#my elementary school still has some from when I was there over like 15 years ago

[livwritesstuff]

Omg Steve holding onto grudges his daughters have let go is so real. My mom told me the other day that she still hates one of my sisters ex-friends from over 15 years ago. How do you think Steve reacts if one of the girls bring a friend (reformed enemy) home? I know he would be an adult, but still a little petty I think.

Honestly same my mom still talks about one particular ex-friend of mine from when I was in elementary school who I haven't seen or spoken to in over a decade.

Yeah, Steve would be the picture of civility to the friends themselves. There's been enough fully-burned bridges for him to trust his daughters' judgement, though he definitely would be psychoanalyzing every single word that came out of their mouths.

Where it would show is when he interacts with those friends' parents because, in his eyes, they're the ones who taught that kind of behavior, and Steve has some level of awareness that he and Eddie are, to their upper-middle class liberal town, the cool gay dads. Steve's social calendar is booked solid, and wherever he shows up is the place to be in the eyes of the other parents. He will use that privilege for evil if he must.

Like, if Moe's friend Kaley excluded her from a basketball team-sleepover, Steve is suddenly chronically unavailable for all of Kaley's mom's wine and cheese nights.

Robbie might have mended fences with her friend Skylar, but funnily enough Skylar's dad never was able to work Steve into the carpool rotation again.

For the record, Eddie does not have any awareness of any of this. He's the dad who classically does not know any of his children's friends. If he woke up in a Saw trap and the only requirement was to name one (1) of his daughters' friends, he'd be completely fucked.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I asked my mom not to invite my sister on vacation with us?

(submitted 5/26/24)

I (22X) have a lot of anxiety about politics (namely the upcoming presidential election and its potential consequences regarding my access to healthcare, among many other things). It started in 2016 and then just kept getting worse and worse as the years went on. I know that if I try to go about my day as normal on election night, I’ll most likely end up obsessively refreshing polling results and worrying myself into a panic attack (or several). So, I did a lot of research and planned a week-long vacation on and a bit after election day. It’s at a nice cabin a short drive away that’s all about disconnecting from phones and technology and reconnecting with nature. I figured because everyone in my family votes absentee already, me and my mom (56F) could go up together while my dad and my oldest sister (63M and 25F) would stay home because of work obligations and take care of our pets. My mom was really enthusiastic about the idea (especially because I went on a vacation with my dad last year, and it’s been a long time since her and I have had a parent child bonding trip), and she helped me finalize the dates and pay for the cabin. I’m in college and haven’t been able to find a summer job, but I’m still trying to save money to help cover the cost of food/entertainment/gas for the trip.

When we were booking, she talked about potentially inviting my sister (24F) on vacation too, as a family bonding thing. She moved out a year and a bit ago and is living with a friend, so my mom doesn’t get to see her all that often. But I really don’t want my sister to come along. Me and her haven’t gotten along since elementary school, and now whenever she visits I’m on edge the whole time. Plus, she has a very old special needs dog that she would have to bring with her that needs constant supervision, and his energy wildly varies between “sleeps in a ball all day” and “blindly runs around screaming and peeing everywhere and getting stuck like a roomba all day”. Which again, that’s very stressful to me. In addition, whenever my sister is over at our house, she always finds a way to bring up politics and wants to talk about current events (never the good ones, only the bad ones). Thankfully we agree on the important things (even if she leans a tad more towards the center than I do), but still. The whole point of this trip is to avoid having to worry about politics, and she always finds a way to bring it up. Plus, I just genuinely think she’d go stir crazy being cooped up in a cabin with me and my mom and poor cell service. There’s not a lot to do in the surrounding area besides hiking (she’s got a heart condition), a small Main Street with some shops that’s a 15 minute drive away, and a diner. It’ll probably just be reading, board games, and cards for a week straight.

Why I think I’d be TA: my mom and her don’t spend a lot of time together, and my mom is the one paying for the vacation. Even though I think she wouldn’t like glamping with us, my sister could still want to be invited and want to come along.

Why I think I wouldn’t be TA: I don’t think my sister would like being in a cabin with me and my mom for a week straight with no TV and poor cell service. My oldest sister is also not going on vacation with us due to work obligations, so they could have some sisterly bonding time while we’re away. Plus, the entire point of the vacation is to have a few days where I don’t have to dread election results, and I know my sister is going to want to talk about election results as soon as they start coming in.

So, would I be the asshole if I asked my mom not to invite my sister on vacation with us?

[lakesbian]

anyway what i was going to say about why redditors are wrong about shipping aisha and alec is they always want to turn them into some like. functional established relationship between two 20yos in terms of dynamic when they are in fact two 14-15yos with nightmarishly bad relationships to sexuality and the busiest deadliest lives on the planet. that's a lie taylor has the busiest deadliest life on the planet but aisha and alec are up there.anyway my point is i think you can decently textually support & am endeared to the idea of them being First Ever Best Friends (i think aisha has had elementary school best friends before but not middle school ones and the junior high genre of best friend hits different. alec has never had any close friends at all though so it's doing things to his brain like you wouldnt believe he's out there texting her memes like his life depends on it for the dopamine hit when she responds) with tiny little crushes on each other that theyre traumatized-teen strange about. but its crucial that neither of them want nor are capable of the typical trappings and mores of a romantic relationship. like i think in aisha's 1am falling-asleep daydreams about the Cool Supervillain Future they're ambiguously together but all she's actually doing is putting her hand on his hand when they're hanging out sometimes and then immediately casually pulling it away if he actually does anything acknowledging that she's doing it. and alec has like 50 psychological walls in place to keep him from ever acknowledging that he likes anything because he's used to having anything he likes too much taken away. so he'd never admit to himself that he likes her and he's only capable of directly complimenting her if he's ironic about it. but he would still rank the night they stayed up watching bad reality tv (aisha's choice) together & then he woke up at 4 am and realized she was asleep leaning on his chest and drooling all over his t-shirt as his favorite night in the past 15 years. do you see my vision. i'm not tagging this one as worm spoilers this is targeted aisha alec propaganda for tumblr user taylorhebertstherapist.

[tulip-room]

Crush Next Door -s. kiyoomi

syn. your childhood friend that you lose contact with moves next door

Ch. 8 || Oh. (Sakusa’s Version)

warnings. maybe a smidgen of angst. Just a little bit.

words. 3.4k

prev >> series masterlist >> next

-‘๑’- Summer, 15 years ago (elementary school)

A familiar jingle of an ice cream truck filled the ears of three young children. They were previously playing in Sakusa's backyard just passing a volleyball around, they perked up at the jingle though. The three give each other a look and a nod before they're heading out the gate and standing in front of the house expectantly.

"Oh, Kiyoomi. I already spent my chore money this week," the girl says, slightly saddened at not being able to get ice cream. The boy just looks at her confused and shakes his head.

"Okay?"

"I can't get ice cream."

"Yeah you can, I haven't spent my chore money." Is all he says, like it was always the answer. Komori gives them both a look, he may not be completely sure about love but he does know that you two care about each other much deeper than he cares about you. Not in a bad way, he reasons to himself, he would just have to think for longer to do the things that Sakusa seems to do subconsciously.

Soon enough the truck pulls up to the house and stops. The three children run up to the window and after Sakusa proudly brandishes his chore money they sit on the steps of his front porch to enjoy the sweet treat. "Thank you Kiyo." Kiyo...he liked that.

"Of course Y/N." He gives the girl a smile and they listen to the trees' leaves rustle, the cicadas chirp, and the gentle breaths of the other. Sakusa pulls his hand up after he's finished his ice cream and wipes away at your chin. "You had some ice cream," he says as he wipes the stickiness away. His cheeks flush a little bit although he's not entirely sure why.

"Oh," you tuck a piece of hair behind your ear. "Thank you." It's a very sweet moment. However, children are children so it doesn't last very long before Komori is reminding them about the previously abandoned volleyball in the backyard.

-‘๑’- Fall, 10 years ago (middle school)

Sakusa frowns as he has to yet again blow a piece of hair from his face. You notice this and look at him. "Everything okay Kiyo?" The name from years ago still makes his heart thrum in his chest. He nods and pushes his hair back again, hoping the piece of hair taunting him by falling in his face every few minutes will stay back.

"Just this singular piece of hair." He groans and holds the offending piece of hair in his hand. He glares at it no matter how silly it is for him to do so, his lips quirk up slightly as he hears your laugh. It doesn't matter to him that it was him you were laughing at. It only mattered that he was the one who was making you laugh.

When you show up at his house the next day with a package in your hands he's a little skeptical but accepts it regardless. You urge him to open it with a smile on your face. "Hair clips?"

"Yeah, you said that your hair getting in your face was bothering you...so, I figured these might be useful." You rattle off nervously, a hand coming up to rub at the back of your neck.

"Thank you." He smiles genuinely and hands you some clips. "Will you help me?" You smile back at him, you should've known better than to be worried. Sakusa would never laugh at something like this, at least not when it came to you. His eyes flutter closed as you brush your hand gently over his face. You carefully clip his hair back, your eyes can't stop themselves from flicking down to his lips though. You had thought about kissing him a few times and when he was like this. So vulnerable, so trusting of you. So relaxed, part of you wanted to close the distance to feel his lips on yours.

You clear your throat after clipping his hair back, teeth biting gently at the skin of your lips. "Stop that," Sakusa says and without thinking moves his thumb across your lip to get you to stop biting at it. You let out a small yelp at the action and Sakusa tries to keep his composure as he takes a deep breath. After a moment he pulls more clips out of the box. "You should wear some too."

"Will you put them on?" He nods and you close your eyes. He's just as careful and gentle as you were when he's clipping your hair back from your eyes. The two of you go about your cleaning like that. Matching butterfly clips in your hair and images burned into your brain of the other.

-‘๑’- Winter, 10 years ago (middle school still)

It was the day of the winter formal, you were the date of Sakusa and Komori (although Komori knew that you were much more Sakusa's date than his). When you arrived at the house in your dress, your hair curled and a singular butterfly clip in it, although much fancier than the ones you had given Sakusa. "Hi," you murmur a little self consciously. Neither boy had ever seen you so shy.

Sakusa stepped forward nervously and handed you a singular pink camellia, you noticed how carefully it was wrapped. How it had been pruned ever so carefully, it was obvious it wasn't just picked up at a market (you're not sure what market even sells single camellias). You smile happily as you take it, he thinks your smile puts stars to shame with how it makes his heart twinkle. "Thank you, it's beautiful."

He would have to thank his mother later, it was her idea after all. She had told him that you got pretty girls flowers. So, he had gathered his allowance and practically dragged the woman to the nearest flower shop. The shopkeeper was very helpful and helped him pick out the perfect flower.

"Here let me help," you step forward and take his messily tied tie in your hands. His breath hitches and he's scared that one wrong move and you'll leave. You carefully untie it and go about fixing it, he can feel his heart hammering in his chest and hopes you don't also notice it. He can feel your breath on his skin as you retie the fabric. You tighten it and pat his chest when you're done. You don't notice the gentle smile from his mother, or even the one on Komori's face as they watch the display.

"Okay, picture time," his mother says and it snaps the two of you out of whatever daze you were in and the three of you quickly line up at the stairs. Komori throws his arm over your shoulder with a bright smile and you throw one over his too. You settle for wrapping your arm around Sakusa's after an encouraging smile is thrown your way. "Alright, now one just Y/N and Kiyoomi."

Komori nods his head and heads over to Sakusa's mother to help her frame the photo. You and Sakusa look at each other and without you knowing a photo is taken of the moment you lock eyes. You're looking so softly at each other, there's gentle smiles on both of your faces and Sakusa's ears are tinted a deep shade of red. Sakusa would later keep the photo in a shoebox, one kept on the shelf of his closet although this photo was laminated unlike the others in the box.

The next photo taken is Sakusa with his arm around your waist and your head leaning on him. He's supposed to be looking at the camera but when your head hits his chest his eyes flick over to you and he can't tear his gaze away. This dance was so important to him. He wasn't entirely sure why he thought it was so important.

After many photos are taken the three of you pile into his mother's car and she drives you to the school. She waves you off when you get out of the vehicle with a smile.

Komori runs off as soon as you get inside and you and Sakusa are left by the entrance standing awkwardly. Your feet shuffle on the floor, already hurting from the heels you decided to wear. The two of you walk and find an empty table in a corner away from most of the people which you can see makes Sakusa visibly relaxed.

He notices you hiss as you finally sit down and get off your feet and he looks at you with concern silently asking if you were okay. "It's just these heels, they're really hurting my feet." You admit softly and he nods. What you don't expect is for him to gently lift your leg up and begin untying the ribbon keeping the heels on your feet. "What are you doing?"

"Taking your heels off."

"But dancing will be so weird without them."

"I'd rather it be a little weird than you be in pain." He places your heel next to his chair and sets your foot back on the ground. He lifts up your other leg and does the same with it. "There, do you feel better?" You nod slightly embarrassed at the events that took place.

You don't have to be embarrassed long though as your eyes light up. "Kiyo, we have to go dance to this." You stand up eagerly and hold your hand out. He rolls his eyes but takes your hand and follows you to the dance floor. You position his hands on your waist and you place yours on his shoulders. He bends down a little bit to make the movement easier.

He can't help but relate to the lyrics of the song as the two of you sway gently. He can't take his eyes off of you. Off of the bright smile on your face, off of your eyes and how bright they're shining tonight (and not just from the light). He feels the words in his throat die out as he stares at you under the bright flashing lights. The music picks up a little bit and you guide him through a spin, he trips over his feet a little bit but the laugh that you let out at it being successful.

"You're just too good to be true," you sing gently once you're turned back around. "Can't take my eyes off of you." If he wasn't nervous before he is now. Because it's you. You and him, and everything else seems to go away except for the gentle humming of you singing along as you keep helping him dance. You don't laugh when he stumbles over his feet, you just give him an encouraging smile and make sure he doesn't look down.

He would never let anyone know or he might not live it down but, he asked Komori to help him. The two practiced for weeks in preparation for the dance, there were many feet stepped on and lots of frustrated sighs but...Sakusa thinks it's all worth it if it means he can hold you in his arms like this. Even if only for tonight.

-‘๑’- Winter, 10 years ago

It seems the topic the school was talking about were first kisses. Many having happened the night of the formal. Sakusa pretended like he didn't care but he saw your frown whenever people asked if you had gotten your first kiss or not. It was always a no and Sakusa felt happy knowing that it hadn't happened yet.

"Kiyo?" You hum as you sit up from his bed. He's sitting at his desk finishing up his homework from the school day. He puts his pencil down and turns to you with a hum. "Have you had your first kiss yet?"

"You don't think I would've told you if I had?" He retorts with a raise of his eyebrow.

"Okay, you make good points." You sigh and lay back down on the bed. He gets up from the desk and joins you.

"What is this about?"

"Well, everyone is talking about how amazing their first kiss is so I guess I feel a little behind that I haven't had mine." He hums and reaches out his hand, you take it and give it a gentle squeeze.

"I don't think it really matters. The timing I mean." He begins gently. "I think the who matters more than the when."

"I want my first kiss."

"Okay." He turns his head to look at you.

"Will you kiss me?" Sakusa is a little taken aback by the question and he can tell you're also shocked by your boldness. "I think you're right, that the who matters more than the when. And I think..."you trail off slightly and bite at the skin of your lip. He reaches a hand up like before and gently runs his thumb across your lip to get you to stop.

"And you think?" He hopes you'll continue your sentence.

"And I think I would like it to be you." You sound a little breathless at the confession. He smiles and rests his hand on your cheek.

"I think I would like mine to be you too." The two of you sit up and you can feel your nerves going wild. Sakusa holding you doesn't seem to quell the nerves as you look at his lips. The lips you've thought about kissing for much longer than you would care to admit. "There's no reason to be nervous, it's just me." He gives you a smile and gives your hand another squeeze.

He tries to keep a cool collected front but on the inside he's just as nervous as you are. "Are you sure I'm the who you want to do this?" He jokes lightly hoping to ease your nerves.

"Yes." You squeeze his hand and place your hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"Neither do I, but how hard can it be?" He lifts your face up gently as he places his hand on your cheek. Your breath hitches and you can feel your heart picking up speed. You swallow and place your hand on the back of his head, you had seen them do that in the movies. "We can figure it out together," whispers and starts leaning his face closer to yours. His forehead resting against yours. Your eyes are closed now.

"Please don't make me ask again," you say softly. He can feel your breath against his skin and it makes him want to pull away to keep the image of you forever ingrained in his brain. He lets out a small laugh from nerves and tries to press his lips against yours. Your noses bump which cause both of you to laugh. "Try again."

He rolls his eyes and tilts his head this time. His lips press gently against your own. The kiss wasn't like fireworks going off. It wasn't erratic or exciting. The kiss felt like coming home after a long day. Kissing Sakusa was like being wrapped in comfort. Kissing Sakusa would forever be your definition of what love felt like.

Sakusa knew he would think about this moment forever. The way you had to pull away because giggles shoved their way past your lips. How your head tilted back as you laughed and how you smiled at him when you opened your eyes again. Kissing you was something he would compare everything else in his life to. Everything else would be rated on a scale of how he felt when he was kissing you.

-‘๑’- Spring, 9 years ago (still middle school)

You laid on Sakusa's bed as he put away his clothes, just staring at the ceiling. He knew you needed to tell him something, you had burst into the house and laid on his bed as soon as you arrived. He wasn't going to push you to tell him though so he went back to hanging his shirts up throwing you glances every now and then. After about an hour of you sitting there in your thoughts Sakusa tapped your shoulder and motioned for you to move over. He laid down next to you and looked at the ceiling. "So, what are we looking at that's so interesting?"

You smile and turn your head to face him. "I have to tell you something."

"I figured," he replies and turns his head so he can look in your eyes. He gently takes your hand in his and his thumb rubs gentle circles on your hand. "You can tell me anything."

"I know," you close your eyes because you're not sure if you can look at him while you say it. "I'm moving." Whatever he was expecting it wasn't that, he thinks he can hear his heart stop. He was going to lose you. He doesn't know how long the silence goes on just that there are tears in your eyes and he can feel his heart tightening in his chest.

"Don't cry." He places a hand on your face and he tries to even out his voice.

"I got us something," you reach into your pocket and pull out a ring box. He smiles at the box as you open it. As much as he claims to hate the movie he knows immediately what they are.

"Howl and Sophie?" He asks even though he knows the answer. You nod and put the red stoned ring on his finger.

"In the movie the rings lead her home..."

"You think that they'll lead us back to each other?" His gaze softens when he sees you nod. He can't help the smile that appears on his face. "They will." He takes the blue stoned ring out of the box and puts it on your finger. "So don't cry okay?" You nod and wrap your arms around him. The two of you stay like that for a while, you stay in the other's arms until the birds begin chirping outside of his window. Until his mother calls you down for breakfast. Sakusa wishes he could stay like this forever.

-‘๑’- Summer, 8 years ago (high school)

Sakusa for all his smarts...he could be a little dense sometimes. His first year of high school is when he first realizes that he loves you. And he can't even take full credit. He sits down at the lunch table, once again an extra drink in his hand from the vending machine. Komori gives him a knowing look.

"Why didn't you tell her before she moved?"

"Tell her what?" He asks as he just hands the drink over to Komori.

"You can't be serious," Komori sighs and shakes his head as he opens the drink. "You're in love with her." He says simply as he takes a drink, it wasn't his favorite drink but it was yours.

"I'm not..." He pauses and the realization hits him all at once when he looks down at the ring on his bag. "Oh. Oh." Komori lets out a laugh and chokes a little bit at his cousin's realization.

"You didn't know?"

"Falling in love with her was just so easy and natural that I guess I didn't realize it was happening." Komori smiles at the boy and shakes his head again.

Some days he finds himself spinning the ring on his finger, hoping it will light up and lead him to you.

-‘๑’- Present Day

He takes a look at the ring on his bag. It's been with him for so long, it's his good luck charm. He stretches as he prepares for the match. You weren't entirely sure if you would be able to close down the shop to go see it which was fine with him. He would be a little sad if you couldn't make it but he would live.

He hears a shout of his name in the stands and his head jerks up. His eyes scan the audience until they land on you. You're there in what looks to be Jackals merch but you're there. In front of his eyes again and he really hopes the cameras didn't catch the moment he found you. The moment his face softened because he could see your smile from all the way down on the court. He gives you a wave with a smile and you give him a thumbs up. Yeah, he definitely still loves you.

His fall wasn't so much of a fall as he tripped. He tripped into love with you, not the fault of anyone and he was okay with it. He was okay that he tripped into love with you because you were there with a hand outstretched to help him back up.

taglist. @hiraethwa @loveelylacey @3lectraheart @cosmiicdust @angelkiyo @whosmarjj @itsdragonius @empress-pug-pug

stay a while why don’t you? check out my other stuff

[animementrash]

Class 1A as Pro Heroes Headcanons

Characters: All class 1A male students (After time skip)

Tags: characters headcanons, manga spoilers, some may be ooc?, not proofread.

A/N: Heya! It's been a while since I posted, many things happened in my life. I traveled to Japan, got a promotion at work, celebrated my birthday... but I'm back! This is the first post non AOT related hehe, this is a multifandom account but was usually populated with AOT stuff and while I plan on uploading some more AOT stuff today it's turn for MHA. Hope you enjoy, thanks for reading!

Izuku Midoriya

Is part of the team of judges who set the current top hero’s billboard.

Has a weekly column in one of Japan’s most important newspaper where he analyzes heroe’s techniques and moves. Most heroes wait expectantly each week for his column to be released.

Attends many charity events and is the top #1 fundraiser for children causes.

Has been the special guest for at least 30 shows, he’s still a nervous mess in all of them.

Is the only person who has a major fanbase without being an active top hero.

Received permission to write a biography for All Might.

Shoto Todoroki

Is top #3 in the charts.

Became ambassor for UNICEF.

Is also an active member of the “Big brother, Big sister” program.

Took over Endeavor’s agency and turned it into his.

Is one of the most requested heroes for fundraisers or charity events.

Has a lot of modeling requests and has been the face of at least 15 brands since he became a top hero.

Katsuki Bakugo

Is top #2 in the charts but constantly switches place with Shoto. (The top #1 Hero is Mirio)

Was the first one from class 1A to make it to the top 5 heroes.

His merchandise is the best seller among all current heroes, anything that has his face in it sells in less than 1 hour.

Just like Shoto, received many modeling requests but refused almost all of them.

Has the largest fandom in Japan, is forced by his PR team to attend fan meetings.

Has a scrapbook with all of Izuku’s columns from the newspaper, if he’s mentioned in them he highlights that part and makes notes based on it.

Yuga Aoyama

Isn’t part of the top 30 heroes but works diligently in his community.

His flashy style never left but he’s a bit more mature about it now.

Is co-writing a book with Izuku about the challenges of being born without a quirk in a quirk-ruled world.

Attends many events related to kids without quirks and is genuinely happy to be there.

Tenya Iida

Continued his family’s legacy and took over his older brother agency.

Is top #7 in the charts, for some reason his fanbase consists of salary men and housewives.

Attends more international events than his former classmates.

Held the Olympic torch during its tour in Japan.

Mashirao Ojiro

Is top #18 in the charts.

Works part time as a martial arts trainer, his trainees made it to the Olympics and won silver.

His agency specializes in taijutsu related quirks and is very popular.

Has a nationwide gym franchise with his hero name.

Denki Kaminari

Is top #9 in the charts.

He supplies his agency electricity as well as Jiro’s agency (it’s canon their agencies are next to each other)

His fanbase consists mostly of high school students, he’s very popular with the teens.

 Was the first one from class 1A to get official merchandise as a pro hero.

Eijiro Kirishima

Is top #4 in the charts.

Is the face of a very famous protein shake brand.

Was the first from class 1A to appear in a magazine cover as headliner (It was for men’s health magazine).

Usually partners with Ojiro’s and tetsutetsu’s agencies for charity events.

Koji Koda

Isn’t part of the top 30 heroes.

His agency is located in a slightly rural town, this is due to his quirk having way more range when surrounded with wildlife than in the city.

Founded more than 30 animal shelters in his first 5 years as pro hero, he received an award because of this.

Most of his fanbase is elementary school kids and middle school girls.

Rikido Sato

Is top #20 in the charts.

Co-owns a bakery with Momo Yaoyorozu.

Wrote a recipes book and it became best seller in Japan for 4 weeks in a row.

His fanbase consists mostly of housewives.

Has his own line of desserts and chocolates, they’re the best sellers during holidays.

Mezo Shoji

Is top #17 in the charts.

Updated his hero suit and no longer hides his face and scars.

His action figure is one of the best sellers.

Participates with Shoto in a lot of “big brother, big sister” events.

Hanta Sero

Is top #16 in the charts.

His fanbase is the most variated one, has kids, students, professionals and even university students as fans.

Just like Shoji, his action figure is one of the best sellers.

His agency is in the center of Tokyo, has to take advantage of the tall buildings and structures.

His most sold merchandise is a tape dispenser, it’s almost always out of stock.

Fumikage Tokoyami

Is top #12 in the charts.

He and Dark shadow have different fanbases.

Whenever he attends a social event paparazzi turn off their flashes so Dark shadow can be in the picture too.

While Tokoyami’s fanbase consists more of teenagers, Dark shadow’s fanbase is elementary school students and little kids.

Minoru Mineta

Isn’t part of the top 30 heroes.

Changed his creep attitude and apologized with all the girls he knew during that time.

Is the ambassor for an organization dedicated to eradicate harassment.

For some reason most of his collabs with brands have to do something with food.

A well-known tea shop has a bobba tea named after him.

[airenyah]

Get to Know Me Tag :)

was tagged by @telomeke, @ranchthoughts, and @callipigio <3

do you make your bed?

not usually. both in my room at my parent's flat and now in my own flat as well i don't have a couch to hang out on and so i tend to spend a lot of time in my bed during the day bc it's more comfortable there. why make my bed in the morning if i mess it up soon enough anyway? i'll only make my bed when i'm trying to feel/look neat (like for example when people who i don't really know come over)

what's your favourite number?

23! elementary school me was veeery creative in choosing this number.... (my birthday is on a 23rd) anyway this number stuck with me and now it's just part of my personality hahaha

what is your job?

i'm a uni student and i don't have a "fixed" job where i'm employed and get money every month, but i have been working at a specific theater every summer since 2022. this year i'm actually the official assistant director. the rehearsals haven't properly started yet, but i've already one or the other task for it. can't wait for june when we're finally starting with the rehearsals!!!!!!!

if you could go back to school, would you?

depends... compulsory schooling that they make you go through from age 6 to age 15?? HELL NO. adult education? catch me taking 434353 courses on 434353 things

can you parallel park?

i don't have a driver's license

a job you had that would surprise people?

i haven't had many jobs in my life and none of them seem very surprising tbh? if you know me, at least i've worked as a graphic designer before, but i don't see how that would be surprising. also, i'm sure that i've mentioned this a few times in my tag ramblings

do you think aliens are real?

i don't think aliens are real but i also don't think aliens are not real. basically, i don't think aliens exist in the way they are depicted in movies, but if nasa came up to me and told me they found some sort of life somewhere else in the universe i'd be like "yeah i'll believe that". the universe is so vast, so it wouldn't surprise me if there really is something out there, but i don't really think about it tbh

can you drive a manual car?

as i said, i don't have a driver's license. but if i did, the answer would be yes. bc as a european you WILL be taught to drive a manual car at driving school. you could also choose to learn how to drive an automatic car, but that's really the exception to the rool. besides, idk what it's like in other countries, but in austria you're allowed to drive manual cars only if you got your license with a manual car. so getting your license with an automatic car limits your options quite a lot

what's your guilty pleasure?

i don't really feel guilty about my pleasures?? i don't always tell people that i'm really into thai bl, but that's less about feeling guilty and more of a "know your target audience" kind of thing.

tattoos?

nope. my brother has a couple of tattoos and he'd love it if i got one (i think he'd like to have a matching tattoo with me), but i can't do needles. but if i ever did get a tattoo, it would probably be something related to sicily. my brother actually has a tattoo of the trinacria

favorite color?

a really shiny dark blue and a really shiny darker red!

favorite type of music?

uhhhh.... good question?? i grew up listening to classical music and i still really like it, but i don't really listen to it anymore. these days i listen to pop music quite a lot? but that's also a very hit and miss for me, bc i tend to get overwhelmed easily with pop music. idk, just show me a song of any genre of music and i'll tell you if i like this particular song or if i dislike it my playlists tend to be full of song i have some kind of emotional connection too, though! so for example, songs that have been in series/movies that i watched or songs that my loved one's have/had in their playlists and that remind me of them, etc...

do you like puzzles?

i don't dislike puzzles, but it's not something that i would think to spend my time with

any phobias?

spiders!! i've had a phobia of spiders all my life. it's gotten a little better now, and how freaked out i am really depends on the size of the spider, where it is, if it's moving, and also how i'm feeling that day. the worst thing that could happen is a spider touching me in any way, so as long as i have enough distance between me and the spider and the spider is stationary, i'm good. i really dislike spiders right above my head, though i also have a phobia of needles. when i was 12 i had to get my blood drawn when i was sick once and i had a panic attack (or something along those lines). i've tried to avoid needles as best as i could ever since... and as a child i also had a fear of vomit. people vomiting still makes me uncomfortable, but at least i no longer run away and hide behind the door of my room hahaha

favorite childhood sport?

i've never been really athletic but i liked swimming!

do you talk to yourself?

in my own flat when i'm all by myself? yeah!

what movies do you adore?

der schuh des manitu is my problematic fave <3 apart from that, i also adore stardust and tangled and the emperor's new groove and i'm also up for marathoning high school musical, how to train your dragon, pirates of the carribean (1-3), and lord of the rings (extended edition of course) at any given point in time

coffee or tea?

tea!!!!! i LOVE tea!!!!! i had a cup of tea only an hour ago!!!! i'm not big on coffee, apart from a cappucino every once in a while which i also only drink when i'm in italy bc i just don't like it enough to spend 3-4€ on it in austria. coffee flavored things are mostly fine, but coffee as a beverage? not a big fan

first thing you wanted to be growing up?

i don't remember the first thing i wanted to be that wasn't a suggestion by my parents. possibly an actress????

tagging @newyearknwwme @moonkhao @visualtaehyun @celestial-sapphicss @cornflowershade @dimplesandfierceeyes @wack-overflow

as always, feel free to ignore!

[greazyfloz]

Lovers & Strangers - Chapter 1

disclaimer: This series contains heavy smut, heavy partying, swearing & overall angst

Enjoy! :)

My life growing up in Northern Alberta was easy. I was giving an amazing life, my parents truly were the best. The best thing they gifted me was my best friend, Ethan. Ethan and I first met when I was only 8 days old. Ethan was only a year old when his parents brought him to meet me for the first time. Throughout the years we became closer and closer. 

In elementary school we would tell people that we were siblings throughout the early years. Then in the later years of elementary he would dress me up in goalie gear and practice his slap shot in his front yard. It was convenient that he only lived two streets over because we also fought like siblings. Ethan and I bickered like siblings throughout middle school but nothing lasted over 24 hours. 

Our families, along with a couple other families would get together for every holiday and make it our own special day. We would end and start every New Year together, have Superbowl parties, St. Patrick’s day, Canada Day, has ‘Friendsgiving’, Halloween parties, and would celebrate every Christmas Eve together. Every March Break and Labour Day weekend our families spent away on vacation, we truly were inseparable. As we grew older it became a series of the older kids staying for the first half of the parties, then heading out with their friends. As Ethan became more competitive with hockey the less he was able to attend the get togethers. 

When Ethan was 15 when he left our hometown to play hockey but we still were able to keep in touch because of our parents get togethers, and we went to the same parties during the summer months. Typically best friends don’t sleep with each other. Sleeping with each other didn’t really change our friendship, we never got jealous, and we still slept with other people. We really had that “if we both aren’t married by the time we are 30, we will marry each other” type of friendship. Ethan and I having sex was something people always thought we did, but would be shocked if they found out we actually did. 

Ethan and I are both Sophomores at the University of Michigan. Last year it was really easy to sleep with him occasionally because luckily my roommate dropped out a week in the first semester and I was never assigned a new one. Sophomore year was harder to keep a secret. We didn’t care if people found out but we didn’t really want people to know either but recently we haven’t really been sleeping together much or at all.

I love UMich so far, Ethan being on the hockey team allowed me to also have a whole team of automatic friends. Well a whole team minus one. From day one Mark and I could not stand each other. He was easy to ignore at first, but now I think he tries to get on my nerves. 

I walk into the sophomore house and find Mackie, Dylan and Mackie all sitting on the couch, “Hey guys! Eddy still not back?” I ask sitting beside Mackie

“Nah, he just left actually” Luke asks

“Fuck, I thought I would catch him after class”

“You can hang with us buddy” Dylan says

I decide to stay and hang out with the boys until Mark comes home. He comes in the house and sits in the room  beside Luke, “What are you doing here? Do you not have your own place?” he asks me

“Well I was hanging out with some friends but since you are here, I’m now hanging out with my friends and an egotistical piece of shit” I say giving him a sarcastic smile.

“Ouu burn” Mark says rolling his eyes, “Anyways, we are having the boys over tonight. I said we would throw the party for once” he says facing the rest of the guys. 

“Ugh no Estapa” Luke starts, “I don’t want random people in here”

“Too bad! I already told everyone” Mark says, “It’s just the usual gathering”

“That is a lot of people Mark” Dylan says

“Well yeah, but she won't be here so it’ll be fine!” Mark says pointing at me

“She…” I laugh after

“Oh you're a he? You know I always wondered”

“Mark, you’re such an ass” I say standing, “Tell Eddy to call me when he gets back” I say to Mackie as I leave the house, 

As soon as I got home I went straight to the bathroom and into the tub. I put a little bit of bubbles in and stirred the water around. As I was undressing myself, my phone rings. I answer seeing it was Ethan, “Hey Ed” I say into my phone. 

“Hey, I’m coming over” he says

“I’m in the bath right now” I tell him and he sighs

“Can I join?” he says almost defeated

“Of course, what’s wrong?” I ask

“It has just been a day”

“Aw Eth, I’ll wait for you. I locked the door cause my roommates aren’t home”

“I’m pulling in now” he says and I can hear the gravel of my driveway faintly crunch in the back of the call. 

“Okay, I’m coming” I say ending the call.

I take my housecoat and put it on as I run down the stairs letting him in. I pout my bottom lip and bring him in for a hug. “Come on” I say walking back up to the bathroom and he follows. We get into the bathroom and I take my housecoat off and step into the bathtub as Ethan sits on the toilet beside the tub. “You're not coming in?” I ask confused

“No” he says so I sink in the tub a little further

“Okay, then what's got ya down?” I ask him

“I failed that stupid test this morning which sucks because it was a make up test for one I already failed, but practice before that was tough, and I’m just stressin about hockey”

“Get in here” I say sitting back up so he can sit on the other side of the tub. Ethan sighs before answering

“Fine” he says, undressing himself before taking a seat across from me. I bring my knees together so he can stretch his legs out beside me then I stretch my legs out and lay them on top of his. 

“I take it you and Kennedy’s fling is over?” I say

“Yeah why?”

“You're in the tub with me” I giggle and he laughs too. Once we stop laughing I speak again, “So, I really hate Mark”

“I hate hearing that”

“He told me I was manly looking today after he told me that I wasn’t allowed to come over tonight, oh yeah you are throwing a party” I say and Ethan rolls his eyes

“Ugh why do you guys fight so much”

“I literally don’t even start it. Why wont you have my back ever when it comes to him?” I say and he shakes his head, “I’m sorry, I know you’re already stressed I shouldn’t have said anything but it pisses me off”

“Well we both could release some steam, come here” he says casually

I took my legs off his thighs and brought them in before turning my body so I was now sitting between his legs. I lean back and his hands wrap around me so each hand has a boob to hold. He began massaging my boobs and I leaned my head back so it was on his shoulder. He starts squeezing harder and harder, making me moan out slightly. 

“Sorry” he says then starts massaging them a little lighter but still hard

“No, it feels good” I say and he begins massaging them again harder. 

“Turn” he says, and I turn looking at him on my knees between his legs. He continues massaging my tits as he leans in, taking one in his mouth, sucking around my nipple. He then flicks his tongue up and down on my nipple taking turns between each of them. He then begins nibbling my nipples and I reach down and stroke his cock. Ethan’s hands travel down my body and I adjust my position so my knees are bent on his thighs as he enters two fingers inside of me. I continue to stroke him and he continues to finger my pussy until I cum.

He sits on the edge of the tub, “alright, I’m going to cum soon” he says stroking his cock as he waits for my mouth. I lean in and lick the base to the tip then enter him inside my mouth. I bobble my head up and down as his head falls back, “Fuck! I’m close” he says as I continue back and forth on his cock. “Take me all” he says and I begin slowly inching my way down his cock, until I am close to the base. I hold it then shake my head back to relieve my throat. I then take him in and out of my mouth fast as the loud throat noises that escape my mouth fill the bathroom. “A- Fuck-k-k!” Ethan moans as he cums in my mouth. I keep him in a minute to make sure he finishes cuming before releasing him from my mouth, swallowing before plopping back to my side of the tub. Ethan does the same across from me. We both laugh then continue our conversation from before. 

“Just stick with me tonight” Ethan says

“He will still bother me Ethan” 

“I don’t even understand why he wouldn’t like you” he says, “honestly I was terrified he was going to try and hook up with you or something. That would fucking suck” he says making me laugh

“Wow” I say laughing

“Well, we got something weird going on” he laughs

“Not really”

“We are currently bathing together Y/n” he laughs again and I laugh along

“Sooo. Some besties bath together” 

“Sure, but typically they have the same anatomy AND how many of them happen to have their dick slide down the others throat” he says making us both laugh. 

“Well don’t worry, I have no intentions on even being the idiots friend”

[princeloww]

Hello, its me again, telling the Takin Over the Asylum fandom about Scotland, despite being from Ireland.

My last post was about Scottish slang and a rough guide on how to actually use it. (Aye, Nae, Cannae, etc)

Today, not because of any specific reason, and just because I feel like it, I'm going to talk about how education works in Scotland, since I know a lot of TOTA fans are NOT from the UK, yet probably still wish to write fanfiction, and might want to get it more accurately right.

Again, I am not Scottish, but I've done research, and this is just a rough guide for people wishing to write fanfiction about Campbell Bain. - and a lot of people may already know this stuff, of course, but this is just for those who might not.

"High school" is generally not a used term. Some schools are CALLED "high school" in their actual names, for example, Perth High School, but they aren't high-schools like in the USA.

School starts for Scottish kids in primary one. This is the equivalent to elementary school, in other places. Usually kids are around 4 or 5. Primary school lasts until P7, which is the equivalent of year 7 in England. You would be 11 in P7.

After primary school there is no middle school. It is straight to secondary school, in S1 (equivalent to year 8). Secondary school is basically middle school and high-school combined. You're there from 11-ish until you're ready for college.

Secondary school lasts from S1 (yr8) until S6 (yr13).

The Scottish education system is much different than in England/Wales and Northern Ireland, so here's some things that will explain it better than I can:

National 5 is pretty much the equivalent to GCSE, which are exams taken in the rest of the UK when you finish school. In the rest of the UK, once you've done your GCSES, you can go onto complete your A-levels, which is basically just a higher qualification.

A-levels are equivalent to Scottish Highers.

You do your National 5s in your last year, and then can go onto do higher education.

In Takin Over the Asylum, Campbell is 19 (I believe), and his father says he has not finished his exams, and wants him to go back to school.

I'm assuming the education system was generally the same in the 90s, and working off of that assumption. If it was not, then this is a waste of your time, but oh well.

Either Campbell did not complete his National 5s at 15-16ish, or his father is pushing him to finish his higher education. I think both options are interesting, when it comes to possible headcanons or fanfiction ideas. Either Campbell struggled with his (basically GCSEs) and was unable to complete them, having no qualifications at all, or he did complete his exams, has some qualifications but his father wants him to do more, finish his education and strive to achieve more.

I like to headcanon that he really struggled in school despite being bright and well-able. He always seemed to get in trouble when he didn't mean to, probably for being too loud, energetic and "disruptive", in a way that the teachers didn't understand to NOT be him misbehaving.

Most of this is just food for thought, really, and a wee bit,,, entirely useless, but I thought it was a bit interesting.

Again, feel free to correct me in the replies. I am but a simple Northern Irish David Tennant fan, who wants to help people feel more confident writing fanfiction, for my own selfish desires.

Hope this was somewhat helpful to someone out there!

[fujobritta]

okok because @constable-rohza asked . some stuff about my mq au (that goes with this fic !)

little note about making the au: because i know nothing about the california school system or just how school works in the united states in general i spent a while just very vaguely asking people i know in the us about how shit works there (i will never understand why elementary is 5 years and then middle is 3 and then high is 4 ??? here we have elementary for 6 and then junior high for 3 and then senior high for 3 . it makes so much more sense to me . anyways) like . why the fuck do freshman/sophomore/junior/senior exist . its just so insane . but i could talk about how much i hate america for days on end this is supposed about my au .

i write like most of the fic that goes with this au in class on folded sheets of a4 paper so heres some additional paraphrased notes that i found on those as well as some little fun facts ive been turning around in my head:

there this weird little timeline thing i spent like 30 minutes losing my mind over (i was incredibly tired and had nothing in my system but an adhd pill and a glass of milk and nothing was making sense to me) anyhow in that flashback at the start of the fic, as mentioned in the a/n at the end of the chapter, brad is 27 and david is 30 and they're sort-of-friends (brad doesn't want to call them friends but they are). jo at this time is 6 years old and david's ex-girlfriend kinda just stuck the kid with her . i had a bunch of backstory behind that but then i realized that i was probably never going to get into that so i just scrapped it . but it was the whole "you knocked me up before we broke up now i'm forcing you to take care of this kid because i don't give a shit anymore" thing and david is a pushover so he just took it . about 9 years later and like a month into the new school year, brad gets arrested . jo is 15 at this time, has to start school . he gets out on parole around two months before the school year ends .

jo's homeschooling wasn't really homeschooling, brad would just give her schoolwork with instructions and some teenager would sit there and babysit every day until brad got home early (made an arrangement to never have any classes to teach during the last period/block of the day) to cover anything she didn't understand . once she got old enough for brad and david to trust her at home alone (like 11-12ish) they stopped hiring a babysitter . she was about a year or two ahead in her studies when she starts at the high school brad and david work at so she breezes through most of her assignments and tests

before brad was a teacher he had some job in finance . what specifically ? nobody knows ! he never talks about his old job and just vaguely alludes to it because it creeps people out . all anyone knows about it is that he made a buttload of money from it . he decided to be a teacher for fun because he has a soft spot for kids and knows a ton of stuff

i wanted to stick fairly close with canon so no spoilers but the way brad got arrested was by covering for something jo did

when david was a kid he actually didn't have much interest in being a teacher, he wanted to be a firefighter and teaching was his plan b (one of his parents was a teacher) . he talks a weird amount about firefighters in the show and i wanted to incorporate it somehow :P also he forces his class to read brene brown

ok that's all for now because i still have to finish writing the fic and i may add some of the little details in my head into later chapters and i don't want to spoil too much !!!

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

What are some of your favorite manga of all time?

Oh this will be one of the easiest asks I've ever received! You've got me all hype, anon!

Fruits Basket

Wanna get me to talk for hours? Mention Fruits Basket. This was the first manga I ever read back when I was still in elementary school and I've never grown out of my love for the series. I will always have a spot for this manga but it's honestly perfection to me.

I love the characters, the messages, the themes and the emotional depth this manga has made me feel over the years? I honestly wish I could experience Fruits Basket all over again. This is without a doubt my favorite shoujo manga of all time. I love all the characters, I love all the ships. Some of my favorite characters off rip have to be Tohru, Shigure, Hatsuharu and Arisa and Saki. But make no mistake I adore Yuki and Kyo and so on and so forth.

This series does such a great job in such a complicated subject matter concerning neglect and abuse in a way that humanizes the abuser without using said humanization to justify their shitty actions. You leave those moments understanding how that person became how they are but can still completely acknowledge how terrible they are. How you don't have to forgive that person for what they did. And that, if you do forgive that person, that doesn't mean you're just letting bygones be bygones and being kumbaya with them. You can forgive and forget or you can forgive and never forget and that's okay. Your forgiving and moving forward for yourself, not them. And that's one of the things I really liked in the series.

Fullmetal Alchemist

Another series you can get me talking for hours about. You will catch me watching video essay after video essay analyzing this story. I was so into FMA during middle school, one of my moms even bought me the games and made it habit to occasionally buy me the volumes! This is without a doubt, the best shounen has to offer. Quality female characters? Amazing action scenes? Stunning romance? Banger after banger with so many panels I can still recall perfectly.

My favorite volume is definitely volume 15! Because of the manga, Brotherhood is my preference when it comes to the anime adaptations. It has all the homies in it. Another series I wish I could just start from the beginning again with no memory of the source material. These brothers and their friends have altered the chemistry of my brain.

NANA

Still believe that one day Yozawa will grace us with her beautiful art and storytelling all over again. NANA was my first ever jousei read and my dive into jousei as a whole. Until that point all I had consumed were shounen and shoujo so the maturity of the series was one I wasn't expecting. I consumed this series when I was about in early to late middle school and it was so much fun to read.

Now that I'm in my late 20s, holy hell is this hard to binge the way I used to because the themes, the struggles of the character and the realism of those struggles are hitting a little too close to home now. So I can only do NANA in small doses now haha. I even got both of my moms into NANA. Which isn't too impressive when one of my moms has watched the anime of every manga I've mentioned on this ask, but my other mom is NOT an anime fan and she loves NANA so much.

Children of the Sea

Oh my goodness, you definitely oh it to yourself to read this manga. It's not a long a read by any means with only 5 volumes and 43 chapters but it was such a pleasure to read. Maybe this bias comes from someone obsessed with the ocean (which my url definitely implies) and the life teeming underneath the surface but wow this was truly an experience. I watched the movie first and then read the manga, and I'm not sure if that'll shape anyone's viewing experience differently but I do wish I had read the manga first. But both are truly great to check out.

If you want a story about a girl meeting two boys raised by dugongs, this is the story for you. One of my favorite aspects of this read were the side stories labeled Testimony of the Sea. It adds so much to the story without even directly influencing the plot as you see all the strange phenomena that take place in the sea leading up to this mysterious event drawing in our protagonists and what will continue well after its conclusion.

Skip & Loafer

Currently ongoing and a series I was not expecting to like as much as I did. I'm one of the people who got into sukirofa after the anime dropped. 2 episodes in and seeing the absolute beauty and grace of how the staff handled the protagonist's transgender aunt, I had to give this a read and I do not regret in the slightest. This is such a great series and a perfect example how one utilizes 'don't judge a book by its cover'.

Characters you meet at first glance? It only takes a chapter or two before their layers are peeled back and you see how much went in to crafting them and making them more complex than meets the eye. A perfect example of this is the character Mika.

But my favorite chapter has to be ch 29 where you learn what made Nao decide to come out and transition. If you haven't read this series, I won't spoil it, you have to read it for yourself. Prepare for a monthly update schedule, because once that day of the month pops up, it's amazing to see how the sukirofa fandom comes together to scream on twitter and tumblr.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

The series that gave birth to the greatest hater in anime history. Araki truly drinks and leaves no molecules every time a part comes out. Another ongoing series I didn't expect to like as much as I did. But it's become a series close to my heart since diving into it after I got over my initial hesitance with the art style. Honestly JJBA's art style really grows on you, especially as you see Araki's art and writing develop so spectacularly.

You get equal parts continuous story and standalone adventure. You do need other pieces of the pie, but each part still feels so rich and in-depth and bright and colorful. You don't feel like the new JoJo and characters introduced are extensions of previous existing ones or usurpers that have stolen the panels away from other characters. It's like watching a torch be passed down from JoJo to JoJo, generation to generation (which it technically is since this story follows the descendants of the JoJo that started it all, Jonathan Joestar).

Araki's biggest source of writing inspiration came from how he felt watching Prince concerts. How the story of the concert would suddenly flip and give you a whole new experience. I feel he truly has that down with JJBA.

Concubine Walkthrough

Can't believe I even forgot to add Concubine Walkthrough, so take this quick addendum. This is one of the best manhwa I've ever read in my life and not enough people talk about it. I'm working on a post right now all about why I recommend it.

If you're a fan of sci-fi, romance and want to read an otome isekai romp that subverts your expectations? Please read this manhwa. It's The Matrix mixed with historical Korean fiction (and of course, otome isekai at its finest).

I loved loved LOVED the philosophy behind the story, the themes. The discussion of what reality is and choosing what reality means/is to you. Just because your entire life is a simulation, does that make your entire life up until that point irrelevant? Simulated it may be, your joy, your pain, your love, all of that still felt real, right? There were so many things I never considered about that very topic until I read this series and I feel like more people should give it a go. It's not that long a read (only 128 chapters for the main story with some extra bonus content on the side), please please PLEASE read Concubine Walkthrough if you haven't already.

[visualtaehyun]

15 people, 15 questions

I am clearly behind because by now I've been tagged by @rocketturtle4 @airenyah and @zimmbzon to do this - thanks y'all ✨

1) Are you named after anyone?

I am! Bella is my actual nickname but it's just the second half of a longer name. The first half I share with both a maternal and a paternal great-grandmother.

2) When was the last time you cried?

I'm an easy crier when it comes to media so my kneejerk reaction was to assume that was the last time. But, while I was at my sister's over the last few days, we went to wish our mom Merry Christmas at her grave, just the two of us. 🌻

3) Do you have kids?

Nope.

4) What sports do you play/have you played?

I'm anything but athletic dhshdjhs I played basketball for like 2 years as a kid but apart from that uhhhh I enjoy? taking a walk?? on occasion???

5) Do you use sarcasm?

I do partake, yes.

6) What's the first thing you notice about people?

Hm, their height maybe? That's just the way it is as a smol™.

7) What's your eye color?

I've got a case of those big brown eyes like a baby cow.

8) Scary movies or happy endings?

Why not both? I love scary movies, as long as they don't veer into gore. And I enjoy ambiguous or open endings but happy ones are my favorite. I do like a tragedy though, provided I am prepared for it!

9) Any talents?

I guess I'm good at keeping cool when others are stressing aka I have the Mom Friend override even though I'm anxious by nature myself. Other than that, I've been told I'm a thoughtful gift giver.

10) Where were you born?

Yermahnee 🇩🇪

11) What are your hobbies?

Currently, it's really only learning Thai and consuming Thai media, both of which go hand in hand for me. But I also play D&D, like to draw (mostly fueled by playing D&D lol), read novels, play games (though mostly to spend time with friends these days, be it videogames, tabletop games, escape rooms), and I love cooking!

12) Do you have any pets?

My apartment's kinda too small to keep a pet so- no.

13) How tall are you?

1,58m which ought to be about 5'2" - I'm pretty sure I've been this height since I was like 10 which means I last felt like a tol™ in elementary school lmao

14) What was your favorite subject in school?

English! Languages have always come naturally to me but English has become second nature - which is why teen-me thought she should totally just go study English at university and see where it takes her. Four years later, I was finally ready to admit I hated academia, dropped out of uni without a degree to the dismay of my parents, and did a 180 by doing an apprenticeship as a baker. :D

15) What is your dream job?

I'm pretty happy with where I work now because I finally have colleagues I like and I love the work I do. So I don't think I have a dream job but who knows what the future holds.

I'm sure most people have played already but I'm gonna tag some followers for a change! It's still wild to me that anyone would actively click follow for my rambles about Thai and Thai media but I'm glad that my nerdy niche is interesting to y'all 🙏

Tagging @nemesis-21 @nongnaopat @becomingabeing @whomanist @silvercrystal1 @purlpeiris @thestarscanalwayslookatus @mygwenchan @fruityheffalump @non-binarypal7 @queersouthasian @panncakes @blneobin @infinitelyprecious @theflagscene - no pressure and you're ofc free to ignore this :D

[anyablackwood]

Other things to consider when writing about a country/culture not your own:

Maybe it's obvious, but there are some things that I think people might overlook when writing a story that takes place in another country or culture that can actually be very important to look into. I might make this into a series, but as I mentioned in the tags of my last post, one of the most common things I seen people overlook in stories about other countries is the education system.

As I'm only really familiar with American and Japanese school systems, I'm only going to be speaking about those. However, I think this is worth looking into for any culture that you're unfamiliar with!

Unlike the American school system, wherein the school year starts in August/September and ends in May/June with some breaks in between, Japan's school system ends and begins in spring. The first term ends in July, with summer vacation going for just over a month (about 40 days), then continuing into the next term of the year. They have winter, spring, and summer breaks, but none for fall/autumn (at least not for public or international schools; I'm unfamiliar with private schools, but I understand that they operate a bit differently).

The school week is also different. Most schools operate on the standard Monday-Friday schedule, but with the addition of classes every other Saturday. This can vary to some extent depending on the school, but for the most part, this is standard for most high schools and middle schools. On top of that, many students from middle to high (and some elementary) schools are in "cram schools" or extracurriculars (which are technically not required but socially kind of... expected??), which take place after usual school hours and/or on weekends.

Speaking of grade levels, those are also different. "Kindergarten" students are 3-5 years old (this is not considered part of elementary school; more like Pre-K). Elementary school spans from 1st to 6th grade, middle school is 7th to 9th, and high school is 10th to 12th. Which is why many anime/manga will refer to "third year" as the highest high school grade level; they are not graduating younger, the grade levels are just shifted.

So if a character is referred to as a "first year" in high school, they're actually about 15-16, not 14-15. And unlike America, skipping grades or testing into classes isn't allowed. Not that it's rare; it's genuinely NOT allowed, no exceptions given. So regardless, there is no explanation for a 14-year-old to be a high school first-year in Japan unless they've straight up faked their birth certificates/were adopted and didn't actually know their correct birthday until recently. And considering how rare adoptions are in Japan and how difficult it is to make edits to the registry in city hall... those are both unlikely. This is why testing into schools/getting into the "good schools" in high school matter so much in Japan; they're not talking about private schools, they're talking about getting into a school with a more rigorous academic system so that they aren't bored out of their minds in a class too slow for them (also because it looks good to colleges and universities, but that's another post).

That being said, up until recently, the age of adulthood in Japan was 20; this changed a few years ago to 18, but it is worth mentioning, as that would affect characters who have graduated/reached adulthood prior to this change. Side note, the drinking age has not changed; it is still 20. This would affect things such as college applications and the decisions around those, since applicants weren't (until recently) considered legal adults. Especially since most schools don't allow their students to have jobs while in school without their permission (if the family is financially struggling, the parents might tell the school, which would give them special permission to work part-time). This affects things such as financial autonomy, social expectations (it's considered embarrassing to have a job in this context as it implies you're extremely poor, and most teens don't tend to be proud of that). There's much more to be said; uniforms, the extent of control the school/staff have on students off school grounds, social expectations, etc. but this isn't meant to be the essay that it's become so I'll just leave it here.

In conclusion, make sure to look it up! You'd be surprised how much you'd find from such a seemingly innocuous, seemingly unimportant topic. This barely scratches the surface on the differences in these two school systems alone, as well as the many socioeconomic strings attached to them. There's likely way more differences with cultures that are especially on the other side of the equator, with different weather patterns etc. causing differences in schedules!

[arcielee]

Interview With a Writer

Here is part 3 of my Interview With a Writer series. You can go to this post to review the other amazing authors I have spoken with ♥ Just a BTS of some of the talented minds on Tumblr and ao3.

Name: inthedayswhenlandswerefew

Story: North to the Future

Paring: modern Aegon Targaryen x Reader

Rating/Warning: Sexual themes, substance abuse, acts of violence, and there is a serial killer, so murder.

So when did you start writing?  I can remember working on pieces of stories as far back as elementary school, but I never thought of myself as wanting to be a writer. Then in 2010, when I was 15, I got my first vivid, all-consuming, lightning bolt of an idea. It took over my life in the best possible way and I wrote a novel over 9 months. 

Now, to be clear, the novel was very bad. But you have to read a lot and write a lot before you start getting good at it, and that experience was absolutely transformative for me. 

I had a lot of chaotic life situations and a bit of a crisis of confidence, and I wrote only sporadically during college and for several years afterwards. Then in 2018, I saw Bohemian Rhapsody and it became my only personality trait for a while. 

As I was reblogging a million gifsets on Tumblr, I stumbled across fanfiction for the first time, and I was like…wait…other people make up self-insert stories every time they get obsessed with a movie/show too?! It was so exciting, I finally felt like I had an outlet to put my ideas and characters out into the world. I’ve been writing pretty consistently since February 2019, and I would consider that the point when I really became a writer.

I think it is safe to say every writer has that first, all-consuming novel. Does it still exist? Oh yeah, it definitely still exists! I have a Word Doc, and also a paper copy that I had printed and bound at Staples back in the day. It’s a dystopian story about a man who has to pretend to be a true believer in an oppressive regime in order to rise to the top and change it from within, but by the end of the journey he’s become sort of genuinely evil. I keep the paper copy in a box under my bed. Poor quality notwithstanding, it has a lot of sentimental value.

Okay, where did the plot for North to the Future come from? What inspired the story? Towards the end of writing my Aemond fic—Have You No Idea That You’re In Deep?—I started feeling this fascination with Aegon as a character, and I could kind of sense that there was a story about him ready to be excavated from wherever ideas wait to be discovered. 

I kept picturing him in an unassuming little bar filled with Christmas lights as snow fell outside: sad, drunk, wearing all black. But I didn’t have a story yet, just a vision. And the songs I kept hearing when I thought about this tortured modern Aegon were 90s songs: Everlong, A Long December, Drive. 

Then one day out of nowhere, the plot showed up. 

The first real idea I get for a story is always the very end, and I saw Aegon and the protagonist barreling down the Pacific Coast Highway in a red convertible. I knew that Aegon was sober and going back home to face some terrible past, and that the girl he loved was experiencing California for the first time, and that they were both finally free of demons they’d been running from their whole lives. Once I knew the ending, the rest of the details started falling into place, and within a few days I had an outline and chapter list.

Explain your interpretation of Aegon. What drives him? Why is he the way he is in NttF? Aegon is a talented and intuitive person, but he’s clearly not suited for running a venture capital empire or corporate work in general. So his earliest, most formative memories are of his parents (and grandfather) being disappointed in him. He experienced abuse, both emotional and physical, and developed extremely harmful coping mechanisms that at a certain point he no longer knew how to function without. He was suicidal in part because of his self-loathing and the futility of his situation, but also because the only time he received even vague compassion from his parents was after he had swallowed a bottle of pills or stabbed himself with four of his mother’s EpiPens. 

Of course what Aegon overlooked was that he did have people back in Miami who cared about and wanted to help him, although they were too young to effectively communicate it: Aemond, Helaena, and Daeron.

After the accident that claimed Aemond’s eye and three innocent lives, Aegon can’t cope with reminders of what he’s done because he’s fundamentally not someone who ever wants to hurt others. He directs his destructiveness inwards, not outwards, and even when striking out in self-defense he runs away as soon as the opportunity presents itself. That’s the real difference between Aegon and Jesse. When Dadtini talks about Jesse, he mentions bruises and kicked down doors. That’s not Aegon. Jesse gives bruises, Aegon gets them.

Was there anything in specific that inspired your Reader portrayal? I didn’t consciously have anyone in mind when I was writing Appletini, but most of my Readers tend to be snarky, studious, and guarded (yet reluctantly hopeful), so that’s probably my own personality bleeding into the characters! I envisioned someone who was well-intentioned and ostensibly responsible, yet under the surface struggling in a way that she felt she couldn’t share with anybody else. I think most people have felt like that at some point in their lives, so it’s just a matter of being able to take the essence of that feeling and shape it to fit with the story’s narrative. Honestly, the most difficult part of writing Appletini was her relationship with her extremely supportive and functional parents, as that’s not something I have much experience with. I was really relieved when people connected with Momtini and Dadtini as characters because I wasn’t sure if I was doing them justice. In what ways do you feel your Reader compliments Aegon? The defining characteristic of the Aegon/Appletini relationship is that she wants him to become the best version of himself, and truly believes that he has the capacity to if he’ll work for it. She knows he’s brilliant, she knows he’s a genuinely good person under all of his issues and mistakes, she knows he’s fine af, and she knows she loves him. But none of that is enough if he’s not sober.

Someone like Heather or Joyce wouldn’t see value in Aegon, and someone like Kimmie wouldn’t push him to change. The story is in the war that Appletini fights to prove that Aegon can and should conquer his demons. Similarly, Aegon wants Appletini to break free of her suffocating obligations in Juneau, and it causes him genuine pain to see her not living the life she wants. They really want the best for each other, even in their worst moments.

Was there another character (OC or canon) in your story you enjoyed portraying? (And why?) Firstly, I really enjoyed writing Kimmie because she’s a twist on the trope of the attractive, overtly-sexual, not terribly intellectual girl always getting killed in horror movies. Kimmie is the “hot friend” and she loves to party, but she’s also deeply loyal and affectionate, and she notices certain things that other people don’t. I wanted the readers to underestimate her, and then hate her, and then come back to realizing that she wasn’t a villain after all. She could use a better sense of boundaries, but she’s a good person. I feel like by the end of NTTF, it’s clear why Heather, Joyce, and Appletini are friends with Kimmie despite all her…peculiarities.

Secondly, Trent was a super fun character to write, because he’s unnerving without being completely unrealistic. He reminds me of a lot of the frat boys I went to college with…superficially pleasant yet entitled, less malicious than willfully ignorant about anything that doesn’t fit with what he wants in life. He’s a product of the “boys will be boys” era that he grew up in, especially with Alaska being more old-fashioned than the rest of the country, so the 1990s there feel like the 1960s or 70s in some ways. Also, I can’t lie, I loved all the dumb horse boi jokes.

Finally, I absolutely adored Aemond as a character and I was just as impatient as the readers were for him to finally show up in Chapter 11. He’s so stoic and fierce, but he has a tremendous amount of love for Aegon and this blind faith in his ability to change for the better. Aemond’s personality is a lot like Appletini’s, which is why they end up having this tacit respect for each other. I think they end up as close friends eventually, probably even closer than Aemond and Aegon.

Was there an OC character that reflects the author? Out of all the NTTF characters, I am definitely the most like Heather! I’m that friend who is snarky and judgmental on the surface, but also ferociously protective…which can be tough when you’re watching your friends make questionable decisions, like our poor beloved Heather was forced to throughout the series. I know she was thrilled to see that everyone ended up happy. That’s all we really want, us Heathers of the world.

You mentioned your retirement from fan fiction, so what is next? What’s next is writing a novel, which I am super excited about! I’ve had the plot figured out for a few years now and have written bits and pieces of it already, but now I’m determined to dive in without any creative detours and get it written, hopefully within a year. 

I do have some trepidation about the project—What if the idea isn’t good? What if I can’t do it justice? What if I can’t keep to a schedule now that I don’t have an amazingly wonderful audience expecting weekly updates?—but I’ve come to realize that if I never try to be a “real” writer, I’m going to regret it my whole life. I’m trying to be logical about it and tell myself that even if my first book isn’t perfect, I can always write others, so it’s not like my whole future is contingent upon this one project. I’ve had the idea for so long that the characters feel real to me, and I just want to tell their story well.

[weerd1]

It’s Been a Long Road: Two decades after “Star Trek: Enterprise” I still have Faith of the Heart.

After the click, there are 2300 words of me doing a deep dive on my love for "Star Trek: Enterprise." You have been warned.

When I was in elementary school, I was a year younger than my peers. My mom had decided I didn’t need to go to Kindergarten as I was already reading ahead of my level, so she insisted I be placed at age 5 directly into 1st Grade. In ways she was right; I completed the reading and phonics program in my little Arizona school for the entire first grade before Christmas. To this day though, I am clumsy with scissors, paste, and all the “kindergarten skills” and I spent the rest of my school career smaller, weaker, and less coordinated than everyone in my class. 

This probably all worked out in the end; sure, I couldn’t play sports, but to avoid bullies and getting picked on, I got funny, and that’s worked out pretty well for me. But in those days when I would play a sport such as baseball, the opposing team would step a little closer, the coaches would advise me to take the walk; I was not as good as my peers, so allowances were made for my performance.

That is exactly how I looked at “Star Trek: Enterprise” for years. It was only four seasons, while its powerhouse predecessors all had seven. It wasn’t set in a utopian far future, but rather not too far from now meaning more modern and vernacular language. The science seemed a little spurious, with writers seeming to think the term “Rigel” was just some made-up word from older Trek series rather than older Trek series using actual star names for locations. The knowledge of Trek seemed a little lacking as well, with the first episode citing “Klingon Warbirds” and basing the hero ship on a design introduced in a then recent movie…that was set 200 years later. 

I watched though, as we were coming off of there being CONSTANT Trek on television for the previous 15 years, and this was what we had.

I groused then, a lot. The lack of continuity, the trivia gaffes, the over-sexualization of women characters (ok, that WAS more than a bit overdone, and I still grouse that point).

The theme song. Oh my lord, the theme song.

But eventually, this show won me over, almost in spite of itself. Then there was a major shift in tone for the third season, and it got to be pretty solid, and the FOURTH season was…STAR TREK! Like its predecessors, the show had taken some time to find its footing (c’mon, admit how uneven the first couple of seasons of TNG were), but had pulled itself together, and the show’s future looked bright in 2005!

And then there was a truly terrible last episode and ENT was cancelled and gone. 

Twenty years later, here I am, and though the absence of new Trek only lasted about four years—until JJ Abrams 2009 movie—I felt that absence keenly then. I am glad to report there has been Trek I really enjoy since then…and some marginal entries, but that’s not new either honestly. But with all this new material, I still find myself going back to revisit Archer and his crew. I’ve rewatched maybe two TNG episodes in the last 15 years. Maybe two or three Voyager episodes. But TOS, DS9, and ENT I hit regularly. Why does ENT keep forcing itself to the front of my Trek consciousness?

From the beginning, ENT suffered from some external pressures that weren’t helpful to its development. There was a tension between doing more of the same, successful formula Trek had been delivering since “Encounter at Farpoint” (the TNG pilot episode from 1987) and doing something experimental and new. Viewer fatigue was setting in a bit, but fans were vociferous in what THEY thought Trek meant. Anything that strayed too far would take a beating on the internet message boards. 

DS9 had just finished off their wartime storyline, and though there were adamant Niners, it was only just beginning to truly find its audience with the advent of home video allowing one to actually watch the whole thing. Meanwhile, the less arc-oriented VOY had added the character Seven. There had been a ratings increase, which the producers took to mean any new show needed an attractive woman in a catsuit. Remember also, we were in the midst of the Star Wars Prequel trilogy, so going BACK to a time when the story could be a little looser was floating in the zeitgeist. 

But it was also 2001, and though the visual continuity of the then modern Treks had maintained a history inclusive and accepting of TOS, putting a starship on screen that would look like a century’s LESS development than Matt Jefferies’ design from the mid-1960s was going to be problematic. 

I don’t know this is true, but I also suspect that since the previous shows had a British man, a Black man, and a Woman as captains, someone in Production wanted to make sure there was a white, American man back in the center seat. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s my gut.

So all of this goes into the show, and honestly it kicks off as a bit of a hot mess. So much seems to be playing it safe. Some fairly cliched storylines that occasionally try something a little new. A few things it does try new are not quite there: That aforementioned over-sexualization of the women in the crew*. Cringy comments about relations with aliens. Archer watching water polo.

There are a lot of forgettable episodes, contradictions. And yet, I kept watching. Yeah, I was on message boards complaining about the tech looking too advanced. I’d gripe about how un-Vulcan the Vulcans seemed. I’d gripe about every violation of what I accepted as canon, that was often really just things the fandom had settled on in the 70s and had no basis on the show. And I was just a complete tool online when the first cloaking device showed up. 

And the theme song, oh my lord, the theme song.

But I kept watching. And before I knew it, I started to appreciate something about this show. I had to make a choice between griping that this modern show that I was actually enjoying didn’t adhere to a single line of dialog written (then) 40 years before for a show that wasn’t expected to last a year. I, a staunch Trek gatekeeper, was having an awakening about continuity and canon, and I had to figure out why. Finally it hit me. 

These characters, these performers, they were more than they should be. These characters were making me love them, even when the stories were mediocre or cliche or counter to what I believed was canon. 

Take Jonathan Archer, played with almost megaton-levels of earnestness by Scott Bakula. Archer’s earnest, do-gooder nature is so extreme…you know how a show like “Family Guy,” does a joke, and it’s ok, and then it keeps going way too long, and you get sick of it. And then it keeps going still, and somehow, this only kinda-funny joke goes so long or so far that it actually manages to somehow loop back around to being not just funny, but hilarious. That’s Archer’s earnestness, his naiveté.  His “oh gosh” nature is interesting and fun compared to Kirk’s bravado. Then, after he oh goshes his way into losing ANOTHER fight, he’s simply grating. THEN you start to think he’s just devastatingly boring. But if you keep watching, then it comes around to this unironic serving of safe-guy that doesn’t blink in how GOLLY he is as a hero and you smile when he all but winks at the camera. And then, in later seasons when he’s faced with some pretty devastating moral dilemmas, you FEEL it!

T’Pol, played by Jolene Blalock: she’s so attractive it almost hurts to look at her, but you realize soon after that while she somehow seems to keep ending up getting rubbed down in decon Jolene is BRINGING the performance. That her delivery, her tone; the micro-expressions which betray her stoic facade for the Vulcan emotions at a full boil underneath…you buy it. You realize her performance is wonderful, and she’s one of the best Vulcans in the entire franchise.

Connor Trinneer as the character I recently described as “Florida Man in Space,” Trip Tucker. He’s a walking cliche, his accent making “warp-field plasma conduits” sound like something you’d serve up with sweet tea and grits. He’s got Himbo energy that rivals the output of his anti-matter reactor, and still it works. His “I don’t really know much about anything, but I’m willing to learn…oh God I’m pregnant” (actual episode) speaks so beautifully to humans DISCOVERING things for the first time, screwing it up, but learning from their mistakes and going back for more! 

I could easily go on about Travis Mayweather, the kid who grew up in space and is both completely knowledgeable and blissfully ignorant of anything that goes on out there. Malcolm Reed, the British tactical officer who if his upper lip was any stiffer, he could use it as a weapon. Hoshi Sato who starts out completely out of her depth, and ends up loving it all. Dr. Phlox, your over-friendly, polyamorous uncle who brandishes optimism like a flame thrower and plays with eels. 

They are all just…TOO. Too this, too that, and in doing so, somehow all circle back to being absolutely perfect. Because as flawed as ENT is in its storytelling at times, and how mired it is in attitudes before #metoo, the IDEA of the show is a great one: How does humanity get from the mess we are now to the icons of TOS or TNG? Enterprise shows us it wasn’t a switch, but a road.  A long road, getting from there to here.

Yes, even the damn theme song, hokey and way too on the nose is EXACTLY RIGHT for what this show means.  

Somewhere along the line, we all knew we had to move in a little closer when ENT comes up to bat, but we all started wishing, hoping, that maybe it would get a home run.

And sometimes, just sometimes, these characters that are great in spite of themselves, and this design, that’s too good for what it should be**, and this show that’s just not on the level of its predecessors does exactly that and knocks one into the stands. Suddenly it’s season four, and Enterprise manages to sum up the humanity Star Trek has been serving up since 1966 better than any show before or since:

Vulcan Ambassador Soval: We don't know what to do about Humans. Of all the species we've made contact with, yours is the only one we can't define. You have the arrogance of Andorians, the stubborn pride of Tellarites. One moment, you're as driven by your emotions as Klingons, and the next, you confound us by suddenly embracing logic.

Admiral Maxwell Forrest: I'm sure those qualities are found in every species.

Vulcan Ambassador Soval: Not in such confusing abundance.

We’re not perfect, we’re not utopian, but we are AMAZING when we give ourselves the chance, and for me, Enterprise takes that idea and runs with it. It often swings and misses, but when it connects, we can smile and clap and let it take its run around the bases, because it makes us feel good. And if it weren’t for Enterprise teaching me how these lessons, these characters are more important that visual continuity or strict adherence to arcane canon, I wouldn’t have accepted the Kelvin timeline. The DISCO Klingons. The Strange New Worlds uniforms, sets, and character interpretations. Because as much as I love what Star Trek means, all of that deeper meaning is nothing if it isn’t entertaining. And Enterprise taught me how important that was. 

I could go on about how much better the show got when Berman and Braga took a back seat to Manny Coto, though there are certainly strong arguments that he got a little too fan-servicey. But in the end, the point is CBS took over and closed down Enterprise just as it found its footing. I hope the wave of nostalgia we’re seeing applied (perhaps TOO applied in shows like “Picard”) to modern Trek means we get more than a passing Lower Decks reference to the show. And if not, well, I’ve got my copies, and my fan fic, and my Tumblr memes. 

Most importantly though, I’ve got (I’ve got, I’ve got) Faith of the Heart.

*I will give the show credit at least that it was pretty willing to flaunt shirtless men as well, and biceps-a-plenty. 

**In regard to things looking more advanced, I will give credit to Brannon Braga for dropping a hint in an interview at the end of season 1 that the Enterprise-E coming back in “First Contact” had subtly altered the timeline, making things a little more advanced. Fans—and I regret to include myself—railed against that online, and it wasn’t really mentioned again. Recently, Strange New Worlds has revisited and canonized the idea that the timeline, even though it is the Prime timeline, DOES go through shifts and changes due to temporal incursions, evidenced wonderfully in the episode “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” when a Romulan time traveler admits to altering time so the rise of Khan happens not at the 1992 date that Spock gave us in the original series “Space Seed” to now to him still being a child 30 years later. It’s in-story shorthand for the fact that when a show goes for six decades some continuity has to change and THAT IS OK. I wasn’t ready to accept it then, but am glad it’s now part of Trek. 

[unhappycylinder]

Gonna Be Trouble (Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x F!Reader) Part 1

Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x Female Reader

Word Count: 3049

Warnings: none really, just some anxiety about school ig (reader is in college), flirty hangman, awkward reader, fluff and flirting to a concerningly self-indulgent point

Summary: Y/n goes back to her hometown airshow to escape the stress of school for a weekend and reconnect with her childhood passion. Hangman just happens to be a demo pilot at this same air show and falls for y/n instantly. Part 1 of idk how many but this will be ongoing and will move beyond the airshow pretty quickly. Strangers to lovers arc. Hangman is a sucker for a smart woman what can I say...

Part 2 Part 3

The sun was just setting under the desert horizon and you still had an hour and a half before you were back in Las Vegas. You had moved away to go to college three years ago and were looking for literally any excuse to escape the hell-hole that was university and reconnect with yourself. Years of books, essays, exams, and frat parties had taken their toll on you and your health (and your liver but we don’t have to unpack that yet because you literally turned 21 a month ago). 

Anyway…even though planes weren’t your main thing anymore, you still loved them. Everyone has a soft spot for their childhood obsession. Most kids loved dinosaurs or the Titanic or horses, but not you, no…the American military’s aviation department really tickled your fancy when you were in elementary school. You even wanted to be a pilot for a while, contemplated joining the Navy and everything, but your family’s academic goals put a stop to that pretty quickly.

There was a quaint hotel within a few miles of base that you opted for instead, deciding to take the shuttle to and from the air show each day.

As your music played quietly over the car radio you finally got some time alone with your thoughts. Time to unpack all the crazy shit that had happened to you since college started, and time to think about what was next for you after you graduated next year. You decided that you were going to focus on yourself this weekend and nobody else. You’d silence your phone, try not to take pictures and post much on Instagram, and for the love of God you’d leave your barren dating apps alone cause lord knows nothing was gonna happen there. 

“Love Me Tonight” came on the radio and you turned up the volume, swaying to one of your favorite songs as you passed the final mountain and saw Las Vegas in the distance, sighing in relief that your 15 hour day had finally come to an end.

–The Next Morning–

You only heard two gunshots outside your hotel last night, which to be fair was pretty chill for a night in Vegas, and the sunrise indicated that it was time for you to start getting ready for your day on base. You wanted to beat the crowd so you could have time to check out all the static displays before trying to find a seat in front of the runway.

Throwing on an outfit of leggings and a tight black long-sleeve with a denim bomber jacket on top, you finished getting ready before leaving your hotel room.

Hopping on the shuttle, you realized the only open seat was next to a man in his 70s wearing a Vietnam War Veteran ball cap who was blankly staring out the window with a slight frown on his face.

“Excuse me sir,” you said, “can I sit here?”

He perked up almost instantly and shuffled lightly towards the window, patting the seat gently and smiling up at you.

“Of course honey, it’d be a pleasure”

“Are you here with your family, or is it just you today?” You asked, leaning in to make sure he heard you

“Just me I’m afraid. My grandkids all live out of state and well my wife passed not too long ago. It’s just me now, and I haven’t missed one of these shows in years” he nodded

You smiled at him and nodded, “Me too. I used to come every year as a kid and this is my first time back since starting college”

“Oh how wonderful! What do you study?”

You and the old man chatted for what felt like half an hour but was really only the 10 minute ride to base. His name was Hank and he served two tours of Vietnam when he was 19. He met his wife, Marlee, a couple months after the war at an air show in California where he was promoting a veterans organization and they were married for forty-five years. He asked you about college, family, your interest in planes, and complimented you any chance he got. When the bus parked he struggled to get up, pulling out a cane from in between the seats and trying his best to wiggle his way out of the bus until you grabbed ahold of his other arm and helped him off the vehicle and through the air show gates.

“You know y/n you remind me an awful lot of my wife when I first met her. She looked just like you…” he paused, studying your face, “did her hair the same way, talked the same way you do”

“Aw thank you Hank that’s really kind,” you brought your hand to your chest and smiled at him, he beamed back.

“You know I hope you get to experience a life like me and my Marlee did, I just know it’ll happen for you”

You thanked him again and smiled, it was a sweet thing for him to say and you didn’t have the heart to tell him your only romantic endeavors thus far had been one-night-stands off of bumble. He smiled once again and shook your hand, hobbling off with his cane towards a C-5 parked right in front of the gate.

“And y/n,” he said while walking away, “enjoy the air show”

–

A-10s, F-15s, F-16s, F-35s, a B-1, and so many more aircraft that defined your childhood lined the runway along with the frequent hot dog and pretzel vendors. You wandered past each plane, circling them to check out their engines and empennages, taking special note of all the specs and features you used to obsess over as a kid. 

“Any questions over here ma’am?” a tall brunette in camo and aviators asked you from beneath the wing of the A-10.

“Oh god, I don’t think so. This was my favorite plane as a kid and I’m just kinda reminiscing about it now,” you responded, squinting from the sun which was over the plane right now

“She’s my favorite too, I mean I’d hope she was cause I fly her, but y’a know”

“What’s it like to fly ‘em?”

“Magnificent ma’am, truly indescribable,” he said while walking closer to you

“I’ll ask you a question about them then if they were your favorite as a kid, how’s that sound ma’am?” He asked, you laughed

“Jeez okay go ahead, hit me with it”

“Alright, how many pounds-” he was cut off by a little kid running up and playing with the ‘remove before flight’ tags on the aircraft

“Excuse me miss” he said in a hurry as he ran to the child and politely but sternly asked him to stop fiddling with the aircraft. You chuckled and shook your head as you walked quickly behind the plane.

It was then that your eye was caught by the most magnificent thing you had ever seen in your entire life. You must have skipped over this part in the brochure online, because nothing would have enticed you more than the U.S. Navy’s very own F/A-18 Super Hornet. If the A-10 was your favorite plane as a kid, the F/A-18 might as well have been the reason you considered a career in the military or pursued anything aviation related at all. This plane was your absolute dream, and you had zero clue one was going to be here.

Completely forgetting your trivia game with the A-10 pilot, you practically ran over to the jet, shedding your jacket in the process. It was still early in the day and this bird was the last display on the lot, so nobody else was in sight. You dropped your jacket to the ground as you approached the jet, scanning every single inch of it, especially the name painted on the side below the cockpit:

Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin 

Your eyes were wide as you walked the length of the wing, hovering your hand over the grey metal, being afraid to touch it and damage it. As you got behind the wing however you noticed the beautiful dark blue Navy logo and simply couldn’t resist reaching out to trace your fingers along the gold ribboning which encircled the logo. Just as you made contact with the jet a voice erupted from behind you, making you jump.

“Scuse me ma’am,” it was said in the most delectable Southern drawl you’d ever heard

“Jesus Christ!” You yelled, turning around and immediately shrinking into yourself.

Standing before you was God’s very own favorite creation…literally the most beautiful man you had ever seen. He was in a dark green flight suit and aviators with his dark blonde hair slicked back from a side part. He twirled a toothpick in his mouth, which was twitched into a seductive smile as he peered down at you.

“Sorry,” you struggled to get out, turning red in the face, “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking,” you turned back towards the wing and started walking to pick up your jacket from the nasty ground. A strong hand grabbed a hold of your upper arm before you could take more than a step.

“Darlin’ it's okay, sorry I startled you, didn’t realize you didn’t see me coming up behind you”

He pulled you back in front of him and kept his hand gently on your shoulder, you almost combusted from his touch.

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to yell, or to touch the jet, I seriously don’t know what got into me. I mean I just watched a kid get yelled at for doing basically the same thing and now here I am, a grown woman, doing the same exact thing, feeling up the aircraft.” You rambled and he just smiled, letting out a little chuckle here and there, “I don’t mean feeling it up, not like that. Sorry. I mean touching it. I shouldn’t touch government property, that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen…”

“I’m gonna cut you off now darlin’,” he interjected while rubbing your shoulder, “no need to apologize for feeling up my jet, I get it, I feel her up all the time” he winced at his comment.

“...your jet. You’re the pilot?”

“I’d hope so, last I checked that was my name up there on her cockpit”

You both glanced up to the name then down to his name patch on his suit…they did indeed match.

“Lieutenant Jake Seresin ma’am, callsign Hangman,” he removed his hand from your shoulder and held it out for you to shake it

“Y/n Y/l/n” you responded, placing your smaller hand in his and giving it a firm shake. He glanced down at your hands as you shook them.

“You got a strong handshake there miss y/l/n, you sure you’re not in the military?”

You chuckled, “no sir, thought about it, but no. I guess I just have big hands?”

You held your hands up in front of you and wiggled your fingers, making Jake laugh. 

“C’mere,” Jake said as he stepped towards the jet where you had been looking earlier, motioning for you to follow.

“She’s an F/A-18E Super Hornet, but we like to call them-”

“The Rhino,” you cut him off, looking up at him with wide eyes

“So you’re a plane nerd, huh?” Jake asked, leaning against the fuselage of his jet

“Sorry. I used to be. These were my dream plane, I always wanted to fly them”

“You can touch it,” Jake smiled at you, you were still standing a good 2 feet from the jet, afraid to get any closer.

“No really it's okay, I don’t need to-”

“Come here,” Jake grabbed your right hand and pulled you towards him as he rested against the plane. You two stood there face to face for a second, inches from each other, hands interlocked, before Jake stood behind you and lifted your hands to touch the Navy logo together. His large calloused hand rested on top of yours as he guided your hands in a circle around the logo, his chest bumping into your back when you had to reach a little farther to touch the top of it.

“It’s a beautiful jet lieutenant” you said as you touched the plane, you felt his breath hitch when you said that last word. You looked over your shoulder to face him, his face inches from yours, his eyes more visible now through his sunglasses.

“You sticking around for the whole day?” He asked, removing his hand from yours and resting it against the jet so you were between him and the jet, enclosed by his arm.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here both days all day” you said, looking up at him, blushing beyond belief. How you were functioning right now was beyond you.

“Good. I’m gonna be taking her up in a few hours and I’d love for you to watch me. Maybe after I land we could go out for a drink,” he smirked, twirling the toothpick with his tongue to the other side of his mouth. God this man was doing unspeakable things to you.

“Are you asking me on a date?” You said with absolute disbelief, chuckling as if it was a joke. No part of you could believe that an actual in-person man was asking you out for the first time, and it was even more unfathomable that that man was the sexiest fighter pilot in the entire U.S. Navy.

“I suppose I am miss y/l/n, if you’d have me,” he said, his confidence wavering the slightest bit after your response.

“I can’t believe it. There’s no way! Look at you!” You gestured up and down to him

“Look at me? Darlin’ you must not have a mirror cause all I’m seeing in front of me is pure beauty. You’re gorgeous sweetheart, and damn smart too” Jake brought his hand off the plane to fix a stray hair that had stuck to your lip gloss, tucking it behind your ear.

“I-” you began but you couldn’t seem to form the words, “Yeah, yes. You’re perfect. Drinks after you fly, I’ll be there.” That was apparently the most coherent thing you could come up with.

Jake smiled a million dollar smile and took his sunglasses off his face, resting them on the zipper of his suit. His eyes were a gorgeous light green and they creased at the sides when he smiled, making you absolutely melt. He bent down until his mouth was right next to your ear, his warm breath sending chills down your neck.

“I’m looking forward to it Y/n,” he practically growled, “meet me back here after the demo,” he planted a soft kiss on your cheekbone as he pulled his head back, winking at you once you finally got the courage to make eye contact with him.

All you could do was smile and nod as Jake walked away and returned with your jacket,

“Don’t want you forgetting this darlin’, gotta stay warm, don’t want you catching a cold before our date,” he beamed.

You smiled up at him as you took your jacket, intentionally running your hand down his as you took the fabric, making his eyes widen and stare deeper into yours.

“You’re gonna be trouble for me, I can already tell,” he smirked and spun on his heels, walking over to a family approaching the nose of the aircraft. You stood behind the wing clasping your jacket in front of you, too shocked to move or think.

“What the actual fuck,” you whispered as you shook your head and started walking towards the stratotanker to the left of the jet. You fixed your hair as you walked, fiddling with the strands to alleviate your anxiety about whatever just occurred. Jake focused on the way your ass moved under those leggings as you walked away from his jet, completely ignoring the kid in front of him asking him a gazillion questions about his plane. He was right, you were definitely going to be trouble for him.

----

This is just part 1!! Let me know what y’all think. This is my first time posting a fic to tumblr so pls drop suggestions below!! Part 2 coming soon

[titoist]

i attribute the unusual style of the below writing to my tiredness & a sense of compulsion

~12:30pm. it is sufficiently hot outside in relative to the cold flowing from my A/C that, when the window is timidly cracked open, the air feels like it begins pushing inwards like a torrent -- an invasion of aggressive warmth that crawls along the walls before spreading in all directions. it almost feels like the A/C, blowing below & behind me, is counteracted by a separate mechanism blowing opposite of it. the heat feels industrial & direct. it was the warmth of placing one's hand a cautious distance above the stove, close enough to feel heat but not enough to be burnt. for those few seconds when the window was cracked open, i felt it cover my entire upper body.

something about the heat inexplicably reminded me of the walk home from my first day of high school. at the very least, it reminded me of the mental timbre of said memory. i don't exactly know why, and there was no preceding thought which served to introduce the memory or acclimate it or anything. it simply appeared, & i felt that it was summoned by the heat.

my first day of high-school went like this:

my elementary & middle-school experience was defined by long, long periods of absence pockmarked with brief streaks of attendance & grading by teachers who seemed uncomfortable in my presence, which i went through with a kind of nervous, quiet hyperarousal. it was during this period that i acquired my habit of speedwalking to reduce the chances of possibly being confronted, approached, or scolded. i had not yet developed a conceptual framework for living, as life until this point -- and for long after -- would be iterations of a central, subjective, intuitive escapism through internet usage. this is probably true for many people. but for me, it feels fundamental. it feels like the seed that the rest of my being has sprouted from. because of this, i did not have very good grades. personally, i would say that i achieved exceptional grades in sheer relative to the total lack of studying i had cumulatively done throughout my first 15 years, or the lack of formal education i had really been put through. but regardless, on the whole, they weren't very good. that being said, they were good enough for me to be accepted to a gymnasium an entire town over -- 17 miles from my city.

aside from being my first day of high school, it was also my first day doing any notable amount of traveling -- or even, really, just standalone exploration & activity -- without supervision. i remember watching the fields & hills from the second-floor of my bus. but i don't remember feeling much about it. this was still when i was a kind of fleshy vessel that had yet to develop many real opinions, perspectives, or beliefs. or, at the very least, if i held some embryonic perspectives, i felt comparatively empty.

the gymnasium weren't really as notable to me as the feeling i got from the gymnasium, refracted through my memory into a dense, thick sweetness, which i will now attempt to recount. it was profoundly strange & foreign -- i felt an at-homeliness. i didn't recognize that i felt at home, and i rationalized my feelings toward it as recognition of a kind of quaint novelty. the entire town struck me as a living organism. warmth permeated through the walls. the morning sun bore down through the ceiling-windows of the gymnasium's main hall and made everything shine. this was a place in which i could very conceivably imagine myself being alive. for the first time in a very long time, i felt awake. i don't know what it was. it was like, for a brief moment, life had opened up & shown all it's colors. i was in love with everything. utterly safe & content

this feeling of awakeness & possibility percolated in me. it drove me crazy. next to my home, there's this large, towering rusted railway bridge which i had previously only viewed with a kind of cautious fear. when i was walked home, i was gripped by this spontaneous desire, need, to run across it. my fearful laughter reverberated in tandem with my footsteps on rusted steel. & it made me laugh harder.

when i got home, walking through a little narrow path behind the local homeworking store with overgrown flora on both sides, i typed out a message to someone that i truly think did not amount to much more than just "finished my first day". i existed & listened to the song Bug Art by Sweet Joey Vermouth for around 30 minutes.

7 days later, on the 8th of september, the world would end. after that, i never attended the gymnasium again. but the world hadn't ended yet, so i slept.

the heat reminded me of this -- at the very least, it reminded me of the idea of it. the air smelled so nice & it made me feel so comfortable to be stuck between two natural forces.