#you know your limits better than the adults around you. it's okay to say actually. no. i'm not gonna be a good student anymore.

[crimeronan]

im a teenager with seasonal depression and a shitty fatigue causing disability and adhd currently still in highschool and: the way you talk abt minors right to autonomy, and How School Sucks, and everything related to that is. The Most Soothing Shit i hear all day. like. reading some of your posts abt how Good graduating early and being a Problem Child was for you was So Damn Calming.

most ppl immediately go to sooth me with the "but you Are smart, and you just need to try harder!! your life isnt entirely ruined today :) just go to school tomorrow and be Good and Learn and you'll be fineee. you aren't one of the bad ones, Dont Worry :))" and that makes me. invent new types of panic attacks and neuroses on the spot.

but having an Actual Adult whos like "no. school can infact be the fucking Torture pit for some people and it is So Utterly Fucked Up how Anyone can make you do Anything, actually. you arent a bad or damaged person this is Normal and your value isnt dependant on Schooliness. do whatever makes you least likely to kill yourself. you dont owe them shit, especially not being Good. be a problem, take up space."

is. genuinely the nicest thing Ever. to me. like. Makes me Kinda Want To Cry nicest thing ever. anyway yea. thanks for that.

ahh, this is lovely to hear. but i'm so sorry you're going through this.

i remember being in high school in 2011 when the gay teen suicides were national headlines, and everyone had Opinions on it, and the "it gets better" trend was everywhere, and -- while those videos did do a lot of good!! -- they just kind of made me more furious?? because i was so mad at all these adults basically saying, "yeah, high school is an institutional pit of death and horror, but eventually you'll be 18!!" i was like hey. Help Us Now.

it was actually the song "make it stop" by rise against that gave me any peace or sense of belonging, because. here was a band i loved full of straight dudes (as far as i know, anyway) who were just fucking MAD. they were righteously angry!! they gave a fuck what was happening!! and lyrics like "the gatherings hold candles but not their tongues" rang SO true to me, as someone who was dealing with endless "oh, so sad he died, but there was something wrong with his brain" discourse.

the memory of that has made it REALLY easy to hold onto my anger in adulthood. because sometimes kids don't need "it'll be fine, just hang on :)" they need "you're gonna be okay, but FUCK ALL THIS."

it's truly fucking Unconscionable to do what we do even to neurotypical, able-bodied teens with good home lives. i want to say i can't imagine being a teen with chronic fatigue and ADHD going to classes eight hours a day.... but i can!! i did that!! and almost died!!

i honestly think the lack of autonomy in the US school system is traumatic For Everybody. different levels of trauma, for sure! but i think that's part of why adults seem so disconnected from our teen years and can't remember the realities of being an adolescent. we overwrite the horrors.

the good news is: it Does get better after school. astonishingly so.

in the meantime: you don't owe anyone Anything. literally your only job right now is to survive. do whatever you need to do to not kill yourself or end up in jail. don't worry about anything else. i promise it Does Not Matter As Much As People Say It Does.

[princessefemmelesbian]

Maybe I’m just being dramatic but it does legitimately scare and sadden me to see that a lot of transandrophobia truthers are literally just…young boys. Like, actual children. Like you’re not even old enough to vote yet and you have your whole life ahead of you and yet you are being manipulated into joining an mra group that hates trans women with a passion and thinks that men are oppressed in society for being men, and constantly uses Black men as their talking point in order to sound diverse and inclusive, meanwhile they’re also appropriating and misusing terminology specifically created by Black women to talk about our own oppression in order to get their misandry point across…to say nothing of the fact that the largest people in this group(including but not limited to its creator!) have misogynistic rape/detrans kinks centered specifically around preying on lesbians and trans women and this is something that is normalized and defended by the vast majority of transandrophobia truthers, or at least defended viciously by every single transandrodork that I’ve ever encountered who argued with me(a lesbian!!!) that actually there’s nothing wrong with getting off to the corrective rape of women because two consenting adults can do whatever they want in the bedroom(yeah right)! Not to mention I have yet to come across a transandrophobia truther who wasn’t also a raging die-hard Zionist.

And that’s why it disturbs me so much to see young trans boys jumping onto this transmisogynistic hate train like you guys realize these men don’t have your best interests at heart, right? They’re only going to manipulate you into being a sexist entitled asshat who shuns and bullies the trans women in your community and sees them as oppressing you. Like I know you’re still in middle/high school but you can still think for yourselves, you can choose to be better than this, you can choose to actually learn about feminism and realize that it’s not actually misandry that oppresses you, it’s transphobia. Misandry doesn’t suddenly become real because you slap a trans paint over it that’s not how it works that’s not how intersectionality works that’s not how any of this shit works. There are better trans men to talk to about trans issues who know that the patriarchy is real and don’t shit on trans women in order to speak out about trans topics, so go seek them out, okay? You absolutely do not have to listen to shit that the “male supremacists but trans” group of lowlives has to say. Hell, tell them to fuck off instead! Please, I promise you that there are much better options, there are ALWAYS better options, and you still have time to escape before they fully radicalize you into basically being an incel. There will ALWAYS be another way. ❤️

[casanovawrites]

random sentence prompts  ━ from various tv shows, part 12

i can’t remember the last time i went to bed.

to make it good, i’d have to filter out the bad.

you two are weird in all the same ways.

no wonder we didn’t last.

you know you don’t have to fix everything? sometimes the best reaction is to just be still.

calling us ‘friends’ is a bit of a stretch.

i see what you’re doing. you’re avoiding having fun.

don’t let your ego cost you everything you love in life.

i hurt you once. i don’t ever want to do that again.

if you want someone to worry with you, then i’m in.

i’ve dimmed my light on more occasions than i can count for you.

this is the stuff you tell the people you care about.

you separate yourself from everyone and everything. you always have.

we should all just let ourselves be a little boring again. 

you must ask permission to tell stories from now on.

it was one of the worst days of my life. and that’s actually saying something.

it wasn’t great without you.

everyone’s just so obsessed with my past. maybe that’s why i like being with you. you’re just new.

you’re all i have.

i still love you. is that crazy?

we’re about five minutes away from heads on spikes and cannibalism.

you’re an adult now. you don’t get to blame your problems on anyone but yourself.

for the first time in my life, i don’t want to do it alone.

if i wanted you dead, you’d be dead.

i’ve seen the obnoxious way y’all look at each other.

i said no talking. you broke the rules of my sanctuary. 

i’m not your friend, and we’re not more than friends, so what am i?

i think i’d be used to the fear of losing my life by now.

what i feel for you scares me sometimes. okay, a lot of the time. 

it’s like i’ve been sleepwalking through my own life.

i have seen you. you look like shit.

i feel like everyone i love always leaves. or… is taken.

i want you to hate each other but in a friendly way.

i want you to tell me why you look so fucking scared.

i don’t know what to do with all this anger.

if you’re gonna try to woo my girl, at least be accurate. 

we always do this. it’s like a sick cycle. we’re not even nice to each other half the time.

i shouldn’t have to prove my innocence to you.

finding love can be hard for someone like me.

you know you don’t have to fix everything. sometimes the best reaction is to just be still.

lonely people do scary things.

i know if you put your mind to something, it’s gonna happen.

i’m your weakness. but you are not mine.

i just wanted you to feel safe and comfortable. 

sometimes i just want to feel so normal that i’m almost boring.

sometimes it feels like i’m just watching other people experience things.

i’m honestly just not somebody who gets very excited about things.

if you wanted nice, you’d be with someone else.

are you really checking your phone right now? i’m trying to talk to you.

i hate you for this.

you’re the person who always finds a way. it’s one of the things i love about you.

my pain doesn’t give me permission to hurt you. but it’s real.

i think you’re the only person who really knows who i am and still likes me anyway.

i don’t belong anywhere, thanks to you.

kicking your butt would make me feel better.

you know, sometimes i just think you lie for the fun of it.

we can’t just keep throwing the word ‘family’ around. it isn’t enough.

you were always a killer. i just pointed you in a direction.

no matter what happens, i’m coming back for you. you have to believe me.

look me in the eye and tell me you’re not threatened now.

bad things happen. good people die.

maybe i’m just not the kind of person you miss.

you’re plenty elegant.

i will never dim my light for anyone ever again.

you take up all the oxygen in the room.

you don’t care about me. you just don’t know how to be alone.

i’ve never felt so hopeless in my life.

wait. you’re happy to see me. what’s wrong?

i can’t lose myself in you.

i got your back, okay, but there’s a limit.

i am so going to enjoy killing you one day.

fighting only causes more pain when you lose the thing you fought for.

man’s greatest flaw: the illusion of control.

you got me, and you got this.

i didn’t know who i was. but i do now.

you know what? love shouldn’t have to hurt this much.

we could have a whole life together.

it’s going to get worse before it gets better, so i need you to hold on.

i don’t care enough about you to lie.

there is a certain honesty in white hot hatred.

i’m too bright a light to be anybody’s secret.

i’ve been chasing a ghost all over town.

i don’t want my life to be all about the worst parts of it. 

i hope that you charge rent to the people inside your head.

i don’t know. just be hot, okay?

must you poop on every party? 

who are we without a homicide?

it’s kind of nice to be missed.

so, you’re sleuthing? 

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Look After You | For As Long As You Need

What about a spidey fic? I love how you write those. Maybe Peter’s feeling insecure and the Avengers try to help? Idk, it doesn’t matter to me as long as it’s spidey. – anon

Read on Ao3 Part 1

Warnings: injury, bedrest, self-esteem issues, panic attacks

Pairings: none

Word Count: 2225

Recovery is hard.

Not just because broken ribs always suck and even his healing factor has its limits, not just because he's cooped up on bedrest when all he wants to do is crawl on the ceiling and make all of this go away, but because he's still here. In the Avengers' compound and he's not sure what the hell he's supposed to be doing.

"Resting," Yelena says helpfully when he mumbles as much, putting down her crochet project she's been fiddling with on and off for the last few weeks, "you got hurt, Baby Spider, now you get better."

"But I don't just want to lie here! I can still do things!"

"Things that don't involve you challenging Barton to another round of trick shots in the archery range?" She doesn't even look ashamed when he gawks at her. "Barton wants you to get better too, you know. That way he doesn't have to feel bad about beating you soundly."

"He wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what, beat you soundly or wouldn't feel bad about it?"

"Aunt Spider—" Peter is not whining, he is making his voice sound like this on purpose because his ribs hurt— "I don't just want to lie around in bed all day!"

"You could do your homework."

"I've already done all my homework!"

"You could catch up on studying for your tests."

"I don't need to study for those anymore, I basically have all the practice questions memorized. Besides, I'm not supposed to do that for more than four hours a day anymore."

"Oh? Why is that?" He mumbles something under his breath. "What was that?"

"…maybe I stayed up too late and passed out with all of my books."

"Is that all?"

"And spilled coffee and energy drinks everywhere."

"You really aren't helping me beat the rumors that you're my kid," Mr. Stark says, startling Peter while Yelena snickers. He comes into the room and sits on the edge of the bed, ruffling his hair with a comfortable fondness that makes Peter's chest hurt for a different reason. "And that does mean I'll sick DUM-E and U in here to make sure you stay in bed."

"But Mr. Stark—"

"Nope! No buts." He holds up a finger. "Pepper's enforced the no-work-on-bedrest rule enough times that I'm not about to help you break it."

Peter is not pouting, his bottom lip is just bigger than his top one. Exclusively right now. Right now is when that's true. Mr. Stark just sighs and ruffles his hair again.

"Cheer up, kid. We'll order your favorite junk food and binge-watch some awful action movies tonight, okay?"

"Okay, Mr. Stark."

"There's my favorite young adult." He stands, wagging a finger at Yelena too. "You still good for guard duty?"

"That's what I'm here for."

It's probably a joke. It's supposed to be a joke. He's known Mr. Stark and Yelena long enough to know when they're joking. This is, in all likelihood, just a joke at his expense and they're not actually serious about guarding him like he's a prisoner or someone dangerous where they can't afford to have him escape and cause trouble.

So why does Peter feel like he's been shot and stabbed all over again?

He messed up really badly on the last mission. They said they weren't mad, but not being mad didn't mean weren't disappointed and everyone knows that's worse. Maybe that's why they're guarding him. There's been someone in his room pretty much at all hours and he knows he's being watched on the cameras too. Is he being guarded? He's definitely being guarded, and that means they still don't trust him.

Is it because he's so young? Crying all over Yelena and trying to be strong when really all he did was reveal how scared he was and how young—what sort of person couldn't deal with a rightly-earned scolding? Is he really so immature that he can't take something so simple as being told he'd messed up when he knew he did? That probably has something to do with it; they'd seen how truly childish he was when he tried to 'bravely' insist that he's ready to be yelled at—why had he jumped right to the conclusion that he was going to be yelled at? Did he think they were so bad that they'd just go straight to yelling? No questions for his perspective? No consideration for his side of the story? No, he'd just assumed they'd be mad and yell at him and he'd gotten himself all worked up for nothing.

"Peter? Baby Spider?"

He blinks. Oh. He's started crying again. That's embarrassing. He blinks a few more times to clear his vision and sees Yelena staring at him with open concern. He tries to mumble something along the lines of—well, he hadn't actually gotten far enough to decide what it was he was going to say, but instead of words coming out, he just sniffles. She scoots a bit closer, reaching out to check something on the bedside table, and then cards her fingers through his hair. The light tingling sensation feels really good, and it just makes him cry harder.

"Shh, shh, Baby Spider," she's whispering, "what's wrong? Talk to me, tell me what's making you cry."

"'M sorry—"

"No apologies, Baby Spider, remember? I will not abandon you to pain."

And just that, just that memory of all of them being so worried for him, all of them clustered around that hospital bed, is enough to make him feel even worse. Because what right does he have to assume the worst of them? They're the fucking Avengers, who is he to think badly of them?

"Hey, stay with me." The hand in his hair pushes it back from his face. "Stay with me, look at me, that's it—yes, look at me. Peter? Are you here with me?"

"Y-yeah, Aunt Spider, I'm—I'm here."

"That's good. Can you stay with me this time? Can we try?" He nods again. "Good. Now, let's try this again: what's making you cry, Baby Spider?"

He sniffles, trying to focus on her question and not the roiling guilt in his gut or the soft touch of her fingers against his still-tender scalp. "I just want to be able to do things."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? But you didn't do anything wrong!"

"Sympathy, Baby Spider, not remorse." She takes the half-finished crochet animal and boops his nose with its nose. "I've been on bedrest before, it's not fun."

"It's not."

"That's why I'm here to keep you company, hm? So that our Baby Spider doesn't go insane while he can't climb on all the walls and scare us at two in the morning."

"I don't scare you," he replies mulishly, "just Mr. Stark."

"And it's wonderful and I will be uploading that video to YouTube once it gets long enough."

He snorts. "Good luck."

"Thank you." She nudges his cheek this time. "Are you feeling any better? Do you need anything?"

"Will you tell me another story, Aunt Spider?"

"Of course I will."

***

Yelena has to leave before movie night, which means someone else swaps out for guard duty. He hopes it'll be Dr. Banner, maybe he can convince him to talk about work even if they don't actually do anything. Or maybe Rhodey, because then he can just hear all the stories about Mr. Stark when he was younger and getting into trouble.

He doesn't get those. No, instead Captain Rogers comes in with that soft smile and sits down in the chair with a sketchbook and Peter is terrified.

Not because he thinks Captain Rogers would hurt him, no, but because Captain Rogers is Captain Fucking America and he's already fucked up enough in front of him that he probably thinks Peter's awful and too young and too immature and the fact that he's assuming the worst of him right now is only proving him right and he's going to freak the hell out and—

"Hey, hey, sweetheart, look at me."

There's a warm hand on his face. There's another warm hand on his chest. There's a soft voice in his ear. He's gasping and sobbing. When did that happen?

"Eyes on me, Peter," Captain Rogers is saying, and he really should be trying to listen, "that's it, just like that, eyes on me."

"'M here, I'm sorry, I'm here."

"Shh, shh, it's okay, sweetheart." Oh, god, not the pet names. "You're doing so well. Just keep breathing and keep your eyes on me, okay? Just look at me."

He keeps talking, keeps talking in that really low comforting voice that all superheroes need to have for when they talk to civilians, and Peter's not sure why that's twisting in his gut the same way the panic was earlier, but now his stomach is aching and he thinks he must mumble something about it because then one of his big warm hands slides down and he's about to protest but he rubs a soft, slow circle into the tender skin and it shuts him right up. It's just like him: gentle but insistent, and Peter's crying like a baby again because he's being so nice and Peter's being so mean to him.

"You're not being mean to me, sweetheart," he soothes, looking so distraught that Peter thinks he's being bad, "you're just crying. That's okay."

"N-no, I'm—I keep thinking you're—that I'm—"

"That you're what," he prompts gently when Peter shakes his head furiously, refusing to finish his sentence, "that you're what, Peter?"

"It's nothing."

"It's made you panic and hurt," comes the soft correction, "that's not nothing."

"It's stupid."

There's a pause, during which Peter's brain does its best to panic again, but then Captain Rogers is turning his face toward his with a terribly soft look on his face and that hand on his stomach is still soothing away the fear before it has time to form and he's going to cry all over both of them again.

"I know you're scared," he murmurs, "I know you're hurt. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not going to be mad at you, I'm not going to kick you out of here or anything like that. You're one of us, kid, and we care about you. Not just because you're an incredible hero, but because you're a good kid. You're our good kid, no matter how much Tony and Nat and Yelena try to monopolize you. You're our Peter Parker, and we're here for you. Not just as Spider-Man, but for you."

…well, fuck.

"Is that it?" His face falls when Peter just nods frantically. "Oh, kid…I can't hug you right now, but—no, okay, we're gonna make this work. Come here, lift your head up…"

He slides one arm under Peter's head and shoulders, leaning over the bed and bringing him into a slightly awkward cuddle, but it's still a cuddle and Peter's crying all over again because Captain Rogers is trying to cuddle him because he's upset.

"Shh, shh, it's okay," he's whispering, "I'm right here, sweetheart, everything's gonna be okay."

"What did you do to my Baby Spider?"

"Shh, it's just Nat, it's okay." He turns over his shoulder. "I'm giving him a hug because he's scared and upset, if that's alright with you."

"Why is my Baby Spider upset?" She comes around to the other side of the bed, letting out a quiet noise and wiping a tear from his cheek. "What did Steve do?"

"N-nothing, nothing, he didn't do anything wrong, please—"

"Now look what you've done," Captain Rogers says, but he's still speaking softly, like it's just a joke, and he's pulled in for a kiss on the forehead, "you're making him more upset."

"Oh, Baby Spider, it's okay, we're just playing. You're okay, you're okay…" She picks up his hand and kisses his knuckles. "What's got you all upset today?"

"Jus' being stupid."

"No," Captain Rogers corrects, still soft, still gentle, "try again, sweetheart."

The lump in his throat won't go away. "'M scared that you're gonna—that 'm gonna lose this."

"Lose what, Baby Spider? Us taking care of you? Us caring about you?" How does she do that? "Oh, Peter, no. You're stuck with us forever."

"You don't have to threaten him, Nat."

"Is that what you think my threats sound like, Rogers?"

Peter laughs. It's more of a sob than a laugh and he's definitely still crying, but it is a laugh. And he almost wants to laugh again at how quickly the two of them melt. Captain Rogers keeps rubbing his aching stomach and Ms. Romanoff starts playing with his hair again and his eyes get heavy before he can even think about it too much. "We still—'re we still movie night?"

"Yeah, sweetheart, we're still on for movie night. You gotta stay awake long enough to tell Tony what you want for dinner, though."

"FRIDAY knows."

"Oh, she does, does she?"

"Peter has already informed Mr. Stark that the Number 12 meal has been requested."

"How many of those do you two have?"

"…'bout 30 I think?"

"Oh, Baby Spider, don't ever change."

[stonesparrow]

Early Riser Ch. 3

My Senku-Wakes-Up-Early AU where Senku wakes up 10 years after the petrification.

Chapter 2

By the time they manage to get to the bank where Yuzuriha’s dad works, she’s made a very compelling argument for reviving him, if only because he can, yknow. Actually drive.

Senku concedes the point with only some minimal protests about how he’s totally improving on the driving front, and notes the fact that it probably would be a good idea to have at least one adult in their party since the farmers in northern Kanto probably won’t take three fifteen-year-olds very seriously, potentially jeopardizing the overall mission.

Yuzuriha says she’d be okay with reviving only her dad since she knows their revival fluid supplies are limited, but Senku shrugs and says it’d be better for their psychological well being to bring her mom along too. Plus more bodies is still more bodies, especially since even with Taiju lugging around a bunch of stuff is getting to be a bit tiring. He pretends not to see how Yuzuriha obviously deflates in relief and gratitude when he mentions this.

And so Ogawa Makoto is the fifth person to wake up in this strange new world.

Yuzuriha throws her arms around her dad as soon as he starts breathing again, and he blinks down at them curiously as he hugs her back.

“You know, I suspected the three of you might have something up your sleeves when everything went dark,” he remarks nonchalantly as he takes in the petrified bank workers and customers. “So, any particular reason you woke me up?”

“You’re weirdly relaxed about all this,” Senku remarks, eyebrow raised. Mr. Ogawa has always been a pretty chill guy (a good thing, considering the shenanigans his daughter and her friends get up to), but being so nonchalant about waking up in the post-apocalypse feels like a bit of a stretch. 

He shrugs. “Eh, I’m just well practiced in compartmentalizing my emotions, the fear and panic is pretty well locked up in here.” He taps his forehead. “The other tellers say it’s almost creepy how relaxed I seem in stressful situations.”

“He once stopped a bank robbery by just talking calmly at the thief until they got so unnerved they left,” Yuzuriha says.

“You know this does kind of explain why Yuzuriha didn’t even flinch when she told off those bullies back in fifth grade,” Taiju remarks.

When they tell him about the car situation, the only thing Mr. Ogawa says about it is that he’s genuinely surprised it took this long for Senku to try driving without a license.

With that handy little insight into the trio’s parents’ view of how chaotic they are, Mr. Ogawa drives them to Yuzuriha’s house and they add Ogawa Hikari to the party.

While Yuzuriha definitely got her nerves of steel from her dad, Senku’s pretty sure she got her intense work ethic from her mom. The first thing Mrs. Ogawa does when waking up other than greeting her husband and daughter is to immediately take inventory of all their supplies and suggest they raid the nearest camping equipment store without a hint of hesitation.

“We should go wake up the Okis too,” she says before anyone can say they were already planning on checking on Taiju’s house. “Mrs. Oki has that old hunting rifle that might be of use.”

When they all just stare at her, she frowns. “Well we can’t rely entirely on canned meat, you know, and without steady protein we’ll start to get weaker. Plus I’m concerned about the wild predators we’ll encounter in the north. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not have to worry about bears who aren’t used to seeing humans around anymore.”

It’s a good point, and after loading up all of Yuzuriha’s crafting things they quickly head over to Taiju’s place to pick up his grandparents. 

Oki Kazuhiro immediately bursts into happy tears and embraces all three teenagers at once, saying he was so scared when everything went dark even if he knew Senku and Yuzuriha would take care of “our little Taiju.”

His wife Chie smacks him lightly on the shoulder and tells him off for being such a worrywart before sternly telling the teens that just because they’re saving the world doesn’t mean they’ll be off the hook for any past or future “incidents,” especially since they’ve done more breaking and entering in the last few days than they’ve ever had before.

They find a larger vehicle to carry the party of now seven people to the nearest camping store, and Senku helps Mrs. Oki repair her hunting rifle as she complains about how her license is definitely expired by now.

Mr. Oki manages to somehow Tetris all of their supplies into the new van they borrowed and can remember exactly where he put everything, which is great because Senku’s plan was more or less “throw it all in and deal with it later.” 

Then after ensuring that they have extra batteries on hand, they head north. 

It only takes a few hours to get there, but somehow Senku finds himself nodding off, both him and Yuzuriha resting their heads on Taiju’s shoulders. Before he fully falls asleep though, he hears snippets of whispered conversation from the adults.

“Looks like they’re getting sleepy, huh?”

“I can only imagine. Why do they feel the need to put so much pressure on themselves, you think? They’re just kids.”

“Just kids, you say. About the three hellions that nearly blew up their school gymnasium?”

“Now Oki-san, they did promise never to do that again.”

“She has a point though. They may be young, but they’re not really…ordinary, are they? Even Yuzuriha says she feels like the other girls think she’s weird.” 

“So it might be that they don’t really trust anyone else but each other when it comes to special situations. Why else would Senku-kun wake them up before any adults?”

“Well I’m glad he at least trusts us. I think that boy tries to act too grown up sometimes. And with his father gone—“

“Shhh, let’s not talk about that right now. We have to focus on the plan, alright? No use worrying about something we have no knowledge of.”

“But it’s a real concern. There’s no way Byakuya-san is—“

“We don’t know that. Maybe the astronauts were able to come down to Earth on their own, you know? Some sort of escape pod scenario or whatever.”

“But if he—“

“We can’t. We can’t just talk about him like that. Not in front of the kids. Not in front of Senku. That hope…we all need that right now. You know?”

“…I see. But you didn’t let me finish.”

“Alright?”

“I was saying, that if the worst case scenario happens…then we all have to share the responsibility of taking care of Senku-kun from now on. I’m sure he’ll act like he’s fine on his own, and we can let him think that, but he’s been an Oki as much as he is an Ishigami since Taiju chose him all those years ago, and that’s never going to change.”

“…Well of course. I thought it was a given that we’d do that.”

“I know Yuzuriha would give us hell otherwise.”

“Hmph. Good.”

“Awww Chie, you’re such a sweetie inside aren’t you?”

“Shut up. The kids are sleeping.”

Senku feels someone placing a quilt over him, Taiju, and Yuzuriha, and the softness of the fabric and the rhythm of the van rumbling along finally pulls him into sleep. 

[issie-https]

Rule Breaker

Steven Adler X Reader

A/n: Dedicated to the most beautiful man ever, Steven Adler🤭🫶

Word count: 820

Warnings: Fluff & Axl being a controlling older brother😤

Main masterlist

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"Y/n, can you get the door? It'll be the guys!" My brother, William yelled from the kitchen. "You're in the kitchen, walk for once," I yelled back. "You're right there," He shouted. I rolled my eyes and opened the door. Behind it stood my brothers friends and band members, Duff, Saul, Izzy and Steven. I've never really had a thing for my brothers friends but when I say Steven is different, I really mean it. He's literally the definition of perfect. His blonde hair which was almost always messy but framed his face in the most perfect way possible. His blue eyes feeling like a gut punch with how breathtaking they were. And my favourite of all, his bright smile. His soft, plump lips always curved upwards, revealing his perfect teeth. I wonder how his lips would feel on mine or how they'd feel, between my legs ma- "Y/n? You okay?" I heard Duff say. "Huh? Yeah, just thinking about some homework I've got for college. I'll be in my room," I spoke not quiet enough to be a whisper but not loud enough to be speaking. Not quick enough to be rushed but not slow enough to be a stroke.

I rushed upstairs to my room and sat down on my bed, just staring at the ceiling. Now, normally by now I would've asked Steven out but I can remember the conversation or pep talk if you will, that he gave to the guys the first time they met me.

"The ground rules for you four are, One, no dating my sister. Rule two, No kissing my sister. Lastly, no sex, AT ALL with her. Am I fucking clear?" He stated. "What's the fun in that?" Slash joked, causing Axl to throw a magazine at him. "Fine, god! We get it," he rolled his eyes. The rest of them just grunted a 'yeah'.

"Hey, y/n? You okay?" I heard a voice from the other side of my door. "Huh? Oh, yeah, fine thanks," I replied, just wishing they'd go away so I could continue thinking about someone I can't have. "Is it okay if I come in?" He spoke again. "I guess so," I replied once again. The door knob twisted and in walked no one other than Steven. "Oh, Stevie, I didn't realise it was you," I perked up as he closed the door behind him. "Yeah, you looked at me weird when you welcomed us in," he smiled. "That's just my face, I'm afraid," I joked. "No it's not. I know your face, your face is usually filled with life, love and happiness. Today, you look..." he stalled, looking for the word. "Pissed off?" I finished his sentence with how I was actually feeling. "I was gonna say like you're plotting Axl's death but that'll do," he laughed. There it was again, his angelic smile. "But in all seriousness, what's wrong?," He asked. "Nothing out of the ordinary, just Axl getting in the way of my life because he doesn't want to believe I'm an adult," I explained. "I know he's a tad bit controlling, Y/n, but he's just trying to keep you safe and happy," he replied. "If he wanted to keep me happy, he'd let me date who I want. I can't have one fucking relationship where he doesn't chime in and ruin it. It's the same with the person I like now, him and his stupid, possessive, shitty fucking rules are stopping me from having a relationship I really, really want," I started crying half way through the sentence, making Steven place his arms around me and pull me into his chest. "He can't stop you from doing what you want but he can help you make better decisions for yourself. Maybe you should talk to him and see if you can come to an agreement on this person," he replied. "I can't, Stevie. The person is off limits one hundred percent," I started crying more, but not from sadness, from anger. "Oh, Y/n. Who is it? Maybe I can help you with them," He offered. "I can't tell you," I mumbled. "I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other?" He begged. "We don't but this is too much for us," I sobbed. "If you don't want to tell me, I underst-". "It's you, Stevie. I love you, I want to be with you but Axl will lose his shit," I interrupted him. "R-really?" He whispered. "Why would I lie about something like that?" I mumbled. Before either of us could say something else, he kissed my lips, hungrily, desperately. I kissed him back, the kiss turning heated but in a romantic way. Not sloppy but not all that coordinated. "We can find a way around Axl's rules because I fucking adore you, Y/n Rose," He grinned, making me go all gooey inside.

That fucking smile.

[team-heavenly]

Drumroll‚ please! 🥁

It’s been some time, and I managed to slip on my promised deadline once again (thank you for your patience)... But finally‚ we return to the story of Teresa and Andrea in our Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky Randomizer!

A few items of note before we get started (and yeah sorry this is overly detailed and lengthy because idk what it means to be concise, just scroll down if you're not interested):

Please be aware: updates to Team Heavenly’s story will not be as frequent as they were during main. I now work a full-time job in a field where my schedule is somewhat contingent on unanticipated emergencies. And in general‚ I’m just a very busy adult! So I unfortunately can’t give you an exact (or even rough) timeline of when posts will be released— It basically comes down to whenever I have the time to do it. But rest assured‚ the entirety of this tale will be told… eventually!

I’ve gotten my hands on a newer tablet since last year, so my camera quality is much better now! …However. While snapping pics for this post‚ a seemingly unavoidable digital blue glare persisted‚ no matter how I adjusted my screen brightness. When I subsequently ran these photos through the auto function‚ they didn’t really… improve? So I had to do a lot of manual tweaking… Anyway‚ all of that to say if one shot doesn’t look visually consistent with another, it’s because each image got edited a little bit differently.

I will link multiple posts for a single "chapter" (see last bullet) in the same manner as before, with preceding and succeeding parts linked at the beginning and end, respectively. I’ll also update the table of contents in the pinned post for continued ease of navigation.

Also, please note... last year, my older iPad somehow managed to circumvent any sort of (consistent) image limit. But that is not the case this time! There is a strict hard limit of 30 images per post. It's therefore likely that post-game chapters will have more parts than the main-story chapters ever did. (Though whether that actually equates to a "lengthier" chapter is up for debate.)

As the post-game content does not get separated into official chapters‚ I will be partitioning the story based on subject matter! For example, this first act will focus on the guild’s graduation exam, the next will include Sky Peak, and so on. I also intend to use a random number generator to select chapter names from this list. (I mean, c’mon, that's part of the fun of a randomizer!) But for the sake of clarity, I will be including the actual subject matter after the chosen title in (parentheses). Thus‚ this first unofficial post-game chapter is known as…

Chapter 21: Would you like to eat moss?

(AKA: The Guild’s Graduation Exam)

As a result of Teresa and Andrea’s heroic actions… The destruction of time was stopped and peace returned to the world of Pokémon. They went back to Totodile’s Guild and fell back into their daily routine of vigorous training.

One morning‚ several months later…

Pineco: “:/ Hey hey, why can Teresa and Andrea take the graduation exam before we do? We’ve been around a lot longer…”

Tropius: “…They literally saved the world and have proven themselves to be worthy many times over. Also skill issue lol.”

Don’t feel bad for Pineco though; he’s not the only one getting roasted.

Lol rip.

Anyway‚ Andrea asks the very sensible question of what exactly this exam entails…

Dark Chasm? Evil MANSION?!

Are you— are you sending us back to the future‚ Totodile?! WTF??

Oh! That’s easy enough though. I mean‚ compared to scaling a collapsing tower while Time itself crumbled at our feet? Pshaw! This will be a cakewalk!

...You know, this is really the first thing that should have tipped me off as a kid 🤦‍♀️

🤨 How convenient.

Okay, so he's not gonna be any help, unfortunately. Looks like we're going in blind. (Haha unintentional pun...unless?)

But for real, anything that makes Mewtwo cry out in fear and run away is a force to be reckoned with indeed.

As we enter Nautical Cottage to begin our preparations, we run into our stand-ins for Teddiursa and Ursaring! After a quick chat, Horsea reveals they are also headed to the Dark Chasm...

*seen (sorry).

Also, at the risk of beating a dead Horsea (aHA! TWO FOR TWO ON THE PUNS!), y'all go play WHERE? *gets hit immediately by a Snipe Shot*

Andrea immediately suspects something is sus. Unfortunately, this is the smartest she's ever gonna get about it.

Anyway, it's been a hot minute, so I go to check my storage and evaluate what I have to work with...

BRUH?? I do NOT remember picking this up omg 😳

So my plan is to equip this for the exam, right? But then I totally forgot to do that 😅

Also I don't have a picture for this but I was able to buy 3 Poké from the Finnkecleon shop for free lol

✅Mission: set ✅Destination: arrived ✅Chance of success: 💯😎🎆

Oh my god, this really is the future of darkness!! I guess our efforts to save the world weren't enough, damn 😓

🎶I'm starting with the man in the mirror I'm asking him to change his ways🎶

A couple of Gummis later, Teresa learns the Lava Evader IQ Skill! Neat!

Me when Ivysaur used Fly:

Believe it or not, this actually almost killed Andrea at 96 damage. But the stairs were nearby and I wasn't too worried about it until...

Go figure, amirite?

Then Andrea reminded me of the awesome power of Blizzard and we knocked out everyone except Combusken and the Kabuto on the first turn <3 And she got right back up again in no time with the Fast Healer skill!

Does anyone remember that one time when I had the foolish idea to forget Quick Attack in favor of Helping Hand? Yeah, not one of my smartest moves. But I managed to find a TM in this dungeon that does the same thing as Quick Attack but better!

Here's the info for Quick Attack:

And here's the info for Mach Punch:

Higher power and hit ratio? Yes please! (Yes, I'm aware both are only one star stronger. But hey, every bit counts.)

I teeechnically have enough room for three more images, but this feels like a natural transition point so click here to advance to Part 2!

[menlove]

This is an odd question but it relates to the porn thing. Some people I trust a lot to have good opinions have pointed out that kinks are oftentimes being essentialized by pro porn activists, when the kinks people have often mirror the popular porn categories we know. They also said that they mourn the fact that people often act like vanilla sex is being handled as something „lesser“ than kinky sex. I noticed this, too. I got confronted with porn when I was 12, drew gay porn on Twitter for a long time and noticed that there’s a lot of minors seeking out hardcore stuff that I only discovered when I was in my 20s. I kinda feel like a lot of us fandom artists unknowingly shaped these young kids and their understanding of sexuality, sometimes probably negatively. Do you think nsfw artists kinda added fuel to the fire? I can’t help but feel incredibly guilty.

throwing this under a read more just bc it got pretty long fasdfasdf

hmmm i feel like this is a pretty complex topic? but first of all i do wanna say you shouldn't feel incredibly guilty i don't think. as long as you weren't trying to expose minors to your content, i don't think you have anything to feel guilty about. minors are Going to find nsfw content one way or another and the best we can do is just make sure we are putting up 18+ warnings/screening who interacts with and follows our nsfw content, and promoting safe sex/bdsm practices for all ages. minors absolutely should Not be involved in bdsm imo, but it's better that accurate and safe info is available than not for those that choose to participate despite warnings (& this is assuming minors doing this w other minors btw it's a whooole other conversation w them "participating" w adults)

as for nsfw/fandom artists and how that relates to like. actual porn. i feel like the Biggest problem w porn (bdsm and otherwise) is the exploitation of the actors. when it comes to fanart/fanfic, there Is impact, but not nearly as large as real porn by real human actors. so while it's the responsibility of fandom nsfw creators to make sure they're doing their best to a) bar minors from their content and b) promote safe practices, i don't think you should feel Guilty and Bad for producing bdsm fan content

this is maybe getting a lil personal and is like... just my story/take and i'm sure there's other people who feel differently but. idk how old you are and we might be the same age/you might be younger bc everyone has different experiences and exposure to the internet, but i was definitely one of the kids in this case. i started seeking out nsfw fan content around middle school (stumbled on it accidentally earlier) and encountered some very very hardcore stuff young. but it's like... hm. w fanart/fanfic there's only so much realism that goes into it ykwim? and obviously acted out porn isn't "realistic" either, but they are still bound by the limits of the human body in a way fan content isn't. and that might seem like it would make fan content "more" harmful than not, but tbh i feel like it's the opposite? bc like in my case, i didn't start seeking out acted out porn until i was in my late teens and THAT'S when issues cropped up. too personal to really talk about tbh. but there's a huge huge difference, i think, psychologically, between seeing fanart of characters engaging in hardcore kink that may not even physically be possible (see: monsterfucking, size difference to an unrealistic level, omegaverse, etc) and seeing actual living breathing human beings engaging in it. there's nothing inherently wrong w either, but it's the latter that our brain constantly does the "okay more" thing with

like this is. ENTIRELY anecdotal and i really don't know if anyone's done any specific studies on it (the only studies i can think of are more about simulated c/p which is. a whooooole different story). but as far as i've seen in fandom nsfw/bdsm spaces, people kind of. find their kinks and limits and stick to them. they don't really feel the urge to press those boundaries and while sometimes they might stumble on smth more hardcore that they wind up being interested in, there doesn't seem to be that psychological push for More and Harder. on the flipside, there's been studies done about acted out porn that when viewing these things there's a point where the thing you were viewing gets old and boring and you want something New and Interesting and Harder. which is where problems come in bc oftentimes these "harder" things are like. not feasible for the human body and incredibly harmful to the actors who are usually not following safe bdsm rules and etiquette. bc safe bdsm does not Allow for these things that are like actually and permanently hurting people. like there are Horror stories abt what some porn performers go through physically bc of unsafe scenes. or in even worse cases, "more" and "harder" translates to illegal/incredibly immoral (c/p, zoo, etc). which for obvious reasons is incredibly physically and mentally harmful to the victims involved.

this got so long i'm sorry fasdfasdf but

tl;dr: i think while certainly there's an Impact on ppl from fan content, it's nowhere near as profound as the one from acted out porn. there are no people getting hurt or putting themselves in danger they do not want to be in, it's just drawn images/words on a screen. and while it sucks that people are viewing "vanilla" sex as lame/not enough, i feel like this is mostly down to acted out porn just based on anecdotal evidence. the Most we can do is just make sure we are offering as safe a space as we can that does not encourage minors to interact w it, but being mindful of the fact that they probably will anyway and provide safe resources for everyone knowing that

[wanderinglotus7]

Knock Knock...Is U Okay

ANXIETY. Anxiety you’re becoming a close friend that I’m not sure that I want you around. Actually, I definitely don’t want you around. I don’t need a cuddle buddy like you. Man, my body & mind have been going through it lately. If it isn’t one thing it’s another. I didn’t realize how much my anxiety was impacting me until I spoke with my brother, and he said he could hear the anxiety coming thru the phone. OUCH! I tried to explain to him and others what’s been going on recently in my life, but they just don't understand. You can’t fully understand something until you experience it for yourself.

HOME. I don’t have a home. No, I’m not homesick. I’m not rushing to return to Gloucester anytime soon full time. Boston isn’t home for me. I don’t feel like I belong here. I’ve been giving myself time to adjust to this new environment I’m living in, but the energy of this place isn’t settling right within inside of me. Mixing & mingling hasn’t been the greatest experience for me thus far. HECK! The dating scene around here sucks in my opinion. It has been disappointment after disappointment. No wonder some single people these days just want to give up and remain single or end up settling for someone or something. Things have to get better right...? I can at least say that I went on a decent date a few weeks ago that ended up being very pleasant. However, the end result equated to me being ghosted again. Yet, I already had a feeling by the end of the night that was going to happen. So, when that individual did what he did, I wasn’t too surprised. It’s all a game that I’m not interested in playing. Sad to say that date was my first date too (bummer).

I believe my recent struggles with anxiety is connected to loneliness. I miss human connection. And I mean human connection outside of the work context. My brother told me I sound bored and need to get a hobby. Again, he just doesn’t understand. Try moving to somewhere new that is hundred miles away from everything that you’re familiar with; to an area where you have no ties (no family nor friends), during a pandemic, and basically recreating your life from scratch. Trust me, I’ve been putting myself out there. I’m not confining myself to my apartment or only going out if it’s related to work or errands. I’m socializing to the best of my ability with the small circle I do have and with the limited time & energy I have in my reserve. I don’t care what anybody says, making friends as an adult is difficult especially when other people want to remain in their small bubbles. Since living here, I noticed that not too many people are willing to step outside their comfort zone. Unlike me, I like to step outside my box from time to time. That’s the only real way to grow and experience the world. On the other hand, I’m not going to place myself in situations knowing that I’m not going to be welcomed or I’m not going to enjoy myself in desperation for creating friendships. 

ONE DEEP BREATH. My brother told me it sounds like I have no goals for myself which is wrong. I do have goals, but at this point they are more long-term goals than short-term goals. And most of those long-term goals are somewhat dependent on having another person involved in my life and I haven’t met that person yet. And another goal I have for myself right now is resolving my health issues which I might be receiving some answers this week (hopefully good news). There’s nothing wrong with having goals. I also don’t want to rush my life away being so goal oriented too. Honestly, I’m somewhat enjoying not having to worry about the next steps in my life that’s the survival mode speaking. I no longer want to live in survival mode. I’m not spending the rest of my life chasing after a bag ($).

So, this is me.

[philsmeatylegss]

Rae I’m in my first year of college and everyone around me feels so much older. Like they have fake ids and go drinking and smoke weed and drive cars and act like adults. And i go home every weekend and can’t drive. I am so anxious that I’m going to look back at this point in my life in regret.

I cannot express how much I felt the same way when I had my first year of college (last year lol). Always feel free to pm me if you want to vent more about it, but it’s not at all weird that you feel like this. I went home every weekend for most of my first semester. A lot of y’all comforted me when I was going through it because I just felt so awful and like it wasn’t going to get any better. I think the most important aspect a lot of people don’t talk about is asking are you sad because you want to be going out and party or are you sad because you think you should be doing that. Things got a lot better for me when I accepted that I’m not someone who needs friends or be social to thrive in college. Then again, it can also be you actually want that and it sucks not having it. And honestly, it’s hard to give advice. I know if I one more person tells me to “just put yourself out there” and “maybe join some clubs” or “sit down next to someone in the cafeteria and strike up a conversation,” I’ll fucking rip my head off. Coming from someone who has had an anxiety disorder all my life, i get how frustrating it is to have a solution but not being able to do it. There’s also absolutely no shame in going home on the weekends too. Even my second semester of my sophomore year, there’s been weeks that were just really shitty and I went home as a way to sort of recharge. So many people say to not go home, but I don’t think I would’ve made it if I wasn’t allowed to go home on the weekends. There’s absolutely no shame in it.

Also I know it feels like you’re the only one not partying and drinking with friends, but you’re not. It seems like you’re the only one because those who are in the same position as you aren’t advertising it. They’re also sitting in the background. Take some comfort in knowing that there’s many many many students who are experiencing the exact same emotions you are.

The best advice really I can give is try to sort out if you’re upset because you want to go out and party or because that’s what you think you should be doing. Things get a lot easier to cope with when you answer that question. Know that there’s many who are in the exact same place as you are and this doesn’t make you weak. Know it’s okay to go home often as a way to recharge and cope. A big part of this is a waiting game. Which I know is the worst thing to hear, but that really is the truth.

There also is the very real possibility that college isn’t for you or college isn’t suited for where you are right now in life. I’m taking a class right now and there is an actual grandmother in it. As in she talks about her grandchildren. My point is that you don’t have to do college right away. You can take it literally at anytime between now and your death. There’s no time limit and no shame on maybe starting later than others. A lot of people shit on community college, but doing a year or two at a community college close to home and then doing the rest at a regular college is also a good alternative. You’re still getting the credit with that social pressure being taken off. Or maybe college just isn’t for you. And that’s okay! College will always be an option the rest of your life. It’s not something you have to take right after high school or you won’t ever get a chance to take it again. It’s okay to step back or take a break if that’s what you truly need. I really only recommend doing that, though, if you truly cannot handle the pressure. You cannot find a person who will avoid conflict or avoid doing undesirable tasks more than me. And it was really tempting for me to just be like “yeah, too much, I quit.” But I knew I could try harder. So if you do take the route of taking a break or moving back, please make sure it’s for the right reason.

The movies all fucking lie. Every single portrayal of college in media is just showing up and magically finding a quirky, diverse friend group you perfectly fit in with without putting in any effort. And for some people, college is that. But for a lot of people, it’s not that and people don’t talk enough about it. As i said at the start, I felt exactly the same as you are for months. Just being so frustrated that everyone around me seemingly is thriving when I can’t. I promise it’s not as bad as you think it is. I also promise that you’re not the only one going through this. I also promise that there’s no shame in reaching out or taking a break. Sometimes you just need reassurance that everything will work out, and that’s something I definitely promise. Whether you end up staying at your college, going to community college, taking a break, or not going to college at all, it will work itself out. It’s frustrating and annoying and lonely, but it will work itself out.

[casspurrjoybell-19]

Does it Matter? - Chapter 23 - Part 3

*Warning: Adult Content*   

"It seems like a smarter strategy would be to treat you kindly. It would likely work if you were genuinely invested in his well being and success, wouldn't it?" 

"Perhaps, sir."

Bug fidgeted his fingers together. He'd gone back to staring down at his lap. 

"I think he just resents me. He paid a great deal of money for me under the assumption that my ability had far fewer limitations. That I could tell him everything that was going to happen in advance." 

"That sounds like a lapse in judgement on his part to me. If you could really do that, nobody would sell you for any price. Why would they need to when they could just cheat at gambling to make money and know that they would get away with it? When you could tell them exactly where to invest their money for maximum profit? He should have realised it was too good to be true." 

"Hmm," Bug said.

"Perhaps, Sir." 

"I'll give you an example," Brayan said.

"Almost a year ago now, I came across a family of peasants selling junk at a stall. I wasn't really interested in their junk but I was waiting for someone so I looked it over. They offered me a carved wooden pendant strung on a cord that they claimed was magic. They said it would bring the wearer great fortune but they weren't Eth so claims of magic were dubious from the get go and why would peasants sell a magic necklace that makes you rich for less than what it would cost to feed to their family for a week instead of keeping it for themselves?"

 "I think I understand what you're saying, sir. The better a deal sounds, the more skeptical you should be of it." 

"Exactly."

Brayan got off the bed and went over to his bag.

"I think I still have the pendant somewhere, actually. Hold on." 

"But I thought..." 

Brayan pulled the pendant out of a pocket in his bag and held it up by its cord.

It was two interlocking polished wooden rings.

"The part where I mentally calculated how long they could feed their children with the money they were trying to swindle from me made me realise I should probably buy it anyway."

Brayan returned to the bed and sat down next to Bug.

"It's not worth nearly what they asked for it but it's nice enough, I suppose. Though I'd never wear something around my neck so now it's just a thing that I own that serves no purpose other than to make my pack ever so slightly heavier." 

Bug was staring down at the pendant in Brayan's hand, his teeth worrying at his lip. 

“What?” 

Bug hesitated.

"If you don't want it, sir, maybe... could I have it, please?" 

Brayan's brow drew down in confusion.

"You don't actually believe it's magical, do you? I can assure you, it's not." 

Bug kept his eyes downcast.

"I know." 

"It's not worth anything, either. I only paid what I did for it because I felt bad for them." 

"I know, Sir."

"Okay," Brayan said.

He still didn't understand why Bug wanted it so much but he could work with this.

"I'll give it to you in exchange for information. Did Lord Nolen order Fraccus to kill Dara?" 

"I really don't know, sir. Honestly. I saw Fraccus do it but I didn't see him be instructed to. I can see the future in my own complicated and confusing way but I can't see past events I wasn't witness to." 

"Do you think it's more likely that he was following orders or that he acted on his own?" 

Bug stared intently at the floor for a long moment.

Without his shirt on, he looked even more vulnerable when he hugged himself.

"It's not for me to say, Sir. I can't be sure." 

"I'm not asking you to be sure, Bug. I'm asking for your opinion." 

Bug took a deep breath in and let it out, slow and shaky.

"He was born into slavery, sir. It would be extremely out of character for him to act independently." 

"More out of character than it would be for your master to order him to do such a thing?" 

Bug pressed his lips together, he didn't answer. 

There was a knock on the door. 

"Who's at the door?" Brayan asked Bug. 

Bug shut his eyes for a few seconds and went still and then lifted his head and opened his eyes.

"It's your friend from before, Sir. The man who brought the clothes. He has food." 

"Ah, yes, the clothes," Brayan said as he stood.

"Why don't you give yourself a quick wipe down with the washcloth and put those clothes on while I speak to Garrod. You don't seem to be hurt in any way that is immediately concerning or that I can do anything about." 

Bug had been correct.

Garrod was standing on the other side of the door, carrying a plate laden with food.

"How's he doing?" 

"He's been extremely cooperative and I know many things that I didn't ten minutes ago but I'm not sure any of it fundamentally changes anything," Brayan told him.

"He has the ability to tell the future, which was how he knew Dara was in danger. He said Fraccus did throw Dara out of the window but I think we could have safely guessed that much. He doesn't know for a fact that Lord Nolen ordered Fraccus to do it but he suspects that was the case. I think we all already had that suspicion, though." 

"He can see the future?" Garrod asked.

"That's quite something." 

"Hmm. It's more limited than you might think but it's certainly interesting." 

"I'll let you get back to it, then," Garrod said as he handed the plate of food to Brayan.

"I'll pass what you told me on to Maric." 

"Thank you. I want the number of men on watch doubled up tonight. I'll leave you to organise that since I have this situation to deal with. We'll probably sleep early, so this will be goodnight for now unless I'm needed." 

Garrod smiled.

"Goodnight, sir. Go and feed your situation."

[deadwardianpoltergeist]

my uncle once said to me, “you don’t even have kids, don’t tell me how to parent”

you want to know how I was telling him to parent?

I was telling him to not yell and tell his son to “act his age” when his son was having a meltdown

it was my birthday and years of having that exact thing said to me for years by my mom and teachers destroyed me, being told I was “overreacting” and “crying for attention” and “being immature”. having that reminder shouted right by me made ME have a meltdown

those words got to the point where nowadays I have to put in so much effort to ask to leave when I cry instead of shutting down, or just letting myself BREATHE when I cry, even just crying alone by myself wasn’t something I let myself do for years because the fucking shame that was put on me for something I genuinely couldn’t control was so intense

it’s a kid, kids don’t know how to deal with simuli and emotions, and kids are so easily molded by everything around them

everything you do could have a life changing impact on how your kid turns out

so tell me why I, someone who’s faced the repercussions of your actions, SHOULDN’T be telling you not to do that?

the worst part of it is the fucking audacity and lack of self awareness he has

he’s always using his(undiagnosed) mental health issues and neurodivergence as an excuse but when his diagnosed disabled KID genuinely cannot control his symptoms it’s not okay?

don’t fucking tell me how I can’t say anything because I’m not a parent, because I was seeing the consequences of his parenting every day, his yelling didn’t make his kids well behaved, his kids were brats who treated each other like shit

I babysit my brothers all the time, yes you have to put your foot down but there’s a fucking limit, if I can learn that at 14 you have no excuse

you’re a grown ass adult, get your shit together and learn what actually works with who your kids are, use the resources you have, have some fucking patience.

the view people have of kids is so awful, either there’s a ridiculous expectation for them to be somehow better than you as the adult, or you treat them like they’re property or pets

they’re PEOPLE, smaller, more fragile people, who need love and empathy and acceptance and patience

[worldisahouseonfire]

This really helps to read. There's a lot of pressure in institutions and congregate living situations to make friends with the other people there. But I don't do well with this sort of nonconsensual setup, where I can't actually get away from the would-be friends if I need a break from them to evaluate how I'm feeling about an interaction or connection.

Reminds me of something from a RealSocialSkills post called 'Autism awareness for aides,' something like "honest loneliness is better than being surrounded by people who everyone says are nice but don't treat you well or think you are real."

And something Terry Pratchett wrote in 'I Shall Wear Midnight,' about how sometimes two people are both outcasts but come to find out, painfully, that they're not outcasts in the same/compatible ways.

In my experience Autistics can be way more different to each other than non-Autistics are to each other. All of us being outcasts, or treated as 'weird' by normative society, does not necessarily mean that we have anything in common other than our exclusion. And that by itself can be a very painful thing to bond over. Especially in the absence of any independent enjoyment of spending time with one another.

But it still hurts and feels extra-isolating to be in congregate settings with other socially rejected people, and see that they are able to make friends and connections with one another. Especially with the overwhelming (sometimes unspoken) narrative that the whole reason we're isolated and stuck in these places is some lack of arbitrary and universal 'social skills,' so failure to get along with people who have been arbitrarily thrown together with me feels like a sort of universal social death sentence. Like I will always be surrounded by people I don't want as friends, and this social failure will be All My Fault.

This is why, though, I am so glad that most of my life I have had a computer and reached out online for social connection. My closest friends are sometimes two or three timezones away, or even on the other side of the world, but they remind me that with the right people, I'm not a total social failure. And that spending time with other people doesn't have to feel like being in a car wreck -- uncertain what happened, afraid it was somehow my fault, wondering what lengthy consequences I might be facing, not even sure if I'm hurt or how badly.

My friends far away show me how it feels to be myself with people, to let the soft animal of my body rest in the (virtual) presence of others. And we do more for each other than anyone I know in meatspace, not because we feel obliged to, but because it makes sense.

Without my laptop, I would not survive congregate and institutional living situations. I would not keep fighting and striving to get out and stay out, and support my friends in all their efforts to break free and stay free from coercive shared living situations.

It makes sense to not always be able to make friends in settings and places not of our choosing. Where the only thing we may have in common with others there is our inability to leave, to make different choices who we spend our days with. In school, in employment, in families, in neighborhoods and sometimes housing, we often have limited pools of people with whom we interact. The chances of them being My/Your/Our People are ludicrously small.

I think it's okay for it to be harder to find friends. Especially as an adult, and especially when going through rough times. It's okay to not make friends with people you have to spend a lot of time around.

(I hope so, anyway. 'Cause where I'm living, and who I'm living with right now, is *not at all* where I want to be.)

“Because I could see that all these kids were weird and even they didn’t accept me, I knew I was the strangest one of all.”

—

Sean Barron, There’s A Boy In Here

Describing what happened to him in institutions.  I once attempted to describe this phenomenon in a book review of someone autistic who’d managed to make a lot of friends in institutions.  I was trying to just say our experiences had been different, but he somehow managed to take it as an insult, and to get his blog followers to write about how wonderful he was for being able to do something I hadn’t been able to do.  Which, of course, made me feel even worse: Other autistic people were able to make friends in institutions, so why were such experiences so few and far between for me? Was I defective somehow, even for an autistic person?  Was I showing how i wasn’t the right kind of autistic person, the kind who in their teens could somehow manage to make friends because they were so sweet and nice? 

I wasn’t sweet and nice, I was weird and strange and sticking out in all the wrong directions.  And many times, I would come to a mental institution and within seconds everyone would judge me to be the ward outcast.  I’ve talked to lots of autistic people who had this experience.  It turns out it’s not rare after all, and it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with us, it just means we’re not among the rare autistic people who do manage to make lots of friends in such places.  And they aren’t better than us, and we aren’t better than them, we’re just different.  But it took me a long time to be able to see this, especially with grown parents of autistic children, who should’ve known better, harping on a very young adult autistic person for saying hir experiences were different than someone else’s.

(via autiequotes)

[marshmallowprotection]

aoghhhh your saeyoung analysis is so good. adding onto the drinking and smoking thing; saeran is only depicted possibly smoking ONCE in the game and it's when he is quite literally at his worst. it's in the secret ending, where he asks for a cigarette from vanderwood, and immediately after saeyoung very hesrtbrokingly calls after him as he sees how far his brother has fallen. it's such a pet peeve of mine to see drunk hc and stuff for the twins aghhh. in the webtoon I'm pretty sure they depict saeyoung drinking once and it icked me sooo badly it was insane.

I actually don't even think Unknown smokes. I think he says that he wants to smoke because it's a surefire way to go outside. He used that "smoke break" to inform Rika where he was and I think he just pretended to smoke it while he was doing that. He had to make the smoking look realistic so it's possible he smoked it for real or made it appear as if he was. It makes sense to me since that happens in a lot of spy movies where people are covert. I could be wrong, but it made sense to me and that's how I've always viewed it.

God, let me tell you how much I just get squicked out when I see someone writing an HC where the twins are A) drinking, B) drunk, and C) seemingly okay and unbothered that their MC is drinking around them. I can't see them telling MC to not enjoy their night knowing that they like a drink on a blue moon, but I would pray to whatever God is out there that the MC would have enough respect for their partner to talk to them about boundaries. I never see that stuff written out.

Just the assumption that the twins are okay with it. They're not. Sorry, but they're not. It's a trigger in many ways and that should never be ignored.

It's fine if you like to drink. I'm not shaming anybody that likes to drink and enjoy a little bit of alcohol. As long as you're doing that in moderation and you’re mindful of people around you, it's not a huge problem. Everybody likes to have fun and this is a way that you can do it but it's important to remember that it's a bad subject for a lot of people.

Whenever I see people write stuff out about this, there is a blatant act of ignoring this fact for Saeran and Saeyoung. You can't always avoid people drinking but you can control how much you are subjected to it. If you have the time to prepare yourself ahead of time and to work out your Escape Plan before time, it helps when planning for events that have it. I always imagined that Saeyoung avoided huge chunks of the RFA party not just for security, but literally because he hates being around alcohol.

I wouldn't have such a problem with people writing this out if they were more respectful of the situation. I think it would be interesting to see somebody write a piece where an MC does enjoy a drink now and again and they have a conversation with whichever twin they are dating about this.

Like, what is the limit? Where are the hard lines? What is and isn’t okay? Can alcohol be in the house? Is it better if you stay in another room if you come home smelling like booze? A friend’s house? What is going to be respectful to Saeyoung and Saeran’s alcohol trauma? Are you going to talk about boundaries with this if you like drinking for fun every once in a while? That is the sort of thing that needs to be talked about.

Saeran and Saeyoung would drop everything if you needed a ride, even if that meant being around the smell of alcohol after you hang out with friends at a bar. I know that they would do that. It doesn't mean that it would be good for them, but I know that they would put aside that if you really needed to be helped out or rescued in a situation.

But if that happens and you haven't had the talk with the one that you're dating, that's going to be a real issue. It's going to bring out that conversation that has to be had. It's just one of those things that happen when you're an adult. You have to set boundaries.

I think it would be better than seeing posts that I’ve often seen where it’s Saeyoung in particular who seems okay with being intoxicated. I don’t see it as much for Saeran, thank God, but it makes me so sad and upset.

I didn't read the webtoon. I wasn't interested in it and it wasn't like Saeran was in it so it wasn't doing much for me. I wasn't aware that they depicted him drinking. That really doesn't make me happy. I've got the receipts from Saeyoung, too. He says this very clearly, and I got it from Ray Route if you're wondering.

I know I might be projecting a little bit because I share similar trauma with the twins. But, as somebody who deals with society at large, that has this culture where people act like it's okay to push people to try a sip of something or be okay with drinking because “everybody else is doing it” and “it’s just what you do”? I really hate seeing the twins subjected to that. It's such a blatant erasure of their trauma. Like, I’m in my 20s, I don’t drink, never have, and never will. Yet, I still get people telling me all of the time to just try a sip. I don't want that.

I don't think the twins would want that either considering what they have gone through. Again, I'm not saying this to shame people who do enjoy it. I'm speaking from the perspective of a person that knows what the boys have gone through in many regards and hate to see that aspect of their trauma erased or not talked about.

Saeyoung is one thing.

Saeran has been through the wringer, too. The elixir is very similar to alcohol... it may be a different kind of drug but it has to make him feel sick to his stomach when he thinks about himself... when he thinks all about his mother and how she would drink herself into a stupor until she decided to hurt him.

I can't imagine him ever wanting to take something that would alter his state of mind. It's one thing for him to get proper medication that he needs to deal with everything that has gone through, but it's another thing entirely to take something that can change your mind completely. He's not going to take anything that is legally able to alter your mind. That means he's not smoking weed or alcohol more likely than not.

[ahjustroza]

AAAH OKAY SO!! I just saw a REALLY CUTE hc idea I had to ask ur thoughts about it!! Maybe ur take one it if possible! Last Legacy Main 3 reverse au where they are the player and MC is their fave character/love interest in Last Legacy game,how would that go? Pls write some fluffy hcs abt it I would LOVE to read it!!

I am not sure if these are fluffy enough but I MADE SOME DELICIOUS ANGST. Also so sorry that this took me forever...

Last Legacy Reverse AU Headcanons

Felix

Has a secret Ao3 account.

Probably wrote many fanfictions about the first Last Legacy game.

I bet he loves some angst as well so if you have a past secret it will create a delicious panicking in him

He will use all his money to make his cosplay costume and yes, Escell is disappointed. But he won't stop him.

Scylla will actually help him with money! She is a caring sister in disguise.

Florian will also support Felix. But emotionally. I don't think he would want Felix to cosplay since he is an adult but Escell will convince him to let Fe do whatever he wants. He thinks Felix will get bored fast.

Felix will spend hours studying the game's lore and will become the supreme lord of smut writers on Ao3

When he attends the cosplay con, he is wearing a mage starsworn costume he made

He really was enjoying himself until he teleports to the Last Legacy world.

He would be the only person out of the main three to be happy about this.

Now I'll just create a background for you as a Last Legacy character so bear with me

You were talented in magic and got involved with the Starsworn to defeat the Lord of Shadows

You were tired to see your loved ones die

Even more tired to have to kill your loved ones a second time

Also very very tired of making sure they stayed dead... meaning, you are not too fond of necromancy.

You and Rime had a strong bond but never dated (or dated I'll leave this up to you)

When he died you were devastated and after the war ended you gave yourself to studying arcane arts

The Lord of Shadows is defeated. But at what cost?

You are smart. You were never convinced that a person who created such terrors would just vanish like that

Oh, you knew about Anisa and how she became a war hero.

But just wanted to be extra sure that the Lord of Shadows stayed dead.

When you were making a ritual to connect with the divines/gods/spirits/deities/whatever is in charge of this mess, to find out the truth behind the death of the Lord of Shadows you summoned Felix instead.

Fast forward to Felix choosing a mentor as a new starsworn recruit...

His internal thoughts are exactly: "Step on me, choke me, punish me, make me a good boy-"

What he wanted to say: "I would die for you. Please let me find comfort in your arms and bury my face to your chest as I sob. I am yours, please fall in love with me."

What he said: "I think it would be only wise for me to stay with MC, since their arcane arts might be the key to send me back home."

Then you two started to travel around, look for clues about why Felix ended up here instead of whatever you were trying to summon.

He would use every opportunity to get close to you. He would ask a lot of questions and speak about what he knows about Astraea

Is hungry for more lore at all times, but also terrible at keeping things from you.

He'll give you spoilers. But like... it is more like a war secret kinda information that he knows so you are terrified.

When you try to teach him how to use magic to defend himself, he will almost every time end up doing an offensive spell

His magic is unstable and all over the place so you started to look for ways to stable him

He tried to convince you to buy a magical corset that he saw on the market once but you said no. You know better than buying magic limiting artifacts from the Porriman marketplace.

Furthermore, unlike him, you are a quick learner

He told you a lot about Earth and you picked up many things from them

You made him coffee the way he used to buy from Starbucks and now you are his personal barista.

You have no idea what a barista is though.

Felix made it sound like a barista was someone that was good at everything so you are thinking it is a highly respectable job on Earth. Like an archmage.

One day you complimented Fe with the cutest smile ever

He blushed so red that he was almost as red as a tomato

You thought he was dying.

When you finally fell for him and accepted your feelings towards him, Felix promised to never leave your side even for a minute.

He says he would feel better if you were close to him because he doesn't want to set things on fire accidentally.

In truth, he just wants to see you every day.

And is very afraid of Anisa.

You are not complaining

You two are like Archmage x horny apprentice

A power couple tho

Also, he is your #1 simp

Anisa

She had a very important role in the fandom back on Earth.

She is the manifester.

Anisa comes up with a lot of angst theories that are causing physical pain to other players.

She is not even sorry about it, she enjoys the chaos in silence

Her cosplay costume had the most badass and elegant looking sword in the entire con

Very realistic, she got help from her mother making it

Ayanna is the most supporting mom a cosplayer could ask for

But she is giving out instructions on the way to do the costume design, and telling Anisa that she must practice her speeches to say in the con.

It's like Orlando Bloom learning how to act like Legolas, hot damn.

Anisa will make a huge entrance with her costume and then will feel all excited to see a familiar face with rabbit ears

Then she will teleport to Astraea

Right to between your arms

She is so confused more than scared

You however think you actually managed to summon a goddess

When you start talking to her about shit Lord of Shadows made and how you want to make sure that he was actually dead dead.

Anisa can't help but think about her own father back on Earth.

Let's just say that her Earth father is someone like Pablo Escobar. Created a huge head title in the news more than one time.

In Anisa’s case, it is you that killed the Lord of Shadows

When she decides that you must be her mentor to be a Starsworn you immediately faced with many questions she has about Astraea

And you are terrified that she knows a lot about your world.

Take her to food dates I dare you

She will be hesitant to make you pay but she has no money so...

You will have to be extra sweet and kind to her to make her feel okay about you buying food for her.

I feel like she must be comforted if you want to do anything for her

Even though she is in love with you, and you two started a relationship she will still pay you back

In more ways than one

She has a strong sense of justice so expect her to help you on your Starsworn quests/missions

She will also think of plans to execute during dangerous situations

But like

Which is more dangerous?

Anisa's plans or the Lord of Shadows?

She will be very supportive of you and in time she will wish that you would never find a way to send her back to Earth.

In this case, she will make a heart to heart conversation with you about where your relationship going

You will of course be heartbroken with her love confession, knowing she will have to go

That you will have to let her go

She has a home, a family on Earth and you can't ask anyone to leave their entire life behind so that you will not be heartbroken.

Then she will try to find ways to let her visit Astraea from time to time.

You are a powerful starsworn, you will find the way.

Sage

He is not making or wearing a cosplay costume.

Tulsi would tho.

He would be the responsible brother to take her to the cosplay con.

Then he gets distracted and finds himself teleported to a game world his sister loved.

He is definitely not happy about it and you two will not get along at first

He thinks you are cute however

He will think the new cat ears and tail is cute too

Weird and unusual but he is vibing it.

REFUSING that he is a cat but says "nyaa" anyways to give you shit time.

I can imagine him talking about Tulsi to you and how much he would love you two to meet each other.

You are surprised that he knows how to fight

He explains to you that he grew up an orphan and had to learn to fight on the streets to protect his sister.

He is more understanding about the ritual you committed for making sure the Lord of Shadows was indeed dead once you told him about what he has done to Astraea

He knows a thing or two about trauma.

Sage will be protective over you by nature

He is selfless when it comes to danger.

Always focuses on protecting you other than protecting himself.

He also can't believe he fell in love with you.

You are his first big love

And his first big love is from another world.

In a video game world nonetheless which his sister is a fan of.

He won't stay in Astraea with you, he has to go back to Earth for Tulsi

But he will ask you to come with him.

[solemnly-mischievous]

Could pls you write something where the marauders and you are taking about your safe word and boundaries?!

Thanks! <33

hell yeah! remember kids, if you're gonna engage in Practices of Dominant and Submissive Dynamics, these talks are always very important and essential and good. consent is sexy. stay safe. all that.

also, i'd never claim to be an expert on the topics they talk about - if i get anything off or word anything poorly, do tell me and i'll amend that.

anyway also the things they put on their hard limit list are not off the table for future fics, so keep that in mind :)

Contains: Fluff, discussion of bodily fluids & cnc, mentions of degradation and praise

Word count: 1.5K

------

It's about one AM in the Gryffindor common room, and all your housemates are asleep—the only sound you can hear is the crackling of the fireplace and the sound of pages turning as Remus flips through his book.

You're laying in Remus' lap, his fingers combing absentmindedly through your hair and massaging your scalp. It feels so good.

"Oi—watch the cakes—"

"You watch your stupid feet, Prongs, you're stepping on my cloak—"

"—I swear to god if you drop the pumpkin juice, I'll throw you and your bloody cloak into the fire—"

"Merlin, James, shut up, you're so loud—"

You hear Remus huff a soft laugh and you smile along: Your boyfriends are many things, but stealthy and discreet are not one of them. One would think the infamous pranksters of Hogwarts would be better at sneaking around in the dead of night—but then again, who needs to be light on their feet when there are charms and Invisibility Cloaks?

James and Sirius enter the common room as quietly as they can manage—which is to say, not that quiet at all—each bearing a large plate full of midnight snacks and drinks they've retrieved from the kitchen. (The house elves are always more than happy to see them.)

"Aw, look at them," Sirius murmurs to James, and he nods, a soft smile tugging at his lips as he looks at you and Remus. It's certainly a heartwarming scene, and you'd be content to stay there forever, but something's missing.

"C'mere," you whisper to the boys, holding your arms out and making grabby hands. "Cuddle."

They're more than happy to oblige, setting the plates on the table in front of the couches and piling on, Sirius leaning against Remus' shoulder and James sitting on the floor in front of you and Remus. You reach out and tug at his curls affectionately—he leans into the touch.

"We brought you your favorite chocolate cakes," James murmurs to you. "The elves made more just for you—even they know you love them. Oh, and Remus—there's pumpkin juice for you."

"Thank you," Remus says warmly, ruffling James' hair as he reaches by to grab a goblet. "Did you say hi to the elves for me?"

"Yeah," Sirius says, "they miss you and they're going to file for divorce if you don't visit them soon."

"Divorce? From all of them?" Remus' tone is laughing. "I don't think I could handle the legal fees."

"Who'd get custody?" you wonder.

"Besides, Moony knows he's married to us, if not legally but in spirit. When you think about it, Moony's a homewrecker," James jokes, and Sirius cackles in delight.

Your eyelids droop as Remus scratches along your scalp lightly, and Sirius catches you. "Hey, hey, wait, we're not sleeping yet. We have things to talk about."

"Talk about them faster," you mumble, and James laughs.

"Alright, alright," Remus says amiably. "We'll make it fast so you can get to sleep soon, alright? But you're gonna need to be coherent and awake right now, okay?"

"Fine," you whine, and you ease into a sitting position so you aren't tempted to fall asleep right there.

"Good girl," Sirius murmurs, and you shiver involuntarily.

"Okay, none of that right now—clear heads, all of us," Remus says. He looks at you and gives you a small smile. "There'll be plenty of time for that later."

"So how do we start?" Sirius asks. "Do we just... talk about what works, what doesn't?"

"I think we should start with the safeword." Remus hums thoughtfully. "You guys know the stoplight system?"

You and James shake your heads; Sirius nods.

"Green for go on, yellow for slow down, red for stop," Remus explains. "It's important to check in consistently, so we can be sure everything's alright."

"Wait, so yellow is..." You trail off.

"Yellow is, er, we don't need to stop, but I'm not one hundred percent comfortable or confident in what we're doing right now, so can we slow down and talk about it or change what we're doing?" Sirius explains, and you nod.

"Ah." You think about it. "Right, yeah, I think the stoplight system sounds fine."

"Same," James says, and Sirius voices his agreement.

In all your time at Hogwarts, the early years especially, never in a million years would you have thought you'd be here right now—in a polyamorous relationship with the troublemakers of the grade, discussing safewords and kink negotiations.

But what's life without a few surprises?

"We can all use the colors," Remus adds, "even if we're not the one subbing. Anyone can check in at anytime. Okay?"

Once that's been established, he pushes forward with, "Okay, so nitty-gritty: What are our boundaries? What do we not want to touch with a ten-foot pole?"

"No bodily fluids," James puts forth, "except for, well, you know. Just spit and come, I think. No blood or piss or anything like that."

You nod. "I don't wanna draw blood. Pain is okay, like bruises and bitemarks or the like, but I don't know about actual... wounds and stuff. For now, at least."

Remus nods. "Absolutely."

"Oh," Sirius says, looking vaguely bashful—which is a sight, because the Sirius Black, looking shy? "Um. I like to dom, right? Like usually, I do. But when I switch and sub, er, I don't like to be degraded. I love doing the degrading, but I don't know about being the degraded one."

Knowing Sirius' past, you understand completely. The rest of the Marauders nod as well, and James shifts towards Sirius, leaning against his leg in a comforting gesture. Sirius smiles at him, soft and affectionate.

"How about you, Moony?" you ask Remus.

"Hm." He thinks about it for a second. "I don't think I would want to do consensual non-consent."

"What's that?" James pokes at Remus' leg.

"Like, when you agree beforehand that a scene is going to be... Non-consensual. Usually, it's so the sub can pretend to struggle and protest and fight back and such. It's a fantasy, kinda like a coping mechanism, and I get it, and I respect people who do like it, but I don't think it's for me."

"So, all in all," Sirius summarizes, "No bodily fluids, no blood, no forced fantasies."

"Sums it up about right," James agrees. "And no degradation for when you're subbing."

"Yep."

"If at any time we think of something that we want to add to the hard-limit list," Remus says, "just say it. Even if it's the middle of a scene or anything, consider this a priority."

Sounds of agreement and understand come from the three of you.

"Also, just for a semi-reference," Sirius says, "I'm a switch, with a lean for being dominant. Remus is... I think, just dominant?"

Remus inclines his head. "I've never had the urge to sub, yet. Again, things might change."

Personally, you thought the idea of Remus on his knees, begging for the three of you, was very appealing, but that's up to Remus to decide.

"I'm also a switch, but I don't know if I have a lean," James pipes up. "I enjoy both equally, it just kind of depends on the moment."

Sirius nods, then looks at you. You're in the middle of leaning over James' head to nab a chocolate cake from the platter—the epitome of grace and dignity.

"I'm a switch," you say, chocolate cake in hand, "with a submissive lean. Like, I think... I think one day, I'd like to try to dom. Maybe. But usually I'm more than happy to sub."

"What a well-balanced group we are," James comments, and Remus snickers.

You yawn right on cue, and Sirius laughs. "Getting too tired, are we?"

"Yeah, but! I was absolutely clearheaded through all that. Fully concentrated. No distractions."

James eyes your chocolate cake.

"One distraction."

"I suppose we can talk about other things another night," Remus says, as your eyelids flutter again with tiredness.

"Other things?" James asks.

"Yeah. Specific kinks, stuff we'd like to try. Rules, corresponding punishments..." The werewolf winks at you. "Rewards."

"I like rewards," you murmur sleepily.

"For another night," Sirius agrees, yawning as well. He looks sadly at the two plates of goodies stacked on the table. "We got all that food for nothing."

"Nah, we can bring it back up to our dorm and charm it so it doesn't go bad," James says. "No worries."

"Right, right. Alright, you grab one plate, Remus grabs the other, I'll take her back up."

"Hey, why do you get to take her?"

"Because I said it first," Sirius maintains, like the dignified adult he is, and scoops you up before any of the other Marauders can protest.

You fall asleep that night on James' bed, in his warm embrace and surrounding by the calming sounds of your boyfriends' steady breathing. All in all, it hasn't been a bad night at all.