <3

caps

Quickly rising up from babygirl-in-laws (hi Lucky!!) to BELOVEDS. I think the Dubois trade might be one of those inflection points they talk about in sci-fi movies where they gotta time travel and change the future :) I was already sort of eyeing this team and had a few friends/mutuals who followed them, but the incredible caps fans who have reached out to me to share their love of their team really sold me.

I love talking hockey with everyone I've met. I love the goofy vibes. i love the essays in my inbox. I love that people read the essays i write back. <3 When a link to a video didn't work for me (required a log in) a caps fan simply screen recorded it and posted it. When I asked about the power play I got completely serious hockeypilled answers <3

There is something to love about every team, but I'm finding a huge part of loving them, at least for me, is the people you love them with.

everyone else

If i haven't mentioned a team I like or people I've interacted with it's because there are too many to recall in one go and this post has gotten a lot longer than I originally intended <3 trust that I think of you warmly and often. every person who has ever sent me an encouraging word, discoursed with me about the game and the narratives, and every note on my silly gifs and art - appreciate you more than I can express. you all make being on here such a cool experience.

I hope i love hockey for a long time and keep meeting new people <3

[lake-cosay]

Jesslake Demigod/PJO AU

hi so. finally making a real post about this.

i apparently made this au like 2 years ago but the pjo brainrot came back and i've been hyperfixating on this au again. while it does also feature my OCs this post is about the jesslake au

for clarity, this au takes place in the world of the Percy Jackson books, and assumes the canon story of the books is finished. it takes place in about 2020 (pjo canon is currently around 2011 ish). You don't need to have read the books to understand the au (I haven't) but. some knowledge of the universe will definitely help

most of my notes about the au are in the images, but here's a rough timeline of the major events: (it's long)

Jesse is born in 2005. he is raised by his mom and his mortal/adoptive father, whom he knows isn't his bio dad but treats him like it anyways. he doesn't know he's a demigod or who his bio dad is

Lake and Tulip are born in 2006. they both struggle as babies, but Lake much more so; they nearly die. Hephaestus, their father, dips Lake in the River Styx, giving them the Curse of Achilles, though theirs works a little different (more details on that later/in another post)

Hephaestus sends Lake to Camp Half-Blood to be raised there. (Chiron serves as a father figure to Lake, and they actually get along pretty well.) Tulip never finds out she has a twin until she arrives at camp.

Lake lives at CHB their whole life growing up. Sometime around the age of 8-10ish, they encounter the flecs for the first time. In this au, they were people but were cursed to become monsters, and still hunt Lake relentlessly. Lake has a pretty gnarly scar from their first encounter.

When she's 13, Tulip finds out she's a halfblood and is brought to camp (have not figured out how/by who yet, open to ideas). One-one is an automaton her dad built for her, not sure about Atticus.

When they're 13, Lake decides they want to see the world. They leave camp mostly on a whim, but take enough time to pack a bag and leave a note for Chiron asking him not to try and find them. Chiron somehow (through the Oracle, and Apollo kid, idk) divines that Lake will bring another half-blood to camp safely, and he trusts Lake, so he doesn't try to find them.

Lake wanders on foot for about a month, heading southwest. Eventually, they end up in Arizona, where they meet and slowly become friends with Jesse. Jesse's parents are glad he's spending time with someone who's not his other friends, and they let Lake hang out at their house a lot. They (of course) know Jesse's a demigod, and start to suspect Lake might be too. (Lake also starts suspecting about Jesse)

The "man test" (or something very similar) happens after Jesse meets Lake, and Lake is there to witness it. However, Jesse's friends turn out to be monsters (were they monsters the whole time or did other monsters impersonate his friends? i don't know. lol) and Jesse and Lake have to go rescue Nate (from the underworld? from a monster's lair? somewhere else? again, i don't know)

After that quest, Jesse properly arrives at camp, and him and Lake become very close.

There's a small arc with Lake that I'm not sure where it fits, but here's works: the harrasment and attacks from the flecs are getting worse, and somehow during an attack Lake manages to kill them (Lake never wanted to kill them before because they used to be people, and somehow they know they won't come back like other monsters, so killing them is genuinely killing them). Lake still has to grapple with the fact that they were people and they killed them, but also that it was in self defense.

There's another more significant arc for Lake involving Hephaestus. Probably happens 2 ish years after they meet Jesse. Hephaestus... doesn't like Lake. It seems like he always wants Lake to prove themself to him, but Lake refuses. So instead, he forces them, by setting a trap. Lake nearly dies in his trap (a web of hot metal wires that tie them up like they're in a spider web, covering them in deep burns; it makes sense given Hephaestus' other myths I promise), thankfully, Lake is rescued by Tulip and Jesse. However, the whole thing is definitely traumatizing, and really solidifies in Lake that their dad is a fucking asshole. (me and @jesse-cosay wrote a fic of this, we're most likely going to post it soon!) (also, that scars from this are in the drawing, but they don't look as Bad as I want them too, I was struggling with making them look Bad enough)

Lake and Jesse have become friends with my OCs (Rain, child of Hypnos, and Kona, daughter of. Apollo. sort of. not quite. it's complicated. also Kona is Jesse's cousin!) over the past 2 years or so, and when one of them (Rain) ends up in the Underworld, they both go with the other (Kona) to help rescue them (I can definitely elaborate on that if people are interested, but it's very self indulgent lol)

okay, here's some random little things about this au:

Annabeth no longer has the most beads, Lake does. They have 13. Chiron made sure he collected the beads for them since they were brought to camp.

The other main characters are at camp too (mostly). Grace is the daughter of Aphrodite, Simon is the son of Ares, both have them have lived at camp since they were kids. Simon takes after Luke, thinking the gods should be taken down entirely.

Min is an Athena kid and Ryan is an Apollo kid

Alan Dracula is still basically the same. Chiron doesn't know how he can get into camp. Or if he's a monster. He just knows the deer helps protect campers, and that Lake loves him, so he leaves Alan be.

Lake used to have their own room (a repurposed guest room) in the Big House but now stays with Jesse in Cabin 3 (during the summer, the rest of the year they live with him in Arizona)

When Tulip arrived at camp people assumed she was a Demeter kid because of her name, quickly realized she definitely is not a Demeter kid

Lake has kicked Simon's ass in combat numerous times. It's very rare that Simon ever wins against them period. Simon hates Lake with a burning passion. He HATES that the tiny hephaestus kid can beat him up.

Jesse really doesn't like when people call Poseidon his dad, even if he knows it's true, because to him, his dad is Stephen Cosay, a mortal, who helped raise him and whom he loves.

with all that out there, please feel free to ask questions!!! i love this au so much and i would love to talk about it more. my ask box is open!!! or you can reply to this post. i'm going to reblog Yellow's art from this au and make sure it's tagged so you can find it. the tag is #it pjo au

[doberbutts]

Any chance you could talk about how you're teaching Fenris to retrieve? I am also struggling so hard with that. Will probably consult with a real life professional trainer about it in the near future because it is just. So. Frustrating. Lol, but I'd love to hear what worked for you.

Recent picture of my retrieval-hating doggo for tax, lol.

Well I don't know that I'm the best person to take advice from because retrieves are absolutely one of the hardest tasks for me to wrap my brain around, especially formal sport retrieves, and despite me trying to teach retrieves to *checks notes* EIGHT different dogs, Fenris is my first one to actually have some mild success.

I spoke at length to my friend Allie @molosseraptor about how much I suck at retrieves and she had some amazing advice for me. I cannot stress enough how good of a dog trainer she is. Any time I have asked her for advice, she not only has hit the nail directly on the head, but it has widened my understanding of whatever concept I'm struggling with that much more. Truly, if you want actual help, don't listen to me. Just go pay Allie to teach you!

Anyway. For Fenris specifically, retrieve is a behavior chain. In other words, I teach each piece of a retrieve separately, and then let it all come together at the end after he nails every piece the way I want him to. In other words, I taught a sit, a come to front, the concept of going to what I throw and picking it up, the concept of bringing it back, the concept of holding something in his mouth without chewing or dropping it, the concept of the hot/cold game, the concept of a clicker, the concept of working for treats, paw targets, and outs... before ever showing him a dumbbell.

From there it's a matter of string it together. Go get the thing > pick it up without chewing > bring it back > come to sit at front with it in your mouth > hold onto it until I tell you to out. The paw targets help show him where I want him to be. The hot/cold game tells him if I need him to tweak his positioning.

Historically I have been able to get a "go get the thing and bring it back to me and sit at front" however in nearly all of the dogs I have tried to teach this behavior chain, including Fenris, we get stuck in the sit at front portion because the dog spits the fucking dumbbell out and drops it on my toes as it sits down. Which is very not what I want and also these are weighted dumbbells ouch my poor feets.

I brought this up at Mondio last time we were there and the training director and the president both suggested instead of teaching him a chin rest (which I have never been able to do very successfully with the dog uprifht) to teach him to push slightly into me as he sits, lifting his head up to do so (and thus reducing temptation for him to drop the damn thing) and making that front nice and tight. He may bump me and we may lose a point, but I can tweak that part later. This was an almost instantaneous breakthrough and I am really glad those women are counted among my friends.

One last thing I want to mention is that, knowing he was going to be a mondio dog, I did not correct him at all for picking up various things around the house. In Mondio, the retrieve can be anything, not just a weighted dumbbell. So that means that because I didn't want him to be weird about picking stuff that Is Not Toys up, I never once told him off for picking things up. Usually he just wanders around with it in his mouth, and because he never associated this with a bad thing, he usually comes right up to me and spits it into my hand.

[jerzwriter]

Mono~poly Chapter 2: Love on Tap

A Tobias x Casey AU - Information and Notes

AU Premise: What happens when something that was supposed to be just fun turns into something real? When true love enters the equation between two people who view the very concept of love in different ways, can it work? In this alternate universe, we'll follow Casey and Tobias (and some others along the way) on their journey, where a happy ending is what both desire, but (as in life) nothing is guaranteed.

Fandom: Open Heart, Choices ** Pairing (This Chapter): Tobias Carrick x Casey MacTavish F!MC Other Characters: Jackie Varma, Ethan Ramsey, Sienna Trinh, OC: Addie Larkin Rating: Teen Words: 5,100

Chapter Summary: Tobias & Casey are reveling in their newfound love as those around them have different reactions to the news. Conversations with Ethan have him coming up with realizations of his own, and Casey sees that she and Tobias still have a lot to learn about each other.

A/N: Wow, I posted that without a chapter summary! lol See, don't do things when tired! No notes this time around, hope to have part 3 up next week! Thank you to all who have read this so far, it's so appreciated! :)

SERIES MASTERLIST SERIES INFORMATION MY MAIN MASTERLIST

“You’re out of your fucking mind.”

Standing at the brunch buffet, Jackie scooped a spoonful of scrambled eggs onto her plate as Casey stepped back. Her friend was known for her straightforwardness, which is why she valued her opinions, but her reaction was still surprising.

“This will never work,” Jackie continued. “You’re a smart woman; how do you possibly think it could?”

Casey snatched the last piece of French toast just as Jackie reached for it. She didn’t want French toast, but with her growing annoyance, the petty win offered a sense of satisfaction.

“Thank you, Jackie,” she replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I think what you meant to say was, Gee, friend! I’m so happy for you, friend! I can see you’re overjoyed, and that’s wonderful, my friend.”

Jackie sank into her chair and grabbed her fork, stealing the sole piece of French toast from Casey’s plate.

“Stop with the friend shit,” she snapped. “We’re friends because we call each other out on our shit. We’re real... no blowing sunshine up each other’s asses when we’re doing something stupid. That’s the foundation we are built on, and I see no reason to change that now.”

“A little support would be nice...”

“Then I suggest you call Sienna, but make sure to leave out some key details about last night when you do.”

“But I’m not being stupid! Come on! You like Tobias! You play the ‘he’s so irritating’ game, but I’ve seen you together. You welcomed him into our circle. He loves me and treats me like a princess, so why are you so negative about us?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said with a swirl of her fork. “Maybe it’s the conversation you had about offering him a pass to fuck someone else twelve seconds after you exchanged I love yous?”

“Jackie!” Casey snapped, glancing around to ensure no one overheard. “That’s not what happened!”

“It’s not? Because that’s what it sounded like to me.”

“Then I suggest getting your hearing checked because that’s not what I said! I said we’re taking things one day at a time. Neither of us wants to see anyone else right now, but if that changes, we won’t break up or cheat on each other like most people do. We’ll discuss it like adults and see if we can make it work. That’s so horribly immature of me, I can see why you would disapprove!”

Jackie opened her mouth to speak but thought better. With a sigh and a dismissive wave of her hand, she merely replied, “Whatever,” turning Casey’s irritation into ire.

“Really? You know damn well there are many ways to have a relationship! What’s with you! You’re always so open-minded about everything, but when it comes to me, this is how you react!”

“I live in Somerville, Casey! I’m pretty much polyamory adjacent, and you know I have no problem with non-monogamy. The problem is you’re monogamous, and no matter how much you try to tell me that you’d be OK with Tobias telling you he needs next Tuesday free to go fuck that hot nurse he used to hang out with at Kenmore, I know you’re full of shit. So, as your friend, it’s my duty to pull off those rose-colored glasses and make you see the real picture.”

Casey speared a hash brown so forcefully that her fork nearly cracked the plate. “He’s not going to fuck anyone next Tuesday. Did you miss where I said it’s just us?”

“For now,” Jackie emphasized. “It’s just you two, for now. It won’t be easier when you’re together longer, you love him more, you’re planning a future, and then when he tells you he needs... more?”

“Look, I didn’t make any promises outside of I'm willing to try. Obviously, there would be conversations and boundaries. But sex... it’s just sex! If I’m in a loving, happy relationship, why would I throw it away because my partner has a very normal desire to have sex with someone else on occasion?”

Jackie sighed with exasperation. “If you’re cool with it, that’s your choice. But... what if it’s not on occasion? What if he needs two or three nights a week with the side piece. And what if it’s not just sex? What if he falls in love with someone else? Are you willing to share that as well?”

“First, I don’t think the word side piece is used in consensual non-monogamy. Second, he’s 38 years old, and he’s loved one person in his lifetime. ME! So I'm no too concerned about that."

Jackie reached over the table and squeezed her friend's hand, the judgmental look in her eyes softening into one of sympathy. “Casey, we don’t exactly decide who we fall in love with. And when people start bumping uglies... feelings happen. A year ago, you two were just fun, and... now look.”

“Which is why we're taking it day by day.”

“All right,” Jackie resigned. “If this is what you want, I’m happy for you. I just hope you don’t get hurt.”  

“Thank you,” Casey demurred. “... I hope so, too.”

~~~~~

Tobias had an early shift the morning after their big declaration. While he was known for being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as others glowered at him over their first cup of coffee, today, he was especially effervescent,  and that had people talking.

“I’d say he got laid last night,” a passing resident observed. “But I think that’s pretty much every night for him.” “Rumor has it he and MacTavish are official now!” their friend added. “Official? Carrick?” A nearby nurse scoffed. “Look out the window. If there aren't any floods, locusts, and famine, you got your story wrong.”

But the rumor spread like wildfire, and even those who avoided idle gossip found themselves desperate to know the truth. That included Dr. Harper Emery, who went straight to the source for answers. Swinging the door to the diagnostic team’s office open, she found Tobias seated at the conference table, Ethan reviewing files across from him.

“There you are!” Harper exclaimed.

“Dr. Emery,” Tobias chirped. “How can I be of assistance today?”

Ethan raised his eyes with suspicion, for he had also noticed Tobias’s excessive energy this morning but hadn’t questioned it until now. He wasn’t sure if he had come to expect this from his colleague or that he didn’t much care for the reason, and he was leaning toward the latter. Still, when Harper began questioning, Ethan’s attention was piqued.

“You know I’m not one to engage in hospital gossip, but sometimes, it’s so outlandish the scientist in me needs to determine its validity.”

“Oh, really?” Tobias smirked, pushing away from the table like a peacock about to spread its tail. “And how can I assist you with your dilemma?”

“Don’t be coy with me, Carrick. Is it true? Are you off the market?”

“Off the market?” He chuckled. “As of last night, Casey and I are official if that’s what you’re asking.”

Harper shook her head with amazement as Ethan choked on his coffee. Tobias turned to him with concern. “You all right there, buddy?”

“I’m fine,” Ethan insisted. “Something just... went down the wrong way.”

“You could say that again,” Harper grinned.

“So,” Ethan recovered. “You... and Casey... are official?”

“Yep,” Tobias beamed. “We’ve been unofficially official, but last night, we finally said it out loud.”

“And they said it couldn’t happen,” Harper teased. “But I must say, you do look happy! So I’m happy for you.”

“Oh, I'm unabashedly happy,” he insisted. “We both are.”

“Do you mind if I confirm that we part with Casey?” Harper taunted.

“Feel free! I have no doubt she’ll agree.”

Ethan’s lack of response was noticeable, and the stupified doctor felt the weight of his colleagues’ stares as he struggled to speak. “That’s... great news. I suppose... congratulations.”

Ethan quickly pivoted the conversation to the potential achalasia patient admitted late last night. When the discussion ended, Harper excused herself, but not before congratulating Tobias one more time. With her exit, an awkward silence overtook the room, and while Ethan was content to let it linger, Tobias didn't let it go.

“So, are we going to address the elephant in the room,” he asked. “Or are we going to feed it peanuts to keep it quiet?”

“What?” Ethan asked. “You and Casey? I don’t see why we need to discuss your personal life in a work setting.”

“Well, maybe because we all share the same work setting....”

“You make a point. Will you be notifying HR? You know, to ensure everything is on the up and up.”

“Already scheduled,”  Tobias confirmed. “Case and I already made an appointment to speak with the Director tomorrow.”

“Then,” Ethan slid his glasses back on. “It’s taken care of.”

Tobias anxiously rubbed his chin, his leg jiggling as he decided if he should continue.

“Are you alright with this?” he blurted before having the chance to think it entirely through.

Ethan removed his glasses and placed them back on the table; his mood difficult to read. Anger, annoyance, indifference—any would have been fitting. He reclined in his chair, giving careful thought to his words before continuing.

“Tobias... you and Casey are grown adults... and what you do outside of work is none of my concern.”

“I know that which is why I wasn’t asking for your permission. I’m merely asking if you’re OK with this.”

Ethan shrugged with a weary sigh. “Why ask useless questions, Tobias? Would it make a difference if I wasn’t? Would that change anything? If not, this conversation is pointless.”

“Stop the crap, Ethan. It has a purpose. We all work together. I consider you a friend even if you're not fully on board with that idea. But Casey is absolutely your friend – a good friend – and your opinion will matter to her, so it matters to me.”

Ethan smirked. “Don’t worry, Tobias, I’m not going to tell your girlfriend to break up with you.”

He hid it seamlessly, but the word “girlfriend” stuck in Ethan’s throat, and the discomfort lingered throughout the day, no matter how much he tried to wash it away.

Tobias was not one to be easily annoyed, but he was bordering on exasperation. He eyed the door to ensure it was closed before continuing.

“Ethan... I’m going to put my cards on the table. Even if Casey hadn’t shared some of your history with me, it’s the worst-kept secret at Edenbrook. Add in our own history, and....”

“Ancient history,” Ethan interrupted.

“Yes. Yes, it is. But turn on the news, buddy. Ancient history has a way of fucking up current times real good... and that’s something I don’t want to occur here.”

“Don’t worry,” Ethan assured. “Your relationship with Casey will not be impacted by any history with me unless one of you allows it to.”

“All right,” Tobias mumbled, returning to his work. But after a few moments passed, Ethan was compelled to say something more.

“I know you may not believe me, but... I’m happy for you. Both of you.”

“You are? You don’t have to say it if you don’t...”

“I think you know me well enough to know I won't say anything I don’t mean to placate you. It’s a bit awkward, I’ll give you that. But you appear to make one another happy, and when it comes down to it, I’d like to see you both happy.”

Tobias smiled, and the tension that engulfed them moments before all but melted away.

“Thanks, buddy. That... it means a lot to me.”

“I just have one request.”

“Name it.”

“Be good to her. Don’t... don’t hurt her, OK?”

“Hurting Casey is the last thing I want to do,” Tobias assured. “I mean it. I love her. I’ve never loved anyone like this, and I won't do anything stupid to mess it up.”

Ethan did his best to conceal how those words left him stricken, unintentionally pouring salt into wounds most would have believed were long healed.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Ethan smiled so convincingly he could have been nominated for an Oscar. “Now, let’s get back to work before the rest of the team arrives.”

~~~~~

Casey was blow-drying her hair in her tiny bathroom, though attempting to dry her hair would be a more accurate description. Her roommates—and Bryce—continually barging in was one thing. She was a veteran of that and knew how to usher them away until she completed her task. But today was different.

Today, she longed for a secretary to assist with the non-stop barrage of messages she was receiving. She knew the news would travel fast; it was Edenbrook, after all. But she never expected such an enthusiastic reaction. “OMG IS IT TRUE?” texts arrived by the dozen. Those messages were fun, but she would have put them on hold to continue getting ready. But there was no way she was ignoring the messages coming from her new boyfriend. Boyfriend!

With that, Casey returned to being protector of the mirror; Sienna was her first victim.

“Hey! I was here first!”

The diminutive doctor turned with a sly grin. “Sorry. I love you, but you snooze... you lose.”

“Sienna....” Casey wined. “You’re supposed to be the nice one!”

“I am! Relax, I’m just making a braid. I’ll be out of your hair, no pun intended.”

“All right,” Casey smiled.

“You aren't usually this concerned about your appearance when we're just going to Donahue’s,” Sienna teased. “What makes tonight so special?”

“Si...”

“Oh, I know!” she playfully chided. “It’s your big debut as Dr. Mrs. Carrick.”

Sienna underestimated how quickly her friend could maneuver. Within seconds, Casey grabbed the hot pink spray bottle off the counter and took aim.

“HEY!” Sienna protested.

“Sorry, this is how people train their pets. I’m going to try using it on my roommates.”  

 “You know I’m just teasing you,” Sienna giggled.

“I know. I just don’t want you guys scaring him away. I'm his first serious girlfriend, so let’s leave the word ‘wife’ out of conversations. I want to keep him around a little longer.”

“Around him? Of course!” Sienna insisted. “Around you? No freaking way.”

She gestured toward the mirror with a flourish. “Your mirror awaits! I’ll block the others from entering so you can get ready for your debut.”

She embraced Casey warmly before stepping away. “You look so happy!”  

“I am so happy.”

“And it’s well deserved! Tonight's going to be a great night.”

~~~~~

Casey was a ball of nervous energy as they turned onto Donahue’s street. Her skin-tight black satin pants, glittery gold cami, and matching sandals made quite a statement, and the hair she worked so hard to perfect was now a cascade of luscious, blonde waves. Her friends teased, saying she already landed the guy; she could relax now. But they didn't understand; she simply wanted her exterior to reflect how amazing she felt inside, and she nailed it.

Tobias, dressed a bit more casually than his freshly minted significant other was already waiting. He didn’t require much to command attention. His well-worn pale blue jeans and a black t-shirt that perfectly showcased the work he had been doing at the gym worked just fine.

He attracted a crowd wherever he went, and that’s just how he liked it. Sure, he reveled in the attention, but there was much more. Tobias had a unique talent for making each person feel like they were the only one in the room, and he loved making others feel seen. Tonight’s audience was predominantly strangers who had fallen under his spell, but one familiar face sitting perpendicular to him wasn’t nearly as impressed with him.

Addie had been his friend since he arrived in Boston nearly a decade before. One particularly gloomy night, he couldn’t stand the thought of sitting alone in his apartment for a minute longer, so he headed to a neighborhood watering hole not much different than the one they found themselves in tonight. He was seated alone at the bar when the curly-haired blonde rushed in from the rain, promptly slipping on the floor beside him. He helped her up and offered his medical services; she thanked him, then promptly called him a pervert. His raucous laughter made it clear no offense was taken, and, to Addie, that made him worthy of sharing a beer.

Their friendship blossomed effortlessly, and before long, she showed him enough of Boston for him to feel like a native. She introduced him to people she knew, and sometimes they forgot they hadn't been friends forever.

She hailed from a traditional Boston Irish family with whom she was estranged, but she retained some of their best traits. Addie Larkin knew from a young age that she wasn’t made to fit any mold, and she remained true to that, regardless of the price she had to pay. While she didn’t share Tobias’s boisterous personality, she still commanded the attention of a room as well as he did, and when the two were together, a good time was guaranteed.

They talked frequently and cherished each other but never managed to see each other as often as they wished. In fact, she wouldn’t have been at Donahue’s tonight if she hadn’t heard the news. Tobias Carrick had a girlfriend? She wouldn't believe it until she saw it with her own eyes. Ordering another round of drinks, she rolled her eyes at Tobias, who was entertaining the crowd with a story about the two of them breaking into the Franklin Park Zoo after hours.

“You did not!” A fetching young redhead squeaked, attempting to step closer to the handsome doctor.

“Most certainly did, young lady. But I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the mastermind here.”

“Please,” Addie scoffed. “Tobias has a tendency to make me into much more of a legend than I actually am.”

“That is entirely untrue!”

“It is true. Did he tell you why we snuck in? I was obsessed with the ring-tailed lemur, and after way too much bourbon, I convinced myself that the poor little fella was simply crushed because I hadn’t seen him in two weeks! That needed to be rectified immediately. That’s not legendary children,” she informed. “That’s insanity!”

Tobias draped an arm loosely around her shoulder. “As if insanity and being a legend are mutually exclusive! I’m of the belief that you can't be a legend unless you're a little off."

Ethan sauntered in at that very moment, hopping on the barstool next to Tobias.

“If that’s the case, you have exactly what it takes to be a legend, Carrick.”

“You see!” Tobias raised his beer. “I rest my case.”

Addie was already eyeing Ethan, subtly assessing him. Another trait she shared with Tobias... she could size someone up without them being remotely aware… unless she wanted them to be.

“Well, who is this handsome guy?” Addie asked with a smile.

“Handsome? Behind that scowl, maybe,” Tobias tittered. “This is my friend...”

“His boss,” Ethan injected.

“...Ethan. Ethan, this is my friend....”

“...and legend,” she added.

“...Addie.”

The tiny blonde extended a hand, eyes twinkling. “It’s very nice to meet you, Ethan.”

“Likewise,” he simpered, nodding toward her drink. “Could you use a refill?”

“Thank you, but I’m cut off for the night. I'll be driving soon. I’m only staying to meet Tobias’s girlfriend,” she said to the dismay of several people surrounding them. “I refuse to believe it’s true unless I see it with my own eyes.”

“Trust,” Ethan chuckled, motioning toward the bartender for a drink. “We all felt that way. But I can confirm, it’s for real.”

Addie went to respond, but her phone rang in her purse. “Oh, I have to take this,” she said, sliding down from her stool. “I’ll be right back!”

Ethan’s eyes trailed her as she walked away, only to find Tobias staring directly at him when he looked up. Clearing his throat nervously, he decided he had nothing to lose by asking.

“She seems lovely,” Ethan began. “Is she taken?”

“She is,” Tobias shrugged. “But that never seems to stop her, now that I think of it.”  

“Oh, in that case, I’ll pass. The last thing I need is drama.”

“On the contrary,” Tobias smirked. “I think you need more drama, my friend.”

“Sorry about that,” Addie announced upon her return. “I own a store in Cambridge, and my manager’s sort of new. She had a few questions that couldn’t wait.”

“Oh, what kind of a store?” Ethan inquired.

“Bohemian clothing, metaphysical stuff, incense... no offense, I don’t think you’d find it appealing.”

Ethan glared at Tobias, who choked on his beer.

“Hey, T. Will Casey be arriving soon? Alysha's not ready to close the store on her own yet, so I need to head out soon.”

“Affirmative! She’s on her way. She just got delayed by a five roommate pile up in her bathroom. Luckily, she was still able to get dressed, and no injuries were reported.”

“Five roommates!” Addie approved. “My kind of girl! I’m so glad you didn’t end up with one of those gorgeous, snobby assholes you used to date.”

Now, it was Ethan choking on his Scotch. “You know, I like her.”

“Casey is gorgeous,” Tobias corrected. “But I don’t think snobby or asshole remotely describe her.”

He heard the bells on the front door ring, indicating someone had entered, and turned just in time to see Casey appear.

“There’s my girl!” He hollered, turning to Addie with a brilliant smile. “Told you she’s gorgeous!”

“Hey!” Casey beamed as he pulled her close for a tender kiss. When they broke apart, Tobias had a smile that went all the way up to his eyes.

“Can you do me a favor?” He asked.

“Anything.”

He stepped back, obviously assessing the subject, and let out a low growl.

“Can you walk out and come back in? Because I need to watch that again.”

“Tobias,” she giggled. “How about you watch me walk back from the jukebox. Would that do? Besides,” she said, inconspicuously tapping the front of his jeans. “I have a feeling if you watch me too much, you’ll want to usher me right out of here.”

“Out of here or to the coat closet,” he leered while Ethan muttered something unintelligible.

“There’s plenty of time for that later,” Casey insisted. “Tonight, I'm showing off my new boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend,” Tobias grinned, wrapping his hands around her waist and lifting her onto the bar in front of him.

“Tobias, what are you doing?” She squeaked.

“Hey... everyone! Everyone, look over here. I have an announcement to make.”

Ethan dragged a hand down his face. “Jesus Christ!"

“Do you see this beautiful woman?”

“Yeah,” the crowd roared as Casey turned ten shades of crimson.

“This beautiful angel is my girlfriend, and I want all of you SOBs to know it!”

While most of the patrons cheered, there were some shocked faces and a few disapproving scowls within the crowd. But if anyone noticed them, it wasn't Tobias or Casey, who only had eyes for each other's eyes.

Jackie had elbowed her way through the mele and stood next to Tobias. “Aww, kiss her already!”

“Wow, have we turned you into a romantic?” Tobias asked.

“Oh, fuck no! Just do it and get her ass off the bar so I can order a drink!”

Tobias reached up and placed his hand behind Casey's neck, pulling her down for a long, passionate kiss as wolf whistles and cheers filled the room. Even Jackie managed to smile... just a little.

When Casey was back on solid ground, Addie turned to her with a welcoming grin. “All right, I have to ask because I know this man too well. This is for real, right? He didn’t pay you to pull a prank or something.”

 “No,” Casey assured. “This is the real deal.”

“Well, I’m astonished... and so happy... to hear that. I’m Addie,” she said, extending her hand. “Tobias and I go way back, and I had to come see this for myself!”

Casey enthusiastically shook her hand, mentally sifting through past conversations to see if Tobias had ever mentioned Addie, but nothing registered.

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you,” Casey beamed. But Addie raised a brow.

“He’s never mentioned me, has he?” She turned to Tobias and struck his shoulder. “You prick! You have been dating her for a year, and you never told her about me!”

“Well,” he smiled slyly. “We were often preoccupied with other things.”

“For a full year?” Addie bleated before holding up her hand. “Wait, no. Nevermind. It’s you... I’m sure that’s 100% true.”

Casey looped her arm around Tobias’s waist, and he pulled her close.

“In fairness, until last night, we never defined what we were. I’m sure we still have a lot to learn about each other now.”

“Oh, honey!” Addie said, taking Casey’s hand. “I hope I didn’t offend you. This is just how I bust this asshole’s chops.”

A wide grin spread on Casey’s face. “Oh, we’re going to get along just fine.”

“I’m inclined to agree with you,” Addie winked.

“Oh, great. They're already ganging up on me.”

Ethan raised his glass with a smirk. “This is why I avoid relationships.”

“Oh yeah,” Tobias teased. “That’s why!”

“I wish I didn’t have to cut out so early,” Addie sighed. “But I have to go to Cambridge to help my new manager close my shop. But I’m going to see a friend perform at The Burren in Somerville later; why don’t you guys come?”

“We’d love to,” Tobias grinned, turning to Casey. “But we’re a little tied up tonight.”

“Literally or figuratively,” Addie chortled.

“Whatever she’s willing to do,” Tobias shrugged.

 “Ahh, I’m never going to see this man again, am I, Casey?”

“Oh, no!” Casey insisted. “We'll be spending plenty of time together, of course, but our friends matter, too! He’ll still be seeing you. I'll make sure of it.”

“Well, that’s good to know!” Addie stepped off her bar stool, offering Tobias and Casey a quick hug.

“It was lovely meeting you,” she said to Casey, then looked over her shoulder at Ethan. "You too, by the way."

“Likewise," he nodded. Then Addie was out the door.

“I like her,” Casey confirmed.

"Oh, Addie is the best!"

“We’ll have to hang out sometime. Is she seeing anyone?”

“She has a boyfriend, but I’ve only met him once or twice in passing.”

“Well, we’ll have to change that! Maybe we can double date?”

“I don’t know about this,” Tobias said playfully, looking at his watch. “I have a girlfriend for 20 hours, and she’s already controlling my schedule.”

“Oh, fuck you, T!” She laughed as he snarled.

“Gladly!”

“Oh, Christ!” Ethan interrupted. “Are we going to be subjected to this all night?”

Tobias pat his friend on the back. “Nope. With any luck, you’re going to be subjected to this for the rest of your life.”

“I need to find another bar,” Ethan sighed.

“No, you don't,” Casey insisted, grabbing his hand. “Screw that, come and dance with me.”

“Casey, you know I don’t...”

“Dance with me!”

Ethan turned to Tobias, hoping he would save him. But Tobias just smiled as he hopped back on his stool.

“If the lady says dance... dance.”

Casey was having the time of her life on the dancefloor, while poor Ethan looked like a fish out of water. When the lively tune abruptly led into a slow ballad, Ethan thought he found his salvation. He already had one foot off the floor when he said, “I suppose we should sit.”

But Casey wasn’t done. “Ethan, you’re allowed to dance with me. Tobias isn’t going to bite you.”

“Is this where you tell me that’s because he’s saving it to bite you later?”

“No,” she grinned, placing her arm on his shoulder and keeping a friendly distance between them. “But dance with me. It’s the perfect place to have a private conversation in a crowded bar.”  

She could feel the itchy wool of his sweater scratch against her skin as his chest rose and fell, and she had to smile. Tobias and Ethan were only three months apart in age. Tobias always called himself an old man, but Ethan fit the moniker so much more.

“I didn’t realize we had to talk,” he whispered.

“Well, we do. I wanted to let you know that nothing will change between us. I'm dating Tobias, but our friendship remains the same. You still mean just as much to me.”

“Casey, I...”

“Let me finish!” She scolded as his face softened, that smile only she brought out of him spreading on his lips.

“Go on.”

“You always say I'm your favorite mentee, and you continue to be a mentor to me, but that role is secondary. The most important thing is that you're my friend. I know we didn’t end up where we thought we might a few years ago… or maybe we did. Either way, you’re very important to me. Promise me our relationship won’t change.”

Ethan smiled down at her, silently kicking himself for having been such a fool.

"Nothing will change," he muttered. "I promise."

“Good,” she replied, leaning her head on his chest. “Now, I need to hook you up with someone so we can double date.”

“What's your obsession with double dating?" He laughed. "But there is no need. I am fine as I am."

“No, you’re not,” she dismissed. “There’s no chance you and Harper....”

“Casey...”

“All right, what about Addie? She’s hot, and she was totally checking you out.”

“Did you forget Tobias said she has a boyfriend? Though, he also said that wouldn’t be much of a hindrance.”

“Oh?” Casey said. “Would that work for you?"

“Shut up and dance," he smirked.

Casey stepped back and grinned. "How can we keep dancing? The song is over."

“Then... can have one more?”

“Of course," she smiled.

When the song ended, they returned to the bar, where Tobias welcomed her back. The night was full of drinking, laughter, and friends, and the new couple was unable to keep their hands off each other, becoming more affectionate with each drink imbibed.

“Would you two get a fucking room?” Jackie grimaced.

“I’ve got several rooms at my place,” Tobias purred into Casey’s ear. “What do you say? Ready to get out of here?”

Casey didn’t think twice. “Bye, guys!” she yelled as she clutched Tobias’s hand and raced toward the door. “See you soon!”

Once they were gone, Jackie clinked her beer against Ethan’s. The two took a drink and let out simultaneous sighs.

“This is going to be difficult. Isn’t it?” Jackie asked.

"Varma, you have no idea."

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

Tagging others separately

[thistlecatfics]

RPing draco??? however much you feel like sharing I wanna know 👀👀👀

omg it is the most glorious thing and has taken over my entire brain so it's all I want to talk about. I don't know about RP ethics and sharing things? but I think it's fine? this is literally my first week ever roleplaying.

(and I love it so much that I want to share it with the world so I do have grand plans about working together with the others in it to turn it into a fic but that's definitely going to take effort to streamline the POVs and isn't happening any time soon.)

Draco & Harry & Sirius & Regulus intoxication kink (and more) roleplay

TLDR is Sirius walks back out the veil because he's a badass like that. Regulus has been living in France secretly for years but he finally reconnects with family (Narcissa) after the war ends. Narcissa, who is under house arrest, sends Draco to visit him. Start of timeline is Sirius, Regulus, and Harry all living in Grimmauld Place with Draco acting like that sitcom character who somehow is always at the house of the main cast under a dubious invitation.

Except it's an intoxication kink role play so everyone has a fucked up relationship with alcohol whether they're an alcoholic of some sort or they just find people drinking excessively to be extremely hot (Draco).

It started out as a Sirius/Harry and Regulus/Draco thing but obviously then Drarry ends up being a thing too, and then the Black brothers have their messy, complicated, shameful, secret thing, and then as it turns out Draco and Sirius have too much chemistry to NOT have hate sex. So it's a free for all with a bunch of different very complicated, very hot dynamics, and everyone's having feelings about everyone else. The planning has been intensive lol. These boys are *messy.*

The version of Draco I'm playing is a bratty little shit who is also genuinely deeply caring and wants to spoil those he loves. He's vain about his looks - and also deeply ashamed of his mark and scars and does not take his clothes off for anyone (at least not for a while!) He's so turned on by feeding Harry and Regulus drinks until they're pliant and soft for him -- and also fears he's a terrible person who is doing something really hurtful and dangerous. He's playful and intelligent and blushes too easily. He wants to be a good Malfoy heir and a good person and doesn't know if he can do both. ugh I just want to share my entire long character document! I love him!

I do really hope we manage to turn it into a fic because I want to share it with the world.

ok my final bonus - Draco's little write ups of his dynamics with each man - Regulus When they first meet, Draco is lost and hoping Regulus, this person who joined the Death Eaters at sixteen and then rebelled against Voldemort, this person who loves his family and the Black name yet seemed to exist as a separate person from them, will teach him how to be a good person. That does not happen in the way Draco expects. Draco did not even know a feeling like the one Regulus evokes in him could exist in real life. He wants to corrupt him. He wants to use him. He wants to love him. He wants him to be wrapped up in his love and be his. He wants him to have space to be pathetic and needy and vulnerable and spoiled and drowning in pleasure and hedonism. He wants to make him soft. So soft. At first, being with Regulus felt like a form of deliciously illicit play, but genuine feelings develop quickly. Draco is disinclined towards monogamy in a way that Regulus seems to be, but he never wants to hurt him. He sees himself in Regulus in many ways and treating Regulus softly is a way for him to learn to be soft with himself too.

Harry: Draco, as all of his friends in Slytherin know and have told him, is obsessed with Harry Potter. They have easy, deliciously enjoyable banter and bickering (or at least Draco thinks it's enjoyable) and are in constant competition. Only after he watched Harry down a shot in a bar that Draco handed him did Draco realize he's actually sexually attracted to him too. He remembers their fling much more clearly than Harry does, and he feels a lot of guilt for being sexual with Harry when he was so drunk. After the war, he idolizes Harry and wants him to be his shining example of what a good person is, but it turns out the real Harry is so much more complicated, and Draco is interested in that man even more. Once he realizes how little care Harry has received in his life, he is especially motivated to show him care -- even if he has to resort to doing so in covert ways.

Sirius: At first, Draco assumes his pull towards Sirius, this incredibly handsome, tall, cool man, is entirely about his jealousy of Harry and his competitiveness with anyone else involved with Harry. He quickly realizes that's not the case with Sirius - even though he assumes Sirius hates him for being a former Death Eater, being Lucius Malfoy's son, and generally representing everything he despises about the world. And he assumes Sirius would hate him all the more if he knew all of the sexual things he'd done to the two most important people in Sirius's life: Regulus and Harry. He wants Sirius to punish him. He wants Sirius to be rough with him. He wants to be an outlet for Sirius's anger, all the dangerous parts of Sirius he keeps hidden from the men he cares to treat well. With Sirius, he wants, he wants, he wants. When Draco doms, he's very soft and pleasure-focused, but, as a sub, he just wants to brat until he's punished and contained. Draco covers up his desire for Sirius in snark and bratty behavior, and he assumes nothing will ever happen between them.

--

I cannot recommend RPing enough! It also reminds me so much of being a therapist - especially in how you just can't help but love anyone who you pay a lot of careful, detailed, curious attention to. I didn't have any real feelings about Draco a week and a half ago. Now I am insufferable with Draco feelings.

thank you for asking, hope this isn't too overwhelming lol <3

[ashen-char]

i feel like max would totally freak out during her first gay awakening like... she's always been in heterosexual relationships (+with guys who didn't treat her well btw) so she would totally panic bcs?? she's always thought of herself as straight and suddenly she starts feeling something for a girl?

she would totally blush at a compliment or just simply bcs of the proximity of her girl crush around, although i think she wouldn't be straightforward and confess her feelings bcs well... it's max.

she would either ignore those feelings and try to move on (while ignoring the girl and hurting her by distancing herself) or she'd talk to frankie or sam about it (and they would support her 100%!!)

i feel like frankie and duke would tease her about it, tho. sam would totally be surprised at max's confession but would have a serious talk about it, saying how she's proud of her and would support her no matter if she was gay or not. i think that rich would also play an important role in here since he's always been like a "dad" to sam's kids (and don't forget how important his character was in the last season!!🤠) but also bcs he's gay himself and he would give max some advice, tell her his journey with his own sexual orientation and feel proud of her. i feel like her real dad would have some "but's" if he ever found out about it (idk he just looks like a total homophobe to me lol + considering how bad of a dad/ex husband he is since he always fucks something up). max would be hesitant about telling him about it, tho. knowing how he always lets everyone down i wouldn't even be surprised if she wouldnt tell him.

um, what else... i think max would totally be into rainbow stuff. yk, rainbow hats, rainbow umbrellas, bracelets, socks(😭) anything that reminds her of gay pride. i feel like she would be bisexual/lesbian (i'm a lesbian myself so obv max being a lesbian would be so 🥰🥰) but yeah she would totally have a lot of things in her room that have colors of her flag AND obv she would put a big ass pride flag above her bed. idk the thought of it just makes me happy 😭🤞🏻💞

thank u for listening to my ted talk . i'd love to see more similar stuff to this written by you on ur page and i hope you're doing ok <3 ^__^ i love ur works!!

long ask/response so read more below

oh god, max would be so confused at first. after a few times hanging out, max would catch herself flirting and realise that she's not even joking. that she wants to be around you way more than normal, in a way that's different than being comfortable with her other friends. because being around you doesn't make her comfortable! she feels really awkward and her heartbeat gets all funny and she worries about screwing up her words when she doesn't usually give a fuck about what others think. max finds herself worrying about what you're up to, if you laugh at her jokes, if you'll think what she's wearing is pretty. if you think she's pretty.

honestly, she doesn't even care about the guys she dates as much. there's so many times where max basically uses them as a prop, makes out with them because they're there and talks about them like they're not there. so it's even more confusing to name these feelings because it's completely not like her. and yeah, that feeling of being unsure would make her push you away. but feeling empty without you being near her would slowly eat at max's resolve, and she'd go to the people in her life who always help her figure stuff out.

when max talks about it to sam, sam helps in that half-cringe but very thoughtful way she always does. she'd tell max about a woman who tried pursuing her, mer (in season 3, i think? when max was in chicago for college iirc). frankie would probably walk in during this conversation, and max would be annoyed at both of them—sam for being gross and telling her about someone pursuing her (ew, no one wants to hear about that from their mom) and frankie for being so nosy—but max would eventually settle down and listen.

sam would tell max that whatever she's feeling is great, that the only thing that max might regret is not exploring these feelings and figuring herself out a little more. frankie would say something about how it's fine to not know what you are and just see how it fits and how you feel, relating it to how non-linear their discovery of their gender identity was. frankie would help her realise that everyone's story isn't the same, as frankie tells her these stories about their other LGBT friends. some people feel like they've always known and some people go so long but then have a sudden realisation, like max, but that's all valid and normal. but yes duke and frankie would totally make fun of max for freaking out and acting like this over a crush at her big age.

especially with rich and the other trusted adults in max's life (like phil who would be so happy for max too, and ask all about you), max doesn't need to tell xander about it! his absence in their lives means that he doesn't get to know the real them until he shows an interest in knowing them. if he doesn't act like a dad then he doesn't get to be one, yknow?

when sudden awakenings happen and you reflect on your past, it's funny to see what you've missed. max would look back and think 'shit, i totally had a crush on shego' or something as she looks back at her cartoon crushes. even super close friendships she had growing up, max will realise 'hey maybe it wasn't het of me that i wanted to impress her that bad' or 'wow, i was really jealous when she got a boyfriend'.

ultimately when max accepts that her identity is actually an exciting thing that she gets to discover about herself, she would adore pride. i think learning about the history, the many struggles it took to get this far, and the support of the community is bolstering for any baby gay. but especially with how sam talks to them about feminism and to be proud to be women, it'd be something max thrives in. figuring out whether she identifies as bi or pan or even a lesbian is something that she knows will come in time - for now, she'll be overwhelmed with the love and support she has from the people around her, and a new community with people just like her. (i think max would find the lesbian flag super pretty)

*insert max doing an 'am i gay quiz' nick from heartstopper-style*

thank you for the ask! i love these ted talks!! people loving these characters gives me so much motivation to write em, seriously.

[raygirlramblings]

So I'm trying to make a Captain Laserhawk joke (turned kinda serious?) AU where the characters lean more into their game counterparts in looks, personalities, and even stories (except for Dolph because he doesn't have a game counterpart to speak of, so he's the guy who literally has no real idea on what's goin on x11) (and I guess Bullfrog's left to be untouched because he's fine) while the comedy's also cranked up a lot more, and I've already made a post explaining the main cast, but upon doing my research on how to understand the source source material more through people's posts, I stumbled upon your "Orphans of Eden" AU and discovered certain parallels between it and my AU:

Jade and Pey'j find Dolph unconscious in the past and decide to fix him up and treat him like family. This leads to Dolph and Jade forming a nice sibling bond (and also Pey'j is much more like a caring, sane uncle in both AUs)

Rayman works for the good guys as a double agent of sorts and doesn't get guns out of nowhere? •o• (although I guess the main difference is that in your AU he actually gets to do stuff while in my AU he's just some mostly pacifist guy who doesn't want to totally ruin his reputation but he still tags along because Bullfrog gave him some food so now he trusts the gang now even though he's more conflicted with their beliefs lol)

Hmm, what else, what else, uhh... I guess Alex didn't show up before Jade and Pey'j found Dolph, so that's a bonus..! (Though, in my AU, Dolph still went through whatever happened in episode 1 of the series but it's like... a different guy we don't know of yet while Alex is working in this organization called "S.P.I.R.I.T." as an agent mentoring rookie agents and stuff because of his backstory in "The Crew")

And I think that's about it. I really like the concept of your AU and I hope that mine's about on par with yours :D

Have a nice day! ^v^

Nice! it's always fun to see people come up with alternate universe concepts ^-^ It's nice to imagine a more playful version of CLH. It feels a little 'Super Smash bros'-y, which fits Rayman's personality at the very least and allows characters like Jade and Alex to be a bit more relaxed. If anything it's an opportunity to add more game elements from different Ubisoft properties. How about a nod to Valiant Hearts, Tonic Trouble or Child of Light?

I like how Alex and Bullfrog team up too. That's a unique idea. It would be interesting to see how their very different perspectives on life affect how they interact, what their moral standings are and how those contrast one another.

I will say I found it really distracting how the characters were called 'Farts' over and over. I'm sure it's a reference to something but it made it really hard to take the plotlines of the characters seriously, and any serious aspects of their backstories (being used as a tool of Eden, getting into fights, death of families and friends) were undermined by its inclusion.

I'm glad you like Orphans of Eden! I really need to draw more stuff for it. I wanted to draw some of the orphan hybrids Jade, Pey'j and Dolph are caring for XD

[papikyoo]

I've been thinking lots about your 'what drew you to Kabumisu' answer and your kbms comic (especially the one with ex-classmates Laios au) I'm curious if your relationship with your partners or any relationship reflects with Kabru/Mith also how? Maybe it's too personal or self-serving but there is something that sets apart your fandom arts and thoughts on this ship from others and I feel it's a delicate sense of empathy and devotion to real-life relationships as well! which makes your arts really good and deep at certain times such like when you portraited how Kabru would treat his relationship with Mith towards Laios in that one comic I loveee that so much (no need to answer if you're uncomfortable!) I only noticed you say your gf once, and I adore this ship with my partner, my gf too! (She prefers the Farcille ship more than kbms and saw us as one tho lol)

I'd say, yes, my romantic relationship and experience definitely has a role in how I depicted kabru and mithrun's relationship.

I usually set up how I view characters with association of irl people, experiences, and a little bit of theories (childhood trauma, upbringing or mbti etc etc) though it might sway from canon bc of my own bias but I need to gain more insights from different sources and I like my art to have reasoning behind the portrayal.

Both my gf and I relate to kbms, even though our relationship doesn't work the same way. She has an approach in life similar to Kabru, and it's always fascinating to observe, I understand the thought process even though I don't actually relate to. There's some pattern in Kabru's behavior, that you can find the same kind of people in real life and they would be misunderstood a lot for the fact that they can accurately deduce people's motive and act according to the circumstances. They are not "pretending", it's just how they are, they need to strategize their actions for benefits of a majority. (according to their own morals) and I really admire this aspect. even though it's not always seen as a good thing, it's a quality that shines through for me. it's not like they will bend for anyone's will and offend no one, actually they believe so much in their perfect vision that they will do anything to pursue that. I view that as a very strong backbone.

I remembered when I read Kabru's thoughts in Six Days chapter, and I thought "I really need to have this level of compassion." I wouldn't do all that to strangers, but I know my gf would. The only thing I can relate to Kabru is the need to exert control/influence which, I guess, also reflects in my art. XD

She also said I behaved like Mithrun... Mithrun is like your friend's partner who appears out of nowhere, who is very private and rarely seen. I'm that guy. Mithrun brings chill vibes to the table, I like to believe he makes Kabru feel calm and grounded. In the manga, Mithrun offers practical solutions to Kabru's problems, he's very straightforward so Kabru doesn't need to waste mental energy in that matter. Kabru also builds self esteem from spending time with him.

kbms is just my ideal of romantic relationship that two people need to be the mirror of each other that reflect their own flaws and strength. I also value my romantic partner a lot. When you distrust people, you have very few people to bond with, you really can't help but keeping people at arm's length emotionally, which is how I view Kabru's relationships, I can sense distance between him and others even though he is outgoing, it's like he always plays a role of an observer and gatekeeping his real inner world.

That's something to unpack. i think it's a beautiful experience to let this one person in your world and growing along them. Tho it might be good to share my thoughts to more people, to feel like a human being, to experience valuable relationships beyond this. just like how Kabru decides to tell his own personal story to Laios as they strengthen their relationship. Kabru tries to act casual because he's a bit scared of an unknown territory, there's still some kind of distance as it's never linear but it's still a beautiful moment.

Thank you for the ask. sorry if it's too much information. it's also something that i've been thinking for a while and it's great to know i'm not the only person who draws a connection between these things and there are like minded people out there. I'm glad you like the comics! Love to hear that my art has a lasting effect. it looks very simple but i had a lot of thoughts behind them too... I like to think that fictional characters also lead a life like us, it makes us feel less alone.

[bitegore]

@cleverthylacine re: this post and particularly the bit about reparative readings

(I think we're getting off topic and wanted to avoid clogging OP's feed lol)

I think there's a tendency toward what I can really only describe as call-to-action-to-Fix-Fandom attitudes when it comes to discussing any kind of -isms in fandom when, like. in my view it doesn't actually do anyone any good. Fandom is very big and people are small and largely the biases in society will be reflected in fandom no matter what we as individuals are up to, especially if we're up in arms because of A Post (fleeting, unserious motivation). I prefer to look at common forms of fannish misogyny where it crops up in my own behavior as an indicator of actual attitudes rather than some sort of checklist of Things To Fix In My Fannish Output. I care way, way more about treating the actual women in my life with respect and care than I do about the female fictional characters I think are fun to write about, you know?

So I like really don't trouble myself over whether or not I'm trying half as hard to read into female fictional characters as their make counterparts, I'm with you on that. Fandom is full of people who are enjoying their fictional women because they like them and not out of some misplaced sense of obligation. When I start doing fic and art with female characters it's because I like the characters, not because I'm compensating. But I like having discrepancies pointed out because it helps me set my barometer for what I might be fucking up with my actual friends and acquaintances in real life, which I think is a lot more important and generally relevant to my life anyway.

This is a lot of words to say 'i'm with you' - not only do i think no one should be obligated to do reparative readings on female characters just because it 'evens it out' or w/e, but honestly I think it's an active distraction from the part of the problem worth caring about, which is that it shows a bias in thinking.

I don't really know. As much as I enjoy fandom and it's a big part of my life, I'm pretty intimately aware it's not that important on the grand scale of things. And as much as I enjoy fiction, i'm of the impression that it reveals more about us than we think it does, so even if you do everything on the list to Eradicate All Traces Of Misogyny, the misogyny will keep sneaking back in until you just... are not writing women with misogyny in your heart and mind. It's a barometer for personal improvement more than anything else, the way I look at things. And certainly in concept but I'd like to also hope in reality, I like having the knowledge toward where I can try to be better instead of flying blind. If I stop being misogynistic, then my fic will be less misogynistic too, but like, I have so many better reasons to not want to be misogynistic!

I also think pressuring people to change the things they have fun with for the sake of Not Being a Bigot (prescriptive, & according to my handy-dandy list which I will hand down from on high...) tends to piss me specifically off, and I like to live by a standard of "not enough significant statistical variance from the mean exists in me to consider this a wholly unique behavior or attitude" so I would also assume that other people feel much the same way. So i also don't like to treat any "xyz is misogynistic" as a hard fast rule anyway, because then I'll get mad and start doing it out of spite while also aiming to make it not misogynistic somehow, which might spawn ideas but doesn't really do me or anyone else any good anyway. (That's definitely not a universal issue and i wouldn't be shocked if there are people who badly want the list because it makes them feel more comfortable writing or something; good for them, we're in totally different categories vis a vis fannish bigotry and how we can work on not doing it and the approaches we take will have to reflect that.)

I had one other thing but I think I forgot it. Uhhh something something it's harder to do reparative readings to compensate for misogynistic writing than it is to do it for flat writing with male characters because a lot of the time it either requires you to work with stereotypes you don't like or to outright dismiss elements of characterization and many of us don't want to do either, when background whiteguys tend to just have a handful of extremely neutral traits and nothing else; this is also part of why it can be hard to do the same for characters of color or characters that are clearly meant to be homophobic stereotypes or whatever, I won't fault anyone for not wanting to put their hands in that. nWFC Elita is a pretty good example of that, honestly - I don't remember a lot about the show because I didn't like it and i watched it one time several years ago lol, but I remember walking away with the impression we were supposed to think of her as Optimus's nagging wife, and annoying and overly negative, even though she was right on all counts every fucking time. I'm not writing nWFC-continuity fic because i have absolutely no interest in doing so, and I don't particularly want to carry that characterization over to any other continuity because - why would I? I like Elita-1 better in basically everything else, and she is broadly always Pretty Damn Competent (at least in theory). But in nWFC i can square the circle by comparing her cynicism to, like, Ratchet, who is equally convinced Optimus is making all the wrong moves. Suddenly she doesn't have to be the annoying nag, she's the last lone voice of real legitimate pushback in Autobot HQ, which has been bleeding dissenters as they're ignored, or whatever. And honestly I do like that. But contrast it with, uhhhh... trying to pick a random character here idk it's cheating if i pick bayverse characters... idk let me pick on IDW. If you want to work with the female character from All Hail Megatron, whose name I can't remember but who I genuinely liked, you have to deal with the fact that she falls head over heels for Spike fucking Witwicky right after meeting him and that her job is largely to deliver motivational speeches to the more important male background characters whose names I also can't remember. You absolutely can read depth into her, and I do because I think it's interesting that there's a character who lives through a horrifically traumatic upending of her life and then realizes that the only way everyone will survive is to stick together and immediately makes it her job to make sure they do, but, like, "woman exists as footstool for man's power & place in the plot" is one of the oldest misogynistic tropes in the book. I wouldn't blame literally anyone for not wanting to work around that, and it's... literally her entire role in the plot, so it's also really fucking hard to try and read out or compensate for. I genuinely do not think she even speaks to another woman in the entire comic. I think my point got muddied in the miles of examples; my thinking is that at the end of the day no one is getting paid for this and I don't think it's really an even playing field between male and female characters to reparatively-read-into anyway.

Last final thing is that the tropes that interest me in a character don't often tend to be done in female characters or when they're approached they take on distinctly misogynistic overtones. i really like characters who talk a big game, brag often, are deeply vain, and are not actually half as good as they claim they are... "woman thinks she has skills and is really good at things, but is Put In Her Place by a Man" is also one of my least favorite tropes ever. It's hard to work around that. There's just not much you can do when an entire concept has been all but poisoned for you.

inb4 "he said its ok to be a misogynist!" he said its important to focus on real life & fixing your heart first instead of hoping other people will tell you what not to write to look like you're not a misogynist ^-^

[mariam246810]

How do you write dialogue for characters like Genshin and Klint that don't really have much dialogue to work with in game? You always seem to capture them so well. Is it just based off what little we have in canon plus headcanons of their personalities?

I ask because sometimes I doubt whether my Genshin in my stories "sounds like him" even though there's not much to work with anyway 😅

And don't even get me started on writing Klint,lol

Thank you im glad you think I capture them well💕

I was doubtful about my characterization at first of the two especially that as you said we don't have much to go with with these two.

But when I voiced my concerns to someone they told me an answer that stuck with me. There is no right or wrong characterization when it comes to characters that we barely know anything about . They're like an empty canvas (you can treat them like an OC) so really do what you see fit with them lol.

Im an artist, not a writer. Writing and giving characters personalities are not things im really good at- in both English and my mother language- but I love to make these little scenarios and dialogs in my comics and sketches for fun. I don't take them so seriously.

As for my process of writing dialogs and making their personality, it wasn't a linear process as I keep changing things and going back and forth between some steps and HC but roughly it can be summarised in the following:

1-taking the little snippets we know about the characters in canon: either from the obvious facts that are given to us like how Genshin's weakness was Kazuma, or from not very obvious facts like how genshin used a western sword to duel Klimt. This means that he was taught how to fight with the Western sword possibly during his stay in Britain (now who taught him is unknown but since I can think of no one besides the van Zieks as people who have a sword attached to their hip in the game I'm gonna assume it was Klimt)

2-looking at the official character art: usually ace attorney characters show so much personality through their character design and official art in general. You can know so much from their expressions and stance

3- basing some characteristics or HC on real life: either based on family members, and friends or even me sometimes if said person has some resemblance to that character

4-make up scenarios: so I don't know how writers usually come up with the bases for their stories but the way I usually do it is by making up scenarios in my head when im doing something that doesn't require my full attention like doing chores or working out. Literally, the majority of my comics are me daydreaming lol.

Of course, after I come up with a concept I write it down and start brainstorming for a dialog that fits the personalities I gave them from the previous steps and that's it!

Naturally, characters like genshin and Klimt are gonna differ in terms of personality from one person to another since very little is known about them so don't worry about the differences in characterization in the fandom too much. Differences are normal and what makes fandoms fun tbh, to see everyone's perspectives of the same character.

Thank you for asking me!💕

[moistvonlipwig]

lena: 1 2 8 17 18 :D

Why I love them, like them or hate them?

I love her because she always wants to do the right thing even though she doesn't always know what that is and even though everyone around her constantly treats her so poorly and thinks the worst of her even after she's proven herself time and time again. And I also love her because, as the Designated Morally Gray Character, she got to have way more interesting scenes & relationships than most of the other characters on the show did, she got to fundamentally disagree with & call out Kara and the other Superfriends, and she (somewhat) got held accountable when she made mistakes. (More than anyone else did at any rate lol.)

And I hate her because she wears shoes on the couch. Girl you are RICH buy some SLIPPERS or something!!!!!

2. How would I have chosen to change their story from canon?

Don't make her a witch!!!!! >_< Also I would've axed Non Nocere. You could replace it with so many things, including my superpower dampener idea or, like, Anything Else. (And if they HAD to include Non Nocere, 5x08 should've been the end of it -- Lena should've either chosen not to launch it at the last minute, or she should've told Hope to launch it only for Hope to be like I cannot obey that directive Ms. Luthor because you programmed me to do no harm and then Lena could've been like Oh.....I see.....and then had her big revelation that it was a bad idea.)

Going back a little further -- I would've actually loved for Lillian to turn her into Metallo in the real timeline? Maybe at the end of S2 or S3? It would've been super fucked up which is why it would be so delicious. Especially with Lena still not knowing Kara was deathly allergic to kryptonite. But you could also use the plotline to show Lena's resilience and scientific prowess, as she works to stabilize the kryptonite in her new heart. (Also, this would be a fabulous excuse to give her a dog who could detect potential kryptonite destabilization. This show needed a dog so bad.)

I also think, if this show had different showrunners who were better about race, it would've been really interesting for the Luthors -- with all their wealth, scientific genius, & opposition to Superman -- to be black. (Consider: Angela Bassett as Lillian. Just saying.)

8. What is a headcanon I have about this character?

Mm, well, to follow up on my answer to #2, one headcanon I have is that what Lillian said about manipulating her into going into STEM was only true for Earth-Prime Lillian and Lena, not Earth-38 Lillian and Lena, and since our Lena is still the Earth-38 version it actually isn't true for her. :) It's a goofy loophole but I'll take it!

Also, it was in a deleted scene so it's not an original duckthought, but I like the idea that she was a fencer and almost made the Olympics, I think that's cool. (I will leave the speculation on the kind of fencing she did to you and your very non-biased friend.)

17. How well would they do if they got dropped in a horror movie?

Well it depends on the themes of the horror movie and what it's trying to say, for instance, if it's a horror movie about cycles of familial abuse I think she might be the final girl but in one about the excesses of capitalism she probably wouldn't make it I think pretty well? She's not very genre-aware to be fair but she makes many Devices and, crucially, she can make her little Devices even when she doesn't have a lot of resources at hand.

18. Would I personally trust them to be my friend?

Yes because she has so much moneys and all you have to do is be so nicies to her and she will be loyal to you for life. (Actually you.....don't even have to do that. 🥴) Would I WANT to be friends with her? Honestly, I probably wouldn't want to be friends with anyone on CWSG. But I'd trust her, yeah.