#now i still gotta make the the guy's teenage daughter

[sootyships]

okay i just threw the guy together i'll prolly tweak his face and like both of their everything else too (if anyone wants to throw me some ~50 yo man to ref i'd be grateful) anyway mister widower on the left, miss gets what the fuck she wants on the right

[rlimagi]

Life was Sweet

Pairings: Queen of Hearts x Reader

Request: hi!! could i request the queen of hearts x mad hatter!reader, whos known her since before the prank, and still stuck around with her because theyre loyal. and theyre always trying to help her open up and have a little fun, so she can be her true self again!

Genre: Fluff

Note: it was kinda hard to write for the Queen of Hearts as only her mean side was shown but I truly believe that Bridget is still in there somewhere.

You had been by The Queen of Heart’s side even before she was The Queen of Hearts. Your best friend used to be Bridget, one of the sweetest princess in Merlin academy.

But now, in everyone else’s eyes, she was the cruelest Queen there had ever been. ‘Off with their heads’ rolls down her tongue as natural as walking for a normal person.

Any normal human would turn their backs against the Queen once they knew it was too late for her to be the sweet Bridget again, but you were never normal.

“Bridget, you’ve gotta stop being so harsh on Red.” You tried to reason with the Queen as she walked around your room and you were starting to feel dizzy.

It was midnight when a sudden explosion bursted your doors open, revealing the Queen of Hearts. Then 2 hours later, she was still in your room complaining about her daughter while touching and messing up your precious stuff.

“I told you to address me by my title!” The Queen glared at you but you chose to ignore her fiery gaze, no matter how much she threatened to chop your head off you knew she would never find the heart to do so. No matter how small it became. “And last time I checked, she is my daughter! Not yours!”

“She might as well be, I helped raise her!” You shouted, startling Bridget and even yourself at the outburst. You muttered an apology before taking a sip of focus potion to wake you up fully. You were so out of it after only getting 2 hours of sleep.

“Whatever, the point is she’s only a kid, she’s in the phase where she needs to figure out who she is. And who she is definitely isn’t you.” You slowly approached her, putting a hand on her shoulder In comfort while also trying to knock some sense into her.

“Remember when we were teenagers and all the fun we had? Your parents were never as controlling as you are with Red. Maybe we should bake cakes together again like the good old days!”

“Fun? I remember how much fun they all had when I was weak, gullible, and humiliated! Luckily you were sick or you might as well be dead to me like everyone else that was there!” The Queen exclaimed, her hands laid on a knife you were heating up earlier.

Your heart sunk deeper at the reminder of the day when your lives changed forever. You and Bridget had always been friends, since babies. Your parents practically raised you both together as both of your Kingdoms were united.

Ella came in view when you and Bridget arrived at Merlin academy, in a way she was her own person but she just felt like one of you guys so it wasn’t surprising how quickly the three of you got along.

Your friendship was great, well until one fateful day when everything changed. For worse.

The three of you planned to go to the dance together seeing as Bridget badly wanted to go, you and Ella never really liked those things but agreed to go anyways, for Bridget.

Just a day before the night of the dance, you had gotten terribly sick and chose to stay in your shared dormitory with Bridget. Your friends wanted to stay and look after you but you didn’t want to ruin their fun, especially Ella after you overheard Prince Charming talking about asking her out to dance.

If only you knew the outcome, you would’ve begged them not to leave your side.

A few hours after the night started, you were woken up by loud noises wandering around your dorm. You couldn’t make out who it was as you were too sick to move, but you knew it was Bridget from the second she mumbled about getting revenge of some sort.

But that was it, after that night, you weren’t getting any better so your parents took you back home to let the family doctor take care of you.

When you became healthy enough to go back to school, everything changed. Everyone avoided Bridget as if she was a plague, even Ella. And it pained you that you never asked what really happened, all you knew was that you’ll be by Bridget’s side no matter what.

So when King Beast and Queen Belle decided to unite all the Kingdoms, only yours and Bridget’s Kingdom rejected their peace offering. And as a result, your Kingdom and hers were forever blocked from ever going out of your Kingdom’s land.

“Bridget! Are you alright?” You immediately dropped all your belongings and rushed to her aid. The Queen flinched in pain when you accidentally pressed on her wound, “Sorry!”

You gently pulled her to sit down on a chair before using your free hand to grab one of your healing potions. “This is going to stink for a while. Are you okay?” you gently held her hand before looking up, right into her eyes. The same eyes you would get lost in every time you looked, and she looked at you the same way.

Suddenly it was like she was a teenage girl again, when life was sweet. Remembering the sparks that would go off whenever you held her hands as you placed on a bandage when she accidentally burnt herself while you guys were on your weekly baking date. The way you would hold her so warmly that all her senses would go off and all she wanted to do was be in your arms forever.

The feelings she had that got locked up when she became the Queen of Hearts, what she didn’t know was that she had already taken yours and you had forgotten it too.

You both came back to your senses when the sound of a thunder was heard, immediately moving apart from each other. You dropped her hand in panic and she was starting to miss that feeling. And she didn’t like feeling that feeling one bit.

“Oh, umm…do you want to bake a cake together? Unless you want cookies or cupcakes or both!” Your question was more like a demand since you gave her no chance to speak, grabbing her hands while ignoring the old butterflies that had finally grew wings again.

“We’re going to make cookies!” You claimed once you and Bridget arrived at your kitchen, you usually prefer for your bakers to make whatever you desire but baking it yourself just felt perfect at this time around.

The whole situation felt awkward at first, you weren’t used to being the one talking. Bridget was usually the one who starts and ends the conversations, mostly ranting about problems in her own Kingdom and her daughter.

But ever since that moment you shared, she had been quiet and weird, it was like her body was there but she wasn’t quite herself. It wasn’t too bad since she actually did help with mixing up the ingredients. But you really hated feeling awkward around your best friend. You terribly wanted to break the ice, so you did.

“Oh, you got something there.” You slowly headed her way, reaching out near her face pretending to get a non existent thing off her face. “Right…there! Ah HAH!” you grinned as you threw flour to her way.

Bridget stayed still, at first you thought that that would be the end of your precious head but then you saw a smile grew on her face as she did the same back. “I’m not letting you get away so easily!”

After almost 17 years, you finally found a way to see old Bridget again. You really never appreciate the small moments until it is taken away from you.

“Game on, my Queen!”

Half an hour later and the whole kitchen was filled with flour, the room was basically whiter than Snow White herself. You and Bridget laughed all night before taking a break on the floor.

“Remember when we used to have those weekly baking dates and it would always end up with flour all over the place?” You reminisced of your younger days as you settled yourself down next to Bridget. Leaning on her shoulders gently, a habit of yours since long long ago.

“Your mother would get so disappointed and made us clean it ourselves but we still did it again. Of course I remember.” Bridget smiled but not like the smile she usually does when ordering guards to cut people’s head off, this was different, genuine, and for a moment you saw the same look she used to hold before everything changed.

The look that had you lost in time and all you could do was look at her like she was the only one who existed in your world.

“I love you.” You nervously blurted out. One of the things you hated the most since birth was hiding your own feelings, it was suffocating, especially since you were hiding from the person you practically spent your whole life with.

And for a moment, you thought she won’t feel the same way. After all, you guys never addressed the situationship you had going on. It was greatly pushed aside after all the problems Bridget faced after that sorrow night.

“You do?” The Queen’s eyes grew soft as she looked back at you, her hands gently caressing your face.

“I always have, and always will. I loved you since that day you defended me from those bullies even though they were twice your size, we were twelve. You were always the sweetest, even to people who never deserved it.” You chuckled, it was bittersweet but at least you and Bridget had always been by each other’s side, no matter what.

Even if, for the past 20 years you guys had to push aside your true feelings for each other.

“I planned to come clean about my feelings to you years ago but as you know, time loves to mess with u-“ your words were cut off when Bridget leaned in, using her finger to lift your chin up before pulling you in for a long much needed kiss.

The softness of her lips almost took your breath away. The longing and desperate feelings that had been built up were release as you melted into her hold.

[cowgurrrl]

Something in the Orange

Pairing: Joel Miller x art teacher!reader

Author's note: this might become a mini series idk idk

Summary: A parent-teacher conference leads to trouble [4.0k]

Warnings: no outbreak! au, teacher things, Ellie being a little loner, Joel the Menace making a return, Joel gets both his daughters in this one because it's what he deserves, flirty flirt, i think that's it???

You feel like you've been running a million miles a minute since you got in this morning. The second you could unlock the door, at least three students spilled into your room and chaotically ran to the kiln to collect their most recent pottery projects. One of them ended up shattering (the exact one you warned Colin about, but he didn't listen), and, as per high school custom, they were all screaming about it. You consoled the students just in time for your principal to walk by and ask about lesson plans which made you scramble through your backpack for your notebook even though you knew damn well there wasn't a single lesson plan in there. "Do you always have those lights on?" Principal Martinez asked, gesturing to the room's fairy lights and orange lamps. Leave it to administration to want to avoid art classrooms so much that they don't even know about the Big Light Philosophy. 

Since then, it's been class after class. You only have one more period before your planning period and then, finally, the end of the day. There are a hundred things to do, but you can't focus on any of them. You got so caught up in managing your classroom and helping students with the hardest parts of their portfolio work that you almost forgot you had a parent meeting scheduled during your planning period. 

Calling in parents for meetings about their children may be your least favorite part of your job. It makes you feel like a bad teacher, and parents usually don't feel great about getting called in on a workday to talk about their kid. Luckily, Ellie's dad, Joel, seemed more than happy to take time to talk about her. You rack your mind for his occupation as you add some detail to a canvas you've been hiding in your office and working on when you can. Was he a blue-collar worker? Or was he another stuck-up Austin transplant parent who's gonna accuse you of lying? He'd make the fifth parent who's made you cry this semester.

A knock on your locked door pulls you from your thoughts, and you quickly put away your painting before answering the door. "I told you she was in here!" One of your students, Dina, announces as she and a posse of three other kids you don't recognize push their way into the room. "Miss, you've gotta take that thing off your door; otherwise, people are gonna think you went home!"

"You mean the sign that says, 'planning period. Do not enter?'" You ask, and she snaps her fingers.

"That's the one." She says as she and her friends start putting their backpacks down at one of your high tables. You sigh and kick the door stopper into the threshold.

"You guys can't stay here. I have a meeting in five minutes."

"With who?"

"None of your business." 

"Miss!" Dina acts wounded, and you cross your arms over your chest, your keys jingling around your neck in the process.

"I am an adult with a college degree and the debt to show for it. You are a teenager with a still-developing brain. You have to listen to me," you say. "Wait, whose class are you supposed to be in right now?"

"Mr. Flynn's."

"Guys!" You groan before walking over to your desk and quickly writing up a hall pass for them. "I know you don't like math-"

"No, we don't like Mr. Flynn." Dina cuts you off.

"Or math!" One of her friends adds, and you shoot them a (loving) disapproving look. 

"Whatever you don't like, you can't keep hiding out here. Mr. Flynn is two seconds away from trying to get me fired for how often I let his kids in here during class, and I actually like this job, so," you rip the hall pass off the pad and hand it to Dina. As they pack their stuff up, a tall, bearded man steps into your classroom and makes eye contact with you. "Out, out, out! I love you. You're gonna change the world one day, but please get out." You blow them kisses as you usher them out of the room. 

"Are you Ellie's art teacher?" He asks, a confused look on his face, and you nod.

"Yes, I am. Sorry about that. They're still figuring out that I have work to get done even when I don't have a class," you explain, a little breathless from running all over the place and getting caught off-guard. You really do try to act a little more professional with parents, but the kids threw you off. The kettle whistling behind your desk doesn't make it any better. "Is there anything I can get you? Coffee? Tea?" You pick up a random mug off your desk but find it full of murky water. "Paint water?"

"Are you allowed to have an electric kettle in here?" He asks, and you laugh nervously as you find a clean mug and your tea box. 

"I won't tell if you won't." You say. He stands there awkwardly as you pour yourself some tea, and you realize you didn't pull a chair up for him. "Um, we can sit..." you glance around your messy classroom until you find a clear table and gesture toward it. "Here." He follows your lead, and you take a deep breath as you sit down.

"You gonna be okay?" He asks, the hint of a smirk on his lips. His curly hair looks golden brown in the low light, and his round eyes have a little knowing twinkle. You take another breath to compose yourself and nod. 

"Yes. Sorry. It's been a long day." 

"Don't worry bout it. I'm sure they run you ragged."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Well, you do have paint in your hair." He says, and panic seizes in your chest. You're never more aware of how crazy your job can be until you meet Real Adults. Even if you can't remember what he does for a living, you still have to admit that you look a little silly next to each other: you, with your paint-stained sunflower dress and markered hands, and him, with his black shirt and jeans. He doesn't have any apparent stains or splatters on his clothes, but he's broad with thick biceps. He must work with his hands or something within that capacity. You clear your throat and try to get back on track with the meeting.

"Uh, so Mr. Miller, the reason I called you here today was to talk to you about Ellie," you start. "First, I just wanna say that she is an amazing student. She always does her work and engages thoughtfully with the material. I really do enjoy having her in class." 

"Well, that's certainly good to hear. She talks a whole lot bout this class and you, so... it's nice to place a face to the name," he says, adjusting his position on the stool. "But I have a feelin' you didn't call me down here just to tell me how great my kid is." 

"She is great. She's extremely talented, smart, and funny, but she spends more time in my classroom during lunch than anything else. I'm worried about her making friends and finding a community here at school. I've tried convincing her to join the art club, but she's hesitant. During class, she just sits with her headphones in and draws. She really doesn't like talking to anybody but me." You wait for blame to be assigned to you or get lectured, but it never comes. He just sighs, and he deflates a little in his chair.

"She's been through a lot this year. Well, her whole life, really, but 'specially recently," he says dejectedly. "What can I do for her?"

"There's an art show this Friday night here at the school. It'll all be student work from across the district. I thought if maybe you or... whatever adults she has at home came with her to this, she might feel more comfortable talking to her peers or even want to submit some of her own stuff."

"We can do that. I'll get off work early and ask her uncle if he wants to come," he's quick with his solution, and you're a little shocked. You rarely get parents, let alone fathers, who act this swiftly when something is going on with their kids. "Is there anythin' else goin' on that I should know bout?" 

"Uh, no. Like I said, she's a great kid. You should be really proud." You say, and the concerned wrinkle between his eyebrows disappears with a proud smile. 

"Thank you," he mumbles, suddenly shy. "And thanks for carin' so much bout her. It's nice to know she's got someone lookin' out for her here." You don't know what to say, so you just nod and stare at him. You know, like an idiot. It takes a chuckle from him to snap you out of your thoughts, and blood rushes to your cheeks.

"Yes, of course. She's a good kid." You say. 

"You said that already." 

"I bet you'd be a little scatterbrained if you were at the mercy of two hundred teenagers all day."

"You're absolutely right. I would be," he says, smirking devastatingly. "Someone ought to get you a coffee or somethin' if you're dealing with all that." 

"People like you should go argue with the school board. I'm sure you'd be popular with all the teachers." 

"That'd be a first. I think I might've been the least favorite parent for all of my girls' teachers." 

"Well, I find that hard to believe." 

"Yeah?" He asks, leaning forward just a little, and you nod, smiling. Your brain struggles to come up with something to say, and you're a little embarrassed at your silence, but luckily, your projector saves the day by buzzing loudly and making the picture on the board cut in and out. You mumble a quick apology before getting up and climbing up on a desk to jiggle a piece back into place. You hear Joel curse behind you, and when you turn to see what the problem is, you see him holding his arms out behind you. "Do you stand on desks often?" 

"Only every day. I haven't fallen yet this year." You laugh at his exasperated expression and turn back to the projector. It's still making a weird noise, so you move it around a little more, moving the desk under your feet, and Joel stabilizes it with a sigh. 

"How long has it been doin' that?" 

"Couple months. I keep putting in maintenance requests, but nobody ever comes to fix it."

"I can fix it for ya," he says simply, and you look down at him. "I've got tools in my truck. It wouldn't take long at all."

"Really?" You ask, and he nods. 

"It'd make me feel better knowin' you're not almost breakin' your neck every day."

"You mean, standing on a decades-old desk to mess with an ancient piece of equipment isn't OSHA compliant?"

"Please," he says, grabbing your ankle when the desk wobbles under you, and you laugh at his worry. "Let me fix it for you before you give me a heart attack." You think about declining and just putting in another work order, but the likelihood that anyone would actually come and fix it is slim to none. Plus, you really shouldn't be climbing on top of desks every day. You pretend to think it over for a few more seconds just to watch the worry play across his features as his grip on your ankle gets tighter.

"Only if you really mean it." 

"I really mean it," he says, offering you his other hand. "Now, would you please get down?"

"Fine." You say and take his hand. You bend to safely get yourself down, but Joel moves his other hand from your ankle to your waist and basically hoists you to the ground. Once your feet touch the floor, he doesn't let you go immediately like he's trying to figure out if you somehow got hurt when he wasn't looking. There's a part of your brain that's aware of how inappropriate this would look to any passersby, but you're also highly aware of how warm his big hand is on your hip. 

"Ya alright?" He asks softly, and you nod, taking a conscious step back from his arms.

"Yes, thank you."

"Good," he says, also taking a step back. "Let me go get my tools, and I'll get that fixed for you." 

"Perfect. I'll be here." You stand there, staring at each other awkwardly, for another moment before he turns on his heels and walks out of the classroom. The second he's out of your line of sight, you bury your head in your hands and start silently freaking out. 

What the fuck are you doing? How did a parent-teacher meeting turn into him hauling you off a desk and offering to fix your projector? Technically, nothing incriminating has happened, and it needs to stay that way. It doesn't matter if you think he's attractive or like how he worries about everything. He's Ellie's dad. Teachers have gotten fired for much less than this, and you're not willing to risk your career because of one guy. 

When he gets back with his toolbox, you're sitting at your desk and sorting through assignments like a reasonable adult. He doesn't say anything as he climbs up on the same desk you were standing on and begins messing with the mechanics of the equipment. You each work in silence for a few minutes before a screw clatters to the ground, and he grumbles something under his breath. "Do you mind..." he starts, pointing toward the lost piece. 

"Not at all." You cover your anxiety with your chipper teacher voice and search for the screw with your phone flashlight. You find it tucked between canvases, carefully pick it up, and walk over to where he's standing, waiting for him to be ready for it.

"It looks like it's just an old piece in here. I'm sure you can order a new one, and I can come back and install it if ya want," he explains, looking down at you. You probably look stupid just standing there with a tiny screw in your hand, but he doesn't laugh. "D'you mind handing me that tool to your right?" He asks, and you blindly reach for the tool you think he's talking about. "Your other right." He corrects, and you flush in embarrassment. 

"Sorry. I never was a very good woodshop student." You say, and he laughs once he has the tool in hand. 

"My girls are the same way. Just askin' ‘em to hold a flashlight while I work on their car is like pullin' teeth," he says fondly. "Speaking of which, is there a reason the lights aren't on in here?"

"The lamp light is less harsh, and it helps students focus. Plus, nobody likes coming into a bright classroom first thing in the morning." You explain, and he hums.

"If I'd had a teacher like you growing up, I would've been at school much more than I was."

"You didn't like school?"

"Hated it," he says, opening his hand for the screw. Once you drop the tiny thing into his large palm, he straightens up, and you can barely hear it going back into its rightful place. "'S a miracle I graduated." 

"That was me in college." 

"Now, I don't believe that for a second." 

"Really?" You laugh, and he nods.

"Someone like you, with your pretty dresses and all that empathy, was meant to be a teacher." 

"I wasn't always like this," you evade the compliment despite the butterflies in your stomach. "Being a teacher was never on my radar until I graduated. A lot of my life was never on my radar until then." He puts the hood of the projector back on and climbs down from the desk until he's standing in front of you again, wiping his hands on a red handkerchief from his toolbox. 

"Well, with the way you carry yourself, I never woulda guessed." He says. He opens his mouth to say something more, but the sharp tone of the bell ringing cuts him off. You jump at the sound and look at the clock as if it were wrong. 

"I'm so sorry. Time must've gotten away from me. Thank you so much again, Mr. Miller, for coming in to talk with me and looking at the projector. I hope to see you and Ellie on Friday." You say quickly as the sound of rowdy kids fills the hallway, and you hold your hand out to him. He takes it and squeezes it firmly.

"You can call me Joel. Mr. Miller makes me feel old." He says, and you smile. He doesn't look old, unlike the other dads you've encountered. Sure, he's got some gray at his temples and in his beard, but it suits him. 

"Joel, it is then." You resolve. His hand lingers in yours for a little too long before finally pulling away. "Well, Joel, unless you want to elbow through teenagers, I'd suggest you hide out here for a few more minutes." He does happily, even helping you carry supplies to your car once the hallways have cleared out enough. He's a proper gentleman, slinging your backpack over his shoulder and opening doors for you. You part only once everything is in your trunk, and he bids you goodnight with a charming smile that fills your thoughts on your drive home.

Ellie surprises you the next day as you're setting up the classroom. Normally, she isn't in until right before the bell rings, so seeing her this early is a little bit of a shock. The ink staining her hands is not. "Hey, dude. What's going on?" You ask. "Did you get breakfast from the cafeteria today? I heard Mrs. Hodges has those French toast sticks that everyone loves. You can probably get two servings if you run." 

"No, I already ate. My dad and uncle had to leave early this morning, so we got breakfast. Speaking of which," she says as she takes off her backpack and pulls a cup of iced coffee out of her water bottle pocket. "This is for you. We didn't know what you liked, so we got a vanilla latte or something." 

"Oh, El! You didn't have to do that. Thank you, honey." You say, and she sets it on your desk for you to enjoy once you don't have paintbrushes in hand. "If this is your way of getting a good grade on your piece, I already told you that you have nothing to worry about."

"It wasn't my idea. It was my dad's." She says nonchalantly before moving to the back of the classroom to get her sketch book. You, however, are confused and secretly pleased that Joel thought of you when he didn't have to. You find a message scribbled on the side when you reach for the cup to take a sip. 

Thanks again. See you Friday. -J

You turn to hide your smile from Ellie, but she's so deep in her work that you doubt she would've noticed anyway. You put some music on, and you and Ellie work silently on your projects until the bell rings and the day starts. 

The rest of the week goes by without a hitch, meaning that nobody accidentally ingested paint, and you only had to have one Come to Jesus talk with your Art 1 class. When Friday night rolls around, you're excited to see all the students work and treat yourself by wearing a new shirt with black scribbles all over it and black dress pants. You figure you should look as art teachery as possible for an art teacher event. 

By the time you get to the school, the hallways are buzzing with students dragging their parents from one piece to another and administrators praising their art programs even though you know not one of them has seen the inside of an art classroom in months. You make small talk with some of your students and their parents before finding a way out of the conversation and letting yourself wander through the makeshift gallery. You love your kids, but you really don't want them breathing down your neck as you look at all the art. You're almost at the end when you hear a familiar voice calling your name, and you turn to find Ellie walking toward you with Joel and, who you assume to be her uncle, next to her. 

"Hey, kid! I'm so happy to see you here!" You say sincerely, and she smiles shyly. You turn to her uncle and hold your hand out to introduce yourself. 

"Tommy. We sure have heard a whole lot bout you at home." He says with a smirk, and you laugh. 

"All good things, I hope."

"Of course. Ellie just bout worships the ground you walk on," he says. "Joel was singin' your praises, too." 

"Alright, I think that's enough. Why don't y'all go walk around, and I'll catch up with ya?" He suggests, and Tommy chuckles. Another teacher calls Ellie's name from down the hallway, and she's quick to drag Tommy off to meet him, leaving you and Joel alone. He's replaced his black shirt with a light blue dress shirt, and it looks like he's recently trimmed his beard. He looks nice.

"Singing praises, huh?" You raise your eyebrows at him, and he smiles sheepishly. "Thank you for the coffee the other morning, by the way. It was a really nice surprise." 

"Figured it was the least I could do to thank you for takin' such good care of my girl." 

"Well, thank you. I owe you." 

"You don't owe me a thing," he says. "Although, Tommy was a little upset that I didn't bill you for lookin' at the projector." 

"Was he?" You ask, and he nods.

"Oh, yeah," he laughs. "Said next time I should, at least, ask you on a date."

"Mr. Miller-"

"I thought you agreed to call me Joel." He raises his eyebrows in a silent challenge, and you shake your head, fighting a smile.

"Joel, while I'm flattered by the offer from someone so handsome-"

"You think I'm handsome?"

"I can't date my students' parents." You say, ignoring his question, but even then, the playful look on his face doesn't fade. "Well, I can leave you to it. I know Ellie will probably want to show you around." 

"Right. Of course," he says. "It's really nice to see you."

"You, too. I'm just glad I didn't have paint in my hair this time."

"I don't know. I thought it was kinda cute." You feel yourself blush at his words, but you have to shut it down before it can become anything more than flattery. You take a deep breath and try not to let that stupid smirk weaken your knees as he watches you.

"Goodnight, Joel."

"Goodnight, ma'am." He says, tipping his head politely before sauntering down the hallway like he owns the place. Trouble, you think to yourself. But you can handle trouble. It's in your job description, for Christ's sake. 

So, you brush off the flirting and try to ignore how his kindness and sweet words made you feel. You absolutely cannot flirt with the parent of one of your students. Dating is completely off the table. You can handle this like an adult. You have to. 

After a cold shower and a leftover dinner, you check your email once more before going to bed that night. Sitting in your inbox with alarming clarity is an email from Ellie with the subject line: Art Club. Her email is somehow just as short as her subject line. 

Simply, "When can I start -E." 

TAGLIST: @abbyhaslongshorts @kiwiharrykiwi @sumsworldz @myloveistoolittle @anavatazes @marantha

[fushiguwu]

you look so lonely in here. getou suguru

CHAPTER 2 from the Summer Fever's serie!

warnings: this is just a silly short chapter to give context to the next one, nothing really happens. reader smokes weed, gojo's stupid ass being stupid, mimiko and nanako appears.

words: 1.1k

a/n: sorry bout the lazy dividers lol

MINORS DNI!

Actually, you don’t even remember getting home that night, waking up in your bed still dressed as yesterday and the makeup glued to your face and pillow. Suguru now looked like a blur in the dark— you really did drink too much. What did he look like again? You don’t remember quite well, unless for his tender voice echoing in your head randomly through the day. All the things he said to you, rounding your thoughts when you least expected, the whole time. As the week passed by, you kept yourself busy doing absolutely nothing at all by the pool, just enjoying the privilege of uselessly on summer break, and trying your very hard not to think about the charming mysterious man you accidentally met a few days before. 

And when you start to think it was all too good to be true, there’s Gojo appearing like some kind of haunting ghost in the seat right next to you, with his bright smile. Your eyes even ached behind the sunglasses.

“You look so lonely in here, you know?” 

“Is that so?” you weren’t bothered by the loneliness at all. 

“Yes! I don’t want you to spend your summer all alone by the pool, looking like a depressed teenager in an indie french movie…” Wow. That was specific. “So I’ve called out my friend who has daughters your age and he’s bringing them here today”. What the actual fuck?

“Gojo, I ain't no child, what the hell are you thinking? Just because we have the same age we’re becoming friends, like in middle school?” you were really pissed off. Who does he  think he is, some kind of supernanny? Oh, you seem to have no friends, take these twenty year old girls and be happy? 

“Hum, yes. Pretty much it. Good luck, there’s no coming back, they’re actually coming up right now”. Nice, you thought, as hurried up to your room to take a bath and look as presentable as you could. You didn’t quite enjoy visitors, but would do it for Gojo’s starving-for-stepdad-duties ass.

And they came: Mimiko and Nanako, his friend’s daughters. They looked kind of familiar, but you couldn't remember where you’ve met them before. You didn’t know what to do, to talk about, to act like. They must’ve come out of pity. Oh, poor girl, spent her last couple years out of the country and lost all her friends. Let's pay her a visit to make dad happy. Or something like that. The three of you were sitting by the pool, as Gojo hid himself behind the door to spy on you and make sure you’re making new friends. That’s when one of them, who you think is Nanako, finally breaks down the growing tension between the –four of you..

“Do you wanna smoke some weed?” She would whisper. Your eyes shined. Gojo couldn't know about it, so you looked behind to see him pretending to fix something in the door step. You were almost sure he didn’t hear what Nanako said, but your poker face was beyond obvious towards him.

“Yeah, but we gotta head to my room”

You expected a lot of things, but definitely not this. Are you complaining? Definitely not, too. So the two girls go up to your room with you, excluding the fourth intruder, who was left in the living room, looking proud of himself. Yes! You were making friends! With his friend’s daughters! What a victory for a stepdad. His duty was fulfilled. Cheers to Gojo, the best stepdad in town!

You don’t remember exactly what you guys were laughing about, but it was probably your third blunt hitting. 

“What do you mean your dad doesn't know you guys smoke? We’re gonna get into some real problems here if Satoru opens that door”. It just made Mimiko and Nanako laugh more.

“Hey, what are you guys laughing at? I’m serious!” You couldn’t help but laugh too, even though you were really talking seriously. 

Your room’s door was closed, but not locked. The three of you were sitting on your bed, just beside the opened window that gave a full view of the closed suburban neighborhood outside. The sky darkened in different shades of orange as the sun was setting in front of you. You didn’t expect it to come like this, though; to have such a good time with your stepdad friend’s daughters. Or perhaps it was just the drug effect. Either way, you felt good.

“He doesn’t know, but it doesn’t mean he prohibits us, too, u know? We’re not lying, just omitting.” says Mimiko. Mimiko, Nanako, these names didn’t seem strange, you knew it. Suddenly, a snap activates the memory in your brain. 

“Weren’t you at my moms wedding, two years ago? I mean, her wedding with Gojo.” They look at each other trying to remember, then their faces show the same snap you just did.

“Yes! Oh my god, yes! How could I forget?” Nanako starts “We were there! It was beautiful. Dad couldn’t go. He had, hum, work to do, I guess. Gojo-san got really upset, though.” 

“I see…” suddenly, there’s something weird in the atmosphere again. You weren't so sure if you wanted to know about his work. Or about him, at all. And when you were about to change topics, a huge car just stopped by your house and got all the attention in the room. It didn't take long for the car to honk loudly.

“Dang it, dad got here too soon” Mimiko seemed genuinely upset as she looked down the window, hiding the blunt away. Nanako sighed out. A loud horn is heard again. “We’re coming!” They scream for him out of the window. You get up and lend them a perfume to cover up the weed smell. You didn’t get to the door with them, as observed through your window the girls getting into the car. You see Gojo waving for his friend from the sidewalk, and Mimiko and Nanako waving for you from the car’s window. You wave back, as finish the blunt left behind. From the window you followed the car leaving, not once seeing Geto’s face

Nanako texted you late that night about Mimiko’s upcoming surprise birthday party this weekend. You did listen to Gojo talk about it the night you got to the bar with Nobara, you just didn't know who they were yet. And then, you thought of Suguru again, after a whole day of distractions. You bit your lip remembering his eyes on you, putting your hands in your throat and squeezing it, imagining it was his instead. Your mouth and feets start to tingle from the marijuana effect, a hot spread up your body and you wonder if maybe you should get some sleep before it gets out of hand.

[themalhambird]

ALSO (my previous post was getting too long and this is related but still a tangent lol) the good thing about seemingly endless timeloops is that, y'know, a lot of roads get you to the same places, and this gives you endless AU possibilities. Do KYAL recruit Whiteman because in the first few loops he stumbles across the body naturally like Hillinghead, Hasan, and Maplewood, and proceeds to make such a fucking nuisance of himself - Hillinghead and Shahara's tenacity, but with a non-corrupt Inspector to back him up-- that the recordings Mannix does for himself the first fifteen times are all like "You've gotta do something about this guy, everything still works out okay but he's just ANNOYING." I mean, can't prove that's *not* what happens. In the middle loop, does Mannix question whether Hillinghead really has to die, because a live father in law is more love for him, right? So he changes things slightly and now convincing Hillinghead to let him court the man's teenage daughter is uh. Like trying to get a stone wall to move. Hillinghead's not *forbidding* anything he's just very aware that he doesn't have the money or the standing to protect Polly from a man like Harker if things go sour so spend the next three years convincing him that Polly's safe with you and then if POLLY is still interested, then you can marry. The recording from that timeline: this is what my last recording said happened, this is what I changed, next time round change it BACK and make sure you tell yourself that time round that it's better off that the man is dead even if it seems cruel. In at least three loops Henry Ashe punches Julian Harker in the face, you can't prove that he doesn't. One loop absolutely everything seems to be going exactly like the last time except for no discernable reason Whiteman and Esther slip their tail and make it up to Inverness. Now it's just. Panic because who's gonna shoot Polly and Mannix with their gunman playing dad to some kid he's known two minutes, all the way up in bloody Scotland?

So many possibilities to have a play around with....

[freezerbrldes]

A Long, Unfortunate while

PAIRING. Lucy Gray Baird x Coriolanus Snow

WARNINGS. Mentions of abuse and SA (not too in-depth but its still there)

AUTHOR'S NOTE. This is my first time writing and using Tumblr so please bear with me lol. This series is based on the album Preacher's Daughter by Ethel Cain. If you're unfamiliar with that album I highly recommend listening to it because it is honestly one of the greatest albums in the last decade. I changed some of the story up so it's not so predictable for people who know the lore behind the album. Also, I made Lucy Gray 18 years old and Coryo 20 years old for the sake of this story because it gets pretty dark towards the end (iykyk).

credit to @cafekitsune for dividers

now on ao3

Chapter One: American Teenager

I stand before the mirror, amazed at how the rainbow dress paired with the cream-colored corset and subtle makeup transformed my features. I’m not one to dress up, but since I’m attending the homecoming dance with Billy Taupe, I need to wear something other than my usual oversized t-shirts and baggy jeans. 

Never in a million years did I think he’d ever ask me out, let alone as his homecoming date. Billy and I grew up together in Shady Grove, a very small town in rural Alabama. We’ve never been close friends in school, but I always had a huge crush on him. He is the star player on the football team and is by far the most sought-after guy in school. 

Billy had been dating Arachne Crane, the captain of the cheer squad and the local bitch of Shady Grove High. He caught her making out with Fetus Creed under the bleachers after a game a few months ago, he broke up with her right on the spot. Since then he has talked to me more than he ever has. I didn’t think much of it until one day after chemistry class he stopped me in the hallway and asked me to homecoming. I was shocked but accepted anyway, hoping it would eventually lead us into a relationship.

I walked down the steps where my mother was ready with her Polaroid camera. 

“Oh my” she exclaimed, “You look beautiful.” She began snapping picture after picture, my eyes closed in almost every single one from how blinding the flash was. She grabbed my arms and tried to position me into a pose, taking even more pictures. After about 10 more photos, I had enough.

“Okay Mama, you got more than enough pictures, I need to go,” I say as I hear Billy pull into the driveway, honking the horn to let me know he’s here. 

“Let me go outside and say hi to the boy, I haven’t seen him in so long,” She says as she tries to open the door and walk outside. I immediately shut the door and blocked it with my body. 

“Please no, mama, he’s in a hurry and we gotta leave right now.” I began cracking open the door and inching my way through before my mother could get outside., not wanting her to embarrass men in front of Billy. 

Billy hops out of the truck and opens the passenger side door for me. 

“Wow, Lucy Gray, you look... stunning,” He says with a laugh as he looks me up and down. I blush at his words, not used to receiving compliments. 

“Thank you, Billy, you look great too” I replied. 

“Oh, Thanks,” Billy said. “It's the same suit I wore to your dad’s funeral.”

My heart sinks at his response.

My father passed away four years ago. He was the preacher at Shady Grove Baptist church for over 25 years. He was well respected around town. Everyone loved him and the services he led every Sunday. If only they knew what a monster that man was when he was not leading the congregation.

He and Mama did a good job of acting like they were happy together whenever they were at church or neighborhood cookouts, but no one could see the bruises that he would leave on my and Mama's bodies sometimes.

I shake myself out of my memories as Billy helps me into his truck and heads towards the school. The drive was mostly quiet. Every now and then he'll ask me about church or tell me about his recent football games, which I pretend to care about.

He parks the truck in the parking lot as I watch all the girls dressed in lavish ball gowns enter the school, they all make mine look insignificant in comparison. Billy helps me out of the truck and into the gymnasium. 

The room was filled to the brim with people, the DJ playing terrible remixes of various pop songs as people danced. I’m not a party girl, never even been to one other than birthday parties as a kid. The thought of the loud music mixed with sweaty bodies grinding against each other was enough to steer me far away from that lifestyle.

“I’m going to get us some punch, I’ll be right back,” Billy says as he maneuvers through the sea of people. 

I find an empty table in the corner away from all the commotion and make my way over to it. I take a seat and watch the crowd as everyone dances along to the music. Billy emerges from the crowd holding two glasses of red punch. 

“Thanks,” I say as I take the drink from him and have a sip. We sit in silence as the opening notes of Time After Time play. Billy looks over at me and places a hand over mine.

“Would you like to dance?” I look down at our hands and then look back at him. 

“Uh, sure, but I’ve never danced before,” I reply, my eyes avoiding his in embarrassment as I finish the last of my punch.

“That’s fine, I’ll teach ya” Billy stands from the table, his hand now holding mine, as he leads us to an empty spot on the dance floor. He places my hands on his shoulders before placing his on my hips. 

Billy began to sway us back and forth with the music and for a moment it felt like we were the only two people in the room. My confidence began to grow as I rested my head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart instead of the music.

His grip on my waist got tighter as he pulled me closer to his body., my chest now flush against his. He begins kissing up the side of my neck as his hands move further down my waist and he grips my ass. I feel him snake a hand up my thigh and under my dress.

“Billy, what are you doing?” I muttered, trying to push his hands off of me, but his grip was too strong. At the same time, I began to feel a little dizzy, Did he put something in my punch?

"Just relax, baby," He whispers into my ear. He then grinds his crotch into my thigh as his hands search for the waistband of my panties.

"Billy, stop, let me go," I beg quietly, but he ignores my pleas.

Before he could get any further, a shrill voice spoke, causing Billy and I to both jump.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Lucy Gray Baird, what a surprise! I wasn’t expecting Billy to bring you to homecoming. I see he’s almost won the bet.” Arachne laughed, and her cheerleader friends giggled along with her. “Arachne, leave her alone,” Billy muttered, getting in between her and me. 

“Bet? What bet?” I questioned. “Billy, what is she talking about?” 

“I-It’s nothing Lucy Gray really-” 

“Billy made a bet with Festus that he could get laid by the preacher’s daughter,” Arachne interrupted, grinning widely. 

My face heated up as I felt tears well up in my eyes. This was all part of a bet? I thought to myself. I glared at Billy as he desperately tried to talk his way out of this.

“I-I wasn’t being serious, We were just joking around, I would never try to pressure you into anything I swear.” He stutters, his hand scratching the back of his neck.

“Did you really think Billy would ever go for you willingly?” Arachne snickered, “You look like a circus clown in that dress, and besides, the only reason he came here tonight with you is to get a quick 50 bucks”

“That’s not true, I came here with you because I-” Billy is cut off by Arachne’s giggling once again.

“Oh my god Billy, you like her?”

“N-no, I didn’t say that-” Billy adds, before he finished his sentence I turned away and headed towards the door. Before I could get to the door, Arachne cut me off and threw her punch all over my dress, staining it a dark scarlet red. I felt all eyes on me as she began to laugh. Soon it sounded like everyone in the room was laughing at me.

I pushed my way through the crowd and ran out the door and through the parking lot, walking down the empty, dark road. The sound of cicadas chirping in the trees surrounded me as I made my way down the street.

I had no clue if it was whatever Billy slipped into my punch, but all I wanted to do was run into the forest and let the wildlife consume me alive. Anything at this point would be better than facing everyone in class on Monday, especially Billy and Acrachne, but the thought of leaving Mama all alone, not knowing what happened to me quickly sucked me right out of that thought.

About 30 minutes into my walk, Headlights illuminate the road as they head towards me. An old beat-up pickup truck pulls over on the side of the road a few feet in front of me. As I walk past the window is rolled down to reveal a young man with long blond hair behind the wheel.

“You know, it's not safe to walk on the side of the road when it's this dark,” he says with a friendly smile,  “Do you need a ride?” 

I took a moment to think. I hear a lot of horror stories about women getting kidnapped from hitchhiking like this, but this guy looks very nice and he seems to be worried about my safety. There’s no a way crazed serial killer would ever be in a town this small anyway. 

“Yeah, I’d love that,” I answered as I approached the truck, getting into the passenger seat. I got in and gave him directions to my house, which was about 25 minutes away from the school. 

“My name’s Coriolanus, what’s yours?” He asks, I notice his accent is a lot different from anyone around here, he must be from out of town. 

“Lucy Gray,” I replied as he began to drive.

“Lucy Gray.. That’s a pretty name,” He smiles at me. 

“You don’t sound like you’re from here, where are you from?” I asked, looking over at his large collection of cassette tapes on the dashboard. From the looks of it, he must really like Metallica.

“I’m from Florida, I’m just passing through here on my way to California.” He answers as he lights a cigarette. 

“You’re driving from Florida to California? Isn’t that like a 40-hour drive?” I inquired, this man has to be insane or something to wanna do that all by himself.

“Yes, it's a very long drive,” he laughed. “My father was a truck driver and would always come home talking about how therapeutic driving all across America was, I’m hoping I’ll find it just as therapeutic as he did,” Coriolanus mutters, he looked almost sad for a second but quickly snapped out of it. "And there are so many more opportunities for me out there than there are back home."

I could almost sense the sadness in the air as he spoke about his father, he must have lost his father too. Almost like he knew I was going to question him about his father, he spoke again.

“May I ask what you are dressed up for?” He asks, glancing at my dress.

“I was at the homecoming dance tonight at school, my date was a dick so I left,” I said, playing with my hands in my lap as I spoke.

“God, that sucks,” Coriolanus replied, “well, he’s missing out big time, you are a very beautiful girl” he looks over at me and smiles sweetly. “What’s all that red on your dress?”

“My date’s ex-girlfriend decided to throw her drink at me before I left, I guess she was jealous that I went to the dance with him instead of her,” I said as I laughed slightly, feeling comfortable around Coriolanus as I spoke about my humiliating experience.

“Yeah, I imagine,” He says as he looks over my dress once more.

I watched Coriolanus as he continued to drive down the dark highway. He notices and quickly looks over, his eyes meet mine for the first time. I’m taken aback by his blue eyes are, they're almost as blue as a clear sunny sky. He smiles as I blush and look back down at my lap nervously.

“I’ve always dreamed of leaving Shady Grove, starting a new life in a big city somewhere,” I confessed. 

Coriolanus looked at me as I stared out the window.

“I know we don’t know each other at all,” he started, “but if you were up for it, you could join me on my trip.”

I looked over at him again, my eyes lit up. 

“You want me to stay?” I asked, a smile forming on my lips.

“I won’t force you into anything of course, but I could really use the company,” Coriolanus smiled, “I feel like I might go insane driving all by myself,” He laughs as he waits for me to answer.

Living in a small town, you’re not really taught to not talk to strangers. Everyone knows everyone, a little too much sometimes. Coriolanus seems like a genuinely good person, and he’s offering me a chance to escape, one that may never come again. I know my Mama would miss me, but once I get to California I’ll be sure to write her to let her know I’m okay. This is my one shot at leaving the town, and I'm not about to pass it up.

“I’d love to join you, Coriolanus,” I replied, grinning at him once again.

He looks at me, returning a smile.

“Well then, let’s get out of here, Lucy Gray.”

[yourthirdparent]

OH MY GOD okay so a beloved follower of mine sent me an ask about my tristan mclean headcanons like in december but i accidentally deleted !!!!!!! the fuckcing ask !!!!!!!!!!!!!! so i'm making it a post. hope you don't mind. also sorry for the wait

most of my thoughts are things i can not share on this blog (this is the Normal blog for Normal things and not the fucked up torture i subject this man to on a regular basis. tbf i hardly post about it on the Bad Posts blog either but like still. can share it on ao3 though check out sleep by imjustheretoreadonefic (don't do that it's not good)) but you can ask about that (if you want, which you probably won't because it is not most people's thing lmao) on my sideblog, yourfourthparent!! BUTBUTBUT i do have some thoughts and headcanons and such that are at the very least decently presentable!!!!

starting off first: i think he's bi! i think he figured out he was bi when he was pretty young (probably somewhere in his teenage years, probably like 15 max) and when he was in his 20s he was very involved in the queer community (his 20s being. in the 80s. sorry.) and was like a big activist. that is until the curse.

the curse being him hitting his big break. stars in some film that wasn't supposed to really blow up but it like Fucking Smashed and suddenly he was like all those guys who do one role and then are suddenly in Everything. cuz he sure is in literally everything. once he starts blowing up ofc he's got folks to help manage his image and at some point they're like haha [lip bite] you gotta stop with that gay shit or straight audiences won't find you marketable. you're already native and folks can hardly handle that let alone you being an active queer activist. you gotta cut that shit out so you can be the next batman or whatever. and tristan's like Well at least i'll make money to support myself and my dying father!

newsflash his father dies of cancer before he gets a chance. tristan's doing his best to avoid thinking about his father's death so he moves out of oklahoma blah blah yk how it goes.

he has piper when he's 33 ! everything's set and he's settled and then piper comes along and like. he's alright. he can handle this. he can be a good father (he's white knuckling the bathroom sink while he says this)

yeah he's terrified of being a shitty father. he does his best to keep her away from the press and keep her Okay for the most part but in order to do that he doesn't get to see her much etc etc. you know. you've read hoo. bleh

when piper starts dating jason he's like Oh cool ! i am about to break down ! cuz like. hey man. he is so not prepared for the reality of The Passage of Time. wdym his daughter is 16. fym tristan's almost fifty. that's so fucked up how is this allowed.

anyways he and jason are like Besties (*shoving my Bad posts to the side*) like they're such good friends they hang out so often even after jason and piper break up they're just Hiding it then. like they have weekly chess meetings and they talk about books and their lives and jason concerns tristan So Much oh my god tristan is so scared for this poor boy What are those tattoos young man Who are these "wolves" that raised you What is this "legion" Are you in a gang Little private school boy are you in a gang. What do you mean your first language is latin.

ngl my obsession with tristan came from my obsession with jason. i made a post like ages ago about how silly it'd be if tristan was jason's gay awakening and i just kept. thinking about them hanging out. and it spiralled and now i'm insane about him sorry. jason will always be my number one but Oohhhhh tristan consumes me.

anyways live tristan reaction when he finds out jason's mom is beryl grace in the middle of showing jason and piper a million old movies (beryl is in one and jason sees her and immediately freezes and tristan's just talking through the movie (hes silly sorry he talks through the whole thing. piper actually likes it because she has a hard time following movies so tristan explaining everything is good but jason is vaguely annoyed by it. he loves tristan to death don't get him wrong it's just that he can't concentrate on the kovie with tristan spitting fun facts a million words a second) when he looks over to see if theyre still watching and he just sees piper fretting over jason who's looking at the screen with a thousand gard stare.

let's go misc things that i want to mention somewhere but don't really fit uhhhh

i have this idea where tristan used to be a drag queen. i don't have any of the details down not a single one but i think about him talking to piper and her friends about the old days when he was a queen. mentions something offhandedly about how he wants to wear more feminine clothing and someone's like "oh are you like. yk. a gamer" and he's like "oh nonono i'm not trans trust me i explored my gender plenty, wore makeup, padded my bra, did drag for a few years, changed my name—" and they're like "you did DRAG ???" and he's like "OH yeah LOLZ i was terrible lol. my team keeps trying to bury it from public view for a reason. those looks were NOT serving !!!!" (he doesn't talk like that but i'm being silly rn)

(you just knoooooow jason was jaw on the floor immediately looking up TRISTAN MCLEAN DRAG TRISTAN MCLEAN DRAG QUEEN PERSONA NAME TRISTAN MCLEAN DRAG QUEEN TRISTAN MCLEAN— the SECONDDDD he got a chance. like staring so hard at old ass pictures of tristan doing drag and realising like Oh maybe i am bi. piper dumped him because she found his search history /j)

i think when his father died he cut his hair but then when it started growing long again it reminded him too much of the past that he Didn’t Want To Think About so he just. kept it short. and it's been short ever since. BUTBUTBUT when piper decides she wants to reconnect with her culture (which she's been mostly separate from because of tristan's own avoidance of it due to memories of his childhood and his father and blahblahblah) it sort of motivates him to do it too. like if piper's gonna do it after tristan entirely cut her from their culture then like. he can too. and it was a big part of his life when he was younger so like. he knows shit. i'm not good at this btw sorry i just have ideas UGSFHADGSF but anyways when piper starts reconnecting he decides to do it too and his first step with like Getting Comfortable again is growing his hair out. it's a smaller step yk he just doesn't cut his hair it's nothing active. (ofc when it starts getting properly long he has a few moments. he has to really confront his grief over his father's death and just the fear of that alone is enough to make him want to cut it again. piper stops him before he does but he has a few moments where he questions if it's worth it)

ik i just said earlier that he's not trans but like sometimes. with characters. i have headcanons that complety contradict each other. that is to say Transfem tristan mclean headcanon. she changes her name to t. just T. t wynn mclean. she goes by t cuz it's something she's already used to (jason called her that all the time before she came out).

these are all the ones i have off the top of my head agh pleaseplease feel free to ask more about any of these !!! (or critique them lmao half of them are. things i suck at explaining because they exist only for hyperspecific scenarios wherein nothing happens but tristan talking to jason or piper LMAO) you can also send in your own headcanons about him or jason or piper because EYE WANT TO READ MORE ABOUT THEM RAAAAGHHH seriously there's so little stuff that features him especially and if you have literally anything at all i would lovelovelove to read it all !!!!!!! sorry for deleting the ask btw i really didn't mean to LMAO sorry to my honourary mutual (i'd tag you but i'm afraid of misremembering who it was LMAO sorry mate 💔💔)

[d1onysusw1n3]

Luke castellan -

daughter of Dionysus pt 2.

╚»★«╝

Tw: lil bit of spice, alcohol bc well Dionysus, Astrope,Luke,Jake,And Amy are all 18+

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

You know, I'm one of the most powerful people in the world, and yes I said one, Just above straight Men and Old white ladies with that one ugly side pixie cut, I'm a demigod, and a damn powerful one too. I believe everyone has morals, Sometimes I don't necessarily follow mine, but A for Effort. Anyways this all started when me and my stupid friends decided to throw a damn party late at night whilst stealing wine from the janitors cabinet and while potentially threatening his cabin with arson. Honestly like I said I do have morals, they just don't agree with me.

I sigh shaking my head at the sight before me. Currently me, Jake, Amy, and Luke were sat in My dads office as he was supposed to “scold us” due to the party Amy threw for "thanksgiving", though we all know it was just her trying to wow a boy, like usual. To be real honest with you, if it was Chiron I’d be quaking in my boots. If it was anyone other than my dad, I would at least feel guilty for it. “You bozos got yourself in trouble and now instead of me sitting down drinking my Diet Coke, I’m here yelling at kids!” He screams throwing his hands up. Classic Mr. D move. Being more mad at the fact we cut into his “Me time” than teenagers stealing alcohol and threatening the janitors house with arson. “Rigggght, so your mad because your here, not because Astrope threatened to burn down Tito’s cabin?” Jake says again with a squint biting his lips while scrunching his face in confusion.

“Get out.”

We all head out his office in a straight line I turn around opening my mouth to say something, probably idiotic, and would do nothing but piss my dad off more. Though he just slammed the door in my face making me pout. “ASSBUTT!” I scream at the closed door. "SHUT IT RED." My dad screamed back through the door. rude.

“My dessert privileges are revoked until I’m wrinkly but damn was it so worth it” Amy sighs in content. “Anyways catch ya losers later gotta run” she waves at us before walking off to the Aphrodite boy shes been trying to court.

"Dude does she ever just enjoy being single." Jake sighs at her. I slip my hand into Luke's as he zones out on the new kid Percy. Man I don't know what's gotten into him but its throwing me off, i don't have a good feeling at all.

I feel a small squeeze of my hand, my eyes trail over to his beautiful features, you could tell he was God gifted. I see a soft smile grow on his cheeks. Immediately I felt better. I just smile back giving him a peck on his nose. He bends down planting a sweet kiss on my forehead.

"Mmm, you smell like sweet grapes." Luke mumbles while his lips are still attached to my forehead.

"EUGH YOU GUYS ARE WORSE THAN AMY." Jake rolls his eyes while fake gagging.

"Hey jake~" A Aphrodite daughter waves at him seductively.

"Hey baby what's going on?!" He immediately stops fake gagging and wraps a flirtatious arm around her shoulder while trotting away.

"Dude he's such hypocrite." I mutter.

"BITCH!" He turns yelling at me.

"WHORE!" I scream back.

“You guys are a handful.” Luke sighs while dragging me to our field. Last time we made out there grape vines spouted all around us. It was beautiful. But embarrassing.

Luke’s pov:

“Would I be the daughter of Dionysus If I wasn’t?” Astrope says as i pick her up twirling her around.

“You make a good point princess.” I mumble in awe of her raw unique beauty.

“Why thank you pretty boy.” She smirks down at me with that mischievous grin as i gently lay her soft body down in the long grass. All around us were grape vines and vegetation. I lean down giving her a long sweet kiss on her beautiful fully red tinted glossy lips. Her lipgloss tasted of sweet red wine. If anything could describe her it would be wine red. wine Red hair, wine red glossy lips, wine red converse. She was beautiful.

“Your beauty takes my breath away astrope.” I whisper down at her. I couldn't help but to get chocked up, Especially since I won't know when the next time I'll see her.

She blushes and shies away from me due to all the attention I was giving her. I mean she was used to eye gawking attention usually in a comedic way or little boys wanting to drool at the sight of her, usually new campers, yet I don’t think anyone has loved her the way I do.

“Stop luke last time I accidentally grew grape vines and my dad made me tend to them all summer.” She huffs at me.

"All the better? Sweet grapes, and my favorite girl." I lean down once more placing a sweet kiss to her full lips. She sighs melting into my body, Our limbs were tangled together as the grape vines behind us, but I could care less about those. I could feel her getting more needy as her tongue grazes my bottom lip, immediately i push my tongue in her mouth, she opens giving me access. This kiss was passionate and needy. I could tell she was getting impatient as I run my hand up the side of her thigh, then down the middle splitting her legs open so I could lay in between her. she drags her soft hands under my shirt up my bare toned back, I shiver at her touch, the pads of her fingers were warm and soft, they felt welcoming.

"Mm I need you baby" I rasp into her ear. I felt myself slowly getting excited by the way she was grinding up into me.

"Then take me." She leans up to whisper in my ear. Immediately I run my hands under her shirt gripping her chest whilst running warm thumb over her nipple. She moans at the contact arching her back up off the grass and into me. I could feel every vein in me light in a deathly uproar of flames. My body felt like it was aching and the only thing that could cure me was burying myself into her tight cu-

"Oh gods!"

Astrope POV:

"Oh gods!"

I shoot up pushing Luke off of me, he rolls on his back with a oof. I look over to see Chiron and.. My dad. Only he was staring at us with a gaping mouth and a crushed coke in his hand. Well I'm fucked.

"may the gods have mercy on me." I mumble a quick prayer.

"YOU WONT WANT THEIR MERCY. AND YOU LARRY CASTILLO, ILL KILL YOU!"

“MY NAME IS LUKE!?” he screams while scrambling up sprinting down the field.

My dad runs after Luke but by the time he passes me Luke is halfway across the yard in long strides, he's a warrior and my dad was cast out of Olympus for falling in love with a nymph, you can guess who won that race.

"GODS, WHEN I CATCH YOU LANCE CASTIAL ILL KILL YOU!" My dad screams while wheezing out of breath from the lack of exercise he gets. My dad shoots up turning around pointing a daunting finger in my face.

"IT'S LUKE CASTELLAN, LUKE DAD." I argue.

"YOU GIRL ARE IN HUGE, GIANT, GIGANTIC, LARG-"

"Okay! I get it!" I scream over him whilst slapping his finger out my face.

"You don't get to be mad. THAT LITTLE BOY WAS FONDLING YOU!" My dad screams flailing his arms over his head whilst jumping.

"Fondling? Really!" I start while my lips quiver in embarrassment. "Or was I just kissing my Boyfriend and you came in and ruined my whole date." I say as my face heats up in embarrassment.

Nobody has to go through what I do. I remember saying that my dad don't have a normal father daughter relationship, its because we don't. I don't have a father, I have a mediocre friend, that's where he stands, you know the gods in Olympus swore to never contact their children, even whilst we're dying out. Yet those gods don't want anything more but to hold their children, they long for them, it's apparent in the secret gifts they drop, or the hotels like apollos for his children to rest peacefully during missions, You know what i got, a father that can fully interact with his daughter but chooses to instead mope around drinking coke praying for the day the gods let him back into Olympus.

"I don't get it, You don't talk to me or hangout with me, I've never had a childhood or a proper relationship with you, when I want to talk to you or spend time with you," I scoff. "Your working and I need to call you Mr.D but when I have a boy who loves me, would do anything for me, you're now my dad and now you say no?" I stop looking at his now blank face.

"That's it nothing to say really?"

"I'm sorry." He whispers. "I don't know how to do the whole father daughter thing, I'm new too this, But you are my daughter and i'll be damned if some boy ever tried to hurt my little girl." He walks over wrapping his arms around my shoulders hugging me tightly.

"Unlike the other gods I've seen you since you were just a baby astrope, I have raised you with help of the people at the camp, You are my little girl, I would burn the whole world if it meant I'd save you. You hear me?" My dad pulls me back to stare into his eyes, he wipes the falling tears off my face while placing a warm kiss to my temple.

"I Love you dad."

"I love you too red."

I hear painfully slow claps behind me so I turn around to see Jake and Amy slowly sarcastically clapping.

“Such a beautiful moment” Jake voice wobbles as any wipes away a fake tear.

“you shitbags.” I mumble.

“Yeah well now that this is over Luke wants to know if he’s going to be beheaded or not?” Any points to my dad.

“Depends on the weather.”

“DAD!”

“Kidding…maybe”

I sigh shaking my head at all there of them, bunch of idiots. We make our way back to main camp and we see Chiron standing there awkwardly. I slowly walk up with my head held down and tail tucked between my legs like a kicked puppy.

“I’m sorry Chiron that you had to see.. anyways I promise to not do that again, happy Hanukkah!” I spit out quickly while turning on my heels and running to my dad’s office. Currently he’s giving Luke “the talk” I know he’s scared shitless. As soon as I burst open the door I see Luke leaned back talking to my dad whilst, drinking a glass of wine?

“So no blood, that’s a good sign.” I sass at their comfortability. It was nice.

“No Luke was just telling me about how you two met!” My dad smiles at me. Wine. Oh lord Luke is in for a treat. I smile as luke hands me a glass I walk over to the seat next to him laying my legs across his lap. I was zoning out sipping my glass whilst watching my two favorite people get along. It was all that I ever wanted and more.

[kay-wren]

I'll Come Running - R.C. - Epilogue

Jessie heard the knock of her apartment door, signaling that people were there— right on time. She threw the kitchen towel down that she was using to clean up the mess from the cake her and mama just decorated.

"Want me to get it sweetie?" Tom asked from the couch, not bothering to look up from his sports on the TV.

"That's okay, pops. I got it! Charleyyyy!" Jessie rang up the narrow stairs of her oh so familiar apartment. "You need to get down here, there's some people here to see you!"

Mama smiled as she watched the young woman practically dance over to the door. Jessie knew exactly who was behind that door. She opened it with the biggest smile on her face knowing exactly who she was going to get to see.

"Hellooooo!" JJ beamed. He was accompanied by other greetings and murmurings from the Pogues and Wheezie behind him, all of them had brightly colored presents in their hands as they entered into the apartment with excitement. Jessie couldn't hug her brother fast enough.

"Ugh! JJ! It's been too long!" Jessie exclaimed as she brought her brother in for a warm embrace, doing the same to the others.

"Four months and twelve days... but who's counting right?" JJ replied with a laugh.

"Charley still has no idea we're here right?" Sarah asked. They all were clearly anxious to see the little girl.

"That's right! She knows all her friends are coming for the birthday party... just not you guys. Oh, she's coming!" Jessie said, frantically moving out of the way to reveal the brand new four year old with a birthday crown already on her head and a sash already around her pretty new dress. She looked around the living room in confusion, but the second she laid eyes on the entryway she gasped.

"UNCLE JJAYYYYY!!!" Charley screamed as she ran up to the blonde haired boy. Like so many times before, JJ reached down to scoop up the little girl.

"Ohhhh my gosh Char Char! You've already grown so much since New Years! Gotta stop that now!" JJ insisted as he poked at the little lady in his arms.

"Someone's not a little girl anymore." Sarah said through happy tears as she looked over at her sister in law, embracing her with a hug. Jessie nodded in unfortunate understanding of the same reality.

"I know it." She responded with a tinge of sadness. Time truly was a thief. "And look at you, little lady!" Jessie said, now turning her attention to the teenager in front of her. "You have got stop growing! What's next? A boyfriend?!" Jessie joked as she held Wheezie's face in her hands like only a mother could. She couldn't help but feel like if she blinked her eyes Charley would be that old too. She distracted herself by averting her attention to the Pogues.

"Everyone else should be here shortly." Jessie said.

"Who all's coming?" Kiara asked, knowing exactly what answer her and the rest of the Pogues were looking for. Jessie read between the lines.

"Uh, some friends from school, some of the MM... and Rafe."

The room went quiet. The Pogues looked concerned, but Mama and Tom seemed to show a chip on their shoulder at the very mention of the man's name. The truth is, they had been taking the brunt of Jessie's whims the last four months, trying their best to get her back on her feet after such a messy split. Nothing was official yet, but they could see how tired Jessie was from trying to balance work and strained family dynamics across the board. Trying to help the Pogues in the Bahamas and raise her daughter with an unstable father was more difficult than she originally imagined. Yet she chose to still keep in touch and make things work the best she could. She figured Rafe deserved that. No matter what, he had a daughter that he now knew about and was undoubtedly attached to. The Pogues could see that too, and they had their own worry for the twenty-two year old. Yet, they found themselves more conflicted than Maci and Tom, mostly from the fact that they saw Rafe's side of things too. Regardless, today was not the day to pick a side and wage a war.

"Stop looking like that." Jessie sighed with a plea behind her eyes.

"Like what?" JJ asked stupidly, as if he didn't know exactly the look she was referring to.

"The look of guilt... the worry. I can't take one more look of sympathy." Jessie replied with slight annoyance. The Pogues felt their own sort of guilt from this mess... JJ still couldn't live with the fact that he had called Jessie to come get him out of trouble in the first place... if hadn't have done that... she wouldn't be in this situation. Yet Jessie still made it clear that it wasn't his fault time and time again.

JJ pursed his lips and looked down, trying his hardest to understand where Jessie was coming from. He was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of another knock on the door.

"That should be Sam and Treasure."

"Treasurrrrrre!" Charley squealed as she kicked her feet, begging for her uncle to let her down.

"Thats one of her friends." Jessie explained. "Char char, go ahead and let her in!"

Once her feet hit the ground again she ran to the door, frantically opening it. Jessie figured this was the perfect time to step aside with the Pogues and have a moment.

"Look guys... I know everything is still fresh... but today is Charley's birthday. Today is not a day to pick sides or start anything, alright?"

The Pogues could tell Jessie was serious, she almost came off as threatening. They nodded in understanding.

"I'm serious." Jessie reiterated, still not convinced they understood what this day meant.

Jessie and Rafe, although communication was minimal and strictly for Charley, managed to come to an agreement about days like this. Rafe was allowed to come over, but no conversation outside of what was necessary. It was harsh, but it was crucial to making sure that this day didn't turn into passive aggressive manipulation that both of them were so good at wielding. Jessie didn't even like being in the same room as Rafe right now... as she felt that he could attack her with just his smile and those longing eyes... no words needed. But she decided that for today, he had a right to celebrate his daughter.

Slowly but surely more people started to trickle in, resulting in a house full of friends and family that Jessie loved to mingle with. The sounds of kids running around, all the adults laughing, and music blaring was still not enough to fill the hole Jessie knew was there. It was blatantly obvious in her mind only that Charley's father still wasn't there. She wondered why. He said he was coming.

What Jessie didn't know is that Rafe thought he was coming to, yet he had been a bundle of nerves all day. He got no sleep the night before. He wondered if he was strong enough to celebrate something and someone so special to him with the girl he loved the most and act like she was only the mother of his child. How was he supposed to casually share his daughter when her mother was so incessant on hardly any contact? He played every possible scenario of how this day could go in his head over and over, which caused him to stop right as he touched the exit door of his penthouse, to take another lap around the block of Jessie's apartment building, and for him to stop dead in his tracks with his hand held up almost ready to knock on her door. He stopped every single time, contemplating if he was really ready for this. He had only seen Jessie these last few months in the small time it took to drop Charley off for little visits. Yet even in those short moments, he knew his Jessie inside and out. No amount of time could change that. She was keeping it short and sweet for the same reasons as he was... fear of falling. Still, he shook his head and whispered to himself to get it together, his next move being a swift knock to her front door before he could stop himself with his thoughts once more.

Jessie finally heard the only knock that mattered, knowing it could only be the one person that was left that still hadn't shown up. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard it, and she leaped through the crowd to get the door before anyone else had a chance. She opened the door to reveal none other than Rafe Cameron. She took a deep breath, one that Rafe could see due to her extended rib cage and look of concentration. He pursed his lips but quickly remembered that he needed to smile, so he did.

"Hi." Rafe whispered numbly as he flashed his pearly whites.

"Hi." Jessie exhaled with a fake smile plastered on her face as well.

The two stood there, for as long as their hearts would allow them. Even after months of little to no contact, their eyes still said everything they wouldn't allow themselves to say for the sake of accepting reality and keeping the peace. And as Jessie looked deep into those ocean eyes standing in her doorway, that was all the confirmation she needed to know exactly where to go from here.

[myloveforhergoeson]

Yeah, uh, sorry not sorry for that comment I just left on your AO3...

hii omg sorry this took me so long to respond to i had like the most shit day at work yesterday but seeing your comment made my day so much better 😭 had to take a moments rest before i responded lol but here i go!!!!!!!!

" I love how Roxy was able to translate Logan's love science into something the rest of the group would understand. And Roxy's reaction to James dressed as a robber was great."

love science my beloved. literally my fav running gag on the show + im not bringing it up in my fic enough i think... and yeahh! it's also love science: elevated heartrate --> experiencing a high stress situation w someone --> you love them is basically what it boils down to LMAO though it's much more scientific i swear. i had a social psychology professor in college who brought this concept up like once a week (he talked about his ex literally every class period if he could) and how he took his ex extreme mountain biking on their first date to use this concept or smth. dan if you're reading this this chapter is dedicated to you <3

"Yikes. Still trying to deal with the James/Camille saga, eh?"

she said she's over it!!! but is she ever really over it!!! roxy...

"Oh my God. I can tell that the typical teenage communication problems are going to happen again. Although, I understand Roxy's hesitation about dating in the limelight. Who wants to live in a fishbowl?"

ah... not me giving them communication problems again... whoopsies.... 💀 looks like they were able to avoid media attention tonight tho - it's a problem for another day now! now that it's on her mind she'll be able to process her feelings a bit more thoroughly!

"Gotta admit. Katie played the right ploy to get Roxy alone for advice."

if anyone told me shit was scratching in my walls i would also have a similar reaction lmao. thank god the palm woods isn't rat infested!

"(Seriously. I sometimes find it amusing he acts more like a big brother to Katie than Kendall does.)"

i also think this was a bit of a strange move by the writers honestly, but i have no idea what it's like to have brothers? so maybe kendall is just oblivious (likely) or he doesn't care at all because he knows katie can take care of herself (less likely) or he's hoping his mom will just take all of that on from her daughter (most likely)

"Oh my God! Roxy really does know her boyfriend well, doesn't he? Suppose that's one way to get an overprotective big brother off Katie's back, even if it's only temporary. And the way you described James being so tender and mindful of her comfort even in their more heated make-out sessions just... oof. I'm a puddle, mate. I'm a puddle."

i like it when oc x canon kiss :) and james needs to be good to her or i'll literally kill him off in the story idc

"Oh Roxy, Roxy, Roxy. You had to know trying to intervene with an overprotective James wasn't going to end well. (Scratch that. She'd never seen him like this, so...) But seriously. Lord help any future daughter(s) James has."

maam said 'i can fix him' and proceeded to fuel the fire lit under him WHOOPS. she's so funny sometimes like 'omg no this is why i like him he cares about his friends so much... i should be supportive, but in my own way...' girl katie needs your help!!!! and very true, she's never seen him like this and she knows how much he commits to his plans! it was certainly a strange night for them

"Flexing jawline? Hello! (Seriously. There are some moments in the show where James has no right to look so good.) And poor Roxy constantly having her food taken away because James was so freaked out over Katie and Kyle. Let the girl have her burger, damn it. (Seriously, though. James better make up for it.)"

BWAHAHA i saw this tiktok the other day about how guys pose for pictures by kissing their partners on the cheek just so they can show off their jawline so that subconsciously made it's way into the story. i supposeeee james can get weird about Katie and kyle as long as roxy has something nice to look at... poor roxy and her burger 😭 she's hungry james!

"I feel like James trying to be all blase about Keaton being scared off by her dad is to cover the fact that he was momentarily scared of her dad."

he is so scared of declan <3

"Okay. With that cliffhanger at the end, I could hear the 'Oh oh oh-oh oh...' playing in my head. Because you know it would be playing if this happened in the actual episode. (Wait. How did Brand New Day manage to schedule Big Time Rush?) Are we going to get a protective Big Time Rush next chapter because of Roxy's history with those douchebags?"

IM SO SORRY ABOUT THE CLIFFHANGER i always feel so bad ending on one 😭 but next chapter will be worth it i promise! next time i'll have the radio switch on and play the theme song or something lmaooooo. sidenote: do you think they wrote big time rush and it already had the oh oh oh-oh oh in it and they were like 'oh wow this is PERFECT for the show lets use it all the time' or they wrote the oh oh oh-oh oh in specifically to be used in the show? idk

THANK YOU SO MUCH AS ALWAYS MY FRIEND you are my #1 rames rant enabler and i appreciate it so so so much. i totally forgot to leave comments on your stories from this week im SORRY they'll be flying into your inbox asap <3

[oodlyenough]

with the apollo justice ports around the corner I finally made a concerted effort to finish AAI. there was a period where i thought i'd play both investigations games AND tgaa before now. lol. lmao even

fandom wasn't kidding that last case can long

miscellaneous spoilers and overall thoughts on AAI1. also it's very long

let's get some good stuff up top to start:

it was pretty funny

the pixel sprites were soooo cute, and most of the character art was nice in general

i liked seeing more of edgeworth and franziska together. this was 80% of the reason i played the game to begin with. stupid little details like the fact that she does, actually, still call him "miles" occasionally were nice to have, and i liked a lot of their bratty sibling interactions

callisto yew was the best lmao i loved her

kay's cute. i gotta disagree with the common fanon that she's literally edgeworth's daughter, on account of it's been two days and someone else has raised her to near adulthood, but being a teenager who shows up sometimes to bother him is a very funny thing for her to be, anyway

the yatagarsu actually being a toxic polycule was funny as shit lmao i love it. and kay at the end saying she wants to find 3 fellow teenage beauties to do it with her fhkldhglkhlfg yes girl end up on reddit queer housing discourse i believe in u babe

i didn't like lang all that much to begin with but once we got to the shih-na reveal i was all in, lmfaoooo. i joked "i hope he eats a poison necklace for her" and five minutes later he was taking a bullet. amazing. in all seriousness their relationship felt like much of what i enjoyed about dahlia and phoenix minus the stuff i felt was stupid. let's hear it for toxic workplace romances. edgey comes out of 3-5 like "well that was a lot" and then meets some new spiky weirdo to have homoerotic rivalry with only to discover that guy is also insane about some evil woman

cammy and ms teneiro were also great. lot of funny women in some of these cases. i like that.

this game could have attempted to sell me on some het romance for edgeworth -- it wouldn't have worked, but i wouldn't have exactly been surprised if it had tried, yknow -- but anyway instead it had miscellaneous women flirt with him while he was consistently baffled and/or oblivious and/or revolted. don't worry mr edgeworth i saw your magenta suit

i think broadly that covers the stuff I liked. which leads me to ... stuff I did not:

this game was... rough, imo. after i finished the trilogy this summer i was excited to play this, in particular because one of my few but key complaints with aa3-5 was that franziska and edgeworth just kind of disappeared and i was hoping this would give more exploration and closure to their characters.

that... did not happen. i felt like i was waiting for it to hit a point and get good for pretty much the entire game; it'd be like "well at least franziska is here soon" "well i want to meet kay" "well there's the baby franziska case" "well it's the finale surely it'll be fun!" and mostly none of that really materialized. largely i found it disappointing and anticlimactic.

i don't think i learned anything new about the existing characters -- edgeworth just kind of seemed to be reiterating lessons we already learned in the trilogy, and i felt they negated a lot of franziska's trilogy development and/or flanderized her a lot. the new characters are ok -- i LOVED yew/shih-na lmfao, and I like Kay, and I eventually came to like Lang once I saw him be unhinged about shih-na. but overall i felt the character work was weaker than I was expecting, and without the investment I have from the trilogy I doubt I'd have finished the game. the bratworth + baby franziska case was my fave of the game, because it was fun to see them together in that period of their lives, but even then I don't think how edgeworth was written makes any real sense with aa1 -- i think trilogy bratworth would take the easy conviction against gumshoe and be done with it. that was like. pretty core to the first three games.

I didn't find anything particularly emotional. I WAS interested in Callisto and her dead sister as compared to Kay and her dead father but, never mind, that was a lie. They tried to convince me KG8 was personal to everyone, but it didn't really feel like it for anyone but Kay -- who I like but met two cases ago, and whose connection to even Edgeworth is tenuous. Like they make it pretty clear Franziska is haunted by that case but ... why? Because she regards it as a semi failure I guess...? Like sure, I guess, but ... that's kind of remote. Compare to the trilogy finale stakes of defendant Edgeworth, Maya kidnapped, Phoenix falling off a bridge + Maya missing... the big threat here was that some guy we just recently met might go on to murder other people we've never met in foreign countries. Objectively yes that's bad, but it's not exactly emotionally gripping, imo.

I feel like the nature of the games and its place in the broader AA universe meant the stakes were off. edgeworth and his allies get accused of murder every five minutes in this game, but none of it ever feels real, because by "accused" they mean the police ask a few questions. in AA terms, this is nothing. there's no detention center or arrest or the threat of a 3 day trial and inexplicable death penalty. i've been saying for ages that i would love to see defendant franziska, everyone else got a turn!!, etc -- and technically this last case gave it to me except, well, she was one of about a dozen people accused over the span of the world's longest case, there's no real threat there, and frankly where's the fun in franziska being accused of murder if not for her to grudgingly accept phoenix as her representation. AAI's determination that everything happen pre-trial means that mostly none of it felt very serious; no one even gets arrested. maybe in a vacuum the threat of arrest would feel like enough, but in a series where you have Maya as Murder Charges Georg it just felt like nothing was really on the line -- what's the worst that happens, they get arrested and they hire phoenix? lol. don't threaten me with a good time!

this post is a million words long so I'll stop there. in conclusion, the worst ace attorney game I have played so far. fortunately(?) for AAI and unfortunately for me, i have not yet played dual destinies or spirit of justice, so stay tuned to see if it gets dethroned, lmfao.

i will, probably, eventually give AAI2 a try, if only to better understand everyone's fanfiction, but my hopes are pretty low.

[popstarryeyed]

speak now (taylor's version)

mine is a better song than i remember. i still find the "made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter" line kinda funny though. like it does sound very good i get why people like it but i don't think she really does anything rebellious here

sparks fly sounds different. i can hear it because i know this song too well

back to december is a good song but the response to it has always weirded me out. like i get why swifties would bring it up in her defense back when people said that she only wrote breakup songs blaming the guy but also like. is there something wrong with writing songs about how your ex was shitty. what if her exes were shitty. and she wrote about it. how do you know that's not just...what happened. also picture to burn and forever & always slap so why are you complaining

dear john loses a lot of its power being performed by an adult tbh. like what makes it so good is that you can see baby faced taylor in a cute little dress saying "don't you think nineteen was too young to be messed with?". the song is kinda immature at points ("your dark twisted games") but the fact that a teenager is singing them while calling out a 30-something for dating a teenager just further calls attention to what he did wrong. she does something similar in would've could've should've with "give me back my girlhood / it was mine first" (it was mine first!" is the kind of thing kids say when they're fighting over a toy) but the rest of the song is clearly from the perspective of an adult looking back. dear john is about being in it and gains a lot from that authenticity

i gotta say, mean kinda hit for me. i don't always have the best self-esteem but i am living in a big ol' city and all my school bullies will ever be is mean. thanks for the confidence boost taylor. unfortunately, of course, that line is immediately followed by "someday i'll be big enough so you can't hit me", which i can only see as tragic in hindsight after getting big and successful only got her more hate. shoutout to todd in the shadows for pointing that out

the story of us guitars sound different

never grow up kinda got me a little weepy ngl. what dear john loses from having an older taylor sing it, never give up gains. "wish i never grew up" -> "give me back my girlhood" -> ouch. also the line about memorizing your childhood bedroom kinda hurt since my parents have in fact sold my childhood home and as i said i do live in an apartment in a big city (and was walking back there as i listened to it)

[noitsbecky127]

rebecca watches ds9: the nagus

hello ferengi, what shenanigans are you getting up to today

shoes are important jake!

sisko i think jake has plans already

noticing a recurring theme of “jake is growing up and sisko doesn’t like that” so it’s good to know some things stay the same in the future lmao

quark: ROM WHY DIDN’T YOU ROB THIS LADY

i wonder how many rules of acquisition there are

c’mon rom don’t pass your chores onto your teenage son

grand nagus? sounds important

old wrinkled ferengi with giant fucking ears

five holoprograms is a lot

keiko’s school is bustling!!! happy for her

ah miles is the substitute teacher for now

keiko’s been on earth for a while! guess that’s reasonable for a hundredth birthday

wait hang on, i just thought a little harder about the fact that keiko’s mother is a hundred. keiko’s not that old. i just looked rosalind chao up and she was in her mid-thirties at this point. how fucking old was keiko’s mom when she had her daughter

i’m thinking too hard about this aren’t i. i’m probably thinking harder about it than the writers did

ANYWAYS. time to go over homework

i don’t think vulcans make a habit of stealing

why would the grand nagus bother to buy this bar in the middle of nowhere

actually why is he at this bar in the middle of nowhere anyway

glad to see sisko is at least not gonna force jake and nog apart

are they eating gagh or do multiple alien species make a habit of eating live worms

tube grubs. the latter, then

ferengi logic is a hell of a thing

poor nog

oh god the station’s about to be overrun by ferengi

“see if i care” jake definitely cares

ferengi are definitely not to be trusted

congratulations quark! ahem, GRAND NAGUS quark

nog can’t read? guess that’s why he didn’t write the ethics essay

school must be pretty hard if you can’t READ

quark has a new friend to protect him from assassins

ah nope the new friend probably is the assassin

85 years??? how old is this guy? how long do ferengi live?

ah. about five more minutes after that statement apparently

that’s not gonna look good for quark!

ferengi do WHAT with corpses

ah jake and nog are still friends at least

the attempts on quark’s life have already begun

sisko please let your son have secrets he’s fourteen not four

what the fuck is quark holding

rom why do you want to kill quark. that’s your brother. you stand to benefit from him being grand nagus the way i see it

jadzia my beloved

i love how, left unattended, jadzia immediately begins stealing food. granted if she asked sisko for a bowl of stew he would certainly say yes and she knows it so ig it doesn’t really count as stealing

i think sisko going after jake is a bad idea, but i’m closer in age to jake than to him so what do i know

HE’S TEACHING NOG TO READ 😭🥺

doors mean nothing to odo

airlock’s gotta be an unpleasant way to die

ZEK???

ah yes, the secret test of character

wait so who was the discs

ferengi love betrayal i see

i want parental hugs now. my parents are coming to visit next weekend though so i’ll get lots of hugs then!!!

[vonlipvig]

12, 16, 17, 18, 41

Thank you! Still doing this for my spy guys, let's gooo.

12) How do they deal with an itch found in a place they can't quite reach?

Ok, fun one! It definitely depends on whether they're on the job or just on their day to day lives, y'know? If they're not on an active mission, Grant would have no qualms about asking David to scratch his back or something (and would probably jokingly start moaning in delight to piss David off). David could ask Grant as well, of they're in confidence and he's in the mood. If not, he'd just lean against a wall or something lmao. If they're on a mission, though, they'll just suppress the need. Or if it's truly urgent they'll ask each other and get it done, no jokes this time.

16) What makes their stomachs turn?

Like, metaphorically? Well, in their line of work there's not much they haven't seen or gotten to experience, so in that sense they're pretty hardened. Blood, violence, they're familiar with that, in a way. I guess senseless violence still gets to them, especially towards children and of course, seeing each other get hurt 👀.

Literally? Lmao no idea, will need more time to explore that. As agents, they can handle their liquor pretty well (gotta perfect the art of standing inconspicuously at a bar, or wining and dining a mark!) but I'd say David is a little bit more of a lightweight (he doesn't really get sick though, but he'll get drunk lmao).

17) & 18) Are they easily embarrassed? What embarrasses them?

Lumping these two together. I'd say Grant isn't that easily embarrassed. He's the type of guy who's always down for a round of karaoke, or who has no trouble laughing at his own misfortunes, now turned into funny anecdotes. He's pretty easy-going, so there's not much that would cause him to turn red. In a professional sense, he's the one that tends to take the lead when it comes to field work where they need to talk to people, chat up a mark, get information out of someone without they realizing, so he's pretty used to that kind of pressure, to thinking on the spot and turning potential mishaps into advantages. Still, he's human, and he's never truly as extroverted as he appears to be, so a failed social interaction or a genuine mistake in a relationship can still haunt him for a bit.

David is not quite as easy-going as his partner. He's got a bit of a perfectionist streak, so small mistakes can sour his mood pretty easily, and getting called out by his superiors for some misstep during a mission definitely stings. I don't think he's the type to get sad and mopey, though, he's incredibly quick-tempered, and if anything, that embarrassment turns quickly into anger, sometimes at those calling him out and sometimes at himself. He'll take it as a challenge to push himself further, tho (aaand might break a few rules if he thinks it's warranted). In his day to day life? Definitely gets embarrassed by any dumb thing. Grant catches him doing NYT Connections or Wordle and gets the answers before him, and he'll seethe about it for the whole day, lmao.

41) How do they feel about children?

Aaah, this is such a fun question, because my own thoughts about children always end up bleeding into my characters, which is why almost all of them don't have kids and don't plan to. And yes, ok, these guys don't have kids either, but the idea for them does come from a dream where their proto-characters were mentors to this teenager, so a bit of that has stuck to their final versions...

I think Grant loves kids, and he'd love to be a father one day. Of course, that--and mantaining a relationship--has proven difficult, what with his line of work and all, but the point remains that he's fantastic with children. His little sister has a daughter of her own, and he loves to dote on his young niece as much as he can. He's such a fun uncle, y'know? Kids love him, too, and if there happens to be a child involved in any of the missions, he'll make sure no harm comes to them, keeping them happy and distracted if need be.

David doesn't feel quite at home with kids as Grant does, but he's also someone who kids feel completely safe with. Babies and toddlers, he'll definitely feel a bit unsure around them, not because he doesn't like them but because he's never had any experience with them. But with kids and teens, he's actually really good. He's always kind to them, talks to them like an adult would, and never makes them feel like they're not cared for. Think a Gordon Ramsey type, will cuss out any adults for literally anything, but will be sweet and patient with kids any day.

In the spirit of keeping that concept from my dream alive, I'm still playing with the idea that in one of their missions, they get assigned to take care of this millionaire teen/young adult, and they both definitely get attached to their young charge. So they kinda get to be dads for a bit lmao.

[echantedtoon]

Damian x Sahara

Black. That's all she could see. "Sahara!" Who was that? Their voice sounded familiar. "Dam. Calm down. She's gonna be alright." "Addison! You don't get it! It's my fault! I was just trying to help!" "Nobody could've known her potion would blow up. It's not your fault." "But, I gave her the recipe!" "You didn't know it was gonna blow up........Hey! She's waking up." Sure enough, her eyes slowly opened. She blinked a couple times before adjusting to the light. She was in a white room on a soft bed, and hooked up to some kind of giant machine. "Sahara!" A red blur rushed over and squeezed her into a hug. Pain shot through her body, and she let out a loud whimper. The red blur seemed to have heard because he almost instantly let go with a soft 'Sorry'. She slowly rubbed her head and was finally able to see who the voices belonged to. A floating red animal and a pale teenage boy with a tail. "H-Hey, Dam. Addi. Where are we?" They looked at each other before back at her. "........What?" "You don't remember what happened?," Addi asked. She looked at him confused, but not before seeing Damian look away. With a guilty look on his face, ears flat against his head, and making a whining sound like a dog being kicked."......Just a flash of light and a big boom.......What happened back there?" Addison said nothing, and instead looked at Damian, who winced more now that both were looking at him. "OK! Ok! I give!,"he shouted," It's all my fault!" He slowly looked her in the eye."I wanted to help....s-so I borrowed a beauty potion recipe from Tenta. It was simple enough to make......except.....it only works if you make it under a full moon. There was a new moon last night." He suddenly flopped down on the bed covering his eyes." I"M SO SORRY!! I DIDN'T KNOW IT WOULD EXPLODE!! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!!" He flinched and looked up when a hand gripped his shoulder. "Dude........It's ok. I'm still alive, ain't I?" "But, you could've been killed." "But, I wasn't. I'm alright." She tilted his head up to look him in the eye." You were just trying to help. Besides it shows you care." Addison smirked as Damian's cheeks turned pink against his red fur. "Excuse me," a female voice said. The trio turned to see a nurse standing in the doorway. "There's a boy named Quintin here to see you." "Oh......yeah. Adoptive bro." Damian stood straight up." Yeah. I guess I'd better be getting home. Tenta's probably worried sick or something." "I gotta get going, too. I'm meeting Camilla for a date tonight. I'll sneak ya in a cheeseburger tomorrow," Addi said winking at her before walking out. "Bye, Addi! .......Bye, Dam." "Heh.....uh...Bye, Sahara," he said slowly backing out. "See you tomorrow?" "Count on it." He smiled before disappearing around the corner. -2 weeks later; In the UnderWorld- The Queen was staring down at her son while the Devil read a piece of paper she handed him. His caretakers were trembling behind him. "Baby, why are your grades so low? You usually have better grades than this." He looked down embarrassed. "Damian. Your mother asked you a question, and we both expect an acceptable answer." His father narrowed his eyes at him. "Sweet Heart, is something wrong?" "Y-Ya know how you guys said I could pick the girl who'll rule by my side when I got older?" He looked up at them. His parents glanced at each other before his father spoke.".......Are you telling us that you found the woman who'll become the next Queen if anything should happen to us?" He slowly nodded. His mother looked at the paper, then at him."......My Darling, our son found his future bride and became understandably distracted by her. Let's overlook his grades just this ounce." "..........As long as he REMEMBERS to fix them, I'll alow it. But, just this ounce." Damian smiled as his caretakers relaxed a bit. "Thank you, Daddy! I will! I promise!" His mother leaned forward." Now,Baby,.....tell us about our future daughter-in-law."

[shadowykittengladiator]

-Acting like DC heroes are incompetent fools and government dogs. Buddy, you can give Danny as many titles as you want but I can confidently say Plastic Man saved the world more times than him. Also Justice League is a league of vigilantes, as in they don't listen to the any government. I don't know where this idea that the League would listen to a word GIW would say or the idea Danny would try to stay away from them because 'they work for the American government' came from but you can tell the ones that say those have never picked a justice League comic in their lives.

-This fandom seems to hate Superman for reasons I don't really understand. And the few times they manage to write him anything other than the government dog they think he is, they write him as this 'I know better than you', 'I think humans are inferior to me' guy. Like come on, Superman is my favorite character of all times, seeing his character being butchered like this just makes me cold to the dc x dp crossover.

-I don't know if people don't watch young justice or they ignore it for some reason but writers of dpxdc don't seem to know shit about what actually happened between Connor and Clark. Clark doesn't hate Connor. He is not abusive to him. He doesn't think Connor is an object or a weapon. He respects Connor as his own person. He just ignored him for a while, which is understandable. He was just given a teenager created from his DNA that he did not know about. This, to me at least, parallels a rape victim given a child born from said rape and needing some time to process. Superman just doesn't know what to do with Connor, because Connor is a child he did not want. It doesn't help Connor was created to be a weapon against him and replace him. Also he is a teenager that looks like him. He will understandably avoid him and need time to process things. Connor and Supes get a lot more closer as time goes on. Also note to mention, this whole thing only happens in young Justice and not the comic continuity. Gotta love the fact that dcxdp writers have such hate boners for Clark Kent that they like to write their stories in the same universe as the comics but still add the fact that Superman hate conner.

-Seriously, Superman doesn't want Connor dead. This whole treatment of Superman made me hate Danielle's character. Oh, oh, Danny need to punch Superman because he doesn't like the idea that someone stole his genetic material and cloned him.

-Now let's move to Danielle, yes Danielle not Ellie, because I hate her so much. Before dcxdp fandom ruined the character for me, I was mostly indifferent to her. But then, everybody decided to make this oc character from an already canon character. It is like they replaced every part of her that made her her, called her Ellie (even though she did not say anything about being uncomfortable about having the same name as Danny as a matter of fact she was quite amused by it and made jokes about it) and said she is the same character. If you want a gremlin character just make one. Danielle is not some trolling, gremlin child that pranks everybody. True, she is a bit mischievous but this fanon perception of her is just a whole ass new character.

-Danny doesn't see Danielle as his daughter or whatever. Danielle is not a one month old baby, she has the maturity of a twelve year old she just lacks the life experience and Danny is fourteen for gods sake people. Why are we so quick to make teenage parents. Even if Danielle was deaged for whatever reason Danny still wouldn't see himself as her father and he would treat her as his cousin/sister because I remind you that was the relationship that these two felt the most comfortable with. Again why are we so quick to change it?

-Cores, as much as I hate them, doesn't bother me. What bothers me how ghosts in Danny Phantom were turned into gemstones from Steven Universe. Like no, I like the idea if Danny's head was blown up, he would die for real this time instead of retreating back to his core. Humans don't go back to their hearts or brains once they get severely injured, why would ghosts?

-Speaking of ghosts, what is up with humanizing Danny's enemies. Everybody is treating them like they are buddies with Danny. True there are some ghosts who can be called good, (Young Blood, Pointdexter, Wulf,) but guys like Technus tried to take over the world several times. Skulker wants to skin Danny alive. I am pretty sure Spectra, if this wasn't a kid friendly show, would have driven the teenagers in the series to suicide or kill them herself with that ghost sickness. Seriously, she disguised herself as a high school counseler and gave teenagers depression. I can't be the only one that understand how messed up that is but everyone is like 'oh she is buddy-buddy with Jazz it's fine she did it because of her obsession 😉'

-Let's get to my final hot take. Obsessions. You know Danny is such a complex character. I don't do character analysis much but I will try. Danny is a fourteen year old boy with two crazy parents and he dies from their neglect, only to realize he came back as a ghost, something that his parents hate. As a matter of fact, they hunt their son throughout the series. And now there are dangerous ghosts coming through the portal and anybody that can stop them are incompetent fools. So, Danny, who opened the portal in the first place, feels responsible for this fact and tries to stop them. What was fandom's response? That Danny is protecting the town because his 'obsession' is protection and if he doesn't protect people, he will die. This complex character that had a ton of potential have been turned into a one dimensional character who is protecting people not because he feels guilt about the fact he opened the portal, or the fact that he feels responsible since he has the power so he gotta use them to protect his loved ones. Nope, he is doing for his own benefit, thus proving the Fenton couple right that the only reason ghosts do anything is because it would benefit them. I mean we know that is not true but isn't that what obsessions turned Danny into?

-I will apologize in advance because I said a lot of things in this post. I don't even know if someone will read this giant thing. It's like three a.m where I live right now and I needed to get this off my chest once I saw this post. I love Danny Phantom and dcxdp and the writers who write fanfics for it are amazing but it became uninteresting to me lately because of the reasons listed above. Anyway I feel real strong everything I said in this post so don't take anything I said here wrong and again I apologize if I offended anyone but these are my hot takes.

Reply to this with your DPxDC hot take