#ik i said i wasn't coming back to the fandom yet but.

[flimsy-spine]

♡

[chickenkurage]

KJABKJHAJHAKJGAKHGKUSGJSHGKSJGSKJGAKJHAKJ CHPATWE 8 WAS NOT I WAS EXPECTING AT ALL BUT OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!!!!! HONESTLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHAPTERS SO FAR IN THIS FIC-

ANYWAYS FIRST OF ALL, EXPERIMENTS ON THE FIGHTERS??? MAKING THEM AGGRESSIVE AND ALL??? WHA- I- IS THIS GONNA COME UP LATER OR SOMETHING BECAUSE WHAT IN THE ABSOLUTE HECK??? AND OFC MAUVE IS REALLY INTERESTED IN THESE EXPERIMENTS BUT YEAH HOW IN THE WORLD DID HE MANAGED TO JUST SLIP PAST AND GRAB THOSE FOR HIMSELF LIKE DANG- I AGREE WITH SLATE HE'S A DOCTOR NOT A SCIENTIST SO DON'T BECOME LIKE A CERTAIN SOMEONE- *AHEM* SABLE- *COUGH* SORRY- (BUT LEARNING ABOUT THE EXPERIMENTS DOES GIVE ME AN OPPORTUNITY FOR MY CORRUPTION AU THOUGH.....), BUT YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ANOTHER SLATE AND PURPLE MEETING!!! AND A SLATE AND KING MEETING LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SLATE OUR FAVORITE LITTLE AWKWARD GUY- AND DON'T QUESTIONS THE NAME THE FANDOM GAVE KING SLATE I ASSUME THAT'S WHERE IT COME FROM BECAUSE OF THE COMMUNITY- ANOTHER FLASHBACK OF NAVY WITH HIS FAMILY YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! THEY LOOKED SO HAPPY BEFORE WHAT THE HECK!?!?!? PURPLE SEEMED SO HAPPY BEFORE TOO OH MY GOSH??? NOT THE OVERSIZED JACKET AND BOOTS- BUT ORCHID ACTUALLY KNOWS ABOUT HOW NAVY'S JOB IS LIKE??? ESPECIALLY WITH THAT BRUISE ON HIS NECK- BUT THEY BOTH SEEMED SO HAPPY BEFORE TOO AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONGGGGGGGGGG- BUT SLATE ACTUALLY HAS BEEN QUESTIONING HIMSELF WHO HE TRULY WAS BY TOUCHING HIS NECK??? *INHALES* OH MY GOSH IT WILL SOMEHOW ALL CLICKED TO HIM PROBABLY OH MY GOSH- BUT HIIIIIIIIII AGAIN ALAN- AND WHAT??? HE'S ACTUALLY FAKING AND PRETENDING??? 06 HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT??? WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- SO HE IS TRYING TO FIND HALO... THE SNEAK PEAK OF ARC 4 WITH ALAN AND HAL- OH MY GOSH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS GIVE HIM WHAT HE F*CKING DESERVES ALAN!!! GIVE HIM IT!!! BUT THE AWKWARD MOMENT OF ALAN SUDDENLY BREAKING IN AND DESTROYING HOUSE JUST TO REALIZE SLATE DOESN'T ACTUALLY KNOW WHERE HALO IS AND ISN'T DOING ANYTHING AT ALL ANYMORE UNDER HIS COMMAND, BUT SLATE CRYING AND POSSIBLY HAVING THE URGE TO FULL ON BREAK DOWN IN FRONT OF ALAN LIKE- SLATE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IT'S OKAYYYYYYYYY MAUVE WILL UNDERSTAND I HOPE- MAYBE- I HOPE THOUGH- BUT YES, YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES ALAN AND NULL FINALLY REUNITE!!! WELL SORT OF SINCE NULL IS STILL IN A COMA LIKE SLATE STATED- YES ALAN PLEASE GO VISIT HER WHEN YOU CAN YOU BOTH NEED EACH OTHER AFTER EVERYTHING OH MY GOSH- PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEE- BUT IT'S ACTUALLY REVEALED ON WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED- THE MEMORY WIPED ACTUALLY WORKED BUT HE'S BEEN GETTING DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES ABOUT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED BEFORE IT WAS ALL WIPED LIKE IT ALL CAME BACK TO HIM, OFC HE DIDN'T FULLY REMEMBER EVERYTHING YET SINCE HE SAID IT'S STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS BUT AT LEAST HE'S REMEMBERING AGAIN!!! BUT HONESTLY I WONDER HOW HE FEELS NOW ABOUT HOW HIS OWN FAMILY TRIED TO LITERALLY RESET HIM COMPLETELY AND ACT LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED... SURE HE HAS THEM ALL FOR HIMSELF AND THEY START TO CARE BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY??? LIKE WHAT IF THE MEMORY WIPED DID BRING CONSEQUENCES LIKE DID IT MAKE HIM FORGET HE LITERALLY "DIED" FROM THE CAR CRASH??? HOW HIS IRL FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE PROBABLY STILL MOURNING FOR HIM RN, LIKE ESPECIALLY HIS OWN HUMAN LIFE... OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH- VICTIM PLEASE HE NEEDS TO AT LEAST HEAL SLOWLY AND MAKE PROGRESS YOU CAN'T MAKE YOURSELF AND EVERYONE ELSE ACT LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED OH MY GOSH- IK HE BURNT YOU AND WASN'T RESPONDING BUT THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HE'S BEEN THROUGH ABSOLUTE HECK FOR THE PAST THREE WEEKSSS!!! BUT HONESTLY ALAN ACTING LIKE THIS LIKE... MORE DIFFERENTLY AND NOT LIKE A SOFT HEARTED TYPE NOW OR SOMETHING??? IDK IT FEELS MORE DIFFERENT BUT I LOVE IT, OFC HE WANTS TO FIND HALO, OFC HE'LL PROBABLY THINK ABOUT WHAT HIS FAMILY TRIED TO DO TO HIM, LIKE LITERALLY ALL OF THAT AND ETC- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ALANNNNNNNNNNN HOW ARE YOU GONNA BE LIKE NOWWWWWWWWW- BUT AT LEAST HIM AND SLATE ARE ON EVEN TERMS AND SLATE FINALLY BROUGHT ALAN BACK TO NULL NOW!!! MOTHER AND SON!!! THEY'RE TOGETHER AGAIN LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

BRAVO MOMGEYYY!!! BRAVOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! DEFINITELY ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHAPTERS SO FAR IN THIS FIC!!!!

Okay i also agree Chapter 8 is my favorite, since it feature our Boy Failure "Slate" LOLLLLLL

Experimentation was used a lot by Halo before Alan had come into the picture, after all we don't exactly easily acquire super powered sticks. They need some kind of formula to "Cheat" somehow, after all Halo hated losing. And yes, they did manage to develop a "medicine" that somehow give their fighter's speed and strength temporarily. Though at a cost of being quite addicting and sometimes personality changing, depending on the age they had administered the "medication". So, it was quite normal for some of Halo's fighters to grow erratic, easy to anger and sometimes even crazy after consuming so much of the formula. (And I'm really glad that this can connect to your CS Corruption eeeeee)

And lmao, we love our awkward boy failure Slate, who can't even hold a proper conversation with someone his age, aka King LMAO. At least he gets to talk with Purple again!! I really love the part where he's just confused why MT is called King, then Purple tells him his name is Mango Tango, which made it much worse. Because who would call themselves Mango Tango willingly? LOL Slate, don't think about it too much, or your brain might explode, God created you not to think /j

Navy, Orchid and Purple. They seem so happy back then, what happened? What made Navy change into someone who would willingly hurt his kid? What changed him? And the bruise on his neck, what does it mean? And what…."medication"?

Alan just being Slate's opp is just hilarious, imagine him going out his way to go to Mauve's house, beat the shit out of Slate, break half the house, throw Slate through the wall, then stop when you're so-called enemy started crying in front of you LMAO. At least Alan has a heart, somewhere there.

My favorite part of this chapter is really just Slate crying because Alan broke half the house and not the fact Alan had beat the shit out of him. Like what? Slate has his priorities straight LMFAO. Bro is worried about Mauve's house more than his own wellbeing, this boy failure istg.

I'm glad that Alan finally found Null again, and yes, a little about Alan's side. How the memory wiper did work…...but somehow dreams and nightmares kept happening, showing all his memories…. How? That's weird, I wonder who would do that LOL.

I've got to agree with you, Victim really should have gone the more natural way to help Alan. Now he's probably a bit messed up in the head, because we all know Alan doesn't really remember anything but depends on his dreams. It's possible that his information can be wrong (kudos to you 06, don't think I can't see you planning on doing that /j).

And Alan, I hope you guys like this brand-new version….or well not exactly a brand-new version of him, it's still him…. after all, xP.

And hey, at least Alan and Slate are on good terms. God, forbid we see them fighting again, I really doubt Slate would fight back considering he knew how important Alan is to Null lmao. But if he does….I wonder xD. We still have never really see Slate fight, but we know he does have it in there. Talk about sleeper build (Both Alan and Slate lmao, I love these two goobers)

And hehe I'm glad you like the chapter 8! Chapter 9 next people!!!! - S

[scattered-winter]

Say, what are some characters you feel like had a metric ton of potential that was completely scrapped by the writers?

i feel like it would be cheating if i said all of them so. ill try and be more specific lmao <3 i was gonna show restraint and only do a few but FUCK IT you're getting the entire essay

coran. i know he's meant to be the Comic Relief character but idk. its possible to have a comic relief character who also has gravity and emotion, ykw ??? like idk i feel like all the show/fandom ever talks about is how allura lost everything (which is TRUE. SHE DID. IM NOT TRYING TO MINIMIZE THAT AT ALL.) but idk. allura was young enough that she probably didn't really have an established life on altea yet but coran??? he was an adult. fully grown, probably had friends or coworkers, even a partner and family. idk idk he lost as much as if not more than allura did and the writers barely ever acknowledged it. he isn't allowed to connect with any of the characters or have any actual genuine moments because he's supposed to be The Funny One. idk if the writing actually aknowledged his grief and trauma more, but still made him so lighthearted and goofy, that would be FASCINATING. HE STILL HAS HOPE. HE CAN STILL LAUGH. ET CETERA. but noooo he's just Silly with nothing deeper to it. sigh

in that same vein, hunk. again, he's often comic relief (and that comic relief is usually a fat joke

lotor. ik a lot of ppl have mixed opinions on the guy (fair) but like. he had SO much potential to be so many different things but i think the writers just. had too many things they wanted him to be. so his writing was all over the place because they couldn't make up their minds

haggar......again. i had SUCH a hard time pinning down any of her motives or characterization when she was the Main Villain (which to be fair might have been due to the fact that i was Mentally Checked The Fuck Out by the time s7/s8 rolled around) but like ??? i still have no idea what she was trying to do as the main villain in s7/8. she was such a menacing villain in the first few seasons but then the writing got soo confusing and needlessly complicated and i completely lost interest in anything about her character

shiro. the fact that he went through So Much but still gave the blade of marmora enough hope to risk everything to rescue him and kickstart the events of s1 ??? the fact that he Continued to go through So Much but was still a rock for the team and was still goofy and fun and dorky and lovable ?????? and ALL THAT to not even be in the show for the next 5 or so seasons and then be permanently sidelined when he DOES come back. what the fuck. like they tried to have an atlas metaphor later on to try and bring him back into the narrative but it was MEANINGLESS. sooo much wasted potential. a narrative about healing....finding love + family + connection......ending the war that has caused so much pain for Him Personally......man. we could have had it ALL

keith. i legiterally don't even recognize keith after s3 like !!! who is this man !!!!! he had abandonment + anger issues from being alone his Whole Life and instead of finding a close-knit family in space, he was isolated again and again and again, and shoved into a role he didn't want and wasn't meant for, and by the end bro was UNRECOGNIZABLE. in theory i LOVE the concept of keith learning to rely on his team more and take more of a leadership role as he grows as a person + teammate, but they had the PERFECT opportunity to do that already with keith being red paladin!!!!!!!! the red paladin is voltron's right hand!!!!!!! if the black isn't there, then red steps up to take charge!!!!!! idk. it would have been so so so so cool if shiro was only missing Temporarily and keith had to work through his own grief/fear/etc and take up the mantle of red paladin to keep the team together just long enough until shiro got back because he would NOT want that shit long-term. idk. i know keith literally got most of the storylines and arcs in the show but i still think he had wasted potential because most of those arcs fundamentally misunderstood him as a character and turned him into something he wasn't. idk

allura. she lost her ENTIRE FAMILY her ENTIRE CULTURE her ENTIRE SPECIES and it doesn't stop there lol !!!! over the course of the show she lost LITERALLY EVERYTHING. the castle of lions (the last remnant of her home), her tiara thingie (last thing she had left of her family), AND her life. what the fuuuck what the fuck. EVEN WITH the other alteans w romelle's group, allura still got discarded. like idk. she grieved her whole people and tried so hard to lead this resistance and then after she's grown so much and become a powerful leader and warrior she becomes queen of new altea. that would have been SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

matt. he was alone in space for YEARS. like its unclear how long it was between shiro saving him from the arena and pidge finally finding him, but it was at LEAST a year, probably longer. he was a prisoner for most of that time, separated from the only two people he knew, and likely thinking they're both dead. no way to be rescued. no way to escape. and THEN when he IS rescued by the rebels, he's alone still because he's the only human!!! none of them can speak his language!!! he can't go home!!!! and ofc he fights the galra as part of the resistance and is this badass rebel leader but the show doesn't shed ANY light on how he got there. how he turned from nerdy little scientist to badass rebel leader in a space war. and just. idk. there was barely ANY matt screentime and there was so much wasted potential there

and i could keep going. i could have an essay for every single character. but alas i am sooo fucking sleepy so i must cap it here </3

[enigmasandepiphanies]

I am supposed to write a poem but I can't and I haven't written in a year and I really wanted to write on this ever since I had a convo with my childhood best friend about how there are people in my city who have roots. That's the term she used. Roots. They have culture, community, they feel they belong, they miss the city, and the city misses them, their mother tongue is here, their families and friends are and they wanna come back here after all this time and I have been born and brought up in this state but the language is not mine. I don't know anything about my ancestry and my grandparents refuse to talk about how they came into this country, how their religion was stamped on their hands as a plea to keep them secure

and it's fucking hilarious that ik Shakespeare, Premchand, Korean nursery rhymes but the only sentence I can say in my mother tongue is "my name is my name" and that's the only sentence I have spoken to anyone who has asked me to talk in my language and I don't know why that's the first thing, maybe I am trying to prove my name exists in my mother tongue

but it is okay, sun poured heat little by little over my maa's aloe vera plant and I grew up with it, making my own culture like yogurt, like bacteria, like fandom. what is a cultural crisis but a stories that end in a comma rather than a period? I grew up reading books, licking the plate of stories from my dad's mythology tales to my mum's same old lion and the mouse story to second hand books from book fairs to young adult novels

and then I discovered fandom and fan culture and fan community and listen, it wasn't online it was irl at the heart of my two childhood best friends with whom I cried over gay characters because they were prisms of our tattered angsty adolescent selves, I sang kpop songs so loud even though I didn't know the lyrics, yet they were more home than my mother tongue. perhaps home is where all attempts to escape cease to exist

and it was a warm home, stories that matter to me, that i giggled over with a lovenote of shared eye glances in literature classes, guess the character games during sports days and dressing up with our fave story characters on a friend's birthday, jumping in corridors, doing the taekook handshake in the homeroom till we almost missed our school bus, narrating character analysis and fanfic plots in early morning bus rides at fucking 7 am but my bestie's ears didn't bleed because in this city, the only place I belong was in fiction, in stories and languages which I didn't know but called home

but we grew up, some stories remained and some became a ruin without a city, without a location, like language, like my mother tongue

perhaps stories meant so much to me because the people did. in my university's literature class, we talk about adaptation and transformative works but how do i tell my professor that we shape stories as much as they shape us, how do i tell them that i don't ever scream to 'you need to calm down' or 'kiwi' without seeing my best friends face in my head, that when my uni friend texted me about do you know hayley kiyoko i didn't tell her about how I loved her album only because my childhood bestie made me listen to it on my scooty (she's lesbian jesus so ofc ik her), how do I tell new bts armys in the movie theatre where I watched the suga documentary that I forgot taekook handshake because the girl who did it with me lives cities away and forgets to message me sometimes but everytime I meet her she hugs me and my 15 year old self, how do I tell a uni friend that run bts is not the same because the person who laughed with me the most during the new years eve is the same one I said bye to this new years

and then there are other stories of how I haven't eaten raw mango popsicles since a year because I was scared I will get sick. the only reason I wasn't getting sick before was because the person-who-laughed-with-me-during-run-bts told me to shut up and enjoy it , how I can never tell someone about fanfic plots is because my childhood friend lives far away and only she knows what I actually mean when I say love is stored in fan fiction. how I can never sit behind her activa while she tells me the meaning of decalcomania. how the people who reshaped those stories with me never knew how they were so important to me because we were reshaping them together. They were not escapism, they were an explanation to who I am. But perhaps they were escaping their homes and found solace in mine, perhaps they were building my home and their home with me too

and will they ever know that i was giving them the tenderness of my mother tongue? well, ocean vuong said sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof you have been ruined. maybe that's why my mother doesn't say any endearments in our mother tongue, because it always ends in partition, a slip of the tongue.

people often tell me that my tenderness is not the tenderness they wanted and it sucks because I try and try and still fail at love languages. sometimes I think I don't know how to give tenderness because I wasn't taught my mother tongue and I constantly seek refuge in another language. how to give tenderness when you have been unkind anyway?

but stories, they are my migration certificate. my uni friends don't realize that. when they don't understand why fandom and stories are so important to me, I close my eyes and think about how longing is such a gullible word for something so predatory.

oh btw decalcomania is a technique used by some surrealist artists which involves pressing paint between sheets of paper and when you open it it's symmetrical. in the song she and I loved it meant when two people have something in common

but what storytellers and storylovers like to forget is when someone joins you on the page of your book, they will not stay on that page for long

because stories continue and goodness, I actually love life because stories continue

and in the end, I am a fan of many fandoms and ik people who know how much that story meant to them will come back to it, write fics and tumblr posts and lovingly caress that annotated page where we first joined hands

shit I still can't write the poem and this one ends with a comma, but hey stories continue

okkiee lol this was brought to you by this mindfucking convo I had with my friends, but also some of this will actually end up in that poem , this is just a mishmash about cultural crisis, career crisis, do I wanna settle in abroad crisis but in the end stories are always home literally like some people don't understand how big it is for me

and sidenote my friend who has "roots" said this which I think is very sweet ahh

[beebobeebo]

Title: The One Where Somethin' Almost Happens

Fandom: Justified

Characters: Raylan Givens & Tim Gutterson

Pairing: Tim Gutterson x Raylan Givens (Givenson)

Summary:

Sometimes in the middle of things something just happens, almost.

Smutty to Sad-thetic!

Tim's cheek is raw from the scrape of the landlord special paint job on the wall of his apartment.

His apartment he is not getting his deposit back on because he just came pressed against that same fucking half-wallpapered nineties debacle of a wall. There's the threat of doing it again if Raylan doesn't let himself break loose from where his hips are pinning Tim's to the wall.

"Fuck, Raylan! Shit or get off the goddamn - Fu-fuck!" Raylan presses into him with such force that, his hipbones and cheek are going to be wearing the marks for days. "Shut up," Raylan breathes into his ear as he ruts him against the wall like he's some tipsy prom queen. He hates that he's up on his goddamn toes, hates that this feels so fucking good and that his sense of anything approaching sanity goes running at this cowboy-costumed asshole's touch. He hates that the moment Raylan comes, he would do anything the bastard asked him. Don't give him the goddamn nuclear codes, because the other man would have them in ten minutes.

He bites into the inside of his lip as his eyebrow aches from another rough jolt. He's going to look like he got his ass kicked and he's not above that thought making him press back and grab a handful of his partner's hair. That deep-seated need to antagonize roiling up from the pit of his stomach. "That it?" He has his answer quickly as a forearm forces his shoulders to the wall. "Goddamn it, Tim!" That rough, chesty rumble and the way a thumbnail is daggering into his back lets him know he has a moment to brace himself before—

"Jesus Fucking Christ," Raylan mutters after that long blank where Tim just felt. Every other sense bolted like a jackrabbit but damned if touch didn't compensate. The aching absence of fullness and heat as Raylan staggers off to do God knows what makes him smack his fist against the wall. Bastard. He shuffles to the kitchen to make some attempt at cleaning himself up.

Then Raylan is behind him the same sweet nothings rolling off his tongue as he takes an overstimulated Tim in hand. "Not yet," Tim moans, but he's nodding his head as he thrusts into Raylan's hand. His head tilts back for a kiss that's all teeth and tongue. Raylan's free hand runs through the hair curling across Tim's torso. He hates that he's whimpering and fucking mewling. "R-Raylan!"

He leans, panting, back into Raylan's arms. "Asshole."

Raylan smiles against his neck. "Your asshole. Like it when you say my name." Tim exhales deeply. "I hate you."

"Don't blame you," Raylan says softly into his hair. "Haven't been fair to you with Winona and—"

"Don't. If you apologize, I'll forgive you," Tim sighs out.

"Can't have that, "Raylan says placing soft kisses against against scratched shoulders. "You like how it is too much."

"I," Tim runs his tongue over his bottom lip. "Maybe it's easier."

"'Cause you like easy so goddamn much?" Raylan laughs.

"Fuck off." Tim smiles and pushes away from him, but Raylan tugs him back."Where do you think you're goin'?"

"Hell, eventually," Tim quips as his body betrays him and fits against Raylan's chest as the other man laughs at his stupid joke. "Stay close. I missed you," Raylan drawls out in that lazy way he has that tugs at every heartstring.

"I lo-ike this," Tim catches himself. He knows he's fucked up, but there is the outside chance that Raylan wasn't paying attention

"Yeah?" Raylan nuzzles Tim's neck. It's the easy ask of someone who has been told that someone loves them more than they've ever said it.

"'S fuck struck. Just forget it." Tim resolutely pushes away. "Ordering a pizza and putting ice on this." He gestures at his cheek.

"Tim?" Raylan goes to the sink to wash himself up before finding his pants.

"Raylan? Meat lovers? For the irony?" Tim is shaking his pants to find his phone.

"Tim stop."

"No. I like this. Don't fuck it up again. Don't let me fuck it up," Tim says as he finds his phone.

"Okay." Raylan nods. "Okay, jalapeños on the pizza and I let it go."

"On half. I did say I liked this, so halfway," Tim retorts as he flicks open the phone.

"Okay. Halfway. I'll meet you halfway."

[tobi-smp]

I know I just said this in dms but I am convinced that once c!crimes stories both end, it’s gonna be the final blow to the dsmp as a whole (assuming that Quackity, Sam (and sort of Karl) finish their character arcs beforehand, since as of now they have the strongest character lore aside from crimeboys)

Like I know a lot of people don’t wanna hear this and I myself hate admitting it but a good 90% of content anymore is purely headcanon and copium, and nothing that has truly been expressed or possibly ever will be expressed in canon. Most characters in fan content, aside from the ones that actually Are full characters and don’t slip to bad writing and whatnot, are just fans taking those characters and making them better than what the ccs can make.

Lemme be clear though, that making fancontent and making the characters more interesting and developed than canon could possibly ever provide is fine! Every fandom whose source material turned to shit has done this. But since we are all in the dsmp fandom, it’s just really unfortunate that it’s been added to that list.

Ik plenty of fic writers can do this series justice, I always have faith in them. And I know ppl will take inspiration from dsmp to make some of the most amazing shit imaginable.

But as it stands right now, almost no other cc aside from the ones I mentioned above have been able to really do anything interesting with their characters since early s3 and they’ve been shoved into the background and left to the waste side.

I definitely get that feeling. the big exception being characters with rock solid writing who aren't around much or aren't around Anymore (jack manifold, ponk, and slime are some of the best characters on the dsmp, but they aren't likely to carry season four any time soon. I'm gonna put out a missing persons report for c!dream in the next 10 minutes) and people with overall Good writing and characterization who haven't hit their stride with consistent storytelling yet (I've never been disappointed by foolish's writing for instance, and foolish is Around on the server quite often. but it's been a Good While since he really told a Story on the dream smp)

moreover, I think a lot of the new users have promise, they're just struggling to get their footing on a crumbling foundation.

but between dropped story lines, scheduling issues that go on into infinity, streamers deciding that they don't Want to engage with lore anymore, a lack of awareness and communication with other plot lines, and just outright Forgetting your own characterization and character connections we've gotten to the point where very few people feel like they're in character anymore. and the worse this issue gets the less confident I feel in these characters ever having a satisfying conclusion to their character arcs. or even, Character Arcs at all.

I've said it before, but it almost feels like I got tricked into being invested into stories and characters that ultimately did not matter and would never matter again. it's no secret that I started this blog because I was a techno stan, a bedrocker first and person second, and we know how that one turned out for me. but the sheer amount of time that I invested into the egg arc or the enderwalk series cannot be understated. I genuinely thought they were some of the most interesting stories happening on the dsmp and then just fizzled out and died.

the love that I put into clingyduo wasn't rewarded, the last time beeduo was interesting together was when wilbur was writing them, getting truly invested in niki during pogtopia lead to her character stagnating with nothing to do, why did c!puffy go out to buy milk after the red banquet and then never come back. etc etc etc etc

and the worst part about all of it is, I'm still invested. I'm not even just invested in the characters that haven't let me down yet, I Want all of them to be good. I'd gladly Give Them the chance to be good. because I'm some kind of fool

[wickedpact]

A ranking of all the TTT stories in order of how much I liked them.

(Oh god this is so long)

1 My Mother's Axe

BABY ANDYYYYYYYYYYYY. Honestly this one had the trifecta of developing a character's motivations, developing a character's backstory, & developing their personality. The story starting out with Andy teaching Nile to use the axe was so charming and fun, and you could feel that chemistry they had in Opening Fire, the way they teased and bickered with each other so naturally. I loved the wedge between them on the subject of the axe, how Nile was perhaps a little too young to understand Andy's feelings about whether or not its the 'same' axe. I also love how the axe is obviously the symbol of the franchise and hugely important, but you never get a sense of exactly how important it is to Andy until you read the story.

I love the entire Ship of Theseus theme, and how it feels so natural that for Andy she has to get attached to the idea of things rather than the things themselves because she'll always outlive the things themselves-- the axe is symbolically her mom's axe, even if physically it isn't. And I love how she clearly clings to that concept so tightly. "This is the labrys she held in her hands...." IT GETS ME.

And the fact that this sense of BELONGING, of FAMILY, of CULTURE is so important to Andy that she clings to it (figuratively and literally) with both hands. And of course it's important to her, she spent so long alone that the woman doesn't even remember her birth name. That axe (or the idea of that axe) is all she has left of her mother and that family/culture she was born into.

PLUS on that note I love how Andy doesn't remember if her mom was her actual biological mother, but it doesn't matter to her. This woman was her mother in all the ways that counted. And how her mom BETRAYED AND KILLED Andy but Andy loved her so much that she avenged her and carried her axe for thousands of years. THOUSANDS OF YEARS!!!!!!

I also loved how the story transcends the timeline of the whole franchise and seeing Andy through the years. Loved seeing her with the varying squads and with varying axes. Also baby Andy was so cute. It was cool seeing her so young. like holy fuck. Andromache The Scythian, Immortal Warrior (but smol). Love that.

Also I think this one is one of the few ttt stories that doesn't suffer from length problems.

tldr: goddammit greg you've done it again.

2 Zanzibar and Other Harbors

Zanzibar my beloved. I've said before, but it's downright comedic how little regard there was for Joe and Nicky's character designs in this story. The same person who does the colors for the regular comic did the colors for this one too, and you can tell, every panel of this story was Beautiful.

Ik there was A Lot of criticism of this one (lmao @ how the fandom had no idea what was to come) but I thought a lot of The Discourse was a bit dramatic. I did think Nicky came off as a little oblivious to Joe's feelings in this story, but I've said before, I honestly think that was a 'tone not translating' thing. It felt like Nicky was nagging Joe for [checks notes] saving innocent people, but Joe was so amused by Nicky's complaints I really do think it was supposed to come off as teasing.

Plus I know the 'Joe running off into danger and Nicky reluctantly following' dynamic wasn't popular (I'm a pretty meh on it meself) but I did love how Joe's impulsiveness (if you want to call it that) was interpreted as heroism and not hot-hotheadedness. All of the examples Nicky and Joe talked about included Joe explicitly saving people. (and it also took A Lot for the nazi to actually provoke Joe).

I also feel like their characterization here was closest to the movie canon-- the bit where they hear the woman scream and Joe goes running in to save her while Nicky swoops in on Joe's heels to comfort her while Joe and the nazi were fighting reminds me of the train car scene. Joe had suggested First that they go find Nile because she needed to be protected, and Nicky later added that Nile probably also needed emotional support. Similar reactions.

But it was So Good, the themes of queer community and the enduring nature of queer culture are Not themes you see in media that often and it was such a delight how it was done. Also it's one of the few more modern TTT stories that has a completely valid excuse for taking place when it did. Chef's kiss.

3 Passchendaele

I love the Duality between seeing baby Andy and then seeing Mama Andy in the very next issue. This story doesn't have a ton of meat to it, but the entire concept of Andy adopting a war orphan straight off the battlefield PLUCKS MY TENDER LITTLE HEARTSTRINGS, and I think it's especially poignant for comic!Andy. I think most people wouldn't think twice about movie!Andy doing something like that but comic Andy is so hardened and almost cruel sometimes, and seeing that even for her the world hasn't beaten all of the compassion from her yet is SO!!!!!!! this woman contains MULTITUDES okay, she's violent and angry and tired and Done but she's also so kind and compassionate and THE STRENGTH OF HER!!!!! Also the idea of her and Yitzhak co-raising a kid together is so damn cute. It was #mysterious pre-Yitzhak-story but now it's cute. holy fuck. It's cute.

& the headbonk panel of her and Zeus lives in my heart. anyways.

4 Many Happy Returns

I Know people weren't thrilled about Booker being in this one, but I've developed a pet-peeve about that: this story was *not* booker-centric. Booker only exists in this story to the extent required to explain the importance of the gesture Nile makes towards him. If there was a story about Booker making some grand gesture of kindness to Nile no one would be saying it was Nile-centric. bc it wouldn't be! Booker exists in this story to explore Nile's kindness, its not about him. I saw that a couple times and it bothered me. anyways.

AAAAAAAAAA I loved this one, the art was beautiful, I loved how Andy Nile and Booker were drawn (like their comic selves but.. more looking like actual people). I loved Andy and Nile's Bants, how Andy wanted to jump right in and Do Violence but Nile was basically telling her to hold her horses.

I feel like I'm just repeating the post I made on this story a few days ago, but I LOVED how Nile's plan revolves not around violence or Cool Mercenary Skills but on Nile's own life skills (as she canonly did a lot of minimum wage job-hopping before the marines in comics canon). Her plan used her skills, not the skills of an immortal warrior, and HER SKILLS were in fact more useful for the situation! lov to see Nile's resourcefulness and planning skills.

AND HOW NILE WAS PROBABLY WATCHING BOOKER??? it's so Much bc 1.) nile knew booker A SINGLE DAY and yet he made such an impression on her emotionally that she had to keep an eye on him and 2.) she said in the movie she wanted Booker to get off free with an apology. Yes she's a member of the team but that doesn't mean she's necessarily going to follow orders like a good little soldier. I also love how she convinced Andy to go along with it. her HEART, her KINDNESS, her THOUGHTFULNESS, UGH.

5 The Bear

Honestly I have like no negative things to say about this one other than a.) character design issues which is less about the story itself and is more of a 'tog comic in general' criticism and b.) too short, but it was supposed to be a tease, so.

But I loved Yitzhak, I wasn't expecting to really like him at all but like I said in my other post, he tickled me. I love characters who are Kind™, especially if they have little reason to be so given their backgrounds. Chef's kiss. Lov him.

6 Bonsai Shokunin

I know this one was a little controversial bc of the outsider POV but whenever I see people upset about that they never point out that the Outsider Guy (the samurai) existed as a reflection on Noriko. His ideas are explained in the text to develop hers. The whole story follows how she gave mercy to a scared young man and in response he murdered Noriko, repeatedly! Who gave him the right to inflict such pain and suffering on the world? In his opinion, the lack of response from the gods was his permission. And for Noriko-- over and over again she dies and suffers because she gave mercy, which lines up with her ideas in FM about how it's their fate to rule mortals and if they don't align with that plan/fate/whatever then they suffer. It shows some background to those ideas and how they developed in her mind outside of Ocean Madness™. Additionally, his idea of 'the Gods have done nothing to strike me down so it's fine if I do these things' kind of explains how Noriko may justify her own morally corrupt actions-- she's died so many times and it's never stuck. Maybe if she did die any of those times, or while she was in the water, maybe that would've been a sign she was doing something right, or at least doing something normal. But she hasn't died. Fate isn't done with Noriko yet. And maybe there's a reason for that. In her mind, it's just not a very pleasant reason, is all.

There were things I was kind of meh about tho. I did kind of wish we saw something of Noriko and the team, or smth explaining the way she was before her dip in the pool-- personality, likes dislikes, etc. but it wasn't bad or anything. It was super vague tho, I had to read it a few times before I got what it was going for. Liked the art. Liked the bonsai metaphor. And of course I Respect the decision to use the 1300s (1200s? I don't remember off the top of my head) rather than using the last 200 years.

7 Strong Medicine

Honestly looking back, this one made me kind of sad because both this one and Bonsai Shokunin explored character's ideas on Fate and The Divine and how that intersects with immortality and I totally thought that theme would be continued, especially with Love Letters. But Then It Wasn't™.

Admittedly.... I had to re-read this one to remember most of it. I liked Booker's ideas on God, 'The conductor of the symphony just may not be very good at his trade' but the plot itself was kind of forgettable. Some fuckin cowboys try to kill a doctor (their second) because he couldn't save their sickly brother. Book tries to stop them, gets killed, and then comes back and kills them all before they get the doctor. Alright. I liked the artstyle because the characters were ugly in a similar way that leandro's are, but way more bearable.

I love the Irony of Booker concluding that there is no such thing as fate or destiny and nothing has meaning, AS HE UNKNOWINGLY SAVES MERRICK'S GRANDFATHER FROM BEING KILLED. Booker getting fucked over by life/god/destiny yet again. It also kind of explains about where the fuck hell Merrick's interest in immortal mercenaries even came from.

I originally had this one a lot higher and then I thought about it and moved it down like two spots.

8 Never Gets Old

I liked seeing Booker interact with his kid. And we got a name for the kid! Philippe was a little bitch though, he was a little obnoxious. I liked how Booker was so thrilled to experience a restaurant with his kid (and since we know he was there before, it can be assumed he went with all of his kids and yet he was so charmed each time). It fits with his line to Nicky in the moon landing story about how you don't appreciate beautiful things 'unless you have someone to share them with'. It was charming to see Booker interact with his kid, and to see him so happy. Also lmao @ Booker's big fat Ye Olde Crush on Andy.

However at the same time it was like.. of all the things to write about,,, I guess? Booker's Night Out...... alright. Especially since Book had so many stories.

I don't know, it was alright. The old man killing him really came out of nowhere, (but the 'Salut, asshole!' panel was funny tho).

9 How To Make a Ghost Town

I've hit a point where talking about these stories has gotten less fun. I liked this one but I felt like Achilles getting lynched was not really necessary for a story that was already tragic (a story that already involved Achilles doing a lot of suffering at the hand of bigots). When we first got the blurb for this story I thought it would be about Andy returning to the squad and making friends with Booker after losing Achilles and them butting heads on the idea of family and when to cut off ties. So a little bit of my underwhelmedness about this one might be just my expectations being different.

Honestly I was pretty interested in Andy and Achilles' relationship and I would've liked to see more of them-- like, what was their dynamic like? What did they love about each other?

But anyways Andy leaving and Achilles getting killed anyways feels so pointlessly tragic (which I suppose is the point..... I don't like tragedies) she left to save him and yet people killed him anyway. Meh.

I did love the bits about Andy wanting to have a domestic life (Andy and her multitudes again) and the little detail about how she buried her axe near the road but he buried his guns under his bed-- he was an escaped slave, he never had the luxury of assuredness like Andy did. It was a sad story.

10 Lacus Solitudinis

'You put this one above love letters crim??? how could you???' easy, lmao.

There was stuff in this one I liked. But to talk about stuff I didn't like: (I'll keep it brief, I know ragging on this story has been done time and time again)

UH, setting aside the 6 year cold shoulder between Joe and Nicky, I thought their chosen method of conflict resolution was... bad at best. Nicky's inability to talk about his feelings was also annoying, especially since the entire point of this story is a fight Joe and Nicky had, and yet we don't get both sides to the story, which is...... important? That fact is especially annoying bc in the absence of Nicky explaining his side of the story, it's absolutely a possible (and admittedly probably unintentional) interpretation of the text that we do get that Joe routinely resolves conflict between him and Nicky by simply cutting Nicky out of his life entirely until Nicky just. caves? Even if it takes years?

WHICH i could get into that interpretation and how fucked up i find it. but im not going to. out of restraint.

I don't know, I think there are a lot of interesting ways to go about this conflict but 'Nicky wants to kill a guy and Joe refuses to acknowledge his existence until he stops because he thinks Nicky is too much of a Good Boy to get his hands dirty like that' ('I wont watch as the world turns his (...) compassion into something ugly'. ) wasn't.. how I would've done it. (I mean you know Joe doesn't give a shit about what Nicky is doing in a moral way, because Joe doesn't even care or mention that Booker is killing those cops too. Joe only cares because he doesn't like the idea of Nicky changing in a way he finds undesirable.)

admittedly I've said before, I do like the emphasis Joe's reaction puts on Nicky's kindness. Joe has a complete inability to cope with Nicky simply Not Being Kind. It speaks to the steadiness of Nicky's compassion all those years. but still that fact doesn't make it the conflict feel worth it

hm. I said I would be brief and I wasn't.

oh well. basically I thought there was interesting conflict potential there but it wasn't done the way I would've liked, and the way it was done leaves a lot of disturbing (and again probably unintended) interpretations to lie.

What I did like? Andy and Joe having that pessimist/optimist dynamic. Joe nerding out about science. Andy not being impressed by The Achievements Of Man. I loved Booker needling at Nicky about his outdated slang and also trying to give him Older Brother advice practically in the same breath. I loved Booker giving The Worst relationship advice ever and Nicky being like 'I Will Not Do That, Ever, Thanks.' the family vibes were so good. The Joenicky vibes left a lot to be desired tho.

11 Love Letters

I talked about my problems with Nicky in this story (and Lacus Solitudinis). I don't know, the story isn't bad but I do hold a little bit of a grudge towards it because its very existence begs the existence of a solo Joe story and we didn't get one. If we never got this story, then we could happily count Lacus Solitudinis and Zanzibar as The Joenicky Stories™ and move on with our lives. sigh.

I remember when we first got the blurb for this story I was really curious about why Nicky specifically + the setting, and the answer kind of feels like 'the author had an idea for a story like this and saw ttt as a good enough place to utilize that idea'. Plus I was really underwhelmed by the Romantic Sentiment in the letter. If you look at it line-by-line, the majority of the letter is actually Nicky talking about how lonely and disturbed he is, rather than actual,, yknow,,, Romantic Sentiment. I mean, compare the van speech and this letter and this letter is just kind of meh in comparison. I liked nicky calling joe wise! and I liked the brief sun/moon metaphor! and otherwise it was eh. It didn't even have cute squad banter, which is why Lacus Solitudinis is above this one.

12 An Old Soul

Nun orgy. Nun orgy?????? Nun orgy.......

The whole story felt like a setup to have a nun orgy. Why did Booker have abs? Why did they do that to Andy's nose? ?????? the art was good at least.

nun orgy.

[gingerbreadmonsters]

hii!! I'm so sorry for taking so long to respond, I've been a little busy and I didn't want to rush a reply but I hope you've been good the last few days <3 have you been up to anything interesting since uni ended?

ooh I won't go on for too long about kpop because you'll never hear the end of it 😂 I really like bts and blackpink too!! mmh I'm multifandom for the most part, but my mains are twice, nct, enhypen and gidle, they're all really good groups if you wanna check them out. and its pretty funny because you're joining kpop right in the transition from 3rd gen to 4th gen haha, so there's a lot going on to see!! twice's 'formula of love' album is incredible if you want to listen them more, every song on it is so damn good, I play it all the time. 'cruel' is a very good song if you don't want to listen to the full album. also 'verse 2' by jj project is a super good album but very different from 'normal' kpop, it's more chill than pop. it's one of my faves.

and here I was saying I wasn't gonna talk a lot about kpop 😂

ALSO I've been meaning to look into redacted asmr but I haven't had the chance to yet, I don't really know much about asmr but I lowkey wanna get into it. I've heard a few of the anime guy asmr's, is it similar to that? but anyway, I read green umbrella trees it was so cute and pretty, you're writing is absolutely amazing. I fell in love with the way you described him touching the readers body, I literally don't know how else to explain it but it was like I was reading the best poetry in the world. I wanna know who made you feel love the way you do because I can really see how beautiful and precious it is in your writing. and I can't wait for the beach simeon fic! I'm in a whole beach mood since the weather has been pretty nice lately, so I am ready for it!!!

also your mum sounds so cool haha I hope your easter is lovely tomorrow if you're celebrating it <3

- 🌻

baby!! hello 🥰🥰

lmao so i said i was going to rest my ankle, turns out that is a little bit difficult when you are on holiday with your parents in spain 🤡 valencia is very lovely but i am walking at about 0.5 mph so plenty of time to smell the metaphorical roses?? i get back today so this coming week i'm going to meet up w some of my friends from sixth form which will be nice :) how about you?? any plans while the weather's still decent?? 🌤️🌤️

UMMMM???? listening to 'cruel' literally right now and this is an entire BOP *added to playlist* 🕺🕺🕺ooh i've heard good things about nct, will add them to the list 👌✌️

😭😭 i'm so glad you liked green umbrella trees!! ik the redacted fandom is p small, so it's very reassuring to know that you liked it anyway 🥺🥰 i am blushing v hard

i think i get a lot of my ideas about love from reading fic tbh - i have no real experience with romantic love irl (unless you count the one or two crushes i had at school lmao it's definitely not from real life i am so very very single lmao), so i feel very attached to the idea of love as something fantastical and strange and somehow comforting - something alien and unusual and that makes your head spin, but that feels like home. you don't need to look too closely at my writing to see that i like to compare feelings that are very zoomed in with much larger, grander concepts - to take green umbrella trees as an example:

"he takes the universe in his stride - it follows behind him, waiting on his word, lapping playfully at his heels. [...] your world is the size of his voice. your living room is the size of his love. your heart is the size of his hands. you measure the whole world to him, and nothing ever compares."

"elastic snaps against skin. outside, the sky stretches on forever."

the bits that resonate the most with me when i'm reading tend to be quite tactile - the connection between touch and trust and vulnerability.... when i actually think about it, it's quite unusual for me to get very close to people?? like?? so describing skin contact of any variety holds a lot of weight to me, and that's the feeling i want to put across :)

SIMEON BEACH FIC!!!!! im very excited for this one hehe 🤠🤠 lots of ice cream and sunshine and goodness to come (although it's really hard to not call it sun tan lotion?? i think that's just a uk thing and i'm worried that it might come off as the wrong thing, so now i have to call it sunscreen) 🏖️🏖️🏖️

and yes happy easter my love!! hope you have a gorgeous day tomorrow (regardless of whether you're celebrating anything or not :D)

(let me pop this under the cut bc i RAMBLED wow)

REDACTED ASMR!! i have no idea who this anime guy is lmao i don't listen to very much asmr in general ok so i only discovered it very recently on youtube, but bro?? it's actually really good?? the guy who does it, erik, is so big-brained and has the most incredible storylines and universe (plus his voices?? 😘😘 obv idk much about regional american accents but imo he is UNCLOCKABLE WOW) - i think i spoiled summarised the marcus storyline in this post!

the basic premise is that a magical, "empowered" society exists alongside and hidden from our normal "unempowered" reality - each "main character" has a listener who functions as a character of their own, and all of these characters are involved in various different storylines that overlap with others (e.g. the 'inversion' arc). it's a MASSIVE universe but it's actually not that hard to get into - lmk if you want me to break down an order that i recommend, bc this post is already v long lmao

(for context: this is a list of i think most of the characters who have listeners?? there are lots more - all with distinct voices!! claps to mr erik!! - who are supporting/background characters but do not have listeners, who aren't here. listed as "character name (listener nickname)".

the DAMN boys (elementals): lasko, damien, huxley (plus gavin, an incubus) - these guys all have one listener, called freelancer/deviant

the solaire clan (vampires): vincent (lovely), sam (darlin')

the shaw pack (werewolf shifters): david (angel), asher (babe), milo (sweetheart), plus sam's listener darlin'

the office boys: aaron (smartass), ollie (babe/mentor)

miscellaneous other?? (includes 'the balance', 'sadism's hold', and 'project meridian', plus some extra): elliott (sunshine), blake (bestie?), ivan (baby), vega (warden), avior (starlight), marcus (love), geordi (cutie)

it's such a wonderful fandom and literally everyone in the tag is lovely - highly highly recommend 😍😍

[darling-i-read-it]

Park Swings

Robert Lewis x reader

Word Count: 1.1k

Warnings: none I don’t think

Author’s Note: Bro I love this movie and I forgot how much I loved this movie and Ewan in this movie and ugh I just adore it and I hope you guys like this. Also this is my last request! Finally! So we shall see, I’m thinking of opening requests again soon but I kinda wanna do stuff I want rn so we shall see.

Requested: by anon, ik requests r closed and stuff and NO RUSH in anyyyyy way but like if you could ever write something for robert from a life less ordinary that’d be amazing !!

Summary: A first date with Robert in a park

Genre: FLUFF

Song:

(not my gif)

“And the daughter of Kennedy and Monroe solves this big mystery. Is that too predictable?” Robert asked as you threw your legs up onto his lap. You were sitting on the bench of some park you had never seen before and he had bought you ice cream with the last of his change (not that you knew that yet). You finished the vanilla cone and shrugged, your eyes wandering from him to the kids playing around the grass.

“I like it. Like an airport book right, one you read on the flight,” you suggested offhandedly but he got really excited at the mention of an airport and it caused you to laugh. He sat up more, nearly knocking your feet off of him.

“Exactly! Exactly,” he muttered the last bit, a faint giddy smile on his face.

It was your first date with Robert and so far you were having a blast. The two of you had walked around the city and made fun of the rich people in their big buildings. He had just gotten fired from his job at one of them and had some extra ammunition this time. You had been friends for a bit but there was an obvious attraction that was hard to deny so you asked him out on a date. He was amazed that you wanted a date. With him no less! You seemed like such an independent person, he thought for sure you would never want to date him even if it made him sad sometimes. He thought you were really cool. And hot. He was not denying you were very hot.

You had somehow landed at this park mid afternoon and were perfectly content with hanging around there.

“I think maybe you should throw in Elvis or something. Might spice things up a bit if he shows somewhere. Or maybe his son if we want to make it trashier,” you said. You sat up and put your feet back on the ground and leaned into his side. He threw an arm around you out of instinct and was now happy that he had because you snuggled closer to him.

“Elvis is a good idea. I’ll credit you in the acknowledgements,” he muttered and you laughed a little under your breath. Your eyes followed a little girl who was running up the stairs to the slide and then watched as her mom called her from the other side of the park, telling her it was time to leave. The parks numbers were dwindling before your eyes.

“When was the last time you went down a slide?” you asked, looking up at Robert. He shrugged, his eyes also fixated on the many moving parts of the small playground in front of you.

“When I was like 6 or something. Why?” You shrugged and moved away from him, walking over to the edge of the bark. There was only about two kids now and you saw that they were being called away. The popular playground was now empty of children and you snatched the opportunity.

The whole place itself was hidden carefully behind some trees and a building. It was hard to actually see the city from anywhere in the park so normally no one could see you from the street. You stepped up the few stairs that were spaced for children and not you. You reached the top and leaned against the slide railing, looking over at Robert who was smiling.

“Well are you going to come?”

“Will I fit?” he inquired, rising from the bench. You shrugged, not really being able to tell. You were pretty sure you could fit so he could probably fit as well. If he tried anyway.

“Sure! Come on Rob,” you teased with a smile, sitting down to steady yourself, legs on the cool plastic of the slide. Robert made his way up quickly and couldn’t fight the smile on his face as he watched you push yourself down the park toy. You landed on the ground with a thud as your feet caught your balance. Your hair fell in front of your face as your laughter mixed with his. He quickly followed you and it turned out that he did fit and landed hard on the ground, reaching forward to grab your legs and balance himself. You held his shoulder so you didn’t fall down either as he stood up, laughter still bubbling in the air.

“We might break it if we do it again,” he told you, his hands on your upper arms. You nodded in agreement.

“Well I suppose we’ll just have to go swing then.”

You easily pounced over to the swings, away from his grip which he wasn't fond of but he did follow you. You both sat down and you started pumping your legs nearly immediately to gain air under you.

The laughter died down after a moment and conversation picked up.

“I like you Rob,” you said after a few minutes of random discussion. He gave himself and you a proud grin. He had really wanted you to like him because he really liked you too.

“I like you too. Although I may have liked you a little less if I had gotten stuck on the slide,” he joked. Your lips turned up and you reached across the swing to hit him, despite the two of you being pretty high up before falling back down in a rhythm.

“You didn’t get stuck!” you protested.

You figured there was no way this first date was going to be your last.

Ewan: @daphne-fandom-writing , @satanslov3r @records-and-stardust @broodybats