#someone handed him the flag and the lighting made it look like a lesbian flag at first

[ljubitelj-sonca]

Tokio by Joker Out, Vienna 09.12.2024

WHEN I TELL YOU I ALMOST STARTED CRYING!!!

For @laffichk !! <3

[ozimagines]

Hey there, buddy! I really hope that you knee surgery went well, and that you’ll be over the worst of the pain as soon as possible. Stay comfy and rest well. If you are not too swamped with requests, would you mind if I shoot one? Would you be able to write for Shannon O’Reily falling for a woman? Perhaps someone she initially believes to be a cute guy, only to find that she is a cute butch, and how she deals with that?

Y’all are so kind!❤️😭 Yeah it’s been… not fun. But you all delivered and I have a decent amount of requests (though I’m always hoping for more🥰) to help me take my mind off the pain. They’re all FUN requests too. I love this fandom’s creativity.

Before I write any of the characters, I track down all their scenes and watch them all to understand the character. I could see Shannon being a late in life lesbian. (Y’all don’t know much about me but I’m an early in life lesbian😂 Pansexual technically but I only seem to like fictional men and irl women lol) Sooo without further ado, I give you all;

(Also totally not basing this on the married woman I’m in love with at work and my girlfriend -open relationship- with a butch mullet… anyhoo…)

Shannon O’Reily Sullivan falling for a Butch Lesbian…

Fuck him. Real goddamn lowlife.

Shannon lit a cigarette between two trembling fingers. So he’d stay with her through high school, through infertility, through prison… but cancer was where he drew the line?

Prick. Real goddamn prick.

It’s not like she hadn’t been supportive. Like she hadn’t been up every night searching the internet for cancer treatments and the antioxidant smoothies and shit. Not like she’d been making a thousand phone calls to a thousand doctors to see if she couldn’t scrape together a better treatment than they’d give him in prison.

Shannon released the smoke in her lungs, but not the anger in her heart. She’d loved him. Actually loved him. And the first doctor who shook her tits in front of him stole him away. She puffed on the cigarette liked it’d be her last.

Now here she was, back in the city. Cyril was at his cousin’s now. Or someone’s. She’d actually miss that doofus. The way he watched her while she did her makeup and giggled whenever a certain blue dog got mail.

Now she had no one and nothing. Nothing of her old life. She’d left it all for him, and he’d left her for Dr. Nathan.

Fuck. She needed a drink.

She stopped off in some pub, she didn’t really read the sign. She plopped down on one of the barstools and flagged down the bartender.

“Whisky. Straight. Double.”

The bartender chuckled a little, and pushed back his hair.

“Sounds like you’ve had a day.”

“Don’t know the half of it, buddy.” She rasped, fingers reaching for another cigarette. The bartender held out a light. She looked him over. Cute features. Dark eyes. Kind of a feminine jaw if not for the masculine brows and piercings.

“Aren’t you the gentleman.” She said, sourly. “If my husband… ex-husband were anything like you, I wouldn’t be here.” 😅

“Hmm, wouldn’t have even had to ask if it was a rough day if you’d just lead with that.” He chucked a little, and flagged the other bartender to watch his checks. He poured her drink and handed it to her, and she shot it back, holding it in her mouth for a second so she could feel the burn. She made a gesture to fill it again. So he did. She threw it back again, just as effortlessly as the first, when she made the motion again, he stopped her.

“A better man isn’t at the bottom of this bottle, hon.”

Shannon got angry. Yet someone else dictating her life. The bartender seemed to understand this, so added;

“Just sit with it for a few seconds. I’m not saying I won’t serve you, just… pace yourself.” 🥲

After a second of silence, he asked,

“Who’s this shit ex?”

Shannon felt the tears well up in her eyes so she explained everything. The marriage. The infertility. The brother. The arrest. The cancer. Everything just came spilling out as she sobbed. Her head was starting to spin. She felt a hand on hers, a little bigger than her own.

“Sorry, hon. Sounds like a real piece of work. Still, he’s in pain and scared right now. Could be that. I’m not saying go back to him or anything, but… I’m saying it’s not you.”

She sniffs and drinks the water the guy pours for her.

“The real shitty part. The part that sucks more than anything else… I actually loved the bastard.”

“That’s always the kicker, isn’t it. You actually love them and then they do something that makes you feel like they were fooling you. You feel silly, and small.”

She sniffed, wiping at her mascara.

“What bitch broke your heart?”

He laughed at her bluntness and reflected.

“Emily. Sweet girl. Beautiful girl. Though… she would always do this thing where if something was funny she’d actually said “wait that’s so funny”. Every time. Like it was just occurring to her.”

They both laughed. Shannon’s fingers stopped trembling.

“Ryan once complained that it was cold but he hated wearing socks to bed so the idiot literally cut the toe off the sock.”😂

Shannon and the bartender laugh for ten minutes about their past relationships. For just ten minutes, she got to remember and forget that bastard all at once. 🙂

“Sorry, I never got your name.” Shannon giggled, head starting to spin.

“Natalie.”

“…what.”

Shannon’s head popped up and she really looked at her bartender closely. That feminine jaw started looking a lot more suspicious, even if the mullet had thrown her off. And the lashes a little too long. Lips a little too full… oh god.

“Youre a chick?” She almost accused. The bartender seemed confused.

“Last time I checked, yeah.”

“But… your ex girlfriend?”

“Yeah?”

Shannon hadn’t been living under a rock. She’d heard about lesbians. She’d just never met one so frank. She grabbed her bag, embarrassed.

“Im sorry I thought you were… someone else.”🥸

She rushes out of the bar, only to hear a voice call after her.

“I’m sorry, Shannon!”

She sighed in the doorway and turned around and went back.

“I’m sorry, honey. I’m a little turned around right now.” She said to Natalie, who just gave a sad smile.

“You’re okay. Just kind of thought you knew.”

“Well, I didn’t. You… don’t exactly look traditionally feminine.”

“Yeah, worked on that for years.” Natalie responded.

Shannon laughed.

“If I may ask… what’s the draw?” Shannon leaned forward and whispered. Natalie leaned forward too, and whispered back.

“First of all, I don’t know why we’re whispering. You’re the only one here who didn’t know I’m gay.”

Shannon snickered and went to light another cigarette. Natalie outstretched a lit lighter.

“Second, I don’t know. I just saw guys in their clothes and thought it looked comfortable. Put em on, and suddenly I just felt like myself.”

“So, you like being confused with a guy?”

“I like being me. If other people confuse me with a man, I’ll just correct them. Although…”

“Although?” Shannon asked, sipping on her water again.

“Its not like I haven’t used he/him pronouns before. Sometimes the girl isn’t ready to be with someone super feminine, sometimes I have to pretend to be a guy in public just so we aren’t harassed.”

“Jesus.” Shannon was playing with her long nails.

“That’s also kind of a no no.” The woman gestured to her nails.

“You’re not allowed to look great as a lesbian?”

Natalie tells Shannon the history of lesbian culture that she needs to know. Doc martins and plaid and all that.

“Too bad.” Shannon mentions into her promised third whiskey. Natalie asks what she means.

“Too bad you’re a woman, I mean.” Shannon smiled. “I’ve liked talking to you, Natalie.

“You can keep talking to me even though I’m a woman, y’know.”

“I’m not a lesbian.”

“You don’t have to be a lesbian to talk to a lesbian. We can still hang if you want. Promise I’ll get no ungentlemanly ideas.”

Shannon agrees.

They get coffee with each other before work every day. It’s a lot of Shannon badmouthing Ryan but sometimes they talk about other things.

They start hanging out at nights at each other’s homes. They start watching shows together. Start ordering food for each other.

Shannon is crying one day when Natalie gets there.

“What’s going on, hon?”

Shannon explains that she has to give Ryan the divorce paperwork to sign and go over everything.

“I can’t face him. Not him and his new woman.”

“…you could always take me.”

Natalie explains to Shannon that she can pretend to be her new girlfriend for the paperwork. Just so that Ryan doesn’t pull any shit about her not having anyone.

“I’ve done this for a few of my straight friends. Guys have fewer questions when their woman shows up with a woman.”

Shannon agrees, taking Natalie up with her to go see Ryan.

He’s shamelessly flirting with Dr. Nathan, who is doing her best to ignore him. Natalie leads Shannon in by her hand.

“Ryan.”

“Shannon.” He acknowledged her as coolly as she did him. He notices Natalie over her shoulder.

“Who’s the dyke?”

Shannon’s face burned.

“This is Natalie. She’s been a lot of help since the divorce.” Shannon throws the papers down at Ryan. “Just give me the house. Not like you’re gonna use it any time soon anyway.”

“Fine.” Ryan starts to sign. His eyes keep getting drawn up towards Natalie, who’s stroking her arm softly. “Oh, I see.”

“I’m betting you’re wrong.”

“No, it’s just that it usually takes women a lot longer to go lez.”

“You’re a pig.”

“Nah, I think I got this figured out.”

“You certainly do,” Natalie jumped in, “if you’re implying your dick put her off men in general.”

Shannon laughed and covered her mouth. She’d spoken back to Ryan dozens of times, but never like that.

Ryan’s face goes red. He signs the forms.

“Yeah yeah, just take the butch and leave.”

Shannon is giggling and holding Natalie’s arm the entire way out.

“The look on his face!” Shannon shrieked, throwing her head back to laugh again. “And I got the house! All thanks to you, Nat.”

“Thanks, Shannon, but that was all you-“

Shannon feels her lips on Natalie’s before she even realizes it was her that leaned forward.

“I… I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

“…you’re good.” Natalie responds with a smile. Shannon catches herself staring again.

“I’m just all turned around right now.”

“That’s okay too.”

“I didn’t mean to-“

“Shannon, it’s okay. I’m here if you want a friend. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t settle for more. I’ve just learned my lesson getting my hopes up on straight women.”

Shannon thinks for a second, chuckling darkly into her cigarette.

“Why don’t we though?”

“Hmm?”

“Why don’t we go out?”

“… if I’ve not been grossly misinformed thus far, it’s because you’re straight.”

“Am I? I think you’re funny, and sweet, and cute. We get coffee. We call each other over on bad nights. We do everything lovers do except we don’t call it that. Why don’t we just call it that then, if that’s the only thing we’re missing. I don’t know if I’m gay. I just know that if you were a man, I’d have no doubts. So it’s worth a try at least.”

Natalie doesn’t know how to respond. She felt herself falling for a straight woman again.

But Natalie can’t say no to those intense eyes.

Natalie crept a hand around Shannon’s.

“Let’s try it then.”

Shannon was right, they were basically living as lovers.

Natalie would come over with food for Shannon after a bad day. Not that box of chocolates and champagne shit. Natalie brings a gallon of chocolate milk and some cheese its. Soul food.

Shannon gets her period on a date and gets embarrassed.

“Babe, c’mon.”

Natalie makes her a makeshift heat pack and orders tacos.

“Can you go to the store and get me some tampons?”

“…I could do that. Or you could just use mine.”😂

Shannon isn’t butch but is intrigued when her closet just doubled in size. She also likes to dress Natalie.

Natalie is decked out, head to toe in a little black dress and heels.

“Get this off of me, Shanna Banana.”

“You look like my own personal Barbie!”

She comes along physically. The kisses are first. Then some light petting. Then more intense and sexual acts.

“Huh.”

“Yeah?”

“Just realized I’m physically attracted to you.”

“…yay?”

Shannon asks a lot of questions starting with “do lesbians ______?”

Natalie pretends it’s a game show.

“Can this baby gay determine if lesbians are capable of doing something, more after these messages.”

Natalie introduces her to girl showers/baths.

“Even the butchiest butch knows how to set up a good bath for her girl.”

They get a Polaroid and just take pictures of each other to hang around the house.

Historians will say they were best friends.

Shannon still doesn’t get that joke.

They adopt a dog together. Duke the Great Dane.

They love their big tired boy.

Shannon loves going shopping with Natalie. Natalie doesn’t like it as much as Shannon does, but she gets the feeling Ryan wasn’t very supportive of things she liked.

You watch Baseball together. Yankees mostly.

Shannon just likes yelling at the ref.

She finally gets to try making new food. Ryan was a picky eater and Cyril even more so -but she doesn’t blame Cyril for any of that.

Finally gets to try that Romanian place everyone was fussing over.

Shannon likes legos. Likes building the flower models for around the house. She starts building everything they need; pencil holders, jewelry boxes, even a fruit bowl.

She never needs Natalie’s help speaking up for herself again. Shannon’s a tough, Irish bitch. Do something wrong and she’ll let you know.

For the first time in a long time, Shannon was happy. Really happy.

She’d become happy she’d been forced into a divorce. She’d never have met Natalie.

Turned out she was worth it to someone. Just one person. And that’s all she needed. ❤️

Bonus: Shannon’s breakup song with Ryan is No Children, by the Mountain Goats. She sings it at the top of her lungs during karaoke. She always hits the line “I hope that if I found the strength to walk out, you’d stay the hell out of my way” a little harder.

[slytherinnbitch]

Day 30: Pride

"So who all are going tomorrow?" Harry asks his usual friend group. Everyone responds with a yes and how is that possible?

"Uhm, I'm sorry did I miss something?" He asks incredulously.

"Maybe our coming outs," Pansy comments from beside Blaise and he looks at Draco for confirmation and he shrugs.

"Maybe we all can come out to each other? I don't think we ever did that properly." Neville suggests and everyone agrees and so it begins.

"I'll start then?" Pansy suggests and before anyone can respond she is talking again, "I'm a raging lesbian, if there was ever doubt to my homosexuality then I would like to apologise." She smirks at them and all of them laugh loudly at that.

Blaise goes next, "Pansexual!" he declares proudly.

"You mean anyone who even shows a slight interest?" Draco quips and gets swatted on his head for that.

"As if, darling. It's the other way round, everyone falls over their feet for me." Blaise preens and Pansy shuts them both with two mild stinging hexes.

"Okay me now!" Draco squeals and Harry shakes his head fondly, "I'm bi. And ready to die." Draco smiles cheekily at his own joke and Harry shakes his head. What did he do to get this bloke in his life?

"Oh, I always thought you're gay." Ginny comments and many of them nod agreeingly.

"Nah, bi." Draco waves them off and it's Harry's turn.

"Well I'm gay." Harry rubs his neck as he looks around.

"Was I really the only one to think that Harry was bi and Draco was the gay one?" Theo asks and by the looks of most of his friends, no most of them thought the same thing. Well, it's not like he ever came out properly or anything. He just started dating Draco and let people assume whatever they wanted to. Maybe it was a bad decision to not include their friends. Maybe.

"Girls nah!" Harry exclaims and Ginny frowns and exclaims, "Hey!"

"Gin, as much as I love you. You are a lesbian yourself and in love with a mysterious blonde. Much like me, so shut it." Harry says goodheartedly and Ginny makes a face at him but shuts up.

"Well, you all know I'm Trans and probably a demisexual. Not really sure about that," Neville says next and then adds as an afterthought, "I like boys though."

"Really, darling? No one would have guessed via how you are in a relationship with a bloke, now would they?" Theo quips and the rest of them chuckle.

"Well I'm gay through and through," Theo says next and kisses Neville on the lips as if to show that.

"Agender and asexual." Luna declares next and this is someone all of them knew since Luna was the only one to officially come out to everyone of them.

"And mine." Ginny says possesively beside her and kisses her cheek. "I'm lesbian, as my dear ex just pointed out not five minutes ago." She smirks at him and he flips her two fingers.

"Gay,"

"Gay." Seamus and Dean say one after the other. It's not like they ever looked at anyone else since Dean and Ginny's breakup. He still wants to know the actual story behind that one.

"Well, so," Ron starts and everyone looks at him in unison, he looks a bit red but that can he the light as well. "I uh recently discovered that I am bisexual." And everyone looks shocked. Harry is pretty sure he is staring with his mouth open, but he can't make himself look away.

When was his bestfriend going to tell him this? He sorta feels betrayed but how-

"I came out to Hermione a few months ago and well that's it I guess." Ron states, and Harry thinks he is missing a vital part somehow.

"So who was it?" It's Pansy who breaks the silence.

"Yeah that's right, Ron. Who was the bloke or non binary person who finally made opened your eyes towards the other genders." Blaise inquires as well.

Ron is now red in embarrassment so it's Hermione who answers, "Well, love can I then? Since you don't seem like you can talk in the next hour?" Ron nods his head resigned and Hermione smiles her cat-ate-the-canary smile. Oh this is going to be good.

"Well, it's the same person who might have instigated it years ago but Ron had been quite oblivious that time. Much like you and Cedric, Harry." Something in her voice tells Harry that she is giving a clue, to maybe Harry exclusively because the others still look clueless as ever.

And then clicks and holy shit-

"Victor Fucking Krum!" Harry says out loud and it makes sense with all the obsession and everything that he say in his fourth year.

"That's right! Ron saw Krum a few months back, he was in Berlin for the new shop there and he came across there and I got a floocall taht very evening, he came through and told me through his haze." Hermione smiles at her husband and messes his hair slightly, "Just imagine my shock-"

"You thought it was Krum he was jealous of at the Ball but it turned out to be You!" Harry joins in and both of them stare at each other before bursting out loud at the situation.

"Alright, both of you. Stop laughing at my expense. I know the irony of the situation." Ron says at last.

"But Weasley, just think about it! We might have had Krum with us tonight as your partner and not Granger." Draco says and scrunches his nose in mock disgust and the couple sends a stinging hex each and Draco yelps.

"Harry, baby! Your friends are abusing me!" he whines and Harry tuts mockingly which gets him a glare.

"Aww, sweetheart. Maybe don't mess with these two then. One of the most successful business man who is so accomplished in hexes and jinxes and our Minister of Magic. Deadly couple these both."

"Oh come off it, as if you both aren't deadly as well. Head of DMLE and Head of Unspeakables. I think that makes you both more dangerous." Hermione replies and he shrugs in response.

"Yes, yes. All of you are bigshots and we are grateful for so much security among us. Can we proceed then?" Pansy asks and Harry blushes slightly at the implications.

Just Hermione is left.

"Well, I'm just going as an ally. Mostly for Ron but all of you are going to be there anyways so I took a day off." Hermione says and wow, Hermione and off days. That's almost unheard of.

"Wait, so almost all the heads of the Ministry are not going to be there tomorrow?" Blaise asks and six of them turn to glare at him but it's Harry who replies.

"Don't worry, Blaise. Our best officials will be handling everything in our stead. And it's not our fault that all of our friends have such a good role in the Ministry and outside as well." Harry gives him the look he gives the hitWizards when they tell him a basic criminal slipped from their hands. Blaise looks mostly unbothered by it.

"Was planning on making a attack on the Ministry tomorrow. Would definitely be successful." Blaise replies instead.

"Shut up, Blaise." The six of them, him, Draco, Hermione, Neville, Theo and Luna say in unison and it's a pictureworthy moment.

They steer back into what they will be wearing and which type of makeup would look the best.

In the last, Draco agrees on a goth look with a short dress and mesh slacks. Harry with golden eyeliner which Pansy says would look godlike on his brown skin, so Blaise is going to do the same. He decides on wearing just his flag colours, with clip-on earrings and everything.

Blaise agrees on full black, as usual. Just the make-up would be his highlight, according to him. Luna is going in a fairy dress, Ginny in shorts and a sleeveless camisole.

Pansy in her signature heels and dress but make it pride colours. Ron, after a lot of coaxing decides on blue trousers, a pink and violet custom made sweater which apparantly Hermione had ordered almost three weeks ago. That makes him beam at her.

Neville is going in his usual wool sweater and trousers and his flag around his shoulder. Theo is matching with him.

As Harry looks around the table at the end of the night, and sees the happy faces of his friends who has somehow become his chosen family. He just feels one emotion. Love.

Endless love.

Day 29: Coming Out || Day 31: Unashamed

[lwt28brave]

Hello ❤️

tell me everything about your show, I wasn't able to catch the lives for the Paris show(s) so I wanna hear all about it!!!

I hope you had a great time!!! 😘

hi clem 💕

thanks for asking and for waiting 🥰better late than never that they say... i wrote more than i tought i would so i put it under the cut ♥

(there was no signal at all so there weren't any lives i'm guessing) i arrived there late-ish and i was alone so while i tried to find a place towards the middle i ended up in the back of the venue, where i had more space, it wasn't as hot (it was REALLY hot, as you probably can tell by louis changing) and i could actually see the stage and not people heads.

this might be a bit of a disappointing recounting cause it's all a bit mixed up in my head. it was good, cause louis is always good live and he keeps improving, but i wasn't in the best place, phisically or mentally (i didn't even realize he didn't sing JHO until afterwards when i read about it... even asked if i could go sit upstairs after a few songs, but i was told there were no seats, which is a lie).

OTP were better than i remember, probably new songs? they started early, i did notice that 😂

my first thought was "wait is that PINK???" 😂 (now i know it wasn't pink but red but in my brain it is pink). it was amazing to start the show with we made it live, i got this mushy feeling "yes babe WE MADE IT" 🥺🥺🥺

after a few songs, since i was feeling better i decided to be bad and pretend i was looking for my friend, i got to a good place but got greedy and tried to keep going and i couldn't see anything again or remember where i was right before so... back to the back 😂 yes, i know, that wasn't nice of me, i'm not used to being at the back it felt weird.

overall my favorite memories are probably beautiful war, cause now that i know the lyrics and the melody i can focus on his voice and i closed my eyes and swayed there in the back and it feel so... beautiful and getting to hear copy live for the first time, finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm also very grateful that i was part of... OTB. i had a flag in barcelona, and held it very proudly first row, but it was nothing like how many flags there are right now. someone handed me both a orange sticker for my flashlight and a small lesbian flag and it's so nice to just... be there, and feel that sense of belonging.

i made a concious decision to not film (other than hoOoOme, i had to) or take many pictures so that helps making it feel even more unreal 😂 i focused on screaming at the top of my lungs and jumping and giving my everything (not for LBD, i sat in the floor for that one, sorry louis i can't support your wrongs this time).

i also didn't sang that line in habit and screamed louder than everyone else for the next part cause i wanted him to feel my love from the back of the venue and that i needed him in front of me. oh, and during TTD everyone went crazy the venue was vibrating... i saved energy for KMM. yeah. i'm petty.

anyway, the stage was brilliant. the lights and the screens and the fireworks and LOUIS. he was really small from where i was but he looked very pretty in the screens and in both outfits ☺️☺️

and yeah i thought i had less to say... i love louis so much ♥ and he sounded amazing ♥

[beware-of-you-98]

BAU as College Professors AU

*cracks knuckles*

Penelope

penelope is a graphic design professor

she loves teaching kids about the wonders of photoshop!!

hates illustrator and indesign with a burning passion

(the illustrator pen tool can fucking choke for all she cares)

(AND HOW THE FUCK DO YOU PUT THE FRONT AND COVER TOGETHER IN INDESIGN!?!?)

(she really hates both applications sm 😭)

is always reluctant to teach them but does it begrudgingly

(she’s just glad there’s other professors in the department that teach editorial and graphic illustration)

teaches photography!!

encourages the students to be as expressive as they want to be with their pictures!!!

she’ll be just as enthusiastic to see a close up of a sneaker as she is to see a sunset landscape shot

teaches the graphic design studio classes too!!

she always has music playing!!

half the time, her students come into the class and her glasses are all skewed, her hands are covered in paint or glue and some abstract art piece is sitting on her desk

when the students ask her what it is, she just gives the projects human names

“hey professor... what did you make there?” “oh, this?? her name is... pam.... yeah, pam”

she doesn’t offer up any further explination than that

and the students just accept it

her office light is always off

but she has multiple fairy lights in various colors hung up

her office is v inviting!!!

students come to her to vent or to talk about their problems bc the campus therapist doesn’t help all lmao

she always has on the most unique outfits but she pulls them off so well

a ray of sunshine tbh!!

Spencer

teaches major science and math courses

he teaches chemistry but only chem for majors in chemistry

it’s not that he can’t teach chem for non majors

but he sometimes gets too ahead of himself and forgets he’s teaching a course for non majors

it’s easier for him to teach for majors because the students can follow his ramblings better

he teaches upper level math courses and usually only has like three students in those classes

he’ll sit up on his desk and debate with the students for the entire hour about the riemann hypothesis

he gets excited because the students are just as enthusiastic as he is

he is two extremes

he either shows up to his classroom like a half hour early and writes out all his notes on the board so that when the students come in, he can go right into lecture

or he’ll show up two minutes before class starts with his hair disheveled, his tie undone and his expression glazed over and just be like “listen up i woke up late and just downed an entire pot of coffee i brewed with several cans of monster energy—i don’t exist on this dimension anymore”

on those days, he lets his students work on other projects for other classes because he knows it’s not fair to ask his students to focus if he’s not

he helps them with their homework

penelope brings him lunch sometimes to make sure he’s eating

he appreciates it a lot because between lesson plans and grading, he sometimes forgets to eat

he’s absolutely the youngest prof on campus

sometimes even his students are older than he is

but everyone addresses him correctly and respects him bc he’s really chill

his office is a disorganized mess

there’s files and papers all over his desk

and a sculpture penelope made for him (she named that one “roger”)

JJ

psychology professor

she really has a passion for teaching and learning about human psychology

(she may have started to become interested in psychology bc her sister was in the psch honors course before she died)

she comes across as a little hostile and unapproachable tbh

but she’s young

and she’s attractive

and she’s not conveniently what people think a professor looks like

she’ll respect her students if they respect her

she didn’t graduate the top of her class and work her ass off for the degree to not be respected

if there’s any inappropriate comments aimmed towards her or anyone in the class, she kicks the aggressor out immediately

she stands at the front of the room and lectures for the beginning part of the semester

once she’s built a good rapport with her students (and vise versa), she becomes more chill

she’ll sit on the edge of her desk and encourage discussion rather than following a book or a set plan

(she finds it’s more interesting that way anyway)

sometimes her students will show up ten minutes before class starts just to talk with her once they’re comfortable with her

she always answers her emails students send her (queen shit tbh 👑)

some kids in the psych major course playfully call her “mom” because she always asks them how they’re doing and about their week

(she hasn’t decided how she feels about it, but she also lets it slide)

always wears pants suits but cuffs the sleeves to the jackets

her office always smells like eucalyptus because she has a small mist diffuser plugged in

she also has a small fish tank with a beta fish inside (its the appropriate size too!!)

(she let a student name the fish—it’s name is sir bubbles of argon)

she also has a sculpture from penelope (“her name is maxine”)

her desk is very organized and clean!!

there’s a small couch in her office and her door is always open

sometimes, students will come in if they’re having a hard time and need someone to talk to

they know jj is there to listen and she always seems to understand (she doesn’t judge them either)

Emily

teaches three languages, both for majors and non majors

spanish, french and russian

(she’s also quite fluent in arabic and italian and can hold her own if she’s speaking in german or mandarin, but the students don’t need to know that)

she’s actually very intimidating lmao

students are so scared of her 😭

she’s serious af

(she smiles in class sometimes though!!)

(besides, she’s only serious inside the classroom)

(outside the classroom, she might even be as approachable as penelope)

always dressed in expensive black suits, polished heeled shoes with very dark makeup and a “don’t fuck with me” steely attitude to match

she also wears expensive watches

she always stands at the front of the class and slowly paces the entire hour

one time someone decided to fuck off in her spanish 101 class

she didn’t even yell at him, she glared

rumor has it the kid was never spotted on campus again after that

(BOY SHE SCARED HIM SO BAD HE DROPPED TF OUT)

despite that, her classes are some of the easiest to take

one because emily has a way of teaching that helps all students understand

and two because her voice is naturally very easy to listen to

students taking her french 101 are going to leave the class speaking fluent conversational french

she also doesn’t tolerate people being racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, etc in her class

if she catches a bigoted comment someone makes in her class, she kicks them immediately

she brings in her cat sometimes

he’s all black and his name is sergio

(he’s her esa that she brings in when she’s feeling really stressed out)

he’s clipped on a harness and sits on her shoulder or on her desk

if he meows, she accepts it as an answer

it’s the only time the students ever see professor emily prentiss as soft

well

other than the days she has the class watch foreign films because the students can tell emily has a fondness for them

her office is pretty organized like jj’s

instead of it being light and inviting, emily decorated her office on a more dark side

she has a few animal skulls, crystals and other gothic memorabilia on her desk or bookshelf

she has a small cat bed on the corner of her desk that sergio sleeps in

on the other corner is a sculpture penelope made her

(it kinda looks like a crow and emily named it kurt)

really, the only colors in her office are dark, deep purples and the small lesbian pride flag sticker on the back of her laptop

Derek

teaches history classes

but like modern history

from like 1940s to present

he refuses to follow most western history books bc they’re not accurate like at all

in his first year of teaching, the dean of his department made him use a book and he hated every second of it

how accurate could the information be if they portray king tut as a white guy???

he graduated under one of the best historians in the country

he also traveled a lot after he graduated and met a lot of people that had first hand experience with major historical events

that’s really what he bases his teachings off of—first hand experiences and encounters

every two weeks or so, he’ll invite in guest speakers to his classes to talk about what they went through (depending on his lesson plans)

that’s how he likes to teach and learn (bc he always loves to learn new things!!)

this is random, but also he is the type of professor to randomly box jump up onto a desk

he also sits in chairs backwards and has a more laid back style to teaching

his exams are based on what the students can learn from history rather than the information itself

he’s always dressed super casual!!

solid color, short sleeve button ups are a favorite!! (no tie)

he gets along with all the students

he’ll talk to the athletes about their games but sound just as enthusiastic and genuine talking with students who are majors in fine arts about their projects

he’s just a v down to earth professor tbh!!

he brings in clooney so much

like... every friday

it’s just another bonus of taking his history classes!!

he and penelope are dating

his office is full of sculptures she makes for him 🥺

he drops by her graphic design studio class with clooney to help out or even to just watch

he’s supportive and encouraging of penelope and her art!!

other than the sculptures penelope makes him, his office is a bit more disorganized than jj’s or emily’s, but cleaner than spencer’s

he has a few papers scattered on his desk but mostly he’s a little more put together

his office door has a small basketball hoop attached that he plays around with if he’s bored (and if penelope is busy)

both he and penelope have a dog bed in their office and water bowls for clooney when he comes in

Hotch

law professor

is the most intimidating professor on campus

like

seriously

if students think professor prentiss is intimidating, they haven’t met professor hotchner

he stands in the front of the room and goes over his lecture without pausing or asking questions

his voice is naturally low and intimidating and he actually never smiles

his attire and appearance is always so professional

suits

ties that are tied so tight, they look like they’re choking him

shoes so polished, he can see his reflection in them

hair always styled neatly

pants and jacket are always wrinkle free

his classes are difficult

not just because of the subject matter, but because he has a very organized, straight forward method to his teaching

students wouldn’t dare act up in his class��they’d be absolute idiots to

he’s quiet and reserved outside the classroom

if the others hear anyone talking shit about hotch behind his back, they’re always quick to come to his defense

they actually know hotch

they know he puts on a hardass exterior, but really he’s just a softie

he always lets them hang in his office with him

he listens to spencer’s ramblings and is extremely patient with him

he has lunch with emily every other day

even if she’s a pain in his ass 99% of the time, he likes that she sticks around and that he can trust her

he shows up to all of penelope’s art shows

and sometimes sits in on derek’s lectures when he has guest speakers

jj brings him pastries from the coffee shop on campus sometimes

he knows that he can come to her if he ever has anything he needs to talk about

(he never opens up to her but he really appreciates the sentiment nonetheless)

penelope has definitely made hotch a few sculptures

(he keeps them at home, but he does have one of her paintings hanging in his office)

speaking of his office it’s hands down the most organized out of all of them

his desk is so clean besides the picture of his son he proudly displays at the corner

he always has his lights off and his door shut

he seems so unapproachable, especially in class

but sometimes his lecture notes have crayon scribbles all over the page

or a small sock will fall out of his briefcase

and maybe, even for a moment, his serious demeanor falls when he spots them

and it almost reassures the students that he is human

Rossi

actually he’s the only one besides maybe reid i can see being a criminology professor

is a retired fbi agent

and successful author

so like that hasn’t changed from canon

but because he doesn’t work for the fbi anymore, he has absolutely no chill and tells all secrets

he’ll be like

talking to his class about a case he worked on in ‘83

and be halfway talking about details of cases that were supposed to be confidential

he’ll pause and go “oops” but keep talking lmaooo

penelope actually never made him a sculpture

instead she made him a coffee mug she made on the wheel and glazed herself!! (she even made her own glaze bc she’s extra like that)

carved on the side is “world’s best italian dad”

(this is because when emily introduced rossi to the group she was like “yeah he’s kinda like my dad” and now everyone calls him “dad”)

(he loves it so much though and proudly accepts his title)

he loves his mug so much and uses it every single day!!!

he’s the only professor besides penelope that let his students refer to him without the title of “professor”

he gives off kind old grandpa vibes

and that he’s only teaching because he really doesn’t have anything better to do during his retirement

but he’s chill and his class is interesting to take

(plus he really does love to teach)

he’ll ramble on and on about his “golden years” as an agent

he will especially talk a student’s ear off if they come up to him and tell him that they read one [or all] of his books

he writes a different quote on his board every single day

his attire is always business casual

he sits on the edge of the desk or on a swivel chair because it’s comfy

he was doing a lecture on jack the ripper and just pushed himself around on the swivel chair, slowly spinning around the front of the room

his voice kept changing in volume every few words because of him facing the wall and then a few moments later facing the classroom

his students refer to him as a “living breathing meme”

he has no idea what the fuck that means

but he take it as a compliment

his office is empty because he goes home after he’s done with classes lmao

he doesn’t do paperwork

or fuck with technology (he never fucking responds to emails smh)

so he has no need for an office

[jvwhyte]

The Elriel stans confuse me. And if that offends you kindly fuck off.

My first issue. Azriel still had feelings for Mor in ACOFAS:

' Azriel chocked on what i could have sworn was a laugh, his normally shadowed face lighting up as Mor bustled in, pink with cold and puffing air into her hands. '

' I had to look away to keep from laughing. Az, to his credit, gave Mor a smile of thanks, a blush creeping over his cheeks, his hazel eyes fixed on her. I looked away at the heat, the yearning that filled them. '

This is roughly 9 months or so before ACOSF. In this time Azriel and Elain would have both formed feelings for eachother however even Az says:

' They'd exchanged look, the occasional brush of fingers, but never this. Never blatant, unrestricted touching. '

So we know that they've never actually made a move on each other but why now? Why in a bonus chapter that not everyone is going to see? Why not in 'their' book huh?

' Wrong—it was so wrong. He didn't care.

RED FUCKING FLAG. He knows it's wrong but he's letting his desires take control of him. Also where the fuck did either of them ask consent?? Bitch i thought you lot had more respect huh 🤔 You better not treat my Gwynnie this way stud.

' he hadn't gotten that far in his plannings, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to. '

With this final quote all imma say is WHAT THE SHITTING HELL. When i read his bonus chapter i was confused as fuck. They went from friends in which i believe he felt guilt towards for being unable to save her from becoming fae to all of a sudden sexual desires?? Their whole relationship has progressed off page. A novel in which they're canon seems daft because they already have feelings. We don't know if they have the same interests, do we know whether they see themselves spending the rest of their lives together? do they even love each other? does she know he can sing? Do they make each other laugh? Does he feel the rawest form of himself around her? There's just so much empty spaces between the progression of their relationship that it would be stupid for SJM to give them their own book. They'd end up like Nessian and have 700 pages of smut. Which leads me to another subject.

Azriel is looking for a mate. A bond. He feels as though because his two brothers had two sisters he's entitled to the third. He has been indirectly rejected by the same girl for the past 500 years. This man is a little touch starved. He's trying to start a relationship with sexy times which will not work for two reasons:

1. Elain is still healing, she wants real love too. She doesn't want to have a relationship based off sex. She's an emotional person, she feels a lot and i highly doubt she'll enjoy having a relationship based off sex. (This worked with Cassian and Nesta because that's the type of people they are. Nesta enjoyed sex as did Cassian so they let out their frustrations on one another. It was also Nestas coping mechanism but that's a whole other post)

2. Az needs to learn to not think with his dick. I get that's he has needs but he also needs to learn that when love comes along he'll find it. He can not force that sort of relationship because he thinks it makes sense. I do not doubt they have feelings for each other, they definitely arouse each other, but it's not LOVE.

Also Gwynriel makes so much more sense. He's looking for someone to love, turns out she's been there all along. Also i want an overprotective female for once (whats with all these men thinking they can growl and shit, get that the fuck away from me). Anyways stan lesbians. (Not Mor tho cause that coming out scene was atrocious. SJM: yeah i'll give you representation, *proceeds to give us a lesbian who has only has male love interests and sleeps with men regularly just so that her friend who's madly in love with her can back off*) *sighs* This book series will literally be the death of me.

Anyways,,,,stan Gwynriel. Also stan Elain (Execpt for ACOSF cause 😒😒). And most importantly stan my King: suriel.

[rose-sunlight]

Hot Chocolate (Spencer Reid x Reader)

Pairings: Spencer Reid x Gender Neutral! Reader, Platonic! BAU x Reader

Warnings: Outing, Crying, but it gets better I promise, Fluff. I feature the BAU with my different LGBTQIA Head cannons, as well.

Summary: An unsub sends an email revealing the darkest secrets of everyone on the team. Y/n shows up on Spencer’s doorstep in tears after the email reveals their sexuality.

A/n: This is my first fanfic after coming out; it’s great to be back to writing. I wrote this after something similar happened to me a few days ago! I hope you guys enjoy!

Spencer wasn’t expecting them to just…arrive on his doorstep. He knew, realistically, when he told them his door was always open, that they were bound to show up one day; he just wasn’t anticipating it to be in the pouring rain, with tears streaming down their face.

He opened the door, and the atmosphere they’d brought was overpowering sadness. The rain made their skin glisten under his porch light, and he would’ve taken into consideration how…magnificently picturesque Y/n looked in the rain, if they weren’t crying and shivering.

“Did you read it?”

Spencer furrowed his brows and shook his head dazedly, “Read what-are you okay?”

Y/n let out a sigh of relief, wiping tears and rain off their cheeks in one fluid motion. This, they had determined, was a safe place, and Reid didn’t know yet, so they finally had the choice to choose who knew. “Can I come in?” They weakly asked. Spencer nodded his head vigorously.

“Yeah, of course, do you want…I dunno, coffee, or something?”

“Um…do you…” Y/n paused to catch their breath. Their voice came out small and fragile as they glanced down at the phone screen that suddenly seemed to bright and loud. It was blowing up with messages-worried messages, from their team at the BAU. “Do you have any hot chocolate?”

Spencer let out a fond smile “You think I wouldn’t stock up when you’re always here? I always have, like, three tubs just for you.”

He hoped that one gesture showed them that he was someone who thought about them. Someone who was caring, and would do anything to show their devotion to them. Reid wanted a jar of hot chocolate powder to prove that he was worth loving.

“Thank you.” Y/n’s voice was barely a whisper as they collapsed onto Spencer’s couch, wrapping themselves up tightly in one of his extensive blankets, letting out one sigh of relief.

“No problem.”

Y/n could see him reaching for his phone, and suddenly shot up off the couch, blanket discarded in what could only be described as blind panic. “Don’t open your emails.” They ominously said, and Spencer put his phone down, waiting for the hot water to boil.

He raised one eyebrow, looking into Y/n’s eyes, hoping to analyse something, anything, that could help him understand what was going on “Are you on the run?”

Y/n snorted at the very thought “Me? Are you kidding me? No!”

“You’re just acting like…I dunno, like…you’re running from something,” Y/n went to yell at him for analysing them, and he raised his hands in surrender, stirring the freshly made hot chocolate “I’m not analysing, I’m just being observant! You want marshmallows?”

“Yes please. And I’m…maybe I am running.”

Spencer paused what he was doing, mid-plopping in the fluffy marshmallows he knew Y/n preferred over any other brand. He asked Garcia to look into their shopping history once to make sure he had the perfect type. She had teased him relentlessly with cheesy nicknames, but had relented and told him. And he had almost bought out the whole store “From the team? That’s why you’re telling me not to look at emails, right?”

Y/n sighed. What the hell, he was going to find out when they turned up for work the next day, anyway. This way, they could decide how he was told. “You know that case we’re working on? We theorized the unsub got off on revealing his victims secrets?”

Spencer handed her the hot chocolate “There you go.”

“Thanks”

“Didn’t we also theorise that he couldn’t have revealed their secrets because he didn’t have the skills to do so?” Spencer asked, more nervous about what could have possibly happened. It was a local case, one they didn’t have to travel for, but it was by far one of the most puzzling they’d encountered

Y/n paused as they sipped their hot chocolate. It was steaming; it almost took the skin off their tongue; it was so hot. But they bared it, swallowing harshly. “We were wrong. He does, or he has someone doing it for him. Anyway, he must’ve been there at that second crime scene, because he found out…information. On all of us.”

Now Reid understood why they were so upset. Y/n had something personal shared “I’m sure we all know everyone’s secrets. We tell each other everything.”

Y/n winced. Spencer placed a comforting hand over theirs. “Right?”

Truthfully, Y/n knew how Spencer would react when they told him. It would be a relief once he had congratulated them, hugged them, and continued a different conversation. Y/n knew all this, but saying the words felt unsavoury in their mouth, like sandpaper and cotton. They looked Spencer in the eyes, and felt fear. “Spencer…” they had to pause, wiping their eyes again.

Spencer was distracting. He was running a comforting hand over theirs, and they worried once they told him, the gesture would stop. “it’s ok. Take your time.”

“He…he…” Y/n wanted to scream it: he outed me, and it sucks so much. Instead, they were stuck gaping like a fish out of water. “I’m [y/sexuality].” They managed to blurt out all at once. Spencer looked sad. He nodded in understanding.

“The unsub outed you?” Spencer said, sighing as Y/n nodded tearfully “Y/n, that’s awful, I’m so sorry.”

Y/n cried. They cried as if their life depended on it, and Spencer accepted them, holding them as they did so, waiting for the sobs to die down. “They had pictures of me and some of my partners…and that damn secret blog I made when I was sixteen and still working it out. And…now everyone knows Spencer…” the cries started up again.

Spencer rubbed their back. “It’s ok. The choice was taken from you, and that sucks. But you have to think about who you have around you. The BAU isn’t exactly the straightest group out there.”

Y/n looked up at him, confused and overwhelmed. As far as they knew, the only person there who was LGBT was them, and that was something they were willing to take to the grave if it meant that their team would treat them differently “What?”

Spencer looked back, almost in disbelief, “You mean, you don’t know? Everyone’s open about it.”

“I don’t understand.”

This was when Spencer began to laugh “Oh my god! Emily; Lesbian, Me; Bisexual Gray-Ace, Derek; Pansexual, and Garcia!”

“Garcia is too?!” Y/n’s mouth was hung open in pure dumbfounded shock “That’s statistically, like, so many gays in one workplace.”

Spencer laughed “Nah, Garcia is just a really enthusiastic supporter. How did you not know—we all have our flags on our desks!”

Y/n let out a shocked gasp even more “That’s what those are? I thought they were for, like, a secret society you guys had formed without me!”

“No, are you kidding!” He let out another loud guffaw

Y/n blushed, rubbing a hand to their neck in sheer embarrassment “I guess I was just too wrapped up in myself” They admitted, prompting Spencer to shuffle closer, until he could wrap a big, lanky arm around them.

“Sorry you didn’t get to come out on your terms.” He smiled, placing a kiss to their forehead. It was well meaning, but Y/n’s felt electric when his lips were against their skin. They outwardly sighed, relaxing for the first time since the email had been sent. “Were you the only one it happened to?”

Y/n thought back to the contents of the email reflectively, “No, I think everyone got something revealed. Even you, but it was just…”

Spencer nodded as his eyes widened “Was it about Dilaudid?” Y/n let out a sad nod as Spencer scoffed loudly at the thought of this Unsub tracking them all down. “Of course, the unsub probably saw me going to one of my meetings.”

Y/n nodded, realising it was their turn to comfort “Most people knew about it, though, which means he made a mistake, one we could analyse with the team.”

“You’re ready to go and see them?” He asked. Y/n gave out a slow and steady nod “You sure.”

“It’s either now or later,” They sighed, before slapping their knees and raising to stand “Alright. Let’s get this over with.”

Spencer rose with them, smiling, extending a hand for Y/n to take, which they did, graciously “Together?”

Y/n wiped some of the left over tears from their face before giving his hand a firm squeeze, downing the final mouthful of hot chocolate as if it were liquid courage, “Yeah. Together.”

Masterlist | Submit a request here

[kat-tamin]

you’re a cowboy like me

For Women of SVU Week 2021: Day Six: There was only one bed

Ship: Kat x Amanda

Warnings: Smut, including oral and fingering

Word Count: 2115

“Rollins, I just got word that our suspect got picked up in Westhampton's. We need to go pick him up.”

Amanda looked up at Kat. “When?”

“ASAP. ADA wants him arraigned tomorrow.” Kat gave the older detective a sympathetic look. “Sorry, Rollins. Hamptons PD says we can get him first thing tomorrow morning.”

“That means leaving tonight.” Amanda rubbed her forehead in frustration. “I’ll see if I can get someone to watch the girls.”

“Sorry, Rollins.” Kat smiled, trying to come up with something comforting. “On the bright side, mini vacay? I can make us a road trip mix.”

“Fine.” Amanda grabbed her keys, heading for the elevator. “Go pack a bag. I’ll meet you back here.” She paused, turned back to Kat. “None of that mumble rap crap, though. That’s not music.”

___

An almost 3 hour drive for two people who didn’t know each other that well was practically torture. The majority of the drive was spent in awkward silence. The only time they spoke was to discuss the landscape, or the case they were currently working on, Kat’s 90s music mix filling in the gaps of conversation. 

This wasn’t like Kat, or Amanda. They were both quite talkative women, but there seemed to be an underlying awkwardness between them when they weren’t at work. Neither was quite sure why. They just didn’t seem to have a lot in common. Kat was young, while Amanda was a mom. That alone made their lives very different.

Chasing Waterfalls by TLC came up on the mix, and Amanda automatically turned the volume up.

“You like this?” Kat raised her voice to be heard over the music.

Amanda nodded, grinning. “Reminds me of when I was young.”

“Me too! I remember them playing it at my elementary school graduation!”

Amanda turned to her wide eyed. “Your what?”

“Yeah, it was fun- what?” Kat glanced at Amanda’s disgusted face.

“Kat, this played at my senior prom.”

Kat snorted, and quickly covered her open mouth with her hand. “Sorry, Rollins.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Amanda muttered. “Respect your elders, Tamin.”

“Yes, ma'am.” 

Kat’s tone of voice made Amanda’s breath catch in her throat. She had to quickly right the car so it wouldn’t swerve into the other lane.

Finally, the two SVU members made it to the motel that the department had booked for the night. It was just outside town, close to the station. Kat would have preferred to be closer to the ocean, but beggars couldn’t be choosers when it came to a free hotel room. 

Kat noticed Amanda was already walking into the office, and hurried after her, catching the door just before it closed.

“You must be the NYPD!” The cheerful, older woman working greeted them. “One bed, right?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Kat leaned on the check in desk, blinking in surprise. 

“That’s what was booked.” The woman peered at her screen. “A queen sized room.”

“But there’s two of us,” Amanda reminded her, her voice tight.

“I’m sorry, Detective. I’m afraid I’m all booked up otherwise.” The worker scrunched up her nose. “I think I may have a cot lying around.”

Kat and Amanda glanced at each other, their eyes wide. A motel cot was just asking for a messed up back for a week.

“We can share.” Amanda turned back to the counter. “Right, Kat?”

“Right.” Kat suddenly felt very thirsty, her throat dry. “No big deal.”

After dumping their bags in their room, neither looking at the single bed, Amanda suggested they find a pub to eat at. “I could use a drink.”

Luckily, there was a bar down the street that served dinner. It was dark and dirty, but Kat didn’t mind. The smell of grease made her stomach growl, and her mouth water. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, forgoing lunch to finish up paperwork.

“Drink?” Amanda didn’t wait for Kat’s answer, flagging down the bartender.

“I’ll have a whiskey, neat.” Her eyes went to the blackboard menu. “And a burger with fries.”

The bartender nodded, then looked at Kat. “You?”

“Scotch and soda, please. I’ll have the burger too.”

He left to put in their order, and Kat’s eyes wandered over the tight space, with it’s neon signs and bright decor. “This reminds me of this lesbian bar in Brooklyn.”

“Ginger’s.” 

Kat turned to Amanda, surprised. “You know it?”

Amanda just shrugged. “Of course.”

Their drinks were put down on the bartop, interrupting Kat’s follow up questions before they could start.

The combination of liquor and the exhaustion from the drive loosened their tongues. Over their greasy meals, Amanda and Kat found that they had more in common then they first thought.

Besides the obvious work connection, they bonded over the fact that they grew up pretty poor. This started a debate about whether it was worse to be in a New York winter without heat, or a summer in Georgia without air conditioning. 

“You can’t say Winter is worse. You’ve never experienced summer in the south.” Kat noticed Amanda’s accent became more pronounced, whether it was from the talk of home or the alcohol. “You sleep naked, but still wake up hot and sticky.”

Kat’s thoughts betrayed her by imaging Amanda’s body sticky with sweat. She took a large swig of her drink, blood rushing to her cheeks.

___

The air was thick with tension as they changed into their pajamas, and slipped under the covers. Kat made sure to stick as close to the edge as possible, not wanting to make the other woman uncomfortable. She didn’t know many straight girls who were cool with sleeping in the same bed as her, unless they weren’t as straight as they said.

Was Amanda one of those girls? She knew about Ginger’s, after all. Maybe she’s just an ally, Kat thought. She had at least slept with two men, Kat knew for sure. There was no indication that Amanda was into women. Except the niggling feeling Kat got when Amanda stood a certain way, or the way she dressed sometimes. Her internal radar always seemed to ping when she looked at Amanda.

On the other side of the bed, Amanda turned onto her side. Then tossed onto her other side. Then on her back. She heard Kat shift. “Sorry,” Amanda whispered. “Can’t get comfy.”

“All good.” Kat turned to face Amanda. “Do you want me to ask for the cot?”

“Nah.” Amanda craned her neck to look at her. “Unless you want to.”

She felt Kat shake her head. “I’m used to sharing a bed.” 

“With your girlfriend?” Amanda’s voice came out confrontational, making her wince.

Kat stiffened. “No, with my sister.”

“Oh.”

They laid in silence for a minute. A passing car illuminated their room for a flash.

“I haven’t had a girlfriend in a while,” Kat whispered.

“Yeah, the pandemic kinda killed the dating game,” Amanda replied, folding her hands over her stomach. “Men weren’t really beating down the door before then either.”

“But you’re so beautiful!” Kat blurted out.

Amanda just chuckled sadly. “A lot of the guys I meet don’t want an automatic family.”

Kat propped herself on her elbow. “Not even to hook up?”

Amanda wrinkled her nose. “I think I’m getting too old to play that game.”

“That’s ridiculous. You’re fucking hot.” Woah, where’d that come from? Kat winced.

Amanda slowly turned towards Kat, their faces close now. “Yeah?”

“Yeah...”

In a split second, Amanda made a decision. She moved, and pressed her lips to Kat’s, who eagerly responded. Their movements became rushed, and soon Kat was pulling at Amanda’s tee. Amanda slipped it over her head, then helped Kat out of her own.

“Have you done this before?” Kat couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes.” Amanda’s mouth moved to Kat’s earlobe, her breath hot.

“At Ginger’s?” 

“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.” Amanda bit down gently on her ear, making Kat moan. The sound flooded Amanda’s stomach with heat.

Amanda moved down Kat’s body, leaving open mouthed kisses. Her fingers ghosted over the front of Kat’s sports bra, making her nipples pebble. She leaned down, biting at one gently through the fabric.

“Oh, fuck!” Amanda hurriedly captured Kat’s groan in her mouth. Their tongues slipped over each other, wet and slick.

Amanda’s hand slipped under Kat’s hips, pulling down her pants and underwear in one tug. 

“Let me see you,” Amanda said, leaning over to snap on the lamp.

Now in the light, Kat could get a good look at Amanda leaning over her, her bare chest right in front of Kat’s face. Her breasts were full and round with pink stretch marks, and tiny nipples.

“Fucking gorgeous,” Kat breathed.

Amanda’s face broke into a cocky grin. “Not so bad yourself.”

They met back in a hurried kiss, tongues swirling around each other.

Kat felt Amanda’s hand on her inner thigh, stroking the sensitive skin. Kat shivered at the sensation, her eyes closing.

“What do you want?” Amanda’s voice in her ear.

Kat’s legs opened wider, begging for her touch. “Anything. You.”

Amanda’s mouth took her previous path, this time making it all the way down to where she wanted her most, the scent making Amanda’s mouth water.

She slid a finger down Kat’s slit, making the other woman gasp. She couldn’t help but tease, liking the way Kat’s eyes screwed shut in frustration.

“Amanda, please...”

Amanda ducked her head down, her mouth taking her finger’s place. She teased Kat’s entrance with her tongue, savoring the wetness that gathered there. 

“Please.”

Her tongue made contact with Kat’s clit, making her back arch. Kat’s thighs tightened around Amanda’s head more and more with every swipe. 

“Fuck, just like that.” 

Kat let out a gasp, Amanda’s mouth sucking hard on her clit. Heat built in Kat’s body, her muscles growing tight. The sheets were curled tight in her clenched fists.

“I’m close!”

Amanda could feel her, the wetness clinging to her lips, Kat’s hand moving to her hair, pulling gently as she pressed her cunt closer to Amanda’s face. Amanda suddenly pushed two fingers into her pussy, making Kat finally cum with a small scream of her name.

Amanda scissored her fingers, letting Kat ride out her orgasm, then moved up her body to give her a kiss, letting Kat taste herself on Amanda’s tongue.

Kat used the distraction to flip Amanda onto her back, straddling her hips. “My turn.”

Amanda shimmied out of her bottoms, finally leaving her bare. “Be my guest.”

Kat took her time, hands tracing Amanda’s breasts and collarbone. The light touch raised goosebumps on her body, her nipples hard. Kat circled one, then the other.

“Harder.” Amanda’s hand went to her own chest to demonstrate the strong pinch she liked. 

“You like it rough, huh?” Kat decided to up the game, and bit down on Amanda’s nipple instead.

Amanda groaned. “Fuck yeah, like that.”

Kat took the nipple in her mouth, sucking and biting the flesh. Amanda moaned loudly, her hand drifting down to her clit.

In a flash, Kat grabbed her wrist. “Nuh uh.” Kat grabbed the other wrist, and pinned them above Amanda’s blonde head. “Do I need to grab the cuffs?” Kat licked a stripe along Amanda’s neck. “Or are you going to be good?”

“I’ll be good,” Amanda promised. “But you should probably get going.” She bucked her hips pointedly, urging Kat to her pussy.

“Keep your hands there,” Kat ordered. She let go of Amanda, testing her. To her credit, Amanda didn’t move. “Good girl.”

She moved down the bed so she could get into a better position in front of Amanda’s cunt. It was mostly bare, except for a small triangle of blonde hair. Her lips were wet with her slick. 

Kat stroked her clit with her thumb, and in a quick move, thrust three fingers deep into her pussy, finding no resistance.

Amanda screamed, but didn’t move her hands to push Kat away. Kat pistoned in and out of her. “So good taking my fingers, baby.”

Kat’s words made Amanda tighten, her walls clenching down against Kat’s fingers. She moves her hand to massage Amanda’s front wall, the spot that Amanda could never reach on her own. 

It wasn’t long before Amanda was shuddering and gasping. “Oh, God….”

Kat withdrew her hand, pressing them into Amanda’s mouth. Her tongue made good work of cleaning off the younger girl’s fingers.

They both laid on their backs, breathing hard. Kat reached over to turn the lamp off, plunging the room back into darkness.

Amanda curled on her side, and Kat slung an arm around her waist, burying her face in her neck.

All tangled up, their tiny bed didn’t seem as small anymore.

[ghost-light]

we rot, thinkin' lots about nothing

My contribution for Pride Day of @willieappreciationweek!!!

Summary:

Their gender- hm.

It was sort of like gender envy. Except remove the envy part. Because sure, ghosts could have gender. But it wasn’t really the gender he wanted. Stuck with it. Just like they were stuck in the afterlife, if you could call ghosthood an afterlife.

Read it under the cut or on ao3

To be fair, ghosts had never really needed a specific gender.

They still didn’t, at least not by any standards or official rules (spoiler alert; that’s because there were no definitive rules. The closest ones Willie had ever known to be rules were smashed to smithereens by Caleb Covington and Alex's band).

So when Julie asked if they wanted a pride flag or pin, it threw him off. When Julie showed them some pictures of pride flags for different gender identities, it threw them off. Hence the mini-spiral of skateboarding and maybe avoiding a certain band of ghosts and their lead singer.

It wasn’t hiding, per se. Willie Williamson Ortega didn’t hide. There was nothing to hide from, anyways. And yet, here he was, skating the day away, stuck in their own head with a problem that wouldn’t resolve itself.

He never had a label before. They were just a gay skater in the 80’s. He was just Willie, or William, to Caleb.

It didn’t feel quite right anymore.

The thing was, Willie's gender just was. They were a ghost. Couldn’t that be their gender?

(Agender, Flynn had suggested. Not having a particular gender. But that wasn’t quite right. He did have a gender. Probably.)

Willie tried explaining it to Alex, because he was a ghost too, right? Except… not quite in the sense that Willie was. Alex tried, he really did. But seeing the blonde’s encouraging but confused smile, and the way Alex’s eyebrows furrowed with intense concentration sank Willie’s spirits.

Flynn was a little more understanding. But they had found a label, was comfortable calling herself a demigirl lesbian. Demiboy and gay felt- close. Maybe. He hadn’t thought about these things so urgently before, hadn’t been able to find people that could truly get the situation. After seeing his look of distress, and the way their hands repeatedly combed through their hair, Flynn’s face softened. They put down their phone, still keeping a half-casual air. Adjusted their hat (where did Flynn get so many hats?).

“You know,” she paused. Exhaled slowly. “You know, gender is more like a concept. Like- my gender is basically a lesbian, yeah? It doesn’t make sense, but it makes sense to me. Some people call it a performance, but the point is that it shouldn’t define you. If you don’t find a label that you like, who cares, dude? If anyone gives you crap for it, hit them with your skateboard.”

The last line startled a laugh out of Willie, their shoulders relaxing ever so slightly. “I, uh, yeah. I’ll keep that in mind. You’re-you’re pretty great at this stuff.”

Flynn smirked, tilting their head to the side. “I know. Now go get ready for your,” she wiggled her eyebrows a bit, “date with blondie. And I am off to catch my demon of a girlfriend’s dance rehearsal.” Their eyes sparked at the word “girlfriend”, and Willie couldn’t help but grin back.

“Not a date!” he called out. “Not- it’s not a date. It’s just movie night with Alex. And Luke and Reggie and Julie. See? Not a date.” Willie was fumbling with their words, meaning he was probably blushing hard too.

“Mhmm.” Flynn looked bemused, shaking her head a little. “Have fun on your not-a-date-ghost-party-plus-my-best-friend then, skater boy.”

—

Okay, so Flynn had been helpful. That wouldn’t explain why Willie still felt lost, though considerably less so than before.

Their gender- hm.

It was sort of like gender envy. Except remove the envy part. Because sure, ghosts could have gender. But it wasn’t really the gender he wanted. Stuck with it. Just like they were stuck in the afterlife, if you could call ghosthood an afterlife.

So gender envy without the envy. And it was still unclear if “ghost” was a real-enough gender, or if Willie was making it all up. So that took away from the metaphor quite a bit. Gender envy, but without the envy. Oh, and scrap the gender too. Nice metaphor, Ortega. You’re really making progress here.

It’s ok. Everything’s fine. Willie isn’t the least bit concerned. He didn’t need a label, honestly. So why did they feel like they needed one so badly? Nobody was going to care, Julie certainly wouldn’t mind regardless of the answer she got. (If Willie was being honest, it wasn’t really about Julie.)

Didn’t Willie figure this out when they were alive? Skaters didn’t need a gender. Skating was what defined them, not a gender identity label or their sexuality. Skating was the one thing that made them feel free and alive. And then they died, of course. That didn’t mean they couldn’t still skate, though. And yes, maybe he couldn’t really feel the wind in their hair as he rushed down Hollywood Boulevard, and as much fun as phasing straight through lifers was, it did only emphasize the fact that he was a ghost. Not real.

If Willie themself wasn’t real, then why should their gender have to be real? It was barely a significant part of them, anyways.

In all seriousness, he did have an idea of why Julie’s simple question was affecting them so much. Nobody had ever asked them that before. For years, decades, Willie had simply. Been. Willie Williamson Ortega, ghost skater at the Hollywood Ghost Club.

It hadn’t occurred to him just how much they didn’t feel like a person during that time. Skating was wonderful, of course. Their only true escape from the strange hodge-podge of Caleb’s talent show. It was Caleb that was the problem, Caleb that had been leeching off Willie’s being the whole time.

And then, he was alive again. Willie, that was. Not Caleb. Alex brought Willie back to life, and wasn’t that just ironic? Because Willie was so, so alive in ways that they had never been before. And all while he was dead, to top it off.

And the craziest part about it was-

And then their board rammed into someone, sending both parties to the ground in a groaning heap.

“Ah damn, I am so sorry, I- Reggie??” This was great. Another one of the band members that they ran over with a skateboard. Alex was never going to let him live this down. At least they weren’t obsessing more over the board than the person. (Although, Willie had done a quick check of his board, which seemed unharmed.)

“Man, I just wanted to go for a walk, not get turned into roadkill,” Reggie laughed, sitting up cautiously.

“I’m so sorry dude, I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention. Honestly, I was kinda having a minor afterlife crisis, as Alex would say.” He doesn’t know why he said that, doesn’t know what it is about Reggie that made them suddenly willing to stick around instead of apologize and skate off.

“Minor afterlife crisis, huh?” Reggie raised their eyebrows, hands propped up on his knees. “I mean, the afterlife is weird. Luke poofed my shirt away the first time we teleported! And Alex still gets wedgies, even though all our clothes are made of air!” Willie glanced at him, checking if he was serious or not. It was hard to tell, with Reggie’s earnest-puppy-dog confused face.

Willie inhaled deeply, sighing as they sat down. “Yeah. You know, I don’t think I’ve felt this alive, with Alex and you guys and Julie, since like, I died. And then Julie was asking about pride, and I can’t quite figure out what my gender identity is. It’s kinda…” His voice trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“Like you just are, but in a different way than everyone else.” Reggie murmured, eyes downcast.

Willie’s eyes snapped to Reggie. “Yeah! Exactly. You know that feeling? Because you just are, but nobody can understand that. I’m alive like I haven’t been in forever, and I can’t. Can’t put a name to myself anymore.”

Reggie nodded enthusiastically. “Luke keeps saying that maybe I’m like him. But I think he’s wrong. I used to wear skirts to our band performances. They were just fun to stomp and jump around on stage with. Nobody asks me, but if they did, I would say my gender’s like that. I’ll do it if it makes me feel good, but not because of labels.”

It was as simple as that. Willie took a breath, felt it sink into his bones and settle there. Simple. As. That. They’d been so busy worrying over finding a proper label. And truly, it wasn’t such a big deal.

Beside them, Reggie was still talking. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re ghosts. We can pretty much do anything. Skating makes you feel more you, right? You say that a lot. Skateboarding, that’s enough to be an identity, gender or not. My sister used to say, when our parents would get mad at me for wearing skirts or makeup, that it didn’t matter. Because I would always be me, you know?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m always going to be me. Thank you, Reggie. I think you solved my minor afterlife crisis for me.” Skateboarding is a part of me. I can be a skater. I can be a ghost. I don’t need any other labels than that.

Except maybe Alex’s boyfriend. Or spouse. No! Stop thinking that much ahead, you haven’t even asked him out yet, Ortega! Focus on right now.

“Nah, it was all you. You knew it, you just needed to hear it again.” They grinned, green eyes sparkling in light of the setting sun. Willie huffed out a laugh, offering a fist. Reggie tapped his fist against Willie’s, not hesitating for a moment.

—

When Alex met Willie’s gaze, all he could see was happiness.

“Everything okay?” He asked, already knowing the answer that would come.

“Yeah. Reggie helped me figure some things out. And I’m still me. Just Willie.” They smiled, reaching out for Alex’s hand.

“Well, Just Willie, I hope you’re ready for Friday movie night. Luke picked A New Hope,” he leaned in and stage whispered, “for the seven hundredth time.”

Luke protested from across the couch, standing up to make his point.

“It’s a good movie, but we’ve all memorized the script at this point, Lucas.” Alex shot back, squeezing Willie’s hand slightly.

Willie leaned back, eyes fond as he took in the scene. Luke and Alex bickering loudly over who had the better movie choices, Julie laughing, exasperated as she bent over to paint Reggie’s nails a pale purple.

Definitely the most alive they had felt in a long time.

[cloudshapedpatch]

take my money (take my heart, too)

the awkward julie & luke sugar daddy/baby au no one asked for

rated teen and up for swearing and semi-mature themes such as the concept of a sugar daddy/baby arrangement

no smut! insane tooth-rotting fluff tho

slow burn juke

and disaster lesbians flarrie side plot and (eventual) willex

also a coffee shop au because i said so

read on ao3 (chapter 1 and tag list below the cut)

* * * *

Julie is nervous. No, nervous is an understatement. Her knees bounce uncontrollably under the table, shaky fingers twirling the straw in her iced coffee. And the knot in her stomach seems to grow ever tighter.

She pulls out her phone to check the time for the third time this minute. How is it still 10:57 am? Just as she is about to put her phone back in her pocket, it buzzes with an incoming text from her best friend/roommate, Flynn.

Flynn: calm down

Julie smiles despite herself, turning around to look at her friend a few tables away. Thank goodness for her friend, willing to throw away a morning to make sure she is safe and comfortable on her blind date. She shoots Flynn a small smile. Flynn, to their credit, is taking their job very seriously, wearing an absurdly large sunhat and sunglasses, sipping on a mug of hot tea with a decoy book under her nose.

Julie turns to anxiously watch the baristas, moving around the small space with ease, mixing drinks hot and cold alike. Twirling around each other without even looking. And she lets her mind wander.

How had she gotten here? Waiting for a man whom she had never spoken to, let alone seen? And she isn’t counting their text messaging. Not really. Not even if they had been talking for weeks. Not even if they regularly stayed up well into the night just to keep talking to the other. Not even if he had her blushing furiously, toes curling from giddiness and hiding under her sheets, smiling at the flirtatious speech bubbles on her phone for longer than she’d like to admit.

Because that doesn’t count. She has never heard his voice. She has never seen what he looked like. Anyone could be a charmer, and she is undoubtedly nervous about who she might find walking through the door and towards her.

How had she gotten here? It is a simple question, and one she has the answer to. Doesn’t mean she likes it. She had made an offhand comment to Flynn at work one day. Julie is sick of working 12 hour days in the cafe (not this one. she would be dumb to meet a stranger in her workplace) and barely scraping by. She had joked she needed someone to fund her shopping sprees.

Flynn had suggested a sugar daddy.

Julie wants to bang her head on the table. Past Julie is an idiot. And now Present Julie is going to pay the price.

Why had she let Flynn convince her to download that dumb app?

(Because she has a virtually useless college degree, bills to pay, and school loans creeping up on her and she is cutting back every month. Living in L.A. isn’t cheap.

And, if she really lets herself think about it, Julie is lonely.)

She checks her phone again, pleased to find it is finally 11 am. He should be here any minute. Luke should be here any minute.

Is it a red flag that he had only been willing to share his first name? Should it have concerned her that he didn’t have a profile picture on his online dating account? Is she dumb for letting him change the subject every time she asked about his job? Solid ‘maybe’s to all of those, but! After they had started talking, they had instantly clicked. He loves music almost as much as she did, maybe even more. They bonded over that, and many other things.

This is fine.

She straightens her posture, glancing down at her dress to make sure all is in order. It’s baby blue with golden sunflowers all over, and she had slipped a cropped denim jacket on top, the one with patches of all her favorite bands. She fusses with the loose curls hanging by her face, her hair pulled into a half bun at the top of her head, leaving a clear view of her sunflower earrings. It’s the perfect outfit to be noticed in, she had told him she’d be wearing blue and sunflowers, certainly he wouldn’t miss her.

Whenever he decided to show up.

Wait. he would show up, wouldn’t he?

Of course he would.

...Right?

Before she can get too far down that rabbit hole, the chime above the door is jingling, and Julie has to fight hard not to turn and see who it is. The anticipation crawls up her spine and settles in her neck, jaw tingling.

A man comes in, approaching the counter with confidence in his step. One barista takes one look at him and gapes like a fish, turning to a coworker to nonchalantly point at him. Both girls look at each other and quietly squeal, letting one of the male cashiers help him.

Must be attractive, she thinks, and she isn’t disappointed by what she can see from the back. His sleeves are short, showing off his muscular arms and he’s tall. She’s always liked tall men.

Supposedly handsome stranger orders his drink and waits at the counter for it. One of the girls hands it to him with a gleeful smile. He accepts, then says something to her before the girl’s smile falters and points right at Julie.

Wait, she’s pointing at Julie?

Definitely handsome stranger follows her finger and lands on Julie, eyes scanning up and down her body (at least, what he can see from above the table), his face instantly lighting up in the most gorgeous smile she’s ever seen.

And then he’s turning back to say thank you and then making his way towards her and oh no what what what--

Because this isn’t her date. It can’t be, right? But Luke Patterson is stepping up to her booth, sliding into the seat across from her.

“Hey, you’re Julie, right?” His voice, sweet and thick as honey, and Julie would know that voice anywhere.

“Luke Patterson? You… you didn’t say--” She cuts herself off before she can say something foolish.

Because there is no way in hell she’d unknowingly put up her sugar baby services to Luke fucking Patterson. Not rockstar Luke Patterson. Not lead guitarist and singer and songwriter for her favorite band, Sunset Curve. Not literally in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Luke Patterson.

“Yeah, about that… I am really sorry about not telling you. It’s just not something I like mentioning to everyone I meet, you know?”

She’s having a hard time processing what he’s saying. He’s so close. Why is he leaning on the table like that? Why is he so close?

“Yeah! Yeah, totally. That’s understandable.” She laughs nervously, taking a sip of her coffee to avoid speaking any further.

“This… this is okay, right? You’re not mad?”

“Mad?” This clears her mind a bit. She takes in the way his hands fiddle with the rings on his fingers, his shoulders raised, and while his smile is easygoing, his eyes say otherwise. Why would she be mad?

She expresses this to him, and he just looks at his hands.

“Well, because I wasn’t completely truthful with you. And I totally understand if you want to walk away.”

“No!” She says before she can filter herself. His eyebrows raise in amusement. “I mean, it’s fine! I was just… surprised, that’s all.”

And surprised is correct. Luke Patterson is the same Luke she’s been talking to for the last three weeks, the very same one who’s been making her laugh and who’d almost made her miss work last week because they had texted about everything and nothing until the sun came up.

He seems to like her answer. His smile never leaves his face.

“You seemed to recognize me. You a fan of Sunset Curve’s?”

And maybe it’s the way his cocky smile burns her cheeks, or just the fact that he’s talking to her. Panic sets in and she lies.

“Never heard of Sunset Swerve.”

“You knew my name.”

“You know it’s a household name, right?”

“Your jacket says otherwise.”

And shit. She had forgotten about the Sunset Curve patch right over her heart. In fact, it was the first patch she had put on the jacket. But he doesn’t need to know that.

“Fine. You caught me. I’m a Curver. Happy?”

And though she’s teasing, he couldn’t seem to be happier. Seriously, she’s worried his dopey grin is gonna break his face. Then an ugly, ugly thought rears its head in her mind.

“Wait. You let me gush about Sunset Curve so many times and you didn’t say anything?” Her sentence ends in a laugh.

“Oh, Julie, I wanted to so bad. You have no idea!”

Julie finds herself not really registering the second half of his sentence. She had missed it, the first time he said her name due to being starstruck, and her face warms a bit when she recalls just how good her name had sounded when he said it. Like a splash of cool water on a hot day. Like sap dripping fresh from a tree, glinting in the sunlight.

“Then why didn’t you?”

He sobers a bit at this, though his eyes still hold the same fire as before. “Well, I didn’t really want to go around announcing that. Can you imagine how many matches I’d get if I put that little tidbit in my bio?”

Julie laughs at this, the absurdity of it hitting her. Of course. He’d want someone who’d like him for him, not for his status, or name, or fame or money.

Oh. Shit. She was literally here for his money.

“For sure! Must’ve been hard.”

“Oh, not really. I matched with you on day one and deleted the app once we exchanged phone numbers.”

“Really?” Julie felt a little guilty for still having the app on her phone now, even after she was pretty sure Luke was a good match. There was still the possibility that mystery man was a total creep. If she’d have known who he was, on the other hand…

“Totally! I’ll be honest, my bandmates put me up to this, but once we started talking I just knew I had to meet you.”

Julie’s mind still feels a bit foggy, like she was dreaming. A fantastic dream, might she add.

“I’ve been really excited to meet you too. My best friend also convinced me to get the app. She’s actually over there.” Julie smiled, nudging her head over towards her friend, where they were certainly trying their best to eavesdrop.

“Brought a plus one, I see?” Luke chuckled, giving Flynn a wave. Flynn hid her already shielded eyes from view with her book.

“Hey, you gotta remember I was meeting someone whom I had never seen before, and the fact that I didn’t know your last name was not helping.”

Luke’s smile turned bashful again. “Ah. She’s backup.”

“Yep! But I think they’re good to go.” Julie whipped out her phone and sent Flynn a quick message, relieving her of her duties.

“You sure? I might kidnap you.”

“I’d let you kidnap me.”

Oh god. She so did not say that.

He seemed to think it was funny. At least she was amusing. At her own expense, maybe, but amusing nonetheless.

Amusing to Luke Patterson.

If she doesn’t stop saying his last name, she’ll go insane. This is just the dorky guy she’s been talking to. The one she’ll hopefully get to talk to tomorrow.

Despite the rocky start, Julie would say it was a successful date. Coffee turned into lunch at a nearby bistro, and he walked Julie to her car a few blocks away. She didn’t get to her apartment until after 4 o’clock, and Flynn was waiting with two glasses of wine in their shared living room. Julie is eager to spill all the details, and Flynn is the perfect listener, oohing and ahhing at all the right moments.

As Julie crawls into bed after her eventful day, her phone dings on her nightstand.

PayPal: Luke Patterson sent you $500.00  “I had a great time today :) hope to see you again soon!”

Well. If she had calmed down any, this just undid all of her efforts. A wave of guilt floods over her. The concept of a sugar daddy sort of seemed too outlandish to really fathom. But now she feels awful taking his money.

She’s really doing this, isn’t she?

Julie: you really didn’t have to

Luke: but i wanted to

Luke: it’s ok tho right?

Julie: i guess it’s fine, it’s just a lot of money

Luke: i realise how conceited this is going to sound but its no sweat off my back. just think of it as a gift

Gifts. She could live with that.

* * * *

taglist! @ladyblanche :)

[maxdark158]

Daminette Soulmate AU

Okay so when I talked about this with @chloe-bourgeois-is-big-gay @mindfulmagics and @2sunchild2 yesterday we went through a scenario where Marinette went to Gotham so I thought WELL WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER WAY AROUND which was mostly inspired by @let-me-perish ‘s Alternate Beginnings au

I am NOT writing more of this, but anyone else is open to continuing it for me in whatever way they want! Make it a collab!

@realrandomposts @ozmav

Enjoy

oooOOOooo

Soulmates are a thing in this world! Damian isn’t sure why that has to be a stated fact, but they are real. The majority of people have soulmates and that is as much of a fact as is the fact that he doesn’t have one.

Well, Grayson says not to lose hope but Damian doesn’t think he’s missing out on anything anyway. He doesn’t care that he doesn’t have some random stranger’s name on his body Grayson does, and he couldn’t understand it until he met the Tamaranean himself, he is not colorblind Todd is, but he hates it writing on his skin bears no results Drake is always writing on his skin, he and his soulmate good friends despite never meeting, he has no marks that will light up when he and a soulmate would first touch Father’s was on his chest somewhere and it lit up before Damian knew of him, he sometimes wonders who else shares it and he doesn’t feel any pain belonging to another person he and his father had been battling Poison Ivy when her soulbond was revealed by a bloody nose neither of them gave her, though he noticed how her and Harley’s injuries always matched the other after that.

Given that the only other soulbond is incredibly rare, Damian feels safe to assume that he simply does not have one. After all, hearing the thoughts of his soulmate would be a headache – both literally and metaphorically.

oooOOOooo

His class was on a trip to France. Paris, France to be more specific. A plagued with supervillains, much like Gotham. Of course, the mayor made sure to remind everyone that the villains were harmless – he likely didn’t want tourists to stop going.

Which is what, Damian realized, he and his classmates were. Tourists.

Well, sort of. They were actually part of an exchange program that all students who spoke French got to participate in. For one month, they would go to the highest-ranking high school in the area – the same one the Mayor’s daughter went to. Then they’d return to Gotham and write essays in French, and depending on the score they could opt out of finals for any other language classes they took.

Damian didn’t really care for the skipping finals part, and was originally planning to sit it out the trip. But Father insisted he go. Something about living life. And monitoring the situation in Paris to see if it needed any intervention. But living life too. For a month.

They had recently landed in the city of love ugh, gross and he and his classmates were at the hotel now. It was the mayor’s hotel, a lavish one at that. Well, appearing to be lavish, but Damian knew enough to know what was a good knock off and what was real when it came to expensive things. He’s a Wayne after all.

“We get our own rooms?” His classmate Charlette “Scar” Gamble sounded surprised. Damian was too. Their trip may only have fourteen students but even he expected to share rooms.

“Well we have three young men and eleven young women on this trip, and we wouldn’t be able to evenly have roommates, so single-use rooms were the best option.”

Damian saw Scar’s shoulders relax. He was glad their school was open to her situation and didn’t make her share with one of the boys. They weren’t friends exactly, but he didn’t hate her company.

Suddenly, a white-hot and burning pain hit him. He grabbed his head, lips pressed tightly together so he didn’t scream. All he could hear was ringing, high pitched like when someone dropped a microphone on full volume. His vision was spotty.

Oh kwami, that hurt. Ugh. I need to focus on this akuma!

What the hell was going on? Why was there a voice in his head? And why was it French?

Focus on the akuma! It’s probably doing this to you, it’ll go away as soon as you’re done, then you can finish your homewor-

Whatever just happened, it fizzled out. Damian blinked, the pain was gone just as quickly as it had arrived.

“Damian?” He looked up to see Scar holding him by the shoulders. “You okay?”

It struck him suddenly when his frie- acquaintance was shaking him down for an answer. The girl he heard in his head – those were thoughts.

He was part of the 3% that had a thought sharing soulmate.

oooOOOooo

“So are you going to lie to me like you lied to Miss Olivander?” Scar and Damian were sitting in the lobby, away from the mess of excited classmates that had taken over their section of rooms.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Damian replied, trying not to sound too stiff. He was on google, searching for everything he could about thought sharing soulmates. Apparently, there was always a distance limit, usually around 20 feet.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Scar roll hers. “You’re my friend Damian. You can tell me! Though if you want me to butt out, say the word and I will.”

Damian turned to her. “Friend? I didn’t know we were friends.”

He panicked for a moment, worried he upset Scar but she just scoffed. “You’re the first person I told that I was a girl and you think we aren’t friends?”

“I thought it was just because I can keep secrets,” Damian grumbled back. So he’s a little socially inept, sue him!

“We eat lunch together often.”

“I thought it was because the asshats wouldn’t mess with you when you sat with me!”

“You helped me dye my hair and found hair dye that matched the trans and lesbian flag.”

Damian paused. “Okay so I probably should have connected the dots.”

“Yeah,” Scar was grinning. “You should have.”

Damian rolled his eyes.

“That doesn’t answer my question though,” Scar poked him in the shoulder. “What happened to you? Everyone was super freaked out.”

He pursed his lips. “My soulmate connection formed.”

Scar’s mouth dropped open. “Really? You have a thought share connection? I thought you didn’t have a soulmate!”

“I thought so too,” he replied dryly. “But it appears I was wrong.”

“Your soulmate is in Paris,” Scar giggled. “Literally the city of love!”

Damian made a face at that, and Scarlett laughed more.

oooOOOooo

Damian didn’t tell his father about his soulmate connection, resolving to figure it out on his own or leaving it alone. He didn’t want to have attachments like a soulmate connection to weighing him down, the thought scared him. But he couldn’t deny his curiosity.

If he heard her thoughts again, Damian would investigate.

Unfortunately, his fri- acqu- friend Scar declared that she wanted him to be happy and she would help him search for his mystery soulmate.

Damian was just glad she didn’t declare that in front of his other classmates.

Today they were heading to Lycee Francois Dupont. Seven of them would join one class, and seven of them would join the other. He and Scar both got Mlle Bustier.

When they arrived, Damian noticed that an Italian girl was outside the in the courtyard surrounded by her peers. She seemed to be crying about something, but Damian didn’t really care.

They went to the class early, the teacher settling them into their seats. There were a lot more than a typical French room, she explained, to accommodate all of them.

Damian was caring less and less as time went on.

Soon other students, this time ones who went to the school full-time, began to trickle in. A girl with curly red hair was showing a boy with a red baseball cap a video on her phone. A small blonde girl and a tall dark-haired girl were talking quietly to a large boy and another small blonde girl. And the Italian girl from earlier was approaching them-

Wait why was she approaching them?

“Hello,” her voice sounded sickly sweet, and Damian pursed his lips, “I was wondering if any of you could tell me about my Damiboo? He leaves so much out of his letters to me and I know you go to school with him!”

He blinked. He opened his mouth to say something. Scar beat him to it.

“What do you mean, Damiboo?” She asked.

“Oh, did he not tell you?” she put a hand to her mouth in surprise. “My name is Lila Rossi. Damian Wayne is my soulmate! His name is along my spine and mine on his thigh.”

Scarlett narrowed her eyes. “Bull.”

Rossi blinked. “Wh-what?”

“Bull,” Damian repeated. “Don’t you know? Damian Wayne doesn’t have a soulmate. He’s said so in many interviews.”

The girl did a dramatic sigh. “He must be lying to protect my identity! I can understand, but it still hurts.” She looked at them, the fakest of fake tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry for bothering you. I just wanted to know how my darling is doing.”

“You should be sorry,” Scar bit out.

The girl seemed shocked that her tearful act didn’t work. Before she could attempt to further guilt trip them, Mlle Bustier asked them all to go to their seats for roll call.

“She’s a liar,” Scar hissed once Rossi was out of earshot.

“No kidding,” Damian grumbled. “She attempted to lie about me but didn’t even recognize me?”

“Stupid, truly, she is,” Scar snickered.

“It appears Marinette is late again,” Mlle. Bustier sighed.

The French class seemed to mumble among themselves. The things they said were all derogatory and rude. Damian wondered why an entire class was ganged up on a single student.

It was then that Damian felt... Something. It was like a warmness in his head without any physical heat. It was… odd, to say the least. But at least there was no pain this time.

-late I’m late I’m so late! Ugh, I should have just not done some homework and slept more, I’m so-

Late?

Yeah! Wait who are you?

I could ask you the same question, person in my head

YOU’RE in MY head tho- wait are you my soulmate?

It would appear so. You’re still late.

AAAAAAH I’M LATE

Damian winced at the yelling, which made Scar turn to him. She saw him rubbing his temple, the slight squint, and grinned.

“Is it your soulmate?” she whispered.

Suddenly the door burst open, a girl with blue pigtails and bluer eyes having run through it, though she didn’t seem out of breath.

“Sorry I’m late Mlle!” She exclaimed.

She’s going to hate me if she already doesn’t like the rest of them hate me.

Why do they hate you?

Not important. How are you still within six meters of me?

20 feet

Shut up American- wait you’re American

“Marinette,” Mlle Bustier sighed. “In case you haven’t paid attention in my class,” giggled erupted from the French students.

As usual, they all hate me

I’m not laughing

Wait you’re seeing this? Ugh that’s worse

“In case you haven’t paid attention in my class,” Mlle Bustier repeated herself. “Students from Gotham Academy are spending a month at this school as an exchange program. Please take your seat.”

So I guess you’re one of the Gotham students?

Yes. I assume you’re the late girl, Marinette?

Gee, how’d you figure that out. But seriously I can tell you’re a guy from your voice and they’re only two guys in here that are American-

“Is your soulmate the cutie with pigtails?” Scar asked. “Because if not, dibs.”

Wait no you can’t call dibs on my soulmate

Who’s calling dibs on me?

Nothing. Stop listening.

No, you.

“You can’t,” he mumbled, and Scar lit up.

“I am going to be the best wing woman on this planet and possibly other ones too!” Scar said just a bit too loudly.

Wait no too loud Scarlett!

So I’m guessing that’s you then?

He looked at Marinette, who met his eyes. She smirked.

Found you.

[antivirus-mh-au]

Antivirus - Chapter 4

First Chapter Previous Chapter Ao3 Link TW: None Note: I am completely exhausted and working on a laggy computer. I will add these links when I’m not a zombie trying to use a zombie laptop. Thank you for your patience.

Click the link. Let the page load, the old laptop whirring as it opened. A YouTube video, like so many others. Opening shot, an abandoned building in the middle of the night, muffled voices talking.

Shrieking, screaming. The camera lowered as the one holding it ducks for cover. Four voices yelling at once. Suddenly, laughter. Relieved laughter.

"Fucking bats!" A man called out. The camera raising, focusing on the dark shapes fluttering out the window.

"We need to be careful," a woman said, voice light-hearted. "Those things carry rabies."

Laughter breaking through the group again, a logo of a camera appearing on the screen.

He paused the video and glanced down at the title. "OUR GREATEST HITS, VOLUME ONE." 

He sent a text to his friend.

Phoenix: who are these assholes?

The reply was immediate.

Skully: they're my assholes. College kids I made friends with on Twitter. Really cool. I don't remember being that cool when I was twenty.

He grunted aloud. Lucky him, remembering anything about his twenties. Not everyone was so fortunate.

Skully: They’re part of the MH fandom. They actually live in Alabama and were able to track down some of the locations in the videos.

He rolled his eyes.

Phoenix: Find any bodies?

Skully: Just blood.

He shuddered, pulling his hooded jacket closer to his body.

Phoenix: Cool. Morbid, but cool.

He was such a liar.

Skully: Anyway, not what I was sending them to you about. They just made a new video today and I think you might be interested in it

He grimaced.

Phoenix: This is about your crazy boyfriend, isn’t it?

Skully: He’s not my boyfriend!! I don’t know him!!!

Skully: And you know my partner doesn't share.

Phoenix: But it’s still about him. The prophet guy.

Skully: … Yeah. But you should still watch this! I think you’ll find it interesting

He leaned back against the wall and huffed.

Phoenix: Why?

Skully: … the kids talk about Tim, alright?

Skully: They talk about him a lot.

His fingers hesitated over the keys. He lingered, reading the words again and again. Tim…?

Phoenix: Fine.

Phoenix: Send me the video.

The video, almost thirty minutes long, took its sweet time to load. First thing on screen was the same logo as before, a camera with a generic full face mask behind it. The name of the channel followed, MH Unlocked. He shook his head.

The name faded out, replaced by three people on a couch. Two women, one man. A second man sat on top of an end table on the right side of the couch. The lamp that probably belonged in that spot sat on the floor at his dangling feet.

The woman on the left, a bushy haired brunette with deep tan skin, a high ponytail and golden brown eyes, gave the camera a grin.

"Hey investigators!" She waved. "We're back with another video."

"And this one's a doozy," the woman beside her said, raising her mug, which proudly bore a pride flag. If he had to guess, it was the lesbian one. Her hair was dyed orange, peachy skin flushed by makeup or a light sunburn, it was hard to tell.

"Before we start," the first woman said, "be sure to leave a like and give us your thoughts and theories in the comments! I promise, we read all of them."

"Eventually," said the man on the end table with a grin. He was the palest white guy ever, with curly black hair, glasses, and about a thousand freckles on his face. The man next to him gave him a shove, and the first man burst into laughter. 

The other man, with skin several shades darker than the brunette and a suit far too good looking for this kind of environment, rolled his eyes. He waved a hand, with a silver ring on his index finger, at the camera.

"You already know us," he said. "I'm Mix."

"I'm Holly!" The brunette on the other end said.

"I'm Wren," the orange haired woman said.

"And I'm Steve!" The freckled man grinned wide, his green eyes practically glowing with excitement. "We've got a big story for you guys today."

"Oh, very big," Wren said, before taking a drink from her mug.

"Big like the worst headache you've ever had," Mix said with a smiling roll of his eyes. Wren smacked him on the shoulder without looking away from her drink.

"So." Holly reached up from the floor and pulled up a laptop. The brand logo was covered up with a pineapple sticker. Her eyes scanned the screen as she fiddled with the touchpad, Wren leaning over to see what she was doing.

"Last night," Holly said. "Something weird happened over on the Neophyte_Calling YouTube channel."

"Weirder than normal," Wren said.

"Yeah," Holly said. She glanced over towards Steve, who swiped at the screen of his phone. He looked up.

"We'd show the footage but people don’t seem to like when we do that," Steve said. "Something something spreading the sickness." He shrugged with a smile. "But we've all watched it and we can give you a play by play of what happened."

"It might not seem that dramatic," Wren said, "but the implications are pretty intense."

"I'll say," Mix said. 

"Last night, at around ten pm," Holly started, "in the middle of his usual stream, the Neophyte went quiet. The way he does when whatever he's supposedly channeling is trying to talk through him. After about thirty seconds of silence, he started bleeding onto the table from his head, which remember, is mostly off screen. He said, "he's coming," and fell over as the screen glitched out. For another hour there was complete silence before the stream randomly ended."

"Weird shit," Steve said.

Holly nodded. "Very weird shit - but in character for him."

"Now, for those of you that don't know who the Neophyte is," Mix said, "he's the guy you see people calling 'the Prophet' in this fandom. Talks like a drug addict on a high, but many people believe there are secret messages in his words that can be decoded. They say those messages predict the future."

"Not everyone believes this," Holly said.

"I don't," Steve said, hunched over and watching his friends. "But there's definitely something funny-weird about the guy. Very… uncanny valley."

"Sometimes, unprompted, he'll stop talking and do this creepy voice." Holly cleared her throat, and when she spoke again, she lowered her voice, taking on an odd pitch to her words. "Grains of sand in the hourglass of time. Your existence is irrelevant." She shuddered, and let her voice go back to normal. "Something like that."

"That's an awful impression but it gets the job done," Mix said.

"You try doing one better," Holly said.

"The one thing all of these coherent messages have in common," Wren said, "is that they're all addressed to the same person. Someone called Tim."

Steve nodded. "And you can guess who most people think that 'Tim' is."

"It's been ten years since Marble Hornets ended," Mix said. "But it would make sense if it were Tim Wright the Neophyte was talking to. He was the only survivor, after all."

"But that would imply that Tim is watching the Neophyte streams," Wren said.

"And if he's watching the streams, he could be aware of us, too," Holly said.

The four went quiet. Mix looked at the floor. Steve traded a look of discomfort with Holly. Wren took a sip of her mug. She pulled it away from her lips with a sigh.

"If he does know about us," Wren said, "why not come forward and tell his side of the story? He could change the whole game by revealing himself."

"Probably because he's a fucking murderer," Steve said. Mix glared at him, but Steve only shrugged. "You know I'm right!"

"He did kill two people," Holly said, looking at her laptop. "Just because Kralie killed Jay doesn't make what Tim did right."

"But what other choice did he have?" Mix said. "Alex wouldn't have stopped trying to kill Tim. One of them needed to die."

"That doesn't matter to the legal system," Holly said.

"We're getting off topic," Wren said, raising a hand. "It doesn't matter if the Neophyte was talking about Tim from Marble Hornets or not. What matters is that someone is going somewhere and that's apparently good news for the Neophyte or whatever he's channeling."

"You can say the Operator, it's okay," Steve said.

Holly glared at him from over Wren's head.

"It does matter, though, if he's talking about Tim in particular," Mix said. "What if Tim is heading back to Alabama? Maybe he left after the end of the series."

"It's possible," Holly said, "but that's pure speculation. We don't know that."

"Isn't speculation all we do?" Steve said, swinging his legs gently. "Come on, let's give the audience something to chew on. What do you guys think the Neophyte was talking about? The crazier the theory, the better."

Mix frowned. "Well…"

With a shake of his head, the viewer closed the tab. He'd seen enough. Enough to make his eyes burn and hands shake. He took a deep breath, and shuddered, pulling his jacket around himself. It was a warm day beyond the safe confines of this abandoned house, but that didn't stop the chills shooting through him.

Was he afraid? Or was he angry? 

With a growl he thrust the laptop away from him and reached for his sketchbook. The pen he'd been using before still rested inside. Forcing his thoughts away from the video, he focused everything in his mind onto his art.

He wasn't a great artist, but his memory was good, and with nothing else to do most days, his skill was getting better. With proper art tools, he could've even gotten great at it. But there was no need for greatness right now. Art was supposed to be healing, and that more than anything was what he needed.

In his mind he captured the image, something he'd seen so many times before. Grinding his teeth, he let the image flow onto the page once more. His favorite thing to draw, the one thing that really made him smile.

Losing track of time was part of the appeal. With the light from his laptop, he could see the whole page, or at least enough of it to work. The ink bled into the paper, the lines assembling into a rough image that soon became a face. He could see it so well in his mind's eye. As if the man he pictured was right in front of him. But he wasn't. And if the man knew what was good for him, he'd stay that way.

The sound of a new message on Discord got his attention. He glanced at the time instead. An hour, flown by, his mind lost in an ink-based daydream. Exhaling hard, he looked back at the art on the page. It wasn't finished. It would probably never be finished. But as it was… it was perfect.

Tim Wright made a very good model, unaware of that as he was.

Running his hand over the page, feeling the indents where his pen dug deep into the paper, he shook his head, and smiled.

"Better not be coming back, Tim," the man, the Maniac, said. "If you do… I'll have to kill you.”

[marmolady]

Pride

Book/Series: Endless Summer

Main Pairings: Diego x Varyyn, Estela x MC

Summary: (Endless Ending– set after my longer fic, ‘Broken Chains’, if you’ve not read it, assume a happy ending).  Surrounded by a barrier of friends, Varyyn joins Diego as they march in their very first Pride parade.

Word Count: 1588

Tagging:   @saivilo, @edgydepressedchoicesthot, @sceptilemasterr,  @greengroove

Reviews and reblogs are hugely appreciated!

Cloaked in a dark hood, at odds with the popping attire of near everyone around him, Varyyn was wide-eyed with fascination as he stepped out of the Northbridge train station, Diego at his side. The streets were awash with colour, hues that were draped over countless flags, banners, even the skin of revelers.

Diego grasped his husband’s hand tightly. He was awash with emotion; anxiety at having Varyyn surrounded by so many people, but more than that, a feeling of belonging that he’d craved for as long as he could remember.

“This is it, Varyyn,” he uttered hoarsely. “Happy Pride!”

“I am always proud to be with you, my love.”

Taylor was grinning like an idiot-- for her, too, this was a first, as it was for Estela with whom her fingers were entwined. “We’ve got this, Diego, the rest of us should be enough of a barrier to stop anyone from looking at you two too closely.”

Giving his best friend a warm smile, Diego nodded. That he’d been touched to have ten friends putting themselves out there to give him the kind of Pride experience he’d wistfully imagined was an understatement. They had his back. “Yeah, we got this.”

He looked around. Friends surrounded him on all sides, dressed in their colours or else proudly wearing ‘ally’ pins. To think he’d felt so alone before--

“Hey!” Craig exclaimed, “If anyone gets to close to our V-Dog, I can pull off a killer diversion. I’ve been practising my moves for weeks…”

“It’s been fucking torture to watch,” Zahra said. “But, yeah, your dancing will scare anyone off, I’ll give you that.”

As they marched on with the parade, the smile on Estela’s face just grew broader. She’d never had a chance to do anything like this in San Trobida, and probably she’d have steered clear of all the fuss anyway. Since returning from La Huerta, her sexuality, the identity that came with it, meant a whole lot more. On La Huerta, no one gave a damn, and she hadn’t bothered herself with labels. Today,though, her wrist was adorned with a pink, yellow and blue bracelet.

“I didn’t know you identified as pansexual?” Quinn queried warmly. When they’d discussed these things previously, Estela had always been vague-- which had always been accepted without hesitation; but it seemed something had changed.

Estela nodded. “I didn’t think I wanted a label, but then I thought… words have power. They can make you visible. I like who I am, how I love; a lot of people where I’m from struggle with that because for so long they had to hide. Visibility is important.”

“That’s my wife! Fighting the good fight and making the world less shit, one PDA at a time.” Taylor jumped to give Estela an enormous smooch, delighting in the happy squirm she caused.

“So, uh,” Estela tried to continue, whilst her love continued to pepper her face and neck with kisses, “basically, I just… find some people attractive. And I don’t think it would have mattered if Taylor was a guy or a girl or both or neither. She’s my person. It was a weird feeling, like something deep inside me knew.”

“Aw, ‘Stel!” Taylor gushed. “As for me? Basically, I’m gay as the day is long. Useless Lesbian: Alien Edition.”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,” Zahra scoffed. “You’re a walking fucking stereotype. If there were U-Hauls on La Huerta, maybe you wouldn’t have even needed to get hitched after what… how many weeks? Three? Four?”

Diego was quick to swoop to his friend’s defence. “Hey! La Huerta rules apply! Way too much wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff to untangle.”

Quinn smiled warmly. It wasn’t the first time she’d been to one of these events, nor even the third or fourth, but to be surrounded by the friends who’d become her family made for a very different experience. She was not alone, dodging pitying whispers while she tried to embrace a side of herself that was so much more than ‘the dying girl’. And now, she had Michelle.

“Life can be over so fast; if you care for someone, there’s no shame in putting yourself out there and showing it.” She gave Michelle’s hand a squeeze, and they exchanged an affectionate glance. “Being trapped at the end of the world can do a lot to put things in perspective. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m living without regrets. Who I am is who I am; and that includes the pieces I wished I could hide from.”

Grace looked to her friend with admiration. “That’s very brave, Quinn. Sometimes accepting yourself can be the hardest thing.” Especially when the people you love can’t look at the true you and do the same. “Honestly, you’ve helped me a lot.”

Walking beside Diego, Varyyn was beginning to see why they called it ‘Pride’; he could feel it emanating from his husband, creating a warmth that had nothing to do with the sun beating down. And the smile on Diego’s face? Varyyn was sure he’d not ever seen anything quite so beautiful. Though careful not to peer to far out from his hood, he took the time to look over each of the different coloured flags and ask about each one. A young woman jogged past, wearing a cape of black, grey, white and purple-- the same design that was plastered across Raj’s shirt.

“Raj,” he queried, “ I believe Diego told me about your colours. It is for… ‘ace’? For no romantic partners?”

“You got it! Basically, I get all the love I need from my bros. I never really felt like anything was missing, you know?”

“I understand. It’s not something my people have a word for, though I know several friends who have always felt the way you do,” he said, thoughtfully. “So much of this we don’t have words for; we just… be. I appreciate your sharing with me. And I am very grateful to be one of your bros.”

The whole experience was vastly different to anything that could exist among the Vaanti. Sexuality and gender was of so little consequence; there had never been much weight put on words and labels, there were no expectations that it be necessary. By the generally agreed upon human terms, Varyyn supposed he might call himself ‘pansexual’ as Estela did. The rainbow flag, though, was his favourite. In it he saw the jubilation of making it through a storm to something beautiful. Appropriate it was, that it meant so much to Diego, as he stepped out unafraid and loved. Varyyn looked at Diego, his husband, the love of his life; surrounded by a wall of friends, laughing on Taylor’s shoulder. He was truly radiant.

Varyyn put a hand on Raj’s shoulder. “Could I ask a great favour of you?”

“A personal favour for the elyyshar of the Vaanti? I think I can swing that….”

Taylor was chuckling as she ruffled her best friend’s hair. “So, how is it? Everything you dreamed of-- if you’d even dreamed you’d have the Knights’ bi legend Sean Gayle as part of your pride posse?”

“Pretty sure Past Diego would think you’d hit your head too hard if you’d tried to tell him this was coming. I mean, the time travel, the monsters, my best friend being some sort of knockoff ET, are unbelievable enough, but these kind of squad goals…? I…” Suddenly, he found himself choking up. If it was a life-altering adventure, he’d got it. What was left at the end of it was something that could never be truly grasped by outsiders, some bond, sacred even, that had helped him find his own strength. As he struggled to come to grips with the tatters that remained of his family life, it was that strength that would keep him afloat, and that bond that would see his heart start to heal. “I… didn’t think this feeling was possible for me.”

And Taylor hugged him tight. “You’d better get used to it, because you’re stuck with us. You deserve this. Just for being you… and also for being the world’s best wingman. The best thing that ever happened to me happened because you helped me believe in taking a leap. Diego Soto, I will never not owe you one,” she laughed.”So, for my next trick, I will pass you off to someone who wants his arms around you even more than I do. You’re welcome.

With a wink, Taylor spun Diego into Varyyn’s waiting arms, which draped an enormous rainbow flag around the two of them.

“My love,” Varyyn crooned,  “you bring my world more beauty than I believed possible. You showed me hope and light in my darkest hour. Diego, you are my rainbow.”

Cloaked in a fluttering of multicoloured fabric, they kissed, long and tender; the pounding of music and marching, the chants of ‘Variego!’ fading far into the background, beyond their own private euphoric celebration.

Varyyn came away slowly, his expression warm as he stared into a look of fierce affection. How could he ever have dreamed what had been held in store for him, when this lion-hearted storyteller was beyond anything Vaanu had yet shown him. A whispered ‘I love you’ from his beloved Diego set his heart, once again, all aflutter, dancing like the rainbow flag around their heads. “And I love you.”He quirked an eyebrow. “Best Pride ever?”

Diego gave a short laugh and pecked a kiss to his love’s gentle lips. “Best Pride ever.”

[kalosacetrainer]

Rwby Live Blog Part 1

hnnnng what if I live blogged my rwby rewatch It’s been like several years since I actually watched the show so I might get some stuff a little wrong heh, okay a lot wrong, I remember basically nothing. Starting with Volume 1, I plan to watch the first episode today and another episode every day until I catch up to the current volume, might take breaks if I have work to do, this is just a hobby and I need to prioritize other stuff before this.

Chapter 1: Ruby Rose Damn Red got that good music, I really like her design, it’s cool. So the ginger’s talking about dust, I think it’s kinda like gunpowder in it’s activation? Maybe it takes a spark to ignite whatever spell or something to activate? I really love this dust stuff so far, it seems really cool. OH FUUUUUUU, That huntress lady or whatever??? She has a staff thing and it just like, I bet it’s dust, but like, how does that work??? It started up a storm or something and it’s got point hail raining down??? That’s cool. The dark clouds are in a spirally thing that’s really cool. I also like her purple cloak but I don’t know why it’s all swirly at the ends, still cool. OKAY WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING. MAGIC???? Basically staff lady just used telekinesis or something by directing her wand and also the fire lady, gosh she’s hot, is using destructive fire magic or something, like it has weight to it which I can tell by how it slams into the ground. There’s no wand or anything though so like, maybe it’s like she has dust in her blood or something? And that’s how she can do magic??? That’d also make sense for wand lady, they got dust in their blood is my guess. Okay no I see more of this fire lady and she has glowing dress and that maybe means her clothes is a conduit for the dust magic. Yeah that makes sense. Oooo, so fire lady can deflect with her magic dust clothes too? Is she using the dust to hit the projectiles in the air before it hits or is she creating forcefields which deflect more widely??? Hmmmm. Oh my gosh red, that was adorable to ask your magic cop lady for an autograph, good for you girl, good for you. Hmmmm, so Red’s in trouble now for being a vigilante, is she even supposed to have a weapon like that like, girl looks 15, how can she have a blade gun??? So wand milf is talking about how she’s going to be sent home but then she’s implying that the punishment ain’t up to her, I wonder who’s in charge of wand milf then. Also what’s the structure for these “huntresses” Are they like, the defenders of the city and stuff? They hunt down criminals and those grim things which we haven’t seen yet, but how does the buisness work??? And what’s gonna happen to little Red? Ohhhh, we finding the big boss. Is it gonna be an even cooler milf? Tall vampire lady? Please be tall vampire lady. Damn. it’s an old guy with weird glasses, hasn’t brushed his hair from the looks of it. Also wtf is his fashion sense? Green on Green On Green on Green don’t look good hun, add a few muted colours in there somewhere, maybe a dark gray? Also, is he really wearing a stupid long baggy turtle neck with a brooch under a vest, under a long blazer??? Get it together man, let the milf do your fashion, or rwby or something, if you’re going to go for comfy, go for comfy, if you want business semi-casual, do that. But not whatever the hell you got, throw it in a fire already, I can’t stand to look at it. So Red’s name is Ruby Rose, got it. Wow she’s really going for that Red Thing, I wonder what her family is like if she got that sorta name. All I remember from this show is that ren and nora are my favorite’s, someone’s got an abusive family, there is ship discourse, lesbians, scary people and scary monsters, and the magic system’s fucked. Hmmmm, She got them gray eyes, I know that’s important but I got no idea how. YES! Thank you old man! I knew it was weird that she had a blade gun thing. Also, they be calling these schools weird, I think this is a private school thing, yeah that makes sense. YES GIRL! EAT ALL THEIR FOOD! LEAVE NOTHING BEHIND! Okay so her uncle’s one of her teachers, yeah I can feel the nepotism, so Red’s definitely not the one with the abusive family, now to find out which one it is, hmmmm. RED YOU ARE ADORABLE WITH THOSE LITTLE HAND THINGS ASJHFADLKJHS OH MY GOSH SHE’S RAMBLING, THAT’S PERFECT AHHHHHH Okay so there ARE police, damn, well I guess huntresses are cooler police but as we all know cops are pigs so hmmmm. I really really hope that there’s a corrupt system little red can destroy with her coolness but I’m already scared about how this system works.

Okay so back to the signal academy thing. Ruby has a sister who’s two years older than her, her uncle works at her current school, and she has a huge dangerous weapon on her at all times, uhhhhh, I fear the corruption a lot already, and what I’ve from what I’ve gotten so far, I’m not sure the creators are going to address the whole corruption thing for a while seeing as we haven’t met any good guys that aren’t fantasy cops so far. OKAY WHAT RUBY’S JUST RAMBLING IN FRONT OF HER FUTURE HEADMASTER SHE’S GOT SOME COURAGE. WHAT She’s actually going to Beacon two years early??? wtf >.> Red flags are already happening, this has to be about the silver eyes. Also, the framing of ozpin in the dark and ruby in the light *mwah* I can already tell that this guy has something wrong with him form that repeated framing style. The animation is moving around so much, bee sister’s thingies are just out there and her fashion blazer is wiggling, so weird. Golly, the digital art right next to the 3d modelling gives such a weird vibe. Also Roman Torchwick? Dang guy, that’s a sucky name. Rip my man’s whole vibe, he definitely got made fun of as a kid. Ahhhh, here’s the furries, so they are called “fauna” like, Just Animal??? Wow, Okay. I sense that there will be some pretty sucky metaphors made about racial inequality and stuff, ah well, I’m just here for the action and cool dust crap, oh and ren and nora, I wonder when they come in? Hmmm. “white fang” hmmm, I sense that’s a plot point, dang. “glenda goodwitch” wow they really selling to us that this is the good side huh. Still don’t like the points stuff for her cloak but it’s mostly because of how the art style makes it look.

Also have I made a comment yet about the sky ships? They are weird but cool. I like how they kinda look like sea creatures so far. Or just straight up helicopters but bigger. Both are cool.

So vomit boy is def a main character, wonder how that’ll go.

HOLY HELL THE OP IS SO GOOD! :D well, that’s all I have for y’all today, I hope tomorrow I don’t spend two hours like I did today just watch one episode but who knows? Maybe it’ll take three hours for the next episode. (I hope not, 2 hours is enough for me)

[progressivestupidity]

IZ week 2020

so i wasn’t gonna do this because I didn’t think the prompts were very good for writing to, but I remembered the last day’s prompt was “role swap” so I decided to do something small and quick for it. this is all 7 days in one post. the first and last ones are drabbles and one of them is an au idea

@invader-zim-week​ here u go!!!

Day 1. Angst or Fluff 

Zim’s denial skills are god tier, but even they have their limits.

Drabble. I think this is the turning point for my eventual found family au

“When are you going to get it through your thick head that the Tallests aren’t coming?” Dib flings his arms out wide in his exasperation

“They’re just…!” Zim fumbles a bit, clenching and unclenching his fists. “The Armada is a million light years away! It takes time to travel that far, obviously. It took me six of your months to get here from Conventia and the Massive is further away from here now than that. They’ll come! You’ll see! And then you’ll be sorry!” Zim’s face is drawn tight. He’s tense all over, shoulders drawn up to his jaw, antennae pressed flat to his head, and normally Dib prides himself on reading Zim like an open book, but he’s too far gone in his own annoyance to see the warning signs.

It’s because he doesn’t see these red flags that Dib proceeds to stick his own foot in his mouth with his next words. “Maybe if you weren’t such an idiot and opened your eyes, you’d see the truth—that they dumped you here to get rid of you.”

“YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT?” Zim explodes, planting his tiny hands in Dib’s chest and shoving. The boy lands painfully on his ass. “I’m not stupid, Dib.” His name is spat like an insult. “I know they don’t care about me! Why do you think I try so hard?”

Dib gapes at Zim, looking up at him for once, stunned into silence. “I.” He swallows. “You know?”

“Of course, I know.” Zim’s voice is a low hiss and his eyes are narrowed to slits. “You don’t get banished and then just get over it. You don’t get put on trial to defend your life, forced to relive your worse mistakes, and get sentenced to death, only to be saved by freak miracle, and never acknowledge it happened.” Zim takes a deep breath and crosses his arms over his chest. Dib supposes he means for it to look intimidating, but it looks more like he’s holding himself together. “I’ve always known.”

“Why do you try so hard then? If you’ve always known there was no point?” Dib has to ask, has to know, has to hear the words from Zim’s own mouth.

Zim purses his lips and turns away. “There was always a point.” He falls silent for a moment, one antenna twitching up a bit in thought. “I just… I thought if I was just a little better, if I accomplished something important for once, that… I don’t know, that maybe I’d.” He pauses and grits his teeth. “Maybe if I actually managed to take over this filthy planet I’d be worth something for once.”

Day 2. Be Gay Do Crime (LGBTQA+ headcannons)

Dib is bi/pan/demi-ro, Gaz is lesbian, Zim is ace/demi-ro

Headcanons.

Dib seems like the kind of guy that would both take whatever kind of relationship he could get, but also appreciate it. Dib isn’t afraid to work for what he wants and isn’t afraid of things that are “not normal” so I see him being the type to not care about the gender of whoever he eventually decides to date. However, because Dib’s been burned in the past, he would need a deep and sincere emotional relationship to see someone as a potential romantic partner.

Gaz is just a big lesbian. Girls, man.

Zim is ace all the way baby!!! He’s just not interested, and sure, part of that is me projecting, but it just feels right for Zim to just… not care. He has no interest and doesn’t care for sexual attraction regardless of whether or not Irkens do/can/will have sex or not. On the other hand, Zim has expressed a softer side before and I can see him being able to maybe eventually develop romantic feelings for someone if he actually manages to get close enough to them for those kinds of feelings to even emerge. It would take a lot of time and a deep, meaningful friendship, but Zim has shown he’s capable of love. He just has to let himself feel it.

  Day 3. Fandom Appreciation

Found family fuck yeah

Headcanons.

I’m still in the process of thinking about how I wanna go about my found family au so here’s just some initial ideas

After ETF, Zim self isolates for a bit. The florpus hole was his Last Ditch Effort plan and had it succeeded, he knew he would have been destroyed too. He was okay with it. He had made peace with it. However, it failed, and now he’s forced to reflect on said failure

The Massive doesn’t escape the florpus. They’re gone, completely. If they the ship does manage to get out, it’s not in one piece

I initially couldn’t decide if The Trial should come Before ETF or After but I think im gonna say before so the Massive doesn’t have to come back lmao

Before too long, Zim jumps back into the planning/scheming swing of things, but his ideas are never more than petty crimes and being a huge annoyance

Dib gets really annoyed with him and they have a big argument

Zim finally admits to knowing of his own Defectiveness

Dib reluctantly feels bad for him and backs off a bit to let Zim have his space

Zim, however, sees this as a betrayal and redoubles his efforts to get his attention

Somewhere along the way, Skoodge comes back and Zim backs off of Dib a bit, having someone else to focus attention on

Dib eventually begins to offer Zim his hand in friendship (phrased as a truce at first) and they finally make steps towards getting along

They realize they actually really like being friends

Zim eventually realizes that he’s made a life for himself, outside of the Empire

Eventually Zim, Skoodge, GIR, Minimoose, Dib, and Gaz form their own little family and explore space and hunt cryptids

(I love cryptid hunter and space exploration aus holy shit)

Day 4. If IZ had a different setting/time period

Cyberpunk??? Sure

Potential idea maybe.

Cyberpunk dystopian future

Aliens and humans intermingle, both on and off Earth

The Irken Empire has gotten bigger

Technology is advanced and cybernetics are widely known/produced

Idk man I don’t know a lot about cyberpunk, maybe this should be more for the aesthetic

Day 5. Aesthetic

Big shrug man idk

Headcanons, thoughts.

I’m a big fan of fashion Zim, and whenever I get the chance I give him clothes that are both cute and comfortable

Galaxy print leggings are a personal favorite of mine to give him

One time I wrote a little ficlet/oneshot where he wore a skirt. I should publish that some day

Uhhhhhh okay so. Dib has veeeeeery big early 2000s emo/punk vibes tbh

Scene kid GIR always makes me laugh

Gaz could pull off pastel goth like no one’s business

I’ve been here long enough to witness emo/scene hair wig Zim and his eventual fall lmfao

Pretty much everyone that redesigned them back in the day gave Zim emo kid hair that fall perfectly over one eye it was WILD

 Day 6. What if IZ was a different Genre?

Uhhhh does “fantasy instead of scifi” count?

Potential idea maybe. (oops it ended up being a fantasy/modern magic au haha ooooops)

Instead of being an alien, I had the idea of, maybeeeeee Irkens are like. Elves maybe, or perhaps some kind of fae. (I don’t know much about fae, oops)

Okay bear with me here, this is all coming together in real time.

The Irkens (which is what I’m gonna call their clan or faction or subrace or whatever) still want to be the rulers or something over the humans/other mystical beings. This world of magic is hidden from humans and they live blissfully unaware. There are invaders all over the place, using magic and glamors to trick humans into thinking they’re also humans. Zim is one such invader and just to happens to end up in Dib’s town, whereupon he enrolls in Dib’s school, pretending to be a transfer student.

I have no idea why or how the Irkens invade or what methods they use, but since my biggest experience with elves is through DND, I’m going to say they’re functionally similar to certain DND elf races.

So anyway, Zim ends up in Dib’s class and Zim’s glamor just Doesn’t Work on Dib for whatever reason (maybe Dib passed his Wisdom saving throw while literally everyone else failed, idk) and so Dib can immediately see Zim for what he is.

Dib is still into paranormal type stuff, though in his world, he’s less about cryptids and aliens and more about the magical species/world(s) that he KNOWS exists. His big goal in his au is similar to canon in that he wants to expose it all for recognition and love from his father.

Zim, meanwhile, he just wants to prove himself, just like canon. I can’t decide how I want the Irken hierarchy to go in this au—that’s something to think about later, when I have more time—but whatever it is, Zim is either a) not very good at it, b) not suited for it, c) ridiculed for not fitting in to it, or d) a combination of any or all of these things. (or secret option e) he rejects it but has no where else to go. On the other hand, it maybe be none of these things.)

GIR is here too though he’s probably not a robot. Maybe he’s another kind of magical being, or, hell, maybe he’s just Zim’s little brother. I’d be okay with that.

Gaz can also see through glamors but she just doesn’t care. Tak shows up at some point to get revenge, and Skoodge also shows up at some point to stay with Zim and be his friend.

Zim is bad at blending in at first, but he eventually Does get better, since he’s not totally isolated from other Irkens here and he also doesn’t Look like an alien.

(I’m thinkin’ elves in this au look Mostly human but with a few differences. Since I’m biased and this is MY fantasy world, damnit, elves are just. Really Pretty. Ethereal and elegant and graceful (for the most part—there are always exceptions) and they’re also great at magic. Maybe Zim isn’t all that great at magic, I dunno. I’ll figure something out.)

This ended up being less of a genre change and more of a whole ass au, lol oops

Day 7. Role swap

Chanting: human zim au human zim au human zim au human zi

Drabble. This is for an ongoing species swap au that i’ve had in development for the last few years. i haven’t posted anything for it yet, but I’ve thought about it a lot

Dib freezes as Zim points the plastic water gun at his head. Zim’s eyes are narrowed, lips pursed, and he adjusts his grip almost nervously. Behind him, Gir is holding a bucket full of water balloons and a pair of neon green star shaped sunglasses. It’d be cute if Dib wasn’t aware of how painful Earth water is to his Irken skin.

Zim finally lowers his gun slightly. “I want some answers, alien.” He looks Dib over with critical eyes. “Who are you really, and why are you here?” He reaches back and Gir hands him a water balloon with a big smile. “And you better tell the truth or I’ll bust this over your big head.”

Dib grimaces and watches the balloon. “My name Dib, and I’m a scientist. I’m an Irken, from Irk, and I’m here to learn more about life on this planet.” He holds his hands up, hoping to placate the human gesture for surrender. “I’m not here to harm you or anyone else, promise.”

Zim huffs. “Yeah right. I bet you just came here to laugh at the locals.” He puts on a mocking voice and waves the gun and balloon as he speaks. “‘Stupid, stinking humans. They can’t even travel beyond their own moon, yet. What morons. I bet they descended from pigs with how horrible and stupid they are.’” He jams the gun against Dib’s chest. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

Dib bites his lower lip and looks away. He can’t deny he hasn’t thought something similar since arriving on Earth, but Zim didn’t have to be so crude and blunt about it.

The two are at a standoff for almost a minute before Zim blows out a long sigh and steps back. He turns to put the balloon back in the bucket, gives Gir a pat on the head, and shoots Dib one last glare. “Stay away from me, Dib. I have enough problems to deal with without having to worry about whether or not it’s safe for my brother to go to school or if I need to watch my back while walking my dog.”

“I wouldn’t hurt you,” Dib says, a little put out.

Zim scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I’ve heard that one before. I know better than to believe it.” He turns and tries to smile at Gir but it comes out a little twisted and sad. “C’mon Gir. Let’s go home and get Minimoose and take him to that dog park you like so much.”

Gir gasps and lets out a cheer. “Can we go get ice cream afterwards?”

Zim gives a little laugh, smile turning a bit more genuine. “Yeah, sounds good.”

As they walk away Dib can’t help but wonder why he ever thought Zim was an Irken himself.

[i-miss-balthazar]

Pride

Warnings: Idk, swearing?

Rating: General audiences

Pairings:  Jody x Donna (I don’t know their ship name), DreamHunter, background Destiel

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The phone rang twice, before Dean picked up. 

“Hello?” The hunter asked cheerfully. Hearing him brought a smile to Jody’s face. 

“Hey Dean, how you doing?” She greeted. 

“Everything’s pretty good over here. Just got back on a shopping trip.” Dean hummed. 

“What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?” Jody asked, eyeing the circle on the calendar in front of her, marking tomorrow’s date in bright pink. 

“Nothing I can think of, how come?” Dean responded. 

“Well the pride parade in Sioux Falls is tomorrow, and I’m sure the girls would love having you guys there. Plus it’ll be good to catch up.” 

“Pride parade? We’re in!” Gabriel’s muffled voice called from the other line, making Jody chuckle softly.

“Well I guess my mind is made up.” Dean laughed. “Text me the information, we’ll be there.” 

“Wonderful, Dean…”

“Alright, I’ve gotta let you go so I can unpack the groceries. We’ll see you tomorrow, Jody!”

“See you tomorrow.” 

~|~

“Claire, give me back my makeup!” Alex scowled. 

“I just need to borrow the pink, Alex, calm your tits.” Claire retorted. 

“It isn’t my fault the only colour you have is blacker than your soul!” Alex crossed her arms. 

“Girls! Quit fighting.” Jody sighed. “Alex, she can use your makeup for now.” Claire gave Alex a smug look. “But next time she will ask, right Claire?” Jody asked expectantly, crossing her arms. Claire rolled her eyes. 

“I only took it because I knew she’d say no.” She huffed. 

“Share, girls.” Jody sighed, turning to Donna as she exited the bathroom, a her hair done up nicely and makeup equally as beautiful, with a shirt coloured in the pink yellow and blue of the pansexual flag. She gave a gesture of ‘ta da’, smiling brightly, and Jody’s heart melted. “You look beautiful, Donna…” She praised, stealing a kiss. Jody didn’t get as dressed up as everyone else. She wore plain jeans, and flannel over a shirt that said ‘we’re all human’, the letters of ‘human’ styled with various pride flags. Though, she did intend to buy a demisexual flag while they were there. 

“I’m ready.” Patience informed, sitting down on the couch. She was wearing a black and white quarter sleeve shirt reading ‘my sexuality is nope’ in the ace colours, and holding a small aro flag. 

“You look great, sweetie.” Donna smiled. 

“We’re leaving in five minutes!” Jody called to the other girls.

“I’m almost ready!” Alex shouted. Claire strutted out, her signature leather jacket on over a black shirt with a rainbow, with ‘kiss whoever the fuck you want’ scrawled above the flag. She also had her makeup done in the colours of the lesbian flag, and displayed an assortment of pins on her jacket. Alex slipped out after her.

“I would’ve been ready sooner if someone hadn’t stolen my makeup.” She glared at Claire. 

“Hey. No fighting, you two.” Jody warned, pointing a finger at them sternly. 

“Yes mom.” Claire sighed. 

“Can we go now?” Alex grinned. Jody smiled, ushering them to the car. 

~|~

It was about half way through the day when Jody rounded the girls up. Each of them had an assortment of wristbands from all the activities, and Claire was covered in glitter. Patience’s cheek was painted with black white grey and purple, and Alex was draped in a bisexual flag, beaded necklaces around her neck. They’re each glowing with joy, and Jody smiled fondly.

“The boys are here, we’re going to meet them at where the sidewalk painting is going to happen in…” she checks her watch. “Ten minutes, so let’s head over there.” Jody hummed, leading her girls in the right direction, catching Donna’s hand as they walked. 

Jack noticed them first, his whole expression lighting up with joy. He had pink white and blue painted on his cheek, and a shirt that said ‘trans pride’ with a pink white and blue unicorn. 

“Hello!” He beamed, waving to them. 

“Hey you guys!” Dean smiled, approaching them and hugging Jody, then Donna. Sam followed his lead. Dean was sporting a bisexual shirt - a pun on the N’Sync song ‘Bye Bye Bye’, and also had some light makeup on, while Sam had a demisexual flag draped over his shoulders. After hugging the girls, Dean retreated to Castiel’s side, who merely had a rainbow flag, stealing a kiss. Gabriel was shirtless, body glitter decorating his torso in a rainbow of colours, while the pansexual flag hung around his shoulders like a cape, and the glitter was probably the only reason he wasn’t trying to get a piggy back ride from Sam. 

“You guys look great.” Jody praised. 

“Thank you, I designed it!” Gabriel boasted. “Pretty much all of it. I went shopping and got them to wear as much as possible.” He glared at Sam and Cas. “Some were picky.” 

“It’s fine, it don’t matter what you’re wearing, long as you have a good time.” Donna assured. 

“Crosswalk painting will start in five minutes! Everyone get your brushes!” A voice called through a megaphone, and well, how could any of them resist?

~|~

They stayed for a long time, until the sun faded from the sky. Jody sent a group text, telling them where to meet for the fireworks, and Claire was making her way there. Unfortunately, she got swept away by the crowd, and now found herself on the outskirts. With an angry huff, she pulled out her phone, trying to get a GPS. Head down as she walked, she did her best to avoid crashing into anyone, but as she crossed a corner she collided with someone, knocking them both down. 

“Sorry…” she mumbled, shaking her head. “Stupid phone.” She picked the device up, rising and offering the girl her hand. When the other girl took her hand, her brain completely short circuited. 

“It’s okay.” She murmured, taking Claire’s hand to pull herself up. Claire would recognize that face anywhere. Kaia Nieves, they had math together in third block all semester, and bio last block the semester before. And Claire was madly in love with her. “You’re Claire, right? From math class?” She asked. Claire forgot how to use English. 

“I...uh...yeah. That’s me.” She smiled, her eyes catching on the lesbian pride button adorning her sweater. Good to know. 

“Didn’t think I’d see anyone from school here, they’re all kind of…” Kaia trailed off. 

“Ignorant douchebags?” Claire guessed. Kaia gave a guilty smile. “Most of them are.” Claire chuckled. “But uh… you’re pretty cool.” She offered a smile.

“Thanks.” Kaia smiled back. Now or never, Claire…

“Hey, uh… you wanna watch the fireworks together?” Claire asked quickly, before she could abort. Kaia blinked, blushing softly. 

“...okay.” She agreed softly. Claire’s smile brightened, and she took Kaia’s hand, leading her off. It was a night to remember. 

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Representation Week Tag List:

@misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @specialagentrin @peanutbutterandgrapejelly @all-or-nothing-baby @petrichoravellichor @i-know-like-four-things @fantastikitty7 @is-jus-me @hexlorde

Author’s Note: This one’s especially for Sheya! She gave me the prompt. If I had any art skills, I’d definitely draw them all for you guys, but alas. Also full disclosure, I have never been to pride, but I asked around and consulted google, so I hope it’s okay!