#sorry if you genuinely had good intentions ig?

[die-mitri]

Pretty sure the op of the Hamilton art is a terf and zionist

I looked at their blog and they definitely have some weird takes. I didn't scroll down super far but from what I could see, they're just very lukewarm about being pro-palestine. Which is super lame but not a crime.

As for the terf claim, I didn't really see anything abt that other than their bio. I know I "should" care, being trans and all but I tend not to vex myself over people whose opinions deny my personhood.

Idk what you expect me to do about it tho? Deleting my reblog doesn't help anyone, it's not like I'm giving them money, the post isn't about those things, etc. I hate both terfs and zionists to be sure but it's a lot more helpful to reblog Palestinian funds and such rather than try to maintain moral purity in regards to random reblogs of silly, non political art.

I'm not particularly concerned with making sure every single thing I reblog was originally posted by someone with all the "right" views on everything. It's a fruitless endeavor and it's completely useless to folks that need actual help :/

I understand if you're worried about whistleblowing but taking one look at my blog, it's fairly evident that I'm both pro-palestine and very transgender. So like. Breathe. If you're gonna give info but not your opinion on what I should do w the info, then like... What's the point?

While I disagree with their takes on the best way to protest and several other things, I'm certainly not one to throw the baby out w the bathwater and they do make a lovely point w this post... I feel it's applicable here.

[pomegranatesarchive]

two people that matched each others freak | max verstappen

pairing: max verstappen x teammate!reader

summary: max verstappen and y/n l/n love to match each others freak.

liked by, carlossainz, maxverstappen1, redbullracing and 692,028 others!

yourusername: what an unfortunate series of events. first crash kinda nervous 🥰🥰@/carlossainz kill yourself for what you did to me.

view comments below!

user1: LMAO THE CASUAL SELFIE AFTER THAT BIG ASS CRASH ??

user2: carlos deserves way more then a 5 place penalty after that…

user3: no literally ??? y/n is literally BLEEDING !!

maxverstappen1: yeah @/carlossainz. KILL YOURSELF.

user4: you tell ‘em max 🗣️🗣️

user5: queens first crash and it’s not even her fault 😞😞

user6: queens first crash and she almost DIES

user7: carlos hate club reunite !!!

user8: oh let’s not…

user9: to quote y/n: “accidents happen. i know carlos didn’t get into his car with the intention of hurting me. there’s no hard feelings whatsoever.”

carlossainz: IM SO SORRY Y/N.

yourusername: i only take apologies in cash and gift cards xx.

maxverstappen: i only take apologies in cash.

carlossainz: why would i apologize to you?

maxverstappen1: because you almost killed my bestfriend.

carlossainz: do you accept venmo?

user8: max still calling y/n his bestfriend even tho they’ve been dating for two years now is so ??

user9: they were bestfriends for 6 years before that so..

charles_leclerc: give us a big scare there l/n 😬 happy you’re okay!

yourusername: thank you charles ❤️ but because you are carlos teammate, i feel like i am also owed compensation from you as well.

maxverstappen1: yeah leclerc! pay up!!

charles_leclerc: text me the amount 😞

user10: i love how max just goes along with everything y/n says???

user11: we love a man who matches his gfs freak ❤️❤️

liked by charles_leclerc, carlossainz, redbullracing, and 720,629 others!

maxverstappen1: thank you to @/charles_leclerc and @/carlossainz for funding our date night 💙

view comments below!

user12: NO WAY

user13: CARLOS AND CHARLES ACTUALLY SENT THEM THE MONEY ???

user14: this is so cute 🥹

user15: yns so pretty 🙁

maxverstappen1: the prettiest 💙💙

user16: i just looked at my bf and sighed

charles_leclerc: ofc!! cute couple 🥰🥰

user17: charles definitely has a favorite couple

user18: y/n, my favorite nerd

user19: max, my favorite nerd lover

user20: perfect couple

user21: i have a theory that y/n and max are so happy together because they genuinely compliment each other so well

user21: they literally clicked as soon as they met, and they have said that “they feel at home” with each other, they can be their true selves when they’re together

user21: conclusion; i’m lonely and i wish i had a relationship like this

carlossainz: you’re welcome ig. am i forgiven now?

yourusername: we’ll see!

liked by 284,029 others!

f1gossip: throwback thursday!!! throwback to when max and y/n broke the internet, by announcing they were both no longer virgins..through cake.

view comments below!

user22: oh yes the good old days

user23: been matching each others freak since DAY ONE

user24: back when ynstappen was still not OFFICIALLY confirmed

user25: you should throwback to when max refused to resign with red bull until they gave y/n a multi-year contract ☺️☺️

user26: this was a CRAZY day for f1

user27: this connected the dots for all the ynstappen shippers because they basically confirmed they lost their virginity to EACHOTHER!!

user28: did we ever find out who’s idea this was?

user29: a couple months ago it was brought up and max spoke: “i know lots of people think it was yns idea..but it was actually mine. i guess i was just tired to hiding our relationship, so i brought it up, and y/n thought it was hilarious.”

user30: my parents ☝️☝️

user31: from teammates, to friends, to bestfriends, to lovers. living my dream.

user32: them.

user33: if they breakup i will genuinely never believe in love ever again.

user34: them becoming bestfriends was so unexpected, but made so much sense.

user35: if it weren’t for the ice cream shop they never would have happened ☹️

user36: pls explain?

user35: this is when y/n and max had just started the season as teammates, max hadnt performed his best at one of the races, coming in at 6th with y/n behind in 7th

user35: after the race, y/n had unexpectedly asked max to go get ice cream with her at a ice cream shop nearby

user35: max, feeling like he didn’t deserve to celebrate in anyway, declined. but y/n persisted, basically pulling him into that ice cream shop

user35: that’s when max said he truly had the time of his life, he felt happy, even though his race went horrible, he said that he has so much fun with yn and that he has never laughed so hard; the start of ynstappen ☹️

liked by maxverstappen1, redbullracing, landonorris, and 729,624 others!

yourusername: siri, play nasty by tinahe.

view comments below!

maxverstappen1: listening to it right now!

maxverstappen1: oh wow

maxverstappen1: i like this liefde!! 💙💙

maxverstappen1: come to the room so we can listen together!!

yourusername: coming!! 💙💙

landonorris: you are aware you can text privately right?

user36: THE ICE CREAM SHOP PICTURE

user37: he looks so happy 😭😭😭😭

user38: sobs

user39: y/n healing maxs inner child is something i KNEW i needed.

user40: power couple !!!

danielricciardo: i been a nasty girl, i been a nasty girl

user41: i need someone to love me like max loves y/n

landonorris: whos gonna match my freak 😣

user58: ME I WILL PLS LANDO I WILL

user42: the first picture?? 😭😭

user43: omg the second picture. i’m going to throw up with joy. i love you guys.

user44: ynstappen ships used to PRAY for days like these.

liked by, yourusername, redbullracing, danielricciardo, and 829,924 others!

maxverstappen1: i’ll match her freak!!! i will !!!

view comments below!

user45: yes max, we know

user46: i just looked at my boyfriend and sighed

user47: the shirt???

maxverstappen1: @/danielricciardo thank you for the shirt :D i love it 💙

user48: i’m totally ready for max to wear that shirt on race day…

yourusername: the perfect photographer 🥰

maxverstappen1: it’s easy when my muse is perfect ☺️☺️

user49: that SHOULD BE ME.

user50: con🥹gra🥹tula🥹tions

user51: no one will ever understand how much i love this couple

user52: we love a man who matches his gfs energy ❗️❗️❗️

user53: so happy for you guys! haha. ha. ha. so happy.

charles_leclerc: beautiful shirt mate!

user54: the way charles and max still don’t follow each other but this is charles every time max post:

user55: oh! such a cute shirt! haha, ha, i’m so lonely.

user56: max could do better

maxverstappen1: kill yourself you worthless piece of garbage

user57: y’all saying you miss mad max but he makes an appearance every time someone says something negative about y/n 😭

. . .

notes: took a small break to enjoy my summer break start!! but i’m back, request are open !!

[bluegiragi]

I hate to ask this cause it feels stupid but I dont wanna do a bunch of research on whatever the recent cod mw fandom discourse is,

but I saw the reblog of someone accusing you of supporting people who write sexualized pedophilia and that really is personally my only """"moral"""" with nsfw shit, (I'm a patreon subscriber and ig I just wanna know where my money's going) is THAT true?

i used to follow an artist who, 5-6 months ago made racist art featuring gaz and soap in a slave context, which I didn't like, retweet or interact with in any way. they also made under-age art of ghost soap, which I also didn't interact with . people on twitter called me out yesterday, for retweeting (months before this incident) other art they'd made as evidence I stood by/encouraged/was an avid fan of all these tropes. The art I retweeted wasn't either of these previous examples of art, but one where ghost and soap were sleeping in a bed together, as adults, peacefully. I can't emphasise enough that I have not interacted with this artist at all, for over six months. The callout in question has framed me as a close friend of theirs when, in truth, our total timeline of interactions could probably be counted on one hand, and I haven't interacted with her in so long that I genuinely forgot I was still following her.

The crux of all is this is that I did not unfollow + block this artist earlier on when the racist art was posted months ago, and then I retweeted a fic tagged with "non-con" (ghost gets soap off in a context where he can't really properly consent, they're in front of a crowd of strangers and they have to fuck, but both parties are into each other) written by a friend as I wanted to support their writing.

The pedophile claims are because I retweeted a fandom bingo post that defended loli-con without reading all the squares properly, and then immediately un-retweeted it when I properly read it. All in all, the post was on my account for maybe a few minutes.

The zoophile claims are because people say i support someone who wrote zoophilic fic and called people slurs, and I genuinely don't know who they're talking about there.

The anti-asian racism claims come from the original accusers in the callout thread thinking that I made Horangi's eyes in the monster!AU sensitive as a way of making fun of Asian eyes. The real reason is because he's a cat hybrid in that AU and cats are sensitive to light.

I tried addressing all this in a casual way earlier on in a misguided attempt to sort things out more 'civilly', and responded to an ask talking about my "support" for the artist who drew the slave Gaz art by saying the fanart in question was tone deaf and in poor taste. It wasn't enough for some people, so I'm happy to say it clearly- yes, it was racist, and the reason why I didn't want to be more aggressive is because I didn't want to extend all this mess by throwing this artist directly to the wolves - I genuinely believed them at the time when they said that wasn't that their intention, and think they should've deleted the post at the time, but not unfollowing was a decision that I made. I know now upon reflection that it was naive of me, unwarranted and frankly irresponsible to take a stranger at face value and believe they had good intentions, when the act of not deleting the post in question was evidence of a lack in remorse. In the moment, I'd thought back to my own personal experience with a friend of mine who used an asian slur in my company, who later sincerely apologised and legitimately cleaned up his act after I gave him a second chance. It informed my choice to not unfollow at the time, but there's a difference between someone you know irl for months and a stranger on the internet you've interacted with a few times. I shouldn't have coddled them in my response, and I'm sorry for not treating it with the severity it deserved. It was callous, and stupid, and indicative of internal biases that I ever thought it was a light enough offence to "see through", and I deeply deeply apologise. I promise from the bottom of my heart to do better.

That's everything so far. I didn't unfollow an artist when I absolutely should've, which i'll always strongly regret. I also retweeted a properly-tagged fic on my clearly 18+ nsfw account. I've undone both of those actions now. I hope this can be the end of it.

[evvlevie]

Hi I'm pretty good at manifesting things that seem small and insignificant, but I can't do anything beyond that. Stable amount of money, relationships, I can succesfuly do revision of things that happend durning the day etcetc this all feel so easy and efortless on the one hand I'm working from the imagination on the second hand I feel like I'm trapped in the endless cycles of duties School is draining, even though I'm making it easier for myself, but it is not what I want I just want to shift to my dr and I'm changing the inner states, I'm imagining from the perspective of my dr self, I fulfill the inner man if it's needed but when I'm in school I'm flooded by the things I don't really care about, but even though I don't care I still feel like I need to do my home work, prepare for final exams, write and do my art diploma....

and I just don't know how to truly get away from all those meaningless things this all is distracting me from the inner world I am imagining different place for myself, and then, when I wake up I feel like I am becoming the desired reality self then it just takes one trip to school to just make me question if I can really shift realities during the summer I was able to keep really good state of mind for a longer time, but it didn't take me far I realized today that I'm just a little bit stuck in that part and I just need some help with it, or maybe general idea of what direction of thinking should I take to improve myself (also I'm sorry if this ask feels messy, this whole situation is not-yet fully organised in my mind hah, and eng is not my first language so it is not helping ig) -Anon ♠️🐍

Hi my dear Anon ❤️

I know this answer is coming really late, and I genuinely hope things have improved for you, and if not I hope my "advice" comes in handy:

I know exactly what you have been going through. I tried to manifest my SP while he had a third party involved and I was seeing him and my unpleasant 3D situation daily. I can imagine that this draining life that you are experiencing is what being confronted by your opposing 3D circumstances means in your case (or in any case where shifters wake up in their CR really)

One thing that I can tell you in order to maybe change your perspective and adapt your feelings towards the 3D is this:

You know about shifting, you want to shift, so there is an invisible 100%-guarantee label on your forehead that reads "will shift!!!!!"

The thing you are going through right now is just your bridge of incidences that takes to the place where you have shifted. I can tell you that the more I started learning about LOA the more complicated shifting got for me, because I was able to overthink every single little step I was doing, and I seriously need you to stop doing that. Shifting isn't hard. It's seriously just wanting to shift and it happening. Nothing more and nothing less. That's why people keep saying that you only need the intention to shift. There are people that shifted with their eyes open and in a matter of seconds. These people were not better or worse at this than you, or less destined for it or whatever. Every single success story that I have ever read, started with something like "I finally shifted once I just didn't give a fuck and just let it happen". I am so serious when I say that you just need to embody the confidence of a person that is shifting left and right, in order to have that energy manifest into you shifting left and right. This, this confidence is the only thing separating any "aspiring" shifter from a shifter that is shifting 30 times a day.

I have read stories of people who didn't even know what shifting is, who lived an entire life in another universe, woke up and thought they dreamed something hugely realistic. In fact this happened to my own friend once, and this girl doesn't even believe in shifting.

This is what I mean when I say that it's so easy, people are able to do it accidentally.

Sadly many shifters and loa-manifestos love to overcomplicate shifting and manifestation. Both of these concept are basically: wanting something to happen, and trusting that it will, regardless of what is physically in front of you. Sometimes we have to keep holding onto our trust harder than other times, but that doesn't change that the principle will always be the same. And to top it all off it is a really simple one.

At the end of the day I just want you to assume that you are doing everything correctly and exactly in the way that you have to, in order to get to where you want to be the fastest way possible for you (because that is actually true, this is your bridge of incidences in this case).

I love u,

Evie <3 💘

[bullshit-bulltrue]

Hawk Talk

Okay so sorry if this is a little jumpy I'm having a so far two-day long anxiety attack anyway-

We got assigned seating in history and i got sat next to the biggest cunt wad i have ever met i fucking despise her and she's my desk partner

she was cordial and so was i but she has not fucking changed at all

And the cute boy from years ago is still cute and shy and such a sweetheart but he sits behind me ish and to the very far right

So I can't even look at him anymore without anyone noticing :(

And nyxie darling (@whennyxfallsinlove) was right, i was looking at him like a deer staring at headlights the first day because holy shit i REALLY *REALLY* liked him (still do) because he was one of the only genuine boys I met at the time and I was having a really difficult time and yk hanging out with him helped me out since things were happening in my home life that were difficult to say the least

So then the rest of class went smoothly

For math, there is no cute guys

But thats fine because I really like my teacher and he's taught ways to do math that are so much easier

Not only is he funny, but he also REALLY goes into depth of equations and helps out a lot!!

Sooo yeah

I had a mini heart attack bc after I left class I thought my phone fell outta my pocket but the pockets on my jeans are high (since the jeans are high-waisted duh) so it turns out my butt just didn't recognize the feeling since majority of my jeans don't have wider pocket space

But yeah

Anddd then I went to English class

And if you saw the recent small Hawk Talk posts of me interacting with nyxie, you'd know that there are two boys that are lowkey cute 👀

Idk they're cute by my standards but probably not everyone else's lmao

So I feel like I should call these guys smth??

So umm let's call one of them Baseball guy bc he likes baseball and I also didn't wanna ask his name but when I do, I'll probably make a nickname to refer to when I post about him

And the other we'll call D/Dee ig??

So yeah D was funny as usual

And the baseball guy talked more and lanie, him, and I were going through this box

It was a worry box and my English teacher (we'll call her Mrs. K) basically had a chest and put it at our table to write our worries on an index card and put it in there (anonymously, but some kids put their names so now we have Blackmail™️ . Probs won't need it, but it's good to have information on people)

And like she said that we could NOT under ANY circumstances go through it..

But we did 😘

So yeah that was fun because I didnt get caught

so i'm her favorite student while also being a little shit

🙃

So me and Lanie started following Cute Baseball Boy™️ to his locker because we're nosy bitches

But then I lost lanie so I sat on the floor until i was found like a 7-year-old who lost her mom at the supermarket

Aaand then we had lunch together !!

But then I found out she thought baseball guy is cute too :(

And idk how to feel about that

So I'd anything happens between them I'm gonna be kinda bummed bc I don't want her to get the wrong idea about me thinking he's cute

So im gonna have to find a way to not like him ig??

Or just keep shit to myself (with the intention of telling y'all every little detail)

Gonna je bummed if they start dating or smth but I'll be supportive nonetheless because they're both my friends and if they're happy then that's all that really matters to me

So anyway

Thus guy across from us at lunch was fucking hilarious

His friend kept putting a plate of school food someone forgot to throw away in his face and he let out the most high pitch ear piercing scream I have EVER heard lmaooo

Same bro, same

Felt that

And like I looked at him like wtf was that dude

And his eyes got SO wide

He kept frantically pointing to the girls that were sitting near him and even his friend 💀

So like that was funny

And then we got to gym !!

We didn't get to actually do anything :(

Basically what happened in PE: got gym clothes, got gym lockers (mine and lanie's are next to each other!!), and watched boys get play basketball (D was playing and he wasn't that bad)

Sooo yeah

Ik I said that I went basic white girl mode and watched the boys play

But like half the time I was just taking selfies on snap and scrolling through tumblr memes lmao

But the other half me and lanie were laughing at the boys clothes and haircuts bc they look like they rolled out of bed and asked a 5 year old to make their hair the shape of a fucking broccoli spout or whatever tf you call it

y'all it was that bad

(we also laughed abt that shit at lunch too)

Oh forgot something

While we were all going into the girl's locker room of the gym i thought lanie was right behind me but when i turned around i had to tilt my head up and look around for her head because she's way taller than me and she was at the very back of the crowd

So i went to the side and waited for her to get close to me

And she literally fucking said

L: damn girl i keep losing you, you're really speedy

Me: yeah i'm short but it means i walker faster than you, you're a fucking giant

L: well yeah to YOU. but like i'm tall enough to be your mom

And I lost it. I laughed so hard bc of the way she said it lol

Soo yeah that was the end of my school day

Hope you enjoyed <3

Oh and tagging people that wanted to hear about my day and/or have been reading my Hawk Talk posts (if you dont wanna be tagged lmk and i wont anymore, and lmk if u do wanna be tagged in the full day hawk talk posts!) : @cereal-is-a-soup100percent-true @whennyxfallsinlove @dizzeners @cau-lee-flower215 @sp1rit-realm

[thegambitgazette]

Knight Meets Writer

A/N: These are just drabbles from my DR. Context - I’m an Eternal similar to the Fates in Greek mythology that was sorta kicked out and continued to live my life on Earth. I went by different names over time and spent my years writing. Powers include manipulating strings of fate and seeing bits and pieces of the past and future.

Word count: 3304

Warnings: none? slight angst ig

Summary: how I first met Steve and Bucky

I forced a closed-lipped smile through a bite of my cinnamon roll. All I wanted was a peaceful afternoon to write, but a girl could dream. I only got a sentence and a half out before some guy grabbed the seat in front of me and snagged my journal from me. Eddie Frank, the football player that dozed off or made too much noise in our history class. He’d make his opinions on women in higher education abundantly clear, but he’d also made his interest in me transparent..

The irony didn’t escape me. I was less than one hundred years from hitting seven thousand years old, which meant I had more college degrees than anyone around. History, biology, criminal justice—hey, I had to fill my time with something. Going by a new identity meant rebuilding that reputation over and over again. Not that I minded too much. I loved learning, and I got to move around and study in different places.

Being as old as I was also meant that I had zero patience for children like Eddie Frank. I swallowed the bite of my pastry and reached over to grab my journal back, but he was faster.

“You know, I always wonder what you’re scribbling in there,” he said, casually flipping through the pages.

“None of your business, Eddie!” I reached over the table to try and grab it again, but he pulled his arm back, knocking it straight onto a passerby.

I let out a disgruntled cry as my journal fell to the floor, along with the patron’s coffee. The drink splashed all over my book, and both the passerby and I swore in frustration. If ever I ran into Phastos again, I’d ask for a way to make paper and ink not so easily soiled. There went the likely next best American novel.

The stranger, a short and skinny young man in a suit clearly too big for him, picked up the journal and held it out. Eddie moved to grab it, but the stranger pulled back and looked at me. “Is he bothering you, ma’am?” His voice came out deeper than I expected. Usually, I’d get fed up. Another man trying to come to the rescue. But something about the sincere look in his eyes had me truly believing that he had genuine intentions and wasn’t just trying to make himself look good. Something about him felt familiar, too.

“That’s my book,” I said, nodding to it.

He handed the notebook to me with a tight smile. “Sorry about the coffee.”

“No, no.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry you lost your drink. Thank you, uh…”

“Steve.” He held out a hand.

I took it with a smile, finally remembering where I recognized him. “Rogers, right? We’re in American History together. Professor McClain.”

He beamed. “Yeah, I’ve seen you around. Ursula, right?”

Eddie cleared his throat. “Kid, if you couldn’t tell, we’re in the middle of something here.”

Steve noticed my discomfort, his brows drawing together in concern as he looked between us. I pursed my lips. It would be best if he just went on his way and let me handle it. It’d be over soon, anyway.

“I think you’re done here, buddy,” Steve interjected. “Why don’t you let the lady do her work?”

Not like I have anything to work with anymore. I inhaled sharply and gently pushed Steve’s shoulder. “It’s fine, Steve. Don’t—”

Eddie stood up, his chair scratching the floor in a loud protest. He easily shadowed Steve in both height and build, but the latter didn’t shrink at all. “You wanna say that again, punk?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. This could only end up badly. Steve cocked his chin up, refusing to back down. “I said, ‘I think you’re done here.’”

Without another word, Eddie grabbed Steve by the neckline of his collar and dragged him outside and towards a back alley behind the coffee shop. I swore under my breath before piling all of my books into my messenger back and racing out after them. A damp journal could be salvaged, but I didn’t want to imagine how broken Eddie would leave Steve.

By the time I reached them, Steve was already on the floor, wiping at his busted lip. Don’t get back up. Don’t get back up.

He stood up, bracing two arms up to protect his face.

“Didn’t you have enough?” Eddie sneered.

“I can do this all day.” Steve threw a right hook, but faltered, allowing Eddie to knock him aside once more.

“Hey!” another voice rang.

I didn’t stop to check who it was, instead dropping my bag and hurling the hardcover journal right at Eddie’s head. He turned to me, eyes incredulously wide. I didn’t wait for him to say a word before hurling another book from my bag. That one hit his chest. “Leave him alone, Eddie!”

I realized my mistake as he stalked towards me. I couldn’t just materialize a weapon here or use any other sort of magic, not while there could be onlookers. Before he came within a foot from me, someone else pulled him back and threw him against the wall of the building. I looked up at none other than James Buchanan Barnes, Steve’s best friend and the university knight in shining armor, as the ladies called him. Unlike Eddie, he didn’t act cocky about it, but I knew a few other girls in my class well enough to know that he also knew them well enough.

“Are we really gonna do this again, Eddie?” James asked, as if bored.

Eddie turned to face him before holding his hands up in a surrender and scampering off. I huffed. Knight in shining armor indeed. He turned to me with a lopsided smile. “Are you alright?”

I nodded and gestured to the books strewn on the ground. “I think I got him more than he got me.”

He chuckled and picked them up. “That you did. You’ve got a nice arm, Ursula.” He handed me the books.

“You know my name?”

He already had his attention on Steve, unable to hear my question. “And what am I gonna do with you?”

“He had it coming,” Steve said before looking at me. “Seriously, are you okay?”

I snorted. “You should see yourself, Rogers.”

“Eh, I’ll be fine.”

“No, come on. Let me at least get you another coffee.”

Steve waved it off, still with a smile despite his bruises and cuts. Bucky blew out an exasperated breath. “Well, what if I take you for coffee sometime?” he asked.

My jaw dropped. Did he just ask me on a date? From the corner of my eye, I saw Steve shake his head, used to his friend’s flirtatious antics. Right, he did this with a lot of women. It could be fun, though. I wanted to say yes, see where it took us, but something about those fate strings urged me to say no. Not now, not the right time. I couldn’t fight it; I never had been able to fight it. Fate wanted what she wanted. I forced a smile, looking at him through my lashes. “Maybe some other time, Barnes.”

With a final nod to them both, I turned away.

~

I started seeing Steve and Bucky more often around campus, be it in the halls or coming and going from class. It started off with Bucky calling my name whenever he saw me or Steve waving whenever we crossed paths, and then it became a small game of who would spot each other first.

They caught me one moment while I was sitting on a bench at the university plaza. My friend and roommate, Dottie, and I wanted to get some fresh air in between classes and would sit on that stone bench. I’d take the time to just write whatever my brain came up with to declutter all of the class work. When I wrote, I had a habit of getting lost in my own world of characters and adventure, so much so that I didn’t hear the loud, “Ursula!” from across the plaza.

Not until I felt the soft pat of a notebook on my head and looked up to see Bucky with a small pout. “You didn’t hear me, doll.”

I scoffed, softly pushing his arm away, but I couldn’t help the small smile itching my face. “Sorry, James.” I held up my own journal, a new one that I had to buy because the old one was just destroyed with coffee stains. “Writing.”

He tucked his book away in his own bag. “Oh!” Again with that lopsided grin goddammit it. “Can I read some?”

Absolutely not. “You read?” Idiot.

He feigned an offended expression. “Yes, I do! The Hobbit is my favorite.”

Dottie cleared her throat. “Ursula, are you gonna introduce me to your friend?” She had a sparkle in her eyes as she looked between the two of us, clearly bubbling on upset that I didn’t tell her I knew the knight in shining armor.

My cheeks heated up at the slight realization that Bucky—Bucky—enraptured me in my own little world as deftly as my writing did. “Dottie, this is James. James, this is my friend—”

“Dottie!” she held out a hand, which Bucky took. “Tell me. How do you know Ursula?”

I gaped. Before I could say anything, Bucky spoke up. “We had a run in at Amorette’s. Well, more like an alley behind Amorette’s. I was catching up with my friend when I saw her just hurl a book at a guy, and of course my friend was right on the other side of it.”

A hesitant laugh escaped my lips. “It was Eddie.”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Bucky held out a cup of coffee. “For you.”

I looked at him quizzically. “Me?”

“Yeah! The lady at the dining hall gave me the wrong kind and Steve is in class, so.”

I set my journal aside and took the coffee. “Thanks, James.” I had to admit that the guy was charming, in his own dorky way. If I were any less stubborn, I’d admit that I had the wrong impression of him. Sure, he had the confidence and suaveness of any guy that looked the way he did, but he didn’t push or brag about himself to get a girl’s attention. Then again, he could have just been acting friendly and wasn’t really trying to flirt or anything. Gods, I couldn’t be misreading the signals, could I? Maybe he took my rejection from the other day and stuck with it. Any decent person would.

“You know you can call me Bucky. Everyone does,” he said, snapping me out of my spiraling train of thought.

I smiled, suddenly feeling shy about calling him by his nickname. “Alright, Bucky.”

“Hey, Bucky!” Steve walked up to his friend, a confused look on his face. “You said you’d be back in twenty minutes after getting that c—”

“Ah-ah!” Bucky quickly covered Steve’s mouth. “I think its time for my next lecture. I’ll see you around, Ursula. Dottie, nice to meet you.”

As he pushed Steve away, Dottie called out, “We’re going out dancing if you guys wanna join! Meet up at Amorette’s at 8?”

“Dottie!” I scolded. We had absolutely no plans to go out.

“Sure!” Bucky called back.

Okay, maybe now I had plans to go out.

~

The crisp night air pricked my skin, making me wish that I wore some sort of cowl or sweater over this dress. Dottie refused to let me go out in one of my older dresses and instead lent me a teal blue number that scooped around my neckline and flared out with the skirt. I honestly felt like a doll wearing it, but I let myself welcome the dainty and feminine feel of it. I’d worn dresses for millenniums now. This had no reason making me as nervous as I was.

Granted, I knew I was lying to myself. It wasn’t being caught in a dress that had me worried, but the person himself who would catch me in the dress.

I arrived at Amorette’s about fifteen minutes early, hopeful to get a few moments of calm to collect myself. Those hopes were quickly squashed when I saw Bucky already waiting outside the café with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. Gods, he looked so handsome in a suit.

Steve wasn't there, and I knew he came up with an excuse to leave us alone just as Dottie did.

At the sound of my footprints, he looked over and smiled. “Evening, beautiful.”

He held out the flowers, which I took gratefully. “Geez, Bucky. First coffee, and now flowers. Are you always spoiling your dates?”

At that, he beamed. “So this is a date?”

“I didn’t say that.” As much as I wanted it to be, I kept squashing those thoughts. James Barnes was as human as it gets—caring, handsome, such a gentleman. He deserved someone that could grow old with him and settle down with him, not someone that needed to change their identity every forty or so years.

This was just one dance, one night out. Who said I couldn’t have a little fun?

Bucky laughed, and I just about melted. “Permission to try to change your mind by the end of the night?” he asked as he held out his arm for me to take.

I wrapped my arm around his. “Permission granted.”

~

I had more fun than I wanted to admit. Bucky did and said all the right things; I shouldn’t have expected anything less. The moments of silence in between while we danced, or when he’d approach the bar to get us drinks, or even when we laughed at things we’d forget about later, I caught myself wishing and dreaming. Imagining settling in a white picket fence house, getting a golden retriever, writing my next novel while he read the newspaper. I’d never fallen so fast, but I sure tripped face first into this one. Even the vague sentience of the fate strings stirring at my heart seemed to sing at this meeting, at the dancing. How could fate want this? Who would I be to object?

The night went on too fast. When 11:30 hit, Bucky insisted on walking me home, saying that a man never let a lady stay out too long. I told him that he was pushing it there, but I accepted. He’d wrapped his coat around me when he saw me shiver on the walk back to my apartment. As we reached my door, I turned to him. His icy blue eyes rested on mine, both of us unsure how to break the silence or the tension.

“I had a lot of fun tonight, Bucky. Thank you,” I finally said. Tell me this is it. We can end it here and you can have fun with other girls dying for your attention. Girls that would age and live life with you rather than longer than you. Break my heart, Barnes.

He wet his lips, looking sheepishly down at his shoes with that charming smile of his. “Yeah, I had a lot of fun, too.”

Neither of us took a step away. Each second passed, I let myself plummet further and further into this feeling. “So, what happens now?”

He quirked an eyebrow up. “How do you mean, Ursula?”

I shrugged, copying his playful smile. “You tell me. How does the knight in shining armor end his dates?”

“Is that what people call me?”

“Oh, yeah. All the ladies look forward to being swooped on by Bucky Barnes himself.”

He laughed, shaking his head at the ridiculous nickname. “Well, I won’t swoop on anyone, but usually I leave it up to my date. If she says goodnight and goes straight inside, I take it as they never want to see me again. If they open the door and invite me in, it’s… well.” Bucky raised his eyebrows, hinting at what an extended night meant. “But if she lingers at the door…”

Bucky nodded towards me. I lingered. Realizing the tell, I bit my lip and rested my back against the closed door. He took a step towards me and gently cupped my face in his hand, his thumb caressing my cheek. In a breath, his lips met mine. Even when kissing, Bucky didn’t push. He started off gently, innocent pecks dancing between us. It wasn’t until I parted my lips that he slipped his tongue in. I let out a gasp as I took in his warmth, my hands coming up to wrap around his neck. At a nip on my lower lip, I clutched his hair, and he let out a guttural groan in return. I sighed into the kiss. I wanted more.

The cold washed over me once again when I nearly fell back as Dottie opened the door. “Urs? I heard a thud and though—Oh my God!”

Bucky pulled away, keeping a respectable distance as I tried to hide my surely red face.

“Pretend that didn’t happen! I’m not here!” Dottie slammed the door shut, but the moment was long gone.

I couldn’t help but snort out a laugh, which Bucky joined in on. “Sorry about that,” I said.

“Don’t worry about it, doll.”

We gazed at each other, and I wanted that moment back all over again. “Oh!” I began to take off his jacket, only now remembering that I still wore it.

“Keep it,” he said.

My brows knit together. “Your jacket?”

Bucky nodded. “Give it back the next time I see you.”

I cocked my head to the side. “You mean on our next date?”

“So this is a date, then.” He grinned like a little school boy.

I nodded, stifling another laugh. “You got me, Barnes.”

~

I rotated the diamond ring around my finger. Usually it quelled the hurt rising in my chest, but today, it wouldn’t. I looked at the date circled on my calendar. March 10, 1946. He would have been twenty-nine today. It would have been our fifth anniversary in May. We had a small wedding when we got news of him being drafted—just us, Steve, Dottie, and his parents. He wanted to wait until after he got back from the war, but I knew.

Then, I knew. It wouldn’t be for another seventy three years that I’d see him again. I didn’t know how or why until Steve came back and told Peggy and me that Bucky had fallen from the train. They presumed him dead, but those damned fate strings told me otherwise. I didn’t know which was worse.

I mean, of course I wanted him alive. I wanted so badly for him to come home and for fate to be wrong for once. I hated my magic for everything it was worth from that day forward. For not being able to tell me the full story, for not being able to manipulate it so I could see my husband again.

I swore that day that I would never use them again. I shut that part of me deep, deep down. As they held his memorial, as they gave me his flag, every particle of that magic died with the world’s idea of him. When Steve crashed and I attended his funeral, I ignored the screams of those strings as they attempted to claw me out of that dark place I fell into.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs. Barnes.”

He’s alive.

“Condolences. Steve was a great man.”

Is. He is a great man.

“If you need anything, Mrs. Barnes—”

I need my husband.

I opened my locket, tears staining the black and white photo of us on our wedding day. “I’ll wait for you, Bucky,” I promised. “I got you.”

[papirouge]

I had bad experiences with some of those trad wife accounts on IG in the past as well, mostly how many of them downplay rape and consider a rapist to be a baby’s father when I had to correct them and call those men a criminal that should be locked up for the rest of their life for harming women. I’d get called a liberal a lot (lol) with that stance (I don’t know why they’re so willing to protect rapists) despite also wanting to fight for babies unborn and born and stronger criminal prosecution for rapists, but there was this weird underlying theme of submissiveness and how women needed men (even the violent and dangerous ones) with them that made every interaction feel like a fetish. Or that maybe their boyfriend or husband (with a rape fetish?) was actually running those accounts

With that other anon that felt defeated, I’d say to pick and choose your battles. I learned that mostly for online. It’s getting harder to ignore how many false Christians there are polluting the church with their degeneracy and violence. But their apathy and clout chasing on social media will produce no good fruits. We see that already with how many false Christians are rejecting Christs teachings for being too soft now. They want to create a new false idol out of their insecurities but out of the likeness of Christ yet, their idol will be vicious and cruel towards everyone that isn’t them.

You will know your people by their works. There are true considerate pro life Christians who will never forget Palestine and are trying to do something to help those there 💕🇵🇸 god sees our hearts and your intentions

Oh girl, I've been accused of being a leftist, a communist, an islamist, a conservative tradfem pickme, countless times... I'm too left leaning for the average Christian on this hellsite, but I'm not enough progressive to be accepted by actual leftist xD I'm not a political person anyway so I don't care the slightest about whatever people put on.

Yeah that anon felt quite defeated and reading my reply, I felt like I didn't encourage them enough (girl, if you're reading this I'm sorry 🙇🏾‍♀️). But the thing is, since I don't attend church I struggle to realize the extent of feeling letdown by their own local church community, which sucks. I'm a VERY individualistic person and know that we can't save people - only God does. You perfectly said it: we have to pick and chose our battle. Profess truth wherever we are, and let go if it's rejected

I'm a very small blogger and sometimes feel discouraged by people with much bigger communities but using their influence for the worst, bewildering young Christians, etc. But years ago, God clearly told me to "do my part". That's what I do. God keeps talking to me and reassures me He's still there so I know I'm good and He's still backing me up. That's why I'm so serene whenever people attack me for my theological statement. Whenever they do I'm like "when was the last time God spoke to you?" "When was the last time that you asked God to open your eyes and see the truth in who you are, whatever you need to fix in your life, etc.?" bc if you did, God would've shown you I'm right. I know bc God shown me through dreams/visions when some Christians with a public voice were anointed by him

"They create an idol out of their own insecurities"

You are absolutely right anon. That's one of the best indicator of genuine Christians vs opportunists. Opportunists won't be changed by the Word of God, they will twist the Word of God to fit their own bias. I don't know about you, but becoming Christian changed me. It changed some my beliefs to the core. But the opportunists? they will twist the Bible in any way possible to NOT change their ideological stand because they are uncomfortable with the idea of moving thrm5. That's how you have Christians defending murder, racism, stealing (not paying owed taxes), etc. They might read the very specific passage condemning such acts, they will constantly find ways to deny them. Interestingly, they will have no problem acknowledging other passage that confirm their bias, such as those condemning homosexuality or adulterers (very handy to dunk on sex posi women/liberals they obsessively hate)

"you will know your people by their work"

Yes, yes and yes💞 I think it's interesting one of the people (who got mad at my post calling out the hypocrisy of pro lifers sleeping on what's happening on pregnant women & babies in Palestine) told me that prolifers didn't owe me to speak up about what fit my politics, when first of all, caring about the wellbeing of newborn and mothers are the staples of the prolife fight -those are not my "politics"- so it makes sense to paint out the complacency of so called prolifers regarding the struggle of said mothers and newborns in a war ridden area🤔, but also, as a Christian, I believe we do owe something, not to me, but God.

The "Saved through faith alone" slogan unfortunately deluded Christians into thinking their actions, or lack, didn't have consequences. They do. Ananias and Sapphira were Saved - God still killed them for their disobedience. Jesus talked about "fruits" and Paul about different sort of crown we earn in heaven based off our work/how we conduct while on earth.

Resisting AND denouncing evil is part of the basic lines of being Christian. We're lucky the antichrist has yet to come and we can still freely condemn evil as we see it, but it's like it was already too much to ask for some.

God definitely listen to our prayers : a few days ago, there were call to pray for the rain to come so Palestinians can drink, and rain eventually came. God is good 💜✝️

[gayleviticus]

Alphonse Elric or Wrath (03) for the ask game :)

ALPHONSE ELRIC

favourite thing: I love how nice and gentle and sweet he is despite everything going on, but also in 03 how he has this anger and almost self disregard bubbling as time goes - when he's captured by envy thinking he should have died so many times in the past, when he tries to rip wrath arm off to give it to ed, when he recklessly sacrifices himself to try and save ed

least favourite thing: I feel like cos shortchanges him way too much. we get such a compelling insight into ed throughout the whole series even if much is implicit, but cos doesn't really reckon with either al losing his memory and how he feels about that or have time to deal w him regaining it and what that means for him and ed. and I get it's prob partially intentional because amnesiac al feeling more unknowable deliberately alienates us from him - he genuinely feels different, and we have to wonder if the recklessly cheery attitude is a facade to cope w missing ed. but nonetheless it feels like cos kindve demotes al from the co protagonist position he had throughout the series

favourite line: not fav for any deep content but i love the delivery - the bit in cos where ed lands in the armour pile, sees a helmet that looks just like al - and then its eyes light up and you hear a 'niisan..? NIISAN!!'

brotp: ed and al!!!! I love their relationship so much it is so deep and powerful. but also scar and al is such a nice duo - the way scar vicariously lives through the elrics brotherly love because he regrets letting his crush on human lust get in the way of telling his brother he loved him 😭 also al/wrath post COS bc the film left so much of their relationship unexplored and I need to know

otp: I think al/fletcher could be kindve cute. al/wrath too - I know some ppl find it icky bc of wrath viewing sloth as his mama but I feel like aside from the sloth/trisha distinction it doesn't really create a brotherly relationship btwn the elrics and wrath. and im just as content w it as a brotp too anyway so

random headcanon: not cis and not straight - being trapped in a body you don't recognise and feeling cut off from really living and engaging w the world is dripping w queer subtext! more specifically I like nonbinary gay al but I can really see it going in any direction. (altho I can't think of any girls I would want to ship him with in 03 or fmab)

unpopular opinion: uhh... I don't know how unpopular it is but him and mei as a couple in fmab does not make sense to me lol

song: currently I literally only listen to fma ops lol so I can't answer

fav pic: this is a tough one.... but

WRATH (03)

fav thing: he is just such an interesting addition into the gaps of the source material?? making izumis baby who she tried to transmute into a homunculus is soo interesting even just in a meta sense, and the whole parent child switcheroo between sloth/izumi and wrath/elrics is so good

least fav things: I need to know more about him post COS and his relationship w al and winry and izumi!!!! especially since he was one of the few people who really knew wtf was going on down in the underground city along w rose

fav line: 'she was your mama too' when the elrics kill sloth. brutal

brotp: as above him and al but also I'm dying to know what his dynamic w winry was. and come to think of iit envy too honestly

otp: al/wrath ig (per the disclaimers above) but aside from that idk lol who do you ship him with

notp: I guess like with any adult I just don't like those kinda pairings. sloth w izumi would be especially yuck

random headcanon: he likes cats too. idk. just popped into my head

fav picture of them: DO I HAVE WRATH PICTURES? I'm sorry... my folder is dominated by the elrics... lemme see... I have this shot from the 4th ED lol

[plausible-possible-perhaps]

oh that's rly sweet of you thanks for letting me rant abt it ! <3

ok so this really upset me when I saw the post in question because it just was so...idk how someone could even do that? seriously no self awareness whatsoever and it was one of the worst posts I've personally seen come out of that batman 2022 r*ddler self- insert craze. it didn't even directly happen in the batman 22 fandom itself either but in the fandom for DC's batman audio drama on spotify. idk if you know abt that one but one thing about that podcast is that multiple of the main cast actors are poc and while they never mention anything abt the characters' ethnicities in the podcast itself it's implied by the casting decisions (eg all the Waynes are played by black actors) that the characters played by actors of color are meant to be poc too, which is also how the fandom treats it and afaik the actors even talked about representation in some interview they gave. however, because it's an audio only medium there are no canon character designs so fandom made up their own and you can probably guess where this is going bc the post this rant is about is a post by a self-described "batman 2022 r*ddler kinnie" showing their idea of the podcast version of the character, which they made to look like the version from the movie because that version "looked just like them" so ig all versions of the character must look like that now lmao. anyways the reason why that upset me enough to tell you abt it is that it wasn't just that they made this character a copy of the movie one for self-insert reasons but that they seriously said that they are upset (!) because they wanted to reblog fan art of the podcast but all the fan art of podcast!riddler depicts him as a brown south-asian man (like he is implied to be bc of the previously mentioned casting decisions!) which doesn't fit with their white boy self-insert version. and I am just. they had a "racists dni!" in their bio and seriously complained about there not being any fan art of this character as a white man bc they can't relate to him if he's desi, on what level of hypocrisy do you have to be to do that?

sorry if this was incoherent but that post genuinely was the cherry on top for me when it comes to this whole batman 2022 self-insert thing lmao

Oh my gosh? Yea, that's messed up in the worst way. This goes back to the "white people can only relate to white characters" topic and serves as an excellent example of it. Although it's a hasty generalization, it's prevalent everywhere in fandoms, especially regarding the person you're talking about.

Often enough, many white fans lose interest, sympathy, and admiration for characters the moment they find out they're black and/or brown. I mean, look at how Zoe's Selina was treated; she was masculinized and excluded by the fandom in any way possible-- regardless of malicious intention or not. As I said in my first post, people like this make it so abundantly clear that they don't care for those who don't look like them, yet "in a totally not racist way." They'll create headcannons and fluffy fanfics for a white psychopath before they even consider glancing at a poc, and all because "they can't see themselves in a character like that."

I've heard many good things about Batman: Unburied, and although I haven't gotten to listening to it yet, I can't be surprised that stuff like that has happened.

[kidflashimpulse]

imma keep it real with you chief: nothing about Bart and Jaime's dynamic has ever read as romantic to me, on either side, but if Bart having a crush on Jaime (either present or past tense) isn't the main thing going on in your high school fic then i'll for sure read it anyway because i like your stuff a lot :) (also the fact it's apparently on the darker side despite being a no powers AU has me intrigued. murder mystery or something?? interested to find out)

and i totally understand that! just like how characterisation can ultimately be up to interpretation it’s the same with relationships and i can’t say i don’t see where ur coming from, i think a lot of their S2 interactions has been occasionally misconstrued with romantic undertones when they very much could be interpreted as just not (for all sorts of reasons both super obvious as well as not)

infamous age gap at the time (being the obvious one) aside, a literal alien invasion and earth-dooming prophecy is practically a constant in the backdrop of their friendship, so there really is a lot to consider when interpreting their interactions (like multiple takes i’ve read about ppl finding bart incredibly underhanded (totally fair and agreed) in the friendship). I do think though that the genuine aspect of their friendship did rapidly develop early on in the season even with bart’s underhandedness, just like that rlly interesting ask/masterpost on kidcooper02 blog about their friendship outlined (great read btw highly reccomend if ppl haven’t yet lol), ultimately it comes down to their friendship not being as black and white/clear cut as people might like it to be.

Multiple things can be true at the same time. Jaime had been missing his best friend at the time, was somewhat of an outcast as a newcomer on the Team and was thrust into the world of heroes/villains, I think it’s understandable that he would latch on to a good friendship with Bart just as much as even with all his hidden intentions, Bart, essentially a fish out of temporal water, would too.

So whilst i HC bart having had a crush on jaime at some point, it’s not because i necessarily interpret their dynamic as romantic throughout the season(s), it’s more out of potential because of plot circumstances and characterisation where i just don’t think it would be far fetched for it to occur.

Sorry for the unasked for essay lol but i felt like it wouldn’t hurt to explain my thought process a bit because i’m sure others share the same perspective as u and i do think it’s an interesting topic to think about too in general. Bart is my favorite all time character but Jaime is very dear to me too so I just think it’s such a cool topic ultimately :)

Also you are so sweet and thank you for sharing this with me <3 i’m not gonna lie, with every chapter or story i come up with i do always worry whether ppl will enjoy it or not, but i won’t know if i don’t try and also what some enjoy, others won’t and vice versa. That’s just a fact. But I have a lot of fun putting all this together and reading about others interpretations is also always such a highlight

It’s not an “in your face” type of dark, it’s more along the lines of the type of dark that i directly interpret from/on par with the show (ig what tv tropes calls fridge horror lol). Personally i love those type of settings so i’m really excited to share it and i do hope u will enjoy it :) i would be very much interested in hearing ur thoughts on it after i do post it :D

It’s still in its drafting stages and unfinished, so it might be a while. But hopefully sooner rather than later lol

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Knowing you was a choice

Pairing: Raven Scientist (Victoria Van Gale/The Raven Leader)

Summary: Mere days after they met for the first time, Victoria pays the Raven Leader a visit and makes her a proposition (which has nothing at all to do with how her heart flutters around her, of course)Notes:

Notes: I was ready to write Victoria as being kinda cold and super awkwards around children, but then I rewatched The Storm and The Windmill and like. This woman wants to be a mum. She’s so good with kids. It’s not even Kaisa’s “I get a lot better with children because I am kinda like them”, Victoria is just straight up great with them (except with like. Weather spirit children ig lol). Anyway I just know that as someone who works with kids the raven Leader would be impressed by that, so thank you, canon, for helping me here

Also, yes. In my head Victoria is a Carlos from wtnv sort of person who just walks around with her lab coat for no apparent reason. You can’t take this away from me

Read it on ao3 or read the first instalment in this verse

As the Raven Leader, Birgitta had to always be ready for the most unexpected things one could possibly imagine. To swiftly get her children away from danger. To counteract the effect of a poisonous plant when one of them ate one as a dare. To properly chasten bullies who thought that there was any space for mistreating others in the Sparrow Scouts. To call the poor single mother of one of their newest scouts and say ma’am, I’m sorry, but I think your daughter is messing with forces unknown again. You name it.

She had not, however, been prepared to step outside of her office and find the woman she’d met at the hardware store staring intently at the map of the Sparrow Scouts grounds.

She was standing in front of it, her long hair falling like a mantle across her back, and her usual tight as a rod posture forgone so she could lean her torso towards the map. Gone were the casual clothes in which Birgitta had met her, replaced by dark blue overalls and a labcoat.

It was clearly a ploy. Nobody would find a map with a couple of buildings and colourful dots that symbolised camping grounds interesting enough to be looked at for more than ten seconds, and her contemplative look marked the lines of her face too sharply for it to be genuine. She wanted to be caught like this, but Birgitta was not about to point that out, much less complain. It would be a lie to say that her mind hadn’t been replaying their interactions whenever it was even slightly idle ever since their meeting.

“Oh, Birgitta, how lovely to see you here!”

The exclamation made her have to bite down on the inside of her cheeks to keep herself from laughing. She knew perfectly well that Victoria had allowed her to be in her field of vision for a couple of moments and only addressed her when she was close enough that, in her mind, it wouldn’t seem like she had been expecting her. It didn’t work.

Yes, Van Gale, how lovely, she thought, how lovely that you would find me in my workplace. During working hours. Directly outside my office.

What a dork.

“Ditto!” She said instead. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Oh, you know-” Victoria flicked her wrist with feigned nonchalance, making Birgitta want to burst out laughing again. She wondered if the scientist had any idea of the meaning that kids gave to that gesture these days. “Just wanted to revisit some memories from my time as a Scout. I haven’t been here since I… left. I see a lot has changed. The grounds are a lot bigger than I remember.”

At the mention of her pet project, Birgitta beamed.

“Not to toot my own horn, but most of the expansions were done after I became Raven Leader.”

Victoria gave her a lopsided smile and an impressed look that said ‘go ahead, I’m listening’. It was one of the things that had drawn Birgitta to her when they first met. The woman no doubt had a vast amount of knowledge and experience with the most diverse things, but instead of treating her like she was anything less for not having a fancy job or a privileged education, she seemed truly fascinated to hear what she had to say. It was endearing, to say the least.

She invited Victoria for a walk, and after the woman accepted, she began telling the tale about how she had been promoted from being one of the event organisers to Raven Leader much younger than most Leaders before her. How she had seen the potential for their organisation to do and teach much more than they had been able to at that time. How she convinced the board to let her organise a fundraiser to buy a larger piece of land for the Scouts, and her research to find the cheapest one that still offered as much safety to the children as possible. In the end, she’d come across the perfect slot, far enough away from the town that it could easily be considered the wilderness but close enough that weekend trips there weren’t hard to convince parents to allow. She had gotten a special price since there were rumours of that land being ‘haunted by nightmare spirits’, but she had known how much people loved to exaggerate their ghost stories. Still, the fundraiser hadn’t been successful enough to buy it (baked goods only allowed you to save so much money), so Birgitta had put her own life savings into the purchase, trusting her instincts that with more space, the Sparrow Scouts would flourish even more. It had undoubtedly paid off, not to mention that Birgitta herself was named as one of the owners to the land, side by side with the organisation she led.

Victoria took in her story as they walked side by side, first through the corridors of the main hall, its walls covered in pictures and portraits and trophies from local competitions which they encouraged their scouts to take part in, and then through the outdoor areas, which were prepared to accommodate a variety of activities. Birgitta had nothing if not a steel determination, and anyone who heard her tales from working at the Scouts would have picked that up. It was the trait that Victoria admired the most in any person. Even though her brand of ambition was much different to Victoria’s, more warm and thoughtful where hers was cold and borderline machiavellian at times, it made her admire her instantly.

This cloud of admiration, however, was not sufficient to make her mind hazy enough not to pick up on information that could be useful to her. 

Magic was something that liked to huddle together in odd places. Spots that were haunted by one type of spirit usually hosted many more of them, which you could find if you knew how to look. And legends were always based on some sort of truth.

Those were things that had been clear to her even as a young scientist who thought logic should always prevail over the mystical, and the years had only confirmed her suspicions that the line between those two wasn’t as solid as most people believed.

She stored those thoughts away for another moment. Right now, just smelling the flowers was enough. Literally, that was, because the Raven Leader had led them to an area with flower beds.

“We used to send our scouts to earn their Friend of the Park badges in actual parks, bringing life back to some area that needed it.” She explained as they walked by a bed of violets. “But last time we did so one of the groups had a bit of a… Vittra problem, let’s say. So we decided to move that activity inside our property to avoid displeasing any more nature spirits. I honestly didn’t expect for it to work so well, but for some months now it seems like everything we plant flourishes. It’s amazing.”

Victoria had to bite her tongue. She wanted to brag, to say that of course nature was blooming, ever since she’d managed to manipulate smaller weather events she’d made sure Trolberg’s crops could thrive under the most favourable weather conditions. Most people were attributing her work to that year’s grandiose appearance of the Great Raven, but she was content knowing that the credit was, in fact, hers. Nothing wrong with taking yourself for something of a messenger of the gods, she thought. To Birgitta, though, she <em>wanted</em> to reveal how it was all her master plan, and hopefully get some points with her in the process.

Not yet, though. There were things that were still missing.

“I forgot to ask, how is your arm?”

Snapped out of her musings, Victoria needed a moment to remember what she was referring to. The same moment that she remembered, she began noticing the pain again.

“Oh, I think I’ll live, don’t worry.” She grimaced, happy when Birgitta chuckled instead of looking down at her for her weakness. It probably would have been more dignified to pretend she wasn’t feeling anything at all, but something told her that Birgitta would see right through her.

“I’m sorry I let you carry all that.” The Raven Leader apologised, beckoning her to walk further away from the building in which she did all her paperwork and held ceremonies for the Scouts, as if she hadn’t been carrying much more than the other woman. “Sorry if this comes across as intrusive, but have you ever tried yoga? It’s a nice way to build strength and take care of your joints. Plus, you look like one of those people who can’t turn their thoughts off. It would do you good, I promise it’s lovely.”

Refraining herself from saying that she wouldn’t be caught dead doing yoga, Victoria let out a hum that she hoped would come across as thoughtful. “Well, do you have any instructor to recommend to me?”

“Every day there’s a collective session at Vine Park at five in the afternoon, whenever I go it’s a good time.” She stopped walking and turned to her with a smile. “We could go together, one day.”

The huff of laughter that came out of Victoria’s lips could mean anything from joy at Birgitta wanting to do something with her to indignation at the mere suggestion.

“Haven’t you seen me embarrassing myself enough, Birgitta?”

She chuckled again, and kept walking through the grass paths, trusting that Victoria would follow her.

“I haven’t seen you embarrass yourself at all. All I saw was you being courteous.”

It would have been very useful, in that moment, if it were possible for someone to high five themselves. That not being the case, however, Victoria was limited to simply looking pleased with her apparently successful plan. Though Birgitta noticed the way she stood up straighter, she didn’t comment on it, and kept on guiding her to the place she wanted her to see the most.

The instruments were placed on a metal table. There were currently no children around it, but every morning a group of Sparrow Scouts was invited to write down their measurements and share them with the rest of their peers, so they could guess how the day would go. Not that it worked with scientific precision, but it was a nice way to make them earn their weather watching badges.

Once they were close enough to the Sparrow Scouts’ makeshift weather station and the shapes of the homemade machines were recognizable, Victoria looked at her with a question mark clearly stamped on her eyes. With a proud smirk, Birgitta gestured for her to go ahead, making Victoria trot the last few metres that separated them from the table.

Upon it were instruments she recognized like old friends, but much less complex than she ever remembered seeing them as. A barometer made with a coffee can, an anemometer of paper cups, a sling psychrometer built from a bottle, a wind vane with a paper plate as the compass and rain gauge that was basically an empty olive jar.

“Birgitta, these are amazing!” They weren’t exactly accurate, but just the fact that they existed filled Victoria with barely contained energy. “Did your kids make these?”

“They did!” She walked to her side, closely observing Van Gale as she filled her eyes with the instruments. “We recently introduced a weather watching badge. Building these is the first part of getting it. The scouts that are aiming to get it also have to take turns to get their measurements for a couple of weeks.”

“How many of them are trying it?”

“Oh, I’d say around fifteen scouts. I think all of the more quiet kids chose this activity.”

“Do you think they’d like to visit the bureau?”

The words had been out of Victoria’s mouth before her brain could process or filter them. Logically, it was a terrible idea. A bunch of kids snooping around a lap where she did her most important and secretive research could not go well, especially not with the containment station being built. But even after she had said it, she couldn’t find it in herself to want to take it back. She loved what she did, and one of her life’s most painful failings was never having had someone to share her passion with. The idea of a group of kids, filled with curious energy as children always were, being willing to learn more about the science of meteorology, and maybe even being inspired by a visit to an actual station, was far too exciting for her to regret.

Birgitta blinked. Funnily enough, she hadn’t seemed to have been expecting that. Which was sweet, Victoria thought, because it meant she had just wanted to show her their instruments to let her know her line of work was valued by her and her scouts, instead of trying to get something out of her.

“Well, I think they’d love that.” She said at last. “But wouldn’t it be too much trouble for you?”

“Nonsense! It has been far too long since I’ve had visitors. I would love to have you and your young aspiring scientists in my lab.”

Since she sounded and looked like she truly meant it, Birgitta smiled.

“In which case, I should probably get your phone. Let’s get back to my office so I can write it down.”

She would have added that it was only for arrangement making purposes that she wanted to get her number, but she’d never been a good liar. Birgitta had simply seen the opportunity and taken it.

As they walked away, she noticed how Victoria kept on gazing happily at the homemade instruments, and smiled. She often felt that this world lacked passion. It had transformed most people into thoughtless machines who just went about their routines without ever being able to dream of more. Not Victoria, though. This woman was brimming with it, and Birgitta hoped nothing was ever able to take it away from her.

“What drew you to science?” She asked, unable to contain herself. At that point, Victoria already knew all about what had made her come to the Sparrow Scouts, and why she didn’t want to leave any time soon, but she still knew very little about the weather woman. Seeming surprised to have been asked that question, her face became wistful as she thought of an answer.

“I think wisdom lies in not denying things simply because you can’t understand them.” She began. “But there’s a beauty in logic, and in the power that it gives to humans, and that has always fascinated me. How we’re able to tame and control even that which is so much bigger and stronger than us through understanding it. I fall in love with it a bit more every time I think about this.”

Leaves crunched under their shoes as they walked, and butterflies fluttered by. It wasn’t the answer Birgitta had been expecting. Something like “career day at school opened my eyes” or “I found an interesting book in the library” were more the line that most people followed. That wasn’t to say that the explanation she got wasn’t much more interesting, though.

“Well, I don’t know.” Her voice was thoughtful, not judgemental. She made sure of it. “I think there’s a lot of beauty in what we can’t control. Whenever it storms I can't help but think how gorgeous it is, that nature is so much more powerful than us and constantly reminding us of that. Makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger.”

Victoria remained in contemplative silence, fidgeting with the hem of her lab coat. She made an interesting figure, a serious academic in her research clothes strolling around on the grounds of a children’s scouts unit. Figuring she had nothing to lose, Birgitta continued.

“Take the heart, too. Where would the fun be if we could actually take its reins and place our feelings where we want them? The unexpectedness is one of the most exciting parts of the journey, don’t you think?”

Unbeknown to the Raven Leader, Victoria’s own heart did a somersault in her thorax. Maybe, just maybe, she could see the credit in that philosophy.

                                                    ………

On the day they had chosen for the Sparrows Scouts visit to Trolberg’s Meteorological Bureau, the sun rose early and brightly. Victoria, for once, woke up before her alarm even rang - or rather, before it splashed water all over her - filled with excited energy that made it impossible for her to linger in bed.

It had been ages since she’d had people there. Ever since she’d begun tinkering with weather manipulation, visitations had been closed and she’d always make up an excuse or another when people asked her to go in (“Sorry, miss Hallgrim, a class full of children near my delicate equipments isn’t something I can allow” and “Forgive me, deputy, but the Town Hall has declared that my research wouldn’t need to be supervised by the Patrol. Will we need to take this to the mayor?” had both become her classics). It was only now, on the verge of opening her doors again, that she had realised how much she’d missed it. The presence of other people in her lab, the opportunity to share a bit about what made her get up every morning, the faces people made when they realised that something they had thought was boring could be cool, actually. 

She missed being listened to.

There was a large cardboard box on the entrance corridor, and as soon as she’d set the coffee machine on, she put it on a taller cupboard and out of a small person’s reach. In the past, when school buses would frequently park by the foothill and release dozens of children into the station, she’d had a small gift shop with trinkets for them to take home if they wanted to. This time, she had ordered the same gifts she used to, but she knew damn well she wouldn’t charge for them. She wanted Birgitta’s kids to have something to remember that afternoon by.

She spent the morning in a lovely mood, making sure to check all of her machines and to lock everything that shouldn’t be seen by anyone but her out in the garage. She used very little equipment nowadays, since most of her predictions came from the weather she conjured up herself, but she’d be damned if those kids didn’t leave there feeling like they knew exactly how each of a meteorologist’s tools worked. 

When the time they had agreed on came, Victoria was waiting for them on the other side of the cable car. She had asked Birgitta to advise the children to bring coats, since no matter the weather in town, the Bureau was high enough in the hill it sat on that its surroundings were always snowy, and visitors tended to get chilly halfway through the climb in the cable car. It wasn’t something she even noticed anymore; after she had started wearing her thermal jumpsuit, the only moments she paid any attention to temperature were when she was studying it, but she didn’t want her guests to feel any discomfort. Sure enough, the kids that were coming out of the bus which had just parked near her were all leaving with warm pieces of clothing in their hands, if not already on their bodies.

With each child that left the bus, Victoria tried to look more welcoming. She wasn’t exactly used to children, but she did really like them. Children were curious, and didn’t allow people’s opinions stop them from doing what they enjoyed, and those were things she held the highest respect for. It felt important to cause a good impression and to leave a positive mark on them. Maybe she could be a positive memory in their lives, maybe even push them towards an interest in the sciences, and it all depended on how she carried herself. 

The fact that Birgitta cared about the opinion of those children in particular didn’t hurt either, of course. 

“Welcome, everyone!” She exclaimed once the last child climbed down, noticing how they stared in awe first at her, and then at the Bureau, which was for the moment being only a blur in the distance. “I’m so glad to have you all here. I heard you lot took an interest in meteorology, is that right?”

Birgitta climbed out of the bus just as the children were making a chorus of affirmation.

“Victoria!” The children stepped out of the way so that their leader could walk towards their host. “Thank you so much for having us here. The children were so excited that some of the scouts that hadn’t even been working on the badge wanted to come. I thought it might be better to leave it for a later date, though.”

“Nonsense, the pleasure is all mine!” Victoria kept her eyes firmly on the other woman as she walked closer, reigning her surprise in when she hugged her in greeting. She hoped her cheeks weren’t pink enough that it couldn’t be attributed to the cool air. “But yes, probably better to bring more children when we have more time to organise this. We’ll already have to split up to get them all there as it is.”

She gestured towards the cable car with her head, and Birgitta’s mouth parted in surprise. When she’d been warned that that was the only way up to where Victoria lived, she hadn’t imagined the ravine that separated the hill they were in from the mountain which held the lab at its peak.

“Okay. How do you suggest we do this?”

The cable car could safely hold about five people, so Victoria’s suggestion was four rides to get them all up. On the first ride, the Raven Leader came along, leaving the bus driver to watch over the rest of the children, and stayed waiting with them on top of the mountain, just outside the Bureau. Victoria remained in the car during all the rides, in order to be an adult presence on them and so she could already begin introducing the kids to her work. Once the last batch had been safely dropped off at the top, Victoria climbed down with them and took the lead of the group, guiding them to the front door.

“Welcome all!” She exclaimed, her voice filling the room as the children behind her began to poke their heads inside and gasp. “To the Greater Trolberg Meteorological Bureau!”

She’d had her forecasts for the day previously recorded and had scheduled them to be aired at the right times, so that upon her guests’ arrival she could give them her full attention, and that was what she did. Even though there were clearly a few kids in the bunch that didn’t really care about being there and probably had only been working on the badge because they thought it would be an easy one, the excitement and curiosity of most of them more than made up for it. Even the more quiet kids, who seemed to be of the ‘likes to sit quietly and read in the back of the classroom’ sort grew comfortable enough to interact with her through the course of the visit.

And then there was Birgitta. The woman tended to stay behind the group so she could watch over all of them, but Victoria was proud to realise she seemed to be enjoying her monologues as well. With each instrument whose utility she explained, Birgitta seemed to join in on the children’s interest in them. She made a mental note to ask her later about which part had been her favourite. Judging by her face though, Victoria guessed it would be the history of Meteorology, which she had introduced them to as soon as they were all safely inside the lab.

Truth be told, the Raven Leader was impressed with Victoria’s effortlessly articulate speech. Since she had asked her to talk about herself every time they had been together so far, Birgitta had assumed she simply didn’t like to talk all that much, but it seemed like she’d been completely wrong. Whether it was because she had home field advantage, or because of knowing an absurd lot about that topic, or simply because she had a gift, she didn’t know, but she for one couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scientist as she went on about her work, and it seemed like most of the children couldn’t either. 

Their questions were another thing she handled beautifully. Birgitta had experience with taking her kids to meet professionals, since she thought it gave them good resources to make a well informed choice when they grew up and had to choose their careers. Many of said experts seemed to have no idea of who their target audience was, and only left the kids with even more doubts. Victoria, on the other hand, was well aware that she was talking to children, and took that into consideration without ever acting condescendingly. Birgitta had always thought that being able to explain something to someone who knew nothing about the subject was the true sign that you had a good grasp of it, and she stood corrected.

The last thing she had shown them had been the recording booth, and after that, they were heading towards the exit again. Victoria was just wondering if it would be selfish of her to offer them coffee just so she could stay near Birgitta for a while longer, and if she even could offer caffeine to children that young - she’d started at five years old herself, but on hindsight that maybe was why she’d turned out like that - when one of the kids sighed.

“Finally.” Either he thought he was whispering and had poor control over his voice, or he simply didn’t care about people overhearing. “That was boring.”

Everyone turned to him with a chastening glare, and the Raven Leader called his name warningly. He was one of the kids that had spent the entire visit with his arms crossed, either talking to his friends or looking around with annoyance. Another kid by his side, one who had spent their time there similarly, looked like they wanted to agree, but thought better of it when they noticed the stare everyone was giving him.

Birgitta had already begun telling him how that was impolite and inappropriate behaviour, and Victoria had to give it to her, those kids must really respect her if even the more difficult ones looked regretful to have been scolded. Without needing to raise her voice or be anything other than kindly stern, she’d managed to get him to blush and look down at his feet. It was when she was about to tell him to apologise that Victoria put a thankful hand on her shoulder. She stopped talking and looked at the scientist, who gave her a lopsided smile.

“That’s okay.” She assured, turning to the kids. “I know meteorology isn’t for everyone. Nothing ever is! Maybe our young friend will find an interest in some other science, or in something outside of it! I’ll agree with your Leader that you probably shouldn’t go around saying that the things people love are boring when they can hear you, but I’m grateful that you took the time to be here and hear what I had to say anyway. At least now you know your passions lie elsewhere! Isn’t that right?”

The children agreed, especially those that had been the most interested, nodding enthusiastically. Gosh, Victoria thought, talking to children is so much better than to adults.

“I do have something that I think you’ll all find interesting!” She declared, walking towards the shelf where she’d left the box with gifts, missing how Birgitta was still looking at her with a baffled expression as she did so. Even though she had had her ego hurt a little by how she hadn't been able to capture some of those kids’ attention, the collective cheer when she presented them with a roll of stickers was the most validation she’d gotten in recent years.

She cut a piece of parchment paper containing two stickers with the Bureau’s symbol for each kid, watching how some of them stored them away like precious things while others rushed to glue them to notebooks or water bottles they had brought with them, or to their friends’ foreheads.

Birgitta approached her when the last kid had received their gift, her hands clasped in front of her. The soft smile that was on her face as she  looked at the kids’ happiness remained when she looked over at Victoria, sitting on the floor with the cardboard box by her side.

“I knew there was a reason why I liked you. Anyone who has that many stickers is to be trusted.”

Chuckling and secretly thanking her past self for remembering to order the gifts, Victoria cut two more stickers from the roll, offering them up to Birgitta.

“Well, I truly hope you’re right!”

Birgitta blinked when Victoria held up the piece of paper at her, and then huffed out a small snicker as she picked it up. Immediately, she glued one of the stickers to her shirt, just above the Sparrow Scouts symbol. She smoothed it over as best as she could, but a couple of creases remained. No matter. She’d stick the extra one to a more regular surface when she got home, so she could keep a reminder of that day.

“Thank you.” Victoria had still been looking at her, and she met her gaze with as much open honesty as she could. Not only had her kids learned a ton of new things, but they were also going to leave with a joyful memory and a happy feeling, and that was exactly what she loved about that job; nothing was worth more than giving that to the children, and Victoria had really gone out of her way to make that happen. It would be a lie if she said she hadn’t enjoyed herself as well. “You really didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to.” The scientist shrugged. Birgitta offered her a hand to get up from the floor, which Victoria gladly accepted. Her job offered constant workout for the brain, but not really for the muscles, after all. When she managed to stand up, they were standing directly in front of each other, just one or two inches of height difference between them. They smiled, and Birgitta decided to call for the scouts before she did something stupid, like ask Victoria out in front of a bunch of loose lipped kids. 

There was no chance after that for Victoria to distribute the other types of gift she’d ordered, and she had come to the conclusion that doing so would be too much, anyway. But she stood by the back of the group as they left, and before the boy who had been called out could leave, she tapped his shoulder, making him turn to look at her with surprise. 

“For you.” She whispered, handing him a pencil with the rainy cloud logo on it. “So you can write your own story.”

The child was speechless for a moment, holding the pencil like it was precious. Smiling to herself, she was glad she’d decided to give him that; she could never know what was going on in those kids’ lives, so it would never be her place to make any judgements. She herself hadn’t been an easy child to handle, but what adults had labelled as flaws of character had been the very characteristics that had enabled her to get as far as she did. Though it was rare that she had contact with any people at all, let alone children, she had long ago vowed to herself to be the sort of adult she wished to have met as a child.

Snapping her out of her thoughts and making her gasp, the child threw his arms around her neck, hugging her for just a moment before he realised what he was doing.

“Thank you, Miss Van Gale.” He said when he drew back, even though Victoria had not yet fully processed what had happened. “I promise I will.”

He walked away with quick strides to catch up with the rest of the group. From the doorway, Birgitta observed in silent wonder as one of the most hard headed kids in the Scouts passed by her while cradling a pencil delicately in his hands, leaving behind a stunned scientist.

                                                     ………

Much later, well into the evening, Victoria found herself reading in the room that doubled as her office and her personal library. In a hidden corner of the Bureau, there was a metal ladder that granted access to the upstairs area. When she took over the weather station, it had been a space reserved for storage, but she’d long since then transformed it into her home. Apparently, meteorologists of the past made a point of going home every day, but Victoria truly didn’t see the point in taking the cable car every morning and every night, not to mention the short road to the city. By staying there, she could work more and be closer to her lab, with the bonus of avoiding the commuting. It wasn’t like she had anything waiting for her in Trolberg, anyway.

The most complete book on Weather Spirits she owned was open on the desk in front of her, and she sighed as her focus on the tiny letters wavered. She would kill for a warm beverage just then, but she knew she’d regret it deeply if she drank a cup of coffee that late, and she had run out of cocoa mix.

Screw it. She didn’t want to go to bed at that moment, so her only option was coffee if she wanted to be productive at all while she remained awake. Her current chore was finding any more meaningful information in that book that could help her know how to create an efficient containment station for a weather spirit, but so far she’d been luckless. No one had tried what she was about to, ever, which meant that her task would involve a lot of trial and error.

As soon as she found a spirit to begin with, that was.

When she straightened her spine, since she’d been hunching over her desk, leaning on her elbows, a few vertebrae popped. It reminded her that she’d have to climb down the ladder, and then come back up holding a cup, since she’d installed the coffee machine downstairs to be closer to it while she worked, and she groaned.

While she was having trouble summoning strength to do the trip, her cellphone began ringing in her pocket, startling her. The scientist rarely even got any calls, let alone that late at night. Fearing that it was someone from the City Hall wanting to discuss funding cuts to the Bureau, she peaked at the caller with suspicion, but let out a pleased sight when she realised it was, in fact, Birgitta on the other line.

“Hello there!”

“Hi, Victoria.” Her voice on the other side was soft and low, making her picture the woman getting ready to go to sleep. She imagined that by that time most people were, anyway, if not already deep in slumber. “Sorry for calling you so late. I hope I’m not disturbing.”

“Oh, not at all! You don’t need to worry about that, it’s a pleasure.”

Okay, that was too much. It was too much, right? Or was that just polite? Victoria wasn’t really sure, but she knew her palms were getting sweaty for no reason. Thankfully, Birgitta chuckled.

“Well, good to know. I just needed to call you before I lost the nerve. I was wondering, would it be alright if I went to your place again some day soon? Or we can do this somewhere else, if you’d rather.”

“Oh, that’s okay!” Victoria said, still paying enough attention to the book in front of her that the true meaning of what she’d been asked went completely over her head. “Better to wait a few weeks so I can organise myself to receive more children here, but I’m not averse to another tour.”

There was a beat of silence in the call, during which Birgitta was rubbing at the space between her eyebrows and seriously rethinking her opinions on how fun it was to not be able to pick who you’d fall for.

“I actually meant just the two of us… maybe we could have some coffee? I still owe you for helping me with the bags.”

After opening and closing her mouth a couple of times, Victoria figured it would probably be a lot more useful if she could actually make it so words came from it, and tried to assemble her thoughts into something vaguely coherent. She was a scientist, for goodness’ sake, she could say yes to a date.

“Of course!” She managed to answer at last, instantly making the Raven Leader release the tension that had been on her shoulders. She hadn’t misinterpreted things, after all. “I’d love that. I… I’ll probably go down to the city for groceries tomorrow. Are you free?”

“I get out of work at five tomorrow, is that good for you? You could meet me in my office and I’ll take us to a coffee place I like, how’s that?”

Victoria’s smile was brighter than the rays of sun she’d learned to conjure. “That sounds perfect! See you?”

“You definitely will. Goodnight, Victoria.”

[traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors]

Call me 🪨 (rock) so I can find this later.

Tw: not sure if there is any?

Looking for: advice

I had a therapist tell me recently (more group setting) when we were discussing people abusing us and trying to justify it, my therapist kept asking everyone in the room she went from person to person asking:

“well is there something you’ve done to make people wanna come after you? Or have you done something to have that justification of them hurting you be genuinely justified?”

And I thought it was an odd way to word things? I was like “well no ig there’s no evidence as I’ve been good to everyone around me my whole life… I mean I still believe I’m a bad person who deserves abuse bc my abusers put it in my mind…”

And she kept asking again “well did you do something to deserve people coming after you? We’re their justifications genuinely justified bc you did something first?”

And most of the time I’m bad at giving myself validation and reassurance but again I said and others in the group also said, “no I don’t think so? Idk? Not sure? I just believe I’m a terrible worthless person….my abusers always told me I was…”

And she asked it again but reworded herself… and I felt uncomfortable? And confused?

I felt like it was a strange conversation or was that not a strange conversation to have with a therapist (LCSW)? Am I overthinking it or is she a weird therapist?

Hi 🪨,

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. It's understandable to feel uncomfortable and confused by this.

That definitely sounds like a weird therapist and those questions sound like victim blaming, which is surprising coming from a therapist. But at the same time, there's an unfortunate number of therapists who are obviously in the wrong profession.

From my understanding of the therapeutic process, asking clients questions is almost always off limits, unless they're building rapport or if it's a thought-provoking question for the client to gain insight into themselves. While it's slightly possible that her intent was to get the group to affirm with confidence that they didn't do anything to justify being abused, her approach and the way she worded it was definitely inappropriate.

Please know that there's nothing that you or anyone could ever to do justify being abused. There is no excuse for abuse and anyone trying to imply otherwise is simply incorrect. I'm so sorry that you had to go through this.

I hope I could help and please let us know if you need anything.

-Bun

[deviantartdramahub]

TW: Pedophilia.

Ugh okay...so for whatever reason, I can't find the post I've been talking about. I really did try guys, but it's not in the "Pedophile TW" tag for whatever reason, despite the fact it should be there considering the fact DADramaNow thinks Club's a pedo. But hey, ig I'm asking too much from Mod-S expecting her to properly organize her own blog? And I know they didn't delete it either bc these people never learn from their actions or regret them.

So sorry for the lack of proof. Hopefully from what I talk about, Tri will be able to remember it and link it herself, she's very experienced with all this after all.

Anyways, to summarize, DADramaNow took a post on DA that was actually very good and helpful...it was bringing awareness to people trying to ask fetish art from unsuspecting people, and not telling them it was sexual, meaning they were making an unknowing person partake in something sexual without consent. It was called "fetish mining", and it's great this person spread awareness, as someone should ALWAYS know if they're doing any type of porn, and if they aren't comfortable with things like that, they should be aware someone's requesting fetish art so they can decline and avoid doing something that makes them uncomfortable. It's especially bad when the artist is a minor.

So you'd think DADramaNow taking this post and spreading it around would be a very good thing, right? Oh you poor sweet naive little thing...

Nope, they used the informational post to support their slander against Club. LIKE WHAT? How could you be so selfish? I really shouldn't be surprised, and I no longer am, just another example of many of DADramaNow willing to do anything just to make Club look bad. Just terrible. Taking a problem that has far due awareness and twisting it for your sick game. Such a shame, I'm sure the original poster of the DA post was genuinely well meaning and wanted to actually spread awareness of something very bad, unlike DADramaNow. And then their post was taken without them knowing and used for slander. And they were unknowingly dragged into stupid drama...I really do hope this stupid action from DADramaNow didn't stop anyone from taking fetish mining seriously.

Wish me luck on eventually finding that DADramaPost though, lol.

I do recall, they had posts like that quite often. Though it's not a great concept because, as you pointed out with Club, only an individual can speak for their intentions, and without the intentions, it's just a raw exchange.

[lexa-griffins]

hi dearrr. don’t ask me how, lol, it just happened okay? 😩 but yep i just happened to see one of your tags in a gif set (ADC’s goodbye video from sdcc2020 for theloo) and you said something like “yeah she didn’t handle the lexa situation well��� and i just need to know what that means. i wasn’t around back then, so I’m just trying to catch up ages later (damn it’s hard🫠) and i have so many questions. i really don’t know who to ask so your tag legit triplicated my doubts about the whole picture. yk what i mean? bc so far all i’ve seen about ADC+lexa is..ZERO?? nothing, nada?? like she completely erased her?? yes there’s that ig post when 3x07 aired and that one quick “interview” (?????) at paleyfest when the darn thing was super fresh so ofc she was asked and all she said was, yeah yeah my work life yeah yeah couldn’t do both yeah yeah it was a creative decision yeah no bad intentions at all and then maybe those ones times she was asked in copenaghen but it was all so elusive.. like girl get your shit together please.. i’m aware she wanted to keep her job as an actress so roasting Jrot was probably out of the question but, is the lack of reaction from her the reason “she didn’t handle it well” or there’s something im missing here??😩

Hi!!! (Clicked ansert a little too soon and had to write this fast, sorry if its uncomprehensible in some parts 😅)

I dont think she dealt with it well because she kind of didnt speak up. I think i actually prefer that she didnt say anything than have her say the wrong thing. She was young and was only a guest star so i totally understand how suddenly being the face of a movement can be overwhelming and she was pribably advised not to say much.

Do i wish she said more and was more outspoken about Lexa's death? Yes. But i dont blame her for not doing so. Its somewhat understandable why she didn't and I think it is very clear now that she does care for her fans and social causes. And i think the fact that El*za was so outspoken about Lexa also made it more noticeable when Alycia wasnt (despite the fact that theres a good chance E wasnt as genuine about it as we thought she was).

Im hoping that in the future Alycia will talk about the Lexa situation more, what happened and such. She might not, i wont fault her for it. But yes i do think she could have handled it better but she was at the start of her career and was most likely guided by some pr team and contracts on what to say and not.

So yeah, i guess that is what i mean when i say that she didnt handle it well. Not badly, just not as well as she probably could have if it happened today for example.

[magnnae]

Moonlight confession

Summary: Zhongli and y/n go see the fireworks at the lantern rite festival.

Fandom: genshin impact

Characters: Zhongli x GN!reader

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none

A/c: covid took all my motivations to write –and live in general tbh– so this took a lot more than I planned. But ig I'm back? It's pretty short and not very good but I wanted to write something and this is the best I could come up with. As last time, there's probably a lot of bad grammar and spelling mistakes, sorry in advance. I hope you like it and I'll try to post more often! (◍•ᴗ•◍)

His hand on your lower back, the way his hair moved when he walked, his laugh, how his eyes slightly closed while looking at you, smiling at you. You remembered it all. The moon, the only light need to guide you through the harbor, yet so many other lights decorating the sky. It was just magical, one of those core memories you are so sure you won't forget.

He guided you through the crowd, up to an isolated space where the whole city could be seen. It was lively indeed. Shouts and laughs could be heard from every part of Liyue and, to be honest, you loved it. Seeing so many people happy after everything that's passed, all the problems they had faced. And yet there you were, next to the former archon, hands merely touching, but close enough to fasten both of your heart beats.

"Do you like the view?"he asked looking at your eyes, allowing you to see the reflections of the city lights in them. "Of course I do" you smiled, making him smile too. No more words were spoken, just brief looks shared by both of you, enough to understand each other's intentions. Although, not enough to make any of you make a move. Until the show began.

Even more lights rose from the sky: red, blue, green and yellow fireworks appeared out of nowhere leaving you speechless. It was like nothing you've ever seen, living in the countryside hadn't allowed you go see this sort of things, apart from maybe an animal eating another there wasn't anything as spectacular as this was.

You were mesmerized by the view, totally immersed in the firework display. So much that you were unable to notice your partners hand getting closer to yours, merely touching yours, as if he was scared to do so. And suddenly a finger caressed one of yours, asking of permission. The would stopped for a moment. Even with all the noise around you were sure that he could hear your heart beating, so loud it was impossible to ignore. Without thinking it twice the gesture was accepted and your hand was holding his, fingers gently intertwined yet tightly pressed against eachother.

Without noticing all the show infront of your eyes was replaced by the man next to you. Warmth and happiness overflowed your body so much it was impossible to contain a smile. Zhongli was also smiling, although it wasn't clear if it was because of your hand or smile, but it was surely because of you.

You barely remember what happened next, not to mention the show itself. Once it finished Zhongli looked at you again, smiling, although it wasn't big enough to notice, it was obvious for his calmed expression and a deep affection. It made your heart skip a beat. For how long have you felt this way? You felt stupid stupid for not realizing, it was so clear, even for him. That's what you thought.

"Did you like it?" He asked with that deep voice of his, waiting for your answer. You weren't able to answer, you were busy admiring him. God, it really was that obvious.

"Y/N?" Zhongli asked again, genuinely worried about you. "Sorry, I was just..." Looking at how stupidly pretty you are. "Nothing" You weren't able to say that, of course. "Are you sure? It certainly doesn't look like it" He smiled again, softly yet concerned. How could you keep your feelings secret after that?

"Zhongli I like you" Oh. "I know" Oh.

"I still feel like an idiot" you said embarrassed, hiding your face with your hands. It might have been the happiest moment of your life, but it was also the most embarrassing. "Don't be so harsh on yourself, it was adorable" He smiled at you, brushing a strand of hair behind your ear to make you look at him.

Even at times like this you asked yourself how he could be with you, it's not like you were a horrible person, you were just average. And he was the complete opposite. Maybe it was by the look in your eyes that he noticed your inner thoughts, because the next thing he did was pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. "As I said, don't be too harsh on yourself darling" he said caressing your cheek. "You always know what to say don't you?".

[soyouthinkucanwrite]

I can be your mirror - Daniel Ricciardo smut!

You feel insecure when you see his ex's instagram and Daniel decides to show you why you don't need to be

Warnings: smut! unprotected sex, low self esteem, etc

You were just chilling in the hotel bed, scrolling through your phone while Daniel finished taking a shower. It was Thursday night in Hungary, and media day was relatively calm (all eyes were still on Max and Lewis, after the whole Silverstone incident).

Your relationship was still new, you guys had just went public a couple months ago, and you liked that you were still discovering things about each other everyday, like how he prefers his eggs in the morning or that small scar under your chin he just noticed yesterday. Yet, some things weren't as fun to find out, like what his exes looked like.

A few fan accounts had started following you, including some F1 WAGs accounts, and you followed some of them back - you wanted to the updated, after all (or at least that's what you told yourself). The thing is, comparisons were inevitable to you - no matter how much you tried to be reasonable, low self esteem was always an issue to you. When a WAGs account posted about Daniel's ex hanging around in the paddock today and how cute her outfit was, you quickly found yourself clicking on the tag and stalking her ig. Perfect. Fucking perfect. You just have to set your own heartbreak up, don’t you? If at least you could let life do that, but no, you had to go and fall for the guy with the instagram models as his exes. You smiled ironically to yourself.

"Did you see Max shutting down that reporter on the press conference today?" Daniel said walking out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his torso and another drying his hair. You quickly locked your phone and looked up, startled like a kid caught with their hands on the cookie jar.

"Hum?" you asked him.

“What were you looking at?” he grinned you, throwing himself on the bed and sitting by your side.

“Nothing” you answered quickly, looking away.

“Don’t be like that. Tell me” he asked again, nudging you with his head.

“It’s nothing Dan, just silly old instagram”

“You wanna know one of the things I love most about you?” He asked before continuing. “You don’t really have filters. And even when you try to hide what you’re thinking, your face and body gives you away” He said. “That’s why you’re so perfect, you’re genuine” he touched your nose with his. “Let’s be honest with each other. Tell me what’s going on in there” Then he tried to lighten the mood saying "Can't be shirtless pictures of me that got you smirking, cause here I am in the flesh for you" you rolled your eyes but smiled at him.

“I’m laughing at myself” You said and he just looked at you, waiting for you to continue. “I’m setting myself up for heartbreak, more and more, and it’s just like me”

“What you’re talking about?”

“Please don’t say it’s stupid” you said before continuing. “You’re like, a rock star… fast cars, VIP, supermodels… these stuff are routine for you, you have the most interesting life. And you could have any girl. And your exes are like movie stars, fucking supermodels, and I'm not sure how much longer till you realize that and just, you know” you said gesturing to yourself and waving your fingers in front of your throat like who says 'abort mission'.

"I should know better, I really should and this might be nothing, but the deeper we get in this, the harder it's to wrap my own head around it and it’s so stupid, but how can anyone compete with that?” You weren’t making any sense, you knew and he was looking at you with his eyebrows raised and lips pressed, like he was holding a smile. “I’m rambling, forget I said anything it's so stupid” You said hiding your face behind your hand.

“I thought you said it wasn’t stupid” He said opening up a smirk and you opened your fingers to look at him. He pulled your hand down. “But you’re right, it is fucking stupid, because there’s no competing with you. I don’t care if I have to repeat that a thousand times for you to believe me, I mean…you had to have a flaw, huh?” You turned your head to the side. “This insecurity of yours, that you’re not good enough, it’s just the most crazy thing ever. Because I feel exactly the same. I’m the one that’s not good enough for you. You’re so smart, and good and you actually do good in the world. I’m just the lucky bastard that got picked to drive in circles around the world”

“You know that’s bullshit” You said.

“I’m serious. This whole stuff, fame, whatever… doesn’t mean anything. It’s just not real. I’m glad I realized that when I did” you were watching him intently. “Racing, challenging myself, working with the team, you... what we have, those are the stuff that are real to me, what really matters".

"Okay" you nodded agreeing.

"If you must to know, the reason why I didn’t work out with anybody else, it’s because we were never more than fuck buddies. Those girls are great fun, but they're more worried about showing than being, you know? And I’m not really interested in talking about them because it doesn’t mean anything, but I’ll tell you anything you ask me” You were dying to ask him more, to know every little details and to learn from their mistakes, but you knew you’d become obsessed with comparing yourself to them and didn’t he just tell you he wasn’t interest in anything about it?

“Sorry” you said quietly.

“What for?”

“Being a nag. Killing the mood” he smiled.

“Don’t-” “you-” “dare-” He kissed your face in between every word. “apologizing-” “for-” “your-” “feelings” he pulled away and looked at you. “Specially not to me. I meant it, let’s be honest, huh?” you nodded smiling back at him. “And if I’m ever a dick, please tell me before screw things up. This is not nothing, okay?”

“Okay”

“And I’m flattered you think I could have any girl” he said grinning. “I mean, I AM pretty hot, but-”

“Shut up. You know I’m right”

“Maybe any girl who cares about that stuff, and my amazing six pack” he says laughing and kissing you.

“And hard butts” you replied laughing and reaching to squeeze his, playfully.

“And hard butts” he agreed, rolling so he was on top of you.

“Those girls are usually the hottest”

“Do you honestly don’t have a mirror at home?” he said pulling away slightly from you. “It’s okay baby” he said in your ear, lifting your shirt over your head, then nibbling at your earlobe, making you moan. “I can be your mirror” he said in a low voice, taking your hands over your head and pinning them with his own.

Then he used his knees to push your legs apart. You were following his face, trying to kiss his mouth but he was holding you down, his lips barely touching your skin now, him hovering over your neck, your collarbone, your exposed breasts. You were squirming now, trying to get some release. He just wouldn’t let you have any yet.

“You have the most amazing skin” he begin saying. “So soft” he looked up to you, you had your eyes closed now. “The most amazing boobs. Fucking perfect tits, so round… and these perking nipples, so hard when you’re turned on” his lips touched your breasts lightly, barely.

“Your hair always smells so good, it’s the perfect frame for your perfect face” He went up again and kissed your lips, biting them lightly and dragging them out. “I love your lips, I love how plumped they are. I’m kind of jealous actually” he chuckled and you opened your eyes rolling them. “And those eyes. Fuck, I know it’s the first thing anyone notices about you, isn’t it? Are you sick of it by now? So big and green. I love seeing them rolling back when you come” he brought one hand down, pulling your pijama pants down and holding both of your hands up with only one of his. “I’m getting there in a minute” he said grabbing your pussy. “I just want to tell you about your ass first” he said sliding his hand through your hips until he reached your ass, grabbing it then releasing to give it a slap. You let out a yelp. “You in the mood for a little rough love?” he slapped you again and you smiled through your moan, this is so hot. And the best part of it was that no one else knew this side of his, just you. It's petty yeah, but you decided to indulge yourself in that thought.

“I love your ass, I swear I was trying to be respectful today, but you were such a tease, on those little shorts, made me hard as soon as you walked in the paddock” he went down to suck your left boob in his mouth and you were so sensitive you couldn’t help but moan, loudly. “Yeah baby, let me hear you. Let everyone hear you” He said releasing your boob and nibbling at it. “I saw how the guys were staring at your ass today. Fuckers, couldn’t help themselves. Let them stare…as long as they know who you belong to” he said leaning down to suck on your other boob. “Tell me who you belong to” his voice was so low.

“Uh…you” You were a moaning mess.

“Huh?”

“You, Daniel! I’m yours”

“That’s right”

“Please” you begged.

“What is it? What you what baby?” he whispered against your skin.

“Touch me, please”

“But I am touching you baby” he said and you heard the smirk in his voice. “Oh, I see what you mean… you want me to touch your pussy?”

“Yeah” you nodded. At the same time this was torture, it felt so, so good.

“This fucking perfect cunt of yours” he said sliding two fingers through your lips and opening them to spread you to him, you were soaking wet and pulsating, clenching around nothing. “Fuck, look at this” He said almost to himself, licking his lips. Then he slid his fingers in, curling them up, making a ‘come here’ motion. He dipped his head down, kissing the inside of your leg, then right over your clit, taking it in between his lips and sucking. You moaned loudly. “Oh sorry baby… you wanted it rough, huh?” he sucked your clit harder, then bit on it lightly. You could scream at how much pleasure he was giving you.

“Fuck! Oh my god Dan” He started to tease you with another finger meanwhile.

“Think you can take another one?” his words sending vibrations against you and making you forget how to form words. “I know you can, you take me so well. Such a good girl for me” he inserted another finger and started to pump them in and out of you faster. “So fucking tight. Can’t wait to feel you around me. That’s my favorite place you know? Buried deep inside your cunt” that was it, you came, hard. Arching your back and hips, Daniel releasing your hands to push you down and hold you there while you came and he kept sucking and licking and biting your clit. You couldn’t take anymore, you pushed him away, pulling his hair.

“Can’t-” You tried to say. “Dan”

“Yes, you can. Come here” He said pulling away and lifting you, dragging you out of the bed and into the bathroom, the rest of your clothes and his towel getting lost in the way. He pushed you against the sink, pulling your face up, making you look at yourself on the mirror. He was pressing against you from behind, his cock leaking in between your legs. “I want you to see what I see” he said staring at you through the mirror. “Gonna fuck you so good, you don’t ever forget how fucking perfect you are” and with that he slammed inside you. “Fucking-” he had one hand on your hair and the other around you, between your folders, massaging your clit. “Fucking heaven, taking me so good”

“Ah Dan” You screamed. He started to fuck you hard and fast, pushing you against the sink. You lifted your head and looked at the mirror, it was the most erotic thing you’ve ever seen. Daniel was dripping sweat, thrusting with perfect precision. His eyes were locked on yours and you knew he was as close as you. The thought of how deep the connection between you were at that moment made you clench again and he lost it, giving you one final thrust and a guttural groan. You came again, shaking more than ever, the feeling too much this time. “I can’t-” You tried to say again. “Too much-” Squeezing him over and over, so he pulled out, still spilling, making a mess over your legs and on the bathroom floor. He was still holding you though.

“I’m right here baby. Right here” He whispered on you ear from behind. You both were riding out your orgasms, rocking slightly, your body leaned on the sink, pressing your boobs against it, and he leaning over you, breathing hard.

After you both calmed down, you tried to move but his weight was too much. You let out a weak laugh and he moved. “Sorry” he said kissing your back. When you got up, you turned to him and kissed him lightly.

“You are-” You said against his lips “amazing”. And kissed him again, lovinly. “Thank you. You make me feel so good, Daniel. Let me take care of you now”

Daniel's POV

This woman is trying to kill me. “Baby I don’t think I have it in me-” “Not like that” she smiled. “I meant with a bath” she said gesturing to the bathtub.

“Yes, please” I said already opening the tap and letting the water run. She went back to the room and returned with a water bottle, taking a sip before passing it to me. I took it from her hand and almost finished it, before giving it back to her.

“Do they have any bubbles? Bath salts?” she asked.

“Hum…I don’t think so, baby” I answered looking around on the sink.

“That’s fine” she smiled, getting in the tub and motioning for me to sit in between her legs. Her hair was up in a knot, but some of it was clinging to her neck due to the sweat. She was so beautiful, I can’t believe she wants me.

“You don’t want me to stay behind you?” she shook her head smiling and I did as she asked, leaning on her. The tap was still running, filling the tub with hot water, while we two of us just soaked in there, relaxing. “This is nice,” I said while she ran her hands through my hair. When the tub was full enough, she turned off the water and applied some body wash on my skin, running her hand over my back and shoulders, it felt so good, so comfortable, like I didn’t have a worry in the world. Then I washed her legs around me, kissing her feet and calves and making her giggle. She kept massaging my shoulders. We stayed there for good while, half an hour? More or less? There’s nothing else in the world other than this bathroom anyway, so who cares?

“Can we stay here forever?” She asked me after a while, kissing behind my neck. I just hummed in response. “Actually, scratch that. I’m getting hungry. And thirsty”

“The limitations of the human body” I said jokingly but got out of the tub after a few minutes. If m’lady wants to eat, I’m getting her food. I dried myself, wrapping a towel around me and holding hers open for her to step out of the tub.

We went back to the room, she picked her clothes from the floor and put them away in her travel bag back inside the closet. I watched as she got a fresh pair of underwear and a clean bra, while I put on boxers and sweatpants. She wore some leggings that hugged her ass perfectly, what a view. I noticed her going through her bag, probably looking for a shirt but I just wanted her to wear some clothing of mine, so I took the hoodie I was going to wear and passed it to her. She smiled and accepted it, it looked oversized on her and covered her ass, but maybe that’s a good thing, I don’t need anyone thirsting over what’s mine, I don’t care how much of a prick that makes me sound.

"Do you wanna order or go out to eat?" I asked her.

"Let's just go downstairs, to the restaurant?"

"Yeah, that's fine" I say and peck her lips.

I put on a sweatshirt, and hold the door open for her. We walk out and the temperature was a bit colder out here in the hallway (or maybe it was just too hot inside the room), so I just take her hand and intertwine our fingers, passing my arms around her and holding her closer. I just love that I can do that whenever I want.

And I plan on doing that for the rest of my life.