#the kids won’t teach themselves i guess!

[shadow-kid-cole]

having Thoughts about characterization vs. fan interpretation but alas. i cannot make a full post about it currently because have to Do Work at My Job or whatever

[wandurlvst]

Baby Trouble

ken sato x gn!reader one shot

notes: this is my first time publishing my writing so IM REALLY NERVOUS, but i hope you enjoy 😭 and yes i know ken calls ami for kid advice but let’s just say he called you instead 🤗

warnings: none! just wholesome fluff with slight crack tbh

ever since you could remember you’ve always wanted to raise a family. either that’d be your biological children or adoptive. i guess you could say it came from your own parents—how they were able to raise someone who isn’t themselves so well-

BZZ BZZ BZZ

a buzz pulled you from your thoughts—your phone was ringing from the other end of the couch. you placed the remote of the tv down and checked the contact. it was ken—an old friend of yours. you’ve known him since you were kids and shares many things in common. “i need to work in the morning, ken.” “i know- i know. but i need your help.”

you sighed, “and what could be so important that i’m needed this late?” “just come over.” the call ended, you looked at the black screen and decided to just visit for a minute. it can’t hurt

you exited your vehicle and ascended the stairs. you raised your fist to knock on the door. but before you could, you were pulled inside quickly. “woah!”

“took your sweet time didn’t you?” ken said in a very annoyed tone, “well it didn’t sound like an emergency.” you shrugged, “whatever just follow me.”

“what is this about ken? it’s getting late- and don’t you have a game tomorrow?” “that- that can wait.” he led you two to the giant elevator that led down to his basement. “don’t scream okay?” “what do you mean…?” once the doors opened you were met with a giant pink baby kaiju who was in a large cage. but of course your first instinct was to scream—but ken covered your mouth just before you did. “what did i just say!?” he released your face, “i can’t help it! it’s a kaiju and why is it your house in the first place?”

“you saw what happened after my first game with the giants- and the KDF wanted to take her so…” “you took her instead.” “yeah.” you approached the glass wall of the cage and the baby cried as if she was going to be hurt by you, you all covered your ears and ken jumped in front of you. “mina!” the ai surrounded the cage with images and videos of ken playing baseball—distracting the infant, “so why did you need me here again?”

he sighed, “i need help- or advice on how you raise her.” “i’ve never raised a kaiju, ken.” “i know that! i mean a kid. what would a normal baby need?”

you stepped towards the infant again now that she was distracted, “well she isn’t a normal baby. but she’d need a lot of attention at her age- you’ll need to feed her, wash her, uh- figure out the whole potty training situation, the five s’s- mina could teach you that-“ “we’ve already started.” she chimed in.

“oh and don’t get me started on the constant lack of sleep. now i know i don’t have kids of my own- but from what my parents told me i was a nightmare when i was a baby.” you were in your own world rambling on and on about baby advice—you didn’t notice ken right next to you

“how about we do that?” he commented, you were confused—naturally. “do what?” you turned to him

“raise her. together. like parents.” he noticed you staring at him and he grew nervous that his idea was ridiculous, “i mean- since you’re basically the expert i could learn along the way- i don’t want you doing all the hard work. but i understand if you’d say no- you have a lot on your plate already“

“ken.”

“yeah?”

“i’ll help you.” you smiled, “it won’t be easy but, it could be fun.” this time you calmly called to the infant. introducing yourself. the baby smiled and was entertained by you. ken smiled at the immediate bond you two had and he knew it would work

[lou-0111]

I Won’t Say (I’m in Love)

y/n doesnt believe in love, taylor, their best friend (who knows their view on love) tries to convince that luke would be a great boyfriend for them: bit of a long one today - 3.4k words

Love is stupid, ok? It’s pointless and there is absolutely no need for it. And no, It’s not just because I've had bad experiences, it’s the whole thing. Girls changing themselves for the boy they like. Boys being mean to people to get girls attention, the whole thing is just stupid.

If there's a prize for rotten judgement I guess I've already won that

I feel like I’ve made a series of poor decisions in my life, each one heavier than the last. This pattern of regret and self-reproach feels like it’s consuming me from within. It's become almost second nature to make mistakes because I've fallen into the habit of making them, and each misstep adds to the weight of my past errors.

No man is worth the aggravation

No guy at Camp Half-Blood is worth going through that emotional turmoil again. It’s simply easier to avoid falling in love altogether. The past is full of lessons learned—the kind where you thought you'd finally moved on, only to find yourself trapped in the same old cycles. The gods had their trials, and there's no need for us to repeat their mistakes.

That's ancient history, been there, done that

This happened to the gods in the past, it shouldn't be repeating with us again

Who d'you think you're kiddin'? He's the earth and heaven to you

“Y/N, you have to listen to me on this.” My best friend, Taylor starts, “Luke would be the perfect boyfriend for you. First, he’s genuinely kind-hearted. It’s not just something he puts on for show—he’s consistently thoughtful and considerate in everything he does. You’ve seen it yourself, right? How he interacts with everyone around him, always making sure people are okay and that they’re feeling included.

And let’s talk about his skills—he’s an exceptional swordsman. His dedication and proficiency with a sword are impressive.

But it’s not just about physical skills. Luke is amazing with the younger campers. He’s got this natural ability to connect with them, to mentor them, and to make them feel important. He treats them with such patience and respect. You know how much that matters, seeing someone who doesn’t just see the younger kids as a burden but genuinely enjoys helping them grow.

So, don’t let your past experiences cloud your judgement about him. Luke isn’t just another face in the crowd; he’s someone who genuinely fits what you need in your life. It’s worth considering that maybe, just maybe, he could be the one who changes your perspective on love.”

Everyday, every damn day, Taylor goes on about how me and Luke would be great together. But I don’t see it. Love is stupid, Taylor is stupid for thinking I like him.

Try to keep it hidden Honey, we can see right through you (Oh, no) Girl, you can't conceal it We know how you're feelin', who you're thinkin' of

We were walking back from training one day when again, she started the whole luke chat. “Y/N, I need to be real with you here. It’s becoming impossible to ignore how you keep watching Luke. You spend hours just observing him as he trains. It's not just casual glances; you’re practically mesmerised by how he moves with such skill and focus. Every time he picks up his sword, there’s this look in your eyes that I can’t ignore.”

Excuse me? He’s the best swordsman at camp, obviously I'm going to watch him, to get pointers on how to get better, nothing else. 

“And it’s not just during training. When Luke interacts with the younger campers, your attention is entirely on him. You’ve seen how he takes the time to teach them, to encourage them, and how he genuinely connects with them on their level. You watch him as he patiently helps them learn and grow, and there’s this soft, almost admiring look on your face. It’s clear that you’re moved by how he treats them with such kindness and care.” “I just think it’s sweet how he takes his time teaching them, nothing more, I'd be the same way if anyone else did what he does.”

“I know you’re trying to play it cool and act like it doesn’t matter, but let’s be honest—your feelings are showing. It’s like you’re trying to hide behind this façade that love isn’t worth it or that you’re not interested, but it’s obvious to everyone around us. We all see how your face lights up when he’s around, how you hang onto his every word and action.”

“Woah, you need to slow down, someone might hear you, my face doesn't ‘light up’ ok Tay? I’m a listener, sorry if i listen when people talk to me, I don’t like luke, never have, never will.”

Stop denying it. We can see right through you. It’s not just about admiring him from a distance; it’s about the way you light up when you talk about him or when he’s in the room. Your actions are screaming that you have feelings for him, even if you’re trying to convince yourself otherwise. It’s ok if you like him, if you’re in love, it’ll be good to put your heart out again.”

Where my heart can get hurt again. I mumble walking away. I do not like Luke.

You swoon, you sigh Why deny it? Uh-oh It's too cliché (Ah-ah-ah-ah) I won't say I'm in love

Being in love feels like a foolish, unnecessary risk to me. It’s as if admitting that I’m in love would be an act of surrender, a sign of weakness. I keep telling myself that I don’t need a man to complete my life or make me happy. My independence has always been my strength, and the idea of falling for someone seems like it would undermine that strength.

I’ve managed perfectly well on my own, navigating life without relying on anyone else to validate my worth or fill a void. I’ve built my own stability and happiness through my own efforts, and I’m proud of that. The thought of opening myself up to love feels like an invitation to vulnerability and potential heartbreak, and I’m not ready to risk that.

Admitting that I’m in love would mean acknowledging that I need someone, and that’s something I’m determined to avoid. I don’t want to be in a position where my happiness depends on another person’s actions or feelings. I’ve seen how love can complicate things, how it can lead to disappointment and pain. It’s easier to stay detached and focus on myself rather than deal with the unpredictability of a romantic relationship.

I keep convincing myself that I’m better off without the emotional upheaval that love often brings. I’m self-sufficient and capable, and I don’t need anyone else to complete me or make me feel whole. Embracing love feels like it would disrupt the balance I’ve carefully created in my life. So, I put up a wall and tell myself that I’m not in love and that I don’t need a man to be content. It’s a way of protecting myself from the potential pain that comes with opening my heart.

I thought my heart had learned its lesson It feels so good when you start out (Ah) My head is screaming, "Get a grip, girl" "Unless you're dyin' to cry your heart out" 

I won’t put myself through that again. I’ve been burned too many times by love to let it happen once more. Each time I’ve opened my heart in the past, I’ve ended up disappointed and hurt. The cycle seems to repeat itself with every relationship I’ve been in: the initial charm and allure give way to a painful reality that shatters the illusion.

Every guy I've been with starts off presenting the best version of themselves—perfectly polished, attentive, and seemingly sincere. They act like they’re everything I’ve ever wanted, showing me a side that makes me believe in the possibility of a true connection. But as time goes on, it’s like a switch flips, and suddenly, they’re no longer the person I thought they were. The transformation happens so swiftly and so completely that it feels like a betrayal. One day, everything seems perfect, and the next, I’m left grappling with someone who’s changed overnight.

It’s as though these men wear masks, carefully crafted to win me over, only to discard them once they’ve achieved their goal. The facade falls away, revealing a reality that’s often disappointing and disheartening. I’ve come to expect that this pattern will repeat itself because it always has. Each time, my trust and hope are eroded, and it becomes harder to believe that someone can truly be genuine.

I’ve reached a point where my heart simply can’t handle any more of this emotional turbulence. The pain of investing my emotions into someone who ends up disappointing me is too much to bear. The cycle of hope and heartbreak has left me exhausted and wary. I’m trying to shield myself from further damage, to protect my heart from the predictable cycle of rising expectations followed by crushing disillusionment. The idea of putting myself through that kind of emotional rollercoaster again feels unbearable. So, I shut down, convinced that avoiding love is the best way to preserve my peace and prevent further pain.

You keep on denying Who you are and how you're feeling Baby, we're not buying Hon, we saw you hit the ceiling (Oh, no) Face it like a grown-up When ya gonna own up That you got, got, got it bad?

"Y/N, It’s becoming impossible for anyone who knows you to ignore the signs. Your reactions when he’s near, the way you talk about him—it all points to something deeper than just friendship or admiration. You might be trying to downplay it or act like it’s not a big deal, but everyone can see it. We all notice how you light up when he’s mentioned or how you subtly seek out opportunities to be around him.

"Well why don't you go out with him? Since you notice every small detail about him."

You’re not fooling anyone with your attempts to mask your feelings. The way you talk about him, how your mood shifts when he’s mentioned—these are all clear indicators that your feelings for Luke run deeper than you’re willing to admit. It’s written all over your face and in your actions. It’s not just a small crush or a fleeting interest; it’s something more significant, something you’re clearly struggling to acknowledge.

So why keep pretending? It’s okay to have feelings for someone, especially someone like Luke. The sooner you accept and embrace your feelings, the easier it will be to figure out what to do next. Hiding behind this facade of indifference only makes it harder for you to deal with the truth." "Taylor, I cannot keep having this convosation with you, it's getting on my nerves, please just drop it." I'm never falling in love, with anyone.

(Shoo, shoo-doo, doo-doo) No chance, no way I won't say it, no, no Give up, give in Check the grin, you're in love This scene won't play I won't say I'm in love You're doin' flips (Ooh-ooh) Read our lips, you're in love

The idea of opening myself up to another relationship feels like an invitation to endure more pain. The thought of investing my emotions again, only to face the inevitable disappointment, is almost too overwhelming to consider. My heart has reached its limit; it feels battered and fragile from past letdowns. The fear of another heartbreak is paralysing, making it hard to even entertain the idea of risking my emotional well-being once more.

I want to protect myself from the cycle of hope and disillusionment that has characterised my past experiences with love. The emotional toll has been significant, and I’m desperately trying to shield myself from further damage. The prospect of enduring another emotional upheaval is daunting, and my heart simply can’t handle the strain of another potential letdown. "Y/N, I know you don't like talking about it, but I csn't help it. Why csn't you see it? We’ve all see how you blush every single time you talk about Luke. It’s not just a subtle thing—your cheeks practically light up, and there’s this undeniable warmth in your voice. It’s impossible to ignore the way your eyes sparkle when his name comes up or how your entire demeanour shifts to something more animated and bright.

And let’s not forget how you watch him during mealtimes. It’s like you’re drawn to him in a way that’s hard to miss. You’re always glancing over at him, whether he’s chatting with the others, helping out with the food, or just enjoying a moment with his friends. You might think you’re being discreet, but it’s so obvious to everyone around. The way you steal glances and the way your gaze lingers just a little too long—these aren’t things you can easily brush off.

Trying to deny your feelings for Luke doesn’t change the reality of the situation. Your reactions and behaviour make it clear to all of us what you’re trying to ignore. We see through the act of nonchalance you’re putting on. It’s not just a case of mild interest; it’s something deeper. We can tell that you’re emotionally invested, even if you’re not ready to admit it to yourself.

It’s time to face the truth about your emotions. The more you try to suppress or deny them, the more obvious it becomes to everyone around you. There’s no need to hide or pretend anymore."

Taylor says before walking off.

I keep convincing myself that nothing will come of this, and that denying my feelings will make it all go away. I’m certain that nothing will happen between us, and so I refuse to acknowledge my true emotions.

Despite my best efforts to conceal my feelings, it's becoming increasingly difficult to ignore them. I try to pretend otherwise, but my actions and reactions betray me. Deep down, I think I’m in love, but I can’t bring myself to say it.

You're way off base (Shoo-doo, shoo-doo) I won't say it (She won't say it, no) Get off my case (Sha-da, sha-da) I won't say it (Ooh-ooh-ooh)

I’m adamant about not admitting my feelings. It’s a protective mechanism to avoid vulnerability and potential heartache. I want to be left alone to keep my emotions private.

Girl, go be proud It's okay, you're in love

Admitting my feelings would mean exposing myself to the possibility of heartache, and I’m not ready to take that risk. The emotional turmoil that follows when feelings aren’t reciprocated, or when they lead to disappointment, is something I’m determined to avoid. I’ve learned from past experiences that letting my guard down can lead to deep, sometimes overwhelming pain. By keeping my feelings to myself, I maintain a sense of control and safety, shielding my heart from potential harm.

I want to be left alone to keep my emotions private because it feels like the only way to maintain my emotional stability. Sharing my feelings would mean inviting scrutiny and potentially having to navigate the complexities of another person’s reactions and responses. It’s easier to keep everything internal, to process my emotions in solitude where I can control the narrative and avoid the unpredictability of others' reactions.

This private handling of my emotions is a means of self-preservation. It’s my way of creating a barrier between myself and the risk of emotional pain. The prospect of vulnerability, of exposing my inner thoughts and feelings, is daunting and unsettling. So, I prefer to keep my emotions hidden, managing them in the confines of my own mind where I can protect myself from the uncertainty and potential hurt that comes with opening up to others.

However, Taylor did not agree with my choices.

"Listen, Y/N, it’s really important for you to understand something: it’s completely okay to embrace your feelings. Love, as complicated and intimidating as it can be, is not something to be ashamed of or to hide from.

You deserve to be happy. If you have feelings for Luke, acknowledging them doesn’t make you weak or foolish—it makes you human.

There’s no shame in being vulnerable; it’s a sign of strength and courage. It’s a step towards allowing yourself to experience love and all the happiness that can come with it.

Hiding from your feelings or pretending they don’t exist only prolongs the emotional struggle and prevents you from fully engaging with the positive aspects of life."

"Yeah, whatever Tay, I'll see you later."

She raises her eyes at me, noticing I don't tell her to shut up about the topic.

At least, out loud I won't say I'm in love

It feels ridiculous to admit that I might be in love. I’ve convinced myself that I don’t need a man to be happy and that I’m fine on my own. Declaring my feelings feels like an invitation to heartbreak, something I’ve vowed to avoid.

I do have feelings for Luke. I’ve come to realise that I am in love with him, but I can't bring myself to openly acknowledge it. I’ll keep these emotions to myself, hidden away where I can manage them privately.

Who knows, maybe one day I'll tell him?

Doubt it.

[oldwritingm]

oo that morro one HIT. thank you thank you

if you dont mind, can we get a part 2 with a premise of the day of departed lil short special?

for comfort i mean

Ofc dear!! Sorry this came out sorta long ^^”

Word count: 1.2k

Ninjago - Waiting for Your Morro

Part I here!

When Wu told you that today was all about remembering, there was no doubt that you’d come here. It was somewhere that reminded you of your old love; you spent your early years flying kites with him in this quiet meadow, and in later years he’d impress you with his wind powers by making the long grass flop this way and that.

You slowly tread through the grass, cool and soft in the night air, breathing in familiar scents of grass and wildflowers. You were used to the sky being a vibrant blue, but today it was black and speckled with stars. Still, you could remember everything vividly.

“Y/n, Y/n, are you watching?”

“I’m watching, Morro!”

“Okay, look at—that!”

“Oh wow! Did Wu teach you that?”

“Yup! My training’s going pretty well, eh?”

“Yeah… you’re gonna be a master in no time…”

The innocent dark head of hair flopped to one side quizzically, a sad look coming into those dark eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“You won’t forget me when you’re all great and powerful, will you?”

“Y/n, how many times do I have to tell you? It’s you and me, forever and ever! No matter what!”

“I know, but…”

“Shh!” His hands grabbed your face, forcing your gaze up from your feet to his eyes. “When I’m the most powerful ninja, you’re going to be right there beside me. And if you’re not, I’m going to hunt you down and force you to be with me!”

You couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled out of you at that. “Okay then. But I’d never say no to you.”

“And I’d never let you go anyway.”

You picked a flower bud, still green as it had not bloomed yet, and twisted it between your fingers. You let out a shivering breath and tucked it behind your ear. It stung to remember, but you knew that this was what today was all about.

I refuse to forget you, Morro. Even if it hurts to remember.

You managed to dry the steady flow of tears that came from your eyes on your way back to the museum. You sniffed sharply when you realized you were the last one coming back; the other ninjas were already talking among themselves at the top of the steps.

As you hurried up to meet them, you noticed an air of trouble emulating from their serious faces and grim voices.

You were planning to ask what was wrong, but the looks they gave you when they saw you approaching silenced you before that could happen. They were first surprised to see you, then they each adopted a unique impression of awkwardness. They exchanged knowing looks and grimaced, and Kai kept glancing over behind them.

The way they were standing seemed to be shielding someone, and you guessed that whoever this person was, they were the reason that the ninjas were acting so awkward.

Jay was the first to say something. “Uh, we should be on our way, guys…”

He was met with (almost too eager) responses.

“Yup! Lots to do!”

“We’ll explain later, Y/n. See ya!”

“Bye bye now!”

“Have fun, you kids!”

That last response, which had come from Kai, caught you off guard. You turned to watch the ninjas as they scurried past you, quizzically quirking up your brow.

Suddenly it was all obvious. The final clue had come in the form of a voice, a voice you could never forget, the voice that played in your head whenever there was a second of silence.

“Y/n..?”

You whirled around, eyes huge. And there he was.

Your arms were around each other before either of you could even remember moving, and there was the sound of laughing sobs muffled in cloth as you buried your faces in each other.

“I knew—” you hiccuped, squeezing tighter, “I knew I’d see you again.”

“So did I. Nothing can keep us separated,” he mused, pulling away to give you a mischievous look. It was as if you never spent a day apart.

There was a moment of breathless silence. Morro was looking you over, his eyes shining with pure affection. “You’re beautiful.”

You smiled. “You said that before.”

“I’ll say it again. And again. And again, until the end of time. You’re beautiful,” he squeezed your hand.

You looked down at your interlocked fingers, a twinge of sadness tainting your joy.

“I waited for you, you know. Every day. Every night.”

He blinked at you; you weren’t quite sure if it was because he hadn’t expected such devotion, or if he just hadn’t expected the change in mood.

“I tried to come back. I… I wanted to see you, too.”

“Did you?” Your eyes were teary when they met his, and you looked away shamefully when you saw the same pain in his eyes.

“I did. But… there are rules. Rules that not even I can break. And you know how I like to break rules.”

You let out a weak laugh. “…I understand.”

You felt his fingers under your chin, and you were gently guided back to his gaze.

“Y/n, remember what I said? It’s you and me, forever and ever.”

You laughed again, more genuinely this time, but with tears trickling down your cheeks. “You remember that?”

“I remember everything I promised to you. And I live by those promises. Well, maybe not live anymore,” he smirked, but shook his head to dismiss the little jest. “We may be in different realms, but we’re still tied to each other. And one day, that long cord that separates us will grow shorter, and you’ll be at my side again. We just have to be patient.”

Your lips pressed into a thin line, and you gave the slightest of nods.

“I knew you’d understand… you were always the reasonable one.”

You embraced again, limbs tight around each other. You breathed unsteadily into his shoulder for a long time, trying to collect yourself before facing him again, and at the same time basking in his touch.

When you came apart again you held on to each other’s forearms, your stomachs still pressed together with your faces fervently close.

“You’ve waited for me,” Morro whispered, his dark eyes dripping with wist and admiration, “but this is the last time I can come to you.”

You closed your eyes, your head dropping. Your forehead hit his, and he continued:

“Now it’s my turn to wait for you. And don’t you rush to get to me,” he chided, pressing his forehead firmly into yours in a show of affection. “Just try to live happily, okay?”

“Okay.” The word came out in a quivering rasp that was really not much more than a whisper.

You opened your eyes, finding a profound smile on Morro’s lips that somehow caught on your own face.

You knew it was time to say goodbye, but despite this your tears chose to stop flowing at this moment.

“Hey,” Morro said, clearly as an afterthought that would be the last thing he said to you in a long time, “guess what?”

“What?”

“I love you.”

You found yourself laughing, giving his shoulder a hardy punch as the attitude of old friends once more overtook your demeanor. “You’re an idiot.”

But just as he went to leave, you had to shout: “Hey!”

You knew that there would be no more tears; his promises put a new hope in your heart that far overpowered any sorrow you had. You knew you’d be together again someday, but now you were sure of it. And so you spoke with the voice of someone saying goodbye to a lover they’d see later that same day when you said:

“I love you too.”

Thanks so much for this request! And thanks for reading, take care sweet duckies!! <33

(divider by saradika)

[cowboythighs]

When Wayne took Eddie in, his biggest worry was that he was going to screw the poor kid up even more than his parents already had. After all, what did he know about taking care of a kid? How would he know what his nephew didn’t know- what Wayne needed to teach him? And how was he going to manage raising a whole little human and provide for them both? But to his surprise, Wayne soon found out that Eddie was shockingly self-sufficient. That he’d had to learn how to cook and clean and do laundry for himself, because his parents were too caught up in themselves and their own issues to take care of him.

Wayne’s momentary relief that he wasn’t starting from ground zero was soon replaced by a level of resentment towards Eddie’s parents. It wasn’t fair that Eddie had been forced to rely on himself so much. It hurt Wayne to see someone so young worrying the way he did about not using too much water; hurt watching Eddie silently going behind Wayne to turn off unused lights because he worried about the bills being too high to pay.

When he figured out Eddie's lemonade stand wasn’t set up to fund a new comic or toy, but rather to try and pay his share for room and board, Wayne took Eddie to the local thrift store and headed straight for the toys section. He was stern when he told Eddie to keep his money, and that they were not leaving until Eddie had an armful of his own toys because Wayne was determined to make sure Eddie had the chance to be a kid.

He watched as Eddie slowly pursued through the selection of toys- inspecting them carefully. When Wayne caught on that Eddie was looking at the price tags he gently admonished him; told him these are used toys; they’re cheap enough and that Eddie didn’t have to worry about money with him.

Eddie tried to argue, insisted that he knows how this goes and appreciates the thought, he really does think it’s nice that Uncle Wayne wants him to have fun stuff to play with, but he knew that just because they have money now it didn’t mean they won’t somehow come up short later, and how he’d much rather have heat than a GI Joe.

Wayne tried to be patient, to not to be as gruff as was his nature as he told Eddie “I may not be your daddy, but you're my boy and I’m gonna take care of you”. Wayne told him it was time to stop fussing and enjoy being a kid. Wayne allowed himself a smile when Eddie relented and picked out a handful of toys.

When they passed the book display as they walked towards the register Wayne stopped. “You like readin’?'' he asks. Eddie looks longingly at the books but only shrugs.

“Don’t know, never had any books to read”. Eddie says it like it doesn’t matter, but his face betrays him.

“They had books in school, didn’t they?” Wayne asked. Eddie just gave another shrug.

“Guess so. I didn't get to go to school very often. Mom and dad were almost always too tired or too sick in the mornings to take me. and we moved around a lot. When we lived close I could walk to school by myself as long as I had clean clothes. If you go to school dirty, teachers get too nosey," Eddie stated like it was common knowledge, “and then they call your parents and you get in trouble and have to move again. But mostly it was too far to walk so I couldn’t go anyways.”

Wayne’s heart felt like it was breaking anew with each detail of casual neglect his nephew had to endure. It wasn’t right for a kid so young to have gone through so much and be so nonchalant about it. Making up his mind he directed Eddie over to the books and told him he can have whatever he wants. There's a slim selection of children’s books to choose from, but it's a place to start.

Wayne watched Eddie's eyes as they kept wandering back to a boxed set with dragons and wizards on the spine. Wayne picked up the set of the Lord of the Rings books without a word and took the set up to the register with Eddie trailing behind. They were far too advanced for a kid his age, especially one as far behind as Eddie, but Wayne decided he would read to him every night. would read aloud the stories of Bilbo and Frodo and Middle Earth and watch Eddie's love for learning grow.

Wayne was proud when time passed and Eddie started leaving dirty dishes in the sink and letting his room get messy. He didn’t mind when Eddie took a long shower or stayed up late writing his own stories. Wasn’t disappointed when he got held back in school, or spent his free time playing games of make believe with his friends. Because he knew better than anyone that Eddie had a rough start in life and had been playing catch up for a long while. And besides, it gave him a chance to be a kid just a little longer, and there was nothing Wayne wanted more than that.

[dumbass-tumbler-cryptid]

I often see people describe Spider as a neglected child. Do you think that is totally accurate? Would Norm and the other scientists have set rules and boundaries? If Lo’ak and Spider did something stupid together would Jake punish both of them? What would a scene like this look like?

Hello! I know you sent this question to other creators like a month ago. Sorry this took me so long to get to. I’ve been busy and I really wanted to give a detailed answer to this but I could just never make the time until now.

So short answer yes I definitely think Spider is a neglected child.

Long answer:

While I do believe some of his basic physical needs were met like food/water/shelter I don’t believe all his physical needs were met. First is just basic safety and while I don’t think his foster parents the McCosker’s physical beat him they definitely didn’t seem to care about him. From what we see in the comics and in the movie Spider was allowed to leave the base by himself at a very young age, like around 7-8 from the look of him. I personally take huge issue with this. I’d love to know how far away the village is from Hells Gate because maybe if it was super close, like you could see it from base kind of close, then I don’t think it’d be as bad but either way your letting a child, who is already super tiny compared to his huge surroundings loose in a jungle that we are told point blank from Jake’s narration is dangerous! Like it’s one thing to let your kid walk to a friends house to teach them independence but what parent would let their child do that if they could be potentially eaten by a tiger or trampled by a rhino. But that’s exactly what the scientist and the McCoskers are letting Spider do! That is just so negligent to me.

Next is Spider’s hair which I know we talk to death about for a lot of different reasons. So I actually have the exact same hair texture that we see baby Spider having so I can personally attest to it tangling easily when not properly maintained. After looking at 7-8 year old Spider i feel like I can pretty confidently say those aren’t dreads they’re mats. That’s what dry, unwashed, un brushed curly hair looks like after weeks.

From my research children typically need help with taking care of their hair until around age 12 and so the fact that his hair is matted tells me no body is helping him. And that could lead to issues down the line because matted hair can grow mold which will obviously make you sick. Even when we see Spider at 16 he hasn’t learned how to maintain his dreadlocks properly. They’re uneven, there’s unlocked hair sticking out all over the place. Really to me it looks more like he did his best to do something with his hair after all the childhood neglect. So yeah not putting in the effort to properly take care of a child’s hair when they’re to young to do it themselves is a form of physical neglect in my eyes

Now onto bigger issues.

We see from the comics that Spider’s foster parents just flat out don’t care about him. Other creators have gotten into that so I won’t go on about it. What I will go on about though is that I think it’s a failure of every adult that saw how neglectful and uncaring the McCosker’s where to Spider but did nothing. They did nothing because it was easier for them to do nothing. Sometimes foster placements don’t work out and when that happens you find an alternative until you find something that best fits the child. They didn’t do that! They did what was easiest for the adults and that was to turn a blind eye. I’m guessing after the events of the high ground comics that Spider didn’t even really have a guardian to answer to. He was basically just a ward of the rebels. I really do hope we get to see him interact with characters like Norm and Max post his kidnapping because from what we see in the movie Kiri was the only one worried about him. I think it would have been nice if during the scene where Jake and Norm are talking about Kiri’s seizer Jake asked if Norm had any new information about Spider, so we the audience would see that these adults do care about this kid. We don’t get that though.

And honestly I take huge issue with Jake’s treatment of Spider. I didn’t like it when I first watched the movie and never felt like he earned the “son for a son” line because again we never even saw him care about Spider aside from him asking Neytiri not to kill him which is beyond bare minimum. Reading the comics made me straight up appalled. My jaw hit the ground during the climax of the story when they are being chased by R.D.A, shot at, the forest is burning and Jake told Spider to turn himself in because he was slowing them down! And my poor boy just promised to keep up!

And I know Jake believes that they won’t hurt Spider because he’s just a kid but 1. Why would you even think that? Seriously what evidence do you have that the R.D.A wouldn’t hurt this kid. They are your enemy! They’re literally shooting at you as you speak! What makes you think they wouldn’t shoot Spider on site! Why would you even take that chance with a child’s life! Even if they do accept his surrender then what? Are you okay with this kid being sent back to Earth? Or being forced to live on the R.d.A’s base with little to no say of what happens to him? And 2. They do hurt him! A year later when Spider gets kidnapped Ardmore was willing to turn Spider into a vegetable to get the information she wanted! The only reason that didn’t happen was because Quaritch stopped him. This is just going to be an all me rant for a second but I could never leave a child behind like Jake did with Spider. I don’t care how tough you think he is he’s 16! And he was left in the enemies hands on an absolutely insane amount of good faith that they wouldn’t stoop low enough to hurt him. They fucking tortured him. And if Jake had at least payed lip service to being worried about Spider I’d be slightly more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt and say there was nothing he could do to get Spider out of Bridgehead, he had to protect his others kids. But he doesn’t. He says that Spider’s a tough kid and that’s that.

So to wrap this up Spider was incredibly neglected. Based off of everything I said above it seems to me that the adults provided bare minimum necessities and then just let him run wild which is no way to treat a child especially when their young. We’d be here all day if I started up on the emotional neglect of this boy. I truly hope we get to see Jake treat Spider better in the next movie and that we get to see Spider interact with Norm and Max.

Those are my thoughts. If anyone disagrees I’d be happy to have a respectful conversation about it. I’m always curious to hear other people’s opinions. 💙

[razorblade180]

First Blood

Knock knock knock

Carmine:*unpacking* Door is unlocked.

Ruby:*peeks in* Yo.

Carmine:Hey. Something up?

Ruby:Nothing really. Just…checking in. Gotta get used to seeing you in the house again.

Carmine:I guess three years has gone by. Room feels a little smaller.

Ruby:You’re bigger. Practically my height. At this rate you’ll be taller than your dad before I know it.

Carmine:Pfft, like that will ever happen.

Ruby:How’s Oz?

Carmine:Probably how you remember him. It’s not like you didn’t check in.

Ruby:….

Carmine:Yeah I’m aware. Even if Oz hadn’t told me, you’re not the type of person to leave their kid fending for themselves.

Ruby:True enough. So, did he tell you our arrangement?

Carmine:No. All I know is there was a limit to missions I could on within a time period. My general behavior if I did anything crazy. Also-

Ruby:Mission number 126.

Carmine:…

Ruby:I’m gonna make this clear, this isn’t me nagging you. It’s a wellness check. Did Oz tell you I punched him in the face after he told me?

Carmine whipped her head to see Ruby casually shrug. The doting mother sat on Carmine’s bed and invited her take a seat beside her.

Ruby:Sooooo, you took a bounty mission. How’d you swing that?

xxxxxxxx

[Oz’s Office]

Carmine:REJECTED!?

Oz:Yes, as in not allowed. Pick another.

Carmine:Last time I checked, you were teaching me to use my skills where I needed. I’ve done your search and destroys, been a valuable bodyguard, and escorted the children to school hundreds of times because I understood those were important. “A huntsman should be flexible.”

Oz:Precisely, but not impatient. Help comes in many forms and despite what you think, I still believe the best form of it involves alternative methods.

Carmine:But you’ve never shied from murder either, Legend of Remnant. Your good deeds have many stories written and red.

Oz:Yes, and they were my stories. Taking down a bandit leader is not only a dangerous task, but one that tends to have only one ending. It’s not to be taken lightly. You’re still young and-

Carmine:Let’s skip my mother’s speech, shall we?

The man watched his disciple put her hands on his desk and stare dagger at him from behind red contacts that hid her true power.

Carmine:I didn’t run all the way here to be denied progress. I could’ve stayed in Vacou for that. A woman and her thugs have been taking lives lightly. Despite several attempts, they escape. Sounds like perfect training for the end goal.

Oz:Carmine-

Carmine:I’m gonna have to kill someone eventually. Last time I checked, Cinder and her thugs don’t like talking over their feelings.

Oz:I made a promise to your mother to train you correctly and fair. This mission isn’t training. It’s a turning point. I’m not gonna make you into something you or your mother won’t be proud of. I-

Carmine:Oscar, I’m not talking to you.

The man’s heart wavered, his eyes widening. Carmine took it a step forward, stepping on to the desk and swinging her legs around it to sit. Her feet rested on his legs and she dared to lean closer, her eyes never losing their shine.

Carmine:You owe a lot to my mother, so do I. However, let’s stop pretending you only took me in as a favor. The truth is you’re excited I’m here, aren’t you?

Oz:….

Carmine:Mom is a fantastic hero. Better than you in every way, and despite how proud that makes you, it’s not what you wanted. It’s not what’s needed. You want evil tracked and put down. That’s why you call us “Huntsman” and not heroes. You’ve always trained others to kill if necessary. Mom got Salem, but it must grind your gears a little that she let Cinder flea like a dog once. I doubt she’ll make that mistake again, but it never hurts to increase the odds of success.

Oz:Your mother doesn’t need incentive to kill Cinder. It’s why the witch hides and moves silently.

Carmine:Fair, you have your huntress for Cinder and Neo for that matter, but her thugs, the people with info moving about, my brother? If he gets ahold of mom before she gets Cinder, we’re both angry and miserable.

Oz:Is that all you have to say? You forget your entire family is remarkable. I doubt they will win.

Carmine:You never answered my question. *leans back* Mom told me how you met by the way. Tell me, what feels more incredible. The day you met a silver eyed warrior ready to change the world, or meeting me, the silver eyed warrior you can make into the exact huntsman you’ve always wanted and more? Mark my words, I’ll be everything you wanted my mom to be, so stop pretending you’re not happy I’m around and let’s get to hunting.

Cold and vexing words given by an angry girl seeking out evil to hunt without mercy, yet despite it all, her eyes never dimmed.

Oz:You understand I will not hide the job from your mother?

Carmine:That’s fine.

Oz:And that you’ll see ugliness that you might regret?

Carmine:If it means I win in the end .

Oz:And what is winning to you?

Carmine:Protecting everything I want.

Oz:….It would appear I should apologize. You resemble your mother and have her talents, but that may be where the similarities end. The rest however…well, let’s just say their eyes were just as terrifying.

xxxxxx

Carmine:He’s logical, despite being sentimental. People were dying and I could help. That simple really. I’m sure Goodwitch gave you my report and post mission evaluation.

Ruby:I’m not that snoopy. She told me but I didn’t read anything. I trust you, honest. How many?

Carmine:Only the leader. She was a huntress; a pretty tough one too. If she had been easy then I would’ve had more options. The other bandits were small fry and gave up pretty quickly when she went down. Can’t say they all made it out. Grimm.

Ruby:That’s practically unavoidable. Don’t put that on your shoulders. As for the leader, how’d it make you fe-

Carmine:Bad. Not a fan at all, but I hated seeing the people she caged more. Mom, I get it, okay? This isn’t kids stuff and I definitely don’t enjoy bounty missions. I just needed to know for certain I’m not gonna choke in dire situations.

Ruby:Is that why you only went on the one?

Carmine:Believe it or not, I actually want you to look at me and not feel disappointed.

Ruby:I never will be. I’m just scared is all.

She wraps her arm around her daughter and hugs her gently, keeping her close to the heart.

Ruby:Carmine, I only ask two things from you. Don’t let this work take you from me, and live a life you’re proud of. It’s harder than it sounds but makes things easier.

Carmine:*closes eyes* I promise. I love you.

[audreyscribes]

Ω PJO DEMIGOD HEADCANONS: 🏔OUREA: PERSONIFICATION OF MOUNTAINS AND HILLS 🗻

Author’s note: *put head into hands* Alright, so I may or may not have went off from the usual formula (Do I even have a formula for writing these at this point?) and I think I may have made the primordial demigods here more cryptid cause they’re the literal by-product of primordial beings that are also half-mortal? I won’t be including the usual blurbs at the ending cause all of them are probably pushing the word limit Tumblr has but worry not, I made up for it by putting more storylines into the whole thing. PRIMORDIAL DEMIGODS MASTERLIST: [LINK]

Like the child of Gaea , you were created when the bones of humanity became one buried within the mountains. You lay dormant, forming and silent, until Narcissus’ blood was spilt onto your rock. The blood was absorbed in the rock and then the final piece was added. When the time was right, the rock split in half and thus you were hatched out of it. You let out a cry that shook the mountains and you wailed, with Ourea rumbled and shook you as if to rock and soothe you. Your cries were answered by The Orestiads, nymphs that inhabit rocky terrain, are possible but any notable ones if you were born and raised in an incredibly mountainous, valley-like or ravine-like, environment.

They cooed around you, marvelling at the gem you were, until a nymph who spoke no words picked you up gently and smiled at you as she cradled you. And that nymph was Echo. 

You were practically raised by the Orestiads, each cooing at you while teaching you. You would think Echo would be not so great at teaching how to speak however she helped you pronounce things together as you tried to learn how to read and talk. Turns out even if the words are a bit jumbled and less than eloquent, she can still repeat the word how it’s supposed to sound like. 

Eventually, when you developed enough of a consciousness and was able to walk heavily and steadily on your feet, Ourea rumbled to you about Gaea’s child and told you to go to their aid. Through the echoes, vibrations, and rumbles that travelled through the earth, you had an idea of where they were and set off; bidding goodbye to the Orestiads and especially Echo who didn’t want you to leave. As you set off, you travelled through the earth while getting occasional updates about the other primordial children. 

You emerged from the mountain when the child of Ouranus rudely kicked your rock in their tantrum and you tumbled into the hands of the other primordial children, all the while watching dizzily the child of Gaea launch themselves at the child of Ouranos. You went to cheer on the child of Gaea but then they started literally breaking Earth and Sky in their battle, your cheer dying with the crack of the earth, then the other primordials children started duking it all out and it was all too much. You just curled back into a ball of rock, waiting for it to die down while trying to think back to your happy place with the Orestiads.  And the next thing you knew, you got dragged into darkness and found yourself with the child of Gaea and the primordials that were following them. 

On one hand, you were already going to follow the child of Gaea and her group anyways because your primordial father said so, but on the other hand, you were having second guesses when you saw Gaea’s kid look vastly different then you and the last time you saw them; their form no longer reminiscent of a human mortal but was starting to look more monstrous. You assumed this was par of the course but as you glanced at the other primordial children, you could see their own nervous looks as the child of Gaea screamed and roared much like a monster; their behaviour snapping at them when they tried to get them to calm down. 

As you can imagine, being a child of the primordials of mountain and hills, your powers lends to more earth-based elements. You can move rocks and the ground to your will, but your specialty is making large barriers of earth that act as great defence. You can also make the mountains and hills come to your aid, moving them to your will which lends itself more as a prison or fortress depending on what you want. 

As a side effect of being raised by the Orestiads, but more specifically by Echo, you developed a very loud voice. Your screams and cries can literally make the mountains shake and in battle, you used this roar to literally blow back your foes and make them quake in fear. That is if you can gather the courage and energy to yell as much. 

Your key feature is your hardened body, that makes you more of a tank in battle. Your form is bulky and hard which can take a lot of hits but much like a pickaxe, you can only take so much damage before your protective layer peels off and you’re vulnerable to the core. However, don’t hide behind your hardened skin for your inner self, your core is just a beautiful geode that is waiting to be appreciated. Your eyes reflecting the jewel underneath.

[rhysdarbinizedarby]

“I Love Taking Risks”

Returning for the second season of his hit comedy series Our Flag Means Death this month, Rhys Darby chats to us about becoming ‘The Gentleman Pirate’.

It was the surprise hit of 2022 no-one had on their bingo card. Loosely based on the real-life exploits of Stede ‘The Gentleman Pirate’ Bonnet (Rhys Darby), Our Flag Means Death tells the hilarious and heartfelt story of the wealthy Barbadian landowner who gave it all up for life as a pirate in the 1700s.

After encountering the actually not-so-terrifying Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) of legend, who teaches him how to be a fearsome pirate – to little effect – in exchange for wisdom about the finer things in life, the two formed an unexpected romantic connection.

Of course, with the first season ending with the pair sadly going their separate ways, creator and writer David Jenkins previews things will be challenging for our star-crossed lovers in season two: “I think [we’ll be] watching… both reorient themselves. This is their first love… You’re rocked when that happens. You go into a crisis.” With the second season premiering this month, picking up a short time after the first, Darby sat down with FOXTEL magazine to give us the lowdown.

What’s your take on ‘The Gentleman Pirate’?

It’s an interesting role because this is a guy who has a midlife crisis, leaves his wife and kids, just runs out in the middle of the night and creates a pirate crew, heads off into the sunset. And in order to sort of get to grips with who would do that, you need to have someone play the role that you’ve got to root for but, at the same time, you go, ‘Is he crazy? Why has he done this? Does he not love his wife and kids?’ So, you know, I did a bit of reading about him and tried to get into that mindset as to why he would do such a thing. And I think what I got to was just midlife crisis and boredom, and he had the wealth to change his life.

Are you a risk-taker yourself?

I love taking risks; I could drop everything and suddenly fly to Mars, but I’d be sitting in the spaceship before launch and thinking about my kids and I would have opened the door and run back to them.

So there was something there, some deep-seated darkness in his soul that led him to that point. He’s a complicated guy. I’m glad I had to rise to the challenge and try to pull that off.

Will Stede ever be respected by his crew, do you think?

Yes. I think he will be. People did respect him eventually because he did become a decent pirate. If you look in the annals of the pirates and all the booty they took, there’s lists of who did the best and all that kind of stuff, and Stede’s up there.

Do you think he had any regrets about choosing that life in the end?

That’s a good question. If I was to guess I would say no, because he wanted the adventure. He regretted, in the end, not taking the pardon when he could have – the King put out a pardon and he said, ‘If any of you pirates come in and drop your swords now, you’ll be spared.’ A lot of them did sign that they would do it and then just went back to pirating.

Even in the end, Stede tried to get out of it – he really begged and pleaded and wrote letters to the King saying, ‘Please, I’ll do anything.’ But they wanted to make an example of him: it doesn’t matter how wealthy you are, you do what you did, you’re gonna hang. So they got him in the end. But they won’t get me!

You seem to have a knack for picking great roles. What does your process entail?

Yeah, it depends what you’re doing. You know, I’m not at a point where offers are rolling in left, right and centre. So you still do things because you need the money. But I’ve been lucky that my uniqueness has only really gifted me roles that suit me, for the most part. Usually they’re smaller roles and I do a lot of guest starring on comedy shows. Also, I have been lucky enough to do a lot of voicework through various animation channels and video games and things.

A few years ago, people started to realise that, and it’s through working with Taika and a few others in the comedy industry, that if you’re going to hire me, he’s going to give you a bit more than what’s on the paper. And he’s going to do it in his manner and his way, and that’s what you’re sort of paying for.

And so that meant that I wouldn’t get a lot of roles, but the ones that I did do, I would always shine in. So thank you, universe, for giving me anything.

Source: Foxtel Magazine Australia (October issue)

[walnutcookie]

OKAY ermmmmm

I won’t put too much about them here bc ima make a proper post about all of them later sooooo

I got 5 whole ocs (Damn):

Tess (silly book girl PLEASE DONT MAKE A MURDER DRONES REF I WILL TWEAK OUT)

Twinkle (silly star boy who my friend wants to kiss for some reason)

Glimmer (gem boy GLISTEN IS THAT YOU)

Shroom (…you’ll never guess what they are)

Mini (mothman inspired toon. They’re name isn’t even Mini, they just keep being made fun of for their height)

So not only do I have stats n stuff for them down, but I also have most of their info cards (for Tess, Twinkle, and Glimmer specifically) and have vague ideas for what they would teach in the cartoon. Basically, Tess teaches kids to never be afraid to ask questions. Tess also works with Twinkle to teach lessons through stories and stuff. Twinkle teaches kids to be optimistic and enjoy the little things in life. I accidentally made Glimmer just Glisten 2.0 so that’s fun (Glimmer teaches kids to stand up for themselves and others). I didn’t put down a proper thing for Mini and Shroom, but the most I can say from the small concepts I put down is that. Oh good lord I don’t know how to explain stuff GRGRGRGRGRGRG. Shroom is like Gardenview’s therapist. They also teach kids empathy and to not be afraid to ask for help along with Mini as a bit of an example. Basically, they are characters to whip out for the occasional PSA for Gardenview. Mini also helps through teaching kids to apologize for when they do anything wrong, and also teach them how to forgive others as well. Shroom and Mini are a more serious duo with what they teach to kids in the cartoon, but ehhhhhhh we won’t see much of that it’s not like there’s an actual animated dandy’s world show yet soooooo

ONCE I MAKE THE PROPER POST ON THEM I’LL TAG YOU TEEHEE!!!!

anyways, thoughts? I’m not sure whether I did good on wording things or if I did this well enough soooo

also APOLOGIES IN CASE AUTOCORRECT MESSED SOMETHING UP OR IN CASE I MISSED A WORD IN MY RAMBLING I forget to write words sometimes I don’t know how I do but I do

— Silly

AHHH THNAK U FOR SHARING THESE ARE SO CREATIVE ⁉️⁉️ i love twinkle especially awwh ... YOU EXPLAINED THEM JUST FINE DW I UNDERSTOOD VERY WELL <333

[teal-fiend]

College student pred

Usually as I’ve seen it’s been the other way around. And i get it, the unfair power dynamic is fetishised. But i find the inverse of this trope more compelling

Hungry college aged kid, living off of microwaved meals, ramen soup, coffee, red bull, cigarettes and left over beer

Underfed, sleep deprived, hung over, everything unhealthy you can imagine. They can’t remember the last time that they had a proper meal

They could go for one of their fellow students, but they have to remind themselves that these people are their future colleagues - their network. So it might put a strain on their future workplace relationships if they start picking them off now. The lecturer, however

And It’s embarrassing, feeding one of your own students. Not even becoming prey to someone of your own generation. It’s almost a waste; the professor is an expert, a doctor, a renowned professional in their field, and they become fuel for someone who has so little experience it’s not even fair to compare them. It’s a waste of knowledge, just for one meal that won’t even keep the pred fed for that long. 

But a student does have to eat. And when they’re done, they’ll go right back to studying. There’s no time for them to waste enjoying the sensation of digestion. They have work to do, tutorials and labs to attend, as to not scuff their record or fall behind. Their stomach will still work even if they’re not resting like maybe they should be

Although it would cause a bit of a cock up when the university has to find a replacement for the course the prey was teaching. I guess the solution would be to hunt a professor who doesn’t teach any of your subjects, to shirk the problem onto somebody else

In the future, if the student does actually manage to graduate and get a job in the field, they can look back and mentally thank all their favourite lecturers who kept them fed while they studied. They wouldn’t have gotten here without them

[ext1nctanimals]

(Hope this isn't annoying im running on 3h sleep) no but, i genuinely think one of white students' BIG issues today is the inability to NOT know things. I think it's a big reason for use of AI too- white students end up so petrified of not "getting it" that they close themselves off from any possible academic/literary/etc thing that could possibly challenge them.

And it's fucking disastrous! Bc the student who cannot dare to read a book with more than dialogue and platitudes, who cannot stomach being outside their Colleen Hoover wankfest for more than a second at a time- these people graduate into roles requiring empathy that they have CHOSEN not to learn.

And yes, I know that empathy is not the same as being a good or compassionate person. But the knowledge that the person going into politics/medicine could not manage reading about a perspective other than their own for a single week? It is literally dire.

(Sorry I hope this wasn't annoying. I have thoughts about cultural literacy)

NOOOOOO YOURE SO RIGHT i think that we have killed curiosity in many ways. it’s so important to be like well i don’t know shit about this but i want to. and i think a lot of it is being disrupted by this white fantasy of total innocence and cleanliness where they’re like i can’t get canceled for interacting with Black writers wrong if i never do it! and it’s like. oh my god. take an intellectual risk and try really hard not to hurt other people on purpose.

it particularlyyyyyy pisses me off with baldwin because yes he is Black yes he wrote largely about Blackness but he is so often writing to/for white people. he addresses them directly!!! he starts sentences like “white man, listen to me:” and some of my co-teachers will be like “my white students dont get it so i took it off the syllabus.” WELL TRY HARDER? you’re teaching it badly if your students cannot read an essay directly addressed to people like them and get anything out of it. but i think these teachers are also white and cannot figure out how to approach with curiosity and think they must know everything because they are teachers doling out knowledge to students.

i am here maybe having read more Baldwin than the average suburban 18 year old has (and i was once a suburban 18 year old encountering him for the first time!) but i don’t know everything; i haven’t thought of every way to read him; i haven’t even read everything he’s written. a student encountering him for the first time has something to say. you need to create a classroom where they know this

though there’s also a lot of stem students who believe that they don’t need to cultivate empathy in this way because it won’t make them more employable or help them get into med school. well yeah i guess. but maybe taking a humanities class will keep you from becoming a fucking weapons contractor. idk girl. what the hell

i saw this as a k-12 educator and i see it at the college level now but also the covid learning curve is having horrific consequences for students. and i know it’s not their fault but we are being told (by school districts and by university admin) to lower our expectations of these kids and expect no intellectual rigor and ask for nothing from them. i don’t believe in college being miserable for kicks or anything but i think that 18 year olds are capable of doing hard things, and college is the place to practice that and fall on your face and get up so that you aren’t figuring out how to do it at a job that can fire you. and also where your refusal to touch anything complicated means you will do actual harm. you don’t need to be an intellectual i guess but then don’t come to college if you think learning and being challenged to learn more is stupid lol

idk. i think in many ways i disagree with the tiktok crowd about what the point of reading is. i think you should read to learn Something. and sometimes you read to learn a story and that’s okay! sorry i wrote a five paragraph essay about this lol but the idea that reading should be all pleasure and never challenging kind of makes me wanna kms

[errorscriber]

there's been a lot of talks about shidou's safety in regards to amane now that Purge March has dropped, I would like to give some people peace of mind about amane's threat to shidou. there have been lore drops here and there that implies he'll be fine

21/03/22 (Kazui’s First Trial)

Shidou: Mukuhara-san, you’ve not been looking great ever since you came back.

Kazui: Ahh…… yeah, I still haven’t got back to my usual self huh. Y’know, Shidou-kun…… kids can be really brutal huh. I don’t have any of my own so hadn’t realised until now.

Shidou: Haha, so they are. They won’t listen to the excuses adults make to explain themselves. ……though that’s also what makes them cute.

Kazui: Yeah… You’re really mature, Shidou-kun. By comparison, I’m really immature huh. Not growing up in any way other than my age. ……*sigh* Even I’m starting to hate that about myself.

22/06/27 (Amane’s Birthday)

Kazui: What’s up, Shidou-kun? You’re looking pretty down. I guess you must be tired, I’ve been relying on you a lot lately.

Shidou: Yeah, I just remembered…… today is Amane’s birthday. I’m just getting a bit sentimental.

Kazui: Hmm, it’s unfortunate, but at the moment we can’t worry about that. ……you understand, right? There’s something that you need to do right now. And if you tried talking to her your words definitely won’t reach her. Don’t look at me like that. We’ll just wait until the situation changes. Let’s do our best.

Shidou: Yeah. I’ll do what I can. I can’t have a child making a face like that. Even though we’re “murderers”…… we’re also the adults here.

22/10/24 (Shidou’s Birthday)

Amane: ……Kirisaki Shidou. How long do you plan on continuing this foolish behaviour?

Shidou: I wonder what you might be referring to there. I’m just doing what I need to do. If anything, I’d be happy if you would lend me a hand.

Amane: I warned you. I can no longer turn a blind eye to this wickedness taking place right in front of us. You’re bringing ruin unto yourself. Do you understand?

Shidou: No, I don’t understand. It’s my job as an adult to teach you that throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to make everything go your way. If it’s a test of endurance you want, I’m happy to oblige, Amane.

i know prison isn't really comparable to a hospital, but shidou is a doctor. he's probably met folks who are averse towards medical treatments. we have to also remember he's canonically a father as well. the patience in this man knows no bounds! shidou is the person who knows best that children can get volatile if they go through their word and actually initiate in their tantrums.

in the second trial we've clearly seen him be more proactive and more motivated to interact and help other people in the prison. to me, these conversations shidou has had implies that he'll find a way or be able to defend himself is amane were to do something to him.

maybe let's say, i am grasping for straws here and maybe shidou is gonna be in ruins but for now i want to have faith in that guy. he's tried to be gentle and passive around amane at first from the very beginning, now he knows that type of approach doesn't work. i surely hope he's prepared and i think from these conversations, shidou himself is trying to prepare for what is about to come.

i do want to take amane seriously and respect her wishes not to downplay her as a child but im not gonna try and give her too much power, i don't think she's a Big and Major Threat we should all worry about. i know there are so many variables we have to consider in the second trial towards what to vote. regardless of what you want to vote her this trial, i think our first trial verdict has already locked her thoughts into place anyway.

22/04/19 (Futa’s Birthday)

Futa: ……! O-oh, it’s just you. It’s nothing. ……but well, on that note. Hey. Don’t you have anything happening too? Since being in here, just suddenly getting anxious. Feeling as though loads of people are all there condemning you, telling you you were wrong.

Amane: ……I’m fine. I don’t know what you’ve done or what it is you’re worried about, but I think if there’s something you believe in, you should stay true to it. It’s not something that should waver just because other people said something. I personally don’t plan on changing my own beliefs even if I’m told I’m wrong either…… ……today is your birthday, correct? I’ll pray for God to keep you under his care.

this is my first time doing a post like this so im sorry if there are any misunderstandings i have regarding these conversations. i do hope that maybe you can find some faith that shidou will turn out fine in some way. he's going to beef with a 12 year old. he should start thinking about what to do.

[aajjks]

i’m really excited to write this roleplay because i have no idea what mi!koo is like or what makes him a yandere. i was re-reading asks about him and sending asks about what he looked like so i could get a feel for him 😅

mommy issues!JK

“okay class! go play! be careful!” you announce to your students but before you warn them to be careful, they’re already scattering around like little ants. you let out a sigh as one of your students trips and falls, ruining their uniform. being a teacher has taught you that overreacting only makes the child overreact, so you simply encourage your student to dust themselves off and go have fun. you don’t gasp or give a huge reaction, you just give them a thumbs up and encourage them to go have fun.

“what’s up, y/n!” says park chaeyoung, the kindergarten teacher who not only pretended to hump one of your parents but is well-aware of their massive crush on you. you don’t find chaeyoung to be a bother but you wouldn’t say the two of you are friends either. when you need ideas for activities, chaeyoung doesn’t mind giving you some advice and vice versa.

“hey chae” you reply as you walk closer to her.

“how were your classes today, pretty?”

“they were okay. the kids did really good with the gummy bear activity” you shrug as you listen to chaeyoung and watch your kids at the same time. some of your kids hang on the monkey bars while other play in the field of flowers, specifically seol and areum.

“so, when are you gonna fuck that hot teacher?”

you gasp “chaeyoung! i am not going to…F him”

you’re a teacher, you can’t curse. at least in front of your kids, you won’t.

“if you don’t, i will”

“not a chance. i heard he’s either got a wife or he’s got baby mama drama”

“you really believe what those teachers say about him?” chaeyoung smirks then leans in closer to your ear “i heard he’s got a crush on one of the teacher’s at the school”

surely you know it’s you, right? it’s not like seol’s dad is the best at hiding his feelings for you but you don’t react, flinch, nothing. that’s when chaeyoung concludes that you’re fucking oblivious to his crush on you which, again, is very obvious. his body language and baby doll-like eyes makes it very clear that the only woman on his mind is the woman that teaches his kid. awkward, but chaeyoung finds it kind of cute.

“he does?” you say “i hope they like him back. oh! one of my parents are here. talk to you later, chaeyoung..hi, yuna!! your father is here!!”

“okay, you have a good day!”

next to leave is one of chaeyoung’s kid and after 10 more minutes outside, you instruct your kids to get in single file line so they could hydrate themselves and prepare for snack-time. as you’re taking a swig of your own bottled water, seol taps your leg to get your attention and presents a flower he picked out just for you.

“it’s for you, mom!” he sweetly says with those adorable eyes of his.

“oh, seol~ that is so sweet of you. thank you so much, hun” you say to the five-year old as you lean down and allow him to put it behind your ear. next to follow behind seol is areum who also present a flower of her own she picked out just for you.

“you too, areum? thanks so much. you two are just the sweetest” you coo as you allow areum to put the flower behind your other ear. “c’mon you guys, let’s go in class so you can eat. i know you guys are starving” you joke as you hold their smaller hands in yours and guide your students inside the classroom for snack-time.

“can you believe mr. gang sold the company? we’re the best banking company in the city and he SELLS it?! we were an independent company making our own money! ugh, wait til i tell alina about this bullshit” eunwoo complains but it’s not just him that is irritated about the surprising news, jungkook is too.

“and guess what? they want everyone to dress all fancy this weekend for a celebration. you going to that dinner because if you don’t then i’m not going either”

but they both know the dinner is mandatory, plus, it’ll be the first time jungkook has seen nara’s face since all those years ago.

“we’ll talk about it on the phone” eunwoo says as he takes a look at his phone “dammit, alina can’t get areum today. good thing i get off early. hey, didn’t you say you’ve got a meeting with y/n, right? don’t forget about that” and before eunwoo can leave jungkook’s office, it was as if a lightbulb lit up in his head.

“you should invite y/n to that celebration this weekend! i’m sure she’ll say yes, or are you too scared to ask? you know i can get alina to ask her. they’re close”

~🫧

Jungkooks eyes light up, “bro… if i could kiss you I would but you’re married and I love yn.” Eunwoo is so intelligent, no wonder he’s married, eunwoo makes a gag face at jungkooks sentence but jungkook just laughs it off

He could ask you to dinner- this weekend, if you’re not too busy. He hopes that you’re not,

So after a few more hours as they are both walking out of the company after a long day at work, Jungkook decides to drive alone since eunwoo has got his own car.

Would you agree? He bites his lip as he focuses on driving, please you have to agree, Jungkook is really hopeful and it’ll be great.

After 30 minutes, he’s pulling up in the school parking lot Acs you bet he’s running towards your classroom in the hallway, the teachers watch him but he doesn’t care.

Jungkook pants a little before he fixes his clothes and then he’s finally knocking at your door. “Ms yn?” He calls out and after a few seconds you open the door.

All in your tight blouse glory, Jungkook blinks twice so he can stop staring at your breasts and he bows his head as you allow him in.

Damn, you’re so sexy in this teacher attire of yours, please teach him a lesson he will never forget, or maybe you could just fuck him on that desk of yours.

Shut up horndog.

There you are staring at him and the kids are probably in the playground, it’s just you and him, oh he’s so excited. “H-Hi Ms yn.” He blushes, your stare is so sexy.

How are you so hot, he’s feeling so hot right now. God save him.

You give him a small bright smile and he feels so good, all his anxiety and stress washing away, “uhhh before you say anything I have a question… kinda inappropriate.” He scratches the back of his head because he can’t have your own friend ask you if you’d like to accompany him to the dinner next weekend.

“So I need a date for the company dinner and you’re the only woman I know…. And feel comfortable with… uh… Ms yn… would you like to go on a dinner date with me? Please say yes I don’t want to be alone there… as you can tell I’m single.”

[transformers-platonic]

Found family dynamics with the maximals - Optimus primal, Rhinox, Rattrap, Dinobot, Cheetor, Tigertron, Airazor, Blackarachnia, Silverbolt, Depthcharge, NightScream, and Botanica please

I’m guessing you just meant with the Maximals, if you want the reader to be involved, let me know and I can make a new one. If something doesn’t fit with the Beast Machines canon, let me know. I still haven’t seen it so I’m mainly going by what I heard happened/Beast Wars canon. I know some things like Optimus personality is different but due to my knowledge, I will have to focus on Beast Wars character personalities.

Found Family Maximals

- Optimus is like a dad to the team. He’s often looking to help the others, though sometimes he tries to solve problems when it would be in the Bots best interest to figure it out themselves.

- When he starts doing that, Rattrap will be quick to comment while Rhinox will calmly mention it.

- Rhinox is a bit softer and is like a kind uncle to the team.

- Rattrap is more the fun uncle who shouldn’t be trusted to babysit, but will protect them.

- Dinobot is a bit stern, but will also accept the others need to grow.

-Tigeron and Silverbolt are like the cool older siblings as they both teach the younger bots but would be hesitant to get them in trouble.

- If one of the younger bots didn’t clean their rooms, Silverbolt will help before Optimus sees and Tigertron will warn them when Optimus is about to check.

-Airazor and Blackaranica are like the cool big sisters.

- Botanica is more like the calm sister who would give advice but can be quiet at times.

- Blackarancia’s advice sometimes isn’t the best and her and Silverbolt disagree on the advice.

- Depthcharge is still a bit of a loner and has troubles being close to to the team so he comes and goes.

- Nightscream and Cheetor often act like kids, running in the base or sneaking off.

- Nightscream and Cheetor are close because of this, they do at times argue if Nightscream isn’t listening to an important rule.

- Dinobot usually knows when NIghtscream and Cheetor are up to something but will often let it go unless it would cause a big problem (For example, if they are going somewhere dangerous, he will get involved but if they are doing something like pranking one of the others, he won’t catch them and will help if Rattrap is the one being pranked).

- Depthcarge often spends time with Nightscream as he understands why Nightscream is more distant and is a positive role model to him.

- Optimus tries to organize family game nights (Though if anyone asks they are simply to boost team morale).

- He usually has a plan but it gets changed and eventually forgotten by the time the first game is done.

- Optimus isn’t bothered by this as he’s happy the group can act so naturally together.

- Nightband and Cheetor often get carried away with being competitive.

- As compettitive as Nightband and Cheetor are, Dinobot is the worst. He will pout if he’s loosing.

- Rhinox acts as referee if they are getting out of hand.

-Tigertron, Botanica and Airazor are the most laid back, if they happen to be winning, they will try to give the others a chance to catch up.

- Once, Optimus had to leave overnight. He came back to a mess, though Rhinox Tigertron, Airazor, Silverbolt and Botanica were trying to clean up.

- They explain that some of the other bots (None would tell who) decided to throw a party.

- Cheetor was trying to help, but was overtired so he wasn’t helping.

- If one of them is injured, there is a seriousness over the whole base as they are worried about their family member.

- One day, Nightscream snuck out during a storm and everyone went to find him.

- Botanica found him first and after getting him back to the base, they were talking at once to figure out why.

- When asked, he admits he’s having trouble adapting to this close of a team and admits he feels like he’s in the wrong for feeling that way.

- Optimus convinces the others to leave and talks to Nightscream.

- Afterwords, he often has times where he goes out for most of the day with one of the older bots, usually Tigertron or Depthcharge.

- Rhinox notices how Optimus often looks deep in thought and will ask if everything’s okay.

- Optimus wouldn’t admit it, but having the team be more like a family scares him a bit since it would be more difficult of one of them were to be hurt.

[builder051]

Pale ale

——————

A little Whoa Bessie Halloween featuring college Bucky and Steve.

Warnings for college drinking and foul language

——————

“I’m so glad these don’t have doorbells.” Bucky hip-checks the door to his dorm. He turns the lock with one hand and balances a 6-pack of beer on the palm of the other.

“You’re gonna drop those.” Steve crashes on James’s bed.

“No, I’m not.”

James turns around and grins. He hefts the weight of the package behind the opposite arm as if showing off a trick with a basketball. The flimsy cardboard wrapper doesn’t hold up to the weight of the tilting cans, and all six come tumbling down.

“Oh, shit.” James lunges for the can that lands on the foot of the bed while the rest crash to the floor. One particularly unlucky beer hits the corner of one of the bed risers, and foam gushes onto the carpet. “Fuck.”

Steve scuttles to pick it up, practically crashing heads with James in his rush.

“You’re gonna get in trouble if it smells like alcohol in here.” Steve’s eyes go wide with sincerity. “You have to stay on the good side or they won’t let me come in here anymore.”

“Relax.”

James tosses the rest of the cans onto his comforter. They roll toward Steve, who now sits criss-cross with his face in his hands. James throws his towel over the spill and steps on it. Then climbs onto the bed beside Steve.

“You know you worry too much.” It’s a statement. James is caught between indulging Steve’s anxiety and assuaging it.

“Yeah, well.” Steve looks up and visibly gulps. “We’re kinda close to the line. Like, a lot.”

“I’d be surprised if a single RA is patrolling for curfew.” James rolls his eyes. “I mean, if they man their posts at all. It’s always honor system on party nights.”

“I guess so.” Steve tries a smile, but it comes off as a grimace. “Upper class-men party it up more?”

“Eh, most people get out of their systems their first year. Seniors…” James shrugs. “I don’t know. They probably go to real parties off campus, since they’re old folks with IDs and all.”

Steve tilts his head. “Who goes to the frat parties, then?”

“Aw, probably some dumb kids…”James keeps his face carefully stoic and grabs the nearest beer. It spits in his face when he pops the tab.

“You’re talking in circles.” Steve narrows his eyes at James. “Unless you’re implying the Greek system is swindling the freshmen.”

“They’ve got to replace themselves somehow.” James holds the beer under Steve’s chin. “Here, drink up.”

“Watch yourself. I thought you were better than that.”

“Oh, I’m terrible.” James takes a beer for himself. He clinks it sideways against the one in Steve’s hand. “Somebody’s got to teach you right.”

“You’re only one year older.” Steve puffs himself up.

“And you’ve never pulled an all-nighter. Come on. Drink up.” James leans into Steve’s shoulder. “I’ve got to raise you right. It’s my job.”

“I guess…” Steve takes a swallow of his beer. The cap is more fizz than substance, and he coughs instead of swallowing. “Oh god.” Foam runs from Steve’s nose. He pulls his hand into his sleeve and uses the cuff to wipe his face.

“Remember to breathe,” James reminds him, trying not to laugh. “Breathe while you drink. Just not at the same time.” He knocks Steve between the shoulder blades with what’s probably too much gusto.

“That makes no sense.” Steve sputters again and pulls a face. “This is… kind of disgusting.”

“Meh.” James takes a long draught. “Yeah, it ain’t great.” He swills a bit in his mouth as he tries to sum up the flavor. “It’s… almost a pilsner. Just a little watery. But, heck, it’s from WalMart.” He points toward the cardboard packaging on the floor. “I should’ve told you to have low expectations.”

“How much do I have to have in order to get drunk?” Steve looks at James like he’s out of his mind.

“I don’t know.” James nurses his own beer for a moment. “Three? Maybe two?”

Steve blinks at James as if he’s out of his mind.

“What?” Then James realizes he’s calculated incorrectly, neglecting to account for their difference in size and stature. “Maybe just the one,” James backtracks. “Just drink what you have.”

Steve lifts his can back to his lips and cringes. “I don’t get it. People seriously go wild for this stuff?”

James laughs. “Drink it for the feeling, not the taste. A lot of options are tastier. I think they make pumpkin spice beer nowadays.”

“You could’ve got us some of that.”

“That’s sure some thank you.” James goes to cuff him in the side of the head, but instead he winds up smoothing the flyaways behind Steve’s ear. “I had to do a lot of work to get this stuff. It’s not like there’s much choice when I’m slipping a twenty to a guy with a pick-up truck.”

“I guess.” Steve sighs, then tips his head back and begins to guzzle.

James can hear the carbonation liquid popping as it runs down Steve’s throat. “Careful there. Remember what I said about breathing?”

Steve surfaces, gasping. He holds his can with the tips of his trembling fingers. “How much—?” Steve starts. “How much do you have to have to make you throw up?”

“It varies, I guess,” James says. “Usually after you’re drunk and everything.”

“Oh.” Steve bites his lip. “I don’t think I want to get drunk…”

“You don’t have to.” James tries to cool the back of Steve’s neck with his open palm. “Just, uh, try not to get it on the carpet.”

“Sure…” Steve slurs heavily.

“You said I’d be in trouble if it smells like beer in here.” James looks squarely at the wall and continues, “I think I’ll be in more trouble if it smells like, well, you know.”

He can’t last a second. Neither of them can. James busts out laughing at the same moment Steve lurches for the trash bin. James gets off the bed to sit at his side.

As James moves, two of the loose beer cans fall back onto the carpet. He turns his gaze from Steve to glare at them over his shoulder. These ones have the good grace not to explode.