#the fact that they're all so happy to be together?

[brick-van-dyke]

This, plus I'd argue that it often leads to being treated as trans women as well and being subjected to parts of transmisogyny, it's why I don't really think the whole TME and TMA thing really works very well in actually identifying transphobia because of how often we're all grouped together as either "lying men pretending to be women" or "lying men pretending to be women and lying about being female to male transgenders", or just "you don't look like either so you must be a male" or some other brand of transphobia and intersexism as well mixed in.

Tbh actually I think that's kind of the point. There's so much intersexism and sexism in general that goes into the whole idea behind "all those who don't conform to gender roles and are their assigned sex are automatically trans women" in terms of grouping us all together as a monolithic entity. "You can't be a happy trans man, so you must be a trans woman" and "it's only when you're unhappy that you're a trans man who's a victim that we must save". Like that in and of itself is kind of the point with transphobia. We can't exist because we undermine the idea that "the issue of transness is trans women so trans men and intersex people are all trans women by default, unless they are sad or traumatised in any sort of way because then they're victims of trans women". It's only ever one or the other, and that always changes he idenity you're perceived as because the only "real" ftm in existence are "victims" they have been able to label as 'detrans victims of the transgender cult". If you're not, you don't exist; you're not supposed to exist. So you "must" be a trans woman, that's the "only" explanation for your being here. So they treat you as that because anything else is a lie.

A lot of the times I've been called transphobic bs on the street or online, or treated like shit in an institutional setting like a hospital, it typically starts off with assuming I'm a pre-transition trans woman and start treating me with either microagressions meant towards trans women or explicitly start calling me things like "a creepy man pretending to have a girl's name", and then when I say I'm a trans man they either deny the fact I'm a trans man or insist that's another word for "trans woman" because that ruins their transmisogynistic world view of "all trans women look like men" and "trans men don't exist" or "are broken women so they can't look like men", and I don't look like a frail, broken down victim to them, so I "must be" the former.

"Trans men benifit from invisibility", actually we suffer from the intentional erasure of our identities, history, and culture. An erasure, that is violently enforced through the constant assault, rape, and community isolation that we have to endure silently (because if we speak up we are further punished, further pushed out of communities, and silenced harder).

[mygayasslovesbluealiens]

♡ANYA X FEM!READER♡

SUMMARY : Anya as your gf.

WARNINGS : fluff, mention of Daisuke.

WORD COUNT : 640

A/n : I accidentally deleted your ask 😔

Click "Keep reading" for more!♡☟

ON THE TULPAR :

- when she first met you she felt a little safer since she was the only woman on the ship.

- she took notes of your personality before trying to start a conversation.

- when she spoke to you, both of you immediately clicked and became friends.

- for some reason, y'all manage to crack jokes 24/7, and they're so stupid but y'all still laugh at it.

- you worked as a chef so you weren't that far from Anya.

- when you're done with your work, you always sneak some snacks with you whenever you'd hang out with the nurse.

- sleepovers.

- not really sleepovers since y'all share a room.

- but sleepovers.

- can't sleep? Yeah she can't too.

- sometimes y'all yap about something, often complaining about things or just gossip.

- you and Anya were so close and attached that when the other crew members see you separated they feel surprised.

- it took Anya a while to realize that she has feelings for you, it clicked when she caught herself fantasizing about holding you close to her, maybe buy a house together and get a pet.

- she was panicking a bit because, how do you feel about her???

- the panic settled down when you confessed to her one night. Girl was relieved.

- yeah once you confessed y'all started sharing a bed together.

- as you can imagine, her cuddles are the best. When you go to sleep and when you wake up, she's always holding you close to her.

- in all honesty, both of you were too shy to initiate a kiss, so it took y'all a very long while, but y'all got to it.

- her kisses make you melt, nothing too rough or too sensual. Just a short, sweet kiss.

- if you're on your period dw, she got a heating pad and some sweets that Daisuke helped her get.

- Daisuke was actually the first to know about your relationship. When he knew he labeled himself the lesbian protector.

- sometimes you get overwhelmed when you remember that you're in space, but do not worry, Anya will help you shower to relax.

- she's a good massager, fight me.

- she's a sweet talker, like really, like she'd whisper sweet things to you when you try to sleep after a long day.

- she's not much into PDA but she does hold you close or kiss your cheek (Daisuke acts baffled when he sees it as if he wasn't the first to know about it).

- overall, best gf you'll ever have.

ON EARTH :

- you'd hang out with her whenever she'd study, often cuddling you when she's taking a break from studying.

- you'd bring her sweets and gifts to try to motivate her into studying since you knew how much she wanted to be a nurse.

- you didn't care about the fact that she failed medical school 8 times, you still had hope for her and knew she could do it.

- she'd do anything with you, like anything.

- going for a walk? Check. Going to the gym? Check. Doing chores? Check. Showering/bathing? Check, check and check.

- on her birthday you got her a kitten, she loved it and gave you many kisses for it.

- if you're shorter than her, she pick you up to kiss you (I hc her to be about 5'8ft - 5'11ft).

- if you're taller than her, expect her to wear some heels so she can give you a smoochie.

- DATE NIGHTS ‼️‼️‼️

- she'd take you out to fancy restaurants and places, she doesn't care about the prices, if it makes you happy, she's happy.

- yes she does think about marrying you, but she struggles when trying to pick out a ring for you.

- if you don't like rings than she'll try other things like necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

- spoiler alert, girl got her happy ending, she married you and raised her kitten with you.

[redcrowncafe]

FANFICTION CHAPTERS IN SHORT

Here you will find a summary of the chapters so far, so there will be spoilers. There may not be all of them so I'll add them from time to time.

Be warned.. spoilers!!!

Chapter 1: Introduction

The chapter begins with Lambert arriving to Camelliatown in a taxi. They are freshly graduated from university and they're moving to a new city to spend some time alone and learn how to be independent on their own, working at a "simpler" job while looking for some more close to their study's field.

Once they clean and fix their new home, after stumbling into a certain three eyed mean cat who told em to fuck off, they start giving their CV to several places. They find Ratau's coffee shop and manage to get hired after Midas quits the cafe after he wins the lottery. Lambert is happy about it even if they find out that mean cat works there and will be their colleague.

When they come back home and look outside the terrace they meet their new neighbor: Ratoo. They think he's similar to someone they've seen, but they don't know it's Ratau's older brother.

Chapter 2: Gerberas for the café

After facing some insecurities due their memories of struggling to fit in back in university, Lambert starts their first day of work at the Red Crown Café. They arrive pretty early and Ratau shows approval, then expresses frustration towards Narinder, revealing he always arrives late and sometimes never shows up, without even warning him beforehand. He hints at some issues the coffee shop had to went through after its best era, but refuses to elaborate, leaving Lambert confused. The sheep then gives him the idea of renovating the workplace aesthetically and they all agree on getting some flowers to decorate the entrance.

Lambert goes to the flower shop to buy the flowers Ratau gave them and they meet the owner, who is Forneus, who also sells handmade things in the same place. In fact Lambert lays their eyes on a green sweater and Forneus decides to keep it aside for them so they can buy it whenever they want.

When Lambert comes back they find Narinder, who is receiving a lecture from Ratau for his being late, and when they show the flowers they bought he acts mean. Things get worse when Narinder spits in the drink that was preparing to a customer and Lambert takes it away from him, pouring its contents in the sink. Angrily, Narinder drags them in the storage room and pims them on the wall, insulting them and what they're doing for the shop, but when Lambert takes a stand he fails to sustain his point when Ratau interrupt them awkwardly.

Lambert gets to know one of Ratau's friends: Klunko, who is silly and kind. He helps them placing the flowers the sheep bought in the vases and leaves a good impression on Lambert. When they come back home, they don't realize someone is watching them.

Chapter 3: Fake cigarettes

Ratau is visiting his brother's house before starting the day of work. He knows Ratoo is depressed and when he doesn't find him in any room, he starts to fear the worse, but thankfully when he checks the terrace he finds he simply fell asleep on a chair outside.

Lambert meets the Fox in the café while Ratau is in the bathroom, and the Fox, after introducing his character with politeness, he starts to insult them without apparent reason while they are preparing their order and they don't find the strenght to fight back. After the Fox leaves Narinder arrives and sees Lambert leaving the coffee shop in tears.

Lambert is crying on a bench not too far from the café, and when they see Narinder reaching them and trying to comfort them in his own special way, by telling them they should never let someone step on their feet just because someone is a customer, they are pretty surprised by it and starts seeing him under a different light.

After Lambert comes back to the café with Narinder and Ratau comfort them too, they get to know the rest of Ratau's friends and they end up playing cards together. Narinder seems to adore Shrumy.

At the end of the day Lambert has a nice conversation with Ratoo, who gives them advices on how to befriend the mean colleague. Anyways, the following day Lambert will visit a new city since Ratau suggested them to take a day off because of the stressful day they had to endure.

Chapter 4: Abandoned Necklace

Ratau wakes up in Shrumy's bed and panics because he remembers what happened the previous night. He finds him in the kitchen and, after Shrumy insists on Ratau staying to his place for the morning, failing, they have a lovely conversation while the turtle prepares his horrible coffee. Ratau starts to feel nostalgic, remembering about how it was to be with him, and when Shrumy notices it he starts to get bitter and kicks him out of his apartment.

When Narinder gets to the café to work, before Ratau arrives, he finds the vases flipped over and the plants are a mess. When the owner arrives and sees what happened he seems shocked, but pretends to not to know what and why it happened, belittling the event and looking suspicious in the eyes of Narinder.

After a calm morning, Lambert visits the nearby city, that is bigger. They get to buy a new dress, even if it isn't the one they wanted to get in the beginning, they visit a park and they find a LGBTQIA+ bookstore café, where they meet Heket, Leshy and Shamura. Lambert doesn't get a good impression of the first two, due Heket's coldness and Leshys nervousness, while they're visibly having a crush on Shamura.

The chapter and with Ratau meeting the Fox for mysterious reasons at night and with Lambert finding a moon necklace on the beach.

Chapter 5: Vanilla Extract

Narinder wakes up from an unpleasant and confusing nightmare featuring Shamura and start their day in a depressing way. When he arrives late at work and Ratau lies him Lambert being already here to make him feel guilty, he explodes and tries to stab him with a soft straw. Meanwhile Lambert is visibly in love because of Shamura and both Narinder and Ratau fear they're high. Lambert works in a very distracting way because of their crush, ending up to pour too much vanilla essence in someone's order.

During the day, Ratau understands Shrumy is trying to avoid him and the only way he manages to get the turtle's full attention is when he mentions the Fox. Meanwhile Narinder manages to manipulate Klunko into telling them why Ratau and Shrumy are having a weird time thanks to reverse psychology, so Klunko tell them about the fact they were a couple once but broke up several years ago due Ratau not telling his parents about his gay boyfriend.

After work Narinder drags Lambert away again, but to tell them about the fact he's sure Ratau is hiding something and that he wants their help to investigate. Lambert agrees but at one condition: to hang out so they could at least get to know each other a bit more. Narinder agrees, and then receives an unpleasant call from his landlord.

Chapter 6: Mushroom pizza

After moments of gender dysphoria, self hatred and ADHD syntomps, Narinder arrives late at the restaurant with Lambert, who forgives him for letting them wait so long. The two get to know the owner of the pizza place, Sozo, who Lambert learns he is now happily married with another man. Meanwhile, Narinder and Lambert seem to have a nice conversation: they joke around, tease each other, but for a reason or another Lambert hit the wrong nerve and manage to piss Narinder off, turning that pleasant, casual dinner into an awkward and depressing one.

When they are going to come back home they see Forneus being cornered and attacked by hooded people who want her money. Narinder is paralyzed from the fear, but when Lambert sees one of them pulling out the knife they vocally intervene, trying to stop them. They manage to distract them and Forneus flees, but this makes the criminals pretty angry and start to chase them and Narinder. During the flight Lambert feels sick, and when Narinder takes a sigh of relief because of the danger they escaped, he sees his friend passing out in front of him.

Lambert wakes up in Narilamb's place, a very small apartment, and that's where they admit they have a congenital heart defect. Narinder tries to convince them to talk about it to Ratau, but they insist on waiting for the right time. The chapter ends with Narinder telling his friend to stay for the night and then he plays the bass in front of Lambert's sparkly eyes.

Chapter 7: Missed calls

Narinder wakes up near Lambert and disapproves the fact they're drooling over his pillow, having one of their sweet dreams featuring a certain person. After the two wake up and talk about the events that took place the previous night, the landlord enters the apartment to talk to Narinder, and suddenly shows disapproval when he sees him with another person, which is against the rules of his rent. He doesn't believe in their story while displaying his bigotry and ableism. When he leaves the two realize they're late for work and go together to the café.

When Narinder and Lambert try to explain what happened to Ratau, he forgives their being late but don't seem to take seriously anything they report, which brush them the wrong way, especially Narinder who is deeply disappointed. Shrumy doesn't approve Ratau's behaviour as well and brings him to the storage room to talk about it. The two have an argument but Shumy learns Ratau doesn't want to minimize what happened and that he simply wants to hide his secrets to protect them, then Shrumy explains that even if Ratau is doing so to keep the workers safe, he's getting the opposite result.

At the end of the day of work, Narinder leaves with an upset expression without even saying bye, which makes Lambert sad, but then Ratau explains them he acts like this because he's scared of rain, in fact it was very cloudy.

Ratau and his friends bring Forneus to the police station, where she reports the aggression of the previous day to the cops. They don't do much about it and she's so unhappy about it that she screams in anger mentioning a certain Delilah. Ratau and his friends are forced to drag her outside to avoid troubles with the police and after they bring her back home, Shrumy comforts Ratau who feels guilty and offers him to sleep in his house that night.

Chapter 8: Baggages

The chapter opens with Kallamar and Leshy interacting behind the counter. Kallamar comments the ugly color combinations worn by some customers, while Leshy replies with more creepy comments directed to him and taking advantage of his hearing impairment to not to repeat the mean things he said to him. Leshy also shows disapproval and frustration when Kallamar talks about removing a star that Narinder drew on the wall before leaving.

When Lambert enters the bookstore cafe Kallamar serves him and introduces himself in a very polite, almost dramatic way, also explaining his disability (hearing) and the ones owned to the other two colleagues. He looks a bit weird, but leaves a good impression on Lambert. When the sheep sees Shamura and they don't seem to recognize them they feel horribly embarassed, but then that's how they learn about their friend's memory impairment. The two happily chat again and Shamura lets Lambert give them their phone number, that is also secretly taken by Kallamar.

The following day, on Monday, Narinder manages to get to work on time, but he's particularly tired and silent. During their day of work anyways, Lambert catches Narinder being bullied by the same woman he tried to give her that drink in which he spitted during the first day of Lambert's work. She reveals to be transphobic towards him and it turns out that wasn't the first time she was verbally attacking him. So Lambert defends their friend and kicks the mean customer outside the café, surprising Narinder.

Once the day of work is over, Lambert meets Forneus again, who thanks them for the help they gave her when she was being attacked by those criminals and, as a gift, she gives them the sweater that kept aside specifically for them. Then, when they're about to come back home with the new sweater, they see Narinder being dramatically kicked out by the landlord because of his inability to pay the rent for more than one month. Lambert tries to comfort their colleague and convinces him to sleep in their home until he finds a new sistemation.

Chapter 9: Guns

Lambert welcomes Narinder in their home and he seems to be happy to not have to sleep in the streets. Anyways, he definitely changes attitude when he finds there is only one double bed and decides to sleep on the sofa, even if this one is terribly uncomfortable. Narinder also opens up about his mental health issues linked to depression before they go to sleep.

The following day Narinder punches Lambert in the face while he's sleeping because he doesn't want to be waken up, and after eating breakfast the cat finds Ratau talking at the phone, talking about someone meeting mysterious. The two manage to hear the whole thing and to not get caught by Ratau, then they decide to follow him after work to see what is he really hiding.

When the moment arrives, the two struggle to follow Ratau because of the not functioning street lights and Narinder seems to be concerned with his physical state. Anyways they finally find Ratau and they see him courageously facing the same Fox that insulted Lambert days ago. He lends him a empty envelope telling him he won't give him any more money, and the Fox starts to punch him in front of the two scared colleagues who get caught by Klunko and Flinky, who were here too. After the Fox tells Ratau he's not going to kill him, but attack the people he cares about just to see him suffer, Shrumy appears and immobilizes the criminal. Anyways, he finds himself surrounded by his sidekicks he finds himself forced to leave him go. When the evil guys leave Ratau invites everyone to his house so he can finally give Narinder and Lambert the explanations they deserve.

Chapter 10: Cracks

Once they all get to Ratau's house, Flinky starts medicating his wounds while he explains how he started to pay the Fox many years ago to protect his café because of issues and troubles unknown people caused. He is aware about the fact it was a mistake and he regrets it everyday.

After said explanation, Lambert sees Narinder looking at the raindrops on the windows with a tense expression, this is where Narinder expresses his illogical yet intense repulsion for rain. He gets melancholic and Lambert fails to comfort him.

The same night Shrumy and Ratau sleep in the same bed and they almost kiss, but Ratau steps back because he hates the Shrumy keeps being romantic with him even if he stated pretty clearly he doesn't want to be in a romantic relationship with him anymore.

The following day Forneus and her kits show up at the cafe, and when Baal sees Shrumy, recognizing him for mysterious reasons, he flees, leaving everyone confused but the turtle, who is feeling suspicious about it. When Narinder tries to serve the two customers he suddenly feels unwell and finds himself unable to move because of the tension. Lambert fears he's having a heart attack, but then it turns out Narinder suffers from panic attacks and that one of those was happening right now. Ratau and Kudaai, who is a doctor, manage to support Narinder, who is brought to Lambert's home after the attack.

At the end of that difficult day of work Lambert apparently receives a message by Shamura, but they don't know the person who is texting them pretending to be the spider is, instead, Kallamar.

Chapter 11: Masks

When Lambert arrives home, they find Shrumy entertaining Narinder with the bass and when they leave them alone, Lambert asks him how he feels. After expressing the fact they will do anything to help them in case another panic attack occurs, they gift him the moon necklace they found on the beach, telling him it's magical and brings luck. Narinder of course doesn't believe them but still apprecciates the gift.

This time Lambert lets Narinder sleep on the bed while they will sleep on the sofa instead, surprising their friend. Lambert struggles to sleep that night and they end up chatting with "Shamura", managing to get a date with "them".

The following day, while Narinder stays home, Lambert goes to work and gets to see Sozo and his husband, Helob, enter the café. They express how much they love each other publicly and Lambert feels inspired, wishing to be in such a cute and lasting relationship in the future.

The chapters end with another victim of the criminals who gets beaten after he explains why he can't give them the money. One of the goons runs away from the scene and, removing their mask once he's away, he reveals his tears. He is Baal.

Chapter 12: Comics or books

Baal comes back home pretty late and has a heartbreaking argument with his mother, who begs Aym to let her know whatever is going on with his brother once he finds out.

Lambert finds Narinder's secret: he keeps a gay comic and they decide to read it out loud to tease him. Once they're done Narinder ask them to give him some secret as well and that's how they give him an album filled with photos, the most embarassing ones as well. He starts to feel melancholic and pretty jealous because Lambert still has a family, but when a half burned photograph portraying Lambert and a lion person distract him, they explain that is their ex-boyfriend and that they left them because nonbinary. Narinder of course comforts his friend telling all those muscles and hair compensate for something else. When he suggests them to burn or destroy that photo to get rid of him on a deeper level, Lambert says they will think about it.

The day of the date finally arrives, Lambert waits for their date for almost a hour and when they see Kallamar arrive instead of Shamura they feel confused. Heartbroken even, when Kallamar says Shamura simply forgot about the date. The squid almost convinces Lambert to hang out with him instead when Heket and Shamura arrive on the spot and this is how they all find out Kallamar was pretending to be Shamura just to go on a date with Lambert instead. Heket drags him back to the bookstore café where he left Leshy working all alone while Shamura decides to hang out with Lambert.

Lambert spends a beautiful day with Shamura, buying books and comics for the bookstore, eating dinner together and they end up stargazing. Lambert is completely enamoured with Shamura, even if they don't understand their yapping about astronomy and physics, but then they found they spent too much talking and lost track of time. In fact, it is too late for Lambert to get the bus or the train and go back home, so Shamura suggests them to sleep in their home as a solution. Of course, Lambert accepts their offer, not realizing Narinder had been calling them for a long while due the late hour and them not showing up at home.

[steddieunderdogfics]

honeyed affection by cuips_not_cute

@cuips-not-cute

Rating: Explicit

52,813 words, 10/10 chapters

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apple

Tags: oh god okay here we go, take 3 guys, Homoerotic Wound Care, Eddie lives (duh), Getting Together, Pining, First Kiss, First Time, Falling In Love, Virgin Eddie Munson, they're switches bitches, Top Eddie Munson, Bottom Steve Harrington, Top Steve Harrington, Bottom Eddie Munson, spitty kisses, since that's my thing now, Car Sex, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed, literally sleeping together, as well as the slutty kind of sleeping together, eddie "heart-eyes" munson, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, So is Steve, They're Dumb And In Love, Rimming, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Anal Sex, So much kissing, Making Out, pining then just porn, u know the drill by now, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Gay Eddie Munson, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, First Time Blow Jobs, First Time Bottoming, Hickies, Grinding, Shotgunning, Inexperienced Eddie Munson, i read like 3 fics like that and got sucked in sue me, Sexual tension so thick you could cut it with a knife, Drunk Kissing, Spit Kink, gross misuse of the wall slam scene, Roleplay, does it count as roleplay if you are roleplaying yourself?, do u see what i'm getting at here, Mutual Pining, POV Alternating, Sickfic, Fix-It, the babygirlification of steve harrington, Drunk Sex, Sex Toys, Steve Harrington Has a Praise Kink

Summary:

Eddie doesn't particularly like the smell of blood. However, he's growing awfully used to it. It’s what he’s choosing to focus on. The smell of it. How it burns his nose. Clings heavy in his throat and fills his lungs with its thick, metallic haze. That is, when he can breathe. It’s awful hard to breathe. But he’s trying. God fucking damn it, he’s trying. And it hurts worse than anything, worse than the bites or the torn flesh or the aching all over. It burns worse than the smell. He can’t tell if it’d be easier to breathe through his nose or his mouth, so he just sort of heaves with his mouth open and hopes that air gets in somehow. He might be dying. Steve says he’s not dying, very insistent on that, in fact, but Eddie’s not sure if he believes him.

Thanks for the rec! This recommendation is apart of our Writer's Wednesday! All of the recs today are written by @cuips-not-cute. Want to nominate an author? Fill out this form!

You can submit fic recs to our asks or the submission box!

[teaguehq]

Of course, because what's getting kisses without giving them too?! And it's true, you do mean a lot to me, and difficult not to care about you a whole lot. The Salem trip was a lot of fun, the best part being the time with you, no doubt. Though I'm missing that and you right now, so I'm glad the weekend's almost here and I get to fly to you. I know we had a bit of time with your premiere, which I'm still so proud of you for, by the way, but it felt like no time at all! I'll always dress up with you any Halloween, I promise that! Plus you have to admit we looked pretty amazing in our costumes. Not surprised you have so many projects lined up with how talented you are, though I'm always grateful for the time we get together. It just means a lot that you're so understanding about distance and you get it since you're an actor too. And well, that now I can be excited whenever I land new roles and share that excitement with you and not worry otherwise! Your support always means the world to me, too. Thank you for always reminding me of those things too, since the last thing I'd want is to lose you. You're too important to me for that, you know? Also glad we'll always work out our schedules somehow. I'm still thrilled you don't complain about my clinginess when I know I can be quite a bit clingy! I can't help myself when it comes to you, though. And if it means being in your arms a lot, I'd never complain about that in the least. I love planning dates for you, in case that wasn't obvious, and I always love the dates you plan too, Joseph. They're so well thought out, and it means a lot to me. The hike and the hot springs was easily my favorite part of it, and I think we should do that again before filming ends here, don't you think? I absolutely still daydream about the hot springs and everything we got up to, and well, since I'm visiting this weekend, we could always recreate those in the tub, don't you think? I'll admit it was exciting thinking maybe someone would come hiking past us, though I liked that it was just the two of us. The smartest move you've ever made, being my boyfriend? Don't mind me blushing about that. I can say the same though, that being your boyfriend is easily one of the best decisions I've made too. I play so much worse when you're distracting me, but again, not a complaint in the least. How are the knitting projects coming along?! Because you're right, it's been chilly here in Canada and those could always come in handy. It never has to be very long for me to miss you, for what it's worth, since I do so much of the time. And you can cuddle with me as much as you'd like when I get there, promise. I won't tell Bach you said my cuddles were better! I'm so glad we got to spend time with Jamie and Anya too, and their haunted adventures are always so exciting! I'm so happy you think they like me too, since I do like them. We'll have to tell him we'd love to see some of the Catacombs then! I'll just make sure to kiss you and hold your hand all the way through. Double dates with our friends make me happy too, so I'm always for those! I'm still laughing thinking about us visiting that pub as well, especially when it flooded and you had to carry me! My hero for making sure I didn't get wet, though. We'll definitely have to make more memories there, without a doubt. I'll never get enough of hearing you tell me I'm sexy, that's just a fact, or get enough of you, either. That's what we'll do this weekend then, sleep in a little and kiss in bed as much as we'd like. Which just means you can silence me with kisses as much as you'd like, too.

Your place in New York is honestly so amazing, and I'm looking forward to when we can be in the city more to spend time in both our places, since I feel like I haven't even properly broken in my apartment, either. Of course I'd be happy to come to London with you when you're missing it, since I love that city too! We'll save the rooftop bar for when it gets warm, and good thing there's plenty to do in the cold months in New York. Like there are so many places that play live music, and I'd love to take you to all of those! It makes me smile that you'd always be willing to fly to where I am too, and needless to say, that's mutual. I'd love to visit more pumpkin patches, given how much fun we had with the ones we've visited! I'm all for another cooking class too, and it's a lot of fun learning new recipes together. We can't know too many of those, right? I'm really excited for taking you to Florida sometime and showing you where I grew up, not to mention meeting Bentley too! He's always so excited every time he sees me, he might be missing me a little. I usually try and do any work they need done at the sanctuary too, which I hope you wouldn't mind helping out! Last time I was there, I helped build a fence, which was really cool. Between that and camping, we'll do it all! I'm already excited for a romantic vacation once we're finished filming, and I'm almost tempted to say it should be somewhere with hot springs since we liked that so much! And you're definitely the best view for being so handsome, there's no doubt about that, and especially when you're blushing. Sussex was such a good time, maybe our vacation should involve that again too?! What do you think? You showed me plenty both in the hot springs and in Salem too, both of which I enjoyed quite a lot. I wish you could wake me up that way every morning, is what I think, since it's far better than any alarm clock. I'd love more of those showers this weekend too, since showering with you is easily one of my favorite things. I'm glad the wanting's mutual too, because there isn't a time I wouldn't want you, love. You can already see a future with me? Don't mind me blushing and hiding my face, and that honestly makes me so happy, especially when I can see a future with you too. I can understand it being scary to say out loud since there's a lot of vulnerability to that, but I understand, and trust me when I say you're not alone in that thought, not in the least. Well, you're a beautiful person, and getting to know you better just always reaffirms that. I'm picturing you pouting in your trailer because I wasn't there, and I just want to kiss you for it. And I always love being on set with you and seeing you work, especially when you're all dressed up like a superhero! I don't think the director is ever going to let me live down that I just abandoned a scene to say hello to you, either! He still asks if you're visiting today and if he should be ready to stop mid-scene. He's hilarious about it though, so at least it's become a funny inside joke! I'm just glad I repaid the favor of you flying out there once we were alone, no question about that since I wanted to. I can't wait until we can break in both of our apartments then! And we can visit the rooftop of mine even if it's chilly, we just won't stay up there for longer than briefly taking in the view, maybe having some hot chocolate. The picnic in Salem was so fun, and honestly, I think picnics with you are my new favorite thing. I'm excited for when I can cook for you more, knowing how special it is to you. Your love language being physical touch was obvious, but I enjoy every second of it, honestly. I'm really glad the weekend's practically here and I'll be on my way to you. I don't know if it's because filming's been going on a while or the material is pretty dark or a combination of both, but I'm just starting to feel a little worn down. So being in Spain with you for a few days is just what I need. | @josephafq

i'm glad that you'll always be happy for getting so many of my kisses -- and you know that i'm very happy to get all those kisses of yours in return! it really makes me smile hearing you say that i mean a lot to you and that you care so much about me, you know? i agree that the weeks leading up to us being together do feel rather long, but i'm really glad we had all the time we did together thanks to the salem trip. and thank you again for dressing up with me, love, this was the best halloween to me. yeah? i feel the same way, and honestly, i know i've got a lot of projects lined up, but whenever i'm not filming and i get more time with you, you know i'll be happy. i'm always going to be understanding when it comes to you, especially when you're worried about something, you know? and i really do understand why you have these hang-ups over a relationship ending because of distance, but i'll admit that it makes me feel a little sad that you felt hesitant to tell me you had a new gig of feel happy about it. because you know i'm always going to support you, yeah? i want to celebrate those new gigs with you, because i'm so proud of you. but i can understand it'll take some time to ease, and i'll just have to make sure you always know that i'm here, i'm not going anywhere, and there's no way that you'll lose me. we'll always make things work when we're apart, love, there's no doubt about that. it's safe to say that i love your clinginess, if that hasn't been obvious by now. plus, i'm pretty happy that you feel better that i'm clingy too, and i love having you in my arms a whole lot. the dates you plan are amazing, and it makes me happy that you like the dates i plan too. oh, i'm still smiling about that date because it was pretty amazing, especially the hike to the hot springs! i got to ask, are you still daydreaming about being in there with me and what we got up to? because i am and wish you were here right now getting up to those things with me again. i'm glad they were mostly private too -- though it did add a little bit of excitement to us playing around and possibly getting caught, right? i love being your boyfriend, baby, there's no doubt about that, and i'll say it was the smartest move i've ever made. what can i say? it's so much fun distracting you, but i love it when you're still able to play some music even with me being distracting. you'll be having some of my knitting projects soon, love, which is perfect because it'll be winter time before we know it! i know it's only been a few days, but i really am missing you right now. i'm glad that i have bach for cuddles, but i'd much rather be getting to cuddle with you. i'm glad that we got to spend more time with jamie and anya while we were in salem, it was neat going on a double date with them that also was a haunted adventure! plus, i think they really like you, and you have no idea how happy that makes me. oh, if i told jamie we wanted to visit catacombs, he'd jump at the chance to take us there, no doubt about that. look at you being my hero though, i love it, and i'll love all the kisses and handholding, of course. i'm glad you're all for more double dates, it makes me happy that we've got so many friends we can have double dates with! it's safe to say that if we go back to that pub, i'll be carrying you again i hope you know, can't have you getting wet and all! plus, it'll be fun to make more memories there together, yeah? i'm just being honest, love, you're so very sexy and i'm always going to tell you that --  just like i'm never going to get enough of you either. i miss waking up to you during the week too, and we were spoiled in salem, and i'm already missing it so much again. but i'm glad when i'm able to be with you and i can get all those kisses and get to stay in bed for a while, i love that. yeah? cue me silencing you with kisses all the time then!

i'm glad that you love my new york place already, love, since i really do love the thought of you staying there with me while we're in the city -- i love that i get to share it with you! and i'm so glad that i'll be living so close to you as well, and that we both plan on being in the city when we're not working. though when i'm missing london and we're not working, you'll come back with me, yeah? i'm a little sad it's getting colder in the city as well, because i would have loved to gone back to your favorite rooftop bar one more time! but we'll find something else fun to do next time we're in new york. it's safe to say that i love all the dates that you plan, love, and you know i'll always be happy to fly to wherever you are, no matter where i'm at. i was just thinking that, next year we'll have to visit more pumpkin patches together. what do you think? i'm all for going to another cooking class with you as well, because we really did have a good time -- and i loved that what we made turned out so well, and i know learning to make more things with you will be a lot of fun. i'm really looking forward to going to florida with you, love, i know camping will be fun, but i know i'll love the sanctuary too! plus, i think it's so sweet that bentley might be missing you, and of course i want to meet him too. i'm glad that you like the idea of us having a romantic holiday when we're finished filming, love. and i'm thinking we should brainstorm because i want us to pick a place that we'll both really enjoy. you keep making me blush by saying i'm the best view and calling me so handsome, but i'm always going to think you're the most handsome. i'm really glad that sussex is one of your favorite places to visit now and glad that we made the memories that we did. plus, i love that you'll enjoy having the same room and access to the beach, not to mention that tub. i had a feeling you really liked that tub. oh, i was very much showing you some of those things in the hot springs that weekend -- and i liked to believe i showed you some of those things while we were in salem too. i think i need to start waking you up in the way i woke you up a few times while we were in salem more often. what do you think?

happy to hear that you love taking showers with me, love, and of course i'm pleased you can't resist me whenever i press you against the shower wall, because i love that you can't resist me since i can't resist you. it's just the truth, baby, i'm always going to want you, no matter what and all the damn time. i'm very grateful we've met and we're in each other's lives this way as well, i'm happy you're my boyfriend, and honestly, that i can already see a future with you, you know? which is a little scary to admit out loud, but it's the truth. i'm glad i can have you as much as i'd like, though, love. you're making me blush calling me beautiful, and saying the more you know me the more you feel that way. we really do get each other, and it makes me so happy. i love that you know you can be open with me, just like i love that i can be open with you. can i just say i came into my trailer today and pouted because you weren't there with me? though i'm glad i at least had that friday with you before we went to salem, that was wonderful. hey, i had to think of some reason why you wouldn't hear from me! but i'm glad it was a great surprise, love, and it still makes me laugh a little that you shut down a scene just to run to me. oh, you more than repaid me with what we got up to in your trailer, and i loved every minute of it. i love the idea of breaking in my new york apartment once we have more time, and of course breaking in your apartment a little more too. i've been thinking about that rooftop of yours, honestly. i'm glad we got to have a picnic in salem while we were there, love, and the spooky element just added to it! plus, i'll always love when you pack my favorite things -- but also when you cook for me, it means so much to me. i feel like you're taking care of me, and i love that, it makes me feel so good. i had a feeling words of affirmation was one of yours, love, just like i'm pretty sure another one of mine being physical touch is obvious. i'm glad you feel so lucky to be my boyfriend, love, and i can't help but say it again that i'm missing you so much already. the weekend can't get here fast enough so i can be with you again. || @teaguehq

[bestworstcase]

So, it should be obvious to anyone paying attention or taking this seriously by now that Whiterose isn't happening. And I mean, they wouldn't really fit with what the show is going for anyways, with romantic relationships, no Ozlem fractals and all that. But it does stick out like a sore thumb, that within RWBY and JNPR they're the only pair of partners where it's not a thing. And I'm curious if you make anything of it, from an out-of-universe perspective, on why that's the case?

well for one thing, i think the conceptual basis for any ship being "well the other three major character academic pairs developed into romantic interests" is a de facto admission of non-canonicity in itself, and betrays a fundamental disinterest in character and narrative. this is perhaps not surprising, as i'm given to understand people have been shipping wr literally since the color trailers, which is to say that the core appeal has always been aesthetics.

full disclosure, my personal feeling is that wr is "man and woman breathed near each other one time!?" for sapphics. it's gay ruby/jaune. the ship isn't sunk, it's dry-docked.

in that sense, the out-of-universe perspective i have to offer is: the difference between ruby/weiss and arkos / renora / the bees is that the latter three were written with romantic intent from the start whereas ruby and weiss were not. i'll grant the possibility that the academic pairings were an inelegant plot device motivated by that romantic intention, but i don't in fact believe that is the case because the one/two/four motif is such a thematic workhorse for the contortions and distortions of ozpin's psyche; i think pairing the romantic partners was at most a secondary consideration. in any case, there is no rule dictating that every academic pair must eventually kiss. that's nonsense.

now. in the more specific sense of "why do these two characters in particular not go together" i think there are two reasons.

first, it's narratively important for ruby to be isolated. she's two years younger and left all her friends behind to enroll in beacon early and her big sister isn't and can't be her mom anymore and she gets paired up with an academic overachiever who initially treats her like an idiot baby who doesn't deserve the responsibility she's been given. ruby surmounts each of these challenges by remaking herself into their serious, competent, trustworthy leader and crucially this does not address, but in fact reinforces, her alienation from the rest of the team.

second, both ruby and weiss are profoundly sheltered and lonely girls raised in environments, denied close relationships with anyone but their elder sisters whom they both grew to idolize, and became, in contrasting but fundamentally similar ways, really good at performing the "right" behaviors—ruby adopting a happy, carefree mask, weiss becoming an overachieving perfectionist obsessed with her family's honor.

the point is, a) neither have ever had a real, emotionally close friendship before, and b) both have a deeply-ingrained tendency to Perform To Expectation. in this i think it is instructive to compare the conflict and resolution between weiss and ruby vs weiss and blake:

blake directly and overtly challenges weiss on her awful behavior until the brick wall of regurgitated bigotry breaks down and weiss starts to talk about the real emotional pain behind that wall, and blake reveals her own secret and then flees in distress, with the result that weiss has to face and think about the pain she's caused to someone she cares about and actually reflect on things blake said to her for a while. and then when they come face-to-face again weiss stops blake from anxiously trying to apologize / explain / appease her and says no, i thought about it, i trust you, you don't owe me any of that. she doesn't say the words "i'm sorry" but her actions demonstrate real understanding and empathy for blake.

meanwhile her conflict with ruby tears down ruby's self-confidence, ultimately leaving ruby receptive to ozpin's extremely destructive advice, and ends because port dresses weiss down and lays out for her in plain terms that her envy and resentment reflect poorly on her, whereafter weiss commits to becoming "the best teammate [ruby will] ever have."

spot the difference. the conflict between weiss and blake fosters a deeper, lasting emotional connection between them chiefly because they're fighting with each other—there's this back-and-forth, give-and-take that drives a resolution from within. weiss has to reflect on herself and decide that what she believed about faunuskind is wrong. and the. she has to decide for herself how to make it right. but that's not what happens in the conflict between weiss and ruby! weiss is just being a bully and gets told by a teacher she respects to knock it off!

and then little miss overachieving perfectionist pivots to "i will be the perfect teammate!" while the lesson ruby takes from this experience, courtesy of ozpin, is that she deserved to be treated that way because she didn't take her duties as the team leader seriously enough. she puts on a happy face and pretends nothing hurts because that's who ruby is, but the resolution here is very much just papering over the cracks.

not to say that ruby and weiss aren't truly friends and don't care deeply for each other, because they are and they do, but the foundation of this friendship is very brittle. on the surface, they appear as virtually the platonic ideal of what huntsman academy partners are meant to be—an unlikely pair who overcame enormous personal differences to become inseparable comrades-in-arms—but that is in large part because ruby's skill in masking problems harmonizes so well with weiss's drive to be the perfect huntsman academy partner.

but they're really not that close! it's a meme at this point for wr shippers to bemoan the dearth of "moments" between ruby and weiss, but that is by design. these are two girls who've never had a really close friendship before performing close friendship with each other almost flawlessly until the wheels very suddenly and violently fall off in v9, whereupon weiss—who is otherwise an empathetic and emotionally insightful person—realizes this hollowness and reflects on her treatment of ruby just as she did with blake back in v1. her perfect partnership has been an emotional burden to ruby this whole time, and she has to face that head-on before it can be fixed.

i think they're probably headed for a serious "we're combat partners who fight well together and get along, but are we actually friends?" kind of reckoning that will undoubtedly resolve in the direction of building real closeness, because maybe they're not as close as they believed but they want to have that kind of friendship.

which is like. you know. interesting. the core problem i have with wr fanon and the general insistence in that contingent of the fandom is that the apparent ideal-partnership is Real and trust me, they're totally in love, we're just meant to understand that they're having heart-to-heart conversations and emotionally vulnerable moments with each other off-screen all the time, the complete absence of this in the text is only because the narrative doesn't have the time—as if the narrative hasn't carved out time for arkos and renora and the bees and ruby/oscar, as if it wasn't a deliberate choice to contrast weiss getting scolded for bullying ruby against weiss empathizing and sharing childhood traumas and deep fears and cherished aspirations with blake and yang. like. come on.

the point is that things were "resolved" between ruby and weiss by external pressures that did not foster any real understanding between them, and then nothing ever changed. weiss' friendships with blake and yang pushed her to grow, to mature, but until v9 she and ruby were coasting on that "good leader/perfect teammate" dynamic, stagnant for ruby and a blindspot for weiss.

and this is the narrative reason why ruby and weiss had to be paired during the initiation. looking at it through the lens of "pairing the romantic partners (and the sore thumb of ruby and weiss)" misses the forest for the shipper goggles tree: the academic pairings are the inciting incident for each main character arc. for jaune, it's the first stroke of the ozlem fractal and the tragedy that motivates the rest of his story. for ren and nora, it's the safety of a comfort zone they'll eventually need to leave. for blake and yang, it's finding each other for the first time. for weiss, it's the mistake that will fester until it comes back to bite her to put all her growth in the interim to the test. for ruby, it's the painful experience that pushes her to take on self-sacrificial heroism as her duty.

it's just a device for establishing character pairs that will facilitate long-term development. that three of the four can be grouped together loosely as romantic arcs doesn't inherently mean anything for the one that isn't; to suggest otherwise is to collapse the differences between arkos / renora / the bees (and also ignore the goliath in the room of arkos not being endgame) and imagine a rule where there just isn't one.

for the sake of completeness i will add that coco/velvet is canon and the CFVY novels make a point of them not being academic partners.

[theshadowsingersraven]

I'm just going to explain something real quick because the inability to grasp this is very amusing to me. I want to break down exactly how it is that a character can be toxic in one relationship, but not another.

Let's make some characters. We'll call them Character A, B, C, and D. Character A has trauma surrounding love/feeling like they're worthy of love and struggles with self-image. Character A pined over someone long-term in an unhealthy, one-sided dynamic, likely due to their own unconscious self-sabotage and tendencies to set impossible standards for themselves.

Character A is drawn to Character C, and the feeling is mutual. They might want to pursue a relationship. Character C is in an arranged marriage with Character D, and by all accounts, Character D has done their absolute best to do right by Character C. Even if Character C doesn't seem interested in making the relationship work currently, there's still reason to believe that might change. After all, there's plenty of circumstances that could bring them together and give Character C a chance to see aspects of Character D that they never considered before.

So, given Character A's struggle with believing they're worthy of love, even if they decide to be in a relationship with Character C, and Character C doesn't pursue things with Character D...wouldn't it make sense for Character A to feel at least a little unnerved by Character C's arranged marriage? It's not currently possible to get a divorce, so Character D is still somewhat present. Character D is often away, but Character A and Character D work for the same overall organization, though not in the same branch.

It would be reasonable to suspect or even actively anticipate that this could trigger Character A's trauma and insecurities because of this obstacle unique to Character C's circumstances. Of course, Character A still needs to do the work on their own time to unpack their trauma, but it's probably easier to do without a constant, underlying sense of unease that they could be left for Character D.

It's harder to heal when you're in a dynamic that actively aggravates your specific wounds, even if it's not any specific Character's fault. Character A might doubt their self-worth more, and that could make Character C feel frustrated or suffocated because they might be in a position where they have to spend more time reassuring Character A that they won't leave them for Character D instead of actively being together.

It's even harder when the other characters around Character A and Character C are surrounded by two other couples in arranged marriages that made it work. In fact, the party responsible for arranging these marriages has a pretty solid record of making good arrangements, though there's definitely been some bad reviews and bad experiences. So, there's even more reason for Character A to suspect that Character C will leave them.

Character A doesn't really have particularly good coping mechanisms either. Character A works themselves to death, and might even avoid Character C out of fear of getting attached to something doomed to fail. Character C might be hurt by this. Or, Character A might do the converse and work extra hard to make sure Character C is happy enough not to leave them for Character D. And that's probably exhausting in and of itself, but what about Character C? What if they start to feel suffocated or like they don't have the space they need for their own independence because of Character's A trauma being triggered by their specific circumstances?

It sounds like there's a lot of potential for toxicity between Character A and Character C, but not something necessarily inherent to their specific persons. It's a circumstancial issue.

So, if we look at Character B, who might be a romance interest for Character A, that aggravating factor doesn't exist. There's no threat that triggers Character A. So, Character A isn't unnerved, nor is Character B suffocated or having to reassure Character A that their fears won't come to fruition. Instead, Character A can focus on healing their trauma, and Character B can support them while on their own healing journey, too.

I'm sure plenty of people already understand this to be the case, but for those who didn't before--congratulations! You now understand why Azriel is, in fact, potentially toxic in a relationship with Elain but not with Gwyn.

And that's what you missed on Glee.

[rubyreadd]

🎤talk about all three of your vale wips if you want

One common misunderstanding I see about Casey and Valentino's relationship and rivalry, which was exemplified by Casey's visit to the ranch, is the assumption that Casey and Vale despise each other. Yes, towards the end of Casey's motogp career things got petty and snippy between them, but their issues have always been about each other as riders and competitors. Not so much the actual person.

Vale has been always openly complimentary of Casey and considers him one of the greatest to ever do it. Vale liked fighting Casey on track! He had fun! Vale radiates such joy in all of the media about Casey's visit to the ranch because this is about sharing passion and history with a man Vale holds in high regard.

And as much as Casey continues to hold grudges against Valentino, he does like the bloke. In his post about visiting the ranch, Casey wrote in the caption that despite the many differences and years between them, Valentino and he will always share racing and bikes. Sure, Casey's niceties towards Vale can have a double-edged quality, but in my opinion, that is an awfully fond thing for Casey to say about the person he's apparently been exploding with his mind since his debut.

So that's where we find ourselves at the beginning of my Casey/Vale ranch fic. Written from Casey's POV because I love sinking my teeth into the marrow of why some people are Like That, this fic is about trying to reconcile with the fact that the one person who knows you best in the world is the guy you (don't) hate the most.

Since his retirement, Casey has kept a professional separation between him and Valentino. They raced together and they were each other's rival. Casey won and then Valentino won more. Everything they shared refined to career statistics.

Whenever he's asked, Casey calls him Valentino, or Rossi. Exceptional. Indomitable. A bit of a cunt.

Even the things Casey doesn't talk about he keeps pigeonholed. The touching, the compliments, the sex- it was about what they could take from each other.

So when Valentino texts Casey inviting him to the Ranch it shouldn't even warrant a second thought to politely decline. Instead, Casey leaves Valentino on read for twenty four hours before accepting, a decision he justifies as morbid curiosity.

Everything unravels fairly quickly after that.

For the sake of building forced proximity narrative tension, Casey spends a long weekend at the Ranch. He offers to get a hotel but Valentino laughs him off and tells Casey he'll be staying with Valentino. Which is.. fine.

The drive over is spent rationalising being at the Ranch as like being at one of the many training camps Casey has done over his career. A no stakes weekend that will be attended by most of Valentino's academy and almost certainly used for social media promotion. Which makes it fine.

Pulling into the Ranch, it's Valentino who heads the welcome party, because of course it is. Casey is barely out of the car before Valentino is drawing him into a hug, familiar and warm, greeting Casey with such enthusiasm it splits his face into a one thousand watt smile.

And then they're off.

That first day is indeed spent mostly like a training camp. Valentino takes him on the grand tour, a non-stop spout of narration that Casey nods attentively along to. Of course Casey always knew the Ranch was important to Valentino, but this is something else entirely.

Although the thought doesn't stay with Casey for long because Valentino shepherds him into the garage and towards his bike. They chase each other around the track, the rumble of Valentino's bike behind him, the shining yellow of his leathers in front; it's like it's 2008 all over again. Which again, is fine.

In between sessions Casey pinballs from conversation to conversation. There's Marco, who is Casey is genuinely happy to see. He wraps Casey up in another hearty hug-- Italians --and listens eagerly while Casey regales him with all his happier memories on a bike.

Luca snags him next. He's keen on Casey's setup process and riding ethos and is an attentive student as Casey explains his practice. Valentino wanders over at some point to join his brother and Casey pauses expecting an interruption, but Valentino seems content to just listen while Casey talks.

And when night has well and truly settled over the track, Valentino, wide eyed and hopeful, invites Casey to dinner. Casey tells himself it's because it would be rude to refuse his host's hospitality when so much effort was went too. Not because he likes having Valentino's attention. Not even they sit together all night, pressed almost shoulder to hip.

It is only in the sanctity of the guest bedroom Valentino prepared for him that Casey makes his confession. Lying in bed Casey picks apart the Instagram post Valentino tags him in, his video self almost unrecognisable. There's one, shortly after Luca had taken his leave, and Casey had taken his spot next to Valentino. They lean into each other, a scant few inches a part.

Casey turns his head into the pillow, breathing in clean laundry and jerks himself off to what he thinks, hopes, is Valentino's lingering scent.

The next day is quieter, just him and Valentino mostly. They race each other until they can't remember who's leading the scoreboard. Until Casey's mouth tastes like dust. Until they collapse against each other, exhausted, and the vibrations of Valentino's laugh feel like the purr of Casey's bike under him.

Casey wants to turn and run. He doesn't belong here, in Valentino's space, his home, his heart carved into the landscape that raised him.

Casey stands abruptly, mumbling an empty excuse about showering, but before he can flee a hand closes around his ankle. He looks down and Valentino has shifted onto his knees, looking up at Casey equal parts apprehensive and awed.

"You still race like a god"

Something snaps. Or maybe it clicks into place. Casey manhandles Valentino over his bike, hobbling Valentino with his leathers and stretching him open with spit and sweat. Base, is how Casey fucks Valentino, restraint trampled under the weight of Casey's want as he takes Valentino apart in the dirt, on the track.

Bikes have never been about romance to Casey, but when Valentino looks over his shoulder at him, the shape of the chassis pressed into his face while his voice breaks around Casey's name, Casey is overcome by a heady rush of understanding. Finally he has mastered both the man and machine that have defined his life, and now absolute victory, trembling and sweet, is his.

[f4rgd]

He's ready with a list of reasons to argue the second he reacts badly which he expects and fully understands, because he'd be the same way probably - it's just as Paerin had said, if it were him he'd want him to meet someone else, to live out his days and be happy but Aksel knows that's not him. It can't be, not when it's been ten years, ten years where they've spent every day of their lives together and there's no finding somebody else after that, there is nothing that compares to that. It's been the two of them from the start and it'll end the way it started.

When their eyes meet a small smile pulls at his lips and any reasoning he has is shoved back down because it's not necessary. He doesn't need to explain and if their positions were reversed Paerin wouldn't need to explain it either - even if every instinct went against that choice.

" I will let you have mine afterwards. " He waits for him to turn and he reaches for the soap so he can go to work on spreading the soap studs first. " How does it feel to have met your match? " and he smirks as he sets the soap down and uses his hands instead, fingers pressing into his shoulders, thumbs pressing firm in small circles to work the muscles there. " I guess you rubbed off on me. " He's pretty proud of that fact. They're both stubborn, maybe Paerin more so but not on this occasion.

" There is nothing to convince, Paer. " His voice becomes more serious just for a moment. " I have spent the last ten years of my life with you. It has been just you and I all this time. If we make it two more days, six more months, five years, hells if we make it to eighty years and I cannot understand a single word you are saying because you have lost all your teeth and your accent is too thick then so be it. I am good with that. " Aksel drops his hands so he can wrap his arms around Paerin as he presses a kiss to his shoulder and then another to his cheek. " I am happy with that. This is more than enough. "

He lowers himself back down so his hands can go back to massaging the muscles of his back now that they're both clear of any dirt and grime. " - and we do not have to find a cabin. We will just keep going until one of our hips give out if we make it that long. " The smile on his lips shines through his words as his fingers travel down each side of Paerin's spine to his lower back. " Plus cabin's have thin walls. "

There's a moment there where he mentally wants to recoil, wants to protest and fight it and tell him no, you won't, absolutely not. That would be the normal thing to do — the logical thing, the expected thing. The thing he should do, because who would want the one they loved to face such a thing? Even by their own choice, it's a curse he wouldn't wish on anyone.

But — when you're with someone for ten years, you come to know who they are. And he knows in his heart of hearts that there is no other ending and perhaps there never was. And so, when fingers brush against his beard and lure his look up, up, there's no surprise in those bright blue eyes.

The silence lasts for a long moment, and the smile he offers up is slight and crooked and tired. " I know, " is all he says, voice rough and quiet, soft and weighted with all the knowledge that comes from ten years of fighting and loving. And — if he were honest with himself, he'd do the same if the situations were reversed. " I think I've always known it. "

And there's a complication in and of itself — because who is he that he won't argue it? In death, sacrifice. It's something he's held close to his chest for so many years, and if he can believe it — who is he to hold the one he respects and cares for beyond all others to a different standard?

If that makes him a bad person, so be it.

But that time is not now, and he sighs, shifting and turning so his back faces him in answer. " Only if I can get yers, " he sighs, and he's quiet for a moment before he skims a look backwards through dark wet strands of hair. " T'be honest, I don't expect I'd be able to convince you otherwise. " And gods, but it's fond: " Stubborn bastard. "

[fandomsarefamily1966]

I love the similar yet different vibes these give off 🥺

[jamiethebeeart]

Lineart by @ovytia-art which was such a blast to color - I love the entire vibe of all of them hanging out together so much @green-with-envy-phandom-event

[fairyroses]

— SMALLVILLE, “Wither” (6.03)

[mars-ipan]

some postgame doodles for pride month

[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

As I've drawn Kyoko way more times than I ever would have predicted I would, I've learned that drawing her in the category of "done with everything" is extremely entertaining for me and will never get old. Also, drawing Kyoko with Byakuya has also opened my eyes so much and now I adore these two together, butting heads and just interacting. Like, Kyoko and Byakuya antagonizing each other and being intellectual rivals? Spectacular! It is a crime that it too me this long for my brain to comprehend the beauty of their petty potential. But, anyway, it's really amazing seeing the many ways this can be done. For instance, they can be shown as these strategic foils for one another like a battle between two scholars. It can be a complex showcase of their internal struggles and hypocrisies where the two just look at each other and go "At least I'm not as bad as THEM!". Also gotta love the more comedic side of the dynamic too. It's like their strange little creatures dueling one another via slapping each other's hands or using the other's hand and going "Ha! You're hitting yourself" over and over. Like, pettiness with these two is golden. Let them snark at one another and be overly judgmental! Also, it's just really wholesome seeing art of them getting along (which I so gotta do more of sometimes though the sillies are strong) or AHEM "getting along" in which one or the other is just a wee bit annoyed while the other has that cocky smirk, joyous that they bested the other. It's beautiful when Byakuya's the one getting annoyed though it can be equally entertaining seeing Byakuya all proud of himself while Kyoko looks mere minutes away from grabbing the nearest blunt object and chucking it at him, all done with that deadpan expression with a glint of satisfaction after she glances at his crumpled form on the ground. Always a bonus to see Byakuya being put in his place. In regard of the wholesome side though, I'm just a sucker for fluff and that'll never change. It's intrinsically tied to my funky little blood vessels. Plus, seeing these two having a chill hang out together is just neat. There's gotta be some shenanigans in there too though! Shenanigans are always fun to play around with. And, adding some hurt/comfort into the fluff (maybe even the shenanigans), YES!! Two characters who don't think they have much in common but actually have a TON in common getting on the same page to help the other?! Beautiful. Gorgeous. Good fucking food right there. If only I could write Kyoko... rip (I say when all my fics are unfinished and unpublished ;-;) But, anyway, these two have a lot in common, so, seeing them acknowledge that fact and help each other grow will forever be amazing in my heart. Always been into those dynamics where both characters gain something out of it and grow for the better because of the interactions they share, romantic, platonic, or anything in-between. AND, speaking of romance, hell, as of recently, I don't mind seeing them in a more romantic angle. I will still prefer the platonic side but I don't mind the alternative a lot more than I used to. At the end of the day, as long at their both being little smarmy brats towards one another, it's fine and dandy! Though, tldr; no matter how ya look at them, these two are lowkey comedy gold if ya do it right and are pretty cool together. Also, they need therapy. It's not related to their relationship but like, just in general. They need therapy, dang it!

[dairyfreenugget]

I could count the amount of original stories of mine that don't have horror elements on one hand and idk what that says about me

[baldrickwhethers]

RARHGHGHGHGHH I'VE FINALLY CAUGHT UP ON SEASON 3 AND IM SO MAD AND HAPPY AND RHGRHGHRGHRHGRHGH