#my mom and dad are both retired librarians

[bisexualbaker]

Please note that they probably cannot accept gifts, since libraries are public/government institutions and it would (IIRC) qualify legally as a bribe or something, so things like gift cards and cupcakes for the staff are almost certainly out. Written cards and nice messages are definitely a-okay, though.

Lovely people of tumblr, if I may speak with my librarian hat* on for a moment:

If you are in the US, you may be aware that librarians are Going Through It because some malicious people believe in fascism and have decided to make that our problem. Whether you are in the US or not, there is something you can do to help your local librarians out:**

Say something nice to us.

You can post on social media and tag your library, you can find the library��s main phone number and call, you can go in person, you can send a card (we display cards in our break room)! I guarantee you that you will make the day of the person you talk to, we will immediately go tell all our colleagues how lovely you were, and you will help us live to love and fight another day.

*it is a fetching piece of millinery in purple silk

**I propose we make this an international group project. Whether your librarians are going through it or not, we all appreciate a kind word.

[dollywheeler]

October 23th, 1996

Dear diary,

Let’s see - the last few days have kind of been a blur.

I don’t think I did anything particularly interesting, just following my routine - same old same old. I had to spend all of Sunday catching up on my homework, so nothing special happened there. Mike let me take his old guitar home, though, and the reading for English class is going a lot better now I can alternate chapters of Walden with a moment of playing music. My Oasis tape has been running non-stop.

Cheer practice is going fine - the routines are a bit easier now so I’m having less trouble. I try to practice the harder ones as often as possible, but I still haven’t found a solution for practicing the jumps on my own.

Oh! I almost forgot - On Sunday, I watched Dracula! Danny recommended it and I wanted to watch something while finishing my homework. It was too good - I had to pause it and rush to finish my homework so I could watch it properly; This is exactly why I usually play something I’ve already seen.

I wish we could have watched it together though, but we’ve both been so busy we’ve barely had the chance to spend time together. Whenever he doesn’t have basketbal practice, I have cheer or babysitting, or he has to work at the diner. Mrs. Benson is doing a lot better, at least, so I don’t have to go over as often. Danny joins us for lunch most days, though, and I try to come to the diner as much as possible - it’s nice, just being able to talk to him, even if it’s in snippets between him serving the other customers. Christy doesn’t seem to mind it too much, either, as long as Danny doesn’t leave anyone waiting for too long.

Still, I hope we can go on an actual date again soon.

Mom already hinted at having him over for dinner and I’m… Not sure how to feel about that.

I mean, Danny’s great and I’m sure Dad will like him - I already know mom does because she can’t stop raving about our homecoming pictures. She went to pick them up from the developer on Monday and though I do look terrible in a lot of them, there’s some really cool pictures as well - ANYWAY, what I was trying to say (write? Whatever) was that it feels weird to have him over for dinner with the family.

I was too young to remember the first time Jonathan joined us for dinner - if he ever did before they both went off to college - so it’s not like I can look to my older sister for an example.

Lord knows Mike never brought a girl home.

What I’m trying to say is - I have no idea how Mom and Dad are gong to act. Especially dad - there’s a big enough gap between me and Nancy that I’m sure dad is going to have to get used to his daughter dating all over again.

I might call Nancy and ask for advice - if she has the time, of course. She’s so busy lately running all over the place. When I called on Saturday she said they’d be coming back to the US on Tuesday, but it wouldn’t be the first time their stay got extended. I’ll probably just wait on her to call over the weekend, just in case.

I don’t know what else to write about really, but I’m at the diner and a table in the back is staring at me. I don’t know why - I know their faces but not their names. Pretty sure one used to be the school’s librarian before he retired a few years ago. I see him and the woman he’s talking to around town sometimes, walking dogs, or here at the diner drinking coffee and gossiping as they are now. Most residents always follow everything going on around them, and I’m sure they recognise me in turn from seeing me around one too many times, but today I swear they’ve been looking at me specifically for way too long.

So, I took out my diary and started writing so it seems like I’m not bothered and can’t hear what they’re saying.

It’s strangely unsettling. I don’t know - they seem judgemental, and I feel judged, though for the life of me I can’t figure out why. I’m not doing anything different. I don’t look anything different - I’m not wearing anything special. Sure, I’ve been talking to Danny a lot because it’s so calm today, but it’s not like we’re being particularly loud.

Pretty sure I just heard them say “the Byers kid” - which is strange, because a, I’m not a Byers, and b, I’m not my brother - hell, we don’t even look alike.

I didn’t even realise they knew who I was, let alone who my brother’s friends are. Anyway, it’s weird how hung-up they are about Mike and Will’s return to Hawkins - I mean, it’s been more than two months, and they were only gone for - what? Seven? Ish? Years? I don’t even know.

I guess that’s the one downfall from living in a small town.

Most of the time it’s an advantage - like havig to go to the post office during the summer and getting to chat with Dylan while she works, or feeling completely at home in a diner because you know every face there. It’s nice knowing your neighbours and your neighbour’s neighbours in turn.

Like last week, with Mrs. Benson, I heard soooo many stories about the people around town. And sure, it’s gossip which isn’t always nice, but more often than not it’s just keeping everyone updated. It’s how we all show we care - how else would Mom know who’s in desperate need of a casserole or a plate of cookies?

That sounds like a hyperbole or whatever - Mike would probably know the perfect term - but it’s more relevant than one might think.

Plenty people don’t know to ask for help - like Mrs. Benson - and they’re just waiting on people to offer it.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from mom, is that more often than not overbearing is just bearing enough.

Anyway, Daniel and his mom are new to town too, but no one’s talking about that anymore either. Now I think about it, it is weird that people seem more hung-up about them than Danny. I mean, Danny and his mom are total outsiders - even if they only came from a few towns over - but at least Mike and Will are known strangers. They came back, which isn’t unheard of.

Mr. Howard, our PE teacher, for example, moved back in his thirties to take care of his ailing father. His father is still kicking around, by the by, even though he’s been back for almost twenty years now. Anyway, even though he’d been gone for seventeen years, everyone acted like he’d simply never left.

Max’ mom, on the other hand, still often gets reminded that she’s not from here, though it’s less obvious because the residents of the trailer park are used to people coming and going more than Suburbians, and also because she at least was here for ’86.

Now I think about it, it’s bothering me more and more.

I’ve always felt like I’m missing something - it’s often clear mom and Mike are talking around me - but I always just assumed it’s them being weird about Mike’s degree. That’s the one thing dad brings up sometimes when it’s about Mike, right before mom sends him a warning glare with pointed eyes at me. I don’t know - I get dad wanted us to do something practical, or at least, Mike, because dad has plenty of opinions on Nancy’s career as well. But he’s from a previous time, and honestly why Nancy wants to work so bad, I don’t understand.

Anyway, this took a turn.

I really keep getting carried away with these things.

The people are still there, but they seemed to have moved on conversationally, and it’s about time I head home anyway. I’m just going to say goodbye to Daniel and get going so I’m back in time for dinner.

Love, Holly

[inkednotebook]

Thank you @kaylinalexanderbooks and @willtheweaver for the tags!

Rules: answer the prompts for an OC

Tagging @meerawrites, @illarian-rambling, @mjparkerwriting, @bardic-tales, and @peachesandghosts

From my WIP Icing Waved Off

Full name: Theodore Alexander Wilson

Age: 24

Gender: Cis male

Species: Human

Appearance: Pale skin with pink undertones, no birthmarks or freckles, really. Short, chocolate-brown hair, often swept back; faded shave around the ears and nape of the neck; longest pieces touch the top of his ear. Hazel-coloured, slightly downturned eyes. Angular features (nose, cheeks, and jaw). 6'1" or about 185cm. Broad shoulders, boxy-shaped torso. Strong, muscular legs (especially thighs).

Occupation: Pro/NHL hockey player

Family members: Isn't super close with them, in part because he lives relatively far away for his career. As such, I haven't fully developed these characters yet. His dad, Greg Wilson, is a cop. He was pretty hard on Teddy and his brother growing up, but it's because he wanted them to succeed and wanted them to work hard (though he could've done a better job at showing them love). He has some pretty traditional gender views (e.g., "man" of the house, heteronormative but not necessarily homophobic). Teddy's mom, Libby Wilson, is an elementary school librarian. She's much softer than Greg, but never really spoke up if/when Greg was being hard on the boys growing up. Teddy's brother Nicholas is a few years older and is doing his PhD in psychology and has a habit of psychoanalyzing people and situations rather than listening. He's engaged to his fiance Kylee.

Teddy's extended family is spread out across New Brunswick and eastern Ontario (Canada). On his dad's side, he has an aunt and uncle who live in Moncton, NB, and a "dickhead uncle" (as James calls him) who lives in Fredericton, NB with his grandparents. He has cousins in Ottawa, ON - his Moncton aunt and uncle's kids. On his mom's side, he has an aunt and uncle who live in Kingston, ON, and who have a couple kids a few years younger than him. He also has his grammie who lives in Kingston - she lives in a retirement community where she found "her new beau" (also according to James).

Best friends: James Parker

Pets: None. He never had any growing up because his brother's allergic to most animals and his parents didn't want any reptiles or anything. With his job being so hectic, he doesn't have the right lifestyle for a pet at the moment.

Describe their room: Mostly decorated by his fiance Eleanor. Large king-sized bed with pale blue sheets and teal, paisley-printed duvet. White bookcase near the window with novels, trinkets, and pictures. A small armchair next to the bookcase; black suede with a pale blue throw blanket and matching pillow. White dresser across from the end of the bed with jewellery boxes/displays atop. White bedside tables with books and magazines on top. A walk-in closet near the back corner, next to which is the entrance to the master bath.

Way of speaking: His voice is pretty even-toned most of the time. He uses a lot of sports slang in his speech. Hesitates and stumbles over words when anxious. Ontario accent.

Physical characteristics: Nothing I didn't already mention.

Items in their bag/purse: When they're on roadies, his carry-on usually has: a sleeping mask, a book, phone charger, his meds/vitamins, noise-cancelling headphones, a pack of playing cards, an extra sweater, a Sudoku book + pencil, lip balm, pack of gum, snacks (assorted nuts, granola bars, and maybe an apple or banana), and a water bottle.

Hobbies: Other than playing hockey, he enjoys reading (especially mystery novels), playing video games (not really open world/story-based ones, but ones like Mario Kart, Mario Party, NHL The Show, MLB The Show, and fun party/co-op games), watching Star Trek, watching baseball and sometimes football, and doing puzzles (both brain puzzles and physical puzzles).

Favourite sport: Hockey, duh.

Abilities/talents/powers: He's very athletic (again, duh). He's a great hockey player. He's a pretty fast reader. He's an okay cook. He's good at brain puzzles (like Sudoku).

Relationships: At the beginning of the book, he's engaged to his high school sweetheart Eleanor Montgomery. Their relationship is very much based on emotional co-dependency from when they were teens. They "...fell in love young" and "What do seventeen year olds know about love anyway?" (-El). Not a healthy relationship on either end. Teddy pushes down his feelings and hides parts of himself around her and he ignores his gut telling him something's wrong.

With his teammates, he's much more comfortable. He's open and free and goofy. He lets himself relax and even lets himself break down at times. He still pushes down his feelings when around others a lot, and he isn't good at vocalizing his feelings with certain people. He's closest with his teammates James, Marcus, and Mickey.

Fears: Failure. Disappointing loved ones. The unknown.

Faults: Oh boy, he has many. He's a flawed individual, especially at the beginning of the book. Kind of touched upon it, but he's not good with feelings. Or at least he has a habit of shoving down his actual feelings to please others. He can be selfish at times without realizing it. He sometimes turns to alcohol and cigarettes to cope with his thoughts.

Good points: He cares so deeply about people. He's a hard worker. He's a good listener. He's open-minded. He's witty/can make people laugh.

What they want more than anything else: To win the Stanley Cup. But also just be happy with who he is.

[richardsphere]

Leverage Redemption Log: The Bucket Job

Title makes me think "bucket list"? either that or Keeping Up Appearances? (had to google "that show with the bucket woman" to remember the name) --- bells are playing and there is a giant semi-hollow pipe-structure of a snowman outside the building we're in. Its Christmas Special Time.

Librarian is giving the children some classic reading recomendations based on his knowledge of their likes (the girl likes pirates, which is a nice little gender-stereotype breaking to sneak in there without drawing attention to the subversion. Love it when shows feel confident doing that without the need to detract by boasting about it.) Young Man used to get Sherlock Holmes.

And the librarian is having a heart-attack... --- Harry is calling his daughter. His daughter doesnt want to spend the holiday with him because Mom is going on vacation to some resort (I think Aspen is a resort town in the states?) Ok either he has a son as well as a daughter, i am misremembering him as having a daughter, The daughter might be trans, or Nick is short for Nikita/vero-Nic-a, or Nick is more gender-neutral as a name then i thought (wouldnt be the first time, i went years thinking Sam was exclusively a female name because the only "sam" i ever heard of was from Totaly Spies). I am not sure which is the case. (im gonna place money on its a shortened-nickname though) Ok Sophie confirms its a daughter.

Elliot has been cooking, Parker is taking the long-distance part of Long Distance Relationship a bit hard around the holidays.

Knock on the door: its Doyledude. He's asking for Elliot by full name (sus). --- Doyledude's gay and his dads a preacher who didn't aprove of "woke" books like Charlie and the chocolate factory. (Yes Christians are that bad. Source: My dad got a chainletter that refered to the antichrist as an "avatar" of satan once and "The last airbender" and the blue smurfs were both insta-banned from the household forever).

--- "I am totally fine with revenge it allows us a range of outcomes the mark deserves". good line.

"Guess theres a lot of maurice's out there" KNEW IT, the moment they named him "blanche" i suspected we were gonna be getting a Maurice Leblanc reference. (of course they'd go for Arsene Lupin in an episode about the importance of libraries)

Harry's "so do I" is a simple joke but it lands well. 8/10.

I think we found todays villain: Its the guy harassing a homeless man for using the library. (fuck that guy) Ok ominous cut of someone taking pictures of Elliot. --- Sophie is walking around the theatre loading 100 checkov's guns at once (confetti cannon, Parker is booking a helicopter, red sportscar, Harry has a cane)

Sophie does a speech about the team needing to remember that this is a good person.

Elliot has gotten some of his old budies to work stuntmen. Parker is asking the very crucial heart-attack related question. Our safeword is Winnebago (google says its a campervan? Honestly, if it werent for the whole "automobiles are deathmachines I dont trust myself with" angle, i'd like one.) --- Librarian dude takes one look at the red sportscar and just thinks "dafuq kinda spy are you?" before stealing a regular car like a sensible person on the run from crooks would.

So, clearly the guy is either a someone bad upbringing who brought himself around, or an actual retired spy himself, who reads those books primarily out of nostalgia.

Ok its misspent youth, also the way he casually tosses the phone out the window. Love this guy. --- Im gonna be honest, while i apreciate the consistency of parker still being the Christmas Monster, the way her characterisation has mellowed out to using store-brand santamugs after she was first introduce as off-the-wall enough to use priceless jewelry as garlands is weird to me.

Breanna carelessly dismisses an attack on their own firewalls and servers. Harry's moustache is bad but the eyepatch is worse. --- Four stars? Comeon man. (good improv)

Actual Goons are here! "take spencer" knew it! no way that Doyledude would know Spencers full name. Mr Blanche has stolen a sportsbike. --- Turns out yeah, he was a former spy. Its RIZ bitch (did we get a name? I dont remember) she's looking for "the ledger" (presumeably a list of secret identities. We're looking for a book kept by a librarian. Its in the library. Probably that book samurai book he's been reading regularly) Ok so this is definitly becoming a recurring thing with the way she first used Elliot to find which guys to hire and is now talking about making him an instructor. Is she the secret person he's been phone-ing that breanna was asking about this whole episode? (i thought it was the Supercop from Arlo) --- Blanche has a gun pointed at our heroes. PTSD in a bottle, cause thats a thing that exists now. Wilson is still holding old job secrets from them? Thats... weird. --- Wait, Elliots dad is alive? But I thought that the episode ending implied otherwise? (Might be me being bad at understanding the subtext of that scene, might be a retcon) --- Mr Blanche has already beaten all the guards in the time it took a drugged out Elliot to break a chair. (Pretend to be the new guy, classic "heavy object in a sock" prison-improv weapon. 8/10, guy knows what he's doing, but is also a bit rusty and forced into improv mode) --- Turns out, he didnt retire because he wanted to retire but because no one would believe the ledger was destroyed. Luckily floppy disks suck at long-term storage.

Harry is talking with his old boss, trying to be the angel on his shoulder while the boss is trying to be the devil on his. (still really odd that we went through the trouble of establishing our heroes broke in to find Harry's ledger of old sins and that we're now going the "Harry wont tell them his old sins" route.) --- Copperhead and Elliot are talking. Copperhead does not want to go out by cancer. (we're faking his death and assigning him to International arent we?) --- Confetticannons are a go-go! (they're meant to simulate pages being shot by guns)

Blanche got disarmed and shot with his own gun. (definitly a death-fake) --- Huh, RIZ-woman doesnt actually kill the guards who fail her objectives. She just blackmails them into following their NDA's. (profesional)

Yup it was in the big samurai book. (obviously) and he's getting the rental.

OK so Hardison sent the library boy. (explains why he knew Spencers name)

Ok So Elliots dad is alive just not around for the holidays ever.

[behanami]

hello❣️

hi everyone! i’m not actually new, but i’m happy to introduce this gal that is! this is carly, bejoomi and benayoung’s mun with the final addition to my wannabe trinity!! hana is, thankfully, quite different from both joomi and nayoung, so she should be fun. she’s about as shy as they get, but a very skilled ballerina and an absolute sweetheart. and a useless lesbian. she just floats around between being a dance major, additional dance lessons, and two jobs as a librarian and a florist! she doesn’t have any real authority at either of those jobs, though. she really just helps out. her cute lil profile is here, and her more detailed about is here, but i’ll ramble about her and put some plot ideas under the cut. of course, please like this if you’d like to plot with her, and i’ll slide into your dms (probably on joomi’s account so i can stay organized.) ok let’s go!

hana is an ‘03 liner and a pisces! dreamy dreamy gal

she was born in tokyo japan to a (retired) professional ballerina and translator (who translated for some pretty important people sometimes)

her mom retired as a ballerina due to heart complications. they were afraid giving birth would be too trying on her body, so they adopted their first kid (hana’s brother) and then hana was an accident

obviously her mom went through with giving birth to her but she unfortunately passed away because of  it

thankfully hana’s family didn’t resent her, and her dad instead saw her as the last remnants of his wife. which can sometimes be a problem tbh

she was put in ballet lessons asap to follow in her mother’s footsteps, and has been at ballet academies and dance lessons literally as long as she can remember

she was always way more interested in watching the girls dancing even when the other girls were freaking out about the potential to do dance duets with boys. gay ass

she didn’t Realize she was a lesbian until she got into online communities. she didn’t really have a ton of time and energy to socialize outside of ballet and school and was always very quiet so she had a much easier time making friends online

started in online ballet forums, got into kpop through girls there that liked it as well as some irl friends, eventually ended up on stan twitter and tumblr thanks to her really good english her dad taught her, considering he’s a translator

she also really got into poetry, and made a poetry blog, and she kinda figured out her sexuality by writing about it more than anything else. she also kinda kept her Poetry Presence separate from the rest of her online presence because u know, shy

she eventually fell Big in love with one of her kpoppie friends. this friend actually lived In korea and wanted to be a kpop idol so hana ended up daydreaming about moving to korea and debuting with her one day

she ended up so serious that she asked her dad if she could move to korea and enroll in sopa. she had a whole plan

they had a close family friend that lived in sk that agreed to house hana if she did move, and her dad never saw hana so passionate about anything in his life...so he let her go

he didn’t move with her due to work; he decided supporting his daughter’s dreams was more important than Being with his daughter, and sends her money regularly 

when she arrived, things did not go how she hoped. the girl she loved had a whole Life outside of her and they did not fall in love, in fact, they didn’t spend nearly as much time together as hana wanted at all. and hana is not assertive whatsoever, so she just kinda let it happen

she mainly just tries to keep busy now because she’s lowkey heartbroken but doesn’t want to dwell on being sad. she’s also trying to figure out if she actually wants to be a kpop idol By Herself now or not. she’s figuring out that the dream was way more to be with her friend than it was to debut

she’s not really unhappy though! just. figuring stuff out. 

PLOT IDEAS

hana has a youtube channel where she posts dance videos; mainly of choreo she learns from lessons, but some kpop dance covers too. this is an example of the stuff she does most often. it would be great to have people to collab with on her channel! contemporary dancers ideally. fans of the channel are great too. she would be so shy if anyone was her fan

onesided crushes? that kinda. seems like hana’s vibe. onesided crushes in either direction; boys having a crush on hana who is a lesbian, hana having crushes on girls that don’t return her feelings...

university friends? i don’t have where she goes to uni in mind rn to keep plotting open. she’s a dance major but will have other classes too obviously

dance friends! fellow dance majors, or dance students at the dance studio she takes additional lessons at

people that help her develop being an idol as her actual dream. people that are really passionate about kpop and becoming one themselves. she really admires people that have a lot of drive because she does not really

online friends! stan twt, tumblr, honestly we can probably make anything work, hana is all over the place

i think that’s all i’ve got i love brainstorming too so let’s do it!

[snufflet]

Stardust Reblog Challenge Masterlist

Back in august I decided to join in on the fun and love fest that is the stardust reblog challenge hosted by the lovly @natrace :)

Within this masterlist I will try and sort the fics by month I read them in and by fandom. Mostly you will find MCU fics in here with either Steve or Bucky as the main character, maybe even both. But I do also sometimes read other quite random stuff.

Show them some love and heed the warnings provided. If you are a minor please follow any 18+ plus warnings and just read something else.

september fics

MCU

Bucky x Reader

Kiss Me Like You Mean It (Biker!Bucky) by @angrythingstarlight

Wedding Plans by @angrythingstarlight

Birthday Debriefing (Birthday!Reader) by @drabblewithfrannybarnes

day one: fingers (Tattooartist!Bucky) by @buckycuddlebuddy

Hungry by @mollygetssherlockcoffee

Personal Sessions (MMA!Bucky) by @angrythingstarlight

Scar tissue by @fandoms-writings

Why do you care? by @black-mistress-of-evil

Pierced through and through (TFATWS!Bucky) by @angrythingstarlight

What makes a Woman by @motsdouxdejanie

With all my love by @summerofsnowflakes

Love at First Grade (Single Dad!Teacher!Bucky, Single Mom!CEO!Reader) by @buckysimp101 (Parts 19, 20, Epilogue and Deleted Scene 1 read as part of the challenge)

Everything the Light touches (mafia!Bucky) by @buckysimp101 (Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 read as part of the challenge)

Unnamed HC (baker!Bucky, biker!Bucky, mafia!Bucky) by @angrythingstarlight

Unnamed NSFW drabble (lumberjack!Bucky) by @angrythingstarlight

Unnamed Drabble (beefy lumberjack!Bucky) by @angrythingstarlight

Is it a crime (mob boss!Bucky, mob boss!Reader) by @crazyunsexycool (Part 3 read as part of the challenge)

Once upon a time (librarian!Bucky) by @navybrat817

Something Domestic (ex-military amputee!Bucky) by @fandoms-writings (Epilogue read as part of the challenge)

Steve x Reader

can't keep my hands to myself (Retired!dbf!Steve) by @christywantspizza

Happy Dirthday Doll (Birthday!Reader) by @secretswiftymarvelfan

The Cheerleader (dilf!Steve) by @kinanabinks

You got to my head (Pre-Serum!Steve; tall!Reader) by @barnesmurdock

Patch up (scientist!Reader) by @tooearlyforthis

Unnamed Drabble (mafia!Steve) by @angrythingstarlight

Breach of contract (Senator!Steve) by @imaginedreamwrite (Part 4 read as part of the challenge)

Unnamed Drabble (40s!Steve) by @sanguineterrain

Stucky x Reader

Unnamed Drabble by @becca-e-barnes

In a motel (dom!Steve, sub!Bucky) by @disasterofastory

Misc. fandoms

The Red Sea Diving Resort

Oh So Tempting (Ari Levinson x agent!Reader) by @justalonelyslytherin

TopGun

Falling in and out of love (Maverick x Reader) by @youlightmeupfinn (Part 8 read as part of the challenge)

Logan Lucky

The crash (Dayton White x Reader) by @fictional-affairs

The Fantastic Four (2005 film)

Unnamed Drabble (silverfox!Johnny Storm x Sugar baby) by @imaginedreamwrite

Another unnamed drabble (silverfox!Johnny Storm x Sugar baby) by @imaginedreamwrite

Once Upon a Time

Unnamed Drabble (sorcerer!Jefferson x familiar!Reader) by @imaginedreamwrite

october fics

november fics

december fics

[mayadoodles2]

the squad 💛

A few years ago I created these characters for my TMNT universe (except for Casey lol) and came across and old drawing of them the other day. I decided to redraw them and give them a proper description!

Molly Mahashewarren - 15 yrs

Dad is a lawyer. Mom works at a grocery store. Has a really strong relationship with her dad and brother. She has telekinesis (like April) and can summon a shield and other weapons. She can also fly. Her powers are strickly based on her emotions, which causes her emotional state to be unstable sometimes. Her powers are hereditary. Her entire family tree is full of people with powers and no one really knows where it started or came from. She moved to New York from New Jersey after her dad had to be transferred from his original job. Her dad doesn’t have powers. Her brother and her have the same mother, but not the same father. She’s a pacifist, but she’s not non-violent. She has a major crush on Casey. She believes even the worst people can change and gives everyone the benifit of the doubt. She’s super friendly, and cares about others more than herself. Secretly pansexual.

Ashley White - 17 yrs

Her parents are fashion designers. Her mother is toxic. Her father usually works abroad and is barley home. She’s hella rich and owns a limo. She bullies Molly. She’s captain of the cheerleading team. She’s dating Alex Fisher. She is treated like the most popular around but most secretly hate her. 2 other girls and her boyfriend follow her around whenever they aren’t in class. Their like some sort of rich gang that goes around bullying people and showing off how rich they are.

Chloe Reed - 16 yrs

Her dad is an accountant. Her mom is a chef. Super rich. Used to be on the cheerleading team with Ashley but was kicked off. Used to bully Molly but now they are friends. Used to follow Ashley around and be apart of the “rich gang” but they got into a fight. Dating Trevor Kei.

Trevor Kei - 16 yrs

Mom used to be an actor but quit once she had a child. Dad makes advertisements for products. Has an older sister in college. Dad is lowkey abusive. Mom is a sweetheart and spoils Trevor rotten. Dad hates that. Trevor is hella grateful. Pretty rich. Hes on the football team. He’s best friends with Casey. They’ve been freinds since childhood. They separated right before highschcool since Trevor was sent to military school by his dad after a ceartin prank incident with Casey an a racist librarian. Reunited in 10th grade. He’s bisexual and has a huge crush on Casey but has never told him. Casey has no idea.

Alex Fisher - 17 yrs

Mom used to be a fashion designer but retired. Dad is the mayor of the county. Captain of the football team. Both parents are toxic. Has a cat named snowball who he spoils rotten. Dosent realize his relationship with Ashley is toxic. Gets along with his butler like he’s a second dad. Super duper rich. Anger issues. Basically a bomb waiting to explode. Bullies Casey. Doesn’t actually like football but does it because his dad said so. Secretly is passionate about painting. Secretly pansexual.

Casey Jones - 16 yrs

Dad is the CEO of a company. Mom is a lawyer. Neither of them are home much. Sister looks up to him ALOT and does almost everything he does. He is really trying to convince her to be NOTHING like him. Can’t decide if he likes Molly or April. Is a little too flirty on both ends. Has TRASH grades but somehow is making it through. Hides his depression with humor. Missed Trevor like hell when he left. Tells Trevor litteraly everything, even about the turtles. Kind of dense. Straight as a board.

[zwantstobe]

I was looking through my notes and found some things I wrote about my classes from the first semester of senior year. I wish I wrote more. But I’m glad I wrote it down, to preserve these memories. Who knew the world could suddenly change?

Note: I’m shortening/abbreviating some names and giving nicknames to preserve their identities.

My brother and I are always running to the bus. There’s only one day where I was able to walk calmly to the bus stop. Sometimes when we’re late my mom or dad or grandma drops us to the stop. It’s dark outside (or light, depending on before daylight savings or after), and the neighborhood is all quiet unless there’s people leaving for work. I get so tired and fatigued. I can’t run the whole journey, I need to walk. I pray that we’ll reach on time. I probably look so stupid running like this, I hope everyone is sleeping instead of staring at me out their window. Sometimes I talk to SBR and my brother’s friend, MHD, at the stop, exchanging like 10 words total. We’re all tired. SBR is just shy and awkward but he’s still adorable. The bus comes 2 minutes late sometimes. The bus driver is nice, he doesn’t talk much but he’s like a tired bear. I say good morning to him and he says it back. The bus is full but I manage to find a seat. I try and sit as far front as possible. The ride is calm, quiet, bumpy. I lay my head on the seat in front of me sometimes, sometimes I sit there with my eyes closed. I wanna stay riding this bus all day instead of going to school. When we get to school, I say thank you to the bus driver and he mumbles “You’re welcome, have a nice day” and I say “you too” whenever I hear him say it. I wait for Manal to get off the bus and when she does, I give her a big hug. Sometimes she gets off before me and she’s the one waiting for me. Sometimes she doesn’t come on the bus and I don’t know so I awkwardly wait for everyone to get off the bus until I realize she’s not getting off so I just go inside. I sit in my usual seat in the library and Manal is sitting with me most of the time; sometimes Zainab is there, sometimes Mahya is there, sometimes Malaika is there, sometimes Leila is there, sometimes Tommy is there. Sunayna joins me after the bell rings and everyone else is gone.

Off campus. This is the time when I just sit in the library and it’s dark outside (or light outside, depending on which time of the year it is). The library is quiet. Ms B or Ms G or both are at the librarian counter, just doing their thing. Earlier on Ms G’s son is there just running around before she leaves to take him to school. He’s a smart kid. There’s a white board that has a word and we need to find out what other words we can make with those letters. I fill up the board with random jumbles of letters that don’t even form proper words. There’s tubes labeled with different genres of books that you can put a ball in to show you like that genre and sometimes I just go there to fill up the tubes with balls and Ms B glares at me. Sunayna is almost always there and sometimes we have deep conversations about philosophy and life and sometimes it’s the two of us stressing over calculus and English. Leila is there sometimes, and she’s either ranting or watching something or laughing at Sunayna and I for being so stressed over a quiz or a test. We get too loud sometimes and Ms B kinda tells us to shush because people come into the library to study quietly and then there’s us who are way too loud. Sometimes we get kicked out of the library, sometimes for being too loud and sometimes for no reason at all, just that the library is closed for the time being. Zeeshan sometimes makes an appearance because he also has first off. Sometimes I see Mahya and Renelle walking around. I’m always opening the door for people who come in late, and sometimes it’s Zunayra and sometimes it’s Palm Tree (he kinda stopped coming through that door), and back when I had a crush on him I’d always try and run to open the door for him. Sometimes Fatima appears out of nowhere and opens it for him. He doesn’t acknowledge you if you open the door. Ayesha comes at the end of first period and Leila sometimes comes later, if she’s not already there. I usually go to Mr T’s class to say hi to him and to talk with him in the last ten minutes of first period, and Leila and Ayesha and Sunayna come with me most of the time. Sometimes we have interesting conversations.

Calculus. I sit on the far right side of the class next to the wall, so sometimes I just rest my head against the wall. There’s also an outlet there if I want to charge something. That class gave me a lot of stress and anxiety and panic. Sometimes I’m so tired I just end up falling asleep while taking notes and I miss things. I’m always a few seconds late to the class since I’m walking with Ayesha or Leila after first period. The teacher is such a cinnamon roll; she’s this elderly middle aged lady with a son who just got engaged a few days ago and she’s planning on retiring this year since she taught here for more than 30 years, so she has senioritis too. She also works at the main committee for her church and does a bunch of her husband’s work and tries to get as much grading done as possible in one day. She likes to complain but it’s the funny kind of complaining. She probably told a lot of her life story to us. She gives off that Hallmark movie mother vibe, where the mother is all chill and happy and jolly and sweet. The guy who sits behind me, Justin, I think? He’s always 15 minutes late because he parks at the pool parking lot and walks all the way to school. Another guy in class has chickens and pigs at home and he talked about how smart his chickens were. One of the other guys in my class makes dark jokes sometimes and the teacher gets so worried and he’s like “nah! It’s all good!” and she responds by saying he shouldn’t joke about suicide or whatever he’s joking about. Sometimes I know what’s happening in the class, and sometimes (most of the time) I just get depressed over it. And I procrastinate 100% in doing the work for it.

Econ. On the way to this class sometimes I see Manal and Mahya and Vanna. If I wait long enough to go to class Palm Tree walks the opposite way to his class. This class is super chill and usually the lights are off since Mr J is explaining the notes to us. I’m sitting in the back corner with Ayesha, my legs resting on the chair in front of me. I’m eating my breakfast and some of my lunch. Sometimes all of my lunch. Mr J is really sweet and nice and tries to make the class as easy as humanly possible for us. We watch CTV, laugh at all the stupid stuff on it. We watch Abhiram’s short films and try not to laugh. We laugh at the balloon at the front of the class named “Jezegg”. We talk way too much in that class and we watch things and listen to things and quickly do our forensics work and obsess over After Dark. Young Steve Jobs is cute but he’s a jerk, I guess I’m attracted to borderline sociopathic cute jerks. We barely ever pay attention to Mr J and I feel bad because the class has the least amount of work. Everyone’s probably annoyed by all our laughing and talking and randomness but I don’t care because I have the most fun in that class with Ayesha. When we walk out of class Mr J fist bumps us and we encounter Melanie in the hallway, then we see a tired Zainab and she hugs us and she smells like shampoo and she’s adorable. Palm Tree comes this way and I used to get a jump of happiness seeing him but now that my crush on him is gone it’s just a lil jerk of the heart in surprise but that’s it. Ayesha and I part ways and our poop pods (Airpods) disconnect after a few seconds.

I miss everything. I miss all this. Senior year wasn’t the best year but it certainly was eventful - at least in the beginning. Then March came and everything went to crap. But you know what? I’m grateful. I have all these memories to hold onto. I hope we make more memories in the future.

@twinsarekeepers @ayeshintheclouds

[dolanmedown]

Beauty and the Beast (E.D.)

Author’s Note: Heyy so this imagine took me so long and made me have a brain fart but it’s finally finished sorry for any typos.

Requested: No

Word Count: 5.5k

Warnings: Curse words

Prompt: Beauty and the Beast inspired

                                                                                                                 Different. That’s how people described you to be. You were a different type of person than most people at your school. And you were ok with that.

You never found interest in what the majority did. Football games, drinking and smoking, none of that amused you. Instead you found your head buried in a book that sucked you in for hours. You had visited the school library more times than any person before, since typically no one really goes to the library this day and age.

But you didn’t care. You always found a sense of comfort in reading that you never had before. Your mom would always read to you before you went to sleep. She always had a book in her hand whenever she was home. Maybe that’s where you got it from.  

But your dad said you guys were different. You were so fearless, so smart and intelligent yet so gentle and caring. According to your father, “your mother could only be one of those things depending on the day. But you, you’re all of them. You’re beautiful.”

“Actually, I’m known to be different.” You said, closing the book that was on your lap with a finger still in the book so you’d know what page to flip right back to.

Your father practically scoffed. “Nonsense. You’re unique. And that’s something no one will ever take away from you.”

Your father would always tell you that your beauty ravished from the inside out. And you thought that to be true. But you could tell there was something else that made many guys like you. Especially this one guy who wouldn’t leave you alone.

“Yo babe wait up.” There was only one person who said that to you every morning on your way to your second period class. George.

He seemed to be infatuated with you, and the very idea of love to him was just having himself between a girls legs. You pulled your binder closer to your chest hiding where his eyes were drawn to most of the time whenever you talked.

A hand reached out to touch your arm and you turned around and were faced with a huge stack of weeds that seemed to be picked from the school parking lot.  

“Are those supposed to be flowers?” You asked stepping back from him as the dirt on the roots started to fall.

“Well, no. This is a way to win you over. When you come over my house there will be nice flowers set up. So,” he stepped closer and pushed the bunch of weeds into my hand, “Come over tonight?”

You pushed the weeds back into his chest. “I will never go over your house George. Sorry.” You turned and walked away to your class as he just stood there with his friends surrounding him.

“Bro she just turned you down again. That has to be a record of some kind.”

“Shut up. She’s just playing hard to get. She’ll fall into my traps soon.”

Ugh. Go to George’s house? Date George? What a disgusting thought. You wanted the real type of love. The love that was similar to those in a book. Maybe those are only stories in the books, but you wished of a love story. Not a sex story.

You weren’t exactly quite sure why George was so obsessed with you either. Many people weren’t. He was one of the most popular guys at your school and he wasn’t bad looking either. Girls pounced on him like he was their last supper and he ate it all up. He loves attention and that’s the one thing he’ll never get enough of. Along with you.

But you were just a simple girl who loved to read.

When the bell finally rung for lunch, students raced to the cafeteria to meet up with their friends and talk about drama and so on and so forth. You walked in the opposite direction of them to the school library where you went every day for lunch.

You pushed open the familiar blue doors and went into the library to the same spot you went every day. It was right next to the librarians desk since you two had lunch together.

“Hello Mrs. Mulligan.” You said, sitting down and pulling your lunch out of your bag.

“Why hello there Y/N. Looking beautiful today as always.” She complimented. You smiled at her to thank her as you thought about her.

She was a little old lady, around 63 years old. Most people wanted to retire at that age but Mrs. Mulligan loved books. She’d said the only way she’d ever leave this job is the day she couldn’t walk to this job. She loved it and had been working in this school for over 40 years.

You and her had many similarities. You were both book worms, both had lost someone dear to them, and both enjoyed quiet and peacefulness over the loudness and wildness.

Not to mention Mrs. Mulligan was gorgeous when she was younger. She had shown photos of her in high school one day after you had shown her your senior photos and she was simply gorgeous.

“Oh but not nearly as beautiful as you my dear. You have something no one else has. You have dignity.”

She always said how back in her days it was so common for people to love books. But now no one ever came into the library besides you and maybe two other people.

“Is anyone here today?” You asked, taking a might bite of your apple.

“One person I believe. He comes in pretty often but he chooses to be in the back.”

You wondered why, but then remembered not many people liked to express their likings, especially if they had to hide them because they felt embarrassed.

“Oh.” You continued to talk as you made your way around the library, looking for a book that interested you.

You came across a book that interested you and went to grab it when another hand came across to grab it as well. You looked up at the figure whose hand also reached for the book and saw a 6’2ish guy who turned away so quickly you weren’t able to see his face. Before you knew it he snatched the book away from you forcefully causing you to lose your balance and stumble back into the bookshelf a bit.

You regained your balance and he was gone.

Such a beast.

Sixth period was the last period of the day for you and it was your favorite. English. You loved english and your teachers seemed to love you more. You were the only student they had that really understood the books the assigned. You were also the only student that was able to make those connections and references to life.

You didn’t even try to be one of those kiss ups that people made you out to be. You were just so fascinated by English and literature that you got it so easily.

So when your teacher asked you to stay after class for a minute you weren’t scared like every other kid would be.

The bell rung and you stayed the extra minute like your teacher asked.

“Y/N, you are my best student when it comes to English. I was wondering if you could help tutor someone who struggles a little more.”

“Oh. I don’t know.” You said honestly. You weren’t sure if you wanted to tutor people.

“You just have a way of explaining the text and literature that makes it easy to understand. And I’ll give you service credits.” You sighed, knowing full well you would give in anyways.

“Sure thing.”

“Great, are you available tomorrow after school? It will just be in the school library.”

“Yes that’ll be fine.”

“Great, thank you so much Y/N.”

“Anytime.” You walked out of the class and out of the school. What had you gotten yourself into?

2:35. The person you were tutoring was already making a great impression. You didn’t realize they were late as your head was buried into a new book you picked out earlier at the library. At around 2:40, the library door slammed open, causing you to jump. You looked at who you were tutoring, and it was the same person who snatched the book from you at the library.

Ethan Dolan. You knew who he was. He was in your English class freshman year. You never knew what he was like since he either never showed up or didn’t care.

You were confused to say the least. Why would Ethan want tutoring for English? He hated it. Unless Mr. Alceri forced him to show up? You weren’t sure. But you were sure he didn’t want to be here.

He took the chair that was the opposite side from you. Although it wasn’t that far away, it was still a good distance that made it a bit harder to help him. But you didn’t mind. You preferred to keep your distance.

“Let’s just start by reading the chapter we’re on now. Page 14.” You both read in silence, and you became so intrigued into the book that you almost didn’t hear Ethan nearly growl.

“I don’t understand this shit! It makes no sense to me!” He exclaimed, clearly frustrated.

“What part don’t you understand?” You asked, looking up from your book to look at him. He shook his head and almost chuckled at your question.

“None of it. These stupid romance books are a fucking joke.”

“Ok well maybe you need someone to explain it to you. Here I’ll show you.” You said, getting up to go over to him. You bent over near him so your book was in front of both of your faces. It had sticky notes on almost every page to help you for your reports.

“Get that book out of my face.”

“What?” You asked, clearly confused by his demand.

“I said get the fucking book out of my face!” He yelled, grabbing the book and throwing it away. For the first time since you’ve met him you feared him, and you quickly grabbed your book off the floor before grabbing your bag and leaving the library.

Never in your life have you been that scared before. You were always one to be brave, fearless. But he just had something that was so beast like about him. Your heart was still beating out of your chest as you walked down the familiar hallways to leave the school building. You were telling your English teacher tomorrow there was no way you were tutoring anymore. At least not him.

What an asshole. You couldn’t believe you were going to waste your time trying to help someone who just you like that.

You passed by the boys locker room and held your breath, as every time you walked by it smelt like body odor and too much cologne. You heard voices and you knew it was just the basketball team. They always had practice at 2:30-4:30, which meant their practice was just around over. And when they turned the corner, you were face to face with George and 2 of his other friends.

“Aye baby, you came to see me? I’m a little sweaty right now but that’s how we’ll be tonight anyways.” He said.

Your face twisted with disgust from both the smell and words of him. He’s gross.

“Get away.” You spoke. You were in no mood to have to deal with George and his crew.

“Come on girl you don’t wanna have a little fun?”he asked, grabbing your arm to pull you closer.

“George leave me alone.” You said, pushing him off of you. He suddenly became angry and grabbed both of your arms so you couldn’t go anywhere.

“What did you just say?”he asked. You weren’t scared. You knew he was trying to be cool in front of his little macho men. But you didn’t have your chance to defend yourself.

“She said leave her alone.” A deep voice spoke. George released his grip on you and you took the opportunity to take a step back before turning around. Ethan.

“Oh and look who we have here. Ethan Dolan. Look buddy you don’t scare me. You wanna fight, let’s go.” George said.

“Don’t. He’s just trying to instigate. That’s all he does.” You said, putting your arm in front of Grayson to stop him. You weren’t sure why George would want to fight Ethan. Ethan was at least five inches taller than him, and two times more muscular as well.

“Yeah listen to your little bitch. I just can’t wait until she’s face down on my bed as I’m fucking her until she passes out. Who’s bitch is she now?” George asked. Once again your face twisted with disgust but Ethan took this opportunity to lunge at George.

They went on the floor and Ethan was definitely winning until George’s 2 other friends jumped in and attacked Ethan as well. All you saw was Ethan practically throw them away from him and they got up, looking at Ethan. He stood up and the next thing you know they all ran away from him.

You watched Ethan slowly walk over to the lockers. He seemed to be in pain as you heard him groaning.

He turned around and slid his back down the lockers, closing his eyes as he landed on the floor. You started to walk away but stopped and turned back towards him. No matter how much you disliked someone, you hated seeing people in pain.

“You have to get up for me.” You spoke softly. “I can’t help you if you don’t stand.”

He grudgingly grabbed your hand and you helped him up with whatever strength you had. You had your arm around his strong, muscular back as you led him back into the school library. You knew there was a first aid kit somewhere in there that could help you clean Ethan’s cuts.

You got him settled on a chair as you fiddled around to find the first aid kit. Her office. It was definitely in her office. You went to open the door to her office but it was locked. Normally she would’ve been here, but since she was able to go home at 2:30 there was no need for her to be here at 4:18. You thought for a moment and had an idea.

You got the bobby pin that was holding a strand of your hair back out of your hair and held it in between your teeth to separate the flat side from the jetted side. Taking the flat side you slid it into the lock, wiggled it around a few times before hearing the familiar click. Turning the door handle once more you opened the door to the office and turned the lights on. You retrieved the first aid kit from her office and closed the door, making sure it was locked before going over to Ethan.

You studied his face for a moment to look at the cuts as your mind wandered. His lip was slightly cut open, but the bigger cut was from the side of his face where he looked like he was clawed.

“Not the good girl I would’ve imagined.” He spoke, referencing to the stunt you just pulled.

“You have a big scratch on the side.” You said disregarding his last comment. You began pouring hydrogen peroxide into a cotton pad to clean it.

“Yeah I know. Such a pussy he can’t even fight with his hands he has to use his nails.”

You frowned at the language he was using and he noticed, stopping what he was saying before sitting up straight. You pressed the cotton pad to the side of his face before he pulled away.

“Ow!!” He practically roared.

“Would you let me clean it?” You snapped.

“It hurts!”

“It’s only gonna hurt more if you keep moving!”

“This wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t storm out.”

“And this wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t scare me out!” You almost yelled. He seemed taken aback by this, not knowing that you were more scared than angry. He still didn’t say anything and let you cleaned his cuts, his jaw clenching at the pain that lasted for 15 seconds.

After you cleaned it you went to put a tape over the cut so it didn’t get any bacteria into it but Ethan pulled his head away, indicating he didn’t want. You shook your head disagreeing with his choice but at this point you didn’t care.

You went to put the first aid kit under the cabinet and turned back around to see Ethan gone.

Whatever. Closing the library door, you walked out of the library and school before getting in your car.

Your phone buzzed as you were getting ready to go to sleep. You looked down to see your friend calling you.

“How was it?”she asked as you answered the phone.

Your head went back against the cushion as you shut your eyes.

“You don’t wanna know.”

You agreed to tutor Ethan again today. You had a feeling that you would be able to actually help him. And maybe you were crazy, but you had a feeling he would change his demeanor. It would just take time.

Today he wasn’t that late, and he didn’t sit that far away from you. Granted it wasn’t ideal to help him, but it was better than the last time.

You didn’t waste any time and opened up right to the same page you were on the previous day, page 14. You began to read it when Ethan cleared his throat.

“I uh- I just don’t get what this is saying.”

You looked up and saw his face, his eyes not dark and empty as they were before, but rather confused. Maybe that’s why he hated English, because he just didn’t get it. You slowly and hesitantly got up, waiting for him to protest you moving closer. But he didn’t, so you sat next to him.

“Here, let me show you the way I look at it.” You said, and started explaining what you grasped from it as simply as you could to Ethan. You tried to stay on topic about explaining the first part of the book to Ethan, but you couldn’t help yourself. You began to go off about the different love books and romance you read, connecting each one to this. You started talking about they way these love books affected the way you look at love and life in your eyes. You just went on and on, but you weren’t stopped once. Ethan listened to you intently and actually held on to every work you said.

“Oh my God I just spent 10 minutes rambling, I’m sorry.” You said, a slight blush starting to form on your cheeks as you looked down at the book.

Ethan shook his head, indicating he didn’t mine. “It’s fine. You actually helped me understand the book a little better.”

“Really?” You asked, a little too excited.

“Yeah.” You smiled, proud of yourself and started to read the book again as half a smile crept onto Ethan’s face.

To say the truth, Ethan was still completely lost. He understood what you said, but the book was still so confusing to him. How could these people do all this for some love? It sounded pathetic to him.

But you got so happy when he said you understood it, and the way you got shy when you went on a ramble made Ethan so intrigued. He didn’t have the heart to tell you he was still confused. He mentally cursed himself for lying to you, because as you read on he couldn’t tell you what was happening. But mostly because he was starting to change for you. He felt himself get butterflies in his stomach and wanted to punch them out of him, but he knew he couldn’t help it as much as he wanted to. So he looked at you, and then looked back at the reading. But his mind wasn’t focused on the reading, it was thinking about a million other things.

You were tutoring Ethan again today. The whole day you kept thinking about it, and you weren’t sure why.

Sure you weren’t.

Ethan opened the library doors and slid into the seat next to you.

“Hey.” He said, making you jump out of your seat. You had no idea he was there, because as per usual your head was buried into a book. He laughed as you rested your hand on your heart.

“Holy crap you scared me.”

“Holy crap?” he asked. “Have you ever said a curse word in your life?”

“I mean yeah I say them. But not a lot. Or ever for that matter. Only when I’m really mad.” He laughed again.

“You’ve been hanging out with old ladies too much.” You rolled your eyes and stuck your tongue out at him.

“First of all, I have other friends. And secondly, old people can be very cool. Mrs. Mulligan is my bro.”

He shook his head and put his head in his hands. “Oh my God don’t ever say that again.” You laughed as he joined you.

“Ok come on, we have to start reading,” You encouraged. He groaned but still opened the book to page 45. Making great progress here.

You started reading and thought everything was going fine until Ethan abruptly stopped you.

“Ok I’m sorry but I’m really lost.”

“Don’t be sorry. Just tell me where I lost you.”

But he didn’t give you a specific answer. He looked down before looking at you again.

“I never got this. I just said I did because I didn’t think you’d be able to understand.” He fiddled with his fingers and you looked intently at him. You felt bad. Clearly he wanted to understand this, he just wasn’t getting it for whatever reason. You wanted to help him.

“Talk to me Ethan. You know what?” You asked, sliding the books to the edge of the table before it crashed on the floor.

“What-” he started to ask before you cut him off.

“Who cares about this project right now. Ethan this could be the key to me helping you. Please, just, talk to me.” You practically begged. He looked down and sighed before looking back up.

“I never felt loved before. I never felt like I was wanted or needed. Even in my family. My parents could give two shits about me. They care more for my brother and sister than me. I mean they’ve always considered me to be so independent and everything but maybe I don’t want that all the time. I guess I don’t understand these books in English because they’re all love books and I never felt like I’ve really been loved in a while.”

He finished his speech by looking at you. You looked up and searched in his eyes. You searched for that cold expression you’ve seen many times.

But you didn’t see that. You saw a gentle, truthful brightness that came from his eyes.

“So you understand the books that have to do with drama more than love?” You asked.

“Yeah. But when have we done that? Never. So annoying he chooses these stupid romance books so he thinks he has a chance at his relationship.” He scoffed, referring to our teacher. You frowned.

“I don’t get it. How do you understand love so well? You don’t have a boyfriend.” He asked.

“Uh how would you know that?” You asked, defensive.

“Oh right I forgot, George.” He joked, a soft smirk forming.

“Ugh. He disgusts me.” You said.

“Why is he so obsessed with you?” He asked. You shook your head not knowing the answer to his question.

“I couldn’t answer that because I have no clue. I mean there’s nothing in me that he couldn’t get from any other girl in this school.” Ethan opened his mouth to say something but decided against it.

“He hasn’t bothered me since that day you chased him away.” You said. “Which reminds me, I never got to thank you. For you know, making him leave me alone.” You said.

He simply shook his head, as if it was no big deal.

“I never got to apologize. I’m sorry for scaring you out that day and throwing your book. I never meant to make you scared. I’m just so used to people running away from me instead of trying to help.” He said, looking down. He almost seemed embarrassed.

You went to put your hands over his, but you stopped. Instead you took one hand and grabbed one of his. He looked up and you saw his eyes move down to the lower part of your face before looking back into your eyes.

“You know I’m always here to help you, right? Let’s start from the beginning,” you guided him and went to the other end of the table to pick up the book that had fallen off the table.

That had started the almost daily occurrence of the library meet up. Every day at around 2:30, the library would be empty besides you, him and Mrs. Mulligan.

It became easier for you guys to become closer. Spending almost every day with each other, you were only bound to develop feelings neither of you knew about.

You were also able to discover that part of him that he had never shown the anyone. The loving, caring and soft part of him. He hated to show that side to anyone, but around you it was so easy. He didn’t want to scare you away because he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.

Now it’s Friday, and you’re both sitting there finishing up the last chapter of the book.

“Thank god this is the last chapter,” Ethan spoke suddenly, interrupting your inner voice reading the words on the page.

“Why? Sick of this love book?” You teased. He looked at you and frowned, disagreeing with your statement.

“Not quite. I’m just sick of Mr. Alceri trying to relate it back to his pathetic love life,” he remarked. You couldn’t help but to let out a soft scoff, slightly laughing.

He was actually sad this book was ending because he didn’t know what it meant for you both. Although it was the end of the book, he was praying for a beginning of something great.

At the last tutor session for the book, you put some classical music on your phone.

Ethan looked at you like you were crazy. “What? It helps me relax!” You exclaimed. He laughed and shook his head.

You got up from your chair and he looked at you again.

“This makes me want to dance.” You said, extending your hand out for him to grab.

“I don’t dance.” He said, rather sternly.

“Come on, everyone dances!” You exclaimed, grabbing his hand and attempting to pull him out of his chair. He stayed put for a while as you struggled to make him stand. You finally stopped and stared at him, silently pleading. He saw those big, bright puppy eyes and he knew he couldn’t say no. He reluctantly got up slowly out of his chair and you nearly squealed in excitement. He chuckled a little, amused at how excited you got.

You waited a moment to hear the music and the beat it was on. Finally you were able to grab his hands to start to dance to the music.

He stared at you before going along with your movements. He was so gentle. You were so small compared to him he was afraid he’d break you. His hand covered a majority of your back as he softly placed his hand there, and the other in your hand as you both held it out.

You danced to the slow beat peacefully, as if there was no rush and you had nowhere to be. As if time stopped for the both of you to have this moment. You were quite impressed with his dancing. It seemed to come to easily for him. He could say the same for you.

“I learned to dance when I was 8. My father taught me so I wouldn’t be embarrassed at the Father-Daughter Dance.” You said. He laughed before starting his story.

“I never really learned,” he began. “I remember just always wanting to dance. Just comes naturally I guess.”

You could definitely agree with that. He seemed to do it to effortlessly you were swept off your feet, both figuratively and literally.

A slight giggle escaped your lips as he spun you around, his arm tight around your waist while your legs dangled in the air, hair whipping around your face due to the fast twirl.

He watched your face. Studied your face. He always waited to see that radiant smile you gave. He watched the ways your eyes would change, the way they almost grew and got brighter as you would both read the same love story you’ve been reading for the past month. He watched that love story turn into real life. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he knew.

He knew the day you didn’t show up to the tutoring at the library. You never got sick. Maybe once every two years. But you somehow ended up being so sick you couldn’t get out of bed to go to school.

Your head was killing you, you had the heat chills you didn’t eat for 2 days, you threw up God knows how many times. Your dad was debating on bringing you to the hospital.

The funny part was you had never missed a day of school before, but you were so sick you couldn’t formulate a thought in your head to let Ethan or Mrs. Mulligan know ahead of time.

Ethan remembers walking into the library, expecting to see you sitting there, already taking a sneak peek at the chapter you were supposed to read together. But the table was empty.

Maybe she’s running late, he thought. But you got out earlier than him, that’s why you were always waiting for him.

“She’s not here. Her dad emailed all her teachers. She’s quite sick .” Mrs. Mulligan was shocked herself and a bit worried, but the email from your dad calmed her down. However Ethan, not so much.

His face showed expressions of being worried and sad. He didn’t realize the effect of seeing her every day. She became the one thing he looked forward to seeing. He could feel himself smiling and his heartbeat getting fast every time he thought of her.

He wanted nothing more than to go see you and make sure you were ok. To drive you your house and stay there and see your face and just be there for you. But reality kicked in, and he realized that was so unrealistic.

“You care for the girl, don’t you?” Mrs.Mulligan asked.

“More than anything.” He replied quickly. He didn’t have to think about it. He loved you. And everyone could see it. Mrs.Mulligan nudged him a bit and he looked down to look at her.

“What are you waiting for? You don’t get any younger boy.”

He dropped you out of the air so your feet were on the ground again, his hands still securely on your waist. Your hands were resting on his bulging biceps, much bigger and muscular than you would’ve thought.

“I love you.” His eyes scanned yours back and forth as he breathing almost stopped.

You were fearless. You weren’t afraid to say what you’ve been wanting to say for the past few weeks. You looked deep into his eyes, those bright eyes that attracted you since the first time you really looked at him.

Your heart was beating fast but you didn’t waste any time.

“I love you too.” You could’ve sworn he released a breath he was holding.

“I’ve waited my whole life to hear that.”

And that was all you needed before you kissed. You felt the same gentleness, caring, and loving that was there even when this all started.

Because one day, you’ll change. Some change for the better, others for the worse. But you’ll meet the thing or person that changes you forever. Ethan met his change in his life, and no one has ever seen him quite like this.

He went from this dark, mysterious creature to one of the most loved people in a heartbeat. And all it took was a time.

A tale as old as time.

Song as old as rhyme.

Beauty and the beast.

[the-alice-of-hearts]

Hey! So as someone who grew up with a mother who people thought still think was just protective: isolating your kids is never just being protective.

I didn’t go places in high school. Not because I didn’t want to, but because my mother wouldn’t let me.

When people (me) questioned for a real reason why it was ‘I’m keeping you safe’. This wasn’t keeping me safe. This was isolating me.

Years later I now know the real reasoning. My oldest sister got into drugs and alcohol in high school before she came to live with us (half sister through my dad) and my mother thought I was a lot like her.

Which I was, and still am. She was cool, and alternative, and everything 11 year old me wanted to be.

So when I was in high school and started dressing more like her, my mom decided that I had to be hanging out with the ‘wrong types of people’ (I was hanging out with the anime nerds and not the stoners but she didn’t doesn’t know the difference)

So I spent my entire high school life not going to things. I could barely join clubs because she wouldn’t let me go to club functions half the time. I almost failed debate because she wouldn’t let me go to tournaments the first half of the class because she was mad that I was in debate class and not the enriched humanities that I was supposed to be in.

Therefore since the debate teacher was also the drama teacher I couldn’t take any of the drama classes either. And as someone who was trying to get more into the arts that kinda killed that dream. I couldn’t even take stagecraft because same teacher. I was only allowed in the school musical until my first choir teacher retired and our new choir teacher did something to make my mom mad and so I couldn’t be in any of the musicals after that. Same thing for jazz choir, couldn’t even try out because she didn’t like the choir teacher.

Guess what I did?

Got better at lying.

And sneaking out.

And I found people who were also good at lying and sneaking out.

Then I started partying by drinking and doing drugs in the nature reserve at midnight or later. Yeah I was only with a couple other people, but I wouldn’t have even been there in the first place if she had just let me try out for things. Or be in clubs.

Instead I spent most of my limited free time hiding in the performing arts centre when I cut class. I skipped a lot of classes because I got notes from the librarian and my choir teacher that asked my other teachers to let me leave class.

Any time a teacher didn’t put a date on a note I would keep it in a folder in my binder. Because now I had a get out of class and make it wherever I wanted to be pass.

I skipped so many classes. My mother didn’t know that I was drinking vodka out on the loading dock at lunch time, because she couldn’t follow me everywhere at school.

But I wouldn’t have been there in the first place if I had been able to say ‘yes I would love to go to sonic with some people from the choir class after the concert’ I would have been hanging out with people who weren’t risking their lives by climbing trees while high and or drunk.

Isolating your kids don’t make for safer kids; it just makes your kid sneakier.

Adrien wouldn’t so easily be able to get out of things as Chat if he hadn’t already been sneaking away from things before that.

Marinette’s excuses are bad, and people question her pretty often. Adrien doesn’t have that happen to him. If someone asks him a question about his whereabouts he has an easy lie ready.

‘Protecting’ your kids by isolating them is just as if not more damaging than not being there for your kids ever. And Gabriel is doing both.

Don’t defend him. Gabriel is an emotionally abusive asshole, and that’s before you add in the fact that he’s Hawkmoth.

Is Gabriel Agreste really a bad guy? I mean yeah, he's neglectful and has him tries to isolate Adrien at an given chance, not to mention he attacks the city daily to get magical items, But he might have good reasons for the things he does. Some people might see him isolating Adrien as a form of control but it could be that he's trying to protect his son after his wife's, whatever is happening with her. Now for the reasons behind his Neglectful behavior and attacks on the city, Gabriel is trying to bring back his wife and the mother of his son. There are several instances in the show where it's clear that Gabriel isn't good with emotions or word, but he does try. Emilie was the one who Adrien could talk to, if Emilie were brought back Adrien could have someone he confides in and Gabriel would stop attacking the city.

I've been reading your comics and recently started rewatching the show, and I just want to know why did they make him like this.

He tried to start WW3 with a nuke my dude.

[kill-it-with-an-x-burner]

please speak to me about silvertongue izuku... i'm a slut for deku AUs

(Here is the relevant post.)

Oh, wow. Okay. That’s a pretty graphic image lol.

Ask and ye shall receive!

Additional quirk mechanics:

Silvertongue is an emitter-type quirk. Aizawa can erase it.

Pronunciation is the key. If he doesn’t properly pronounce words, nothing will happen. Speaking with a lisp or with his mouth filled with food will not make his quirk work.

He can’t pause in between sentences for more than a second (only enough to catch his breath in case of long tangents), because nothing will also happen.

While tripping over his words will not activate his quirk, stuttering won’t stop his quirk from working as long as he manages to completely pronounce the word. (e.g. Saying “Smaug will evishe- eviscerate you.” does nothing. Saying “Smaug will e-eviscerate you” is still valid.)

His current limit is being able to read out loud continuously for a minute. If he wants to read again after reaching the limit, he has to take a 10-second pause because once he passes the 1-minute mark, he tires out his jaw muscles and voice/throat (how tired a person is from talking is doubled when his quirk is active). This is another reason why he is a manic mumbler; he crams a lot of words in under a minute.

If you knock Izuku out, whatever he summoned disappears. He’s actually vulnerable by himself, so he pushes his body when training to be fit enough to run or dodge, and won’t be a sitting duck. He does not become muscly and truly athletic until All Might makes him pick up trash at Dagobah.

Whatever Izuku summons is merely a shade of what is written (i.e. they’re nerfed and/or are less powerful versions). For example, Poseidon can’t do god-like feats (like split the sea in half), but he’s still pretty strong due to his abilities (like creating whirlpools, just not tsunami levels of whirlpools). Or he could read out about a world-ending meteor shower and he’ll get a less destructive, less powerful one.

To voluntarily disperse whatever he summoned, Izuku must either re-read or recite the passage word-for-word, or write and subsequently read something that would make them disappear (e.g. “After destroying everything, Smaug disappears in a wave of thick smoke, returning to the mountain whence it came.”)

(More under the cut.)

In this AU, Izuku inherited his quirk from his dad. Instead of plain fire breathing, his dad’s quirk is pyrokinetic lexiconicy. Whatever his dad reads out turns into word-shaped fire��(like Fairy Tail’s Solid Script magic, only that it’s limited to materializing words into flames; or like Pokemon’s Fire Blast where the flames spell out a word/kanji). 

Like Izuku, it’s also a passive quirk, but not limited to fiction. He used this to teach his son how to read by reading out the characters (katakana, hiragana, kanji) and to entertain him with the fire at the same time. 

Izuku discovers his quirk when he was assigned to read a fairy tale to his classmates during kindergarten.

Izuku’s room (and dorm room) would not only be filled with All Might merch, his walls will be lined with shelves filled with fiction books as well. I also imagine that Izuku will be knowledgeable about some aspects of pop culture (latest entertainment such as games or books he could use for his quirk.)

When they were young, Izuku used to summon a dragon for Bakugou to ride on (like in the ED). Their moms forbade it again because a large dragon appearing out of nowhere gives people a heart attack and is highly disruptive.

To get back at bullies, he once orchestrated a prank by reading an anecdote from Harry Potter and summoning Voldemort.

I imagine that he and Bakugou will have a better relationship since there’s no reason for him to bully Izuku (the only reason he started was because in his POV, Izuku looked down on him by showing pity and how dare he when he was just a quirkless fuck). Despite this, they’d probably be both competitive and be proper rivals.

He’ll still get called Deku, but it’s a playful nickname now than an actual insult. He was called as such by Bakugou during a fight against older kids, where Bakugou took them all on by himself while Izuku was useless in the fight after they knocked him out/punched him so he couldn’t talk.

Though he does become All Might’s apprentice (post-sludge incident), Izuku doesn’t get One For All. In this AU, All Might doesn’t need a successor, but he’s not as strong as he used to be (still has the 3-hour limit). If the reason why he employed in Yuuei was to look for a successor in canon, his AU reason is contemplation of retirement. He’s well past his prime, but undecided on what to do. Nedzu offers employment as a teacher to the next generation.

All Might makes Izuku intern under Gran Torino to improve his mobility and evasion (Torino’s specialty). He also still gets to work with Nighteye’s office later on.

When coming up with hero names, Izuku gets teased a lot (”Muttering Hero, the Mumbler” and the like). He settles down with “Storyteller Hero, Deku”.

About his costume, I’ve thought about it some more and I think that something similar to Final Fantasy’s Scholar class would fit him: storyteller/librarian aesthetics, carries a book everywhere, the toga hat… yep.

For his gear, aside from pens with washable/disappearing ink, he also carries textile pens to write on his own costume and any type of fabric (heck, maybe even the clothes of his fellow heroes, the villains, and the civilians lol), and either permanent markers or indelible ink pens to write stuff that will not be erased (or washed away easily for the latter’s case). 

An alternative to Izuku bringing a book or notebook filled with writing would be scrolls, which are also more compact and portable.

I like talking about AUs and fanfic ideas. It doesn’t have to be Silvertongue Izuku AU; it could be about Chuunibyou Izuku, or Homeless Tsuna AU, or even from my recent work, Incineration.

Please continue to talk to me about such (whether it’s your own idea or mine). :)

[starsofshadowanddust]

Bookish Tag Questions!

AW YEAH! BOOK STUFF!

Tagged by the astonishing @acfawkes!

1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?

If it is a book I purposefully bought, then probably Sandry’s Story by Tamora Pierce but on shelves in general then probably Diana of the Crossroads.

2. What is your current read, your last read, and the book you’ll read next?

so i actually just finished a book titled Knit One Girl Two by Shira Glassman AND IT WAS AMAZING! The book before that was The Antagonists by Burgandi Rakoska which was also terrific! The next book on my list is The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge because I was flipping through my netflix and had a sudden realization that secret of moonacre was based on a book and i love my fantasy - cheesy and otherwise. 

3. What book does everyone like and you hated?

oh god there are actually a lot of these.... confession I have never made it through the Harry Potter series (yes, I know, I’m a terrible human BUT I GAVE IT AN HONEST TRY). I really hated slave, warrior, queen as I found that the lead was very strong willed and then ended up very passive and submissive at the end which was disappointing. I tried the winners curse series and didn’t really like it. imma leave it at that...

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?

ummmm on my digital shelf, there are a lot of books there that I probably won’t get to. On my actual shelf... I’ve actually read everything on there sooo... Im actually pretty spontaneous in my reading...

5. Which book are you saving for “retirement”?

shakespeare marathon and working my way up to Dragonbone Chair. I don’t know, I’ll probably end up writing my own stories in my head during retirement cause I won’t be able to use my hands or hear an audiobook! 

6. Last page: read it first or wait til the end?

Depends on the book, but in most cases I’ll wait till the end! The only times I will check the ending is if I am reading with someone else and am keeping an eye out for triggers.

7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?

I actually love reading the acknowledgements and all the other weird little things before and after the book! Getting to know the author can change the way you see a book which I find fascinating! :)

8. Which book character would you switch places with?

Thianna Frostborn. Not only is she amazingly sarcastic and smart, she is half frost giant which would be SO MUCH FUN!!!! The adventures she ends up on are so much fun and only have minor physical damage!

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?

I actually have a lot of these! The first one that comes to mind is Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey which is one of the first fantasy books I read that are closer to the adult than young adult realm (see book three chapter 8) and this book was passed down to me from my mom who read it around the same age. It was one of the first books that I accidentally “missed” class in and its always been a comfort for me.

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.

 I got the book Wait Till Helen Comes from my elementary school librarian (who has unfortunately passed away and im still sad about that) who taught me how the right book can change your view on life and on reading. All of us library helpers got to choose a book and this was the first time someone gave me a book that wasn’t a family member. Only problem was that during the creepy ghost scene my black cat was in my very dark room and knocked over my stack of books the same time the ghost knocked over a stack of books in the book... needless to say, its not a book I read much now!

... also, I “borrowed” my dad’s copy of Death in Yellowstone when I was 7/8... I wasn’t supposed to read it but it remains one of my favorites.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special someone?

nope. I’m very possessive of my books. any books that have left my possession were either loaned, or I traded, or I got money for. I like books...

12. Which book has been with you to the most places?

Probably Death in Yellowstone as it came with us on our trip back home from yellowstone... besides that, I travel mostly with ebooks as you can store more in less space!

13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?

I no longer have a grudge against The Odyssey which is probably because the second read through wasn’t forced into two weeks with really detailed quizzes that killed my grade. All other books that I hated, I still have. peace like a river can still go burn in a hole (I have a poem about this book if anyone wants) and stargirl was a very terrible book. I DETEST it.

14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?

well I worked at the school library first period so I’ve seen quite a few things. There have been several bathroom passes, a couple photographs, a crap ton of phone numbers... There was a book about teen pregnancy found in the girls bathroom and that was pretty awkward. Strange, however, not really. 

15. Used or brand new?

both! If I really like a book, I will buy a new copy but for anything else I love used because it makes sitting in a corner like a creepy person less lonely because the previous reader probably did too!

16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?

While I haven’t personally read any King, I know for a fact that they aren’t checked out all that much at the high school level at a high school library. I would say that like any author, if the reader gets through it and enjoyed it - that author is a genius.

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?

well the Harry Potter series but that is just because i could never make it through (which is really annoying but not annoying enough for me to force my way through the books) but besides that, not really

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?

well a lot of the YA popular series in my personal opinion. Twilight is definitely up there. There are probably a lot of terrible movies that I have watched jokingly that were originally books that I don’t know about. 

19. Have you ever read a book that’s made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?

not really... I often forget to eat and forget that oh hey! my body is hungry and I should probably eat when I’m reading. 

20. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

my old elementary librarian when he was still alive, and my mom. She is an english major/poetry minor so we don’t have a lot in common (Im going into geophysical engineering) but holy crap are her books good! and I get really excited about books and will read just about anything. I also have a problem where if I’ve started a series I really hate to not finish it so I’ve read an entire trilogy in two days because all books had to be back at the school library for summer.

Tagging: @bookishnessnessness @courtofglassandfire @beyondthestonewalls @stinti @intj-writer @swerpl @stinti @where-the-wild-dreams-grow @th3neighborhood-onparadiseway @goldkirk @observethewalrus and anyone else who wants to share their love of books!

[freakishlemon]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the gendering and socialization of work lately with regards to my growing frustrations with my youngest brother, so I’m throwing words at this screen. Might be interesting to you folks, might not, so I’m putting it behind a cut below.

((Read More should start here, mobile users))

So some basic background, I’m the oldest of 4 kids in my family and we live in a rural town that’s been start-stopping it’s way to suburbia sorta kinda maybe, so our upbringing is pretty squarely centered in this little corner of the world. There me (trans-masc genderqueer) born in ‘88, there’s my sister (woman) born in ‘90, middle brother (man) born in ‘92, and the youngest brother (man) born in ‘96. Myself and the middle brother both still live at home, but we are employed and are paying off loans or looking into continuing education, so we’re doing pretty well. My sister has been moved out with her fella and their co-owned pets and she started her own business last year, in addition to subsidizing her income with part-time bar-tending/restaurant gigs when she needs to. All three of us have completed the middle-class white person requirement of earning a Bachelor’s degree (yay debt :/ ).

My youngest brother has a chronic gut illness and had to have surgery on his intestines last December, which prompted him to really think about his college education (that he was failing) and opt to not finish school. I think that was a surprisingly mature decision for this brother. So he takes the time to recover from the surgery and he’s been back to his normal for a while now, so my parents have been prompting him to start seeking employment since about March-ish.

He’s still unemployed, which does not surprise me based on our location/job market/the incredible hell that is Finding A Job, but I find myself and I see my parents becoming more and more frustrated with him.

Now, my parents’ frustration I understand because they’re in their late 50s/60s and they do all those prior generation stereotype things like tell you to make a million follow up calls and go bother the management and just start asking businesses for jobs, which is what they know. The rest of us sympathize with that portion of my brother’s current position, but... it occurred to me that my youngest brother is doing nothing to alleviate this from my parents because he hasn’t learned how to deflect them.

Because he’s looking for his first job.

His. First. Job.

It hit me this morning that the way our society socializes work for afab folks starts so god damn early. If we define a job as Somewhere You Are Scheduled To Be To Perform Work, I started working at 11 at my local library as a volunteer. I outgrew the summer reading program for the young kids and there was nothing for the older kids. I had to be there for my siblings because I was too young to stay home, so I was shelving books or assisting at the Scholastic book fair. Listen, I worked at this library as a volunteer for so long that the retiring children’s librarian had me run the summer reading program for two years, then she retired and there wasn’t a children’s librarian for a year so I ran the summer reading program, AND THEN I TRAINED THE NEW CHILDREN’S LIBRARIAN ON HOW TO RUN A SUMMER READING PROGRAM. It was her first librarian job and I was sixteen. 

My sister started doing the same thing when she aged out of the summer reading program. My brothers didn’t.

But if we count paid work, my sister and I took our first job together at 14 and 12 when we were offered a pretty sweet babysitting gig. We’d finish middle school, walk over to the elementary school down the street to pick up this first grade girl, and hang out at the library doing homework for an hour and a half until the girl’s mom could come pick her up. Three days a week, paid on Thursday like clock work. 

And we both did things like that until we were old enough to be legally hired - babysitting gigs, pet sitting, helping older people with physical tasks (I mean, mostly my grandma just having us doing a day’s worth of chores for pizza and ten bucks, but it’s still work).

And we applied for jobs all through high school and if we didn’t have jobs during the school year, we went for summer jobs. The only time either one of us was without something for at least part of the summer was my summer before senior year of college when I was s c r a m b l i n g for an internship to meet my graduation requirements (the coordinator at my school was no god damn help and I’m still mad about it).

Neither of my brothers was prompted to find paying work until after highschool, except when family friends needed pet sitters and my sister and I were already working. They were only encouraged to do volunteer work during highschool because it was a graduation requirement.

I was unemployed for a few months after graduating college, which is pretty normal, and that’s when I learned to balance out the actual reality of job hunting and my parent’s expectations of it. And you know the easiest way I found to do that? Work around the god damn house. Do all the dishes. Sweep floors. Vacuum. Is there a junk closet mom’s been meaning to go through? Empty it out, clean it, and go through what needs to be done with the stuff, and then do it for her so that she only has to make the decisions without taking her two days off to do it herself. Shit like that. Honestly? Yep. Yeah mom, I put in nine applications today, one of the places I applied to last week should be calling by the end of the week, and look at your sparkling kitchen. Done. I acknowledge my advantage of being a physically healthy person to pull this off and the amazing support of my friend who would call me at six in the morning to wake up my ass to take a walk, talk shit out, and then start the day with a scheduled thing. I know that’s not in the cards for all of us, but even doing a few simple chores like wiping off the flat stove top did a lot to get my parents off my back.

(Once my sister started working for actual paychecks, she’s pretty much always been employed because she rocks at this stuff. When she got her at-time-dream-job-in-her-actual-degree-field at a photo studio for $50k a year, she had three part time restaurant jobs and still managed to have more of a social life than I’ve ever had. And then when she hated that job, she started her own business and is making it work. She’s a rock star. It’s amazing.)

So my middle brother was unemployed for the better part of a year after his retail summer job stopped giving him hours and he was searching for a job in his field-ish. He wasn’t socialized to pick up housework the way my sister and I were, but due to his recently-diagnosed-bipolar-flavoured mental illness (i’m not sure the exact diagnosis, but it’s in the bipolar type family) he would have manic episodes and needed shit to do to manage his brain so it quickly became a thing that mom would leave him a list of shit that had to be done around the house each day/week and he would get it done (less done on depressive days, but still to the point of acceptably done). He built the routine and when he couldn’t get calls back for interviews, he sought out gig jobs from friends and family, which is how he ended up in his current job. And even now after lots of balancing acts and sorting himself out, he’d on a pretty even keel these days, but if he’s got fewer work hours than the rest of us that week and mom leaves him a list, he gets the must-dos done.

My youngest brother was diagnosed with his gut illness at 9, which is a shit hand of cards to be dealt. Flare ups are bad and can lay him out for days. I know that’s a part of his life and is probably affecting how he’s looking for a job and all, but... it’s very frustrating to me that this is his first job hunt (or temporary gig hunt) and he’s 21. 

He was prompted to get summer jobs while he was in college and relatively healthy, but it wasn’t enforced by my parents on him the way it was on the middle brother and certainly not the way it was enforced on my sister and I. It’s very frustrating to me that my mom will leave a list for my youngest brother with things like 1) empty dishwasher, 2) do your laundry, and 3) play with the dog outside for 20 minutes, and not a single one of those things has been done by the time my mom or I get home (we have similar work schedules). And my mom’s response is to just roll her eyes and grudgingly do it or ask me/middle brother to do it. She doesn’t make him do it. She’s never assigned him to make a simple dinner for the rest of us, the way she has middle brother and myself. She’s never assigned him big projects (clean the basement, vacuum the whole house, scrub out the refrigerator) the way she has middle brother and myself, even as something to be done over the course of the week instead of that day. 

It’s just super frustrating to hear him snap at my parents when they pester him about getting a job because mom, dad, middle brother, and myself are doing full time jobs plus sometimes side jobs (middle brother is running a daily livestream and/or podcast, I’m slowly working fiber work business stuff into my life, mom’s starting a yarn dyeing business) PLUS ALL THE HOUSEWORK and he’s sitting there in his room all day filling out applications for a bit and then playing video games for fourteen hours.

Like... I’d feel less frustrated if I knew or suspected it was the gut illness or something that was kicking him all the time, but I don’t think it is. We learned to recognize that kind of stuff when he was in school because there were times when he could only do a half day or couldn’t go at all. Honestly? I just don’t think he knows how to work. Not the way my sister’s and my gendered upbringing taught us. Not the way my middle brother’s mental illness and brain coping taught him. We ended up as people who need stuff to do during the day. It just looks to us like he’s not trying when the reason he hasn’t emptied the dishwasher in two weeks without my mom standing there making him do it is “I forgot."

Just... ffffguh. Venting. 

[creepingwillows]

Little Oc facts:

Edward was in a car accident in the forest. His body was never found,was reincarnated as a opossum. He can change at will,but will as faint if frightened

Since Emmette's his  death stuffed animals have come to life,and almost anything surrounding him.

He also has a huge garden in his backyard,works as a gardener, a bartender, and as a security guard. He doesn't want to be paid though,cuz he's dead. He doesn't really need it,hell only take it to help support his family.

Emmette had gotten out of a four year abusive relationship, he hopes she burns.

Mitch died of a car accident,but it was suicidal,wanted to see his kids. Had a divorce,but they still remained as a family,in a friend type way. They took it well,but since she and her kids also died in an accident he felt it was necessary to do the same. 

Jesse had also gotten out of a bad relationship,she's glad nothing escalated. Emmette beat him up for her.

Daniel/Danielle's brother passed away due to an accident, later found out that it was Emmette's ex girlfriend. It was only till years later that she was arrested,those charges were added to her sentence.

Emmette's name is always spelt wrong,not a lot of people know that the e is silent.

Derek is dead,not going into detail as to how,but they died young. They were a classmate and crush to Emmette in their dance class.

Emmette's not one to sleep,had purposefully tried to not sleep,due to his paranoia and nightmares of guilt and past.

His parents were unaware of this,and he has since tried to open up about himself.

His Ren(neutral term for parent,used instead of mom or dad. They don't mind either really) George used to smoke,and works at as a secretary in a business office. They hate it their.

Their s/o Michael works as a police officer,tries their best to stop the police brutality and be a better role model for the force.

George's brother William,works as a librarian and a bartender with Em,they actually own the place and run it together.

His husband James was a phycologist but due to a breakdown had retired since,and decides to help at the bar.

Em's parents and relatives are all musically talented. They can sing and dance,and play some instruments for their unofficial band.

Emmette has a lisp,and tries to avoid speaking in general. Knows ASL.

He also has a deep voice and a heavy Tennessean accent,also self-conscious about it. He doesn't really like his own voice but he's glad others do,even though he won't admit it.

Mark,Em's cousin is surprisingly a great cook,picked it up from his mom and her brother William. Considers William,James,Andrew,and Lewis and Jack as his parents. He loves them all dearly as they helped care for him after his mothers sudden death.(which was also a car accident)

Lewis and Andrew are married, happily and they both love and care for Jack. Such a sweetheart.

Jack won't show his face,not to fond of it. But he's gorgeous really.

Andrew and Lewis died at different time periods, Lewis in the 1800's and Andrew in the 1900's.

Lewis has a brother,who they stubbornly believe isn't dead. He is.

James wrote a book.

William used to be an alcoholic,hasn't drank thanks to James helping him cope.

They're all aware that they were created. Em teases tf outta me with every chance due to my height. (Bih that's why you're 5'5"!!!!!)

Jesse is gay AF for Martha and they love each other dearly.

Daniel/Danielle and Marcus do too

Em has four siblings,who I'll introduce later.

[seven-oomen]

So today’s moments of random thoughts (and attempts at including links) are brought to you by the fact that today they replaced the back office computer at work that controls the store’s music, so it was uncomfortably silent for several hours, meaning that my brain suddenly had to provide the soundtrack again, and that’s always a total craps shoot.  Will it be 48 hours straight of “Toss A Coin To Your Witcher”?  Will it be some surreal all day medley of AC/DC, Rihanna, and the South Park version of “Pokerface”?  Will it be a non-stop Disney sing-a-long?  Who knows?  Everyday is an adventure with an ADD brain jukebox. 

One of today’s tracks of choice was “Little Red Riding Hood” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, a favorite since long before I was old enough to understand the implications or subtext.  And since you enjoyed the last terrible porn scenario so much, why not throw out another classic?  Because there is NO WAY they haven’t done this one.  Like.  Just no way.  Oh no, will the brave and daring young hunter woodsman manage to subdue the wily Alpha wolf, or will poor innocent Omega Riding Hood be devoured by the lustful lupine?  (I think the only correct answer here is yes to both.)  And because part of me wondered if such a thing even existed (I just had to know if I could bring in the plaid), I searched Google and found this (for a more casual approach) or this (for if they’re feeling fancy) for Noah, preferably paired with some tall black combat boots, perhaps (also, just saying, both would be a great option for a chase night).  For “Grandma”, I was thinking something along these lines (theoretically demure, yet also highlighting the collar bones, especially if unbuttoned slightly and allowed to slide off one shoulder.  Perhaps in the blue to bring out his eyes. XD ) because it comes across innocent in all the ways Peter would very much not be at that point.  All Chris would really need is his tightest jeans, deepest v’d henley, and maybe a nice denim or suede trucker jacket.  (Have I spent WAY too much time thinking about this?  Probably, but in my defense it kept me from snapping at all the idiots out without masks who refused to properly distance.  So.)  And because why the hell, not, I haven’t confused my Google search enough yet, here’s a couple of options for Chris that are a little more classy, as far as such a thing can apply to an outfit like this.  I mean if the other two are getting nice, quality outfits in that scenario, dammit he deserves the same.

Oh, and to briefly segue it back towards the more serious (and god, I really hope this comes out the way I mean it to, I am legit terrible at trying to word stuff like this), I would just like to say that frankly this version of how the physical/biological/however you want to phrase it aspects of the male/female vs alpha/omega spectrums play out makes so much more sense than a majority of the a/b/o I’ve seen.  I may not read it often, but I’ve been in fandom too long (and in a few too many small ones) not to have read a fair amount.  There have been a number of times where I just end up going “…his body has/did what now?…"  Whereas with yours it’s just like "oh, cool, that makes total sense”.  It’s natural, logical, and easy to understand, unlike my first few experiences back in the day when I kept having to Google the whole Omegaverse concept (a TERRIBLE idea, btw) to try and figure out how things worked.  So, yeah, I, at least, am a fan of this variation/interpretation/whatever.

Anyway…having hopefully managed to avoid cramming my whole entire foot into my mouth, would you care for some more assorted headcanons?  Maybe one day Stiles and Noah are in the attic working on sorting and organizing some things (Stiles is about 14 or 15 at this point), and after going through a couple boxes of Claudia’s sketchbooks, he finds one that contains a few mangled pairs of fishnets, a mesh shirt or two, maybe a pair of extremely short black cutoffs, some studded bracelets and collars, and he’s just like “man, Mom was a little more hardcore than I would have guessed."  After a couple moments of pointed silence, Noah finally offers ”…that’s not your Mom’s stuff, Stiles" while very determinedly not looking his son’s direction.  Cue a hysterical sequence of microexpressions of shock and horror contorting Stiles’ face, culminating in a brief full body flail and ending with him shaking his head with all the intense desperation of someone trying to clear an Etch-A-Sketch, before he just quietly goes back to sorting through the other boxes and they just never speak of it again.  Alternately, I would accept this same scenario for Chris and Allison (thinking the box had belonged to Kate), because I feel she would have the next best reaction faces to Stiles (less grimacing, but more internal screaming), with basically the same end result.  Or perhaps both had an incident like this, and they use it as some sort of bonding moment.  They’re an odd family after all.

 Don’t think I didn’t notice that the preview changed again.  Just going straight for the feels this time, huh?  God, poor Peter.  I feel so bad that he’s missing out on all the cuddles (familial and romantic), but I’m sure they’ll all be more than willing to make it up to him later.  Really hope he was doing that super speed thing on the way back to the hospital, or the Sheriff’s station might get some strange reports of a naked man running through neighborhoods.  

On the subject of the kids and education, I would vote BioChem for Allison.  It would be useful in learning about all the stuff hunters use, and figuring out ways to combat them, as well as potentially offering some overlap with Lydia’s degree.

I’d vote Criminal Law for Jackson.  It would be both a nod to his adoptive dad in the show having been the D.A. and offer a connection to the traditions of the family he’s just now learning about.  And I suspect that it’s entirely possible that if Stiles went after a Criminal Justice degree (or similar, I’m not entirely sure what it would be called), they’d likely have some overlapping classes, which would just piss Stiles all the hell off.  So win-win, really.

I think Malia could do really well with either type of Engineering.  I want to lean more towards Mechanical, particularly for the auto repair aspect, but part of me really wants Electrical for the Ant-Man connection (speaking of high Intelligence, low Wisdom…)  I think she would hate it while she was getting the degree (WHY DID NO ONE WARN ME THERE’D BE SO MUCH MATH???!!!), she’d be so proud once she’d graduated.  I feel like I could see Derek partnering with her on the shop (he’s working on a Master’s in Business.  Anything Law just felt too close to what he’d lost, but he also couldn’t bear to stray too far.  So, business.  Eventually I think he’d join in with the artsy side of the family and go after a degree in Design, so he could help build up the shop that way, as well.)

Totally agree on the other two.  I can also totally see Kira and Malia coaching some sort of intramural sport for kids one day.  Soccer (football), Little League, Lacrosse, doesn’t matter which.  They absolutely love it, and the kids love them (they totally get the smaller Pack kids involved, too).  Eventually they talk Isaac into creating a team for some of his kids that are looking to socialize more (they make sure that the experience is 100% positive for any of them that play.  They refuse to tolerate any bullying or poor sportsmanship of any kind.)

Hmm…not sure about the others, either, but I like the idea of Boyd ending up as a professor of Mythology and Folklore.  He was the one that actually thought about whether he wanted the bite, and whether it would be worth it in the long run.  He seemed the most interested in the reality of being a werewolf.  I can see him learning as much as he can about the supernatural from Peter and Noah (and some of the other side of things from Chris), and utilizing that in getting his degree (and eventual Doctorate).  And let’s face it, after dealing with the Pack’s shenanigans over the years, college kids aren’t intimidating in the slightest.

And before I forget, may I just say that “People buy it because it’s Tumblr, why wouldn’t two gay dads run a wolf rescue?” had me laughing so hard I started snorting.  Moving on; I know you recently shared a post that featured shots from the episode where Stiles gets his dad drunk to distract him from reopening the Hale case (I have Opinions about that black shirt, and how disappointed I was that it Never Showed Up Again, so I notice when it pops up in Tumblrs I check, okay?  Don’t judge me.), and some of the other blogs I try to keep up with have shared some pics of J.R. in glasses, and now I can’t help but wonder if that becomes like a Thing for Peter at some point.  Like, once they start to get a little older (once Chris has grown out his beard again, and maybe Noah has retired [my uncle was a cop and retired in like his mid-forties, I think] and started letting his hair get just a bit shaggy again) and his husbands start occasionally wearing glasses for reading, or fine detail work, etc.  (I would not judge him if it did, because, uh…, hard same.  I blame too many years of anime.)  Like, they slip them on and his brain just immediately starts going to more terrible porn scenarios.  Stern librarian, called to the principal/headmaster’s office, courtroom shenanigans.  Actually, if Peter is supposed to have been a lawyer they probably do that one anyway.  The Prosecution and the Defense take turns attempting to sway the Judge/Jury Foreman in their favor.  Who is who just depends on their mood at the time, and who feels willing to put on a suit (god help Peter if he gets both his mates in well cut suits and at their persuasive best.  He can barely keep it together long enough to stay halfway in character.  They are fully aware of their power, and file the information away for use in anniversary/graduation/other celebratory settings.)  Wow…that kinda got away from me.  Again.

Anyway, I tried to do the reader poll thing, hope my responses went through/made sense.  Hope the assorted links I’ve attempted work, I’ve never tried adding them to something before.  I probably still have the tabs open if I need to try again, unless my computer randomly decides to close them, which I have had it occasionally do.  Glad that you are feeling somewhat better, and that it doesn’t appear to be anything serious (and possibly even somewhat positive, in the long run, at least?  If it’s a sign of things trying to heal?)  Sorry in advance if some of this makes assisting customers difficult tomorrow.  XD  I feel like it should just be implicit, like my brain just compels it’s own warning in general.

I think I’ve read through this at least ten times because it’s just so good. I don’t really have the energy to reply to everything, but I do want to leave you with some headcanons of my own. 

Mainly Hogwarts houses:

Ravenclaw: Lydia, Melissa, Natalie, Julio, Stiles

Gryffindor:  Noah, Derek, Kira, Allison, Boyd

Hufflepuff: Scott, Chris, Jordan, Ben, Isaac

Slytherin: Malia, Jackson, Peter, Danny, Erica

Ben’s super cute playfulness as a wolf pup

Peter definitely wears a pair of wolf ears during sex, although he’s a little sad that he can’t mark up Chris and Noah as he used to. He liked to bite hard and draw blood, but with him as an Alpha, that’s just not an option anymore. Although there are plenty of other ways he can mark them up and he enjoys finding new ways. Even if they’re not as visual and permanent.

Peter also makes time for each of his kids and enjoys being a father. He revels in the role and loves reading bedtime stories to his younger kids, PTA meetings (he rises to the top of the rank really quickly, starts a turf war with a Karen but gets backed up by Mack’s mom. So it’s all cool.) And With his older kids he finds new ways to guide them through life as young adults. He’s there for every homework assignment, every break-up, every report card, and all the little moments he’s had to miss out on.

Also when Noah is pregnant, he’s closely monitored by Melissa and his licensed midwife. (He’s given birth to Malia and Stiles at home, he’s planning to do it again. Chris too, only has had homebirths, although Ben had to be rushed to the hospital because the doofus swallowed amniotic fluid during birth and turned blue after ten minutes. (Which is based on a true story, my brother had that complication after homebirth. Homebirths are very common in my country which is why I put them in my fics.)) And Peter and Chris go into protective overdrive. He keeps working for as long as he can but at four months pregnant with twins, he has to take a step back and only work desk duty until he’s 7.5 months along. He takes some time off after that and gets time to recuperate and rest. 

Chris for his last pregnancy also chooses to have a homebirth, Julio comes to work for him to do his arms deals and meetups while Chris takes a step back and works from his office until the day he goes into labor. And even then he’s still trying to get this deal done while breathing through contractions.

Also, imagine Peter getting to experience both of his mates being pregnant again. I like to imagine the smile on his face when he hears the heartbeats for the first time, how he just knows when his mates are pregnant, he recognizes the scent change now. He knows Chris is pregnant before Chris does. With Noah it’s a bit more of a tie since Noah can pick up the twins’ energy signatures and heartbeat at 4-5 weeks. Which is when the scent change happens.

I imagine the three of them curled up together after the youngest has been born, all tuckered out and completely passed out. The new baby curled up in the cosleeper next to the bed. Malia sneaks in without waking her dad and starts snapping pictures for the family album. And at one point during the night, Ben and the youngest twins end up sleeping in their parents’ bed as well. It becomes a routine until Ben is ten and generally likes to sleep alone. (Unless he’s upset, then he comes running.)

Also, the mere image of Chris wearing glasses and Noah wearing his police sunglasses (or regular glasses), like yes, sign me up. Also, Peter shows solidarity and starts wearing glasses later in life too. Which doesn’t only do wonders for their sex life (though that was never bad, to begin with) but also every single parent at Ben’s high school and the twins’ elementary school suddenly have the hots for the three extremely hot dilfs.

It also helps with getting justice for Ben when his son is being bullied at school and Chris has to convince Peter not to kill anyone, Noah shows off the sheriff’s  badge and starts suggesting a few things, and Chris likes to remind people that his son (Jackson) is now the youngest DA in the country and works from Beacon Hills and his other son (Stiles) is now an FBI agent who certainly wouldn’t mind digging into the past of whoever is bullying his little brother. (Not that he ever has to get that far, usually he smiles warmly and charms the principal or the teacher with his trademark smile and within a day Ben’s bullies are disciplined by the school.)

I have no idea where I’m going anymore as I’m pretty tired at this point. But these were stuck in my head and I had to share.

(Once again, I adore every single headcanon you’ve send me. <3)

[frayed-language]

In the Shadows of the Sun. One.

Something moved in the darkness, flexing their muscles and inching ever closer to the back corner of my room. I chose to ignore it, knowing that my little brother, Calix, really wanted to succed in sneaking up on me. His thirteenth birthday was just around the corner, and he had been practicing for weeks, bending a flexing the shadows he could now manipulate. 

Our father would have pointed him out the moment the shadow had shifted, ruthless as he is, but would be kind--in his detached sort of way all Shadowmen are--in saying that Cal had made it into the room at all.

Now Cal was almost within reach, and I droped the ruse to swivel the chair to face him and grinned. "Caught you!"

I caught his pout as the shadow dispersed, some clinging to his hair and skin then slowly falling away. "I was so close!"

"Don't move the rest of your body, I could see the twitches."

"I can't help it I'm human," he crossed his arms and sat down on my bed, disterbing Marigold and making her meow in protest. "At least half."

"To be exact: 62% human." I pulled shadows naturally from the room into my hands, the chill relaxing and showed him how it pulsed like a living being. "Most humans can't do this."

"Or sprout wings, but I can't stand still for that long." He never had been able to, it was almost something to be worried about.

Our wings didn't exactly sprout as they became comporial instead of a shadow. A shadow that would give up that I wasn't as normal as I looked. They were always there, just floating in like dust in a room and becoming a physical limb when I needed.

The Lacuna were not born with wings or able to manipulate shadows in the way my brother and I could. Puberty triggered both of those changes, whereas Shadowmen always had those traits ever since the Release.

"Have you manged to sneak around mom?" I asked.

He grinned and pulled out a cookie from his pocket, "She didn't notice."

"Got any for me?"

He took a bite, "Nope."

I rolled my eyes playfully, "Of course."

I swiveled back towards my computer, noting that I still didn't have a reply from Iris. Three days now.

I hope she isn't mad.

I sighed, and felt Cal move next to me to glance at the computer. He knew vaguely Iris, in the same way I know some of his friends, as strangers with names that I would nod at in public. We never brough anyone home, that was a rule.

How do you explain to someone that your dad is basically the grimm reaper? And that he's not the only one?

It was best to never open that jar of bees ever.

"Hows training?"

A bruises on my back pulsed with that question and the genral soreness of my muscles agreed, "Tough. But managable."

"Do you think they'll let you work in their library by the end?" He glanced at the bamboo pole leaning against my bed, my training tool to learn dodging and swift hits. "You've been there awhile."

Almost ten years now.

"I hope so. I'm the oldest recruit there." And the only human hybrid too.

Only because dad had insisted and I was born with my mom's stubborn temper, unwilling to be pushed away because of my mortality. There had only ever been six of us, the Lacuna, who had successfully made it through the Death Trials. Over the last thousand years, only six.

I had wanted to work in the Overpass Library for as long as I had known about it, especially since the first time I passed through their doors and saw the rows of books that dissapeared into the horizon. Everything ever written, some published and some not. Some just thoughts. A library of history and memory.

Alive. Breathing out all the language and knowledge ever existing on earth, shaping itself to both exist and not exist. The library was contained within its own dimension, an in-between that bridged tha gap between the Shadowman's dimension and humanities.

"There is already ten librarians there." The maximum had always been ten, but ever since I had started I had been pushing at that number to change. Or for one to retire, rare as it is.

"They are an interdemensional space," Cal said. "They always need more."

"Big words you got there, Cal." I mused as I pat his head of dark hair.

He pouted, fixing his hair. "Mom says they will let you."

"And dad?"

He was silent.

"Exactly."