#theyre so bad at communicating

[haloburns]

excerpt from the next chapter of "my resistance was once much stronger (i can't go on like this much longer)"

haven't posted ghost light in a while, so here's an excerpt to tide people over! i'm making slow but steady progress

****

Jazz frowned, watching Danny intently from over the rim of her mug. He should’ve been ecstatic that Mateo was here. They had been inseparable during Thanksgiving, attached at the hip, hands never very far from each other.

Now, though. Now, he was standing by the coffee maker, staring intently at the quietly spitting pot while Mateo chatted animatedly with Ellie at the table. Her frown deepened. He should be leaning over Mateo, hands crossed across his chest as he teased their little sister about whatever topic it was today. But he wasn’t, and it was starting to bother Jazz. He wasn’t even making love-sick eyes at him like he usually did.

Jazz looked up from her intense study of her brother as Maddie walked into the kitchen. Mateo tilted his head back to greet her with a warm smile, and Ellie chirped a greeting in Ghost. Danny didn't move from where he was staring off into space in the vague direction of the coffee maker. Jazz pressed her lips into a thin line.

“Sweetie?” Maddie made her way over to Danny, the same small frown Jazz wore crossing her face. “You okay?”

She placed her hand at the top of his shoulder, rubbing from one side to the other slowly.

It was like Danny unpaused. He straightened up and blinked, taking in a deep breath. He turned to face Maddie and forced a smile onto his face. It didn’t reach his eyes. Jazz took a delicate sip from her mug.

“I’m fine, Mom.”

“Aht!” Mateo cried from the table, scrambling up. The three other Fentons stared at each other in confusion, while Danny just looked resigned. He grabbed a jar from his backpack hanging off the chair and then held it out to Danny as he came to stand in front of him. Her little brother glared at his boyfriend. 

A silent conversation played out between them. Mateo was grinning, a mischievous spark in his eyes. He wiggled the jar in Danny’s direction, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

“Come on, you agreed to it. You know the rules,” he said, which did not clear up the mystery for the other three individuals in the room.

“Teo…” he whined, wrinkling his nose. “I’m not even lying this time!”

Mateo fixed him with a flat, unimpressed look and stepped closer. Jazz quickly averted her gaze, locking eyes with Ellie as she did. Maddie drifted away, headed towards the lab. She could talk to her kids later. There was obviously something going on between those two, and she did not need to be apprised of the details.

Jazz made her way over to the kitchen table to shoo Ellie out, so as to give her brother and his boyfriend space in the very public kitchen. Ellie pouted, but Jazz held onto her shoulder, firmly, and pushed her out of the kitchen in front of her.  They didn’t need to be a part of whatever conversation was about to happen, and she intended on keeping ghostly little sister out of it.

Neither of the boys had noticed everyone’s quiet, subtle departure. Mateo closed the distance between them until only the jar separated them, his eyes never wavering from Danny’s.

“You said the words, you pay the fine.” He tapped the jar against Danny’s chest, grinning at the weak pun. Danny’s lip twitched up at it, but the smile didn’t stay or reach his eyes. It hurt Mateo’s heart to see him so morose.

“Alright, alright,” Danny finally relented. He leaned into Mateo as he reached into his back pocket for his wallet, though Mateo knew for a fact that he hadn’t put it in there before coming downstairs. He pulled a dollar out of it and folded it into the jar. “There, better?”

“No,” Mateo said, his grin widening. “You still have to pay the rest of the fine.”

Danny scoffed, ignoring the way his heart soared at seeing Mateo so happy and light. “What?! Teo, the rules were, you say the words, you pay the dollar fine! There is nothing else.”

“Nuh-uh,” Mateo insisted as he set the jar aside. “You owe me a kiss.”

Even with all of the sadness and grief hanging on him, Danny couldn’t help the smile that broke through.

“Is that so?” He curled his arms around Mateo to close the distance between them completely. “Does this apply to anyone who has to pay the fine or just me?”

“Just you.” Mateo tilted his head back, sliding his hands up to lock his fingers behind Danny’s neck, ignoring the way his left arm tugged weird in his cast.

Danny couldn’t think of anything else clever to say, so he just kissed him. He knew he had been too distant from Mateo, distant enough people had started to notice (Jazz had never been subtle). But how was he supposed to leave him when every touch, every kiss drew him back and made it harder to remember why he had to leave in the first place?

Mateo pushed up onto his toes, deepening the kiss when it felt like Danny was going to pull away. 

“No,” he murmured, stroking his fingers through Danny’s hair before using his grip to tug him forward. “You’re not paid up yet.”

Another fleeting smile against his lips, and Danny finally let himself wrap his arms around Mateo. He slumped forward into him, the weight that had been hanging around his neck dissipating for the briefest of seconds.

Mateo pulled away then, shifting until he was rubbing his thumbs along the sides of Danny’s neck. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He didn’t want this to turn into an argument, but something twinged in his chest at Danny’s silence. “You’ve just been really quiet lately, Danny. And you’re never quiet.”

Danny’s brief smile twisted to the side in a grimace. He dropped his forehead until it rested against Mateo’s, closing his eyes for a moment. He didn’t want to talk about it, and he didn't want Mateo to tell that something was wrong. He always read Danny like an open book, which was so not fair.

“I’m trying, Teo,” is all he said. “I’m trying to-- to-- I’m just trying, okay?”

It wasn’t an answer, not really, but it was the best he could do. Mateo’s lips thinned as he stared at Danny’s face. His Core itched at not knowing what was wrong, and it demanded he learn what it was making Danny so sad, but he couldn’t. Not without pushing too far. He sighed and leaned harder into Danny.

“Let me help you, please.” He pressed his forehead harder against Danny’s. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

Danny brought one of his hands up to cradle the back of Mateo’s head, holding him tight against himself. He wanted to tell him everything, tell him every single thing that had been weighing him down since Dan had broken free from the Thermos. Tell him about all of the guilt that stole his breath and made him feel heavier than he ever did as a human.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t, not now, not ever. Not if he wanted Mateo safe. His hand spasmed on the back of his neck, and he swallowed a rather ghostly whine. He needed Mateo safe more than anything else.

“I know,” he whispered into the infinitesimal space between them. “I know, stellumo.” All of the other words he wanted to say were clogged in his throat. Ash laced his tongue with all of the lies he knew he was telling, just by pretending everything was okay. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

“I promise, I’ll be fine.”

Mateo scoffed at the intentional distraction, but decided to let the redirection slide. There was no way he was going to get an answer out of Danny right now. Whatever it was that was bothering him, he was going to double down on it, it seemed. 

Instead, he just whispered, “That’s another dollar, mister.”

Danny laughed, if only to hide his tears, and kissed Mateo’s nose. “What, no kiss this time?”

“Oh no, you have to pay double for that one.” A grin warmed his words and a slow smile grew on Danny’s face. This time, it stayed.

“I think I can manage that…”

[cowboygideon]

I've been watching community (and mythic quest) and danny pudi is so beautiful it actually hurts ?? somehow ?? I'm rewinding scenes just to watch him talk !! what is happening i feel like im losing my mind. but it's just that his big brown baby cow eyes and fantastic bone structure have captivated me

[triglycercule]

so there's been versions of horror that don't talk. versions of dust that don't say a word. but what about killer man. what if he didn't speak???

i need this man to do the most outrageous crazy and unhinged things while saying not a single word. i need killer sans to stand in corners and not say anything while observing other people (just like how some people depicts horror/dust,,,,) with the most expressionless face ever. the guy cannot feel i want his face to show that. he will murder he will steal he will bother every living being around him while not saying a goddamn thing. ACTUALLY i want his face not to move at ALL!!! this killer's face looks like the 😐 emoji but it has tears. idk maybe it's because if he opens his mouth he'll start leaking dt and he wont even be able to talk so its not worth it. or maybe a certain red eyed child or oily king ordered him never to speak unless they tell him to and now killer just doesn't speak. he doesn't even learn sign language or body language or does any physical cues (voluntarily) because that's considering "speaking". idk just ideas but i like the idea of the guy that does arguably the craziest shit to just. not speak. or have any sort of body language ever. he stands and walks like a robot only sort of personality that shines through is in fights. but even if killer doesn't talk and have any sort of physical presence people will still be able to tell what hes like based on his actions

anyways maybe i just need ALL of the mtt not to speak. yeah that seems cool. none of them speak they just silently beat each other up (killer is dead silent dust is violently signing and horror is making several indescribable noises. this is the most intense fight they will ever have)

[tokyoterri2]

hiya, please let me know the last time you, under tremendous pressure, said the thing you meant to say, perfectly. exactly right.

please share your method with Aziraphale & the rest of the class.

[blueskittlesart]

deeply refreshing to see someone critical of Swift who also like, genuinely likes her. Like i'm neutral to positive on her, but the online discourse has been absolutely rancid. flipping between "Taylor Swift has never done anything wrong ever and she's a fucking genius" and "Taylor Swift is the worst lyricist of all time and also a bad person" is exhausting, so thank you for like. nuance or something lmao

not to make it serious for a sec but i genuinely think that being able to like things that are bad is really important. like I think that it's an important skill to be able to look at something and see what you personally enjoy about it and then take a step back and acknowledge that objectively it's flawed. and to also be able to acknowledge that liking something isn't necessarily an identity or a moral stance. and i think that fandom space in general could really benefit from more people taking the time to learn how to do that. it's okay to like things that are bad

[rexscanonwife]

'Are we allies or enemies?

This will be the death of me

All is fair in love and war but I can't fight with you anymore

This will be the death of me'

I've been wanting to talk more about Crosshair and Brea's relationship for a WHILE now, but I never really found the 'right' time (in my silly brain) I guess you can say they...know each other very well! As you can imagine it's filled with drama, romantic tension, and lots and lots of angst! 0u0 a little more info + textless illustrations under the cut ♡♡♡

Sooooo, I tend to think of this as sort of an AU! If I'm being SUPER duper canon-compliant with my self ship lore it's not really the focus, but if I play around with timeline a little bit I can come up with this. Brea is a newly knighted Jedi, having just passed the trials, and despite holding rank in the Clone Wars she's not a general because she has no battalion. HOWEVER, there is a band of misfits that have been sort of running around doing their own thing, going where needed, sort of the way she does. The idea is what if for a short time she was the BAD BATCH'S Jedi?

In this scenario, the boys are a bit reluctant to take orders from her because they don't believe they NEED a Jedi. They're not really about rules and protocol and mandates...but they soon find out that neither is Brea! She's perfect for them, she matches their energy and allows them to make decisions the way they want. They all become very close...except for Crosshair, who still doesn't trust her. He only trusts his brothers, everyone else is an outsider.

I'll probably talk about it more later, but she does something or other that proves her care for them as individuals and one thing leads to another, Crosshair and Brea are something of an item. Not a couple per se, but FAMILIAR if you know what I mean. However, it's because of Crosshair's emotional constipation that it doesn't really go further than that, and it's ALSO because of his emotional constipation that things start to change between them! And when you bring Brea's new Padawan Kepler into the mix, things go very sour very quickly.

To make a long story short, Crosshair burns his bridge with Brea long before he joins the empire and he didn't even know it. By the time he does, she's moved on and is in love with a certain other clone! All of that is more stuff to talk about another time though ^ 0 ^ if you've read all this thank you so much and ilysm! 🫶🫶🫶

Taglist♡: @me-myself-and-my-fos @tiny-cloud-of-flowers @sunstar-of-the-north @dearly-beeloved @adoredbyalatus @changeling-selfship @crushes-georg @miutonium @cherry-bomb-ships @rosieaurora @rejaytionships @sunflawyer @in-true-blue-love @tropicalgothships @little-miss-selfships @hotrodharts @cupiidzbow @frozenhi-chews @limey-self-inserts @candyheartedchy

[monkiewompus]

Shadwpeach. headcanon. cuz im crashing out.

Wukong and Macaque knew each other BEFORE the brotherhood. Maybe they met because Wukong was interested in Macaque's ears, or in another way... I'm still not sure abt that part...

i remember hearing about how after Wukong came back from training with Shifu Subodhi, he found out a demon was tormenting the monkeys at ffm and he beat the shit out of it. but i ALSO heard (not completely sure this is true) that he tried to train the monkeys to defend themselves, so that smth like that wouldn't happen again. What if Macaque was, at first, really bad at fighting? Like, didn't understand it at all. I know macaque is also called the six eared macaque, which is an all-knowing being, but that is also all i know about him... I don't know if he learned all these things or if he was just born knowing it. So uh. sorry if this is inaccurate </3

So, lets say, wukong and macaque pick up dancing from observing human behavior,, what if wukong uses that to teach macaque how to fight? how to be quick on your feet, how to plan your movements? with this in mind,, what if they danced at that same shore that tree they always sat at was by? dancing to music or even just the sound of the waves crashing.

After the brotherhood was established, maybe they would spend most of their time there. Dancing, or eating. This is where it gets romantic chat im soz. What if they used dancing as a way to be romantic without actually being romantic? Whether it be from not knowing they can do that, or from being too chicken to make a move on each other. Dancing was their way of relaxing with each other, their way of letting go. It was how they really saw each other.

Now, to after season 5, when they don't hate each other as much. What if wukong catches macaque dancing and swaying to the sound of the waves? What if he joins him? Seeing each other again, like that. Relaxed. Able to let go for a moment. Able to breathe for a moment. What if it gets them talking? What if, now, when they look at each other, its not a look of hatred and disgust and guilt, but a look of longing? the same looks they'd give each other during and before the brotherhood.

"Dance with me, Macaque!" to "Dance with me, Macaque.."

do u guys see the vision or am i just crazy

[transmaverique]

amab and afab, if they were used as shorthand for the actual full phrases that they signify, with emphasis on the "assigned" part, and an understanding that they are enforcements of normative (ie, dyadic and cisgender and binary) sex, would be like. really useful. but people took the terms and started using them as shorthand FOR normative sex instead of the ENFORCEMENT OF normative sex. so when other trans people (almost always dyadic trans people) ask for your agab they are almost always asking for your Original Genital Situation. your starting point, so to say. and the reason FOR asking is also almost always bc they are trying to also enforce a certain kind of normativity within queer spaces (which is stupid bc being queer is inherently non-normative but here we are). like, you cant be a lesbian if you're ftm, bc you ARE m, so if you ARE a lesbian, then that means you're lying about some aspect of your identity. does that make sense?

it is always always always incredibly.... i do not trust dyadic trans people that use cagab terms, even moreso than i do not trust dyadic trans people that just use agab terms. agab is also coopted intersex language, but the "coercive" part of cagab SPECIFICALLY refers to medical "intervention" of intersex characteristics, such as "corrective" surgeries and hrt. i am deeply fucking suspicious of any dyadic trans person that uses those terms exactly the same as described above, even moreso if they do so bc "all gender is coercive".

like. yeah. that's true. but you use these terms to erase and overtake intersex discussions on the medical abuse of intersex infants. and i cant help but wonder why you would feel the need to do that.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

love thinking kipperlilly spends her afterlife looking for lucy in a familiar forest

[morninkim]

The Great War is largely over, the majority of Autobots and Decepticons have come to a truce following the deaths of their leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron. But tensions and errant groups still remain after centuries of civil war, and Autobot City may get caught in the crossfire as Earth's prime Cybertronian Outpost...

Meet Autobot City's main defense team in Transformers: Reconstruction!

Individual character profiles under the cut or under the tag "tf reconstruction"!

[angel---eater]

i truly have no tolerance for this fandom shittin on random fans personal trans headcanons. someone saw themselves and their experience in this character, isnt that beautiful? why dont you mind your business and focus on your own fan stuff? wouldnt that make you happier? someones headcanon doesnt negate yours. what the fuck is wrong with yall. its playing make believe x2. its just a headcanon. real life trans folks are in active danger right now and some of yall are wasting all your energy abusing others over which pronoun set figments of someone elses imagination 'should' be using

[insanesonofabitch]

DEAN LOVED HIM BACK!!! CAS KNEW DEAN LOVED HIM BACK!!! AND THEY STILL COULDN’T HAVE EACH OTHER!!! Dean can’t reciproca—[gunshot][gunshot][gunshot] SHUT THE FUCK UP. He heard his prayer HE HEARD HIS PRAYER. HE FELT HIS LONGING. HIS DESIRE. HE DIDN’T HAVE TO SAY IT. HE KNEW THE TRUTH. But it was too late then…The prophecy was self-fulfilled.

[violentviolet-vv]

2nd post of the day.... 😎😎

Hahhs. can you tell. can youvtell what my latest obsession is. theres more but theyre Ugly. so are these but.they can be tolerable..... (oldest to. Newest i think? idk.you can see the visible art style change)

dont ask how in coping with the latets ii episode (my reactin when watching the episodr btw. theres more but i cant add more than 10 photos💔)

[tossball-stick]

starting to think more about grimshea.... i think the most obvious way to shove them together in a way that i like is, when dutch and the boys leave for guarma, push molly towards susan instead of towards drinking and the pinkertons. have their shared love of dutch pull them together rather than push them apart for once. its a really vivid image of molly breaking down over dutchs everything and susan pulling her closer in a brief moment of "oh sweetheart i know exactly how you feel and i feel it too. so so bad. but i need you to be strong for me. we are those who were closest to dutch, its our responsibility to be strong for them, to help sadie guide them. we'll get through this together i just need you to be strong for me. we dont like each other at all but i need you more now than ive ever needed you before." and molly is looking up at her with the most dazzled eyes asking "you need me? i am a being who has value in someones gaze?"

and susan fostering a dependence on her in molly would, in turn, foster independence from dutch in both of them. perhaps susan will teach molly the true nature of men, how they say they pine and pine and then drop you the second youre a minor inconvenience. and thats just the way it is "for women like us." and if molly asks what the "women like us" is about susan will grin a little and whisper "the actually pretty women," and they both laugh a little. kicks dirt. so anyway hows your morning been

[a-lonely-tatertot]

The qsmp fucks me up everytime i think ab it to hard honestly like these people (not just ccs like fans too!!) separated by such a large language barrier brought together by such an ambitious but like normal idea that a guy had has now created this group of people who are meeting up in fucking paris and talking about their fucking rp eggs like. This is such an insane community and i dont think ill ever stop being impressed by how much work and creativity that these players, admins and quackity have put into this like god this is so cool

[bitchfitch]

I've started playing Potion Permit, and so far it's one of my favorite games I've messed around with, but the most big brained move the devs made was giving you a dog on day 1, and then making that dog able to track NPCs and lead you directly to them no matter where they are in the town.