#so have this even tho it wasn’t that

[catkin-morgs-kookaburralover]

@monthly-challenge 2024 | 12. Compliments

I used this prompt for my original characters, Nathan and Patience: the story is under the cut.

Word count: 1,085

Patience tied up her hair, squinted at it in the mirror and tried it again. It was still crooked, and didn’t sit nicely, like she’d hoped.

“Do you need a hand?” asked Rhona, as she entered the room. She seemed on the tail end of a laugh, as if there had been something very funny just said.

“I would love one,” said Patience. “I really need about three, one to wield a hairbrush, and one to tie it up, and the third to hold it to be tied in the first place.”

“Let me try it.” Rhona wielded the hairbrush and elastic with expert hands, and presently produced an extremely passable-looking ponytail. “Why do you want to be particularly pretty today?—Don’t tell me, it’s Nathan.”

“Yeah.” She grinned. “We’re getting not-engagement photos done.”

“I cannot believe you didn’t tell me this until just now. You did say not engagement, right? He still hasn’t engaged himself to you?”

“He has not.” Patience laughed and pushed a satin-sleek lock of hair back. “Nor do I anticipate it any minute now.”

“You sure this isn’t actually an engagement photoshoot that he just forgot to mention? Sure he isn’t whipping out the ring during it?”

“Well, if he does, then it’s not something I anticipate at all.”

“Why aren’t you wearing your hair down? It looks so pretty when you do.”

“Don’t flatter me! It’s simply not voluminous enough; not like yours.” “Yours is gorgeous! I’m sure—” She cut herself off. “Never mind, that joke didn’t need saying.”

“Okay, then…?” Patience replied, a little confused. “Anyway, I figured I’d tie it back because then it won’t get in my face.”

“It’s going to be so beautiful.” Rhona removed the elastic despite Patience’s protests, and began to brush her hair. “Should I come with you so you can have it properly brushed just before you enter the studio?”

“‘Enter the studio’… that sounds so frightfully posh.”

“Frightfully,” agreed Rhona lightheartedly. “Terribly. Amazingly.”

“In answer to your question….” She ignored the ribbing and subsequent laughter. “If you put the brush in my bag probably Nathan will brush it again.”

“That sounds awfully romantic.” Rhona sighed softly. “What do I have to do to land a boyfriend as nice as yours, Patience?”

She shrugged broadly, nearly knocking the brush from Rhona’s hands. “Blowed if I know. He just showed up one day and wanted to marry me.”

“Wanted to marry you—!”

“Okay, I may be summarising. He wanted to go out with me, so I said yes, just to see how it worked. Turns out it works real well.”

“You’ve been dating for over a year now, because it was around Christmas last year, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, so that makes it—what, coming up on fourteen months now?” “That’s a long time to be dating, you know.”

“Eh, not so long as you might think?” Patience put on a necklace—a delicate silver thing which had her name on a small silver bar—and smiled perfunctorily into the mirror. “Yes, we know each other a lot better than we used to, but that still doesn’t mean that we’re ready to get married. Far from it, in fact. I don’t think we’d be ready to be married in a year’s time. Though if he asked me, I’d probably say yes, even if it came with conditions.”

“All your best years!” bemoaned eighteen.

“I have plenty of better years to come,” said wiser nineteen.

“Isn’t nineteen the best age to have children, though?”

“Biologically, maybe: socially and all the rest of it, including maturity level, probably not. There’s always an age at which you can be more something, or something else. Ultimately, I’d be not looking to have children immediately if I was to marry now, which I’m not.” She emphasised the last word, smiling at Rhona.

Rhona sighed. “At my age, you were only three months away from finding a steady boyfriend. I don’t see any of that happening anytime soon.”

“And that’s okay,” said Patience firmly, then hugged her younger sister. “Everyone’s timeline is different. I will say that at your age I didn’t expect to find a boyfriend anytime soon either, and it was out of the blue: but also, consider Paul.”

“I knew you were going to say that,” she said, sadly.

“Of course I was! The thing is, dear heart, easy as it may be for me to say (and I know it’s not easy to do), you need to try and be content in whatever stage of life you’re in right now. Having a boyfriend isn’t all kisses and sweet things. There are hard conversations, and you carry the other person’s burdens as well as your own, sometimes. I can’t tell you what, of course, but that’s very much true. Please don’t feel like you’re unwanted, Rhona. You’re very much wanted, despite the fact that no boy has yet noticed this of you.”

Rhona sighed and hugged her. Patience returned the hug. “It’s just hard,” she said.

“I know. And I’ll pray for you.”

“Thanks.”

“The time is such that I should scram,” said Patience, suddenly noticing the aforementioned time. “Cram that brush in my bag, and I’ll skedaddle.”

Nathan was picking her up in his new—secondhand—car, and Patience came in a whirl of blue satin skirts and satin-smooth hair, sliding hurriedly into his car. “I’m sorry I’m late,” she apologised.

“Hence why I left fifteen minutes extra in the planning phase, in case you were,” he said, sparkling-eyed. “You’re looking beautiful today, Patience.”

“Thanks.” She had had a year of acclimatising herself to his compliments, and while they still made her want to retreat inside her shell and freeze him out over it, she was more and more used to just accepting them at face value. For whatever reason, Nathan actually cared about her.

Which was just as well, because she cared about him, too.

“You’re looking very dapper also,” she added, taking in for the first time the sight of her boyfriend in a spotted blue bowtie. “I love your bowtie.”

“Thanks, I love it too. I colour-matched it, even.”

“Impressive. How’d you know I’d wear this?”

“It’s the thing that looks prettiest on you. I thought it was likely enough. Also I bought six others just in case.”

She stared at him. “You’re crazy.”

“I know.” He smiled, charmingly. “And you love me for it.”

“Well, yes,” she admitted, and just before he started up the car again she kissed him quickly.

Tagging @stealingmyplaceinthesun @graycedelfin @pilgrimsofworship@noisette-tornade and @choasuqeen

[franeridart]

more dragon

[1doesnotsimplyhavejust1fandam]

This has most definitely been said before, but we were robbed of the core four quarantining on-screen together at Buck’s place. ROBBED I say

[chironshorseass]

the thing is, we were never meant to sympathize with luke when he betrays percy. we aren’t meant to see his inner turmoil. we aren’t meant to see hesitancy, or regret. it’s meant to be a slap in the face. luke takes percy to the woods knowing full well what he’s about to do. in tlt kronos orders him to kill percy because he’s too volatile; kronos said so himself when percy hijacked luke’s dreams and began to figure out there were bigger things at play. the thing is, when kronos orders luke to kill percy, he doesn’t hesitate. that’s the point!!! it is essential that luke is so blinded by rage and vengeance for the gods that he will stop at nothing to get what he wants (the god’s destruction). percy accuses luke that kronos is using him, but he just retaliates that the gods do the same, and they do!!! but see, the thing is, luke’s whole point is that he’s so focused on the god’s injustices that he forgets what’s important. he goes for the “greater good” but he destroys his family, his life, in the process. by attempting to dismantle a system, he turns to another system that follows the same oppressive logic. THAT is why luke fails. THAT is why it’s so important he be blinded by rage, because it’s his inevitable, tragic end. he’s doomed by the narrative from the start. yes, we’re meant to be surprised by his betrayal because of how cold and calculating it is, but also it’s important to set the grounds for luke’s character to be this angry, vengeful boy because later on we come to understand why it is that he made those choices. we see annabeth’s side of things and percy’s side. we see luke’s side. we see many sides. we see a man who is too far gone yet comes to understand, in the end, that he’s been doing more harm than good to those he was supposed to protect (annabeth is the most obvious example). we get a complex character who won’t hesitate to kill but who also won’t hesitate to sacrifice himself so that he can save the family he has left.

the thing is, luke was supposed to be angrier in the show. percy was supposed to be angrier in the show. they’re both foils. luke is what percy could become, if percy lets his anger win. so, to change—even if it’s only slightly altering—their characters, is to change the point of the story. because luke tries to kill percy in his betrayal and later percy tries to kill luke but then percy starts to understand luke…until luke is gone and kronos is gone yet the gods don’t change but percy does. and percy’s initial anger is supposed to transform and he’s supposed to see what luke saw and the cycle continues. the thing is, it’s not even one of the worst changes the show made, yet it’s still so, so telling that they failed to see why it’s important to let your characters do bad things, to make mistakes, because that’s how a story can carry on. that’s how you give a story depth.

[northlight14]

Speaking as someone who was constantly late to school, I think punishing kids/teens for being late to school is stupid. Like, I get it. When they’re older, they can’t be late to work and stuff and they need to understand that. But majority of kids/teens are getting to school via their parents or someone else driving them or hell the school bus which is also driven by an adult. So when a kid arrives late and gets punished for it, all that’s happening is a child getting punished because the adult responsible for getting them there on time wasn’t successful. That’s not teaching the kid anything, that’s just annoying. Especially when, as a kid I was always ready on time and it was my parents I was waiting on and then in detention I’d be expected to write down a “what will I do better” that didn’t apply to me because I didn’t do anything wrong

I get that sometimes it will be the kids fault but I feel like those cases are few and far between and punishing a kid for the adults in their life is just counterproductive

[iwatcheditbegin]

This is all I’m gonna say

[bookinit02]

in honor of my s5 announcement this week, here’s one of the scenes from the first episode! hope you all like it🫶🏻

[milogoestogreendale]

anti slash shippers will just be telling on themselves fr cause i posted some fanart and this guy’s like “i hate that when two men share a close bond and people imply they’re gay”

so i said “dude i didn’t even say anything about them being gay this is literally a redraw of a canon scene from the show”

and he was like “oh i didn’t mean you were implying they’re gay i was talking about the SHOW implying it,” LMAOO

[plenaurum]

i love amen but i hope eva gets the option to beat the shit out of him like amala with amrit

[calmlb]

Soukoku Height Difference —Reference

for any fic writers or artists who need it, here’s a reference for skk’s height difference at 15, 16 (according to dead apple), & 22

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Outdrawn

f/f contemporary romance

two cartoonist who’ve been rivals since uni, and now have competing webcomics online, have to work together on the relaunch of a cult classic at the comic press they both work at

they both struggle with art-related physical and mental health issues, and complicated families

[smilesrobotlover]

*head in hands* oot link is such a tragic character and it makes me so sad

[nekoprankster218]

still thinking about how it was Laxus who told off the arrogant new recruit who said he’d become the new guild master

[fffuckthelaxbros]

alternatively‚

Also if you’ve only read the main comic so far I recommend also checking out the extras tag! There’s a lot more fun stuff in there (like. A lot)

[franeridart]

more octopath

[batfossil-fr]

I’ve been really thinking of reopening my art shop soon… I’ve been taking some practice doodles (hence all the posting lately) while I shake off my rust and I’m finding things I enjoy working on again. I miss trying my hand at more dragons/OCs and colors. my shop’s so broken rn lmao but that’s a problem for a later date it’s just nice getting back into art