#it's day 2 on the east coast lol

[opens-up-4-nobody]

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[klemen-tine]

Glass Bones and Paper Skin Part 3

Platonic! Bruce x Model! GN! Reader

Trigger Warnings: Hint at suicide, Body Issues, Eating problems (not a disorder), Child Neglect, stalking, Partner Abuse

Part 1

Part 2

@problematicreblogger and @wpdarlingpan Since you guys wanted to be tagged lol

+++++++++++++

Y/N sat in the bathtub in the guest room. It’s been three days since they arrived, saw the photos, and the creepy trophy room. Three days since their conversation with Dick, finding out that they had all been on their terrace and taking photos of them. Stalking them. 

They wrapped their arms tighter around their legs, resting their chin on sharp knees and staring at the porcelain tiles and gold facet. Three days of walking on egg shells, somehow managing to evade most attempts in hanging out with the siblings and Bruce, and only really seeing them at meals. Y/N hasn’t built up the nerve to ask about the trophy room, but Y/N knows that everyone in the house knows that Y/N knows of the two rooms. They know of the photos, the ones taken without their permission or knowledge, and the clothes that have redefined their modeling career. 

Sighing, Y/N stared at their pruning hands and the now cool water. The bubbles dissolved a long time ago and the essential oils had become diluted enough that the scents no longer permeated the air. 

Finally dressed in a robe, lotion and oil on their skin and face and teeth washed, Y/N exited the bathroom and screamed at the sight of Jason on their bed. In the midst of their panic they threw the brush at the larger man, who caught it skillfully. 

“Wha-what is wrong with you? No-wait, why are you in my room?” Y/N walked around the large bed to where all their clothes are kept. Their eyes not leaving Jason’s imposing figure that was currently resting on their bed. 

“I knocked.” Y/N rolled their eyes, “I didn’t ask if you knocked, why are you in my room?” Jason shrugged, “Just felt like I haven’t talked to you in a bit.” Jason and Y/N’s relationship was like that of dragons in the old ages. Full of history and non-existent. 

Jason was already dead by the time Y/N had entered the Manor. A small body buried in the Wayne gravesite. In hindsight, Y/N’s timing had been awful. Moving in when Tim basically forced Batman to take him in as a Robin, Dick’s and Bruce’s relationship had worsened, Jason was dead for about a year, and Alfred had still been grieving. Truly a terrible time to join a family. Y/N could taste the tension when they had first moved in, and they understood immediately that they were just another unneeded burden. 

A 13-year-old Y/N cried in their bathroom, mourning their mother who had loved the fame more than them, the friends that loved Y/N for Y/N, and the life on the West Coast that they were now expected to continue on the East Coast. 

The unfairness of it all. 

“What do you want to talk about?” Y/N asked, rummaging through the drawers and finding a nice shirt and some nice jeans. 

“Hmm, oh you know, the casual how are you doing? How’s the model-life? Any fun stories you have? What have you been doing lately?” Y/N started changing in the bathroom, keeping the door cracked so they could hear the questions. 

When Y/N reemerged, now fully dressed and the robe hanging on the back of the door, they smiled at Jason, “I’m doing good, kind of tired but that's to be expected because of the ‘model-life.’ The fun stories I have are more of traveling around the world and seeing different cultures and eating good food. 

“As of late, I’ve been thinking about getting a cat.” Jason’s brow raised, “You travel though.” Y/N nodded, “Yeah, some models travel with their pets and I think that's what I plan to do. They’re easier to travel with than a dog, and I don’t think a dog would like my condo.” Jason nodded, “You could always leave it here. The little spawn would take care of it.” 

“I can’t do that to the family. It’s my pet and should be my responsibility.” Jason hummed, “Is it because you don’t want to visit?” The air stilled and blue eyes met E/C. Jason didn’t look bothered, if anything he seemed relaxed about the whole thing, “It’s fine if that's the reason. I hate being here too.” 

Jason came back as a dead person Y/N knew not to talk about. From the stairways, they would watch Jason storm out after a bad argument with Bruce. Unable to completely understand what exactly was going on, but from the hushed conversations they knew it was something they didn’t want to know about. 

“I don’t hate being here, I just don’t have reason to visit other than Alfred.” Jason continued to stare at them, “Not even for ‘family.’” 

“Jason, when have you ever looked at me and saw a sibling?” Jason didn’t banter with Y/N, never showed interest or any inclination that Y/N even existed. Y/N is pretty sure that to Jason, Y/N is just a stranger living in the manor. 

Y/N wonders if they will see Jason’s temper. Will it appear like the monster hidden in the closet, waiting for the right time to lash out at anything? Y/N has heard the screaming matches, the threats, the holes in the walls from Jason. For someone who has killed people, Y/N wonders if they should really be mucking around with Jason. 

When Y/N looks at Jason, they see the middle child of a family that had other priorities. Once upon a time, Jason was the youngest and loved by Bruce, but then younger Robins came. Jason died, and while never replaced, Robin was. 

When Y/N looks at Jason, they see the middle child of a family that Y/N is not a part of. 

They are not siblings. Not cousins, relatives, they are not even friends. Barely acquaintances if Y/N is honest. Which is fine. Y/N has gotten over the hurt and feelings of loneliness. 

It is just Y/N against the world, with Alfred partially in their corner. Not fully. Never fully because Alfred will always be in the Wayne family’s corner, and Y/N is not a Wayne. 

Jason sighed, “Mmm, I guess that night when you took a beating from that one dude for not getting in the car.” Y/N paused in brushing their hair, mind reeling and slowly turning their head to look at Jason who was instead picking at his nails. Y/N opened their mouth, but Jason beat them to it, “You went out partying, like almost every high schooler does, and your boyfriend was drunk.” 

“Just get in the car, Y/N!” 

“No! You’re drunk and you said you’d stay sober!” 

“I am sober, now get in the fucking car!” 

“Fuck off!” A 15-year-old Y/N stormed off, turning their back to Marcus Dueller, the then jock of the school. A rough hand grabbed their shoulder and a fist met their face, “You don’t talk to me like that.” 

“...Marcus wasn’t my boyfriend.” Jason didn’t show any signs of hearing Y/N, “You took a pretty bad beating, I’ll admit it. I was going to step in once he started choking you, but you took that brick to his head pretty hard.” 

Blood splattered across Y/N’s face as Marcus collapsed. The hands around their neck loosening and Y/N took deeply needed gasps of air. Their throat aching and lungs burning as they rolled over onto their hands and knees. Tears pricked their eyes as the pain and realization settled in. 

“I called his friends. He was fine, just a concussion.” Marcus and Y/N never talked again, and Marcus’s friends took one look at the bruises on Y/N’s face and neck to understand what had happened. 

They all stayed Marcus’s friends, because unlike Y/N, Marcus was loved by his family. 

“Then, you walked your beaten ass towards the liquor store.” 

“Oh my God! Y/N!” Stacey cried out in shock, and she gently cupped bruised cheeks and watched split lips grow into a smile. 

“Can I have that bottom shelf vodka please?” 

“Bitch, you need a second shelf from the bottom vodka.” They sat outside of the store, Stacey’s partner taking over the counter as she watched Y/N take swig after swig from the bottle. Her concerned eyes tracing over each and every bruise and cut, down to the clothes they were wearing and scrapes in their knees and hands. 

“How many does this make?” 

“Seven. Whoever said seven was a lucky number is a liar.” 

“Oh Y/N, why do you keep doing this?” Y/N gave Stacey the most beautiful they could muster. Not minding the ache in their cheeks or the burning of alcohol on split lips. 

Looking back at it, perhaps Y/N was on a downward spiral. Trying to find love in other people that weren’t the people at home. From ages 13 to 15, Y/N had dated over 9 people. Not one of them made it past two months, and none of them were healthy. 

Once Y/N got into modeling, all their attention went into it. Dating and friends were on a standstill as their career and education became a priority. Maybe that was another thing Y/N inherited from Bruce, a known serial dater. Although, Y/N knows for sure that their taste in partners was definitely inherited from their mother. 

Some of Y/N’s earliest memories are of M/N getting berated and smacked around by men bigger than her. When they would leave, Y/N would emerge with bandaids and tears on their face. M/N would smile at them, blood from her nose painting her lips red and she would cup soft cheeks and whisper in their ears- 

“Diamonds have never been made with gentle hands.” Y/N glared at Jason, who was meeting that glare head on. Now that they are older, Y/N has learned to hate that phrase. They have watched numerous models be in kind and gentle hands and still be beautiful. Still have a loving and healthy relationship with themselves and the other. 

Now that they are older, Y/N knows how untrue those words are. Yet, who said those words had to only be applied to romantic partners? 

“Now here you are, in your glass castle imitating diamonds.” Y/N’s nose scrunched, “Always the poet, reading the classics.” Jason shrugged, "Someone has to be literate in this messed up family. Sure as hell ain’t Bruce.” Y/N rolled their eyes, “So what? That still does not explain anything. More importantly, why now then?” Why was it now that they decided to make a move if they had supposedly been caring for a while now. 

Jason smirked, "Because finally, Bruce sees it too.” Y/N narrowed their eyes and watched with pursed lips as the bigger and stronger man got up from the bed, and walked over to them, “I’d wear comfortable shoes, Y/N. You’re going out with Bruce and the little spawn today.” 

“Wait, what do you mean Bruce finally sees it too? What is there to see?” Jason smiled at him, and it looked more of a monster preening at it’s prey. Callused hands reached up and traced the small, almost invisible scar on Y/N’s upper lip. 

“Make sure you smile, the vultures will be there too.” 

++++

“I do think green will look best on you.” Y/N smiled at Damian, “Green looks good everybody, Damian. You just need the right shade.” Between them was an emerald green silk shirt, the price displayed like a bounty and Y/N wanted to walk out of the store once they saw it. Yes, they made a lot of money, but Y/N also knows what it means to be frugal. 

Damian raised an eyebrow and continued to judge the piece as if it had insulted the family. Y/N set the shirt down and continued to peruse the aisles. Their eyes looking at all the clothing and trying to predict what will be in style. What could they use to match or create their own trend? It is still winter, meaning layers will still be necessary but how to make a stylish outfit when there needs to be layers. 

“Do you see anything you want, Y/N?” They jumped a bit, and whirled around to see Bruce smiling at them. Those blue eyes, intense like winter rivers, roamed over what Y/N was looking at and he raised a well groomed eyebrow, “Do you want that one?” 

“N-no, no thank you. I’m just looking.” Bruce hummed, and wrapped a large arm around Y/N’s bony shoulders and brought them close. He pressed his lips against his temple, an unusual act of affection towards his kids but everyone will chalk it up to Y/N being a model and still young. Bruce whispered against Y/N’s skin, “Just let me know what you want, and I will get it for you.” 

‘If I want to be left alone?’ Y/N didn’t voice it, but they didn’t have too. Bruce’s grin was sharp, “Within reason, Y/N.” A chill ran down Y/N’s spine and they swallowed down the bile threatening to come up. 

“I have money, Bruce. I can buy my own stuff.” Bruce picked up a shirt, “Let me spoil you. It is what parents do.” 

“You already paid off my condo, that is good enough.” Bruce continued to smile, “That was for the birthdays and holidays I missed while you were with us. I still have to make up for the time when you were with your mother.”  Y/N wanted to scream, “How about you donate that then?” 

Bruce smiled, “I already do. Let me spoil you.” He kissed Y/N’s temple once more before walking away, eyeing everything the way designers did when critiquing their pieces. Y/N had a feeling that if they didn’t get something from here, the store would be paying the price. Grabbing a sheer halter top and pair of black high waisted pants, Y/N let Damian throw the green top on the small pile and made their way to the check out. The cashier smiled nervously as the Wayne family stood in front of her. 

True to Bruce’s promise, he paid for the three articles of clothes, the pair of shoes, the jewelry, the accessories, the–

“I think that is enough.There are a lot of bags, and while I appreciate it, I really don’t need anymore stuff.” Y/N placated Bruce and Damian, already picturing the amount of trips it will be to take everything back home. The man seemed satisfied though, smiling and shrugging his shoulders, “If you insist. How about some lunch now?” 

Y/N wanted to decline. They wanted to go back to the manor and get away from everybody. The feeling of walking on eggshells and constantly being watched had their skin crawling and the need to take another bath. Bruce wrapped an arm around Y/N’s shoulder and brought them close, and Damian took up their other side. 

“You’re acting more as a bodyguard than a father it seems.” Bruce smiled, “We’re having a nice family outing. I’d hate it if one of your ‘followers’ interrupted." Y/N furrowed their brow, but they could not stop their body from tensing, “Someone is following us?” 

“Unfortunately.” The photos they saw in their old room re-emerged and a feeling of dread seized their muscles, making them lean further into Bruce. Yes, they were once all Robins, but not once in those photos taken from their terrace was there ever a reflection of the Bat. 

“It’s okay Y/N, I’ll make sure they won’t take any of you.” 

“How… how do you know its not you they want a photo of?” Bruce smiled, guiding them into a fancy restaurant, Damian requesting a table away from the windows, "Because they all know not to follow me.” There was something akin to a warning in Bruce’s voice that had Y/N biting their lips and following the wait staff quietly. 

Y/N watched as Damian and Bruce conversed casually, well, as casually as Damian can be. The topics went from school, a family named the Kents, and future prospects. Damian was still unsure about what exactly it is he wanted to do, and it most likely didn’t help that Tim was the one who was going to take over Wayne Enterprises. 

Y/N continued to eat and sip their tea, not wanting to add to anything as their mind wandered. After talking to Jason, it proved to Y/N that they were somewhat always being watched. Jason bringing up that one specific memory may have made Y/N’s heart rate spike, but it did prove that Jason was there. The photos, all of them that were taken without Y/N’s consent, show that everyone had at some point gained interest. 

However, why did they never act on it? Why wait until now to do something? 

‘Bruce finally sees it too.’ Y/N’s jaw clenched, what does Bruce have to do with any of this? Could they not interact without Bruce’s permission? Alfred would never allow that. 

Would he? 

“What do you think, Y/N?” The question jolted Y/N out of their thoughts and back into reality. Looking around the table to two expectant gazes, they gave an apologetic smile, “Sorry. I was thinking about something, what was the question?” 

Damian scrunched his nose, “What is there to think about when you have blood-related family members in front of you?” Y/N blinked in shock, and then remembered how much blood meant to Damian. They shrugged, “I have a busy schedule coming up.” 

Bruce stabbed the piece of steak with the silver fork, “You do, don’t you.” He stared at his child, one who he has left to their own devices and now is estranged from the family. Always keeping them at arms length, and never looking back to see if they are behind them. Not because Y/N trusts them to be, but because Y/N was used to them not being there. 

Y/N, for how proud Bruce is of them for standing on their own, is still naive. Still innocent. They didn’t notice the paparazzi lurking around, or maybe they got so used to them they learned to block them out. None of it sat right with Bruce. Those should have been things he taught Y/N. Things to prepare Y/N for a world that was bathed in camera flashes and gossip. How to look out for themselves. How to defend themselves, and what to do in case there is a stalker. Those should have been at least a fraction of what Bruce taught them. 

Yet, he never did any of that. Looking at Y/N sitting across from him, sitting tall and with a closed-off expression, had Bruce frowning. Y/N was still polite, smiled when they needed to and engaged in conversation, but there was still a wall between them. Almost like glass. Bruce is able to see everything and hear almost everything, but his ability to interact with his child is limited. All interactions stopped by the wall of glass put up by Y/N themselves. 

It's a good thing that Batman breaks glass windows on a daily basis. 

“You have some shoots in New York, will you be visiting afterwards?” Bruce watched Y/N’s eyes widen and lips pursed. He could see the breaking point, cracks spreading throughout the glass as Y/N’s mind tried to wrap around the question. 

“How–” 

“Is it odd for a parent to know their child’s schedule?” Y/N blinked, and processed the information. A tight smile formed on their lips, “How long have you known my schedule?” Bruce took a bite of the steak and Damian continued to eat his plate of some fancy pasta.

“Now Y/N-” 

“How long have you known my schedule?” Damian glanced up, irritated at their father being cut off, but the look on Bruce’s face had him settling down. The man was smiling, non-threateningly but all Y/N could see was the Bruce that had stood before them in the changing room after Gabanna’s runway show. The same eyes, full of intentions that had Y/N shivering and the money, power, and background to act on those intentions. 

“Like I have said, Y/N. I am making up for the lost time and neglect you have faced within our home.” 

“And I have said, Bruce, there is nothing to make up. That still does not answer my question about you knowing my schedule.” The cracks were spreading, chipping away and becoming weaker. 

“What parent doesn’t know-” 

“Don’t repeat that sentence. Bruce, you know what I am asking and you keep avoiding it. Who told you my schedule?” An emotion other than faux politeness finally filtered into Y/N’s voice, making the question sound firm and unlikely to bend or be swept away with Bruce’s elusivity. He smiled, “Oh Y/N, did Maya not tell you? GLM Agency has been under new agency since last year. Wayne Industries is now the parent of GLM Agency.” 

Y/N stared at Bruce in confusion, their pretty face twisting as the words registered with them. Everything crashed on Y/N, like glass shattering and bathing them in their shards. The guest room that is identical to their bedroom at home, the clothes that are from their closet, the two rooms full of their photos and mannequins wearing their iconic looks, that fucking Batman-inspired piece of clothing. 

“Y/N.” They’re walking away from the table, head lost in thought and body moving on autopilot. The need to get away from everyone was overpowering the logical part of their mind, and Y/N is walking towards the front door of the restaurant. Pushing the glass doors open, and being bombarded by flashes from cameras. 

“Y/N, what do you have to say about your mother?” A 13-year-old Y/N was guided out of the condo by police officers. Eyes rimmed red from crying and their only source of comfort was the blanket they managed to snag before being escorted out. 

“Were you aware of your mother’s drug-use?” 

“Are you on drugs?” A 17-year-old Y/N walked past the paparazzi, keeping their eyes forward even though they wanted to snarl at that person. 

“Y/N! Look over here!” 

“Look!”

“Over here!”  

A large hand gripped their arm guided Y/N through the crowd and towards the parking lot where the car was. The large body blocking the photos and shielding them from the flashing of cameras that had thrown Y/N back in time. Once inside the safety of the metal box on wheels, Y/N became aware of their rapid breathing and the feeling of their heart pounding. Irregular beats and sweat began to form on their skin as they struggled to take a breath. Just one breath.

The hand that had guided them to the car grabbed their wrist and placed it on a large and firm chest, emphasizing the deep breaths that Y/N needed and wanted to take. Rough fingers gently traced their cheek, up to their ear, and then to their hair. Gently bringing Y/N back to the present. 

“Shh shh, it’s okay Y/N. It’s okay. You’re safe.” E/C eyes drifted around the car, and closed once they saw the person’s reflection. 

“Father, those vermin have been cleared. All of them will be getting in trouble.” 

“Thank you, Damian.” Y/N rested their head against the glass and fought down the need to jump out of the car. Bruce eyed Y/N, and what made it worse was there was an apologetic look on his face. 

“Y/N, I… I am sorry. I thought Maya had told you.” 

“Seems like your manager isn’t doing their job if you didn’t know. You should get a new one.” 

“Don’t talk about her like that,” Y/N mumbled, feeling a headache forming and they wanted nothing more than to curl under the covers and die. They could feel Damian’s pointed look through the seat, “Maya is a great manager. She will not be replaced.” Damian sneered, “She didn’t even inform you of the change in ownership.” 

“Because it does not concern me. As long as I am able to get booked and get to my destinations, it does not matter who is in charge.” Y/N paused, “Although, now it looks like nepotism.” 

Bruce huffed at his child’s overdramaticness, "It's not nepotism. I had no say in what shows you did or who booked them.” 

“But you had a say in what clothes I wore.” Ice filled the car and Bruce gave Y/N a long look. 

“Just that one piece, and I asked her to do it. She didn’t have to do it.” Y/N laughed, long and hollow as they turned their head to Bruce, “Of course she had to do it. Bruce Wayne is asking for a commission piece, who would turn it down without risking their reputation?” The man sighed, “Y/N, I submitted a commission piece. That is the only thing I had a hand in throughout your modeling career.” 

“Others won’t believe that.” 

“Who cares what others think.” Y/N whipped their head around to Damian, “I do. I do a lot actually. I care a lot about what my fellow models say and think about me.” The boy rolled his eyes, “Why? Their opinions don’t matter.” 

“And your’s do?” 

“We are family!” 

“By blood, yeah! That’s as far as it goes.” Damian looked ready to snarl out more remarks, but the abrupt parking of the car had both of them pausing. They were already at the manor, and Y/N wondered just how fast was Bruce driving to get them here so quickly. 

Y/N was quick to jump out of the car, “I will grab those bags later. Please don’t make Alfred take them.” Bruce followed, “Y/N.” 

“No! No, ‘Y/N’ or anything. I want to be left alone.” Y/N pushed open the manor’s front door, and they wonder how many times they have snuck in and out of these doors before. Was it really even sneaking out if someone knew? 

“Y/N, we need to talk about this.” There was something in Bruce’s voice that stoked the right ember within Y/N’s chest. Whipping around, they glared at the two Waynes, “For fuck’s sake, I just want to be left alone! I was fine with how things were. None of this-this- whatever the hell this is! 

I was fine on my own. I was fine without you guys. I would have been fine if you stayed away!” Bruce didn’t even look bothered that Y/N was yelling, in fact the asshole looked relieved. He gave a patient smile with fake concern in those blue eyes, “The thing is though Y/N, you never should have done it on your own.” 

Y/N rolled their eyes, “Where the hell did all of this even come from?! This… this sudden need to be part of my life? You’re not even being subtle about it!” They were drawing a crowd, but Y/N couldn’t even bring themselves to care. 

“I keep telling you, it does. Not. Bother. Me that you all were inattentive. It doesn’t make me mad, it doesn’t make me upset, it doesn’t stir anything within me knowing you were not there. Yet here you are trying to make it up and all that nonsense, but when I tell you that it's fine you don’t listen!

“It genuinely seems that you are not doing this for me, but to ease your guilt.” Bruce met Y/N’s gaze, and it appeared they were in their own little showdown. Bruce’s gaze, not showing a hint of anger or irritation at his child while Y/N seethed. For once, Y/N looked liked the wild one in the family. Their teeth bared and eyes full of unadulterated rage, they glared at Bruce with the face of a raging angel. 

They hated how Bruce’s lips pulled into a smile, and the feeling of gloating eyes falling on their body from all their siblings. Like they all knew something Y/N didn’t. 

“Bruce finally sees it too.” 

Y/N pocketed that thought, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down. Nothing intelligent was ever said when angry– 

“So tell your big brother Y/N, how do you expect us to trust you on your own when you can’t even notice someone on your terrace?” 

– Fuck it. Intense E/C eyes landed back on Bruce, “If you bought GLM Agency a year ago, why now?” Bruce continued to stare into Y/N’s eyes, “Because it seemed like you needed a break from Gotham. So, I figured a year away would be good.” 

Y/N narrowed their gaze, “Then why didn’t you call?” 

“Because it looked like you needed a break.” Y/N chuckled, “I needed a break, or you needed time to get those rooms set up?” Bruce raised a brow, but Y/N continued on, “It's one thing to have photos from some photoshoots but not photos taken without my consent. Or the clothes I’ve worn on mannequins with almost the exact same physique as me.” 

“They are exact.” Y/N tore their gaze away from Bruce to stare at Tim, the thin and exhausted looking teen standing above them on the stairway. Chapped lips opened, “We used the measurements within the modeling database and created mannequins that have your exact measurements.” 

Y/N gaped at him for a quick second before rolling their eyes, “Wow. That’s not helping your guys’ case at all.” Dick approached them, going for a placating gesture and an easy smile, “Now Y/N, I think you might be overreacting–” 

“I think I am underreacting to all of this. I find out that you all have been taking secret photos of me, which someone them are from my ‘stalker’ and I don’t really believe that but whatever, you have access to my bank account, you bought the modeling agency I work for, commissioned a Batman-inspired piece, and that you have been keeping some of runway pieces on models that are exactly my measurements!

How else am I supposed to be reacting?! And I still don’t have my phone back!” Y/N snapped at Dick, and then began to rub their temples when the headache got worse. An Aspirin, they need an Aspirin. Now, preferably but Y/N has the strangest sense that even if they did take it, the headache would not go away. 

“Whatever, just… I’m going home tomorrow and whatever was bought today just… just ship it. Since you know my address and all that apparently.” Y/N began walking up the stairs, ignoring the panicked looks some of their ‘siblings’ were giving them and the dark look on Bruce’s face. 

Dick, ever the peacemaker, reached out, “Wait, you can’t go back yet! You still have a few more weeks before your next shoot. Just stay for a few more days.” 

“Add kidnapping and being held against my will to that list too.” Y/N continued walking, feeling exhausted and wanting to sleep. They missed the nod Bruce gave Tim and Damian, and they missed the dark and knowing looks on Jason’s and Dick’s face. The walk back to the room was long, and more exhausting than usual. The events of today caught up to them and Y/N wanted nothing more than to cry, scream, and then go to sleep. 

Because why not. 

“Y/N, you are making a mistake.” Dick followed after their younger sibling, who only sped up to get away from them. The man grabbed Y/N’s forearm, “Y/N, listen! You don’t want to do this.” 

“What is ‘this’ you are talking about Dick? I am literally just going home. It is not a big deal.” Y/N tried to pull their arm away from Dick, but to no avail. 

“It's how you are doing it Y/N. All we want is to spend time with you and make up for the lost time!” Y/N wanted to scream at Dick, but held it in and instead gritted out, “Why didn’t you do it normally then? Like… texting or calling.” Dick pouted, those blue eyes looking sad and his lower lip jutting out like a toddler, “We missed you, and we just wanted to see you.” 

Y/N’s face was scrunched, their mouth open in disgust, “How can you say that with that look on your face as if you all weren’t the ones who ignored me?” Dick looked heartbroken and some part of Y/N felt bad about that. They remembered the room with the photos and the other side of Dick that they saw only a few days ago. Their body seized in terror, but Y/N tried to keep their expression neutral. 

“Look, Dick, once again I am not mad about how my time here was spent. I’m genuinely not. But you guys keep throwing it back in my face and saying such contradicting things, of course I’m going to get upset about it.” They are trying to be civil. Trying so desperately to be civil and it feels like it is not working. Old wounds and painful memories continued to be dragged out of the crevices of their minds like it was some type of zoo attraction. 

A 16-year-old Y/N stared at the shattered mirror, tears racing down their face as they stared at their broken reflection. All they could see were the imperfections everyone continued to call out. Comparing them to their mother, to other models, to society’s twisted views of beauty that Y/N is trying to be. 

If their mother was alive, would she know what to say? Would she gaze at them with those soft eyes and long lashes, smiling beautifully and whispering, “Diamonds have never been made with gentle hands.” Continuing to remind Y/N that modeling was not a gentle job. It wasn’t a job for those with paper skin or glass bones. Those easily hurt by the meanest of comments, nastiest looks, and the horrendous words never made it in this industry.

Would this have been easier if they had the support of Bruce and his kids? 

Labored breaths and broken sobs filled room-turned-practice room as the mirrors caught the sight of a teenager breaking down. Crumbling and shattering under the pressure, pricking their fingers as they cleaned up the broken mirror and picking up their shattered image. 

It will be those same mirrors that watched those broken shards form their glass castle, posing as diamonds to deter others from trying to break in. 

Y/N continued to walk down the long hallway, ignoring Dick’s calls and locking the door behind them. It was only 2pm, and Y/N had plans to sleep the rest of the day. They had no bags to pack, and nothing here they felt like taking. All they needed to do is sleep the day away, which will be easy, wake up tomorrow, call a cab and skedaddle out of here. 

“Thats all we have to do, Y/N.” They closed their eyes for what only felt like a few minutes, until jostling and whispers of their name had them groggily opening their eyes. A yawn escaping them and their eyes struggled to open. 

“Why are you in my room?” Tim gave a small huff, “Its dinner time.” Y/N buried their face in their pillow, groaning out a ‘not hungry.’ The young man hummed, “I think you should come down for this one, Y/N. You might get the answers you want.” 

“Not interested.” Tim leaned down, his breath tickling Y/N’s ear, “You’re glass castle is shattering, Y/N. Don’t you want help fixing it?” Y/N wanted to swing. They wanted to do something to get their point across that they wanted almost nothing to do with this crazy family anymore. 

They opted to glare, and Tim gave a soft smile, “C’mon, lets go eat. Besides, Alfred said that the cab won’t be coming for you if you don’t eat dinner.” 

“Alfie!” Y/N groaned into the pillow, and they had stopo themselves from throwing up their arms and legs in a fit. Leave it to Alfred to do something so diabolical. Groaning one more time, Y/N sat up and mentally braced themselves for this shitshow of a dinner. 

E/C eyes looked at the door they know they locked, and chose that whatever little bickerment that will start was not worth it at this point in time. Throwing their legs over the bed, they followed Tim out of the room and towards the dining room. 

Everyone was there, and waiting for Y/N to appear. Once again, they were made to sit between Bruce and Damian, which they did so with little complaint. 

“Now, Y/N, it looks like everyone has some explaining to do.” Y/N gave Bruce the driest most unimpressed face they could muster, to which the man took with a smile, “So, what questions do you want answered?” 

‘They’re really doing this.’ Y/N could feel another headache forming, but decided to take the brightly colored bait. Looking at Jason, who was meeting their gaze with his green eyes waiting for this question, Y/N asked, “What did you mean when you said ‘Bruce sees it too.’” The man smirked, meeting Bruce’s eyes and back to Y/N, “Exactly that. The old man finally sees what you are to this messed up family.” 

Y/N narrowed their gaze, taking a bite of the pasta, and chewing slowly. Dick decided to chime in, “Y/N, you have been loved by us for a while. Something you probably pieced together, but Bruce took a while to see it because… well because you’re not us.” 

“Not like, you’re not Robin, but more like you’re not…” 

“You’re fragile.” Everyone’s head turned to Damian, and Y/N had half the idea to be upset about that. They raised an eyebrow, but before they could say anything Damian continued, “You are not meant for this life we lead. Vigilantism never suited you, and that is something I picked up on when I first came here.” 

When Damian had first met Y/N, it was like seeing a rare flower that had to be protected at all costs. Y/N was something that at the slightest gesture, could be hurt. When people come across something ethereal like that, the need to protect it can be divided into two different directions. 

Hovering or distancing. 

Bruce chose to distance himself, whether he knew it or not, and Damian had followed suit. He watched as his older sibling hovered from a distance, watching the rare flower bloom before it was finally the right time to engage with it. 

“Y/N, it isn’t so much that I didn’t want to interact with you, it is that I didn’t know how.” Bruce looked into his child’s eyes, “How could I interact with someone who needed gentle hands, when there is not a gentle bone in my body.” Bruce’s hands have broken more bones than the human body has. He has scars on his skin and calluses on the palm of his hands. 

“It took me a while to figure out why, but once I did, your absence became suffocating.” Everyone had been gasping for air, doing everything in their power for the slightest piece of oxygen. It was the fear of Y/N being harmed that kept them collared and chained to the photos, every interview, every runway show. 

However, Bruce knows that every now and then, children should be able to spread their wings and fall. Y/N ended up flying, soaring above them and never looking back down. Bruce, and the family, decided to give Y/N a year. Just one on their own. This gave them all plenty of time to improve the glass terrarium that they wanted Y/N to be placed back in. This time they will be protected and paid attention too. 

“When everyone stated that I can finally see the impact you have on this family, it means I have to come to terms with the fact that I no longer want to be hands off with your life and career.” Y/N’s brow furrowed, not liking the term ‘hands off.’ 

“You have done great on your own. A fabulous job. Clawing your way up and making a name for yourself, I am so proud of you. Everyone is extremely proud of you. 

However, there is no need for you to struggle anymore. You’ve proven yourself, now let us take care of the rest.” Y/N felt shivers go down their spine as they stared at their family in fear. They took in each expression, and when they made eye contact with Jason, the other had a daring look in his eyes. Begging for Y/N to do something, similar to how predators hope for their prey to fight back to make the kill all the more interesting. 

“But… But I don’t need your help, Bruce. I can do this on my own.” Bruce’s smile was that of honey, luring in unsuspecting insects and trapping them in its viscous fluid. If Y/N were younger, they may have fallen for it. They may have allowed themselves to coat their fingers in sugary words and sweet gestures, just so they could feel the love from a father. 

“I know. We know, but you don’t need to anymore.” 

“Now wait a minute-no. No no no no. You can’t just do that, explain yourself, and expect me to just roll with it.” Y/N set their napkin down, and tried to stand from the table, “I don’t need your help, although thank you for wanting to I guess. I am fine with it just being me and Maya.” 

“About that…” Dick grimaced, handing Y/N his phone and pulled up was an article. 

Y/N’s eyes widened and the world around them went cold. THey looked back up, “You’re lying.” Dick shook his head, fake empathy across his face as Y/N continued to read the article.

“No. NO this is a joke and a terrible one. Maya would never–” 

“They were found in her apartment, Y/N.” The headlines, eerily similar to ones from five year ago, flashed across the small phone screen. 

Manager of Model Y/N L/N Suspected of Drug Usage

Y/N wanted to cry. Horrible flashbacks resurfacing and tears pricking their eyes. They turned to Bruce who was still sitting and eating his pasta.

“Bruce, please. I know Maya, she would never do this.” The man said nothing. Y/N bit their lip, “Bruce… Bruce please. If its because of what I said then take that out on me. Please leave Maya out of it.

“Please Bruce! I know Maya. She’d never do that, and–and Bruce please.” Y/N was whimpering now, tears streaming down their face as the thought of losing their manager, the last person they had, nearly had them collapsing to their knees. 

“Lets make a deal, Y/N.” Bruce wiped the corner of his lips, and grabbed Y/N’s thin wrist. 

“You come home more often, during breaks and whatnot. I won’t have a lot of control over your modeling schedule, but make sure you include time each week for family. The only exception is when you are out of the country.” Y/N stared at Bruce in confusion, but nodded along. 

“In return, Maya gets out of trouble. Nothing will change other than the weekly meeting with family.”  Y/N can’t breathe. They cannot breathe and there were eyes all on them. Gulping down on whatever air they can get a hold of, Y/N sobbed out, “Why are you going to such lengths?” 

Bruce stood, and even though Y/N is tall, no one compares to Bruce’s towering figure. He smiled down at the model, and cupped a wet cheek with a calloused hand. Ice blue eyes stared into watery E/C eyes, and that smile turned too sharp to not be hidden blade, “I told you. It is too make up for lost time. Plus, as those photos suggest, you need protection. What better protection could you have that is not only part of the family, but also vigilantes?

“While it is true that diamonds are never made without pressure, diamond-encrusted jewlery require gentle hands and patience.” Bruce kissed Y/N’s temple, and the model flinched away. Ice blue met their eyes once more, “Now pick, Y/N. Either way, you will still be meeting us once a week, but you can have someone you know at your side or someone under my command.” 

+++++

“And cut! Good job everyone!” The flashes from the camera stopped and the stage lighting turned off, no longer blinding everyone within the room. Y/N stood up from the red couch, a smile still on their lips as they thanked the photographers. 

“Y/N, as always, perfect shots!” 

“Good job Y/N!” 

“Thank you for doing this, Y/N!” They continued to smile and acknowledge everyone that passed by, Maya right behind as they walked back to the changing room. Sitting on the couch was Jason’s large form and Tim’s lithe one. Both of them looking up as Y/N entered, ignoring Maya’s flinch. 

“You have a birthday gala you need to catch. Come on, change out of that and lets go.” Leave it to Jason to get the message across. Y/N nodded, taking to the changing room where they know their clothes are already waiting for them. They could hear Tim interrogating Maya in the politist way. Clipped words and empty praises. 

“Y/N they came out of nowhere! They stormed in and went straight to a vent where these-these drugs were! I’ve never even seen those there before! Let alone know that there was a vent!” Maya cried into Y/N’s shoulder as Dick and Damian watched on. 

Emerging from the changing room in jeans and a crew neck, Y/N sighed, “Alright, shall we get going?” Jason stood up and Tim shook Maya’s sweaty hand. Y/N gave his manager a nod, signalling for her to take the rest of the day off. Jason’s large hand rested on the small of Y/N’s back, and Tim led the way to the new car that Bruce bought. 

The ride was only two hours, filled with light conversation and catching up. Once at the mansion, Y/N greeted Alfred with a hug. Not as tight as they normally are, but it felt wrong entering the mansion without hugging Alfred. Bruce entered the foyer and grinned, hugging Y/N and kissing their temple. 

“Your clothes are in your room, and there is another present on behalf of Damian and Jason.” Y/N nodded, “Thanks, Bruce.” The man smiled, “Come and eat dinner when you are done. We’ll have enough time before the Gala to at least eat something.” Y/N began walking away, each step up the stairs feeling like there was lead on their feet stopping them from going any further. 

Once in the room, the locked the door and on the bed was a box and black and gold clothing. The black looking like it was made out of silk, and the gold was sequin. Y/N carefully walked towards the box, and when they lifted the lid, a white kitten mewed at them. Their fur still looking young and their eyes bluer than Bruce’s. They mewed and mewed, and Y/N could feel tears streaming down their face. 

In neat cursive and tied around the bow of the box, was a small note, ‘We’ll watch her when you decide to leave the country.’ 

Y/N bit their lip, and felt as if their world was falling a part once more. Broken glass surrounding them and no matter where they stepped, their feet will end up bleeding. Now forced to rely on their family to carry them out of the mess they made, and now… now there was a lifeform that this family can and most likely will use against them.  

Thin fingers gently picked up the cat and gave it a wobbly smile, as she mewed at Y/N. A red collar already around her neck, tied in a perfect bow. 

“Y/N, the makeup artists are here. Are you ready?” Wiping their tears, Y/N set the kitten down and took in the black and gold piece once more. 

“Not yet, but they can come in. I’ll get dressed afterwards.” 

“Alright.” The door opened, despite Y/N locking it, and it was Dick smiling as he let in the two artists who were now scrambling to get set up. Blue eyes traveled from the cat, to the clothes, and back to Y/N. He grinned and stalked closer to his younger sibling that was now being corralled into sitting in front of the makeup artist. 

He picked up the kitten and passed her for Y/N to hold, whispering in their ears, “Happy Birthday, Y/N.” 

______________________________________________________________

Honestly... I really like this series. I think I'm going to do other stories but in the other characters POV now.

[blush-and-books]

Apologies if you already answered this, but I’m curious what you think Donna and Harvey’s wedding is like in Seattle. What’s her dress like? Where did they get married? What was their song?? Was Jessica there?? I feel like they could have thrown us a short epilogue at least 😩

Hi babes!! I answered a similar question about Donna and harvey's life in Seattle here, but let's talk about the wedding pt 2.

Firstly, I sort of expect them to have their real wedding on the East Coast still, since that is where most of their family is. They kinda feel like they'd have a chill, but classy, wedding at Martha's Vineyard or a similar place that is less touristy/widely known. If they were to get married in Seattle, they'd most likely either do it in the city at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel!! If they wanted to get out of the city they would go to the San Juan Islands or something and have their wedding at a hotel by the water.

I'm tempted to say Donna wouldn't wear a white dress, but also she looks so good in white when she wears it on the show so I kinda think she might lmao. Jessica is absolutely there and Rachel obviously would be too as maid of honor!! Jessica makes a toast at the reception actually. Like she's known these crazies for over a decade and has watched them dance around each other, she deserves some last words about it lmao.

I have No Idea what their song is lol. Probably a romantic jazz song tbh!! The reception music is definitely a lot of jazz and the vibes are really good. It's low lighting, kinda deco, very chill but elegant. There are flowers EVERYWHERE!!! That's probably what Donna stresses about the most tbh is the flowers. I just know in my gut she was pulling her hair out about the perfect arrangements and how big they should be on the tables vs at the entries etc. I seriously doubt anything else stressed her out as much as that did. Harvey actually also is pretty involved and once they mutually decide on food/color scheme and stuff he is the one scheduling the caterers and whatnot and it is definitely not all on Donna's shoulders. They try hiring a wedding planner and soon fire them bc they both have a hard time handing over that much responsibility to a stranger.

uuuhhh other little things:

one of marcus's daughters is the flower girl

jim walks donna down the aisle but still kinda glares at harvey as he does it and harvey just smiles lmao

MOST IMPORTANT THING ACTUALLY: harvey, in his vows, tells donna "you had me at hello" which is a reference to the film Jerry Maguire. Harvey canonically loves this movie and I curse God every day for not having him make this reference bc it just would have been perfect for them??? fuck his gambling analogy i wanted movie quotes!!

anyways yes thank you for this ask this is so fun to think about!!!! <3333

[phantomtickles]

Intro Post!

Hullo!

I've been on tumblr for so long but figured it was time to make a more official introductory first step!

Name: G

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 25

SFW/NSFW

I am a bisexual switch from the East Coast, close to the DMV area

If you are a minor please do not interact with my page. Respectfully

Since this is partially NSFW blog, I will have kink/sex-related things posted/reblogged so please be aware if that makes you uncomfortable or if that's not what you're interested in.

If you are racist. homophobic, transphobic, and/or hateful or dsicriminatory towards any marginalized groups of people, I am not interested and you will be blocked.

Please understand that if you do not respect or follow my boundaries. you will be blocked. Please treat me with kindness. I am a human. An adult human that has responsibilties and cannot always respond/ does not always have the mental ability to.

While we are talking, remember CONSENT IS KEY!! If you do not follow this, and try forcing me to do something I am not comfortable with or is unconsensual intentionally you will be blocked.

I am not really comfy sharing photos of myself with strangers

Things I'm into:

Kink/blog-related: Tickling (giving and receiving), teasing, bondage, voice, hands, body worship, edging, food play, temperature play, brat play. sensation play, sensory deprivation, praise

Hobbies: Reading, cozy-gaming, watching movies, going to the theater, going to the movies

Some of my favorite authors: Rick Riordan, Ruta Sepetys, V.E. Schwab, Sarah J. Maas, Olivia Dade, Stephen King

Some of my favorite movies: Toy Story 2, Moulin Rouge, Werewolf by Midnight, Nightmare Before Christmas, The Lord of the Rings Triology, Harry Potter, Silence of the Lambs, Spirited Away

Some of my favorite TV shows: Criminal Minds, Supernatural, The Masked Singer, Moonknight, Only Murders in the Building, Ms. Marvel, Stranger Things, The Haunting of Bly Manor

I'm really shy at first and probably will spam you instead of reaching out like the introvert I am so here are some conversation starters if you feel the same way or just for fun!!

Anything about Disneyworld (Listen it's a problem, but it's not hurting anyone LOL)

What is your favorite Disney movie? (it changes frequently)

Favorite book you've read? Or currently reading?

What muppet character do you most relate too?

What is your favorite food?

Ask me about my cat! (I talk too much about him)

Favorite broadway show? (Also changes frequently)

What's your favorite fruit?

Favorite season and why?

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

If you've made it this far, thank you!! I appreciate you taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about me. If you want to reach out please don't be nervous! Have a good day!

[ibedressin]

Lol ren faire thoughts

MD might get dropped to lowest tier

PA getting the no. 1 spot!

NY getting the no. 2 spot!

MD #3

Some food is good, and some are really mid compared to the other faires. They have good mead... a lot of the performances are kind of lack luster, the shopping is expensive, and they always have the same vendors, it seems. The joust was...mid? Also, there is not a lot of diversity in the action role performances...

It's kind of far for me, too, but close enough to other great parts of Maryland that I don't mind!

Lots of rude alt right/racist people attending? The weather tends to not be my favorite, it's rained or been insanely hot. They have Porta potties instead of bathrooms...no.

People imo drink too much and act rudely toward the end of the day.

I think this one just got really popular but leaves much to be desired. If this was closer to me, I wouldn't rate it so low buf the combo of all these things means I will only go to visit friends LOL.

NY #2

It's just REALLY far away from everything. Fighting is great, and the food is ok. Joust performances are also pretty good, with lots of diversity in the action role performances!! They had a few other performances that were well done and fun to watch, like at the chess board. They've got lots of performers but not much shopping or other experiences to partake in. It's queer ASF attendance wise, which I really appreciated. It's not super expansive, but that's ok! The weather isn't horrible since it's in upstate NY. They have toilets and Porta Potties. It's accessible if you don't have a car, which is great, unlike the other two!! You can buy a combo bus and faire ticket which is excellent.

They've added guest artists, so there's more unique vendors to support!

PA #1

This one was the most fun and comfortable to attend. There were a lot of lines, but sometimes they were long or sometimes no line at all. The food was pretty good, but the performances were where it was for me. They had a storyline from the chessboard where the cast was sword fighting, and then that carried onto the ultimate joust at the end of the day. The ultimate joust was pretty epic. Some of the fighting could've been better, BUT they had fireworks and live pyrotechnics, so I feel like that just put it SO over the edge it was great overall!!! Also, tbh the cast seemed kinda tired, and I don't blame them they put in WORK. They interact A LOT with you more than the other festivals, which was really nice. Very diverse fight performers and I got to crush on a jousting lady knight even though she was portraying a villain!!! It was easy to get into the storyline at this faire!

Lots of vendors to choose from, lots of places to go eat at! It felt pretty organized, and there were so many activities to do! Mead was terrible. DO NOT recommend.

Crowds were mixed. There were a lot of kids compared to the other two, and it seemed more family-friendly if that makes any sense! Also, it's still very LGBT friendly!

Vibes are also more chill they have lots of trees to protect you from the sun. They also run until later in the day, which is nice!!! I think this is the one I will return to the most if given the chance even though it is kinda deep in PA! Weather is totally bearable in comparison, and they run into the end of October, which is GREAT because it's getting very hot now a days.

Anyway east coast ren faire review, lol!!! Honestly, it's fortunate that we have so many to choose from on the east coast it's awesome!

[friedoats]

oats i wanted to tell you that i am getting on a train. please share anything you wish about trains with me i love it when people infodump <3

OMG ITS HAPPENING

Anyway so, i live in the us where trains are only used as cargo transportation and the occasional tourist attraction, which is crazy? B/c that makes us one of the only "first world" countries that dont have a nation wide public trasit system (beside planes?), a travesty in my personal opinion, b/c all of that land? And no bullet trains? And in a car it can take (no rest stops or staying in hotels) about 6ish days to travel from the east coast to the west coast. Do you know how long that would be with the average public train speed(50-60 mph/80-97kph)(no stops)???? A little less than 2 days... and we dont have trains? For some reason?(big auto, fuck big auto). It would make the country so fucking acessable to everyone in it and visiting. It would make visitng relatives across states so much easier, it would aliveiate trafic jams in big cities (a little bit). And like the average american has been to around 18 states (i cant remember the exact nuber) and somewhere around 10ish% have never left their home state. And i think about 2% have been to half of the states (which i am very lucky to be apart of) and this isn't even talking about the amount of americans who havent even left the country (me lol) having an actual public rail system would help so many people and create so many opertunities

All in all trains are great and awesome the us should have them especially with how ridiculously big it is, all i want for my 20th birthday is for the us to get public rail :(

Please enjoy your train ride for me!!!

(Update, my life is changed forever, the us has trains? i just didnt know about. Please check out @illegal-prime 's reblog of this post here!)

[spurgie-cousin]

My ILs (on one side) are from a mormon family out west, and even though we live on the east coast, local chapter members will still come to my IL’s door looking to talk to them. We’ll housesit for them on occasion and let me tell you how unsettling it is to hear the “shave and a haircut 2 bits” knock on the front door AT NINE THIRTY PM and it’s the mormons.

I know they do far more heinous shit as a whole, but this has happened several times and it never gets less creepy. Especially when my ILs are retired so they’re home all day every day other than vacations, but these people show up after dark/right at bedtime for most older people?

Ok I had to Google the shave and a haircut thing because I really thought they were yelling that through the door LOL. but it's just the type of knock.

Dude that's weird as hell, what do they say they're looking for them for? Coming late at night to an older person's house is also sketchy as hell, what could they possibly need to talk to them about at that time?

I can't remember if I've mentioned this before but my friend and I went through the beginning recruitment process for the LDS church out of pure curiosity (she had a mormon friend who had been pressuring her to sit down and talk for months, I told her to accept and bring me lol). My friend was very openly not into it, she said everything short of calling it made up bullshit I think as revenge for her friend bugging her lol, but I was more quiet and playing devil's advocate for the mormons. Bc I just am not the type of person to tell someone their religion is made up to their face when I was the one who signed up to listen to people talk about it.

But because of that it took months for me to get them off my back and they even found out where my new apartment was after I moved, after months of me ghosting them. All that to say, they definitely keep serious tabs on the people they want to.

[beardedmrbean]

Because my school had a ROTC program some of my substitute teachers were war vets, one of them told us their story about how they were told not to accept anything from civilians. Apparently one day a little boy tossed him a loaf of bread while he was on board a ship that was departing, he threw it back to the little boy and the kid fucking exploded.

Guerrilla warfare is a bitch.

This one is from back in the day when Cracked was worth checking out regularly, this is the section of it that stuck with me, it shouldn't be as funny as it is given the subject, but it's cracked and also probably why it stuck in my head.

See that discarded Nazi helmet left lying on the ground? It's a bomb. That rifle leaning against a tree? Yep, that's a bomb too. The door of that newly unoccupied house? You guessed it: bomb. The window beside it? Bomb. It's starting to get dark out, but God forbid you flip on that lamp over there because fucking everything is bombs. You're thirsty and there's a cup, but you'd better not risk it. Is that a real flower? You look to your best friend and cannot help but wonder: is he a bomb? Are ... are you? You sure don't think you're a bomb, but then again, isn't that exactly what the bomb maker would want?

Images are from the "everything is bombs" link

(you have 12 seconds to name the VA for Private Snafu, if it takes more than 1 word out of his mouth you lose anyhow)

Nazis' exploding chocolate plans BBC article from 2005, not just the chocolate they go over some other ones.

That's right: exploding chocolate. The closest they ever got to actually using their food bombs was in 1940, when three German spies landed on the southern coast of Ireland, toting four explosive cans of peas that they hoped to sneak into Buckingham Palace. In a move straight out of International Espionage for Dummies, they asked the first guy they encountered to take them to the IRA. He, of course, took them to the police instead.

Details of what happened next are fuzzy, but we're imagining the three "spies" having a slapstick argument in the back of a paddy wagon over which of them was supposed to have brought the can opener. _______________________

We always hear about the various ones from Nam which in the cracked piece there's 3 of the 5 that are from then, 2 from the VC and apparently we snuck in exploding bullets and left them where they'd be easy to find, we also hear about the more recent IED stuff in the middle east, but we don't often see stuff from WWII, so I went with that.

This is probably more info than you wanted, but I got a chance to nerd out on some of this stuff so deal with it, lol.

[thebiggerbear]

A Little Preview - TGACFY Chap 2 - Beau Arlen x Female Reader - 12/2/23

A/N: Hey guys, I am so sorry it's taking me so long to get this chapter out to you. The date scene is what's holding me up; the rest of the chapter is written. There are things I need to set up in that scene that are in relation to the big case story line as well as for the reader's background while setting her and Beau up and other things to come in the story for them. (my poor beta, if you only knew how much I'm putting her through with this one chapter; the amount of back and forth we've had over these past few months alone lol) So I apologize; I just want to get it right. I promise it will be coming to you soon. Thank you for your continued patience.

In the meantime, I think it's only fair to you for me to post a little preview of the chapter. I took out any specific spoilers.

This is all unbeta'd right now so all mistakes are mine.

You can read the full chapter here

Series Taglist: @deans-spinster-witch; @superrey; @fromcaintodean; @stoneyggirl2; @lacilou; @zepskies; @perpetualabsurdity; @deansbbyx; @syrma-sensei

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Once you stepped outside, you did a quick scan of the area and found the man you were looking for. He was in a different car this time, a rust-colored truck that had definitely seen better days.

He had just turned to look at the entrance when he spotted you, eyes widening slightly. He hurried to get out of his car and began to approach you. You decided to meet him halfway, thankful there wasn’t really anyone milling around at that moment.

Before he could get a word out, you noticed the new look right away. 

“You changed,” you accused.

“So did you,” he pointed out, his eyes roving over you. 

You nervously smoothed down the skirt of your dress with your fingers. “I wasn’t sure if there was a dress code where we were going. I should have asked. Is this okay?”

He nodded, a slow smile forming on his face. “More than okay. You look amazing,” he breathed.

You couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, you look great, too.” You took him in and definitely liked what you saw. No hat, a button-down that hugged him in all the right places, jeans, short brown wavy hair that looked to be the right length for you to run your fingers through, a touched up beard from earlier, and a warm grin. “So you put the cowboy away.”

He chuckled and you could swear you could see a faint pink color dusting his cheeks, though it wasn’t easy to tell in this light. “A little bit.” He gestured towards his cowboy boots, making you let out a quiet laugh.

“I like it.” You gave him a kind smile; you truly did like what you saw. 

His smile grew and he held out an arm in invitation. “Shall we, little lady?”

“Oh no, you didn’t.”

Chuckling once more, he lowered his arm and moved closer. “Too much?”

“Way too much.”

This time, he held out his hand to you in offering, and tried again, giving you his most charming smile. “Ready, Beautiful?”

Choosing to ignore the way your heart skipped a beat, you placed your hand in his and gave him a nod of approval. “Better. Still needs work, but better.” You could feel the warmth of his skin seeping into yours and you almost wanted to intertwine your fingers with his to feel more of it, but that would be too forward of you and might make things awkward. You hadn’t even gone on the date yet. So instead, you smiled when you felt the strength of his grip and let him lead you wherever he intended to go.  

He started towards the truck. “Already, you are one tough woman to please. I hope this isn’t a sign of how the rest of our night will go,” he quipped.

“Depends on how hard you work to please me.” 

His eyes snapped to yours and seeing your teasing grin, he shook his head, looking away, clearly amused. “I really got myself into something here, didn't I?”

“You did,” you laughed.

“You know, they say you East Coast girls can be difficult to satisfy.” You noticed the twang purposely deepen as he teased you back.

Once you reached the car, he opened your door for you. “You know, they say you Texan cowboys never met a challenge you didn’t like.” You moved past him, not missing the smirk on his face and the shake of his head, and slipped into the passenger seat. He closed your door for you and you rearranged your dress by the time he joined you inside.

He turned a smile on you. “Ready?”

You returned it and gave him a nod after having buckled your seat belt. “Ready.”

You watched as his smile broadened and he started up the car, thinking this date was already going better than the other two you’d had since coming here.

A/N: What'd you guys think of their interaction? How do you think the date will go? What do you hope happens?

Please let me know what you think. 😊

[imasradiantasthesun]

Tributes of the 74th Hunger Games

DISCLAIMER: This is not my attempt at asserting anything about the canon version of events and characters. Instead, this is a reference list for my Hunger Games fic Holding Bright, which is an AU! Meaning that there are two major changes you will see in this list: (1) the District 12 tributes are Madge and Gale, and (2) Madge is 18 instead of 16. Also, it is my headcanon that Madge is short for Marigold :)

The list is divided by district, with the male tribute first, followed by the female tribute. The numbers next to each tribute's name is their age at the time of the reaping. Under the Read More are some of my thoughts on how I decided on certain names

District 1

Marvel Grant, 18

Glimmer Lewis, 18

District 2

Cato Nowak, 18

Clove Kentwell, 18

District 3

Milo Turner, 16

Alanna Singh, 13

District 4

Hurley Duran, 18

Adriana Cruz, 17

District 5

Nate Begaye, 13

Finch Irving, 16

District 6

Ivan Campbell, 15

Dola Berg, 15

District 7

Sawyer Kipp, 14

Harper Grimshaw, 16

District 8

Dennis Reid, 15

Callie Hewitt, 17

District 9

Bartley Young, 17

Dawn Nguyen, 16

District 10

Colton Chan, 17

Blanca Felix, 14

District 11

Thresh Anderson, 18

Rue Baxter, 12

District 12

Gale Hawthorne, 18

Marigold Undersee, 18

Alanna's given name is a reference to famous mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing. Milo's surname is an even more low key reference to him as well (aka I got a little lazy lol)

My thought process to come up with a name related to D3's industry: kilowatt -> kilo -> Milo

In the books, but even more so the movies, D4 is sort of Irish-coded (which doesn't really make sense because the East Coast is much more well known for having Irish-Americans than the West Coast but oh well), so for Hurley's first name I chose an Irish name

However, based on the map of Panem, I headcanon that D4 has a good amount of Latino influence (though I think D10 even more so): because of this, Hurley's surname + Adriana's full name are all Spanish-language names

I also chose the name Adriana because it sounds like Adriatic Sea, tying her into D4's industry

I went along with popular fanon that Foxface's first name is Finch

Because he's from D5 (power), Nate's first name comes from alternating current -> alternate -> Nate

D5 takes up almost all of current-day Arizona + a good amount of Utah + parts of Nevada and New Mexico. Because of this, I think D5 has a lot of descendants of the current-day Navajo people, so I gave him a sort of common Navajo surname

Ivan's name contains the word "van", and Dola's name is a bastardization of the word "gondola" because I wanted things sort of related to transportation lol 😅

D6 partially encompasses Minnesota, which has a ton of Scandinavian-Americans, so I gave Dola a Scandinavian surname

Sawyer's first name means "woodcutter". His surname is of Blackfeet origin

D8's tributes have names that sound like words related to their industry: Dennis sounds like "denim", and Callie is from "calico"

I made up the name Bartley because it sounds like "barley"

Colton's first name has the word "colt" in it, tying him into D10's industry of livestock. His surname, as well as Blanca's full name, are Spanish-language names due to D10 being in present-day Texas and Mexico

[amadholes-lostre]

Orginal-Verse: Erden

I like speculative evolution, I like science fiction, I like alternative history, and I also like fantasy, so i have an idea to blend these genres together, which appealed to me greatly. I have had an idea about my OV for a few years now, however, it is unlike my other OV, which I have it since my high school years in 2012. All these ideas form into a world called Erden, meaning 'Earth' in Anglisc.

Erden is similar in many ways to Earth, either geographically or astronomically, though there are changes in space. For one, Saturn orbits where Mars does now, and not only Venus is closer to Erden now (20 mi kilometers at their closest), but Venus is now trimming with life. Erden is also 15mil kilometers closer to Mars/Saturn too, which means Erden also has a longer year (likely 50 days).

Magic exists, too, influencing both geologically and biologically. The magic system is the one I talked about before on my BNHA-au posts, where Wednesday Netflix is in the BNHA-verse, too. And there are more sapient races that aren't just humans too.

I incorporated many ideas that could be divided into three categories:

1). Geography. There are many locations that don't exist at Earth, which does at Erden, and there are some that don't exist at Erden. I, again, will divide it into three categories when creating these locations.

On mythical lands and errors on mapping. There are lands that exist on Erden that are usually viewed as myth to Earth. For instance, Altantis exist, both the city and the island. It is situated on the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Other mythology islands and lands exist, too, like Fusang/Fuso, Avalon, and others . Phantom islands also existed like Thule, Frisland, Brasil, and California.

It is based on either geological events from the past or future and on hypothetical or submerged lands. Atlantis is situated on the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, while Fusang/Fuso is situated on the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc, southeast of Japan. Doggerland, a land bridge that connected Britain to mainland Europe, is still surface, making Britain a peninsula rather than an island (also having so many goddamn bloody wars). New Zealandia, the submerged continent, is also surface, while the East African Rift had already broken off from Mainland Africa. The subcontinent of India hasn't crashed into Asia yet, and so, it's too is still remain island. The Isthmus of Panama also doesn't exist, too, now being a strait, with a large island off the coast of western Columbia.

Here is just what I wanted to make. I didn't based this off on either mythical lands or geological events but just what I wanted. So, first of all, there is a strait from Gaza (now an island) to Taba, making a journey between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean straightforward. This has many consequences, one of which is that Roman never managed to conquer Judea, meaning not only Christianity (other than a weird, small Jewish cult) doesn't exist, but the genocide and expulsion of Jews from Judea also didn't happen. The Black Sea is also connected to the Caspian Sea through Russian territory (lol, lmao even), connecting the region around it to the wider world. This means the region also has a higher population. The Ryukyu Islands also have a massive island, connecting Okinawa with Amami (also, Ryukyu 🤝 Fuso= hating Japan together). There's also massive islands off southwest of Britain and northeast of Spain.

2) I like speculative evolution on the possibilities of an animal existing, especially if they are fantasy animals. Here, a lot of fantasy animals exist too through evolution like unicorns, dragons, gryphons, etc. There are new species that do exist on Earth, and trying to think of a way why some mammal species could grow enormously, like an elephant-like species reaching 12 meters by the shoulders.

I like realistic fantasy animal design not because any snotty or accurate reasons, but it creates unique and plausible designs. For instance, how dragons, either lesser or greater, were evolved from the Scansoriopterygids family. The Scansoriopterygids were similar to flying dinosaur like birds, but instead of having primary feather for flight, they had leather wings to do so. This give Scansoriopterygids a dragon-like appearance, hence why dragons will evolve from them. The dragons lead into multiple families, including Western dragons, Eastern dragons (sea serpent), cockatrice, Dragon-kins, and the like. Gryphons, meanwhile, will evolve from hadrosaurs (the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event didn't kill the majority of dinosaurs. There even a small continent east of South America full of them). Due to a lack of vegetation, gryphons' predecessors turned into carnivores. They were branched into two families: one evolved to gain the ability of flight, and the other are still flightless. Some flightless gryphons were managed to be domesticize, some being the size of German Shepherds (mostly in Mesoamerica like the Mayas). Unicorns (and frankly, kirin and qilin too) are a bit difficult thinking how they will evolve from, but mainly that they are a suborder of Ceratomoporpha, being related to rhino with having three spread toes. Both unicorn and kirin have thicker and longer tails compared to many mammals, similar to anteaters and their cousins. This also branched out into two families: Unicorn having their horns near the snorts (usually one horn, but some genus have two horns from the same spout). Qilin/kirin have their own family, existing only in East and Southeast Asia, having scale-like skin (like pangolin), either having antler-like horns on their head or horns on their snort, and they're also omnivores. Some unicorns and kirin were managed to be domesticized.

Source

There are many mammal species that reach heights taller than Paraceratherium, the tallest land mammal. The restriction of why mammals can't reach the height of dinosaurs, other than being viviparity, is not having an efficient respiratory system nor hollow bones like avians. Some solutions I figured out to handle this by having mammals having a pseudo-air sac between their lungs, which should be allowed to pump in more air. Another is having anotherelement in their bone tissue, some form of carbon formula to make it lighter but stronger. Another is that food energy, like carbohydrates and proteins, is just far more potent than Earth's is.

There are more sapients on Erden, just like other fantasy settings. However, I don't want to use the same old race trope. I found it boring and predictable, so I want to create original races, similar to how League of Legends does so. There will be two primary categories when it comes to race: magical and non-magical races. Kind of self-explanatory, non-magical race evolved by the old fashioned way, while magical races were evolved (called aetheo-evolution) either form humans somehow gaining animal traits, shifting into one, or a whole other genus (like Dragon-kins) speedrun through evolution. I don't know how many non-magical races there are on Erden, maybe like between 7-9 races. Some races I think are a deer/ ruminant-like race (with a shorter snort) and a dromaeosaurid-like race (shorter and thicker tail, posture in a diagonal like shoebills, crane, and heron, and their brains are more elongated and thick). It's a bit difficult trying to create magical races that aren't stereotypical fantasy races. Humans are the most common species on Erden, like around 70% of the population (thanks to being more adaptable to environments and genocide).

3) All species on Erden are mono-sex, meaning they have to have gay sex in order to reproduce (lol, lmao even).

I was always intrigued by this concept, that the idea of there is a species that dont have a male/female, but that they all considered a same-sex, and they reproduce like this. I was inspired by this concept first by a Harry Potter fanfic I read in late December 2011. I don't remember the reason why, but Lily needs help from a lamia colony. The lamia were a mono-sex, or an all-female race with how the fic described it. I was amazed by this, but I didn't think it couldn't happen outside of fantasy. But I discovered Mass Effect, and by proxy, the Asari that same month and I was astonished by them. Though they referred to a monogender race, which I found confusing at the time, but oh well. However, when i started playing the game (I discovered ME through femshaina sex scene at YouTube and fanfic, lol), I disliked how the Asari were portrayed, and thought I created my own race out fo spite. Admittedly, my reason itself was misogynistic and biphobic (oops). Ironically, the races on Erden are not the same race I created when I was 18 (they're called Idren). The idea of Erden was in 2019, and I it expanded from last year. I did think of writing my oc race, Idren through a Harry Potter fanfic, where an Idrin teen is an exchange student at Hogwarts (Idren are an alien race which are already space faring by the 1990s). The only reason why I haven't really written this down before is because I am very picky; they are supposed to have many languages, but I not considered good at that, so I haven't managed to even properly give them names and such lol.

Even though the races on Erden are mono-sex, they still have genders and gender roles, though they are more malleable and not as strict compared to humans. One of the reasons is that humans, and many other races, are considered semi mono-sex, which are different than true mono-sex. Gonna need to elaborate on this minutely on a different post. Though they shouldn't really consider females (or having males for that matter), I am still using the term matriarchy and patriarchy (feminine and masculine too, for that matter) because it can still be implemented on them (they're mono-sex, not mono-gender).

I have a bit of an issue of actually naming the humans on Erden. Humans viewed man/male as the default when it comes to genderization (I think that is the term). Like a stickfigure will always be considered a man unless drawing it with a shirt or long hair. A monster (or any animal for that matter) pronoun will always be he/him unless state otherwise. Even the story of Garden of Eden, it considered man came first, and Eve came from him. The word, human, was derived from the French word for man. The words female and woman indicated that man is first and default while woman came second. (ironically, man was a gender-neutral word in Old and Middle English). Humans in Erden are, what I considered, a majority matriarchal society (just that people giving birth have more political, economical, and maybe military power), and so, will likely have have wo/fe- prefix in their species name. It also helps how mono-sex actually works, too. However, because Modern English doesn't actually exist, it is a bit difficult naming them. I do have an idea of a conlang, a Gallo-Romance language sproken by people off the coast of France, Spain, and Brython (the name of Peninsula Britain as the Anglo-Saxon could never invaded pass Dover). I was thinking of basing it off Old Norman, but I can't find a proper dictionary for it, so I likely based it off Old Occitan instead.

Just because humans, and frankly all the races on Erden, are mono-sex, or "all female," if you wanna call it that way, doesn't mean they're less violent than Earth humans. There are more conflicts on Erden due to having more countries and non-human sapients. Conflicts are also more bloody due to a lot more destructive tools at their disposal. A 1940s Englishman is not more violent than a 1420s Englishman, it just that the latter has far more powerful weapons. This is the case for Erden Humans as magic is far more integrated in their society. Because of this, conflict will be a lot more violent due to some people having the ability to blow up buildings with a stick.

Being an alternative universe of Earth, Erden also has an alternative history due to so many geographic differences, non-humans race,s and magic. Like I said, there is a strait between Gaza and Taba, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean. Because Judea is adjacent to the strait, along with having magic, Jews were never expelled from Judea. Another thing is that Atlantis existing on Erden means that the majority of the world already knows about the Americas before the 1490s and that, by proxy, horses were introduced to the Americas millennia before the 16th century.

Like I said last paragraph and before, magic plays major roles in Erden. One primary reason why Judea could hold off conquests like the Roman is, other than having more economic and military power, due to golems protecting the nation. This is also expanded to other ethnicities who manage to hold off from being conquered. The Assyrians held off the Rashidun Caliphate (though they were conquered by the Golden Horde), Maya managed to held off the Spaniards, and the US (this version is a bit different than Earth) could never expand west of the Mississippi River due to the many indigenous tribes like the Sioux (these conflicts were a series of wars called the Great Plain Wars). Half of Africa also manages to hold off Europe during the Raping of Africa Era thanks to magic (this is mainly in Northern Africa due the Sahara being much greener than ours, Central Africa still got fucked).

However, in contemporary times, there is far more tension between countries, ethnicities, and species comparative from ours. One of the reasons that many states, even though managed to fend off Western conquest or rebel against their conquerer, did lead to other conflicts. For instance, many indigenous groups, especially Mexica, manage to overthrow the Criollo and Mestizos government (they fled to the island of California). However, Mexica were not popular with other tribes that also formed their nations, especially the neighboring Maya. Black Nationalists formed a black majority nation (thanks to the US for reasons), forming from Louisiana, half of inland south, and Georgia (looks like a horse-shoe). However, they conflict with neighboring indigenous tribes and the Confederate. The majority west of Mississippi River are Native American states with some exceptions.

Keep disgressing, lol. So like, because the US never expanded west (due to the Great Plain Wars and other reasons), they focused their power on the Atlantic Coasts. This means Hawaii and Alaska were never conquered/claimed by them. Great, but also still bad because Japan doesn't have an isolation policy here (Fuso does, though), and still have their conquering policy (like trying to conquer Korea before). Because of this, they conquered multiple islands and Lands including the Philippines (only half, and making an enmity with Spain too), half of New Guinea and any other islands there, quarter of Australia and half of New Zealand. They also conquered Hawaii too, and because of this, half of the regions hates them.

There are also more religions, many of which are fictional, like a monotheism in which the Assyrians worship Ishtar. Like I said before, because Rome never conquered Judea, Christianity doesn't exist. The majority of Europe, however, follows a belief, an universal bitheism religion of a light deity and a dark deity (I was thinking of calling it Lumity, but I remember that name is already taken, lol). Universal religions aren't that common, like the majority of Europe and 1/3 of the Americas do follow the light-dark religion, but that's about it. Islam also spread just like on Earth, however, it ranges were limited. The Caliphates only managed to conquer North Africa. They never could push beyond the boundary of Judea, Jordan, and Iraq. There are Muslims in those regions, but only a minority and they are treated like shit (half of Insular Southeast Asia are still majority Muslims, though).

I gonna draw a proper map of Erden, however I going to do so by regions first and then commission a person for a proper global version. I also tried to figure out how to draw the fauna and flora. For ethnicities and countries, it will be a bit difficult to write since I need to properly research languages and cultures like Assyrians and Mayan to create proper names and such. Atlantis languages, however, will be a new language family (going just use a conlang websit generator for that). For antisemitism, I don't know how insidious it will be. Antisemitism, in its essence, are cause by religious reasons; Christians blame Jews for killing Christ while Muslims hate Jews for betraying the Prophet. However, because Christianity doesn't exist, antisemitism shouldn't be as rampage there compared to here. (I think, Europeans hate Romani as much as Jews, though. So perhaps European will still hate Jews, though it shouldn't be as insidious. Also, will there even be a reason for Jews migrating in Europe?).

I am also planning to write some fics on Erden; creating a storyline does help me force to think creatively. One idea is a teenage Victorian girl being isekai'ed to Erden, mainly on the western island off France and Spain coast. It's mainly a romance story between her and a teenage noble... girl? Person? Boy? (Ugh, need to think of a proper term, Erden humans are still mono-sex beings.) It is also an adventure story with her and her now lover traveling the world.

Erden Humans are also stronger and taller than Earth humans, like the ability to lift 3.5-4.5 times their weight and are, at average, 6'1 feet tall. Their lifespan, non-mage I mean, is average around 135 years.

Nothing else to talk about, unless it's how the fuck do mono-sex reproduce. In that case, I likely have to write another psot because there are different methods, and the explanation between semi mono-sex and true mono-sex. Asari may be the inspiration, but Erden races don't do mind-mend and shit for reproduction, they fuck nasty in a faggot way in order to have kids.

[dwtsfun]

Dancing with the Stars Season 33: Weeks 3 and 4

Sorry this is so late. I was out of town for a few days last week including Monday. So I couldn't watch DWTS until Wednesday. And I was trying to get caught up with all of my shows, so this kinda got pushed to the back burner. I'm gonna make this brief as the show starts for the east coast and central time zones in less than an hour. I think it's been beaten to death, so I won't go into much detail about Gene Simmons sucking as a guest judge. Just know that he was the worst we've had on this show and that DWTS might wanna chill with the stunts. Unfortunately for Rosie, her guest judge appearance was overshadowed by Gene. But she was honestly great, kind or constructive with her critiques while still giving the kind guest judge points. While I'm sad that they left, it was time for Eric and Reggie to go. I feel like both had reached their physical limits and were only going to get worse/injure themselves as time went on.

Chandler was my favorite on both nights. Brandon choreographed one of my favorite dances that I've seen on this show with that cha-cha. I wanted more of it. While Chandler's jive wasn't as strong of a dance, it was still the best of night 2 (week 4) in my opinion. I said this on twitter, but Brandon is proving to be the male heir to Derek and Mark's throne. The man is very good at what he does, he just is never able to get through to the end to really get his props. And that's not really his or his partner's faults.

Joey is starting to be given a lot of leniency in his dances. While he is the best male there, it's not a huge gap between him and Stephen. His jive was good, but his feet were messy. His tango was okay, but stompy and definitely not the best male tango ever on the show. So let's chill out shall we. The man is good and he's a natural. He's no Gilles Marini or James Hinchcliffe.

Danny's foxtrot was super impressive and my second favorite dance of both nights. He turned the charm on and I was shocked. His paso was kinda blah, but he's improving. I hope he stays around for a long time because I see great things from him. Stephen is such an awkward mover. I didn't care for any of his dances. He has to work on his musicality and his posture. They're fun, but their dances are not impressing like they should (outside of that jive).

I hate that Ilona's nerves got the better of her in her jive. But her foxtrot was gorgeous. I need Alan to continue to tap into that energy for her moving forward. I think it will help her nerves for sure. Jenn is actually dancing better than I was expecting her to. Sasha is also doing a better job of choreographing her than he has in the past. One thing, she needs to work on really extending her lines. She's short, so her lines feel extra short when she doesn't extend.

Dwight completely forgot that cha-cha, but it was so much fun that I didn't care. It was a good time. That paso was extremely respectable though. So I'm excited for the continued growth and what things Daniella has in store for this partnership. Brooks has not danced a single dance that I have cared for. This falls on Gleb. He sucks and I'm sick of him. Either fire him or someone needs to discipline him. The entitled attitude is so stank and I want it gone. I wish Brooks had a better partner. She has so much potential and a pro that doesn't wanna get off his ass and work. And Phaedra? Well, she's a great performer. But her technique is not good. I don't think Val has given her dances that look good on her. On twitter I said that Phaedra isn't a "dancer" but she's someone that you can easily make look like a dancer. And that comes with giving her dances that look good on her. A lot of what she's done might look good for his other partners. Not Phaedra.

So that's it. Let me know your thoughts and I will talk to you all soon. Glad I got this out *checks time* 8 minutes before the show starts lol.

[waitmyturtles]

Your weekend Old GMMTV Challenge update, served up icy cold for this boiling East Coast weather! My road trip nears its end, and I’ll be back this week getting out more meta about non-OGMMTVC shows along the way, woop woop!

1) My review of Cheewin Thanamin’s YYY drops tomorrow! There’s a LOT of interesting linkages with Cheewin and his writing team on this show that I thought were very interesting to explore. Also: POPPY RATCHAPONG. POPPY POPPY POPPY. Just, Poppy. This show was a fun one, and it was delightful writing about it!

2) My Manner of Death review drops next week -- y’all know I had a great time with this show, and I already miss watching it! It’s definitely going on my “I am going to rewatch THAT part and THAT part and THAT part” list, lol.

3) I’m currently watching A Tale of Thousand Stars, and having the nostalgic ride of my life, but y’all, I only watched this show last year, ha, but I totally still have the 2021 nostalgia for it. Why do I tend to forget how AMAZING this show is? The narrative structure of it, the use of flashbacks -- it totally created new paradigms of our expectations of how dramas could function. I’m obsessed, and so glad I’m rewatching it.

4) Finally, on the high recommendations of @lurkingshan and @wen-kexing-apologist, after ATOTS and before Lovely Writer, I’m going to watch Aof Noppharnach’s and Jojo Tichakorn’s Gay OK Bangkok seasons 1 and 2, both to watch an essential Jojo show before Only Friends, but also to consider GOKB’s inclusion on the OGMMTVC list. @lurkingshan, like we talked about on Friday -- I have a feeling it’s a necessity, à la 3 Will Be Free. I want to see what these two, in their much younger days, created together by way of their early expectations of how stories and narrative flow, AND -- I want to REALLY consider that these pieces were made right around the time of the early BLs in SOTUS and Make It Right, and I want to understand if GOKB, particularly for Aof, may have spoken to the way in which Aof later approached his early BLs (like He’s Coming To Me and Dark Blue Kiss). Aof is also known for his work on the My Dear Loser series, but I’m gonna tackle GOKB at least first.

Summer lovin’ happened so fast -- have a great week, and see you tomorrow with YYY!

[soovermyself]

lol Probably shoulda known she wasn't on the east coast yesterday because it seemed like she was missing AH with her postings. 😂

I kinda figured she wasn’t when she was on at 2 am for a few days in a row and then the extra thirsting kinda confirmed it 😂

[copperbadge]

hey, you made a typo in your Duchy of Grand Fenwick answer that could totaly happen in univers and put a new light in that One Hightland joke.

Genova (Italia) and Geneva (Switzerland)

LOL no I did mean Geneva! Genova (what Americans call Genoa) is too far east :) Basically Askazer-Shivadlakia replaces the French-Italian border all the way up to the area around Mont Blanc. I've never established whether it actually shares a border with Switzerland anywhere, but it's essentially a wide base at the coast and then a little narrow slice that just divides France from Italy all the way up :D At its narrowest point it's probably not more than a mile wide, if that.

I haven't done much writing about the northern portion of the country that's mainly rural, but in the football novel Paolo and Felix, our romantic leads, do a 2-3 day tour of the country (mostly visiting the more far-flung regions of Felix's youth football program) that involves driving up to the northern tip and then zig-zagging their way south across the country. The more detail you add to something like this the further it strains credulity, but I suppose I can't handwave shit forever :D

[cryingglightningg]

₊˚⊹⋆15 (+1) Questions game!⋆⊹˚₊

thanks for the tag @m0llygunn 💞

1. Are you named after anyone?

nope! my aunt has the same name as me but i’m weirdly not named after her

2. When was the last time you cried?

i’m going through a breakup so i cry most days now lol

3. Do you have kids?

nope

4. What sports do you play/Have you played?

i can’t play a sport to save my life. i am not coordinated

5. Do you use sarcasm?

yes and often times people don’t clock it as sarcasm they think i’m just being mean

6. What is the first thing you notice about people?

either their eyes or their smile

7. What's your eye colour?

hazel but i know that can look 100 different ways so greenish with a light brown/goldish center

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

happy endings. but i do love the og scream movies

9. Any talents?

not unless talking nonstop counts

10. Where were you born?

the east coast of the us

11. What are your hobbies?

honestly i’m on my phone too much. i love to read though

12. Do you have any pets?

two kitties

13. How tall?

five foot four

14. Favourite subject in school?

in high school it was english. in college it was art history or anything typography related

15. Dream job?

maybe owning a cat cafe/bookstore

16. In place of #10: What reminds you of home (doesn't have to mean house... just things that remind you of the feeling of home)?

my friends laughing, the smell of onions or garlic being cooked, cats

no pressure tags (although i’m nosy and would love to see your answers): @faefictions @gravedigginbbydoll @morningberriesao3 @chrrymunson @aphrogeneias @keeksandgigz