#oh well... we'll see what the future has planned for me

[tiffanylamps]

totally didn't notice until now, but it's been a year since i published my first beyond evil fic. i have mixed feelings about it but i still appreciate that story because it was the first piece of writing (that wasn't poetry) that I had completed in a number of years, and it felt like a huge achievement at the time

[joshuatingz]

bf! seungcheol

Summary: Seungcheol & you are in a long-term relationship (since high school) and now you both are fully grown adults trying to navigate through life

Warning: cussing (cause what is an au w/o it?), LIFE (it really is sucky at times)

Note: @kathaelipwse really gave me all the motivation & inspiration to write this so, here we are I guess?

Additional Notes: Non-idol AU, Fem! Reader

During High School

You just happened to be walking along the corridors of your classroom when you saw a pouty (buff) baby kneeling and begging his so-called "best friends" to let him stay out of the whole shitty event they planned

You being you, decided to go check out if the said pouty buff baby needed anything

"Oh great please, I'm sorry I don't know you BUT PLEASE my friends are torturing me, could you write them up or something?"

"Bold of you to assume we're letting you off the hook, Cheol"

Said "Cheol" gives you a big wide-eyed look that you just could NOT! resist and the next second, there you were dragging him away from those evil people (who you then find out were his best friends)

"...bro those are your best friends?" "point 1, no 'bro', point 2 yeah...I love them though" "um okay noted...well bye I guess?"

"What's your name though?" "..Guess?" "Yeah no, I'm Seungcheol, people call me Cheol but you, sweetheart, you can call me yours 😘"

You just stand there frozen (🧍‍♀️) & blushing (😳). You somehow manage to recover with a "Listen, you needa chill. Just cause I found you cute doesn't mean you can start messing with me"

"Oh? I'm cute? Well look at you baby, you're much more cuter than me!" "..Cheol what the fuck-"

Final year of High School

Seungcheol (and you too) was love-stricken but never had the guts to ask you out. Everytime you pass by each other, you'd see Jeonghan & Joshua messing with him, he getting absolutely flustered, and you just giving a blank expression

no one has to know that you were dying at how cute he was

He finally gained the courage to ask you out in the final year (also thanks to Jeonghan & Joshua threatening him)

"Ok Y/N, I really like you, please go on a date with me 🥺" "You took THIS LONG to ask me out? Wtf Cheol, I was already imagining a future of us"

"O-oh? omg..okay yes we're finally a couple, there'll be a future us, we'll get married have a bunch of kids and grow old together. Yeah, we're definitely doing this. when sh-" "Cheol okay wait calm tf down, let's graduate first yeah?"

University

Both of you get into the same university but sadly different courses - Cheol being an arts student and you being a law student (the two of you decide to share an apartment cause why not?)

Unfortunately Jeonghan & Joshua also tag along to the same university with courses in vet & medicine respectively

By the 3rd year, all 4 of you got hella busy - barely had time to meet each other. and your relationship with Cheol? Oh boy, it would be better not to mention anything about it.

Both of you had hit an all time low in life (for now at least) - Cheol being unable to come up with a thesis, you being unable to present in mock court sessions. You both wondered if this was what you wanted

"Cheol, its been so long since we went on a date" "I know baby, but I really need to get this done, I don't know if I can pa- "I have my shit to do too Choi Seungcheol, but here I am trying to make our relationship work"

You knew how much he hated when you said his full name but damn you were pissed. The same excuse everytime? Was he the only one who had work to do?

"Baby listen, I know this isn't working right now but let's do our best okay?" "Seungcheol, we're 3rd year students, we barely went on dates in our first two years - literally 4 dates and that too on our birthdays. Come on, let's g-" "Y/N, I said NO, don't you get it?" "...You know what? Fuck you. Go and do your stupid work."

And just like that, you storm out of the house, hot-headed in the pouring rain. Your legs take you to Jeonghan's place and you crash the night there, crying in his arms while Joshua goes out to get some ice cream for you three

Jeonghan literally speed-dialled Joshua cause he didn't know what to do

~ The Next Day ~

Cheol showed up at Jeonghan's apartment, all teary-eyed full of remorse for whatever happened last night

You didn't have the heart to prolong whatever this was. You missed him, you missed sleeping beside him, his warmth, his cuddles.. Oh God, you just loved him too much.

Cheol missed you the same. He missed spooning you, he missed tucking your hair, he missed looking into your eyes, he just missed you so much.

"Y/N, baby, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have yelled like that. I- I really don't know what got to me. I can't lose you like this sweetheart. Please, come back home" "Oh Cheollie, I will never hate you. I just can't and I'm sorry for not understanding you"

"Hurt her again and we won't spare you, Cheol" voiced both Jeonghan and Joshua, watching all this unfold

You both go home, hand-in-hand, looking at those lovely eyes, that cute pout on Seungcheol

Adult Life

Few years pass, and the 4 of you are working your 9-6 jobs

Except for Jeonghan and Joshua who were always on call (it was lowkey their fault for becoming a vet & a doctor)

At this point, it was a miracle how the 4 of you stayed close, with Seungcheol and you still going strong

However, you barely saw each other at home, and when you did, both of you just slept throughout the day

"Why is adult life exhausting? Why are we adulting?" "I don't know, Cheollie, but all I know is that we both hate it" "Damn right we do"

You're both currently 27, with stable jobs and honestly? both of you were planning to settle down

Obviously, your family was overjoyed ("Finally, do you know how long we waited?") and so were his

But what's stopping you both from entering the next phase of your lives? Job? Money? Security? Committment?

No, it was because you called Cheol "Bro" by accident

"Bro...you know what? We should get married. A small, simple, cute wedding with our closest ones. How does that sound?" "...Bro?" "Cheollie, that was by accident. Even if I did, it is my way of loving you"

"Didn't I already mention no 'bro'?" "Again, Cheol, it was by accident" "You literally call your bestfriend baby, sweetheart, sweetie", he deadpanned

"...Are you telling me you don't wanna get married because I called you 'Bro', MIND YOU, after years, by accident?" "Yeah" "Choi Seungcheol, what the absolute fuck?"

"..Cheollie, baby, I'm sorry. You know it was by accident right? Come on sweetheart, look at me yeah? 🥺", came your pleading (Gosh it was hella difficult to coddle a pouty buff baby)

"You called me 'bro' after years.. Y/N, you called me bro!!" "Cheol, oh my god that was by accident. You're 27 now 😑" "I don't care. I didn't expect my LOVED ONE, my RIDE OR DIE, my FUTURE WIFE, my GIRLFRIEND, to call me 'bro'. The betrayal.."

"Come to think of it, we never officially told anyone we were a couple. Things just, happened to happen. Didn't they?" "..If you're trying to distract me, it's absolutely working. Gosh, I can't sulk when I'm with you. But yeah, we never really told anyone"

"But hey, you'll be my wife soon everyone's going to know 😘😉" "And I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you and your pouty ass" "Hey, you love me!!!"

"Damn right I do"

On your wedding day

Both of you were a mess, a huge mess

Seungcheol was constantly sweating buckets, you were pacing all around the room with nervousness. Not to mention, Jeonghan took away your phones cause he knew you both would video call each other just to calm down

"Jeonghan, I swear I will kill you if you don't give me my phone right now" "Y/N, calm down, it's your wedding day" "THAT'S WHY I NEED IT" "Can't do that darling, sorry"

You were walking down the aisle, holding a boquet of flowers with everyone' eyes on you, while yours on Seungcheol's

God, he was a mess. Seeing you all dressed up on this occassion just made him bawl like a baby

Joshua was at the side, trying to comfort an already-crying Jeonghan who was muttering "My babies have grown up"

You reached Seungcheol, wiped his tears, said your "I do's" and there you both were, officially Husband and Wife

And that's when you start bawling. All those pent up feelings gushing out. It's official, you were each other's, and you both made it known

"So, shall we started planning for baby #1?" "CHEOL????"

A/N: I tried, I'm sorry if it didn't meet your expectations 🥺😭. I'll try harder next time!!

[mind-intheclouds342]

Do it for them - Co-captain reader x Curly

Previous - Part 13 - Next

"Swansea! Did you eat all the sweets?"

Swansea: "I don't know what you're talking about!"

He crossed his arms indignantly at your accusation, while you could see the chocolate stain on his mouth. 

Anya: "It wasn't him... I was eating the sweets you brought..."

You turned to look at her and tilted your head. 

"...You have been... very good, Anya" 

Anya: "...Thank you, captain"

"Did you left any candy? Can you share a bit with us?"

Anya: "Oh- yes, I'm very sorry for hogging them all by myself- I just wanted to eat something sweet"

"Don't worry, I understand. Just don't steal them, okay? We're just about to go home, we need to hold on a bit longer, then we'll eat whatever we want." 

Daisuke: "When we return! We'll stay in touch, right?? I don't want us to drift apart! Swansea, I want to meet your children and your wife! Oh, and I want to try the captain's food! The captain talked a lot about how much he misses her food!"

All the enthusiasm the boy had, you set aside while you slowly walked towards Anya and carefully took her hands. 

"You wear looser clothes."

Anya: "Yes..."

"...You know we have to wait three months... And three more to return?"

Anya: "I know..."

"...If that's what you wanted... I'm going to help you."

Both men were attentive to the conversation the two were having, approaching curiously. 

Swansea: "What is that whispering you two are doing?"

Instead of telling her, you looked Anya straight in the eyes, hoping she would confirm it herself. 

Anya: "I... didn't took the pills to end my pregnancy..."

Daisuke: "What??? Why???"

"That doesn't matter. It's the decision she has made and we are going to support her, we won't leave her behind."

You interrupted him and looked at the ceiling for a moment. 

"Should be born when we are already in the rescue or before it... But I didn't say anything about a pregnant crew member..."

Anya: "We can induce it, I'll be on time before they arrive anyway."

"You know the risks of that, and we don't have the equipment prepared for something like this."

Anya: "I trust you"

"Ah... You want to gave me a heart attack, don't you?" You sighed, resting your forehead on his shoulder. 

Anya: "Please no" she responded with a chuckle. 

Daisuke: "So, we're going to have a new member in the crew! Shall we give it a name?"

Swansea was about to hit Daisuke on the head to make him shut up, but Anya responded calmly. 

Anya: "I think the best thing will be not to give it a name. I plan to hand it over for adoption when we reach Earth again." 

The boy slowly raised his hand, as if asking for permission to speak. 

Daisuke: "Can I at least give it the nickname Polly? I don't wanna call it thing"

Anya: "You can call it however you want."

"Seriously? Polly? Like the mascot of Pony Express?"

You looked up just to judge him for his comment. 

Daisuke: "Of course! First baby born in space! On the Tulpar of Pony Express! Nicknamed the great pet that everyone knows!" 

"Swansea"

Swansea: "With pleasure"

Upon saying that, the man smack the back of the head of Daisuke. 

"Well, how about you take me to where you hid the candy?"

You patted the woman's shoulders, and she nodded to guide you to her room and show you where she kept them. 

Anya: "Seriously, aren't you going to ask me why I decided this?"

"My curiosity is killing me. But it was your decision, and I will respect it."

You got scared when you felt her arms around you, holding you tightly from behind. 

Anya: "...I was afraid of the pain, of infertility, and that in the future, when I want to have a family... I couldn't, and I must remember why... remember what he did to me... and the pain I felt..."

"...You are very strong... Much more than I was"

Anya: "Don't you think that... I'm a coward?"

"Not at all, I understand your reasons. And I'm glad this is going to bring you peace."

When she slowly let go of you, you turned to look at her and smile. 

"But before you even think about starting a family, I want to see you with your doctorate degree! Understood??"

You shook her several times, making her laugh.

Anya: "Do you think I can?"

"Of course! The ninth time's the charm."

You winked at her, making her laugh, and she hugged you, hiding her face in your neck, smiling sincerely. 

Anya: "I'm glad you're with us... Without you, I don't know what would become of all of us..."

"You're welcome... You are my crew... You are my responsibility."

You indicated by returning the hug.

[chalkrevelations]

So listen, I'm just going to be upfront about it and say that I was overall disappointed by 1.10 of The Pitt, and I'm going to talk about that some, and it isn't all going to be about Langdon's storyline, because I was making faces at my screen before that even happened ... but a lot of it is going to be about that storyline.

A caveat up front, of course: Langdon should not have been stealing fucking drugs and potentially coming to work high and endangering his patients, although we'll never know for sure if he did or didn't use at work, since he was booted out without a urine tox screen, thanks a lot, Robby. Also, Jesus Christ, Dr. Hypocrite, I don't actually have any personal experience in this type of situation, but I'm pretty sure 98.35% of your behavior toward Langdon did not comply with Just Culture in cases of medication diversion. All you needed was a match, and you'd'a been Angela Bassett in Waiting to Exhale.

Anyway. I've been pretty impressed with the show so far, barring a couple of spots where they fell down (including the mandatory reporter thing, wt-actual-f), including the way they've utilized the teaching framework to make their infodumps sound natural, but they did not manage that well a couple of times in this ep. Given that both instances are areas where I have some specialized knowledge and background, maybe that affected how the scenes came across to me, but there are two places in particular that just hit me wrong:

The back-and-forth between Mel and Samira about treatment on the stroke patient - not the initial assessment, which I almost had to laugh about simply because it was so familiar, but the treatment plan and how to proceed with the patient. It came across as extremely "as-you-know-Bob" infodump-y, and I don't know how much of that was the acting, how much the directing, how much the writing.

The blatant PSA on workplace violence against nurses. Which, fantastic! More people should know why my overwhelming response is a contemptuous "Uh-huh, yeah, you want to compare stats on actual injuries?" when I hear police officers whine about feeling unsafe as an excuse for whatever excessive use of force they've indulged in on any given day. The show hit the mark really well with Dana's response to the assault, which was uncomfortably familiar. The nurses listing their incidents of injury to the med students also came off OK. But the dialogue of the nurses when they're talking about it to Robby? Again, very infodump-y. This ep did a lot better when it was showing-not-telling.

Which leads me into the way Langdon's reactions to seeing Santos talking to Robby felt overdone in a way that was almost comedic, and which certainly led me to believe, oh, wow, they actually are setting this up as a red herring. Or maybe this is just bad writing or direction, or something - the way those previous scenes were. At any rate, ha-ha, we've watched these reactions that are kind of over-the-top, and I guess that was supposed to make us think he was diverting meds, only it's going to turn out that he wasn't ... and then no, all that happened.

So, I dislike the way they've chosen to play this storyline, and it makes me less trusting of what they're going to do with it going forward. I don't want to be mad at this show, but they have set things up in a way that it's going to be very easy for this show to make me mad at it.

Lemme be clear: I'm not surprised by this storyline. Med diversion is a big problem in healthcare - JCAHO estimates, what? up to 10% of healthcare staff? - so it was inevitable that we were going to get an addiction story in a show that prides itself on its verisimilitude, even if it's already well-trodden ground. And unless they waited until season 2 (which, imo, they should have at least) and then set season 2 during a shift three years in the future, of course it was going to be Langdon. I've seen multiple people talk about how clever this decision was, because of how it makes the audience question their own implicit biases about the clean-cut white guy (as if there wasn't a massively popular show that ran for eight seasons featuring a titular character who was a drug-addicted white guy doctor), but let's be real - Langdon was always their safest choice. You do this storyline with someone in 75 percent of the rest of their cast, and you risk pulling in other issues and stereotypes that accrete onto your message. Of the remaining (white) cast: McKay is already involved in the carceral system; Whitaker is too new to be believably able to figure out how to divert any meds at this point; if you use Dana, you're re-treading Nurse Jackie; if you use Robby you're re-treading House, not to mention Dr. Carter (although, god knows, Robby would be plausible, given his erratic behavior, short temper, and literal flashbacks). Am I forgetting someone? Who am I forgetting? (ETA: omg, it's Mel. I forgot Mel.) Anyway, when you line up your safe choices, Langdon is the one who makes the most sense out of all of them. And I'm not opposed to the storyline. Med diversion is an actual, real-life problem, and it opens up a lot of character possibilities that I hope they actually explore - including the completely inappropriate way Robby handled it.

(Speaking of which, was that Princess wheeling No-Egg-Salad guy past the confrontation, and who Robby screamed at as collateral damage? It was Princess, wasn't it? Because if I was writing the show, I'd sure make something out of the fact that apparently the same staff member who saw that confrontation was also the one making the "WTF are you lying about?" face at Santos when Santos lied to Langdon's face about the decision-making process for MDMA Seizure Girl's treatment.)

Anyway, I don't even mind that Frank "Safe Choice" Langdon was the one who TPTB decided to pin this on. What I do mind is that it's Santos - who's been in this ED and interacted with Langdon for all of nine hours, 8.75 hours of which have been acrimonious, who got to figure it all out and finger him for it. My concern about sterotypes and implicit biases, at this point, is that on both Watsonian and Doylist levels, Langdon - and his very, very correct assessment and concerns about Santos' behavior - will be written off, both within the narrative and metatextually, because now he's a thieving drug addict. Because nothing he told Robby about Santos was wrong - she's a bully who's been repeatedly unpleasant to the med students below her on the ladder; she does not follow safety protocols designed to protect her, her patients or her co-workers; and her cowboy attitude has literally almost killed at least one patient so far, not even a full shift in. We as the audience also know that she'll lie to her senior resident's face and threaten patients, which Langdon doesn't even know (yet). So I'm going to be mad if this show tries to tell me that I haven't seen things that I have actually seen with my own eyes, and it tries to retcon her behavior or flush it down the memory hole. My trust is tenuous at this point. It would be much stronger if almost anyone other than Santos had been the one to bring this forward.

tbh, if I was going to insist on doing a take on the drug diversion storyline in the first shift/season - which I still think was a bad idea this soon - I'd have made it Mel who figured it out. And who then had to work through what she was going to do about this mentor who she had such a great, supportive relationship with, but who was apparently stealing drugs and endangering patients. How would she figure it out? How would she work through it? Who would she go to about it? And what would her conversation with Langdon look like - because you know she would have had to talk to him about it, at some point.

[duskvsdawn]

Down, girl

The boys have decided its your time to be the puppy, so who are you to deny them?

This is basically a part 2 to "Down, boy"

CW: afab reader, smut, sub reader/dom Kaelix and Zeal, reader gets all holes the female body has to offer stuffed and she also uses her boobs, reader is a good girl, reader is on a leash and the boys love using it, lots of cute (you mostly get called "puppy" and "good girl") and also deregatory nicknames, uh this is just lewd, this is also longer than I had initially planned but the thoughts just kept coming

Art credits.

◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆

If you like my works, please like, comment and reblog! It is much appreciated 💛 And if you really enjoyed it, please follow me so you can be kept up to date on future uploads!

It had been a week since Zeal and you put Kaelix on a leash, and y'all had talked a lot about it since then. You had a feeling the boys had something up their sleeves when they left to go out on a shopping trip, secret whispers shared as they prepared to leave.

You had been moving around the house, doing some cleaning with the music blasting as the boys were out on said shopping trip. You were singing along to Medusa's Masquerade as the boys entered the home, unbeknownst to you, leaning against the doorframe and admiring the sight before them. When the song was over, you heard them giggling like idiots and almost got whiplash as you whipped your head around to look at them. You had no idea why, but being caught singing, even though everyone said you were really good at it, always made you blushy and embarrassed. You wondered what they were giggling about, though, curiously looking over to the bag in Kaelix's hand. You knew that bag all too well; you guys shopped there a lot after all.

"You enjoying yourself, hm? You know we can help you clean, right?"

"I know, but you guys were doing God knows what, so I decided to clean up some of the mess and do some simple chores," you replied. "What's in the bag?" you curiously continued, tilting your head questioningly. The boys thought that head tilt was absolutely adorable and so fitting for what they had planned, but they wouldn't tell you yet.

"Just something to spice up our life, as always. We'll show you tonight, I'm sure you'll like it." Zeal replied with a wink that just made you swoon.

And so, the rest of the day went on. The boys came to help you clean, even though you insisted you could do it yourself, but they didn't want you to. You were impatient. You wanted to know what was in the bag, but the boys told you that you weren't allowed to check yet. You knew it was going to be fun, whatever it was, because they knew you all too well. You kept pestering them about it all day, but they wouldn't budge.

And so the night came. You were all getting ready to go to bed. As you were getting ready in the bathroom, you heard the boys chuckling and talking to each other as you heard them rustling around the room. When you got into the bedroom, the guys were sitting on the bed, waiting for you to check what was on the bed. You looked over, and what you saw sent butterflies to your stomach. A collar and two leashes. A new kind of collar, not the collar you had used on Kaelix a week before. This one had the ability to have multiple leashes attached to it, one in the front and one in the back. You recognised the one leash on the bed because that is in fact the one you guys had used last week, but for this plan to work, they clearly needed a second one, so that's what they bought.

"What do you have up your sleeves?" You asked as you plopped down onto the bed.

"Oh, you'll see, sweetheart." Zeal said as he reached over to put the collar around your neck, and Kaelix got busy attaching the leashes to it afterwards.

"Absolutely beautiful..." Kaelix said, admiring their handiwork. You became a blushing mess and stumbled over your words, not entirely sure what to say. "Down, girl," Kaelix said as he gently pushed you down onto your back, and his mouth was instantly on yours, and Zeal got busy covering your body in kisses and hickeys. You moaned into the bouncer's mouth as his hand brushed over a nipple. You guys always slept in underwear, so he had full access to your breasts, and he took the opportunity when he saw it. The raven haired meanwhile shimmied you out of your underwear, leaving teasing kisses so close to where you needed him most, but he wasn't going to indulge you, not for now at least.

"What shall we do to her, Kaelix?" Zeal asked his partner with a chuckle.

"Let her prove herself. Prove to us that she can be a good puppy and make us happy. You can do that, right?" The snow-haired asked you as he brushed some hair behind your ear. You nodded eagerly, but that was not good enough for him. "What do you say when we ask you something, puppy?"

"Yes, master."

"Good girl. Now then, stay right where you are." The bartender said as he moved to sit down on your stomach, after taking off his own underwear. He moved his dick right in between your boobs, and you got an idea about what he wanted you to do. He grabbed onto the leash, pulling your head up a tiny bit.

"You know what to do, don't you, puppy?" Another eager nod from you as you grabbed onto your breasts to push them together, trapping the raven haired's cock between them as you got to work. You moved them up and down, sometimes speeding up and sometimes moving each boob in a different direction, while you licked and sucked the tip. Zeal pulled on the leash, signalling you to take more of him into your mouth, and you obliged. Meanwhile, Kaelix moved your legs apart so he could get between them.

"So wet for us already, huh? I don't want you to feel neglected." The bouncer said as he moved a single finger up and down your folds. His fingers kept teasing you down there, and not giving you what you really wanted: for him to properly fingerfuck you. He occasionally pushed his fingers inside of you, or teased your clit, it was not enough stimulation for you. Even though you knew it was a bad idea, you still opened your mouth to say something about it.

"Master Kaelix, please, don't tease me. Want more, pretty please?" You asked with the cutest voice you could, pouting all the way through it. But the boys weren't having it; they were going to be a little mean about it, even though they really wanted to give you what you wanted. The bartender pulled on your leash a little harder, and Kaelix slapped your cunt with some decent force too.

"Tsk. Bad girl. You have no right to complain when you have a dick in your mouth and fingers giving you pleasure, don't you think? Use that mouth for what it's good for and suck off your master." Kaelix said as he ever so slowly dragged a single finger up your folds once more, avoiding your clit on purpose for the time being. You pouted, but continued sucking off the bartender as you pleased him with your boobs as well. Zeal hummed in approval as his hand moved through your hair, slowly but surely getting closer to his orgasm. But he didn't have to voice it to you, because he knew that you already noticed with the way his moans became more choked up and higher in pitch.

"Fuck... That's it. Good girl." The raven-haired said in between airy moans, gripping tighter onto your hair. He was so close, he could practically taste it. And with just a little more stimulation, he fell apart. He let out one of the most beautiful moans you ever heard out of his mouth as he filled yours with his cum. You wanted to spit it out as an act of defiance, but you didn't have the chance to. Zeal pulled on the leash, throwing you a glare. "Swallow," he said, and you did as he asked, afterwards opening your mouth to show him it's empty. "Good puppy." He said as he kissed your forehead lovingly. "However, I think it's time you please your other master too, don't you think?"

"Yes, master~" You drew it out as seductively as possible, and you saw Kaelix swallow hard as you moved to sit up after the bartender got off your stomach. You crawled over to the bouncer, and he grabbed onto the leash that was previously in Zeal's hand.

"Come here, puppy. Put that mouth to good use." The snow-haired said with a chuckle as he lay down, pulling on the leash to pull you closer to him. You moved to sit on top of his legs as you wrapped one hand around the base of his cock. You started giving it some experimental licks, but that wasn't good enough for him, as he pulled on the leash once more.

"I know you can do better, girl. Show me." Kaelix said with such a sultry voice that you couldn't possibly deny him. You bobbed your head up and down, occasionally taking one of his balls in your mouth as your hand worked the base. But Kaelix knew you could do even better; you had done it before, so he was positive you could. The other hand that wasn't holding the leash moved to your head, pushing you down further.

"You can take more. You've done it before. Do what you're good at and suck me off properly." The snow-haired said, ignoring the gagging noises. It's only normal to gag when you're pushed deeper onto cock all of a sudden, but he knew you were pretty okay at relaxing your gag reflex, and you managed to do just that, deep throating him like your life depended on it. But Zeal didn't want you to be left out.

"I'll take care of you, puppy." He said as he moved behind you, grabbing your butt to move it up. Now all of a sudden you were put in downward dog position, and they both thought it was so damn fitting for the occasion. Zeal started licking at your core, which had been so wet all this time that it left a wet spot on Kaelix's leg. You stopped sucking for a second to moan in earnest, to let your master know you were grateful for the attention you were getting, but Kaelix wasn't having it. "I don't think so, pup. You don't get to moan like a whore and abandon your duties. Keep sucking." The degradation sent your hormones into overdrive, and if you weren't horny before, you surely were now. You continued sucking, doing your best to make him happy. But Zeal was feeling a bit cheeky. He wanted to be mean, just a little bit. His hand moved around to find the other leash and pulled on it hard, as his tongue entered your pussy. You moaned out loud and you looked over your back to raven haired, knowing full well he fucked it all up for you on purpose.

"Fuck you Zeal, don't distract her." Kaelix spat, and the bartender just replied with a chuckle. You quickly got back to what you were doing after Kaelix shot you a glare. Your jaw was starting to hurt and your boobs were uncomfortably squished against his thighs, you just wanted to get him there, so you went into overdrive. And it only took a little bit more, thank fuck, for him to get closer to his climax. "That's it, pup, just a tiny bit more..." Kaelix moaned in between gasps. He could feel that coil tightening, so close to snapping. Your hand moved up and down his dick as you kept the tip in your mouth. Meanwhile, the bartender kept licking at your core and he could tell you were close, but he wasn't going to let you cum. And then, that coil snapped, a loud mewl so cute yet sexy coming out of the snow-haired's mouth. He let go of your head, as his own fell back onto the bed. You were so close to your own orgasm, but the raven-haired pulled away suddenly.

"Master, why? I've been a good girl, right?" You said with the cutest pout you could give, but he just moved to kiss you on the lips, letting you taste yourself on his. "You've been a good girl, but we're not done yet," Zeal replied, throwing you a smile you weren't sure was meant to be comforting or to make you fall even deeper in love. "Kaelix, ass or pussy?" the raven haired asked his partner.

"I'll take the ass, but let me get hard again first," Kaelix replied.

"Then I'll prep her in the meantime, I'm sure that will get you hard enough for round 2. Hand me that lube, will you?" Zeal asked, and Kaelix handed him the bottle. Zeal opened up the cap and coated his fingers in some lube. Slowly, he pushed his index finger into your ass. This wasn't your first time taking it up the ass, and they both knew you liked it, so a finger up your ass was nothing compared to their dicks you've had inside. The bartender slowly moved it in and out, and when he deemed you ready, his middle finger joined the other. He curled and twisted them inside of you as a whimper left your lips. You just wanted to get to it already, but you knew proper preparation was important. After a little bit, Zeal pushed his ring finger in too, stretching you even further. He wasn't going to take any shortcuts; he wanted you to be ready. And when you looked over your shoulder and whined, letting him know you were, he looked at Kaelix.

"She's getting impatient, we better switch places before she bites our dicks off." Zeal said jokingly as he handed the bottle to the bouncer. Kaelix giggled as he moved behind you, and Zeal slid under you. Kaelix coated his dick in lube and grabbed your hips.

"You ready, pup?" Kaelix asked with a reassuring smile, and you nodded your head. Slowly, he pushed himself into you, and only when he was fully in, did Zeal push in all the way as well. You all couldn't help but moan because, dear god, you all needed this so much. Testing the waters, both of them thrusted in and out of you at a slow pace. You moaned so loud when you then felt them thrusting in and out in an alternating pattern, a bit faster when they heard your frustrated whines because it was too slow for your liking, and Kaelix pulled on the leash at the back, pulling you so close your back was flush against his broad chest.

"God, just look at you, moaning for us like a bitch in heat. So fucking hot." Kaelix said in between moans as his other hand moved towards your chin, pulling you in for a hungry French kiss. As you moaned into his mouth, the other was getting jealous, however, and pulled the other leash so hard you lost your balance and fell forward flat on your other partner's chest. His thrusts became harsher, pulling your attention to him, as he wanted to capture your mouth in a desperate French kiss as well. "Don't forget about me, pup." He said, but meanwhile trying his best to hold back his moans because holy fuck you just felt heavenly to him. But Kaelix wasn't having it. He refused to let your attention be captured by his partner as you moaned into his neck like the absolute whore you were. He leaned over you, covering your own neck in hickeys and bites. It was all too much and too little at the same time. You wanted them to move faster, but decided to bite your tongue because you knew they could tell with how your moans started to edge more on frustrated whimpers. But they didn't, teasing you and slowing down instead. You whined more and decided to ask them for what you really wanted: to be fucked properly.

"Master Kaelix, Master Zeal, please don't tease me. I'll be a good girl. Please just... Please..." you whined. You desperately wanted them to speed up and fuck your brains out, but they weren't going to do that. Not yet, at least.

"What do you want, puppy? Use your words. Tell us what you want, and we might just give it to you." The bartender teased, occasionally giving you a deep, harsh thrust that would knock you off if the other wasn't leaning on top of you.

"Please... Please fuck me harder, deeper, give me all you've got. I can take it, I promise."

"We will give you what you want. On one condition: bark for us."

"That's so fucking embarassing, I can't do that..." You whimpered. But you knew you had to do it to get what you want.

"I had to do it last week, so you better do it too. No barking, no proper fucking."

"...woof..." A barely audible bark from you. It was so embarrassing, you have no idea how Kaelix did it so shamelessly a week ago.

"What's that pup? We can't hear you. Bark properly or we stop altogether, and you're not getting any."

You knew you weren't getting out of this. If you wanted them to fuck your brains out, you actually had to bark. So you set all shame aside, and complied. "Wruff, arf arf, bork!"

"That's my good girl. Shall we give her her reward, Kaelix?" Zeal said as he started fucking you like his life depended on it, and Kaelix followed suit. They were filling you up so hard, so deep that all shame was thrown out of the window and moans flowed from your throat so loud you knew the neighbours heard you for sure, but at this point you didn't care anymore. You felt so goddamn good, you never wanted it to end. And the boys weren't intending on letting it end any time soon either. They both had quite decent stamina, and every time they noticed you came close, they stopped, leaving you to be a whining, frustrated mess. All they did was chuckle in response, and after a while, they would continue again, setting the same brutal pace they had set after you barked for them. You had been edged for... Uh, you lost count, you had no idea how many times it was. You wanted to cum so bad, you knew you had to beg them for it.

"Please let me cum, please, I'm begging you. I need it so fucking bad, please..."

"If you kiss us like the whore you are, we'll let you. How about that? Sounds like a good deal, doesn't it, Zeal?" The other just hummed in response. You craned your head around and kissed the snow-haired with all you had. You wanted to show him how much you loved him, and how much you needed him to make you cum. You moaned so loud as they edged you for one final time, and Kaelix let out a satisfied hum, so you moved to kiss the bartender. His tongue darted out and explored your mouth, moaning into your mouth because truth to be told, he really wanted to cum at this point too and he felt a bit frustrated too. But he knew that edging gives the best orgasm ever, so he was willing to do it. As you kept kissing the bartender, he sped up again, and Kaelix did the same. You were getting so close, and it was getting worse when Kaelix leaned over you and attacked your neck with bites as his hand moved down to rub your clit. You moaned even louder than you previously did, feeling so goddamn sensitive that you couldn't possibly stop this orgasm approaching you like a freight train. And then, they decided to give you what you wanted. They were both so close as well, and you could tell. You just wanted the three of you to cum so fucking hard you would pass out.

"Come on, puppy, let go. We know you want to. Cum with us. You can do it." And that was your undoing. You came so hard you screamed. Screamed so hard they wondered if you would lose your voice, and squirted, and the embarrassment from last week washed over you again. But your tongue lolled out and your eyes rolled back into your head, basically turning into a hentai girl, and they loved it. The guys couldn't hold back their own orgasms at this point when they saw you cum so hard, so they came too, with some of the most erotic moans you've ever heard. But the boys didn't seem bothered by the squirting in the slighest, if anything, they found it super fucking hot. You and Kaelix ever so elegantly collapsed on top of Zeal, and you were all trying to catch your breath.

"That... Was fucking awesome." Kaelix admitted as he tried to steady his breathing.

"You guys are kinda heavy like this though." Zeal said as he gently pushed the two of you off of him. As you two were pushed off, the boys slipped out of you, and you whined in overstimulation. You were exhausted, absolutely spent, but you knew they were too. You closed your eyes and decided "fuck it, I'm just gonna go to sleep." Luckily for you, the boys were thinking the same thing. You were sandwiched in between them once more (then again, that was the spot you usually had anyway), and they hugged you tightly.

"You know... I love you guys so much." You admitted with a dreamy sigh as Kaelix covered all of you with the blanket with the last strength he had.

"And we love you too, puppy." The bartender said. And shortly after that, you all fell into a deep, deep slumber, exhausted but satisfied.

[voodoo-tofu]

Birthday Blues: Part II

Read part 1 here.

Steve still hates his birthday. He also realized it's possible to actually have good birthdays.

He still doesn't make a habit of informing people his birthday's coming up soon, or making a wishlist or plans to do anything. But his friends don't exactly make a habit of forgetting either.

With calendars marked and sticky notes written, with paperchains made and small, accessible gifts bought early and cards made in advance, and a few smacks and shoves to the arm from one kid to another for the monetary lapse in memory when the briefly bring up doing something else on Friday--they remember. Oh, and let's not forget the death glare Eddie would offer them when they get a little too overzealous and let their intentions almost slip.

Steve still has traumatic memories of his past and now he worries over his future, how his life is roughly 25% over. And that's just if he's lucky enough to make it that long in a town like Hawkins, in a country like America.

But each subsequent birthday of Steve's, Eddie does his very best to gently remind him of all the good things that have happened in the past year for him, of all the good things yet to come. To not dwell on his yearly quarter-life crisis.

The kids and Robin bring him their little offerings throughout the week so as not to overwhelm him on one day of hell. So it's not like actual presents. Just little random tokens of affection.

They also make a habit of asking Steve to go do things with them under the guise of needing a ride, but Steve knows damn well it's really all for him.

"Steve, we want ice cream." Or "Steve, we wanna go see this movie." And even "Steve, we want to go to this restaurant, want to join us? We'll pay."

This year he was talked into checking out this basketball game with Lucas, and then talked into playing their own little one-on-one amongst the two of them after. And then, hey, let's make it a not-party and have everyone join in. Just like a real game. Steve naturally annihilates them all but everyone has their own strengths.

After, they all order pizza and indulge until Steve's threatening them if they puke on his and Eddie's couch.

No one dares to utter those two words. But they all know what isn't being said. Actions speak louder than words, after all.

And at night, once everyone's gone and it's just Steve and Eddie in their modest home, they curl up together on the couch. Steve rests his head on Eddie's shoulder, Eddie holds him close.

"I had a really good time today. A good week."

"Yeah? I'm glad to hear that, baby." He presses a kiss into Steve's soft hair.

"Thank you for helping them to give me the best birthday ever."

"Anything for you, Stevie." He squeezes him twice.

Happy Birthday... I love you.

[skyeslittlecorner]

Oh no...! The fluff...! I'm gonna have sweet tooth because of your works (jkd i luv them dun worry :'3)

So we had the kings as kids now... How about they meet their kids from the future??

Like some kind of accident(s) happen that take them back in time (yeah I'm out of idea 😭 sr)

Family's meeting!!!! *vroom vroom*

Shhh, that's my plan! If I give everyone cavities, we'll be lining up to see Morax as dentist, and he won't hurt himself in the war again lmao

The royal kids are definitely clever beasts. It wouldn't surprise me if they figured something out and were thrown into our times for 24 hours. We've already had a Christmas miracle, so I can believe anything. Let the kings meet their teenage offspring~

꧁:･ ✡ ･:꧂

Satan would like a family more than anything. When one day he saw white-haired twin nobles next to you and heard that they were your children from the future, his heart would melt in an instant. Ironically, they're both taller than him. But he's still able to get through it. He wants to take them to the front to see how they fight and then have a good beer (juice for them, they can fight but not drink) in the best pub. You have never seen him so happy and with so much love in his eyes. Do they really have to go back to their own time? Well... As soon as they were gone, Satan would grab your hand with a smug smirk. Be prepared to not get out of bed for a week, and certainly not on your own.

Mammon has a bunch of children, and nobody can convince me otherwise. You can create a whole group of idols out of them, and that's basically how they are treated in their times. He would spend time with each of them, curious to see how the future would unfold. Each of them is so enterprising that they would rule Tartaros without hesitation if he just left them alone for a while. But what he likes most is your reaction. He would watch lovingly as you happily talked and cuddled with every one of them. They also know well that the most important person in the entire country is their sweet human parent. Be ready to be spoiled by both Mammon and your entire group of children.

Beelzebub is terrified. He'd be sure he was absent so long that you'd actually had teenage child. There is no doubt that girl he met is his daughter. She appears and disappears just like him, has this petty smirk, and her first impulse was to sniff him. Besides... he just know it, okay? They actually ran into each other by accident in Avisos. After all day with her he will come back, promising you that he will visit you more often. You wonder how quickly he will forget about it, especially since he is clearly relieved when you tell him that you don't have children (yet), and it was just some anomaly in space-time. And it’s not that he doesn't want children. He would rather be there as they grow up… as much as he can. 

Leviathan first glances at you, just to find out if you and this beautiful princess have something in common. His daughter must be perfect, and only your genes and his combined would be able to create a being more beautiful than himself. Not that you'd ever heard him say that out loud. Jealousy would fight within him with duty. Fatherly pride will prevail when he sees that she is perfectly brought up and treats him with due respect. Ah, anyone who looks at her will hang. If he's only going to have her for one day, then only he and you can spend time with her. The nobles will be delighted because they haven't been hanged so lavishly for a long time. 

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Now that there's an animated adaptation of Midnight Sun coming, and given the industry's recent track record (see: Minecraft Movie), what's the worst, bad faith, cash grab adaptation idea you can imagine? I figure if we inoculate ourselves then the reality won't suck so much.

My nightmare: Streaming has a long history of making shitty attempts at "adult animation", so we'll get an Edward who constantly cusses and does lewd jokes. It'll be like the HBO adult animated Velma (Scooby Doo) show where the writers' disdain for the characters fills every scene. The first episode will focus on how Carlisle helps plan a murder of some overly suspicious deputy so they can keep living in Forks.

Anyways, worst case theories? So we can feel better when it's not THAT bad? Or else use the apollo prophecy meme on your post a year or two from now.

My 'realistic' prediction

Twilight: The Edgy Animated Adult Series with Twelve Times More Drugs and Swearing

Oh man, yours is worse than mine. I mean this guessing the future business is a little silly in general, but I think that wouldn't happen as Twilight's not...

How do I put this?

Scooby Doo is a beloved, vintage, IP that's so well-known it's a part of American culture/Americana. It's in that weird place where it's acceptable to do edgy reboots of it because everyone already knows the premise of the Scooby gang, each individual character, the bad guys, and their mysteries.

You don't have to explain who any of the characters are supposed to be, so you get a "ah ha ha ha isn't it funny that Velma swears now?" because you know she's from a 1960's cartoon.

Twilight's not quite old enough for that and, at least in my opinion, not pervasive enough for that. It was a huge sensation, but was never as big as HP, and dominated only a subset of the YA audience (female-targeted YA romance). Ask a person off the street and the most they can probably, maybe, tell you is "sparkly vampires and Team Edward and Team Jacob". So, at best you get riffs like we saw when Twilight came out with the Simpsons and various other parodies where the parodies... really didn't know what to do with the characters or what it was even about. "Milhouse turns into a poodle, I guess? Is that funny? It's funny, right?"

Twilight just isn't old enough and as big as it was, I don't think was widespread enough.

So, I think we're going to get an earnest reboot.

But you do now have me concerned. And I may be eating my words later on this post and reblogging with a clown face.

Other Theories

Alright, let's see what we've got/what we can come up with:

Yours: HBO adult comedy horror fest

Mine: Boring, Snoozeville, Tame, Generically Arted Palatable Twilight that is Designed to Be as Appealing as Possible

Other options I can think of are...

Interview with a Vampirepalooza/Oh God I Don't Know What's Popular: given the recent success of Interview with a Vampire, an edgier adult story with adult characters, Netflix will look to make Twilight their exact own version of that. Except they won't understand what made it work there. We sexy it up but in a CW way, the kids are all still in high school but the fact that the Cullens are fucking each other is brought up relentlessly in an edgy way. The vampires all look hot, hot, hot but in a normal human way where you're not terrified they're some crystal robot out to eat your limbs. We'll keep some of the artsy weird dialogue, but Edward will be both somehow made more sympathetic (as he is the lead we end up with) and 'dark' where he's dangerous in a sexy way and not in a "you smell like my personal heroin way".

The Buffy Route: remember that one teen show from the 90's that was so good it spun off an entire genre of television that essentially hadn't existed before? Twilight becomes a fun teen oriented show where the characters say witty, fun, teenage-like things and get into episodic mysteries while somehow trying to remain in the realm of Twilight. Edward loses his edge, Bella loses her unrelatable nature, and we really play up every time a character has a funny line and write a lot more in there. Unfortunately, it's not a well written teen comedy show and so the lines are just generally bad and the plot never seems to go anywhere and it's just boring.

Hannibal the Twilight: some really artsy director gets involved and we now have a show where the symbolism of Edward walking around as a man-deer takes over the entire fucking thing. Nothing ever happens, Edward just shows up in Bella's dreams as a snarling man deer. When characters talk to each other, it's in artsy nonsense dialogue where it feels like both are reading 2000's era chatbot scripts to one another as they mix metaphors about ponies, china pottery, and dust motes. The plot is so non-existant the only important episodes to watch in a season are the premier and finale, except even then it's unclear what happened.

Audience Input

Anyone else got any wild guesses here?

[esoteric-joke]

Interview with Brooklyn_Babylon

(#Interview3)

Welcome to the next interview of the Dear Writer Project. This Sunday I’m here with Gina (twopoppies here on Tumblr). Thank you so much for participating and supporting my project. It was a pleasure to interview you.

Gina about her writing process, her inspirations and what she finds most challenging about writing:

What does your writing process look like?

Oh, you're going to call me out right from the get-go, huh? LOL! My writing process is that I am a complete pantser. I hate outlining and I'm not good at it (probably why I hate it). I generally get inspired by something visual and then build a story around that. The difficulty is that often, there's a concept, but there's no real story to tell. Or, I can't quite flesh it out enough to make it worth writing. But when something connects, I go bother India (indiaalphawhiskey on Tumblr) who is my beta/BFF/cheerleader and we'll talk through the story idea.

She's super helpful in terms of pushing me to think it through enough that I can write a very basic outline of what needs to happen to get from A to B. Then, I wing it. LOL!

What does writing mean to you?

From the time I was a kid, I've always been involved in doing something artistic--from fine art, to costume design, to writing, etc. I've just always needed some way to express myself, creatively. It took me a long time to get comfortable writing fiction because there are a few people in my family who are highly respected authors, and I felt I needed something of my own to sink my teeth into. But now that I've started, I realize how much I do love it (even when I hate it), and how much it allows me to dig deep into my own thoughts and emotions and be more self-aware. Beyond that, I think I'm at my most comfortable when I feel I'm helpful/supportive/nurturing. I used to write non-fiction that gave me that outlet. It's interesting that I can see those aspects in my fiction writing, as well.

Do you know before you start writing if an idea is going to become a oneshot or a longer fic?

I can generally tell if there's enough of a story to make it a chaptered fic. Sometimes the chapters just separate naturally.

Like, in An Invincible Summer, the story unfolded so that each chapter was a different month. But I had a basic idea of how I wanted the story to progress over that time period. I think, for the most part, I let the story dictate how it's going to flow.

You don’t write (or publish) as regularly as some other writers in the fandom. Why is that and would you like to write/publish more in the future?

Part of the reason is that I have a really busy life outside of the fandom (and writing). I also don't like to write just to fill up space. And I don't want to publish anything I don't think is the best I'm capable of at that moment.

On top of that, I'm just not one of those people who has a million stories in my head. I'm very visually stimulated and there are long periods of time where I just don't feel inspired. I also second-guess myself a lot and often end up shelving my WIPs. And... even when I'm inspired, I tend to write slowly. I like to take time to make sure I'm really saying what I want to say in the best way I can. I want to grow and challenge myself with each story I publish. I just don't see a point in doing it without that sort of intention.

On which of your stories did you write the longest?

I think An Invincible Summer probably took the longest. But it was also one of the easiest for me to write because the story just wrote itself in some ways. I had a much clearer picture from the start of how things were going to unfold. At the same time, there were moments that just happened as I wrote that ended up shifting the story from what I'd originally planned.

I recently went back and re-wrote that fic, adding another 10K to flesh it out better. I'm so much happier with it (even though I loved it before), but I haven't published the updated version on AO3. Not sure whether I will.

Which of your stories came together the fastest?

The first one (Whoever, However). But it's also only 9K. Harry dropped that Beauty Papers spread and my brain exploded. The story was all there. I think Hike Up Your Skirt was probably the next quickest (again, it's not terribly long), but that one I originally wrote for the Anonymous Unicorns collection so there was a lot of freedom in getting to write anything I wanted without fear of judgment. If I could only harness that, I'd be able to bang them out!

What fic of yours was the hardest to write?

I think Literally Making Love.

It was an unusual premise, in that it's about a robot and a human falling in love, but I really struggled with whether I should make it "more" than a love story. It felt like it deserved to be "more", or that it should have more about how AI changes the world and a conversation about loneliness and the way the world contributes to that. So I kept feeling like I wasn't going down the right path with what I was writing, but India reminded me that there's just as much value in a lighthearted story as there is in "serious" writing. We all know the joy of sinking into a comfort fic, or kicking our feet at something really sweet and happy. So I let Literally Making Love be what it wanted to be and I was ultimately super proud of it. And, in the end, I think I did a good job of dealing with the ethical issues, even though I didn't make that the center of the fic.

What inspires you most while writing?

Visuals to begin with. I tend to get inspired by photos or a piece of art. Sometimes song lyrics. But visuals keep me going so I make moodboards for myself and I find quotes or pictures on Tumblr that feel like they belong to the story. I think all of my fics have a link to an inspiration tag on my blog.

And then talking through things with India.

It's so helpful to have someone who gets what you're shooting for and who has the same sense of what makes for good writing. So I'll brainstorm with her when I'm stuck or give her sections to see if it's reading the way I want it to... It keeps me going.

I don't know how writers do it all by themselves. There are times when I've read something so many times that I can't even tell if it's any good. And I do the same for her... helping her get through her writing challenges or brainstorming her projects also makes me a better writer.

In the notes of Literally Making Love you mentioned a 9 month long writers block. What helped you out of it?

Truly it was just that piece of fan art I linked in the note at the start. I'd never seen that artist's work before and this drawing of Louis building an unfinished Harry ended up on my dash and I said, "Well, I'd read the hell out of that." Sadly, no one else was going to write it for me, so I had to do it myself.

While talking about this, I pointed out that I searched a few tags of this particular trope after I finished reading Literally Making Love and couldn’t find more than a handful of fics, which I was surprised by.

Gina thinks people are put off by the idea even if there are so many ways to handle it that could make for a beautiful story.

What do you find most challenging about writing?

I was about to say finding a title, but then I realized that I only had trouble with that in two of the five I wrote.

Hmm. Honestly, I think the most difficult thing for me to write are arguments/fights.

I tend to be really passive-aggressive when I argue, and that doesn't make for very good reading. So I really have to work at crafting a back-and-forth that feels natural but also packs enough of a punch for the scene to work. In An Invincible Summer, the argument scene was pretty pivotal, and one of my betas at the time made me re-write it three times before she signed off on it.

Is there anything you can tell me about future projects you’re planning?

I'm working on another historical fic at the moment. It's slow burn and longer than anything I've written before. So that's a challenge. It's set in the 1880s between the Belle Epoch debauchery and decadence of Paris, and Victorian London's rigid social structure and moral conservatism. Basically, Harry is a French ballet dancer turned sex worker/courtesan. Louis is a British aristocrat whose father has sent him off to Paris to get "the gay" out of his system before he has to marry. There are some twists and turns, and I'm having a lot of fun trying to keep things sexy and exciting for a modern reader while still being true to the time period.

I still don't have a title, and I'm still working on a brief description to sum it up. But... I'm about 60K in and I'm having fun.

When I told Gina that that sounds like you’d have to but lot of research into it, she said:

So much research! But I actually love that part. I get really into the nitty gritty and look up everything. For example, did you know the ice cream cone wasn't invented until 1896 (although not patented until 1903)? LOL! I had to change a scene I was writing because all of a sudden, I thought, "Did they have ice cream then? How did they keep it cold? How did they eat it?" I honestly hate reading something when little details are wrong. It totally pulls me out of a story.

For the next part of the interview, I asked Gina a few questions about her works in particular.

Gina about her favourite scene she wrote, her experience with writing before writing fanfics and being inspired by her own family’s history:

What work of yours is your personal favourite?

Hm. I think Literally Making Love is my favorite because it's the most unique concept, and I'm really proud of some of the writing in that one.

Hike Up Your Skirt is, I think, my most popular one. But that's not surprising because it's complete filth.

Do you have a favourite scene that you wrote?

There's a scene in Literally Making Love when they're walking the dog through the woods, and they're talking about the concept of being lonely, and Harry realizes he's the only one in the world who can understand anything he's experienced. I just really loved how that scene came together. To me it's very visual, and it's got that kind of poetic, dreamy feeling to it that I love to find in fics (and am forever trying to emulate, but I think that might be the only time I've succeeded so far).

I told Gina that this was a scene that definitely made me think about the concept of being all alone with an experience. Here’s what she said about that:

I like moments in a story that make you stop and think about more than just the story you're reading. I think these days, we can much more easily connect with others who can understand most of our experiences very deeply. Although, I imagine if you were the only highly advanced AI robot in the world, you might have some experiences no one else has had to grapple with.

Is there a work of yours that was planned to go completely different than it came out in the end?

There are definitely moments within the stories that I never planned on, and they changed some aspects of how the story ultimately came together.

For example, in An Invincible Summer, the idea for Harry to hold on to memories by getting a camera popped out of nowhere.

In Literally Making Love, the scene of Louis painting Harry's tattoos over his scars came in a dream and that meant I added the aspect of Harry's body dysmorphia. So, little things for sure.

Whoever, However was your first fic you published. Did you write in any form before that?

I did.

I wrote non-fiction for a bunch of magazines and online outlets. I've also ghostwritten three books.

Beyond that, no. Just lengthy blog posts about two gay boybanders.

What were your inspirations for gathered on wings?

There was a photo of Louis in some sort of haphazardly layered jackets and standing in front of these graffitied walls, and it had this caption, saying that he looked like a PhD candidate at the Sorbonne. That was how the idea started.

I had wanted to write a teacher/student fic without the creepy aspect of grooming and inappropriate conduct, and somehow my comment led to Harry having been his intern and them meeting again years later.

Then, the research on all the modern art and the high-end art world informed the rest of the story.

You didn’t go much into detail how successful Harry’s art got after ‘Comrade’ recommended his art for an exhibition at the Marlborough Gallery. Was that the push Harry’s work needed to get the attention it deserved?

It was.

He'd been relying on sugar daddies to pay his way and to give him the connections to patrons. But Comrade vouching for him opened the doors to him being able to do it independently. It's that feeling of, "If I could just get my foot in the door, I could show them what I can do."

That was his foot in the door.

Gathered on wings was my first attempt at writing a chaptered fic, and there was a huge learning curve. There are parts of it I really like and parts I sometimes want to go back and re-write.

Do you think Louis’ identity in gathered on wings always stayed hidden even after they got engaged (and eventually married)?

I like to imagine that as Harry became more widely known, people became interested in his partner. And Louis would then decide to reveal his identity with a new installation that they collaborated on.

Staying hidden when your partner is famous is probably a hard thing to do.

I think so. Especially if you're in the same field. In a way, it mirrors the idea of the two of them coming out at some point.

You said in the notes for An Invincible Summer that it’s inspired by your grandfather’s life. Was that your only inspiration for the story?

It's what set the scene. Other than that, I knew I wanted to write about writing and seeing yourself in a book or feeling understood by someone you never met but who's somehow written about you and your life. The concept of feeling really "seen" is something that shows up again and again for me.

You didn’t go into any detail about Harry’s relationship with his adoptive parents after he left at the end of An Invincible Summer, even though his mother tried to support him as much as she could when he had to leave. Do you think they held contact after Harry was forced to leave or if he/they even went back as a part of H & L’s adventures?

I think Harry managed to stay in touch with his mother secretly and to eventually reunite with his sisters.

When I rewrote the story, I changed the middle sister to a brother to show another way that Harry was treated differently. So I imagine Big Jim and the little brother digging their heels in and acting like he never existed. But Harry and Louis eventually had a beautiful and extensive found family.

The end of Hike Up your Skirt (And Show Your World To Me) is pretty much open. How do you think their relationship progressed and do you think they have a chance of having a normal (as in no power imbalance or manipulation) relationship?

Mmm. I actually started writing a second part from Harry's POV where you see that Harry is also playing a game to get Louis to fall for him. I see their relationship becoming a 24/7 Dom/Sub life. I think they're both way too kinky and maybe a little too depraved to have a "normal" relationship.

Are any of your original characters inspired by people you know in your day-to-day life?

No, actually. LOL! Very simple answer. They're all just figments of my imagination.

A lot of other writers in the fandom have difficulties or are just a little uncomfortable with writing smut. That doesn’t seem to be the case for you. Why’s that?

HAHAHAHA! No, I think it’s actually the easiest part for me to write. I’m not sure why. I don’t have a lot of hang ups around sex, so maybe that helps. And I love the idea of character development through intimate scenes.

How did you come up with the idea for your fic rec masterpost here on Tumblr and how did all of that start?

I think it just started because someone asked if I could recommend some fics in a particular category (If I remember correctly, it might have been dystopian fics). And I had too much time on my hands, so I decided to make a header and write little blurbs about why I liked each one I was suggesting.

Somehow that turned into a deluge of people asking for different things and, for whatever reason, I had the time at that moment. So I made rec after rec.

At some point it was annoying that people kept asking for the same things, so I just made an alphabetical masterpost.

Is there a specific trope or genre you’d like to read more of?

Oh, that's a good question. It's so much easier to tell you what I don't like.

Honestly, to me, it's really more about the writing than about the trope or genre. But I do really like a good enemies-to-lovers fic, and if you can write a new twist on a fake relationship, I'm all in.

Do you somehow track the fics you’ve read? And if you do, can you give me a rough number of how many you’ve read?

So, I only bookmark fics I've really loved. Obviously some I love more than others, but I currently have 655 fics bookmarked.

I've been reading in this fandom for 11 years. Some I won't have read all the way through, but counting those, I'm sure I've literally read thousands.

I've gone through periods where I've just got a lot more free time at one point or another. And when I entered the fandom in 2013 there were literally so many terrific fics I didn't know where to start.

And every time you turned around there was another. It was very addicting.

Are you reading anything right now? If not, what was the last thing you’ve read?

I have a hard time reading when I'm actively writing, so nothing really recent.

The last fic I read that I really liked was Danger I Can't Hide by CelticSky. It's actually a WWII fic but set on the airbase where H is a pilot and Louis is a mechanic. It's just so well written and so well researched. Highly recommend.

For the next part of the interview, Gina answered some personal questions about her experiences in the fandom.

Since when are you in the fandom and what made you become a fan?

Since November 2013.

I took my daughter (who was 6 at the time) to see This Is Us. Did a little research to make sure this boy band was appropriate for her and then fell in love with them. We ended up seeing the movie three times, then bought it and watched it at home. She was a Niall girl.

She was my concert buddy for a while. One Direction at the Rose Bowl in 2014 was her first concert.

The weirdest comment you got?

Oh, I get some doozies on Tumblr.

I think one of my favorites was from years ago when I used to do a lot of NSFW fan art. I got an anonymous message from someone claiming to be Harry's lawyer and they were demanding I delete all of my fan art of Harry. HAHAHAHA! Like an attorney would send an anon. Or even ask for something like that. I still laugh when I think about that one.

Harry or Louis?

It's very hard to choose because they're both amazing. I'm a Harry girl from way back. But I obviously love and support Louis, too.

Harry just really inspires me in so many ways. And his music is more my speed.

Your favourite Harry era and your favourite Louis era?

Oh, that's hard. I think Harry's recent era (Harry's House) might be my favorite because he seemed so happy and so self-assured and confident in who he is as a person. He looked fantastic too. Other eras are special to me because of what was going on with the fandom at the time, or because I liked the way he dressed or whatever, but in terms of just enjoying him, I'd have to say this last tour.

Louis is a little more difficult for me because I've had a really hard time with his image over this last tour and his doubling down on babygate. I'm very happy he says he's really happy and proud of his album/tour, but if I had to pick my favorite I feel like he looked the healthiest and most at ease during MITAM promo. Oh, he looked great during his Walls promo, too.

Your favourite movie with H?

My Policeman. It was a bit uneven, but he really blew me away in some of his scenes. He understood that character inside and out.

Your favourite writer(s) in the fandom?

I actually have so many that I like, although many aren’t in our fandom anymore.

It might be easier to link you to a Favorite Authors rec I made a while ago.

What are your absolute favourite fics in the fandom?

I’m going to make it easy on myself again and link you to a Favourite Fics rec.

Is there a fic that is not necessarily your favourite but still always kind of stuck in your head ?

There are fics that aren’t necessarily the most groundbreaking or complex, but something about them makes me keep coming back to re-read. Don't kill me, but... My Favorite Re-Reads.

I wanted to give you a favorite out of that list, but as I scrolled I was like, oh wait, that one! No, that one! So... sorry, you get them all.

What makes you want to stop reading something?

Hm. So many things, honestly.

Writing where people try too hard to be poetic, continuous spelling and grammar mistakes, miscommunication as the only tension, no tension at all, characterizations that make no sense to me, fics that go on and on and on with no attempt at editing, kid fics, etc. I really have very few squicks, but bad writing is hard for me to ignore (I know "bad" is subjective, so I hope no one takes offense at that... just because I don't like it doesn't mean others don't love it).

Your favourite song at the moment?

Chappell Roan is stuck in my head lately. So, I'll say Casual (although Pink Pony Club is a bop).

Your favourite season?

Fall. Absolutely. SO fucking sick of summer.

The most unusual thing that inspired you?

LOL! I'd have to say the Vintage "Sleaze" novel that inspired Hike Up Your Skirt. It was called "Horizontal Secretary".

Who would you most like to read an interview from?

Well, I'm obviously going to say India because I think she's a great writer. But she's also so well-spoken and interesting.

I'd love to read an interview with CelticSky because I loved Danger I Can't Hide so much and I don't know them since they're on Twitter!

Lastly I asked Gina to give every work of hers a colour. Here’s the outcome of that:

Whoever, However -- yellow

Whoever, However is yellow, because when I think about it, I picture the warm, yellow shade of the wood paneling of the room they filmed in.

gathered on wings -- blue

I’m not sure why gathered on wings is blue in my head. Maybe it’s just because that’s the main color of the mood board I made.

An Invincible Summer -- green

An Invincible Summer is green because the rural Georgia setting became one of the characters of the fic. When I think about it, I see the sprawling farm, the rampant kudzu, blueberry fields, lunch under the oak trees… it just feels green to me.

Literally Making Love -- red

Literally Making Love is red because so much of the story is about what it means to be human and even though Harry’s heart isn’t “real” at some point he says to Louis, “Sometimes I feel like you made my heart too small because it doesn’t hold everything I feel for you. I feel it overflowing everywhere.” Or, maybe it’s because it has “Love” in the title. LOL!

Hike Up Your Skirt (And Show Your World To Me) -- purple

I don’t know. The first thought that came to me was purple because I pictured Harry’s character with love bite bruises.

A huge thank you to Gina again. Thank you for being so open and honest while answering my questions. I had the best time talking to you and was so invested in every work of yours.

[risingsoleil]

Linzin trying for a baby and it’s taking longer to conceive than they thought it would. Tenzin soothing an anxious Lin ?

I've been really liking this idea of Lin actually being super confident that she's gonna give Tenzin airbenders.

The reason I say that is because Lin strikes me as the type of person who will do something out of spite and to prove people wrong.

"She'll never give Master Tenzin airbenders. She's a Beifong and a powerful earthbender. She'll give him 10 of them before she has 1 airbender."

Lin is like "Fuck all of you, I'm going to have 10 airbenders and 1 earthbender."

She's not gonna pop out 10+ kids just to repopulate a nation and not raise them properly. But pairing this with, "Oh you don't think I"ll be a good mom? Watch me" mentality would be sooo interesting to see more of.

So back to the ask, young Linzin gets married and Lin has incorporated motherhood into her life plan. She's hoping to have 1-2 kids within 8-10 years, and open to 3+ depending on what's happening.

She's 26 and after a year of marriage, no baby.

"It'll be fine, Lin. We'll have a baby."

"But why haven't I gotten knocked up yet? it's not like I'm 50! Maybe something is wrong with me...."

"Nothing is wrong with you, Lin."

She eyes him. "...is something wrong with you then?"

"Well, i can get checked out too. But you're stressing too much about having a baby. That's why it's not happening. We have to not try in order to get our child."

"Ugh, that's ridiculous."

"You know I'm right. So many couples conceive when they're not trying at all. Which means, we just need to enjoy loving each other and then when the time comes, our little baby will be here in no time."

"So we just enjoy fucking like rabbits without a care in the world?"

"Yes. You just need to relax and enjoy it, love."

Lin sighs.

Tenzin holds her hand. "We'll definitely have a baby, Lin. Right now it might be hard, but I'm sure our future babies are going to come into our lives so easily and quickly."

"Probably. Knowing our luck," Lin chuckles.

"Maybe it'll be twins."

Lin makes a face. "Eh, I don't know about twins, Tenzin...that might be a lot."

He kisses her cheek. "But then it'd be double the love forever."

Over time, Lin does let go of her control on conceiving a baby.

After a wildly drunken night, Lin and Tenzin have the hottest sex ever on a boat. And they're so focused on each other. Not the world, expectations, responsibilities....just Lin and Tenzin.

Not long after, Lin finds out she's pregnant.

With triplets.

Lin rolls her neck and shoulders. "I'm going to kill you, Airhead."

Hint: all 3 babies are airbenders :3

[dgttwisted]

Together

n2 squad aka Leona x Vil x Jamil idea inspired by @mellosdrawings

this drabble is crossing cannons aka not cannon cannon aka (don't think to hard on it i wrote this because i had a cute thought an wanted to wright it)

-

according to the schedule is which dorm takes care of Lilith an Grim which week. as per usual when Vil gets Lilith for a week he spoils the crap out of her. This week will be no exception however he had something a little different planned.

-the night before the new week-

"as you know this week our dorm will be in charge of Lilith's care"

"i know?"

"lucky you"

"well i wanted to do something special we have discussed having kids in the future an i thought all of us could try helping Lilith this week together as a unit"

"sure I'm in as far as kids go Lilith is no where near as hyperactive as Cheka is"

"hate to rain on your parade but that might not work well"

"why not?"

Jamil dramatically points at himself

"oh yea she's scared stiff of you"

"how could i forget she cried her eyes out when you ran into her at night during your stay at the dorm for practice"

"didn't you save her though? during the whole Styx rescue?"

"she was asleep the whole time i doubt she knows what happened unless someone told her I'm pretty sure she has no idea that, that occurred"

"worry not I'll butter her up so when you make your appearance she won't be as scared"

"we'll figure it out sense Vil is dead set on this being a team effort an all" Leona said in a rather dry sarcastic tone which earned him a pillow to the face from Vil.

--the beginning of said week--

Vil had only knocked on the door once before hearing the shuffling as the door swung open Lilith jumped into Vil's arms "VIL!!!!!!"

"my little star!" Vil scoops her up an swings her around

Leona had the biggest smirk on his face he just knows Vil spoils the crap out of her to get that reaction our of her.

"hi Leona...are you sleeping over to?"

"heh yea something like that"

"your not allowed to steal our bed like you did last time jerk!" the shrill voice of grim caused them both to look down at the displeased fur ball. "i'll set you on fire if you do"

"i'd like to see you try-"

"so Lilith not that i need it but i will be getting a little extra help this week watching over you"

"i don't see Rook an Epel"

"that's because its not them this time its Leona an someone else who is very special to me they will be coming over later"

"ok you're here so i know i'll have fun" Vil giving her little kisses on the cheek for that one, Lilith is Vil's trial daughter would have loved to adopt her but was informed it was out of the question.

while Leona an Vil where playing with Lilith they had Jamil sneak into the kitchen the plan is to hopefully bribe Lilith with food to forget her trauma....

Lilith was holding a little tea party she tied ribbons in Leona's hair who just let it happen because Lilith seemed to be having a good time.

"a splendid party like always Lilith!" whenever Lilith is happy she glows so it makes it very easy to tell if she is lying about liking something but she gets rather embarrassed when you point that out.

Jamil had a trey of sweets he only took two steps into the room when Lilith lifted up her head saw him an screamed. 'about what i expected' Jamil thought to himself right before a plastic cup smacked him in the face curtsy of a scared Lilith.

Vil scooped her up trying to calm her down but she was wailing "NO NO GET AWAY!!! MONSTER!!!!"

monster probably hurt him the worse but considering how he treated her while be Over blotted he expected that reaction. he placed the trey on the floor an left the room.

it took Vil quite some time before Lilith calmed down an when she did Leona scooped her up an fed her some sweets gave Vil the look of 'i got this one you get him' an Vil left to check on Jamil

"i apologize i knew she was scared of you but i didn't think it was still that bad"

"you have nothing to be sorry about....this is my own fault"

"i know you didn't mean to-"

"take it out on her? yea well when i over blotted i did! i swatted the rest away an tormented a toddler...."

"but you also saved her even if she doesn't know that you did"

"she won't ever know an that's fine...I'm normally better with kids you know? if we did this whole practice thing with any other kid i could have shown off how capable i am an-" Vil kissed Jamil on his cheek

"i know how capable you are"

--

Leona swaying Lilith about trying to get her in a sleepy mood but she seems to shaken up to sleep. "hay squirt want to hear a bedtime story?" Lilith nodded

"k..." shit guess he actually has to now "long ago...actually it wasn't that long ago probably a week ago a big bad guy with blue flames for hair kidnapped a princess an challenged 5 hero's to stop his evil plan an save the princess they had to split up in order to have a chance of beating him leaving many trials an tests along the way on of those hero's was yours truly an the other was Jamil" hearing his name even during the story made Lilith tremble a little but leona swung her around a bit before nuzzling her face making her giggle "how can a monster be a hero you might be asking yourself? monsters can learn to grow from there mistakes i to had moments of being a monster but i grew out of it" for the most part.

"anyway all the hero's including the monster agreed that we had to save the princess as well as stop him he made it real tough you know every time we made a big attack he kept holding the princess just out of reach so we couldn't save her but i guess it takes a monster to know a monster because the monster saved the princess dove over an grabbed her from the clutches of the bad guy"

"Jamil really do that?"

"yup saw him do it with my own eyes"

"...." she was still fuming "listen kid you don't gotta forgive him for what he did don't blame you if you don't, but i promise you he regrets hurting you an he is trying i promise"

"can i get a different bed time story?"

"nope, you're stuck with the one i gave you"

"Vil would have told me another one"

"I'm not Vil"

Lilith stuck her tunge out him an Leona repeated the motion back at her. "good night little herbivore" he tucks Lilith in an she is sound asleep in minutes.

next morning Jamil making breakfast in the kitchen his plan was just to make food an leave before Lilith woke up. he stopped when he heard a ruffling "grim is that you? you have to wait until Lilith gets her share before you eat it all-" he turned an froze when he saw Lilith peeking from behind the wall just staring at him. he turned away from her so she wouldn't have to look at his face.

he heard tiny foot steps he could tell she was standing right behind him. "thank you" his head went up but he didn't turn around he wasn't expecting that.

"thank you for saving me....Leona told me you saved me from a monster..." she then kicks the back of his leg "i still don't like you though" an she ran away to go get dressed into not P jays

Jamil left standing in the kitchen alone with his thoughts till Vil an Leona came by. "you didn't have to do that"

"what tell her the truth? well i did hopefully she'll throw less stuff at you now-" Jamil rested his head on Leona's shoulder in a very subtle way of saying thank you which Jamil was to shy to say. Leona an Vil hugged him close let him know he wasn't alone an they would figure this all out together.

"hay can i eat food now or do i have to wait till your done hugging an shit" that earned Grim a smack from Vil "you better not say such vile things around Lilith"

"ow! i'd never after all im her role model"

"yikes maybe we should have Lilith move dorms so she has better role models"

"I'm all for that, i say Pomefiore she would have much better role models including Vil"

grim blew out flames "NO SHE'S NOT GOING ANYWHERE"

"aw you do care about her"

"duh! She's my henchmen!"

the three of them laughed as they helped get Lilith an Grim ready for class today.

[daltonsnightmare]

I am asking you directly to please tell me your honest thoughts about this episode 😀

- @mistyyrayne

oh no.....I don't think you realize what you just did. You really want to hear me talk about what's possibly my least favorite episode of the series? Are you sure? Certain?

I had to rewatch it just so I could accurately reference certain parts, and I amend my earlier statement- it definitely is my least favorite. Sorry to anyone who enjoys this episode (5x06 enjoyers, please beware) these are just my own opinions to be taken with a grain of salt (I really don't mean to be so harsh with it, but. well...)

cue me ranting under the cut 🤪

To be fair, I watched this episode for the first time in November last year. Would my opinion on it have changed if I had seen it when it first aired? Probably, but the fact is I didn't, and so I found myself physically recoiling at Mac singing about Fauci on the ukulele. I just....have no words.

Onto the facetime with Mac and Desi....oh boy. So. Mac sent a ("very, very detailed") apology letter to Desi for the events of last season. Ok, alright, that's cool- I'm not going to delve into whether or not he needed to apologize for most of the events in the first place, that's for another time. It's been shown before that he sometimes struggles with apologies (2x04 comes to mind, with 6 voicemails to prove it) so the fact that he wrote a lengthy letter to apologize shows he sincerely wants things to be better between them.

The only reason I have an issue with this is because...well I could be misremembering, but did we ever get to see Desi apologize to Mac? Like at all? She didn't trust him. Full stop. She didn't trust that he had a plan. That he could still do his job despite the crushing grief and guilt he was feeling, and because she didn't trust that he knew what he was doing, he had to use extreme measures to escape the Phoenix that ended up with her and Russ getting hurt. Even after she learned he hadn't been a "traitor" and stopped Codex, she still held what he did against him. All signs of a healthy and functional relationship :) She also failed at the job she was explicitly trusted by Jack to do when she waved a gun in Mac's face, but also. not the time or place for that right now haha smiling. smiling normally

Anyways, Mac goes on to express concerns about their relationship going forward, and lightheartedly but pointedly brings up the fact that she may be delaying the conversation (which has precedence) and Desi begins to vent about the circumstances that led her to quarantining with her parents- which is all very understandable! She's under a lot of stress, and racist assholes are targeting her parents, she has every right to be upset. But. but but but. She takes on an accusatory tone and lays into Mac about it, causing him to apologize and immediately retract what he said. which...I'm certainly no expert on relationships, but I feel like there's just something so wrong with that.

He was trying to start a dialogue about the future of their relationship, which I think is quite understandable- he wants something stable in such a tumultuous time, and it isn't just the Pandemic, either. Did we as the audience all forget he not only lost Jack, Charlie, James, and Gwen within the same year? Of course not but I bet you the writers did. So much has changed around him and it's no wonder he feels so unstable.

Desi, on the other hand, doesn't have any desire to define their relationship right now, being too preoccupied with everything else going on- also quite understandable! What irks me to no end, however, is that they made it so Mac was the unreasonable one here. Desi shuts his concerns down, and to be fair, she was called away to tend to her parents, but there's not even any follow up of like "we'll talk later," or "I hear you, but I can't do this right now." No, just leave him in limbo, it's fine. He'll be fine, he always is.

But even after all this, (and I'm sure you're thinking, wow dude, chill out, calm down) that wasn't even what makes me despise this episode.

It's how they wrote Bozer.

On what fucking planet would this dude not tell his best friend that his mom (who had also been the closest thing Mac had to a mother during his adolescence as well) is sick? during the pandemic??????

Well, you might say, Mac hasn't been a good friend to him recently. OKAY?? AND??? That's not the kind of thing you'd keep from someone you're that close to, regardless of the circumstance. AND WHY DOES EVERY BIT OF THE BLAME KEEP GETTING SHIFTED TO MAC. After this dogshit year he's had, losing the people he loves, being under enormous amounts of stress, his teammates not trusting him, the usual near-death experiences, he hasn't had a fucking break. NO SHIT HE'S BEEN "COMPLETELY MIA" and not noticing Bozer's been struggling. Mac needs some serious help and he's not getting any. If anything, Bozer would be the one TO NOTICE IT WITH MAC.

I wish I could say I could see Bozer getting upset about this in-character, but I just can't. I personally don't think Bozer berating Mac for being a shitty friend is justified AT ALL. So yeah, this episode pisses me off to the extreme. I think there were a lot of good choices they made with Bozer's character in the later seasons (like him being more confident on missions) but this? ABSOLUTELY not one of them. It just blew me out of the water. I'm astonished they made him seem like such an asshole just for the sake of this plotline. He would never not share something as serious as his mom being sick with Mac and that's a hill I will always die on.

Admittedly sometimes I look at my favorite characters through rose-tinted glasses sometimes, but a majority of the shit that gets pinned on Mac in s4 and s5 genuinely does not seem like his fault? Maybe I'm wrong- If you have a differing opinion on any of this, I wouldn't mind hearing it. Prove me wrong, I'd be happy to be proven wrong here, because I adore all these characters so much. I feel like they've been done a major disservice, not just in this episode, but in these last two seasons especially.

Ok I'm sorry but I was gonna do a play by play of the rest of the episode, but I'm 16 minutes in and I'm already in a seething rage about this LMFAO so I'm gonna stop right here. excuse me while I go bash my head through the nearest brick wall

anyways, in summary/TLDR:

How about I end this off with some positivity, huh? Things I DID like about this episode are that Mac, Riley, and Bozer all got to quarantine together. The beginning scene where they were all hanging out in the living room was almost like a s1-2 scene where they were hanging out on the deck. Almost.

OH I also liked when Bozer was explaining the plan and they all acted it out, I love when they do that (also great in 3x12 Fence + Suitcase + Americium-241, they do that same thing there)

[obsidiancreates]

These Kids Are Geniuses (Against All Other Evidence) [Part 1]

1987

Shawn’s little sneakers practically fly across the grass as he dashes through the gate, letting it SLAM! shut behind him. "Dad! Dad! We have to go save Gus!"

 "Whoa whoa, slow down Shawn.” Henry catches his son mid-run, picks him up, and sets him on the yard table bench. “Save Gus from what?"

 "He's going to a new school, the school for nerds!" Shawn’s face is red, eyes puffy, and he’s sniffling as he talks. “He’s going away!”

 "School for nerds? You mean the one he has stickers of on his backpack?"

“... Yeah.” Shawn’s voice is small, wavering.

“So it sounds to me like he wants to go there. In fact, I bet he chose he to go there himself, didn’t he? So we don’t have to ‘save’ him from anything.”

 "But if he goes, we'll never see each other again!"

 "Well that's not true, you'll have weekends still."

 "Nuh-uh! They give you enough homework for ten kids there!" Shawn throws his little arms as wide as he can.

 Henry sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Shawn, look. Gus has wanted to go to this school for a long time. You need to be supportive, even if it means spending a little less time together. Unless you suddenly turn things around grades-wise to get in yourself, you'll just have to accept it and be happy for him."

Shawn nods.

Then… Shawn perks up.

Then Shawn grins.  "... You're right! Great idea, Dad!" He dashes off into the house!

 "Wh- Shawn! Shawn, what idea!” Henry gets to his feet. “SHAWN!"

—------—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Shawn?” Gus blinks at him in surprise. “I thought you said you weren’t eating lunch with me until I decide not to go.”

“That was yesterday, Gus.” They trade desserts, Gus’s dried pineapple slices for Shawn’s store bought cookies. “I have a new plan.”

“Please don’t sabotage my grades, Shawn.”

“What? Oh, no, that isn’t it.”

“Phew! My mom thought you would for sure.”

“I did think about it. But I have a way better plan.”

“... Can I know it?”

“Not yet. I want it to be a surprise.”

“I don’t always like your surprises, Shawn.”

“You’ll like this one! … Hopefully.”

—------—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright, Shawn, let’s see what the damage is,” Henry grunts as he sits down with Shawn’s report card. “Remember what I told you with the last one?”

Shawn rolls his eyes and repeats, verbatim, “If one more teacher write that you tried to convince the class a zombie apocalypse started at lunch, you’re grounded until one actually starts.”

“Alright, good. Let’s see…”

Henry’s brows furrow. He brings the report closer to his eyes, then farther away. And Shawn grins.

Henry looks at Shawn. “All A’s.”

Shawn’s grin falters a little. “Just A’s?”

“Just A’s? Shawn, your last report card was mostly C’s!”

“Why’s it not A pluses?” Shawn reaches for the paper. “Dad, show it to me!”

“Hang on, hang on! … Okay, uh, in the notes here it says you missed a couple homework deadlines.”

“But that’s not fair! One of those was because you and I did a stakeout!”

Henry looks around. “Keep your voice down, your mom’s home!”

Shawn crosses his arms. “I need to get A pluses, Dad, before the school year is over!”

“Why do you– oh.” Henry puts down the paper. “Shawn, is this about Gus?”

“... Maybe.”

“You know– I’m glad you’re working harder at school. I really am, this is a real improvement. But I don’t think I like you trading training, for schoolwork.”

“But Dad!”

“No buts, Shawn. These are both important for your future, so if you want A pluses you’ll just have to find a way to manage your time better. Like, combining play with work. Maybe do your homework while you hang out with Gus.”

“No!” Shawn stomps his foot. “Gus doesn’t know about this yet!”

“Doesn’t kn- Shawn, why the hell are you not telling him?”

“Uh… why are you using bad words around me?”

Henry shakes his head. “Fine, just… you’ll have a lot less time for fun anyway when you’re on the force, so just think of this like practice, alright? If you want to get into Meitner, you need to give up a few little things here and there, like TV time.”

“That’s just not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair, kid. You’ll get used to it.”

—------—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Shawn, are you coming to my birthday party?”

“Uh, I don’t think so Denny. Sorry.”

“Why?”

“I uh… got grounded.”

“Oh. … Well, bye.”

“See ya.”

—------—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What do you mean you’re not going to Denny’s party? Your mom bought you that nice new shirt for it.”

“Um…”

“Shawn, be honest.”

“... I’m… studying.”

“Studying.”

“I am, okay! I need to get the A pluses.”

“Shawn, when I said ‘adjust your time management’ this isn’t what I meant.”

“What do you mean?”

“Social events are important, Shawn! Not just for fun, but for networking. For example, I went to a retirement party I didn’t feel like going to last year, and I met the Commissioner. Now, we had some friendly conversation, and he said he’d keep me in mind for a detective position the next time it needed to be filled.”

“I thought the Chief picked that.”

“Right, but he can be influenced by other people around him. That’s networking.”

“And… if I go to the party, I can get to know other kids who can do things for me?”

“Yeah! See, you never want to take a networking event out of your plans just for paperwork.”

“But then where do I fit in homework time?”

“Well that’s for you to figure out, Shawn. But come on, I’ll call Denny’s mom and let her know you’re coming after all.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shawn sits in the principal’s office, his feet dangling off the end of the chair. Gus sits next to him, hands in his lap.

“I told you not to say anything to him,” Gus whimpers.

Shawn leans his head back, looking up at the ceiling with his good not-swollen eye. “What was I supposed to do, Gus?”

“Let him cheat off you! You were probably only getting a C anyway!”

“I was not!”

“We’re in trouble now!”

“Hey, no-one asked you to jump on him.”

“He hit you!”

Their little fight ends abruptly as Winnie Guster and Henry Spencer both enter at the same time. Winnie speeds over to Gus, checking his face right away. Henry walks at a normal pace, and stands in front of Shawn with his arms crossed.

“The principal says you got in a fight during a test,” Henry says.

Shawn puffs up indignantly. “Tommy was cheating off me!”

“Off you?” Winnie lets slip.

Shawn ignores her. “I told the teacher and he jumped me when I sat back down.”

Henry looks at Gus. Gus looks down and nods.

“Alright,” Henry sighs. “I know you’ve been staying out of trouble on purpose lately, so I believe you. Let me go talk to the principal and see if I can… get this cleared off your record.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but! I want this to be your last fight, Shawn.”

Shawn slumps in his chair. “I didn’t even hit back.”

“Biting counts as retaliation, Shawn.”

“... But I didn’t hit back.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright, Shawn, moment of truth. Last report card before your interview.”

Shawn nods, practically vibrating with anticipation. Henry opens the envelope slowly, almost teasingly.

“What is it, Dad? How is it?!”

Henry looks up at Shawn from over the paper, and then flips it around.

Shawn is frozen for a moment.

And then jumps!

“WHOO! WHOOOOO-HOO! I DID IT!”

The full row of A pluses are carefully folded and tucked into Henry’s pocket as Shawn dances around the living room, and then up the stairs shouting the news to his mom. 

Henry will find a plastic slip to save it in later. —-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shawn swallows and looks up at his dad, his little leg Shaking Unstoppably as they wait for his name to be called. He tugs at the tie around his neck, the collar of the new dress shirt still itchy despite three runs in the wash. “What if they’re not impressed?”

“You kidding?” Henry leans over. “Shawn, look around the room. What do you see?”

Shawn looks up. “Lots of smart kids.”

“Look closer.”

Shawn squints at the three other children in the room. 

One is a young girl around his age, balancing a chemistry textbook on one leg and a model of some chemical compound on the other. She’s mouthing the words as she reads along– she’s nervous too, and isn’t sure she’ll be able to remember her facts.

Another kid is a few years older, running his thumbnail against his braces and shaking more than Shawn is. His prepared demonstration is being crumpled in his sweaty hand, smudging the ink. He can only hope to remember it, or get enough clues from the smudges and rips to figure out the words.

The last kid is a little younger than Shawn, and he just doesn’t look like he wants to be here. He’s half-asleep, and his eyes keep wandering over to the door.

“Lots of smart kids still.”

“Smart kids who aren’t you. I know you noticed the kid with the crumpled paper– you know what you have that he doesn’t?”

“My memory?”

“Your memory. And look, she’d running over her lines over and over there. She won’t have the paper, which is impressive, but she’ll sound robotic. Now sounding natural and confident is always better than sounding overly-practiced. Remember that for when you talk to the press about your cases someday.”

“And that kid doesn’t even want to come here.”

“Exactly. You’ve got every advantage right now, Shawn. That’s a rare situation to be in. Keep on your toes, but don’t let it psych you out.”

Shawn nods.

“Shawn Spencer.”

He jumps to his feet and quickly walks over to the secretary. 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well, Shawn, you’re certainly an… interesting, candidate.”

“Um… thank you.” Shawn knows that’s not a compliment.

The interviewer tsks. “Poor grades up until this past year, several notices of erratic to poor behavior…”

“Well, um, that was actually because of… understimulation.” He pulls the word up from a memory of his mom explaining why he wanted to cry when he was bored. “It was too easy and I got bored.”

“Mmm, we’ll see. What have you prepared to show me why you belong here, Shawn?”

Shawn takes a deep breath, and a moment to look over the interviewer.

“Your watch is off by three hours, and your hair is really shiny but not staying in place. So it’s not gel, your hair is just greasy. That and the watch mean you were probably on a place earlier today, and your briefcase has crumbs all over the top so it was a business trip. You probably went to interview some out-of-state kids and had to rush back here.”

The interviewer sits back. “Very impressive reasoning for your age. And good attention to detail. But that’s not–”

Shawn closes his eyes and says “To get to this room the secretary took me down a hallway that had walls the same color as my dad’s cop uniform and a carpet that probably hasn’t been shampooed since last year. The secretary was wearing shoes too small for her, and she almost tripped multiple times because of it. She looked nervous leading me here, and kept checking for landmarks, so I think she’s new and didn’t have the shoes she needed to work here. She probably borrowed them from the lost and found.”

“How–”

“The hallway had pictures of old principals all along it. The first one is from 1972, then 1974, and it keeps going with two years between principals until 1985 when you had two principals in one year. The first principal’s picture is poorly taken care of, and someone drew a mole on it that never got cleaned off, so he probably did something bad.”

“That’s amazing-”

“While I’ve had my eyes closed you brushed the crumbs off your briefcase and reset your watch.”

“I– yes–”

“And the girl out in the waiting room made a model of sodium chloride but she misplaced one of the molecules on the end.” At least, if he interpreted the picture he saw her staring at right she did. He’s never been wrong with his upside-down reading before, so he’s doing as his dad said. Confidence.

He opens his eyes. The interviewer is gaping at him. Shawn shuffles his feet, feeling something like shame, something like embarrassment, something like resentment.

But he pushes it down. Because he’s doing this for Gus.

“Well.” The interviewer pulls himself together and clears his throat. “You’re certainly one of the most interesting candidates I’ve had today.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gus puts his backpack in his locker and hurries to his thankfully-close first class. He sets his books up tidily on the top, arranges his pencils by order of sharpest to dullest, and carefully lines up his two erasers to be perfectly symmetrical on either side of the desk.

And he sighs.

Even as the chalkboard at the front promises him an exciting class of complex multiplication, his mind wanders, and he feels the Lack of Presence more potently than he’s ever felt anything in his life. He can almost hear his best friend giving his usual first day of school speech. “Gus, this is our year. We’re becoming the coolest kids in school, I know it. By the end of the year–”

“We’ll be at the top!”

Gus blinks. “No way.”

Shawn slides into class. The Meitner uniform red polo fits him loosely, and he doesn’t have it tucked in like everyone else does, and he’s wearing obviously fake glasses.

And Gus has never been more confused in his life.

Shawn spots him and lights up. He practically jumps over the desks to get to Gus, plunking into the desk to Gus’s right and haphazardly dumping his school bag onto it.

“Shawn, how did you–!”

“Uh, same way you did.” Shawn leans over and lightly punches Gus’s arm. “No way I was letting you go to nerd school all alone.”

“But– but you’re not–”

“A lame nerd? That’s why I’m undercover.” Shawn touches the fake glasses. “See? I’m your best friend and your bodyguard, Gus. I’m going to help you be the best nerd of the nerds.”

“... How?”

“I can remember everything the teachers say and write on the board.”

“So you can fill in my notes where I might be missing them!”

“You’re taking notes?”

“Of course I am.”

“Do we have to?”

“I think so.”

“... I should’ve brought some paper.”

“Here.” Gus tears a page out and hands it to Shawn. “But you better not get me kicked out.”

“I won’t. Promise. That’s the whole mission Gus. You and I are gonna become kings of the nerds here.”

“... I do like the sound of that.”

[oo-delallymrcrow]

First Impression

Summary: You and Cooper met for the first time, the feeling is electric and your chemistry is undeniable. You want to be professional but you can’t help the feelings he gives you with his charms.

A/N: I’m so excited for the future chapters. The build up is honestly killing me because I just want all the love and feels. But I promise the wait will be worth it, especially since that carriage scene (iykyk) has been stuck in my head when writing this story.

No warnings still.

Walking into the studio that day was a little nerve wracking. You were dressed up in your favorite pink dress, making sure to make a good first impression with the studio executives. Today was your first meeting with everyone. The cast and crew getting together to go over how filming will go. When everyone's schedule was and where everyone needed to be on what day.

You were busy looking around the studio's lobby when someone came walking up to you. You turned and flashed your brightest smile as you shook hands with the young man.

“Good afternoon Miss. L/N. My name is David and I will be your assistant on this film.”

“Well hello David please just call me Y/N.”

He smiled at you before pulling his hand away to motion down the hall.

“Alright Y/N. We're all meeting down in this conference room. It's mostly the actors for right now but everyone will meet on the set in studio one, cast and crew.”

You nodded along as he lead you down into the conference room. The door was slightly open so you can hear all the voices talking inside. You took in a deep breath before you walked through the door with David following behind.

“Here she is ladies and gentlemen. Our fabulous Y/N has graced us with her presence.”

You smiled as the man at the head of the table stood to walk to you. He brought your hand up to hold close to his chest as you giggled at his praise.

“My dear you are perfect for this part. I am so excited to have you playing Eleanor. I told the studio that I would have no other person for the part and if it wasn't you I wouldn't direct the movie.”

“Oh,” you realized that this man was the director, “you must be Tim. I am so excited to be apart of your movie. When I read the script I fell in love with the story.”

He smiled and waved his hand like your compliments were making him embarrassed. He gestured around the room and introduced you to everyone. He introduced you to James, a rival to your love interest; Elizabeth, who was playing your friend in the movie; and a few others.

“And finally the man of the hour.”

You gasped as the last man stood and flashed a bright smile to you.

“Cooper Howard! I am such a big fan of yours,” you gushed as you shook his hand. You felt yourself get a little red as he chuckled, realizing you were probably embarrassing yourself. You realized you were still shaking his hand, you went to pull it away when he surprised you. He brought your hand up and leaning over a little, brushing his lips against your knuckles.

“I'm honored to have such a big fan,” he pressed a kiss to them before standing upright, almost towering over you. “Especially one so pretty like yourself.”

Your mouth fell open a little as you felt yourself get a little heated at his intense stare. Tim slapped his shoulder with a laugh before gesturing to a chair next to Cooper's. Cooper pulled it out for you and you said a small thank you as you moved quickly to sit. You cleared your throat as you settled in and took a quick peek to see if anyone was looking at you after that introduction. Thankfully, everyone was already looking at Tim as he started going into depth about the movies story and how he wanted the next few months to go.

“Alright now that we have a planned schedule I think it's time for lunch,” Timm glances at the watch on his wrist. “Then we'll meet in Studio One to get with the crew. After that you'll all be shown to your trailers and we'll call it a day.”

Everyone stood and left in their little groups. You went to stand before a hand caught your arm, you turned as Cooper stood and placed his hands on the back of your chair, pulling it back to help you out. You blushed as you thanked him and took his hand in yours.

“Everyone kind of left in a hurry,” he spoke as he lead you out the door. You took note how you were still holding his hand as he walked you both out. “Would you like to grab lunch with me? We can talk about how we want our characters to interact.”

You blinked up at him as your brain took a moment to process. Lunch. With him. Yes, you would like to have lunch with him. You gave him a small smile as he stopped and looked at you for an answer.

“I think that's an excellent idea Mr. Howard.”

He gave you a chuckle as he opened the door to lead outside, this time placing his hand in the small of your back to guide you out.

“Please sweetheart. We're going to be working very closely together, just call me Cooper.”

You turned your head to stare up at him as you spoke in a soft voice, “alright Cooper. I would like to have lunch with you.”

You swear his eyes darted down to your lips but as soon as you blinked he was pushing you forward to walk over to the little cafeteria that everyone was headed to. As you entered, you noticed a lot of people were looking at the two of you and whispering to each other. You ignored that as you walked forward and grabbed a sandwich and some cut up fruit with a water bottle.

You know what everyone was whispering about. Everyone has heard of Cooper Howard and the nastiness of his divorce and the roles he's lost. The rumors that flowed through Hollywood and into offices. Your agent, Amelia Evans, even gossiping with you about it. But you were never one to judge someone, especially in such situations that you have never experienced. So you decided to not listen to others opinions and get to know Cooper.

As you turned to choose a table you didn't like how loud and cramped it felt, so you decided to enjoy the sunshine and sit outside. You could feel a few stares as you walked toward the door, a hand shooting out to grab rhe handle.

“Let me get that for you sweetheart.” Cooper murmured close to your ear, making you shiver at how close he was to you. He followed you out to a table and again pulled out your seat.

“You really don't have to be so nice Cooper,” you muttered as you glanced at your fruit cup. He sent a charming smile to you as he sat across from you.

“My momma taught me that I should always be respectful and a gentleman to everyone, especially to women.”

“Well I would like to thank her for raising such a respectful man.”

You smiled at his explanation and took a bite out of your sandwich, the both of you eating in peaceful silence. You thought that you would be awkward around the actor, especially with how famous and older he is, but you were quite comfortable around him.

”I’m surprised you wanted to eat with me.”

That brought your thoughts to a halt as he said that. You gave him a confused look as you took a sip of water. He was avoiding your gaze at this point so you spoke up.

”Why is that Cooper?”

”Well, with everything that happened.” He brought his hand up to gesture to himself. “I ain’t exactly popular with everyone right now. Especially with all the rumors and being casted out like nothing. I’m just surprised you sat with me. I wouldn’t blame you if you quit the movie.”

You shot your hand out to hold his hand that was on the table. You were that a little shock traveled up your arm and cleared your throat as you both stared down at your hands.

”I was taught by my father to never judge a book by its cover. I’ve held that rule close to me and I think that's what gave me so many opportunities to live the life I’ve wanted. I never judged you Cooper. There are so many rumors and tabloids about your life, I didn’t want to immediately judge you on them without knowing your story. So of course I agreed to have lunch with you and I will gladly stay in this movie.”

The words you said brought a smile to his face. He brought your hand up, kissing the back of it. His eyes caught yours as he spoke very softly, his lips brushing your hand with every word he spoke.

”Thank you sweetheart. I say you’re smarter than everyone I have worked with. I appreciate that you still want to work with me, especially with how pretty you are.”

That brought a faint blush to your cheeks at his words and how he’s still holding your hand. You gave him a smile as you both went back to eating your lunch. As you both finished up, David walked up to your table.

”Mr. Howard, (Y/N), I was told that the crew is still building one of the sets on Studio One so we will not be meeting there today. Wednesday is when filming starts so please be here at five in the morning for makeup. Would you like me to show you to your trailers?”

Cooper spoke up as you went to stand, “I know where they are. I’ll show (Y/N) where they are.”

”Okay.” David smiled at the both of us then looked at me with a clap of his hands. “My number is next to the phone in your trailer. If you need anything from me, don’t hesitate to call.”

”Thank you David,” you smiled at him then he was on his way. You looked back to Cooper as he gathered the trash from lunch to throw away.

”Come on sweetheart. Your trailer is next to mine.”

When he flashed another bright smile at you and walked to the trash can, the thought of Cooper’s trailer next to yours made you feel heat in your lower belly.You shook your head and tried to stop a few thoughts from flooding. The man got divorced and has been through a lot, nothing would happen between you two. Plus why would anything happen? You just met the man and you already felt a certain attraction to him.

It didn’t help that he was handsome, even with the scruff and slightly long hair, but you did have a slight crush on the man. You had a little thing for his character in ‘A Man and His Dog’. His charm on screen and off screen with his sweet words and actions did make you melt a little every time he spoke, his accent helped as well. Plus his eyes, they wanted you to get lost in them. With the way they shined and were so expressive. You wanted to get to know him better and the thought of spending months together made you giddy with nervousness and excitement.

”Ready to go?”

“Yes sir,” you smiled at him and paused at an emotion that filled his eyes. You didn’t know exactly what it was but as you stood it quickly went away. He offered his arm to you and you took it, intertwining your arms together, placing your hand on his bicep.

Taglist: @danveration , @thespritepepsi

[therealvinelle]

What does Norway think of the us

Far too many things for me to begin to cover in a tumblr post.

Suffice to say: we arguably owe our welfare and current standing in the world and inarguably our liberty as a nation to the US. This has shaped our domestic and foreign policies for the past 80 years, and we are currently breathing into a paper bag about the fact that Uncle Sam is talking about breaking up with us.

Also beware, there are matters in this post which are a matter of political opinion (rare for this blog, I know), and there are nightmareishly long paragraphs in here, so read at own risk and sorry about the long paragraphs.

Readmore for length and in case I need to make edits.

Norway, the war, and the Marshall Help

Imagine: your country is invaded by Nazis in 1940, and remains occupied for five years. When you are liberated, your country's gold reserve is depleted, many places bombed, and the entirety of Northern Norway is so badly ravaged that the population is evacuated and the region deemed uninhabitable (you'll notice, today, the architecture up north is new. All of it.). To say nothing of the human toll: one third of our Jewish population was slaughtered in Auschwitz, the country is littered in war memorials and tombstones of men shot or otherwise killed by Germans, and every family has at least one wartime story.

(I will take a note to say that it's our own occupation that comes to mind when I see the war and genocide happening in Ukraine. The differences are many, but the shared horror of an invasion, the fact that this happens on European mainland and is perpetrated by a country we share a border with, makes it feel extremely close. More, if Ukraine loses... I'll get into that further below, but suffice to say "Norway's defense budget" these days is labelled "Ukraine aid")

What are you going to do when peace comes, and the time to rebuild is upon you? Well, it so happens the rest of Europe is asking itself that same question, and the United States meanwhile sees an opportunity to both help its allies, strengthen our bonds so that we'll be on the same side for the foreseeable future, and weaken the communist sympathies in Europe. It's a win-win type of deal, and so the Marshall aid is launched: billions of dollars ($13 billion then, $178 adjusted for inflation) are poured into Europe, bolstering the post-war economy and allowing the countries which accepted (all of Western Europe, save Spain and Finland. Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union declined as well.) to get back to their feet much sooner.

It's in this context that Norway's government's plans of a welfare society were possible to realize. Perhaps we would have managed it anyway, but the historically recorded fact is we did it with the help of the USA.

Then there's NATO, that beautiful response to not only the Eastern threat, but to the naivety that had reigned prior to World War II. Hitler had... helped himself... to increasing chunks of Europe, and country leaders kept saying "Well I don't want war, and I'm sure he'll be satisfied after that. Oh no, he invaded Poland?! Oh well I'm sure he'll be satisfied with- oh no, he's entered France!"

NATO means "Invade one, you fight us all", and while it may have come to mean "one invades Afghanistan, so now I guess we're all going" and even "boy Ukraine is having it rough huh. But we can't do anything without getting NATO involved, and that'll launch a new world war :/", and de facto "if NATO ever acts against Russia that will be world war three. Hang on, what's NATO for then?", NATO at its core still means "I am in NATO, so Uncle Sam will protect me. :)"

Which makes countries like Norway feel very safe. And, I cannot overemphasize, is why we've felt safe for the past 70+ years.

Which brings us to the next section.

That border. That border!!

If you look at a map of Norway, you'll see a long and happy border to Sweden. There has been much discourse (and war, war, war) over that border, I for one still think it would be nice if they gave us back Bohuslän, but overall we are very close and good allies.

Look a little further up, however. Yes, past the border to Finland.

Is that...

(photo credit)

Oh no, it's Russia!

This hasn't always been an oh no. We lived peacefully side by side frankly always, and the Soviets liberated Finnmark from the Nazis which was wonderful of them. Then Norway accepted the Marshall Aid, however, and while our governing party had had strong communist sympathies prior to the war (and after...) this cemented our ties to the United States. Our side in the Cold War had been chosen.

Border relations with Russia have been good, they have had to be good, but NATO was our safety and security during a very tense period of time. (This comedy skit is very funny but... kind of true... as does the entire Whaledimir debacle (adorable whale charmed the country, but was Whaledimir a Russian spy? Somehow, the answer appears to be yes.) The Russo-Ukrainian war has made relations historically bad, however. (Norwegian news article on the topic, if you feel like translating.)

Where am I going with this?

Norway has a shared border with Russia. Norway would not be capable of defending Finnmark if Russia invaded from the shared border, and having Sweden and Finland join NATO makes us feel better but the defense strategy has still been (and remains) "we defend what we can until US reinforcements arrive". One of the sexiest things the US has done this year was send a massive war ship sailing into our waters, just to say hello and show off their presence. MUCH APPRECIATED.

And, again, this might seem very remote and like the plot of a bad political thriller to the cursory anon and even to many Norwegians, but we were invaded in the last century, we have a shared border, a strategically important coastline and a lot of natural resources (oil!), and should Ukraine (god forbid) lose the war, the question will be this: what does Russia do next? What, specifically, does NATO and the US do if Putin for instance decides to take Svalbard? Is anyone risking nuclear war over Svalbard? What about Finmark? What about cyber attacks, underwater cable att- oh wait there were two underwater cables cut open yesterday.

Gee, that's not worrying at all.

In summation

America is a very important trade partner, and the cultural and political influence you have on us (on all of Europe, really) is immense. I imagine most asked would focus on that, especially on Norway's thoughts on the election, but you asked me and so you get my answer. Your election was a sports match to us (or at least covered by media and social media like one).

I will say this: Trump's first victory had us worried, and we have spent more on defense since then, but his second victory proves the first was not a fluke and the United States is shifting away from us. This is not something we can influence, as it is the will of the American people (or at the very least what they voted for), what we must do is adapt. I, a lifelong opponent to Norway joining the European Union, now see no other way if Norway is to prosper (though the EU also needs a major makeover to survive now, on our own without the US we are all shaking in our knees here in Europe). Likewise, to paraphrase a very good op-ed, Norway's national security neither can depend on a few undecided voters in Wisconsin who aren't thinking about Europe or Norway at all, nor should it.

We have been too dependent on the United States, this has been mutually beneficial and if it was up to us, this wouldn't change (I am now ignoring a faction on the far left which has been saying "Guys, I have a great idea: we should leave NATO :)" and another faction on the far right which is so eager to please Trump-senpai they think Norway is supporting Ukraine's effort because we're stupid), sadly it seems the US wants it to change.

We shall see what happens.

[divineerdrick]

Homestuck: Beyond Canon Upd8 for November 11, 2024

*flops*

Don't mind me.

Just gonna lie here while I do the Homestuck liveblog thing.

I am going to give a heads up. If my next migraine treatment brings me a bit more back in line, I'll be doing VLogs again. I have a bigger video project planned, but it's not Homestuck related. I'll be posting the updates here though, so you'll still know when I blog an upd8. Then you'll all get to see my haggard and aged face.

We begin with the monthly news upd8 from James. Except no! It is in fact an upd8 from Miles! James fades into the background, and apparently Miles will be our flattering correspondent from now on.

It looks like Miles is putting potential spoilers in the news post, so I might have to be careful in the future. Of course these might be jokes. We'll have to see.

Work continues on the planned [S] page and more Beyond Canon merch. We won't be getting an upd8 for December, but they will be running the Patreon. The next upd8 looks like it might be as late as February.

That's all unfortunate. But I fully support if the team wants to take a well earned holiday.

Upd8

Tavvy has decided to join Yiffy on an adventure. This can't possibly end well. His attempts at being her lackey have so far landed him mostly in trouble. And there's a heap of trouble brewing on the soon to be battlefield.

Yeah that's not happening.

Heh! Harry brought the trail mix.

Oh wow. And oh no!

OH NO!!!

That can't possibly count as Heroic though. Getting sniped while performing a purely tactical role is not a hero's end. Still, Rose is probably glad the kids aren't seeing that.

And button.

Interesting view to cut to.

Again, I don't think this will count as Heroic for anyone. But a lot of people are about to die. And let's not forget, none of the trolls currently outside for the Plot Point are God Tiers. This is bad. This is really bad. This is the kind of moment that calls for an extreme, deus ex machina, like the Plot Point has the potential for.

But we're not getting to see it yet.

Edit: @vriedi reminded me that Meenah is a God Tier. Though this does make me wonder, what happens when a dead God Tier dies?

Orange curtains.

Okay! Legitimately fantastic Psyche Out. They actually got me pretty good there.

Okay, we have a new troll it I think.

gavageCunctation is messaging Vrissy. Though that doesn't necessarily tell us much, except that a new player may have entered the drama.

And they're "negging" Vrissy. So this troll clearly sees themselves as a "player" too.

We've got a "game" that's about to be played. A game being run by a TC. Now Gamzee is dead, but that doesn't mean he didn't setup something before Vriska killed him. Still, it's likely these are two completely new troll kids.

We've got a new AA too. So we might be seeing more troll descendants. After all, they used cloning to kick things off. This troll is typing in purple, but blood typing may not be universal anymore. I do find it interesting that we're continuing the nucleotide pairs though. They could have gone for a different motif. Maybe they're trying to symbolize that these are potential paradox clones for a new session?

AA is apparently our chronic auspistice for this group. And potentially our Seer, though we've had fake-outs on that before.

And our actual cliffhanger ending is this new GC's computer exploding.

So yeah. Something has to happen for a lot of our beloved characters to not bite it. I'm also curious how Rose's vision of future events can come true if Jane has unleashed her weapon. But I mentioned last time that Rose is playing a dangerous game here. I don't think any of our God Tiers are in trouble, and I'm pretty sure the Plot Point is fine.

I'm wondering if this is how Calliope ends up sacrificing themself, if Rose was even correct there. Either way, this a dark ending for the year on a community that's already seen some dark endings.

*Returns to flop*