#Relationship Discussions

[atths--twice]

Cuddly Nap Time

Waking from a nap, Scully finds Mulder sleeping with William lying on his chest.

A prompt idea born from a tweet on Twitter has now become a story. Hope you all enjoy it. 💓

Scully woke up and for a second was disoriented as to where she was and what was happening. Looking around, she blinked and then drew in a deep breath as she scrambled to get out of bed, looking into the empty bassinet in Mulder’s bedroom.

“Oh my God,” she breathed, a hand going to her throat as she opened the bedroom door, her heart racing.

“Mulder, did-”

She stopped speaking and froze where she stood as she smiled at the sight in front of her.

Asleep on his couch, Mulder had his arms wrapped around one month old William, who was also asleep, his mouth open and pressed against Mulder’s shirt.

Moving her hand from her throat to her heart, she let out a relieved sigh and carefully stepped closer to them, mindful of the creaky floorboards.

“Oh,” she said and on quiet feet, turned around and hurried back into Mulder’s room to find his digital camera.

Setting the sound of the shutter click to silent, she walked back into the living room and smiled at the sight of them sleeping before she began to take pictures and then a video.

She sighed as she watched them and then set the camera onto the desk. Torn between wanting to touch them both and then kiss William’s sweet smelling head, she instead left them to sleep.

Something caught her eye as she made to go toward the kitchen for some water. She frowned when she realized it was Mulders’s watch. Confused as to why he would have taken it off before the end of the day, she remembered what happened the other day and her breath caught as she stared lovingly at them.

“What happened to this little man?” Mulder had asked, picking up a sleeping William from his bassinet in the living room when he had arrived at her apartment. “Are those scratches?”

“Hmm, yeah,” she had said, gently stroking William’s cheek where his impossibly small, but sharp, baby fingernails had created red scratches on his face. “His nails are so small, I didn’t want to risk hurting him by cutting them. But, after I saw these scratches, I had to, worried or not.”

“Is he okay, though? Does he need to see the doctor?”

“No,” she had said, smiling at Mulder as he had gently brushed his lips against William’s cheek, murmuring that he was sorry for the scratches. “They’ll be okay soon.”

“Hmm,” he had said with a nod, kissing William’s cheek and then his forehead. “As long as you’re sure.”

“I am.”

“Were his nails hard to cut?”

“Exceedingly. Like threading a wiggly needle that constantly closes just as you get the thread close to it.”

“Sounds like an accurate description,” he had said with a chuckle, kissing William again. “God, he smells so good.”

“Doesn’t he?” she had asked, bending close to smell and then kiss him. “It’s intoxicating.”

“Getting high off the scent of our son… is that okay to do?” he had asked in mock seriousness and she had laughed, kissing him softly in response as William had begun to fuss, rooting and searching for his next meal. “Oh, I think it’s time to pass him over. But I get him when he’s done eating.”

“Sure,” she had teased as she walked toward the couch and began to unbutton her top, reaching for him when she had been ready. “You get the easy job.”

“I would help out in that department if I could, but for now, I’ll do whatever else I can.” Kissing the top of her head, he had handed William to her, touching the little scratches once again. “Gotta be more careful, little man. Protect that delicate skin that your mama made for you.”

“He’s okay,” she had whispered, helping William latch on and start feeding. “They should fade pretty soon.”

“Good,” he had said, kissing her head again. “You need anything? Water? Juice? Something to eat?”

“Water, please. And maybe some peanut butter toast?”

“You got it,” he had said, taking off his jacket and laying it on the couch.

She had hummed as she looked at William, his eyes barely opening as he ate, all of his fingers wrapped around one of hers.

“So beautiful,” she had whispered, raising his hand and bending her head to kiss his fingers. “I love you so much.”

When Mulder had taken him back to burp and rock him, he had made sure nothing he was wearing would bother William as he held him.

“Good thing I’m unemployed these days,” he had said and she raised her eyebrows in a silent question. “No buttons from my dress shirts to press uncomfortably against his skin.”

“True. And an added bonus, you fill out your t-shirts quite nicely,” she had said as she had buttoned her shirt up, smiling at him with a wink.

“Hey, none of that. You still have recovery time that needs to be adhered to.”

“Oh trust me, I’m in no condition for any of that, but you can’t fault me for admiring the window display, even if I won’t be purchasing anything today.”

“Interesting way to phrase it,” he had said, laughing as William burped loudly and then breathed softly. Mulder had looked at her with a soft smile and shook his head. “See? I think babies have a built-in mechanism that knows when to do something so goddamn cute, it then releases dopamine that takes away the memory of sleepless nights and tired bodies that are barely making it through the day. They know, Scully. They know.”

“Must be an X-File,” she had said with a grin, unconsciously swaying just as Mulder had started to do so with William.

“This is spooky,” he had said, motioning to them both moving in sync.

“Is it? Really?” she had asked with a small chuckle.

“I suppose not,” he had said, shushing William when he began to cry. Patting him on the back gently, he had smiled at her. “I love you, you know.”

“I do know,” she had said with a grin. “But, I’ll never get tired of hearing it.”

“Come over here and kiss me,” he had said and she had stood up, walked over to him and kissed him softly, an arm wrapping around his waist while her other hand had rested on William’s back and they had swayed slowly.

“I love you too, you know,” she had said, scratching her nails gently against Mulder’s back.

“I do know. And I’ll also never tire of hearing it.”

“That’s good.”

“Mmhmm,” he had hummed as William had sighed contentedly.

She sighed as she watched them now, William breathing deeply as he slept, Mulder’s arms protectively around him, his watch on the table to avoid any further scratches or harm to the tiny human they had created.

“God, I love you,” she said to them, shaking her head as she smiled.

Knowing she had a little bit of time before William would be waking for his next feeding, she tidied up. Clearing the coffee table of the sunflower seeds and the shells, she then quietly took Mulder’s glass of tepid water into the kitchen and refreshed it with icy water.

Finding his refrigerator quite empty, she went into the bedroom to get her phone and order delivery from the Chinese restaurant they frequented.

Back in the living room, she watched as William began to stir, Mulder’s arms tightening immediately as his eyes opened drowsily and then shut again.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” he whispered, patting William’s back. “We had a deal that we would let Mama sleep a little longer. She’s so tired, buddy. Shhh…”

“Hey,” she whispered, sitting down on the coffee table and touching his arm. His eyes flew open and he looked at her in surprise.

“Hey,” he said, swallowing and clearing his throat softly. “You okay?”

“More than okay.”

“Did you sleep?”

“I did. And I see you two did as well.” She smiled and placed her hand on William’s back, rubbing softly.

“He was fussing and I wanted you to sleep without worrying about him. I came out here with the intent to put him back in the bassinet once he had settled, but…” He shrugged and closed his eyes with a small smile.

“It’s hard to put him down when he’s so warm and snuggly?”

“Exactly,” he breathed, rubbing William’s back gently as he settled with some grunts and moans. “Then once I laid down with him, well…” Mulder chuckled softly and opened his eyes to look at her. “I was powerless to not fall asleep.”

“I completely understand,” she said, covering his hand on William’s back.

“I think it’s the best sleep I’ve ever had on this couch.”

They both laughed quietly as she rubbed his hand and he stared at her, his eyes dropping to her lips. She smiled as she leaned closer and kissed him, her other hand gently squeezing his upper arm.

“I ordered some food, seeing as you don’t really have anything here,” she said, kissing him once more.

“Hmm. Chinese?”

“Yeah.”

“I was dreaming about egg rolls. You must have known.”

“Actually,” she said, sitting up and laughing quietly again. “I was craving some chow mein and sweet and sour pork, so I ordered it.”

“You didn’t get egg rolls?” he whined, sticking out his lip and she laughed silently.

“Yes,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him. “I got egg rolls.”

“Ahh, Scully,” he said with a smile as William scrunched up and began to cry. “Okay, buddy. I know. Let’s get up and get you ready to eat.”

Half full containers of food were spread out on the coffee table a little while later, as she held William at her shoulder, patting his back to coax out a burp. He grunted and stretched before burping twice.

“Good boy, William,” she whispered and kissed his downy head.

“So, I’ve been thinking,” Mulder said, coming into the room carrying their glasses, refilled with ice water.

“Hmm. What about?” she asked, smiling her thanks as he set her glass on the coffee table.

“Well, it’s not something we’ve discussed, but I’d like to,” he said, sitting beside her and taking a drink of his water.

“Okay.”

“How would you feel about a roommate?” he asked and she raised her eyebrows.

“It finally happened, didn’t it?” she asked. “Byers is tired of living with Frohike and Langly and being around them fighting all the time. I knew it would happen eventually.” She shrugged and he grinned as he shook his head.

“You think you’re so funny.”

“Eh,” she said, moving William and cradling him as she smiled.

“No, not Byers, woman,” he said, setting his glass beside hers. Reaching for William, he lay him on his knees, rubbing his belly tenderly. “It’s about our current living situation. I’m at your place or you’re here. It seems unnecessary to have two places of cohabitation.”

“Are you saying you want to… cohabitate with me? With us?” she said, glancing at William and then at Mulder.

“Live, cohabitate, spend my days with you, move in, whatever you want to call it, I want it.”

“Just your days? Not your nights? Because if you don’t have a place to live at the end of the day…”

William let out a loud fart, followed by the sounds of a very wet poop. They both looked at him in surprise and then he did it again, grunting as he pushed.

“Yeah, she is being a shit, isn’t she?” Mulder asked William with a scoff. “First she asks about Byers moving in and now she’s asking where I’ll spend my nights… She’s lucky that I love her so much.”

“I’m just trying to be thorough.”

“You’re being a pain in my ass is what you’re being,” he said. “Even the kid can see it.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” she asked, searching his eyes and swallowing nervously.

“Yes,” he said, taking her hand and laying his other hand on William's chest. “Since I came back, this place hasn’t really felt like home. It’s…” He looked around and shook his head. She squeezed his hand and he smiled as he looked back at her. “It’s not where I’m supposed to be. When I’m here, I wake up reaching for you and or thinking I heard him crying, but I’m alone. I don’t like it.”

“I don’t like it either,” she whispered and he nodded.

“So, what do you say? Would you like to cohabit with me? Or more accurately, me with you?”

“I would like that very much,” she said softly.

William kicked and cooed, drawing their attention, before they looked at each other again.

“Yeah?” he asked, squeezing her hand.

“Yeah,” she said, squeezing back. “Very much.”

“Good,” he said, grinning happily.

“I mean, it’ll be good as I am tired of changing most of the diapers. Especially the dirtier ones.” She looked down at William and then back up at Mulder, raising her eyebrows suggestively. “So, if you agree to, let’s say a seventy thirty split, I’d say we have a deal.”

“Seventy thirty?” he asked, letting go of her hand and lifting William to his shoulder.

“Uh huh,” she said with a nod.

“I accept,” he said and she grinned. “But seeing as how we’re at my place right now…” He made to hand William over to her and she shook her head with a laugh.

“I don’t think so. He just ate from my body. That dirty diaper is all you.”

He nodded and smiled, moving William to the crook of his arm and leaning towards her for another kiss.

“I accept. Whatever the stipulations,” he said again and she kissed him, holding his face in her hands.

“No stipulations. Just you… Well, and the fish,” she said, smiling as she stroked his cheeks with her thumbs. “Everything else we can figure out along the way.”

“Yeah,” he breathed, smiling back at her. “The fish will be happy for a change of scenery.”

“Maybe we could even get a bigger tank? Add more to the collection?”

“I like that idea.”

“You go change him and then we can talk more about it.”

“You got it, Boss.”

“Boss? Oh, I like that,” she said and he laughed as he leaned closer for one more kiss.

[yarn-dragon]

New fic! Suds and Scenda talk about the newest employee of Albion Rail

[roydeezed]

One thing for those who have watched The Boy and The Heron or will watch it. The Japanese title for it is How Do You Live? And Miyazaki stated he was leaving it for his grandson, saying, "Grandpa is moving onto the next world soon but he is leaving behind this film".

The deaths of contemporaries and friends such as Satoshi Kon and Isao Takahata and also the expected successor of Yoshifumi Kondo were things that have always weighed heavily on the back of Miyazaki's mind.

He recognizes the industry and the occupation for how soul crushing it was, grinding up either the spirit or the physical body of those who work in it. He loves and hates the industry he stands on the peak of and fully recognizes how it will probably be the death of him. And he knows it'll leave him unable to say a lot of things to his Grandson.

So How Do You Live? is a lesson. For his grandson. For himself. For his two sons. And probably for anyone else willing to pay attention.

Hayao Miyazaki is a flawed man that makes things so important to so many people. And I think more than any other film of his, in this you get to pull back the curtain a bit and see him at work. And what should be this giant unblemished titan can be seen for what he is, a sad old man who had higher hopes for himself and has even higher hopes for the people he makes his work for.

It's a beautiful thing to see another's humanity in their work. To look past the artifice and glam of commercialized art and find humans behind it. And humans willing to show their humanity and mortality is even rarer. And something to be celebrated. So when you watch it. Or if you've watched it already. Understand that this film is Miyazaki kneeling down, weary after years of weaving dreams and making mistakes, reaching out and saying to you that he hopes you can do better. It's an old man who's made all the mistakes of the world passing it on to you, hoping you do better, and making sure you know it's okay if you don't.

How do you Live? By making mistakes. By messing up. But still moving forward. And still reaching out.

[cherry-brewed-tea]

Thoughts on crushes, need others'opinions

He has a crush on me, and I know it. He talks to me a lot, includes me in stuff, wants to play games with me. I'm grateful for that. But crushes come and go in a flash. When his crush fades away, he will stop seeing the idealized version of myself he had in his head. Then, will he still talk to me, be my friend and play games with me? Friends come to be after getting to know each other as people. It takes effort. Crushes are often nonsensical and one who has a crush does not engage in critical thinking before deciding who they want to have feelings over, they happen in a biased and quick way. When he doesn't have a crush on me anymore, will he still want to be friends with me, after the "crush" image facade falls? It's making me feel lonely. (But for now, I really, really appreciate his friendship, even though it might stem fundamentally from a crush).

All thoughts and comments appreciated :)

[eileenleahy]

very very weird when people act like only trans & nb people have complicated relationships with gender and are the True Understanders of the violence of our deeply gendered world. beyond the fact of how troubled cis girls and women grow as they experience gender in a misogynistic world, are we supposed to act like every poc doesnt become aware at some point of just how eurocentric gender expectations are, and how dysphoric that makes you? how alienated from your own body and sex? this is just me talking from the experience of being forcibly held down and waxed at 8yrs old for being a hairy latina and constantly getting called manly at school for having a mustache and body hair. sighh i really just need white trans people to stop pretending they intrinsically have an understanding of gender so far above everyone else's

[crimeronan]

i've seen a couple people in the notes of this very good post about fictional polyamory by @thebibliosphere say things along the lines of "oh, i've been doing it wrong :(" or "how do i know if i did this right??" or "i should probably give up and start over, i wrote this badly :(" and. no!!!!

(i AM seeing far MORE people say "oh, this clarified and helped me so much, i think i know how to fix issues i've been having with my own story" which. YES!!!!)

listen. if you're a monogamous person who's writing a polyamorous relationship, and you've been focusing mainly on The Triad and All Three Together All The Time as the endgame, that's literally fine. that's a perfectly acceptable and strong starting point for your plotting, imo. you do not need to give up on a story that you've started like this.

but the things discussed in the post Can and Should improve your execution!

you can keep the same plot beats and overall relationship arc 100%. polyamorous relationships are infinite in their formations, every one is unique. "basically a monogamous romance but with three people" Does exist, as a relationship type. you're not hashtag Misrepresenting (TM) poly people with it

BUT i do think it will help to read up on some poly people talking about how their relationships Differ from monogamous ones.

so i have outlined some basic important concepts about polyamory.

MORE IMPORTANTLY though, i've broken down some questions that you can answer throughout the writing process to strengthen your individual dyad relationships, your individual characterization, & your characters' individual feelings/experiences. this is a writing resource have fun

future kitkat butting in to say i spent over two hours writing this and it definitely needs a readmore. it is also NOT comprehensive. but everything should be pretty simple to follow! feel free to reblog if you find it helpful yourself or just want to reward me for how gotdan long this took KSLDKFJKDL.

i've grabbed quick links for a couple of the important concepts, some have SEO pitches in them but the info largely seems to be good. (if i missed anything Egregiously Gross on these sites i should be able to update the links with better ones later, since they're under the readmore.)

sidenote: this is NOT meant to be overwhelming, despite the length. if you can't read all of this, that's Okay. you do not need to give up on your writing.

here we go:

compersion!

compersion is a BIG thing in a lot of polyamorous relationships. it's joy derived from seeing two (or more) of your partners happy together, or joy derived from seeing your partner happy with someone else.

compersion is really important as a concept because it highlights that every individual relationship within a polycule is different -- and that that's a GOOD thing. it's sort of the inverse of jealousy.

by the "inverse of jealousy," i mean that instead of feeling left out and upset and possessive, you feel happy/joyous/content.

i can use personal experience as an example: it's a Relief for me when my partners receive joy/support/sex/romance/etc that i can't (or prefer not to) give them. and i love seeing my partners make each other laugh and be silly together.

it's 100% okay for a poly triad not to be together 100% of the time, it doesn't mean that the third member is being left out or not treated equally when two people do things alone together.

(i have individual dates with my partners all the time! PLUS larger 3-and-4-person date nights.)

if the third member DOES feel jealous or left out, then the polycule can have a conversation to figure out what needs/wants aren't being met, and solve that. this happens semi-regularly in my polycule, as it will happen in any relationship (including monogamous ones)! it's just part of being an adult, sometimes you have to talk about feelings.

metamours!

a metamour is someone who is dating your partner, but ISN'T dating you. this may not be relevant for people writing closed three-person romantic sexual triads, but it's a super helpful term to know.

the linked article also lists different types of metamour relationships with some fun phrasing i hadn't heard before. the tl;dr is: sometimes you'll be domestic cohabitation friends, sometimes you'll be buddies with your own friendship, sometimes you might not interact much outside of parties, every relationship is different.

there's no one-size-fits-all requirement for metamour relationships. sometimes polyamorous people will end up dating their metamour after a while (has happened to me), sometimes polyamorous people will break up with one partner for normal life reasons, but remain friendly metamours.

the goal of polyamory is NOT for EVERYONE to fall in love. it is 100% okay if this happens in your story, it happens in real life too! but it is also 100% okay for characters to be metamours without ever becoming "more than friends."

(sidenote: try to kill any internalized "more than" that you have when it comes to friendship. friends are just as important and special and vital as partners.)

of course there are a million ways for messiness to occur with metamours within a complex polycule, exactly like with close-knit platonic friend groups. however this post is not about that! there's enough "here's how polyamory can go wrong" stuff out there already, so i'm focusing on the positives here :)

open versus closed polyamorous relationships!

i'm struggling to find an online article that reflects my experience without directly contradicting at least SOME stuff. so i'll give a quick rundown

google has a bunch of conflicting definitions of open relationships and whether open relationships are different from polyamory. the general consensus seems to be that an open relationship prioritizes one partnership (often a marriage), but that each partner can have extraneous flings or long-term commitments (most often sexual in nature).

this is not typically how i use the term wrt polyamory. the poly concept is pretty simple. a closed polyamorous relationship is one with boundaries like a monogamous one. there are multiple partners in the polycule, but they are not interested in having anybody new join said polycule.

an open polyamorous relationship tends to be more flexible -- it just means that IF someone in the polycule develops mutual feelings for a new person, it's fine for them to become part of said polycule if they want to! the relationship/person is open to newcomers.

some groups will need to negotiate this all together, others will just go "haha, you kids have fun." just depends on the individuals!

with open AND closed polyamorous relationships, the most important thing is making sure that there's respectful communication and that everyone is on the same page. but there's no one-size-fits-all way to do that.

i wish i could give you guys a prescriptive "You Must Do It This Way" guide, but that's.... basically the opposite of what polyamory is about, HAHA.

feelings for multiple people!

i was gonna tack this on to the previous section but decided it warranted its own lil bit.

a defining feature (....i'm told?) of monogamous relationships is that a monogamous person only has feelings for One individual at a time. they only want a relationship with one individual at a time. or, if they DO have feelings for multiple people simultaneously, they're still only comfortable dating one person at a time & being exclusive with that one person.

this is perfectly fine!

the poly experience is generally different from this. but once again..... polyamorous people all have different individual perspectives on this.

for me, i have never been able to draw hard boxes around romantic vs sexual vs platonic relationships, & i love many people at once. my personal polycule lacks many strict definitions beyond "these are my chosen people, i want to forge a life with them indefinitely, whatever shape that life takes"

some poly people feel explicit romantic or sexual attraction to multiple people at once, some poly people feel almost no romantic or sexual attraction at all. i'd say that MOST poly people feel different things for different partners, which is not a bad thing!

some poly people are even monogamous-leaning -- they have just chosen one romantic partner who is themselves part of a larger polycule. (so this monogamous-leaning person has at least one metamour!)

or alternatively, they might have one romantic partner AND a qpr, or other ways of defining relationships. (this is a factor in my own polycule!)

i made this its own point because if you're writing a straightforward triad, this is unlikely to come up in the story itself -- but it's worth thinking about how your characters develop/handle feelings outside of their partnerships.

like, is this sort of a soulmateship, 'these are the only ones for me' type deal? in which they won't fall in love with anyone else, and can be fairly certain of that?

that's pretty close to typical monogamous standards but you Can make it work. just be thoughtful with it

alternatively, can you see any of these characters falling in love Again after the happily-ever-after? and how would the triad approach it, if so? what would they all need to talk about beforehand, and what feelings would everybody have about the situation?

it's worth considering these questions even if the hypothetical will never feature in your actual canon, because knowing the answers to these questions will help you understand all of the individuals & their relationship(s) MUCH better.

i've been typing this for nearly two hours and there's a lot more i COULD say because... there's just a lot to say. i'll close out with some quick questions that you can ask yourself when developing the dyad dynamics within your triad

first, take a page and create a separate section for each individual dyad. then answer these questions for every pair:

how does each pair act when alone?

how do they act differently alone compared to when they're with their third partner?

are there any elements of this dyad (romantic, sexual, financial, domestic, etc) that these two people DON'T have with the third partner?

if so, what are they?

are there any boundaries or hard limits within this dyad that aren't shared with the third partner?

if so, what are they?

partner 3 goes out of town alone for a few weeks. what are the remaining two doing in their absence?

(doesn't have to be anything special, it's just to get a sense of how the two interact on a day-by-day basis without the third there)

what is something that each partner in the dyad admires about the other -- that they DON'T necessarily see in the third partner?

what problem do These Two Specifically need to solve in the story before their relationship will work?

how is that problem DIFFERENT from the problems being solved within the other two dyads?

doing this for ALL THREE dyads is VITAL imo. that way, you develop complex and nuanced and different relationships that all have unique dynamics.

those questions should be enough to get you started, i hope

then After you've charted the differences in relationships, you can start to jot down similarities in the overarching triad. what does one person admire in Both of their partners? what are activities that all three like to do together? what are boundaries or discussions that all three share?

but the main goal is to figure out how to Differentiate each relationship!

a polycule is only as strong as the individual relationships within it. if two people are struggling with their own relationship, adding a third person won't fix that.

(UNLESS the third person is the catalyst for those two to, like, Actually Communicate And Work Their Shit Out. i just mean that the old adage of "maybe if we just add a third-" works about as well to fix a miserable non-communicative marriage as, uh, "maybe if we have a baby-")

AND FINALLY.

if you're not sure whether your poly romance reads organically to poly people, you can hire a sensitivity reader with poly experience. if you can't afford that, you can read up on polyamorous resources like a glossary of terms & articles actually written by poly people. (and stories written by poly people!)

you can also just.... ask poly people questions, if they're open to it. i like talking about polyamory and my own relationships so you're welcome to send asks if u want, i just can't guarantee i'll answer bc my energy levels fluctuate a lot and i don't always have time.

polyamorous people are in an uphill battle for positive representation right now & so the LAST thing i want to see is authors giving up on their stories bc they're worried about getting things Wrong. well-meaning and positive stories that treat this kind of love as normal, healthy, & aspirational are So So So Needed. even if you guys end up with some funky-feeling details.

seriously, if you're monogamous then you probably don't have a full idea of Just How Nasty a lot of people can get about polyamory. i wish it DIDN'T mean so much for you guys to want to write nice stories about us, but it does mean a lot. and it means a lot that you want to do it WELL.

in conclusion. this is not a prescriptive guide, it's just a way to raise questions. and also, you all are doing FINE.

[ruporas]

i’ll find you again in every universe. let us be a little more honest, let us have a little more time.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 301

Ellie, during one of her stints of what do I do with my life right now, decides to, with the help of her Original Dad-Person (Look he’s aging and she’s not and it gets less questions the older he gets if he says daughter instead of sister with how the Fentons are getting older too) creates a Boo-Tube channel. No, not a Youtube channel, those are stuck to a single dimension.

Bootube on the other hand? Due to being through the Realms (and wow is Tucker getting so much income from creating it) is interdimensional. Which is so cool honestly. And she doesn’t know what to do at first, and honestly there’s already so many travel blogs that she kind of just… decided to do something that she wished someone had done for her and her brothers and Danny when she was new to the world. 

So she creates the channel CAAW: Clone Awareness, Accommodations, and Welfare. They had to learn things through trial and error, but maybe she can help someone out there learn how to find their own selves, or even help someone not melt. 

[hello-eeveev]

you wanna know what’s so funny is that we’re all like “omg Essek could NOT shut up about Caleb 🥺💕” but like. he absolutely can.

the only times Essek brought up Caleb unprompted/without relevance to the discussion at hand were gesundheit and nighttime sendings lol. of the four uses of the phrase “my partner,” one is an off-handed mention as part of a clarification (“I have not been following the Assembly’s threads; that was more my partner’s purview.”) and the last three all happen in the span of four minutes before Essek exits the episode.

the problem is that within those last four minutes, Essek hit us with

1) showing off a zemnian phrase he learned from Caleb,

2) “he is kind. and he is smart. and he is so strong,” said with such conviction and pride and love that I don’t think I’ll ever recover, and

3) leaving the crafting party to chat with Caleb before bed

which was just. a lot. it was so much and it was so good. so much concentrated shadowgast in those four minutes

this whole ship is built on layered conversations and implications and skirting the obvious (with the exception of the last two minutes of m9 reunited) so to give us four whole minutes of Essek boasting about Caleb, praising Caleb, wanting to go talk to Caleb was particularly potent

thank you Matt Mercer for my life 💕

[communistkenobi]

saw someone argue that the central defining feature of fanfiction is its attention to proper characterisation. man I don’t think you’ve read very much fanfiction

[coladaminx]

So if you watch this scene izuku and kacchan are sitting on both ends of the couch and what makes this scene so sweet and kinda sad is that izuku consciously or maybe unconsciously brings himself closer to his kacchan with the Manga version you can actively see him scooting closer (HE WANTS TO BE CLOSE TO HIM) and be able to actually talk with him Normally ;A; which we find out later he feels blessed being able to be near him and ya know talk and katsuki didn't push him away THEIR INSANE YA'LL!

[luna-lovegreat]

So... Warriors

It is obvious by now he's not ok. He's irritable and tense.

I've had thoughts and ideas on this for awhile, so I think now's a good time to speak them. Very important detail at the end.

There are some really big and some small things adding to his stress

The drama with the sword. Wild went against the agreed plan, and lashed out in anger fear for twilights injury. From things Jojo said, Wars is mad about it for a while.

I have said this in other posts, but based on things Jojo has said and some details, I do not think Wild likes wars. He has not really gotten close to him, which adds on to the negativity between them

But Wars... is a captain. This journey is different, and he's doing amazing at setting aside expectations of how to work with rank. But that is still a clear stressor- to him that was unacceptable in battle

^this is one big thing we watched go wrong and has clearly been upsetting since

Another thing is

Wars has been taking on too much. We've seen him break up a fight at the inn, comfort Time (time!), and tell him he'd take care of the others.

Twice he said "let them", and "let him be"-making others have space they needed. He asked Four what was wrong and followed up with helping with smithing.

^^These are all small things. None of these are huge- practically tiny tasks. But they add up- all the attention to others feeling but not his own

... and

Wars has not smiled. Yes, he smiled, but it was not his smile. Since Twilight went injured to the inn, there has only been smiles in a way expected, but not much beyond when he found out his friend wasn't dead. (And when he helped Four at the blacksmiths)

In the updates, I have seen others saying how cool/pretty he looked. Which he did! But emotion wise, I only thought he looked angry. Even when teasing Twilight...

^Not his smile

But here's the biggest thing that I believe is bothering him...

I've wanted to point this out for awhile. The thing is, Wars was really hurt when he found out Twilight didn't tell him about Wolfie

It's small details. A few sentences and facial expressions. But they add up over the chapter, and I don't think he felt trusted or trusting when he found out

He tried to find out who else knew

And why he was one who didn't

*read the blurred words:

"No one said anything to me, I'm just left out of the loop. Who else knows? Just us?"

Wolfie being secret wasn't necessarily about trust, but wars took it personally. He really didn't understand or want to accept that Twilight would have told some of the others but not him...

Wars is distinctly closer to the ones his age, who the younger ones often turn to. And as someone who's been through war, who bonds closest with those he feels he works with best?

Twilight having a major secret he didn't share with Wars, but did with others,

Felt like a knife to the (back?) chest.

And it hurt him

Look at his face when saying "we couldn't do a thing for him". He's looking away, directly after asking four and wild if they knew. I don't think he felt trusted. Or trusting. From thinking someone wasn't who he thought he was, and maybe was closer to others...

^^this is what I think is perhaps the biggest stressor- yet most unnoticeable

Wars never spoke to anyone about his feelings. He pushed it aside and went and helped.

This is ok. Between people so close, anything can be worked out. This is very revealing of how much Wars cares about twilight and the others

As far as Warriors pushing aside his needs and focusing on others... it's hard.

But I can confidently say this: Warriors would never want to not help all he could, when the others needed him

Here's this screenshot that makes me laugh (and somehow sky is just chill with this?)

Wars: oh my god my friend just came back from a wolf what the Hylia who can I even trust I'm having an invisible crisis

Sky: oh yay the sword helped he's back :)

Twilight: I'm fine *currently dying*

Wars is stressed right now. He's taken on too much, he's probably still mad at Champion, and... he feels betrayed (god wars should never have to feel betrayed) and untrusted

Like literally everyone ever others, wars deals with his hurt. Sometimes he can't deal with it alone, and sometimes he can. It will all work out, and I love how much he loves his brothers.

But nothing, I repeat nothing

Will be ok

IF HE DOESNT START WEARING THE DAMN SCARF SOON CMON WE HAVENT SEEN IT IN LIKE TEN UPDATES

PUT ON YOUR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SCARF CMON MAN

Ok I'm calm <3

.

Art and comic by Jojo @linkeduniverse :D

[gayvampyr]

“queer spaces should be inclusive of people who don’t enjoy sex and who have “strange”, negative or repulsed relationships with sex” and “sex is an important aspect of lgbt community, history, and activism and queer people should be allowed and able to talk freely about sex without stigma or shame” are ideas that can and should coexist.

[youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal]

Ok I have THOUGHTS about one of Nora’s biggest moments of growth in the epilogue centering around food.

As some of you may know, I find it a disservice to her character when people make 90% of her personality pancakes or food or whatever. Because there is a reason she’s like that: she was an orphan. She has starved and she has wondered where her next meal will be coming from.

When she got to Beacon, we don’t know that having 3 meals a day was normal for her and Ren. During V4, the crew is basically back to being unsure where their next meal will come from, but they do have provisions. Even when they’re in Atlas, she still jumps at the first opportunity of food.

So the fact that now, Ren, who is the person who has likely made 90% of her meals in life, is offering to make dinner and she turns him DOWN?

I feel like this is significant in multiple ways. First off, obviously she’s becoming less dependent on him. Secondly, even though she’s going through so much turmoil - she’s starting to feel settled with herself, which in turn ties back to being less dependent on Ren. She doesn’t feel desperate in that way she has in the past. On top of that, she’s starting to trust more people around her - she might not always know where her next meal will come from, but having more people around her than just Ren, she feels like she can depend on others.

A secondary but simultaneous analysis! She understands how the settlements feel, and being in a position where she CAN help, she wants to do everything she can to stop others from feeling the way she always has.

Personal growth, everybody!!

[unbidden-yidden]

Them: Are you a Zionist or an anti-Zionist Jew?

Me: ...

Them: Or maybe perhaps you are a non-Zionist or maybe a post-Zionist?

Me: I reject the premise of this question.

[redrobin-detective]

My fic writing process

Me: Here is an interesting idea, extrapolating the story's inherent, underutilized worldbuilding and not only acting upon it, but expanding it and making it my own to explore themes and characters I enjoy. Also Me: Ok but also this would be Hilarious