#she doesn't quite understand lgbtq+ things but she's getting there and i love her

[careful--she--bites]

received the most devastating callout from one of my friends today: "you have a thing for they/thems" what if i killed myself y**

[heyftinally]

Taylor only has one thing when it comes to the opressed olympic. It's the fact she is a woman. And swifties use that for any criticism against her.

" Oh you just hate succesful women."

She isn't black, She isn't gay trans etc.., She isn't disabled, She isn't poor, she isn't jewish, she isn't muslim, etc... etc...

Swifties also need to learn that a black man is not more privileged than a white woman. They seem to think that she is always more oppressed against any other man.

They could literally think that a homeless black man has more privilege than the billionaire white woman. All because he is a man.

🔔🔔🔔 Ding ding ding, we have a winner, folks! You hit the nail on the head.

Taylor Swift has weaponized her white woman tears and "oppression" to her own benefit, and this is exactly how.

None of her fans seems to ACTUALLY understand how oppression works, they just take the pretty little buzzwords that they think are synonymous with "I'm a good person who's right" and parrot them like a $2 children's toy (half the time while sending death threats and racist/homophobic slurs, which makes it even more ironic)

Taylor Swift is not oppressed. She's just not. Honestly, yes, even though she's a woman - and before any feral Swifties come at me, I AM a woman - she's not oppressed, and I'll tell you why.

"Billionare" overrides most (not all) other categories. As soon as you're a billionaire, nothing else matters, because you can buy your way into and out of anything. Combine that with the facade that the entire world worships her, and guess what? Nobody gives a shit that she's a woman. She's not oppressed because a few people she's never heard of make jokes about how much she sucks - she DOES suck, but those comments have zero impact on her life. She doesn't even know they exist. In Taylorland, everyone loves her no matter what she does - even if she's best friends with/dating bigots.

In order for someone to be oppressed, systematic situations have to negatively impact their life on a day to day basis. Disabled people can't get married without losing their disability income. LGBTQ+ people are still getting murdered in the street for just existing and having their right to healthcare taken away. People of a variety of ethnic minorities still get denied things like loans at a higher rate than white people. Women get denied promotions because they're not men.

None of these things will ever happen to Taylor Swift. She can quite literally pay to access a "perfect" world, because she gets to pay her way out of normal life.

If someone makes a sexist joke? She can have that person fired and hire someone else.

She can pay for as much private security as she wants, so being safe is literally never a concern.

She can pay for private travel (and kill the planet every ten minutes), she can pay for private staff to handle her every whim and worry.

Taylor Swift has effectively paid her way out of oppression, because she can simply use her power, her money, and her legion of feral fans to get whatever she wants.

Someone makes a joke she doesn't like? Clearly it's "oppression" and now that person is "canceled" at best, or getting doxxed and sent death threats at worst.

Taylor Swift isn't oppressed because she can pay to fix nearly any problem in her life, so her biggest "problem" is people not unquestioningly worshipping her 24/7, which is what she weaponizes.

And fans will still claim that she's more oppressed than a black disabled homeless man, because they don't understand oppression OR intersectionality - all the know is worship Taylor and harass.

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 4, Wave 2, Poll 3

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included.

Check out the other polls in this wave and round here.

Korra-Avatar: The Legend of Korra

Qualifications:

Korra is not only bisexual, having dated both Asami Sato and Mako, but was and still is disabled by the end of the series. She doesn't magically get better from being poisoned, she's forced to relearn a lot of things: how to walk, how to do things for herself, and even how to fight properly. Her physical disabilities are mixed with extensive trauma and PTSD that prevents her from doing her job as the Avatar throughout Book 4: Balance.

Canonically bisexual, has PTSD, and spent a while partially paralyzed and using a wheelchair.

Bisexual badass who ended up going through about 5038309340 traumatizing events, one of which involved mercury poisoning that had her unable to walk for about a year and left her with lasting PTSD and depression (though again the depression is a little less clear wheras the PTSD was obviously intended to be read as such). There was also her shadow self, but it's unclear whether that was a form of psychosis or a literal spirit. In short, she's bi and has PTSD if you want to stick with the more long term, obviously canon bits.

Propaganda:

She's the Avatar, you gotta deal with it! But, seriously, Avatar Korra was the first onscreen LBGT+ character in the Avatar franchise alongside her girlfriend Asami Sato. While limited in what could be shown onscreen, the two were explictly portrayed as a couple in the 2016 Dark Horse comic "Legend of Korra: Turf Wars". Likewise, her disability never quite went away. She still struggled with trauma, PTSD, and learning how to do things for herself again for two to three years in the time between books 3 and 4 that were shown off in flashbacks during her solo episodes.

She's canonically bi and has PTSD, and disability was an incredibly important theme for her in her show's final season.

i dunno I think i covered all my bases in the qualifying bit but also its 3am and i dont feel like typing more

Anything Else?:

The creators of Korra, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, fought long and hard for their show, including taking a massive budget slash circa book 4 to avoid firing half their staff. Likewise, they took to Tumblr and other social media in 2014 to state firmly that Korra and Asami were both bisexual and in love. Here's a link: https://bryankonietzko.tumblr.com/post/105916338157/korrasami-is-canon-you-can-celebrate-it-embrace

The qualifications and propaganda paragraphs correspond, @foulfirerebel is the first submitter and also did the ‘anything else?’ section.

Lan Wangji-The Untamed / Mo Dao Zu Shi

Qualifications:

Canonically gay, pretty heavily coded as autistic (esp in the show)

Additional qualifications by @lovewanxian : I would like to add that Lan Wangji also has extremely extensive scarring on his back from getting whipped 33 times and spent an extended amount of time bedridden because of it

Propaganda:

He's an absolute badass - in a series full of morally ambiguous or outright immoral characters, he's one of the only people around to consistently show he's reliable, honorable and strong. Some examples include Lan Wangji defending Wei Wuxian, his love interest and eventual husband, against his own clan and other clans because WWX went against their rules and tried to save innocent people, or LWJ raising WWX's adopted son for years and being a great father and mentor to him. While LWJ isn't *technically* canonically autistic, (not that this word would exist in the setting), he has flat affect, fixates on rules and his difficulty in understanding people's emotions is explicitly brought up and a minor plot point.

[heavenlydemonyuricult]

One of the wonderful things about When They Cry is not only how Ryukishi07 noticably improves as an author and builds upon his themes and ideas from his previous works, but also how each successive work gets more blatantly queer than the last.

Higurashi has quite a bit of plausable deniability on whether its characters are lgbtq. The most obvious ones are Furude Rika and Houjou Satoko for each other, but this can plausibly be denied by someone who doesn't see it without too much of a strech in the original eight episodes. Personally I'd argue that literally the entire main cast of girls are lgbtq of some kind except maybe Hanyuu, but each of those arguments do require interpretation. This is Higurashi from 2002.

Umineko gets more blatant with explicitly queer characters, more often on the magic side but there are some on the human side as well. It's a coinflip on whether Zepar or Furfur is trans (though some clowns will use real life voice actors to try to give a definitive answer). Bernkastel and Lambdadelta are notorious toxic witch lesbians. Furudo Erika and Dlanor are in a less explicit relationship that's a bit dicey at times and coming after Furudo Erika's unpleasant breakup with her boyfriend. Williard seems to be in a relationship with Ushiromiya Lion by the end even as Ushiromiya Lion explicitly states they're unsure of their gender and or don't want to say on the matter and Williard accepts that without hesitation and explicitly states that the audience should too. Ushiromiya Ange has a relationship with Mammon that can be interpreted as romantic as well, and with the open ended ending of her future, one can imagine Ushiromiya Ange as all sorts of sexuality and potentially still in that relationship with Mammon if not closer. And then of course there's Yasuda Sayo or as I'd like to call the queerest and most gender and sexuality character of all time. If I tried to count their potential queer identities, I'd probably miss at least one or two, but they ain't straight and they ain't cis even if their individual personalities might be. There's even more that you could say about the themes of Umineko overall that also tend to involve Yasuda Sayo to some extent, but I'll leave it there. By the latter half of Umineko or the answer arcs, some people reading at the time were wondering basically "Where'd all this gay shit come from?" among other things. Some people couldn't handle it at the time and many still can't, and some are somehow still in denial of Umineko's queerness to this day more than likely. This is Umineko from 2007.

Ciconia even with only one episode out and presumably an eighth of the way done by traditional When They Cry standards manages to be EVEN MORE explicitly queer within said one episode. This time, with no interpretation or any serious level of reading and understanding the text and characters needed, the main protagonists Mitake Miyao and Mitake Meow who share a body are either transgender one way or the other with Mitake Miyao being a boy and Mitake Meow being a girl. To this they're like Yasuda Sayo except they definitely know their sex, and like Ushiromiya Lion they'd rather not say at least yet. Mitake Meow's boyfriend Jayden respects this and that his girlfriend might be trans and that she can tell him and they can work whatever out when she's comfortable about it. There's a whole ass scene or so about this and is impossible to deny. Ciconia also mentions explicitly there being surgery to acquire a penis in the futuristic setting as well, and possibly even artificial wombs if I'm not mistaken too, things that are at the moment still medical hopes and dreams for so many trans people. There's also discussions about the struggles of lgbtq people as well as gay moments mostly among girls but even with a guy as well (not listing them partially because my memory of some of their names is fuzzy, lol). There's a pro yuri nun idol squad even who states that love has no bounds and yuri is the best thing ever essentially, you literally can't get more explicit and in the text than this unless your measure of gayness deems sex to be the epitemy and ideal of gayness at all times. I'm not even sure how you could be a queerphobic When They Cry fan without blatantly ignoring at least one work or malding about it constantly. This is Ciconia from 2019.

This post doesn't say much about Higurashi GouSotsu from 2020 because I haven't watched it myself, but that's pretty explicitly gay too and much more explicit than the original and makes the queer content in the original as well more blunt and obvious. Not necessarily recontexualization so much as a potential fragment that builds upon what was already previously alluded to for nearly two decades by that point.

To people who genuinely think any When They Cry work is definitively and undeniably straight...I really don't know what to tell you lol. Like there's room for intepretation for quite a bit of this including towards a cis or heterosexual explanation at times, but at some point you're just not reading the text very well to think that it's all just cis and straight and that the gays are just delusional somehow, lol.

[wobblyprinny]

Well, I've never written a blog before but I've always toyed with the idea so, well, here I am.

Anyway, I'm not really sure where this will go, nor do I have any especially big plans for it but...

I'm tired of keeping these things to myself, especially after seeing that there 'was' a community out there for people who've been where I am and yet, unlike ne, took it further with their own relationships.

To be honest, I hadn't thought about these things in a long time but, a lot's happened and I've had tine to really think back on things.

I guess it was during all that downtime and, to a lesser degree, the amateurish creative stuff I'm doing, that the thoughts and feelings came back to the front of my mind.

Or more like, they never really left, I guess.

Anyway, I.... was, and likely still am, very much attracted to my younger sister.

How did it happen?

Why did it happen?

No clue.

We grew up together but I'd never say we were all that close.

If anything, I thought she didn't like me at all... maybe she doesn't now. Who knows.

Well, at some point, and without even noticing it, we just kind of... noticed we were looking at each other differently. Tension was definitely there, and our relationship became.... a bit more unconventional than was typical of more 'traditional' sibling relationships.

A lot of 'will we, won't we' energy and tension.

She was, really good at teasing me. I'll just leave it at that.

We came VERY close to crossing that line but never did....

But, things were already rough at home at the time and only got worse as more time passed.

Nothing because of us, but still effected us because of the fallout.

Anyway, a lot happened and well, we all split up and moved on with our lives, for better or worse.

Damn near two decades pass and only now do I realize just what it was I felt; that I was sexually and romantically attrcted to my younger sister.

I don't quite know if I was, or am, in love with her, but.... she was clearly very special to me.

I guess this first post is something of a confession to just... get it all off my chest and say that, I fully support consenting adult relationships of any configuration or orientation.

LGBTQ+, poly, consang, whatever...

If you're both fully consenting adults, or even close in age, then you should be free to have those relationships with the person/people you love without fear of discrimination or rejection.... or, like me, regret at never taking the plunge in the first place and instead try to bury those feelings for the sake of 'normalcy'.

...I'm sure a LOT more people out there can at least relate to that much, if nothing else.

Honestly, if I could go back in time and tell her how I felt, especially now that I better understand my feelings, I would.

But, she moved on, married, and had kids, so I can't.

I lost my chance.

I guess the whole, 'what could've been' element to all this is my biggest hang-up about everything but, as long as she's happy, then that's fine.

I just wanted to finally open up about it seeing as I've had these thoughts and feelings for so long... even if these are just coming from just another single loser in his mid 30's, haha.

Well, that's it for now.

Dunno what I'll post next, but I'll be back before too long.

[startrekfangirl2233-writes]

Don't You Forget About Me

Part One

Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

Description: Sometimes the most unlikely encounters with people have an immeasurable effect on your life. For Bradley Bradshaw, life at 22 right after graduating from college is far different than he ever thought it would be. It kind of seems like his whole life hasn't gone according to plan. No parents, no support system, just one man and his dad's old Bronco against the world. A chance meeting with a blond-haired teenage menace in Texas may just change everything, shaping his future in a way he never would have expected. Disclaimer: This is a Hangster story -> What you see is what you get, folks. Slight mention of homophobic/ lgbtq+ phobic family members. Word Count: 3624 Author's Note: Hiya! I wrote this fic for @roosterforme's Top Gun Rocktober Event based on the song Don't You Forget About Me by the Simple Minds. Everything about it just screamed Hangster when I listened to it again. As anybody who knows me or has read my works can surmise... I can be quite long-winded so what was supposed to be a quick blurb turned into a short two-part series. I hope you all love this fic! (Also I'm self conscious about this one because I do not write in first person. It's surprisingly hard so I'd love any feedback if you've got it!)

It's dark and smoky and loud in here and I can't believe that I let Jessica and David drag me to this party. They've long since disappeared into the crush and left me on the under-stuffed chintz armchair in some frat house’s living room. It doesn't help that I haven't been to Texas in years and I feel even more like I’m out of my depths because of it. My mom grew up here, and most of her family is still here. But she's not. In the years since I graduated from high school, I've turned hundreds of times, looking for her sweet smile, searching for her to take solace in. But she's not exactly on this mortal plane anymore. Neither of my parents are. And the closest thing I've ever had to a dad fucked off after destroying my dreams.

It fills me with an unreasonable rage every time I think about it. I know Virginia, I've lived in Virginia for years, putting myself through school in Charlottesville while working single-mindedly to get into the US Navy. I’m so close to flight school that I can taste it. I just need to get through Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island now that I’ve graduated. One final summer of building my savings by working odd jobs and I’d be free. Or so I thought.

Then, I received a notice telling me my apartment building needed to be tented for termites. My lease was only valid until I left for OCS, anyway. I debated living out of my dad's car, now mine, until I had to be in Rhode Island. That’s when I received a letter from Stephanie Williams, my mom’s cousin, inviting me to spend the summer in Texas. Driving to Texas is far from convenient, but I haven't spent any time around my family, no matter how distant they may be, in so long. And, I’m kind of homesick - homesick for the sense of camaraderie, of walking into the house after baseball practice or school and hearing anyone in the house besides myself.

Jessica and David, Stephanie’s kids, are as nice as their mom. They both attend the University of Texas, but it still feels like there is a distance between us. They can't understand the drive burning in me about the Navy, how I need to do well at OCS, how I need to become an aviator, how I need to be better than anyone else. Aunt Steph doesn't really get it either if the way she practically pushed me out the door when Jess and David mentioned the party is any indication.

It doesn't help that I'm only a week from reporting to OCS, either. I know it’s not flight school, not yet, but I know I need to study more than I need to be in this stupid little ramshackle frat house on Greek Row. The beer’s watered down and warm, tasting like piss in my mouth. Normally, I’d be right in the center of the makeshift dance floor grinding up against the scantily clad girls in sight, most of them wearing bikinis, but not tonight. 

I just want to go home again, but that’s not possible. It hasn't been for years. I leave the mostly full beer behind and search for Jess and David. There are hundreds of drunk kids in the house, and it doesn’t matter at all that I’m taller than most of them, not when people are dancing on the tables and licking alcohol off of each other. I feel like I’m suffocating. The entire house stinks of cigarette smoke, alcohol, and sweat. It takes fifteen minutes to look for either of them in the basement. When I’m halfway up the stairs, I’m tempted to leave them here and drive by in the morning to get them. But Aunt Steph would hate that.

The first floor is even worse than the basement. There may not be anybody dancing on the tables, but there is far more clothing being thrown about. It looks like there’s a drunken orgy happening in the living room on the floor. The carpet isn’t all that clean, to begin with, and add bodily fluids to it, and I nearly hurl on the spot. 

If this is what I’ve missed out on in the traditional college experience, well, I don’t want it, not at all. Thankfully, I don’t have to see either of my cousins naked and that eliminates the kitchen and living area entirely. All I have left are the bedrooms above. Just walking up the stairs, I can hear the creaking of bedsprings and lusty moans. It sounds like a contagious disease waiting to happen, and I don’t make it past the top step.

That’s it. I can’t search for Jess or David anymore and I fight my way to the front door while trying to ignore the tits that seem to get shoved into my face every few steps. As I open the door, a body slams right into me. It’s a kid, gangly and blond, knobby shoulders protruding sharply through the fabric of the worn t-shirt he’s wearing.

“Watch where you’re going, asshole!” I can’t help the chuckle pouring out of my mouth. I’ve got at least 8 inches in height on him and I could easily break him into two if I wanted to. He must be ninety pounds soaking wet and his indignation is about as intimidating as an angry chihuahua. But I’m not looking for a fight, so I just move out of the way. Something about his angry green eyes and how they glow in the fresh night air is oddly captivating. I’m honestly not expecting to see him again, but just as I reach the Bronco and open the door, I see the same person get bodily chucked out of the house.

He’s shouting expletives into the night air, and when his anger runs out, he hunches his shoulders and stomps in my direction. Of course, a snarl rips out of his mouth the moment he sees me.

“What, asshole? Haven’t you seen someone get kicked out of a party by a bunch of dicks before?” 

“I have, kid. But I wanted to know if you were okay. Your knuckles look rough.” It’s true. His knuckles are bloody and bruised like he’s been punching something hard with no control. Those are going to sting like a bitch in the morning.

He snorts and must see something unassuming in my face because he uncrosses his arms and says, “I’m not a kid, I'm seventeen.” He’s a little young to be running around the UT campus and getting thrown out of parties, but I have the feeling if I say anything, he’ll probably just jump down my throat again. “I’m Jake.”

“Bradley.” I grin back. “Get in.”

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but I don’t get into cars with strangers.” He’s quick-witted, that’s for sure.

“No.” If my eyes roll as I look at Jake, that’s just between him and me. He must feel like shit if he hasn’t called me out for it yet. “I have a first aid kit in the glove box. I wanted to look at your knuckles before they scab over.” Jake looks shocked. I can almost see the gears grinding in his head as he thinks my words over.

“Move over.” I have to hide my grin until he’s safely in the passenger seat. I don’t know why it feels like such a victory, having this stranger accept my help. I leave the door open and lean in. He smells coffee and spice with an undertone of musk, sitting in my passenger seat with his eyes looking far too green in the low light.

“You don’t go to UT, do you?” Instead of responding, I just pop open the glove compartment and tug out the med kit.

“So what is this, Bradley?” He sounds disgruntled. “No answers without you taking care of my hands?”

I just hold my hand out until he puts his into mine. It’s a long-fingered hand, thin and bony. No well-fed eighteen-year-old boy has hands that look like this. Hands that look like they’ve been working every day of their life. I want to know why Jake’s got such a big chip on his shoulder and why someone so young has hands that look so worn.

“I’m really alright, you know?” I’m as gentle as I can be, patting at scraped knuckles with an isopropyl alcohol soaked cotton ball. Jake may talk a big game, but he’s wincing with each word. 

“Who’d you punch to fuck up your knuckles so badly?” 

“My asshole ex-boyfriend. He was cheating on me with one of his teammates. And I just found out today.” Jake’s voice chokes on a sob, and I can’t help the twinge of sympathy that goes through me at his words. Maybe I’m too quiet, because there’s a sharp tug on my sleeve.

“D’you have a problem with that?” Jake’s glaring at me, and it takes me longer than it usually would for me to figure out why.

“About the fact that you had a boyfriend?” He nods, the movement jerky and sharp. “Why would I care about that? You love who you love, that’s it.”

He looks blown away by my immediate acceptance of who he is. But Jake seems uncomfortable at the same time, uncomfortable enough that he changes the subject. “You never answered me earlier. You don’t go to school at UT.”

“No, I don’t.” I collect the trash into a small ball and put the kit away again. It feels weird to stand out in the night and talk when I have a perfectly good driver’s seat right on the other side of the car. I can already see a hundred questions on the tip of Jake’s tongue, so I hold one hand up and point to the trash bin nearby. I can feel every bit of his gaze on my back as I lope to the can and back, opting this time to get into the driver’s seat. Of course, no sooner am I buckled in, Jake’s looking right at me.

“Why are you here, then? Why were you at that party tonight?” I can hear the naked curiosity in his tone.

“I’m staying with some of my mom’s family over the summer. A couple of my relatives go to UT for school and invited me to the party. I just graduated from college and I’m joining the Navy in a week.” It sounds so real as I say the words. They sound equally real, it looks like, to Jake.

“Why the Navy?" I haven't felt like I'm the focus of another person in a long time. I feel flayed open, horribly, uncomfortably, seen.

My voice is quiet, a little rough, a little raw as I say, "My dad was in the Navy."

"What did he do?" I blink a little, not expecting this question so soon. Normally people want to know why my dad was in the Navy, in the past tense. They want to know what happened to him. They never want to know what he did or anything else about him.

"He was a Naval Aviator, a Radar Intercept Officer, to be specific." It makes me smile, like always, remembering my dad.

"What does a Radar Intercept Whatsit do?" Jake's nearly open-mouthed in the passenger seat, body turned my way in a jumble of limbs that looks nearly too cramped to be comfortable, beat up sneakers on the floor and wholly fascinated by every word pouring out of my mouth. That's unique too. I've never felt this rush, this instant connection before with anybody. 

"A Radar Intercept Officer," I repeat, earning myself an eye roll, "is the person sitting behind the pilot. They're responsible for enabling communications with ships and other jets, navigating and monitoring the radar. Pilots fly the plane, but RIOs do everything else." 

"Sounds boring." I have to chuckle at that, because when he's not angrily grumbling, Jake's actually handsome. And that's not a realization I ever wanted to have about a seventeen-year-old I just met. Forget the place, there's the matter of how this is all the wrong time, too. I can't afford any distractions, not even cute little twinks with more attitude than sense. I'm joining the military for fuck's sake. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is still very strongly enforced and Jake seems like the type to bulldoze his way on base one day just for the hell of it. Better stick to talking about flying, that's all. And that’s if we manage to stay in touch until he’s actually legal, too.

"Do you want to become a RIO too?" His voice is hesitant as he sounds out the acronym.

"Nah, I've always wanted to become a pilot. Actually fly the planes, y'know?" I swear I can see literal fighter jets flying around Jake's head, he's so enraptured by the idea.

"Is it hard?" 

I have to shrug at that, because maybe I just have flying in my blood. "Not any harder than learning how to drive or ride a bike - at least that's what it was like for me."

I can see Jake think of a few hundred more questions, but stop him with one of my own. "What’s a seventeen year old doing at a UT frat party?" 

 His nose crinkles, "Who said I’m not a student at UT?"

"Nobody. But something about you tells me that you aren’t a UT Student, even though seventeen-year-olds join universities as freshmen all the time." I’m almost afraid to see that look on his face. But instead, Jake seems to be feeling the same awe that I was earlier - horribly, uncomfortably, seen.

“Nah. I work at one of the coffee shops on campus.” No wonder he smells like cinnamon and coffee.

"But you don't want to, do you?"

His nod is sheepishly affirmative. "My uncle says I should get out of the house and do something with myself over the summer. If he had his way, when I graduate in a year I’ll be doing the same thing. But I want to do something exciting, not farm work or work in a factory or hell, even be a barista anymore. I think the Navy might be just the thing."

I have to grin at his enthusiasm. But a part of me can’t help wondering if the reason why Jake is so interested in escaping Austin is because of something else. But I’m not quite sure how to broach the topic. It’s silent and still in the car for a little bit. Jake looks like he’s thinking of what to say, and I’m struck by the halo the streetlight we’re under makes around his hair. He’s pretty, indescribably so, even with a purplish bruise rising on his cheekbone. His long lashes shine golden against the freckles dotting his cheekbones. I reach for the polaroid I always keep in the car and snap a couple of quick pictures. I hand one to Jake, but just as he’s about to ask me why I did that, I see red and blue lights in the rear view mirror and hear sirens blaring our way.

“Shit! C’mon, Bradley! Drive the car!” It takes me a few seconds to process what he’s saying but when I do, I put the car in drive and drive sedately down the street. 

“What the fuck, Brad!” I haven’t heard anyone call me Brad in years. That’s what my mom called me, what Mav did too. “Drive a little bit faster, why don’t you?! You keep driving like a fucking turtle and the cops will catch us in no time flat!”

“I’m driving at the speed limit.” I chuckle at the way Jake grumbles under his breath. “The police won’t pull us over if we’re doing everything right. You probably don’t want them calling your folks to tell them you were at a party, underage where alcohol was being served and an orgy was happening on the living room floor, now do you?”

We’re thankfully able to leave the scene without any trouble, and I let Jake direct me through the late night Austin streets. It’s quiet, and in the half-light I can’t help noticing how incredibly small and delicate Jake is at this moment. He has me pull over a few blocks away.

“Do you make a habit of running from the cops?” He laughs at that, a genuine belly aching infectious cackle bursting out of his mouth.

“No, I don’t.” Something dark glows over his eyes just as easily as the laugh. “My uncle wouldn’t have been happy at all if he had gotten that call.”

I really don’t know what to say to that, so I just wait.

“My mom always says that she doesn’t know who my dad was, and well, I don’t know if you know much about conservative Texans, but that was a no-go for most of my family. She’s out of state, working in a library in North Carolina, I think? And I’m with my aunt and uncle until I turn 18.”   

“I’m sure the minute that happens, I’m going to get kicked out. They didn’t approve of me just because I was born out of wedlock. They hated me even more when they found out I wasn’t exactly only into girls. My mom doesn’t know how bad it is for me here. And I’m not going to tell her either. I just don't know what to do.” He sniffles, sitting in the passenger seat, cheeks pinking in the glow of the streetlights. “I don’t really know why I’m telling you this either. But it feels like the universe wanted us to meet tonight. It feels like I can trust you.”

I’m struck dumb by those words and the butterflies swarming in my stomach. I’m flattered by his trust. It has me spilling all of my biggest secrets. I tell him more about my dad, about mom, about Mav. I tell him about my biggest victories and darkest regrets. We talk for hours, taking turns baring our souls until the sky turns gray at the edges. It's the small hours of the morning, that small section of the twilight zone where everything feels extra still. My throat is scratchy and my eyes are dry. Jake’s not much better.

The sleepy drawl in his voice makes shivers trail up and down my spine and it’s still so foreign feeling like this for someone I’ve just met. It’s a little terrifying, too. Far too soon, we’re pulling up in front of the party house. 

"I should get going." A part of me wants to stop him, offer to give him a ride, anything to stay in his presence just a bit longer. But the more rational part, the one chanting US Navy and Top Gun is screaming just as vehemently no.

"Do you need a ride?" My voice is nearly too loud for this time of night.

"Nah, Bradley. I live right around the corner." Jake gives me a two-fingered salute and begins to walk away, his shoulders bowed and looking incredibly small. It's a surprise when he stops, turns back around and jogs back to the car. He flings the door open, and I'm surprised to see the two spots of pink high up on his cheeks.

"Can we stay in touch? I'd love to pick your brain about the Navy, sometime?"

I'm nodding before my common sense can speak, ignoring the insidious little voice that says, "No you won't ever see him again. You're joining the Navy."

I hand Jake a pen and a scrap of paper I found in my pockets. What I get back is his first name and a phone number. "This is my landline. See you around, Bradley?"

My reply is too quiet as I roll the syllables of his name over my tongue. By the time Jessica and David have staggered their way out to the car, I'm sure Jake was just a figment of my imagination. Two weeks later, when it's my first turn with the phones on base, I call that number. I get a message telling me that the phone number I'm calling has been disconnected. I never get rid of that note though. It's almost like something's screaming at me to remember Jake. Maybe one day I'll find him again. And who knows? Maybe he's a lot closer than I think he is.

Nine Years Later

It’s been a long road getting to Top Gun. Walking through the halls it feels like everything I’ve worked and struggled for has finally paid off. I’m a pilot, I’m talented, if I do say so myself, and there is nothing I want to do more than finally put the Bradshaw name on that trophy. Walking into the classroom that first morning, I feel like this is the start of something great. Until the first hop later that week. There’s a blond in class with an ego that cashes checks for money he doesn’t have. But he has the skill to back up his words.

“Rooster, Rooster, Rooster. Are you ever going to get off your perch?” Hangman. Even his callsign fills me with rage. I’ve never met a more annoying person in my life. But there is something about him which seems familiar. Why does Hangman of all people seem so familiar? It’s a puzzle I can’t devote any time to solving. Not when I have to knock a blond idiot down a few pegs. I wonder what the Jake I met all those years ago would think about Hangman. I hope he’s doing well, wherever he is.

Taglist:

@chaoticassidy @kmc1989 @shanimallina87 @mayhemmanaged @desert-fern @cassiemitchell @dakotakazansky @roosterforme @cherrycola27 @thedroneranger @mak-32 @beyondthesefourwalls @sarahsmi13s @horseshoegirl

I DO NOT CONSENT TO HAVE MY WORK POSTED, TRANSLATED, OR PUBLISHED ON ANY SITES OTHER THAN HERE OR ON AO3 BY ME. IF YOU SEE MY WORKS ANYWHERE OTHER THAN HERE OR AO3, THEN THEY HAVE BEEN POSTED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AND I WILL BE WORKING TO TAKE THEM DOWN.

[another-blog-about-miis]

New Home (WDY AU Fic)

Will is slouching on the couch looking up at the ceiling, thinking about many things. It's been a month since he first moved in,a month since his mother decided to kick him out because of her selfish reasons. He's been having a hard time adjusting to his new life in this new house, Will was lucky enough that his father, Mike, and Mike's husband, Jonathan let him move in. Will doesn't really know his dad well, all he know from his mother is that he's a cowardly man but he's now knows that not the case. Will is finding it hard to relate to his step-brother Kyle, they don't really like each other because of their different viewpoints and other reasons.

Kyle is trans and bisexual and Will was taught that being part of the LGBTQ+ community wasn't okay. He is slowly unlearning these things because he learned his father was gay and he doesn't wanna disappoint him. All he knows about his new family so far is that Kyle hates him and Mike loves him but is disappointment by Will's actions but there's just one person he doesn't know yet, Jonathan. He sure seems nice to everyone in the household, even Will which surprises him, he doesn't know why someone would bother being nice to him or care about him. He notices Jonathan is quite a goofy person, having weird energy bursts at random moments, he's very loving towards Mike and Kyle, John even takes time out of his day to see if Will's alright. It just doesn't make sense to him.

Will groans and covers his eyes with his hands. he crouches down and sighs.

"You okay bud?"

Will uncovers his eyes and looks to the right to see Jonathan. He just stares, uncertain what to say.

Jonathan sits next to Will on the couch and softly smiles.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind and I just wanted to check up on you."

Will quietly groans.

"You'd be right about that..."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Will looks at him confused then scoffs.

"Isn't that something you rather do with your own kid?"

Jonathan smiles lows slowly but he tries to keep it up.

"Well you are one of my kids, so why wouldn't I?"

"You're not my dad... Mike is my dad! Stop pretending that you care about me, I know you don't, no one does!"

Jonathan frowns hearing the last part and starts to feel concerned.

"Hey! Hey... Now why do you think that? You know that's not true! Mike and I care about you very very much!"

Will starts to get pissed off.

"Stop with the act John! You don't know me, You only met me a year ago!"

"I've know you since you were a little baby Will! Me and you dad were friends before we started dating, since before he even met you're mother!"

Jonathan crosses his arms.

"I do care about you! I know how much you mean to Mike, you're his son which makes you my step-son. And it's fine if you don't see me as your other dad. You can just see me as Jonathan!"

John takes a deep breath. Will thinks for a moment and slouches on the couch again.

"I'm sorry. Mike told me to control my anger, but I don't know how... No one ever taught me."

Jonathan looks at Will.

"It's fine, It can be hard to deal with those emotions, especially if your a teenager! I'd know, I was a teen once..."

Jonathan laughs slightly at his comment. Will's frown lowers.

"I think some of my anger comes from dad not being there when I was younger..."

Silence fills the room, things feel awkward. Will starts regretting saying that.

Then Will feels a hand on his shoulder.

"That's understandable. Mike tried really hard to get you back from your mother but he wasn't able to do anything after she moved away with you to Canada. I mean she won full custody of you some how!that was a really hard time for you father..."

"He could've called..."

"She changed her number, Will."

"Oh..."

Silence fills the room again. Will turns his face as he tears up, trying to hide that he's crying but his sniffles gave it away.

"You don't need to hide how you feel to me, William You can always talk to me or you dad! we'll always be there for you, we promise."

Tears start to steam down Will's face. He can't hide it anymore.

"Just like Kyle, you're our son and we love you very much and that's never going to change."

Will covers his eyes and starts to sob, Jonathan leans close to him and rubs his back.

"It's okay, let it out..."

He continues rubbing Will's back as he tries to comfort him.

Mike walks into the living room.

"Hey what's going on I heard crying?"

"We were talking about the contact thing..."

"Oh..."

Mike walks over and sits next to Will, putting his arm around Will's shoulder. Jonathan takes his hands off of Will's back.

"Hey William, you okay buddy?"

Will takes a sec to catch his breath.

"No! W-Why would I be okay!? I'm ob-bviously crying!"

"I can see that... Sorry for asking. But hey, it's okay now! We could do something together if you want? Would that make you feel better?"

Jonathan gets up from the couch.

"Yeah why don't you to spend some time together, do some father son bonding! I'll just-"

Will grabs on to Jonathan's hand.

"No.. please stay... I want both of you here...."

Hearing those words surprises Jonathan and Mike.

"Really? Aww! That's really sweet of you Will!"

Will wipes his tears with his jacket sleeve.

"Yeah, yeah whatever...."

Jonathan sits back now and is smiling wide. Will lays his head on Mike, he feels embarrassed. He's not use to this.

"So what do you wanna do kiddo?"

"I-I don't know what to do... I just don't wanna be without my...."

Will takes a deep breath.

"Dads....?"

Mike and Jonathan can see the discomfort on his face after saying that.

"You don't have to call me dad if you don't want too, I'm fine with you calling me by Jonathan or even John!"

"But not Johnny! That's my nickname for him~"

Jonathan laughs.

"Okay......? You guys are weird....."

Both Mike and Jonathan laugh from this. Will smiles for the first time in a long while.

He's starting to like his new home.

(This was just experimental, if you like it please do reblog it :D)

[moonlight-moondrops]

A Queer Study: AWL's Nami

Among the bachelorettes of the A Wonderful Life games, Nami easily sticks out the most: she has a more androgynous style compared to the other girls, is the least expressive, and is the hardest to romance--she doesn't like flowers and gems like the other girls do (with the exception of autumn's Trick Blue flowers). All of these things make it easy to headcanon Nami as LGBTQ in some fashion. Heck, I always write Nami in my fanfics as queer/genderqueer too! In my opinion, what supports this theory the most isn't Nami's appearance or behavior, but her direct dialogue with the player in A Wonderful Life. Character spoilers under the cut!

First, let's take a look at the final heart events of Celia, Muffy, and Lumina:

Celia reveals that she turned down an arranged marriage to be with you.

Muffy wants to make your relationship serious if you're going to take her on a date.

Lumina is realizing her feelings for the player. And Nami...

Nami doesn't want to go home. Note that there's a lack of the word marriage in 2/3 of the ways you can get engaged to her. You can offer her a place to live, or she can ask to live with you. But unless you give her the blue feather directly, there's no specification that you'll be getting married--just that she'll be living with you. This carries on to her betrayal cutscene too--if you propose to another girl after inviting Nami to live with you, Nami will show up on your farm to (sarcastically) congratulate you on your engagement and say that means she won't be living with you--understandable, but again, romance nor marriage in mentioned in this dialogue. Of course, this could just be Nami's personality, especially taking her other heart events into account--you have to approach Nami like a cat. If you're too pushy or friendly, she'll be repelled pretty easily. You have to let her interact on her own terms. What sticks out to me is that while the other girls make it a point to confess their love to you, Nami does not.

I was pretty young when I first played AWL; if I had gone in blind and invited Nami to live me before choosing a girl, I would've just thought "oh cool, I guess she'll be me and [Wife's] roommate then, everybody wins." Nope! It would've been quite a surprise for baby me to get to the second year and find out that I'm now married to Nami. Of course, I know that the older Harvest Moon games take place in a more old-fashioned time period. Several games lack a dating stage, so you're essentially going from love interests to engaged without much build up, like an old-timey courtship. Basically, it'd be fair to assume that the social expectation would be that a man and woman must be married, if they are to live together. That makes me wonder: would it be more accurate to say that the relationship between the player and Nami is more of a queer platonic or domestic partnership, rather than a romantic relationship? Takakura makes it pretty obvious from the start of the game that you're expected to get married and have a child, and not doing so within the first year ends your game. Nami gets to stay in the valley with her best friend, and you fulfill a familial expectation, as well as obtain a life-long companion.

Because of how old-fashioned A Wonderful Life is, I doubt this theory is true. But it's nice to think that there's an alternative relationship option for those who aren't fond of the romance aspect, and that there's representation of this kind, whether you headcanon Nami as lesbian, asexual, etc. With that being said, I do think that Nami's events with Gustafa within AWL have a lot more romantic undertones than those she has with the player. I wonder how the Story of Seasons version of Nami will be different? Will she be more affectionate? Are they going to keep rival events in? (I sure hope so--I think Gustafa & Nami are a really cute couple!)

[adhd-mode-activate]

I pray that all of y'all are able to experience the gift that is teachable parents.

I grew up in a conversative Christian family (in my immediate family, I mean conversative in the religious sense. In my extended family, there are political conversative, but my parents strongly disagree with them). For years what I knew of the LGBTQ community was my aunt and her wife (who are quite frankly awful people; smol me assumed any gay person I met would hate me because I was a Christian) and what I googled at 2 AM

I didn't realize I was demi until I was 18 and went on a deep dive research hole in my dorm. I was scared to say anything to anyone. I assumed I'd be an outcast in the culture I grew up in, but I also didn't think anyone else would accept me.

I don't really know how it happened, but four years later I've got some of the coolest friends ever. One of my best friends thinks I'm crazy for the labels I collect like the human personification of a crow (which is where one of my nicknames comes from), but she loves me anyway. The other thinks I'm crazy for my faith, but she doesn't hate me for it. Instead, she asks me questions that I love to answer. I'm a demiromantic/biromantic asexual who's 90% sure that she's a girl about...60% of the time (gender is confusing, y'all), and I'm comfortable with that

And my parents? Well, it took three attempts at describing demisexuality to my mom for her to "get" it. She didn't understand how it was different from "normal" (mom, I've heard you talk about how you fell in love with my dad, and the one other person you dated before that, and how you couldn't imagine dating someone you weren't friends with first. There might be a reason you thought being demi was normal). But the thing is? After initially saying that she didn't understand, she was the one to come back and say "I've been thinking about it, and I realized I didn't handle that well. Could you explain again?" It took a while for me to come out to my parents. Little by little, testing the waters because of my irrational fears of disappointing them. They're not disappointed. My mom doesn't agree with me on everything, but she trusts me. If she has a question about anything related to attraction or gender identity or mental health, she asks me, because she trusts that even if we end up disagreeing, she'll learn something. My dad is a man of few words, but he will not hesitate to call out what he thinks is wrong. So the fact that he listens when I pace the room, verbally tearing apart an argument against trans rights, means a lot. Not only does he listen, he helps me strengthen my arguments. Any time I find a new fight, he gives me the resources and the weapons to wield it. He's a historian and a good one. When I am grieved and angry and bitter at the wrongs I see hidden behind the name of Christianity, he shows me history and where it's happened before and how it was righted. And then tells me to go. Keep making friends, keep putting my anger to good use, keep loving as deeply as I do. because if no one is angered by injustices they are never righted

My parents are still conversative Christians. They understand that I make decisions they never could. They know I will challenge them on things they never would have thought about, go places they never could, interact with people they never will interact with. But they're willing to learn from me. They're willing to trust me, willing to disagree with me without breaking the relationship. They're willing to be a safe space for any friend who is not safe in their own home for whatever reason. I pray that all of y'all will have parents like that, who even if they don't agree with you on everything, trust you (which I think is a healthy thing, each generation should grow and learn from the previous one and be willing to challenge things their predecessors wouldn't without losing the good already done)

And, if you don't think that's possible, you can have mine. Considering the fact that my mom was giddy when I told her I'd adopted a couple of my younger friends, and nearly cried with happiness when I told her that of course they could be her grandkids, she'll love you. My dad will be glad to show you one of his special interests (history, theology, cooking, or the potato cannon he and my brother built out of PVC pipe in the back yard are good starts if you're curious what special interests he might have). My mom will lavish you with all the affection you could ever want and then some. My dad will make you laugh when your emotions threaten to drown you.

If you don't have a home, I offer mine. Welcome home.

[love-bokumono-fics]

Fresh Crops! March 20 - March 26, 2023

This week’s newest fics and chapter updates for Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons on AO3!

*NOTE* Fics for the 2023 Bokumono Reverse Big Bang will not be included in this week’s update list. I am putting all submissions in their own post when all the stories are up 💜

Destined To Meet Again - by JupiterCallsMe; WIP, 2/?, 3.9k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: M/M Fandoms: Animal Parade Relationship: Wizard/Chase; Characters: Chase, Wizard Gale, Maya, Chase, Witch Vivi, Kasey the Farmer, Kathy Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Romance, Developing Relationship, Developing Friendships, Past Lives, Past Relationship(s), POV First Person, Transmasculine Chase (Headcanon), Loneliness, LGBTQ Themes, LGBTQ Character, Self-Discovery Summary: After a chance meeting spurred on by his best friends' impulsive nature, Chase finds himself drawn towards the mysterious Wizard of Harmonica Town. Encouraged by a strange feeling of familiarity, they grow closer, and Chase discovers what might have led him to this town. After centuries apart, two souls were destined to meet again.

Get Her Life Back - by forgetfulfarmer; Complete, 1/1, 1.7k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: Harvest Moon DS Cute Relationship: Rock/Jill; Characters: Rock, Pony | Aya | Jill Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Transformation, Redemption Summary: Jill is an unhappy wife. She is not in love with her husband and doesn't know if she ever was. But he decides to pick himself up and make himself a better person for her and she wonders if she can if fact love the man she married.

Your Secret War - by rockyroadster95; Complete, 1/1, 1.4k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: Gen Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town Relationship: Duke/Manna; Characters: Manna, Duke, Anna, Sasha Additional Tags: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Unhealthy Relationships, Morning Routines, Character Study, it is what it is, Sunrises Summary: Manna wakes up bright and early every morning for her usual morning routine. She has a winery to run and a husband she loves very much, thank you, even if things have been hard lately, we all understand all about that, though, and that's just what life hands you sometimes.

Remaster: Step Toward the Future - by darkryuu;

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: Major Character Death; Category: F/M Fandom: Back To Nature Characters: Cliff, Popuri, Kai, Doctor | Trent, Gray Summary: Jill ("Claire") is struggling to find a goal in life after high school. After her parents boot her off to her late grandfather's farm, everything around her is never quite the same as she struggles to find herself and her future.

Seedlings and Sprouts - by TheBeckster; WIP, 29/?, 23k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Categories: Gen, Multi Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town, Story of Seasons (2014), Trio of Towns, The Tale of Two Towns, Harvest Moon 2 GBC, Animal Parade Relationships: Carter/Doctor | Trent, Claire the Farmer/Cliff, Fritz/Raeger, Gotz/Vesta, Female Farmer/Ludus, Holly/Hector, Female Farmer/Ford, Farmer/Hinata, Sara/Will, Sara/Bill, Gill/Angela, Perry/Molly, Rick/Elli, Perry & Gill, Claire the Farmer/Doctor Trent | Torre; Characters: Cliff, Claire, Doctor | Trent, Carter the Pastor, Fritz, Raeger, Gotz | Gotts, Georgia, Iluka, Hector, Holly, Ludus, Henry the Farmer | Haruto, Hinata, Ford, Sara, Will, Bill, Molly the Farmer, Perry, Rick, Elli | Elly Additional Tags: yes this collection includes a star wars crossover, Tumblr Prompt, prompt collection, kiss prompts, Fluff, Angst, Drama, oneshots, Ficlets Summary: A collection of tumblr prompts I've filled over the last couple years based on Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games. Every chapter is a different prompt. Should be posted in chronological order from oldest to newest. Prompt themes and ships will be included in the chapter titles.

Batas yang Tidak untuk Kau Lampaui - by rasyalleva; Complete, 1/1, 1.3k; Language: Bahasa Indonesia

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandom: Friends of Mineral Town Relationship: Claire the Farmer/Gray; Characters: Claire the Farmer, Gray, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Popuri, Rick, Elli | Elly, Doctor | Trent, Cliff, Kai, Karen, Mary the Librarian | Marie Additional Tags: Friendship, Romance, Parody, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Canon Universe, Canon - Video Game, Based On Original Harvest Moon Games Summary: Claire ingin membasahi diri dengan laut dan melampaui puncak bukit, tapi pada satu titik, badannya membentur sesuatu; seperti ada dinding tak terlihat yang melarangnya untuk menjangkau lebih jauh.

Biar Aku Singgah dalam Kenangan - by rasyalleva; Complete, 1/1, 1.1k; Language: Bahasa Indonesia

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandom: Friends of Mineral Town Relationship: Gray/Mary the Librarian | Marie; Characters: Mary the Librarian | Marie, Gray, Cliff, Kai, Rick, Karen, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Claire, Popuri, Mineral Town Residents Additional Tags: Internal Monologue, Marriage, Slice of Life, Canon Universe, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship Summary: Teruntuk hari-hari ketika mereka menginap satu kamar di penginapan kala kanak-kanak, ketika mereka belajar bersama di gereja dalam bimbingan Carter, ketika mereka bermalam di tepi pantai hingga pagi hari, ketika mereka membaca bergantian surat dari Trent selama ia sekolah kedokteran … dan teruntuk banyak lagi kenangan-kenangan lainnya, Mary hanya bisa memohon, "Bertahanlah selamanya."

And one Not Safe For Tumblr work by TheFallen1986

[planets-and-prose]

Meet My OC's: Deborah

Picrew linked here, and as always, more info under the cut!

Physical Description: Deborah is about 5'2" and very pale. She has auburn hair that's kind of in a shaggy, overgrown bob because she cut off her super long hair by herself and it didn't turn out AMAZING but she doesn't care that much anyway so it lives. She wears kind of bulky clothes, slowly leaning a little more butch but "acceptably" so, jeans and flannels vibes. Green eyes, wears glasses, and has hearing aids because she has quite a bit of hearing loss (since she was young). Is more heavyset, definitely the least athletic type build out of all of them.

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Summary: As many of those who've attended one know, college campuses are some sort of insular world of their own. They're tiny communities, full of burnout, existential crisis...and, well, in the case of a mid-sized private college known for its environmental studies and biology programs, there are...things beyond human understanding.

In a series of short stories, follow five individuals in various stages of their own journeys as they band together to keep their community safe from any forces that choose to harm it, and attempt to better understand this new world that they've been thrust into. And...also, try to maybe not die in the process. That's important too.

Genre: NA...Urban Fantasy

Themes: Found Family (if I ever don't put that, please assume I've been replaced), the American college system, stages of life, personal growth, marginalization, lgbt+ relationships, community.

General Triggers: mentions of discrimination, probable violence, definite body horror (transformations specifically), general trauma, language, more will be added as discovered and all excerpts will be tagged appropriately.

Characters:

Dr. Semira Adams, a sweet 46 year old Southern environmental studies professor/monster hunter specializing in the...unique biological features of the surrounding forest and how it's shifting to adapt to them.

Briar Rackham, a 28 year old TA and graduate student for Dr. Adams. They're a model grad student--straight A's, volunteering with nature camps for kids in the nearby cities, working on an excellent dissertation, LGBTQ+ rights advocate...and a recently turned werewolf.

Also: Worldbuilding re: werewolves!

Achaemenes (Kay),a 24 year old super-super-super senior in pre-med who's delaying his studies as long as humanly possible. Because graduation means there's no excuse to keep away from his hometown, a tiny rural community that's a well-hidden cult, half-populated by fae.

Also: Worldbuilding re: fey!

Dawn Solace, a...well, her body is 21 but her actual age is 39. So let's go with 39-year-old vampire who continues to work with music and theater at this college that she now calls her home.

Also: Worldbuilding re: vampires!

Masumi Yoshida,a 26-year-old whose whole life is a lie. According to her family, she's working on two very intense double majors and holding down an excellent internship on the side. In reality, she works at the chain burger joint on campus, telling her coworkers that she had to drop out due to a family tragedy and is just saving to enroll next semester when that's the last thing on her mind.

Deborah McCaen,a 20 year old junior, dual majoring in history and anthropology, with a focus on oral tradition and mythology. After being homeschooled her whole life, she moved away to college and found a love in understanding the "demonic creatures" told of in the fantasy books she wasn't allowed to read as a child.

Writing:

To be added as more is posted!

#continuing ed sots#wip intro#new wip#paranormal#supernatural#supernatural elements#werewolves#no vampires yet#yet#fey#fae#urban fantasy#fantasy#continuing ed: sots… See all

planets-and-prose

Last Line Tag

I was tagged by @the-down-upside-finch (their post is here)! So here this is! :)

Half of [Briar] wanted to help Dr. Adams and make sure their favorite professor, basically their surrogate mom, made it back safe, and the other half wanted to run home, go back to bed, and hope this was all an awful, fucked-up dream.

No tags for now, basically an open tag, bc I have like two more of these that I'll do throughout the evening! :)

#tag game#continuing ed sots#thank you for the tag!!#oc: briar

planets-and-prose

Meet My OC's: Dr. Semira Adams

Full Name: Semira Naomi Adams (Maiden Name Baker)

Age: 46

Gender: Cis Female

Sexuality: Heterosexual (yes I know, I finally made a straight OC)

Occupation: Tenured wildlife biology professor/researcher by day, monster hunter by night.

#oc: semira#oc: dr adams#ya bitch cannot decide on a tag#continuing ed sots#continuing education#meet my ocs#oc questions… See all

planets-and-prose

Continuing Education: Vampires

Basic Info: Vampires are undead creatures who are mostly human, but whose bodies function essentially like someone in a coma’s would. They can transmit vampirism to other individuals as well.

Creation: Vampires are made by one vampire sharing blood with another. In rare, occasional cases, saliva can do it, but this has only been recorded in highly immunocompromised or immunosuppressed individuals. For this to work, saliva would have to enter the bloodstream directly during a bite.

#continuing ed sots#my worldbuilding#worldbuilding#my ocs

planets-and-prose

Meet My OC's: Deborah

Full Name: Deborah Esther McCaen

Age: 20

Gender: Female. But said with all the confidence of that person raised super sheltered who just learned about gender being a spectrum. (Spoiler: a they will sneak into the pronoun list at some point in this story. Not at all based on real experiences--)

Sexuality: Straight. But, again, said with the confidence level of someone who has never understood what sexual attraction is much less how it might apply to someone of the same gender. (Spoiler: this too will change lmao)

Occupation: Student, studying a fun little history/anthropology double major, focusing on oral tradition and myths. And who maybe reads a bit too much about cryptids.

Physical Description: Deborah is about 5'2" and very pale. She has auburn hair that's kind of in a shaggy, overgrown bob because she cut off her super long hair by herself and it didn't turn out AMAZING but she doesn't care that much anyway so it lives. She wears kind of bulky clothes, slowly leaning a little more butch but "acceptably" so, jeans and flannels vibes. Green eyes, wears glasses, and has hearing aids because she has quite a bit of hearing loss (since she was young). Is more heavyset, definitely the least athletic type build out of all of them.

Personality: Deborah makes the word "awkward" seem put together and smooth. She was homeschooled and oh boy it shows. She does not know about most social norms and was INCREDIBLY sheltered from anyone outside her church, so like...making friends? Normal conversation? Not really. She also definitely has a touch of the 'tism, and that manifests in both struggles reading social cues and not quite realizing that when people ask "what type of stuff do you like?" that a 30 minute rant about Mothman is not perhaps the most socially acceptable response. But she takes promises and bonds seriously, a stayover from the religion she was raised in, and is loyal to a fault to the people who give her time of day.

Other Important Stuff: My lovely little disclaimer here. I don't mean any disrespect to the way that I'm portraying the LDS faith, I'm just portraying some experiences that people who had adverse experiences with the church might have had, particularly as a queer person. I know a great number of individuals who find a lot of comfort in the church, but as someone who did not, I want to tell that story too.

[eradicatetehnormal]

I love how Youtube has opened up a new space for journalism.

Anyways, I read through the comments of the video after watching the whole thing, and it made me remember how awful the discourse around sex work and porn is. Those two topics are one of the few that make me feel like I'm socially moderate.

Anytime time we talk about sex work and the effects of porn, it's almost always "Sex work is empowering for women and gives them the autonomy to objectify themselves" or "Sex work is demeaning to women, puts them in danger, and is immoral." It's just like, why those two extremes? I wish these topics could be treated with the moral grayness they deserve. Neither side really understands the other.

The side that's saying sex work is empowering is just kind of ignoring how it's really just a job. Take away all the social stigma and criminalization, women are just kind of doing what they've been able to do for a while now. Working. Can it be empowering? Depending on the person, sure, but it's about as empowering to women as a whole as say, working as a cashier at Walmart. Cool that we can provide for ourselves :) Actually getting into it though, a lot of people making this point do deliberately ignore how dehumanizing it actually is to work for say, the porn industry. A lot of people get boiled down to their categories. Shem*le, ebony, Asian, BBW, things of that nature. This does unfortunately contribute to how these groups get treated in real life. It may not be the main or only source of problems such as trans women and queer people generally having higher rates of experience with sexual violence, but it certainly doesn't help.

With the anti-sex work side, they hyper-focus on human trafficking, when most sex workers get into the industry out of choice. It's not because of glamourization either. Quite frankly, aside from Pretty Woman, which is a debatable example, I don't know what media these people are watching where sex workers and their jobs are seen as ideal. Any time I see a sex worker in a movie or tv show, they're either dumb, drug addicts, dirty, or dead. If you ask the vast majority of women across all ages if sex work, whether it be OnlyFans modeling, escorting, stripping, etc. would be their first choice of work, I guarantee that most of them we'll say no. Because most of us understand. Most of us know, if not the physical danger, the social harm it could cause us to sell our bodies. Places won't hire us, people will refuse to date us, people will assault us, and we will be disowned by family. I'm not gonna lie, thinking of sex work as being an easy job where you spend 15 minutes with a dude at some motel or you take pictures of yourself and get paid thousands, is a dude thing. It's an outlook you can only have if you don't have to deal with social stigma or the threat of pregnancy.

When it comes to the actual video that I linked, the woman herself shows a good dichotomy of these two sides. On one hand, she understands and is empathetic to abused sex workers. She isn't just dog-whistling about survivors of trafficking, she genuinely wants to help them and she sees their value as humans. That's a great thing, especially with her being a Christian, a group of people who put down and scorn sex workers. At the same time though, she does seem to blame things like porn for being the main reason people would call prostitutes and feel entitled to sex. Even though she recognizes the loneliness of those who'd even think about it.

Upon doing further research. The organization has lobbied Congress to decriminalize sex work, but it also has urged people part of its safehouse to not read magazines with progressive-leaning outlooks on sex. The organization she runs, "Hookers for Jesus" is also unsurprisingly anti-LGBTQ, which discriminates against a lot of people who might benefit from an organization like this as homeless queer people are 3-7 times more likely to take up sex work in order to survive.

IDK how to end this. So yeah.

[thirteens-pocket-watch]

@idkaguyorsomething I am so glad you asked! (Btw this is my first time making anything like this so sorry if it's not great 😭)

The easiest queer reading is in Sally's story line. She sees a colourful interesting community and feels drawn to it, feels more herself there than at home. But an overcontrolling parent or authority figure pulls her away, tells her she's not ready to partake in that sort of thing and isolates her from what she loves. It doesn't stop and only serves to breed resentment.

This can quite clearly be read as a young queer person discovering other queer people only for authority in their life trying to drive them apart from it.

Now Jack's story is where it gets interesting. He feels lonely and isolated. He has everything society tells him he should want from life but something is missing. So he goes looking for the something. And he finds it. He finds a world that's the opposite of what he knows, full of love and joy. He thinks it's wonderful and he tried to introduce it to the people he know but...they don't get it. They don't see it like he does and he can't get them on board. He thinks maybe if he tries to only show them the parts that they could understand and like, maybe then he could get them on board. But this approach only destroyed him and thing he loved in the end because cutting out the parts that the citizens of Halloween Town didn't find palatable meant the heart and soul of Christmas was lost.

The reading I have given is about respectability politics, that you can't cut out and exclude those of us society doesn't find acceptable without losing what our community stands for. We have to embrace every single type of queer and LGBTQ person or we will never achieve true happiness and equality.

Hey guys I'm thinking about a queer reading on The Nightmare Before Christmas and I'm losing my mind

[chainsawctopus]

Do you have Asa or any part 2 character's headcanons?

I loooooove the part 2 gang, and I've posted a bunch of hcs for them on Twitter a month ago! I'll copy and paste it all here

Warning, it's mostly Yoshida because my god I'm insane about him and I apologize

-Octopi are intelligent creatures so Yoshida's contract with the octopus devil is for him to get good grades because it doesnt want to work with a dumb human

-Yoshida ONLY drinks iced coffee, he can tolerate room temp but never hot

-Yoshida really likes cold food in general

-As a kid, Asa knew running while holding scissors is bad so she never did it because she knew she'd trip with them, but in grade school she probably tripped and got hurt anyway from a nearby classmate holding scissors

-Yoshida likes lemon lime sodas because I like lemon lime sodas no other reason it's just true

-Nayuta is a selective mute, but she and Denji click so well that he immediately knows if she needs anything even if she doesnt say or sign anything

-As reckless as he is sometimes, Denji is still very good at taking care of Nayuta, he learned a lot from Aki and from taking care of all the dogs. THIS I'm quite sure is basically canon, even just from the small glimpse of them together in ch97

-If CSM took place in modern times, Yoru is SHIT at video games and Asa is average (hi, not part of the original twt thread, I just remembered that csm doesn't take place THAT long ago and that Denji and Power literally bought a video game console with... Aki's money... So yeah the modern times part was a little dumb of me, but it still applies to some of the hcs ahead)

-Denji spams buttons in fighting games and Yoshida has combos memorized, but somehow he still loses to Denji sometimes

-Yuko is better than all of them and is probably a speedrunning champion

-If all four (five w yoru) of them played games together, Denji and Asa would be at each other's throats while Yoshida and Yuko silently keep playing and win in the end

-Yoru:"I WANT TO KEEP PLAYING!"

Asa:"YORU IT'S BEEN HOURS, IT'S MY TURN TO PLAY ALREADY"

-Remember the doom & acnh thing back then? Yeah Yoru is the one buying acnh and Yuko is the one buying doom

-Yoshida is a rhythm gamer and has spent hundreds of hours on his favs, BUT HE REFUSES TO TRY OSU.

-Denji unironically likes cbat

-Yuko would secretly be one of those popular vocaloid producers that make songs with really dark themes

-Asa listens to her songs a lot without knowing it's Yuko

-Oopsie I just made a fanfic prompt by accident lol feel free to steal the idea

That's the original thread! Here's a couple more hcs I have though, mostly just lgbtq hcs:

-Yuko is nonbinary (in the same way she can't understand people, she can't understand gender roles and all that dumb shit cishets push)

-Related to that last part, Yuko is autistic! It was genuinely my first thought when I read the "I don't understand people" line in 105, I love her so dearly (also I'm also a nonbinary autistic so I'm projecting a little)

-Yoshida is gay and grey aromantic (grayromantic?? Forgot the term) (Also projecting except I'm bi instead of gay, u can tell I love projecting onto my scrimblos)

-Yukoasa are bi4les! Asa is bi but is sapphic leaning after the interaction that is ch104 JSJSKFJDJ she really thought man, men aren't worth it and just visited yuko

-Asa is transfem!! Idk I just saw the flashbacks she had and how she had short hair at one point and I was like hmm and my transfem moots agreed (That post blew up a little actually and some people genuinely thought I was weird or that I was stereotyping cause of the short hair, so I don't talk about this hc that often. I genuinely would've headcanoned her as transfem before I even saw the short hair though, I love hitting csm characters with the transification beam.)

-Speaking of, Yoshida is transmasc! He's a reincarnation of Togata from Fire Punch that was able to successfully transition (socially at least), and he binds! This is one of my fav hcs cause god I love Togata and Yoshida's eerieness in part 1 is really EXTREMELY similar to Togata, and they both have really similar features like black eyes and hair, the fringe between their eyes, the mole under their lip, AND THE WAY THEY SMILE??? I genuinely no joke think Yoshida was meant to be a nod to Togata back when Fujimoto drew him in part 1

-Back to the videogames thing, Asa would be 1st in Mario Kart then fuck up last minute right before she reaches the finish line, and she ends up in last place. My girl trips at the worst time even in video games 💀

Okaaaay brain empty now, hope you enjoyed all these hcs!!

[forever1kay]

down for you

Summary: You and Billie reunite after five years of being apart. She’s caught off guard when she discovers two things that weren’t quite there when she left.

Pairing: Billie Eilish x fem!black!reader

Warnings: RPF, big surprises, vulgar language, mentions of sex, mentions of tic attack, second hand embarrassment, sad or happy ending (depends on which path you decide to take). Let me know if I forgot anything!

Note: I do understand that Billie Eilish is not apart of the LGBTQ+ community, and in no way is this disrespectful to her. She hasn’t made any complaints about girls making wlw fics about her, so let’s not dtm.

————————————————————

Alternate endings!!

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩: For those of you who choose to forgive and get back together with Billie.

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨: For those of you who decide to forgive Billie but stay away from dating her.

Kayla is Kayla Nicole Jones (Nicole TV on YouTube)

Donielle is Donielle T. Hansley Jr.

————————————————————

"Best friends or lovers

Can't seem to draw the line between each other

What is defined means nothing to a brother

You just don't give a damn, that's why I think I love ya"

Song: Down For You - Kehlani & BJ the Chicago Kid, 2015

—————

You and your bestfriend Kayla were both going for a peaceful ride outside on your motorcycles. You hadn't spent much time together recently, and you hadn't ridden your motorcycles in years. There was no way you could say no when she said she was coming over.

You'd both been really busy with your own lives recently. She's a YouTuber with a husband, a newborn, and a hyperactive toddler, and you're a psychologist who nearly always has a patient. It was finally time for you and your friend to unwind and catch up.

You two and her toddler, to be precise.

"Mommy, why we didn't seen auntie in so long?" Her son Messiah asks.

"Because mommy be busy." She replies.

"Can't you get un-busy or something?" He asks in confusion, still not understanding why he hadn't seen you in so long.

"I wish it was that easy." She replies to him.

"Auntie, what you did to your old house?" He asks you.

You shrug. "Someone else lives there now."

"What?!" He asks shocked. "Who?"

"I don't know, munch." You tell him.

The silence doesn't stay long, as you both know it won't.

"Mommy, who's that girl?" Messiah asks, looking forward onto the road.

"What girl?" Kayla asks before finally noticing who Messiah was talking about. "Oh shit!"

You're all thrown off your motorcycles as you swerve to avoid running over the body of a pasty white girl who is lying outside in the middle of the road for some reason.

"Y'all okay?" You ask your best friend and her son.

Your best friend appears to be in excellent health, but you can't say the same for her son.

For the first time in his life, he stopped talking, but now he's crying.

He rarely ever cries.

She appears to disregard him, knowing that he was most likely startled by the ejection and not wounded by the impact of the fall.

"Are you going to try to help her?" She asks you, looking down on the girl.

You nod and take a deep breath before kneeling down to her level.

"Yo."

She doesn't speak and you start to get scared. "Oh lord, I think we killed her!"

Seconds later, Kayla decides to walk up and poke her.

She groans which startles Kayla; forcing her to jump back, screaming loudly.

"AHH! SHIT!" Kayla yells, throwing herself backwards and sliding herself across the pavement. "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh, shit." Her yelling stops, but tears continue to swell up in her eyes. "Ooh, shit. Ooh, shit. Ooh, shit. I'm finna go to your house."

She gently takes up her bike before reinstalling Messiah in his seat, hopping on, and speeding away.

You frown, annoyed that she left you there. But, in any case, you choose to care for the girl who was still lying in the road.

"Are you okay?"

"No."

"Did we hurt you?"

"No." She shakes her head, sitting up slightly. "I had a tic attack and then fell to the ground and just laid there. I hit my head at least three times."

You then extend your hand to her, offering to assist her in getting up.

You hiss and step back as she places her hand in yours.

She cocks her head to the side, evidently confused.

"How long have you been out here?!" You exclaim. "Your hand almost gave me a damn heat stroke!"

"I don't know? Thirty minutes?"

"Thirty minutes lying in the middle of a Los Angeles street and no one thought of scooping you up?"

"It's coronavirus outside."

"You're right." You nod. "Whats your name?"

"I'm Billie." She tells you.

"Y/n." You reply, sticking a hand out for her to shake.

She raises an eyebrow and you roll your eyes.

"I won't pull away this time."

She gladly shakes your hand and then allows you to pull her up.

"You live around here?"

"I live on the other side of town."

"Oh?" You reply. "You rich or something?"

She hesitates. "I like to stay humble."

"You remind me of a girl that I once knew." You tell her, walking over to your motorcycle.

"See her face when ever I, I look, at you." She sings.

"I was being serious, Billie." You tell her. "I wasn't trying to sing."

"Oh." She blushes. "Well, have you ever known anyone with my name?"

"I have actually." You tell her, pulling down your mask and ignoring the face of realization she gives you. "This one girl from my choir. We also used to homeschool together. We were like fifteen or something."

"Does she have a middle and last name?"

"Yeah, Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell. It's a mouthful but I still like it."

"Y/n Y/l/n." She starts, finally pulling down her face mask so that you can see the remainder of her face. "Nice to see you again."

"No way!" You exclaim. "Bils! Is that really you?"

"I think so." She chuckles.

"You look so different!"

"Five years can change a person a lot."

"Dude, I looked for you for years." You say honestly. "Congrats on your success though. I'm proud of you."

"Aww, stop it," She blushes. "Thank you, love."

"Would you like to come over for some coffee or something? I think we should catch up."

She nods. "Yeah, I would like that."

"You ever rode on a motorcycle?" You ask her.

She shakes her head.

"Today's your lucky day." You tell her, straddling your motorcycle. "Come on, love."

"You're insane."

You roll your eyes. "What do you think will happen?"

"We might fall."

"That rarely happens."

"Just happened twice right in front of my eyes."

"Girl." You growl. "Get over yourself. I won't let anything happen to you."

She huffs and climbs onto the motorcycle behind you, wrapping her arms tightly around your waist. "If I die, I'm going to haunt you and pee in your lemonade."

You roll your eyes but don't reply.

About ten minutes later the two of you arrive back at your house. Messiah and Kayla are outside on the porch.

"Kayla, do you remember William Eyelash from the choir?" You ask her.

"Pasty white girl?" She asks. "Her brother was like a leprechaun or some shit? Her dog ate my weave that one time?"

"Umm," You chuckle awkwardly. "Yeah."

"Mhm," she hums. "What's up."

"Kayla, this is Billie."

Kayla raises an eyebrow. "What are you doing here? Didn't I cut you the fuck off? Aren't you blocked?"

Billie laughs. "Same old Kayla."

Kayla chuckles. "Nice to see you again, ghost. No tan, huh?"

"Kayla!" You screech. "Be nice."

"Sorry." She chuckles. "But seriously, Billie, what are you doing here?"

"Y/n missed me and my juicy gorilla grip coochie so she invited me for coffee."

"Mcscuse me?" You raise an eyebrow. "Girl, don't do that."

Billie playfully rolls her eyes. "Okay, we missed each other and wanted to catch up."

"So y'all are about to hang out without me?" Kayla asks in her signature whiny voice.

You roll your eyes, knowing she's just being overdramatic. She's staying the night anyways.

"We'll be inside if you need us."

The two of you walk into the house and close the door behind you.

You walk into your kitchen to make the coffee—making her’s vegan of course—and she stands at the door awkwardly.

"You can make yourself at home, Billie." You tell her.

It's almost as if all she needed was your approval because the instant you said those words, she walked over to the couch and flung her legs up to get comfy.

"You and Kayla, huh?" She speaks half jokingly as you bring her coffee.

"No." You reply. "She has a husband."

She nods, glancing slightly towards your left hand. "Are you in a relationship?"

"Getting right into it, I see." You reply.

She nods. "Hell yeah."

You laugh and prepare to respond, but your phone rings.

You take it out and link it to your television, which has a camera built in, so you can answer video calls from there.

"Hi, mom!" You exclaim.

"Hi, baby!" She yells. "Is that Billie?"

"Yes, mom."

"Hi, Billie!"

"Hi!" Billie smiles politely, not remembering your mom's name.

"How is your family doing?" Your mom asks. "It's been years."

"They're good!" She exclaims happily. "How are you and Mr. Y/l/n?"

She chuckles. "Mr Y/l/n passed away four years ago, sugar."

Billie's eyes widen. "Really? I'm so sorry."

"It was a hard time, but we got through it together." Your mom replies. "I think Y/n wanted to tell you but I don't think you answered."

Billie blushes slightly. "I didn't. That's the reason why we're catching up now. I disappeared." She turns to face you. "And I'm sorry for that."

You shrug. "Where's my boy?"

Your mother stands up and begins to walk away, which takes some time.

"You have a son?" Billie asks.

You chuckle. "No, I don't have a son."

Billie breathes a sigh of relief as your mother turns the camera around to see your dog laying on the floor watching television.

"Boots!" You exclaim, drawing the small dog's attention to the phone, which is showing your smiling face.

He barks cheerfully and wags his tail, but you're certain he has no idea what's going on.

From the background of the call, you can hear a faint "Mommy!" from your daughter.

Your eyes brighten, and you lean in closer to the television.

Billie's heart begins to sink.

"Mommy's baby!" As a little girl takes the phone, you excitedly respond. "Are you enjoying yourself with Nana?"

Your daughter nods rapidly. "Yes but I miss you! When you gon' come get me?"

"I'll be there tomorrow with Auntie Kayla and Messiah."

"Really, mommy? Messiah?" She asks.

"Yes, baby. Messiah will be there."

"But I don't like him." She whines. "I think he should die."

"Girl, don't get your ass beat." You threaten.

"You won't beat me." She tests you. "I will tell my nana."

You roll your eyes. "Say hi."

She finally acknowledges Billie sitting there. "Hi!"

Billie waves back.

"What are your name?" Your daughter asks.

"I'm Billie." Billie smiles. "What's your name?"

"My name is Leily." She says shyly. "But my mommy and daddy call me princess and baby girl."

"That is a very beautiful name. And your nicknames are cute too." Billie tells her.

"Thank you." Leily smiles. "Are you a ghost? You look like one."

Billie blushes and you stifle a laugh. "No, love. I'm not a ghost."

"Oh, okay!" Leily smiles. "I like your forehead. It's big. Do people be drawing on there?"

Billie facepalms and you laugh loudly. "Sometimes people draw on there."

"Can I draw on there?"

You finally decide to interrupt the conversation. "That's enough torture for today, Leily. I'll see you tomorrow. Be nice for nana."

"Okay!" She smiles. "I love you, bye!"

She hangs the phone up.

"I wanted to talk to my mom but okay." You sigh before turning to face Billie. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay!" She smiles. "I'm sorry about your dad."

You shrug. "It's whatever. Shit happens."

"It's not whatever." She retaliates. "I was supposed to be there for you."

"Yeah, you were." You shrug. "But you weren't. Whatever. Let's move past it."

"I was your best friend. Once I started blowing up, I left you. For years. No explanation, no calls, no texts, no replies. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing." You chuckle. "We're here to catch up with recent events, not to recollect the past."

"But-"

"Billie," You warn.

"Okay." She sighs. "How old is your daughter? She's an Angel."

"She's three." You tell her. "And thank you."

"Who's her dad?" Billie asks nervously.

"Donielle." You tell her.

"Donielle?!" She yells.

"Donielle." You repeat.

"Donielle Hansley?" She asks for confirmation.

You nod. "Yeah."

Her eyes widen. "You're fucking with me."

"Not in the slightest." You giggle.

"You got the boy of your dreams! Holy shit!"

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩:

"Something like that."

"You don't seem happy." She frowns worriedly. "Is he deadbeat or some shit?"

"Oh god, no. He isn't. Trust me." You reassure her. "He just was never really the person of my dreams though. We weren't meant to be, it just happened."

"Why don't you just go after who you really want?" She asks.

"I'm not sure, honestly." You tell her, shifting uncomfortably. "Donielle is cool though. He's a good father to our daughter, he's good at caring for me if need be, he takes care of himself, he cares for everyone around him. He's amazing."

"You still seem hesitant." She tells you. "Do you still think about her? Your dream girl?"

You don't reply.

"...I still think about you."

You raise your head up with the help of her finger guiding your chin. "I know you liked me as much as you liked Donielle back then."

You roll your eyes. "Obviously you know that, Billie. Kayla's loud mouth ass told you. Then you got caught kissing another girl. Even after we agreed we were going to talk."

"I was young and dumb." You tell her. "Don't hold that shit against me."

You shrug and kick your legs up, resting your legs across her lap. "Sometimes I hold grudges."

"Sometimes I think about the 90s."

You blink and she laughs.

"Sorry I don't know why I expected you to get the reference." She laughs. "It's my brother's song."

"Your brother?" You ask. She nods. "Don't tell me his name. Ferb?"

She shakes her head.

"Buford?"

Again, she shakes her head.

"Baljeet?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Now you know that's not right."

"I'm still thinking it's Ferb."

She face palms. "It's Finneas."

"Imagine y'all had a brother named Ferb." You laugh. "Finneas, Ferb, and Billie. Who would Billie be, I don't know. There wasn't a Billie in Phineas and Ferb. But it would still be cool."

She laughs loudly, genuinely thinking about which character she'd be in that case. "You're like...on drugs or some shit, dude."

You don't reply, just laugh as hard as she does, if not harder.

And once you stop laughing and look over at her, she's already looking at you.

"...what?" You question, confused as to why she looks like she's in love right now.

"Do you laugh like this with him?"

"Maybe."

"I need you to answer the question, Y/N. Seriously."

"Yeah, sometimes."

"Sometimes meaning not often?"

"Yes? What else is it supposed to mean?"

She shrugs. "Why don't we try to be friends again?"

You raise an eyebrow.

"I said friends. I just miss you and I want to be back in your life. You can't seriously hold five year old shit against me."

"I can and I will if I want."

"But do you want though?" She asks. "Better yet, is this about Donielle? Do you not want to get close to me again because you think it'll interfere with your relationship with Donielle?"

"Billie," You sigh, removing your legs from her lap then turning to face her. "I-"

But again, you get cut off.

This time by Kayla walking through the front door with Messiah.

Billie stares at her looking slightly agitated and you raise your eyebrow at her.

She sizes the both of you up. "Don't look at me like that! 'Cause I don't know what you look like right now. Hell."

"Steady using quotes from your YouTube videos."

She rolls her eyes and takes Messiah down the hall to the bathroom since he doesn't know how to unbuckle his belt.

"I'm sorry." You apologize to Billie again. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you, I really am. But today doesn't seem like it's the right day. We keep getting interrupted and I-"

Your phone rings again.

She frowns.

"It's Donielle." You tell her and she nods. You answer the phone and his face appears on the TV screen, smiling at you and Billie both.

"What's up, Billie?" He says.

She raises an eyebrow. "You recognize me?"

"Duh." He says. "We were in the choir together for years. And you're an A list celebrity. It's kind of hard not to recognize you."

"Tell that to Y/n." Billie laughs.

He laughs with her before acknowledging you. "Hi, baby."

You roll your eyes. "What's up, Donielle?"

"Remember Elena?"

"Yes, Donielle."

"So, I asked her out."

You sit up in your seat quickly. "REALLY!? WHAT DID SHE SAY?"

"We have a date for next Thursday."

"Holy shit!" You exclaim. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thank you, thank you." He smiles. "I just wanted to call to tell you that and to say hi to Billie."

"You knew she was here?" You ask him.

He nods. "Princess and your mom called me. I think they were trying to stop the whole thing because they want us back together."

"Hey, we tried and it didn't work out. There's nothing we can do about that."

He nods in agreement. "I'm going to miss fucking you."

Your eyes widen and you motion over to Billie who's eyes look like they're ready to pop out of her head.

"My bad." Donielle snickers. "No hard feelings though, right?"

You and Billie both shake your heads.

"Y/N, call me tomorrow when you're on your way home from picking up baby girl so we can all spend some time together."

"Okay!" You exclaim. "Tell Elena I said hi!"

"Alright, bye Y/N! Bye Billie!"

With that he hangs up the phone and your nervously turn to face Billie.

"You guys weren't even dating but you were fucking?! You were fuck buddies?!"

"Surprise?"

"But he called you baby!"

"Nickname."

"Shit, Y/N. Why didn't you say that from the start?"

"Because we were dating at first for the first two years but we broke up a few days before our daughter turned three." You frown. "I'm sorry, I didn't think to tell you that."

"You just wanted to see how much I'd push you, didn't you?"

You nod slowly.

"Fuck, Y/N." She groans, throwing a pillow at you. "You'd better be lucky I really like you."

"You don't even know me anymore."

"Maybe not, but I can get to know you again if you let me."

You sigh and turn away from her, choosing not to respond and instead waiting for Kayla and Messiah to return.

Messiah emerges from the bathroom and immediately takes a seat on your lap.

"Did you wash your hands?" You ask him.

He nods rapidly.

"Where's mommy?"

"She went to sleep in your bed and she told me to come out here with you."

You roll your eyes. "Of course she did. There are other beds."

Messiah shrugs and leans into you, looking Billie in her eyes. "My momma said you're a ghost. Is that true?"

You laugh loudly, and Billie blushes angrily, obviously unhappy that Kayla has called her a ghost yet again.

"I'm not a ghost." She tells him.

"Oh." He speaks sadly. "You look like one."

You laugh even more, your back dangling halfway off the couch as you fight to stay motionless.

Billie is passing you her usual mean mug when your laughing dies down, and Messiah is gazing at her.

"You my auntie's girlfriend?" He asks her. She looks up at you.

"You're making me answer this?"

"Do you want me to lie to this little angel?"

You huff. "Maybe in the future. For now she's my friend, and I promise not to hold anything against her anymore as long as she treats me right."

"I promise."

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨:

When Billie asks if you got the boy of your dreams, you give a sweet grin. "I'd say I got everything I wanted,"

"Wow, that's great." She sighs, a sorrowful smile on her face as she sees your enthusiasm. "I'm happy for you."

You make a sour expression. "You don't seem like it."

"I'm too late, dude." She speaks while averting her gaze from you. "I lost the opportunity to be your friend, and I lost the opportunity to be your girlfriend."

"I told you I will always be your friend." You tell her. "Yes, we fell off. But I think five years is long enough for me to get my anger out. If I was still genuinely mad, I wouldn't have invited you here. I told you, Billie, it's whatever. You need to let it go."

"Things just don't feel the same though!" She groans, her eyes flooding with tears.

"Obviously not, love." You sigh. "It's been five years."

"I miss you and I miss us."

"There was never really an us, Billie."

"There was when we were best friends." She reminds you. "Me, you, Drew, Zoe, and Kayla."

"And it will again!" You reassure her, pulling her head to rest on your shoulder. "But not with us being in or talking to be in a relationship. I'm with Donielle now, Billie. We had our chance, and we didn't take it. And I apologize for that, but I'm happy where I am. And if you let go of me, you can be happy as well."

She sighs and moves away from your shoulder.

"Not physically, dumbass." You draw her back into you. "Everything you've done has been forgiven by me. And I need you to forgive me too. Can you do that, Billie?"

You lift her head and urge her to look at you, wiping away the tears she silently permits to fall from her eyes. "Are you sure, Billie?"

With a nod, she continues. "Yes. I forgive you,"

"Come on," You tell her as you stand up and reach out to grab her hand. "I'm taking you home."

She rises and takes your hand in hers, allowing you to walk her outside to your car.

You open the door for her and then get in on your side, your home quickly disappearing from view for the two of you.

Billie's sniffles were the only sounds heard during the car ride, which was quiet and unsettling.

You didn't respond to her sniffles since you didn't know what to say to her. You just brought her to her parent's house, where she had requested that you drop her off. Surprisingly, you were able to recall its location.

After your conversation from earlier, you're ninety percent sure that she doesn't want to be your friend as much as she wanted to before.

"Walk me in?" She requests.

"Sure," you say as you stand to lead her into the house.

You stop her as you hear her car door open, shrieking the way moms do when their children do something they shouldn't be doing. "AHT!! Lil' girl don't do that."

She leans back on her chair, waiting for you to open the door.

You grasp her hand and pull her out of the car after opening the door, then interlock your fingers with hers.

Because she knows the gesture is completely platonic, it hurts her heart even more.

She walks in and unlocks the front door with her key, dragging you straight to the kitchen.

"Hey, family," you remark, drawing everyone's attention to you.

Maggie is the first person to notice you. Her eyes well up with tears, and she walks over to you, taking your hand away from Billie's and latching on to you. Everyone else is watching you as you hug quietly in the middle of the kitchen. They had no idea who you were because you looked so different. Yet, they still spoke to you.

You look towards Patrick, Finneas, and a brunette resting on Finneas' shoulder as the two of you pull away.

"Hello," you say, a little hesitantly. "I'm not sure if anyone recognizes me, but I'm Y/N Y/L/N. I was Billie's best friend around five years ago."

Patrick laughs loudly, a little ashamed that he didn't recognize you. He approaches you and extends his hand to shake yours. "Y/N! How have you been?"

"Amazing! How about you?"

"Great." He responds.

Finneas then motions for you to sit near him and the girl, saying hello and then introducing her.

"This is Claudia, my girlfriend." He informs you.

You smile at her. "Hey, Claudia,"

"Hi!" She beamed. "I've heard nothing but wonderful things about you."

"I can't say the same for you, but I'm sure you're amazing." You smile as you settle into your seat, Billie stepping up and taking a seat on your lap, and Maggie returning to the seat she was in before you walked in.

"How's your mother doing?" Maggie questions.

"She's good! Thank you! How are you guys?"

You get a slew of responses from the family, all of which are wonderful, but they don't want to dwell on them for too long. They're more interested in learning about what's new with you.

"Sorry about your father. He was a great guy." Patrick expresses. "However, congratulations on your daughter! She looks just like him."

You let out a confused laugh. "I appreciate it?"

Billie furrows her eyebrows. "So everyone knew except me?

"Basically."

"How?"

"They actually follow people on Insta." You wink and get up from your seat, taking her off your lap. "I'm sorry, I think I have to leave you guys. Kayla is over at my house."

Billie, Claudia, and Finneas stand up sadly and escort you to your car.

"Make sure to visit, okay?" Claudia speaks. "I have a feeling we'll get along."

"I will." You reassure her. "What's your Instagram?"

"Claudia Sulewski."

You immediately take out your phone and follow her, she follows you back.

Then you come face to face with Billie, who has yet to say anything. "No hard feelings, right?"

"No. Can I get your number?

You nod and take her phone, replacing your old number with your new one before returning it.

Claudia says, "I'm going to steal the number."

You nod and get into your car after hugging Finneas. "I swear I'll visit,"

As you drive away, still thinking about Billie, they nod and walk back from the road, waving.

S H O R T

S U M M A R Y:

You do stay close with the O'Connell family, just as your promised you would. You and Donielle dated for another two years before he cheated and you broke things off, deciding being apart would be for the best. You co-parent for your daughter's sake, otherwise you would rather not even see his face. Even then, Billie is still head over heels for you but you still don't want her and you both end up being single for the rest of your lives even though you call each other bae and bump coochies from time to time.

The end🥰

© forever1kay 2022 ,

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Hi BMT! I'm a taekooker. I know it sounds like it's going to be bad, but hear me out.

I started supporting taekook because I couldn't choose a bias in bts. So it was taekook. And then I discovered the actual taekook Fandom and I just? Wow? And like I understand. I get the fantasy where you don't want your idol to end up with a female that's not you. So you ship them together. And I'm a taekooker. But taekookers really have gone too far.

Recently I've been seeing these edits on YouTube. Overanalysing JK's playlist (something about him listening to this gay artist? Means he's gay?) And then the thing with Tae's twitter post just.

So get this, they say that this is definitely proof. Like them supporting the LGBTQ community means they're gay and in love. And I just. I guess I wanted to out it out there? Somehow? The fact that just because they support LGBTQ doesn't mean they're gay.

And at one point, I thought taekook was real cause of all the overanalysing (that was a real low point). But now I just think we're all delusional. Mostly the taekookers.

I mean, what if they're all just normal bros who maybe flirt sometimes. I know, I know. Highly unlikely. BUT maybe. What if. You know? What if we're just seeing things that aren't there?

ALSO ALSO on another note. Yoongi in the recent Run BTS dance video just. Pure freaking art.

Hi there!

It's funny, I know someone who had a similar dilemma when she first discovered BTS. She liked both Tae and Jungkook, but she couldn't pick one and I told her there's no need to choose 😄 No one imposes a limit. But her direction into the fandom was different cause she liked them separately and at some point, the Wooga squad became more interesting. And then she left kpop and moved on to greener pastures. Would I call her a taekooker because those two were her biases? Yes and no. I do think that an affiliation to a ship can be used when someone likes the ship, be it in a friendship/dynamic sense or romantic.

I appreciate you sending me this ask. It was interesting to read about your journey and how you see your two biases. Despite the problematic things taekookers do (including today with the tagging of nsfw art to friends of Tae), they also do engage in the same practices as any other shippers, from the youtube analysis, to the playlist analysis from which they draw conclusions towards the guys' sexual orientation. The methods are all the same, the story and content is different. I see this happening everywhere. I personally like JM and JK, but you can imagine how I rolled my eyes when I saw jikookers saying Jungkook's music must be related to missing Jimin because he was away or in the hospital. It's a reach, specifically when the arguments are based on such little "evidence" that is mostly based on speculation.

The thing that separates shippers are the big narratives they construct, while at the same time they have similarities due to the methods I mentioned above.

Not everything is an evidence for something else, not everything is a sign, not every time they hang out together must be a date, etc., especially when it's not used contextually. I think that's the main problem I see, which you pointed out as well.

Of course the possibility of just seeing things that are not there is quite high, simply because, as fans, we don't have access to their entire life. We only know what they allow us access to know. So, that should be kept in mind.

And on a last note, I think Yoongi biased wrecked everyone this year. I love his glow-up. Not that Yoongi didn't always make victims wanting to either marry him or sue him, but there's something else here. I can't pin point it, but I love it. He's feeling himself, more carefree, more in tune with his fashion style. And that hair 🥵