#i'll have like one third the number of students and i'm also in a better groove now i can move them along faster

[whentherewerebicycles]

Not to give unsolicited opinions, but don’t go back. Take your full leave. There are no regrets in that! 6 beautiful weeks with your beautiful baby and family. Having adventures. Walking your dogs. Reading. Sleeping in the big bed. No boss. No negatives only positives. You waited so long for this time and you deserve and need these last 6 weeks to have beautiful experiences.

you sent this a few days ago but thank you so much!! and to everyone else who helped me decide. i'm super nervous about actually emailing work to tell them, but i have everything else in place (signed up for a couple more tutoring kids, got permission to move his daycare start back, made holiday travel plans, etc.). so like. now i just have to do it haha.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Prynhawn da Elanor,

I'm a student in the US currently applying to universities for next year, and I have a couple of questions about Welsh universities if you have the time. I'm looking at both schools in the US and one in Wales (I managed to visit over the summer and it seemed great, loved the town and the university, and the degree that I'm interested in is very solid there), and the teaching style/expectations of students are an unknown factor. I've been taking college classes while still in highschool so I'm familiar with college-level instruction in the states, and it's not ideal for what I'm interested in studying. For example, at one of the schools I visited that is supposed to be a decent research university, the faculty were surprised that I had questions about research as an undergrad, and according to current students, the hardest part of their studies were quizzes on botanical taxonomy. So, I'm curious, what are the general academic expectations for students (especially in ecology or wildlife biology-related courses)? It seems like assessments are more practical or long-form and less quiz/multiple choice.

This got long-winded, so my apologies, and thank you for your time!

Shwmae! Happy to answer.

SO, I shall caveat this with saying that I don't really understand how higher education works in the US; it's a very different system to the UK in many ways. I'm therefore not entirely sure how to explain the exact differences. So, I'll just tell you about how it works over here rather than trying to do a comparison, if that makes sense? It means some of this will definitely feel like Water Is Wet stuff, but hopefully there'll be an exact answer in there that you can extract. Also, if you're comfortable doing so (and want to), I'm happy to talk over DM if you want slightly more specific advice involving you revealing details that otherwise might doxx you.

(Also second point, because I have danced this dance before and I know what Some Of You Lot are like when my posts start gaining traction beyond my circle of followers: in places where I do explain something that's different between the two systems, I am not saying one is better or worse than the other. Don't be a cunt about this. Work on your defensiveness and ego in your own time. I'm too busy and important for your feelings.)

Third point: I'm snipping this for length. On with the answer!

So, degrees over here are fairly fixed in terms of content and duration. Some offer a specific, set array of modules that make up the degree; others have essential core modules, and then you can choose from a small number of options until you get the required credits. But part of choosing the course for you over here is looking at the modules that make up the degree to make sure you're getting the exact focus you want; the one I teach on, for example, has a focus on practically applying environmental science, with the result that it has a very high post-graduation employment rate across a variety of environmental disciplines. Others might focus more on human geography, or environmental engineering, or climate science, or whatever else.

The reason for this is the quality assurance system in the UK. Courses have to be validated as being the right quality in terms of content, level of study, assessment practices, etc. Let's say you get a BSc from UWTSD in Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change; that comes with a quality assurance for a future employer that you have learned a specific set of skills, a specific knowledge bank, and are capable of using both in a specific way. There shouldn't be a risk, for example, that they hired someone from the same course the year before who had the same qualification as you, but turned out to not understand the dynamic processes behind sand dunes and couldn't write an official report to save their life, meaning you get passed over for the job the following year because they can't trust that your education actually means anything; if both of you have the same qualification, then the course should be meeting sufficient quality standards to ensure that you both therefore have the same knowledge and skillset.

So that's point one!

Where this works in your favour is point two: assessment. Assessment is also rigidly quality-checked, but it means you can ask a course director and immediately get an outline of what the assessment procedures are (not the precise assessment tasks, obviously; but, report vs exam vs lab practical etc will be known).

But also, yes, assessment in the UK is extremely rarely what I understand to be 'quizzes' in the US, and extremely rarely multiple choice. Rightly or wrongly, there is a definite perception in academic circles over here - even at high school level, much less university - that a multiple choice quiz is too easy to pass by guessing, and they're very looked down on as a method to assess learning.

What you'll have instead varies between modules and courses, but I can give you an idea with a couple of mine:

Level 4: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

No exams: two reports based on practical field/lab work, both worth 50% of the final mark

First: dissect owl pellets in the lab from two sites. Evaluate what the findings mean for the biodiversity on each site, and suggest some future site management prescriptions. 2000 words.

Second: fieldtrip to nearby woods to take allometric tree measurements and calculate carbon sequestration. Evaluate the ecosystem service provided by the woodland, and comment on site management and conservation. 2000 words.

Level 5: Coastal, Marine and Wildlife Conservation

One assignment, one exam, each worth 50% of the final mark

Assignment: Ramsey Island has far less biodiversity than neighbours like Skomer, Grassholm, etc. Research why, what was done to fix it, how well it's recovered, and suggest what should be done in the future to aid further recovery. 2500 words.

Exam: First half is a selection of short form questions to test baseline knowledge. Second half is a 50 mark essay question; choice of two topics to answer.

Level 6: Habitat Management and Building Resilience

No exams: two assignments, one before Christmas worth 30% of the mark, one in May worth 70%

First: choose a species reintroduction project of your choice, and find the habitat feasibility study carried out for it. Critique that habitat feasibility study. Put your findings into an academic poster and present it. 15 mins.

Second: using teachings from across the year, produce a habitat management plan for a site of your choosing. You need to actually visit and assess your site. 3500 words.

(L4, 5 and 6: first, second and final year of undergrad)

The idea in each case is not just to test knowledge; it's to test applied knowledge, and to teach real-world skills needed in the industry after you graduate. If you go into land management, for example, the ability to guess the right answers based on the multiple choice pattern is useless; the ability to assess a site and write up a management plan for it, on the other hand, is literally the job you're hired to do.

So, as far as research is concerned... if you mean carrying out your own research on a topic of your own choosing, the main place that happens is your dissertation in third year. But, you can start that earlier if you want. In our department, we also encourage and support any independent research a student may choose to do, even if they don't end up using it for their degree directly.

If you mean general research skills, though, those are vital to every assignment. If you only repeat back whatever papers or knowledge the lecturers have given you, and don't research independently, you will barely scrape a pass. We actively push you to learn those skills.

And then lastly, expectations for students! In higer ed, you are now an adult, and you are choosing to be here: this means that the expectation is that you're meeting the lecturers halfway, as it were. It's a mistake a lot of new students make, if they've come straight from high school - uni is just The Next Thing to do, but to them it's basically like school, so the teachers have to keep trying to teach them even if the student barely shows up or makes any effort.

But that is not so! They are no longer pupils, and I am not a teacher.

If I say to a class "Look up these papers and be familiar with the arguments before next session because we're going to have a seminar", and then someone doesn't bother because "Whoops I went out drinking and forgot to do my homework teehee", then they can get out. They are adults paying for a particular service. I have offered that service. If they think of it as homework and choose not to do it because they wanted to go out clubbing instead, then... okay. That's the choice they can make. But the consequence is, I'm not chasing after them, because I'm not a teacher, and that's not my job. Now they aren't having that session. This will have a knock-on effect for their understanding of the topic; but that's the choice they made.

(Again, before the Pissing On The Poor crowd arises: I am, very obviously, not talking about students who have other struggles that impact their academic performance. I am, very literally and clearly, talking about the 18-year-old school leavers who are still in the school mindset, and think of missing lectures as 'skiving', and on a lizard brain level think there won't be consequences to that because so far in their life, education systems have not been allowed to fail them for that behaviour.)

So, basically... you're expected to want to learn and improve, and to put the work in to do that. Not to just be there to get the degree, but to be there to learn. Adult education is collaborative between lecturer and student. We guide you, but it's your journey to take.

Anyway! I hope that is at all useful. Let me know if you want clarification on anything, or have any other questions!

[t4tozier]

Hi are we still doing fuck nasty asks. Bc. I have two scenarios in my brain that I’ve been dying to talk about but haven’t had the courage.

1) sex pollen. Or aphrodisiac. No I don’t know how. WAIT THAT’S A LIE DEVIL HONEY IS A THING C’MON THERE’S SOMETHING THERE RIGHT???? RIGHT?????

2) Knife kink. Listen. If Porter so visibly marked Jace with his symbol I think Jace should have the right to do the same to Porter.

WOOOO love both of these. so i'm actually gonna start with number 2 because we have talked about this a little bit. if you want me to expand i can but i'll link those posts here: blood play, carving his name into porter, and the first time jace tries knife play

but sex pollen. oh boy. ohhhhh boy. jokes on you you've unlocked a new skill in ur skill tree it's getting t4tozier to talk about sex pollen. we've talked about ambrosia-laced blood getting jace high in the past, but none of those were my original posts and also not what this is about. so. sex pollen. this isn't canon compliant but idc. sorry.

jace and porter go on an adventure together. don't ask me why. maybe it's a faculty adventure to clear out a dungeon of most of the creatures so they can take students on a practical field trip and they split into pairs/groups and starbreaker just happens to be trapped in a lair with a creature that defends itself by spraying aphrodisiacs at its enemies, making them much more distracted with fucking each other than fighting it. and they're arguing the whole time about martial vs caster classes and the pros and cons and then they're confronted with the creature and porter whips out his maul and jace starts casting a spell but before they can act it expels some gross pink dust all over them. and jace goes to prestidigitate it off as like a bonus action--but then...why would he do that? it feels nice, warm and tingly as it settles into his skin, and suddenly he feels a lot hotter than he did before. he unwinds his scarf, casting it carelessly to the side, and blinks up at porter. has he always been this tall?

and porter sets down his maul, actually needing to lean on it for stability as he catches his bearings, because he's pretty sure he was supposed to fight, he was in a rage, but now all he can focus on is how fucking hard he is and the pretty half-elf standing right in front of him, and all of the energy from his rage immediately shifts to making sure he gives jace stardiamond the best godsdamn fuck of his life.

they both look at each other and, as if they have the same idea at the same time, practically launch themselves at each other and start tearing each other's clothes off. porter's rough and pays little attention to when jace's head knocks against a particularly sharp rock on the way down, but jace doesn't really care because then porter is tugging his pants down and fuck, his cock feels so much better when it's not trapped and he's really fucking wet, why is he dripping so much? and then porter's pulling off his shirt and jace's thoughts just kind of fuzz out because wow, this man has an impressive physique, and his cock looks really big even though he hasn't even taken his pants off yet and jace needs it in his mouth fucking yesterday.

they're still fucking when the others find them. they have to actually kill the creature that starbreaker failed their initial saves against before they can even think about stopping porter from fucking jace up against the nearest surface for the third time in twenty minutes because both of their refractory periods have been reduced to practically nothing. thankfully, none of the other faculty mention it--it's just one of those goofy adventuring effects--but if they exchange numbers after they return from the lair clear-out, that's nobody's business but theirs.

[luxesiren]

HELLO! You're literally one of the best writers that I've found here on tumblr, you write Eren so good😭, Idk if you're accepting any requests ATM if you're not, just ignore this🙇🏻‍♀️ BUT I HAVE THIS UH THOUGHT, college student Eren x reader likeeeeee Eren is chasing after reader, (Zeke's best friend, they're both also in college) that's all, iloveoyyou

hi!! omg thank you! i think there are better writer’s out here but thank you so much! i am accepting requests, i just haven’t gotten any but i can do this for you! hope you enjoy!

warnings; black reader, thick/chubby reader, uses she/her pronouns, third person POV, mutual pining, heavy kissing, and fluff.

eren had been obsessed with his brother's best friend for as long as he could remember and at first, he thought it was just a crush that would just go away but as time went on and his crush didn't lessen - he just let it build up.

she didn't know that he had a crush on her but he couldn't but stumble over his words whenever he was around her or try to act cool because he wanted to impress her.

"zeke, please. at least introduce me to her." eren pleaded with his older brother for the umpteenth time this week and zeke was growing tired of his begging, "i will leave you alone after this, i promise."

"eren, please. you said that last time and plus, how do you know that she even wants to get to know you." zeke said, rolling his eyes at his younger brother's antics.

see, zeke didn't know if he really wanted to introduce his best friend to his brother. his best friend (in his opinion) was out of eren's league. he could remember the first time they met and eren was a nervous wreck, at the time, it was hilarious but looking back at it, eren was really infatuated with her. "okay, i'll let you meet her and get to know her but don't fuck this up. she's a nice girl and deserves to treated as such." he advised his brother.

eren cheered internally.

~~~~

a few weeks went by and eren found himself in front his brother's best friend and stumbling over his words again. "shit. i'm sorry, that was bad. i'm eren."

her laugh was light and airy, "eren, i know who you are. you're zeke's little brother."

"wait, you know me?" he asked with a smirk, confidence coming in and making her blush and he liked how it looked on her cheeks. he observed her appearance, her natural hair out and curly - she had her hair in a high puff and eren loved it. her shirt baggy and her tan cargos hugged her thighs beautifully, eren couldn't have been more obsessed with her.

"yeah of course i do." she replied with a beaming smile, eren snapped out of his thoughts and smirked. "how could i not remember someone who's been chasing after me?"

"i- uh i dont know, what-" he stuttered.

and there was that laugh again, "no, it's cute." she said with a soft smile and looked at her watch, "i've gotta get to my next class but here." she scribbled her phone number down on a small piece of paper and handed it to him with a wink.

he was joyous.

~~~~

eren's crush on her had only grown more within the few weeks they got to know each other more. he walked her to class every day and spent his free period with her, taking her to get coffee and to study more for their tests.

she'd grown to like eren more too, albeit, she had a major crush on him too. she enjoyed their time together and she cared for her best friend's little brother in ways that she couldn't really explain. he took her on various dates, sometimes they were lowkey and others were more extravagant but she enjoyed all of them regardless, but the ones she enjoyed the most were the ones where they relaxed and watched tv shows together.

like the one they were on right now, although the show they were watching was background noise seeing as her hands were trailing up eren's chest underneath his shirt, their lips locked, and eren on top of her.

their tongues tangled together and he swallowed all of her small moans, eren's hands wrapped around her waist and pulling her closer to his chest. "baby, you wanna be my girlfriend?" he said as he pulled away from her lips, her gloss smeared on his lips.

"you didn't even have to ask. of course, i will, ren!" she answered excitedly, her arms wrapping around his shoulders and pulling him back into a kiss just in time for zeke to walk into eren's room.

"seriously? i did not need to see you locking lips with my little brother." his disgust evident.

"who walked in without knocking?" she asked before eren could say something, he looked at zeke with a smug grin and his eyebrow raised.

zeke nodded and walked out the room, closing the door behind him.

i hope this was what you expected😭! thank you for sending the request, i appreciate you!!

[jtl-fics]

Fusion Dance:

FF in the zombie apocalypse

Fluent Freshman AU | Unusual Fic Asks

I need you to understand what this has done to me. 1. I didn't think anyone was going to ask about FF for some reason and 2. The concept of FF in the apocalypse is so funny to me because I write a lot of him based off of me and I have ALWAYS told anyone who asks that if an apocalypse happens I am not the plucky young lass doing whatever it takes to survive type. (Like I get word that One Piece is cancelled because Oda got eaten it's like 'ok I gotta go ask that man some QUESTIONS in the after life' and I'm OUT. I just don't have that drive in me!)

BUT FF is that kind of guy.

---

FF had been ready for the end of the world for ages. He'd felt the world quake and tear itself apart plenty of times. The first time had been after the car accident. The second time had been when he realized his mother wasn't going to stand up for him. The third was when she said "I do" to a man who hadn't made it a secret what he thought about FF.

The end of the world kept happening for him, so it was almost bizarre when finally everyone else agreed that it had happened.

He didn't really pay attention to the news, only to the increasing anxiety around campus as more and more infections occurred and there were talks about locking down the campus. His anxiety ramped higher and higher until he found himself in a state that he hated. A state where it was all so much that he lost the ability to feel anything at all.

The numbers kept climbing, the infections growing closer, and FF couldn't calm down enough to feel anything.

Then a Palmetto student was bitten and weirder it was someone he had known if only because they played on the same team.

He dodged out of the way of Jack's open mouth as he heard Sheena scream. His senses for an unexpected back attack had been heightened from years of dealing with his step brothers and further from the mindless bloodlust of Black Friday shoppers.

Jack lunged for him again.

"No cure - 100% fatal at biting stage" flashed on the TV in the lounge yesterday. "Self-Defense Recommended" the news anchor said numerous times.

He couldn't bring himself to do it though.

Aaron walked into the hallway and Jack's attention turned. He lunged mouth open and-

FF found the courage to swing down his Racquet.

Sheena just kept screaming as she ran out of the hallway.

Aaron looked shocked looking between FF and Jack on the ground.

"The infection has hit Palmetto." FF says with a deep breath trying not to feel sick, "I'm not staying on campus." he says wondering how many more students had broken quarantine like Jack.

"Where are you planning to go?" Aaron asks giving Jack's body a wide berth as he stepped around it.

"My grandma lives in Washington State. It's pretty rural. I'll go there." He says because she's stood by him through every other end of the world. If this is the one that takes then he wants to be sitting next to her.

"Sounds better than sitting here." Aaron says with a shrug and FF could see that he was shaking from what he'd just seen.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." FF says because he knows what Aaron had done to protect his brother. Aaron looks at him with wide eyes, "He was past the point where he might have been saved. We can't hesitate." he says because that's what the news anchor had said.

Aaron takes a long and shaking breath and nods.

FF nods back to him before turning and heading in the opposite direction of the exit that Sheena had run towards. He heard Aaron's footsteps following him, well this is embarrassing that they're going the same way.

"Where are you going now?" Aaron asks.

"CVS." FF answers.

"Smart, medical supplies." Aaron agrees.

Oh, that is also a good plan. FF was just planning on taking a shopping basket and knocking every last bottle of Pepto Bismol into it. "Yes." he says.

"I'll text Andrew." Aaron says and for the love of god FF did not know what he would be texting him. "Hey, thanks...for uh...saving me." he says.

They haven't decided how to charge people quite yet for the Infection self-defense cases.

"Don't mention it." he says and honestly wishes he could tell Sheena the same.

[linkemon]

Philia (Midoriya Izuku x Reader)

Friendly reminder that English is not my first language. You can check my Masterlists both in English and Polish here. Consider supporting me on Ko-fi. You can also check out my commissions if you’re interested.

Other oneshots can be found here.

ᴍɪᴅᴏʀɪʏᴀ ꜱᴛʀᴜɢɢʟᴇꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀꜱᴛᴀɴᴅ ʜɪꜱ ꜰᴇᴇʟɪɴɢꜱ ꜰᴏʀ [ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ] ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ᴏꜰ ʜᴇʀ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ. ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱ 1-ᴀ ᴛʀʏ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ʙᴇꜱᴛ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇʟᴘ ʜɪᴍ…

— Midoriya-kun, why don’t you want to see her? — Ochaco asked.

— Exactly! It's very rude to refuse elders! — Iida said angrily.

The boy had always been concerned about being president and this time was no different.

— She's only a year older than us — said the girl.

— Be-because I'm scared...— the boy stuttered quietly.

— Well, whatever. She found you. — She grinned.

Izuku turned around and to his horror saw [Reader] walking towards him. Everyone in the hallway was staring in her direction. The girl couldn't use her powers in the UA building outside of classes but everyone seemed to be affected by her aura anyway. She attracted attention wherever she went. However, she managed to get through the crowd of students hungry for her attention and reach the first years.

— Good morning! Can I borrow Midoriya-kouhai for a moment?

— Go ahead!

The girl grabbed his hand and led him to a less crowded part of the school. The boy felt like he was going to have a heart attack. He blushed and sweated, and that was not the state he wanted to be seen in by his senpai.

— Sorry I dragged you along for so long. I'll make this quick. I need your help.

— My help? — he echoed.

He had trouble processing this request.

— Well...— She nervously played with her fingers. — After the last sparring session, it turned out that my power didn't work on you. One day, it might turn out that it won't work on a villain either. And then what? I'd like to be prepared for anything. So please, help me train! — She bowed.

Izuku felt even more nervous. If anyone had to bow, it was him. After all, it was good manners.

So he did the only thing that came to mind and stooped even lower.

— Please, accept my help!

The girl laughed at the sight but the sound of the school bell drowned her out.

— I’ll see you tomorrow at five in the training hall. — She adjusted her backpack and ran to class.

Midoriya had finished his classes, so he headed towards his dorm. He happily sat down on the nearest bench in the school park. He processed the entire conversation in his head, cursing his behaviour.

That was why he wanted to avoid [Reader] at all costs. Senpai made him stutter and feel weird. On one hand, he was a little afraid of her but on the other, he admired her a lot. He met her almost at the very beginning of his high school adventure. It wasn't hard to hear about the popular second-year hero. He had devoted a lot of space in his notebook to her power since his first week at UA.

However, it was only during the sparring matches between the first and second grades that he had the opportunity to get to know her personality better. At first, he was afraid that she would treat him with contempt. However, it turned out that he was very wrong. She quickly became friends with him and his entire class. In addition, she was a fan of All Might. They often talked about him and exchanged knowledge. The keychain with the chibi hero that she had given him dangled happily from his backpack.

The boy opened the twenty-third notebook of Hero Analysis for the Future. It was [Reader] who had chosen the cover when they met at the stationery store. She said it was her favourite colour. He mechanically opened the one hundred and fifty-third page, which contained the last notes about senpai. The thought came to him that he shouldn't remember that number so precisely and he realized that he had been checking it more often than he would have liked.

[Reader] had a much bigger impact on his life than he would have thought at first. It was both terrifying and exciting.

He was glad that his fan notes would finally be useful to someone other than himself, so he read carefully, trying to come across something he might have missed last semester.

[Reader] — Pinky Girl — 2A in UA

Powers/Abilities/Limitations:

— reduction to the size of one's own hand — variable with age due to hand size, dependent on degree of fatigue

— creating an invisible but detectable aura that affects the surroundings, thereby gaining their interest/friendship — unknown conditions — m̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶l̶e̶ ̶s̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶s̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶c̶u̶t̶e̶?̶

— the aura directed at one person makes it possible to give them commands — the level of advancement of the commands is important, the condition is absolute eye contact, others unknown (it cannot be the only one because everyone reacts to a different degree)

— using knowledge of vital points in combat

— media recognition despite young age — especially liked by children and teenagers due to the image she build

Weaknesses:

— difficulty with opponents with large physical mass and speed at the same time — risk of being crushed

— aura detectability

— long-distance combat, opponents who can fight without the aid of their eyes — difficulty with maintaining eye contact or no eye contact at all...

Izuku studied everything carefully, page by page, for an hour. He sighed in defeat. He found nothing helpful.

He knew he had a long night ahead of him searching the forums about powers for answers. He would also have to look through older notebooks.

— [Reader]-senpai, why do you need all these... — he hesitated — costumes?

Izuku looked at the tiny doll-sized dresses with interest. Each one had a matching set of accessories. They were cute but he had no idea why the girl had brought so many clothes in her bag.

He wondered if she had liked playing with dolls when she was younger. She seemed very happy arranging her clothes by colour.

— When I ask people what they felt during the aura, they usually say they thought I was cute. So I thought maybe that was the problem.

— What does that m-mean?

— I just don’t seem cute enough for you! — She laughed. — For now — she added. — I didn’t have any other ideas. — She scratched her head. — So which outfit do you want to start with?

The boy was glad that she had her back turned to him at that moment. He was sure that if they made eye contact, he would have a heart attack.

— Do you think it would help if I tied my hair up differently? Or maybe it would be better if it was loose...

From her spacious bag she pulled out a brush and a cosmetic bag.

— I-I read on forums last night about powers similar to y-yours — he choked out, trying to change the subject.

Fortunately, this distracted the girl from further unpacking.

— Did you find something?

— Maybe your family could help somehow?

He felt his right foot twitch nervously but he was proud of himself — he didn't stutter.

[Reader] left her dresses and sat down on the bench, patting the spot next to her. Izuku took it hesitantly, keeping a good distance.

— I didn't inherit my power, if that's what you're asking. My mother could give simple commands to others and my father was unusually short. The combination came from that. Besides, no one in my family has ever reacted to aura, so I won't learn anything from them.

— So maybe you'll tell me everything you know?

— You mean everything that isn’t already in the notebook? — she asked, pointing to the notebook where Midoriya was automatically writing down the new information.

— I-I’m-I’m sorry! — He bowed.

— Don't worry, it was just a joke.

The girl had gotten used to her kouhai being shy. She always tried to somehow loosen him up. However, that didn't mean she didn't enjoy watching his funny reactions.

— My power came out in elementary school. I didn't have as much control over it as I do today. — She played with her fingers. — I was very withdrawn then. In class, we usually only exchanged greetings and when I had a group project, I always panicked. I couldn't even talk normally to boys. I was very shy but it didn't really bother me. I had two close friends. Ironically, I met them together. We went everywhere as a group but it didn't last.

— Can I ask you something? — [Reader] tightened her grip on the straps of her backpack.

She had been mentally preparing for this all weekend. She knew there would be no better time.

— Yes, but quickly, I'm hungry.

— Did I do something wrong? If so, I apologize.

The words were hard to come out of her throat but she was willing to say them if it could save anything.

— NO.

— So why don't you talk to me anymore?

She felt her body shaking and getting hot. She had no control over it but she knew she had to go through the stress to find the answer.

The interlocutor seemed embarrassed and cleverly averted her gaze towards her home.

— Everything is normal. You're just imagining things. Bye — she said in a dry tone and left.

[Reader] didn't look back as she ran up the stairs. She ran into her room as fast as she could. Tears blocked her vision. She felt guilty, though she didn't know why. She thought that today would be the day she would deal with this and she would be able to fix the mistake, whatever it was. She was wrong.

That was the moment when she finally realized that her old friends simply didn't want her anymore.

— One day they simply stopped talking to me. It all shook me up a lot. My power made itself known and made things worse, although I didn't know it at the time. I discovered it much later. Because of my lack of control, it pushed people away from me. I couldn't fit in anywhere because everyone already had their own friends. I was on the verge of depression.

Midoriya couldn't believe what he was hearing. [Reader] had always seemed so open, smiling and liked by everyone. He couldn't imagine that things could ever be any different.

Only now did he realize that even though he had so many notes about her, he actually knew very little about her.

— Luckily, Hideki-kun appeared on the horizon. Up until then, we hadn't talked much. We sat together in math but that was it. Until one day, he spoke directly. He was the only one in the class who asked what was going on. We were very different from each other but somehow we became friends. I think he was immune to my aura. He helped me get through the end of the year. Then I went to high school. I also started going to therapy so I could control my power better. And now I'm here...

— That must have been terrible.

His face expressed sincere sympathy.

— It's not easy to talk about it but looking back, I can see that it was a good thing. I was limited, I lacked self-confidence and I was very afraid of what others would think. Not to mention how closed I was.

— Is that why you said in interviews that you want to dedicate your career to all young people?

— Yes. We live in a time when powers contribute to many problems. People are treated unfairly because they don't have them, especially children.

The boy involuntarily thought of how Bakugo treated him when they were younger. Thousands of insults, shoves, destroyed notebooks and uniforms... And all because he was born without powers.

— We don't see our strengths. We often compare ourselves because we lack self-confidence. I think that if I had believed in myself more back then, the whole situation would have been easier. That's why I'm different now and I don't run away from people anymore. I intend to be a heroine to prove to others that you can change. I would like to pass on the good but for that I need publicity. Hence all these interviews and the fanpage. I'm heading towards a social campaign. Sensei Uwabami helped me a lot. If it goes well, I'll start before the end of high school.

Izuku didn't know that [Reader] was keeping so many secrets from him. That didn't mean she had lost any of her appeal in his eyes. On the contrary, he was very proud of her. She had shared something important with him and wanted to help people like him once did.

— If you ever need an extra pair of hands, let me know. — He tightened his grip on Hero Analysis for the Future.

— Sure. — She rubbed her cheek thoughtfully. — We’ve gotten a bit off-topic, haven’t we?

Midoriya tried to think of how the story could help solve the aura matter but nothing came to mind.

— Do you have any contact with Hideki-san?

— Not really... It's a bit awkward. On the last day of school he confessed his love. He was a good friend but nothing more. I rejected him and we never saw each other again...

The boy suddenly felt how everything fell into place. He couldn't test his theory but he felt that he had hit the nail on the head.

— I know! I'll-I'll tell you tomorrow at the park, [Reader]-senpai. Be there a-after school!

The thought that he might be right terrified him completely and made his heart beat faster.

The girl watched as he quickly disappeared behind the training hall doors. She sighed and began to gather her clothes into her bag. Curiosity was eating her up. It was going to be a sleepless night.

— You shouldn't have gone after him...— Todoroki stated once again.

He felt like a traitor. He couldn't have predicted that the rest of the class would overhear his conversation with Midoriya but he figured he should stop them. Trouble often followed 1A. He was afraid that this time would be no different.

— Repeat again what you told him — Mina asked.

— That it doesn't matter how he confesses his love to her because it's the feelings that count? — he finished uncertainly.

— And that's exactly why you don't have a girlfriend yet — Mina said. — The confession is very important. It has to be romantic and knowing Deku, he'll go in totally unprepared. What could he have come up with in one afternoon? People, let's get going! — She clapped her hands.

— Wait, I'm coming with you! — He took his jacket from the hanger.

— Great, you'll make a heart-shaped ice sculpture.

— What?

Izuku couldn't remember the last time he felt this nervous. Probably the first time he met All Might.

The sight of his classmates marching happily through the park towards him didn't help.

— Do we have any training here? — he asked, glancing at Kaminari and Kirishima, who were carrying something heavy.

— No! We came to help you confess your love to [Reader]-senpai — Toru explained excitedly.

— I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop them — Todoroki said contritely.

— See? I was right. Just a bouquet of flowers. Oh, Deku, you're lucky we're friends — Mina sighed.

— B-but, that's her favourite...— He scratched the back of his neck. — And besides, I think I'd rather do things my own way.

The girl showed the rest of the class where to hide. With difficulty, they hid the red heart-shaped balloons behind the building. They also hid a basket of roses and a large teddy bear there.

— Listen, [Reader]-senpai is the star of this school. She probably gets flowers like this every day. You have to stand out. Here's a romantic poem from Aoyama. — She handed him the note.

It was glittery but what else could he expect from the shining hero?

He glanced at the first line of text:

Ma chérie, your eyes shine like the brightest stars...

There was definitely no doubt who the author of the work was.

— Jiro will listen to everything and tell us how it went. When you're done reading, we'll pop out with presents. By the way, you owe us a lot of money. We spent every last yen of our allowance. — She smiled and ran for cover.

— Midoriya-kouhai!

At the sound of her voice, he hid the flowers behind his back.

— I'm really curious what you came up with. Honestly, I was thinking about you all night.

The boy knew she was talking about it in the context of power and yet he blushed.

He glanced at the note. Was that really what she wanted to hear? At the very beginning of their acquaintance, he would have said yes but now he had the impression that she didn't. He put the pink note in the pocket of his uniform.

He took a deep breath. He knew he had to say it quickly before the stress ate away at him or his friends took away his chance.

— Y-y-your power doesn't work on people who love you. That's why Hideki-san and your family are immune to it, and I-I am too. Y-you're a wonderful heroine and an even more wonderful person. Please go out on a date with me, [Reader]-senpai! — He bowed and held out the bouquet.

He didn't have the courage to look her in the eye. But he heard a quiet laugh from below. He lifted his head slightly to see the girl covering her mouth with her hand.

— I'm sorry. I was just afraid that in a moment you'd make a pathetic speech, pull out a huge basket of flowers and a giant teddy bear. I've been in that situation before. I hate things like that.

Izuku watched in horror as his friends struggled with the balloons in the wind. They struggled to get back behind the building.

— Does that mean I was wrong after all?

— W-what do you mean?

— I must seem cute to you after all! — She winked, accepting the flowers. — You weren't very subtle, you know? I was waiting for you to finally decide to confess. — She sighed. — But I'm very happy. I'd love to go out with you.

She kissed his cheek, watching his reaction. She wasn't disappointed. Her favourite kouhai blushed and covered his face in shame.

— We should probably use first names now. I'll miss being your senpai but it wouldn't be fair otherwise, would it, Izu...? What's that shot?

[Reader] turned around abruptly. The park lawn was covered in ice chips mixed with roses. A large teddy bear stood in the middle and almost all of 1A was around it, catching balloons. One of the large, red hearts lay limp on a tree branch.

She grabbed the boy by the hand and headed in that direction.

— Hello first graders, what kind of Valentine's Day are you having?

They grinned as if on cue.

— Friendship Day! — Sero exclaimed, struggling with the balloon.

— Today? I didn't know. Well, best of luck then but you better clean this up or the guard'll get pissed.

— Consider it done, ribbit — Tsuyu croaked.

Senpai glanced at Midoriya. He seemed shocked but the confession seemed to relieve him.

— Let's go get something to eat, Izuku. I saw a cool hero-themed cafe in town recently.

He smiled and nodded.

When [Reader] wasn’t looking, he gave a thumbs up to let his friends know it was a success. They nodded, high-fived and went back to work.

— They're such bad liars — [Reader] laughed quietly to herself.

— Did you say something, senp... [Reader]?

It felt strange saying her name. He knew it would take some getting used to. Especially since he had never had a girlfriend but he was willing to make any effort if it meant being with her.

— Nothing important. You'd better tell me how you understood the problem of my aura.

Her hand was pleasantly warm. It felt like it fit perfectly into his own.

He was happy.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

OC interview

Thanks @mysticstarlightduck here!

Rules: answer the questions in the POV of an OC!

This time, I'm feeling Liam!

Are you named after anyone?

“Yes, I am. I made sure of it. Liam is an extremely common name, see, I've met a million of them. Liam could be referring to any number of Liams, and you would never know which one. Besides, now in certain situations I must be called Beaumont, which I just think sounds cool.”

When was the last time you cried?

“Pfft. I don't cry often. Sure, there's, like, a psychological reason for why doing it is healthy, but I just find myself in situations that don't call for it. When you need a good pathos, sure, being able to cry on the spot is an extremely good skill that I have. Crying isn't something I usually do when I'm upset. I try to stay focused on the facts to craft my argument. So the last time I cried was for my AV club. We were filming a commercial. It had puppies.”

Do you have kids?

“Oh, absolutely not. There are a million reasons, seemingly, why. First: I'm barely eighteen. Second: I'm not quite sure I want any of my own to begin with. Many different personal reasons I would much rather not get into right now. Third: not only the last two, but I'm going off to college next fall. Do you think I'm gonna have time to raise a kid? Nah. If it's to be, I'm going to wait until after graduation. Then I'll reassess where I am in life.”

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

“It depends on who I am talking to. I love sarcasm. Use it when I can. However, I've found that being blunt works better for others. Saying what you mean has a more effective, direct approach that clears up any potential misunderstanding. On the other hand, sarcasm is an effective tool to use as humor or to throw an opponent or challenger off-guard. It can be a gotcha moment. It can piss people off, ruffle some feathers, if you will. You understand my point, I assume. Sarcasm is a tool that must only be used when appropriate and should never go to waste.”

What’s the first thing you notice about people?

“... I notice everything about them. Their posture, where their eyes are, hands are, everything I can, I analyze. Why? It makes talking to them a lot easier. I bet Wade said 'general vibe', and I'd have to say that is a correct assessment of what there is to notice first. I need to know how to talk to people. How to approach this conversation.”

What’s your eye colour?

“Green. Objectively the best choice for myself. I have a very...eh, Sam would call it a 'naturalistic aesthetic.' What she means is that my color palette consists of colors associated with nature. Brown hair and green eyes help that, I presume. It fits with my 'vibe' so to speak. I would love to argue that assigning aesthetics is a little ridiculous, I do enjoy general color theory.”

Scary movies or happy endings?

“Who the hell decided these were opposites? Aliens is horror and it has a technically happy ending with four characters alive and well. I'm ignoring the next movie. This is absolutely ridiculous. I'm sorry, as a film student--or someone on track to be--this is stupid. Who wrote this question? Tragic endings or happy endings. Scary movies or feel-good movies. Technically, one could be both. Die Hard, for example, is pretty intense but gives the 'warm fuzzies' at the end. Nothing is binary except computer code. This is ridiculous. I consider myself to be a highly opinionated person, but I'm not sure I could debate either side of this. My opinion is this question is stupid, and I uncharacteristically refuse to answer.”

Any special talents?

“I can edit. Very well. Would like to edit YouTubers' vids. Generally good at cinematography and vision. Apparently I can also turn anything into an argument. Speaking of which, what defines a special talent? What makes you special? Everyone is 'special in different ways' but what is special? Some may consider my argumentative streak to be a special talent, but some may just think it's an annoying personality trait or psychological issue that I need to seek help to treat. Or is it actually healthy? I argue it's both. And what is a talent? Something we are natural at, or something that we became good at? A mix of both?”

Where were you born?

“Bit invasive. Earth. Narrowed it down to Alium or Ceteri. Which Earth? You decide.”

Do you have any pets?

“I have a cat named Beans and a dog named Macie.”

What sort of sports do you play?

“Unless arguing or debate is a sport, I do not play any. I say debate counts. It requires a good offense and a good defense. Strategy. Approach, follow through, anticipating movements. You get it.”

How tall are you?

“About 170 centimeters or 5'7. Some call me short but on Alium I'm neither short nor tall. Next to Sam I feel tiny but then I'm next to someone like Tyler and I feel much better about myself.”

What was your favourite subject in school?

“Uh, debate. I would debate you on that, but I think you get the point. Other than that, film classes and computer science are the best classes I have ever taken.”

What is your dream job?

“I want to be a filmmaker so bad. I want to direct and boss people around. I want to be a cinematographer or an editor. I want someone to use my movie as a good, ideal example in film school. I want to write my own script. See my film premiere on the red carpet. Cast all-stars, nepo babies, and fresh blood. I want it all. Call me ambitious, but I could rock this industry.”

Other Liam: questionnaire

Other interviews: Wade, Jazlyn, Gwen, Lexi, Carla, Carmen, Maddie

Tagging @somethingclevermahogony @badluck990 @theprissythumbelina @talesofsorrowandofruin @loopyhoopywrites

Blanks below the cut!

Are you named after anyone? When was the last time you cried? Do you have kids? Do you use sarcasm a lot? What’s the first thing you notice about people? What’s your eye colour? Scary movies or happy endings? Any special talents? Where were you born? Do you have any pets? What sort of sports do you play? How tall are you? What was your favourite subject in school? What is your dream job?

[tamtam-go92]

3rd Semester (Wednesday)

The third semester started with Dionne's wish to join the student's association. While there was one at CCU, she decided to apply for Nu Alpha Iota over at Caelestis University. She had been accepted at CU, so why not switch schools to join the coolest association around?

She got along especially well with Sage, who was giving her moon eyes all afternoon.

Lotus, Sage and Eunice soon were convinced, Dionne would be a great addition to their association!

With everything happening around them, it was had keeping up with their studies, but one sister did better than the other, so much I can tell.

One evening on campus, Dionne met a guy, who instantly caught her eye. Gerry Mander always ran around in that fancy suit, and Dionne couldn't help but compliment him on it.

Dionne: Man, I like it, when guys know who to dress. You don't find men in suits that often, these days. Gerry: Well, thank you! I can't tell you, why I'm wearing this suit, but the compliment is greatly appreciated.

Gerry was a very well-mannered young man, and him and Dionne soon lost all sense of time, standing in front of the university building, chatting and flirting the time away.

Dionne: I think there is a photo booth inside. We could use it to get some extra privacy Gerry: Wow, are you sure? Dionne: Never been surer than right now. Can you carry me over?

The building wasn't that crowded at that time, but their deed also didn't stay completely unnoticed...

Gerry: Wow, that was hot. Dionne: Hot? That was dazzling! But I really have to go now, see you around Gerry?

Of course, Dionne had to brag about her newest shenanigans in front of Phoebe. And she also didn't care that Luis, their dorm mate, was sitting between them.

Phoebe: What do you mean, you lost your virginity in a photo booth tonight? Dionne: Just as I said it! He was so sweet and caring, really worked hard, that I had my fun too. Phoebe: Who the heck is HE even? Do you even know his name? Will you see him again? Dionne: Of course I know his name, it's Gerry. And he left me his number in my bra. Not that I asked for it. I don't know if I'll see him again. He was nice to be around, but I'm not really looking for "nice" at the time.

Phoebe really didn't know what to say anymore. She only hoped her sister had used protection...

By the way, Dionne had been right about warning Phoebe to use the sports room in the midday heat…

Dionne: Hey, sis, you okay? Can you at least come out of that corner, so I can help you?

Dionne: *grumble* Okay, then from behind. Careful, Phoebe!

Phoebe: Wow, I feel so strong!

So, when Phoebe was in the mood for a workout again, the sisters visited the gym, that seemed to have better ventilation.

This time, Dionne realized too late, that she hadn't done enough for school this semester. But a late night studying session couldn't save her this time around, and she was put on academic probation. Phoebe's graded weren't that great either, but she managed to pass, and that all that matters, right?

[bazzybelle]

In These Violent Days, I'll Be Where You Are - 2K - Teen

For Dreamling Week - Day 1: Bar Fight

I'm Baaaaaack! I've been working on longer stories, both for the Sandman and Carry On Fandoms, BUT today is the first day of Dreamling Week. I have been working on some smaller fics, which I will be posting throughout the week. I will also be bombarding my feed with Dreamling posts from the INCREDIBLE writers, artists, and general chaos demons this amazing fandom has produced.

I hope you enjoy the beginning of my journey into writing Dreamling. I've been having so much fun in this fandom and I'm glad to share my joy with you all.

Thank you to the amazing mods and humans from the @mr-sadman server who have been so supportive and kind. You guys are amazing for putting together this awesome fest and for bringing us wild people together.

You can read the story below the line break or you can check out the story on AO3, by clicking the link!

Click here to read on AO3!

“Duck, that really wasn’t necessary.” Hob had been struggling with the lock to his flat above the New Inn. That is, until his overly protective and overly concerned boyfriend, fashioned another key from out of thin air and slid it into the lock with ease. Really, he was fretting over nothing. Sure Hob was nursing a black eye, and a few cuts and scrapes to his face, and come to think of it, he’s pretty sure his nose is also broken. But he can take care of himself. He’d been getting into barfights since he was a young’un, barely any meat on him. 

“I will not have you suffering any more for the remainder of the evening.” Dream slid an arm across the small of Hob’s back and carefully guided him inside the flat. Once inside, Hob kicked off the stupidly high stiletto heels he’d been wearing that night, and groaned at the sight of a dangerously purple bruise covering the better part of his left ankle. 

Right, add a sprained —possibly broken— ankle to the list of injuries he’d sustained tonight. 

Dream carefully manoeuvres the both of them into Hob’s bedroom, and it is at this moment where the adrenaline he’d been feeling for the last few hours decides to fade. Hob winces as he puts too much pressure on his fucked up ankle. 

“My point exactly,” says Dream, as he helps Hob settle onto the bed, before helping him out of his outfit (a skin-tight, sequined fiery red number, adorned with roses of varying sizes in black and shades of red). It’s probably dotted in bigot blood, but Hob doesn’t find he cares too much about spilling blood. He’s more upset that he’s ruined the outfit. He paid a pretty penny for it. Granted, it was well worth it, and he was helping one of the fashion design students at the university to showcase their work. But still, it is rather unfortunate that it had to get ruined. He would have liked to be able to use it again. 

“Love, I’m going to have to stand up again to get this off.” Hob attempts to get on his feet once more, but yelps as soon as his injury makes contact with the floor. 

Dream looks unimpressed. 

“Allow me to help you,” Dream says as he carefully undoes the zippers and clasps, removing the layers that allow Sherry Punch to show the world who she is. It takes a bit of time and a little elbow grease —or possibly, some dream magic— but they manage to get the outfit, and undergarments off. Dream carefully hangs the ensemble on Hob’s closet door, before grabbing a pair of his softest pyjamas. Hob, in the meantime, takes off the large, cherry-red wig adorning his head (styled in perfectly coiffed victory rolls, thank you very much) and hands it to Dream. 

“We still have all this to deal with,” he says gesturing to the mess of makeup, glue, and blood on his face. A corner of Dream’s lips quirks up, before he gently moves some of Hob’s hair away from his eyes. 

“I shall be back with your tools to remove your makeup, as well as your first-aid kit.”

“Third time this month I get to use it!” 

Dream’s not amused with the cheeky grin Hob gives him, but he chooses not to respond, exiting the room like a shadow. Once he’s gone, Hob sighs and leans back against the headboard. As much as he jests about fights in his pub, he had truly believed tonight would be different. 

The political atmosphere in London has been less than desirable— No, who is he kidding? It’s been absolute shit, is what it’s been. Protests in front of libraries, bloody wankers screaming at children and innocent drag queens who really have done nothing wrong. Politicians pandering to the absolute worst of society, by targeting the most vulnerable in his community. With each passing day, more and more safe spaces are removed due to threats and intimidation, and Hob for one was beyond fed up with it. 

The New Inn, from the moment of its birth, dedication, whatever you wish to call it, has been a place for marginalised people. From its poetry smash evenings, to its Fab in Drag nights, The New Inn welcomes any and all who wish to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community, and especially those who wish to explore their gender and sexual identities (or lack thereof) in a judgement-free environment. Hob worked hard to ensure it would stay that way, with the turmoil of life outside its doors. 

But of course, bigotry knows no bounds, and a few months ago, the protests found their way to The New Inn. Tonight was not the first time Hob had been forced to manhandle someone who had gotten too close for comfort. Tonight though, tonight was the first time a few of them had made it inside the pub. The event was ticketed and supposedly heavily vetted (though clearly not enough). Hob had felt comfortable enough to perform tonight as Sherry Punch. Sherry had become an important part of his life since the early 2000s, and she’d come out to play whenever Hob was feeling especially confident. Lately, Sherry had been forced to take a mini retirement, so that Hob could make sure any other drag performers were not harassed, or hurt. 

Tonight was supposed to be secure. For the first time in almost a year, Sherry Punch was coming back to the stage, refreshed and ready to slay. She had barely had a chance to get through her set before the heckling and harassment started. It didn’t seem to be too big a deal at first, and Sherry was used to a bit of heckling. She’d dealt with worse in her hey-day, and was able to shame a few of them enough that they left the pub in a huff (escorted, of course, by some of the bartenders working tonight). 

One particular tosser, a big, burly, monster of a man had managed to get close enough to the stage. Close enough, that when Sherry reached out to the crowd, he’d jumped out at her, attempting to pull her down to the floor. The thing was, Sherry wasn’t the type of queen to allow herself to be dragged down like that. So Sherry fought back, yanking the man by his coat lapels and kneeing him in the groin. 

Things escalated from there, and Sherry had to make a hasty retreat and Hob had to come back, practically tossing the bastard through the window. It would have turned into an all out riot, had Dream not been there to influence the crowd to peacefully, and safely disperse. One of his bartenders did end up calling an officer who thankfully apprehended the man. But Hob would have to go and formally make a statement and press charges (not that it would do anything). 

But all that could wait for tomorrow. For now, Hob slowly eases into his pyjamas as Dream returns to the bedroom. He smiles fondly at him, noticing the full tray. Hob can make out his makeup remover wipes, some peroxide and bandages, as well as an ice pack and a glass of water. 

Gods above, but he does love this man. Being. Anthropomorphic personification of a concept. He loves Dream, is what he means.

“We should be doing the cleaning in the bathroom.” 

“It is unwise to move you. I would like to prevent further injury to your ankle.” Dream places the tray on the bed and grabs a few pillows to stuff behind Hob. And he does like to be taken care of every once in a while. But honestly he feels disgusting and bloody, and he really should have insisted they go into the bathroom instead. 

“You know,” Hob says, moving to the edge of the bed, “this isn’t even the worst of the injuries I’ve sustained in this month alone. Remember that protest in front of the library near the park?” He doesn’t get far, the throbbing pain in his ankle keeping him rooted to his spot. 

Dream doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to. He simply rolls his eyes, while pushing Hob back against the headboards. 

“If you weren’t so strong I would— oh, fuck. Love that feels amazing,” Hob moans as Dream places the ice pack on his swollen ankle. Ice packs, definitely a top invention from the last hundred years. And they only got better as time went on. The ones he has in his flat, for example, can be frozen or heated up. There are days where Hob’s old war wounds make it near impossible to get out of bed. Those are the days he makes the most use out of the several packs he’s got laying around. 

A corner of Dream’s lip quirks. He gets to work, slowly removing the makeup from Hob’s face, careful not to agitate his swollen cheek and bruised nose. Hob closes his eyes and all but leans into the gentle touch. As long as he’s held a torch for the person taking care of him, Hob never really imagined this would be his reality. 

He definitely didn’t expect this to be his future when he was a scrawny, gangly little thing at twenty-two, fighting and killing to survive long enough to either find work in a field, or a war in which to be a soldier. 

Hob’s life, if he’s being completely honest with himself, has been painted by violence. Sure, he could justify some of his actions, especially in the beginning. Some of the murders were accidental, or a consequence of fighting to survive. You had no choice in the “good ol’ days”. Back then, a show of mercy could mean a knife in your back. Back then, it was kill or be killed. Hob could barely remember, after over 600 years, the faces of the men he’d killed. They’ve all blended together at this point, as a generic bloody-faced man that will haunt his dreams from time to time, reminding him of the red in his ledger. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Dream applies some gentle solvent over the glue lingering on his face. 

Hob smiles ruefully. “Just admiring my brilliant boyfriend.” 

“Your flattery will earn you no favours, Hob Gadling.” 

“Oh come on. Not even a small one?”

“Hmm. Perhaps.” Dream leans closer into Hob’s space, slowly wiping a smudge of cherry-red lipstick off of his lips. He traces his fingers over their chapped, rough edges, lightly teasing them, before placing a soft kiss. 

“Will you share your thoughts with me, beloved?” He whispers, caressing the side of Hob’s head. He can feel the light fluttering of Dream’s breath upon his face. Forever the greedy, touch-hungry bastard he is, Hob is weak to every sweet intimate moment that Dream initiates between them. He’d give the world and more for a second of Dream brushing his fingers over his cheeks, or carding his fingers through his hair. 

“I was just thinking back to when I was first getting into bar fights. I never would have thought my life would end up like this.” Hob picks up one of the wipes and rubs it distractedly over one of his eyes. Dream places his hand over Hob’s, steadying and guiding it over the makeup still left on his face. 

“You have had the privilege of 600 years of experience. You are hardly the man I met in 1389.”

“Still just as charming though, right?”

Dream huffs a small laugh. “Always, agapi mou.” He reaches for the bottle of peroxide and starts to clean the scratches and minor cuts lingering. Immortal as he is, Hob still needs between a few hours and a few days to heal from injuries (depending on how severe they are) (he once spent nearly a week laying in a ditch somewhere in Ypres after a brutal battle in 1916). 

“My life has been an endless, pun unintended, streak of blood. It seems I cannot help but give into my violent nature. No matter how things change, or get better.” 

“Your penchant for violence cannot be denied.” Dream isn’t one to pull back any punches, and Hob is grateful for that. He doesn’t need empty platitudes, not from the person who knows him better than anyone else. 

Dream brushes a cotton pad over a small gash above Hob’s eyebrow. Hob’s eyes flutter shut, as he exhales deeply. 

So soft. 

So gentle. 

“But your reasons for engaging with the violent facet of your personality have changed, have they not?”

They have. They started changing in the 1500s with the smile of his beloved Eleanor. They changed further with the squalling cry of a precious babe in his arms. Hob had wanted to protect Robyn from any sort of violence, and as such neglected to teach him how to fight. To fight like you had nothing to your name and everything to live for. 

A mistake he carries with him to this day. Though it isn’t as heavy a burden as it was centuries ago. 

One of many mistakes, his brain helpfully supplies.

No, he doesn’t fight for selfish reasons anymore. Not since being scolded for participating in something as dark and disgusting as the slave trade. He will never make amends for the pain he was party to. And he doesn’t deserve to feel better about the mistakes he’s made. He just chooses to keep learning and doing better day by day. 

“I fight for those who can’t,” he says, looking into the sparkling blue eyes of the man he loves above all others. 

“You do,” he says, pressing a small kiss onto Hob’s eyelids. It never fails to bring shivers to his spine, all the while warming his heart right up. 

“It is something I love about you, amore mio. You do not hesitate to protect those you care about. Even if it means you wind up with a broken nose, and a sprained ankle.”

A small, but smug smile makes its way to Hob’s lips. “Can’t deny I looked good kicking a bigot’s arse.”

“I’ll admit, watching you fight is always exhilarating.” Dream leans over, whispering in Hob’s ear “However, after your impromptu performance, I felt the need to restrain myself.”

Hob reaches for one of Dream’s hands, intertwining their fingers. “Did you now? Maybe I should let Sherry Punch out to play more often then, I reckon?”

“She truly is, what you would call, a sexy bitch.”

“You did not just say that!” Hob cries out loud, arms wrapping around his stomach as laughter peels out of him. 600 years he’s known Dream and yet he keeps on surprising him. Dream. The Prince of Stories. Shaper of Forms and the Lord of Dreams and Nightmares. His Dream, just referred to Hob’s drag persona as a “sexy bitch”. 

And in that deep, sonorous voice that never fails to drive him mad. 

He loves him. So fucking much. 

“God’s wounds, duck, if I wasn’t in this much pain, I’d have you here and now.”

Dream waves a hand over the tray and its many contents, vanishing them away from Hob’s bed. His black cloak, grey shirt, and dark jeans change into a soft t-shirt and dark flannel pants. He helps Hob get settled into bed, before nestling behind him, wrapping his long arms around Hob’s waist. 

“Then sleep, and allow me to protect your dreams, as you protected your community tonight. My beloved knight.” 

Warmth spreads from Dream’s fingertips like sweet treacle, coating Hob’s veins and numbing any lingering pain he feels. A part of him still wants to think about the continuing presence of violence in his life. A part of him wants to vent and rage about the way the night was ruined for everyone involved. 

But those are worries for the morning. When he’s not comfortably nestled in the arms of the man he loves. They are worries for when he is able to make it out of bed without howling in pain. When Hob is healed and ready, he’ll pick up the fight once again. He always does. 

But for now, it’s enough to close his eyes, and follow Dream into his Realm for a night of peaceful sleep. 

[shapelytimber]

Hi there! I am obsessed with those TES tarot cards you made. The shapes, the lines, the colors . . . I think The Devil is my personal favorite.

If you don't mind, could you talk about your compositional choices for those? Like layout, structure, arrangement/placement, visual hierarchy, color decisions? Seven years of art school and no composition lessons . . . I'm taking things into my own hands.

Hello !

First of all, omfg thank you so much ?? I'm so glad you like my silly tarot cards :D

I'm really flattered you asked me this question, so I'll try my best to answer it (I'm no teacher and english is not my first language so I hope it will be comprehensible lggklflfifkf)

When you say your an art student who never had any real composition class, I feel you- I've been an applied art student for 4 years (7 if you count design), and apart from really basic and classic stuff like dividing by thirds, the different shots used in cinema, using a little window to help frame what you are trying to draw from life (witch are all very useful), I never really had many composition tips ?

So yeah idk what I'm doing, but that's art baybee

I'll share my process when it comes to designing my cards and hope it'll help lhgktlgofk

I begin by doing little thumbnails (3-4 cm long maximum) with a non erasable pen (or if I'm doing it digitaly, I dezoom a lot, use a big brush and don't erase what I'm doing)

It helps me coming up with big shapes and an interesting compisition (if your doing this on paper, never draw the borders first, it limits your creativity by "putting your drawing in jail" (wisdom from one of my best teachers))

And I personnaly don't use black lines when doing this, because the uglier the lines the less precious I am.

And because I associate dark lines with clean lineart, and this step is about being messy ! So the uglier colors the better :) (for me)

(I'll use two cards as exemples, one I did by doing thumbnails on paper, and the other on my art program)

(And sorry I could not use the devil as an exemple, it was one of the three cards I did in class and so I skipped the thumbnailing for time saving :/)

Next step is sketching, still using my ugly colors :)

But to talk a bit more about composition, for these I always have the important element of the card near the middle (sanguine's face and his lovers head, and miraak as a whole) (I know trick of the year glgjorlfifjl)

And to help with dynamism, I use a lot of diagonal elements (sanguine's shoulders and hips, his right arm and leg, his is leaning back slightly, and his lover is laid a bit to the left. For miraak he is also laying back, his shoulders are not straight, and his to dragons are going on two different diagonals)

Next comes the line ! For this project I chose to use a pretty simple-ish and stylised look (mainly for time saving since it began as a school project)

The colors are really simple, I just do a grey scale version then apply an overlay on top :)

And as a final touch before adding the title, I add a white frame, that I always put behind the foreground to try give them a bit of depth :))

So to sum up my design brief for these :

- clean and stylised lineart

- one color for the whole illustration (exept for the devil because it was the first one I did and I did not know what I was doing glg'goflf)

- a second very saturated color used to highlight important elements (in either yellow, blue, purple or red)

-always have black somewhere

-white frame behind the foreground

-the numbering alternate between the top right and top left (exept once angain for the devil gmgkfnfon I'll have to change that someday)

-the title is always in the middle on the bottom, on top of the white frame

Hope I answerd your question ^^'

thank you again for the very kind message :)

[thinkhappythxughts]

https://www.tumblr.com/thinkhappythxughts/715679906573484032/tw-transphobia-the-terfs-trying-to-screen?source=share

hi there! sorry, this is sort of a weird ask — feel free to ignore.

i’m just a queer trans person who’s wanted to transition for years but my family is not really on board with it. i was really hoping to go to uni and transition there, and Edinburgh is one of the places I’ve been aiming to apply to. except… the city seems so transphobic?^ as someone who seems to have been there/knows a bit abt the uni, i was wondering if you wouldn’t mind talking about the city a little bit, in regards to this, if you would up to it? weirdly enough i do know lots of people who live there, i just don’t know them well enough to ask stuff like this dhjgfdjfb

hi there anon!

so firstly, full disclosure that I haven't lived in Edinburgh for about a year now, but my sister still does so I visit all the time. Generally, I think the city is a great place to live if you're trans, or queer in general. There's a great queer scene with clubs and sober spaces, Edinburgh pride is great, Portobello (Porty) pride is well worth a visit and only a bus from the city centre, Glasgow pride is also great if you can get the train across. Events like the terf screening are absolutely an outlier, stuff like that is gonna happen in big cities just due to numbers - it is the capital of Scotland after all. Occasionally there are random terf stickers on lampposts, but i've seen at least twice as many pro-trans stickers about. In regards to that screening, the number of people who turned out to protest far outnumbered the people actually there to see the stupid film, and the protest was supported by the uni's staff pride network (i know because my sister was there on their behalf as an organiser/first-aider hah)

on that note, i think edinburgh uni is also pretty good for trans stuff - I wasn't out as trans yet when i was at uni, but I had friends who were trans and they didn't seem to have any issues on the uni/admin side of things. The uni has a pretty good student pride society, and as i mentioned, there's a staff pride network, so there's a solid bunch of staff who would be in your corner if you did have any issues. The uni's student support in general is okay - the general standard for that stuff honestly isn't great in the UK, and I wouldn't say edinburgh's is amazing, but they did help me out a couple of times (with non-lgbt stuff).

you'll probably know more about me than the applications process for uni in regards to chosen name etc, and it depends if you're applying through UCAS (in the UK) or if you're abroad, so i'll leave you to more knowledgeable people on that. I would say that if you apply in your chosen name, any post you receive about applications will be in the name you apply with, so keep that in mind if the people you live with aren't supportive - terribly sorry that you're in that situation, by the way. It really does get better once you're away from them.

in regards to transition, if you're wanting to be referred to a GIC, you'll likely be referred to Chalmers centre, which seems to have a waiting time of about 2 years currently - that sounds like a lot but from what i can gather, that's quite a lot lower than most places in the UK (i'm in NE england and my nearest centre isn't even taking referrals because their waiting list is 6+years long 😭). Once you're registered with a GP you should be able to ask them about a referral and they can give you more info.

overall I think that Scotland is probably just a better place to live if you're trans in the UK - scottish parliament supported self-ID (i'm actually unsure if this has come into effect yet, need to do some googling) and if they weren't under the UK gov, they were going introduce legal third gender options too. The SNP and scottish parliamentary partiers absolutely have some outspoken transphobes, but they're much more of an outlier than in westminster, so generally i think the outlook for trans people is just way more positive in Scotland - I'm certainly planning to move back there as soon as the circumstances line up for me. It's pretty scary everywhere in the UK right now in terms of policy (and general attitude, to an extent) but yeah i think overall Edinburgh and Scotland in general are your best bet.

If you have any more questions or anything i'm happy to chat! Absolute best of luck to you, no matter where you end up, both with your transition and uni in general 💜

[thessalian]

Thess vs AI

So, the SAG-AFTRA deal with Replica.

I posted a link about this yesterday, and reblogged several more, but it's something that's massively on my mind. Mostly because it frustrates the hell out of me on so many levels.

Like, this came up in one of the subreddits I follow, and there was this one guy there going on and on and on about how he wanted this exact thing - he wanted to buy voices like art assets because he couldn't afford to hire voice actors and wanted to "realise his dream". And obviously he didn't want to turn around to uni students who might do it for a portfolio reel, some pizza and a promise of a cut of the profits (if any, because seriously, like fuck is this dude's asset-flip bullshit going to sell to any massive degree); he wanted real actors ... except not, because you're not getting real acting out of a computer. (And I'll go back to that point in a minute.)

But ... I have stories that I'd love to turn into games. Thing is, though? If I can't afford actual actors to voice this shit, I will do without voices! A lot of games have done that and done pretty damn well, all things considered! Hell, Dredge has, like, two or three acknowledging noises and the entire rest of the thing is text only. Being able to work within your resource limits to create something wonderful is just ... how you do it, when you're being creative. Everything from movies to cookery demonstrate to us time and time again. So expecting to be able to buy someone's voice off a virtual shelf and plug it into your game just because you can't "realise your vision" without a voice actor voicing a thing? That's just cheap cop-out bullshit.

Going back to the point about real acting - it really grinds my gears that voice actors aren't actually considered actors by a depressing percentage of people. Like, again we have Reddit (sometimes I have to see what the non-Tumblr version of the internet looks like so I can cozy back up into my blanket fort and be glad I curate my online experience so well) going, "There are only just a very few voice actors, right?" when stating how this is fine because it's not going to affect that many people. Which ... dude. There are only a few famous ones that you know about. There are a surprising number of people who make their livings doing "additional voices" in video games and three lines of "shop clerk" or "third soldier from the left" in Western cartoons and anime dubs. It's the same problem actors have - so many people think that the only actors that exist are the really famous ones, not the ones who are doing whatever bit parts they can to pay rent and hopefully find a line on a better role at some point.

Also ... I guess it's a bit like how too many people don't consider actors who are predominantly in sci-fi, fantasy, horror, anything that isn't "serious cinema" as "real actors". When I personally respect those actors an awful lot. I'm sorry - you've got people expressing a mix of fear and defiant rage while staring at the fucking tennis ball standing in for the big-ass demon they won't see until the final cut of the movie. How can you not give that props? Similarly, voice actors are giving those performances to a blank wall. To use our most recent epic example, you've got Astarion giving those lines - everything from debonair malice to barely-controlled terror-pleading to pure trust and gratitude - to a wall. In a little soundproof room. He made up all that - everything he needed to - in his head, and he gave those lines, and it was epic.

A computer cannot do that. I've heard some of Replica's AI voices. Gods, they're awful. Maybe - maybe - you could get that shit for "reactive NPCs" (although I'd personally hate that; even if it was done right, it feels creepy ... and I get a kick out of wandering around a major city covered in blood and nobody appearing to notice, thanks), but it'd still be awful. And you couldn't do it with main characters. Or if you did (and you know some of these awful companies would try), it'd be just awful. We're a long way away from a nuanced performance from a computer.

I respect artists because of the work they put in. Hell, I'm one of them. I see the phrase "AI DM" (yes, one of D&D Beyond's things was talking about a VTT with the potential for an AI DM), and I shudder because ... have they met a D&D group? Ever? At all? How could an AI determine "rule of cool"? Just ... ugh. The idea of an AI scripting TV shows or writing novels ... as a writer, it makes me sick. And actors? They hardly get any respect as it is unless they're some of the big names who do Serious Cinema (or make a hell of a lot of money); this is just shitting all over them even worse. What happens to the next generation of voice actors if greedy-ass corporations give the little roles that most VAs cut their proverbial teeth on to a fucking computer?

I hate it. I keep saying - the whole thing about automation was that it was supposed to let machines do the grunt-work while humans created art, and now it's the other way around as art is considered "just another saleable commodity". So ... maybe it's not that video games stopped being considered art, as I was thinking awhile ago. Maybe it's just that art itself stopped being art, because the money-makers are chewing it up into one big spitball of off-grey blech and throwing it at a wall.

[bearsbeetsbeskar]

random updates

life has been, and continues to be hectic lately and I feel somewhat bad that I'm not posting on here very frequently. debating the idea of putting a queue together just because?

Also since finishing and posting chapter 4 of Joel x therapist! reader, I've been feeling very unmotivated to write in general. I know it shouldn't make me feel crappy and get me down but it does. I'm not a writer by any means and I don't give a shit about the number of notes or engagement that my writing gets, but it just feels like it takes a lot of dedicated energy to sit down and get the words out. Once the words are flowing though? no problem at all lol.

I have started working on a Frankie fic that has been rotting inside my brain for the past 3 weeks, and I'm excited about that. But again, sitting down to actually get some writing done is a challenge UGH. I feel like I have no right to complain cause I'm not working right now and I don't have lots of other stuff going on.

Amongst other life stuff, my mom has made it past her second round of chemo treatment and her third is coming up in the beginning of july. It's been really rough on her but she's taking it one day at a time and I'm trying to support her while also taking care of myself.

I did an interview for the student placement I'll be doing during my grad school program starting in September. It will be at a private therapy practice located at a farm that does equine assisted therapy which is so exciting 🙌🏽. I'll be taking on a small caseload of clients, shadowing psychologists and other mental health professionals and running equine therapy sessions while I'm there! It honestly seems too good to be true, I can't wait to start school at this point.

I also got a tattoo! My first tattoo, and I fucking love it. I'll post a picture here or maybe do a separate post for it. It's still healing but I'm so glad I got it.

I wondered what people might think if I was open to taking writing requests for drabbles or oneshots for Pedro characters? I want to write more for other beloved Pedro boys and I feel like it might be easier to get my creative juices flowing if I have a direct prompt to work with. Let me know.

And as always thank you to my fucking amazing mutuals who keep me sane on this site, I'm sorry if I don't respond to messages or disappear from time to time. I love you all more than you know, and I thank you for engaging with me at all ❤️

nicole 🌹

tattoo below

this is a not so great pic but maybe I'll post better ones later. here it is! I love it so so so incredibly much, it's exactly what I wanted. Yes, I am a scorpio lol. So much shit has happened in my life within the last 6 months that I feel like it's brought a period of transformation, trusting my intuition, and sticking true to my goals and the things that make me happy. 🦂❤️

[wickermayne]

Alrighty, rolling up to the ask box drive-thru: can I get a number 2, 9, and a number 13 please and thanks.

Here's the post so you don't have to go hunting for it XD: https://www.tumblr.com/wickermayne/705360299468963840/get-to-know-my-shipping-preferences-ships?source=share

Fyi, I was hungry af when I wrote this, lol, wonder if you can tell. Might've sipped too much on the screwdriver but hey 😂gotta live a little right?

I'll hush now 😂

Thanks for the ask Sessakag 🥰

2. List 3 shipping tropes you don’t love

Unrequited Love/Unhappy ending. I can't stand unhappy endings 😭 I'm not shipping to have my feelings hurt!

Body Swap: I just find this one a bit icky (although I love Your Name...😅) but normally I'm not into using body swap as a shipping trope.

Love Triangles: I don't even like triads much, but that's much more preferable to love triangle for me. I like drama in a relationship, but only when it's between the two main characters. The third wheeler can piss off 😂.

9. Do you always have romantic ships for fandoms?

I would say more often than not, yes I do, but it really depends on the fandom and how involved I'm in it. Also, I might have an inkling of a feeling like "Oh, they would be good together" but not really care if there is romance in the source material at all. Naruto and Harry Potter (and a little bit of Bleach) are the only fandoms I searched fanfics and fanart of ships for, as an example. But, yeah, I'd say it's pretty natural for me to form some sort of ship when I get into a fandom.

13. List 5 OTPs from past fandoms

Other than Naruto and HP it's a bit hard, but here's what I can think of! Not listed in any order, and I tried to use one ship from a franchise.

Alphonse Elric/Winry Rockbell (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Alphonse was always my favourite character from the series, and even though the Ed/Win ship was so obvious from the beginning, I liked this one better, probably because I always loved Alphonse and liked Winry more than Mei. Also in the non-canon movie Emperor of Shambala, they have a good about of interactions without Ed around so that always reinforced the ship for me.

2. Kumiko Yamaguchi/Shin Sawada (Gokusen)

Gokusen is my all time favourite manga and this is the canon ship in it (although it's not a romance fic and it all happens near the end/in the epilogue/special chapters). Kumiko is the grand daughter of a Yakuza boss and decides to become a high school teacher, and Shin is her surly student. Shin is always supporting her when she needs help the most and even though the romance isn't really a focus of the manga, what's there is great.

3. Byakuya Kuchiki/Yoruichi Shihouin (Bleach)

I never thought about this pairing until Turn Back the Pendulum, but seeing such a petulant version of Byakuya and how Yoruichi knows just how to rile him up made me instantly like the idea of this.

4. Zuko/Katara (Avatar the Last Air Bender)

Zuko is my favourite character from the series, loved his growth, and I also liked how bull-headed and stubborn Katara could be at times. Just thought they fit well together.

5. Yusuke Urameshi/Keiko Yukimura (Yu Yu Hakusho)

I can't think of anything to say, it's been a long time since I've seen the series, but I love them all them same!

Thanks again for the ask Sessakag!

[inkofamethyst]

September 21, 2023

Wednesdays, I think, are going to be the days that suck. Thursdays will also be tough. I start Wednesdays pretty early and have a lot to complete for Thursdays. I suppose Wednesdays will suck significantly less if I do a better job with spacing out my preparations. I should look into that. Thursdays this semester will always just require a lot of stamina.

Today (one of those dreaded Thursdays), I wanted to get another one of those synopses submitted, and I'd mostly finished it yesterday (with significantly less frustration) but didn't have a critique until midday today. I did end up submitting a synopsis that I was somewhat happy with. I took notes during today's discussion on some of the critiques and experimental methods suggested (I learned that the experiment I proposed in my synopsis is currently impossible lol) so I could use them when coming up with ideas for future synopses (I have to write six for this class). I also had a quiz today which I didn't study enough for (took for granted that I'd learned most of the content previously--will not be making that mistake again). I had a meeting with my PI late this afternoon, my first one since the semester began, it went well.

I still find that I'm settling in. Settling back into schoolwork (totally underestimated the difficulty of the quiz I took today (my first quiz in grad school (the part that sucks isn't going to be the grade or even knowing that I could've done better, but that my PI is the prof and there aren't tons of students in the class so I'm def not just a number and he could probably surmise that I didn't do my best on it (in our meeting today he asked what I thought of the quiz and I told him that I prob screwed up a bit and he was basically like "no worries that happens" ugh what a man)))), settling into my space (gotta admit, walls are still pretty barren (it's difficult for me to really think about putting things up because I'm fairly certain that I wouldn't like to live here next year (it's okay but that's really all it is, just okay, and I, naturally, have illusions of grandeur and high-roller living), but I also don't really vibe with the totally blank walls when I spent so much time thinking about my theme,,,, maybe I'll use this space as practice? idk)), settling into this city (still haven't gotten my library cards), settling into my role (gotta email my postdoc tomorrow). Settling, settling, settling, settling.

I met up with those three girls today for a free dinner at an event they were invited to. I'm glad I decided to go to that with them instead of going to the kickoff event for another club. I'm sure the kickoff would've been great and informative, but I'm really trying to put effort into community-building. We went to the nearby art museum for a free event to just kind of hang which was also nice. Might go out tomorrow night, too. Gotta rest up for that.

Currently binging Young Justice, started last Friday, it is very good. Extremely well-written. I watched the first season way way back when it came out originally with my dad, and it went off the air suddenly. It came back with a third season in 2019 which I didn't know about, then a fourth in 2021 which I also didn't know about. There's a very clear shift from the TV-Y7 rating in the first two seasons to the TV-14 rating immediately in S3E1 which was very interesting. I'm hooked for sure, it's a good time. Action-Adventure + Science-Fantasy is totally my favorite entertainment genre. I hope S3 can adequately follow how well S1 and S2 were plotted.

Today I'm thankful for my PI, he's great, he seems like he really does care. I'm also thankful for the free tote bag I got at the art museum tonight. I didn't need another tote. What I want is a tee shirt, honestly. But alas.

One actual negative thing: discovered that my favorite jeans of all time (Hollister High Rise Crop Boyfriend (vintage stretch)) which I purchased four years ago and loved immediately out of the package are developing a hole in the crotch. I've never mended jeans at the crotch before, but I must try to save my baby (perfect relaxed fit at the natural waist, perfect length, perfect button closure, perfect neutral light wash, perfectly big pockets in the front and back, perfectly soft fabric). I love these jeans so much that I haven't bought a single additional pair since. Taking a trip to a fabric store sometime soon to gather my arsenal.

Today was a (net) good day, despite the little annoyances. A long one, but a good one.

[ailelie]

What if there was a language or culture in which pronouns aren't tied to gender. Gender is still a thing and point for discussion, etc. Pronouns just aren't gendered.

Instead, they're numbered. The first person/thing mentioned in a conversation gets the 1 pronoun. The second gets the 2. There's probably a prefix if a person/thing is unknown.

So, let's pretend that the pronouns are these:

er- = unknown la/lir/lan = first ba/bir/ban = second ka/kir/kan= third ta/tir/tan = fourth na/nir/nan = fifth

"Did you hear about Haley's cousin?" Haley is mentioned first and gets la/lir. The cousin will be ba/bir.

"No, what about er-ba?" The use of 'er-' suggests that this speaker didn't even realize Haley had a cousin.

"Ba crashed lir car." This speaker doesn't use er b/c they know the cousin.

"You're kidding! La must want to kill er-ban. What did er-ba do?" The speaker has chosen to continue using the er- prefix, but honestly could have stopped. But they're probably operating from the assumption that the other speaker knows the cousin more/better.

"Ba's going to take it to Marin's shop to get repaired and pay for whatever insurance won't."

"Oh, good. Ka does really good work. Ka fixed my car after I got into that fender-bender last month with that bastard who decided to slam er-tir's brakes in the middle of the street and then peel off without a word."

"Still salty, I see?"

"Always. Someday er-ta will feel my wrath."

"And the gods shall tremble."

---

And I feel like you could like nod toward someone or catch someone's eye and start with just using a pronoun without saying who you're referencing because you both know who the conversation is about.

Trick would be knowing how many pronouns to create, but I think you could tie them to numbers. So like they're the first syllable of each number 1-9 and then the first letter/sound + ir for the possessive form and +an for the object. Etc.

Or maybe they're the letters of the alphabet in order or something. In English that could be like ba for first, ca for second, da for third, fa for fourth, ga for fifth, etc.

ETA: There should be a suffix for when you join a conversation and you don't know who a pronoun references. Let's say "ki." And maybe we can use the suffix -hasa for plurals.

Alys: Can you believe how much homework Ms Prynne assigned?

Ben: La hates us. And fun. And the sanctity of weekends.

[Callie walks up at this point and starts walking with Alys and Ben as they continue talking.]

Alys: Do you think we could complain to the principal about lir? Say la is unfair in lir homework practices?

Ben: Maybe, but I doubt it'll do anything. Ba talks a big game about student voice, but ba never actually listens to anything we say, does ba?

Callie: The school board could help with la-ki, maybe?

Alys: Ms Prynne and that's a good idea. I'll ask my mom about contacting ta-hasa. I think ka is friends with er-ta. Aka, I'll ask my mom about contacting them [plural]. I think she's friends with one of them.

Ben: Awesome. Doesn't help with this weekend, though.

Alys: True.

Callie: I'm so glad not to be in lir class with you! Our only homework is to pick a favorite song. Na says we'll share them next week. Callie doesn't label who 'na' is, but context clues suggest it is her teacher. Also, she uses 'them' here instead of the next pronoun. That is because it is a short-term use. I think they/them is only used immediately after a reference when the antecedent is clear and is only used when the speaker doesn't expect that particular noun to become part of the conversation or discussion. Callie has no expectation that the conversation is going to turn and be about favorite songs, especially the favorite songs she and her classmates will choose.