#I'm still learning to organize and stuff

[i-cant-sleep-thinking-of-bsd]

Soo, I got back to college this week and I'm not sure how I'm expected to function like a full-time student after being chronically online with my anime for a month. It's been two days and I'm already behind on three classes

[insertsomthinawesome]

OKAY SO. ANON WHO SENT ME THAT ASK ASKING HOW I DRAW FACES I THINK TUMBLR ATE UR ASK 😭😭I TRIED TO PUT IT INTO MY DRAFTS AND IT GOT YEETED INTO THE VOID. SO IMMA ANSWER IT HERE. IF IT SHOWS BACK UP I WILL LINK U TO THIS POST AND RESPOND TO IT. FIRST OF ALL thank u very very kindly for ur compliments 🥺🥺 i was very happy for your enthusiasm and it was a big mood boost. SECOND OF ALL: I'M SO SORRY TO HEAR YOU'RE HAVING TROUBLE LEARNING HOW TO DRAW SIDE PROFILES 😭😭😭 I remember being at that point, trying to draw them was a NIGHTMARE. I'm pretty awful at teaching things??? BUt Imma give this a good ole college try:

I recorded myself drawing the First image in case that's more helpful than my attempts to explain xD

As for what you were saying about The nose and Mouth being on the same line: I'm imagining what you're talking about is the line starts at the tip of their nose and goes down to their chin? Kinda like some anime styles? My recommendation would be to do what I show above: Draw an egg-ish shape. And the make sure to draw the nose as a Spike/Orb/Whatever shape is your dream desire, popping out of it. Kinda think of it like a mountain in the middle of a flat Plane. Sticking out like a sore thumb. Besides that!!! References are your best friend!! Reference other artists!!! Reference IRL people!! And keep on keeping at it!! Like I said, I used to be TERRIBLE at drawing them, and here I am now :D I'm not always happy with them, and sometimes I still hate how I draw faces (working on that tho) but I'm miles better than when I was a kid. And if I can do it you can do it too :) Best of luck Anon! U got this!!

[chimchiri]

I caved and made a twitter & bluesky! (+ deviantart but I think most people here aren't using that?) If you're active on there, why not give me a follow?

-> Twitter -> Bluesky -> deviantArt

I'm going to repost some of my old art for a while to get started.

[keeps-ache]

i am so happy [gestures vaguely] about things

[lord-squiggletits]

I need to reread the comics again to have specific arguments/evidence for this, but like

I feel a bit like I could've been sympathetic to the way other Cybertronian colonies view Cybertron, if it weren't for the fact that at least several of them (as in, ones that get notable dialogue/screen time) are so low-key self-righteous?

Like, idk... there's a lot of criticism of Cybertronians because they're so "warlike" and how their obsession with violence and vengeance is just dragging the whole galaxy down with them, but uh. The Autobot-Decepticon war was basically a product of societal ills bubbling over for like 6 million years beforehand and then finally boiling over into a 4 million year war that lasted as long as it did because the people involved had immense social/psychological trauma from being "raised" in an oppressive society.

So when the colonists come in being all 'omg you people are so violent and uncivilized why don't you just like, stop fighting' it kind of pissed me off a little bit as a reader/person like. Idk the colonists really came into this society of people full of massive amounts of trauma where even before the war society was super oppressive and no one has any experience of living "normal" lives unaffected by violence and bigotry. And the colonists were like "ummm wow why don't you guys just??? stop fighting???." Like idk it wasn't EVERY SINGLE MOMENT, in fact I think that when it was played for laughs it's quite a funny "fridge horror" type element. It was just annoying because like.... IDK???? It's just really annoying to watch a bunch of people who lived relatively sheltered lives on their own planets come to a different planet full of traumatized people and be like "omg why are you people so fucked up" IDK BRO MAYBE BECAUSE THEIR SOCIETY WAS OPPRESSIVE AND THEY LIVED THROUGH A LIFELONG WAR???

It also doesn't help that the colonies were literally founded based on imperialism and conquest so like, it's fucking rich to hear colonists scolding Cybertronians for their violence ruining the whole galaxy while literally sitting on planets that their Primes colonized from others. The hypocrisy of this is briefly mentioned in Unicron (literally the FINAL STORY OF THE SERIES) but like, that's basically the only time Cybertronian characters are given a reprieve of sympathy from other characters in universe and it's so tiresome.

I've talked to other people who didn't like the colonists and thought they basically (narratively speaking) existed just to shit on the existing characters, and it's actually really easy for me to sympathize with/outright agree with that assessment of the story considering how much of exRID/OP seems to be preoccupied with "Cybertron/the Primes/Optimus sucks" with very few reprieves for anything positive happening and even fewer chances for characters to get to explain themselves and experience a little bit of justice? Like, as the audience, it's just very frustrating to see the characters you spent hundreds of issues keeping up with get shit on by a bunch of "literally-who"s and then not really get a chance to ever defend themselves, either by literally defending themselves in conversation or having some sort of narrative thing happening that vindicates them at least symbolically

[leafy-m]

So I hit my 700th edit for the WHA wiki today, because I am a totally normal person

[yayforocs]

in trying out different stuff w this comic, i'm reminding myself of an old 2014-era comic i drew based on a zombie au AH fic. went back and looked, sure enough, i never posted it anywhere. this.... both surprises and doesn't surprise me. on one hand, i like to have everything documented nicely, and on the other hand, i think part of my brain then couldn't wrap around like the fact that i was drawing this stuff that, while fiction, was based on Very Real People

idk, but tbh i am quite fond of that comic, simply because i tried something new and different with it and i think the things i tried worked out very well! i then proceeded to never try that with any comic ever again until now lkdshgls

anyway ig i'm wondering if it'd even be worth it to post it bc on one hand, documentation, i like to have all my art stuff collected together in a gallery of sorts to be able to see everything. on the other hand, it's ten years old at this point, so extremely out of order, and also it's. achievement hunter. which. 😬 i kinda don't wanna touch anything rooster teeth at all.

[unsolicited-opinions]

The Israel thing confuses the shit out of me, I've gotta say.

I consider myself left wing politically. Pretty darn left. (Or what I thought "left" meant.) I have voted for progressive parties/candidates in every election (local, national, EU-wide) since I was legally able to do so. I am a Pride-flag-waving lesbian, a feminist (I legally changed my surname to my mothers last name in solidarity when I was still a teenager!), a vegan, an environmentalist (I don't drive a car, I don't fly, my home is fossil fuel free, powered entirely by wind and solar generated electricity) and a union member. I'm very careful about everything I buy, always looking for the most ethical option. No "fast fashion". No Twitter since Musk took over. No Amazon Prime.

I try pretty hard, every day, to walk the walk, y'know? Not just talk the talk. I try to live my beliefs. Not just perform them. Even though it is often inconvenient. (Having to constantly look stuff up. See where my money would be going. Check for bad business practices. Who owns what. Who do they vote for. Who do they donate to. How and where is it made. Who made it. How are they treated. What's the carbon footprint. What's the energy efficiency rating. Etc, etc, etc.)

When the October 7th attacks on Israel happened, I immediately realised 'I don't know enough about this' and so started reading about the history (and present) of Israel and Palestine. There were things I felt I needed to know and understand before I threw my lot in with anyone.

One of the earliest things I learned was that Israel existed before Palestine (fact one. And it seemed important.) and Jewish people existed thousands of years before there were Muslims. I learned (fairly quickly and not in great depth) about the Hebrew Bible, the Bar Kokba revolt, the origins of Islam, the Arab conquest of the Levant, the Edict of Expulsion, the Alhambra decree, the 19th century pogroms and the Pale of Settlement, Theodor Herzl and the origins of Zionism, WW1 and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Holocaust, the first Arab/Israeli war, Black September, the Munich Olympics, the first and second intifada, Hamas and Fatah, culture and laws in modern Israel...

I feel like I did my homework. And I concluded, given what I had read, that I was quite broadly on Israel's side. It seemed to me that the Jewish people have every right to be there. Israel has every right to exist. It's where the Jewish people originated. They purchased land there legally. They achieved polity and declared independence. They have fought and won wars over it. What more could anyone ask for? They're indigenous to the land, they have always been there (to a greater or lesser degree), the ones who left paid for the land when they returned, they fought wars for the land and won. What other ways can they prove or earn their right to be there? They have done more to "earn" their existence on that land than any other people on Earth.

I do not understand the "left"'s antipathy toward Israel, Israelis or Zionism. It makes no sense to me.

Yes, war is awful. Of course. Innocent people dying is awful. Of course. But that does not seem to be what is being protested. It is Israel's very existence that they object to. And I do NOT understand that. I have tried. I have read what I believe to be a fairly thorough account of the history of the land and its people. And I simply cannot get onboard with what my comrades (...) on the left are saying and doing. It just does not make sense to me. It doesn't fit.

And at the moment (since October 2023) it is in all left wing spaces. Feminist bookshops I once frequented. Environmental organizations I was once a member of. Pride parades I once marched in. All are now obsessed with the BDS movement and bashing Israel and Zionists. And it's not even a question. It's just a given. If you are a feminist or queer or an environmentalist you must also (obviously!) hate Israel. And I just cannot logically understand WHY.

Jews don't often encounter non-Jewish progressives these days who can be normal about Jews, rational about Israel, and see what we see...so I can't tell you how much I appreciate this and you, Anon.

Thank you for sharing these thoughts.

I have so much respect for the integrity required to tell oneself "I don't know enough to have an opinion, so I'm going to make an effort to learn more."

I can count the non-Jews I know who have done that on one hand.

The LGBTQ+ Jews I know (including family) all tell me that while they feel secure, safe, and included as LGBTQ+ persons in Jewish spaces, they don't feel at all safe as Jews in LGBTQ+ spaces, and that breaks my heart because I know how important that sense of community is to my LGBTQ+ family and friends and I understand how much that loss must hurt.

Like most of us, LGBTQ+ Jews are liberals who thought they shared values with other progressives until October 7th taught us that while we might have felt solidarity with them, they didn't feel solidarity with us...and jumped at the opportunity to feel righteous about being hateful.

Many (perhaps most) of us similarly lost communities because you're right that all the progressive spaces aren't just unthinkingly hostile and willfully ignorant, but actively hateful and parroting Jew-hatred tropes from the middle ages, the Czars, the Soviets, and a Fuhrer. In liberal spaces. While claiming to be progressives. While claiming to be AntiFa. While claiming to despise Nazis and bigotry. While allying themselves with Islamist movements which favor genital mutilation, child brides, and honor killings.

If you'd like to get in touch without the anonymity, I'd welcome that - because I'd like to see more of your writing.

Again, thank you. This made my day.

[artdagz]

First and foremost, Jazz prowl mecha AU is so fun and I'm reading so much of it and sometimes I really just want to share something.

As most probably already know this was started by @keferon and this AU is so fun, I really can't, everyone is so creative and there's so much to learn and see everywhere, the angst, the evolution and cheesy romance mix with hurt comfort is just🤌

So please, it's just some idea, but I hope this gives somebody something ><

(First part is big hurt, second part is rescue. So prowls death and not being treated like a human, when his conscience is in the mech, but he gets safed/saves himself with jazz. )

What if prowl becomes somewhat like Vortex in the mecha au, but with the downside of now being a supercomputer trapped in a mech that won't move without a pilot.

And as they notice he can still calculate stuff for them but is no longer a fragile human and also conveniently can't say no to requests, they use that without remorse. Prowl is allowed to move freely in the field when fighting quintessons but used in his spare time to do all sorts of administrative tasks that commanders are too lazy to do..

It happens along these lines:

Tarantulas notices Prowl won't be able to be doing the whole upgrading forever.

He's failing more and more, getting worse.

So next time he has him under his knife, he's doing something so in case prowl won't make it There is a safety backup of prowl in his mecha, so that's how prowl becomes a mech.

When Prowl suddenly stops in battle and all jazz can do is get them out of there, back at base there's nothing they can do for human prowl anymore.

While the battle is still raging around them, Jazz just sits next to prowls mecha hoping prowl will make it.

But it's as everyone feared and jazz is just sitting there close to prowls mech knowing his friend will never return and nobody dares to come closer.

Tarantulas approach being met with a visor that dares him to get any closer.

They organize a small funeral, one of the other pilots inviting jazz. Jazz goes, out of his suit for once, to attend.

When jazz is back his suit informs him that someone had been in prowls mech.

And it was Tarantulas.

Jazz thinks about confronting Tarantulas, but instead goes into prowls mechs cockpit, looking around to find out if he did anything.

And there's this button that's blinking, it's the startup button and jazz just absentmindedly pushes it, the mech whirring to live around him and the cockpit closes.

Text is running on the screen that looks like startup of a computer, then there's just text that's scrolling down further until it gets to the bottom.

The little blinking bar indicates the last line is just blinking for a while as jazz stared at it.

Then suddenly it moves again.

One word catches his optic

Jazz

Written on the screen.

And another line appears.

Help.

So, prowl is stuck in his mech, which wouldn't be as bad if he could move.

Jazz hacks the programming that makes it necessary for there to be a pilot and everything is a 100% better cause he can move.

Still unlike before, prowl can't just get out of his mech and walk around and that's so frustrating, cause his health isn't an issue anymore but now he got military breathing down hus neck, who are ecstatic at not having to worry about prowl being human anymore and prowls workload suddenly becomes so much that even if he was allowed to move he doesn't have time.

The programming and the reinstalled tacnet making it so he can't say no even though he wants nothing but a break.

Jazz being in Prowls mech trying to talk to him and more often than not he'll be sitting in the cockpit and prowl suddenly cuts off and his vents kicking on, as they use prowl to calculate scenarios like a piece of equipment.

Jazz noticing this installs a blocker that prowl can use to deny dumb requests and suddenly prowl can hear his own thoughts again.

When military gets on jazz’ case about doing that, threatening him to reverse what he did, prowl interferes.

He threatens them back he'd go with jazz and if they do anything to him he'll do the same to his own mech (himself).

Now prowl and jazz get to go out on walks together.

And prowl finally comes to realize that he actually died and everything just feels so much in a robotic body that is all built for efficiency but not for expressing oneself or even just feeling anything.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Lately I've been thinking about community. There are a lot of [likely obvious] reasons why I might be doing this. In the end, those don't really matter to this conversation, tho it'll surely matter in others.

When I was little, my mother had Dumpling Parties.

Dumpling Parties were not potlucks. Although people were welcome to bring additional dishes for snacking on.

Dumpling Parties were when my mother would collect some funds from various arenas in life and buy just. Just an absolutely ruinous amount of dumpling ingredients. Truly unthinkable amounts.

And then we'd sit in the yard with three dozen other people making dumplings and laughing and talking and organizing and honestly I think my mother did more community innoculation work at her Dumpling Parties than I've ever managed with formal organizing campaigns. It's just easier when you feed people.

And "feed" here is literal, but it's also metaphorical. Shorthand for "meeting a need". It's easier when you're meeting people's needs.

So my garden is growing in much better than year than last. And I'm optimistic about the chances of my tomatoes, beans, peppers, and squash doing beautifully. These are, mercifully, also things that are very good at producing bumper crops. We already give away eggs and such when we have enough to spare. But being able to give away produce is a nice bonus. Especially if you can mix up lil pre-prepped stuff with ingredient and recipe cards for people to snack on without having to make something themselves. It's a nice treat you know? To eat something you didn't have to pay for and put your time and energy into making. It puts people in the mood to see you as being friendly, as long as you get to know how they need to hear the script of "this is for you"

Sometimes when you're trying to change the world, you have to start by changing one person's world one time. Meet a need. And then another. And over time you'll learn what it looks like to meet them at scale. And before you know it you have a community of people you can organize, advocate with, listen to, whatever facilitation pieces of change-making we all need outside perspective for.

There are a lot of needs in the world. Not all of them get treated like needs, but they still are. Maybe take some time today and think about a need you've met for yourself or someone else recently, and ask yourself some questions of whay it might look like to do that with an eye towards building community

[aliceinwonderpants]

More Operator meeting the Hex fluff.

Aoi

Aoi, while teaching then origami: So what kind of music you got in the future?

Operator, way too focused on getting that one fold right: A bunch of stuff. Like there's this space shanty I found while rescuing one of my frame.

Aoi: Space shanty? Like sea shanties, but in space?

Operator: I think so yes?

Aoi: Tell. Me. Everything.

Quincy

Operator, huffing: I cannot believe you organized a playdate for me.

Quincy: Come on kid, the little rats in the neighbourhood are dying to meet D's little sibling.

Operator, who totes learned how to skateboard so the vent kids would keep their home: Alright, fine.

They mostly stay on the sidelines and watch the other kids, but they have a good time.

Lettie

Lettie: Want to know about eldritch gods of the past?

Operator, inexplicably covered in rats: Only if I get to tell you about eldritch gods of the future.

Amir

Operator, looking over Amir's shoulder: Amir, what are you... is that frame fighters?!

Amir: Oh. It's just a little something I'm working on. It doesn't have a name yet, but it does have warframes fighting each other.

Operator: You made frame fighters! This is so cool!!

Amir: Screaming internally at being called cool.

Eleanor

Eleanor:

Operator:

Eleanor: Why can't I hear your thoughts?

Operator: No idea. Might be thousand years nap in the void. The grineer queen couldn't take over my body either.

Eleanor: We'll unpack that later. For now, come here, you're my nap buddy now.

The Hex have since taken many pictures of the two fast asleep and cuddling.

Arthur

Arthur: I've noticed you've been acting more like a kid since you first visit.

Operator, going stoic soldier mode: Do not worry. I doesn't affect my performance in the future. I can still pull my weight.

Arthur: Kid, no. That's not what I meant.

Operator, arms crossed and definitely not pouting: Plus, you guys never let me help out around her.

Arthur, pinching the bridge of his nose: Kid. Drifter told us some of what you've been through. We don't want you on the front because despite everything, you are still a child and we are adults. It's our job to see to your well-being. From what I know from the future, a lot of people rely on you there, but here, we've got our Drifter with us. We can't do anything when you're over there, but as long as you're with us, in our time, please let us take care of things.

Operator: Fine.... Can we still go out to blow shit up this afternoon.

Arthur: Wouldn't dream of skipping out, kid.

[our-queer-experience]

Thank you for answering so many asks and reblogging so many posts from intersex people. We're probably the most erased group in the acronym, and I'm happy to see someone use their platform to bring attention to us and our issues.

I want to give a few general tips & things to know for your average perisex person for how to be a good ally to the intersex community!

Include our flag in pride projects!

Do not try to force intersex people into a binary like tme/tma or afab/amab. Even cis & trans. We're sick of it! Afab/amab should only be used to describe your own experiences, not other people's. Stop saying stuff like "amab anatomy" & "afab childhood"

We do not like being called biologically nonbinary and most of us are sick of that joke

Stop calling intersex animals trans! It may seem harmless but this is a mild form of erasure. Maned lionesses, male calico cats, antlered does, etc, are intersex! They are not trans! Posts about intersex animals may point people to learn about intersex people, which is a good thing for awareness!

Don't lump us in with trans people! Don't conflate transness & intersexuality. Yes there is overlap between our struggles but we are different groups!

Intersex people can identify as cis but our society will never see us as cis, we do not have cis privilege.

Do not listen to TERFs who call us "DSD", this stands for 'Disorders of Sexual Development" and is NOT the preferred term by the community. It's important to note that this is the current medical terminology for intersex people!! We are fighting against this label and do not accept it! We don't like "Differences of Sexual Development" either because it's the same acronym.

Not every intersex person has ambiguous genitalia. And of those of us who do, we don't "have both", we have something between male & female. And regardless you're not entitled to know what's in our pants lmao.

Use the terms perisex, endosex, or dyadic (they all mean the same thing, but perisex is the most recent & revised term. Endosex & dyadic are better known among older people) when talking about people who are not intersex. The same way you use cisgender when talking about people who are not trans. This positions intersex as a natural variation vs a deviation from normal.

Support intersex advocacy organizations like @interactyouth! InterACT is a wonderful group! As is InterConnect!

Most bigotry intersex people face is medical abuse, please recognize that! Many otherwise reputable medical sources are wrong about us and NEED to be challenged.

Do not reduce intersex people down to "cis person with a disorder" (like what the medical field does) especially in the context of the person in question being subject to transphobia. I see this so often with trans people saying "transphobia affects cis people too" only to show a headline about an intersex woman being harassed. Intersex people are an intended target of transphobia! It is not "transphobia backfiring on cis ppl". Remove phrases like "cis men with gynocemastia" from your vocabulary. Instead say intersex men.

PCOS is considered an intersex variation by the intersex community, but not by the medical establishment. If you are someone with PCOS, you ARE intersex due to your body's natural hormone levels! (You don't have to take up that label if you don't want to!)

I didn't know this had to be said, but do not say futa/futanari. I do not care that it's a popular porn category, it's a slur for intersex people in Japanese. It's the same as calling us a hermaphrodite, only worse because of the fetishization. There are better words you can use. (Ex bigenital)

YOU CANNOT TRANSITION TO BE INTERSEX! You can transition to have mixed sex traits, but do NOT say you are intersex! Please! This is co-opting! Use words like altersex, nonbinary or salmacian! Even post-transition, you are still perisex.

Please realize that we are being violently erased via the medical system. They need to mutilate us because our existence challenges the status-quo of bioessentialism. The only way a dyadic society can recognize our existence is as a "problem" that needs to be "fixed". This should piss you the fuck off. It should make you MAD. If it does, you're better than most allies. It's not an unfortunate "I'm sorry about that :(" this is a WHAT THE FUCK kind of situation. The subdued reaction everyone has to intersex people being mutilated and forced onto hormones is just so bleak to me. It's like nobody gives a shit. You never see intersex people because our dyadic society doesn't want you to. This is purposeful.

^^^ listen to intersex voices!

[kiragecko]

Do you think Cass's writers KNEW how harmful Babs' teaching methods were?

Cass and/or Babs fans who have read the first Batgirl series and/or No Man's Land, what do you think?

I'll get into the details in a moment, but my guess is they were trying to write Babs as a fallible mentor, but were ignorant about just how much damage she would realistically be causing. I'd like to get second opinions, because I've spent enough time studying communication with nonverbal people that I no longer know what people actually KNOW.

Anyways, here's the stuff I want to know if you guys think is intentional:

When we first meet Cass, Babs is trying to teach her to read. Babs is showing her the word 'stop' and getting Cass to sound out the letters. This is ... not a good idea.

Some of the errors Cass makes (starting with a 'd' sound and correcting to 't', for example) suggest that Cass is still learning HOW TO MAKE SOUNDS. She's still teaching her body how to shape her mouth and throat, when to vibrate her vocal cords - the physical aspects of speech. That's HARD, and deserves focus so it can be learned properly!

We later learn she only knows a small number of words. She's still learning to associate sounds with meaning. That's HARD, and deserves focus so it can be learned properly!

She's also still learning to match letter shapes to sounds. THAT IS ALSO HARD AND DESERVES FOCUS SO SHE CAN LEARN IT PROPERLY!

By conflating reading, speech, AND understanding, Babs is making Cass' job MUCH MUCH more difficult! Each of those, and a dozen smaller aspects of communication, all need months of prioritization, without competition from other aspects.

-

Throughout Batgirl, Babs pressures Cass to read. Cass is still learning to parse meaning from the words downloaded into her head. She struggles to organize them into sentences. She struggles to understand the nuances of what other people are saying. Once again, these are all important things that she should be encouraged to focus on! Reading is nice, but at this point it shouldn't be the priority. By ignoring the skills Cass IS building, and pushing Cass towards competing skills she doesn't have the prerequisites for, Babs is slowing down Cass' progress and providing negative feedback loops.

-

Babs seems to equate reading with communicating. Possibly because of her past as a librarian and the obvious value she gets from reading. Possibly because her current job is as an information broker and hacker. Possibly because her own disability limits her physically, and reading and writing has become necessary for interacting with the outside world. Possibly because she is living vicariously through the new Batgirl. And possibly because her eidetic memory suggests she thinks in words and can't actually imagine thought in other ways.

Cass is probably never going to use reading as a primary communication method, and would have benefited froma learning regimen that works with her skills, rather than pushing through her weaknesses.

-

Here's the stuff I'm pretty sure was intentional:

Babs calls Cass stupid for not being able to read during a high pressure situation that is triggering Babs. This is obviously wrong, and she feels awful about it.

Babs is frequently impatient with Cass' progress, and sometimes accuses her of not trying, or not caring enough. She makes comments in front of other people without thinking. These are all shown as problematic and hurtful.

-

Here's the things I think Babs did right:

Babs sets up a computer system that can be navigated by voice, and can interpret vague instructions. It provides visual, as well as verbal, information for everything Cass asks about. Cass is never pressured to use a different system.

Babs mostly allows Cass to explore, and builds lessons around Cass' interests. She integrates life skills into her lessons, and actually does a REALLY good job at helping Cass build enough of a foundation to start getting curious about the world.

She usually backs off when Cass gets stubborn, which lets Cass recover, and keep some agency.

She MOSTLY doesn't co-opt Cass' growing friendship with Steph. She supports them, and doesn't try to use Steph to push Cass in the directions Babs wants her to go.

Other than stuff around speech and literacy, I actually think the writers did a good job of writing a flawed but caring mentor who actually helped more than she harmed.

-

What do you guys think?

[peacheeeliz]

032. i didn't know where else to go (wc: 469)

Heavy rain patters against the windows of the convenience store, almost drowning out the quiet music Wooyoung always plays to make his shifts just a bit more entertaining. He stands in his usual spot, speaking to San, who sits on the counter in front of him. There were no customers, so they were both in their own little worlds as they spoke to one another.

“I'm just saying, if you really wanted to get back into music,” San begins, chewing away at a candy bar. “I'm sure the others would love to have you join The Willows.”

“You think?” Wooyoung asks, organizing something behind the counter. “Well, if you ever need a really hot drummer,” he pauses, looking up at San and winking playfully. “I'm your guy.”

San winks back, chuckling. “Hell yeah, you are.”

“I've been wanting to get back into it anyway,” Wooyoung continues, eyes back on his task. “You know, like solo stuff. Learning covers and posting videos and whatnot.”

“Oh my God, you would so make it as one of those thirst trap drummers on TikTok,” San comments, taking another bite of his candy bar.

“Right?” He exclaims. “That's the career I was born for, honest to God,” he jokes, laughing. “But, no, here I am. Working at the convenience store.”

Before San could even say anything back, his phone dings from his pocket. He checks his notifications, groaning. “Ugh, picture-perfect Yunho calling me to a last-minute practice,” he says, hopping off the counter. “I've gotta go.”

“Tell ‘em I said hey,” Wooyoung tells him, looking up to watch him head towards the door. “And stay dry out there, I've never seen it rain this bad.”

“Already on it, sir,” he replies, saluting as he pulls his umbrella out of the umbrella rack. “Good luck on your shift!”

With one last wave from Wooyoung, San is out the door and straight into the storm. Now alone – as what customer in their right mind would make a convenience store stop in this rain – Wooyoung returns his full attention to his tasks. Organizing bits and bobs behind the counters, oh so entertaining.

When the bell rings, indicating someone was entering the store, he barely even notices. It isn't until he feels the presence of someone nearby and the intense glare of eyeballs that he looks up from his work, “Hi, welcome. What can I-”

He cuts himself off when he sees it's you standing there, soaking wet and dripping all over the floor. Even in your state, he can tell you've been crying by the redness of your eyes. But, still, he's frozen in his place because it had been way too long since he'd seen you like this. It left him in shock.

“I,” you pause, voice cracking. “I didn't know where else to go.”

synopsis ⤏ when wooyoung, mr. "scared of commitment," finds himself catching feelings for you, his supposed friend with benefits, he struggles between keeping things casual or possibly ruining your friendship.

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[everrinsly]

Thank you, everyone, for reading! So so much! I appreciate it all the messages and comments; they make me smile! (＾▽＾) I hope you enjoy these pieces. I'm still learning how to write, so my styles may change from time to time!

Also regarding my account theme, so sorry it's not aesthetically pleasing (T_T) like the other pretty ones on here. (｡╯︵╰｡) But I hope you can still find everything. I am not creative at all when designing stuff. And this blog is just mainly for me! I want to write/track my writing progress haha so I don't focus much on how everything looks. (I promise I will organize everything soon again)!

Learning how to write/be creative again! Just a fun way for me to practice my writing as someone who is mostly absorbed in academic research and science-based writing! Most of these are pre-written/written for a while in my docs (since my high school-uni days but posting now)!

updates | messages from me.

what's popular | reads that make everyone happy.

by your belt loops. fluff. very suggestive.

blue lock | paris x gen best friends with benefits.

in public with karasu. fluff. slight nsfw. very suggestive.

car trouble with rin. smut. nsfw. mature.

needy with shidou. fluff. slight nsfw. very suggestive.

blue lock | life with rin.

includes soft snippets of your life with rin. (p.s. he's needy 70% of the time).

blue lock | life with sae.

includes soft snippets of your life with sae. (p.s. he's needy 90% of the time).

haikyuu!! | suna rintarou.

includes all things suna! vibes are cozy, happy, safe... because when you're with suna, he treats you like his world.

haikyuu!! | sugar daddy suna rintarou.

includes richy rich pro-athlete suna who wants to give you the world.

haikyuu!! | olympic team shenanigans.

includes a stressed momager, sweet chaos, and protective squad energy with team japan.

haikyuu!! | there are only three women in my life.

only three women with oikawa. fluff.

two women and a plus one with miya a. fluff.

two women and someone i should've eaten in the womb with miya o. fluff.

multi | for all your favorites.

includes your lovely boys from haikyuu, blue lock, and jujutsu kaisen + anyone you want!

[lnracer]

Hii babe, I have another little request if you’re taking them!

Could you write something Kimi Antonelli x fem!reader where she’s super stressed because she’s about to take her final exams (like the French bac) and she hasn’t started revising at all?? It’s literally in a month, and she feels completely overwhelmed and behind.Like she’s spiraling a bit, maybe crying over highlighters and making dramatic “I’m gonna fail” speeches while Kimi just tries to calm her down and support her. Maybe he helps her organize her revision or just stays with her through the stress, reminding her that she’s smart and capable even if she doesn’t feel like it. Basically soft academic panic + golden retriever boyfriend energy. Only if it inspires you of course!! But I’d love that dynamic.

Pairing: Kimi Antonelli x High Schooler! Female Reader.

Warnings: None.

Word Count: 1.190k.

a/n: Thank you very much for the request! From my interpretation of your text, I understood that you mentioned the French BAC just as an example, so I took the liberty of changing it to the Italian exam just to make more sense with the narrative I put together (But if it was indeed a specific request, then I'm really sorry 😔).

Also, I don't know anything in depth about this exam so ignore everything here and take it as just narrative progression (In case I wrote something that doesn't match reality 😅) Anyway, I hope you like it and that it met your expectations! ☺️🩵

The table was a war zone.

Papers everywhere, half-empty water bottles, pastel highlighters tossed like grenades across her notebook. Her laptop screen blinked mockingly with a half-finished Word document titled "Philosophical theories I don't understand."

“I’m gonna fail,” she declared dramatically, one hand in her hair, the other holding a yellow highlighter like a weapon. “Like properly. Publicly. It’ll be humiliating. I’ll go down as the girl who cracked during Maturità and died in a pile of her own flashcards.”

Kimi leaned against her bedroom door frame, arms crossed, watching the scene with raised brows and soft amusement. She hadn’t noticed he’d come in.

“Is that how you want your legacy to go?” he asked gently.

She whipped her head up, red-eyed and flushed from stress. “Don’t tease me, Kimi. I haven’t even touched physics. Or Dante. Or that one stupid math module I swear I never learned because my professor went on maternity leave!”

“I’m not teasing,” he said quickly, crossing the room to crouch beside her chair. “I’m just trying to make sure you’re not about to commit a highlighter-based crime.”

She let out a weak laugh through her sniffles. “You think this is funny now, but wait until you’re dating a Matura dropout who has to live in the countryside and raise goats.”

“Okay,” Kimi said, grinning, “one, you’d be a very glamorous goat girl. And two—”

He gently pulled the yellow highlighter out of her hand, tossing it onto the table.

“—you’re not going to fail. You’re panicking. Which is fair. But you’re not stupid. You’re just overwhelmed.”

She let herself fall forward onto his shoulder, muffling her next dramatic sigh into his hoodie. He held her tightly, pressing a kiss into the crown of her hair.

“I’ve never felt this behind before,” she murmured. “Like, I don’t even know where to start. I feel like I should’ve started months ago.”

“Okay,” he said, brushing a hand down her back. “So, what if we start right now? We make a plan. You and me. I’ll sit with you while you go over stuff. I’ll quiz you. I’ll even learn Dante if it means you stop crying over neon pens.”

She let out a snort, leaning back to look at him, eyes still watery but a little brighter.

“You’d suffer through Dante’s Inferno for me?”

“I’d suffer through Purgatorio too,” he said solemnly, placing a hand over his heart.

She smiled properly now, finally. “You’re insane.”

“Maybe. But I’m also your boyfriend. Which means I believe in you, even when you think your future is goat-herding.”

He stood up and clapped his hands once, all energy.

“Alright. We make a study plan, you shower, I make you pasta, and we get through this. Deal?”

She nodded, wiping her face. “Deal.”

And as he kissed her temple and picked up the scattered flashcards, she couldn’t help but think that maybe — just maybe — she’d survive this exam season after all.

────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ──────

It was past midnight and her bedroom smelled faintly of lavender tea and ink.

Textbooks were stacked in little towers across the floor, the lamp dimmed low to match the quiet. Her eyes were drooping as she tried to re-read the same line from her literature notes for the fifth time.

“Okay,” Kimi said softly from beside her on the bed, “last question. Then we sleep. Promise.”

She whined, flopping sideways into the pillows. “No, I have to finish this chapter. I haven’t even touched Manzoni yet.”

“You’re literally blinking in slow motion.”

“I’m not!”

“You just tried to highlight your own hand.”

She blinked down at her palm and groaned. “Betrayed by muscle memory.”

Kimi grinned, pulling the notes gently from her hands and setting them aside.

“Alright. Look at me.”

She turned her head slowly, cheek squished against her pillow, eyes glassy with exhaustion. He leaned on one elbow, face soft in the low light.

“Tell me one reason you’re gonna pass this exam.”

She blinked. “Because you’ll dump me if I don’t?”

He laughed. “Wrong. I’d proudly date a goat farmer if that’s where this goes. Try again.”

“…Because I’ve studied hard?”

He tilted his head.

She exhaled. “Because I’m smart. Even when I feel stupid.”

“Exactly.” he smiled like she’d just solved the world’s hardest riddle.

“Ugh. You’re so disgustingly wholesome when I’m spiraling.” she buried her face in his chest, muffling a little groan.

“Someone has to balance us out.” he stroked her hair, slow and rhythmic, as her breath evened out against him.

“Can you sleep here? For the rest of the night, I mean…” she mumbled.

“Will it make you feel more at ease and not secretly go back to studying later even though you're tired, like I know you would if I left?” his voice dropped into a whisper against her temple.

“Yeah. Stay.”

So he did.

And in the quiet hum of late-night pages, sleepy comfort, and the boy who never once doubted her, the weight in her chest lightened — just a little.

────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ──────

A few months after that stressful but nonetheless comforting night — all thanks to his crucial presence in preventing eventual deaths caused by pastel highlighters — Kimi's screen lit up with her name, and he didn’t even wait for the second ring. He answered instantly, flopping back onto the crisp hotel sheets, hair damp from a post-sim session shower, cheeks still a little flushed.

“Ciao, amore.” he said, voice warm with familiarity.

Her face appeared, still slightly flushed too — but from sun and nerves and residual adrenaline. The backdrop was her bedroom, but her smile was something brand new.

“Well?” he asked quickly, eyes scanning her for signs. “How’d it go? Are we moving to the mountains to start goat farming or—”

“I have a question first,” she interrupted, leaning into the camera with a smug, tired little grin. “Do you think you can score points this weekend in Imola?”

Kimi blinked. “Uh… I mean, yeah? I’ll try my—”

“Because I think we should both do something in honor of our country,” she said, eyes gleaming now. “Since, you know, I basically just slayed the Maturità.”

He sat up like she’d thrown a trophy at him. “Wait— wait. You did well?!”

She nodded, grinning now. “Really well.”

Kimi’s jaw dropped for a second, and then he lit up — fully, like sunlight breaking through clouds. He fist-pumped the air with both hands, nearly knocking over his water bottle.

“YES. YES. LET’S GOOOO.”

She laughed so hard her phone shook.

“You’re making this feel like I won a race, not passed an exam.”

He pointed at the camera. “You beat Italian literature. You deserve a podium.”

“Only if you get one too,” she teased.

“Deal. Countrymen on the rise.”

There was a pause — soft and lovely — before his voice dropped.

“I’m so proud of you.”

Her throat tightened a little.

“I wouldn’t have made it through the panic without you, you know.”

“Good,” he said softly, “because I’d sit through a hundred crying-over-highlighters nights if it meant this face right now.”

She smiled — tired and radiant.

“Go win in Imola.”

“I’ll try. For Italy. And for the smartest girl I know.”