#im out and about rn so I may expand on this later but!

[gracieo]

Reblogging a bunch of transmasc positivity posts because I love y’all <3 you deserve the world did you know!

It’s so amazing that you can help turn the tides and help people feel safe through your masculinity rather than in spite of it.

[sugar-omi]

okay, so i've been doing some thinking. i've been scrolling through your blog and i stepped upon these "cheating on cove with Baxter and the other way around" scenarios. (i'm sorry, i wasn't able to read them, my heart couldn't take it ;-;) but!

what if mc was like, in a normal relationship with Baxter. you know, a couple, maybe married later and stuff, while of course still being besties with Cove. later mc and Baxter have a kid together, maybe still a small baby but! plot twist! Baxter gets into an accident or something and dies. (i'm sorry, he's my favourite man but i had to kill him for that scenario:'))

mc is completely devastated and also a little panicked, because what about the baby? and then Cove stepps in, deciding to help his best friend take care of the little one and basically becomes its father. i recently watched a video of a dog "helping" a cat take care of her kittens, and there you have it.

this one may be boring, so feel free to ignore, but i can't stop thinking about it.

ITS OK<333 I figured some ppl didn't read it bc angst n pain</3 trust me I skip over angst all the time

(I even have the tag blocked😬 sorry angst writers but I will read it and not be the same for months, I read a kiribaku angst fic years ago, and was devesated for 4 months afterwards LMAO)

okay i... I cannot expand too much on this bc OUCH

(eta now that I've finished. who am I fooling? I rlly said that like I haven't wrote a whole novel 💀 anyway <3 this clearly made me pop off more than I thought I would bc I read this at first n was devastated!!! I had no words!!!! well clearly I found them LOL)

ALSO BORING??? ANON PLEASE.. BORING WHERE<///3

n im gonna fix the format later but for now here is the bare minimum. I'm going to bed rn so nini everyone enjoy a bit of angst I promise its fluffy as well<333

tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort

p/n = parental name, since I wanted to leave flexibility for all the readers here <3

but anyway yeah cove would so step up for you

will follow you to the end of the earth and do whatever you need to help you work through this and to adapt to this sudden and unfortunate change

if/when your relationship starts becoming something romantic, cove would absolutely put the brakes on everything and you'd go so slow...

I imagine he'd probably move in with you or you with him, and he'd stay somewhere else (if you're living in his house he will leave anyway, he's a gentleman like that fr) so that way you can figure out if it's not just bc he's doing all these things n you're mistaking admiration for love

you'd spend the first year going super slow, as if you've never known each other before

which technically you haven't, since you've never dated before. but cove would go so far as to find out your favorite color, song, animal, food.. all over again, even though he has it memorized and knows your likes better than his own.

once cove is sure you're ready for this (after much talk between the two of you and even with your therapist that yes you've made enough progress and are emotionally ready for this) does he finally put a label on it

now if you get married...

I imagine cove won't propose at all

like I think you'd have to talk n almost beg him...

in that case he would do a small but grande gesture to propose. or he'd propose to you before you've even left the bed for the day... no inbetween

but like 8 times outta 10, you're gonna have to propose to him

he'd cry and hug you n say yes of course.

and unless you want to keep this outta your wedding, I think cove would include baxter in your wedding.

first, ofc you'd have the picture to honor his memory

but I think he'd even go so far as to have smth in his vows. but to start, he'd say smth like:

"I know the reason we became closer was unfortunate, but I'm so happy to be able to call you and [Child] my family. and I hope I can be a good father and husband"

and "baxter will always have a place in our hearts. even though he and I didn't get along at first (watery chuckle)... I'm glad he got to love you, and I hope he trusts me to love and cherish you the same way as well.."

also if you don't want to give up your wedding ring from baxter, I think cove would even go so far as to suggest combining it with his.

!!! omg I was gonna say your and baxter's wedding bands would be black, but I have another idea

okay now, for YOUR bands, I imagine they're either black or silver and yk those infinity(?) bands? that has the 2 types of metal or whatever

that's what cove would suggest doing. and if you are worried abt people asking why your bands are different, he'd get the same twisted band but silver with say a black diamond or smth. just smth to make it look like it's intentionally different colors but same design or smth

(im overthinking a bit but it's an idea right?! I'm not crazy??<////3)

or if you don't wanna do that, I imagine you can just slip it on a necklace or leave it as is, whatever you want. he wouldn't mind even if you kept wearing it, cove would never ask you to get rid of baxter's image or memory in any way, not unless it was a real problem and your attachment to him/his things was unhealthy anyway.

now for baxter's band... well if you didn't bury it with him, I imagine you'd give it to your child

another thing I think you could do w your wedding band as well, and give them both your bands to do whatever they want with. or if they don't want it of course you're not forcing them to keep it

even though they didn't get to know baxter, the way you and cove still cherish baxter's memory does help them feel something of a connection.

I also imagine baxter would take lots of photo n video w the kid, even though they're young n just a babe, theres so many videos of baxter looking n acting so loving w them

and even a couple where he's teary-eyed n all "imma do you right by you. I love you so much.."

of course, if the kid doesn't feel that connected to baxter since they were too young to know or rmbr anything, and they don't feel anything much other than sympathy and the occasional sting when they see how much baxter loved them, you don't force it.

you both know that baxter was basically a stranger to them and even though they still respect baxter and he has a place in their heart, they don't feel like they're lacking anything.

"I don't really know what to say.. or how to feel... I see how much [P/N] misses you sometimes, and we have pictures of you, and they talk about you and stuff...

but I don't feel like im missing a dad. I hope that doesn't hurt your feelings, I wish I knew you too. sometimes I wish you were still here, so I got to know you as well, even though I'm still happy to have dad cove for my dad.

I just wanna know what you were like. I wanna experience what you were like. I... I wanna miss you like everyone else misses you too...

anyway, just know that dad is great! he takes care of me and [P/N] really well! he makes breakfast in bed, and he does/used to do this thing where he lifts me in the air before bed! he's so cool. I see how he makes [P/N] happy as well, so don't worry. although, [P/N] said you always thought cove was reliable and a good guy so maybe you aren't worrying anyway.

well... that's it I guess. i hope ill get to know you one day, and maybe you can tell me you're glad to see dad took good care of us. goodbye,

baxter."

pa."

cove happily listens to anything they have to say on how they feel abt baxter btw. he accepts any of their feelings, be it that they don't feel anything at all, sympathy for others, or they feel sad abt losing him.

if they do say smth like how even though it's unfortunate and they feel bad for everyone who mourns baxter (for example/especially you), they see cove as their dad and don't feel like they're missing anything and they're happy to have cove for their dad.

ofc he cries n hugs them n tells them he loves em and he's happy n he comforts them if needed of course

I also think cove is very scared abt being a father

especially in this way... even if the kiddo doesn't remember anything, or it's hazy at best, he worries about replacing baxter.

he'd probably worry abt not living up to baxter

baxter was always much more mature, at least it seemed that way most times. cove just worries about if he has the backbone and the ability to parent the child well and be someone they can look up to and/or appreciate for being a good father

cries if they call him dad btw

if they do it before you start dating, I imagine it's one of the catalyst that cause you to talk abt your feelings for each other. or if it's in the early stage..

cove prbly freezes and runs away to the other room n freaks out, definitely cries. if you don't talk to him like right after he calls his dad n cries n shares his worries n fear

either way, when you do talk he's biting his nails n trying not to pace around the room and he's like "if you wanna distance yourselves so that they don't call me dad any more I totally understand, I mean idk it's prbly weird for you-"

n he just rambles. like none of it makes sense n u have to physically shut him up. kiss him, yell, throw a pillow, hit him w the child's stuffed animal, throw a single lego brick at his back and watch him fall to the floor like he just got a nuke thrown at him

if it's later on n theres nothing to worry abt bc youve talked abt this or saw it coming or its just the otherwise most natural step, he cries of course

but he doesn't fall apart from being his in the back w a single fucking Lego as if it hurt 🙄🙄🙄🙄 (I hate this man he's DRAMATIC)

well... actually no he does

hit him, kiss him, hug him, run him over w a hotel wheels truck.... he just cries harder

adopts them like immediately basically

I imagine you do it soon, like maybe before the wedding just so that way you can have a private moment (just to save him some embarrassment from ugly crying in front of your families. in fact he just might faint fr)

n you + the kiddo surprise him w adoption papers (depending on how old the babe is at this point, they have like no idea what's going on but they know that cove is now officially recognized by the whole world (even by the unicorns n wizards n warlocks) as their daddy))

imagine laying in bed w cove n the kid in between you two

and when you wake up, cove is alrdy awake and was watching you two. he was petting the kids wild hair and he had pulled the two of you in and kept you under his arm..

and the sunlight is coming in, the day is just perfect. n the look on cove's face is full of so much love but also a bit somber this time

(cove feels awkward being here like this sometimes. during times like this you have to remind him it's okay, and you pull him back in. of course he does the same for you on those days.)

"I love you two. so much..." he whispers, tears sticking to his lashes

the kid flips over, curling into cove and they stop their sleepy mumbling now that they're tucked into cove's chest, feeling warm, happy, and safe.

you whisper equally as tender. "we were meant to be like this too."

also!! smth I just thought of...

imagine the kid looks mostly/very much like baxter. they act very much like cove's kid

like you would think cove n baxter had a kid together LOL

(if the resemblance is too much, they ask if you're the step parent </3 pls Ik it may not make sm sense but I just think it'd be so fuckin funny)

[cathalbravecog]

long ramble, haven't had one of these in a while! if you read this, have fun. it's headcanons/thoughts on some stuff. i don't talk about my thoughts on story stuff publicly much anymore especially because 1) i'm shy 2) trust issues 3) bad rsd 4) i forgot the last point

i was writing for oNCE yesterday (some headcanon stuff, for myself, won't be posting that unless i change the wording of some of it to make more sense because i ramble a lot and it's a mess. like i am doing right now. also that turned into being mostly about hr in the end because i am ill. now hopefully this motivation will get me to write my mary and archie stuff.)

and when i went to bed i was thinking about some stuff in toontown, mostly the cogs - and how things work. these are things i ponder on very often and have talked about with my friends many time, throwing ideas back and forth and my headcanons for how things work.

though, there's one thing i really wonder about, and that's where cogs come from in ttcc exactly. in 'that' way though of course to keep things on the same rating as the game is i won't discuss anything explicit so don't worry. (besides they're robots and also are sexless to me, anything related to gender is purely cosmetic to them. you are usually assigned a certain expression when built though, but can change that later on. that's how i explain trans cogs.)

i think about how there are canonical families and children, and that they have "built" dates and places where they've been built. it's obvious as they're robots, they're not born they're built and made.

it's a bit difficult to explore with the limited info we have, which is kind of both an hassle to work with, but also beautiful because you can let your creativity go and make up your own headcanons, without things being set in too much canon. it's also difficult due to how different the suit culture is to us humans and also what we see from the toons which is by nature more familiar to us.

we also do not know much about suitopia, or other possible places where cogs live.

(i, personally, imagine suitopia as essentially a big country where most if not all cogs live. it has it's own regions, cities... all that. where as c.o.g.s. inc has built itself to be essentially it's own small country/community, if that makes sense. though cogs don't always only mention suitopia, at least once 'the whole world' is used. this is irrelevant tho so i won't discuss that but it's still a 'core' headcanon i have - as other things i may hc rely on this personal interpretation / headcanon.

but be aware i do not know everything is canon and can discuss things outside my realm of HCs and interpretations, but if i go deeper into like, let's say, analyzing a cog and imagining their backstory, instantly assume i'm using all these things. sorry for the side ramble, i want to make things clear for possible future reference.)

i wish it will be expanded upon slightly in the future, even a slightest crumb of what it's like out there and i can have a field day with it. i do enjoy the vagueness tho, again, as i've said we do not need to have all the information out there and it's not necessary to the main stories that are being told but MAN my brain itches for MORE. i demand EXPLANATIONS. and so i make up my own lol and i love that i can do that /gen (there's some stuff i do have an issue with that it was not explained better, but again, fixed that with hcs. talking abt atticus but im not getting into that rn)

there also may be things i am missing - i have known of ttcc's existence since it's early days, but i wasn't there for it and missed being there in person for any lore until i started playing for real in early 2023 and became a part of the community. like, there ARE things i have missed AND small details i am missing. that's one criticism i have about some info being more difficult to access now, but the main stuff is on the wiki an all luckily.

anyways that ramble out of the way... how the heck are cogs made? there's a few ways, that seem contradictory in some ways at first but i just see it as different methods.

we know cogs can change their appearances (their shell) and be "upgraded". we know cogs can even choose to be just their skelecogs (Atticus) and i suppose every other skelecog we see.) we know cogs have families and have their own kids. (cathal and bobby jr come to mind, and also belle's own kids and grandkids. not to mention, we have siblings too - thomas and robert. and their whole family drama DOES involve their unseen parents.) we know many cogs, mostly the managers, come into the company as their are - but also new parts are built, at least for the employee cogs in sellbot hq. (recently re-read the dialogue which confirmed this - literally as you're building your sellbot suit.)

we know cogs are more than just some working machines and do have deeper lives and desires and even relationships, though all instances of a parent/child relationship in ttcc have only one parent. makes sense after all they don't reproduce sexually to put it that way, again they're built and they're robots.)

it's easy to conclude, that, cogs are just built. which is true. but it just makes me wonder. we know they age. we have at least 1 cog who is a literal child, and bobby, in human years at least, looks no older than like, 8 years old. (we also don't know how cogs age. we also know cog's don't die like that, due to the whole deal with atticus. i will talk about this one day i have so many thoughts on it)

we know they grow up and even have schools - they're not programmed with everything. they earn experience as they live life and even have?? education systems? like they're more like people than we thought. (ttcc does make cogs more easily sympathized with and gives us INDIVIDUAL cogs and not just... 'The Cogs'. cogs are the focus of ttcc so of course they're developed more and are more 'human' despite being machines.)

so clearly, there's cogs like bobby. who are built young and eventually grow up. we have not seen a cog growing up yet, at least i don't think. but i wonder how that works. through cartoon logic, do they just grow up? their skelecog and perhaps their shell, too? or do they periodically get upgraded to be larger - wouldn't it make sense to built a cog as, well, an adult already? to program all these things? there may be more limits to this than we think, but also just... cultural things possibly.

the only cog CHILD (not just the child of someone - cathal's an adult. also, redd mention, but redd's adopted so he doesn't count) we ever see is bobby and, he is the child of robert, who is known to be very short. we don't know if bobby's going to grow up, or if this height is what he's just going to be like. we have one image where he's way smaller than robert, and other, more recent ones, where they're a similar heights. is that just art inconsistency due to the nature of all the (amazing) artwork being, well, volounteer work and that not everything is (or has to be) perfect? or did bobby really grow up. i'm talking about the wallet picture and the comics featuring bobby, by the way.

though, as things are, i'm sort of assuming that bobby's going to grow up or be upgraded in some way to "grow up"? i don't think we need an clear explanation for that, and in a universe like this 'cartoon logic' would be enough, but it's still something to think about.

like...how do cogs go about having kids, anyways? all instances we see are visually similar as well. cathal has the same gear for his neck as allan's body does, and they have the same head lightbulbs and wires. bobby jr and robert are both furniture.

i've always assumed that it's like in robots (the movie, that i havent watched in years which would be helpful for all this, probably.) if you decide to have a child just for the experience of raising a child, to have a legacy, or due to a bond with a partner - you literally just build one. perhaps not in the same way as in the movie - in here it definitely requires more paperwork and blueprints. but again, it's interesting to think about! hey company i want a CHILD. i look like this build them like me thanks here's some blueprints. (this also explains the amount of single parents. though belle has to have been married/is married as her honorific is listed as mrs. hey fun fact, non native english speaker here. i didnt know 'mrs' means a lady is married until like this year. i've been on this earth for 19 years.)

like the concept of family is possibly just more social there than anything. duh... can't exactly have the same oil and wires inside of you as Robots .

anyways, so that explains kids... but what about the others? some cogs don't have any families mentioned but it's not hard to assume they come from families with parents and siblings as well. what about the employee cogs? who are quite literally very disposable in a way?

we do have to take into account that after all, employee cogs we see just on and about on the streets are mostly a game mechanic, and there are some individual cogs who ARE cogs who would typically be employees cogs. (jennifer comes to mind first, she's a micromanager but also a secretary and counts as a manager. same goes for judy and so forth.)

and y'know, the game won't have a personality and backstory for each random flunky on the streets you fight. but with often they get destroyed and repaired and that there's just... so many of them! of the same model and appearance... makes you think. is that why they were made? are they truly more robotic than the others, more devoid of 'humanity'? or were they different cogs, perhaps more lower class, who's appearances were changed entirely to fit into more easily fixable and replaceable shell forms? something that's less expensive for the company and for them? i swear i am missing some details on this, but that's for me to re read the wiki and cogs ink for on my own later. (i need to have full info n everything and if i dont bring up that i know one small detail i will explode bc someone will bring it up and make me feel dumb and that's the rsd part and it's often physically painful!)

very hard to tell, i'm sort of content with my thoughts on how cogs have kids, but i hope we ever get a bit more clarity on employee cogs - though it is a bit problematic as these are the guys you beat up on the daily who don't have individual personalities.

like i'm just rambling as i go here man, it was gonna be cohesive but i'm just spitting thoughts here now. like, we have 3 seperate skelecog types - all cogs come with a skelecog like we have a skeleton so that also comes into play. it can be adjusted in ways, most notably the head and also in size. though we do have a 4 arm cog. jason please i love you /p we need more jason content. it's wacky, it's tacky - it's toontown!

fun stuff to think about but i just deep fried my brain. tdlr i guess.

how cogs made. how cogs have kids. how cogs work in general. very swag very cool. guzma cathal spades spamtongender goes on 1568854 different tangents while saying they wont aka your swagesty your adhd symptoms are showing

that's it fellas enjoy 2k words of incomprehensible rambles that i am happy to finally get out! you see the way i explain things is precisely why i almost never do it publicly and i need practice shortening things.

[meetthesoldier]

hi sorry this is outta nowhere but i would love to hear ur thoughts on harry (phone

SORRY ANON I LEGIT FORGOT ABT THIS ASK and im too lazy to draw her fr so heres some fanart i drew of her dying in a glue trap

this time i have a bit more thoughts on her as an actual character so ill start w that before the headcanon dump ... also, throughout this post ill be referring to her w she/her pronouns because of a personal headcanon im VERY attached to. all i ask is any rbs or further questions abt my specific vision of her use those same pronouns... in others posts i do not care obviously. also, this post is specifically abt her in the dsaf universe since shes far more substantial there.

firstly, i should say i ADORE harry. she is one of my biggest comfort characters in a series where almost everybody is one for me. so when i give any criticisms, know its out of love and a wish for some more expansive writing rather than any malice. being critical of media you love is important, etc etc.

my biggest issues with her character really boils down to the lack of acknowledgement abt her being physically disabled. she mentions having a "bad leg" during 3, but its ONLY mentioned that one time, during (i believe) missable dialogue. i understand her not using, like, mobility aids for it since it may be difficult to find suitable stock images (+ all the phonies in that game use the same photos for their bodies, and its totally possible its not something she feels she needs), but it probably shouldve been mentioned or expanded upon more.

i dont believe were given any explanation on how her leg ended up the way it is, or in what way it is. we dont know if she was born with her disability or aquired it later. we dont know if its paralyzed, we dont know if its because of a muscular dystrophy, or anything else. i just wish we were given more info, bcus as it is, it is REALLY easy to look over in favor of, say, her ptsd.

speaking of which, i have some mixed feelings on how her ptsd is portrayed. on one hand, the joke in the restaurant reviews abt her having flashbacks and a subsequent panic attack feels very distasteful, though thankfully this is (i believe) the only instance of this kind of joke at her expense. im glad elsewise it isnt some huge , controlling part of her character - however, again, it IS missable. while one can assume she has it when she discusses her past, i dont believe its explicitly stated UNTIL that review.

tldr; her disability feels poorly handled, mostly from lack of expansion and discussion.

thankfully, though, she is elsewise a very enjoyable character; shes got some really good and funny dialogue, the exposition we get from her about the original managers is really fucking good, and i really wish we heard more abt her experience working with rebecca (and presumably roger)... again, her biggest issues are just not having as much of a spotlight on her as she couldve, but considering the employees arent really the main focus of the game that may be fine actually...

(as an aside, i think about this post every day and cry audibly.)

thus ends the longform musings, onto the silly headcanons;

standard fare queer headcanon dump: trans woman + demisexual lesbian. also, polyamorous. fuck yeah baby steak (ref)

was in a queerplatonic relationship with joe while he was alive, and a romantic one with both tango/terrence (who has some gender fuckery going on as well) and rebecca because i am not immune to homemade lesbianism.

has ptsd in canon, but im adding a "c" in front of that cause aint no way she lived through all of her coworkers (and presumably FRIENDS) dying in such horrific ways and was only affected in the short-term.

autistic! specifically also has the thing i do where i need the time to be a multiple of 5 before i can start doing anything. also has generalized anxiety i think, with a tendency to catastrophize and compensates by insisting to herself everything is toootally fine. definitely NOT going to have a breakdown rn because shes not totally sure that that vending machine is 100% not going to fall on her specifically

probably didnt have many friends as a kid (L) so now she overcompensates by trying to be as charming and polite as possible. wether or not this works in her favor or makes her seem pretentious is a coinflip. (its certainly working on me though!)

has a real soft spot for random niche animals. probably a big salamander and gecko girl. her favorite is the marbled salamander because its cute as hell

slightly off topic everyday i think of how fucking horrific it mustve been for joe to come into work one morning and his best friend just has a phone for a head and extreme memory issues now . literally what the fuck. thats so fucked up

to do a tonal 180... if she was a pokemon trainer shed have a herdier or stoutland as a sort of service dog for walking shorter-medium distances when she rlly doesnt feel like whipping out the cane :.-)

shes so pale its actually ridiculous. bro looks like she hasnt seen the sun in 5 years ... jake pokes a bit of fun for it sometimes

thanks for asking, anon! i love getting excuses to talk about dsaf. i have a lot of thoughts, you know... dont ever friend me on discord my ass will randomly drop either the goofiest or angstiest headcanons at random intervals and i have no real control over whichor when it will be

[soap-ful]

Art advice from someone who needs art advice but the specific kind that only I know how to give

A 2am write up by a burnt out artist with nothing better to do :)

Okay so let’s rate the typical tutorials people will look up (generalized)

Anatomy

Features (hair, eyes, lips, etc)

Bodies (in terms of shape)

Anatomy is one of the MOST IMPORTANT things when drawing!! It comes before stylizing and basic features - you need to know anatomy before you branch off into your own style! (Take as long as you need. I started out without any knowledge regarding anatomy - it’s how it goes. You’re never perfect.)

Second to anatomy is FEATURES! Eyes, hair, lips, clothes/folds, shading - those are second. I once asked a professional painter how she got things so perfect, and she said she would just repeat what she needed to understand. She filled an entire sketchbook with eyes, another with lips, another with hair, and so on. (She additionally did this with anatomy - one for hands, one for feet - then onto more complex shapes with heads, arms/legs, torsos). She would then fill an entire sketchbook with everything added together - basically she would redraw puzzle pieces until they ‘fit’.

Now, body shape is a rather stigmatized thing in the community of young and growing artists. I’m sure you have seen the classic ‘women are round/men are square’ or the ‘hourglass vs. rectangle shape’ or the ‘girl eyes vs. boy eyes’. While I do believe these help with basic anatomy skills and helps artists convey the cookie cutter gender alignments, you need to remember that boys have eyelashes and girls can be square. Don’t be too worried about conveying yourself properly! It comes with practice!

REMEMBER! Learning is a mess! You can learn in so many ways - I’m still learning, Picasso was still learning, that two year old with crayons is still learning.

Find your own rhythm. It’s frustrating and you’ll cry and the pictures in your head won’t come out as beautifully as you imagined, but you need to realize that not all tutorials work for every person, and that you don’t need to hyper fixate on a singular piece of advice from one artist.

There’s no holy grail of knowledge on how to make things look ‘good’. Time and patience and lots of crying is the only grail you’ll get - and that’s okay! It’s okay to rip your paper and throw your book and scribble over something and throw something out. It’s okay to give up and do something else, it’s okay to discard an idea you really liked, it’s okay to never get to an idea you really liked.

It’s okay to say that you can’t, but you need to also think that you’ll be able to someday. ‘I can’t, but someday’ gives you something to look forwards to. I cant colour clouds the best, but someday I will and boy howdy they’ll be tasteful.

HOW DO I GET INSPIRATION?

This is something specific to me - it doesn’t have to be followed religiously. But I like to watch things. Sometimes a mild existential crisis brings me ideas (I.e. wow, I’m here and breathing and the universe is expanding a billion times over but I’m touching scratchy grass rn and the temperature is just right and look at the fuzz on that bee). Recognize the things around you and how you’re present to recognize it.

Visualize the colour wheel! Where would damp grass sit? A blush on the skin? A honey bee’s yellow? One of the most surprising things I’ve found from colour picking is that purple clouds in an orange sunset almost always get picked out as grey. Lighting is important to your colours and you need to consider that! Sunset grass is different from morning grass!?

I’ve also found that watching people’s sped up art processes have helped me develop. You get to watch their ways of blocking in shapes and making things look natural, no matter what style it’s in.

WHAT DO I DO IF IM IN AN ART BLOCK??? HELP??????

Do a daily doodle. I know you want to draw that masterpiece you have in your head and the pencil just won’t work and maybe you just suck - no, open a notebook book or file, and draw something simple. Something to smile at. A frog, a flower, an eye, a stupid face, a dinosaur - draw with the aim of satisfying your need to put pencil on paper. Write your masterpiece idea down for later. It can wait.

Just remember that all tutorials are to help you grow and not for you to base your entire art life on.

If you don’t like how you draw your eyes, try something else you come up with. Don’t like your shapes? Try something different. It won’t hurt you, it won’t make you stop drawing. If you mess up on something new you’re trying, that won’t end your hopes and dreams, even if it may smush them. (I try so goddamn hard with my clouds that I can’t even begin to explain how badly I NEED TO GET IT RIGHT)

It’s not easy! You’ll hate everything you do!

But I think the moment you draw something, even if it’s a tiny part of the piece, and you say ‘huh. what a pretty thing.’

That is what you’re supposed to aim for. Creators usually see nothing truly beautiful in their pieces, so relax, go with the flow.

[actualbird]

I wonder if some of my asks have gotten eaten, too?? 🤔 I sent one a couple weeks ago but I figured u didn't have an answer for it yet, or it got lost in the tumblr void. It was a lot of rambling, but basically, I was wondering about your thoughts on the relationship b/w darius (the police guy) and artem? I was talking specifically about what u thought about them as a romantic ship, but I'm also curious about ur thoughts on them in general.

Also, completely different question: what's ur favorite thing about marluke??

Hope ur doing well!

- 🐍

hi, snake!!! :DDD

and oH GOSH YEAH. //smacks my hand to my face. I DID GET THAT ASK!!! i put it in my drafts for later because u mentioned in it the nxx polycule meeting mc's parents and i wanted to expand on that!! and then because i have the messiest brain in the world, i forgot. and i am so, so sorry about that!!!

but i can answer ur qs now, hehe!

irt darius/artem: IVE READ THE WHOLE SHIP TAG ON AO3 OF THEM ACTUALLY. AND GENUINELY, I LOVE IT.

in like almost every other ship, artem is the older one, but here darius has like a fuckin decade over him and ngl that tingles the (responsible) age difference relationship lover in me!!

they have a rlly interesting dynamic, be it romantic or platonic. because while artem is Stiff, darius is Stiff But Gruff. to me, it seems that artem is a rock. and darius is......a bigger rock and also if u touch it, u may get a gash. im making so much sense rn. also, i just love the bad boy/straight laced dynamic, which darius/artem also delivers on. this ship has got a LOT of good stuff hehehehe

so yea, i think theyre great!! i love reading fics of them, ship or not!! on the writing end tho, idt i'll ever write them romantically in my own fics/content because im just hugely fixated on the NXX Five.

however i do wanna write darius at some point. like outsider to the nxx pov style, wondering what the HELL is going on in that team. do they hate each other? or are they all in love? or are they all just fucking? and why are ALL of their emergency contacts EACH OTHER???

darius looks tired. i want to give him a reason for that exhaustion.

irt my fave thing about marius/luke: I CAN ONLY PICK ONE???? oh god......

okay im gonna give you three but also keep in mind that my brain feels like fruits in a blender and then chucked into a microwave

theyre funny together!! when i write them, their banter with each other just flows out so naturally. these guys are comedy central.

i kin luke pearce and marius von hagen is my type. sue me.

okay heres a smart one that really matters to me: together, theyd push the other to points where something has to change. marius and luke both are stubborn as fuck. when they believe in something, they dont back down. they get up into somebodys face and, if they want to, will force that person into action. and that action can be for better or for worse (i just like writing the stories where it's for the better bc i cant stand bad endings huhu) but my point is here is like. when youve got two characters like these guys, the story moves forward. they quite literally push the narrative into action because of their personalities and values.

again, huge apologies for forgetting about your ask. ive been doing okay and i hope you are doing good as well :')

[shyrose57]

2nd part than.

8: (This ones longgggg) Their rooms all have the same beige (like brown mushroom color) walls and floors. As their not allowed to change that. But Watson has some bookshelves in his room along with a old adventurer cape that goes in front of his body and hangs to his ankles (Item-Ya Adventurer Cape is a perfect example. Idk the actual name for the kind of cape it is), some display cases featuring his strongest bows and arrows, along with a sword and axe, along with pictures of the group toghere and pictures from his travels on the walls, he has a single lone desk that is only used when designing new bows or arrows. Ran also has bookshelves, but his is bigger and takes up a whole wall, he also as a winter cape with fur on its shoulders hung up (he lived in a snow biome for a little while and made the cape himself), along with a single weapon case that features a lone damaged neitherite sword, he also has chests stacked along a wall filled with random stuff that he sometimes gives as gifts or uses to throw at people. Jackie has a few paintings and posters in his room, along with the only carpet in any bedroom (that he totally didnt steal from Grievous), a panting easel, he has a single display case in his room that displays the sword Porkius gave him for winning, theres also pictures of the group toghere and a small chest next to his bed filled with things that belongs to someone in the group. Grievous has a small bookshelf (one book is a naming book Watson jokingly gave him), a chest filled to the brim with blankets and pillows (cause for him comfort is a necessity), he also has a desk that he tends to fall asleep at when doing literally anything on it. Everyone also has a good sized wardrobe somewhere in their room that is filled with different outfits and w statue stands with either iron armour or empty. There is also a four-way-bunkbed in the living room/area, they typically use it when someone is having or had a very bad day and needs comfort, or when Jackie's separation anxiety is bad and needs to sleep with everyone nearby. 

Ran loves reading and sometimes gets mad when someone intrupts his reading. Watson loves designing new bows and arrows and just designing weapons in general (Grievous does too and helps him sometimes). Jackie likes to paint and has a interest in adventuring one day. They are well known but only in Subbin and surrounding cities. Though word does travel about them at times which can bring people to Subbin. They have 2 titles actually! First is used in typical matches, while the second is used in more formal or serious matches (like those for general). Ran: The Enderman, Partikel Tari (Dancing Particles, referencing how when he fights when serious its like he's dancing as he teleports around the field). Watson: The Archer, Multi (Referencing how he has more experience than anyone in the use of all kinds of weapons and can quickly adjust to situations). Grievous: Multi-Named, Unpredictable (referring to how he is by far the most unpredictable person in serious battles). Jackie: The Child, Diremehake (Underestimated, referring to how he gets underestimated a lot during any battle). They get recognized quite often and get called their stage names, when they dont want to deal with people recognizing them they often either yell at them to go away or just run away. 

9: They do all of the above! It depends on the match up (Jackie and Watson stay out of eachothers way mostly, Ran and Grievous make it one on one, and Ran and Jackie take them out quick). Oh the first time Ran threw Jackie was hailours. You could hear Watson screaming from the stands in fear and Jackie just head-butted the guy in the stomach. Then when Jackie recovered he just yelled for Ran to throw him again, and once again you could hear Watson screaming no and threats at them from the stands. Ran agreed and threw Jackie at the last person, who he just bear hugged as he hit and held them down. Then after the battle Watson smacked the two and chastised them.

10: At first he drops stuff and trips over his feet on a regular basis. But after about 3 weeks he fully regains his balance, and is able to finally walk without tripping at the start. While the attempts at bonding do work to get Ranbob and Cletus closer the two never get as close as the rest. Neither can really name what's stopping them from getting closer though. For the first week people need to constantly remind Ranbob to do all of those things. As he thinks the constant hunger, thirst, and tiredness is all normal when its not and their trying to get him to understand that. And while he eventually starts to do it himself, theres still some nights where he doesnt eat or drink or sleep. They just leave the two in the house, but later they do start to expand the house a bit to fit the new addition. He does not get his own place up, he just gives up after some time. He doesn't fall asleep out there to often thankfully, but since the house keeps falling on him he does get cuts and bruises quite often. He gets stuck in a rain storm only 2 times which isn't bad, but he does get semi-bad burns from them sadly that Benjamin has to sit him down for and have Charles distract him for long enough to wrap his wounds properly. And it only took Benjamin like 4 weeks before he finally got fed up and forced him inside and had him stay with them. He has dealt with a storm before when he was young! But it was when he was about 12 so its been a long while. 

11: He spends all of his free time glaring at them. And for the first few days whenever he sees someone from his group hanging around his brothers, he'll go over and pick em up and just carry them away. The fishermen worry for a bit that Ran may hurt them, but Watson assured them that Ran knows the two groups like eachother and wouldn't hurt them incase that could hurt his families feelings. 

12: Ranbob is extremely happy about potentially getting new members of his family! And eagerly tries to talk with them. But Ran is far less happy and actively avoids them (and drags his family away at times).

13: At the start they have no idea where their going. But when Grievous brings up about Rans damaged sword they decide to find a nether portal so they can find whats needed to repair his sword! And Watson decides on the way he can show them all the different biomes in the world, which Jackie is extremely excited for. 

14: If the fishermen get separated from Ranbob for too long he actively goes and searches for them. And refuses to stop until he finds them. When upset Ran loves to pick up members of his Haunting, though he doesnt do them often as he knows his Haunting doesn't like it when he does it to often. He and Ranbob also pick up blocks though as it's a comfort action and soothes them. Cuddles piles do happen! They happen more for Ranbob to comfort him after a nightmare or just a bad day, or when he basically relapses and wants to go back to Dream. But cuddle piles are more rare in Rans group, as cuddle piles only happen when anyone is doing really badly mentally or physically and just need comfort, or when they all just need some comfort. But their much more sentimental and have more meaning than Ranbobs groups. 

15: Oh definitely. I forget if I included it when I first introduced my Au. But soon after Ran escaped Mizu, he was hunted for his pearl and respawn ability. Though he killed the people hunting him. Every year he was out of Mizu and every year before he entered Subbin he was hunted by multiple groups. He's become legend just for avoiding so many groups and killing a vast majority of them. He's known as the "Green Eyed Enderman." and is a top goal amongst hunters. There are some times Ran got jumped in Subbin for being a hybrid but he quickly defeated them. 

Karl has played his role in this! Though maybe I could make it so he comes in later on during a really difficult part between the  brothers, and helps out. Using his own experiences in the SMP and seeing what ruined relationships like brothers does to someone and others, to make sure their relationship doesn't stay so broken and hurt so many people. Maybe at the end I'll have them go back and face Dream so Ranbob (and even Ran slightly, with how Dreams presence affected him) can finally be completely free. As of rn no one has a pet. But that question made me really want to give someone a raven and idk who. I want to have bits of the other Tales in it! Im not quite sure how yet but I want this to be a mostly Tales ONLY au (no main SMP stuff unless needed or necessary) as the Tales don't have enough love. He does write down the experience he had with the Dream Experience and writes down very important things, but other than that he leaves it behind. 

Im really happy to hear that you like my au. I love world and story building a lot and can't control how much I write sometimes, again im sorry this is so long and I'll do my best to not make anything this long ever again. Sorry if this bothered you

8: Sounds pretty interesting, overall. Was Watson-as his cape suggest-perhaps an adventurer? And he designs his own bows and arrows? Very cool. What kind of things does he come up with?  Ran also sounds like he’s traveled a bit. He knows how to sew? Has he ever made anything for anyone else? Where did he get his sword? Jackie’s got a carpet? Very nice, he deserves it. And a painting easel? How good is he at painting? Or is it more of something he’s just trying? Grievous sounds like he could build a very good pillow fort, and honestly, good for him. How often do they camp out in the bunk bed room? 

Ran not liking being interrupted is understandable. Does he ever read to anyone, or is it more some alone time for him? Grievous and Watson must design some terrifying weapons. Where is Jackie looking at adventuring to? Anywhere specific, or just around? And what language(s) is Ran and Jackie’s secondary titles in? Latin? 

9: Very smart of them, means it’ll be harder to pick up a pattern. And hearing about Ran tossing Jackie-I’m laughing. I’m not going to lie, kind of assumed it was planned pre-match, but hearing that they just decided to throw him? Watson’s reaction? Just...hilarious. Was Jackie even prepared for it, or did Ran just toss them without warning? Honestly, it kind of sounds like people might come to the Pit for the comedy just as much for the fighting. If this was the kind of thing that went down, I’d probably come to watch.

10: Oh no, Ranbob! At least he’s getting better. So Cletus and Ranbob never quite click, huh? Well, that’s alright. Sometimes people just don’t. Doesn’t mean they don’t care about each other! Ranbob thinking it’s normal, oh god. Does he ever say something along those lines, or get confused why the others are so worried about it? If so, how do the fishermen react to that question, and how does Ranbob react to the answer. As for the house, well. He can say he tried if nothing else-and hey, funny story to share with the gladiators later on. It’s good that he wasn’t caught in too many storms, less that he was caught in some at all. I’m sure that was a big help in convincing Benjamin to finally just put his foot down, which, honestly good for him. You go, Benjamin!

11: Ran, bud, chill. I like how you said his free time though-my first thought was that he immediately finished a book and went over to glare at them. Probably not true, but a hilarious mental image. Very glad Watson has reassured the fishermen-how did Ranbob react to that worry of theirs?

12: Ran’s actions are pretty understandable, but still a bit sad. How does Ranbob feel about them? Is he resigned? Determined? Upset?

13: Adventure! Into possibly dangerous places! How fun! Can’t wait to see where it goes. What do they see? What’s the first stop? How long are they heading off?

14: He won’t stop? Like, potentially will work himself into the ground won’t stop? Ran just picks up his members like blocks. And, oh boy. Ranbob wanting to go back to Dream? That’s just. Oof. Very much oof. How do the fishermen deal with that, and how do they feel about it?

15: Ran sounds like he’s had a less than enjoyable time out there. Do these hunters ever go after them once they leave Subbin? Do they target Ranbob? I mean, he’s another Endermen hybrid, and one who definitely isn’t as skilled as Ran, or as used to them. He’d be a much easier target.

So Karl’s gonna come in towards the end. Nice. Ran was also affected by Dream? How so? Obviously less than his brother, but did he ever notice? Did Ranbob? Sounds like it’d be a good final showdown, over all.

As for that pet raven, may I offer some suggestions? You could give one to Jackie and Grievous, so it can help them cause havoc, or maybe one to Benjamin, so it can help him keep an eye on his dorks. Maybe even Cletus, to help snag things, and mess with people, or Isaac, maybe to help find things. Even Watson, or one of the brothers, to help keep watch over their groups. Really, you could give any of these guys a raven. Depending on said bird’s personality, it could fit anywhere. Just depends on what you want to do with it.

I completely agree with you, we need more Tales AUs. Ranbob and Ran did come from what was basically a city of historians, perhaps you could use that to tie in the other Tales? Or even have them across the old ruins of areas on their adventure. Even chunk in more time travel, via Karl or otherwise, if you want to toss in more characters.

Ranbob pretty much starts over then. Good for him. How does Ran feel about that? Actually, who was Ran’s idol, and his general life on Mizu, before the Dream incident?

Other questions:

One thing I’d like to know is how the groups react to each other’s experiences and general life styles. Like for one, Ranbob and the fishermen generally seem more physically affectionate with each other, while Ran and the gladiators seem fairly less so, but no less close. 

For another, the fishermen probably still remind Ranbob to eat or sleep, which would probably seem a bit confusing for the gladiators. How much do they know about both sides? Obviously enough for them to want to help get the brothers back together, but like.

How much do the gladiators believe Ranbob’s side. Are they wary, or skeptical, or do they believe it completely, and if so, why? 

How long was Ran left running, evading hunters, and how has that affected him? How many times do both brothers say something concerning, and how do they react to what the other says?

You’ve said Ranbob occasionally relapses and wants to return to Dream. Does this happen on the trip? And if so, how do the gladiators react to such a thing-depending on how much they know about the whole thing, I can imagine mixed reactions. How does Ran react?

How do both groups react to the new endermen hybrids? They seem to have dealt with different instincts before now, so seeing Ranbob trail the fishermen and Ran just pick up the gladiators must be a bit strange. 

What can Ranbob keep down? Not only was Dream in control, and not particularly careful with his body, but supplies were probably also somewhat limited when he did eat. So how has that affected him? 

Are there any nicknames within in the groups? How do the gladiators react to the schedule change, considering they had set times for so much before? How do the fishermen react to the new areas? What habits are/become shared, and what habits are restricted to one group.

In general, just...how the fishermen and the gladiators differ in lifestyles, basically. 

For another, in one of the earlier post, you mentioned both Isaac and Cletus wanted to return to Mizu. Isaac kind of gives me a historian vibe himself, or some sort of archaeologists. Just a kind of person who wants to learn about history-perhaps something to do with the fact that he was played by Karl, and the whole time traveler thing. 

But anyway, what exactly did those two want to do down there? Explore, learn, steal?

And how would you say everyone’s personalities are like? Will you be introducing anymore characters, Tales or otherwise. It’d be interesting to see a Pit version of Tommy, or Puffy, or such.

How does Ran react when he finally accepts the truth, and what exactly pushes him to that? 

Hope this isn’t too many questions. I’m pretty invested, not gonna lie.

And seriously, I don’t mind the length. Long or short, I’m really just happy to hear more about your AU, and I look forward to more.

[awful-roffle-archive]

Meteors dot txt

A/N: this definitely got to a point i just took the characters and setting and did my own story with it but uh. its fine. no idea if i’ll ever come back to this but?? im running out of writing spoons rn so! you get this as is with its really choppy ending :^) nothing’s been proof read by someone else but i tried my best so uh. enjoy lmao

word count: 3,420

"Today's broadcast reports there will be a meteor shower raining over Pelican Town this evening! Make sure to take an umbrella with you! Hehe." The meteorologist quips before the broadcast goes back to the news about the latest about the Gotoro Empire. Rayzan sighs and shuts the TV off, sipping at his coffee.

"What's so important about some damn meteor shower? It's... what, space rocks? Big whoop." He mutters to himself, shoving a rather... strange (to put it lightly) tasting cheese cauliflower into his mouth. It's what he gets from buying food from Joja - hopefully he wouldn't start glowing or something as a side effect. With a grunt he pushes himself off of the floor, throwing the plastic container to the side. He'd clean it up later. Probably.

He jumps as there's a rapping on the janky screen door, and he instinctively grabs his gun from behind a potted plant. Pulling the door open, he aims it directly between the other's eyes.

"What the fuck do you want." His tone is harsh and cold, and he never breaks eye contact with her.

"Oh!" Maru stumbles backwards on the porch, holding her hands up. "I'm sorry! I just- uh-" She falters over her words, clearly taken aback.

"Spit it out."

"Can you put down the gun? Please?" Maru chooses her words carefully, keeping her hands in the air.

"I thought I made it perfectly fucking clear I didn't want anyone bothering me." He moves the gun downward, but his gaze still seems to burn through her.

"Well, yes, but..."

"But you wanted to anyways, right? You decided your high-fucking-horse is more important than my privacy."

There's a long pause before Maru says anything. She just stands there, gawking at him. "I just wanted to tell you about the meteor shower tonight. Everyone's going to be gathered at the beach, if you wanted to come." She speaks simply before turning around and stepping off the porch. "Yeah. I'm aware." He slams the door, the screens rattling as he locks it. "Yoba damn everyone in this fucking town." He grumbles and hides the gun once more.

Grabbing whatever clothes he could find from his dresser, he stares at himself in the mirror. So much for keeping up appearances, huh? He takes a deep breath and runs some hair gel through his hair, a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. He gags and spits into a bucket of lake water. His plumbing hadn't worked for, well, what felt like months now and he wasn't about to go ask Mrs. 'Oh how are you? Where are you from? How is the farm? Do you have any family?' Robin for help any time soon.

Pulling a shirt over his head he makes his way outside, staring at his rather sad attempt at a garden. He was supposed to be a farmer and he couldn't even keep a few peppers alive, let alone an entire farm's worth. Deciding to water the crops, despite them being... well, very dead, he tosses his farming tools aside and heads into town.

---

The walk always felt long and tedious. He had looked into getting a car before, but the walk to even GET to a dealership was way out of the question, and with the only bus in town out of commission, he was pretty much stuck in town and on foot. The sun beat down on him endlessly, almost taunting him for daring to move during the summer.

As soon as he reaches town he instantly heads for Joja. The saloon wouldn't be open for another few hours, and he sure as hell wasn't going to sit in Pierre's and listen to his badgering about how the farm was doing. Instantly being hit with the a/c of Jojamart he takes a deep breath, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Quite the walk, isn't it? You should take a sip of the latest JojaCola flavor! NuBerry - a delicious combination of raspberry and cranberry thrown together by our team of talented scientists! Joja is not liable for any injuries or side effects that may occur while drinking NuBerry. NuBerry - Fresh and full of smiles!" Morris spews off like a recorded advertisement, making Rayzan roll his eyes. He instead heads back towards the freezers, holding it open and just soaking in the cold as he sinks to the floor.

“Probably shouldn't stand there with it open like that.” A voice comes up from behind him, leaning over his shoulder.

“You and I both know you don't care about their electric bills.” Rayzan smirks as he looks up to see Shane leaning over him. “Unless you've suddenly had a change of heart?” He puts a hand to his heart, leaning back.

“Nah. Last I heard there was some freezer monster back there. Snatches up kids that don't know better.” Shane quips and stands up straighter. “Besides, I gotta put these in there.” He motions to a palette of frozen pizza boxes.

“Mind if I nab one of those to go?”

“Hey, if you can get it past Morris be my guest.” Shane pauses, “But if you get caught I didn't see shit.” He grins before going back to restocking the freezer.

“You underestimate me greatly.” Rayzan snatches a box off of the pile, waiting until Morris was busy doing who-knows-what until stealthily stepping out the door with it.

“Oi, watch it kid.” Pam exclaims as Rayzan runs directly into her, almost dropping his box.

“Whatever.” Rayzan grumbles and rushes past her, wondering where the hell he could keep this for the time being. There was no way he was walking all the way back home for just this. Looking around he exhales before checking his watch. 10:04 am. Fuck. What was he supposed to do for at least another two hours before the saloon opened?

He could go to the mines... but that didn't solve his pizza dilemma. He groans before staring down at the river. Maybe... No, that would make it soggy. Shit. He settles on hiding it behind a rock in the shade – at least it would stay cool there. Wiping his hands off he heads past Pierre's, only to get stopped on his way.

“Hey, Rayzan! How is the farm coming along? You know, if you need anything we-”

“Yeah, yeah. You sell seeds and shit. I'm thoroughly aware. It's the only fucking shit you sell.” Rayzan interrupts her, turning back around with his arms crossed.

“Well... Pierre and I have discussed expanding our stock recently. If you have anything you'd like to see feel free to let us know!” Caroline smiles, holding up a small basket of tomatoes. “These are freshly grown from our garden, they're rather fresh, too. We were thinking about selling these, would you like to try one?”

“...I'll pass.” Rayzan rolls his eyes, continuing up the path.

“Oh, well, I'll see you later at the meteor shower then!”

“Doubt it.” He picks up his pace, running up towards the mountains. The air always feels crisper up here, fresher. He takes a moment to breathe as he reaches Robin's house, then immediately ducks by it. There was no way he was sticking around for more pleasant conversations with the townsfolk. ESPECIALLY Robin.

---

As he ducks into the mine, Marlon looks over at him and just laughs. “What, are you planning on starting an earth quake and almost killing yourself again? Didn't have enough last time?”

“Shut up. I didn't even bring my gun this time.”

“You didn't bring your sword, either. Or a pickaxe... What exactly are you planning on doing down there?” Marlon points out, nodding towards him. “May be half-blind but even I can see that's not a good idea.”

Rayzan takes a moment to look over himself, realizing he didn't actually bring any tools. “...Fuck.” He sighs in exasperation as Marlon laughs at him.

“Get out of here kid. I'm not in the mood to rescue you again.”

“Shut up.” Rayzan repeats himself, leaving the cave with a roll of his eyes. He heads past Linus' tent with a nod of his head, shoving his hands into his pockets before heading up towards the train station. Oh how he wished he could hop on the train and get the hell out of here. Instead he pushes the door open to the spa, heading for the locker room. With any luck no one else would be there.

Unfortunately, this wasn't his lucky day. Alex sits up from the weight bench as he waves at him.

“Hey man, didn't think I'd see you up here again.” Alex grins. “That offer to spot you is still open. You know, so you don't drop your weight on your foot again. How's that doing, by the way?”

“It's fine.” Rayzan says simply, yanking at his locker door.

“You gotta pull it up first.” Alex speaks up after a few moments of Rayzan fighting with the locker.

“...I knew that.” Rayzan responds, moving the handle up before pulling it open properly.

“Oh! Uh, are you going to that... that shower tonight? Haley's dragging me along. Don't know, might be pretty cool.”

“Wasn't really planning on it. Everyone keeps asking me about it.” He grumbles and grabs a towel, heading for the showers.

“Well, it's just, basically everyone in town goes to these things. It's kind of a big deal, these festivals and all.”

“Yeah, I got that. Now, do you mind? I'm sweaty and I'm not going to wash myself off at home with lake water.”

“You don't have a shower?”

“No.”

“Why don't you-”

“I'm not asking anyone to fix my shit.” With that, Rayzan pulls the curtain to the shower shut and tosses his things down. What's with everyone in this town being so damn talkative?

---

He spends the next several hours in the pool, ignoring Penny and Alex talking about who knows what. His day is rather quiet after that, deciding to head to his usual place in the saloon – where, yes, he does get Gus to put his pizza in the freezer for him for the time being. He ends up falling asleep in one of the booths, nursing his glass of beer. He's only awaken by Shane poking him in the side.

“Wha-? Ah... Mm..” Rayzan murmurs, stretching his arms out. “Thought you'd have more courtesy than to wake a sleeping man.” He grumbles drowsily.

“Didn't want to, but otherwise it'd be Gus and I figured you didn't want that. He's locking up here to go see the meteor shower thing. Jas wanted me to go with her.” He doesn't sound very enthused about it either. “Want to go keep me company?”

“Ugh.”

“Yeah. I know.” He frowns, but steps aside as Rayzan gets up.

“Guess so.” He sighs, then looks over at Gus by the door. “Can I get my pizza after? So I'm not holding it the whole time?”

“Of course! I'll leave the door unlocked for ya.” Gus beams before heading outside, Shane and Rayzan soon following after.

“So did Morris say anything about the missing stock?” Rayzan glances over, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“Hah, no not really. Don't think he even noticed you leaving. Lillian didn't either, or at least she didn't mention it.” Shane ponders as they walk the rest of the way in silence.

---

They pick a spot that's far enough away from everyone else to not be bothered, but close enough that Jas wouldn't complain to Marnie that Shane didn't show up.

“You ever seen one of these things?” Rayzan speaks up after awhile, looking up at Shane.

“Nah, I'm not really... into space stuff. There's enough to worry about on this planet, you know? Never mind worrying about whatever the hell aliens out there are getting up to.”

“Agreed.” Rayzan nods, pushing his hair up out of his face before staring up at the sky as the meteors begin raining by. Everyone is quiet other than the “oohs” and “ahhs” and other noises spoken in awe of the event. As Rayzan looks around he sees people making various wishes, Robin and Demetrius kissing, and Vincent and Jas playing astronauts off to the side. A faint smile grows on his face as he leans back, letting the sand seep between his fingers. This was nice, despite his many protests against it.

Eventually, the shower ended and the crowd started dying down as everyone went home. Shane said his goodbyes as he carried a very sleepy Jas off, and Rayzan was left alone. Rayzan sat there for a few more minutes listening to the ocean. Everything was peaceful, until a loud crash roars through the beach. The sound shakes through the town, and Rayzan jumps from his spot.

“The f-?” He suddenly wishes he had literally any weapon on him. He hesitantly makes his way over to the right hand side of the beach, staring at the smoldering pit among what used to be small tide pools. “Uh.” He mutters to himself, looking back towards Elliott's hut. No reaction. Was he already asleep? How did he NOT hear that? He shakes his head and grabs a stray stick from by the trees, poking at the object in the middle of the pit with it.

“Uh...” Rayzan repeats to himself, looking down at his hands. If he did end up burning himself Harvey wasn't asleep just yet, right? He'd probably be fine. He cautiously picks up the object, finding it to be - surprisingly - not as hot as he thought. It was fairly large, having to be held with two hands, and seemed to be glowing a soft blue aura. It's exterior was rather dark, with dull white spikes protruding out the sides. Although he tried to pull it apart it was no use – whatever it was, it was rather sturdy.

“Damn you're heavy.” Rayzan mutters as he stares at the egg-shaped object in his hands. He looks up, pondering to himself about what to do with this thing. He begins heading back up towards town, only to be interrupted by Maru.

“Oh my yoba – I could hear that crash from across TOWN! To think something actually hit the ground! And you're holding it!” Maru begins rambling off, clapping her hands together. “Can I see it? That doesn't look like any meteor I've ever heard of, but of course space is really vast and there could be plenty of different-”

“Whoa, whoa. Listen, if you want this thing take it. I don't know what to do with it.” Rayzan begins trying to hand it off, only for it to stab him in the arm. “What the fuck?”

“Oh- Oh dear, are you okay?” Maru widens her eyes, frantically trying to grab it again – only for the object to protest yet again.  Rayzan grunts in pain, nodding.

“Maybe we should... not. Do that.” He hisses as he carefully sets it down – thankfully it lets him do that – before rubbing at his wrists. “Fuck, what is that thing?”

“Well, I'm not entirely sure... It seems at least somewhat sentient though, don't you think? Exciting!” Maru grins before turning her attention back to him. “...Right, we should get you to the clinic.” She reaches down to pick it up off the floor, only for it to spray some form of mist into the air. “AH!” She exclaims as she stumbles back, holding a hand over her face. “Okay! You pick it up!”

“I'm not touching that thing again!”

“We have to at least move it somewhere no one else can get hurt.” Maru insists, rubbing at her eyes.  Rayzan grunts and picks up the foreign object, carrying it in his arms as he follows her to the clinic.

Harvey looks up from his paperwork as the door opens, raising an eyebrow. “I thought I locked... Oh, Maru, hello- Are you okay? What is- Rayzan are you bleeding?” He gets up frantically, moving around the counter.

“I'm fine, he might need stitches. Don't... touch that thing.” Maru aggressively points to the object. “I need to go wash out my eyes.” She motions vaguely in the air before walking off. Harvey blinks a few times before looking back towards Rayzan as he sets the object in a waiting room chair.

“Alright... well, let's get you sorted. I'll... call Gunther and let him know about this also.” Harvey furrows his brow, walking Rayzan back towards the examination room. “What happened, exactly?”

“I don't know. That thing fucking... Grabbed me when I tried to give it to Maru.” Rayzan hisses in pain as Harvey looks over his wounds.

“These look pretty deep – did it get you anywhere else?”

“Not that I can tell.” He shakes his head as Harvey frowns. “I feel kind of... sick, though.”

“Hopefully that's just from blood loss and it didn't inject you with anything.” Harvey notes before gathering everything necessary.

---

Rayzan wakes up in one of the hospital beds in the morning and groans as he sits up. “...So that wasn't a dream. Fuck.” He looks down at his bandaged arms with a frown. Harvey comes in with a smile, holding a clipboard close to his chest.

“Well, good news, you aren't going to die.” Harvey smiles before continuing, “You ended up passing out last night so I set you up here. As far as I could tell, there's nothing lethal in your blood stream either. Maru and Gunther are in the waiting room discussing the...” Harvey trails off for a moment, “Well, if you'd like to talk to them, you're free to. Be sure to keep those bandaged though, alright? And I wouldn't advise any excessive movement... If you need any pain killers, let me know.”

Rayzan nods, pushing himself out of the bed. “Yeah, thanks doc.” He mutters and heads into the waiting room.

“Oh! Mr. Rayzan, it's always a pleasure to see you. This is certainly an interesting specimen you've found here!” Gunther smiles as he stands up straighter.

“Yeah, and it tried to fucking kill me. Can't you take the yoba damn thing to the museum or something where I don't have to look at it?” He glares at it, crossing his arms over his chest before wincing and simply putting them down by his sides.

“Ah... I was looking into that, actually. It seems it's imprinted on you somehow and is rather territorial about it.”

“It's done what? I'm not a damn mother duck or something! If that shit turns out to be an alien I'm not taking care of it.” Rayzan protests angrily, leaning against the counter.

“If it would let me I'd take it off your hands after it hatches or... whatever it's going to do, but until then no one can touch it.” Maru frowns as she looks over at him. “I guess you could just drop it off somewhere, but there's no guarantee it still won't try to find you once it hatches...” There's a pause. “Though I'm absolutely open for helping you out with it as much as I can! Maybe we can be co-parents of it!” She laughs, though it doesn't last long as she sees Rayzan's expression. She clears her throat as she looks away. “Up to you, of course.”

“I'm probably just gonna drop the thing in the river or something. Maybe it'll float off to wherever. Or better yet, drown.”

“Mr. Rayzan, sir, if I may interrupt, I don't think that's such a good idea.” Gunther speaks up. “We don't know anything about this creature – it could be invasive to the local environment. It's better to keep it close so we can learn more about it.”

“Then you take it!” Rayzan picks up a wooden crate, then sets the object inside of it. “There. Yours now. Have fun with your murder egg.” He shoves the box into Gunther's arms and storms towards the door.

“Rayzan!” Maru shouts, but frowns as she turns back towards Gunther. “I think we're on our own here.”

Gunther nods, “It seems so...” He looks down at the object, then nods towards her. “I'll take this over to the museum for now and try to figure out what it likes... Perhaps find a sun lamp.”

Rayzan rolls his eyes as he slams the door behind him. He heads towards the saloon, grabbing his frozen pizza out of the freezer before making the journey home. He'd be glad to sleep in his own bed again.

[cherubsoda]

Aster, iris, queen anne's lace, daffodil, and tulip for Dante? ♡ @heartstringsymphonies

@heartstringsymphonies ​ @chiliechii / @dokiquents thank you sm for the asks!!

i might do a medic one later, i just wanted to get something out (｡-人-｡)

asdfajg i fuc k ing h love this picture early the 2000s are shaking rn

its long so,, under the cut babey!!

aster: tell us about a gentle moment shared with your f/o

After a long day, we both find solace in each others company, no words need to be spoken between us to understand how we feel or know what the other may need. We sit in silence until he briefly leaves my side to tinker with the old jukebox across the room. A familiar tune kicks up and he makes his way back over to me. We share a smile as I slide my hand into one of his calloused ones and gently brings me upon my own feet. He tries to hide his embarrassment behind a smirk that quickly turns into a soft chuckle and a matching smile, when I finally look up at him. Swaying to the song we both know, he holds me close and I rest my head upon his chest. He’s humming along and I can’t help but to join him.

iris: compliment you f/o and share a compliment that they have given to you

I admire the love and commitment he has towards his family and his resilience. No matter how much is thrown at him, he stills stands back up and walks tall! He’s shown multiple times, just how far he’d go to protect his friends and family and it just shows how much he’s grown over the years :’) He’s always attentive, even when he doesn’t realize he is and I always appreciate his concerns

He’s my hype man fr, but a genuine compliment i’ve received from Dante was that no matter how hard he is to deal with, I’ve never gave up on him. My stubbornness and mother hen traits are his “saving grace”, as he likes to put it. I’ve always been level headed and only want what’s was best for everyone; as much as he appreciates my willingness to heal and listen, he’s afraid I take on too much too often.

queen anne’s lace: tell us how your f/o makes you feel safe

Dante is typically a very physical person. It’s just how he shows affection like the hard slaps on the back or the musing of hair, maybe most of all, the comforting hand that rests on my knee or a guiding hand on my lower back. In the least cheesiest way, he makes me feel safest when I’m in his arms. insert garfield propaganda pic except it says “you are not immune to hugs”. Hugging is so therapeutic to me and he probably picks up on that and scoops me up in his arms and carries me to his seat or upstairs to rest and talk about it depending on how bad my mood is. Also, just knowing how strong he is, makes me feel safe knowing that if anything goes wrong, he’ll have my back.  

daffodil: how has your f/o changed your life

Dante was one of those characters that one day I was like, “I’m gonna like him everyone shut up” and started binging the whole series; it was out of no where really and ever since then, he’s been one of my biggest comfort characters, especially since (at the time) he was from a series my friend wasn’t into yet. It was like I had a secret, something very personal that I had free range in! Having Dante as one of my f/os has allowed me to expand my imagination and - for some reason- I had an easier time sharing my ideas/AUs with my friend, since I’m usually shy about it or too scared to share them. It also allowed me to be as op as I wanted to be since dmc is just the kind of series where anything could happen so, it’s just really fun for me!

tulip: who confessed their love to the other first? how?

Surprisingly, me? We’ve known each other for years and always had a back and forth relationship (not dating just bantering sort), but after a while I came to realize that, oh man … I REALLY like this fool. A few years after the 3rd game I had hinted that I had feelings for him, which he waved off as a joke (also it’s canon that Lucia’c feelings flew right over his head, so his younger self would probably be no better or even worse) and didn’t admit his own feelings that he thought would pass and we kinda just went on like it never happened.

He’s had his up’s and down’s and thankfully, I could be there to make sure he didn’t feel alone and took care of him when he wouldn’t. It was right before the 2nd game took place when I really had confessed my feelings and made it apparent on how important he is to me. I figured it’d be best to wait until he was ready for a relationship if he really felt like it. Eventually, when things settled down after his return, he could return the sentiment and confess as well :’) im angsty but dmc is really like that

Depends on the timeline tbh asdlkh

larkspur: tell us a funny moment shared with you f/o

It’s not canon but it’s agreed upon in the fandom that Dante really can’t cook for shit, (which i somewhat agree on) which leaves me to do most of the cooking! But as couples do, we try and help the other one out when the other half is too busy or just trying to be nice. I haven’t been home a a couple of days since I’ve been busy dealing with demons and such, so Dante decides to practice cooking (god help us) to help out a little.

After a long string of missions, I can finally head back to Devil May Cry to - hopefully - catch up with Dante and pass out on the nearest surface. The shop is relatively quiet save for some music coming from the kitchen, so I head over to see what’s happening. Dante has his back turned, so I decide to sit at the table and wait until he notices. He’s whistling to the tune of a song I don’t recognize, while kneading some sort of dough on the counter. He finally turns to spin and toss said dough, only to let out a sound of surprise as he flings the dough towards me, almost knocking me off my chair and my only iconic reaction was to shout: “Mamma Mia!”. We both won’t let each other live that down; whenever something slightly inconvenient happens we’ll hear each other mutter “mamma mia" to ourselves.

[someobscurereference]

ok so assuming somehow circumstances permitted, consider a scenario where the awakening trio finally opens up about their past. how do you think the royals react? does it change the dynamics between them @ all? i feel like it would @ least make the trio feel closer to them, like more comfortable going to them if they wanted to talk about any past-related issues (trauma, nightmares, etc.) Also i cant help thinking of odin just dramatically being like "well the enemy was approaching so I (1/2)

decided to cut the bridge and stay behind”/Niles and Leo: yOU WHAT/Laslow: no its ok I decided to stay behind with him I would never leave a friend to die alone/xandar: D: im sorry you wHAT? ALSO I think about that line from ur fic where odin is like “that was our second dragon” bc one of the trio def says that and everyone just :O idk I just feel like the sheer amount of horrible things that happened to the trio would be shocking even for the nohrian royals bc it IS a lot (2/2)

Anon, u and i are always on the same wavelength, so I’m warning u to buckle up now, because this is gonna be a long one.

I’m going to preface this by saying I don’t know how Owain and Inigo could have had that bridge experience if the Trio in FE14 is supposed to be the same as the kids you recruit in the main FE13 storyline. The bridge experience is specifically used for the FE13 DLC in an alternate reality where those kids never go back in time (i.e. those are a different timeline’s children). The Owain and Inigo we know in the main FE13 never had that experience, as if you do deploy them in that DLC, they will comment that this did happen in their world but things were never that bad and they never had to cut the bridge. The Trio in FE14 is pretty heavily implied to be from the main storyline.

And yet???? Odin still is afraid of bridges because of that event???? I think I asked that once and somebody said it could just be the trauma of watching his alternate self nearly die that’s affecting him because he realized how badly things could have gone. And that’s possible and probably the truth. But I don’t know for sure and I never will and I think about this a lot. (Selena and Laslow reference Harvest Scramble and Hot Spring DLC, so they’ve gotta be the main timeline kids who fought with Chrom)

For the sake of this answer, I’m going to pretend the Trio in FE14 is the same as FE13 but they did have that bridge experience first-hand. It’s not canon, I think, but it just makes everything easier to think about (for me).

Moving on, I think the only time the Trio would admit they were from another world would be after Anankos was defeated because it wouldn’t have to be so secret anymore (even though it’s also like?? technically illegal from an inter-dimensional standpoint, lmao). Straight up, after Anankos is defeated, I think the exhaustion and happiness would get to them, and I just think it’d be really funny for Selena, who was the strictest about keeping their status a secret, to be the one to let the truth slip. 

(I’m probably??? Gonna end up putting a lot of tiny snippets of things in here to expand on them more and here’s a super short, rushed one now:)

The dust settled. Corrin stood at the far end of the hall, chest heaving. The minion Selena had been battling had disappeared right as she swung. Now the rest of the army was picking themselves off the ground. 

Selena pressed the tip of her sword into the cracked floor and leaned on it. Gods, she was tired. But Anankos was gone. She could feel it in the air. She knew what defeating a dragon was like. The crackle, the energy, the shadow hanging on all their shoulders— it was gone. Anankos was gone. 

“Hell yeah,” she muttered to herself. There was dirt in her mouth, ew. “Killed another dragon. Did you see that, mom?”

There was no response from her mother, of course. She was dead and gone, and even when she wasn’t, she was still worlds away. 

Selena did get a response from someone else though. 

Something shift to her left. The sound of an ax hitting the ground. Selena turned. 

“What,” Camilla said flatly. 

And then Selena tries to cover up her tracks and only makes it worse and in the end, it doesn’t matter anymore, so the truth comes out. Laslow and Odin never let her live it down. 

I feel like the Nohrian royals (besides Elise) always kinda knew? On some level? That the Trio was Different. Because they’re not exactly subtle. (Not that their minds jumped to “inter-dimensional travel”, of course.)

Odin says stuff like “sometime in the past… or, strictly speaking, some time in the future…” and “Risen… uh, animals from my home.” Laslow, to Xander’s face, says, “Good luck finding me with a fake name and appearance.” He says that!!! I In their Supports!! To Xander’s Face!!!

(Xander: “wHAT”)

Like??? They’re not… good… about lying. They’re not absolutely terrible? But their cover-ups mostly seem to be changing the subject or going, “Uh, please ignore that.” These idiots. I love them. 

Selena is probably the best about it? In her Support with Corrin, when asked if she’s from Hoshido, she says, “When did I say I was from Hoshido […] I never said I was from Nohr either” (or at least something like that.) She’ll admit she’s not from either kingdom but she doesn’t say anything other than that. So she’s dropped the least amount of hints, probably. (There are probably more examples for all three of them but I can’t think of Supports besides the Nohrian’s rn.)

But they arrived together and fight together and they talk like they’ve known each other for years sometimes, and if Laslow and Odin have something going on, she absolutely does as well, so. Come on. 

The thing is the Nohrian Royals have to Suspect. They have to know the Trio is super hiding their past. They’re together all the time, and while Camilla/Leo/Xander may sometimes talk about their past, it has to get obvious over the years that the Trio doesn’t. At all. Niles actively tries to find shit out and can’t find anything, for goodness sake. 

But the Royals are pretty respectful about it? They don’t hound the Trio about their past and seem to love and trust them as they are anyway? But that is something they have to ignore, and when the Trio says something that blatantly can’t be ignored like “Risen” or “I have a fake name and face” they have to ask. Both out of curiosity and obligation because they are technically the lawmakers of the land and they can’t ignore everything. Just be semi-decent at pretending and Leo/Xander/Camilla will too.

Reactions/Changing Dynamics

Even if Selena spills the beans immediately after Anankos’ death, I don’t think they sit down and say everything right then and there. Everyone is tired. Things need to be done. I guarantee after Laslow and Odin hear Selena accidentally said some of the truth, they look at each other and go, “Yeah, I guess it’s fine now” and then they don’t say anything more until they get back into the Deeprealm that night. 

(Camilla+Leo+Xander is gonna get called the Royal Trio now because their names are too long.) The Royal Trio still trusts the Awakening Trio, obviously, but they have questions. And Anankos is defeated. Does that mean the war is over? Technically yes, technically no. Nothing is official yet. Lots of explaining to do. But the Awakening Trio has now obviously let loose this secret they were trying to keep secret and the danger is technically over and they always talked about leaving after the war is over, so—

So technically the Royals get a bit nervous. They hang around the A. Trio or request them to stay in their line of sight all afternoon, even when there’s other stuff to be doing, even when it’s easier to split up and clean up and take stock of things, and eventually the A. Trio does call them out on it (individually). They do their chores and after-battle prep and take care of the injured and the Royals listen to messengers and make plans on what to do now, what kind of treaties to make, and then when the evening comes, the A. Trio comes back just like they promised they would, looking antsy and tired and a little nervous and they all sit down in Corrin’s private quarters bc this is Top Secret stuff and Corrin has to listen anyway and then the A. Trio talks. 

They don’t go too in-depth about Grima. Not yet. 

But they talk about the Hidden Truths DLC and how human Anankos asked for their help. They talk about why they were disguised and why they couldn’t say anything about it and how they nearly went to Hoshido, only to find out they had to go to Nohr instead at the last moment and they only knew they were looking for a stolen child. 

(The fact they nearly went to Hoshido instead of Nohr makes Xander frown and Leo scowl and Camilla cling to Selena bit more, even though Hoshido and Nohr are still kinda newly friends now.)

“So do you look like this permanently now?” Leo asked, curious. “You said the human Anankos changed your appearance. Will that ever wear off?”

Selena, Laslow, and Odin all shared a look. Eventually Odin shrugged. 

“I’m not sure,” he said. “It hasn’t shown signs of waning yet. Dragon magic is quite strong. Even if we returned to our home world, who knows if our parents would even recognize us at first.”

The last part was a joke. Selena smacked him on the shoulder, and Odin winced. 

“Don’t say that,” she scolded. 

Odin glanced over to Laslow, looking sheepish. “Sorry.”

Laslow didn’t seem to notice.

“I suppose I have grown used to how I look,” Laslow mused. He absently touched his hair. “Though I look less like my mother than I once did…” He noticed Xander watching and flashed a smile. “Not that I mind very much anymore, milord. It’s all in the past now.”

Camilla brushed her fingertips against the end of Selena’s hair. “I’m afraid I can’t quite picture you as a blonde,” she said.

They don’t talk about Grima or their childhood or anything too personal at that meeting. It’s not relevant to the safety of anyone, after all. But later, when they’re alone and not so forced to talk, they might. 

“She died early on, I guess,” Selena said, not looking at Camilla at all. Her face was turned towards the window, but she didn’t seem to notice anything outside. “When the war started really picking up. She’d be gone for weeks and weeks. She was the absolute best.”

Camilla could see it now. Selena, tiny, waiting by the door for her hero mother to come home, day in and day out. A hopeful thing that eventually grew resentful.

Or maybe it wasn’t like that at all. Maybe Selena got tired of waiting early on. Maybe she dragged her father around the house and stomped around the yard and pretended not to care when a Pegasus Knight failed to appear from over the hill. 

“And then she didn’t come home,” Camilla guessed.

“And then she didn’t come home,” Selena echoed. “And I became the second-hand soldier in her place.”

Camilla pursed her lips. She wanted to scold Selena for talking about herself like that. But the mood was heavy and it was Camilla’s line of questioning that had brought them here in the first place, so she kept her opinions to herself. For now.

“She’d be proud of you,” Camilla said. 

Selena looked at her, face hard. “You’re not my mother.”

“No, I’m not,” Camilla agreed. She’d never had a mother who would be proud of her, and she didn’t want to be Selena’s. “But I love you dearly anyway.”

Selena’s face softened. The far away look left her eyes.

I think the Royals and Retainers respect each other a lot already and after several years of war they’re pretty appreciative of one another, but also there’s a new understanding that comes with “Oh, this was your life before we met.” There’s also a tiny bit of fear too, probably; the A. Trio has told them several times, “Hey, don’t be surprised if we leave when the war is over.” But it’s one thing to know it and another to Know it and suddenly it’s not just a nebulous leaving but “oh, there’s a whole other world and family and friends waiting for you somewhere else” too. And how they’d probably never see one another again if they left. 

“That first year was the worst,” Laslow said. “I talked about this with Odin once, and he agreed. We had never killed people before. It had never crossed our minds that we would have to.”

Xander nodded, digesting this. He couldn’t imagine a world where he’d never have to kill another human being for the safety of those he cared about. But, he supposed, if nearly all the humans were dead anyway, that wouldn’t be as much of a concern.

Laslow caught himself. He straightened and visibly brightened. Laslow wore false cheer like an ill-fitting skin.

“But enough about depressing topics,” he said. “Have you been to the tavern recently, my lord? Yesterday I saw the most beautiful—“

“Laslow,” Xander said sternly.

Laslow shut his mouth.

Xander thought carefully about what he wanted to say. 

“Laslow,” Xander said again. “You do not have to pretend anymore. I know this much already. You’ve lived through three wars now, beginning from your birth. You do not have to hide the pain that causes you.” He placed a hand on Laslow’s shoulder, and Laslow looked up at him, eyes wide. “I am here if you ever wish to speak about what’s on your mind.”

There was a pause.

“It’s not a pretty story,” Laslow said quietly. 

“Tell me anyway,” said Xander.

Laslow did. 

And yes, eventually they even talk about the bridge incident. It probably goes a thousand different ways, but in this world it goes like—

(hey, some vague suicidal talk tw in this scene, so feel free to skip)

“Why would you do that?” Leo asked, equal parts surprised and angry, and unable to keep the emotion out of his voice. “Cutting the bridge down, dooming yourself—

“This was before I met you,” Odin reminded him gently, sounding much too serious and not at all himself. “It was. Different, then.”

“Not so different that you couldn’t think of another way to solve the situation than cutting down the bridge,” Leo said, voice terse. Why was he so upset? Over something that had happened—or rather, hadn’t even happened—years ago. Leo’s heart skipped as though he were afraid. He’d told Odin and Niles to be careful with their lives a thousand times before. “So willing to martyr yourself. Like you didn’t even want to—”

“My lord,” Niles cut in.

Leo’s mouth shut with a click. He had figured it out just as Niles had, though not soon enough.

“I thought I would do something good and my friends would be safe, and then I would be done,” Odin said, looking at the floor. “I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore. And everyone else would be fine.”

That and a hundred other reasons, Leo guessed, but in the end they all seemed to come back to that one. To wanting to be finished with a dreadful world, even if doing so meant… disappearing.

Odin had been… what then? Fifteen?

“I am sorry,” Leo said, much more quietly, and he meant it. For a lot of things.

He was so grateful to have met Odin now. That they had both made it this far, across worlds of doubt. The thought blew Leo’s mind on some level, but he focused on the here and now.

Niles breathed in through his nose.

“I get it,” he said, looking right past Leo and to Odin. 

Odin looked at him as if he were wondering if Niles really did get it. 

Leo didn’t. Not really. He’d never been in a position or lived a life like that before. He wanted to try, though.

(Azura was nearly in the above scene but I cut her just for time’s sake. Let it be known she does think about Odin’s response when she asked if he was afraid of heights though.)

So they probably do Talk About Things and it’s Rough. But it’s good too, and the A. Trio is more open and comfortable with each other in public and also they connect with the Royal Trio (plus retainers) more personally now too that they can discuss things like this as well. Like. It’s not easy? They do have nightmares and trauma and there are some things the Nohrians can’t understand on the same level Selena/Laslow/Odin can understand with each other but they do try hard to be there and available to talk. And in a way, like Laslow says, it does feel like a different lifetime some days. 

Okay, so I feel like I’ve talked for 8,000 years and I don’t want to make you wait on a response, but I also feel like I’ve only been super general here, so. If there is anything you wanna expand on or focus on/question a bit more, definitely feel free to follow up! I have an exam tomorrow but this is probably all I’m gonna think about all day, tbh. (anon, u ask the Best questions)

[onceuponaprime]

Narcissus and Strings

Part 1

Titus Drautos runs a flower shop that sees little more than the usual until a violinist gets fed up with the competition and orders a bouquet made of floral fuck yous out of spite.  Everything sort of grows like a weed from there. 

April brought a string of showers that made the days grey and slow to match the rain. It was one of his favorite times of year, quiet while most of the city’s people stayed in to avoid the dreary spring weather. Titus had never minded the rain, the gentle sort brought him peace and beyond that, business. His mother had always said that April showers brought May flowers, and if the forecast kept up like this next month would be more profitable than usual. 6AM found him unloading his truck under a clouded sky and a steady drizzle, crates of flowers and their budding counterparts soaking up the water greedily as he unloaded them one by one into the back of his shop.

Glauca’s wasn’t large by any standard, the front was dedicated as a pseudo showroom for anything from flower arrangements to simple seedlings good for home decor, it was a tight fit for anything busier than a three customer rush, but Titus made due. The back at least had room for the rest of the blooms, a long table to make arrangements, and a small desk shoved into a corner for the paperwork. Eventually he’d like to see it expand, become more than a small shop hidden on a backend street, but business was good and for that he couldn’t complain.

“Damn rain, damn umbrella...” Came the frustrated grumble as the backdoor opened and closed with a slam. “I hope you know the inside of your truck is going to be a nightmare if this doesn’t let up. When are you going to replace it anyway?”

“You’re chipper this morning, Luche.”

“Hysterical,” his only employee replied dryly, ducking into the small bathroom in the back to no doubt mess with his drenched hair. Titus laughed quietly to himself as he continued his prep work.

When Luche was done fussing they finished up the displays for the day, eye catching fresh  bouquets and arrangements perfect for the new day. It was an easy system Titus had practically turned into a science, the quick efficiency they’d built up making an 8AM opening time achievable and stress free, which gives them some leg up on the competition. Finally Titus flips the old open sign around in the front window and prepares for a slow day of fixing up their scheduled orders.

The bell above the door chimed some hours later while Titus was working on the arrangement for some big business dinner later that evening, he beat Luche to his feet, wiped his hands on his apron, slipped his pliers into one of the many front pockets, and headed to the front. He reached the counter in time to see the first visitor of the day close their umbrella and set it gingerly by the door.

“Welcome,” he greeted, and his guest jolted in surprise, narrowly missing a hanging pot of daffodils above their head before casting an over the shoulder glance his way.

“Good morning,” the man replied, straightening as he cast his eyes about the shop. Titus let him look at his leisure, watching him discreetly out of the corner of his eye as he moved about the shop with evident interest. It wasn’t often that people showed interest to the entirety of the shop, let alone any that captured his attention like this. Impeccably dressed and handsome, something Titus couldn’t help but notice and immediately dismissed the thought.

“You have quite the taste in music,” the man said, and Titus was so used to hearing the various violin pieces filtering in from the stereo in the back that it took him a moment to reply.

“Not a fan of Gamesh?” The man chuckled, a light sound that was unfortunately enjoyable.

“Depends on the day,” he said with a shake of his head before approaching the counter. “I do need help with something actually, and this might seem like a strange request,” he paused and Titus simply nodded for him to continue. "Alright, I need the most ingenuine congratulatory bouquet you can possibly make.”

Unable to stop himself Titus grinned at what was perhaps the best request he’d received in almost two decades worth of business. There was a joke about finally putting all of his floral knowledge to use in there somewhere.

“It would be my pleasure. When do you need it?” he replied, pulling out a pen and paper to write down the details.

“Tonight,” the man replied and the pen in his hand damn near snapped in half.

“Tonight?” Titus repeated as his mind attempted to juggle in the new prospect.

“I’m a little last minute.” Came the sheepish reply. “I’m more than willing to pay extra.” For a long moment Titus mulled it over but it hardly needed much thought, the opportunity was too good to pass up.

“I could hardly call myself a florist if I said no to that.” His dry humor was met with a grateful half smile that made it all the more worth it.

[nancyedimick]

May a college expel a student for ‘unprofessional speech’ in Facebook posts?

Say a student is in a professional education program at a college — law school, medical school, nursing school, business school, school of education or the like. May the college expel him from the program, on the grounds that certain speech of his is “unprofessional” and therefore casts doubt on his professional temperament and likely future behavior?

We’re not talking here about speech within a curricular assignment — a thesis, a term paper, a practicum client counseling session or even a seminar discussion in which participation is graded. Colleges have to evaluate the content of such curricular speech, though even there they may be constrained. (If I grade class participation at UCLA, for instance, I can only count it as part of the final grade, and I’m supposed to grade it in a way that’s as ideologically neutral as possible.) Rather, we’re talking about speech outside such graded discussions, often outside class and sometimes even outside school.

In Keefe v. Adams, a split 2-1 8th Circuit panel upheld such an expulsion; the Supreme Court will on Friday consider the petition for certiorari, filed by Robert Corn-Revere, Ronald London and Lisa Zycherman of Davis Wright Tremaine. And just today, I filed an amicus brief (written by my students Jenna Mersereau, Jennifer Milazzo and Joshua Ostrer, and me) supporting the petition, on behalf of the Cato Institute, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the National Coalition Against Censorship and the Student Press Law Center. We’re hoping that the court will call for a response from the state defendants (the next step in the process, if the court is to grant review), and then ultimately agree to hear the case.

I quote the brief below so you can see the heart of our argument (though for the full text, including the footnotes, see the PDF). Note that the student’s speech in this case was pretty rude, angry and insulting, as well as basically unideological:

Glad group projects are group projects. I give her a big fat F for changing the group power point at eleven last night and resubmitting. Not enough whiskey to control that anger.

Doesnt anyone know or have heard of mechanical pencils. Im going to take this electric pencil sharpener in this class and give someone a hemopneumothorax with it before to long. I might need some anger management.

LMAO [a classmate], you keep reporting my post and get me banded. I don’t really care. If thats the smartest thing you can come up with than I completely understand why your going to fail out of the RN program you stupid bitch…. And quite creeping on my page. Your not a friend of mine for a reason. If you don’t like what I have to say than don’t come and ask me, thats basically what creeping is isn’t it. Stay off my page…

But, as we argue below, the logic of the opinion below — and the cases on which it relies — would extend to supposedly “unprofessional” speech far beyond this. (Also, to the extent that a school thinks that off-campus speech constitutes a “true threat” of violence, it could punish a student for that; but the panel’s rationale extends far more broadly, to a potentially wide range of “unprofessional speech.”)

Summary of Argument

The opinion below authorizes college administrators to expel students for their speech, whenever that speech — including speech entirely outside any curricular project — supposedly fails to comply with professional norms.

This principle could easily apply to, for instance, speech about educational policies, proper rules governing sexual relationships, and “social justice.” Indeed, it has already been applied to such speech in a precedent on which the opinion below relied.

And this principle could easily apply to law schools, business schools, medical schools, and other programs. Armed with this opinion and other circuit court opinions that it endorses, colleges can revive and broaden campus speech codes under the pretext of applying professional standards.

The opinion below is inconsistent with past circuit and district court cases that have uniformly struck down such speech codes. (The petition helpfully canvasses the split between this case and other circuit precedents.) It is also inconsistent with this Court’s precedents. See Papish v. Bd. of Curators of Univ. of Missouri, 410 U.S. 667, 671 (1973) (per curiam); Healy v. James, 408 U.S. 169, 180 (1972). And it is profoundly damaging to free speech at colleges and universities, on which free speech throughout American society depends.

Argument

First Amendment protection is critical at universities, “one of the vital centers for the Nation’s intellectual life.” Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of Univ. of Va., 515 U.S. 819, 835-36 (1995). If uncorrected, the opinion below, and other recent circuit decisions like it, will set a dangerous precedent: Colleges will be able to punish students for expressing their views, based simply on administrators’ judgments that certain speech is inconsistent with their subjective understanding of professionalism.

I. The Logic of the Decision Below Would Let Colleges Punish Views That Administrators See as Contrary to Professional Norms

A. The Code of Ethics for Nurses Embodies Ideological Commitments

Central Lakes College expelled Craig Keefe from its nursing program under the program’s student code of conduct, which permits such expulsion for “behavior unbecoming of the Nursing Profession” or a “transgression of professional boundaries.” The court below upheld that decision, on the theory that the First Amendment does not protect “unprofessional speech” such as speech that violates the Nursing Code of Ethics.

But this rationale would cover a vast range of speech. The same “professionalism” policy in the Nursing Program handbook also says, for example, “Integral to the profession of nursing is a concern … for social justice” — right before stating that “students who fail to meet the moral, ethical, or professional behavioral standards of the nursing program are not eligible to progress in the nursing program.” If a student can be expelled for speech “unbecoming of the Nursing Profession,” he can thus be expelled for lack of “concern … for social justice” as well.

Indeed, the Code of Ethics for Nurses expressly endorses many controversial ideological positions. It takes the view that “health is a universal human right.” It states, “Nurses must address … social determinants of health such as poverty, … human rights violations, education, … and healthcare disparities.”

It states, “All nurses … must firmly anchor in nursing’s professional responsibility to address unjust systems and structures.” It states, “Nurses collaborate with others to change unjust structures and processes,” and “should collaborate to create a moral milieu that is sensitive to diverse cultural values and practices” ([section] titled “Obligation to Advance Health and Human Rights and Reduce Disparities”). Likewise, it states, “Nursing must … advocate for policies, programs, and practices within the healthcare environment that maintain, sustain, and repair the natural world” ([section] titled “Social Justice in Nursing and Health Policy”).

Presumably students whose political views are inconsistent with these beliefs would be subject to expulsion for “fail[ing] to meet the moral, ethical, or professional behavioral standards of the nursing program.” After all, administrators can equally say in such cases that they are merely treating “a graduate student’s unprofessional speech” as “lead[ing] to academic disadvantage,” because the speech constitutes “non-compliance” with “professional ethical standards.”

B. The Opinion Below Cannot Be Defended as Authorizing Only Viewpoint-Neutral Restrictions

The opinion below defends its reasoning by saying that “teaching and enforcing viewpoint-neutral professional codes of ethics are a legitimate part of a professional school’s curriculum that do not, at least on their face, run afoul of the First Amendment.” (emphasis added). But one of the main precedents that the opinion heavily relied on — and cited seven times — involved expulsion precisely for the expression of certain views.

In that case, Oyama v. University of Hawaii, 813 F.3d 850 (9th Cir. 2015), a student training to be a teacher was expelled for expressing his ideological views regarding the age of consent and education of students with disabilities. Though Oyama itself was explicitly restricted to speech inside a classroom, the opinion below expands Oyama’s reach to any student speech, not just curricular speech.

The opinion below also heavily relies on Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley, 664 F.3d 865 (11th Cir. 2011), which it cites six times. Keeton likewise involved a student being disciplined for ideological speech — statements disapproving of homosexuality.

Keeton, if it is sound, must be limited to speech that expresses an intent to violate specific rules of conduct within a college-operated practicum: The Eleventh Circuit held in Keeton that a university could discipline a counseling student because “she expressed an intent to impose her personal religious views on her clients” in her upcoming practicum. But the opinion below in this case relies on Keeton far outside any such expressions of intent. And the opinion’s reliance on Keeton shows that the logic of the opinion extends to ideological positions (as in Keeton) and not just to personal gripes.

The speech restriction in this case also cannot be justified as merely embodying a private professional organization’s code of conduct. A private association can adopt whatever views of professionalism it chooses; but the First Amendment prevents a public university from embodying such private associations’ views into officially enforced speech restric­tions.

Nor can the speech restriction upheld by the opinion below be justified on the theory that licensing boards could later reject the student for the views he expressed: Licensing boards cannot exclude applicants based on the applicants’ views, either. “The First Amendment’s protection of association prohibits a State from excluding a person from a profession or punishing him solely … because he holds certain beliefs.” Baird v. State Bar of Ariz., 401 U.S. 1, 4-6, 8 (1971) (plurality opinion); see also id. at 10 (Stewart, J., concurring in the judgment) (likewise concluding that a licensing body may not “recommend denial of admission solely because of an applicant’s beliefs that [it] found objectionable”).

C. The Opinion Below Cannot Be Defended as Simply Restricting Speech “at the Wrong Place and Time”

The decision below authorizes colleges to regulate their students’ speech any time, any place, and on any subject, so long as the college can later justify that regulation by referring to a vague professional conduct code. Keefe’s expulsion was not simply an “adverse consequence on the student for exercising his right to speak at the wrong place and time, like the student who receives a failing grade for submitting a paper on the wrong subject.” Keefe posted his Facebook comments at home, on his own time, and not as part of any school assignment. If he was speaking at the wrong place and time when he was at home after school, there will never be a proper place and time for him to speak.

Indeed, the opinion below in this respect directly conflicts with this Court’s opinion in Papish v. Board of Curators of University of Missouri, 410 U.S. 667 (1973) (per curiam), which rejected the notion that such content-based discipline could be justified as mere “time, place, or manner” restrictions. The graduate student in Papish distributed a newspaper containing a political cartoon of policemen raping the Statue of Liberty and the Goddess of Justice, with the caption “With Liberty and Justice for All.” The school attempted to expel the student for violating a student conduct code bylaw which prohibited “indecent conduct or speech.” and the lower courts agreed.

Yet this Court expressly disapproved of the “language in the opinions below which suggests that the University’s action … could be viewed as … enforc[ing] reasonable regulations as to the time, place, and manner of speech.” Instead, this Court held, punishing a student because of “the disapproved content” of his speech — there, allegedly indecent content — could not be justified as a restriction on the mere “time, place, or manner of [the] distribution” of speech. The same is true in this case: The language in the opinion below which suggests that the University’s action could be viewed as enforcing reasonable regulations as to the time and place of speech is inconsistent with Papish.

D. University Student Speech Is Protected Against Content-Based Restrictions Even If They Are Viewpoint-Neutral

Papish also makes clear that college student speech is protected even against viewpoint-neutral but content-based speech restrictions, and not just against viewpoint-based ones.

In Papish, university officials claimed that the student’s speech was punishable because of its lack of “decency,” not because it expressed an anti-police viewpoint. Nonetheless, this Court made clear that even restrictions on vulgar and crude expression are unconstitutional. “[T]he mere dissemination of ideas — no matter how offensive to good taste — on a state university campus may not be shut off in the name alone of ‘conventions of decency.’” The assertion in the opinion below that student speech restrictions are permissible so long as they are viewpoint-neutral cannot be reconciled with Papish. And the holding of Papish must equally apply when speech is being shut off in the name of professionalism rather than of decency.

Letting colleges expel students for their speech based on administrators’ subjective interpretation of “professionalism” is especially inappropriate because standards of “professionalism” are often so subjective. This Court has recognized that matters of “taste and style” are not for the government to determine. Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 25 (1971). The same is true of distasteful speech such as Keefe’s.

If administrators can show that a student’s speech fits within a narrow exception to First Amendment protection, such as for “true threats,” they can indeed punish the students on those grounds. But they should not be free to create a new exception for “unprofessional speech” (at least when the speech is outside the curriculum and outside any interactions with specific patients).

II. The Decision Below Jeopardizes Speech in Law Schools, Business Schools, and Many Other University Programs

What the College’s nursing program is doing, other colleges can do as well. That is clear for other nursing schools, which similarly rely on the Code of Ethics for Nurses to forbid “[b]ehaviors unbecoming of the Nursing Profession,” “[i]nappropriate” or “[u]n­professional behaviors,” or behaviors that show “lack of pro­fessional compatibility.”

But the decision below will also authorize punishing speech in law schools, business schools, and other schools that recognize similarly vague national standards of professional conduct. A medical school administrator might conclude that a student who supports mercy killing (indeed, considers it a moral imperative) is violating professional norms. See, e.g., Hippocratic Oath, Yale Book of Quotations 360 (Fred R. Shapiro ed. 2006) (“Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course.”). Or a business school administrator might conclude that a student who condemns the free-market system is likely to betray the interests of stockholders, or to misunderstand economics.

A law school administrator might conclude that a student who argues that the attorney-client privilege is immoral might violate professional norms. After all, the administrator might argue, “The First Amendment did not bar [me] from making the determination” — based on the student’s speech — “that [the student] was unable to meet the professional demands of being a [lawyer].”

An education school administrator might worry that a student who makes a policy argument against age-of-consent laws might in the future molest students. Indeed, that is precisely the reasoning that the Ninth Circuit approved in Oyama. All such student speech could thus lead to discipline and even expulsion. Yet public colleges should not be freed to silence the expression of dissenting views, regardless of what various organizations’ standards advocate.

Many courts have struck down campus speech codes in recent decades. In Dambrot v. Central Michigan University, for instance, the Sixth Circuit held that a speech code restricting written literature or slogans that “infer[red] negative connotations about … individual[s’] racial or ethnic affiliation” was unconstitutional. 55 F.3d 1177, 1184-85 (6th Cir. 1995). In DeJohn v. Temple University, the Third Circuit struck down as unconstitutional a ban on “gender-motivated” speech that was likely to cause disruption. 537 F.3d 301, 316-17, 320 (3d Cir. 2008).

Likewise, in McCauley v. University of the Virgin Islands, the Third Circuit held that a student code of conduct prohibiting speech that “tends to injure or actually injures, frightens, demeans, degrades or disgraces any person” was unconstitutionally overbroad. 618 F.3d 232, 237-38, 250 (3d Cir. 2010). For more decisions striking down campus speech restrictions, see Iota Xi Chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity v. George Mason Univ., 993 F.3d 386, 388-89, 391, 393 (4th Cir. 1993); College Republicans v. Reed, 523 F. Supp. 2d 1005, 1010-11, 1021 (N.D. Cal. 2007); Roberts v. Haragan, 346 F. Supp. 2d 853, 870-72 (N.D. Tex. 2004); Bair v. Shippensburg Univ., 280 F. Supp. 2d 357, 373 (M.D. Pa. 2003); Booher v. Bd. of Regents of N. Ky. Univ., 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11404, *28-*31 (E.D. Ky. 1998); UWM Post, Inc. v. Regents, 774 F. Supp. 1163, 1165-66, 1173, 1177 (E.D. Wis. 1991); Doe v. Univ. of Mich., 721 F. Supp. 852, 856, 864-66 (E.D. Mich. 1989). Yet the opinion below gives administrators a roadmap for speech codes that are even vaguer and broader than the ones struck down in these decisions.

There is ample appetite for such restrictions, as recent events have shown. University administrators often feel pressure from activists, legislators, faculty, or students to impose speech codes; and of course they may support such codes themselves. Thus, to give just a few examples:

A University of Idaho student was charged under a university speech code with “discrimination” and “harassment” for (a) saying “illegal immigration destroyed my home state of California” in between songs at a musical concert on Cesar Chavez Day, and (b) shouting “liberalism is destroying America” at a “Take Back the Night” march.

A University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student newspaper published a satirical article titled “Cheney Kills Five Crips in Inner-City Hunting Accident.” As a result, the newspaper was charged with “racist, sexist, homophobic, ablest [sic], anti-Semitists [sic] speech” that would “threaten the recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented groups,” and was ordered to cut its distribution by 97%.

A Muslim student at William Paterson University received an unsolicited email from a professor discussing a film described as “a lesbian relationship story.” He replied with an email asking that he not be sent “any mail about ‘Connie and Sally’ and ‘Adam and Steve.’ These are perversions. The absence of God in higher education brings on confusion.” The student was charged with sexual harassment for his use of the word “perversion” to refer to homosexuality.

The speakers in these cases were eventually absolved because of First Amendment concerns. But the decision below, and the Ninth Circuit Oyama decision on which the decision below relies, takes the view that such constitutional concerns are misplaced — so long as the speech can be labeled “unprofessional speech,” it can be punished. Under the reasoning of these decisions (and especially the decision below to extend Oyama even outside the classroom), all such speech would be subject to suppression.

Indeed, the rationale of the court below could easily apply not just to satire or slogans, but to normal, reasoned, and substantive discussion of contested policy issues, as was the case in Oyama. Faced with this danger, even careful and thoughtful students will tend not to express themselves on certain topics, for fear that they will be expelled from their academic programs.

The way “to avoid these ends” is “by avoiding these beginnings.” West Va. Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 641 (1943). This Court should step in and make clear, to the Eighth Circuit, the Ninth Circuit, and other courts — as well as to college administrators — that college students cannot be expelled simply because an administrator concludes that they engaged in “unprofessional speech.”

Conclusion

The logic of the decision below would let colleges punish a vast range of student views that administrators view as “unprofessional speech.” It would apply not just to nursing students, but to students at law schools, business schools, and other academic institutions.

The decision cannot be defended on the grounds that such restrictions are “viewpoint-neutral,” or cover only speech “at the wrong place and time.” Indeed, it relies on and endorses cases that have upheld viewpoint-based restrictions — and, in any event, even viewpoint-neutral but content-based restrictions on university speech are unconstitutional.

The decision is thus inconsistent with the decisions of this Court, and the decisions of other federal courts. This Court should therefore grant certiorari, and reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

Originally Found On: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/03/27/may-a-college-expel-a-student-for-unprofessional-speech-in-facebook-posts/

[wolfandpravato]

May a college expel a student for ‘unprofessional speech’ in Facebook posts?

Say a student is in a professional education program at a college — law school, medical school, nursing school, business school, school of education or the like. May the college expel him from the program, on the grounds that certain speech of his is “unprofessional” and therefore casts doubt on his professional temperament and likely future behavior?

We’re not talking here about speech within a curricular assignment — a thesis, a term paper, a practicum client counseling session or even a seminar discussion in which participation is graded. Colleges have to evaluate the content of such curricular speech, though even there they may be constrained. (If I grade class participation at UCLA, for instance, I can only count it as part of the final grade, and I’m supposed to grade it in a way that’s as ideologically neutral as possible.) Rather, we’re talking about speech outside such graded discussions, often outside class and sometimes even outside school.

In Keefe v. Adams, a split 2-1 8th Circuit panel upheld such an expulsion; the Supreme Court will on Friday consider the petition for certiorari, filed by Robert Corn-Revere, Ronald London and Lisa Zycherman of Davis Wright Tremaine. And just today, I filed an amicus brief (written by my students Jenna Mersereau, Jennifer Milazzo and Joshua Ostrer, and me) supporting the petition, on behalf of the Cato Institute, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the National Coalition Against Censorship and the Student Press Law Center. We’re hoping that the court will call for a response from the state defendants (the next step in the process, if the court is to grant review), and then ultimately agree to hear the case.

I quote the brief below so you can see the heart of our argument (though for the full text, including the footnotes, see the PDF). Note that the student’s speech in this case was pretty rude, angry and insulting, as well as basically unideological:

Glad group projects are group projects. I give her a big fat F for changing the group power point at eleven last night and resubmitting. Not enough whiskey to control that anger.

Doesnt anyone know or have heard of mechanical pencils. Im going to take this electric pencil sharpener in this class and give someone a hemopneumothorax with it before to long. I might need some anger management.

LMAO [a classmate], you keep reporting my post and get me banded. I don’t really care. If thats the smartest thing you can come up with than I completely understand why your going to fail out of the RN program you stupid bitch…. And quite creeping on my page. Your not a friend of mine for a reason. If you don’t like what I have to say than don’t come and ask me, thats basically what creeping is isn’t it. Stay off my page…

But, as we argue below, the logic of the opinion below — and the cases on which it relies — would extend to supposedly “unprofessional” speech far beyond this. (Also, to the extent that a school thinks that off-campus speech constitutes a “true threat” of violence, it could punish a student for that; but the panel’s rationale extends far more broadly, to a potentially wide range of “unprofessional speech.”)

Summary of Argument

The opinion below authorizes college administrators to expel students for their speech, whenever that speech — including speech entirely outside any curricular project — supposedly fails to comply with professional norms.

This principle could easily apply to, for instance, speech about educational policies, proper rules governing sexual relationships, and “social justice.” Indeed, it has already been applied to such speech in a precedent on which the opinion below relied.

And this principle could easily apply to law schools, business schools, medical schools, and other programs. Armed with this opinion and other circuit court opinions that it endorses, colleges can revive and broaden campus speech codes under the pretext of applying professional standards.

The opinion below is inconsistent with past circuit and district court cases that have uniformly struck down such speech codes. (The petition helpfully canvasses the split between this case and other circuit precedents.) It is also inconsistent with this Court’s precedents. See Papish v. Bd. of Curators of Univ. of Missouri, 410 U.S. 667, 671 (1973) (per curiam); Healy v. James, 408 U.S. 169, 180 (1972). And it is profoundly damaging to free speech at colleges and universities, on which free speech throughout American society depends.

Argument

First Amendment protection is critical at universities, “one of the vital centers for the Nation’s intellectual life.” Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of Univ. of Va., 515 U.S. 819, 835-36 (1995). If uncorrected, the opinion below, and other recent circuit decisions like it, will set a dangerous precedent: Colleges will be able to punish students for expressing their views, based simply on administrators’ judgments that certain speech is inconsistent with their subjective understanding of professionalism.

I. The Logic of the Decision Below Would Let Colleges Punish Views That Administrators See as Contrary to Professional Norms

A. The Code of Ethics for Nurses Embodies Ideological Commitments

Central Lakes College expelled Craig Keefe from its nursing program under the program’s student code of conduct, which permits such expulsion for “behavior unbecoming of the Nursing Profession” or a “transgression of professional boundaries.” The court below upheld that decision, on the theory that the First Amendment does not protect “unprofessional speech” such as speech that violates the Nursing Code of Ethics.

But this rationale would cover a vast range of speech. The same “professionalism” policy in the Nursing Program handbook also says, for example, “Integral to the profession of nursing is a concern … for social justice” — right before stating that “students who fail to meet the moral, ethical, or professional behavioral standards of the nursing program are not eligible to progress in the nursing program.” If a student can be expelled for speech “unbecoming of the Nursing Profession,” he can thus be expelled for lack of “concern … for social justice” as well.

Indeed, the Code of Ethics for Nurses expressly endorses many controversial ideological positions. It takes the view that “health is a universal human right.” It states, “Nurses must address … social determinants of health such as poverty, … human rights violations, education, … and healthcare disparities.”

It states, “All nurses … must firmly anchor in nursing’s professional responsibility to address unjust systems and structures.” It states, “Nurses collaborate with others to change unjust structures and processes,” and “should collaborate to create a moral milieu that is sensitive to diverse cultural values and practices” ([section] titled “Obligation to Advance Health and Human Rights and Reduce Disparities”). Likewise, it states, “Nursing must … advocate for policies, programs, and practices within the healthcare environment that maintain, sustain, and repair the natural world” ([section] titled “Social Justice in Nursing and Health Policy”).

Presumably students whose political views are inconsistent with these beliefs would be subject to expulsion for “fail[ing] to meet the moral, ethical, or professional behavioral standards of the nursing program.” After all, administrators can equally say in such cases that they are merely treating “a graduate student’s unprofessional speech” as “lead[ing] to academic disadvantage,” because the speech constitutes “non-compliance” with “professional ethical standards.”

B. The Opinion Below Cannot Be Defended as Authorizing Only Viewpoint-Neutral Restrictions

The opinion below defends its reasoning by saying that “teaching and enforcing viewpoint-neutral professional codes of ethics are a legitimate part of a professional school’s curriculum that do not, at least on their face, run afoul of the First Amendment.” (emphasis added). But one of the main precedents that the opinion heavily relied on — and cited seven times — involved expulsion precisely for the expression of certain views.

In that case, Oyama v. University of Hawaii, 813 F.3d 850 (9th Cir. 2015), a student training to be a teacher was expelled for expressing his ideological views regarding the age of consent and education of students with disabilities. Though Oyama itself was explicitly restricted to speech inside a classroom, the opinion below expands Oyama’s reach to any student speech, not just curricular speech.

The opinion below also heavily relies on Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley, 664 F.3d 865 (11th Cir. 2011), which it cites six times. Keeton likewise involved a student being disciplined for ideological speech — statements disapproving of homosexuality.

Keeton, if it is sound, must be limited to speech that expresses an intent to violate specific rules of conduct within a college-operated practicum: The Eleventh Circuit held in Keeton that a university could discipline a counseling student because “she expressed an intent to impose her personal religious views on her clients” in her upcoming practicum. But the opinion below in this case relies on Keeton far outside any such expressions of intent. And the opinion’s reliance on Keeton shows that the logic of the opinion extends to ideological positions (as in Keeton) and not just to personal gripes.

The speech restriction in this case also cannot be justified as merely embodying a private professional organization’s code of conduct. A private association can adopt whatever views of professionalism it chooses; but the First Amendment prevents a public university from embodying such private associations’ views into officially enforced speech restric­tions.

Nor can the speech restriction upheld by the opinion below be justified on the theory that licensing boards could later reject the student for the views he expressed: Licensing boards cannot exclude applicants based on the applicants’ views, either. “The First Amendment’s protection of association prohibits a State from excluding a person from a profession or punishing him solely … because he holds certain beliefs.” Baird v. State Bar of Ariz., 401 U.S. 1, 4-6, 8 (1971) (plurality opinion); see also id. at 10 (Stewart, J., concurring in the judgment) (likewise concluding that a licensing body may not “recommend denial of admission solely because of an applicant’s beliefs that [it] found objectionable”).

C. The Opinion Below Cannot Be Defended as Simply Restricting Speech “at the Wrong Place and Time”

The decision below authorizes colleges to regulate their students’ speech any time, any place, and on any subject, so long as the college can later justify that regulation by referring to a vague professional conduct code. Keefe’s expulsion was not simply an “adverse consequence on the student for exercising his right to speak at the wrong place and time, like the student who receives a failing grade for submitting a paper on the wrong subject.” Keefe posted his Facebook comments at home, on his own time, and not as part of any school assignment. If he was speaking at the wrong place and time when he was at home after school, there will never be a proper place and time for him to speak.

Indeed, the opinion below in this respect directly conflicts with this Court’s opinion in Papish v. Board of Curators of University of Missouri, 410 U.S. 667 (1973) (per curiam), which rejected the notion that such content-based discipline could be justified as mere “time, place, or manner” restrictions. The graduate student in Papish distributed a newspaper containing a political cartoon of policemen raping the Statue of Liberty and the Goddess of Justice, with the caption “With Liberty and Justice for All.” The school attempted to expel the student for violating a student conduct code bylaw which prohibited “indecent conduct or speech.” and the lower courts agreed.

Yet this Court expressly disapproved of the “language in the opinions below which suggests that the University’s action … could be viewed as … enforc[ing] reasonable regulations as to the time, place, and manner of speech.” Instead, this Court held, punishing a student because of “the disapproved content” of his speech — there, allegedly indecent content — could not be justified as a restriction on the mere “time, place, or manner of [the] distribution” of speech. The same is true in this case: The language in the opinion below which suggests that the University’s action could be viewed as enforcing reasonable regulations as to the time and place of speech is inconsistent with Papish.

D. University Student Speech Is Protected Against Content-Based Restrictions Even If They Are Viewpoint-Neutral

Papish also makes clear that college student speech is protected even against viewpoint-neutral but content-based speech restrictions, and not just against viewpoint-based ones.

In Papish, university officials claimed that the student’s speech was punishable because of its lack of “decency,” not because it expressed an anti-police viewpoint. Nonetheless, this Court made clear that even restrictions on vulgar and crude expression are unconstitutional. “[T]he mere dissemination of ideas — no matter how offensive to good taste — on a state university campus may not be shut off in the name alone of ‘conventions of decency.’” The assertion in the opinion below that student speech restrictions are permissible so long as they are viewpoint-neutral cannot be reconciled with Papish. And the holding of Papish must equally apply when speech is being shut off in the name of professionalism rather than of decency.

Letting colleges expel students for their speech based on administrators’ subjective interpretation of “professionalism” is especially inappropriate because standards of “professionalism” are often so subjective. This Court has recognized that matters of “taste and style” are not for the government to determine. Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 25 (1971). The same is true of distasteful speech such as Keefe’s.

If administrators can show that a student’s speech fits within a narrow exception to First Amendment protection, such as for “true threats,” they can indeed punish the students on those grounds. But they should not be free to create a new exception for “unprofessional speech” (at least when the speech is outside the curriculum and outside any interactions with specific patients).

II. The Decision Below Jeopardizes Speech in Law Schools, Business Schools, and Many Other University Programs

What the College’s nursing program is doing, other colleges can do as well. That is clear for other nursing schools, which similarly rely on the Code of Ethics for Nurses to forbid “[b]ehaviors unbecoming of the Nursing Profession,” “[i]nappropriate” or “[u]n­professional behaviors,” or behaviors that show “lack of pro­fessional compatibility.”

But the decision below will also authorize punishing speech in law schools, business schools, and other schools that recognize similarly vague national standards of professional conduct. A medical school administrator might conclude that a student who supports mercy killing (indeed, considers it a moral imperative) is violating professional norms. See, e.g., Hippocratic Oath, Yale Book of Quotations 360 (Fred R. Shapiro ed. 2006) (“Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course.”). Or a business school administrator might conclude that a student who condemns the free-market system is likely to betray the interests of stockholders, or to misunderstand economics.

A law school administrator might conclude that a student who argues that the attorney-client privilege is immoral might violate professional norms. After all, the administrator might argue, “The First Amendment did not bar [me] from making the determination” — based on the student’s speech — “that [the student] was unable to meet the professional demands of being a [lawyer].”

An education school administrator might worry that a student who makes a policy argument against age-of-consent laws might in the future molest students. Indeed, that is precisely the reasoning that the Ninth Circuit approved in Oyama. All such student speech could thus lead to discipline and even expulsion. Yet public colleges should not be freed to silence the expression of dissenting views, regardless of what various organizations’ standards advocate.

Many courts have struck down campus speech codes in recent decades. In Dambrot v. Central Michigan University, for instance, the Sixth Circuit held that a speech code restricting written literature or slogans that “infer[red] negative connotations about … individual[s’] racial or ethnic affiliation” was unconstitutional. 55 F.3d 1177, 1184-85 (6th Cir. 1995). In DeJohn v. Temple University, the Third Circuit struck down as unconstitutional a ban on “gender-motivated” speech that was likely to cause disruption. 537 F.3d 301, 316-17, 320 (3d Cir. 2008).

Likewise, in McCauley v. University of the Virgin Islands, the Third Circuit held that a student code of conduct prohibiting speech that “tends to injure or actually injures, frightens, demeans, degrades or disgraces any person” was unconstitutionally overbroad. 618 F.3d 232, 237-38, 250 (3d Cir. 2010). For more decisions striking down campus speech restrictions, see Iota Xi Chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity v. George Mason Univ., 993 F.3d 386, 388-89, 391, 393 (4th Cir. 1993); College Republicans v. Reed, 523 F. Supp. 2d 1005, 1010-11, 1021 (N.D. Cal. 2007); Roberts v. Haragan, 346 F. Supp. 2d 853, 870-72 (N.D. Tex. 2004); Bair v. Shippensburg Univ., 280 F. Supp. 2d 357, 373 (M.D. Pa. 2003); Booher v. Bd. of Regents of N. Ky. Univ., 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11404, *28-*31 (E.D. Ky. 1998); UWM Post, Inc. v. Regents, 774 F. Supp. 1163, 1165-66, 1173, 1177 (E.D. Wis. 1991); Doe v. Univ. of Mich., 721 F. Supp. 852, 856, 864-66 (E.D. Mich. 1989). Yet the opinion below gives administrators a roadmap for speech codes that are even vaguer and broader than the ones struck down in these decisions.

There is ample appetite for such restrictions, as recent events have shown. University administrators often feel pressure from activists, legislators, faculty, or students to impose speech codes; and of course they may support such codes themselves. Thus, to give just a few examples:

A University of Idaho student was charged under a university speech code with “discrimination” and “harassment” for (a) saying “illegal immigration destroyed my home state of California” in between songs at a musical concert on Cesar Chavez Day, and (b) shouting “liberalism is destroying America” at a “Take Back the Night” march.

A University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student newspaper published a satirical article titled “Cheney Kills Five Crips in Inner-City Hunting Accident.” As a result, the newspaper was charged with “racist, sexist, homophobic, ablest [sic], anti-Semitists [sic] speech” that would “threaten the recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented groups,” and was ordered to cut its distribution by 97%.

A Muslim student at William Paterson University received an unsolicited email from a professor discussing a film described as “a lesbian relationship story.” He replied with an email asking that he not be sent “any mail about ‘Connie and Sally’ and ‘Adam and Steve.’ These are perversions. The absence of God in higher education brings on confusion.” The student was charged with sexual harassment for his use of the word “perversion” to refer to homosexuality.

The speakers in these cases were eventually absolved because of First Amendment concerns. But the decision below, and the Ninth Circuit Oyama decision on which the decision below relies, takes the view that such constitutional concerns are misplaced — so long as the speech can be labeled “unprofessional speech,” it can be punished. Under the reasoning of these decisions (and especially the decision below to extend Oyama even outside the classroom), all such speech would be subject to suppression.

Indeed, the rationale of the court below could easily apply not just to satire or slogans, but to normal, reasoned, and substantive discussion of contested policy issues, as was the case in Oyama. Faced with this danger, even careful and thoughtful students will tend not to express themselves on certain topics, for fear that they will be expelled from their academic programs.

The way “to avoid these ends” is “by avoiding these beginnings.” West Va. Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 641 (1943). This Court should step in and make clear, to the Eighth Circuit, the Ninth Circuit, and other courts — as well as to college administrators — that college students cannot be expelled simply because an administrator concludes that they engaged in “unprofessional speech.”

Conclusion

The logic of the decision below would let colleges punish a vast range of student views that administrators view as “unprofessional speech.” It would apply not just to nursing students, but to students at law schools, business schools, and other academic institutions.

The decision cannot be defended on the grounds that such restrictions are “viewpoint-neutral,” or cover only speech “at the wrong place and time.” Indeed, it relies on and endorses cases that have upheld viewpoint-based restrictions — and, in any event, even viewpoint-neutral but content-based restrictions on university speech are unconstitutional.

The decision is thus inconsistent with the decisions of this Court, and the decisions of other federal courts. This Court should therefore grant certiorari, and reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

Originally Found On: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/03/27/may-a-college-expel-a-student-for-unprofessional-speech-in-facebook-posts/