#she also probably would have been badly socialized if she *had* been schooled but she was not.

[quietwingsinthesky]

millie’s natural state is covered in blood (<- may or may not be her own) and shaking like a feral dog. because she’s normal.

[thoughtlessthinkythoughts]

Look, I would love to believe that Gerry is having a perfect time in an alternate universe, but I can’t. Something is up. Note: I’m using some info from the arg spreadsheet for this.

Cw for unethical psychology experiments and harm to children.

He claims to have been too young to remember, but according to the spreadsheet he is two years older than Sam. Of course they probably weren’t tested at the same time, but his development level indicates he was school-aged.

He says he just remembers filling out forms and answering questions. The spreadsheet indicates that they put the kids through the Milgram experiment (you know, the giving electric shocks to people one)

He is happy to invite strangers in first thing in the morning and offer them anything- food, a large painting, etc. This goes beyond typical hospitality/generosity.

He even thinks the landlord is lovely. And yes I think this is a hint considering TMA’s politics.

Gerry immediately considers strangers old friends.

I may be reading the spreadsheet wrong because it is ambiguous. But if I am correct, when tested Gerry was ranked very prosocial, but also wasn’t compliant with the Milgram test or a test of social conformity (the one where a bunch of people lie about the length of a line to see if the person being tested will agree with something obviously wrong). The Gerry we met seems very compliant.

Gertrude is eager to get rid of Sam and Celia, which is completely understandable, but I think there is more to it. She knows something and wants this away from Gerry.

The little “I like them” “of course you do” exchange. It isn’t much on it’s own, but altogether…I don’t think Gerry has a choice. Not in liking them or being generous. I think Gerry was so close to being what they wanted, but he wouldn’t comply with some things, so they…somehow made him compliant.

According to the spreadsheet, Gerry had the second highest empathy index. The only individual higher was Sam. And I think we can assume Sam’s results are significant, considering he is a main character. Sam’s results were similar to Gerry’s in almost every way…except that Sam was given opposite results in the social conformity and obedience measures. In general, as empathy, moral development, and prosocial behavior increased in the kids, milgram and asch scores were lower, which is why I believe low=not going along with them.

So, the institute was looking for kids who were highly empathetic but also easy to control. Until they found Sam, Gerry was the closest, so they tried to control him. And ended up damaging him badly and messing with his memory of what happened.

[yuikomorii]

Admin, how do you think a young ayato with a human child could bond and have their friendship progress? (Similar to Edgar and Shu I suppose)

Ayato, prior to his mommy issues, seemed to have been a kind and socially intelligent kid ( him in young blood is just 🥹) I can imagine him escaping the castle, making a human friend, and continuing to be friends with them at their night high school. (Ignoring the human would probably die before Ayato reaches his teenage form)

You’re an Ayato specialist in my eyes haha so how can you imagine it playing out?

// I honestly believe Ayato would be the type to befriend a human, particularly as a child. Even if humans are considered inferior, the same might be said about ghouls, but even as a teenager, Ayato declared that he was opposed to their discrimination.

He would undoubtedly try to sneak out to play with him/her, even if it meant getting into trouble. Unfortunately, I doubt Cordelia would react kindly if she found out, and it would very likely end badly for that human child, making Ayato feel guilty yet again. :(

I wish Rejet had truly given Ayato an actual friend. Yui can no longer be converted into a vampire, and she will definitely die before him, which is very heartbreaking to consider because he will be completely alone after her death. Laito's situation is also bad, but at the very least, Ayato will always be there for him, providing him with support.

[sokoviansimp]

can you please do one of wanda and nat x child reader and getting them to do homework and eat hahahahah i love ur fics btw it makes me feel so warm

✒ Pairings: Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff x Child!Reader (platonic)

✒ Summary: Wanda and Nat try to get you to do your homework and eat your vegetables.

✒ Tags and Warnings: Homework, stubbornness, fluff, anxiety, making friends

✒ Author's Note: I really appreciate the request! I thought this was such a good idea, hopefully, I did it justice! Sorry, it took so long. To the other requests in my inbox, I am sorry I am so slow but I will be getting to them, they're all so good :)

✒ Word Count: 4744+

✒ Read Time: 24 minutes

Masterlist : The Package AU : Socials

“It sounds like a good opportunity, I don’t think it’s ever really too early to start” Nat urged. 

“I guess, but she’s just so young,” Wanda claimed as she moved to join her friend on the couch. 

“They’ll all be her age, it’s just for a week,” Nat insisted. 

Nat had found a program for young children to learn science and math for a week, it was kind of like a day camp. The parents would drop off the young children daily for 4 hours of hands-on learning. She thought this would be good for you since you have been following very closely in Peter’s footsteps when it comes to his interest in math and science. It would also introduce you to a school setting so that it isn’t so far out of your comfort zone next year when you go to attend preschool. 

To be truthful, you and Wanda were all Nat could think about lately. She wanted so badly to be there for you two, to help you achieve success and be given opportunities that she could’ve only dreamed of at your age. This sent her down a rabbit hole searching for events or activities you could take part in. Most of them were geared toward older children, but the science camp stated all ages so she jumped on it. 

Wanda was hesitant about the program, she didn’t want to push school onto you too early. You should be able to enjoy the time before it completely takes over your life for 14+ years. Nat had a point though, it’s only a week and you would probably really love it. She wasn’t sure how you would react to being left without her all day though, hopefully, now that you have been coming out of your shell the process would be easier but it was hard to say. 

Though, it’s inevitable that this will need to happen eventually. One week of practice would be helpful to smooth out the process once it's mandatory. Wanda really admired the way Nat was so enthusiastic about this program, like the way her voice became more animated and expressive. Wanda could hear the slight rise in her tone as she described the activities that you’d get to experience, and the way she leaned closer in proximity to show off the different amenities on the webpage had Wanda holding her breath and overthinking every little movement of her body. As she got lost in the sparkle in Natasha’s eyes, she couldn't help but scrutinize herself for making everything so awkward, ‘don’t move, don’t breathe. Okay, breathe but slowly. Does she notice? why is this making me feel this way? It’s not like we’ve never been close to each other before.’

“What do you think?” Nat jolted her from her spiraling thoughts, both mentally and slightly physically as Wanda startlingly looked at her. Of course, she hadn’t been paying attention to a thing Nat was saying, but she couldn’t know that. 

“Hmm, yea that sounds great,” she admitted, hoping she hadn’t just agreed to send you to a shield boot camp or something that only Natasha would find fun. 

 “Really?” Nat was beaming at the fact that Wanda liked her idea and genuinely hoped you would have a great time. 

“Ye- yea, I mean, it’s just a week and she’s going to have to get used to spending time without us.” Wanda went on to explain.

Natasha's heart skipped a beat. Us. She knew what Wanda meant by it and even though she recognized it wasn’t anything that she should read into, Nat couldn't help but analyze it. Such a simple phrase, but it had the prospect to hold so much meaning. Wanda had included her in her vision of your future, as a unit, as us. In reality, Wanda knew Natasha would always be there for you, but Natasha couldn’t help but feel a wave of warmth and happiness wash over her at the thought of it meaning something more, causing her cheeks to flush and a smile to form on her face. 

When Wanda and Nat told you about the camp, you were initially really excited, until you found out that you’d have to go alone. Sure, they would drop you off, but then they would leave, and then, who would protect you if something went wrong? Who would be there to hold you when you got nervous around the crowd of unfamiliar faces?

“Mama?” you broke the silence as you sat snuggled into her side on the couch of the common room, enveloped in mostly darkness except for the soft glow from the television. 

“Yes, detka?” she glanced down at you as your head tilted up to meet your eyes with hers. 

“Do I have to go to da sciewence schoowl?” you asked softly, just barely above a whisper, not wanting to make trouble but you couldn’t get the fact that you would have to go alone out of your mind. 

Wanda immediately shifted her full attention to you in an attempt to create a safe and open space for you to express your worries, “I thought you were excited?”

“Well, I am- I was, but, I don't want to go wiffout you or Natty.” you admitted as you translated your fears from thoughts into words. 

"I see, I understand that you're feeling nervous about going without us, and that's completely okay, my love. It's natural to feel a little anxious when we step out of our comfort zone," she said as she gently rubbed your arm in soothing motions. She wanted to help you work through these feelings instead of blocking off new opportunities due to fear. In the end, she wouldn’t force you to go, but she would do everything she could to get you open to the experience. 

“You know, even adults get feelings like these when they're about to try something new or go to unfamiliar places. I remember when I first joined the Avengers, I felt a mix of excitement and nerves. But you know what?” 

“What?” 

“It turned out to be an incredible journey filled with wonderful people and unforgettable adventures. I got to meet my two favorite people in the whole world"

“Me?” your expression shifted from nervous to curious, as you wondered where Wanda was going with this. 

“Yes you, and Nat,” she says unable to mask the smile that forms near automatically from the mention of her best friend.

“What if, der is no one der for me?” you wonder 

"You will have so many other kids there that are your age that you can make friends with, malysh"

“What if dey don’t wike me?” You were genuinely worried about meeting other kids your age. You’ve only ever been around adults and you weren’t quite sure what to expect. Would they all already know each other? Would there be a certain way you were expected to act around them? 

"What’s not to like? You have the kindest heart and the most beautiful spirit of anyone I know.” she was speaking from the heart as she genuinely believed what she told you. Wanda watched you go from this scared little girl who was being held captive in a Hydra base to a kid who gets excited to talk about the solar system and wildlife habitats with Peter. She watched you open up and accept these people, even the men on the team,  into your life despite your wariness. She’s sure you are capable of anything you really put your mind to, “Making friends has one simple rule and if you follow it, it's practically foolproof, do you know what that is?”

You just shook your head in response, waiting for her to continue.  

“Just be yourself. If you do that you'll attract real friends who appreciate you for who you are," she said as she tapped your chest, pointing to your heart. 

“Be myself?” you wondered what it meant as you repeated the words on your own tongue. You don’t recall ever acting like someone else. “Who else would I be?”

Wanda couldn't help but chuckle at your innocence and how cute you were, “Some people try to change for others. They change their personalities, their opinions, and sometimes even their looks just to fit in with other people.”

“Oh. so, wike, pwetending?”

"Exactly! You are capable of so much more than you realize, my little one. Have faith in yourself."

You thought over her words as the show continued to play in front of you on the TV. You were so close to being on board with it, but you couldn’t get over the possibility of being stuck there without a way out. The way Wanda spoke so highly of you, gave you the confidence you needed to believe you could make friends, but what if everything really did go horribly wrong, would you be stuck there all day? 

“Mama?” you continued the conversation after a few minutes of watching tv had passed. 

“Hmm?”

“I want to go to da sciewence schoowl, but what if I need you when I der?”

Wanda thought about this for a moment, You're far too young to have a cell phone, but a communication line wouldn’t be such a bad thing for you. It could help calm your anxiety and in her line of work, anything could happen so it would make things safer. 

“Well, if there is something really important, you can tell your teacher and she can get ahold of me,” Wanda explained. You didn’t seem too satisfied with that answer though as you gave a somber acknowledgment. What if you weren't able to get the teacher's attention, or the teacher just plain refused, the plan just didn't seem very solid. 

Wanda could see that you weren’t content with her solution, “Or I can show you a trick,” she offered. 

Your face perked up, immediately intrigued, your little hands clutching a stuffed toy tightly, gazed up at Wanda with wide-eyed wonder, “a trick?” you asked

“Close your eyes, my little one,” Wanda explained and you did as she instructed, “now, take a deep breath. Imagine a warm light surrounding us, enveloping us like a soft, protective blanket. or a big fluffy cloud”

As you sat with your eyes closed, a serene smile graced Wanda's face. She concentrated, allowing her own powers to flow through her, and extended her thoughts toward you. With a gentle touch of her mind, she created a bridge between your thoughts, a telepathic connection unique to you.

"Now, detka," Wanda whispered, "I want you to think of something you want to tell me, but without saying it out loud. Just focus on the feeling and the words in your mind."

Your brows furrowed and your face scrunched in concentration, your little face reflecting the effort of trying to convey your thoughts through this newfound connection. Wanda could feel your tiny mind reaching out tentatively, like a fragile thread stretching between the two of you.

With each passing moment, the connection grew stronger, and soon your eyes fluttered open, revealing a mixture of surprise and delight. "Mama, can you hear me?" your innocent voice echoed softly between your minds, blending with the quiet hum of the room.

Wanda's heart swelled with joy as she nodded, her eyes shimmering with pride. "Yes, dorogoy, I can hear you!" she exclaimed, "Our thoughts are connected now, and no matter where we are, we can talk to each other like this. Whenever you need me, I will be there for you,” she explained.

In that magical moment, your minds intertwined, You two shared a connection that transcended words. With telepathy, you could communicate your deepest thoughts, dreams, and feelings, strengthening the unbreakable bond between mother and child. Perhaps most importantly to you though, you were able to reach Wanda without the confines of distance. 

As you sat there, immersed in your newfound ability, Wanda couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of it all. She knew that this telepathic connection would serve as a source of comfort and reassurance for you, a constant reminder that you were always connected, even when physically apart.

With that, you were content with the decision to attend the science camp. Not only that, but you were excited again. Instead of focusing on the parts that worried you, you were able to shift your focus onto all the exciting things you were bound to learn and discover. Your mind ran wild with outrageous theories, like discovering fossils or trying to figure out the speed of a flamingo by simply racing beside it. 

The first day of camp approached rather quickly. In the days leading up, you would often use your new ability to have silent conversations with Wanda. Sometimes you would do it to practice and make sure that you still could when you needed to, and other times you did it to express feelings and emotions that you had trouble translating into words. 

Wanda and Nat were both there to drop you off on your first day, you were less nervous than they expected you to be which they were grateful for. Now that you were able to contact Wanda you felt safe in exploring new experiences alone, and maybe that's because you never felt alone, because she would always be there for you if you needed. 

The camp was divided into different age groups. The majority of the kids were 4th and 5th graders, but there was a small group of children your age. Wanda and Nat were grateful that you would have enough children to socialize with but not so many that it would seem overwhelming. Hopefully, with the smaller group, it would be easier to make friends. 

In fact, you didn't even get to the classroom before you made your first friend, “Hi, I’m Matthew, what's your name?” you turned to the voice that spoke behind you, “Hi! I’m Y/N” you greeted. “Y/N! Dat’s a cool name! You wike space too? I wove space!” he mentioned as he noticed your shirt that showed a playful astronaut floating in space, holding a slice of pizza in one hand and giving a thumbs-up with the other reading Pizza Planet Explorer, “Wanna be fwreinds?” he asked. 

You were caught off guard by how quickly he spoke and became distracted, but of course, you wanted to make friends and you already had something in common, “Yes, we can be fwreinds, I love space too. My favowite planet is Saturn” you enthusiastically replied. 

“I wike Jupiter da most cuz it’s da biggest,” Matthew responded. 

The two of you sat next to each other throughout the demonstrations and even shared a table at lunch. Wanda had packed you a container of yogurt, sliced strawberries and baby carrots, and some Mini turkey and cheese roll-ups which were basically just a turkey sandwich rolled into bite-sized pieces for easy eating. At the bottom of your lunch box, there was a note that read, 

My Dearest Y/N,

I hope you're having a wonderful day at school! I am so incredibly proud of you. Remember, my little superhero, you have the power to do anything you set your mind to. Each day, you're growing stronger, smarter, and more amazing. I can't wait to hear all about your day when you come home. Keep shining bright, my sunshine.

With all my love,

Mama

You couldn’t help but smile as you attempted to read the note, you still weren’t really able to read but you were able to pick out keywords like love, smarter, amazing, and superhero, so you got the vibe and felt comforted by it, which is all Wanda had hoped for.

 “What’s dat?” Matthew asked as he saw you set the note down next to your baby carrots. “Oh, my mama wrote me a note” you explained. 

“Oh wow, she must really love you,” he stated as he wondered why he never received any notes with his meal. 

“Yea, she does,” you said with a gleaming smile. 

You managed to survive the entire day without contacting Wanda at all. She hoped it was a good sign as she and Nat headed to pick you up. They were made sure to be there 5 minutes before pick-up so that you wouldn’t have to wait, knowing you’d be excited to see them and tell them all about how it went. 

As soon as the door opened for dismissal, you immediately found Wanda’s green eyes and ran full speed with your arms stretched out reaching for a hug. She enveloped tightly you as she lifted you off the ground for a long embrace. The two were happy to see that your face was filled with nothing but joy. 

Wanda continued to carry you as the three of you headed toward the car. Wanda ducked into the driver's seat after getting you settled into your car-seat and Nat took the seat next to you in the back so that she could hear all about your day. 

“Sooo, how was it? Tell us all about it!” Nat insisted. 

“Was so fun! We learned bout uhm- OH! JUPITER HAS A RAINSTORM! And Mafwew said dat if we went to space, der wouldn’t be any noise.” 

“Matthew?” Wanda asked as she caught glimpses of you speaking through her rear view mirror. 

“Yea mama! My new fwiend! He wikes space tew!” you excitedly announced. You went on to tell them all about the things that you learned and how much fun you had with Matthew. Tomorrow couldn't come quick enough. 

“Did they give you any homework?” Nat asked once you had finished. 

“Oh yea, is in my bag” you answered as you showed Nat where it was in your bag. She read over the instructions and mentioned that you could do it right when you got home. The assignment wasn’t anything too difficult, but it sure was time-consuming. 

The project was about energy and showing how much we consume every day. The worksheet was laid out so that all you had to fill in were blocks of color. You were given a piece to plug into your outlets and once you had the item mentioned plugged in, it would show an amount. Then you had to fill in the bubble that corresponded with the range on your outlet. 

Nat and Wanda both helped you through this but you soon became bored and no longer wanted to do it. It was so repetitive and your toys were sitting right there just waiting to be played with. Eventually you got through it without making too much of a fuss and you could finally get on with what you wanted to do, except that didn't last long because before you knew it, Wanda was telling you it was bathtime. 

“But mama, I just stawrted pwlayin” you said somberly. 

Wanda wanted to give you more time to play but it was already getting late and you had to be up early tomorrow, “I know, I’m sorry baby, but it’s late and you need a bath before camp tomorrow.” Without a fight, you reluctantly followed hoping that tomorrow would be better. 

When you arrived home from camp the next day, the same dreaded question was asked, “Do you have any homework today?” You remembered how long and grueling your homework was last night, and instead of showing them the papers that your teacher gave you, today, you simply shook your head. Of course, Nat, the trained super spy, noticed the hesitation in your response as the gears turned in your brain and saw right through you. Deciding that she would look in your bag herself once you all arrive at the compound.

You immediately ran to the common room to play with your toys. Natasha, in the kitchen with Wanda, investigated your bag as Wanda cleaned your lunch box. “No homework huh?” Nat muttered as she held up your papers for Wanda to see. They shared a knowing look as Nat mentioned she would talk to you while Wanda finished cleaning out your lunch. 

Natasha entered the common room, a concerned expression on her face, holding your backpack in her hand. She had a feeling something was off when you claimed there was no homework. She sat down next to you, as you played with your toys.

"Hey, sweetheart," Natasha said gently, placing the bag on the coffee table. "I happened to find something interesting in your backpack. Do you want to explain why you said you didn't have any homework?"

Your eyes widened, realizing you had been caught in your little white lie. You fidgeted with your toys, avoiding Natasha's gaze. "I... I didn't want to do it. It- it takes SOO long, and den I don’t get to play." you admitted. 

Natasha reached out and gently turned your face towards her, meeting your eyes. "Sweetheart, I understand that homework can sometimes feel dull, but it's important to be honest with us. We're here to help and support you, but we need to know what's going on."

Wanda entered the room once your bag was all cleaned. Sensing the tension, she knelt down beside Natasha and spoke in a reassuring tone. "Y/N, we want you to succeed in everything you do. And that includes being honest, even when it's hard. We're a family, and families trust and support each other."

A family. 

Natasha noticed the term and felt elated that she was included in the phrase. The three of you were a family. It didn’t matter whether Wanda and Nat were best friends, or something more than that; the three of you were family. You felt their endless love, even if they hadn’t figured out that part of that love lay within each other. 

Your lower lip quivered, realizing the weight of your actions. "I'm sorry, Natty. I didn't mean to lie."

Natasha's expression softened, and she pulled you into a comforting hug. "It's okay, sweetheart. We all make mistakes, and the important thing is to learn from them. Let's work on being honest with each other, alright?"

Wanda joined the hug, enveloping you both in her warm embrace. "We love you, Y/N, no matter what. And we're here to help you with your homework too. It doesn't have to be boring. We can find fun and creative ways to learn together."

You sniffled, feeling a mix of relief and remorse. They were right. Lying wasn't the solution, and you knew deep down that they were always there to support her. You nodded, determined to make things right.

“It can be fun?” you wondered how they planned to turn such a mundane task into something, fun.

“We can turn it into a special challenge!" Nat chimed in

You looked up, curious about the proposal. "A challenge?"

Wanda chimed back in, joining the conversation. "That's right, sweetheart! We'll create a reward system for each task you complete. Once you finish your homework, we can all have a movie night or make your favorite dessert together."

Your eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? We can have a movie night?"

Natasha nodded. "Absolutely! But first, we need to get those homework assignments done. Let's break it down into smaller tasks, so it feels less overwhelming. We'll be right here with you, cheering you on."

Wanda took your hand and sat beside you at the table. Nat and Wanda each took turns reading different questions out for you. 

With their gentle encouragement and the promise of a fun reward, you felt motivated. They both stayed by your side, offering guidance and praise as you worked through each task. They made the process enjoyable by adding some playful moments and even turning math problems into little games.

As you completed each question, you couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. With every finished task, you grew more confident and proud of yourself. By the time you completed your last assignment, you practically beamed with joy. Almost as if homework was just as fun as playtime with your toys. 

Natasha and Wanda gathered around you, excitedly applauding your efforts. "Great job, Y/N! You did it!" Natasha exclaimed.

Wanda hugged you tightly. "We're so proud of you, sweetheart."

You grinned, feeling a sense of pride and happiness wash over you. With your two favorite people by your side, even homework could turn into an adventure filled with love and support; and as promised, you all enjoyed a delightful movie night, celebrating your achievements. You had shocked both Wanda and Nat with your choice of movie for the night, Planet 51, purely because it was something other than Frozen. 

For the rest of the week, Natasha and Wanda made it a point to create a positive and engaging homework routine for you. They turned studying into a fun activity, incorporating games, rewards, and plenty of encouragement. You learned that honesty and open communication were far more rewarding than any short-lived escape from homework.

Together, you tackled assignments, explored new concepts, and celebrated each milestone. You discovered that learning could be an exciting journey, especially when shared with your favorite people.

//

A few days later, the aroma of a freshly cooked meal wafted through the air of the kitchen, tempting your taste buds and filling the room with mouthwatering scents as you sat patiently at the table. Once Wanda had begun serving up plates of food, you noticed that the meal was something that you had no interest in eating. Your once adventurous appetite had transformed into a discerning palate, making mealtime a challenge for your loving guardians, Natasha and Wanda. 

"Come on, Y/N," Natasha coaxed, her voice gentle but firm. "You need to eat your vegetables. They'll make you strong like a superhero."

Your bottom lip jutted out, and you crossed her arms, proclaiming, "I don't like vegables, Natty!"

Wanda, with her patient demeanor, joined in, her voice filled with warmth. "But sweetheart, vegetables have magical powers! They can give you energy to run fast like-" Wanda abruptly cut her sentence short at the sudden realization that you had never met her brother. Pietro never had the chance to become an uncle before his life was tragically taken from her, him. She struggled to come up with a new comparison, as her mind was scrambling to revive her sentence. Nat immediately picked up on Wanda’s distress and quickly put a reassuring hand on Wanda’s shoulder as she took over, “They can make you strong like Mr. Bucky and Peter,” Nat concluded. 

The presence of Nat’s hand on her shoulder quelled Wanda’s mind from running in circles trying to backpedal as she focused on the way it felt to have Nat soothingly move her hand from her shoulder to her back in a messy circular motion, subconsciously leaning into her ever so slightly.

You glanced skeptically at the colorful array of vegetables on your plate. "Really?"

Natasha nodded, a playful sparkle in her eyes. "Absolutely! And if you eat your vegetables, you might even develop some superpowers of your own."

You carried the skepticism into your look back to Nat, “I alweady hab powers!” You said as you called her out. 

Nat’s eyes widened ever so slightly as she remembered that little detail but you didn’t catch the slight crack in her resolve. She was so used to treating you like a kid, like a normal kid, that she began to suppress the fact that you are in fact enhanced yourself, “New ones,” she responded as she covered up her slight oversight.

Wanda smiled as she watched the interaction, her voice filled with excitement. "Perhaps you'll develop the power to talk to animals or create beautiful flowers with just a wave of your hand."

Your imagination ignited, and you tentatively reached for a small piece of broccoli, eyeing it with newfound intrigue. Hesitantly taking a bite, to your surprise, a burst of flavor danced on your tongue.

"Yummy!," You exclaimed, a hint of both shock and amazement in your voice.

Natasha and Wanda exchanged triumphant glances, their plan unfolding successfully. They knew that sometimes a dash of imagination and a sprinkle of superhero magic were all it took to conquer a picky eater's heart.

Encouraged by your enthusiasm, Natasha and Wanda continued to weave tales of vegetable-powered adventures, turning each bite into a step closer to unlocking extraordinary powers. With every vegetable conquered, your confidence grew, and soon the plate was empty—a victorious battle won against the picky eater dilemma.

As you savored the last bite, you looked up at Natasha and Wanda, a bright smile lighting up your face. "I did it! I ate all my vegebles, just wike a real superhero!"

Natasha and Wanda shared a proud glance, their hearts brimming with joy. Together, they celebrated the triumph of a small victory, knowing that love, creativity, and a touch of superhero magic had transformed a picky eater into a courageous little hero.

Taglist: @mymommawanda@livslifeonline@reggierizzoli@mythixmagic@lesbicentism@marvelogic@katethewriter @inluvwithfictionalwomen @spooky-reader1 @marvelogic ​@kissforvoid

[imfinereallyy]

For the dialogue prompts steddie #14

Ask, and you shall receive :) from the dialogue prompts found here

14. “I know you’re the president of the Anti-Social Club, but why don’t you join me?”

_____

Steve couldn't believe he had agreed to this. He was in hell, for sure. Steve would take the Upside Down over being back here in Hawkins High. But he just couldn't say no to Robin. He had begun to think it was near impossible to say no to her. Especially when her voice got raspy and sad, and she did that fucking head tilt.

Steve honestly wasn't sure how Rob hadn't managed to get laid yet. She was charming when she didn't try. Steve wasn't even remotely attracted to her, the girl was his sister at this point, and yet she had managed to make him melt repeatedly. The only people who had managed to make him cave without romantic feelings involved were the kids, so she had to have some sort of game.

Still, Steve can't believe he gave in to the prom.

Robin had wanted to go so badly, though, which had surprised him. Very conformist of Robin, but Steve understood the need to fit in, even in your last moments. And Robin had told him if she didn't get to go with who she really wanted, if she didn't get to go with a girl, she wanted to go with her best friend. So sue him; he caved and went to prom with her.

"I'm not wearing a tie." He had told her.

He was wearing a fucking tie. Purple to match her dress.

The only thing that made it better was Eddie was stuck with him in his misery.

"Look at them." Eddie nodded to the dancefloor from his seat. Apparently, Eddie's weak point had been Nancy, of all people. And he wasn't even attracted to her (he'd insisted on the matter, in fact. And considering his own friendship with Robin, he was inclined to believe him). They had become weird friends over the past few months. So much so that Eddie came to the one place he swore would only see him for graduation. Steve had to admire Eddie's commitment to the friendship.

Steve was also pretty sure Eddie was terrified to say no to Nancy.

Steve looked in the direction Eddie pointed at. There, in the middle of the dancefloor, were Robin and Nancy giggling, dancing like maniacs. Ironically, maniac was playing.

Steve's early tension eased a bit at the sight. If Steve coming had gotten Robin to smile like that, it was worth the bad memories that came with the school gym.

"How long before Nance makes a move on her, you think?"

Eddie raised his eyebrows, and looked taken aback by Steve's question. "Bold to assume they are into each other, Harrington."

Steve snorted, "Not really. I know you know about Robs, so it's not like I'm outing her. Wouldn't do that. And sure, Nancy hasn't said anything. But I dated her for over a year. I know what she looks like when she's in love with someone."

"Aaah yes, the star-crossed lovers of Hawkins High. How could I forget about the lovebirds."

Steve looked at Eddie across the table, "No she never looked at me like that. I meant Jonathan."

"Oh," Eddie whispered. Steve wasn't hurt by the assumption; he was past that. Well, he was trying to be. He didn't love Nance like that anymore, but the way it ended had left its mark.

Steve felt a bit of envy as he looked at the two girls, now slow dancing. He wanted that. To dance with someone like no one was watching. To hold someone. He never got that.

"I think probably soon, to answer your question from earlier. I'm a little jealous, I have to admit. No one bats an eye at two girls dancing."

Steve wrinkled his nose in confusion, "What, you not gonna dance Munson?"

It was Eddie's turn to snort. "Um, no, Steve. I've never done it, and even if I could, the ladies aren't really who I would want to dance with. Believe it or not, my time with the bats was a one-off. I prefer to be alive, and this town wouldn't take too kindly to my dance partner preferences.

Steve's heart stuttered for a moment. Something ignited in his chest. Something that couldn't be confused with anything other than hope. "What?"

Eddie stared for a second, "Dude. I'm gay."

"No I got that. It's just, you've never danced with someone? Like ever?"

Eddie laughed, "C'mon man don't be surprised."

Steve suddenly stood up and extended his hand. "C'mon."

"Harrington, did you not hear a word I just said. Besides, I'm not going to give these assholes a show."

Steve let out an exasperated sigh, "Look, I know you’re the president of the Anti-Social Club, but why don’t you join me? I have an idea, and I promise nothing bad will happen to you on my watch.”

Eddie hesitated but grabbed Steve's hand. Eddie was stiff as Steve dragged him from his seat.

Steve walked them through the double doors of the gymnasium and out into the hallway. Eddie let out a confused yelp. "What—where are we going, Steve?"

"Just trust me."

Eddie stayed silent the rest of the way until they reached O'Donnell's classroom. "Are you seriously taking back here? Is this a joke?"

"No, I just know she's the only teacher who doesn't lock her door. C'mon." Steve walked Eddie inside the room and shut the door. Luckily, the desks had all been stacked and pushed to the sides of the room, so there was plenty of open space for his plan.

"Okay, so, put your hands around my neck. We are going to do this the easy way instead of the traditional way."

"Ooo, kinky Stevie. Didn't know you were into that." Eddie listened anyway and threw his arms over Steve's shoulders, connecting his hands at the base of Steve's neck.

A blush spread over Steve's face. "Shut up. You knew what a meant."

Eddie gave his first genuine laugh of the night in response.

Steve placed his hands on Eddie's hips. He took a moment to collect himself before proceeding. Steve could feel the warmth of Eddie's hips through the fabric of his black button-up. It was thrilling to be able to feel him this way. Steve had always imagined him to be cold, but he was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. It fit Eddie to be warm; the man was a ball of sunshine despite his outward appearance.

After a moment, Steve started to sway them back and forth. "Move with me, Munson. There is no one around."

Eddie obeyed easily. "Ya know, when you claimed me the president of the anti-social club, I thought, ya know, we were going to be social."

"You are being social, Eddie, just being social with me. Besides, you want me to stop?"

Eddie whispered, "No. It's nice." Eddie leaned his forehead against Steve's as they continued to sway.

Steve began to hum under his breath. The music from the gym was too far away to make out any sort of beat. He decided to make his own music, just for Eddie.

Eddie giggled, "Are you humming 'Dreams' by Fleetwood Mac right now?" He rubbed his thumbs against the nape of Steve's neck.

Chills went down Steve's spine at the contact. He would have to remember to thank Robin later on for dragging him to prom, for giving him this moment. "Yea, you got a problem with that?" Steve's tone wasn't mean but scratchy and raw. Vulnerable. He didn't want to do anything to break the moment.

"It's perfect," Eddie said as he looked directly into Steve's eyes.

"Good." Steve brushed his lips against Eddie's. Then he sang in a whisper against his mouth,

"It's only me who wants to wrap around your dreams/And have you any dreams you'd like to sell?"

____

This was a cute one to write; thanks for the prompt. hope it lives up to what you wanted :)

Sorry if this feels rushed; I accidentally posted it before it was finished at first, so I panicked to go back and made the final edits.

[elendsessor]

because my fics are littered with them but it’s been awhile

smt 5 protag headcanons with slight spoilers and some new ones bc of vengeance

-i call him v a ton and tbh i don’t have an actual name headcanon. even with his new alleged “canon” name he’s v to me.

-yes he cuts his hair dude’s broke af which explains his shitty room

-i subscribe to the he has strict and neglectful parents trope. jouin high school was a massive relief for him since he got away from them. it’s probably some big shot private school tho.

-insanely depressed and anti social but does get better over time. this is mainly due to aogami filling in a lot of roles, but i do think tao would also end up being a close friend. miyazu is too!!! (i liked her ok she might’ve had little to no plot presence but i liked her.)

-the whole nahobino thing has got him confused about his pronouns. god forbid he has blue hair and pronouns. tends to like being referred to as they/them in the nahobino state but doesn’t mind the gender neutral pronouns being used in general. a he/they icon.

-gets stimuli from fiddling with random things. got into sewing as a result. maybe even took up archery. the new move being shown off has cemented this idea that he’s an archery kid.

-given what book he’s shown to be reading, he likes poetry. maybe even short stories. basically he’s someone with good taste in literature.

-might also have an interest in religion??? at least learning about different ones.

-being dragged into bethel was something he wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of. hates it, actually.

-miyazu made him a matching scarf for funsies!!!

-yes he’s shy and socially awkward. the nahobino state helps a little with that—gave them a massive confidence boost but didn’t make them any less awkward.

-went magic or mixed build because screw everything

-they and hitoshura became frienemies. talk fairly regularly, but tbh hitoshura would probably spam them with shitty memes from the 2000s. a reminder that nocturne likely took place in 2003. the cringe never left.

-wanna write a fic about this sooo badly but i like thinking v was the one who made the nahobino plush. yes. he made that. in universe. because he can.

[sea-salted-wolverine]

Had a weird nightmare about a cult

It was in a church, just an average protestant midsized church, you would expect boy scout meetings in the backroom kind of a place. I was there with some anonymous friend/ acquaintance, the pretty older girl from high-school who was popular and yet genuinely nice, her mom is friends with your mom, her family is well known and well liked, offending her would be social suicide not because of anything she would do but because everyone you know would take her side and grant her victim status because she's just so nice.

She had invited me to some function and I was going out of curiosity and obligation, which is the only reason I'm ever in a church anyways. I was guaranteed to know people there, in the same roundabout, you-know-people-I-know kinda way.

Because its about to be relevant, I'm wearing skinny jeans and a sort of blousey black tank top. I've also got black nail polish and thats a fully normal irl outfit for me. Maybe a bit casual for a Sunday-best style church function, but I was not under the impression that's what I was going to.

I show up and am promptly ushered into the coat closet because what I am wearing is completely unacceptable. (I'm calling it a coat closet because that's what it is, but the churches in my area all have a full sized room set aside for outerwear storage because for half the year everyone shows up in a full down parka and that takes up a ton of space)

Anyway, I'm like, "oh shit I didn't realize this was formal, I can run home and change if its okay that I'm a few minutes late, or if someone has a spare dress I'll wear that" which is also something I have done irl. No one ever tells me anything but I'm small and can cinch down big waistlines and make it look intentional that I'm wearing wildly misfit clothing. So like, the dream is getting weird but in the same way that my real actual life gets wierd.

So then she hands me what is fundamental the same thing I'm already wearing, a pair of slightly darker wash skinny jeans that are slightly higher waisted and with more spandex and buttons, and a black polyester/lycra cropped tank top, which is a shirt I've been looking for irl. And she's apologetic about it, as in, "sorry 😞, hope these fit, 😔 might be a little small"

It's a transparent body shaming attempt, because everything is a xs or a size zero, and meant to make you feel uncomfortable and ungainly in too small clothes, but its so badly executed that I just kinda roll with it, like, okay 🤨. Also I like the tank top.

So I change, and she's finding me a bag to stash my clothes in, and some dude sticks his head in the coat closet as I've got one leg in the new pants. And the whole thing feels so very staged, like I'm supposed to be embarrassed about squeezing into too tight pants in front of some acquaintances hot older brother. Either that or my brain is trying to set up some bad porno wet dream and none of the options are working.

Because the pants fit fine and if you have somehow reached adulthood and are scandalized by the sight of a thigh you're the wierd one for being raised under a rock by blind snakes. So I'm figuring out how to fit my phone and wallet into my waistband because these pants don't have pockets and trying to remember whats-his-faces name, I'm almost certain it starts with a j and I've definitely heard it before but I can probably get away with claiming I mixed him up with someone else and not be considered rude, Jacob? Jason? Jeremy? Jed? Oh wait, is he somebody's boyfriend rather than somebody's brother?

But now he's holding my hand and tut-tuting over my nails because I absolutely cannot have black nails, and wouldn't I prefer a nice dusty pink?

At which point I think I kinda woke myself up because the no rice on Tuesdays tactic of high control groups popped into my head, by name, as that specific phrase, and I went "hmm, yep, this is weird, gimme my shit I'm leaving"

But that only conjured up the first girls mom, complete with a really nice travel duffle with my clothes in it. So I'm yanking my clothes out of the bag, because if I take the bag and leave they're going to want it back and that gives them another opening for things they think you owe them. Anyways shes dissapointed in me, in that performative manipulation kinda way. She says something like if I wanted her daughters shirt I can just have it, heavily implying that I'm causing a scene and being an unreasonable bitch, at which point it occurs to me that it's fucking wierd that they have clothes this small at all because everyone in the building is at least 6 inches taller than I am.

Whats-his-face is still hovering and now he's got a hand on my shoulder thats meant to be reassurance and all I can think is wow you guys are really bad at this. I can hear people in the next room and I know they're people like, my grandparents friends and prospective employers and other important social connections and I need to get out of here without making a scene, which isn't gonna happen.

At some point I said Jesus Christ in the context of a frustrated curse word, which they all jumped on and said I needed to let the lord into my heart or some shit. To which sleepytime subconscious responded to with CAUSE A SCENE AND CONTROL THE NARRATIVE!!!

So I raised my voice loud enough to be heard in the other room and told the guy to get his hands off me or I would punch him in the dick. And because no one believes you when you tell them you're going to punch them in the dick he did not take his hands off me and was calmly and rationally requesting that I calm down and be civil so I followed through and punched him in the dick.

Committing physical violence in a dream always wakes me up, pretty much immediately, but I did get a few glimpses of storming out through a crowd, yelling about entitled pricks in closets and if anyone ever felt like leaving the cult I would give them a hand.

So yeah. What's your religious trauma look like?

[thestobingirlie]

I have to rant about this because I just noped out of a fic because of it and I need your opinion on it but,

One prevailing fandom trope in any Steve-centric fic that bugs the shit out of me is when they make Steve's popularity absolutely tank either after he drops Tommy and Carol, or after Billy shows up.

Because firstly, just because Tommy and Carol are no longer friends with Steve doesn't mean everyone else will suddenly stop liking him to. In fact, based on Barb's reaction to Nancy potentially dating Steve (excited) to when she brings up Nancy being friends with Tommy and Carol (which Nancy reacts badly to), Tommy and Carol have a worse reputation than Steve does at school so wouldn't people be happy that Steve dropped them?

Steve's also on multiple sports teams and let me tell you as a former sports team player, you don't successfully play on or captain a sports team without at least kind of being friends with/getting along with the people on that team. Getting beat up by a "loser" like Jonathan probably would get him sympathy instead of scorn considering how people seem to feel about Jonathan in general (and because I know that news of those pictures got spread around the school so people likely thought Steve was just being an ongoing victim of Jonathan's creepiness). He's also a rich, attractive, and funny guy. There's no way people just decide to drop him because he dumped Tommy and started dating Nancy.

Then there's the fact that when Billy does show up, Steve is still King Steve enough that Billy almost immediately knows that this is the person he has to beat in order to be Top Dog. He specifically says that everyone keeps talking about King Steve, so why would they be if Steve dropped off the social ladder a year ago?

No one can also convince me Steve stopped being popular after Billy beat him up because firstly, Tommy being his friend isn't an indicator that Billy is now popular (as stated above, Tommy was obviously less liked than Steve was), nor is doing 1 impressive thing at a party half the people will probably be too drunk to remember. He also wouldn't lose popularity from dropping basketball because 1) a bad concussion isn't bad enough to take someone completely out of a sport like basketball once it heals and basketball season wouldn't properly start until a full month or two after the events of S2, so he wouldn't quit because of that and despite what many, many fics try to do, Steve is would not quit to avoid Billy. He just wouldn't, it's so out of character that that's the reason I noped out of the fic I was reading.

This is also not even mentioning that everyone seems to think that if Billy is popular or king of the school, then Steve just HAS to be a friendless loser, which is such a blatant attempt to just dump trauma on Steve. I mean, if they want to make Steve lonely and friendless for the Tragic Backstory, at least have the reason make sense, like Steve pulling away after multiple counts of almost Dying because he just can't relate to kids his own age anymore.

Not to mention the fact that Steve is probably one of the least developed main characters and chances are the fact that we don't see or hear about Steve's other friends is because 1) less people they have to cast/take up screen time and 2) the Duffers just genuinely seem not to give a fuck about developing Steve or his backstory at all.

Anyway, sorry for dumping into your asks (I sincerely hope this is coherent), but this has been bugging me for months and I needed to get it off my chest.

oh yeah, that shit bugs me too. like, i don’t think steve had any super close friends other than nancy, but boy was still popular, he still knew people, he had a place to sit at lunch!!

and that’s actually interesting, about steve being well liked, but not tommy and carol. i’ve never really seen that kind of separation in fics, but it would be fun to have something about steve being the most popular of the group, and tommy and carol being the ones that drop popularity after the split.

steve being super sporty essentially means he always had people to hang out with lmao. and i do see steve obviously not playing basketball for a while, and no longer being captain, because i figure you have to play the game to be captain lol. i honestly don’t know much about sports tho, so i don’t know if you could just jump right in after not playing for a while, but yeah, steve wouldn’t just drop out because of billy. like, the other basketball guy called billy a douchebag. i think it’d be fun if in a fic, everyone turned against billy after the fight.

yeah, steve’s friends aren’t at all relevant to the plot, so we’re not going to see them. and i’ve said this before, but while s2 steve is lonely, he’s not alone. he has friends, he’s popular, but he’s increasingly not seeing any point towards the whole thing and essentially becoming disillusioned to the idea of being the king of hawkins high. but like you said, he’s not a friendless loser.

[painfullymeta]

Games and Gender

(Apparently I'm gonna occasionally be using the tumblr for the sort of thing I used to put in my political blog, back in the ancient days when I had a political blog.)

I am used to being the only presumed-woman in the game. (I wish I could remember Sunflower's acronym, something like people-socially-classed-as or something like that, but I can't. Or is that it? Maybe!)

It's actually not as true as it feels like; probably the majority of games I've been have had multiple women at the table. One of my current games (that started in the quarantimes) has one cis guy involved *at all*. (Also in that one when I proposed a trans character the GM made sure to have a Little Talk with me to be clear on whether I was doing so from an in-group or an out-group perspective.) Board game night was pretty gender equal (partly because sensible gamers marry other gamers, heh).

But my tabletop group that's been running on and off for... I'm not sure how long but it's over fifteen years because it settled *at* my house when I was pregnant? Men, and me. That high school game group where I started? Usually mostly boys, an adult man, and, again, me.

Raiding World of Warcraft? Either my housemate or I spoke up in Vent once, and a hush went over the chat, and someone said, in stunned, hushed tones, "There are _girls_ here."

Even back to childhood, there's the thing where my brother got the Nintendo, and I did not. (We did inherit an Atari from our cousins and that became my default console. Which is part of why when some crypto-gamergater tried to suggest to me that maybe there was a valid point and "girls" really don't play those sorts of games I went off on an enthusiastic ramble about Joust, which made him withdraw from the field, though he did not turn into an egg and/or fall in the lava.) My parents, I guess, didn't catch on that the thing I most wanted to do when over at certain friends' houses was 'play their computer games'. (They did give me basically the entire works of Infocom one year, though.)

I didn't particularly want games to be about gender. And I don't have any of the horror stories I hear about - the sexual harassment at the table, either of the player or of the character, for example. But it's not like the surrounding world gives a shit about what people want, in it, is there?

Because all sorts of things wind up being about it.

In my teens, I hit on the time-honored tradition of "work through some of your shit by building a tabletop roleplaying character around it", and I made a character in part around my desire to work through some feelings around my experiences of sexual violence. (As is often the case for this sort of thing, she'd been through worse than I had. As is also often the case for people in that situation, neither she nor I explained this bit of the backstory to anyone that I can recall.) And one of the other characters at the table, played by a boyfriend of the time, came on to her, and it went ... badly all around. And afterwards, he asked me, from his tone I guessed faintly offended, "Explain Hellcat."

I don't remember what I said. I do know that I was not at a point in my life where I could talk easily about having been assaulted. I do know that I was worried that if I brought up that this was part of her backstory, I would get asked uncomfortable questions like "Why would you include that in a character's story?" from someone who had had no reason to think about how that sort of thing is a part of many, many people's stories, and imaginary people are not actually an exception.

It was in her story because I was trying to work through what it meant that something similar was in mine.

(I note: this was literally years before a particular conversation with an assault survivor made me feel I had actual permission to be fucked up by my own event. I wasn't even there yet. I was just trying to process it. It was a game. I could explore ideas. In the long run, I could experiment with what it was like to figure out how to be loved after a traumatic event.)

I don't always build characters around particular experiences, though of course they all have a bit of me somewhere in them. But there are these niggling things like that conversation where I wind up just... aware. Not generally as blatantly as "Explain Hellcat." But.

And I mean, once the Warcraft guys got used to the idea of 'there are girls here' they weren't a problem. But they still had that moment of shock, of almost disbelief, that's one of the reasons I'd heard of people saying they never raided, or never spoke on the raid chat. At one point I was out on a male toon (I tended to roll up a male and female character for each species) and noticed that the conversation was about female gamers in the regional chat, and I felt like I was an infiltrator.

And of course I had a slowly increasing awareness of my own dysphoria, putting pieces together over time, and increasing irritation with the boundary-policing of gender and a whole bunch of other things that one might expect come out of having a hobby for a while (see also back in the ancient days when I had a political blog) of arguing with TERFs recreationally. Which is a whole different topic. But it comes around to a thing that's been annoying me for _years_, which is why I wrote [gestures upwards] all that right now.

There was a survey that came out after I started considering myself nonbinary. And it was asking for participants who were women in gaming hobbies. It was very, very clear on being trans-inclusive, by which I mean it said "this survey is open to anyone WHO IDENTIFIES AS A WOMAN".

Which I did not.

Did I have experiences that were likely relevant to "women in gaming hobbies"? Oh hell yeah. I've noted a few of 'em up above there.

Was I welcome to answer the survey? By the reading of the rules: nope. (Was I allistic enough to answer the survey despite it explicitly excluding me? Also nope.)

Which loops around to one of those transmasc experience things that I have also seen other people talking about: the need some people have to make the experience of gender clean-cut and clear in ways that it very much is not and cannot be.

I don't have the socially preferred "always known" narrative, and even if I had had it, there are places it wouldn't have fucking mattered. (Certainly not with an adolescence in an environment where I don't think I heard the word "lesbian", even, let alone got any information about the existence or possibility of trans people. Nobody was out at my school, about anything. And even if I'd known I'd have had no idea what to do with the knowledge.)

(And I *didn't know*. The puzzlepiece-shape of 'socially uncertain straight girl nerd' and the puzzlepiece-shape of 'autistic gay(?) transmasc/nonbinary nerd' are actually very similar puzzlepiece shapes and how the fuck am I supposed to tell the difference between "I don't understand this social thing" and "I don't understand this social thing (because it smacks of gender, specifically)" anyway? Certainly not at fourteen in the early 90s! I've been making "I was behind the door when they handed out the manual for that gendered expectation" cracks for TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. And I can date it that precisely because I started articulating any of this stuff when I was on usenet!)

Until I was, like, thirty, I was, as far as I *or anyone else* could perceive, an awkward straight girl/woman who could really have used learning words like "asexual" that didn't hit my social environment until notably later and who had a focused interest in queer-lens readings of Christian theology despite being neither queer nor Christian. That's the life experience I had. And there's eggy shit in there, sure, I noted some eggy shit *right in that sentence*. That doesn't change the nature of the internal experience and the external perception. Then it was a decade of increasing anxious exploration of gender and what I was, including an extended roleplay of a gay cis man (Kinsey 5, not 6, but) that grew out of some fanfic writing I was doing, which led to discovering that his skin was much more comfortable than mine to inhabit.

I still don't know what I am. I have anxiety about whether my transmasc nonbinary ass is male enough to be gay; whenever I'm doing an intake questionnaire or something that asks me about orientation I just sit and. Stare. For a bit. Because I don't feel entitled to claim 'gay', I haven't been there, my adolescence was not that, but I damn sure ain't straight either. (Anymore? I didn't have the internal experience of doubting it back when. The closest I got was noting an attraction to geek-as-gender masc people, as a geek-as-gender person; my wisecrack for years has been that I'm exclusively attracted to engineers and MIT students.) I appreciate it when these forms have an option for 'queer' because at least that doesn't ... require me to chop up my life until I can arrange the parts into something that has simple words and a simple, clear narrative that can elide my actual history.

And that's what people want, a lot of the time. If a trans man doesn't disavow his experience as a girl and a woman (whether or not he was aware of the disjoints there), he must not be "really" a man. If he tries to speak on his experiences with gendered nonsense or misogyny, he's speaking out of turn. He can either have credibility as himself *or* credibility as a person with a past, and because of that tension he can't _really_ have credibility as either, there's always that half-spoken "but—" that comes in.

If I speak as a woman about the gendered experiences I have had, I betray myself, and undermine any attempts to claim a space as not-a-woman.

If I speak as not-a-woman about those same experiences, then I am told I don't have standing. What I experienced wasn't _real_ whatever, because that only happens to women. (A lie, I will note, even when only said among the cis; I have met male rape victims, including at least one who was raped by a woman. I have met cis gay folks whose experiences with violence have absolutely had a context of feminization.)

The experiences still happened. I'm still here.

But no matter what I do, there's always an excuse to not hear me.

"This survey is open to anyone WHO IDENTIFIES AS A WOMAN."

(I am pretty sure they didn't mean to shut me and those like me out, but I am also pretty sure that to the extent they considered transmasc people existing at all, they assumed that we would be okay with playing at being women long enough to participate. Because the cultural assumption is that we're only playing at being men, after all, and womanhood is where we live, because there are consequences to it that are inescapable. No matter how much we want to gnaw it off like an animal stuck in a trap and carry on three-legged and free.)

Wherever my life goes from here, I don't know. Particularly not in the current moment. But I'm 100% sure that there will be people who are surprised by it, and they might even include people at my gaming tables.

But again back to that time-honored tradition of "work through some of your shit by building a tabletop roleplaying character around it"?

Both my tabletop characters at the moment are fairy-obsessed trans men; both of them have a history of asexuality that is partially linked to dysphoria (though Celyn is also just straight-up grey ace and genuinely baffled by his current feelings); both of them have a primary relationship with a man and are primarily oriented towards men. (Danny is both more gender-flexible and orientation-flexible, heh. Also species-flexible. And an exclusive monsterfucker....)

Anyone who's surprised by anything I do about this hasn't been paying attention. I kind of look forward to seeing what happens. Sometimes a guy's gotta be a gremlin.

[hibiscusheir]

Katsuki Bakugo x shy!Reader

a/n: more mha since it's fresh in my brain TwT- also! i have a request I am working on!! if you have any more, feel free to send them to me! i also can answer questions if you have any :]

Genre: Fluff

Pronouns: No specific ones are mentioned, can be taken as fem, masc, or gn :)

Contains: Bakugo x Reader, Hawks x Reader, Dabi x Reader

CW: Cursing, probably very OOC, reader has a bit of social anxiety, bit of overthinking, self indulgent ngl, mention of alcohol

Katsuki Bakugo

Katsuki had invited you to hang out with the two of yours's group of friends, the Bakusquad. Mina and Denki had it all planned out: all of you would meet up in Katsuki's room at six o'clock PM (6pm) and play card games, eat snacks, drink a little bit of alcohol (at least until you all got tipsy), and overall have fun.

"I dunno, Katsu..." You had replied to his 'invite', knowing well you could only handle so much social interaction in one day.

"If you need to leave, just give me the word. I don't care if they'll miss us, you're more important to me. But at least try." His words were soft, not pointed like they usually were. It made you sigh and nod your head.

You all met up and began the festivities that night by playing Uno. The usual events were happening; Katsuki yelling at Eijirou and Denki for supposedly cheating at the game; Mina and Hanta dominating the game; you were watching it all unveil.

You had noticed your anxiety beginning to spike as you spoke less and less as the night continued after the game was over. No one had really taken notice of this, besides Katsuki who held your hand for a moment, looked you in the eyes, and let go, continuing on talking to Eijirou. It wasn't until Mina asked you a question that things began to go downhill.

"Hey, (Y/N)! Do you want a drink? We've got whiskey, tequila, wine... we could probably go find something else if you want?" She tilted her head to the side holding her own glass of wine.

"Uh..." you paused, unsure of what to say. It was a school night, and you probably shouldn't be drinking in the first place. But would they think you were lame? You had known all of them for a few months since you started dating Katsuki, but there was still a possibility. "N-No thanks, I'm alright-!"

Denki scoffed, "Lame!" but swiftly murmured an apology as Katsuki smacked him upside the head. Everyone laughed but you. You were stuck in your own head. Of course, you were lame. How could you fit into this group? You shouldn't have even come, you knew this would turn out badly. You knew-

"I'm turning in for the night with (Y/N). You guys continue," Katsuki announced to the group, standing up and walking over to you. He held out a hand for you to grab and pull yourself up. You did and he led you to the door, still holding on. No one protested and simply said goodbye. "You looked spaced out back there. You probably didn't realize it, but you were shaking. You do that when you're anxious," he didn't look at you and instead keep his gaze forward as you two walked down the hall to your dorm room. "They're annoying as hell. Don't beat yourself up about it, babe."

You smiled and leaned your head into his shoulder. When you finally reached your door, you opened it, pulled him inside, and kissed him softly as you shut it behind you. "Thank you, Katsu. It means the world to me."

He grumbled and kissed you again.

-

a/n: i’m actually so sorry this took so long to post- it’s been sitting in my drafts for like a month and i just had no motivation to write. at first it was gonna be a handful of characters x reader (separate) and then i narrowed it down to three and, again, had no motivation, so i just cut it off to bakugo. i still hope you enjoy this and hopefully it won’t happen next post :) also, refer to my oc post bc i may make a post about them <3

[grandmaster-anne]

The ‘minor’ Royals are the very best of British

The Telegraph commentary article by Madeline Grant | Published 21 December 2022

A few years back, a BBC documentary shone an unwittingly hilarious light on the lives of the minor working royals. The Queen’s first cousin, the Duke of Gloucester, has been sent to open a new IT department at a school in Croydon. “There are some things that you’re interested in, and some that you’re not” he admits. “It is slightly difficult to feign an interest”. We then cut to some school-children dancing (badly) to a song from Footloose. Trying to make conversation with a teacher, the Duke points to the ceiling of the sports hall and asks, “Is this an insulated roof?”

The Duke’s small-talk proved an unexpected hit on social media; at my birthday I realised to my astonishment that half my guests could quote the scene word for word – perhaps not the most obvious viral sensation among a bunch of 30-year-olds. But there is something rather moving, as well as relatable, about it. While the Sussexes redefine the concept of “service” to mean whatever is convenient to them; those sliding down the pecking order with each new royal arrival continue their efforts on behalf of the institution. No frills, no tantrums, dull events, small-talk galore – and lasting loyalty.

The Princess Royal’s unshowy work ethic has won great public respect. This week the 72-year-old once again topped the list as the most industrious working royal. The Earl and Countess of Wessex carry out public engagements in the background, without fanfare. Royals will often be patrons of the same charity for 40 or 50 years; understanding the DNA of these organisations; and many keep serving well beyond the official retirement age.

The late Queen’s cousins the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra, 87 and 85, still regularly perform royal duties. At Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, the Duke joined in the procession, having previously flanked George VI’s coffin as a teenager in 1952. He looked unsteady on his feet at times; but there he was, faithfully serving his cousin as he had all his life. The Duchess of Kent quietly worked as a music teacher in Hull for 13 years and would often be found mopping the floors of a local hospice where she was a longtime volunteer.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester have remained working royals well into their 70s, spending decades giving unshowy support to their good causes. A passionate tennis-lover, the Duchess has been Honorary President of the Lawn Tennis Association for over two decades and may well enjoy glamorous occasions, such as appearing in the Royal Box at Wimbledon. But she is much more often found far from the limelight, cheerfully opening public courts in Tottenham or watching unknown British hopefuls battling it out in the dreary fastnesses of indoor tennis centres in Telford or Bolton.

When the couple married in 1972, her husband was working as an architect. Just six weeks later his dashing older brother, Prince William of Gloucester, died in a flying accident and the couple were propelled into royal duties. Their quiet, steady work, plus the wackier gigs – representing Queen Elizabeth at the coronation of King George Tupou V of Tonga in 2008, for example – has never excited much media attention; and were it not for the death of the Duke’s brother, they would have probably led much more independent lives. But they rose to the occasion uncomplainingly. As the Duke explains in the documentary “I don’t expect huge crowds lining the street, as if Her Majesty came. It’s valid, even without a great deal of fuss.”

The King’s aspirations for a slimmed-down monarchy are well-known, but the sheer number of royal duties means scores of lesser lights are surely required to share the load and represent the crown overseas. The monarch and his immediate heirs could never physically fulfil half the commitments requiring a royal presence.

The minor royals don’t just opt for less glamorous causes; but also more historic and esoteric ones. The Earl of Wessex is a tremendous ambassador of the ancient sport Real Tennis, while the Duke of Gloucester is patron of the Richard III Society. They make many charities viable; supporting the quirky sports, passions and amateur pursuits woven into the nation’s social fabric.

Of course, in this sense The Firm is like any other institution: so many of which run through the hard work of unseen individuals doing unglamorous jobs. Churches depend on people giving up their time as wardens, vergers, and church council members. It is their quiet graft that keeps some of our most ancient buildings in good repair. The bishops would do well to remember them next time they pontificate on political matters.

This feels like a generational divide – and one I’ve been thinking about a lot since I lost my grandma this year. She was a stalwart of the community and an indefatigable volunteer who put in countless hours baking cakes for the church, Girl Guides and tennis club, and running the WI and local Country Market. What will happen to civic society without such people around? I am reminded of George Eliot’s beautiful words at the end of Middlemarch, “the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts … the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs”.

We may not hear so much about them, but members of the late Queen’s extended family, well beyond the core royals, continue to follow her example of lifelong duty, as do thousands of community-minded “good eggs” up and down the country. All our lives are richer for their service.

[haemosexuality]

memories i have of being a child and a lesbian:

-first week of 3rd grade, i walked in class and thought "ok i need to pick a boy to have a crush on this year". i thought that was just what you did. picked one bc i thought he had a cool haircut, proceeded to never have a conversation w him

-thinking "girls are naturally so much prettier than boys. this is common knowledge"

-being really jealous of the Cool Girl in my 4th grade class that was One Of The Boys. she played football with them. she sat really relaxed in chairs. she doesnt care about being pretty. isnt that just so cool? starts consciously trying to imitate her. also, even before that i always made sure to INSIST that my favorite color was blue and i did NOT like pink!!!!

-playing barbies with my cool, older cousin (she mustve been like 11? 12? i was around 8). her barbie was a mess because she had just broken up with her other barbie. i was confused. she explained to me what lesbians were (i knew men could be gay, but not women). immediately after that every single doll i had was a lesbian in a relationship. after figuring that it was probably a bit weird i was so obsessed with making my dolls lesbians, i came to the conclusion i would "probably like girls when i grow up". decided to tell my other, deeply religious cousin about this. she went "WHAT" and i went "HAHA JUST KIDDING IT WAS A JOKE" and never thought about it again

-a year later me and the deeply religious cousin were making ever after high dolls fuck. i was the one that came up w that idea (i also didnt know women could have sex at that point, i thought i had invented lesbian sex) and this haunted me for years bc i thought that that cousin had become homophobic after we grew up. recently found out shes also gay, good for her

-being just Really obsessed with marceline from adventure time for some reason. whenever i saw her on tv my heart would beat really really fast. wonder whats up w that 🤔

-being grounded for like, 5 months when i was 10 because my mom found out i was watching youtube videos from a lesbian couple. and also some videos with sex jokes. i wish i remembered that the lesbians channel was so bad

-i also watched lubatv. hes a brazilian youtuber famous for being openly gay. he introduced me to the concept of shipping, because ppl shipped him with another youtuber, t3ddy. he (plus facebook, and the cool older cousin from before) also introduced me to social activism

-asking permission from my parents to put a rainbow filter on my facebook pfp, in support of gay people. i thought i was such a good straight ally. i dont remember what happened but i think something negative mustve bc a lot of ppl were doing that in 2015. wait fuck now that i think about it that mightve actually been in 2016 because of pulse

- (we are still in 2015 im still 10) watching clips from Steven Universe Season 1 Episode 53 Jailbreak on youtube. they were (badly) subtitled bc i didnt speak english yet. i was absolutely shocked and could not believe they would show two girls kissing in a childrens cartoons, not bc i thought that was bad but bc i was like. would cartoon network really allow this??? i proceed to memorize the entire episode (again i didnt even speak english. and i watched it so many times i memorized it anyways lmao)

-being 11, and having my friend introduce to me this cool new thing she had found online, "fanfics". she linked me a college au fanfic of marceline and bubblegum from adventure time. it had a fade to black implied sex scene. i was hypnotized

-i was a very anxious child and every morning before getting to school i would prepare step-by-step what i would do when entering class. one day my internal monologue went "walk in, say good morning to teacher, kiss [previously mentioned girl best friend] on the mouth, say hello to- wait. where did that come from". start wondering if i was really Just A Really Good Straight Ally

-few days later, me and my friend group were discussing gay people. one of them asked "like i wonder if any of us are gonna be gay?". i thought for about 2.5 seconds and said "i think im bi", being the first one on my class to come out. they were all p chill ab it. i am not bi but its the thought that counts

-cutting off 30 inches of my really long hair and shaving one side at 11. my dad was mad at me for a week and he told me "i dont understand why you did this. you're looking like a dyke". originally i had planned to cut all of it really short "boy style" but the hairstylist insisted on at the very least letting half of it be longer. i did think half shaved hair was Cool so i was fine with that

[toongrrl-blog]

Not (Nawt!) Another Benvi Playlist

Awwwwww, say I wonder how this would play in 1963? 1973? 1983? 1993? 2003? Maybe telegrams with the earlier years, I dunno. Did they have internships back when my parents were kids? I know they had Model UN, I knew that from Mad Men and I don't know about Sally Draper's place on the social totem pole in school but she's cool so Model UN wasn't social suicide then again her county was really Republican and her stepdad didn't like real UN.......

Anyway with this tangent, listen to some good songs kids!

"Silhouttes (On the Shade)" The Rays (Herman's Hermits and Cliff Richard and The Ronettes did good covers, this needs to be covered, hey someone contemporary cover this song)

Rushed down to your house with wings

On my feet

Loved you like I never loved

You my sweet

Vowed that you and I would be

Two silhouettes on the shade

All of our days

Two silhouettes on the sha-ade

Silhouettes (silhouettes)

2. "You Really Got A Hold On Me" The Miracles (The Beatles also covered this song)

I don't like you, but I love you

Seems that I'm always thinking of you

Oh, oh, oh

You treat me badly, I love you madly

You've really got a hold on me (You've really got a hold on me)

3. "How Deep Is Your Love" Bee Gees

And you may not think I care for you

When you know down inside that I really do

And it's me you need to show

How deep is your love?

4. "He's Sure the Boy I Love" The Crystals

When he holds me tight

Everything's right

Crazy as it seems

I'm his, whatever he is

And I forget all of my dreams

5. "My Rose" Luca and Emma Castellino (suggested by @fishyyyyy99)

And maybe I didn't make myself clear

Or maybe you pretend, so you wouldn't hurt me (so you wouldn't hurt me)

It's probably better like this

But baby, you're pretty damn hard to forget

6. "Tomorrow is Another Day" Shelby Flint

Tomorrow is another day

How I hope you'll always stay

7. "Back to Heaven" Later.

'Cause if you don't atract my lady right

She's gonna send me back to life

You never know what's good or bad

8. "Unchained Melody" Todd Duncan, the Righteous Brothers, actually been covered several times

Woah, my love, my darling

I've hungered for your touch

A long, lonely time

And time goes by so slowly

And time can do so much

Are you still mine?

I need your love

9. "You've Made Me So Very Happy" Brenda Holloway (famously covered by Blood, Sweat, and Tears)

I love you so much you see

You're even in my dreams

I can hear

Baby, I can hear you calling me

I'm so in love with you

All I ever want to do is

Thank you baby

Thank you baby

10. "It Might As Well Rain Until September" Carole King (then covered by Bobby Vee)

The weather here has been as nice as it can be

Although it doesn't really matter much to me

For all the fun I'll have while you're so far away

It might as well rain until September

11. "Everything Has Changed" Best Coast

I used to crawl

All the way back home

I used to cry myself to sleep

Reading all the names they called me

Used to say that I was lazy

A lazy, crazy baby

Did they think

That maybe I was in on it?

Did they think?

No, of course they didn't

12. "The Way You Love Me" Faith Hill

There's nowhere else I'd rather be

Oooh, to feel the way I, feel with your arms around me

I only wish that you could see, the way you love me

The way you love me

13. "It's Your Love" Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

Oh, it's a beautiful thing

Don't think I can keep it all in (oh oh)

And if you ask me why I've changed

All I gotta do is say your sweet name

It's your love

It just does something to me

It sends a shock right through me

I can't get enough

And if you wonder

About the spell I'm under

Oh it's your love

(Woah oh baby)

(Oh, oh, oh)

14. "By My Side" INXS

In the dark of the night

Those small hours

Uncertain and anxious

I need to call you

Rooms full of strangers

Some call me friend

But I wish you were so close to me

15. "All I Have To Do Is Dream" The Everly Brothers

When I feel blue in the night

And I need you to hold me tight

Whenever I want you, all I have to do is

Dream

16. "Make It With You" Bread

Dreams, they're for those who sleep

Life is for us to keep

And if you're wondering what this all is leading to

I wanna make it with you

I really think that we could make it, girl

17. "Baby, I Need Your Loving" The Four Tops

Some say it's a sign of weakness for a man to beg

Then weak, I'd rather be

If it means having you to keep

'Cause lately I've been losing sleep

18. "Any Time At All" The Beatles

If the sun has faded away, I'll try to make it shine

There is nothing I won't do

When you need a shoulder to cry on, I hope it will be mine

Call me tonight and I'll come to you

19. "Only Love Can Break A Heart" Gene Pitney

Please let me hold you

And love you for always and always

Only love can break a heart

Only love can mend it again

20. "Don't Give Up On Us" David Soul

We're still worth one more try I know we put a last one by Just for a rainy evening When maybe stars are few Don't give up on us, I know We can still come through

21. "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" Celine Dion

Then one touch overcomes the silence Love still survives Two hearts needing one another Give me wings to fly

22. "Take Me With U" Prince and the Revolution

Come on and touch the place in me That's calling out your name We want each other, oh, so much Why must we play this game?

23. "This Girl Is A Woman Now" Gary Puckett & The Union Gap

This girl is a woman now She's learned how to give This girl is a woman now She's found out what it's all about And she's learning, learning to live

This girl tasted love As tender as the gentle dawn She cried a single tear A teardrop that was sweet and warm Our hearts told us we were right And on that sweet and velvet night A child had died A woman had been born

24. "Eres Tu" Carla Morrison

Quiero contemplarte sin contar el tiempo Dibujarte con mis puros recuerdos En mi mente marcar tus labios, tus besos Estás aquí dentro de mi mente

I want to contemplate you without counting the time that goes by To draw you with memories alone To mark your lips and your kisses in my mind To be here for another moment

25. "Help Is On The Way" Little River Band

Are you always in confusion Surrounded by illusion Sort it out You'll make out Seem to make a good beginning Someone else ends up winning Don't seem fair Don't you care

26. "Right Time of the Night" Jennifer Warnes

It's the right time of the night The stars are winking above It's the right time of the night For making love

27. "Human" The Human League

The tears I cry aren't tears of pain They're all to hide my guilt and shame I forgive you, now I ask the same of you While we were apart, I was human too

28. "I've Got You Under My Skin" Frank Sinatra (also covered by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons)

I'd tried so, not to give in I said to myself this affair never will go so well But why should I try to resist when baby I know so well I've got you under my skin

29. "Just Fall In Love Again" Anne Murray

Magic, it must be magic The way I hold you when the night just seems to fly Easy for you to take me to a star Heaven is that moment when I look into your eyes.

30. "You Needed Me" Anne Murray

You held my hand when it was cold When I was lost, you took me home You gave me hope when I was at the end And turned my lies back into truth again You even called me "friend"

You gave me strength to stand alone again To face the world out on my own again You put me high upon a pedestal So high that I could almost see eternity You needed me, you needed me

31. "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" The Rubinoos

Picture in my mind, I see you and me I, I'm telling you what I wanna be You, you're saying you're in love with me And oh, it feels so good in a dream That I know in life it's just got to be I wanna tell you......

32. "Getcha Back" Beach Boys

I'm getting tired, layin' around here at night Thinking 'bout some other guy holdin' you tight He may have money and a brand new car May even treat you like a movie star And no matter what he ever do for you He can never love you like I can do So if I leave her and you leave him Can we ever get back again?

33. "Tear In My Heart" Twenty One Pilots

My heart is my armor She's the tear in my heart, she's a carver She's a butcher with a smile, cut me farther Than I've ever been

34. "Need You Now" Lady A

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now And I said I wouldn't call, but I'm a little drunk and I need you now And I don't know how I can do without I just need you now

35. "Somebody to Love" Queen

(He works hard) everyday (Everyday) I try and I try and I try But everybody wants to put me down They say I'm going crazy They say I got a lot of water in my brain I got no common sense (He's got) I got nobody left to believe No, no, no, no

(Ooh, ooh, ooh, Lord) Ooh, somebody Ooh (Somebody) Anybody find me Somebody to love Can anybody find me Someone to love?

36. "They Don't Know" Tracey Ullman

There's no need for living in the past Now I've found good loving, gonna make it last I tell the others "don't bother me" Cause when they look at you They don't see what I see

No, I don't listen to their wasted lines Got my eyes wide open and I see the signs Cause they don't know 'bout us And they've never heard of love

37. "Linger" The Cranberries

And I'm in so deep You know I'm such a fool for you You got me wrapped around your finger Do you have to let it linger?

38. "Alone" Heart

You don't know how long I have wanted To touch your lips and hold you tight You don't know how long I have waited And I was going to tell you tonight

39. "Wherever You Will Go" The Calling

If a great wave shall fall And fall upon us all Well then I hope there's someone out there Who can bring me back to you

40. "Never Tear Us Apart" INXS

We could live For a thousand years But if I hurt you I'd make wine from your tears I told you That we could fly 'Cause we all have wings But some of us don't know why

I was standing You were there Two worlds collided And they could never ever tear us apart

41. "Tear In My Heart" Twenty-One Pilots

Songs on the radio are okay My taste in music is your face But it takes a song to come around To show you how

She's the tear in my heart I'm alive She's the tear in my heart I'm on fire She's the tear in my heart Take me higher Than I've ever been

[missbolt]

August and Sara seemed to fulfil a deep need in each other

August and Sara was an unexpected pairing, but once they got together, it made a lot of sense to me.

So many good points have been made about their relationship by for instance @hillerska-official, @darktwistedgenderplural, @emberc, @heartbreakprincewille, @daylightsimon and @joviefandom. I probably don't have anything all that new to add, but I wanted to put all my thoughts about their relationship in one place. In no way do I support August and Sara's actions, but I think their developing relationship was consistent with their character arcs and added depth to their characters and contributed to the story. Buckle up, this will be long!

Starting to hang out

Why did August and Sara even start hanging out in the first place? Of course, it all started with Sara agreeing to keep it a secret that August leaked the video, in return for August helping her get a scholarship and a spot at Manor House. The general consensus in the fandom seems to be that Sara made this deal as she is a social climber and wanted to be more like these upper class kids. This was likely part of the reason, but I think it ran deeper than that. Her mother had just stated her intention to take Sara and Simon out of Hillerska and reenrol them at the local school. While Sara had made friends at Hillerska, she was bullied so badly at the local school that she ended up having to redo a year there, as she missed too many classes because she was so afraid to go to school. She must have been terrified of going back to that school. Making the deal with August, who had so much power at the school, probably seemed to Sara to be her one shot at staying at Hillerska - her one shot at keeping her friends there and avoiding her bullies.

As for August, a main reason for hanging out with her was of course that Sara was the only one apart from Wille that definitely knew he leaked the video, thereby being the only person he could confide in regarding his fears about what would happen to him.

Growing closer

But even so, how could August get past the status difference between them and start hanging out with her more and even hooking up with her? August, who seems to despise the working class and put down Sara and Simon every chance he gets? Who is so preoccupied with his façade, a façade Sara certainly doesn't fit with? However, by the time they started hooking up more properly early in season 2, August was at rock bottom. He was sure that the court knew his secret and would punish him, Wille humiliated him every chance he got, and he had lost his status and power at school. At this point, August's façade was already shattering, and keeping up appearances might have started to seem impossible. In the grand scheme of things, would it really make any difference anymore if he hooked up with a working class girl? We see another indication that things he would usually be very preoccupied with didn't seem to matter to him anymore, when he after the rowing competition chastised Vincent for blaming Simon and stated that the competition wasn't important. August seemed to have given up his bid for power at school - he was past the point of caring about keeping up appearances (of course this changed right after this scene when he was informed he is next in line to the throne and thus felt like he had some power back, but by then he had already fallen for Sara).

It was probably also a relief for August that he didn't really have to keep up appearances around Sara the same way he had to around his upper class peers. We saw how extremely insecure and jealous he was when dating Felice, the most popular girl at Hillerska who he had decided would be the perfect match for him. As she fit perfectly with the successful façade he wanted to show the world, the stakes were very high for him, which brought out all his insecurities. Sara, on the other hand, was not someone the other boys showed interest in, and as she didn't matter in his world, the stakes were much lower. If he fucked it up with Sara, no one would care. Thus, he didn't feel the same need to play power games and keep up appearances around her. Since she wasn't really a part of his social circle and upper class world, he could let down his guard around her in a way he couldn't with anyone else.

As for Sara, it was clear that she was quite physically attracted to August. She was also very inexperienced with boys, and when he kissed her out of the blue in episode 3 of season 1 (which of course had everything to do with Felice and nothing to do with Sara), it seemed to make quite an impression on her - in the next episode, she caressed the picture Felice had of him in her room. It seems likely that he was her first kiss, and for Sara who wasn't used to guys liking her, it must have been very tempting to hook up with him more.

Furthermore, the fact that August started confiding in her likely had a profound effect on Sara. She, who was used to being an outsider and who stated herself that she was better with horses than with people, suddenly found herself to be be the confidante of someone who was skilled socially (just look at how he greeted the guests in the last episode of season 2), who was of high social status, and who had previously scoffed at her. Sara also seems to be used to people (especially Simon) having to take care of her, but with August, she was the one comforting him and giving him advice. By hooking up with August and becoming his confidante, she broke out of the roles she was usually confined to and took on a role she probably would have thought impossible previously. This must have felt quite liberating for her.

Falling in love

August is obsessed with keeping up appearances to the point that he has developed an eating disorder and a reliance on performance-enhancing drugs. We know that his father took his own life, and losing a parent to suicide often leaves a child with a feeling of not being loved and good enough to stick around for. August's whole life seems to be a fight to prove - to others and, most importantly, to himself - that he is good enough. He does this by grabbing all the power he can get, trying to curate a "perfect" façade, putting down people he deems to be beneath him, and lashing out at anyone threatening his status. However, none of this seems to quell his fear of not being good enough and being unlovable, as shown by the fact that he seemed to be at his most insecure when dating the "perfect girl" and having all the positions of power he possibly could at school. However, Sara knew about the worst thing he had ever done, and still seemed to love him. He also perceived her as a social climber who understood his desire for power and status. She made him feel loved and understood and seen when he was at his worst, giving him a glimmer of hope that he might be lovable and good enough even when abandoning his carefully crafted façade. How could August not fall for Sara?

The years of bullying and the difficulties with navigating social interactions seem to have left Sara starved for human connection outside of her family. Her friendship with Felice and inclusion in Felice's friend group probably satisfied some of that need, but she was still felt a bit like an outsider - due to being poorer and from a different social class than her friends, not knowing the codes and frequently being in need of an explanation of how things worked. As discussed in the last section, her usual role in social interactions of being the one others had to take care of, was reversed with August. In addition, having someone who puts up such a façade being so vulnerable with you is one helluva drug in general. For Sara, who seemed to fear not being able to forge real human connection with people outside of her family, her burgeoning relationship with August showed her that she could have a deep connection with someone, that she could be different from what she had imagined herself to be. When he gave her the validation she so sorely needed, it is no wonder that she wanted to believe that he was a good person deep down and that she could change him. And when she had managed to convince herself of this, how could Sara not fall for August?

What their relationship adds to their characters and the show

Of course, August and Sara's relationship didn't last and could never last. They were both projecting on each other - August projecting his ambitions on Sara making him believe that she understood him far better than she actually did, and Sara projecting the role of redeemed sinner which she really needed August to be onto him. This led to a disconnect between them that became very apparent in their last two conversations together in season 2. Even if it wasn't for this, August would probably start feeling like Sara was a liability to him when climbing higher socially and eventually break things off with her in favour of someone who would better fit his "perfect" façade. And August would never be accepted in Sara's family and social circle due to leaking the video and harming Simon and Wille. So what was the point of spending so much time on their relationship in this second season?

In his relationship with Sara, we got to see a different, softer side of August. We got a glimpse of how different he potentially could have been if he wasn't so deeply insecure and preoccupied with keeping up appearances. One could almost begin to hope that the relationship led to growth in August...which made it all the more heart-breaking when he reverted to his self-serving, scheming ways as soon as he had a sliver of power. Getting a peek behind August's façade made it easier to understand what is driving his actions, making him a much more three-dimensional character than in the first season, which greatly added to the tension in the story.

We also got to see a softer side of Sara. In the first season and parts of the second season, her morals appeared to be very black-and-white. She was complaining that Simon was giving people too many chances, blamed their mother for not leaving their father earlier even though it would have made them homeless, seemed to expect Simon to have the same (non-)relationship to their father as her (though her feeling of betrayal when it was revealed that he had been visiting their father probably of course also had to do with Simon not having been honest with her). After confessing to kissing Wille at the ball, Simon expected her to tell him that he is a bad person for cheating on Marcus and that Marcus is much better for him than Wille. However, as several people have noted, Sara was at that point able to empathise more with Simon and give him better advice and support by saying that he can't control his feelings and that doing bad things at times doesn't necessarily make you a bad person. Through her relationship with August, Sara seemed to start understanding that people have different sides and that things aren't always as black-and-white as they may seem. Almost up to the very end, she did not seem able to apply this new understanding to see Felice's side of the issue when her horse was sold, but Sara may still seem to have undergone some personal growth this second season. I am excited to see whether she will be able to continue this growth next season now that she has realised how severely she misjudged August, hopefully coupled with slightly less naivety (and hopefully she will learn to stop replicating the relationship her parents had, which I haven't touched on here as the post is already so long, but which @daylightsimon, @darktwistedgenderplural, and @malinthebodyguard have written so insightfully about). Her relationship with August showed us new sides of Sara's character, and might also lead Sara to understand herself better. This makes her a more interesting and three-dimensional character in my eyes, and creates a new dynamic in her sibling relationship with Simon, again increasing the tension in the story.

Thus, August and Sara's relationship adds depth to both of their characters, and contributes to the story by raising the stakes and creating new dynamics. And Malte Gårdinger and Frida Argento play these characters perfectly!

For these reasons, I think it was justified to devote as much time to their relationship as was done in season 2. In season 3, I really hope we will get to know the last secondary character - Felice - better. The fact that Young Royals shows us different sides of both the primary and secondary characters makes them seem much more real and consequently renders the story more impactful.

Aaaanyway, these were my two (or two hundred) cents on August and Sara's relationship. Let me round off with one gripe, though: how the hell has the fandom settled on Sargust as their couple's name, when Aura is right there for the taking?!?

[tethrras]

📚 BOOKS / 💘 HEART WITH ARROW / 🤓 SMILING FACE WITH GLASSES for lavinia, please!

📚 BOOKS — what level of education has your oc most recently completed/is currently in (GED, undergraduate, grad school, phd, etc)?

being from a noble family, i think lavinia had a tutor growing up that taught her and probably her siblings as well history, politics, etc etc. i don't know if she was necessarily the best student? i think she has a Lot of difficulty sitting down and listening to things she might not have WANTED to be listening to for extended periods of time. she really loves sharing ideas and if she just had to shut up and listen to something she would definitely have been the girl who doodled horses in the corner of her paper. i think she probably ended up getting a different tutor in her older years who would actually engage in philosophical debate adn conversation with her, which was good because she is a person who is VERY loyal to her beliefs and could always use a different perspective, esp if it's something that she isn't actually that passionate about LMAO. so yeah she def was tutored up into her late teens, maybe early twenties, before she became a guard and underwent guard training!

💘 HEART WITH ARROW — what and/or who do(es) your oc consider the most important to them?

her siblings (who are still alive), ivan and laurel, are very important to her. even though she doesn't really get along with either of them, they're still family and she knows they would come to bat for her even if they'd rather not or they held a grudge against her for it. her other siblings, namepending 1 and namepending 2, are also important to her, but they are dead. also her parents, cassandra, vivienne, leliana, cullen, blackwall, dorian... but varric comes first because that's wifey

🤓 SMILING FACE WITH GLASSES — is your oc chatty or quiet? are they at ease in social situations, or are they more shy?

so yeah i think earlier i mentioned that she likes to engage in conversation with people but she's also happy to do her own thing. she would be GREAT at parallel play lol, she grew up the youngest of 5 in a huge house with a bunch of servants and aforementioned tutors and then living in the barracks for a while, so she's just used to having people around and feels weird when she's alone unless she's upset or feels badly about herself. when around people, i'd say she is equal parts quiet and chatty though, sometimes she likes to just listen (or zone out lol) and sometimes she likes to chat and get to know people better and lowkey spread the word of the maker JUST A LITTLE BIT!!! A LITTLE TINY BIT!!! and in a subtle way!!! but yeah i think she feels quite at ease in social situations, i think growing up again as the youngest of 5 that she learned to really lessen her base level embarrassment so she's okay with looking dumb or asking stupid questions. i think she would only be uncomfortable in social situations if people were talking about things she STRONGLY agreed with

oc emoji asks

[shamelessrabbithole]

Any thoughts on why Cam and Sophia Tatum unfollowed each other?

I was wondering when someone would write in about this. I was made aware of the mutual unfollowing a few days ago (I personally hadn't noticed) and have been trying to make heads or tails of it ever since. In addition to the mutual unfollows, she deleted the pic he'd taken of her and all but one of his previous likes are gone from her page.

As most things Cam and female-related, it's a mystery and will probably always remain that way. But, if you want 'em, here are my thoughts...

Usually by the time someone reaches Cam's age, major feuds with people mostly boil down to one of two issues: a business/money dispute or a romantic pairing gone wrong. It's possible that she and Cam had something going on between them (a friends-with-benefits thing) and it ended for some reason, abruptly and badly.

Not that it matters too much, but after Sophia posted the pics Cam took of her, fans began to suggest a romance in the comments. I doubt it, but it may have contributed to her taking the pics down.

Another thought I had, and again, this is just me going off not much more than speculation, is that she'd wanted or had been promised to be, a part of Foxbody, but was passed over in casting. I say this because I did some digging into Sophia's social media and found that she owns a vintage Mustang, much like the one in Cam's movie. She's very proud of it and often photographs herself in the desert driving or posing with it. She also follows vintage Mustang instagram accounts.

In addition to that, she sort of embodies the aesthetic vibes of the character Kelli Berglund is playing. Cam cast and hired several of his friends, including people who attend the Marjorie Ballentine school, which is where he likely met Sophia because they have a ton of mutuals in common from there.

As far as I know they unfollowed each other shortly after the German con, which was also not long after he posted stills of the film on the Foxbody instagram page. Again, it's a leap and I fully attest to that, but I tried to envision myself in their friendship or situationship to figure out what could've happened, and timing-wise, this is what felt most plausible to me.