#whew this got long

[sweetpapercroissant]

When I think about s13-15 I can’t help but feel that Dabb was simply not interested in telling Sam&Dean’s story (anymore) (if he ever was). s12 is a little rocky regarding this too, but it’s still unmistakable that they’re the protagonists, this story is their story. But it’s evident from the start of s13 that he’s not willing to put in that effort anymore.

He introduces Jack and the rest of the season is focused on him, one way or the other. Even the mytharc of the season is about him, from being trapped in the apocalypse world, making a place for himself with the hunters, trying to figure out who he is. And meanwhile the actual protagonists of the show are…..running around chasing leads but actually accomplishing very little. They take turns being sad, make a few speeches but don’t really do anything. They are not the ones who move the story.

He downplays (if not outright erases) all of the older characters’ intelligence to make them fit the story and doesn’t bother with consistent growth/arc for any of them. He beats and forces them to fit the shape he’s cut out for them to portray in his story instead of understanding them: who they were, how they grew and where they are now and logically advancing their story from that point. He makes them regress or progress on a moment’s notice on an episode-to-episode basis and ignores any preceding canonical events when it suits him.

It’s most noticeable with Dean but he also takes away from Sam and Cas’ characters till they’re almost unrecognisable, bearing only the most superficial of similarities with the characters we have grown to love over 10+ seasons. But at the same time he also relies on this very love to keep the viewers watching, since the plot itself is barely held together by retcons or sudden personality changes/loss of logical reasoning in the characters.

There have been discussions on how, as the show goes on the themes (even the genre) change and how vastly different the later seasons are compared to the earlier ones and while that’s true, there is still some coherence to those changes-a graphical line changing direction erratically perhaps, but a line nonetheless-as the story progresses….upto s12. Forward of that Dabb just-tears the graph to pieces and handpicks a few of them to nail to the wall.

He twists the characters, their history, their personalities, the themes and events of the story and it’s very heart to fit the show he wants to make instead of adapting his writing to the show that he’s actually been handed the reins to. And it’s tiring honestly.

I do believe that when a character behaves in a manner you find ooc, it can be interesting to think about why they may act that way instead of immediately blaming the writing, even if the writing may actually be the issue, because I think it can make for a more entertaining narrative sometimes, and because no one always acts true to who they are. It’s the point of being human. But that can only be applied to particular moments and decisions or behaviour concerning a certain element of the story (another character, an event etc). If your audience can barely recognise any of the characters, there’s only the writing to blame.

[triptychgardener]

Do you have any headcanons about the characters youd like to share?

That is pretty broad but I'll see...

I like the idea of Kanaya and Jasprose on Earth-C referring to each other as ex-wives. It drives Rose insane.

Despite not being his biological kids, I think June and Jane inherited Dad's freak strength. It starts kicking in during their late teens, when they get very confused why the rest of their friends *can't* lift up an entire refrigerator.

Dirk when on Earth C gets really into fitness and "healthy eating." Lots of vegetables and real food. Unfortunately his taste buds are so flavor blasted from years of junk food that he hates it. He also does not know how to properly prepare vegetables. He still eats them though.

In terms of like Gender/Sexuality that hasnt really come up in Early June, I tend to HC Terezi as being on the ace/aro spectrum. The way she interacts with other people, especially Dave and Karkat, gives me the feeling that she really likes flirting and teasing way more than putting a label on a relationship. She acts frustrated when Karkat asks what they are romantically, her and Dave despite flirting during the game basically only refer to each other as friends on the meteor, and literally just looks like theyre hanging out together. She likes physical things if she's weirding people out but feels otherwise more reticent to touch. This is probably a part of why Vriska drives her kind of insane, being unable to quantify what she wants from Vriska. They settle into the pale quadrant in post-retcon, but I don't think that's entirely right for them either. It's one problem that the quadrant system most definitely cannot fix.

[stllmnstr]

How do you write so well?? Your writing is so so beautiful!!! Any tips?

Oh this is so sweet 😭😭 First of all, thank you! I don’t feel like I have any particularly revolutionary advice to give, but these would be my main points:

1. Practice!!! Write. A lot. I posted my first fanfic in 2017 and had already been writing a lot before that, including original stories, poetry, and just about anything else I could think of. From what I’ve seen, I definitely skew on the older side of enha writers on tumblr, so please remember to be patient and gentle with yourself, especially if you’re young and/or newer to writing. The stuff I was writing at 16 certainly doesn’t read like the stuff I write now, but all of that practice helped me to get there. Writing is hard. I think it always will be. But give yourself grace and keep at it, and you’ll only keep getting better.

2. Read!!! There are so many great authors out there that do amazing, innovative, exciting things with words. I always feel inspired to write after I read a really great book, and reading will also strengthen your vocabulary, grammar, and sense of personal style/voice.

3. Let your writing be “bad” !!!! I very rarely reread stories after I post them, because every time I do, I find at least twenty things I want to change. 😭 Writing and words are a living thing, and there’s absolutely a certain amount of subjectivity to what makes writing “good.” There’s always going to be room from improvement, and you’re always going to be able to find something to nitpick or criticize if that’s the perspective you take. Fanfiction in particular is great, because if your story is something you’re excited about, there’s a 99.99% chance that other people will be excited about it too. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Take that pressure off of yourself, and enjoy the process. Use the experience and the feedback and the practice to write something even better the next time around.

4. Develop a strong editing routine. This is probably the most technical and specific point, but I think it gets overlooked. My first drafts look a LOT different from what I post, usually. I don’t remember where I found this tip, but my writing changed for the better when I started rewriting all/most of my story as part of the editing process. Literally, once I finish a draft, I’ll open a new document and will retype most/all of it, changing things as I go. This helps me to catch little errors and also to improve the overall flow and pacing of a story. I recommend trying it if you haven’t! Like I said before, a lot of “good” writing is subjective, but editing is where you improve the more objective aspects. Making sure that things like grammar, word choice, sentence variation, and general plot are solid will absolutely strengthen your writing.

5. This last tip is actually more for readers: INTERACT!!!!! Reblog, comment, send asks, scream in the tags!!!! Do all of the above!!!! Writing is a long, difficult process, and it takes a lot of effort to post a story. It’s especially hard when you’re new. Like I mentioned above, I posted my first fanfic almost seven years ago, and the only reason I kept posting more was because people interacted with my work and took the time to tell me that they enjoyed it. If you want to read better writing, if you want to read longer stories, if you want more stories to read in general, give writers the incentive to write! I love writing. I really do. But it takes a lot of time and effort, and it’s a labor of love. Posting a story feels a bit like shouting into the void. At the end of the day, your interactions are what make it worth it for myself and a lot of others that publish in the fanfic space. If you’re a writer that is struggling to get any kind of interaction/feedback, a good place to start can be connecting with other writers and building a little community! It will help tumblr (or wherever you write) to not feel so lonely. Plus, having writer friends is a wonderful way to share your woes and get inspiration.

At the end of the day, I think that genuinely enjoying writing is half the battle. If you’re already there, that means you like words. You like stories. You like putting puzzle pieces together and making characters come to life. Liking those things is where it all starts, so keep at it, trust the process, and the rest will follow. 🤍

[gregoftom]

tom https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SuccessionTomWambsgans

greg under here https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SuccessionMainCharacters

ah ah okay! i found tom by scrolling down to his folder, but if you link directly to him/find his page via direct link/use what you sent, this is what comes up

but thank you so much for showing me where greg is! now i could find tom too 🥰

ahhhh… good old tvtropes who are again Wrong about characters i like… my favourite!

like. look. some of the tropes are correct i’m not gonna say all of it isn’t but some are just plain devoid of any nuance and some are completely ignoring other factors and some ARE wrong. i forgot how much tvtropes pisses me off in this manner lmao. starting with greg an example is this one.

oh yeah uhuh he looks really unhappy! he sure hates being praised and admired and rewarded for it!

that’s just one of them that are plain Incorrect lol. and it’s not only the stuff wrt tom completely ignoring the evolution of their relationship [one of the tropes says nobody likes him not even tom which. lmfao] but also some ableist bullshit, as well as incorrectly calling him a coward and such. like they do have “grew a spine” but that’s shittily worded as well and doesn’t really make sense since greg has literally the most audacity of anyone, he’s the only person who’s not scared of logan at the beginning! like?! who tf is putting these tropes to him lmfao bc it sure ain’t someone who paid attention to the show.

tom’s are much less annoying like, clearly there is some bias here lol, someone took more time and care and gave tom’s tropes and descriptions nuance and almost all of them make sense, i only got mildly irritated a couple of times. i don’t think any are flat out wrong. seems greg’s wasn’t given two fucks about but tom’s is much more attentive. how amusing.

it’s like. it’s just fucking irritating you know? lol. it’s one thing for greg to get overwhelming hatred in the fandom but another for a somewhat official and extremely well known site to not even bother giving his character a correct list of tropes or treat it with the same nuance as another. i haven’t looked at the siblings’ but i presume theirs are good too. but tom’s is largely fine. like what’s the deal?!

sorry this got long asf LMAO tvtropes just pisses me tf off sometimes

[daeyumi]

I am what you made me 🩸

[oraclebell17]

😇👻👗

for Aria! Or if it’s stressful to figure out lore, you could do Arval or another fave of yours!

ooooooh options!!

😇A headcanon about their religion/lack thereof

Aria's not particularly into the Seiros faith, and by that i mean she's not the type to pray or really be devout much, but i don't really imagine she's religious at all

i mean she's obviously run into and works with those who are devout, but she's more busy with training or her own work than giving time to get into being faithful

👻A headcanon about what scares them

i actually have something more solid for Arval here- they really fear being lonely.... being with their partner in destiny gives them a purpose and motivation, but without them, even if Arval was still alive, they would lose that purpose

not only does losing their partner in destiny mean that "cycle" they wanted to protect goes as well, but it also means they're without anyone to speak to...

i don't like thinking about them being alone (*sadly looks at that one feh quote and their last zahras chapter quote*) :(

anyways away from the sad:

👗A headcanon about their clothes

unlike canon Shez, Aria is able to afford both gloves

but also, i kinda think Aria would prefer clothes that she can show off in over practicality sometimes

[beomiracles]

could you please recommend me some of your favorite txt writers?

ooo yes of course!! moablr is full of talented writers, I'll share some I frequently read from !!

@hyewka for anything sub!idol always!! especially yeonjun/tae and gyu!! she does them so so well :3

and when on the topic of sub!idol, @fairyofshampgyu has the best sub!gyu fics <33

if you like darker content, specifically for soobin then I'd totally recommend @spookyji :D

@luvsicktyun my baby has a super long yeonjun fic with a princess reader and archer!yeonjun, it's such a unique fic and so so good !!

then of course @biteyoubiteme for anything vampire related, especially her beomgyu fic called bitten!

if you like creative and kinky smut then @thetxtdevil is absolutely heaven sent!! especially her anatomy series where the members are all written as doctors !!

@prince-jjae is one of the few male!reader txt writers I know of!! he also does darker content and the writing is immaculate!!

if you want to read longer and dare I say novel worthy fics then @koqabear has them!! she also does darker content, and she does it so well <3

@bamgyw has a series for beomgyu called six nights which is so so good!! a little darker but so worth reading!

@dawngyu has such wonderful fics, I've read bits here and there, they're super lengthy so make sure to clear ur afternoon for them, (u will need it on an emotional level)

though she's on hiatus right now @jjunbug has a series ongoing for kai and yeonjun which is fairy themed, it's definitely worth the wait!!

and speaking of fairies, @hyukascampfire. tsfawc should be turned into a book, don't be intimidated by how long it already is, it's so so worth reading!! the writing is so immersive (no spoilers pls I haven't gotten far), as are her other fics!!

@izzyy-stuff too of course!! so many good ones :3

@hyukalyptus is fighting the kai drought that circulates on here, her fics are always so so satisfying to read!!

oo and @niningtori has a thing for making bamtoris cry :3

last but not least @taegimood !! I fear NO ONE will beat her hybrid fics, she's on hiatus rn so pls go send her some love <3

[luckyartdrawer]

Burning Celestials Ch 2: Fall For Me

2nd Chapter has released, Yippieee! Feel free to read on ao3 or look below the break to read!

Click here for AO3 Link!

Check out the 1st Chapter first!!!

Summary: You were gone, but not really. Somewhere new. Besides the suddenness, you weren't caught too off guard. Moon wasn't either, well, until he actually looked at you that is. 2815 words

When you appeared, he almost completely missed you.

You didn't make a dent in the space around you, a mere speck who should have gone unnoticed and declared unimportant as you arrived. You did absolutely nothing but just show up.

Moon was originally just going on his usual, boring, but necessary, mindless wandering. It's not as if he noticed all the pointed stares you earned, popping out of nowhere, it was more like he noticed the lack of glares being trained on him.

He had half the mind to keep moving, but it was rather unusual for a planet and their orbitals to not actively avoid his presence.

Moon couldn't help but cast a curious glance in the same direction as the spectators, finding himself looking down at the winding roads below. There, beyond the labyrinth of one way trails, compacted dust and rock contained in golden silks of light, was the main attraction. Moon was high above, but even then he could still spot the reason why you had such a captive audience.

You were a being who contained antimatter. Poor thing, frozen to the spot, surrounded by judging eyes.

Moon could've chuckled at your unfortunate fate, if he himself was not living the same story. You just had to be someone with a magnetic pull worthy of rivaling a planet’s. A being not aligned in this cursed place’s straight and narrow hierarchy.

Moon waited as he watched the murmurings dwindle and scatter rapidly, the drifters succumbing to your pull before greedy planets or other moons dramatically pulled them away. The golden roads quickly cleared; the audience plummeting from many to one.

Looks like no one was in the mood to deal with you right away.

Moon had his fill of entertainment for the day, fine with leaving the encounter as this; just a mere glance. Yet, once he made that glance at you, no longer observing how the others observed you, he found something that made it hard to turn away.

You seemed to believe you were now alone, staring at the expanse around you, slowly twirling to take it all in. Your foot snagged on the uneven ground and you fell, your yelp failed to reach him through the thick vacuum of space.

You were nothing impressive… But your confusing emotional state was hard to miss.

What's wrong with you?

He got a little closer, jumping down to a road slightly below the trail he was on. Your figure was somewhat easier to decipher now, what with the void of your body matching the black of the surroundings making it difficult. It's easier to define some of your edges the closer he gets, the colorful dust surrounding your body much more noticeable.

He thought you were a black hole, but perhaps not…

You pushed at the rocks, sifted through the dust, and plucked at the glowing strings that hold the roads together. He couldn't read your emotions from so far, but anyone sane would be able to notice when someone is enchanted by the ground.

How could you be so preoccupied with something like that, especially after what just happened?

So, like any reasonable being, he wanted to know why.

Moon crouched at the path’s edge, coaxing the loose light hanging to the rest of its mass to pull and expand into his hand. He layered it over his shoulder, looping it until he believed he had a long enough spool of light to force a stop.

Then, with a jump, he descended, grasping the end with one hand and guiding the slack with the other as he free-fell.

His world spun, the pieces of his body juddered and grinded together, new crumbs speckling the dark half of his face and body, the murky essence keeping him whole. The feeling of floating completely, being swallowed by the inky black of space even for a moment…

It's so easy to get lost in it.

If he were to just let go…

Unfortunately he remembered to shake the euphoric feeling away; he couldn't allow it while on this little escapade. The easy glide through space led him so close to you, but with a simple twist of his leg and foot around the leftover slack, he stopped upside-down just a couple of feet above you. 

Your pull was there, but only noticeable within this close radius. At least, for him that is... That odd detail by itself already planted a seed within his mind.

He's never felt a pull like this before…

Moon watched silently as you fiddled with the light, hearing your quiet awes at how it bends and allows your hand to push through with enough force. When you raised yourself back to standing however, he decided to finally announce himself.

His voice surprised you so bad that you stumbled back to the ground, twisting onto your back to look up at him.

How unperceptive. It's… cute.

Moon could practically feel the tension radiating off of you, but he focused on his inspection of you as you collected yourself. He's heard of beings appearing from nowhere, but this is the first time he's seen someone who has.

You certainly fit the part…

Besides your unusual coverings, the biggest thing he took note of was your eyes… They're a blindingly bright white, somehow not swallowed by the void of your body.

It confused Moon greatly; the Black holes that brought him to existence had no facial features at all. They were all but swallowed whole once they became the cold creatures they were doomed to be, or so the story goes. Even the antimatter that keeps himself together threatens to swallow his 2nd eye.

Yet here you are without even a single vortex, stardust hovering around you with controlled ease. How are you calmly defying the unstoppable?

He wanted to unravel these mysteries that are suddenly piling up. Questions that he would usually never care for start to form in his mind, all directed at you.

After you relaxed in his presence and struck up a hesitant introduction, you desperately took his offer to travel with you when he acknowledged your lost expression. As he uncoiled and released himself from the golden rope, you caught him off guard with how quick you aimed to seek out answers to every little thing, starting with his now abandoned shortcut.

Seems both of you wanted to unravel the other.

Moon wasn't unreceptive to your lines of questioning, despite how new this kind of interaction is to him, rather, he was oddly charmed by them.

They were such simple queries, grounded in reality.

There were no untold rules or distrust of his presence. It was as if you didn't even feel the radius of his magnetism, easily wandering close and far from him as you wandered together.

Perhaps your pull was just simply stronger than his?

Yet, that same pull, as much as it coaxes him in, is gentle. Open. An invite rather than a demand.

It's not the commandeering gravity of the planets or the black holes, dragging all who cannot resist their orbit as part of their entourage. The cold war between those with such intense pulls is mind numbing. One claiming that it is their birthright to rule, while the other simply exists, unable to help themselves from eventually consuming those they ensnare, bit by bit.

Yet here you are, nothing like them. You don't demand anything from him. You don't cast him out for not clinging to you like how he “should” be.

To you, he's more than just a Moon, but probably no more than anyone else.

Moon would much rather prefer if all pulls felt like yours. He hoped his own enticed you just as much, if to just keep you from eventually drifting too far away.

You rapidly became a new comfort.

Watching him with wide doe eyes.

Falling in step, side by side.

To say it was intoxicating would be a little on the nose.

He taught you about so many things as the cycles passed; made more reasons for you to drift closer.

He rambled about the expanse beyond that none can touch. Moon would tell you all the fables and constellations of every system he's ever seen, if you'd just ask. He'd point out the colors that occasionally blend in the universe, explaining their meanings in mythos; it's something so enchanting that he cannot help but stand and watch from time to time, an explosion of dust and color shining through a dark, star-filled void.

It's beautiful, but unreachable.

You made the rather astute observation that the view looked like you...

Exactly, so don't leave.

Don't drift away or become untouchable.

Be his piece of the sky.

He emphasized how the roads never end and are always shifting in the loose expanse of space. Not built by the celestials but rather as if weaved by reality for their very way of life. The theories and beliefs of some other worldly beings never cease to prickle at his mind. These strange roads of fate wind around gigantic planets, becoming paths that allow celestials to reside wherever they'd like on each one, while others find comfort in reaching a star and carving out their own home within.

Despite how encouraging the winding paths are for wandering celestials, Moon chose to never keep a home. The moment he stupidly told you, you immediately set out to make him one.

He couldn’t risk getting caught, let alone having you do such a thing for him. He told you as such; the black holes will find him, the planets will chase him away, yet you debated with him over it repeatedly.

The pesky insistent attitude annoyed him with how much emotion that welled up within him.

Longing.

Hope.

Fear.

Craving.

Desolation.

Excitement.

He could have shot you down, left, and kept safe, even after you found an, admittedly , lovely vacant star to occupy. But… He wouldn't willingly pull away that far.

He loves how you cling to him, even during an argument. He'd save unsaid counterpoints just so he could start the bickering again when feeling particularly needy. Addicted to your touch.

What may have finally convinced him to stay was when you pouted, saying you'll just live there without him.

And oh… when he realized you intended to stay with him.

The flutter in the dark matter that keeps him whole made him pang. Burn in a million different ways. Pine to hold you. Beg to absorb you.

You wanted to stay with him . Live with him.

Not that random you'd frivolously talk about when explaining your past.

Part of Moon ever regrets asking, jealous of the tone shift of your voice becoming more animated and lively when you started to talk about another man. The way he’d taught you things before Moon ever had the chance of meeting you. The kiss you shared before you suddenly departed from him…

He usually tried his best to constantly keep that character out of his mind, wanting to be blissfully ignorant. He wanted to live in his fantasy where the universe was just you and him.

But now…

Did he finally get you to stop seeing that man in every little thing you saw?

Oh, please… Please let it be true.

You're too alluring to ignore the feelings in his chest anymore. He's been hooked on you the moment he saw you.

It's so hard to pretend that he doesn't want to pull you in. Mesh together until one is the other. Take him fully and wholly.

He wants to revel in you.

Stop chasing someone else light-years away when he's right here…

He couldn't just tell you, no no no, not when you could still be enamored with that memory. So he showed it in small ways. Enough to quell his bleeding heart into a sore ache. Begging for you to see his signs.

Let him entice you.

Come to him, follow his pull, like he does with yours.

He'd let you hang off his arm when you needed some reprieve from the constant walking, he feels stronger than the universe when you ask to be carried.

He'd hold you close from behind and tuck his head into your shoulder whenever either of you was emotional or introspective, disguising his selfish cravings as a physical comfort. Though, it's not much of a disguise if you were to see his wandering, clouded eyes.

He'd comfortably stand with you, regardless of where or why, and look into your eyes. Your acknowledgement or returned gaze was not necessary, you seem to have grown used to it and continue on with whatever work you carved out for today. Just seeing you from up close, being allowed to speak, allowed to touch, allowed to admire; it's enough to keep his twitching, itching, scratching desires at bay. 

He'd woven a staircase of light from the golden path and connected it to your shared home, large but dazzling railings encasing his creation to ensure you'd never fall into the void below.

He'd never let you fall without him.

So fall for him, please.

Crash into him so hard that he breaks from the inside out.

He's always been so fragile, but you are the only one allowed to shatter him.

Moon feels such desire constantly. Each smile thrown his way, all the appreciative shows of thanks, and every shiver from you in his arms makes him hope more and more.

You fulfill every craving.

He can't part from you, refuses to, so give him anything and everything you're willing to.

Please.

Shatter him completely.

He couldn't wait anymore unfortunately.

You never took the plunge, at least not openly. Now he couldn't let you come to him, not at a time like this.

The black holes finally tracked him down. The planets were furious at their arrival. You both were surrounded by each party; the all encompassing and possessive beings that hungered for something to fill their empty voids, and the prideful and spiteful monarchs that won't allow a single one of their charges or harems to be taken from them, regardless of the feelings of their lessers.

The black holes wanted to keep building upon him, the only being they so far able to create rather than destroy. Something they could feed off of for all eternity.

The Planets wanted him and you gone, a looming hidden threat to their ever growing rule, believing that you'd both side with the destruction of the black holes.

Cornered from both sides, home invaded and crushed into stardust, Moon did the only thing he could do.

And you'd fall with him.

Yanking you by the collar into his chest, he leaped past the ledge.

The twine of light he held in his other hand was the only tether between the two of you and land. He held you close and spun, allowing the string to tie you two tightly together.

Even in this situation, the uncertainty of it all, his heart is soaring.

You're so close, reliant on him. Your terrified screams as you hide your face into his chest only proves it. He's elated, euphoric even, to be here with you. The light you emit shines as brighter than anything he's ever seen.

If he closes his eyes and relaxes his body, he could even feel like he's one with the void.

One with you. The two of you are just masses of antimatter, dust, and light.

What a wonderful dream…

Your screams stop and his tight hold becomes suddenly loose.

His eyes open and with an enchanted sigh he becomes breathless.

His tether is gone.

The golden roads are so far away.

You are not in his arms.

Tears flood out of his good eye as you've done exactly what he dreaded.

You drifted away. You became one with the sky. You became untouchable.

Without him.

But oh, look at you… You're everywhere, flooding his vision with black and white, speckles of colored gas and dust gently floating in the void. You're right where you belong.

He couldn't stay mad at you for that. All he can hope is that soon enough he will be one with the sky too.

Together you'd be the greatest mythos to grace the universe. Even if he'd be the only one to believe in it.

Tingles dance upon his back as he allows his vision to blur.

If he focuses enough, it still feels like you're there.

Holding him. In his arms. Feeling the warmth and coolness of your bodies mingling together.

He dreams of his lips dancing across the crook of your neck like he was always tempted to do.

Trailing along the path he'd measure daily in his mind.

He dreams of your lips meeting his.

A gift from the divine, a taste of the untouchable.

Then finally, he dreams of black.

[stevie-petey]

Hi! Whenever you have time do you think you could write a fic about bug and Steve having dinner with his parents? Remember how on Steve’s birthday his parents came back and it was awkward and filled with tension and a promise to have dinner together sometime? :))

YESSSS !!! was hoping id be asked to write this since i intentionally added it into chapter 9 like hehehe theyll wanna read this blurb when it comes <33

enjoy !

"everything will be fine, honey." your fingers trace over the lines of steves tie, tying and retying it a million times to ease your own anxious mind.

"i feel like i should be the one reassuring you," he mumbles bitterly, once again undoing the tie so that he can try himself.

you watch him with slight amusement, though mostly concern. his hair is a mess and hes wearing a tie to a family dinner in a house hes live in his entire life. yet steves home isnt really a home and the tie is a vain attempt to mask the disappointment of it.

steves back is turned to you as he frowns in the mirror. the crease in his delicate features upsets you to see. wrapping your arms from behind him, your head pokes from over his shoulders, standing on the very tips of your toes, and you make a silly face at him in the mirror.

a gruff laugh reverberates through steves spine and you hold him close, resting your head where it fits just between his shoulder and neck, smiling into his skin. steve finds the hands that are clasped against his chest, and he encases them with his.

"i love you," he says, soft. the tie around his neck hands, forgotten, and he simply allows you to hold him.

"i love you, too."

steve tries to commit to memory the sight before him. the image of the two of you standing in the mirror together, how you just barely manage to be seen. your arms around his waist, his hands around your arms.

"my angel," he pinches your nose, and when you squeak in protest he quickly spins around and cradles your head, kissing the tip of your nose over and over again.

you erupt into laughter and steve sways your bodies together, messily dancing in your room, the imminent night no longer darkening the corners of it.

the table is set in the harrington house when you arrive. in your two years of knowing steve, youve never seen the dining table used for anything other than robotic sets and the occasional puzzle.

may harrington is in the kitchen, dressed in a gorgeous velvet gown that drapes over her frame elegantly. the smell of roast chicken wafts throughout the home and shes just finished cutting up the vegetables when you arrive.

"hello, darlings. dinner will be done shortly." she greets you and steve warmly, sweeping you into her arms the moment youre close enough.

the hug surprises you and it takes you a moment to reciprocate, but when you finally do, may sighs into your embrace.

"thank you for coming," she says, the sincerity in her voice longing and dim.

"of course," you squeeze her hands, smiling as kindly as you can. you admire the woman, you know shes done the best she can with raising steve with a husband who never wanted to be a father, but youll never forget the way steve clings so desperately onto the people in his life, the ever present fear of one day losing everyone hes ever loved.

"wheres dad?" steve looks around in the otherwise empty kitchen. may avoids his gaze. he sets his hand on the counter. he swallows, breathes out heavily. his movements are defeated, expected. "he isnt coming, is he?"

may brings her fingers to her lips. she doesnt say anything, and your fingers itch to brush against steves.

"if you have the ingredients, mrs. harrington, id be happy to put together a salad while you finish up with dinner." your only way of offering mercy to both parties. saving may from having to disappoint her son once again, and saving her son from having to linger in the feeling of familiar abandonment.

"if you wouldnt mind, that would be lovely, y/n." mays eyes are tired when you look back at her. suddenly the elegant drape of her dress seems to almost drown her. shes a shell of a once grand woman, and all you feel for her is pity.

you nod meekly at her, helping yourself to the fridge as youve done time and time again when she isnt home. theres some carrots, celery and cucumbers, and you place them onto the counter.

"steve," you softly call to him. hes still standing at the counter, eyes tracing over the line of the marble. his disappointment once used to be outrage, loud protests and direct retribution, but now, under the kitchen lighting in his childhood home, his disappointment is only adorned with resolved silence.

"honey," voice lowered so only he hears, your hand finds his arm. you try to bring warmth back to his body, try to lull him with any affection you can. "why dont you help me cut up the vegetables?"

phrased as a question, though you both know that it isnt. steve finally releases the last of the anger in his shoulders. he nods, wordless and bitter, and allows you to guide him towards the cutting board.

you stand shoulder to shoulder. his fingers skim yours every time he hands you a vegetable, and your hair brushes against his cheek. the motions are slow, eased, and slowly he comes back to you in the space only the two of you inhabit.

dinner gets served and may tries to salvage the remains of her relationship with you and her son. she makes polite conversation, and you respond with grace, though she knows that her sons disappointment accompanies yours.

the dinner lasts no longer than an hour. steve doesnt touch his food. he doesnt talk. you help may clean the dishes and as your hands soak the plates, the woman murmurs to you, "i tried, you know."

"i know," you tell her, but for what? what has may harrington tried for except the absence of a father? the conversation that failed to amend years of loneliness?

but the shadow in her eyes and the shake of her fingers smooths the anger you feel towards her. shes lovely when she is able to be. shes kind and makes her son banana bread every year it snows. she comforted steve when he had nightmares, she calls him her beautiful boy, and you know, effortlessly and easily, that she loves her son.

"i used to call my husband honey," may wipes her eye, doesnt try to hide this action from you. she shakes her head. you can see the weight of what once was etched into her beautiful eyes.

may sighs, drops her hand and looks up at you one last time. "take care of him, please."

"always," you promise her.

in the dim light of an empty and cold kitchen, two women interlace their fingers together, though they dont look at the other, and the touch says everything that they are unable to.

[sereinreality]

making a luis lives au and having it lead up to re6 so i just want to write down my ideas so far

- ada saves him without a shadow of a doubt. somehow, someway, she gets him off the island and takes him to a hospital to heal while she spends those next couple of months making plans. when luis is properly healed, she would offer one of two options; either work with her or she’ll leave him some things but they have to keep little to no contact. luis obviously goes for the first choice.

- they definitely bond over the course of time they work together from re5 to re6. i like to think their similar backgrounds, history, and goals bring them closer together. luis would always try to find a reason to throw festivities, he’s very insistent on celebrating ada’s birthday or any holiday.

- luis’s nickname for ada is “mariposa” she rolls her eyes every time he says it but she genuinely loves it

- they do a lot of moving around which means time to kill and lots of stories. luis likes to play a game where he tells a story and ada has to guess wether it actually happened or he just made it up. most of the time he’s lying but argues “you never know! maybe someday it will be true!” it makes ada smile. luis tries to make her smile as often as he can.

- luis didn’t change in terms of making jokes. he figures there’s no point in falling to despair when you’ve been given your last chance so he makes the most of it. it annoyed ada at first, thinking that luis wasn’t taking this seriously but upon closer inspection, she realized he’s grown way more cautious than before. she excused some of the teasing after that but never backed down from some back and forth

- ada and luis are like soulmates in the way that they are two sides of the same coin. where there’s one, you’ll find the other. they are connected by coincidence but they treasure it. more than anything, it’s a deep understanding between them. everything they did to survive, to get out of their respective situations, the choices they made, and the loneliness they felt. luis swears that as long as he lives, ada will never feel alone again. ada says likewise. both of them mean it with their whole heart.

- under NO circumstances can leon learn that luis survived. it’s a depressing truth they both understand that if leon got the smallest hint of luis’s survival that he would begin a manhunt to find him. they have too much work being carried out that cannot be compromised. that doesn’t stop luis from searching for leon’s name in government files or papers, he keeps up to date with anything where he’s involved. what can he say? the knight misses his prince.

- that being said leon does not handle post valdelobos very well. he still has luis’s lab key which he keeps in a box tucked away somewhere. sometimes the smell of smoke brings him back to spain and the mines where he lost someone he’s grown so close to in just a small amount of time. it shouldn’t break him as much as it does but it’s something that stays in the back of his mind. leon feels like he missed something. that there was an opportunity open to him that he failed to see, it could have been something but now he’ll never know. the door shut in his face just when leon realized what was being offered to him.

- once he saw don quixote displayed on a bookstore window with a lovely red cover and bought it immediately. it sits on his shelf collecting dust, leon hasn’t had time to read it or so he says.

- the trio do reunite in re6 but more importantly, luis catches wind of some of the stunts leon had been pulling and their first interaction after years was luis marching up to leon as he backs into a wall. luis is shouting in spanish, probably complaining about leon not prioritizing his own safety, then switching to english so he can yell in a language leon understands. it was here that he catches leon’s face. he’s so much older now, worn out like leather. leon looked exhausted but he also seemed so amazed? confused? whatever it was, he looked softer now and his eyes widen a little. he simply says, “you’re alive?”

[sun-e-chips]

*Comes out of void while following waterpark au crumbs* Okay, question.

Why is Y/n back at the water park? And do they try to avoid the boys? And it's just a whole thing of Sun and Moon trying to hunt them down and Y/n just ducking and weaving into crowds to avoid them. *Sits down in front of you* Thank you for the crumbs...

Answering this question with a part 2!

(Why y/n is back at the waterpark is yet to be revealed :)

Oh no you got caught!

[bluebird-ascended]

one piece redraw for prideee!!!

og art and headcanons under the cut :D

luffy: aroace and agender. triple threat, he truly doesnt give a fuck

zoro: gay and trans

nami: lesbian

ussop: demiboy, definitely uses he/they

sanji: bi but veryyy deep in the closet. which is ironic because he has horrible fashion sense. hes also tranfemme to me but thats post timeskip 😌

chopper: ally!

robin: trans and bi

franky: trans and straight t4t with robin. frobin canon i said so

brook: he's dead he has no game anyway. but pan

[quigzahhutt]

🤎 + sargebon for the ask game PLEASE i miss them so bad i will love you forever if you write them...

for the kisses ask game💋

🤎 multiple kisses / kisses all over / kiss after kiss

OHHHHH OKAY OKAY. anon I hope u don't mind me altering your prompt juuuuust a little bit, because i will be making this a part of my Lily/Alex/Logan universe. it will still be sargebon, but it will also include Lily in the fun as well :)

The airport is incredibly crowded.

Logan is glad they're meeting up in a less populated part of California, but he has to remind himself that it's still in California, during the holidays.

He's been recognized more times than he can count, which isn't really a bother, but Logan has just come off of an 11 hour flight and is currently in his airport clothes, feeling particularly crusty like he's been brushed with butter and left in the oven to bake.

London to California was a bad idea; an awful, awkward timezone change that he's especially unaccustomed to now that he isn't travelling to a new country every other week.

It's worth the misery, though, he reminds himself; Alex and Lily are waiting for him, and he'll get to hug them, and see them in person, and then take a nice, long nap in the car.

Speaking of; he spots Lily not too far from the exit, and he can't help the smile that breaks out across his face, toothy and uncoordinated as he approaches her.

"Hi," is the first thing she says, joy evident in her voice, before standing on her toes to give Logan a hug.

It's a bit awkward considering one of his hands is being taken up by his bag and suitcase, but he tries to wrap his other arm around her the best he can; his hand feels huge where it's splayed out across her upper back.

"Was the flight okay?" Lily asks as they pull away, and her voice is so soft it's almost inaudible, like she's afraid someone might be listening in. "I know you were texting us through the whole thing, but you look, like, dead tired. Are you okay?" Her tone is humorous, but it's intertwined with an unnecessary level of concern.

Logan can't help but huff, a little hysterical. "Yeah, I'm good, just... Not as used to long flights like that anymore, I guess," He runs his fingers through his hair as he says it, trying valiantly to keep his tone lighthearted, to ensure that she knows that he's okay just so she'll stop looking at him like that, uneasy and worried, tying knots in Logan's sternum.

Lily just hums after that, thoughtful as she stares up at him. "Okay. Alex is pulling around, so we can get going, he'll get cranky if we keep him waiting,"

Logan scoffs, "As if he isn't always late to literally everything," he rolls his eyes as he says it, and his stomach tightens as the realization of seeing Alex in person again finally sets in.

They've been calling and FaceTiming an awful lot, yeah, but Logan hasn't actually seen Alex in person since August, all the way back during Zandvoort, back when everything was kind of awful. Just thinking about it makes Logan's throat feel tight.

But as they stroll up to the car, a sleek, slate-grey Mercedes GLS, all of those worries disappear as Alex's window rolls down to slowly reveal his face, sunglasses tipped on his nose and his mouth cracked into a huge smile as the pair of them slowly approach.

"Need a lift?" Alex hardly gets the sentence out, his grin acting more as a hazard than anything, impairing his speech and making him sound absolutely off the rails.

Logan actually feels weakened by it, by seeing Alex, by seeing Lily, the truth that all three of them are finally together after what feels like years of waiting.

"Hi, Alex," is all that Logan can manage, because the feelings brewing in his chest are growing to a dangerous frequency; he's a little nervous he might just lean in through the window and kiss Alex until they're both breathless, which would be very bad for their whole secrecy thing.

So, Logan instead occupies himself by tossing his stuff into the back seat before climbing in after it, and he's sure he looks deranged, moving with an urgency that is entirely unnecessary, like he's running away from an invisible threat.

"You're riding in the back?" Lily asks, and when Logan looks up, she's standing outside of his door with an almost wounded expression on her face; when he glances over, Alex is dutifully watching him from the rearview mirror with an equally odd look in his eyes.

Shit. Fuck. Was this some sort of arranged thing he was totally unaware of?

"Uhm, I'm really tired, so the back will probably be more comfortable for sleeping. Is that okay?" He says the last part slowly, suddenly terrified that he's just done something horribly wrong.

Thankfully, Lily's face softens with relief. "Okay," she says, before bracing a hand on Logan's thigh and leaning in to give him a quick peck on the cheek, so quick that it's basically nothing, and yet Logan's heart leaps in his chest.

She makes quick work of closing his door for him and making her way to the passenger side, and when Logan glances up, Alex is still watching him through the mirror, although this time with a significantly more relaxed expression on his face.

When Alex realizes he's been staring, he quickly ducks his head, and Logan can see how the tips of his ears turn pink. He's sure they both look insane, hiding their faces and smiling down at their hands like stupid, lovesick fools, even though that's exactly what they are.

--- --- ---

Logan falls asleep quicker than he expected, and by the time he wakes up, the car is coming to a gentle stop in the driveway of a quaint little cabin, nestled somewhere deep and cozy in the mountains, dusted in a fluffy layer of snow.

He's still waking up, and he's barely getting unbuckled when suddenly his door is opening and letting in a healthy waft of winter chill that bites his exposed skin; he is definitely not dressed for this kind of weather. Oh well.

Alex seems to be the perpetrator, judging by the ridiculously large grin crowding Logan's vision. He squints at it, like Alex's smile is actually blinding, and Logan very quickly wakes up when Alex begins leaning in, peppering kisses all along his cheeks before finally making it to his mouth.

The kiss is similar to how Alex was smothering Logan just a second ago; soft pecks in quick succession, and it's a little bit uncomfortable, honestly, with just how much their teeth are trying to invade.

Logan can't even find it in himself to be bothered by it, because he actually feels like he's going to burst from joy, from finally being able to touch and kiss Alex after so many months of waiting.

But, they were going to have to separate eventually, and Logan is getting increasingly colder as the seconds tick by, so he reluctantly pulls away so he doesn't accidentally catch Alex's lip with his chattering teeth.

"Jesus, Loges, you're so pale. Does your nose always get red like that in the cold?" Alex asks, a bit hysterical, and his voice is filled with far too much glee at the prospect of Logan's flushed face.

At the same time that Logan says, "Yeah, so get out of the way so I can go inside and warm up," Lily also pipes up and says, "Yeah, Alex, so get out of his way so we can go inside!" It makes them all laugh a little, and none of it feels real; Logan can't believe that he's actually here right now.

--- --- ---

The house is unbelievably warm; Logan and Lily have no qualms in abandoning Alex to carry all their stuff inside so they can try and start a fire in the cute, rustic little fireplace in the center of the living room.

By the time Alex is done hauling all of their luggage in, Logan and Lily are sitting by the fire, leaning into each other and having idle conversation. Alex sneaks up behind the pair of them and places his freezing cold hands on the backs of their necks, snickering with retaliation for leaving him to do all the work.

When they both flinch and begin shouting at him, Alex raises his hands in defeat. "Listen! That's what happens when you leave me behind to do everything in the freezing cold!" He squawks, but the joy on his face betrays any possiblity that he might be upset.

Still, Logan can play along. "It's actually your fault for being the only properly dressed one for the weather," Lily quickly nods along, humming an affirmation in Logan's direction, and leaning further into his side to really hammer it home.

"Ugh, you're both impossible, I can't believe this," Alex resigns, and gracelessly flops back onto the leather loveseat tucked against the wall.

Lily makes a face before suddenly standing up. She moves towards the couch almost like she's going to sit with him, but she surprises both of them by instead placing a hand on Alex's chest and leaning in, looming above him as she leaves a slow, easy kiss on his lips.

"You did this to yourself, babe," Lily pulls away just barely to say it, and even though Logan can't even see it, he's sure that the energy between their eyes is insanely charged.

She smacks another kiss against his mouth, and Logan can imagine the way some of her lipgloss comes off on Alex's lips, slightly pink, sensual and glittery.

Alex then leans over, peering around Lily's body to nail Logan with an expectant look. He nods his head once, as if he's signalling Logan to come over, and when he does it, Lily turns around, still propped up against Alex's chest as she also begins staring at him.

The image of them right now, locked together, perfectly in tandem, is already a lot for Logan to process, so the fact that they're inviting him over, allowing him to interrupt their already perfected rhythm makes him feel a bit woozy.

So he stands up on wobbling feet, because it feels like a sin not to heed their calling. He feels a bit silly being watched like this, like he's something special and not just an intruder.

But when Logan gets there and Alex drags him down into a heavy kiss, full of love and reprieve, and he can feel Lily's hand in his hair, and her lips along his cheek and lining his jaw, Logan finally realizes that maybe they've always wanted him here.

[the-agent-of-blight]

Aromanticism in Academic papers (day 1)

A few days ago, I posted wondering about aromanticism in academic research. Well after a search through google scholar and some institutional access (thank you wikipedia <2) I've found some papers. Since it's Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week this week, I'm gonna try posting about one paper I found each day this week.

So today's paper is The stability of singlehood: Limitations of the relationship status paradigm and a new theoretical framework for reimagining singlehood By Dr. Hannah Tessler (2022) [stable link]

To give a summary, this paper focuses on the idea that the general conceptualization of the term single is extremely limited within the standard definition of a person without a romantic partner. This assumes that a given person's relationship status is binary, that the individual is willing to be in a romantic partnership, that singlehood is a transitory state and not one that some people prefer to be in long term. Obviously, the implications of the term single does not accurately reflect the experiences of many people without romantic partners (like many aromantic people). The paper instead proposes a new framework for classifying singles on a graph of two axes, one for Openness to romance and one for desire for romance. This framework not only allows for the term single to encapsulate more than the normative assumption, but also shows how singlehood can be stable.

Tessler identifies seven populations of singles that subvert the standard assumption:

Singles that perfer singlehood

Aromantic and/or asexual singles

Heterosexual single women who elect to opt out of heteronormative relationships

MGTOWs and to an extent some incels

Singles committed to religion

People satisfied with single life but facing social pressure

and Single people after divorce/widowhood

The section on aromanticism itself is well written and accurate. It describes the state of many of us very well, while acknowledging that there are partnering aromantics out there. For future considerations, Tessler writes: "There is currently scant research on aromanticism, but more scholarship is necessary in order to better understand the intersections and boundaries between sex, romance, and relationships."

All in all, this paper is a wonderful insight that I hope future researchers in the area of romance take a look at and use ideas from. There's a lot of research out there on romance, but not as much on the lack of it. Tessler challenges the scientific community to help fill that gap.

[link to day 2]

[pileofsith]

Nameless Part Twelve - Apostate Page 2/10 I'm sorry, the only way to visually show Barriss successfully making an ideological transmission towards the future Grand Inquisitor was to make them gaze at each other like two sad wet seals. Text is taken from the TCW episode, ‘The Wrong Jedi’. The comic is also available here on AO3.

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[stunie]

it’s soooo criminal that we are online friends bc i saw SO many of your faves at the mall today >: