#any improvements would only be marginal

[monster-noises]

The question is how do i get a better job that won't make me feel like dying?

The answer is there isn't one.

[paisleypens]

hii i love your writing sm!!

would you write a love it blind board game spencerxcastreader?? i can almost see it like if spencer had a crush on reader and they have absolutely no idea so he tries to make it obvious in the game and then it’s just super fluffy and cute at the end of the game??

love is blind… or blurry | spencer agnew x reader

you find out your colleague has a crush on you through an unlikely combination of pods, engagements, and improv

⸻

The moment you walked onto the Smosh Games set, you knew it was going to be another gloriously chaotic day.

Courtney was already spinning in a cape, Shayne was scribbling fake poetry into a leather journal, and someone had set off the fog machine way too early. Classic.

It was Love is Blind: The Board Game—round three. At this point, the crew had ditched any attempt at playing it straight. Now it was just an excuse for everyone to dress up in unhinged characters and flirt badly in front of cameras. You adjusted your clipboard (labeled "Red Flags") and gave a mock-serious nod to Spencer, who had just emerged wearing a turtleneck and a tragically earnest expression.

He smiled at you—half in character, half not.

“Ready to fall blindly in love?” he asked.

“Only if it’s ironically,” you shot back.

“Is there any other way?”

⸻

The Pods Phase

“What’s your ideal date night?” you read aloud, checking the options. “Something adventurous, something cozy, or something chaotic.”

You circled “cozy,” of course. Your character didn’t believe in grand gestures or jumping off cliffs for love. Across the room, Spencer smiled to himself. He also chose “cozy,” then scribbled in the margins: “with someone who makes silence feel like music.”

Trevor, peeking over a shoulder with his magnifying glass, muttered, “Suspicious.”

Shayne stood up dramatically. “This question… it wounds me! For how can a man know his perfect date when he hath never known love?”

“Sit down, creep,” Angela deadpanned. “You said that exact line last time.”

⸻

The Proposal Phase

Courtney waved her arms. “It is now time to choose… your person. The one your spirit calls out for… blindly.”

You were flipping through your notes when a ring box slid toward you across the table.

You looked up.

Spencer was holding out a second ring box in your direction, avoiding eye contact in a way that was half in-character, half… not.

“In the silence of the pods, I heard a voice. Steady, smart, and skeptical. It sounded a lot like… you,” he said in character, but his voice wavered just slightly.

You laughed, raising an eyebrow. “That’s either a really good improv line… or you’re actually trying to propose to me.”

Spencer shrugged, cheeks a little red. “Can’t it be both?”

Courtney gasped. “Wait. Is this—”

“STAY IN CHARACTER,” Angela shouted.

You smirked. “Alright, I accept your ironically sincere proposal.”

⸻

The Apartments Phase

Now in “couples mode,” you and Spencer were seated together, side by side, answering more questions. The goal: match answers and earn hearts.

“What’s your go-to comfort food?” you asked.

“Mac and cheese,” you both said at the exact same time.

Angela rolled her eyes. “That was suspiciously in sync.”

“Probably rehearsed,” Shayne said, pretending to take notes for his novel.

Next question: “What’s your biggest fear in a relationship?”

You glanced at Spencer.

He hesitated, then said softly, “Being too afraid to say how I feel.”

You blinked. You had written the same thing.

Trevor leaned over the couch. “I swear, if this is a bit, it’s the best slow burn we’ve done on the channel.”

You and Spencer both laughed, shoulders brushing slightly. His hand lingered close to yours on the table.

⸻

It was time for the final tally. Couples who reached ten hearts won the game. You and Spencer had eleven.

Courtney gasped. “They’re the winners!”

Angela smirked. “Of course they are. Spencer’s been extra weird today.”

As the video wrapped, Spencer pulled you aside stopping you from leaving the set.

“Hey,” he said, a little quieter than before, the character slipping away.

You turned to look at him.

“I know we were joking around in the game, but, uh… I wasn’t really kidding about the part where I picked you because I like you,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve kinda had a crush on you for a while.”

Your face warmed. “You… actually meant all that poetry stuff?”

“Okay, the poetry was mostly garbage,” he said with a laugh. “But yeah. The cozy dates? The matching answers? That was all me.”

You smiled. “So… was this your master plan to ask me out? Through a Love is Blind board game parody?”

He shrugged. “Smosh Games is my love language.”

You bit your lip, trying not to grin too hard. “Then yeah, I’d love to go out with you. No ironic characters. Just us.”

⸻

thanks for reading! this took me for EVER because i really really wanted to get this formatting right and i adored this prompt <3

[sanctus-ingenium]

we need to talk about Inprnt.com

Following a really good post with more screenshots and evidence by @dynasoar5 i'm going to talk about my own experiences with @inprnt and why I am about to put my shop on indefinite hiatus from Monday the 14th of August.

First of all I'll say that since starting my print shop last year it has been a significant help to me financially - I was able to not worry about affording car insurance or motor tax (together commonly over a thousand euro) when I bought my first car, for example. I am immeasurably grateful to anyone who chose to buy one and I treasure all the pictures I've been sent of my prints hanging up on people's walls. Right now they are displayed in a real (if small) art exhibition in my home town.

(top right print is not from inprnt though)

They're great prints. Never had any complaints about them. But here's what's going on behind the scenes.

Earlier this year, around March or April, Inprnt sales started increasing in regularity. I'd made as much as $600 a week during previous sales when I made proper promo posts here, but with this increase in regularity, I felt that I couldn't make promo posts every single week. And then one day, I'm not sure when tbh, the sale just never ended. It just didn't stop having that "Ending soon! 15% off your order" banner at the top of the site. Right now it says "Final Hours: $5 Worldwide shipping and save up to 35% off your order!" and not even for a second do I believe in this final hours bullshit. It's been 'final hours' for weeks now. Months, even.

Why is this a problem? Well, how tf am I meant to make a promo post for a sale that is always "ending soon!!" and then never ends. One week it'll say "this weekend only!!" and then when the weekend is over, the sale banner just changes its wording and the sale doesn't end. I can't promo this, it makes me look like a liar and a skeevy salesman by association! It makes the site look like it's 1 week from crashing and burning, and the site owners are just scrabbling to suck as much money from artists as possible before they drown.

And they are sucking money from us. To peel back the curtain, Inprnt money can only be transferred to my paypal account 30 days after the sale is made, just in case the order is cancelled and refunded. This means I used to make one withdrawal every couple of months, when there was enough build-up of money to make it worthwhile. It also forbids withdrawing any sum under $50 btw. I would make a withdrawal request and then, after a 10 business day wait, it would reach my Paypal account.

Not anymore! The past few withdrawals have taken over a month to complete. They are straight up keeping my earnings from me for longer the agreed period. This was my last fulfilled withdrawal:

Note the date.

Almost two months.

And here is the latest withdrawal request that still has not been fulfilled.

It's coming up on 1 month and if the pattern continues, it could literally be November or December by the time I fully clear all sales.

So what's going to happen to my print shop? Because my art is currently being exhibited with a QR code linking to the shop, I can't close the shop this week. Instead I will close it on Monday the 14th of August, next week. That means that on the 14th of September, I can withdraw all of the remaining money without having any left over. My account balance will go to 0 and stay there. Although I'll de-list my prints I will leave my account there, because at the end of the day I don't want to leave Inprnt. It still offers the best artist margins and as I'm now unemployed after graduating, the additional support is such a load off my mind. So this is a chance to wait and see - if they improve their services, I'll happily re-open.

It's a big deal to me because selling prints is sort of my ideal life as an artist. I never had the attention span or self-discipline for commission work and I found that it left me creatively stagnant. I always want to try new things, new concepts and ideas, and being able to think "yeah, people will like this as a print" while I experiment is honestly very reassuring. And I know that in going on hiatus, it'll break a lot of "buy a print" links in my circulating posts. Oh well lmao. If you want to buy a print right now - go ahead, it might be your last opportunity. Another way to support me would be to check out my ko-fi for once-off donations or some nice sketchbooks/comics/book samples you can buy, or subscribing to my Patreon.

As of right now, Inprnt owes me $381 (the unfulfilled request submitted above for $186.60 and my current standing balance of $194.80 which takes 30 days from each transaction to clear).

[redsrooftopprincess]

I have just had this idea for Bayverse Raph and female reader.

I want to see a chapter on how the reader has cute awkward moment. Walking into the lair thinking all of them are out on a mission, only thing is Raph is there just in the gym.

Then I give you permission to work with this as its a writing experience.

Work your magic!

Awkward

Raphael x GN!Reader

It's the middle of the night and you expect the lair to be empty. You're bringing a fresh batch of tea to Master Splinter. You'd picked up his favorite at a small shop in Chinatown that afternoon.

You expect all the boys to be out on patrol, so you're surprised when you hear music, and see a light on in the weight room. You drop the tea on the kitchen counter, next to the kettle, and head in that direction.

He's lifting. Laying on the bench modified to accommodate their shells, and musing about how funny it is that while he used to look forward to the quiet of his nights off, now he'd much rather have an excuse to come visit you.

You only met recently, a few months ago, but he's been stopping by for a break in the middle of patrol occasionally, and occasionally was starting to evolve into frequently.

He sets his weights down and takes a break, grabbing a bottle of water and walking over to the mirror. He stretches his arm, looking down the length of his tricep in the mirror.

His workouts are half mental, half medical. Mental because it's when and where he thinks the best. In a way, it's almost like he can physically put his thoughts in order with every push of the bar. Medical because his shell is just too damn heavy.

Turtles aren't meant to walk on their hind legs, and even with their mutated forms, their spines can only take so much. Raphael may not be the tallest, but he is the biggest of his brothers, in sheer mass, by a large margin. He was made for close quarter combat, a thick hide and a dense shell ready to tank any abuse thrown at it. It was a heavy burden. Literally.

Besides all that, he just enjoys it. Leo used to call him vain. The way he would look at himself in the mirror, finding every last detail of his physique that could be improved, and busting his ass until he was satisfied. He isn't vain, at least he doesn't think he is. He just doesn't have a lot else about himself he can be proud of.

So, on his nights off, he doubles his workouts and uses that time to think through whatever is going on inside his head. Lately, it's been you.

You're new. It usually took him a while to get comfortable with new. There was always an adjustment period. But he took to you almost immediately. It's something he's not used to and... he doesn't hate it.

You're sweet. Kind. And you didn't scream upon first meeting, which initially made him question your sanity. You're sharp and sassy and can keep up with him talking shit. Brilliant and clever and ready to jump into whatever their weird lives are throwing at them. All of that, and on top of everything, you are SO hot. Fuck. It's actually unfair.

Climbing the stairs to the weight room, 50 Cent is shouting a song from the speakers that really, really doesn't help your rocketing heart rate when you stop in the doorway.

Oh wow.

In nothing but his harness, black sweats with red kanji emblazoned down the left leg, and hand wraps, he's flexing in the mirror, and your mouth has gone dry.

He's beautiful. You've thought so from the start. But Raphael is a *big dude*. You've known many *big dudes* in your life, and if there's one thing you know about *big dudes* it's that they hate being noticed, because they're always the ones you notice first.

Compliments are something that need to be worked up to. Especially in his case. There is so much trauma around his physical appearance, that one wrong move could set you back further than the beginning.

You've started with observations. Things like asking about his scarification and tattoos. If you could get him comfortable talking about his body, maybe one day you could tell him how much you appreciate it in a way that he would not only accept, but believe.

Mentioning his body at all is still a hit or miss situation, but the hits are becoming more frequent and, Gods, you love how cute and bashful this giant reptile gets talking about himself. Like he's embarrassed there might be something about himself that he likes.

But, holy fuck is he beautiful.

You can't help it. Your eyes wander a path over his form, scaling every mountain and ravine of his otherworldly vista. Raphael is a mountain made flesh and you've never gone mountain climbing, but it looks really fun.

He smirks, pleased with the results of his latest inspection, and relaxes his arm. His gaze falls on you in the doorway behind him, and he startles, turning around quickly. "Oh! Hey!"

"Oh! Hi!" you say, a blush blooming on your cheeks. Did he catch you staring? You laugh nervously, "Sorry, I didn't think anyone was here."

"Oh, no, it's cool..." he says, "my night off." Holy shit she's here. Okay, be cool, you were just missing her, and she's here now. That's a good thing. Right?

"Oh... Cool."

"Yeah."

"..."

"..." The plastic water bottle crinkles in his hands as he fidgets.

"I was just bringing some tea to your dad."

"Oh, he's asleep by now."

"I figured."

"..."

"..."

You're used to having home field advantage, but you're on his turf now, and suddenly you don't know what to do. You usually invite him in for coffee and busy yourself with something while you hang out and chat. It's always easier for you to talk to new(ish) people when you're doing something, but this time you're the guest, and your only task has already been completed.

You're here. In the lair. With him. Alone. He's not really used to "guests," let alone beautiful ones that he totally isn't crushing on, shut up.

"Okay... Well, I'm... gonna head home," you gesture vaguely over your shoulder, "Enjoy your night off!" You smile brightly, cringing *hard* on the inside. Gods, you're so fucking awkward.

Shit! No!

"Wait," he takes a step toward you, hand outstretched. That sounded desperate. Did that sound desperate? Fuck it, he's desperate. Don't leave. "You know..." Be cool... he slows down and clears his throat, "If you got nowhere to be, do you... want to watch a movie or something?" He tries really hard to keep the hopeful edge out of his voice. He fails.

A grin splits your face. Really? Really really? "Yeah! Sure!" you say, nodding, almost bouncing, "I'd love that!"

He grins back, his stomach doing somersaults, "Cool... I guess I'll grab the snacks... you pick the movie?"

"Okay!" You say, actually bouncing.

You spend the night watching movies, talking, and telling stories, without the looming deadline of him having to go back to work. Without having to rush things, you find you that you have a lot more in common than you thought. A deep love of terrible action movies being one of those things, and you make it through several. After The Transporter, you fall into what feels like a natural rhythm, missing most of the remaining movies entirely in favor of conversation.

Michaelangelo is the first to make it home, and finds the two of you asleep on the couch. Equilibrium is playing on the giant television, Raphael's arm is wrapped around you, and you are cuddled into his side under one of the many oversized hand knitted blankets scattered about the lair.

Mike snaps a photo for future leverage, and goes to take a shower.

Tag list

...

From Red's Lifting Playlist:

...

@thelaundrybitch @the-cauldron-witch @fyreball66 @ninnosaurus @tmntngl @thegirlwiththeninjaturtletattoos @zagreustomb @ramielll @silverwatergalaxy @gornackeaterofworlds @daedric-sorceress @sophiacloud28 @iridescentflamingo @milykins

[mindfulstudyquest]

❥﹒♡﹒☕﹒ 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶'𝗺 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻 as an exchange student who's not a party animal

𝟭. study day by day ( 🪴 )

i am a big procrastinator and when it comes to exams, too often i have left it to the last minute and pulled all-nighters to get high grades, but due to the spanish school system, which includes many more partial exams and midterms than italy (actually there aren't any in italy at all) i will be "forced" to change this tendency of mine, the goal is to study the lessons on the very same day so as to have a greater margin for revision that will allow me to secure my knowledge.

𝟮. allow time to rest/recharge ( 🔌 )

i once read a sentence: "if you have two minutes to do something, it will take you two minutes, but if you have two hours, it will take you the whole two hours". concentrating for a few hours a day, but in an effective and meaningful way is perhaps my biggest dream, this year i will do my best to limit the hours of study and dedicate time to rest and tourist activities that my year in spain will reserve for me (parties and hangouts included).

𝟯. learning a new language ( ⭐ )

i don't speak spanish at all, but i understand it very well. studying and living here for a whole year will definitely help me develop my linguistic/grammatical knowledge to start a deeper study of the language. the more languages ​​you know, the better.

𝟰. get out of my comfort zone ( 🦋 )

as an introvert, i often find myself, especially during stressful times, retreating to my room, wrapped in the comfort of my favorite books and series. the real challenge will be to abandon the safe place for the unknown and finally embrace the idea that the unknown is beautiful, that it has breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, and that any scars that might come from it are as precious as diamonds.

𝟱. being proud of myself ( 🍋 )

realizing that i'm doing well, that the me from a year ago who was afraid of failing the university entrance exam has not only now completed her first year of architecture with excellent results, but now lives alone in a foreign country. a year ago i would never have believed it, so i should be proud of it, and not fear that i'm not enough. there is a lot to improve, but celebrating victories is equally important as aiming for the top.

[scientia-rex]

Saw a patient today who had been through a series of medical visits that epitomizes what I hate about multiple different kinds of care providers. Their VA dermatologist took a scoop out of them to remove a basal cell cancer. Fine. I’m not a dermatologist, maybe it needed those wide margins. (If it didn’t, going that deep should mean it was an excisional biopsy and they put in sutures to close it.) They gave the patient and his wife confusing instructions about wound care. They didn’t provide guidance around keeping it covered or moist. It got infected. His wife took him to Urgent Care. The UC doc took a swab of the wound and started antibiotics. They came to see me for a visit we scheduled ages ago for something else.

Here’s the thing. Wounds need to be kept at what I call the Goldilocks moisture level: not too dry and not too wet. If it’s pruny/white/mushy like it’s been in a bathtub, it’s too wet. If it’s cracking, it’s too dry. This is why you can’t say “cover it for X days and then leave it out.” That would be like telling someone with heart failure and lower extremity edema “take the diuretic for a week and then stop” without any instructions around dry weight, dizziness, etc. It’s more complicated than that.

This wound was too dry. No one had talked to them about keeping it moist. No one had even mentioned Vaseline.

No, they got a wound swab. Want to guess how good a wound swab is for an open wound exposed to the world? Pretty terrible. You can improve it a little bit by making sure you’ve removed some kind of layer and then expressing fluid directly from the wound with the swab, but it’s still bad. The only time I give a shit about what grows from a wound swab is when it was a) collected in the OR (as when the podiatrist gets a sample of osteomyelitic bone in a sterile environment) or b) when it grows pseudomonas. Everything else? I can figure out by looking at it. If it’s skin it’s probably either staph or strep. If it’s staph, it’s either MRSA or MSSA. If it’s MRSA, it’s making a lot of pus, it’s red, it’s hot, it’s painful. This wasn’t. So it was either MSSA or strep. So what are we going to do for systemic antibiotics? Probably the same thing we would have done anyway—Keflex.

And what’s the utility of systemic antibiotics in a skin wound? Not a lot, most of the time. This wasn’t cellulitis proper. It wasn’t red or hot or angry enough. A red border around the wound does not a systemic infection make. And if you don’t care properly for the wound itself, there’s no point in antibiotics, because it still can’t heal. Antibiotics can get where blood goes. Blood does not go into the slough that is the bacterial biofilm covering a wound.

So I sat there with gauze and saline and gently debrided the 100% slough off the wound. It’s yucky and it takes time and attention. It doesn’t get compensated. That’s why no one else had done it yet. The derm had blown it off as “it’s healing, it’s fine.” It wasn’t healing. It was developing rolled edges, where the wound edges couldn’t heal across the slough and so they started to curl back under themselves. If taking off the slough (and keeping it gone by MAINTAINING PROPER CONDITIONS) doesn’t let it heal, I’ll need to get him back in and rough up the edges with a Buck’s curette until it can heal.

Multiple professionals who should have known better tried to make my patient just go away, rather than heal him.

I’m pissed. I’m tired. I think I have a cold. I shouldn’t be doing the work the dermatologist or the UC provider should have done. And because of everything they’d told her, his wife was pissed at me for doing what was correct. “We’ve heard a lot of different things!” Yes, and I’m right. You’ll find out when the wound actually starts healing when we care for it properly.

The value of a model is in what it can predict. Wounds are great about making it clear when your model sucks.

[copperbadge]

https://www.wired.com/story/therapy-broken-mental-health-challenges/

I came across this (old) article and it made me think of what you shared about your therapy experience. Would you say your therapy experience worked? It almost feels like you were telling us about how you were A/B testing your way through it.

Yeah, I remember reading that article at some point either before therapy or early on. I don't remember what I thought overall but I do remember being astonished that people expected therapy to help them in six sessions, and that most people report improvement in only 15-20. Not because I think either of those things are unrealistic based on any kind of evidence, but because that's not the expectation I was ever handed when I was in therapy. I was in therapy for nine years as a kid, until I turned eighteen and could legally refuse to go. Not for anything I did, like it wasn't a court order, I was simply put into therapy and wasn't allowed to leave by the adults in my life.

The thing is, because it was mandatory, because at least one of those therapists broke ethical constraints, and because across nine years and three separate therapists nobody caught my ADHD, I have a more complicated relationship to therapy than a lot of people. I still catch myself thinking of things I can't tell my therapist because then she'll have leverage on me. Which is absurd, but it took me a long time to start saying those things to her. I am difficult and private and smart enough to make that a real problem, so it's been a slow process for me.

I also think that article is complicated, because it makes a lot of good points but it also seems at times to confuse therapy itself with the abusive nature of the American healthcare system. So while it's a useful article particularly when it speaks to marginalized peoples' experiences, it may discourage people who could benefit from therapy from doing the work to find a therapist. It's a good article to learn from, but I wouldn't advise people to decide for or against therapy based on it.

(My thoughts on my own therapy under the cut)

I'm still in therapy. It's difficult to measure results. I think I handle interpersonal stress better than I used to, but I haven't been able to find much to help with some of the emotional volatility I experience, and while I've set some good boundaries with family, the process of doing that was and continues to be stressful and upsetting, in some ways harder than simply not having them, so I'm still assessing that. Part of the problem for me is that I don't find cognitive-behavioral therapy useful for what I need, and while I understand there are differences, like 90% of all therapeutic systems boil back down to those techniques. Reality checking, visualizing, physical stimulus responses, mindfulness, as I said once to Therapist, "It's CBT all the way down." I don't respond to many of them and others I was already doing, so *shrug emoji*

At that point, when I realized there was no system that was going to help with my specific problems -- in part because the problems are ADHD related in a way that you can't train your way out of -- we also agreed it was time to try medication. Which felt like a failure, but I know that realistically I looked at the situation as it is, assessed my options, and made an appropriate choice, which is after all what therapy is often about.

So I've been on Clonidine for a couple of weeks. And it's doing fuck-all so far, but it's the lowest dose and there are other options too, so it's an ongoing process.

Outside of frustration with trying to fix problems that I honestly don't think anything but medication will fix, therapy's ok. If nothing else the expectation of it helps me identify actual problems in my life. And like most people I enjoy talking about myself but I also have a lot of struggle around asking for that kind of indulgence from friends, so doing that for an hour in a structured transactional kind of way is easier for me.

Ultimately, there's no real one-size solution that's called "Therapy", so whether or not I have found it useful isn't really material to whether someone else would. Some people use it as maintenance stress-relief, some people need to do deep emotional work, some people are in crisis and need an objective commentator. Sometimes you move from one need to another. Right now I'm in a liminal space because we're trying something new, so it's tough to say. But I'm finding it worth the cost in time, energy, and money, so I'll keep on until I don't anymore.

[gayhenrycreel]

How To Train Your Dragon, and the trap of a bad faithful adaptation

spoilers for httyd, films and books

i hated httyd 3.

Toothless got reduced to a silly pet, Lightfury has a horrible design (i dare say misogynistic design, but other people have already discussed this), and Grimmel was so uninteresting that i legitimately forgot he was even in the movie a few weeks after watching.

the worst thing? its attempt at being a faithful adaptation.

unfortunately a lot of people don't know about the book series the films are based on. this is quite sad really because unlike the movies, the books increase in quality over time.

the end of the book series follows a sea dragons war on humanity, who have been enslaving dragons for centuries.

yeah so the books are about eugenics, slavery, and genocide.

the sea dragon, known as Furious, was the adoptive brother of Hiccup the Second 100 years ago. Hiccup II was murdered by his father when he found his birth family. its not too relevant to my point, but this father was the king of vikings.

now Furious is the king of dragons and is still angry about what Hiccup II's dad did.

my absolute favourite scene is Hiccup the Third, now a king, trying to stop the war by talking to Furious, hoping that he will understand that it was a singular person who killed Furious's brother, and humanity as a whole is able to improve. Furious cant bring himself to kill Hiccup, and sees his lost brother in him.

Furious has a bit of a freak out, saying its too late for the world to change, or possibly too soon. he concludes that its definitely not the right time.

this one line is why the ending is so good.

the dragons and humans cant coexist, because its the wrong time. just like Furious said, its not the time for coexistance.

the dragons go into hiding.

httyd 3, the film, tried to do this same ending, but absolutely butchered it because it didn't have a reason. it tries to justify it like "oh the vikings dont deserve dragons, so they all live in a cave now".

this completely misses the point.

in the books the dragons left because there was a mutual genocide happening.

in the films its because humans suddenly arent good enough now.

the whole point of the ending in the books is that its set in the past, and what was too soon back then is now the present.

so the whole book series has a message like this: "mistakes change the world. if you are a 'mistake' it means you stand out. this gives you the opportunity to help other 'mistakes'. it may feel like the world is not ready to accept mistakes (i.e, people who survived eugenics and saved the dragons no matter how much equality is viewed as a bad mistake), but now it is. those who are different can help the world accept difference. the time for equality is now".

the films ending is more like: "we are failures at creating equality and look what youve done the dragons (who are supposedly an allegory for various marginalized groups) have all left and the right thing to do was to outcast them all over again because you both have girlfriends now and Toothless cant possibly be a friend to humans while also apparently being in heat or something".

so... httyd 3 is a film about romantic relationships not only being incompatible with unrelated platonic relationships, but also so important that a marginalized demographic is unable to exist with another society because the king (who is literally just a regular guy with unexplained superpowers that ruin tension compared to literal mind controlling scaly mountains) has met a woman 5 minutes ago that he has barely any screen time with.

imagine how unhinged it would be if a real demographic cut off its ties to other cultures because a famous person got married.

this is extremely bizarre especially considering how the books had near zero romance (Hiccup has no love interest throughout the whole series and the focus is on love in general, particularly platonic and familial).

the weird addition of romance to the seperation plotline has no connection to the source material. the writers were just pulling this out their asses like 2017 tumblr arophobes.

the books do such a good job of showing that romantic love is a type of love, just like any other form of love. its there and its important, but its specifically important because it involves people caring about each other, which is also achieved through other forms of love.

its ironic because httyd 1 and 2 do this too. Astrid and Hiccup are important, yes, but Toothless and Hiccup are equally important.

why does the third film even exist? the answer is in Toothless or whatever they did to his character. hes silly but not respectful of Hiccup (he goddamn nearly electrocuted him to death and keeps trying to eat his prosthetic leg), hes clearly in heat or something and suddenly doesnt even give a fuck about the guy he has risked his life for multiple times (i guess hes in an alpha rut. you know how alphas get), and even visually there are signs.... of capitalism.

in the first film Toothless can be adorable. hes a panther, which of course is a cat. httyd 1 doesn't forget that a cat is still a predator, and Toothless can be terrifying.

by httyd 3 his eyes are bigger and closer to the front of his face. its kinda uncanny and is clearly to make him exclusively cute.

what happened to the big cuddly dragon that i was once told looks like hed eat other dragons?

hes no longer a character.

hes a marketing tool.

httyd 3 is a cashgrab. we can see it in Toothless becoming a sidekick. we can see it in the hideous weird beluga thing that is the result of normies trying to imagine a sexy dragon (come on guys, Cloudjumper is right there). we can certainly see it in, and i hate bringing this up, Dragons: The Nine Realms. that show need not exist, its literally just because its a popular franchise, which is actually quite funny because i only know about nine realms because of angry critics in my youtube feed screaming about it in videos that last over 2 hours.

if your spinoff is only known to critics who will gladly insult your show to death and superfans who by the looks of it are the same critics, there is a serious problem.

i knew something was wrong the instant i saw the characters dressed like ugly action figures. it only makes sense for Snotlout, he thinks he has perfect taste. this could have actually been funny if Snotlout was the only person dressed like a low budget furry and everyone was like "why the fuck are you dressed like that", but no, the people (children who will grow up to realise this film sucks ass and will despise it) want rpg video game movies that dont have rpg video games.

question for httyd 3. how did you get the idea to make the main cast furries? could you not hire an actual furry to design their fursuits? because fursuits are not typically that painful to look at and they certainly arent usually made of what appears to be plastic in a film set centuries ago which definitely has the resources to have textures other than plastic. ever heard of scalemail? it looks great in DnD art.

its almost like a dreamworks employee caught wind of the furry fandom but didn't actually look into it and in the process picked up something about horny dragons.

i have legit seen dragon scale inspired armour designs better than that as real life furry cosplay.

no one wants to see Fishlegs looking like some sort of very large beetle. its weird and doesnt match anything else in the movie.

httyd 2 had Hiccup with his own gear, textured leather and a wing suit that looked plausible and immersive. httyd 3 has everyone as weird beetles that could not possibly stay aloft because they are seemly wearing plastic dragon suits.

its like.... almost funny. it could literally be an avengers parody.

i want stories that have consistent themes. i want stories that follow their own rules (remember how httyd 1 and 2 involved actual research on flight mechanics).

and i want some respect for the furry artists that clearly were not involved in the fursuit designs.

[elysiansparadise]

hello ~ I am not sure if you did this one yet, but I will ask you just in case: what are your thoughts on Mercury in the 6th House? I’d deeply appreciate your perspective on this. 🌟

I’d like for you to know how often I look forward to reading your posts, for they are incredibly insightful and neatly noted. I’m certain many would agree with these sentiments. please do keep up the amazing work! I hope your New Year will bring you a series of wonderfully memorable events ~ !

Hello love! Thank you so much for the support and taking the time to write that note down, it makes me very happy. 🤭💗

Mercury in the 6th house

We find one of the best positions for Mercury, since being in this house, it favors the native with a surprising intellect and eye for detail. They don't miss anything, they have an analytical, active mind, even restless at times. They enjoy a good mental challenge and always seem willing to learn from those things that spark their curiosity. These natives are usually excellent at planning, managing details and solving problems. Likewise, they can fall into the multi-talented archetype, since they can develop many different skills throughout their life, due to their need to stay busy and know how to do things on their own. They may have particular talent for design, writing, any type of communication, drawing and other activities where precision is necessary. They have an aptitude for learning new skills, including those that are job-related. These natives are willing to acquire new knowledge and continually improve their abilities of all kinds, and can be very perfectionist and demanding of themselves. They are very good people at planning, and very rarely go unnoticed, because they seem to be one step ahead... or simply because of their observation skills they can accurately predict the actions of others or the outcome of things.

They have the ability to handle multiple tasks at once and often put themselves under a lot of stress by wanting to do too much at the same time. Although it is worth mentioning that natives with this placement are usually efficient and capable of managing several responsibilities simultaneously. There is a tendency to be meticulous and careful in their work. People with this position seek precision and avoid mistakes. They stand out for being people who tend to approach problems rationally and look for practical solutions, they dislike unnecessary drama and to beat around the bush. They are prone to nervous system conditions, anxiety, having problems sleeping, and/or dealing with a lot of stress throughout their lives. I have seen both cases, from being either very careful with the issue of health or forgetting to take care of yourself due to your multiple responsibilities. They may feel great interest in topics of self-improvement, personal care, health, animals, environmental preservation, exercise, and both physical and mental health.

They can stand out a lot in the school and work environment, especially in the latter, as they can be workers with excellent ethics and who constantly look for workshops or other ways to work and perfect their skills. They may work in a place with a lot of gossip. If Mercury is well aspected, it is very likely that you will have a cordial relationship with your co-workers, while if it makes tense aspects to Pluto, Neptune or Mars, aggressive communication or rivalry is likely to be common. Even if they know how to work in a team, they usually prefer to do it on their own, as bad experiences with teamwork can be common, making them feel that only by working on their own they reduce the margin of error and ensure that they will not be rushed in the deadline. It is worth mentioning that although they know how to work well under pressure, they would prefer not to do so in the first place. They are objective people who listen carefully and investigate before speaking, they hate jumping to conclusions and prefer to give their opinion once they know everything about a certain situation. Their advice is very useful and, although they only pretend to be practical or state the obvious, they end up saying just what the other person needs to put their feet on the ground or better understand a certain situation.

-> Go back to the masterlist

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Gloria Oladipo at The Guardian:

For many students of color, access to an equitable education is dependent on the initiatives and programs provided by the Department of Education. Among its various functions, the department provides targeted funding for low-income students, collects data on educational outcomes and investigates potential bias – essential functions that help underserved students. But such services stand to be disrupted or ended entirely as Donald Trump plans to dismantle the department during his second tenure. In addition to nominating for education secretary the former WWE executive Linda McMahon, who served on Connecticut’s state board of education for one year and has no other notable education experience, Trump has pledged to “[close] up” the department and “return” education rights to the states. Though Trump alone cannot eliminate the federal agency, as such an act requires congressional approval beyond a simple majority, experts have warned that any type of overhaul could disrupt the department’s critical roles, especially for marginalized students.

The education department dates back to 1867; the agency was founded to collect data on schools as states crafted their education systems (Congress abolished the department a year later, fearing federal overreach). In 1980, under former president Jimmy Carter, the department was reconceived as an executive agency with the purpose of ensuring equal education access in primary, secondary and higher education across all states. Historically, the department has overseen the implementation of federal civil rights laws in local school districts, such as the desegregation of schools following the supreme court’s Brown v Board of Education decision. Now, the department coordinates “certain services that states receive, protections, and accountability mechanisms”, said Wil Del Pilar, senior vice-president of EdTrust, an education non-profit. The department also “sets priorities” and can use funding incentives to encourage school districts to work around an issue. “[If] teacher diversity is a focus, [the department] can leverage federal dollars to create a competition for folks to apply for dollars to improve the diverse educator pipeline,” he added.

Investigating civil rights violations is a critical function of the department, carried out by their Office of Civil Rights (OCR). In 2023, OCR received a record 19,201 complaints, according to the department’s annual report, with 45% of complaints relating to sex discrimination. Amid an onslaught of legislation targeting transgender youth last year, the OCR fielded several complaints from LGBTQ+ students against their school districts. Eighteen percent of complaints dealt with race and national origin discrimination, including bullying and racist harassment from school officials. In one high-profile example, the OCR investigated the Jefferson county school district, Kentucky’s largest public school district, and found that Black students were punished more often and more severely than white students. As a result, the district is mandated to amend their disciplinary policies by March 2025.

Following an OCR investigation, the department can force a school to make changes by threatening schools in violation of civil rights. “Funding and enforcement go hand-in-hand,” said Rachel Perera, a fellow at the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institute. “The threat of violating civil rights law is that you will lose federal funding.” Absent these checks, schools would have less incentive to comply with the law. Statistics from the department’s civil rights data collection not only provide insight into potential education disparities, including discipline rates by race, but they also determine what funding a school district is eligible for. Title I and Title III initiatives, which provide funding for high-poverty schools and English learners, respectively, are both dependent on enrollment statistics. Eliminating the department all together is an unlikely outcome, experts argue, especially as many of the offices within the department are themselves enshrined into federal law. Prominent Republicans, including former president Ronald Reagan, have attempted to eliminate the department, all to no avail.

[...] Under Trump, the department could be underfunded or further understaffed, and offices such as OCR already struggle to investigate an increasing number of complaints. Disenfranchised students, including students of color and those with disabilities, who rely on Title I funding, would be affected as Trump could make further cuts to the underfunded program. “About 90% of school funding comes from local and state sources, but 10% comes from the federal government,” said Perera. “That 10% is oriented towards poor communities, communities that are disproportionately of color, [where if] that money were to go away overnight, those schools would be in a very difficult position.”

Donald Trump’s plans to abolish the DoE could have very disastrous consequences for students with disabilities, POC, low-income, and/or LGBTQ+.

[our-ensemble]

haiii question,,,, sorry for being kinda dumb here but what would be the point of sending emails to hapiele? the story is written already and akatsuki redebuted (???) so what Will they do then? would they just take back the things that happened in the event? sorry again for the bother! i dont go to twt or social media that much so im lost,,,

Thank you for asking, and this isn't a dumb question at all. Of course, contacting HappyElements has been quite the undertaking, so it's only natural to want to know what we should expect. This is a bit lengthy since I wanted to put as much perspective as possible, and as always, I do not mind if others wish to add to this.

The most important thing to acknowledge is that this is an unprecedented scenario, so we're making estimates about how HappyElements will respond. At best, we hope that HappyElements complies with the requests made in the emails and nothing less, with these requests being a) the removal of Ibuki from AKATSUKI since this plays into the existing discrimination and Japanization of Ryukyuans and b) the careful consideration of how Indigenous characters are written going forward. Other additional goals may be added at individual discretion, but in relation to AKATSUKI and Ibuki, this is our main focus.

There is a chance that Enstars can edit or change the story. For example, in Izumi's event, "One Drop * A Specially Chosen Mad Party in UNDERLAND", fans raised concerns about how Izumi and Leo's backstory was mischaracterized in the story, and the line was later changed. However, when it comes to AKATSUKI and Ibuki, we should acknowledge that our concern is with the story as a whole, not a few lines, and so this is not likely. Should HappyElements decide to edit the story, they would likely be attempts to soften the blows that they dealt - but especially for a subject matter like this, it most certainly does not change the fact that the blow is still being dealt.

Another hope is that, even if it does not change AKATSUKI's event, it will push HappyElements to be more considerate in the future with regards to discrimination and characterization. We know that Enstars has been able to change its trajectory with how it approaches topics. For instance, Arashi's earliest stories contained both homophobic and transphobic stereotypes (specifically, she had many stereotypes associated with gay men, which is why the earliest translations of !-era stories tend to use he/him pronouns exclusively. At the time, her gender was not explained.) However, as years passed, the quality of her stories has noticeably improved, with a greater emphasis on her relationship with her gender. Hopefully, pressure from fans will encourage HappyElements to consider the racist, anti-Indigenous message that its pushing, and reevaluate how to approach Ibuki and other marginalized characters.

Some fans are also taking the angle of focusing on mischaracterization as a sort of "foot-in-the-door" technique. Again, as was the case with Izumi, if we can argue that certain things are out-of-character and that the continuous mischaracterization will be a threat to HappyElements' profits, then we might be able to use that momentum to target the racism in the story, since for AKATSUKI, the mischaracterization has been done to facilitate the discrimination that we see, and thus is not wholly separate from the issue. (Though on that note, fans have been asked to emphasize the treatment of Ibuki, since we must not treat occassional mischaracterization as comparable to active discrimination rooted in prejudices that continue to affect Ryukyuans in the present.)

At the same time, we must acknowledge that HappyElements has not made any efforts of note regarding other concerns raised by fans. Most relevantly, the event "Answer * Matrix of Stars Drawn Towards One Another" contains racist, anti-Indigenous sentiments in its depiction of the Amagi village. Instead of taking inspiration from Ainu culture as has been the case with the Amagis thus far, they made the Ainu village a sci-fi setting. Japanese imperialism has worked tirelessly to erase the culture of the Ainu in order to assimilate them. By making the Amagi village less culturally rooted and more fantastical, Enstars erases the presence of Ainu culture from their world - likely because it wasn't deemed interesting enough, since Enstars does value its shock factor - which is insensitive to the plight that the Ainu face to this day.

With all this in mind, we have to remind ourselves that this situation is still developing. The reaction to fans' emails has been mixed in the past, and the response to concerns of discrimination especially has been disappointing. Though, we also need to acknowledge that this is arguably the strongest, most concentrated reaction of the fans towards HappyElements, and we cannot allow them to intimidate us, nor can we allow them to forget that they are enabling dangerous anti-Ryukyuan sentiments that are not without real-life consequence.

Lastly, as I personally see it... even if "nothing" happens, I still ask that fans continue to pressure HappyElements. If HappyElements cannot treat marginalized people with respect, then at the minimum we should do the opposite and show marginalized fans that we stand with them. As I've mentioned time and time again, what we have seen in Enstars is reflective of real-life prejudices that are actively harming people. Even if HappyElements' mind does not change, other people observing the situation may reevaluate their own biases, and we can counteract whatever harms could occur as a result of HappyElements' lack of care.

[wolven91]

Inventors

When humanity joined the rest of the races amongst the stars, it was a cause of celebration across the stars as they paraded the humans through the GC ring world, regardless of the gaunt and tired faces that the ticker tape and confetti fell upon.

The celebration was confirmation that there was yet more to the universe to see! The melancholy that had plagued the races for two hundred years was over! There was yet more life in the galaxy! What humanity learnt in the coming weeks and months, was the reason *why* humanity being found and brought into the fold was so important.

It was because the wider galaxy; had stagnated.

No new ideas were being made. No new technology besides mild improvements of what had already been there. No new fashion, just old things recycled again and again. Not even concepts that were commonplace and obvious to humanity had been even thought about by the wider GC. It was so bad, for so long, there was a statement that confused most humans when they heard it. The galaxy was so stagnant, that not even so much as a new recipe had been discovered in over a hundred years.

So, when humanity appeared, most of the races didn't even *think* of asking them whether they had any new ideas they wanted to share with the galaxy, they assumed that the races had not only thought of everything, but that humanity couldn't have possibly discovered new things on their own.

In the end, it was little things that were slowly added to the combined technology of the Galactic Community.

An 'umbrella' was created on a planet that only ever had rain. A blanket with sleeves in was invented for a long-haul transport trip.

'Unique' and 'inspired'.

So obvious most of the races from the stars merely blinked and wondered how they could have possibly missed such marvellous and simple ideas.

Humanity! The little inventors that *could*!

It was brilliant PR for the little race to buck off the sombre knowledge they were nearly extinct to add their own work into the tapestry of the GC. The heads of state even gave a small speech of how, regardless of whether in a hundred years humanity was still with the GC, their little contributions would mean they were remembered forever!

The console screen snapped off and the remote thrown across the room, hitting a cushion with a solid 'thud'.

"Fucking twats." Growled the human, still glaring at the now blank screen, fuming.

A canid's head popped around the doorframe at the outburst with his ears perked and eyes attentive. The human was facing away, but the tense shoulders and anger in Ted's voice told Kiv that the human needed him. The scent was acidic and figuratively burnt the back of Kiv's snout.

"You okay Teddy?" Asked the canid, quickly washing his hands and running them down the messy grey fur of his thighs to dry them. Padding into the room, the human now had his hands on his hips but was staring at the blank console screen mounted on the wall. From Kiv's perspective, he was like an ursidain; a living mountain. The tight green shirt running along and highlighting the corded muscles of his back, neck and shoulders.

"Teddy?" Asked the canid again, gently. He stepped around the oversized sofa and tapped the tips of two of his claws together, holding his hands in front of his chest as a nervous tick. Kiv was a nervous soul and despite doing nothing to earn the ire of the human, there was still a part of the canid that blamed himself for anything negative in the world around him.

The human turned to face Kiv and the mostly fleshy face broke into a tired smile, easing Kiv's fears.

Kiv was not your average canid. He was an outlier by a large margin. As a canid, he was considered 'disabled' despite being perfectly capable to exist in society without the need for help. But Kiv wasn't considered 'capable' in his own species' eyes.

Kiv was a runt. Incapable of serving the military or even private security in any capacity.

At barely 5'5, the canid had to look up at the 6'3 human who dwarfed him in all ways. Kiv practically had to bend his back and crane his neck just to look his fellow canids in the eyes, saying that they could reach up to 10 feet in height. The human blinked and sighed through his nose before speaking. 

"Sorry Kiv, I got... annoyed at the TV." Replied the human, gesturing with a limp arm and allowing the tension that was in his broad shoulders to melt away with another sigh. The human merely turned to the canid and wrapped his arms around the short, furry alien. Kiv closed his eyes and rumbled into the nap of Teddy's neck, relishing the thick broad arms of the human, holding him in place. The human, without issue of effort, lifted the wiry canid from the floor and flopped down onto the sofa. It had been built for the titan-esque ursidains in mind; the furniture barely noticed both the human and the tiny canid.

Relaxing into Ted's hug, Kiv didn't know what a 'TV' was but could guess that it was the news that had annoyed Ted. It usually was.

"What were they saying?" Kiv asked quietly after a moment of them both laying there.

"Congratulating us poor, helpless humans and how we're doing *super* and that if we die out, that's okay; we invented stuff." Ted replied with a gruff, annoyed tone. It still made Kiv nervous. The mere tone was enough to set him on edge despite Teddy never *once* raising his voice in anger for frustration at the canid.

Kiv's ears laid flat as he gazed up at his human longingly. Kiv never believed he could be a real canid before meeting Ted. Canids each had an instinctual drive to protect and defend others. It mostly meant one's pack, but when Kiv simply wasn't included in a pack, all he wanted was someone who could rely on him, despite being a runt.

Then he had bumped into the mountain of a creature that was Theodore. Ted or 'Teddy' for short. Kiv liked how only *he* was allowed to call the human 'Teddy'. The human had mistaken Kiv for a cub at first, which the canid couldn't blame the human for. But after that crash introduction, the pair of them had become close friends. Kiv had shown the human around the station in a manner not approved of by the administration and the human had met an equal, one that didn't treat him like a lesser being. Kiv had to admit that he had fallen for the human almost instantly in the beginning...

Moving in together had been pragmatic. Sharing each other's bed was merely the natural progression of things, much to the canid's absolute joy. He had never dreamt that he could have had such a wonderful life when he was growing up.

Kiv gently licked the underside of Teddy's chin, pulling the hulking figure out of his thoughts again.

"You don't need their approval. Since when have you needed anyone's?" Asked the canid carefully, pointing out the truth. The human grinned and planted his soft lips against Kiv's leathery nose once. Kiv licked it as a habitual response.

"You are the only one that matters to me. Just annoyed. I feel called out." Replied the human, merely articulating his feelings for the alien.

"Don't! You're a brilliant inventor! Your invention is going to change the stars! Every canid from here to Anul-6 is going to want one! Even if you only sold them for a single credit; you're never going to have to work another day in your life! We could-"

But Kiv stopped himself and laid his muzzle flat against the human's chest, preventing him from spiralling and talking too fast and too much. He had a habit of getting excited then speaking so much that people found it annoying. Kiv didn't want to annoy Teddy...

"Hey! Hey, hey hey..." The human coaxed, aware that the canid was once again silencing himself. The human used his arms to hug and squeeze the canid to get his attention. Ted was aware that Kiv was used to being shut down by others, merely because his opinion was worthless to them thanks to his size. "What was it? 'We could' what?" The human asked calmly.

"You'll laugh." Accused Kiv, nervous and feeling vulnerable.

"Never at you darling. *Never* at you. What could we do if this works?" Promised the human, using his finger and thumb to being the canid's head up and catch his gaze, holding it; silently promising nothing but respect and love.

"We could... get a little plot of land..." Whispered Kiv in a tiny voice.

"Oh? That would be nice... Whereabouts?" Whispered Ted right back.

"...I always liked the looks of the ursidain forestry worlds... They sell little parcels... I... um... That was my dream. To earn enough to buy one..." Mumbled the canid directly into the chest of the human, the insides of his ears turning a bright pinkie red, that had the human grinning from ear to ear.

"Alright then. That's the goal." Ted said with a firm tone and a curt nod.

Kiv's head snapped right back up, nearly clocking the human under the chin with the canid's skull.

"But what about you?" The furry, wolf-like alien demanded.

Teddy snorted.

"Like I had a 'plan'. Until you came along, I didn't have anything, or anyone left to make plans *with*. At least now..." He touched his nose to the canid's muzzle again. Kiv licked again. "I have someone to dote on."

The pair laid there for a time on the sofa, merely enjoying each other with their eyes closed. Eventually Ted sighed and with a single hand, reached out to the coffee table where one of his prototypes laid there. Grasping it, he held it up in one hand and turned it over.

'This is so stupid' Ted thought to himself, only to have Kiv, seemingly read his mind and pipe up.

"They're brilliant you know. I mean it."

"You really think they'll be popular?" The human gave it a squeeze and physically felt the response from Kiv as he laid on the human. The rubberised material deformed in the human's grip and forced the air out of the hollow insides through a squeaker. The high pitch squeal gave one note, then drawled another as air flooded back in once Ted had relaxed his grip.

His eyes flicked to the canid, who despite living with these things now for a few weeks, was still; completely and utter enraptured by the object. His eyes and ears were locked on and as Ted held the toy still, raised above the canid, Kiv could help but lick his chops and begin to shake in anticipation.

Ted broke out into laughed and scooped the canid up into a hug and rolled the alien against the back of the couch as he began peppering the smaller creature with kisses, his foul mood; long forgotten.

[r/WolvensStories]

[Ko-Fi]

[translatemunson]

file 002 — brand new bar, same old problems

chapter two of death defying acts

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

cw: MDNI thank you, fem!reader, afab!reader, no descriptions of reader (i'm really trying to keep my descriptions of her and her background to a minimum so i can be inclusive to all people, but let me know if i can improve), no use of y/n, reader has a call sign (i had to pick one, it makes sense for the story), innacuracies about the navy, topgun and army (i did my best guys), this takes places after the events of the movie, yes don't kill me but reader has a fling with another aviator won't say who, implied smut.

If surviving Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell and the Dagger Squad would be required for you to be sent overseas, you were not sure there was gonna be a lot of you left to fit in a plane seat.

In just two days and one quick chat with Maverick, you had to recognize there was no easy task in front of you. Maverick didn’t show any enthusiasm in your work or questions on that quick meeting, which was somewhat discouraging. You had been spending your morning reviewing previous logs of all of the fighter pilots, your afternoons watching them live on radar, taking notes of their data, style and skills, your evenings analyzing all of your notes and coming up with plans for the simulation.

You were in bed way past your normal schedule on Saturday morning. Your belongings would definitely sit on boxes for another week or two if you didn’t do anything regarding it. You had the essentials out — uniforms, underwear, laptop, hygiene products, and a picture of you with your parents —, but that was it. Even your kitchen was getting appliances as you started to need them.

You grabbed a clean change of clothes, your bag and headed out to do groceries and get your mind out of work. There were a lot of things to get done before you were back to base on Monday: firstly you needed some real food in your fridge, including new tea blends and pasta for when you’re too tired to cook anything that takes longer than 20 minutes. Then you had to pick up more pills for your headache. Maybe some flowers for your living room would make the place livable — and also push you to unpack a few boxes with your books and portraits.

Also you had to call your parents and brief them on your first days. Well, maybe that was easier said than done: while you couldn’t share much details about what you were doing, you knew they were ready to pull some interrogation tactics or whatever to get all the intel. Your father was the one helping you with the moving — because he was free in between flight classes —, but your mom was the one texting people to know why now they wanted to transfer you to San Diego.

Once the call sign Maverick was brought to the table, your father did all he could to get you another opening somewhere else. And as soon as you got the bigger picture of why you were being moved to work with Maverick and his team, the puzzle made sense. Even though they were successful on their mission, they had one more challenge ahead, and there was no margin for errors or close calls for this one — you were gonna receive more information about it after the first few weeks.

Maverick and the Dagger Squad were definitely a lot to deal with. Excellent pilots, an amazing sense of a team — maybe almost being killed does this to a group —, but you could see some flaws slipping through the cracks of their personalities. Maverick still hated authority and being told to follow orders. Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin — not Bagman, unfortunately — could be a team player only if that benefited him, otherwise his wingman was the first to go down during training. Natasha ‘Phoenix’ Trace was an excellent pilot, and Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd as her WSO was a great combo, but if paired with someone else, it was a hit or miss — you asked to change pairings on Friday morning, just to check if there was margin for new combos. Reuben ‘Payback’ Fitch and his WSO, Mickey ‘Fanboy’ Garcia, were also a great combo, but they needed a strong flight leader to shine and succeed. Javy ‘Coyote’ Machado was a good pilot, but only on good days — and that was something you couldn’t risk on a mission. And Bradshaw was living for his call sign Rooster, even though he had amazing decision making skills, he was always waiting for the last second to make a move. And that, in the field, meant death.

And those were just a few observations you could get from a few hours in front of the radars and live data from their training exercises. 

You went through your shopping list in no time, stopping for headache meds and some flowers just after you got lunch. Back at your one bedroom apartment, you, once again, found an excuse to avoid a Facetime call with your parents, but you made sure to text them some pictures of your progress — and thank your dad for finding a good place for you to stay, a 20 minutes drive from the base, and also in a walking distance of the Golden Hill Park.

Clothes on drawers and hangers, cutlery in the right places, uniforms in the washer, books in the shelves. You were slowly bringing together the sense of home to San Diego. Your last few weeks in Nevada were crazy: you were back from one deployment in the Pacific just to be called for another quick job in Alaska. Thankfully your dad had a few weeks off to go to Nevada and help you pack, driving all your stuff three days before your arrival and saying he would take care of housing. All you had to do was sign a few papers, pack the stuff you could send ahead and get ready for a quick stop up north.

The sun was setting when you realized you were almost done with things. Maybe you should let some for Sunday, so you could also keep your mind off of work. You got up from your bedroom floor, took a long shower and checked your messages.

On Friday, you were able to catch up with Bob over lunch, asking him about his journey after training. You also got close to Phoenix, kinda relieved she was just as nice as you remembered. You got their numbers, they got yours, and that’s how you end up with an invite to join them at a bar called Hard Deck in an hour. If you were gonna be around for at least ten weeks, you might as well do something else besides working.

 So you went through your clothes, searching for a black top, some jeans and a jacket for when it got chiller from the autumn air. Just some casual clothes to share a few beers and a few more stories. Still getting used to San Diego streets and skyline, you drove like you weren’t in no rush to get to the bar, appreciating the change of scenery from the desert to the beachside.

You parked outside the Hard Deck just a few minutes late. For a Saturday evening, the place was pretty packed, and you could see some clients were proud to walk around in their work khakis — something you avoided as much as you could. After all, you were just a few minutes away from the station. Texting Bob back to ask him if they were already there, you didn’t even hit send before you were able to pick your new colleagues amidst the crowd.

Nat was holding a pool cue on the side of her body, explaining something to Mickey and Bob. Hangman and Coyote were trying to impress some ladies on the darts board — and you were very sorry for those two poor souls, if they knew everything you’ve been hearing while on duty. You stopped by the bar, getting yourself some bar soda and starting a tab.

“You’re sure I can’t fix you anything else?” The lady behind the bar asked you.

“I’m good for now.” And then you turned to your colleagues and thought better, “Do you happen to remember what they’re getting?” You pointed to them.

“Sure thing, they’re just having beers. Are you friends with the Daggers?”

“Not exactly,” you watched her grab six bottles, serve some ice in the bucket and hand it to you. “I was relocated here to work with them. I know Bob and Phoenix from previous training, but that’s about it.”

“Oh, so you’re part of Maverick’s team?” She definitely knew them, not just because they would be spending their down time on Hard Deck.

“I’m part of the Intelligence Team working with them.” It didn’t get easier every time you talked about it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“It’s Penny, honey. Well, let me know once you decide to try something else.”

“Thank you, Penny.”

You took the drinks with you to the high top table just on the side of their pool table. Your upbeat spirit died down as soon as you realized Bradshaw was there. After being lectured about Maverick and Goose, Bradley’s father, you weren’t looking forward to tolerating him outside of work. His short temper and slow decision making was something that got on your nerves easily. But you should’ve expected this, since he’s a long time friend with Nat.

“Look who’s out of that desk, guys.” And unfortunately, Hangman was the one to announce your presence. “I thought you were the type to wear your uniform everywhere since you’re a goody-two-shoes, Hyde.”

“Unlike you, Seresin, I have a life and personality outside of base.” You pointed to his khakis. “And don’t worry, I’m not writing down your lack of hobbies, outside women and pissing others off of course. I could already tell that based on your flight maneuvers.”

“Looking forward to reading the file you’re writing about me.” He reached for a beer, and you rolled your eyes. “Thanks, honey.”

“I’ll be surprised if you can actually read,” you bit back. “But I’m not here to work. And these beers are a peace offering. I’m not the enemy.”

“So you just like to point out our weaknesses for fun.” Mickey approached you, but you could tell it was more of a lighthearted comment than a critique. “Thanks, Hyde.”

“Thank me next week when you ace the mission simulation.”

You passed them their beers. There was only one left, but since Bradley was more concerned with his pool game than a beer, you moved the bucket aside and turned to Bob, asking “Is this every Navy favorite place to go?”

“Kinda. It’s close to base, and the service is nice and fairly priced.” Bob looked at his water. “How long have you been here?”

“I arrived this week. My father helped me move, but I had zero time to wander around.” But who’s fault was that? Definitely yours. “They are a tough crowd, I fear.”

“Don’t worry, they eventually warm up to strangers,” he explained. “We’re still fresh from last mission, and fresh blood always disturbs a little of a group’s balance.”

“I guess I would know that if I worked closely with fighter pilots,” you confessed. “Most of my missions consist of assisting with data and probabilities when tracing plans and assessing risks. Sometimes I don’t even know who is receiving my reports.”

“But you’ve been training with pilots, right?”

“No real missions, just simulations, mostly with graduates from Top Gun back in Fallon.” This job could be the perfect blend of what you’re good at and your passion, but even though you had extensive training with Air missions, you were stuck with assessing risks for admirals and captains to take charge. “It’s my first real chance to be on a mission where I’m able to build a relationship with the people I’m working with, not just being briefed on the mission and its goals.”

“I see. Yeah, I believe you’re gonna do a great job, not just because I know you, but because there’s still room for improvement and you’re gonna be the key for it.” Bob tried to cheer you up, and even though you wanted to believe his words, the first few days were tough on you.

“Thanks, Bob. But I’ve meant it when I said I’m not here to work,” you laughed, leaving the pressure of your relocation for another time.

“So you better start sharpening your pool skills, Hyde.” Natasha passed you her pool cue and smiled. “Do you even play it?”

“Who do you think I am, Phoenix?” You gasped, as if her words were the biggest betrayal you ever faced. “It’s been a minute since I last played, tho.”

“It’s ok, you don’t need to be good at everything you do, you know.” She joked. “Ok, cutthroat rules. You, me and Rooster.” 

She reseted the table as she explained how it was going to work: she was protecting balls 1 to 5, you were in charge with 6 to 10, Rooster had 11 to 15 to himself. The goal was to pocket any opponent's balls while protecting yours. If a foul occurred, the other players had the right to place a ball back at the table.

Natasha breaks, and one of hers was pocketed right away. On her shot, she aimed for the 7-ball, but it lacked strength to send your ball to the pocket. You took a look at the table, spotting a chance to pocket the 12-ball. You walked to the other side, passing just inches away from Bradshaw, and sending his ball to the pocket. He looked unimpressed when you checked for his reaction. You tried to get one of Nat ball’s, but you picked the wrong angle.

Bradshaw fixed his sunglasses on the neck of shirt, assessed the table and went for the 8-ball. Everyone was tied on losses. He sent the 1 straight to the pocket. His third shot scratched the 6-ball and moved it to a dangerous spot, and you held your breath.

“Don’t worry, I’m on your side,” Natasha aimed for the 15-ball and sent it straight to the corner pocket. But it was still a risky position for your 6-ball, and you watched when she pocketed that one as well. “I mean, I took one of his first, which makes us even, right?”

“That’s not what I’ve learned on Math 101, but ok.” You shook your head. “What are you gonna do next?”

“I’m gonna,” she elongated her words, “maybe this one,” she pointed to the 5-ball, “or a small challenge with the 14.” She positioned herself, and missed the latter for a lot. “Your shot, Hyde.”

You sent the 14-ball straight into the pocket, then missed your shot. Bradley took the 3-ball out, followed by the 10, and missed the 7. Nat got the 9-ball, then missed. You tunnel vision on the 13, in the middle of the table, with a huge chance of error. The white ball hit all the wrong corners and you miss it. And it got the white one on the perfect spot to send your last ball to the pocket.

“It was nice playing with you, fellas.” You turned over your cue and crossed your arms, destiny sealed since Bradshaw was a way better player than you. You watched the 7-ball disappear inside the pocket. 

“Wait, Hyde, someone could get a foul, and you can come back,” Nat tried to pull you back to the table.

“I’m good with my loss, don’t worry. I’m not leaving, just wanna get something from the bar.” You took the now empty bucket — did Bradshaw get his beer or someone stole it? — to the bar and returned it to Penny.

“How is it going?” She smiled and motioned her head to the group.

“Could be worse. Can I have a tequila shot?”

“Sure, honey.” Penny checked something under the bar. “Is house tequila ok?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Can you get me one water and two more beers as well?”

“Coming right up.”

You took your phone of your pocket, and checked your messages: you were setting the family group chat aside for tomorrow morning; Lisa, your roommate from Fallon, was sharing updates on the gossip you were missing — not even three days and they didn’t failed to surprise you — while in San Diego; Ashton, still unaware of your transference, was asking if you were free. Yeah, things would never change.

“Here.” She laid your order on the counter. “I know you’re an Officer, but do you happen to have a call sign?”

“It’s more common to hear people calling me by it than my own name,” you shared, and she laughed. “It’s Hyde, a character from a gothic novel.”

“Oh, I believe I’ve read this book in high school.” She pressed her lips together and stared at you, like she was trying to put the pieces together. “Do you need some lime and salt for the shot?”

“No, not really.” Maybe not a smart idea since you’re driving, but that was the Hyde in you: nice face, good manners, but short tempered and always down to some trouble. “Thanks, Penny.”

You balanced your shot and the water in one hand, held the two beers in the other and moved carefully between the crowd to your friends. Back to the pool table, you watched Rooster send Nat’s last ball to the pocket.

“Oh no! And I thought you were each other's lucky charm,” you pointed out between her and Bob. You sat by her WSO’s side and passed him a water. “Or do you want a beer?”

“Water’s fine, thanks,” he offered you some nuts, and you gladly took a few.

“Here, a consolation prize for you.” You slid a beer for Nat as soon as she joined the table. You looked over her shoulder, seeing Bradshaw walking to the piano. “Is he always like that?”

You looked over your shoulder to Bradshaw. He carried a lot of resemblances to his parents — you could tell after hours looking through your parents’ photos, and seeing Goose and Carole in a few, with a kid Bradley closer. This was way before you were transferred to San Diego or decided to join the Navy.

You thought Bradshaw was just like you, until your father told you what happened to him. Father died after a failed ejection, his mom died of cancer, Maverick pulled his papers and set him back. You felt sorry about it, but if he was raised by Pete Mitchell after all of that, you were expecting to meet the younger version of the captain.

“Give him some time, Rooster is not much of a fan of changes,” she explained.

“As long as this doesn’t interfere with my job, I’m ok with not being friends with everyone.” You drank the tequila shot without making an ugly face, and quickly moved to your beer.

“Do you happen to know anything about our next mission?” Nat asked.

“I’m afraid I’m just as in the dark as you,” you shook your shoulders. “I know about the uranium mission though, which was pretty dangerous. I would’ve done a thing or two differently.”

“What exactly?”

“I mean, they could’ve timed the missiles to hit a few SAMs as you were leaving the valley, and make your way out of there smoother.” They were already flying a dangerous zone on less powerful planes, and exposed the hell of their jets, so not having at least a few bombs to help out was a little dumb.

“You’re kinda right,” Bob threw another nut inside his mouth. “Do you think they considered it?”

“Nah, I bet 20 bucks Admiral Simpson was looking for an opportunity to get rid of Maverick.” You took a sip of your beer.

“That’s cruel. But hey, if you have the chance to make our mission less dangerous, you have my approval.” Nat smiled.

“I’ll remember that.”

“Hey, have you always been part of Intelligence?”

You and Bob shared a look. “No, I joined the Navy after graduating from college. My parents are from the Navy, and they gave me the chance to choose. So education, then enlisting. My records say I graduated from Flight School because I completed the training successfully, but I got in an accident during the last week. Then, because of my college degree, they gave me a spot as part of the Intelligence, and I liked it there.”

“Oh, I’m sorry for your accident. I bet you miss being in the sky sometimes.”

“Thanks, Nat. My dad is a flight instructor nowadays, and everytime we’re in the same base, he finds a way to let me fly for a few minutes.”

“So you’ve been keeping your flight skills in check? Why don’t you apply to Top Gun?” Bob inquired.

“I really don’t see myself doing what you guys do on a daily basis,” another sip, waiting for them to be convinced. You were way past that Top Gun chance now, anyway.

“A pretty thing like you fits better as a Top Gun pilot's wife,” Hangman came up to the table, a beer in hand.

“I rather crawl naked over hot tarmac than date an aviator, Bagman.” Maybe if the aviator wasn’t part of your team, but just maybe. “You guys are just trouble. Can’t keep your missiles in your pants, and flee as soon as possible.”

“You’re funny, Hyde,” he pointed his beer’s neck at you.

“Don’t let it fool you, Hangman, they don’t call her Hyde for nothing,” Bob warned him.

“Don’t have a lot of Jekyll going on, hun?”

“Oh god, you’re insufferable,” Nat exited the table as fast as she could.

“No wonder those girls left you hanging on the darts,” it was kinda undeniable that there was some tension in the air.

“If you’d excuse me, I think it’s the perfect time to call my girlfriend.” And Bobby was smart to take his cue to leave you two alone. He motioned to his phone, and you noticed the picture on the wallpaper: the WSO with his arms around a beautiful girl. But she didn’t look like anyone you’ve seen around at base so far.

“Needs babysitting, Bob?” Hangman teased.

“Should I remind you who fell for the feral koalas story, Seresin?” Bob biting back? That was a first for you.

You looked between the two men, intrigued.

“Go talk about pandas or whatever, Floyd.” Jake waved his hand.

“See you later, Hyde.” Bob walks to the external deck, phone in his ear.

“What did he mean with feral koalas?” You inquired.

“His lady is Australian, and one time she told us about how koalas got a disease and were attacking people, and she sounded very scared.”

“And you believed it?”

“I mean, there was a lady in distress!”

“Jeez, we should legally change your call sign to Himbo.”

“Him-what?”

You laughed and stared at Jake, “I’m dead serious about not dating aviators, tho.”

“Who said anything about dating?”

One thing led to another. Coyote left the bar with a girl on his side, Hangman was left without a ride. You offered to drive him there, since it was on your way home, but you were none the wiser after a tough week and a few tequila shots.

When the sun started to peak over the waves, you were far away from Jake’s bed and still very much sure of your promise. You were in San Diego with one goal and one goal only: earn that promotion. And nothing or anyone was stepping into your way.

a/n: hello aviators! first of all, thank you SO MUCH for the support on the first chapter. yes, i wrote what i wrote and i don't regret it (hyde hooking up with hangman, but it was mostly implied so don't worry, it's almost like it didn't happened haha). also even tho we know who the daggers are, hyde is still getting to know them, i couldn't pass on a hard deck introduction scene (top gun: maverick movie style!). well, let me know what you guys think about this chapter, don't forget to reblog, vote and comment! see ya soon!

[visenyaism]

how do you feel about any of the houses in westeros being black or just with ethinicity? as a person of color i just cant only picture white people in my head bc then its not interesting. but like what are ur headcanons but also maybe the societial implications maybe? i get the og targs not being black bc of like valyrian supremancy and the implications that come with that as like cruel black people conquring white land..but like maybe danerys tho.

i mean to me the martells and pretty much everyone from dorne are already written pretty unambiguously like they’re people of color but weirdos will insist on fighting about this anyways. The casting of the Velaryons as black was an interesting and I think good decision, but the showrunners were notttttt thoughtful about the implications of that decision related to how the Velaryons are constantly marginalized compared to the targaryens and feel like they have to work twice as hard for half as much and shunted to the sidelines of the narrative in the show. Critical thinking skills would improve this, but making other great houses also people of color so that they weren’t the only ones would have helped a little bit as well.

I don’t think there needs to be any narrative justification for people of color to exist within a fantasy narrative that does not operate on real world racial constructions. Even so, Westeros is literally a continent-sized landmass with multiple ethnic groups and all these thriving port cities like Oldtown and Kings Landing and Sunspear and White Harbor so imagining that it is racially homogenous and all white reads as boring and weird to me as well. Racism and orientalism are easily George RR Martin’s weakest link though.

[physalian]

Word Counts and Why They Matter

I made a poll about whether, as you’re editing, you try to add extra detail to boost your wordcount, or trim and compact things to lower your wordcount. And I saw some reblogs absolutely baffled at the concept of adhering to any sort of wordcount goal so!

Obligatory one size does not fit all, just some general points I’m covering here. This is for original works intent on being published. Fanwork is lawless.

There are industry standards for different genres

Unless your reputation precedes you, looking on the surface like your competition, with a similar book size, thickness, and cover design helps your legitimacy, especially if you’re indie and self-published, you want to look as close to the pretty, traditionally published books as possible.

If you’re trying to get picked up by a publishing house, and your manuscript is too far outside the bell curve of the genre standard in either direction—by being too long or too short—you’re more of a risk. Too short and people might overlook it as being thin or lacking. Too long and people might not want to commit to 600 pages by someone they’ve never heard of.

Printing costs

Again, more for self-publishing, I haven’t been through the trad publishing process. Word count impacts page count, and the bigger the book, the more expensive it is to print (and edit), and the more your end customer has to pay to enjoy your work.

Even if you don’t want to charge them more, some platforms, like IngramSpark, cost so much to print, on top of the vendor fees, that you cannot publish at a negative margin (not that you’d want to). I have the same book on Amazon and IS, and on IS, it’s a whole dollar more because IS’s printing and vendor fees demand it.

So if you’ve got a really big book, you’ve got a really expensive book, and people might not buy it no matter how good it is if they can’t justify the price.

Consistency

This is not one size fits all. There are books that will have two hundred chapters, but those chapters might range from 5 pages to 15. One that comes to mind is the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson… but he got away with it because he had rapport. Those books were also consistently short chapters.

There’s also gimmicks like the 4 months of depression in New Moon when there were just blank pages in the middle of the book with only the months in the center of the page, to great effect. But those, too, weren’t four short chapters.

Consistency helps readers who don’t read entire books in one sitting know what they’re getting into and about how long it might take whenever they start a new chapter. If they just read one that’s 3k words and have time to read one more, and it’s 6k words that never ends, it risks not only being annoying, but damaging to the pacing if you can’t break up 6k words of plot into two chunks.

However, I don’t see a problem with “ramping up” the word count as the plot demands, a more gradual increase/decrease as opposed to one 10k word chapter in between two 2k word chapters.

Prologues and epilogues are an exception.

—

I think maybe the reblogs were more concerned with fanfic, in which case, go wild, there are no rules. I would like to mention though why I’m in the “I have to go back and trim my chapters down” camp.

Filler words

I don’t split hairs over trying to lower the total wordcount by 5 or 10 words, but I do go back for things like filler and crutch words that might only be 5 or 10 across the whole manuscript to improve the reading experience and overall maturity of the prose.

Efficiency

I don’t like lazy river style storytelling, and that’s a me thing. I need my scenes doing at least 2 things at once and having a rare few “this scene just exists to be fluffy and for no other reason”. So if I see that a chapter is too long, my first thought upon editing is “how can I compact some of the excess movement or redundant dialogue?” and I might move scenes around to the next or preceding chapter if it messes too much with my consistency.

..

I do have to worry about printing and editing costs, so being aware of my wordcount and not letting it run wild matters financially.

Within chapters, worrying about the wordcount goes out the window but I do try to ramp up and down slowly and not have a huge one sandwiched between two short ones.

Outside of one occasion, all of my books are multi-POV, and all my chapters are broken up into chunks. Which means shuffling around those chunks between chapters can mean the difference of 2-3k words if that’s what fits.

I’ll sacrifice wordcount consistency for pacing, but I’ve been doing this for long enough that if I do have a chapter that’s really too long, something somewhere is taking up too much narrative, or I’m trying to juggle too many elements at once, and looking at where the extra words are coming from helps me keep my chapters in focus unless it’s just that big of an event.

I tend to write some mammoth chapters, but since they're broken up into explicit chunks, it's easier to find a stopping point within a chapter of one of my books over one that's one long unbroken piece of narrative, but everybody has their preferences.

Individual chunks, however, vary wildly in their wordcounts, as they all serve different purposes coming together to tell the story of the chapter.

With that said, I have little excel tables with the wordcounts for each chapter I write… mostly because I love looking at statistics, and the range sometimes can very wildly.

So here’s a few of them just for fun:

Eternal Night Total — 111,423 Average — 5,982 Max — 9,162 Min —3,743

Eternal Night’s sequel so far Total — 49,195 Average — 7,208 Max — 7,907 Min —5,426

Tell Me How Long Total — 22,453 Average — 3,742 Max — 6,154 Min —1,533

Little Red Dot Total — 155,601 Average — 6,765 Max — 9,116 Min —2,375 (epilogue)

Little Red Dot’s unnamed sequel Total — 202,391 Average — 7,228 Max — 9,617 Min — 4,413

[kidspawn]

AFTG - The Sunshine Court (Reaction Notes)

Alright. Been a minute. Jean met Jeremy, Cat, and Laila, and toured his new little home. More Jeremy in general. I'm starting to like this Jeremy kid, tbh. Some quieter, slice of life moments with intense trauma dumping/lore drop. Shoutout to Jeremy Knox for being a reclusive and tight-lipped little guy, because something is up with him. Push and pull and healing aches with Jean. Language kink! And the beginning of my love story with Cat because lord hold me I think I'm in love. The more we learn about the Ravens the harder this gets to read, and the more impressed I grow with the improvement in writing.

(Once again: this is more in the style of annotations I'd put in my book margins/stream of conscious thoughts than an in-depth analysis!)

CHAPTER SEVEN

- "Men like Wymack shouldn't exist" SAY IT LOUDER FOR PEOPLE IN THE BACK: WYMACK IS THE BEST OF US. Could go on and on about Wymack being one of the only legitimately good people in the series.

- "tousled caramel brown" be for fucking real 😭😭😭

- YOYO IN HIS WIRED EARBUDS HAHAHAHAHA

- "it didn't matter that Jeremy Knox was annoyingly easy to look at" SHU-

- I find the fact that Jeremy is the opposite of what Jean has learned a captain should be to be fascinating. It's a direct opposition to the type of captain he's been conditioned to expect.

- THEY DONT CHOOSE THEIR MAJOR!?!?

- Oh i could go on and on. "school as a means to an end" breaks my heart. I mean, obviously don't force people to go and do school if they don't want to but if they are like you should enjoy it at least a LITTLE BIT!?!?

- History nerd Kevin Day will, however, do me in everytime. I think it's one of the earliest signs we've been told of involving Kevin really sticking his neck out and advocating for something he wanted?

- Once again that restriction of identity the Ravens engage in - same majors, same classes, same goals. Limiting individuality and indoctrinating players into the team's fabric.

- I do appreciate how fiercely protective of Kevin Jean is.

- "Want to teach me any?" OH!?!?!?

- OH SHIT NVM OK WE GOT TRAUMA CONGA

- Oh and I love Cat. She's got that organized chaos vibe I really work well with

- Jean lasting about five minutes before having a meltdown. I mean, I hate to jest here but... bestie. Let her finish the tour

- "he wanted to break his fingers" you know this is interesting. i didn't know how prominent this would be, but Jean's first instinct being to hurt himself or others during periods of heightened emotion is a strikingly realistic response imo?

- I also appreciate seeing Jeremy be relatively assertive, but it's noted to be in a kind way. I better not see someone painting him as a pushover he's noted out the bat to dig his heels in and only yield as much ground as he is able without disturbing the team

- Which really leads me to consider that Jeremy has a very different approach to protecting his team vs protecting himself

- THEY'RE EXY PARTNERS YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS

- "You strike me as an only child" 😭😭😭

- Cat really went, "ah you are my nut to crack alright stray cat you're getting bag treats and water until you cuddle me"

- "You're not telling me that's everything you own? What the fuck?" HAHAHAHA Oh Cat omfg I adore you i love you she says the quiet part out loud I am in love with you Catalina

- "I'm not dealing with this again. Buy some fucking clothes - W" HAHAHAHFWJFJEJDJSJS Something something Wymack's fifth rodeo.

- "His opinion came second" I'm genuinely excited to see Jean actually voicing whatever *he* wants, not what the Ravens or the Foxes or even Trojans told him to do. Like, if we get to a point where Jean can voice what he's actually wanting out of these moments and interactions.

CHAPTER EIGHT

- ugh wait I know I KNOW little Jeremy moment yes but can we just "Kevin had gone from Riko's side to Andrew's, and in the first year he had never put more than a campus between him and the short goalkeeper." idk that makes me feel a little emo yall.

- "Jean was exactly the kind of guy Jeremy would trip himself up over" STAWWWWWP Cat CALL HIS ASS OUT.

- "'Its not fair to either of us if I look" <- first i stress that he says "us" because the implication here is not JUST that Jean is the bad idea but Cat is definitely implying Jeremy is not in the best headspace for this either. Or Jeremy is implying it and they both know what he means.

- SAFETY FIRST HAHAHAHAHA

- ugh yes shifting POV because calling his hair uneven when we've been in Jean's head and we know this IS something he's a little sore over so of course he has that reaction

- his bitchiness is so so jarring from an outside POV but LORD is it compelling to switch between the two

- "What purpose does this serve?" "It makes us happy"

- GET JEREMY A DOG FUCKING NOW!?!?! (i know they get a dog but GET HIM A DOG RIGHT FUCKING NOW??)

- Im sorry

- His

- The first like "nice" thing Jean says ("nice" it's a fact to him) is to Laila, that she's good. An that the Trojans will win? STOP!?!?!?

- yeah keep his ass away from the press he just said he wants them to burn

- actually get him and neil the mic right now

- HAND THEM THE MIC!!!!

- in regards to the obvious trigger warning I was relatively nervous about going into:

- athlete dietary regiments are the fucking worst and I could go on and on about how my swim coaches personally contributed to my ED but maybe it's too soon but one comment sent me down a ten year spiral and I can't use my knees the same so you can see why I'm nervous for Jean

- over exercising and limited dietary intake results in some of the most disdainful medical circumstances

- I am not surprised the autonomy stripped from the Ravens trickles all the way to what they put in their bodies and I am equally not surprised Jean has an eating disorder (because like that's what it is) and I really hope this is given the time it needs to

- it can be easy to really fuck up this kind of plot line if you don't handle it well?

- the disparity in resources between the foxes and the trojans is so interesting

- 29 instead of 30 because of a fresh start AHHHHHH

- "Loving something is not enough" "When did you last enjoy playing" Fuccccccck

- I went off on a tangent in my head and forgot to annotate anything but I do want to add: noting Jean's little victories, the use of red and black as opposed to just his appointed clothing. He picked the shirt. He may have needed a second opinion, but he picked the shirt. Maybe it wasn't the bright colour recommended, but he picked the shirt. He held it tight as they left. It is such a little but poignant victory after the chapter we've had.

CHAPTER NINE

- OK SO

- I appreciate when, in-text or on-screen, characters will call others out for cutting off or omitting information. underrated detail, imo, but appreciated all the same!

- did i mention i love Cat

- I think I'm in love with Cat

- I also appreciate the "we will met you halfway as we are able" mentality

- that paired along with a "hey we are going to point out something is fucked up" I really just

- yeah I really fucking like that

- "I am Jean Moreau. I have always gotten exactly what I deserve" fucckkkkk

- his whole "drop the wholesome act" thing is curious because he's convinced all the Trojans are just pretending not to be monsters. Fascinating. Fascinating.

- I think Jean's statement, "I am going to be a problem" just... hurts. The fatigue in that statement. Fuck.

- HE PUT THE DOG IN JEAN'S ROOM? JEREMY YOU FUCKING SWEETHEART!?@?

- WAIT THIS MADE ME SO SOFT?

- JEAN WENT AND CLEANED UP AND SHOWCASED A KIND GESTURE AND JEREMY *RECIPROCATED WITH A KIND GESTURE* OHHH THE SLOW BURN IS SLOWBURNING

- hey Jeremy can you maybe uhhhh.... clue me in on what's going on bud. can you uhhh let me into your head. baby boy? darling? tell me what that's about? please? *cocks gun*

- HEY JEREMY CAN YOU STOP BEING VAGUE AS FUCK ABOUT WHATS GOING ON AT HOME!?!?@?

- oh PLEASE tell me we have frosted tips Jeremy i NEED that in my life wtf

- Jean having a little romcom moment over Jeremy's hair is so cute shut upppp

- THIS ISNT SLOWBURN THIS IS- *BONK BONK* JEREMY TO HORNY JAIL N O W

- "voulez-vous coucher avec moi" HAHAHAHAHA

- GIMME STRAY DOG AND DOG MOTIFS AHHH BARK BARK WOOF WOOF BARK BARK BARK-

- ah remember what I said about balancing pushing vs not i think mayyybe we chill with the pushing rn <3

- Jean. Baby boy. Personal space, darling. Personal space PLEASE.

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