#The boy is ten anyways

[lieutenant-amuel]

I keep rereading my Gabe fic. It’s the fourth chapter now, and

“Gabriel was briskly walking to his school.”

Briskly.

BRISKLY.

TO SCHOOL.

AKAJJSKDKKFKF I UNCONSCIOUSLY MADE HIM A NERD

[lovely-v]

I feel like some Fall Out Boy songs sound stupid until you listen to them in a very specific state of turmoil and then you’re like oh I get it hahaha yeah cheers Patrick yeah I’m gonna need u to sing that for me fifteen more times

[ghost-bxrd]

Is Jason struggling hard trying to deal with envy that Tim has taken his family, his place in the court, his dragon? Of course, but at the end of the day Tim never owed Jason’s memory any respect or loyalty. But the egg he stayed up late whispering his hopes and notions of friendship and happiness and protection, patient and gentle for years, despite everyone telling him it was a lost cause. His egg –now a dragon– has forsaken the only person to dedicate themself wholeheartedly to its safekeeping. So Jason might eventually get to a point of understanding and tolerance with Tim but the little dragon must have felt him off in the distance and given up on him. It is the only way the pieces fit together. How can Jason accept that? He never faltered in his belief in his egg but as soon as he seemed weak it discarded him for someone easier to love.

It certainly seems that way to Jason, yeah :/

(Jason has no way of knowing that Robin hatched only a few weeks after his perceived death, and that the little dragon was inconsolable for many months to the point of near starvation, and that Dick and Bruce were so wrung out about Robin’s impending loss that Tim snuck into the dragon caves to try and coax the baby dragon to eat something, and that Robin didn’t just latch onto the first best person he saw, no, Robin felt that Tim came the closest to Jason’s kindness and uplifting spirits for the first time in months….)

[many-gay-magpies]

god what really gets me about dead boy detectives and what i think i love so much about the show and the relationships in it is that like. the romantic and sexual relationships aren't portrayed as being more unique or important than the platonic relationships. they're all just RELATIONSHIPS.

charles and crystal's attraction to each other and eventual hookup isn't this big end-all be-all relationship that shatter charles and edwin's friendship and draws charles' attention away from edwin; it's just a THING that happens. they're just two people that care about each other and happen to also be attracted to each other, and a hook-up happens, then they decide that neither of them are in the right place for it and it's nothing awful. crystal kisses charles, but it isn't some big spectacle of her declaring her love for him; it's just her saying goodbye and that she cares about him, like her hugs with niko and jenny and her handshake with edwin.

edwin realizes he loves charles romantically and tells him, and charles says he doesn't really love edwin romantically BACK, but it's okay, because they still love each other so much in so many other ways that this one tiny difference could never change them—and it doesn't!! they're still just as close, still care for each other just as much, still SHOW that care for each other just as much. their relationship didn't completely end because edwin loved charles in a way charles couldn't reciprocate, but at the same time it isn't "solved" by edwin getting over it, because there's nothing TO solve. it's just another type of love, added to everything that already exists between them. and they have LITERALLY FOREVER to figure out what it means.

the relationships between edwin & niko, crystal & niko, and crystal & edwin aren't given any less weight for being solely platonic, just as charles & crystal's relationship and edwin's feelings for charles aren't given (that much) MORE weight for being romantic. crystal and charles' conflict in the closet is about EDWIN, about how they're BOTH his friend and BOTH want to get him back; it has very little to do with the feelings between THEM, romantic or otherwise. similarly, the weight of charles' and edwin's relationship isn't diminished in the LEAST by charles not reciprocating the romantic side of his feelings (or SAYING he doesn't reciprocate, at least—we can all argue about the legitimacy of that in the notes).

i'm sure there are more examples than this, as well as probably some examples that CONTRADICT this, but like... by and large, it feels like dead boy detectives is a show where all the relationships are given equal weight regardless of platonic, sexual, romantic, or familial status, and as someone on both the asexual and aromantic spectrums who has struggled time and time again with shows casting out the importance of all other relationships in favor of prioritizing romance, that is INCREDIBLY refreshing to see.

[burquillos]

Thats cool that you prefer dkbk! I always thought bkdk matched their personality's better. Ive always wondered why some think dkbk fits better, which is again cool that you like that more! My point of view is katsuki always wanting to be number one, his dominant personality, his soft side he shows to izuku, and izuku being more submissive to katsuki specifically. Sure in battle he can be scary but he goes all soft when they are safe. What do you like about dkbk?

IM SCRAPPING THE ESSAY (for now cause I feel like it will remain unfinished until MHA ends and I have every single info)

But seeing Katsuki cry in the latest chapter unlocked a (relatively) shorter, dkbk specific answer for me: I just like seeing Katsuki being vulnerable and I like seeing Izuku feeling like he's worthy of seeing that vulnerability.

Katsuki's dominance is in part because he's a perfectionist and strives to be the best. People have expectations for him but he has even higher expectations for himself and he usually breaks beneath its weight. Has been since the sludge incident, Deku getting into UA, getting kidnapped, ending All Might etc. etc. Point is that, for me, his dominance feels more like a hindrance for him than anything else. I mean his whole arc IS about learning to Save to Win and throughout the 2nd war arc we see him shining in that supportive role he has learned to accept and he finally feels like he's free.

So when I saw him genuinely cry his heart out in front of Izuku in that hospital bed, my brain goes "Finally, Katsuki crying without hiding behind aggression and dominance like he did back in the Bakugo's Starting Line chapter and Deku vs Kacchan 2"

For Izuku's part, he's always dealt with being not enough from the very beginning, mostly cause he compared himself to Katsuki and why "envy" was one of All Might's description of him during the practical exam. First he wasn't enough to be a hero because he was quirkless. Then he got his quirk and he wasn't even decent at using it. Then he got the whole weight of a legacy thrust upon him and some of the users didn't even deem him worthy. Only up until recently did he stop thinking of himself as just a vessel of OFA but as a full pledged hero.

Izuku has envied Kacchan's dominance and his strength to win. His whole arc was about learning to Win to Save but he's so internally messed up about it cause he doesn't feel like it fits people's perception of him. That's why he goes "it's stupid and gross and I literally can't say this to your face but you're my image of victory even if those bad habits of yours are supposed to be something I am expected to dislike" and I want him so badly to reconcile with that part of himself.

So again, when Katsuki falls apart in his hands, when his image of victory comes crying to him and bearing his heart out, I think "Maybe he will finally feel reliable enough, strong enough, for this amazing person to unravel himself before him and trust him to hold him tight"

And that's about it for my MHA 424 revelation 😅I hope you have a good read 😅😅

[insomnya777]

From: Etho [Hermitcraft]

To: Joel [Empires]

It's been two days, thirteen hours, and forty seven minutes since I got back home. I haven't really done anything since. I've just been thinking about you. And me. Us.

Sorry. That's probably weird to read. I don't even know if you remember me.

Anyways. Hi.

I miss you.

I never realized how lonely I was before I met you.

I don't know what I'll do if you don't remember me.

God, I sound pathetic.

Read on AO3

[snekjoy]

Yk that one story that's like. The sun proposed to the moon and the moon wanted to say yes but couldn't because the sun would explode from excitement? Yeah dancae

[jessieren]

It’s my birthday today… hurrah 🥳 (I’m celebrating by starting to count backwards rather than forwards.. )

And as it’s my birthday and it’s fidget friday I thought I’d treat you to my top five ten fidgets*

As I’m sure you can appreciate it’s been a tough contest with many brilliant contenders and judging has been a difficult and time consuming process but my dedication to the cause (and science) saw me through..

In reverse order…

10. This beautifully framed fidget. Thank you Endeavour DoP…

9. This mini mini fidget

8. This poetry in motion/there’s so much fidgeting I don’t even know where to look interview fidget (with bonus pen)

7. The smug motherfucker key fidget

6. The how does he write with his pencil so upright (not a euphemism) fidget

5. In at number 5 we have the tache double fidget and eyeroll combo

4. The Harvest fidget - with bonus rolled up sleeves (thank you @librawritesstuff …)

3. The Sparkle lip fidget (also seen in many other guises)

2. The classic pen click fidget that started it all…

And the winner is….

1. This beauty. Bonus points for pen fidget, pen clicking, small almost imperceptible lip fidget and the fact that Evans just looks so. Fucking. Hot.

*ok I started with five but couldn’t decide between them so you got ten…

You’re welcome 😇

[sirhinkjinks]

aw, bats!

[penroseparticle]

Nothing annoys me more lately than "Going to the gym isn't a personality" like yes??? it is???

People talk about the things they care about, that they spend time on, that they put effort into. That includes their bodies?

I work with a lot of athletes. Like more than your typical amount. And they will happily debate protein powders, tell you they're doing a new training regimen, talk about Lat Pulls like having opinions on them is something obviously I have as well. Going to the gym is exciting for them- they tell me they hit a new personal best bench press, or are trying to hit a specific weight class, or are working on knee strength after their surgery. They compare times they threw up or got too dizzy.

The same way when I talk to MTG players they tell me about their new EDH deck, or talk about that one wombo combo they pulled in Draft, or this asshole at FNM. It's all just nuts and bolts for a thing they care about. I don't know much of anything about Knitting but a lot of my friends do, and I would NEVER tell them that "Knitting isn't a personality" just because I personally find it boring or whatever. Because I would be an asshole.

Going to the gym is a ~personality~, it's just not one you want to talk about. You don't care about machine vs. free weights. You don't want to know how long they spent working out this morning. Frankly, you want them to do the work at the gym and not give you a peek behind the curtain. You want people to look good, look fit, look how you want to, but not talk about how much work and effort it takes to do so. Working out to you is a chore, and an unpleasant one at that, so you'd rather they not remind you of it.

But exercising your body shouldn't be a chore, it should be something you enjoy- your favorite rock climbing place, the dance class you and your friends take, etc. These people LIKE going to the gym. They would gladly tell you about it. And if for some reason you are talking to someone who works out religiously but hates every second of it- first of all, yikes, buddy you don't have to live that way- but second of all, that person will not talk to you about the gym. They will talk to you about what they are actually passionate about.

You don't have to enjoy their hobby! You can think the gym is boring, or exercise isn't interesting. But like. say that. The gym can be a personality. Anything can be a personality.

[introspectivememories]

at the center of gotham, lies its oldest public hospital — gotham general. it’s staff are kind and compassionate, if a little intolerant of bullshit. the city may not care about the crimes that occur in it but the people certainly do. gotham’s emergency services are renowned throughout the nation as one of the best. 

the ER nurses at gotham general love to gossip and their latest is about how their ever-reliable EMT bernard dowd, who'll rush into burning buildings if he thinks he can save one more person, who smiles so brightly and brings them cupcakes on his days off but has such sad eyes, seems so lonely. they determinedly decide to find a date for him. maybe dr. zacharia thomas, their latest trauma surgeon? yes, yes! he's only a few years older, bernard knows him, they get along, and most importantly, he's got a stable job. he'll be perfect for their bernard!

and then, literally only days after they decide to set up dr. zacharia and bernard on a date, head trauma nurse marissa santos comes running in with a copy of gotham daily, clutched in her hand.

"look! look! nakita mo ba ang balita?" she whisper-yells, "did you see the news?!"

instantly they're all crowding around her, trying to see the paper. covering the front page is a blurry photo of a black-haired man engaged in a passionate game of tonsil-hockey with someone who is unmistakably their youngest EMT. he's still wearing his uniform for christ's sake! in the largest font known to man, "WAYNE'S NEW PARAMOUR?" is written at the top.

"he's dating the wayne ceo!" marissa gushes excitedly.

"isn't he a little too old for bernard?" someone pipes up from the back.

"not the father, you idiot! the son! timothy!"

that's way better than their candidate. everyone is stoked. by nightfall, everyone in the ER knows that bernard dowd is dating timothy drake-wayne, the youngest ceo wayne enterprises has ever had.

when bear stops by, at around 2 in the morning, dropping of the last patient from his shift, he's immediately accosted by the nurses.

"whoa! hey!" he exclaims as they lead him to the nurse's station and sit him down in a chair, "what's going on?"

marissa slams the paper down in front of him, "spill."

bernard groans and turns cherry red, "oh my god tita. don't you guys have patients to attend to?"

"already taken care of." nurse gu says.

"what about mr. gomez, the one with third degree burns that just came in?" bernard tries desperately.

"dr. zacharia is already on it." dr. esperanza responds, "so spill."

their youngest tries one last time, "how do you even know if that's me?"

"there are like 10 blonde people in the EMT department and considering all of them are older than you and none of them seem to have the three ear piercings that kid in this picture does, we're gonna have to assume it's you." dr. farah nasim, one half of the head of the ER, says.

bernard turns on her with a betrayed look.

"sorry kid," she snorts, "also, you're still wearing your uniform in the photo. it says 'dowd' on the shoulder."

"im too old to be bossed around like this." he mutters before sighing, "alright what'd'ya want to know?"

"tell us everything!" marissa says, "how did you two meet?"

"we were friends in high school and we fell out of touch after junior year. he hit me up on insta 6 months ago and we reconnected."

"oh my god!! they're high school sweethearts!" nurse gu squeals, "that's so cute!"

"tell us more! who asked who out?"

"okay well, technically he asked me out but he didn't know he was asking me out. but we went on this date at this restaurant and it got attacked by some villain and red robin, but he was going by robin at the time, rescued. so i told robin, 'hey if i make it out of this, tell tim drake, i would've liked to finish our date'. and then, tim, shows up at my door the next day and says 'i don't know what this feeling i get when i'm near you is, but i'd like to find out'. and the rest is history."

"bernard, what the hell?" dr. esperanza says shocked, "that's the most rom-com-esque story i've ever heard."

"what?" bernard blushes, "no it's not."

"bear," esperanza says slowly, "he showed up at your door and said 'i don't know what this feeling i get when i'm near you is, but i want to find out.' that is something straight out of the notebook."

"no, no! he's such a dork!" bernard assures them frantically, "he does this thing, when he laughs too hard, he snorts and it sets him off again and it just keeps going. and you should've seen him in high school, the biggest skater boy to ever exist. he's teaching me..."

and bernard goes on and on for the next 15 minutes, trailing off only when he notices them all smiling at him.

"what?" he says shyly.

"you're in love with him, aren't you?" dr. farah says.

bernard chokes, "what?! no! ...maybe?"

everyone shares a look between each other. marissa steps forward, "well on behalf of the gotham general ER staff, i can assure you, we all approve."

"thank you?"

"bring him around sometime!" nurse gu says, "we'd all like to meet him."

"why? so you can give him the shovel talk?"

"of course!" dr. farah says, smiling widely, "he’s dating our youngest! we have to threaten him!"

bernard's voice is suspiciously wet when says a few moments later, "thanks guys."

and so on it goes for the next few months until marissa comes back after her break, deathly pale. everyone worries but she refuses to tell anyone what's wrong. and then a few weeks later, nurse gu goes on his break and comes back shocked. and then a month later, dr. zacharia comes back from a quick step outside, lips sealed shut.

and on it goes until there is one glaring truth the gotham general ER night staff cannot ignore:

bernard dowd is dating red robin. open relationship or cheating, to be determined.

a year after the news about tim drake and bernard had been released, and half a year after the, what the staff has taken to calling it, Red Robin Scandal™ began, dr. farah calls a night staff meeting.

the staff meeting is boring as usual until the end when dr. farah opens the conversation to the staff to voice their concerns.

"are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" dr. esperanza asks.

"i think bernard might be cheating on his boyfriend!" marissa blurts out before slapping her hands over her mouth, horrified.

“oh thank god.” esperanza sighs.

"wait you saw them too?" nurse gu asks.

"in the narrow walkway," dr. zacharia starts.

"between the ER and jacobson building." dr. esperanza finishes.

"exactly!" marissa says.

"i caught them in the parking lot once." dr. farah admits, mouth pressed into a grim line, "they were pressed up against the fence in the back — y'know where the light doesn't shine? — kissing each other like they'd just come back from world war 2."

"ay, how could that boy be so stupid?" marissa sighs, "getting caught up with a vigilante?"

"maybe it's like polyamory?" esperanza says, ever hopeful.

"whatever it is," farah says, "he should know better than to get involved with those people. we have to talk to him."

they pull bernard into an unused conference room, just the 5 of them, 3 weeks later.

"hey, hey!" bernard exclaims as they shove him into a chair, "what's going on?"

nobody speaks.

"guys?"

"are you cheating on tim drake?"

"what?"

"are you cheating on tim drake?" marissa repeats.

"no! why would you think that?"

"everyone on the night staff has caught you kissing red robin at least once. wanna try that again?" farah says.

bernard sighs, "is that what this is about? doc, i swear to god, i'm not cheating on tim."

"so he knows?" zacharia asks.

"yes zach, tim knows about me and red robin."

"and he's okay with it?"

"yes. tim doesn't mind me dating both of them." bernard says, a smile playing on his lips.

nobody speaks for a while.

"so..." bernard breaks the silence first, "are we good here? do you approve?"

"no." esperanza says, "we don't approve."

"what?"

"he's no good for you." nurse gu says.

"you don't even know him." bernard says incredulously.

"oh and you do?" zacharia says scathingly, "he's a vigilante bear. how much do you really know?"

"more than you zach!"

pleadingly bernard turns toward farah, "c'mon doc, you don't agree do you?"

"you know, when you first started dating tim drake, i had my reservations. rich people and all that. but i figured with all that money, if you ever got roped into rich people problems, tim's money would help out. you'd be taken care of and he clearly loves you, so i didn't mind too much."

"but this..." farah trails off, "i can't accept this."

turning towards marissa, "tita, please."

"don't do that, bear. wag kang tanga. it's not good to be with him."

"he loves me! is that not enough?" bernard near-yells, "i thought that's what you wanted. someone who loves me!"

"enough to quit being a vigilante?" esperanza asks.

"quit being a vigilante? are you guys hearing yourself?" bernard asks angrily, "he saves the city on a near-nightly basis and you want me to ask him to give it all up because what? he's dating me?"

"so let him save the city without you." nurse gu says, "why does he need to drag you into it?"

"he's not dragging me into anything! i am a full consenting adult! i chose him! what’s so different about what he and i do anyway?"

“well for one, our job is legal. and two, there are safety measures put in place so that you don’t get hurt. so that your coworkers don’t get hurt. your man walks into the joker’s lair with an inch of kevlar and a prayer on his lips.” zacharia says.

nurse gu sighs, "look. nobody here is mad at him for saving the city. everyone here knows somebody who has been saved by the bats. but the deal is that they save the city and they don't drag anybody else into it."

"the bats, whoever they are? they chose that life. for whatever reason, they chose that life and all the dangers that go with it. you’re not stupid bear, don’t get involved with whatever he has going on. pick literally anyone else.” farah says.

“you need a third person that badly? take zach! the ER was planning on setting you up with him before we found out about tim, anyway.”

“what?” zacharia says, rounding on nurse gu.

“you know what?” bernard says, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly, “ i don’t have to explain myself to you guys.”

“you can’t marry him.” marissa says.

“who said anything about marriage? i’m 22!”

“you clearly love tim. you two seem like you’re going to last a while and if you love red robin they way you love tim, them somewhere along those years of being together then you’re going to start thinking of marriage. what then? how are you going to explain red robin to the people you love?”

“we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“look, bernard,” farah says gently, “we’re not doing this cause we don’t want you to be happy. you mean a lot to me, i think of you as my son. we just-”

“you’re not my mom.” bernard snaps out, “you’re not my mom, you’re not my aunt, my uncle, my brother. you guys aren’t anything to me!”

he turns and walks away.

“farah do something.” marissa hisses.

“let him go. he said he’s an adult right? then let him make his choices.”

“but,” she says, raising her voice so bernard can hear her, “if anything goes wrong, and i mean anything at all, i hope he knows that adults don’t have to do everything by themselves. that they can ask people for help.”

bernard’s hands still on the doorknob. “thank you.” he says voice rough, “nothing will happen, but thank you for the offer.” and he walks out the door.

bernard dowd, is 22 year old EMT that has too much heart and not enough brain. he’ll rush into burning buildings if he thinks he has even a minute chance of saving someone. he’s kind and he’s sweet and more importantly, he’s dating timothy drake-wayne, ceo of wayne enterprises.

if you ask the ER night staff at gotham general, after a lot of prodding, they might tell you that bernard dowd was one of the youngest EMTs to ever join the gotham county emergency medical services. they might tell you that bernard dowd has been wondering if he should become an AEMT or a paramedic. they might tell you that as the major receiver for all patients, bernard saw them all the time and imprinted on them like a baby duck. and if you’re really close they might, tell you the ER’s biggest secret: bernard dowd is dating both timothy drake-wayne and red robin. or they might just let you walk in on them making out behind the ER. whatever comes first really.

(if you get close enough to a certain group of people on the ER night staff, they’ll tell you that bernard dowd has two hands and he uses them to hold onto his boyfriends. 

they’ll tell you that tim drake is a nice boy and they’re a little worried about their bernard fitting into the circles a wayne walks in, but he’s a nice boy who clearly loves bernard, so they’re not too worried.

they’ll tell you that that red robin character is no good for their bernard and has no business getting so close to their youngest. that red robin is going to get bernard into trouble one day, the kind of trouble that you don’t come back from.

and if you get really close to them, they’ll tell you over lunch breaks and muttered whispers, that both boys are going to break their youngest’s heart. and that if they had to pick, red robin will do it first. that their bernard loves a little too deeply and that they're worried that it’ll break bernard.

but they’re not too worried, they say. because bernard has them and if that bastard red robin breaks his heart, then they’ll pick up the pieces, they’ll sew him back together if they have to. after all, bernard stitches up half of gotham every night, this is the least they could do.)

[obslorsed]

they werent lying that everything did burn

[blue-eli]

Apparently it’s make a terrible comic day so have this extremely low effort comic :)

[midnightmindcave]

we learned that the cat we adopted a couple of years ago was the ‘cool babysitting uncle’ of his colony so we finally got him a kitten

[eli-is-an-idiot]

GCSE DRAMAAAAAA

this post is brought to you by my growing insanity after rereading an inspector calls for my drama gcse in a single afternoon

(inspired by @thebrokenpaintbox on this post)

[patrickztump]

was going through it thinking about the line “i miss missing you now and then” the other night because on the surface yeah, it’s saying “i miss that i used to miss you, but i’m doing better and have moved on.” but i was thinking deeper on how when you’re missing someone it’s because you remember the time you had together, but with time you forget finer details and missing them fades. and how sometimes it can feel like betrayal to not miss them. so “i miss missing you” can also translate to “i miss you always being on my mind, i miss remembering you and missing our subtle moments we shared together. i still remember your existence, but i forgot your smell, your touch, i miss missing you the way i once did when you were still vivid and sharp in my mind.”