#trained to give hugs

[choochooboss]

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Okay but like, Roy and Jamie weren’t exactly subtle about loathing each other, were they? They fought each other on the pitch and badmouthed each other on TV, none of that keep it quiet for the sake of the team shit for these extra boys, yeah? My point is, anyone who knows anything about English football knows that Roy Kent and Jamie Tartt used to hate each other, right?

So obviously, at some point, during some press conference or post game interview, someone needs to bring this fact up. Maybe it’s as early as after the 2x06 match, because Ted might well have insisted Roy and Jamie be the ones to front that, both because it was them that won that game and because he figures it’ll promote ~their bond~ or some such. Could be later too, after the headbutt/hug thing, or later still, once the pictures of Jamie and Roy’s early morning excursions start doing the rounds on social media.

Doesn’t matter much when, really, only that someone – maybe from the tabloids because they’re a vicious lot – would ask: “Roy, just weeks before you joined the Richmond coaching staff you said, and I quote, ‘Jamie Tartt is a muppet and I hope he dies of the incurable condition of being a little bitch’. Today you described him as the most important player on the field. What has changed?”

And maybe the room goes a bit quiet at that, oooh he fucking went there, and what the hell is going to happen now, but Jamie only cocks his head to the side, making a face but looking at Roy all amused like. “You said that about me? That hurts me feelings, Coach.”

And Roy rolls his eyes, exasperated but in too good a mood after the win to be really annoyed. “Yeah, well, as it turns out the condition was only mostly incurable, wasn’t it?”

And Jamie goes aaaw and the press goes um okay and it doesn’t really explain anything, only adds to the ever-evolving legend of what the fuck is up with Roy Kent and Jamie Tartt.

[tiny-planet-13]

okay can we just talk about Jean being concerned about Cody's welfare for a second because my heart genuinely felt like a star going supernova in that moment like that was such a painful thing to read because he cares so so so much without even trying but no-one was ever there for him like that (I'm not counting Zane because fuck him I don't care) but I just ahhh jean you're gonna be the death of me that little scene meant so much

[zarnzarn]

I absolute adore your Athena fic and how you interpreted “make her kingdom fall” as Athena’s mind but I had an angsty thought. Yes Athena is the goddess of wisdom, of strategy, of so many mental thing but she is also the goddess of handicrafts, especially weaving. Something that would be incredibly difficult with such severe burns and burn scars……

anyway, just a thought.

BRO DONT DO THIS OMG.....

oh dude but youre so right.... She picks up some thread at the market with Telemachus one day for his mother's birthday, and smiles fondly at Penelope's squealing enthusiasm for the gift, picking up a protesting Telemachus in a hug and squeezing Athena's hand gratefully. She begs for Athena to try out the thread with her, dragging her over to the loom and sitting her down, asking for tips and tricks.

and athena sighs and removes her metal gloves to pick up the thread and-

Cries out. Drops the shuttle, knocks over the loom as the sharp pain that burns through her, the fine thread sliding across her palm in a motion she had done so many times turned into an agonizing line of fire along the burns she had just realized were the reasons her hands had been so tender and sore. Penelope rushes over and grabs for her hands, Telemachus going for the thread and cutting it away before the ichor can disintegrate the spool fully.

Penelope manages to get Athena's hands away from where she'd clutched them against her chest, prying them open and gasping in horror, a hand going to her mouth. They stare down at the ruined mess of them, pink and shiny and raw, bleeding in the middle.

Athena looks down mutely, feeling the shame and mortification settle heavy on her. Even weaving. Even weaving he took from her. Goddess of Weaving, and she could no longer do even that.

For a moment, she can barely bring herself to confront the fact that there were others standing in front of her- that Penelope and Telemachus were staring at her disgrace- then Penelope throws herself onto her, trying to fold Athena into her arms for comfort, sobbing.

Athena stares at nothing, blankly swinging her gaze to Telemachus, who is also crying, hands at his sides as he looks at her. She kneels down when Penelope pulls at her, lets herself be pulled under Penelope's chin, the Ithakan Queen, one of her chosen, and slowly rests her head against her chest as Penelope cries on her behalf.

Even weaving.

[neztune]

I think I’m addicted to making sure Hiccup gets hugs in my doodles

Anyway! Not my best, but Valka is still the one giving the hugs-

The one doodle I have so far with Stoick hugging Hiccup is one so tiny and a little bit bloody… (it’s right after the fight with the red death)

[littlefankingdom]

Originally, Bruce and Dick slept in the same bed.

I like to twist this around: Bruce, being a young parent, was VERY protective and worried about his boy who wants to go fight criminals with him, and it translated into him refusing to let Dick leave his side after difficult nights. Dick is hurt? He is sleeping in Bruce's bed. Dick isn't hurt but it was a close call? He is sleeping in Bruce's bed. Bruce just got scared but Dick was fine? He is sleeping in Bruce's bed. Dick is scared? He is sleeping in Bruce's bed. Of course, this led to Dick also refusing to leave Bruce's side when Bruce gets hurt or could have been hurt, so he also sleeps in Bruce's bed on these nights. And, as he grew up in a circus, always moving around, he is used to sleeping in his parents' arms or very close by, so it's normal for him.

So, Dick is often sleeping in Bruce's bed, cuddled up to Bruce. And as he grows up, he sleeps less and less in Bruce's arms, and he supports less and less Bruce's suffocating anxiety. Finally, he stops completely.

Some events make him wants to crawl back in his dad's bed (his multiple SA, the destruction of Bludhaven, the multiple times he thought Bruce died, etc...), but he never dares to. He is an adult now, and he fears Bruce would have a problem with it. Bruce is also not that welcoming toward physical affection since Jason's death (something Cass fixes, but that's another story). So, Dick doesn’t, even when he craves to.

Until Bruce is send back in time and believed dead. When he comes back, Dick just cannot stop himself, he needs to hold his dad, and he is so afraid Bruce will dissappear if he isn't touching him. He is holding him all evening long, and when it's time for bed, Bruce wordlessly goes to sleep holding Dick with one arm, the other around Tim. (Damian isn't close enough to Bruce yet to dare come sleep with them, Cass is in Hong-Kong, but she is jumping on a plane and will join the sleep-cuddle pile, Jason isn't back in the batfam yet but the possibility of losing Bruce scared him so bad, he is going to start to make efforts to not be on bad terms with them)

[clarisse-doodles]

Cass + ballet 🩰 (ft. supportive siblings and good dad Bruce)

I love the idea of Cass enjoying dance. It's an outlet that allows her to express herself without words, and I think she would enjoy the highly technical aspect of ballet combined with its storytelling and emotional side. and as a former dancer I always have fun imagining my fav characters do ballet :)

[aldoodles]

February - Assist

[moonkit60633]

SHES ROLLIN STOCK, ROLLING STOCK!

Dinah deserves more love she gets the short end of the stick like every song

Plus I love when a girl steals a guys song in a much catchier Reprise

[sysig]

He needs so much attention, all the time (Patreon)

[askdragobludvist]

MR.DRAGO BLUDVIST CAN YOU GIVE ME HUG 🥺

I can’t, I only have one arm

[blackjackkent]

Interesting - the game didn't give me the same cutscene that it did with Hector, of Aylin doing the backbreaker on Lorroakan to finish him off. Maybe it's because he died early in the fight and combat didn't finish until Rolan and the myrmidons were dead?(*)

We do still get roughly the same conversation by speaking to her after the battle, however; it just picks up from her standing over Lorroakan's already-dead body.

"The firehaired fool is dead," she mutters, nudging her boot against the dead man's shoulder. "Yet as I stare upon his corpse, I feel... sadness." She lifts her head, rounding on Rakha suddenly, urgent, demanding. "Why?"

Rakha says nothing for a long moment. For her own part, she is all too familiar with the feeling of regret after battle - but it rises in the moments where the beast has taken over, where she has killed without thought, lost in bloodlust.

What does Aylin have to regret? She has killed her tormenter, avenged and protected herself. She has killed with purpose.

"Because you won't get to kill him again?" she offers, only half-ironically.

"Perhaps," Aylin murmurs. She frowns, idly rubbing one thumb over the hilt of her sword. "Yet if I could run him through a thousand times, I wonder--"

She stops abruptly, a muscle working in her jaw. Rakha, watching her, can suddenly guess at the train of her thought - her own hundred years in the Shadowfell, spent being killed over and over at the hands of Justiciar after Justiciar. For a moment her shoulders sag with an air of absolute exhaustion.

Then she lifts her head. The moment passes and she makes a visible effort to smile. "Battle has tired my mind," she says quietly. "Made me susceptible to flights of fancy." She squints thoughtfully at Rakha for a moment and then, somewhat astonishingly, lifts her blade in a salute. "You were excellent in battle," she says gravely, "as is your way. And I am proud to fight at your side."

To say that Rakha is surprised by this statement would be putting it mildly. Aylin does not trust her, has had no reason to trust her; she knows perfectly well that Rakha is of divine blood that has programmed her to be a killing machine - one that desperately wanted to kill both her and her lover.

But they have, nevertheless, now fought together twice against enemies that sought to take Aylin's freedom from her, and twice triumphed. And Aylin is not blind to the effort that it has taken Rakha to stand at her side.

Even more surprising than the acknowledgement, though, is how powerfully it strikes Rakha to her core. To her own astonishment, she feels herself smile, very slightly, in response.

Aylin seems almost as puzzled by her own emotions as Rakha is by her words. She nods slightly and steps back, sheathing her sword abruptly.

"I will catch my breath," she murmurs. "Then to camp I will bring my bones." She turns away, and there's a strange wistfulness in her voice as her wings unfurl. "Moonmaiden be with you."

(*) Rolan and the Myrmidons is my new power metal band.

[iliketomatosauce]

When you get this, list 5 songs you like to listen to, publish them, and send this ask to the last 10 people in your notifs 💗

Little Flaws - Lady Lamb

Black Out Days - Phantogram

Too Precious - Em Beihold

Go-A shum x Maneskin Zitti e Buoni (mashup) - (artist names are )

The Water is Fine - Chloe Ament

these were off the top of my head study hall songs, so these are really random and i probably missed a lot that i like...still, these are super good :) plus this was a treat to get in my inbox, tysm!

[whumpbug]

Hi Bug, same anon who asked the horse questions --- first of all, thank you so much for the answers and I'm so glad I was able to inspire you!! I don't think you've talked about this yet but I was curious: What was Gene's mom like? I know she was killed by criminals and that event led to him becoming such an intensely strict deputy, so either she meant a whole lot to him or her death was just that traumatic. --- QUESTIONS - Well, first of all, what's her name? - What lasting affect did she have on Gene when she was alive? Did she teach him anything fundamental about life or morality that he still believes? Did she introduce him to anything that he's still passionate about? - Is there anything specific that Gene does in her memory and if so, when? On the anniversary of her death? Whenever it's her favorite weather? Every other day? Every morning? - Who, specifically, killed her (if you know)? - How old was Gene when she was killed and did he witness it himself? If so, does he remember it?

HI ANON IM SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU IN MY ASK BOX AGAIN!!!!! and once again you come with such amazing questions i am being so spoiled right now.

the short answer is that she meant a whole lot to him AND her death was that traumatic. but who's here for the short answer anyways

long post incoming. as always. I HOPE U ENJOY!

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what's her name?

gene's mother's maiden name was Sylvia Mae LeBlanc.

she was a small, feisty woman from the deep south (louisiana) and you could tell right away from her accent. she was blonde, blue-eyed, and gorgeous. a real southern belle.

she met gene's father (who's name is clint) when she was just 17, and the two hit it off. they got married, and of course, she became sylvia delaney, and soon baby gene was born. the trouble was that sylvia's father did not like clint. clint was a rancher, and her father thought lowly of the profession. he refused to support them finacially. she ran away with clint and they struggled for quite a while, but they were determined. clint truly did love sylvia, but i don't think he was ever going to be ready to be a father. sylvia loved being a mother, but fatherhood scared clint. he never had a great relationship with gene to start, and it only got worse when sylvia died.

looks wise, gene got his bone structure from his father, but everything else is from his mama. he has her eyes, her hair, her mouth, even her nose. he was VERY blonde as a child.

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what lasting affect did she have on gene when she was alive?

oh this is a loaded question and i LOVE it.

when he was little, he spent most of his time with his mom. being a rancher was a busy job, and clint didn't particularly care enough to make an effort to spend time with his kid, so gene and sylvia were very very close.

she taught him a lot about how to conduct himself. she was a southern girl, manners were VERY important to her. she'd be damned if gene didn't address everyone he met as sir or ma'am. she also was a big reader, and taught gene to read and write from just age 3. she read anything under the sun to him, and its part of the reason why he's generally considered very articulate. he still loves reading and it's one of his favorite pastimes.

she was also extremely progressive for her time. she taught him so much about how to respect people as a whole, no matter their race or gender or social class or anything. she just taught him empathy. it was a big help that gene was naturally just a sweet kid.

unfortunately for little gene, clint Did Not like this. he was obsessed with what it meant to "Be A Man" and didn't take kindly to seeing his son do things like carrying the paralyzed lamb to and from the water tin or crying after accidentally stepping on a butterfly. he saw gene as too soft from the get-go, and he made his disdain for it known.

it was a recurring argument for sylvia and clint.

still, sylvia wouldn't back down. when gene would sob after getting yelled at by clint or, worse, after being forced to go hunting at the age of 7, sylvia would hold him and rock with him and sing to him until he calmed down and tell him that its okay to cry. being gentle takes strength. the world needs more kindness like yours.

gene thinks about it very often.

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is there anything specific that gene does in her memory and if so, when?

so, for starters, he visits her grave every year on the anniversary of her death. she was buried in louisiana-- she loved her home town and state. so every year, gene takes a train (haha. sorry gene.) down to visit his grandparents and aunts and cousins, but ultimately he leaves the family house to go to the cemetery and spends the day sitting by her grave and just. he just talks to her.

he talks to her like she's right there. he tells her about work, about the town shenanigans, more recently about cassidy (he talks a lot about cassidy. sylvia is looking down at him with an Eyebrow Raise.), really anything that comes to his mind. he sometimes falls asleep, head resting against her headstone, and wakes up to the sun settling below the horizon.

in terms of little practices he does, he makes his coffee a very specific way because of how she used to make it. he wears one of her rings on a chain around his neck. he has her accent, sometimes, when he's not thinking about it. he still has all his southern manners, he is respectful and kind, just like she wanted him to be, but sometimes it's drowned out by his father.

he also kept a bottle of her perfume. it smells of peach and vanilla and orange blossom. he sprays it on his pillow sometimes, when he really really misses her. those nights are always hard on him.

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who, specifically, killed her (if you know)?

see this is where i have entertained different ideas. as of now, its just a random outlaw. just a random train robber that had no personal connection to gene.

however.

i have thought it could be interesting if the man was montana or someone associated with him. the timelines would (maybe) make sense, but i feel like it might also just complicate things too much. IDK. its just a little idea but for now, i'll say it was just an unspecific outlaw.

✮⋆˙

how old was gene when she was killed and did he witness it himself? if so, does he remember it?

oh boy.

cw: blood mention. slightly graphic description of death.

gene wishes he didn't remember. he really does.

she was killed on their way to visit louisiana. clint never went with them when they traveled because, again, being a rancher is a demanding profession and sylvia's family didn't take too kindly to him visiting anyways.

gene was 11 at the time. he was sitting in the train car with his mother, head resting on her shoulder, when he heard commotion coming from a few cars down.

then, the group of robbers breached their own car.

gene was petrified. he clung to his mama like a little boy, visibly shaking when they started making their way down the aisle. she whispered reassurances to him, that they would be okay, that they weren't going to give the bad men anything, that the sherriff would be there any minute.

when one of the men approached sylvia and gene, sylvia physically put herself between the man and her son. she was fesity. she wasn't going down without a fight, and she sure as hell wasn't going to give this man anything.

when she refused the first time, the man didn't shoot her. he simply murmured something to his the other outlaw beside him and turned back to sylvia, giving her a chance to reconsider. she didn't.

and then the gunshot rang out.

she got her right in the chest. it was a miracle that gene wasn't somehow hit too, as close as he was.

that was the moment the outlaws heard the shout of the lawmen, and turned tail on the job. but the damage had been done.

gene held his mama as she took her last breath. she didn't stand a chance. the bullet fired point blank into her left lung. she hardly lasted a few minutes. still, gene screamed. there was blood everywhere. on his face, on his clothes, on his hands.

he cried, he begged, he pleaded for someone, anyone to help him. to save his mama. but she didn't stand a chance.

i'd like to say that she had last words, some profound thing to say that gene could hold dear to him for the rest of his life, but she didn't she just gasped for air until she couldn't anymore.

gene remembers that day in vicious detail. he remembers what he was wearing, what she was wearing, what the man's eye color was. his memory goes fuzzy from the moment she died, though. he vaguely remembers being taken to a sherriffs office and being cleaned up with a handkerchief and being wrapped in a scratchy blanket. he remembers his father arriving, and it might have been the only time his father hugged him. it was certainly the only time he ever saw him cry.

his memory of the entire year after she died is choppy at best, nonexistent at worst. he began helping his father more at the farm, not because he wanted to spend more time with him, but because it gave him something to do. if he didn't have anything to do, he might've gone crazy.

unfortunately, and much to sylvia's dismay i'm sure, the experience hardened him. especially since he was around his father so much, he didn't allow himself to be seen as soft or gentle anymore. he got tougher, meaner, and more like his father.

its, in part, because he wonders if he had been just a little stronger on that day in the train, if he could have saved his mama. maybe if he had been quicker or more intimidating, he could have protected her like a "Real Man" should. but he'll never know. and that thought kills him.

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GOD that got sad really fast. im sorry for the trauma gene. and i'm sorry for giving you another reason to hate trains cough cough @sethlost cough cough

JOKES ASIDE thank you so much for this question anon. i think by writing this all out, i have a much better grasp of gene as a person and the actual impact his mother had on him. this was such an important question and also SO fun to answer so thank you so much!!!!!

[lil-deach]

Fun fact: this one picture of Vault boy on a train was physically so cute that it literally almost broke my IPad, for awhile it would not let me SCREENSHOT it, it wouldn’t let me SAVE the PICTURE, and if I dare looked at it the IPad would start LAGGING, it’s fine on computers and I finally got it to work (I wanted it as a wallpaper on my ipad) but this picture of vault boy legitimately started to break my internet and my device and I blame it on how cute it is like just LOOK AT HIM!!!

[oksanas-sun]

it's such a shame that hélène only wanted to manipulate v because damn... she was really good at identifying what v needed :(