#it really helps me out

[mari-writes]

Second year Bokuto who is struggling in math class and so enlists Akaashi, the new first year setter, to help him study.

Akaashi agrees (quickly), and they make a habit of it. Two months in, Bokuto realizes how much he loves hanging out with his teammate outside of the court. So he starts requesting help with other classes, like English and history, despite not needing as much help in those subjects.

He wonders if Akaashi knows. Wonders if the boy is catching on that aside from Algebra, he’s doing perfectly fine. Bokuto has never exactly excelled in academics, but he’s not failing either. He thinks he’s pretty average when it comes to grades. 

But how else can he justify them hanging out together outside of practice? He really doesn’t know. So he keeps asking, not quite “playing dumb” but posing certain questions and insisting Akaashi is the only one who can help.

“You’re the smartest person I know,” he’d declare, “and I trust you more than anyone!” For some reason, that would always work. Akaashi would turn away, the tips of his ears a bit pink, and agree right away.

But eventually, inevitably, Akaashi catches on. He finally speaks up after Bokuto asks him to help study for an upcoming science test.

“Bokuto-san, I recall you doing well in your Physical Science course last year.” He raises one perfect eyebrow, with a scrutinizing look that sends a thrill up Bokuto’s spine. “Do you expect me to believe you need help with Biology, of all things?”

“I mean, um,” Bokuto swallows harshly. “I just thought that maybe—”

Akaashi sighs. He turns in his seat, leaning one elbow against Bokuto’s desk. They’ve been working on other subjects for a couple of hours now. Papers are scattered about, and two empty owl-shaped tea mugs are set to the side.

Bokuto really hopes he hasn’t made things weird between them. “I’m sorry, ‘kaashi!” He reaches up to grip at his hair, squeezing his eyes shut. “Ugh, I’m so annoying! Don’t look at me!”

“Bokuto,” Akaashi says, and the lack of a honorific surprises Bokuto out of his spiraling thoughts. He glances up to see the other boy staring at him intently.

“Yes?” Bokuto holds his breath.

“You don’t actually need my help with any of this,” Akaashi declares. “So why did you ask?”

Bokuto stares. Does Akaashi really not know? Wow, his new setter is a touch more oblivious than he initially thought! “Well, um,” he stutters, “Obviously I just… wanted us to hang out.”

Apparently, Akaashi hadn’t been expecting that at all. His mouth drops open. He blinks. It takes him a few awkward moments to respond. “You… want to hang out… with me?”

“Yeah!”

“Oh.”

Bokuto waits patiently as the boy seems to work something out in his mind. No doubt he is overthinking, running through all possible meanings of Bokuto’s simple words. He looks bewildered. It’s… sort of cute. Bokuto chuckles. 

“Is that so crazy? That I like hanging out with you?”

Akaashi shrugs. He turns back the the desk, reaching out to fiddle with a pencil. Bokuto watches in delight as a blush creeps up the boy’s slender neck. “I suppose not,” Akaashi’s voice is quiet. “I’m just… not use to it.”

They fall into silence. Bokuto shifts in his chair, watching Akaashi closely, allowing him to lead them out of this charged moment. The only sounds come from the fan spinning overhead and his own heavy breathing.

Suddenly, Akaashi scoots his chair back and stands, causing Bokuto to flinch. “Okay,” he nods, carefully moving around to grab his jacket from the foot of Bokuto’s bed. “Let’s go, then.”

“Huh?” Confused, Bokuto slowly unfolds from his seat. “Go? Where?”

“You wanted to hang out.” Another shrug. He tosses over Bokuto’s jean jacket; Bokuto catches it easily with one hand. “So we might as well do that somewhere fun. Like the arcade. Or, um, we could go get food?”

Akaashi has made it to the door now, looking back over his shoulder, face is as impassive as ever. But there’s a new sort of spark in his eyes, one that Bokuto isn’t sure what to make of.

(He might be sort of excited to figure it out.)

“You coming?”

Bokuto pulls on his jacket, feeling light as a feather as he follows his new friend out of the room. He smiles.

This might be the start of something great.

 🤗❤️ 

//

I imagine that after middle school, 2nd year Bo is still worried about overwhelming others, not wanting to scare them away. Love the idea that Akaashi immediately agreeing to practice, study and hang out as friends means a lot to him.

Please REBLOG and comment if you enjoyed🥰

[honeypleasejustkillme]

i thought i was at my lowest but holy shit it gets lower

[chloesimaginationthings]

The day FNAF Charlie Emily was shut out..

[starry-bi-sky]

I am loudly pushing the batdad agenda i am loudly pushing the— DPxDC Prompt

“Woah. You look like shit."

Granted, that’s probably not the first thing Danny should be saying to the guy that just bit the curb, but in his defense; he’s not running on 100% right now either.

The man -- tall, towering, and broader than Danny is tall -- whips around on his heel, black frayed cape flaring out impressively. Danny would've whistled in appreciation, but he takes the time instead to wipe the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood running from his nose across his cheek.

"Sorry." He blinks widely, not even flinching as the man with the horns zeroes in on him. "That was rude of me. I have a really bad brain-to-mouth filter; Sam says its what always gets me into trouble."

And she's not wrong either, per say. His smart mouth is what landed him in this situation -- with blood blossom extract running through his veins and cannibalizing the ectoplasm in his bloodstream. Thanks Vlad.

The man grunts at him; a short, curt "hm" that shouldn't make Danny smile, but he does because he's somewhat delirious and probably concussed. The man keeps some kind of distance, sinking towards the shadows of Gotham's alleyway like he dares to melt right into it.

If it's supposed to scare Danny, it doesn't work. Danny's never been afraid of the dark; he's always been able to hide himself in it. He blinks slowly at the mass of shadows.

"You look hurt." The shadows says, blurring together around the edges. Danny squints, and licks his lips to get the blood dripping down his chin off. Ugh, he hates the taste of blood.

"I am." He says, "My godfather poisoned me. M'dying." The agony of the blood blossom eating him from the inside out looped back around to numbing a while ago, so all he feels is half-awake and dazed.

"Hey," Danny stumbles forward towards the man, a bloodied hand reaching out to him. "You-- you're a hero, right? You're not attacking me; which is more than I can say for most costumed people I've met." Maybe it's a poor bar to judge someone at, but he's already established that Danny's not in his right mind.

The man makes no change in expression, but Danny realizes blearily that it's hard to tell with the shadows on his face. He stays still long enough for Danny to latch onto the cape -- stretchy, but almost soft under his fingers.

He looks up blearily into the whites of the man's eyes. "Can you help me? I don't-- I don't wanna die." Again. He doesn't wanna die again. He blinks slow and lizard-like. "I mean- I'll probably get to see mom and dad again, but I told them I'd at least try and make it to adulthood."

There's a clatter down the street, and Danny's ghost sense chills up his spine and leaves a bitter, ashy taste in his mouth. He immediately knows who it belongs to even before the deceptively gentle; "Daniel?" echoes down the way.

"Daniel? Quit your games, badger, Gotham is dangerous for children."

Danny's mouth pulls back, and blood spills against his tongue. "Please." He rasps, and grabs onto the shadow's cape with both hands. "Please. He's going to kill me. Please--"

"Daniel? Is that you?"

His lips part, dragging in air to plead with the darkness again. He doesn't need to, the whites of his eyes narrow, and the cape whirls around him before Danny can blink. Soon swaddled in shadows, the Night lifts him up, and steals him away.

[modmad]

hey I really hate doing self publicity bUT. FOLKS WE NEED TO MOVE THESE BOOKS or there won't be room in the Topatoco warehouse for TPoH volume 4, which we plan to kickstart later this year- so yeah!

THE PRINCESS AND THE JESTER BOOKS ON SALE NOW!

don't miss the opportunity, there's only a limited number left and they're really gorgeous guys seriously ya gotta get in on this

Want to try before you buy? You can read the Princess and the Jester FOR FREE right here! Go enjoy a free fairy tale! You earned it.

[giantkillerjack]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

[plain-text version of this post can be found under the cut]

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

Plain-text version:

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

P.S. Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[egophiliac]

IT WAS ERIC AFTER ALL!!!! I'm so glad we got to meet him (before Vil snaps him away with those Infinity Gauntlets) (can't wait to see what happens when we get the matching Infinity Tiara to go with them, there will be no survivors)

(sorry to be so slow/rough lately, just got a lot of stuff on the ol' brain at the moment! alas, if only I could spend all my time drawing incredibly stupid characters I mean I do but)

[abstractfrog]

Happy 1 year anniversary to Mr Sherlock Holmes! Here's a litttleee celebratory comic from me

[teazart]

[lazylittledragon]

ok someone please correct me if i'm wrong but am i weird for thinking those 'audiobooks don't count as reading' posts are ableist as fuck????

[bureauen]

mabel haters you are not invited to my wedding btw

[shepscapades]

Thanks to artfight, I’ve finally finished a detailed, official dbhc cub reference! :D

(I’ve put his Artifight description below the cut, which has a more detailed explanation of his timeline, lore, and aesthetics! >:3)

-ˋˏ ༻ ❁  OVERVIEW ❁ ༺ ˎˊ-

Name: C.B.F.N.4000 (Cub) Pronouns: He/Him Species: Android Height: 5’9’’ Associated Visual Themes: vex, ghosts, explosions, mischief, scientist aesthetic, potions, potionmaking, sleepy/tired aesthetic, conspiracies

-ˋˏ ༻ ❁  ABOUT ❁ ༺ ˎˊ-

CBFN4000 is an au version of MCYT Hermitcraft’s Cubfan, set in my DBHC (or Detroit Become Hermitcraft) AU! This au is inspired by the 2018 game Detroit Become Human, but not because it really has anything to do with DBH—I simply yoinked the android mechanics and incorporated them into the world of Hermitcraft. It began as a S8 au, and has roughly followed the hermitcraft timeline up to the present! 

Cub was the last android made during Season 8. While many of the hermit androids were made at the beginning of season 8 and a few were made for season 9, Cub was finished and activated mid-late Season 8, around the time when Hermits started noticing the Big Moon. Cub’s model ended up being a sloppy experiment in deviation, as Doc suggested they try to transfer deviancy to an android upon activation to try and avoid traumatic situations that might cause an android to deviate violently or upsettingly, such as Etho’s, Tango’s, or Mumbo’s experiences. While this went relatively well initially, it clearly wasn’t very thoroughly thought out, as Xisuma (who is normally so adamant and detail-oriented when it comes to assuring the androids’ safety with experiments like this) wasn’t truly himself due to external manipulation and mostly left a relatively young-deviant Doc to carry out the project himself. 

Cub, though adjusting to sentience rather well at first, very quickly became wrapped up in the Big Moon happenings on the server, new personality and inexperience to emotions like fear and ignorance completely overwhelming his young system. He became obsessive over the implications and consequences of the Season 8 Moon Apocalypse, joining the Mooners and spreading his conspiracy theories religiously throughout the server as he descended into madness. The insanity was like a virus to his programming, pervasive and all-engulfing, and Cub’s final attempt to free himself from the Moon’s impact with the Earth—to launch himself on a llama into space via potion-powered TNT(insane btw)— left his hands and feet singed and cracked to ruin.

The experiment, considered a horrific failure by a deeply shameful—and more awake—S9 Xisuma, left Doc and Xisuma with the decision to reset him for the new season, and they ended up pairing him with a hermit like they had done with the other androids until they had found deviancy enough to pursue their own projects. So, at the start of season 9 and fresh after a reset, Cub was paired with Scar. Naturally, because Scar is… Scar, Cub deviated almost instantly after being given to him, and very quickly adopted the iconic lazy, stoic, amused attributes normally associated with Cubfan. Scar’s tendency towards mischief and general shenanigans grew instantly on Cub, and the two were an immediate inseparable pair. So much so that when Scar began rambling one day about his Season 5 Hermitcraft Shenanigans (where deals with the Vex may or may not have been involved), Cub immediately stated he was interested in being in on it. Whatever “it” means. It’s unclear if Cub also made a deal with the vex or became connected to them in some other way, but… well, he got Doc’s help to trick out his eyes, hair, and back to best fit the part. Scar is very jealous that he can't magically make himself have the same features to match.

Cub is closest with Scar, but he gets along just as well with any of the other hermits! He’s close with Jevin and many of the other redstoners like Etho and Doc, who are the other two androids I’ve put on artfight!

-ˋˏ ༻ ❁  EXTRAS ❁ ༺ ˎˊ-

Cub's eyes can light up in the dark, and he’s the only android who has edited his programming so that the default state of his LED is white, not blue. It still will go yellow and red if his processors are working particularly hard, but he’s replaced the blue setting on his LED with white to better match the Vex vibe. Cub has all of the vibes of a fae. If that’s anything <3

[paperglader]

i just feel like someone should take one for the team and write the fanfic where miss homotron goes to dragonstone on foot, meets her situationship’s new lover, and immediately goes like blind with jealousy and fury (rhaenyra, as always when alicent’s near, looks and behaves like a very confused kicked puppy)

i just need homotron and saphotron to meet, so the real war can begin

[sofiaruelle]

Commission for the lovely @flowerandthesongstress of our fave triad, Sam, Abigail and Sebastian basking in the afterglow of a very productive band practice.

The Companion piece

[maybe-a-gatto-or-a-catto]

hold on I'll make this my personality for 3 months

[araneapeixes]

in the bathroom at the gay clubbbb