#if i don't get off of tumblr this assignment is never going to get done

[alittledarkalittlegloom]

channeling the ghost of a 19th century woman who wrote for a newspaper in order to feed her children so that I can actually work on the paper that's due on saturday

[frownyalfred]

Do you think new league members ever get surprised by the built-in nepotism? Like Bruce being who he is like codified rules of hero title succession (like Dick taking Bruce's place as Batman and with it, all his founder status) or the Flash being a titled with a long history of being passed down. I mean, Bruce is even planning on Dick inherenting the league to become it's leader.

Do you think new members look at the member handbook, in the students, apprenticeship, partnerships, and sidekicks, and go "huh. That seems kinda... rigged??". Because honestly? If you're great, sure you can gain a lot of respect and power in the league but you'll never gain more power (from admin power to social power to beyond) then the founding members and founding membership can be inherited.

It's an interesting question. I can't speak to the canon responses very much, but I imagine it has a lot to do with people respecting the hell out of Dick Grayson/Nightwing and knowing he truly is the best leader to inherit Bruce's role. Batman's motivations in assigning that role to Dick isn't for some personal benefit, or a continued stake he wants to maintain in the League. He's not giving the position to Dick, essentially, to benefit himself or Dick -- he's giving it to Dick because he truly believes Dick is the best person to pick up the cowl after him. If he wasn't, I don't think we'd see Bruce handing off the League and Batman to someone who wasn't ready or wouldn't ever be ready.

I will also note that this 180 on nepotism is a very very new gen z phenomenon. I'm not saying I agree one way or another, so don't reblog saying frownyalfred says nepotism is okay. But also, we need to take a step back and realize that for a very long time in this country's history, nepotism, especially in "family" businesses, was damn near expected. Parents gave their kids their businesses when they wanted to retire. Dads hired their sons in their offices, etc etc. There were shades of nepotism, too -- giving a random son a title he didn't earn, versus hiring your accomplished son who just graduated top of his law school. It's not as clear cut as people online would like you to believe, that all nepotism is horrible, that all positions are unearned if they are given by family/friends, and that the worst thing in the world you could do is commit an act of nepotism and not, like, anything else more horrible. That's a tumblr/tiktok thing, which I feel I'm allowed to call out as a fellow member of gen z.

The Justice League isn't a business per se, but it is still something Bruce built and funds. So while we might see some mutterings about nepotism, yeah, I don't imagine anyone is going to get in Bruce's face and give him grief for giving his 1) highly qualified son a 2) position he trained for, for years that 3) Dick is ready to take when Bruce is done 4) in Bruce's own damn house (satellite).

Looking at hero succession through the lens of nepotism does the characters a disservice, I believe. We're applying a 2020's phenomenon (which is shedding important light on irl inequality and inequity, don't get me wrong) and ideas of "fairness" when the subjects are vigilantes and heroes.

And, disregarding everything I just said, the League itself does things by vote -- voting in Dick Grayson and having those checks/balances to Bruce's own goals is important, which is why he built them into the League itself. He can lobby the League, propose Dick, indicate his own preferences as a voting member, but if the entire Founders' table disagrees with him? His hands are kind of tied.

[qprstobin]

Stobin Different First Meeting AU where they go to prom together. This was meant to be an au post and turned into a mini fic oops (written completely within a tumblr post so sorry for the poor quality)

(edit: realized I should link the fic I was inspired by for those who don't follow me and so didn't see me reblog it earlier)

Steve doesn't necessarily want to go to prom, right? Like yeah, he'd been imagining it for a while, but now that he was very, very single it just didn't have the same shine that it used to. And he really wasn't ready to start dating yet. However, he didn't want to just, not go to prom, and also knew it would seem really weird (and pretty fucking sad) if he didn't go.

Which leaves him in a conundrum.

He thought for a while that maybe he would go with one of the junior cheerleaders. While he didn't have any close friends anymore, he was still friendly with plenty of people. There were girls that wouldn't be going to prom unless they had a senior boyfriend - some he had even gone on dates with in the past who wouldn't think a single prom date meant that he wanted a new girlfriend.

However, he is pretty sure most of those girls would have... other expectations for the night. And honestly? He isn't quite sure that he was ready to get back on that horse either.

... Not that he thought women were horses.

He's pretty sure men are normally the ones called horses in riding metaphors.

Anyway.

That left him stuck. He couldn't just not go to prom, but also didn't want to wind up trapped on an actual date with someone. So who could he ask?

His solution ended up coming from an odd place.

Robin Buckley was... quite honestly, kind of a weirdo.

She was cute, in an alternative sort of way. She never took any of his shit (he wasn't completely sure she even liked him) but also reluctantly laughed at the snarky shit he said under his breath during their Film History class. And not in the fake giggly way girls did when they were flirting, but didn't actually care about what he was saying, just the way he said it. She actually seemed to think he was funny. Even if that revelation seemed to piss her off.

The only reason he was even in Film History that semester - and therefore, knew who she was - was for the easy A. He got to watch movies in class, and watch movies for homework. He was willing to plow through a couple of shitty essays in exchange for a class that he didn't feel like a complete idiot in.

(Well, he was pretty sure Robin thought he was an idiot about movies, but just because he had trouble remembering the names and shit of characters, didn't mean he couldn't analyze the themes, fuck you very much, Buckley.)

They had gotten assigned a project together early on, and it hadn't been completely terrible. She had quickly taken over doing most of the writing portions, but hadn't thought all of his ideas were terrible. By the end of the project he thought they were even sort of having fun together.

He'd always been one to try his luck, take a little more than he was given. So, after that assignment was over, he started sitting next to her in class, not wanting that easy, if sharp, camaraderie to end. Robin rolled her eyes at him and asked him what he thought he was doing the first time he did it, but she never sent him away.

They ended up chatting more and more during down times, passing notes to each other and sharing sly comments under their breaths during the movies. Steve often had trouble paying attention at school, his mind easily wandering away, and it was almost as bad during most movies, but Robin helped keep him on track.

The class turned into one that was done for the easy grade, a last ditch effort to improve his already hopeless GPA, and became one he actually enjoyed.

The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of going to prom with Robin. It made the night seem a little less unbearable.

He thought about making a big deal out of asking her, because he knows that's what girls (and even Nancy) had enjoyed for past dances. He quickly scrapped that idea, however, because not only did he not want to put pressure on her like that, but also she seemed to hate public spectacles like that.

Or at least when aimed at her, they both enjoyed watching drama unfold in the halls a bit too much to say she hated it completely.

So Steve waits until the end of the day, their film class being their last, to pull her into an empty classroom. She follows him without question in a show of trust he didn't realize she had in him. The notion warms him, and for some reason makes it more difficult to get the question out.

"Why do I feel like you're about to try to sell me drugs or something?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He squints at her in offense.

"Why is that your first assumption?!"

"I don't know! Why else are you pulling me out of the hallway all secretive like, making sure no one followed us, into an abandoned classroom," she asks, throwing her arms into the air.

"The classroom isn't abandoned, it's the end of the day! Also, who does drug deals on campus, that's just stupid?" He asks rhetorically, before waving one hand through the air, as if trying to erase the current thread of conversation. "That doesn't matter, you're distracting me."

"Well then, get on with it! Some of us have practice we need to get to."

"It's like talking to the kids," he mutters to himself, "Whatever. I wanted to ask - will you go to prom with me?"

That stops Robin up short. There's panic in her eyes now, though Steve isn't sure what exactly put it there. Was his reputation that bad that even band geeks are terrified of getting asked out by him?

"You want to go on a date? With me?" she asks slowly, disbelief coloring her voice, though it doesn't hide her unease.

"No, I want to go to prom with you," he scoffs, "Not go on a date with you."

"That is a date, dingus! The person you go to prom with is literally called your date!"

"Okay, sure, maybe, but I don't actually want to date you," he said, rolling his eyes at her.

Like, okay, he understood his reputation for being... what did she call him last week? A 'huge effing rake'? But that didn't mean that he was trying to date any girl that looked in his direction. A lot of girls looked in his direction. That was too many women, even for him.

Robin relaxes a little at that.

"Then why are you asking me to prom instead of someone you actually want to date?"

"Because!" he says, resisting the urge to flail his hands back at her. "I don't want to date anyone right now. Most people I ask are going to expect all these things from me - they're going to want dinner, and at the very least a kiss at the end of the night if not more, or another date the very next day. Because Steve Harrington is supposed to want those things!" He takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair to calm himself. "But right now? I really don't."

"Well then, what does Steve the Hair Harrington actually want?" She had relaxed fully at this point, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

"I want to go to prom with someone I consider a friend, someone who makes me laugh," he says after a moment of silence. "I want to dance badly to really corny pop music and drink just enough spiked punch that I don't remember how much I hate wearing any sort of tie. Then I want to go get milkshakes or go see a really trashy midnight horror flick, just because I'm having so much fun I don't want the night to end."

That small smile has grown into a reluctant grin on Robin's face. It makes her eyes shine and her freckles pop. Steve thought that if he was in a better place, if they had met at a different time, he could have fallen in love with her.

But they had met now instead, in some shitty public school elective course, and she was the closest thing he had to a friend that wasn't a snotty middle schooler.

"That sounds... like a lot of fun, actually," she says, mischief sparking on her face. "Who would've known the hidden depths hidden behind all that hair."

"Hey!" he protests half-heartedly, unable to keep a grin of his own off his face. "So what do you say? Wanna go to prom with me?"

"I guess," she sighs, acting like it was such a trial to go to prom with him. Him! But her next words make up for it. "Since we're friends, and all. However, I still expect you to buy me dinner, though you can keep the kiss goodnight to yourself."

Steve can't help the giddy laugh from spilling out of him. For the first time in weeks, he is actually looking forward to prom.

[peach-and-bugs]

hii, jackie anon again back with another rq ^^ could you do dialogue 18 w/ jackie taylor if it's not too much trouble?

🐇Unadulterated Loathing - Jackie Taylor (1996) x fem!Reader🐇

Fanfiction master list

disclaimer: don't repost my work. I only post on Tumblr and on Ao3. anything else is stolen and should be removed immediately

Summary: You could never understand why everyone in your school seemed to hold sweet Jackie Taylor up on some gold-plated pedestal. After all, she was just like every other pretty, popular, well-off teen girl, right? And highly doubt you're opinion of her will change after you're stuck working on your big Ap bio final with her...

Warnings: angst, but a happy ending, mildly suggestive yet tame humor

Word Count: 3,875

A/N: wow, this was way longer than I planned for it to be. Quick note: So I'm headcanons that Wiskayok High School/school district is kind of like how my school district works, where there is more than one elementary school, but the kids all come together and go to the same middle school. so y/n and Jackie didn't know one another till middle school. As always, feel free to leave questions or comments in my comments or ask box, and happy reading! 🐇

Jackie Taylor Tag List:

Yellowjackets Tag List: @frasersgf @minimickzy @damagnificentcookie

General Tag List: @summergeezburr

-🐇-

Ap Bio had become both your favorite and least favorite class in you’re schedule. On the one hand, You’d always had a fondness for science, but there was just something special about biology. It clicked in a way that no other subject did for you. You also loved your teacher to the point of often staying behind during lunch to continue talking about whatever you’re class topic had been. But now, the problem of your lab partner has arisen. Jackie Taylor, Wiskayok High School’s sweetheart, has been assigned as your new lab partner for the last quarter of the year. You were stuck with the queen bee for the entire final quarter working with her on your big bio final, and you were ready to slam you’re head into a wall.

Jackie had never done anything to you. You had no idea if she knew you existed till now. But you couldn’t help not liking her. There was just something about that shiny smile and the way the curls in her hair always laid perfectly over her shoulders that got under your skin. But she hadn’t done anything to make you not like her, and that alone just made you more irritated with her. 

She didn’t start a conversation right away when she sat next to you after you’re new assignment together. Your group was assigned to look into the effect of different types of hormones on gene expression, which wouldn’t be too difficult, and if you’d like, you could probably do all the work on your own. That would be good in case Jackie turned out to be one of those girls who expected you, the class nerd, to do the project anyways. You’d had that happen a few times now in group projects, so what’s one more time, right? 

You were listening to your teacher go over the guidelines for the assignment and show you examples from the past few years. You periodically scribbled down notes for future reference. After a bit of time, you began watching the clock, leaning your cheeks against your palm with an unintentionally pointing lip as you waited for the bell to ring. You wanted to leave class today, unlike most days. Maybe you’d hide in the library with your lunch and read up on your topic to get a headstart on the project. You decided it was better to assume you’d be doing it all on your own from the jump than to be blindsided, right? 

But as you waited for the bell, watching the hands of the clock tick away, your gaze began to wander. First, you watched the jock at the table next to the door, trying not to fall asleep. Then you moved on to the girl behind him reading a romance novel behind her textbook till you faltered again to Jackie sitting at your right. She was scribbling away in her notebook, honey-blonde hair obstructing any meaningful view of her face. The lined paper of her notebook had notes written in curly, clean handwriting, yet the margins were littered with doodles of flowers and bunnies. She was currently scribbling away at one of her doodles, having grown tired of notes the same as you. 

She only caught sight of your staring when the bell rang. Startled out of your haze by the clanging sound you'd waited for, you blinked, swallowing hard when you’re suddenly met with her bright hazel eyes as she brushed that hair that had been in her face out of the way and behind her ear. You felt your eyes widen as you sat frozen, but only for a second before you frantically started packing away your things into your backpack like the rest of your classmates. You could feel her stare, but she said nothing. That is, till she shook out of her daze. 

“Uh, hey-” she started as you began to leave. You’d hustled to the door but stopped at the sound of her voice, leaving you standing awkwardly by the door, hands clutching the strap of your backpack tight. “Do you wanna plan to meet up and work on the project?” she asked as she packed her notebook away into her bog, periodically looking up and back at you as she undid the zipper. You were surprised by the offer, and it delayed your response. 

“Um. Yeah, I guess we can,” you mumbled, feeling fidgety under the attention. She gave you that sparkly smile that she gave everyone when she looked back up at you, bag hung over her shoulder. 

“Great! You free this afternoon?” you were surprised she seemed so eager to get working. You awkwardly nodded and felt your heart begin beating faster as she walked towards you. 

“Don’t you have soccer practice, though?” you said quickly, shuffling ever so slightly away from her. She now stood right across from you by the door. Having her attention like this was strange, and you could only describe it as anxiety-inducing. 

“Shit, you’re right. I completely forgot about that,” she laughed, and you felt your stomach drop. “Well, we could always make Saturday work as long as-” she began babbling on about something you didn’t feel like you needed to know about to the point that you began feeling nauseated. 

“Hey, can we plan this tomorrow, maybe? I’ve gotta go,” you interrupted, lying through your teeth with your skin itching to get away. Jackie stopped what she was saying, and for a fleeting second, it looked like her smile had faded. 

“Oh, yeah. We’ll talk tomorrow then,” you'd already begun leaving before she could finish calling goodbye, which you knew was rude, but all you could think was how you had to get away. Which was even stranger considering she had been acting so nice! Jackie had never been nice to you. Well, Jackie had never been anything to you before. Why was her being nice so startling? You wracked your brain over it all as you hustled into the library to hide among the bookshelves. 

You could finally take a real breath when you found a secluded table tucked away in the corner of the library, nestled in with all of the books but by a window, which let a nice stream of light bask down onto the table. You arranged your things, found a few books on your project topic, and got to work, reading and periodically scribbling down notes as you ate the lunch you’d packed that morning. You’d stay there through lunch and into your free study hall period. Getting your study hall directly after lunch had to have been some kind of godsent. 

You’d gotten into a real groove or taking your notes. By now, you had to have nearly three pages, front and back, filled with different tidbits you could mention in your project. You’d lost track of time and your surroundings as you listened to your walkman while working. You were only shaken out of your little bubble when you heard a strong, purposeful throat-clearing beside you. You looked up to see Jackie standing over you with a few books in hand. You stared wide-eyed, forgetting about your headphones. That is, till the blonde scrunched her brow and gestured for you to take them off. You did, muttering your apology as the headphones hung around your neck. 

“I see you got started,” she chuckled again. You felt yourself grow embarrassed, like you’d been caught with your hand in the cookie jar after saying you’d had enough sweets for the day. Your eyes faltered away, down to your notes, as the grip on your pencil tightened. 

“Uh, yeah. I have a free period, so I thought I might as well,” you mumbled, fidgeting with the corner of your paper, folding it into itself. 

“Oh! Me too” She paused, looking around as though someone might see despite the table being tucked out of most people's way. “Well, mind if I sit? You could share what you’ve started, and we could make a gameplan,” She suggested. Given your current situation and the way you’d practically run from her earlier, you had no reason to decline, so you nodded, moving some of your things out of the way. She sat down at the other side of the table, but not directly across from you, more so diagonal. Maybe she could feel your apprehension about working for you. It wasn’t like you were trying to hide how you felt, but thinking she might know didn’t help the nauseating feeling in your gut. 

Calling the following interaction awkward would be an understatement. You had zero desire to integrate with Jackie outside of class, and she couldn’t seem to get the hint. Or maybe she did and was just choosing to ignore what you thought was your evident desire to be left alone. She started reading the books she’d picked up and writing her notes like you had been doing. But every time she read something that seemed noteworthy, she’d double check if you’d read and written that down already. It got to the point that you eventually just gave her your notebook to write in so she could read what you'd written down already and stop interrupting your reading.  

She seemed disappointed by this, but she didn’t voice it or argue. Unsteady, you spent the rest of the hour sitting at the same table, silently reading over textbooks. She didn’t attempt conversation till the bell rang, and you both had to pack up and go to class again. She started by offering you your notebook back, but she pointed out something she’s specifically written down when she handed it to you. 

“It’s my address. How about we meet up tomorrow at noon? My dad will be out golfing, and my mom’s got book club, so we’ll have quiet to work on the project. If that works for you, of course,” she seemed rather eager at the idea as she patiently waited for your reply. You paused for a moment, staring at her annoyingly near handwriting and her address till you relented. 

“Yeah, sure. Noon tomorrow” you agreed with a nod. She seemed to smile slightly more and nodded quickly. 

“Noon tomorrow,” she repeated, taking a step back as she moved to leave. “I’m already looking forward to it,” You watched her go with her little wave and had to refrain from rolling your eyes. You had a bad, nauseating feeling about tomorrow already. 

-🐇-

All you could do was stand outside the Taylor’s house, staring up at the two-story with wide eyes, regretting ever letting yourself get into this situation. Something felt so wrong about you walking towards the house, so much so that you contemplated turning tail and leaving. That is till Jackie opened the door, beckoning you inside. It was too late to back out now, so you begrudgingly made your way up the lawn. 

“I’m glad you made it,” she began as you walked into the house, you noticed her lack of shoes, so you took yours off, leaving them behind by the door. “Oh, thank you for that! I completely forgot to mention it, and my mother would kill me,” she joked. You forced a smile and hummed but gave her no reaction beyond that. She paused and took a breath, murmuring a quiet ‘right’ before taking you upstairs. 

“I thought we’d work in my room unless you'd rather go in the living room since no one's home,” You shrugged, eyes glancing around the house as you followed her. 

“Doesn’t matter to me,” you dryly said as she sat down on her bed, pulling out her schoolwork as she sat with her legs crossed against the pillows. You hesitated, standing in the middle of your room with your bag in hand. 

“You can come and sit over here if you like,” she chuckled, patting the space in front of her on the bed. After a pause, you did as instructed, sitting at the foot of the bed with your bag beside you. You began to rummage around, pulling out your notebook, pencils, and textbook. 

“I can get you something to drink or a snack if you like,” she offered. She was fidgeting with her pencil and notebook open over her lap, but she hadn’t started writing anything yet. 

“I’m alright,” you began flipping through your notes, not looking up. 

“Ok, well. Do you have any thoughts on how you wanna do this or…”

“I thought I’d write the paper, and you do the visuals,” You replied as though this was the most obvious course of action. Jackie stared at you for a moment till she nodded. 

“Yeah,” her voice cracked as she tucked hair behind her ear, looking around the room. “Yeah, tha works for me,” looking up from your notebook, you noticed the way she bit the inside of her cheek. 

“Y’know what? I’m gonna get something to snack on anyways,” she said it more like she was telling herself than she was you. You watched her leave like she was in a rush, leaving you alone in her room. Immediately you felt uncomfortable with the situation, so you pulled out your Walkman and began listening to that while you scribbled away in your notes, getting yourself started on the final paper. 

Jackie didn’t return for some time, but when she did, she was carrying a big bowl of popcorn with her that she set on the bed after sitting down again. She watched you expectantly but didn’t say a word till you took your headphones off. 

“You want some?” she gestured to the bowl. You shook your head. 

“No, I’m fine,” you turned your attention back to the paper. “But thanks,” you remembered to add at the end. The next hour was relatively quiet as you both worked. You’d made a decent dent in the paper, and Jackie had started sketching a mock-up of the visual display. She’d handed you her notes to get your opinion, and you simply nodded, telling her it was good and to go ahead. In all honesty, after that, you saw little point in working together anymore. You could easily write the paper at home while she worked on the presentation, right? 

“Hey, I think I’m gonna get going,” you started. She looked up, confused. 

“But we only just got started,” she began to argue. You felt yourself grow uncomfortable with her seeming eagerness for you to stay. 

“Well, I can work on this at home. We don’t need to be together after all,” 

“But isn’t it good to work together? Like, to have a soundboard or whatever?” She stood up suddenly and began rummaging for something around the room. Growing alarm clawed at your throat, and you turned around in your seat on the bed to keep your eye on her. “It’s a group project, after all!” She was growing more impatient, and you couldn’t distinguish why. 

“Yeah, but it's not a huge deal-” she turned around to face you again, her hair aggressively swishing as she faced you with a distressed look.

“You really can’t stand me that much?” she yelped, genuinely sounding hurt. You froze, paralyzed with no idea what to do. You’d never imagine that Jackie, of all people, would care about what you thought of her. You didn’t think Jackie cared about anyone’s opinion, let alone you! 

“I never said I didn’t like you-” 

“Well, it’s obvious you don’t!” she interrupted. She looked like she might be on the verge of tears as she began pacing the room. You started to panic.

“No, it isn’t!” you knew it was a terrible retort, but what else could you say? So you got onto the defensive. “But why would you even care if I didn’t like you? I’m nobody!” your voice faltered, and you cringed with embarrassment. You had no idea what was going on or how you even got into this situation. Jackie was nearly and tears, and you found you were too, and you thought you might throw up on the spot from the grinding, nauseating feeling twisting your gut. Jackie sniffled, wiping her nose. But at least she’d stopped pacing and now stood facing you. The sound and motion drew your attention back in.

“You’re not nobody,” her voice was almost pitiful. She sheepishly met your eyes, biting her lip. She was considering something, but you couldn’t tell what. You felt afraid under her gaze. 

“Yes, I am,” was all you could say back. You picked at the skin of your thumbs, hoping the motion could calm your racing heart. “I doubt you even knew my name before we had this class together,” 

“Well, I did, actually,” there was a heavy pout in her voice. She caved and walked back to the bed, sitting in the space you'd previously occupied but scooted from when she’d stood up. She was almost unbearably close. “I’ve known about you since seventh grade,” only when she said that did you look up at her. Her gaze was soft yet almost timid. It seemed unnatural for her, given her constant air of confidence.

“You got that writing award at that assembly we had with the whole school at the beginning of the year. Most people who were getting awards were eighth graders,” she seemed to recall it fondly. “But I remember how you walked across that stage with that huge smile to take that award from the principal. You didn’t look nervous or afraid. Just happy to be getting that award,” you were stunned she even remembered that day. You barely even remembered it yourself, now that you thought about it. 

“But so what? What about that makes me liking you matter so much?” 

“I dunno, maybe because of your nice or something?” She was getting upset again. Her face was red with frustration, and she kept dramatically sighing and scoffing. And you weren’t sure what caused it, and you knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, but you laughed. It started as a chuckle, but then it turned into full blow, hysterically tear-inducing laughter. You knew it was wrong, and you expected her to slap you in the face, but she didn’t. 

After her initial shock, you heard a snicker, and then she, too, laughed. And as you heard her laugh ring you, you realized it was like a song that you wanted to be stuck in your head. And unlike what you may have anticipated, it didn’t scare you anymore. You managed to quiet and subside your fit of giggles, thumbing away tears that brimmed your eyes from the pressure, a smile still waving over your lips. Jackie appeared the same, but she looked away again, that shy blush water-coloring her cheeks as she smiled. 

“I just really want you to like me, but I can’t explain why,” she managed to say finally, looking back up at you. She’d gotten closer again when you were distracted. You could almost feel her breath fanning over your face as she bit her lip in silent consideration. 

“I do like you,” you managed to say, eyes unconsciously wandering down to her lips, then flashing back to her eyes out of fear of being caught. But though you expected scorn, you were met with excitement in her eyes, followed by a tilt of her head, and then all at once, her eyes shut, and her lips were on yours, tentative and curious. Anxiety told you to pull away, but frozen in surprise, you found you couldn’t. Instead, you sat, eyes wide as you practically vibrated in anticipation, though you dared not move. It was the same kind of excitement and anxiety you’d feel trying to get close to a wild rabbit. The slightest wrong move, and it would surely run. 

But Jackie didn’t run. She did pull away, but she didn’t stray. She watched with a squeezing apprehension on her face, expecting to have a mess to clean up on her hands. You were left completely speechless, terrified she’d regret her actions immediately and make you leave, and she’d never speak to you again. But again, Jackie didn’t run, and she didn’t make you either. 

“Say something,” she tried to state, but it came out more like a plead. You scanned her face and did the only thing you could think of in your hazy state. You took her hand, which sat behind you, holding her up as she leaned into you and took her lips as you squeezed your eyes shut. As you kissed her, you felt her smile, with the sound of a muffled chuckle. 

Her fingers from her free hand eventually grazed over your cheek, tucking hair behind your ear before wrapping wound the small of your neck to toy with the baby hairs that grew there. When you pulled away, she adjusted so she was practically in your lap with how close she was. Her arms looped lazily over your shoulders and around your neck as she played with your hair, looking you over dreamily. 

“My mother would end me if she found out about this,” she giggled, clearly enjoying her little silent rebellion. 

“You like girls?” was the only thing you could think, and of course, that’s what your big mouth had to blurt out. You immediately cringed, squeezing your eyes shut and resisting the urge to slap yourself in the face. But fortunately, she laughed that lovely laugh you’d begun to grow fond of. 

“It seems like I do,” she attempted to sound coy in her reply. “And it sounds like you look like girls, too,” she added. You looked at her again and relaxed with a smile, rolling your eyes. 

“I thought that had been obvious since freshman year,” Jackie shook her head. 

“I mean, not to me,” 

“Oh, so you didn’t pick the gay girl to try out kissing girls?” You'd grown confident out of nowhere and smirked. Jackie’s cheeks flushed again, and her jaw dropped in mock shock as she tried suppressing a laugh in her throat. In a moment of mock irritation, she shoved your shoulders, gently knocking you onto your back, meeting the duvet cover of her bed in a fit of amused giggles. Without a fleeting consideration, she sat on top of you, her thighs on either side of your hips as her hands pressed against your chest. You couldn’t stop yourself from grinning as you looked up at her. Her brows raised, eyes wide as she realized the position she’d put herself in, that pink blush in her face turning bright red.

“Well, look who’s miss confidence now, huh?” you couldn’t resist the tease. Your restraint had gone out the window with this new understanding of your feelings. Your irritation and avoidance of Jackie Taylor had only been a poorly placed front for your real feelings. You’d been smitten with her for years now but refused to look at it in the right lighting. She scrunched her nose and tried to frown, but the corners of her lips kept flickering upwards in amusement as you grinned, which only egged her on more. So she did the only thing she could think. She leaned in again, wiping that smirk away with her lips. 

[iffeelscouldkill]

Lost in a Familiar Place pt. 7 (of 7!)

(Aka the ‘Nicholas never applied to Kings Row’ AU)

In which Harvard finds Aiden, Nicholas gets a visitor, and things are set in motion.

Previous chapters: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

A/N: I know I've traditionally serialised this fic on Tumblr first and then posted it later to AO3, but this chapter will be different. This is because this chapter is a bit (a bit) spicier than normal and I don't trust Tumblr at all, given that I'm pretty sure the reason part 4 wasn't visible in the Fence tag is that I used a word that rhymes with "corny" (and starts with an H) in the tags.

So, I'm posting the first part on Tumblr, and then the rest can be read on AO3. It's also longer than normal chapters (almost 3x as long!), so I think the reading experience will be a bit better on AO3 anyway. It's already up on AO3, so you can also go straight there if you prefer!

Harvard tore across the darkened Kings Row campus – and then stopped abruptly. He suddenly had a feeling that Aiden wouldn’t be waiting for him back at their dorm room. It wasn’t really Aiden’s style to sit around twiddling his thumbs; it also wasn’t like Aiden to make things easy for him.

So, Harvard would need to find him.

Harvard thought about the places in the school that they liked to go together. After more than three years at Kings Row, there were quite a few, although (he thought with a guilty pang) he wasn’t sure when they’d last frequented one of their old hideouts.

He considered, and dismissed, the fencing clubhouse – they’d had a lot of fun times there, but only as part of a bigger group. There were some good trees on the grounds that he and Aiden had challenged each other to climb, but that didn’t really seem practical. But wait– climbing–

It sparked a sudden memory, of being fifteen and gangly and laughing as he followed Aiden up a narrow, rusting fire escape bolted to the corner of the Music and Drama building. The building itself had a sloping roof that didn’t look climbable, but if you were intrepid enough to try, you could scramble up the fire escape and then wriggle onto a nearby ledge, and from there you suddenly found yourself in reach of a flat rooftop area that was almost completely concealed from the ground.

Harvard knew it was where Aiden would be.

He had more co-ordination now than he had done at fifteen, but also more bulk, and the fire escape creaked ominously as he hauled himself up. Harvard held as much tension as he could in his core and moved as smoothly and quietly as possible. If not for the fact that he wanted to keep this spot a secret, he’d assign it to new team members as a fitness challenge. Up to the top, and he saw the ledge now – wow, it was further away than he remembered. How had they done this?

He stretched, grasped the ledge, flailed and kicked a bit against the wall and then he was up, with only slightly scraped palms to show for it. He edged along it, crouching slightly to keep his centre of gravity low, and also to hide the movement from the ground. Helpfully, no-one was stirring on the campus at this hour. Harvard carefully straightened up as he came into sight of the flat rooftop – and the figure sitting at the far edge, shoulders slightly hunched, facing away from him.

Harvard would have liked to climb gracefully up onto the rooftop, maybe attracting Aiden’s attention with a slight sound, or maybe he’d wait until he was standing there and then say, “Aiden–” urgently, and then Aiden would turn and see him–

Instead, he scuffed his knee as he scrambled up onto the rooftop and flopped inelegantly onto the surface with a little “oof” noise. When he managed to get up, Aiden was staring at him like he hadn’t expected Harvard to actually be there.

“That was a lot easier when we were fifteen,” Harvard said dryly, dusting his hands off. Aiden gave a tiny grin, climbing to his feet.

“Speak for yourself,” he said, and then the smile faded. “So…”

“I figured it out,” Harvard blurted out, quickly, before he could overthink it. “About what you meant when you said – I mean, I figured out-”

Crap, he was already overthinking it. Harvard started again. “When you told me you joined the team because of me – that you started to love fencing because I love it – I was really surprised, because I didn’t think that you felt that way too. Us fencing together means a lot to me, Aiden. It always has done.”

“Just fencing?” Aiden asked, his tone brittle. Harvard shook his head quickly.

“Let me finish. Look, I was – mad at you, because it felt like you’d stopped caring about something that was really important to both of us, or at least, you didn’t care enough to really show up for it. You’d pulled away, and I didn’t get why. Then I realised that it’s something you do when you actually do care about something, but you want to protect yourself.”

He took a step towards Aiden on the rooftop. Aiden looked a bit panicked, like he was considering fleeing from Harvard and this conversation, and Harvard knew he had to get to the good part quickly, before Aiden pulled away again.

“Do you remember when we fenced against each other during the team try-outs?” he said. “And I said… uh… We were joking around, and I said, ‘I miss this you?’”

Aiden nodded, a blush creeping down his neck. Not many people knew that Aiden blushed that way when he was caught off-guard (Harvard wasn’t completely sure that Aiden knew it). He felt like his own face was aflame, although mercifully it was too dark for it to be visible.

“I thought I’d misheard you,” Aiden admitted.

“You didn’t mishear,” Harvard told him. “I guess I was – starting to realise something, subconsciously, that I’ve felt for a long time. It shouldn’t have taken me this long to put the pieces together.” He gave a lopsided, self-deprecating smile.

“I… I was thinking about how you are when we fence together – it’s like I get to see a side of you that no-one else gets to see. I’ve always seen that side of you, but I thought it was just because we were best friends, and now I’m realising maybe it’s… something else. Or maybe it is because of that, but I want it to be something more.” Harvard was babbling a little bit, but fortunately, it didn’t matter, because Aiden was looking at him like he was saying amazing.

“Aiden, I really like you,” he said, and then laughed a little at himself. Why had he taken such a long time to say something so simple? “Uh. Yeah.”

Aiden gave a shaky laugh, and took a half-step towards Harvard. “Just to be clear,” he said, slowly. “You mean that in a more-than-friends way. Right?”

“Yes. Definitely,” Harvard said. Even though it had only been ten minutes since his revelation, it felt like he’d known this whole time. The feelings had crept up on him so gradually that he hadn’t realised what they were until Aiden had all but laid things out for him.

But Aiden had been self-aware enough to know what he was feeling. And that, Harvard was sure, was what had freaked him out. “I really, really do.”

Aiden’s breath whooshed out of him all at once. “Oh, thank god,” he said. With two steps, he’d closed the remaining distance between them.

“Do you-” Harvard began, but that was as far as he got before Aiden kissed him.

(Okay, Harvard had been pretty sure, but it was nice to have confirmation).

Harvard breathed in through his nose, inhaling soap and the cocktail of hair products Aiden used daily (it probably said a lot that the scent had become something like ‘home’ for him), and tilted his head to press more firmly into the kiss.

He’d never kissed a guy before, but the basic principles were all the same: reaching out to tuck golden strands behind Aiden’s ear, cupping the side of his face with one hand, exploring the shape of his mouth. Aiden made these little humming noises of pleasure that Harvard didn’t think his best friend was consciously aware of.

Harvard had been expecting Aiden to have – moves, maybe, born of his much more extensive experience, but he seemed content to let Harvard take the lead. Not that he was tentative about it – no, Aiden kissed like he knew he was a fantastic kisser, and well, he was. But Harvard felt as though Aiden was holding something back, enough that he broke the kiss to say, “Are you okay doing this out here? We can move inside if you want–”

Aiden smirked at him. “I’m not shy about this sort of thing, in case you didn’t know. Besides, we’re really well-hidden up here.”

“Okay,” Harvard said, reassured. “You just seem like you’re… waiting for something.”

Aiden looked away, flushing down his neck again. “No, I just thought– well, I wanted to see what you liked, first. And I figured you’d want to take it slow.”

A smile spread across Harvard’s face, first because the consideration was sweet. But secondly, because he felt like Aiden had, for once, mischaracterised him a little. Oh, Harvard would never rush anyone into anything, and he tried to be a receptive and respectful partner. But his past romantic partners had all liked it when he showed enthusiasm, and Harvard had always been happy to oblige.

“I think we’ve been taking it slow for a while now,” he replied. “So, as long as you’re on board with moving ahead…” Harvard fitted his hand again to the side of Aiden’s face, running a thumb along that sharp cheekbone, but he waited until Aiden had given a nod before leaning in to kiss him again.

Harvard had one move, but it was a pretty good one, so he used it now, moving a hand down to the small of Aiden’s back and applying pressure. Aiden raised his eyebrows at Harvard but allowed himself to be dipped backwards and then lowered down onto the rooftop (which was smooth tarmac and not uncomfortable, though there were a few leaves on it at this time of year). Harvard braced himself on his hands and leaned over Aiden. “How’s this?”

For a few incredible seconds, Aiden seemed lost for words, running his tongue over his bottom lip and staring up at Harvard. Then he came back to himself. “No complaints at all,” he said, one side of his mouth quirking up. “Let me just–”

Aiden was wearing a light jacket, and he reached up to his throat and unzipped it, letting the material puddle around him. With one hand, he balled it up and then tucked it behind his head. “That’s comfier,” he said, smirking up at Harvard. He was wearing a thin white shirt underneath, which in typical fashion was unbuttoned so that a deep V of pale skin was visible. It was Harvard’s turn to stare. Aiden’s blond hair was messy, wisps escaping from his ponytail and curling around his ears. Shadows played about his face, sharpening his smirk and giving his green eyes an almost otherworldly intensity. He looked like a siren who lured men to their doom on a rocky island. Harvard was a goner; always had been a goner.

Aiden arched his head back ever so slightly under Harvard’s gaze. “Like what you see?”

Harvard shook himself. “You know I do,” he said, his voice sounding uncharacteristically rough, and Aiden’s eyes widened and then darkened. “But–” practicality was winning out, still– “won’t you be cold?”

Aiden visibly rolled his eyes. “That’s the last thing I’ll be. Now get down here-” He fisted his hands in Harvard’s shirt to pull him down, and when that didn’t happen fast enough, used his legs to hook around Harvard’s waist.

“Okay, okay, hnghhh– Jesus. Okay-”

Continue reading on AO3

[roundearthsociety]

This is going to be a tad personal but how do you manage to be trans and catholic? Some of the biggest anti trans voices like Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles and Desantis base their views off that religion. Many trans people on here, Reddit and IRL have nothing but disdain for Catholicism because of the Vatican’s statements and how they’ve been treated. Likewise, a lot of Catholics I’ve seen on tumblr, Reddit and various forums view it as a sin, mental illness or pedophilia and oppose affirming care as well as IVF.

I’m an American exvangelical, who does have some conservative Catholic family members, and I’m trying to broaden my perspective a bit rather than writing Catholicism off as an irredeemable, hateful colonizer ideology and viewing paganism and Reform Judaism as the only valid religions like most Tumblr users do. How do you put up with it when many refuse to affirm it, including the pope who’s still very conservative? I’m not asking to attack your beliefs but are simply curious whether there’s more nuance than people will claim.

This is something that's a bit hard to answer, as someone who's not that good a theologian nor that good at theory. Plus, I'm not side A, so I wouldn't be all that good at discussing Catholicism While Queer with you I suspect. Anyway I will be assuming you, the reader, have got some level of legitimate Christian faith. Because otherwise I'm not sure how to like. Give you that.

So let me preface all of this by recommending you look into queer Catholic organizations such as New Ways Ministry, or especially DignityUSA which I've heard good things about. There are also some Tumblr bloggers on the more affirming side of things, most of them aren't really doing all that much advocacy work either but you might find it interesting to scroll through, idk, and-her-saints or shoutsofmybones's blogs for example, and take a look.

Also: you don't have to give up on Christianity entirely if you can't / would rather not be Catholic! Even if the specific ritual and community aspect is especially important to you, the Episcopal Church is probably decently well implanted where you live and is worth looking into, especially since it doesn't have the embedded political elements that the US Catholic Church tends to have.

As for my own personal answer below - please don't bother to get mad at me for this, it's like 4AM and I'm not too interested in writing a thesis here.

Gender-wise it's honestly pretty straightforward. I know I function better being generally recognized as another sex than I was assigned at birth, with characteristics to match; everything else in terms of gender roles names etc is really just getting a lil silly with it ngl. This is neither especially uncommon nor especially new, and the generally recognized way to deal with this has long been to just let people do their thing. While there are issues with the way that's being done (hey! you should freeze your gametes if that's available to you! don't count on never wanting kids, especially if you're a teenager! trust me on this one.), a lot of the modern discourse around it boils down to "this is disgusting to me so it must be morally wrong". And like, I'm a biologist, I can't really find it in myself to be grossed out by this stuff anymore.

Anyway the Church is far from a monolith. Even at the institutional level there's plenty of tolerance; my home diocese is based in a large and ancient Mediterranean city so God knows it's had ages to get used to the weird shit, not counting the handful of trad strongholds. My understanding of the situation in the US is that it's Kind Of Really Not That though, so I'd strongly recommend heavily looking into your local Catholic diocese and parishes before making any moves, because Catholic faith and practice are a very community-bound thing and it's not really something you can do at a distance. Thankfully though, once you start avoiding the political activists trying to use faith as a means to an end (as is the case for most of the people you cite in your ask), you'll find that it's relatively more chill than you'd think. Let me elaborate.

My own case is complicated enough that I can't reasonably apply any of the details to this, but ultimately what's important to note here is that Christianity is functionally about how everyone is flawed, and everyone fucks up, and sure you'll be forgiven but you've got to own up to it first. The members of the Church, even the Pope, even (most of) the Saints in their earthly lives, are no exception. They can be misguided, fearful, or just plain hateful; in such circumstances, it's on them to do better, not on you to adapt to their flaws, and they know this if they're honest to themselves. This, in turn, must apply just as much to you and me; as a Christian, you (generic) have everything you need to do better, and to know anything that prevents you from loving other people is probably not the way to go.

But anyway yeah. I'm trans and Catholic because both of those are just kinda who I am, and I don't intend to stop being either because I'm not interested in replacing myself with the cop in my head. So the Church can have fun with that.

[dbh-bb]

Q&A

The mod team have been getting a lot of question, and we thought we'd use this opportunity to share the answers, and allay some fears. Whatever you're concerned about, you are not alone!

1. What if (as an artist) our story idea is terrible and nobody wants it?

A. The mods have a collection of ways to ensure everybody gets a good match. Unless your idea is (a) actually offensive, (b) a bad faith take for a public event (say, a meme done poorly, a crack prompt that's too specific, or a private joke taken too far), or (c) something so extremely detailed and specific that you should consider commissioning rather than participating in a public event, at least one person is going to be interested in creating for you.

Even for ideas that aren't popular / main pairings / concepts, even for ideas that are a bit off the wall -- there are always going to be creators who like a bit of a challenge. Who look at things and go, HUH. NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT ONE. and proceed to YOINK it up.

2. If I have an idea that I've written in part and shared in other discord servers, or have published incomplete somewhere, and find an artwork that fits with that, can I use that pre-existing idea to write for that artwork?

A. We have a rule about anonymity in order to make it as fair as possible when we open claims, so for the writers, it's less important that their ideas be brand new. However, in the spirit of the Bang, we do consider it important that the artist you're working with feels they are getting a fresh piece of work from you, and you do need to produce 10,000 words of new, previously unshared fic. If that happens to fit in with an idea you've already been writing, that's fine, so long as your artist is happy with that.

3. Is it okay if I sign up and then have to drop if, for example, none of the prompts interest me, or as an artist I realise I can't commit the time?

A. We would ask that people signing up do so with full intent to commit and not abandon their entry, whether they are entering as an artist or a writer. We do understand that commitments can be made and then circumstances prevent someone coming through as they intended, but if you're aware now that there is a serious possibility you won't be able to provide what you're signing up for, you may be better positioned to be a back up, a beta, or a cheerleader.

In the case of a Reverse Big Bang, with the art coming first, and the ideas coming from the artists, it is extra important that participants offering art not overcommit themselves, as the artists are the first link in the chain. This said, there is also no rush to sign up right now, as sign ups for artists don't close until the 30th of this month, so you have time to try and review your workload and schedule.

For writers, if the scope of what you are prepared to write is so narrow that you think there is a real risk that you won't find anything you will be able to write for, we would ask you to consider if a public event such as this is for you.

4. How many pieces of art can I do for the idea that I submit? Can I submit more ideas?

A. You can do as many pieces of art for any one idea as you like. Presently, we are keeping the number of ideas we will allow artists to submit to two until we know how the ratios are going to stack up. The mod team will be making regular updates both on the discord and here on tumblr to let participants know how that is faring at the time of posting. If the ratios are in favour, we may allow artists to submit third ideas.

5. Can I sign up as a pinch hitter?

A. At this time, we do not have a sign up process for pinch hitters, whether they be artists or writers. However, you do not need to be a Bang participant in order to pinch hit. Right now, people who join the discord are able to assign themselves roles such as pinch hitter, beta, and cheerleader, and will receive discord pings to that role as and if those become required. This is why we encourage people to join the discord even if they're not participating in the Bang directly, as there are still ways to support and help your fellows in the fandom.

Should the need arise for pinch hitters, the mod team will also be putting the message out on this tumblr, and reaching out to anyone that signed up and said they may be prepared to pinch hit. If you are contacted there is no requirement that you agree, we would just ask you to review the ideas on offer.

6. Do I need to join the discord in order to participate?

A. No. All the information and updates that are on the discord are also shared on tumblr, it's just that on tumblr we schedule posts to hit major time zones, and on discord they're put up immediately.

7. Will you be sharing the information artists put in their applications about what they're thinking of working on, and writers put in about what they would like to see somewhere that we can see it?

A. Yes! There will be weekly updates with this in an anonymous format shared on this tumblr. We also intend to share how many writers and artists have signed up so far so that you can have an idea of how ratios are currently stacking up. Please bear in mind, however, when we share this, that none of those numbers are final, and that we are only displaying the number of confirmed works on offer, and that a number of people are provisionally offering more.

8. Where do I find all the information about the Bang, such as rules and schedules, and an up to date discord link?

A. The pinned post on this tumblr contains all of that information. We also update the discord link on there any time we are made aware that it has expired, again. The mod team have been setting this to never expire, but discord is apparently not our friend, so if you find the link has expired, notify us either via asks, a message on the bottom of the post, or a tumblr IM, and we will update it (again).

[rose-riot-johnson]

Hey my Tumblr Peeps😃👍 While have written about a couple fanfics about the reader and character pertaining the niece or nephew and I have written about characters getting the reader pregnant (in a smut fanfic), however I think this time, I really have been thinking about working on a fanfic about a character with the pregnant reader (without the smut), somehow and I might have an idea of who to write about in a fanfic pertaining the pregnant reader (strictly, aside from the character)... While I have written about him a couple times, this will my 1st time writing a fanfic about character and (strictly) the pregnant reader...

*Note; this fanfic contains 1 or more long paragraphs and possibly plenty of pronouns in 1 or more paragraphs in this fanfic😅

🧸Cute🧸(Sajin Komamura x afab (assigned female at birth) Female or They/Them Reader)

Genres: Pregnancy comfort (Warning⚠️: Manga spoiler(s))

After the war between the Gotei 13 and the Quincies ended, not only Sajin Komamura retired as the captain from squad 7, you also retired as a member of squad 4, to take care of your husband, Sajin and to also makesure nothing bad happens to him, as well, considering he will be living in a cave, which you decided to live with him in. He felt bad that you decided to live in the cave with him, however you assured him that you wanted to live there with him. You mainly care about that he's safe, he's tooken cared of, and his well-being.

You have been going to the soul society, atleast a couple times of week to provide Sajin with food, water, clothing (if needed by him), etc... He pretty much insisted that you needed to provide for yourself too, however you keep giving him reassurance that you do provide for yourself. He will see the proof you're taking care of yourself atleast once in a while. Sadly, he does feel bad you haven't been letting help you nor letting him provide for you, since you and Sajin started living in the cave together.

Sajin Komamura appreciates everything you have been doing and all, however a couple months later he kind of has a suspicion that you have been hiding something, even though he knows what you have been hiding atleast something. You have been acting strange, as of late. He pretty much noticed sign that he sensed that about you.

Whenever you noticed he's awake, you used your own blankets to literally cover stuff up with. One night he while he was having a hard time sleeping, while he wasn't fully awake, he'd glanced you knitting or sewing some form of clothing or plushie, then he went back to sleep, before you take focus off whatever your knitting or sewing, then look at him for before proceeding to continue what you were doing, then after you got done you go to cuddle with him. He has been watching you being cautious on what you were eating, as he realized some of the food you usually eat, you haven't been eating, which ofcourse he knows what you're have been eating. That's when he really worried that you have been hiding something from him

So one day you told him you were going to "the world of the living", to see about getting a few things you and Sajin might need, which you never told him what you were needing to get. After you left to go to "the world of the living", Sajin decided to search the your shared cave with him to see, if he can find out what you've been hiding. As he started to search around the cave to see what you've been hiding from him, he mumbled to himself, " What could (afab (Female or They/Them) Reader Name), possibly hide from me, that (she/they) don't want me to know? It's not like I'm not gonna ever talk to (her/them) for whatever is being hidden from me.".

Sajin then noticed a pair of tiny handmade boots laying around near the blankets you were hiding stuff underneath. He smiled, as he found these shoes cute, then he said to himself, "Okay... Let's see what's underneath all those blankets, whatever you're hiding underneath them!", as he proceeded to raise the blankets up to see what you could be hiding underneath them. Once the blankets were pulled off the stuff you could be hiding, he was surprised he discovered some more tiny hands shoes, plenty of really small clothing, some plushies, small blankets, and tiny hats. He thought they're cute, however this just doesn't make sense to him on if this is what you have been hiding all along, why you are hiding all this stuff from him, and what else you could be hiding. He is happy you made all this cutsy stuff and all, however he's just as much in a confused state, as he is in a smiling state, as well.

After you came back inside the cave you share with Sajin from "the world of the living", you were carrying some stuff (you bought from somes stores from world of the living) you have noticed that the stuff you were hiding were no longer covered with blankets, then you noticed Sajin in a blushing, confused, and smiling expression as he was slowly walking towards you, then proceeded to put his arms around you, as he calmly explained, "I know you're hiding something from me, my precious (afab (Female or They/Them) Reader Name). Why all these small clothes, tiny shoes, small blankets, tiny hats, and these adorable plushies here? Any why did you bring all of this stuff here? It's cute you got all of this stuff, especially these cute items and these cute unique tiny chairs here, however I do want you to hide these things from me.". You started to lightly sobbed, the moment you realized he found out. He heard you sob, then put both hands on your shoulders to look at you, as he said, "It's alright, (afab (Female or They/Them) Reader Name). I promise I'm not mad at you about the stuff you brought here. I promise I'm not mad about the stuff you handmade. These are cute. I just have been worrying that you've been hiding stuff, since I first noticed you not eating some of the foods you usually eat. I really have been frightened that you were ashamed of yourself after you stayed away from some of your usual foods, so I thought you going to the world of the living would be good opportunity to see, if you were doing something that you would be unaware of the dangers about anything particular, especially certain meds, then I found cute tiny shoes near the blankets you were hiding the stuff underneath, which I wanted to check and see, then I accidentally completely pulled the blanket off the stuff, to only find more cute stuff, which had got me in joy and confused at the same time.". You started to shake, still worried what he could do, if he was to find out anything else you could be hiding. He then happily (in a confused way) continued, "Now, this also makes me wonder what else you could be hiding from me, (afab (Female or They/Them Reader Name)? All of this stuff makes me more curious about you... You just have been acting so mysterious, in recent months...", as he then proceeded take one of his hands off one of your shoulders to touch your stomach, as you panicked in fear as you confessed, "Okay, Sajin! I admit it! I'm pregnant!", then you started to shake more, as you began to hug him, as you began to cry on his left shoulder.

Sajin was really surprised that it was your pregnancy that you were hiding from him all along. While he was really proud of your pregnancy, he also feels sad that you were frightened from him mentioning to you about hiding something and you somehow felt obligated to hide your pregnancy. He really felt like a proud husband and a proud father.

The next thing Sajin did was hug you into a hold, as he decided to pet you, then said, "There, there, (afab (Female or They/Them Reader)... There's nothing to be ashamed of, not even any of our children... If you don't mind me asking... Why did you hide your pregnancy, my precious?". You answered, "Well, Sajin... I knew you opened up about the fact you were discriminated based on your appearance when you were really young, so I was worried you would be afraid this would happen to any children we end up having together... And I was worried you wouldn't let me leave the cave nor let me take care of any chores nor anything else that needed to be done, but if you were to find out... I was also worried you'd be upset, if you were to find out that I will having your babies...". He was shocked about these reasons you told him, which made him had to think about what to tell you.

Sajin then assured you, as he then said, "I assure you, my precious (afab (Female or They/Them) Reader), despite of the discrimination that happened in my past, pertaining my appearance, I'm not worried about our children going through, the same thing I've been through, and even if any children we have do go through being discriminated based on their appearance, I will guide them and tell them that their appearance is nothing to be ashamed of... Times have changed, (afab (Female or They/Them) Reader Name)... And I still would have let you leave the cave, if you needed to... While also let you take care of the chores... Just be careful and ask for help, especially if you need help with anything, please...", as he then smiled at you, while still hugging and petting you. He then happily, continued, "I also have a good feeling you will be a good (mother or parent) for our child or children, (afab (Female or They/Them) Reader Name)...". You were then relieved by his assurance, comfort, truth when his true colors on how he truly feels about having children with you and your pregnancy.

After that day Sajin found you were pregnant, both you and Sajin have became, so much happier than before, especially in your relationship with him. Your relationship with Sajin is a good relationship, however from Sajin knowing about your pregnancy, it actually helped your relationship with him grow stronger, for some reason. However Sajin will get a little bit protective over you and any children you're pregnant with. Your life with Sajin still was much better, eversince then.

🧸The End🧸

I hope this fanfic warms your heart, my Tumblr Peeps😃👍To be honest this fanfic did take me a while to work on, however this pregnancy fanfic definitely makes me smile, whenever I was working on it and even looking at it🧸I just have been really excited to work on a fanfic that involves, pregnancy comfort, especially this particular fanfic I had tons of fun writing😁👍I hope this fanfic makes your day and/or night my Tumblr Peeps🧸😁👍

[askultimatedirk]

if not heart, what other aspect would you like to have been assigned

Really making me crack open a few textbooks, aren't you? Buckle the fuckle up, chucklefucks, this one's going to be a dissertation. I'll even be so kind as to split it off so as not to disturb your precious tumblr feed.

First of all, let's get something out of the way. I'm answering this question more in the context of what I think would fit me, not what I think would be the most useful or conducive to the grand scheme. If I were going with that idea, the answer would be Space, full stop. That's a rather undramatic and not very interesting answer, though, so instead I'm taking the initiative as usual to do what I want to do.

The first step is to eliminate some obvious choices. While Void matches my creativity and skepticism, most of it completely undermines my lust to know literally everything at all times. Life would imply that I am anything but destructive to other people, intentionally or not. Hope is laughable. I've given some thought to Blood and Breath, the prophet and the protagonist, but neither holds much weight when the rest of the aspect is considered. I'm sure a case could be made for each of these, but I will not be doing so.

Rage would be among those immediately discarded, except for the fact that inherently, the core of the aspect is destruction. While I have devoted myself now to the prospect of creation and new life, it's not a forgotten fact that destruction runs in my veins as a Prince. I would implore that you simply imagine an Ultimate Prince of Rage. Kurloz could never. However, I eventually settled on this being an impossibility due to the connection Rage shares with madness, because fuck knows I would never get anywhere if my head was full of stupid clown shit.

Another that I likely would have discarded is Light, though it holds more weight than Rage. It's the opposite of Void, the hunger of knowing all and seeing all, to understand the very fabric of the universe. Of course, a Seer of Light would be an extremely handy player to have in their Ultimate form. This ended up not going further after some speculation and pontification, mostly because Light players are heavily associated with water and absolutely fuck the ocean.

I'm sure you expected Doom to be on this list, and it is. Fate's chosen sufferers and all that. A Prince would turn this notion inside out, the essence of self-destruction and fatalistic overwhelming. It's funny, really, the fact that I could just as easily been assigned as a Doom player if one were needed. Sacrifice and judgement are also two words reminiscent of myself, of course. In actuality, though, I don't have the social skills or empathy to stick it out as a Doom player. It wouldn't come off right.

I've already mentioned Space, of course, so let me get a little further into that. Without defaulting to the obvious point of Space players pulling the strings for extremely long periods of time without needing to make this information known, I find the power and responsibility to be something that not only would I be able to handle, but I would most likely be given in any session spawning a Space player. It's all about delayed gratification and understanding that while the little things may not be important to others, and they may not even be important now, they will absolutely be important later and should go correctly the first time. Unfortunately, Space players have a strong connection with life and I don't see that fitting in with me, or a Prince at all for that matter.

So now we get down to my two choices - surprise, I won't be making a concrete decision between these two.

Let's go with the obvious first, Mind. While it might seem counterintuitive to even consider the counterpart of my current aspect, given that each pair are generally complete opposites, I've come to the conclusion that Mind is something I've already quite often affiliated myself with. It may speak to my nature that I have done my best to conquer the shortcomings that being a Heart player naturally gifted me with, but I am a planner, a thinker, and a decision maker. Logic is core to my person. The only reason I'm not entirely certain about this one is because of the sense of justice that Terezi has bled all over the understanding of the aspect itself, but that's not concrete and may in fact not be an issue.

Lastly, of course we have to consider Time. I respect Dave, but if I were to borrow his aspect, I don't doubt for a second I wouldn't give it back. While I believe Space powers are more helpful for what I'm currently looking to do, Time powers would be my personal choice. It's true that time-hopping takes a toll and briefly causes chaos, but with the proper setup and someone who actually understands the fabric of time from the get-go, it's extremely powerful. Not only that, but the aspect itself suits me as well. Goal-focused and a problem-solver, struggling because everything needs to be just the way I want it to be. The issue is again the empathy, but that's not a core part of being a Time player.

So to conclude, I think either Mind or Time would fit me quite well. Not as well as Heart, of course, which is why I believe I'll stick with that, but this hypothetical scenario was fun and interesting to write a little essay for. Have fun analyzing it.

[l2vedive]

RUBY (PSH).

PAIRING: park sunghoon x fem!reader

GENRES: includes smut (minors dni), sorta enemies with benefits, cheating (pls don't), university au, hints of fluff if you squint + in the end.

WARNINGS: graphic descriptions of smut (fingering, blowjob & swallowing cum), profanity, making out, cheating involved, hoon and yn has a weird set up but they hate each other i promise, mentions of jay, pet names (princess, good girl, baby, etc.), implied physical assault (yn punched hoon). if there's anything i missed, please lmk !!!

SYNOPSIS: in which sunghoon is annoying and you despise him because he makes your life difficult.

or; in which yn makes it up to sunghoon for punching him in the face during detention amongst other things.

WORD COUNT: 2730 words.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: i am so sorry for the months delay .. initially, i was taking a break from tumblr and then i got busy because of uni and other things + tumblr deleted like half of this in the drafts so i had to rewrite it 😭 BUT ANYWAYS , hooners i hope u enjoy bc this is for you !!!!!!!

TAGLIST: @help-i-cant-find-a-username @cherrybxmbby @fairyofhee @woozisnoots

You have done it.

And it was all because of stupid Park Sunghoon.

He infuriated you to your core and you can't even pinpoint the exact reason. But there were, in fact, a lot of reasons that annoyed you about Sunghoon. And maybe, just maybe, it was the way he kept throwing comments at you in class and the way you scowled at him before throwing the marker at his stupid face, or the way he constantly calls you those disgusting pet names and relishes in getting under your skin because he thinks your reactions are funny, or the way you had your knee in between his thighs the other day, threatening to cut his dick off if he ever bothered you again, only for you to be left fuming because he took one look at your threat as a cute challenge.

(Or maybe, it was that one time you kissed him in the dark at your boyfriend's birthday party and the way he was never going to let you live it down.)

You hated him, despised him, and absolutely fucking loathed him for existing and breathing the same air as you. Unfortunately today, your ego had just about enough to the point that it got both you and him in detention for "school violence" as the principal called it.

So now you're stuck here; trying to get the last of your homework done so you could go home and binge the entirety of Tomorrow on Netflix without the guilt of pending assignments lingering in the back of your head. The sound of a pen clicking over and over again against the wooden desk two tables away from where you are currently seated irritates you.

Your fingers grip the corners of your textbook, the page scrunching under your touch. You try to regain your composure. You let out a heavy sigh before plastering the best fake smile you could muster before turning to him. Sunghoon meets your eyes and he's already smiling, eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Please, will you stop making those noises," You weren't asking; it was a demand. "I am trying to get my work done. I don't know what the hell your deal is, Sunghoon, but you better stop it."

His lips curl into a smirk now. You feel like punching him again. "Yes, ma'am." He says while laying the pen down, flicking it and allowing it to roll off the table. Your eyes follow the object before they fly back to the boy, whose attention is now on some girl from a group of students who are also in detention. Typical Park Sunghoon , you think.

Feeling like he's some deranged vampire who has sucked every life energy out of your body, you huff yet again before stabbing your own pen into your braided hair twist before gathering your things, and heading out the library. You're loud. You're not exactly sure why you're slamming your hand or your book shut or deliberately taking out your frustrations on your school things but fuck detention, and definitely fuck Park Sunghoon. Your father could buy this school and his ass out in seconds anyway.

Sunghoon's eyes burn into you as you do this. You're aware and you want him to see it. Want him to see how infuriating his existence is to you. Want him to see how many alarms he sets off in your body and how all of them want you to hit him again. You do not miss the way his blurry figure gets up from his seat in your peripheral view, and that's when you know you got him.

It's only a few minutes later when you realise the thuds coming from your Prada loafers are the only ones resonating throughout the hallways of the academy. You stop for a bit, your mind debating whether you should look back, but alas, your body betrays you, turning you around. You immediately scan the floors and staircases for a glimpse of him, wondering if he's followed you out or if he's decided to leave too. He was there earlier, you could've sworn so.

Before you can gather your thoughts rationally, you find your heels dragging you back to the library, poking your head through the glass window and straining your neck in order to have a better look around the second you stop by the entrance. He's nowhere to be found.

"Looking for me, angel?"

You flinch, almost screaming before the realisation dawns on you that only one jackass would do this. God, help me , you thought. But because of the way you spun around to shove him for his piss behaviour, he swiftly garners the chance to pin your wrist above your head.

"Ew, don't touch me. I'm getting a cramp," Sunghoon chuckles as you yank your arm free from his grip.

"I don't bite, princess," You meet his eyes, drinking in the mischief that swirls around his dark eyes. "Unless you're into that."

Your breath hitches in your throat as you try to level it down. You hadn't noticed the way you've been holding in your breath. You've been in close proximity with him before so you don't understand why you're fighting the slow crawl of pink creeping up your cheeks. The arrogant smirk on his face doesn't falter for a second and you're already thinking of a haughty remark.

The realisation hits you like a truck when you catch up to the observation that anyone with half a brain would and could mistake you both as a couple with the way he suddenly inches closer, his hot breath fanning your skin. You gulp and you pray he didn't notice.

You were not about to show Park Sunghoon that he had some stupid effect on you. Over your dead fucking body.

You don’t know why you’re making it difficult for yourself honestly. There’s a way out for you, he hasn’t trapped you between him and the wall completely so you don’t know why you’re taking up his petty challenge and willingly allowing yourself to suffer.

“Aren’t you going to apologise to me, baby? You broke my face.” He feigns being hurt with his free hand caressing your cheek. You glare at him, swatting it away.

“All this trouble for an apology? Just say you’re obsessed with me and go.” You reply, inwardly cringing at the way your voice shook. Sunghoon shrugs and you decide that this isn’t worth your time anymore, and you knew that he wouldn’t bite back either. So you begin to walk away.

Park Sunghoon was full of shit and you knew it first hand.

Immediately, you feel a hand on your waist, pulling you and pinning you firmly back in place. You instinctively moan when you feel his knee prop up to your core, successfully trapping you. Your eyes widen when you realise and your hands fly up to your mouth. The boy towering over you grins, incredibly amused at the reaction you just made. Sunghoon switches his arm for the other, resting it on the wall next to your head. You were turning red. Hands curling into a fist with your fingernails digging crescent moons into your skin that were sure to bleed.

Sunghoon lowers his head down to the shell of your ear. “Look at you,” He says, huskily. His voice is low and you hate the way you can’t avoid the blooming pit in your stomach. "You always fall apart at the thought of me. You say you can't stand me but your body language says otherwise. What will Jay think of this when he finds out, hm?"

Your breath hitches in your throat as you stare him down. God, he’s so close he could kiss you and you might just let him. Might.

But you know you wouldn't. You're too stubborn to give in to your desires. You were always hellbent on not becoming like those stupid girls who looked like they were close to dropping their panties after Park Sunghoon gave them a smidge of his attention.

"Listen here, you prick," You grit your teeth as your fingers curl around his silk tie, yanking him to your eye level. "I don't know what sick game you're playing but you need to stay the hell away from me, Park."

"Scared you'll come crawling back for more?"

You snort. "As if."

"I'm not the one who just moaned at the mere contact of cold concrete against my skin and force,"

"True. But I'm not the one whining for a video call every night, am I?" There's something in him that flickers and you know you had the cards in your favour when you brought it up. Because now, Sunghoon's pulling you by your elbow and dragging you up the staircase leading towards the rooftop.

You don't get the chance to speak when he aggressively pushes you against the wall and pushes you down on your knees. You moan out of instinct, pain settling in and pleasure striking like lightning.

"Do you want us to get caught?" You run your hands further up his clothed thigh. Your fingers pass over his erection and to his fly.

"Maybe."

"God, I hate your ass."

Sunghoon stands over you while you undo his button, pull down the zipper, and tug his pants down about halfway. His eyes are fixated on you while you do this. "And I love yours."

Your eyes roll at his response but you appreciate it nonetheless. You can't help but think how pornographic your positions look like right now—clad in academy uniforms and all, while you get ready to give your annoying classmate the best blow of his life as if he didn't just give you three orgasms the other night. You prop yourself up a bit, leaning towards the erection that's straining through his boxer briefs. You kiss the head of his cock through the cotton. Sunghoon is sensitive, dick twitching upon your kiss, and your breath feels hot against all the fabric.

"YN…"

You pull his underwear down shamelessly, letting his erection free. You sigh with a bit of performance. "You know, it's kind of a shame," You say, "if I had only known that mouth of yours was good for something else other than pissing me off, I would've been better off with you."

"Was this why you kept looking for me the other day, angel? Finally bored with the boyfriend? I told you, princess—Fuck, I love your mouth—I already told you I was better," He fishes, and you lick a stripe up his shaft before flattening your tongue on the tip of his cock. "And I did make you cum more than he ever did during that night." He breathes.

You don't say anything else, slipping your mouth over the tip of his. Your tongue feels wet and so hot, swirling just around the head of Sunghoon's cock, pretty lips pressed against him. You pause to spit on your palm before beginning to work gentle strokes down his shaft. It's good, and for a little second, all he can think about is how he wants you to take him further into your warm, wet throat. You move slowly, your tongue almost teasing. The anticipation is intense.

"Hoon," you say as your hand works around his dick, massaging his balls occasionally. You stare up at him through your dark lashes, with those eyes you know that gets him going—and the boy's heart stops as you press another long kiss to his cock and say, "I like you like this. You look so pretty.”

You punctuate your words by taking him into your mouth, deeply—your tongue moving flat and firm against the underside of his shaft, hand squeezing the base of him. The feeling overwhelms him and he moans—well , it's a whimper, but the sound is honest.

You go down once, and take your mouth back off of him to say, "I’ve been thinking of us like this. In this same exact position."

Jesus Christ , Sunghoon thinks you’re out to kill him.

You speak some more, "Do you think about me like this?"

"Always," He manages as you flatten your tongue against the tip of his cock. Sunghoon heaves before you and you hum, loving the reaction—and to rile him up some more. A hand goes through your hair, strands falling from the makeshift bun you made with the pencil earlier, as you slide your mouth over his cock. Sunghoon doesn't have the words to articulate how good your mouth feels around him; how good you use your tongue while you move your head; how you're so hot, and how you want him. How you've been thinking about this—about him. His head's gone wild and it electrifies the slick heat of your lips, your tongue. Fuck , Sunghoon thinks. He's in heaven.

The ache in your knees begins to stir as you imagine the purples, blues, and greens forming bubbles of bruises on your flesh. A groan flies out of your lips when you lift one to move it aside, creating a gap between legs.

"You okay?" Sunghoon's voice rings in your ear and you think it's sweet that he asked.

"Don't worry about me, baby. I'm more than okay."

Your free hand, the one that's been caressing the boy's clothed thigh up and down, snakes away to disappear under your skirt. The slick noise that pokes out underneath almost makes Sunghoon choke. You're not wearing any panties.

Fuck—fuck, you're touching yourself.

"You're—ah—," he pants, and you look up at him. "Fuck. That's so fucking hot. Keep—keep touching yourself, princess. My good girl."

You moan around him, like you're really getting off on this, not letting up for a moment. He moans louder in return, just so you'll hear him, just so you'll keep touching herself. It’s hot. It’s so hot. You both don't even care anymore.

You rock against your own hand as you swallow his cock, messy and fast, and it's starting to overwhelm him in a way he desperately wants to give in to.

Before he can truly consider it, he tugs on your hair, and says, "YN—stop—, "

You meet his eyes, and there's a moment where he doesn't think you will. And he can't remember why he wanted you to.

But you do, sliding your mouth excruciatingly slowly off of his cock, your tongue feeling every inch of him on the way.

"Fuck." He shudders, missing your mouth badly as the cool air hits the spit drying on his cock. "You drive me crazy."

"I want you to cum for me," You whisper, and he hisses, still closer to the edge than he wants.

You're moving so relentlessly that it's hard for him to track the sound of your fingers rubbing your clit, so he tries to focus on the difficult task of cumming, instead of the distracting, maddening slick heat of your cunt.

Very quickly it becomes too much. Embracing the point of no return, he drives his hips up to meet up yours and groans the moment the head of his cock meets the back of your throat, loving the way you gag around him.

He comes so hard he can't think.

Sunghoon's digs his hands into your scalp and moans, head thrown back against the window, sweat sticking his hair to his neck as he loses himself inside your mouth. He loses count of the hot pulses of cum that rush through him.

You release him with a pop before licking another stripe up to the head and giving it a kiss. He tells you to open your mouth and you do, sticking out your tongue to show that you've swallowed all of him.

"That's my girl."

"I hope that was okay, though," You say after a while and he runs his thumb over your cheek, where your tears have dried.

Sunghoon curls down to kiss you, hard, and it's not enough. You sigh and you force yourself to stand, ignoring the pain on your knees, and shimmying up to his body. He clings to you, pressing his mouth into every part of you he can reach, as if he’s never been able to kiss you before. He wants to laugh with the feeling of just getting something he wants. And whether Sunghoon has realised it or not, he wants nothing else but you.

"More than okay. Don't you doubt it for a minute."

please like and reblog with feedback !!!

— please do not copy , translate or repost any of my works anywhere.

© l2vedive on tumblr

[sugar-omi]

(swiftie asker) OH MY GOD YOU GET IT. YOU UNDERSTAND. THIS IS ... EVERYTHING??? THIS IS THE MOMENT????? THIS IS ALL THAT EVER WAS AND ALL THAT EVER WILL BE???????? HELLO???????????? your english teacher is so based for that btw i know damn well i'd be digging claw marks into that desk DKJNCFJ

IF THERE WAS EVER ANYBODY WHO UNDERSTOOD BAXTER WARD IT WOULD BE YOU. BECAUSE YOU FUCKING GET IT, YOU UNDERSTAND THE ASSIGNMENT AND YOU RAN WITH IT LIKE THE GODDAMN WIND. "promises oceans deep, but never to keep" OUGHNGGFJGH IT'S SO BAXTER . ESPECIALLY SINCE ANY OCEAN MOTIF OF ANY KIND IMMEDIATELY ROLLS IN THOUGHTS OF COVE....... FUCKKK DUDE

dude. LOML /IS/ BAXTER CODED HOLY FUCKING SHIT ARE YOU SERIOUS??? "you cinephile in black and white", "in your suit and tie, in the nick of time", "MR. STEAL YOUR GIRL, THEN MAKE HER CRY"... how did i not see this before what the fuck . ???!?! i'm a fake fan fr /j ...

no but seriously. THE WAY THE SONG HAS REFERENCES TO ILLICIT AFFAIRS, YET ANOTHER BAXTER/MC CODED SONG??? the connection between illicit affairs's "they lie and they lie and they lie a million little times" and loml's "you told me i'm the love of your life about a million times" FUCK DUDE I'M CONVINCED TAYLOR KNEW WHAT SHE WAS DOING WHEN SHE RELEASED THESE TRACKS BECAUSE IT'S JUST TOO PERFECT.

"i wish i could un-recall how we almost had it all" and "you're the love/loss of my life" as both baxter AND mc mourning what could have been if they were two different people...if they'd met under different circumstances, in different periods of their lives. if they had one, two, a thousand more chances to get it right. if they weren't built to fall apart - destined to find and then lose each other as if it was nothing. if mc is the moon and cove is the sun, then baxter is the ever-buoying ocean - destined to forever reflect their light and be swayed from shore to shore by mc's magnetic pull - but the way they dip below his horizons by dawn as if melting into him, it's nothing more than the illusion of touch; the ghost of something he might have had once but can't hope to yearn for again.

OKAY I THINK I'VE BEEN RAMBLING WAY TOO MUCH FOR A COMFORTABLE-TO-READ TUMBLR ASK SKJDFKDFJD... truly i will never get over how you just took my silly little thoughts and absolutely TOOK OFF with them, i'll literally never be the same after "that'd be too selfish. he couldn't be that selfish." DUDE LIVES WERE CHANGED. PEOPLE DIED. (it's me, i'm people) so all of this is just to say YOU HAVE DONE IT ONCE AGAIN . ABSOLUTE ICON . 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

"if mc is the moon and cove is the sun, then baxter is the ever-buoying ocean - destined to forever reflect their light" + ".. the way they dip below his horizons by dawn as if melting into him, it's nothing more than the illusion of touch; the ghost of something he might have had once but can't hope to yearn for again."

IS FUCKING CRAZY. OH MY GOD. IM GOING TO SOB??? IM.. IM ON THE FLOOR?? THE WALL???? SHIT, MY LIFE WAS CHANGED JUST NOW AFTER THAT PARAGRAPH. WHAT THE FUCK. like excuse me while i go tattoo such a GUT WRENCHING BUT SO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, SUCH A POETIC PARAGRAPH ON MY EYELIDS !!!!!

AND YES YES YES "you're the loss of my life" IS FUCKING CRAZY. I WAS GRIPPING MY STUFFED ANIMAL WITH BOTH HANDS. THAT WAS SO CRAZY N SO FUCKING TRUE

IN FACT. THATS LITERALLY BAXTER'S LINE???? baxter meeting you again, be it when you help plan scott and jude's wedding or when you marry cove, THAT IS HIS FUCKING LINE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU DON'T GET BACK TOGETHER WITH HIM..

literally screaming rn, i will not be able to sleep at all omg... i'm gonna be thinking about that reflecting their light line all fucking night... LIKE I KNOW IT SOUNDS LIKE IM EXAGGERATING BUT I AM GENUINELY SHAKEN /POS. YOU HAVE ME IN A DEATH GRIP RN ISTG

i love your mind. my writing freak as been matched. you are brilliant 😭👏👏👏👏

also im trying to listen to more of the songs on ttpd but istg i cannot hear if i cant see words so im checking the lyrics and. THE SMALLEST MAN TO EVER LIVED? BAXTER CODED ANDI NEED YOU TO HEAR ME OUT

"was any of it true? / gazing at me starry-eyed in your jehovah witness suit / who the fuck was that guy?" + "and i dont even want you back, i just want to know / if rusting my sparkling summer was the goal"

THAT LINE. "i just want to know if rusting my sparkling summer was the goal" THIS IS SO PERFECT FOR IF YOURE STILL MAD AT BAXTER EVEN 5 YEARS LATER.

and listen, i have somewhere to be in the morning so i can't wax poetry abt this line right now, imma type some shit up later bc i am going CRAZY but literally even though baxter gave you such a lovely time, and even though you knew it was going to end. even though you hoped he'd stay for awhile..

the way he wraps you up in his arms so sweetly, smiles at you so handsomely... he has you hooked on him like a drug only to turn you away, blame you for your addiction to him. blamed you for still yearning for the temporary but euphoric effects of his love...

[legionofpotatoes]

For real, your take on Mando season 3 is completely on point. But I get not feeling able to say it out loud without a disclaimer before, after, and in the tags to keep from getting shouted at in the reblogs. It's just the messed up nature of being in the SW fandom on Tumblr. Speaking your mind on your own blog is an invitation for buffoonery.

If I were completely honestly, I'm not in the least shocked that's what we got. I've long held the opinion that the worst part about the fandom is the fan opinions and expectations out of a new series, and the expectation that a formula for a show won't change, or that a character will maintain one set mentality/trope while simultaneously offering new, completely different story arcs. It isn't necessarily impossible to pull off, but it takes very careful planning and execution. And, unfortunately, that has never been a strength in this franchise, even before Disney ownership.

For most shows, it's the season 5 slump. After 5 seasons, all the flavor is gone and any additional seasons are painfully rehashed at best. For all the corporate financial squeezing that's been done to Mando since the beginning of the show to wring out revenue like its a wet washcloth, it really tracks that were in this place after only 3 seasons.

IMO the only thing that's going to save Andor is the fact that the end of the story has already been told in Rogue One and its confirmed that season 2 will end at that point of the timeline. If it was going to be a 3+ season show, I suspect we'd see the same treatment.

Anyway, I'll stop flapping my gums in your ask box. Your hot take encapsulated what felt off about this season to me. I couldn't put words to it, but it just felt....meh.

I just disable reblogs and try not to tag it in an inflammatory way, my gripes are genuinely like. basic semiotics and story sense, I'm not going after anyone's childhood or feel-goodness. This is all me-problems and me-expectations with a massive machine of commerce that will never give a shit lmao

I too wrote a couple of posts back in s2 days expecting something of this sort going forward after the weirdly presumptuous cameo-baiting of s2 and whatever in the goddamn hell boba fett did with its mando tie-ins, but an entire season of tirespinning sure was a surprising choice. I think writing for TV is fundamentally different than writing for film, so I didn't really see a clear parallel of incompetence within the franchise; and especially with season 1 being so solid in balancing both the overarching and the episodic stuff I felt like they had a neat ramp to milk a decently long character piece out of.

But I can't help but feel like my main problem with the disney/abrams/filoni/favreau era of star wars is its irrationally strong love for the aesthetic. it blinds them to good choices that will then make for interesting stories. gently deradicalizing, humanizing, and then literally AND figuratively getting din out of his shell so he could open up to a child's love could be such an effective, simple to parse, and wholesome core to structure the series around, but that would upend the aesthetic of their cowboy-ass romp a bit too fast and have an end and an identity and all that non-marketing friendly stuff. so they keep withholding his psyche, they keep giving then taking clear communication tools away from grogu, they keep teasing their bond but never outright stating it (I cannot believe after 3 seasons he still hasn't just looked at the baby and directly confessed he loved him), so they can keep bumping those goalposts back and forth while pretending it's progress. because they are in love with the aesthetic.

again, this is my main problem, I don't see this as a problem writ large or even something that represents a wrong way to do star wars. who the hell even knows how you treat a franchise that large at this point, what importance you assign to aesthetic vs. story, all that jazz. I don't know. they're the ones with the analytics data, so they definitely know better. and maybe that's the saddest part

[my-castles-crumbling]

hi cas :)

I'm starting an English assignment now. I'm going to tell you when it's done, because accountability and pride

also I just saw your response to my other ask. I totally forgot that Tumblr doesn't give notifications for anon asks and it freaked me out that you hadn't responded but you had lol

why doesn't it? and during pride month too? smh queerphobia this is

the assignment is a poster thing where you have to cite quotes- hang on. I'm totally overcomplicating this in my head. just. I have to cite mediocre stories that make no sense and also a movie (it's a good movie. I've seen it before and I've liked it)

why the hell is it hard? what am I struggling with?

those are the big questions we are going to solve tonight. tonight, because if we leave it to tomorrow we're fucked

(it's hard due tomorrow. I've already gotten an extension it was due yesterday)

off to do things

wait fuck biology. I should do the extra credit for biology. fuck that's hard due tonight. I'm gonna do that bye <3

-starlight anon :) (yippee I'm starlight anon :D)

(the stuff below was written before the above stuff lol)

oh! I just remembered that taylor swift has a song called starlight. I love that song. it's just vibes and I love it. I chose starlight because stars are cool as hell and just. shiny

just imagine dancing in the starlight on a dock by a lake and you're the only ones and the fireflies are the only things lighting up the area around you or maybe they're the lights from Tangled, but it's you and your partner or someone else you love and you're in fancy clothes because magic is real and it's the 40's and you couldn't have less of a care in the world because you're dancing and you're having a great time and it's beautiful out and there aren't any annoying bugs that are gonna bite your arms and it can just be you and someone else and you're dancing with the stars shining brightly above you and the moon shining softly bathing the world in a quiet glow

and the fireflies swirl around you like they're participating in the dance too but they never get in the way

and there aren't any railings on the dock and you could totally fall in but every time you nearly slip your partner catches you like it's part of the dance and vice versa if they fall

that's what taylor's song feels like.

(ps I don't use TikTok but I hope your algorithm is good)

Hi hon!

Did you get your assignment done? I hope you did!

And YES I wish tumblr gave anon ask notifications! It's so annoying! UGH

And yessss that taylor swift song is amazing....now I need to listen to it.

<3 <3 <3

[mlynar-nearl]

idea for black hats: mlynar gets badly injured in an operation and while delirious from treatment mistakes margaret and maria for their parents and calls them by their names (bets up on whether or not this makes maria cry)

little did you know that when people send me things on my tumblr for me to write they get posted here first <:D

margaret didn't flow into it as i wrote nor did i exactly go with the idea that he's delirious but i kept the spirit of maria hearing things he wants to say to her father, ideally in private. featuring good uncle toland, because, well, i like them normal amount.

Maria Nearl got paged from her work station when her uncle had stumbled into a Rhodes Island branch office in outer Kazimierz, bleeding badly.

Specifically, three hours before Maria Nearl was paged, her uncle walked in to a Rhodes Island branch office currently thirty miles from the Grand Knight Territory, said "I'm done with my assignment" and promptly removed one hand from his side to reveal a gushing wound.

In true Młynar fashion, he had then attempted to insist to the office workers that he was fine and just needed to borrow some bandages before passing out with all the timing of a bad joke.

In the intervening time, medical personnel had extracted him to the landship for recovery, at which point, Maria Nearl had been paged and informed, since her older sister was still in the Grand Knight Territory, and she was the closest family member. This was not for purely emotional reasons- truthfully, in addition to sharing hair color, hair type, and eyes, all of the surviving Nearls share a blood type, and are all far too altruistic at heart to say no to giving blood.

So, an hour total after her unconscious uncle arrived at Rhodes Island and she was informed of the situation, Maria Nearl sits at his bedside drinking a Siesta Sun juice pouch after having donated as much blood as physically possible.

Her entire life, her uncle has always looked tired, pale, and worn. To be honest, if you had asked her, she would have thought he was always at close to his worst. But maybe that's the naivete he always tells her she's full of, because he looks even worse now.

Maria pauses halfway through a drink of her juice pouch. By now, it's not the first time she's seen people get hurt- seriously hurt, even some die, no matter what they do and no matter what she does. But this is different. She remembers grandfather's condition deteriorating over time after Margaret left, when he and Młynar argued over him having to move to the hospital, and then that decision was made for them, and then he was gone. She tugs off her other work glove and fits her hand into her uncle's. She feels him stir a little at the touch, and sits up.

"Wujek Młynar?"

He moves again, but Maria can tell that he's still primarily unconscious. "Schnitz..."

Even though she doesn't want to go anywhere, it feels like an intrusion to keep listening. She squeezes her hand. "I'm here, uncle."

"You should see your daughters, Schnitzel," Młynar slurs, half-asleep. "You never got to see Maria grow up. You said in your letters you were guessing her first word...would have learned so much from you..."

Maria knows. She read those letters. "It's okay, uncle. I learned from you, too. You were everything I needed. I promise." She squeezes his hand tighter. "You're going to be alright."

Młynar fidgets as if he's about to wake up. "Schnitz, please, don't go, I can't-"

Maria squeezes him tighter. "It's okay uncle, it's okay, papa's gone, it's just me..." She realizes that she's crying. She wipes her eyes frantically with her free hand, and sets down her juice pouch.

Behind her, there's a knock at the door. She sits up quickly, not letting go of her uncle's hand. "Um-- hello?"

"It's just me, kid," Toland Cash says. "Can I come in?"

"Oh- of course, Mr. Toland..."

Maria hears the door open and close, but doesn't turn around to look at him. So she's startled when a sarkaz hand lands gently on her head, right between her ears. She squeaks.

"Take a deep breath, Maria."

"I- I--" She pauses, then starts crying again.

"Come on, come on," Toland says softly, giving her a soft pat. "I know Młynar better than anyone on this world and he wouldn't want you freaking out. He's going to be fine. He's seen worse."

That almost makes Maria cry harder.

Toland pats her head gently again. "It's alright, it's alright."

Maria wipes her eyes with her free hand. "It's just that-"

"Just that what?"

"You sound just like him!" Maria exclaims, almost a wail.

Toland pauses, then bursts into laughter. "Fuck! I think I do!"

The fact that he's laughing makes Maria start laughing, until she's giggling and crying at the same time. Toland sits down next to her. "Don't worry, okay? It's just blood loss. He'll make it back. I babysat him once while some of my guys did the same treatment."

"I don't remember uncle talking in his sleep."

"Has he been?"

"Mhm."

Toland laughs, leaning back in his chair. "That's because he only talks nonsense when he's on painkillers, little Maria."

"Nonsense?"

Toland shrugs. "Not quite nonsense, but it's talking in your sleep. It doesn't always make sense."

"What did he talk about when you did this before?"

Toland pauses, remembers for a minute, then breaks into a fond grin. "He was reading a picture book to his future niece. This would have been a few weeks after he found out your parents were expecting Margaret."

Maria smiles to herself, and squeezes her uncle's hand again. Młynar whispers something intended for her father that she can't hear.

"What did he talk about this time?" Toland asks. Maria's face falls a little.

"He was talking to papa."

"It's okay." Toland leans over and ruffles her hair. "You can stay, if you want."

"Please."

Maria quickly falls asleep with her head resting on her uncle's chest. When he wakes up several hours later, when the sun is setting, he gently removes his hand from hers and wraps his arm around her. He's interrupted on his path back to sleep by Toland kissing his forehead, which he makes a grumpy noise about. Toland grins at how cute he is, and lets them rest.

[winterandwords]

Word find tag (cloud, branch, tree, animal, stars + hand, yell, deal, wait, lose)

I'm combining two word find tags into one big lemgthy boi featuring lines from Bridge From Ashes because I'm deep into editing and absolutely loving it.

@catchingbigfish gave me cloud, branch, tree, animal, and stars, and @pertinax--loculos gave me hand, yell, deal, wait and lose. Thanks, friends!

CLOUD

My awareness falls through the people around us, shadows of ghosts, blurred faces and hollow gaps in reality, lit from behind by flashes of ultraviolet and xenon blue and pink, painting silhouettes like midnight cloud cover.

BRANCH LIMB

Maybe a well-trained attack dog is all I'm ever going to be. Anyway. I’d put money on at least half the people in these lifts not having all the limbs they were born with, but none of them have faces like mine.

TREE

The room is all gold and deep reds and dark glass with windows reaching up to a double-height ceiling. The balcony outside is filled with kinds of trees and plants I’ve never seen before. We’re so high up, the only buildings visible are a handful of other towers that pierce the clouds.

ANIMAL

You still get sent out on assignments like this sometimes or, if you’re unlucky enough to get promoted again, you end up leading them. But they’re not your bread and butter. Once you’re a pet instead of cattle, they’re just an occasional meal.

STARS

The room’s dark apart from slashes of blue-green light from outside shining through the blinds. The sounds of the boundaries around us and miles upon miles of city beyond melt into our heartbeats and the sky collapses and covers us in stars. And I need this. I need him. I need whatever part of me is still breathing when it’s over. “Please.”

HAND

 “The scars go the whole way, but you don’t.” I reach for his hand with its cuts and swollen knuckles and lift the bottom of my shirt just enough for him to touch the skin above my waistband, carved and burned into layers of intersecting lines, mottled with a spectrum of black, purple and yellow bruises. “This is as far as you go.”

YELL

Down the hall, between me and where I’m going, a door swings open and someone rolls and crashes out, followed by a shriek and what looks like a low-grade scatter bullet based on the chips it breaks out of the opposite wall. I stop long enough to make sure nothing hits me, then I step around the angry pile of rags yelling empty threats at the source of the bullet.

DEAL

“You sent him to research and marked him as expandable?” She taps a finger on the back of my hand where the line from the graft has long since vanished. “And you would’ve left him dead in a pool of blood on the floor in temp holding if I hadn’t stopped you, which would’ve been a whole mess of paperwork that we’d both have had to deal with. There’s no moral high ground here.”

WAIT

He lifts his coat from the chair and takes out a knife and a heavy-duty cauteriser. It’s way more hardcore than what I carry or what he’s used with me before and it isn’t recreational. It could save lives in the right hands, but it’s death waiting to happen in his.

LOSE

I don’t look at him when I leave. I don’t stop at the observation deck to talk. I’ve done my part. I follow corridors and lifts and meaningless artificial daylight back to the darkness of my office. Ezra will come and find me. He’ll complain about me leaving Examination without coming back to the deck first. I’ll tell him to fuck off and he’ll try not to lose his temper but he’ll lose it anyway and it won’t affect me any more than it ever does.

Tagging @thegreatobsesso, @manathen, @nanashi23, @ezestreet and @i-can-even-burn-salad. If you'd like to do it, the words to search your WIP (or completed works, because fuck the system) for are space, lost, dark, and pain.

Also, this is an open tag, which means anyone seeing this is welcome to jump in and do it. If you're new to Tumblr, writeblr or tag games, you're especially encouraged to get involved. It doesn't matter if we don't know each other and you're seeing this on someone else's blog. Remember to @ me so I can read and reblog your post 💜

[buck-yyyy]

alright, yeah, yeah, this subject is tired, and i'm sure several people have done it before, but fuck that, we're going through this again.

(the familial parallels just don't stop coming, do they? hopper left the eggos in the woods, meaning that he got el to trust him so that he could take care of her. mike brought el eggos in his basement, meaning that he got el to trust him so that he could take care of her.)

(y’all will never guess who came before this line. i shit you not, they slapped the mi|even forehead touch in between the shots of will/dustin and nancy/jonathan, and as soon as hopper started talking they cut to j@ncy.)

(hmmmmmmm..........)

*SHOTS OF THE CABIN WENT HERE! FELT THEY WERE UNNECESSARY AND I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO PUT THEM IN!*

(wow? i wonder what about him has changed this season?) (sarcasm. btw)

(growing up scares him? ………just like will, throughout this entire season?)

*A SHOT OF WILL CRYING IN THE CAR WENT HERE!*

and then THIS is where it gets particularly good

(implying that hawkins will end up bringing them back?)

(just lost her brother. self explanatory for how that line ties into her character)

(erica, staunchly anti-nerd, is a nerd--hence what’s surprising)

ANDDDD that's thirty images, which is where tumblr cuts me off. but i got all the important ones in there, so i'll call it a win :O

anyways. we've been over this a million times but the VO is relevant to the shots it's playing over. the fact that there's NO VO shots with mi|even, despite there being several lines that would fit in with their supposed character arcs, but there's SEVERAL with mike by himself thinking about changing and wanting to go back to how things used to be, a sentiment that's usually assigned to will, is MIGHTY telling. just saying :)