#and now I’m here for two more years as my whole support system has to move away for aforementioned jobs

[floral-hex]

no see I WILL write something eventually, I haven’t been putting it off, I’ve just been uhhhhh cultivating the story for a couple of years yeah yeah

[greynatomy]

regret

leah williamson x reader

actually finished writing something! wooo! the poll i put out was a close one, but this pair ultimately won. thanks to all who voted.

i’ve decided to split this into two parts, so this isn’t the end peoples!

part 2

———

“Alright. Remember, when we get there—”

“—pretend that we’re still happily married. I know.” You say annoyed, getting out of the car.

“Hey, don’t be like that!” Leah gets out of the car, catching up to you.

“Be like what? I’m not the one who got us in this situation.”

“Can we just be civil? This is the last time we’ll go through this.”

“Piss off will you! We wouldn’t have to act civil if you kept your mouth to yourself. And you had the audacity to file for divorce.”

Before Leah could reply, the front door opens to reveal Amanda, Leah’s Mom.

“Oh, I’ve missed you girls so much!”

Putting up a smile on your face, you engulfed the woman in a hug.

“Missed you too Amanda.”

“Come in! Come in!”

“Oi! David how’ve you been pops?”

“Oh, I’ve been wonderful! Glad to have you here!” He pulls you into a hug.

“There’s my favorite sister!” You hear behind you, Jacob just coming down the stairs from his room.

“Come here you! It’s been a while, huh?”

“It has! You gotta visit me more often.” You tense a bit, but not enough for him to notice in your embrace, putting up a smile on your face.

“I’ll try to visit more.”

What you don’t see behind you is Leah watching your interactions with her family.

You’ve known each other young. You’ve both been dating since you were fifteen, marrying at nineteen, divorced at twenty-one.

Her family’s have welcomed you with open arms since the beginning. You were her first serious relationship. The only one of her girlfriends that her family loved. You’ve had your whole life basically planned out, Leah would become a footballer, you a doctor, marriage, kids, the dream basically.

Leah didn’t know the exact reason why she did what she did, but it happened and she couldn’t take it back. She knew this teammate of hers has liked her for a while and never told her off.

She woke up to an unfamiliar bed, an arm around her that certainly wasn’t you. She regretted it the moment she woke up, didn’t know how to tell you, but you found out before she could. Ashamed of herself, Leah filed for divorce.

———

Leah didn’t know what she was thinking divorcing you. She didn’t have the right to be the one to file as she was the one who fucked up. It was impulsive and shameful. It was the best option she could think of at the time.

Now here she was, five years later, at the Emirates training grounds, about to run for the first time since her ACL injury. She missed you so much during this time. Every time she was injured in any way, you were always by her side nursing her back to health. You were her support system, making her fall more in love with you. This time, without you by her side, she realized how much she took you for granted, how she didn’t show you enough love, betraying you in the worst way possible.

She’d already signed the divorce papers, pressuring you to do the same all while making you go to her family’s for a dinner pretending that nothing has changed between the two of you. It was when she finally saw your signature on the papers was when she realized how she’s lost you for good.

———

Getting back home after a family walk, Amanda spots a stack of papers on the kitchen counter, a folded paper on top, along with two rings. Curious, she opens it up and quickly skims through them, shock fills her body after she finished reading.

“Leah!” She yells for her daughter.

“Yeah, mum?” Leah walks into the kitchen to see her mom holding something up.

“What the hell is this?”

Leah being clueless, grabs the sheet, reading it herself.

Leah,

I’ve finally signed everything you’ve been wanting me to sign. I don’t know why I’ve put it off for so long even if I’m not the one at fault. Guess it’s just hard to let go of the one you love the most.

Don’t contact me. Don’t look for me. You’re free.

Yn

Leah couldn’t even respond to her mother. All the emotions she bottled up came at her all at once, breaking down in front of her family. Six years of relationship, one year of marriage over.

[yourpsicodelicbitch]

Sun houses and fathers 🌞

Yoshitomi Nara

✨first post of 2024✨

take what resonates, leave what don’t 🎀 you don’t have to necessarily identify with it.

*I use whole sign system -house system- for more certainty

9H: you’re learning constantly from your dad. he teaches you what he’ve learned through his life. he’s teaching you about his mindset, the origin of his beliefs, why he stands for them. he could be someone very religious or faithful, and through that faith he could have teach you things he know now. also, he could be really philosophical and probably has a fixation with politics, investing. he could seem very patient or is constantly worried trying to understand how he can help you.

10H: your dad could be someone really hardworking, who you could have seen work really hard through all this years, making sure you’re satisfied in the economic and study aspect. he could have not been present too much when you were growing up and when he showed up he was too strict, he probably wasn’t conscious or didn’t know how to approach you -could be bc they thought him to bottle up his emotions-. you could end up studying/working on the same career/field your dad’s in.

11H: your dad it’s okay with who you are, or what side you show to them🧐. you’re their fav or they left you. you could feel like the only child/you are. he could seem too disperse, take it how you want to. idk why but mostly of dads of sun 11H are younger than what’s expected. he’s permissive. you were a spoiled kid, that has to do with your dad. “dreams” that word is important, he had a lot of influence and power over yours, he could have destroyed them or making sure you have all the resources -depending on the aspects-.

12H: your dad won’t judge your decisions or you. he’ll be a support. he could have difficulties to put limits in a father-son relationship, you could have felt stressed when you’re seeing how your dad is being bullied by your siblings bc of that attitude. you could have being the one who is protecting them or you’re the more serious/introverted one in the dynamic. or the total opposite: he’s too strict and you had to be careful on how to act. there’s something that happened there… you two could share something obvious, an interest, physical appearance, an adjective, etc. something everyone can point out. also, you could feel a strong or subconscious connection with your dad’s sight of the family.

5H: idk why I have the feeling you didn’t saw your dad for a long time and then you saw him, I’m trying to express that your relationship with him it’s not constant. he could be explosive or impulsive. he could contradict himself so much. he could have had you without planning it/unexpected -you were a surprise for him 🤩-. could be that your parents were young when they had you and etc. that’s why you’re like an experiment 😭 your dad doesn’t know how to approach you and he has a temperament. emotions here are fiery, when each other express their emotions they don’t take a seat and have a chat with a cup of tea, they’ll say how they feel crying and screaming.

6H: your dad could have OCD, no, I’m lying, but he could be really fucked up about order. “thinks have to be like this, why you didn’t let me this at this time?” Or the total opposite, not in the middle. he could get sticker in his routine and if things are not how he planned he get stressed. a perfectionist. he could be strict or conservative. he’s sarcastic, that’s why you could be sarcastic too. he’s hardworking and also could help on campaigns and etc. at some point you could have helped him on working on his health. and you could be the one who end up taking care of him/being the sibling who spends more time with him.

♡ Based on personal experience and what I’ve analyzed in my surroundings.

♡ English is not my first language.

♡ I’m not a profesional astrologer.

Thank youu. baibaiii🫣🫶🏼💋

Do not copy. Please give me credits.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #2 – He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

I’ve had this sitting on my bookshelf since it came out but, as so often happens, having it just laying around meant it faded to the background whenever I was deciding what to read next. Not the worst case of that (there’s a lovely of Cyteen that’s been sitting on my dresser and shaming me for at least a year now), but certainly long enough for me to regret it.

The story is a direct sequel to She Who Became The Sun, a low fantasy retelling of the fall of the Yuan Dynasty and the ascension of Zhu Yuanzhang to the imperial throne – though in this universe the ‘real’ Zhu Yuanzhang died a starving peasant child, and his sister assumed his identity and his destiny of greatness, willing to do anything and everything it takes to force the world into alignment with it. The book starts with her having lost her right hand, and only gets more emphatic about making her prove it from there.

Aside from Zhu, the narration’s split between several different points of view that fill out the struggle for the future of China. The book honestly does a better job with multiple POVs than the vast majority of epic fantasy I’ve read – every one is a thematic mirror of Zhu on one level or another, and every one has an arc dedicated to the book’s twin fascinations of what it means to be willing to do anything to achieve what you want on one hand, and gender nonconformity and queerness in an intensely patriarchal traditional society on the other.

The actual plot of the story is almost episodic – Zhu encounters some new obstacle on her way to victoriously marching to the Mongol capital at Dadu that can’t be defeated with the blunt force she has available, and she and some collection of the supporting cast goes on an insane adventure to snatch victory regardless. Then every so often there’s a cutaway to Wang Baoxiang (who, among all the other POVs, is easily the one that comes closest to deuteragonist status) scheming his way through imperial court politics in Dadu in his incredibly operatic and self-degrading scheme for revenge on his dead brother. The plots start affecting each other quite early, but I’m pretty sure it’s only in the last twenty pages or so that the two of them actually meet face to face (it is in fact a minor plot point that Wang can’t recognize Zhu when he sees her). It all manages to feel like it’s capturing a whole swathe of political intrigue beyond any one person’s understanding and feel fairly well plotted and cohesive as it comes together. Not that there aren’t plenty of points where you have to just run with it and not push back at what the book’s telling you but nowhere where it’s serious or blatant enough to actually be an issue.

I’m not sure it’s a complaint per se, but one thing that did take some adjusting to is just how, melodramatic I suppose? All the POVs in the book feel very profoundly and effusively, and also have absolutely zero awareness or understanding of their own emotions. This is particularly acute with Wang and Madame Zhang, but in every case there’s just a lot of characters being driven by emotions too large to be contained within them. It kind of feels like a musical, in that respect (but absolutely no other, to be clear).

Anyways, this is a book with absolutely massive amounts of Gender in it. With like, literally one exception, every POV is to some great extent defined by struggling against their position in the gender system of medieval China, and all the issues doing so their entire lives has left them with (Zhu is far and away the most healthy and well-adjusted about this.) Importantly, being oppressed and marginalized for being a woman/effeminate man/eunuch is in no way edifying or ennobling – it’s mostly left everyone involved deeply damaged and full of coping mechanisms that serve them poorly and everyone around them far worse. There’s basically no mention of even the idea of solidarity among the oppressed here – Madame Zhang tortures, mutilates and kills her own maids and her husbands’ consorts whenever necessary, Wang operatic revenge plot involves befriending and seducing a queer prince knowing it will get him killed in the end, Ouyang hates how effeminate his body is and deals with this by becoming a pathological misogynist – even Zhu doesn’t spare much to think about the cause of woman’s liberation beyond herself and her wife.Given the state of a lot of modern genre lit I honestly found this rather refreshing.

As both cause and consequence of the choice of POVs, the book has a rather interesting relationship with normative masculinity. There’s, as far as I can tell, exactly two examples of successful heroic/virtuous normative masculinity in the book – General Zhang and the Grand Councillor of the Yuan – and despite both being really incredibly competent and fearsome on the battlefield and legitimately selfless and honorable, both end up condemned as traitors to their respective lieges (both indolent, vicious, and generally contemptible men without anything in the way of redeeming features, themselves) and dying unpleasantly after being outmanoeuvred in court intrigue. Victory in the end goes not to those who are cherished by their society but the ones who are overlooked and brutalized by it but are willing and able to do whatever it takes and use anything and everything they can to claw their way to the top despite it.

Speaking of – the overriding throughline of the story is what it means to be willing to do anything to achieve your life’s ambition. Being willing to endure pain and suffering goes without saying, and while the book does put its leads through the physical ringer, that’s not really what it’s interested in. Are you willing to spend the lives of those who trust and rely upon you? Sacrifice those you love, or ask them to die for you? Betray those who have only ever shown you kindness? Are you willing to degrade and humiliate yourself, or lie and betray your own hard-won and precarious identity? And once you’ve done all that, and finally achieved your heart’s desire – well, are you really sure it was all worth it? Three cases out of four in the book, at least, ended up regretting it in the end.

This is a book that’s very concerned with sex and sexuality but, like, very nearly exclusively in offputting or unpleasant ways. There’s something like a dozen sex scenes (okay, ‘scenes with sex in them’ is probably the less misleading description. If you come looking for porn you’ll be disappointed) in the book and of them I believe exactly one that you could characterize as enthusiastically consensual and mutually enjoyable. Maybe three, if you count the incredibly toxic relationship which boils down to asking for help dong self-harm and it turns into a sadomasochist thing. Which never becomes/is never understood as sexual by the people engaging in it but describing it is definitely the closest the book gets to erotica. In any event, just somewhat surprising to see so much sex paired with so little romance, relative to most modern stuff I’ve read. Ties into how alienated literally everyone is from their bodies, I suppose.

Also I really don’t know enough about the historical memory of the early Ming dynasty to know whether all the stuff about how Zhu knows what it’s like to be nothing and how she’ll reorder the world to care for everyone is supposed to read as really darkly ironic or not.

[startrekfangirl2233-writes]

Don't You Forget About Me

Part One

Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

Description: Sometimes the most unlikely encounters with people have an immeasurable effect on your life. For Bradley Bradshaw, life at 22 right after graduating from college is far different than he ever thought it would be. It kind of seems like his whole life hasn't gone according to plan. No parents, no support system, just one man and his dad's old Bronco against the world. A chance meeting with a blond-haired teenage menace in Texas may just change everything, shaping his future in a way he never would have expected. Disclaimer: This is a Hangster story -> What you see is what you get, folks. Slight mention of homophobic/ lgbtq+ phobic family members. Word Count: 3624 Author's Note: Hiya! I wrote this fic for @roosterforme's Top Gun Rocktober Event based on the song Don't You Forget About Me by the Simple Minds. Everything about it just screamed Hangster when I listened to it again. As anybody who knows me or has read my works can surmise... I can be quite long-winded so what was supposed to be a quick blurb turned into a short two-part series. I hope you all love this fic! (Also I'm self conscious about this one because I do not write in first person. It's surprisingly hard so I'd love any feedback if you've got it!)

It's dark and smoky and loud in here and I can't believe that I let Jessica and David drag me to this party. They've long since disappeared into the crush and left me on the under-stuffed chintz armchair in some frat house’s living room. It doesn't help that I haven't been to Texas in years and I feel even more like I’m out of my depths because of it. My mom grew up here, and most of her family is still here. But she's not. In the years since I graduated from high school, I've turned hundreds of times, looking for her sweet smile, searching for her to take solace in. But she's not exactly on this mortal plane anymore. Neither of my parents are. And the closest thing I've ever had to a dad fucked off after destroying my dreams.

It fills me with an unreasonable rage every time I think about it. I know Virginia, I've lived in Virginia for years, putting myself through school in Charlottesville while working single-mindedly to get into the US Navy. I’m so close to flight school that I can taste it. I just need to get through Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island now that I’ve graduated. One final summer of building my savings by working odd jobs and I’d be free. Or so I thought.

Then, I received a notice telling me my apartment building needed to be tented for termites. My lease was only valid until I left for OCS, anyway. I debated living out of my dad's car, now mine, until I had to be in Rhode Island. That’s when I received a letter from Stephanie Williams, my mom’s cousin, inviting me to spend the summer in Texas. Driving to Texas is far from convenient, but I haven't spent any time around my family, no matter how distant they may be, in so long. And, I’m kind of homesick - homesick for the sense of camaraderie, of walking into the house after baseball practice or school and hearing anyone in the house besides myself.

Jessica and David, Stephanie’s kids, are as nice as their mom. They both attend the University of Texas, but it still feels like there is a distance between us. They can't understand the drive burning in me about the Navy, how I need to do well at OCS, how I need to become an aviator, how I need to be better than anyone else. Aunt Steph doesn't really get it either if the way she practically pushed me out the door when Jess and David mentioned the party is any indication.

It doesn't help that I'm only a week from reporting to OCS, either. I know it’s not flight school, not yet, but I know I need to study more than I need to be in this stupid little ramshackle frat house on Greek Row. The beer’s watered down and warm, tasting like piss in my mouth. Normally, I’d be right in the center of the makeshift dance floor grinding up against the scantily clad girls in sight, most of them wearing bikinis, but not tonight. 

I just want to go home again, but that’s not possible. It hasn't been for years. I leave the mostly full beer behind and search for Jess and David. There are hundreds of drunk kids in the house, and it doesn’t matter at all that I’m taller than most of them, not when people are dancing on the tables and licking alcohol off of each other. I feel like I’m suffocating. The entire house stinks of cigarette smoke, alcohol, and sweat. It takes fifteen minutes to look for either of them in the basement. When I’m halfway up the stairs, I’m tempted to leave them here and drive by in the morning to get them. But Aunt Steph would hate that.

The first floor is even worse than the basement. There may not be anybody dancing on the tables, but there is far more clothing being thrown about. It looks like there’s a drunken orgy happening in the living room on the floor. The carpet isn’t all that clean, to begin with, and add bodily fluids to it, and I nearly hurl on the spot. 

If this is what I’ve missed out on in the traditional college experience, well, I don’t want it, not at all. Thankfully, I don’t have to see either of my cousins naked and that eliminates the kitchen and living area entirely. All I have left are the bedrooms above. Just walking up the stairs, I can hear the creaking of bedsprings and lusty moans. It sounds like a contagious disease waiting to happen, and I don’t make it past the top step.

That’s it. I can’t search for Jess or David anymore and I fight my way to the front door while trying to ignore the tits that seem to get shoved into my face every few steps. As I open the door, a body slams right into me. It’s a kid, gangly and blond, knobby shoulders protruding sharply through the fabric of the worn t-shirt he’s wearing.

“Watch where you’re going, asshole!” I can’t help the chuckle pouring out of my mouth. I’ve got at least 8 inches in height on him and I could easily break him into two if I wanted to. He must be ninety pounds soaking wet and his indignation is about as intimidating as an angry chihuahua. But I’m not looking for a fight, so I just move out of the way. Something about his angry green eyes and how they glow in the fresh night air is oddly captivating. I’m honestly not expecting to see him again, but just as I reach the Bronco and open the door, I see the same person get bodily chucked out of the house.

He’s shouting expletives into the night air, and when his anger runs out, he hunches his shoulders and stomps in my direction. Of course, a snarl rips out of his mouth the moment he sees me.

“What, asshole? Haven’t you seen someone get kicked out of a party by a bunch of dicks before?” 

“I have, kid. But I wanted to know if you were okay. Your knuckles look rough.” It’s true. His knuckles are bloody and bruised like he’s been punching something hard with no control. Those are going to sting like a bitch in the morning.

He snorts and must see something unassuming in my face because he uncrosses his arms and says, “I’m not a kid, I'm seventeen.” He’s a little young to be running around the UT campus and getting thrown out of parties, but I have the feeling if I say anything, he’ll probably just jump down my throat again. “I’m Jake.”

“Bradley.” I grin back. “Get in.”

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but I don’t get into cars with strangers.” He’s quick-witted, that’s for sure.

“No.” If my eyes roll as I look at Jake, that’s just between him and me. He must feel like shit if he hasn’t called me out for it yet. “I have a first aid kit in the glove box. I wanted to look at your knuckles before they scab over.” Jake looks shocked. I can almost see the gears grinding in his head as he thinks my words over.

“Move over.” I have to hide my grin until he’s safely in the passenger seat. I don’t know why it feels like such a victory, having this stranger accept my help. I leave the door open and lean in. He smells coffee and spice with an undertone of musk, sitting in my passenger seat with his eyes looking far too green in the low light.

“You don’t go to UT, do you?” Instead of responding, I just pop open the glove compartment and tug out the med kit.

“So what is this, Bradley?” He sounds disgruntled. “No answers without you taking care of my hands?”

I just hold my hand out until he puts his into mine. It’s a long-fingered hand, thin and bony. No well-fed eighteen-year-old boy has hands that look like this. Hands that look like they’ve been working every day of their life. I want to know why Jake’s got such a big chip on his shoulder and why someone so young has hands that look so worn.

“I’m really alright, you know?” I’m as gentle as I can be, patting at scraped knuckles with an isopropyl alcohol soaked cotton ball. Jake may talk a big game, but he’s wincing with each word. 

“Who’d you punch to fuck up your knuckles so badly?” 

“My asshole ex-boyfriend. He was cheating on me with one of his teammates. And I just found out today.” Jake’s voice chokes on a sob, and I can’t help the twinge of sympathy that goes through me at his words. Maybe I’m too quiet, because there’s a sharp tug on my sleeve.

“D’you have a problem with that?” Jake’s glaring at me, and it takes me longer than it usually would for me to figure out why.

“About the fact that you had a boyfriend?” He nods, the movement jerky and sharp. “Why would I care about that? You love who you love, that’s it.”

He looks blown away by my immediate acceptance of who he is. But Jake seems uncomfortable at the same time, uncomfortable enough that he changes the subject. “You never answered me earlier. You don’t go to school at UT.”

“No, I don’t.” I collect the trash into a small ball and put the kit away again. It feels weird to stand out in the night and talk when I have a perfectly good driver’s seat right on the other side of the car. I can already see a hundred questions on the tip of Jake’s tongue, so I hold one hand up and point to the trash bin nearby. I can feel every bit of his gaze on my back as I lope to the can and back, opting this time to get into the driver’s seat. Of course, no sooner am I buckled in, Jake’s looking right at me.

“Why are you here, then? Why were you at that party tonight?” I can hear the naked curiosity in his tone.

“I’m staying with some of my mom’s family over the summer. A couple of my relatives go to UT for school and invited me to the party. I just graduated from college and I’m joining the Navy in a week.” It sounds so real as I say the words. They sound equally real, it looks like, to Jake.

“Why the Navy?" I haven't felt like I'm the focus of another person in a long time. I feel flayed open, horribly, uncomfortably, seen.

My voice is quiet, a little rough, a little raw as I say, "My dad was in the Navy."

"What did he do?" I blink a little, not expecting this question so soon. Normally people want to know why my dad was in the Navy, in the past tense. They want to know what happened to him. They never want to know what he did or anything else about him.

"He was a Naval Aviator, a Radar Intercept Officer, to be specific." It makes me smile, like always, remembering my dad.

"What does a Radar Intercept Whatsit do?" Jake's nearly open-mouthed in the passenger seat, body turned my way in a jumble of limbs that looks nearly too cramped to be comfortable, beat up sneakers on the floor and wholly fascinated by every word pouring out of my mouth. That's unique too. I've never felt this rush, this instant connection before with anybody. 

"A Radar Intercept Officer," I repeat, earning myself an eye roll, "is the person sitting behind the pilot. They're responsible for enabling communications with ships and other jets, navigating and monitoring the radar. Pilots fly the plane, but RIOs do everything else." 

"Sounds boring." I have to chuckle at that, because when he's not angrily grumbling, Jake's actually handsome. And that's not a realization I ever wanted to have about a seventeen-year-old I just met. Forget the place, there's the matter of how this is all the wrong time, too. I can't afford any distractions, not even cute little twinks with more attitude than sense. I'm joining the military for fuck's sake. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is still very strongly enforced and Jake seems like the type to bulldoze his way on base one day just for the hell of it. Better stick to talking about flying, that's all. And that’s if we manage to stay in touch until he’s actually legal, too.

"Do you want to become a RIO too?" His voice is hesitant as he sounds out the acronym.

"Nah, I've always wanted to become a pilot. Actually fly the planes, y'know?" I swear I can see literal fighter jets flying around Jake's head, he's so enraptured by the idea.

"Is it hard?" 

I have to shrug at that, because maybe I just have flying in my blood. "Not any harder than learning how to drive or ride a bike - at least that's what it was like for me."

I can see Jake think of a few hundred more questions, but stop him with one of my own. "What’s a seventeen year old doing at a UT frat party?" 

 His nose crinkles, "Who said I’m not a student at UT?"

"Nobody. But something about you tells me that you aren’t a UT Student, even though seventeen-year-olds join universities as freshmen all the time." I’m almost afraid to see that look on his face. But instead, Jake seems to be feeling the same awe that I was earlier - horribly, uncomfortably, seen.

“Nah. I work at one of the coffee shops on campus.” No wonder he smells like cinnamon and coffee.

"But you don't want to, do you?"

His nod is sheepishly affirmative. "My uncle says I should get out of the house and do something with myself over the summer. If he had his way, when I graduate in a year I’ll be doing the same thing. But I want to do something exciting, not farm work or work in a factory or hell, even be a barista anymore. I think the Navy might be just the thing."

I have to grin at his enthusiasm. But a part of me can’t help wondering if the reason why Jake is so interested in escaping Austin is because of something else. But I’m not quite sure how to broach the topic. It’s silent and still in the car for a little bit. Jake looks like he’s thinking of what to say, and I’m struck by the halo the streetlight we’re under makes around his hair. He’s pretty, indescribably so, even with a purplish bruise rising on his cheekbone. His long lashes shine golden against the freckles dotting his cheekbones. I reach for the polaroid I always keep in the car and snap a couple of quick pictures. I hand one to Jake, but just as he’s about to ask me why I did that, I see red and blue lights in the rear view mirror and hear sirens blaring our way.

“Shit! C’mon, Bradley! Drive the car!” It takes me a few seconds to process what he’s saying but when I do, I put the car in drive and drive sedately down the street. 

“What the fuck, Brad!” I haven’t heard anyone call me Brad in years. That’s what my mom called me, what Mav did too. “Drive a little bit faster, why don’t you?! You keep driving like a fucking turtle and the cops will catch us in no time flat!”

“I’m driving at the speed limit.” I chuckle at the way Jake grumbles under his breath. “The police won’t pull us over if we’re doing everything right. You probably don’t want them calling your folks to tell them you were at a party, underage where alcohol was being served and an orgy was happening on the living room floor, now do you?”

We’re thankfully able to leave the scene without any trouble, and I let Jake direct me through the late night Austin streets. It’s quiet, and in the half-light I can’t help noticing how incredibly small and delicate Jake is at this moment. He has me pull over a few blocks away.

“Do you make a habit of running from the cops?” He laughs at that, a genuine belly aching infectious cackle bursting out of his mouth.

“No, I don’t.” Something dark glows over his eyes just as easily as the laugh. “My uncle wouldn’t have been happy at all if he had gotten that call.”

I really don’t know what to say to that, so I just wait.

“My mom always says that she doesn’t know who my dad was, and well, I don’t know if you know much about conservative Texans, but that was a no-go for most of my family. She’s out of state, working in a library in North Carolina, I think? And I’m with my aunt and uncle until I turn 18.”   

“I’m sure the minute that happens, I’m going to get kicked out. They didn’t approve of me just because I was born out of wedlock. They hated me even more when they found out I wasn’t exactly only into girls. My mom doesn’t know how bad it is for me here. And I’m not going to tell her either. I just don't know what to do.” He sniffles, sitting in the passenger seat, cheeks pinking in the glow of the streetlights. “I don’t really know why I’m telling you this either. But it feels like the universe wanted us to meet tonight. It feels like I can trust you.”

I’m struck dumb by those words and the butterflies swarming in my stomach. I’m flattered by his trust. It has me spilling all of my biggest secrets. I tell him more about my dad, about mom, about Mav. I tell him about my biggest victories and darkest regrets. We talk for hours, taking turns baring our souls until the sky turns gray at the edges. It's the small hours of the morning, that small section of the twilight zone where everything feels extra still. My throat is scratchy and my eyes are dry. Jake’s not much better.

The sleepy drawl in his voice makes shivers trail up and down my spine and it’s still so foreign feeling like this for someone I’ve just met. It’s a little terrifying, too. Far too soon, we’re pulling up in front of the party house. 

"I should get going." A part of me wants to stop him, offer to give him a ride, anything to stay in his presence just a bit longer. But the more rational part, the one chanting US Navy and Top Gun is screaming just as vehemently no.

"Do you need a ride?" My voice is nearly too loud for this time of night.

"Nah, Bradley. I live right around the corner." Jake gives me a two-fingered salute and begins to walk away, his shoulders bowed and looking incredibly small. It's a surprise when he stops, turns back around and jogs back to the car. He flings the door open, and I'm surprised to see the two spots of pink high up on his cheeks.

"Can we stay in touch? I'd love to pick your brain about the Navy, sometime?"

I'm nodding before my common sense can speak, ignoring the insidious little voice that says, "No you won't ever see him again. You're joining the Navy."

I hand Jake a pen and a scrap of paper I found in my pockets. What I get back is his first name and a phone number. "This is my landline. See you around, Bradley?"

My reply is too quiet as I roll the syllables of his name over my tongue. By the time Jessica and David have staggered their way out to the car, I'm sure Jake was just a figment of my imagination. Two weeks later, when it's my first turn with the phones on base, I call that number. I get a message telling me that the phone number I'm calling has been disconnected. I never get rid of that note though. It's almost like something's screaming at me to remember Jake. Maybe one day I'll find him again. And who knows? Maybe he's a lot closer than I think he is.

Nine Years Later

It’s been a long road getting to Top Gun. Walking through the halls it feels like everything I’ve worked and struggled for has finally paid off. I’m a pilot, I’m talented, if I do say so myself, and there is nothing I want to do more than finally put the Bradshaw name on that trophy. Walking into the classroom that first morning, I feel like this is the start of something great. Until the first hop later that week. There’s a blond in class with an ego that cashes checks for money he doesn’t have. But he has the skill to back up his words.

“Rooster, Rooster, Rooster. Are you ever going to get off your perch?” Hangman. Even his callsign fills me with rage. I’ve never met a more annoying person in my life. But there is something about him which seems familiar. Why does Hangman of all people seem so familiar? It’s a puzzle I can’t devote any time to solving. Not when I have to knock a blond idiot down a few pegs. I wonder what the Jake I met all those years ago would think about Hangman. I hope he’s doing well, wherever he is.

Taglist:

@chaoticassidy @kmc1989 @shanimallina87 @mayhemmanaged @desert-fern @cassiemitchell @dakotakazansky @roosterforme @cherrycola27 @thedroneranger @mak-32 @beyondthesefourwalls @sarahsmi13s @horseshoegirl

I DO NOT CONSENT TO HAVE MY WORK POSTED, TRANSLATED, OR PUBLISHED ON ANY SITES OTHER THAN HERE OR ON AO3 BY ME. IF YOU SEE MY WORKS ANYWHERE OTHER THAN HERE OR AO3, THEN THEY HAVE BEEN POSTED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AND I WILL BE WORKING TO TAKE THEM DOWN.

[imaginemalereader]

Anonymous request: Imagine being Clint Barton’s trans son

Sometimes it was hard to have an Avenger for a dad. For once, that wasn’t actually the hardest part. Him being away a lot had actually made part of this easier. It gave you more time to plan and prepare.

You thought about a letter, an email, a text. Ultimately you decided against them all though. You wanted to tell him face to face. You still wrote out a lot of what you wanted to say but you didn’t want to be reading off a script when you talked to him either.

When he got back from the latest mission, he and Natasha came back to the house. It had been an easy one they said, by Avengers standards of course. Once you were sure that everyone was safe and still as mentally stable as they had been when they left, you asked to pull your dad aside for a minute.

“What’s going on kid?” He asked. He could tell you were nervous, you were fidgety and looked from him and then away and back several times.

“Dad there’s something I need to tell you. About me.”

“Are you okay? Has someone-” His mind raced to a hundred bad things that could be going on before you cut him off.

“I’m fine. I’m just, I’m just not who you always thought I was.”

Was it bad that his first thought was that you were secretly an Asgardian sent to Earth as a baby or something like that?

You read the confusion on his face and quickly continued speaking.

“Dad I’m transgender. I’m a boy. And I want you to call me [Y/N] and your son and a brother and-”

This time you were the one cut off as your dad pulled you into a hug. You wrapped your arms tightly around him and even though you were happy and relieved, you were fighting back tears.

“Son, daughter, anything else. it doesn’t matter buddy. I love you.”

“Thanks dad.” He could here that you were choked up and held you a little tighter.

“Should we go tell your Aunt Nat while she’s here, or do you want to wait?”

“We can tell her now.” You said. 

Your dad let you drop the hug first and stepped back when you let him go.

“Are you okay?” He noticed your eyes were watery but he didn’t want to press you.

“Yeah, I’m good. Happy.”

 He put a hand on your shoulder and guided you back out to the porch where Nat had gone to wait for the two of you so she wouldn’t accidentally overhear anything.

“Aunt Nat?”

“You both good?” She asked, picking up that both of you had been near tears moments ago.

“Yeah we’re good. Aunt Nat, I’m trans. Could you call me [Y/N]?”

Natasha smiled, then put on a fake frown.

“Clint you’re subtracting from my niece tally.”

Your dad smiled and you laughed.

“Sorry to disappoint.” You smiled.

“I guess I can live with it.” She sighed, winking at you.

With those two out of the way, telling the rest of the Avengers was easy. Your dad brought you to the compound and helped you tell everyone and educate them. Thor needed the most help with terminology but everyone was very supportive. Tony immediately had Jarvis update your records and pronouns in the system.

Everyone was lovely about it, truly.

But your dad was on a whole other level, rivaled possibly only by Natasha. Around the house, you got a Nerf gun to correct people if they misgendered or dead-named you. The idea caught on and soon all the Avengers found themselves shot with little darts if they got it wrong. Everyone became remarkably fast learners.

Your dad doesn’t do much press, not like Steve or Tony, but it makes you smile every time he talks proudly about his son.

He made arrows with trans colors on them that spew colored smoke and disorient a person. You helped him design them after all the gender reveal party fails you saw online.

He’s not so good at dealing with all the bureaucratic nonsense that is the American healthcare system, but it’s impressive what doors being an Avenger opens. If/when you decided you want to pursue medical transition, he’s very supportive. Hormones, surgery, he’s got your back through it all. 

The first year after you came out, you asked him to take you to pride. You ended up getting a little more than you asked for.

It started out just the two of you. You walked around, saw the booths. Your dad was happy to see you happy. You got some merch, and your dad bought himself some stuff as well. He asked you questions, you guys talked to people. It was nice, and pretty low-key all things considered.

After some time wandering, you saw a collection of familiar faces approaching.

“I hope you don’t mind, I invited them to join us.” Them of course meant the rest of the Avengers, some of whom stuck out more than others. They all wore varying degrees of pride gear, from Natasha who wore a black shirt with an abstract design in trans colors, to Tony who had gone full rainbow.

The now large group of you walked through the festival together, with everyone talking and laughing. Some asked you questions about words or flags or memes that were unfamiliar. Thor had a lot of questions about how he had become a lesbian icon and what his duties entailed.

At the end of the day, you all went your separate ways.

“Was that good?” Your dad asked as he drove you both home.

“Yeah it was. Thank you for taking me, and for coming, and for inviting them. It was fun.”

“I don’t think I’ve actually said it to you yet, but I’m proud of you. Not just for this, because I know coming out and that is hard. But I’m proud of you. My son. I’m proud of the man you’re growing into.”

You smiled. You wished your dad could be around more, selfishly, but more than that, you were proud of what he did and who he was. You wanted to be like him in so many ways.

“Thanks dad. I love you.”

[fan-kingdoms]

okay cool i see many of us are talking about the scene where annabeth gets rooted down in the fields of asphodel and we all wanna know what she regrets so much so here’s my two cents on what i thought it meant

the obvious answer is thalia, thinking that she could have saved her (even though she was seven. annabeth has always been an overachiever with impossibly high standards for herself we all know this). but i think it goes deeper than that. i think it’s about her worldview and relationship to the gods. let me explain.

annabeth has worked with the gods’ system for Years. she followed all the rules and fought for kleos and became head counselor at the age of TWELVE. she wants so badly to be recognized and seen by her mom, and i’m so glad she uses her yankees cap as often as she does because it really shows that she treasures this one gift from athena. and then percy shows up.

and he’s impertinent. and angry. and does not give a single shit about what the gods expect or want. openly shit-talks his father. and yet, when he’s in danger poseidon comes for him. meanwhile athena LET ECHIDNA INTO HER TEMPLE AND LEFT ANNABETH TO DIE DUE TO SOMEONE ELSE’S ACTIONS. and suddenly, annabeth feels all her efforts to be the perfect demigod daughter crumbling while percy ‘pay your fucking child support’ jackson gets not only acknowledgement but his father but aid for all three of them. she tells hephaestus as much: percy isn’t like the rest of them, he’s better than that. and she doesn’t want to be like them either. and think about it: that turns her Whole Worldview on its head

she never saw herself as deserving of her mother’s attention, even if she craved it. she believes love is transactional, and now she’s learning it doesn’t have to be. and that’s a Lot to process in such a short amount of time— realizing that all that time, effort, and energy, all those pieces of herself, that she gave to the gods were useless. that so much of her life was wasted on the gods’ fucked up cycle of neglect. it’s HARD to look back and realize “i deserved better,” and regret putting up with it all

it’s even harder to realize someone else deserved better. in the beginning. of the series, annabeth saw thalia’s fate as an honorable, even enviable, one. a hero’s fate. dying in battle, for glory, and having a god intervene in the moment of your death. i think she sees that very differently now. i think she realizes just how cruel zeus and the world were to thalia, and how fucked it was that she idolized thalia’s “hero’s fate”

and guess what! percy’s worldview only really started making an impression on her like . three days ago. she probably feels so much guilt on TOP of all this regret and anger, because it takes a long time to break out of mindsets like hers. she hasn’t deconstructed it all just yet, and in giving up her blind servitude to the gods and her mother, she’s probably struggling with the feeling that she’s not allowed to be angry, that she’s ungrateful, that she’s severely insulting them. i think this absolute tsunami of emotions is more than enough to bog her down in the fields of asphodel and would align with her character development as she starts seeing the gods for what they really are

(but what do i know, maybe this scene is just foreshadowing some crazy tv annabeth tragic backstory that we get to see later)

[matthewmurdockswife]

best friends brother with matt sturniolo?

Best friends brother x matt sturniolo

It was actually chris who had introduced me to matt we’ve now been together for almost two years and I agreed to let the fans in on more of our life so we decided to do a Q&A video

Nick introduced the video and after a few minutes of us messing around the questions started “Ok so someone asked if you were to get married would matt move out from the triplet house” chris recited the question from his phone “ No” was all matt had awnsered “ I’m pretty sure if we got married I’d just move in with them” I said as I watched matt “ I think y/n has grown as attached to us at matt is” nick jokes but we all knew it wasnt a joke I loved being here And I Loved matt and his brothers were my support system I cant imagine what I would do without them they’re always there for me. “Okay next question how did you guys meet?” Nick reads off of his phone“I started this” chris sighs in a mockingly upset tone and i punch him in the arm jokingly “ Thats true I was best friends with chris long before I met nick and matt I knew I liked matt about 3 months after we met when we started hanging out one on one and I got to really know matt as a person and the rest became history” I smiled holding matts hand knowing I was so lucky to have met him and be with such an amazing, giving and loving person“and next week we hit our 2 year anniversary” matt smiles at me “Gross” nick says watching in disgust I move out of the way as the triplets do their outro and sit on the couch chris and matt comes and joins me while nick sits in the chair.“ two years is wild” chris says trying to initiate conversation “ crazy to think that ive known you longer than that” I laugh at chris

“ you’re old” I joke him he mock pouts and pretends to be angry while I look over at the love of my life next to me kicking his brother, my best friend in the leg I dont know how fate placed me into this but im so grateful to able to be with people as amazing as the three boys that sit in front of me today laughing and joking around like ive been with them their whole lives

Im even more grateful for matt the beautiful boy who sits next to me holding my hand and hugs me whenever I feel like the world is falling apart, matt knows how to fix me, he knows me.

a/n yall this shit from the VAULT shes been in my drafts forever lmao sorry i forgot abt them

@stvrni0lo @dwntwn-strnlo @fenoy7

[aus-wnt]

Alanna Kennedy: ‘It was the hardest day of my footballing career’

As a female soccer player on a national team, there is no bigger stage than on a pitch at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. But after being sidelined by a concussion, Matildas star defender Alanna Kennedy could only watch last month’s semi-final from her hotel room. As she reflects on the team’s history-making run and looks ahead to charting the way forward for women’s sport in Australia, Kennedy tells Stellar, “For a lot of people, the Matildas are just arriving on the scene. It feels like the start of our journey”

The Matildas had two goals they wanted to achieve at last month’s FIFA Women’s World Cup. The first was to win the whole thing. The second was to inspire a generation.

The first one didn’t quite come off, even if they did manage an epic run to become the first Australian soccer team in history to make a World Cup semi-final. Once there, they couldn’t get past the might of England. As for the second? Regardless of claiming any silverware, they certainly managed that.

Matildas jerseys have outsold Socceroos jerseys, thousands of fans swarmed the team’s hotels and airports to show support and a record 11.15 million Australians tuned into the broadcast of that semi-final, making it the most-watched television program since the TV ratings system started in 2001.

In a cruel twist of fate, star defender Alanna Kennedy was one of them. Just hours before the game, Kennedy – who made her Matildas debut at 17 and has played more than 100 games for Australia – was ruled out of playing in the biggest game of her career because of a concussion she’d sustained in a head clash with French striker Eugénie Le Sommer days earlier. Her symptoms were so heightened that she couldn’t even make it to the game to watch from the sidelines.

“I’ve never watched the Matildas play on TV,” Kennedy tells Stellar, the emotion evident in her voice. “We saw from a distance the impact we were having and the amount of people who were getting behind us. As a player you want to be involved in those big games. If I’m being honest with you, it was the hardest day of my footballing career. I watched from the hotel room. I didn’t even make it to the stadium.”

Her disappointment aside, the 28-year-old – who also plays for Manchester City in England and had already overcome a horror year of injuries to make it into the World Cup squad – says she came away with a unique understanding of how thoroughly the team had managed to transform its standing with the Australian public.

“It was an interesting one, to watch the pre-game and see all the people flooding into fan zones to support us. To watch it through the lens of an Australian supporter was really cool. Outside of my hotel window I could see the fan zone. And watching the fans watch the game was surreal.”

A month on from the team’s fourth place finish at the tournament, Kennedy believes it’s still too soon to fully comprehend all the team has achieved. “I look back on it with a lot of happy memories but then you revisit the moments where we lost certain games or we came so close but just fell short. Right when the nation was getting behind us and we were creating history and ready to create more, we lost the last two games,” she says. “But I also feel relieved. It’s a long time to be in such a high-pressure environment, and there are just so many emotions that you go through from here on a day-to-day basis.”

As an experienced player, Kennedy is already well-known in soccer circles, but there has been a dramatic shift in those who now recognise her in the street. Walking through an airport recently, she was spotted by a woman with three children in tow who approached to ask for a photo. “I thought, OK, she’s going to ask for the kids to get in – but it was for her,” Kennedy says, laughing at the memory.

“It has been a real change in people wanting photos more regularly. It’s little boys as well, and I love that. The demographic is so broad. That’s what football is about. It’s the world game. It’s a very inclusive space.

A lot of players are a part of the LGBTQIA+ community and I think this tournament has also brought attention to that. There are so many things that are bigger than football.

So to be a part of that moment is something that I’ll be grateful for. I’ll never forget the experience that we had at this World Cup.”

However, alongside the added attention came some uncomfortable intrusions into the players’ personal lives. A fan’s “WoSo Chart” that detailed the hundreds of queer relationships in the pro soccer world went viral during the tournament. Some criticised it as an unnecessary invasion of privacy.

As for Kennedy, she just wants the attention to stay on her playing ability.

“It’s slightly different for someone who wants to share those things and that’s how they create their profile,” she points out. “But I think at the core for us is that we’re footballers first. That’s my passion. I like to express myself through fashion and my tattoos and jewellery, but for me, I have my circle of close friends and family and that’s so important to me. It’s hard when people delve into things that you’re not particularly willing to share. It’s important to protect our space so that we can focus on what’s really important, which is our football.”

Kennedy is doing just that, having spent a mere week in Australia post-tournament before flying to the UK to start training with Manchester City, where she plays alongside fellow Matildas star Mary Fowler. And she has nearly recovered from her concussion.

“My game heavily revolved around using my head. It’s probably one of my biggest strengths, my aerial ability. I’ve never experienced a concussion before [the World Cup] and for a couple of days I was unsure exactly what I was feeling. I was nauseous. I wasn’t myself,” she tells Stellar. “I’m pretty close to [feeling] normal now, if not back to normal, which I’m really grateful for because it’s not a nice feeling. No-one likes to feel distant from their normal selves.”

Kennedy is also eager to reunite with her teammates – or, as she calls them, “my best mates” – in October in Perth, where they hope to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. But they’re also looking beyond next year.

“For a lot of people, the Matildas are just arriving on the scene and it feels like the start of our journey; we’ve gained a lot of traction and fans and support, and hopefully that can continue moving forward for the Matildas and women’s sport. [But] our goal hasn’t changed from wanting to win a World Cup, wanting to win an Olympics,” she says, adding that the players have been working towards those goals for their entire careers. “We have so many goals and ambitions that we’re yet to fulfil and I think we have the potential to. Now we just have more people supporting us and on the journey with us.

“You can’t look past how much of an impact the team has had across the nation,” she adds. “I was disappointed with how my World Cup ended, but then I look back, and at one point I was working really hard to even be in the squad. It’s all about perspective. I’m just super proud.”

[arotechno]

Carnival of Aros December 2022: Aro adulthood and growing older with the aro community

When I heard that this month's theme for the Carnival of Aros was about getting older, I knew I had to write something from the perspective of someone who has been here a comparatively long time, but it still quite young. I realized I was aro in the spring of 2014, when I was 15 years old, a freshman in high school. I’m 24, now, and while I’m far from being able to call myself an older aro, it does certainly feel that way sometimes.

When I was a little kid, I assumed that I would one day marry, with the two and a half kids and the white picket fence and the whole nuclear family song and dance that I was, of course, expected to strive for. I never held any judgment for people who didn’t have that life, but I didn’t have the knowledge or the self-awareness to ever visualize anything else for myself. As I grew a bit older, into my early teen years, it was something that I just stopped considering entirely. I knew a traditional marriage wasn’t something I wanted anymore, and I didn’t know or really care if that was something that would one day change. By the time I learned what aromanticism was, I had long since concluded that I had never had a real crush before, didn’t want to, and maybe, just maybe, never would—I just hadn’t realized this wasn’t how I was “supposed” to think.

My journey with aromanticism today as an adult looks vastly different compared to eight and a half years ago, partly due to the ways the aro community has grown and evolved since then and partly due to the natural progression of age, wisdom, and circumstance. Being aromantic was really isolating when I was younger, and I was closeted for most of the last decade, aside from a few close friends who knew. As a teenager, my biggest problems were equal parts trying to cope with my peers getting into their first relationships and leaving me behind, and trying to hide the truth from them about their being anything abnormal or mockable about me.

That’s changed as I’ve gotten older, of course. I’ve written about aro adulthood somewhat extensively lately, and the thing about coming to terms with being aromantic—and later, nonpartnering—that blows your whole future wide open. When the path that has been laid out for you in life turns out to be an illusion, you have not only the freedom but the obligation to create a new one, something that will actually make you happy. Unfortunately, you often have to do a lot of clawing and scraping to get there. Much of my adult life thus far has been about trying to prove to other people, whether out of necessity or out of perceived inadequacy, that I am a Real Adult, that I am a complete person with a place in this world, even if I never cross many of those traditionally expected milestones to get there.

As I’ve said, I often feel older than I am when it comes to being aro, simply because I was here at such an early time in the community, watching, lonely. There are folks twice my age who have known they were aro half as long, and at the same time there are kids now younger than I was who are aro themselves and have more than one aro friend at school. In a way, I sometimes felt a little stunted—there were kids now as young as 12 or 13 who were out and proud as aro to everyone they knew, and here I was, a grown adult still too afraid to tell my parents after the better part of a decade, even after moving out and building a new support system on my own.

I know now that of course it didn’t matter, that everyone is on their own trajectory in life and there’s nothing wrong with being in the closet forever, if you need or want to. The truth was, when I was a teenager we didn’t live in a world where I could have been out as aro. My aromantic journey has been inextricable from the shame, guilt, and fear of mockery that came with it, made particularly potent by the environment that came to be on tumblr and the rest of the internet just a year or so after I came to terms with being aro. And I am happy that we have created a world, now, where that doesn’t have to be the case anymore, and I’m proud to have had any small part in creating that world. And I know that this is still only just the beginning.

[beardedmrbean]

“It’s fascist to eliminate DOE!” Americans are considered some of the most illiterate people and lack critical thinking skills on the planet since the DOE was made.

Boys are INTENTIONALLY throw under the bus since the public school system is purposely designed for girls style of learning. Fuck I’m 23 and I realize I only got any form of support because of my skintone.

And what we been getting, hmm, kids don’t know how to do taxes. We barely have any cooking lessons unless your lucky af. Most Americans can only read at a 3rd grade level and oh the big ones.

Teachers unions are corrupted af and we have rampant child sex abuse issues where 1 in 10 students REPORTED sexual misconduct. And how many headlines that boils down to “Teacher raped a male student” in one year alone?

And I’m African American, now I didn’t grow up in the inner cities. But I known the government don’t give two fucks about me(I live in the Chicago area too)

What wrong destroying the DOE? People call American schools a hell on earth and we been getting more stupid since the government interference. Oh shit I forgot, how many boys were overdrugged again? Sorry I don’t have Stockholm syndrome towards schools

2013 not sure if there's anything more recent this was the one that popped up when I was looking for something different for that post

You'll notice that adjusted for inflation there is three times the money being spent per student now than there was in 1970 with a fairly static level on scoring, but you know that whole definition of insanity trying the same thing and expecting different results doesn't count when it comes to my tax dollars apparently.

There are understandable newer things that will increase the monetary need like ADA compliance, computers, and meal programs (which I wholeheartedly support, kids shouldn't go hungry drop the obama one tho I don't support that one it's garbage and kids were still hungry, how bad does it have to be for a kid to skip out on some of what might be all they eat that day) and various other improvements and such, big fan of air conditioning myself.

Still shouldn't triple the dollar number,

Also for the record the DOE was formed in 1979 so the numbers were already going up for spending when it came in.

Data presented to the Akron, Ohio, school board revealed not a single student from the school’s inaugural third-grade class — now entering eighth grade — has ever passed the state’s math test. “It is discouraging,” said Keith Liechty-Clifford, the district’s director of school improvement, in a model of understatement. State test scores in English and science are nearly as bad, and Black students at I Promise test in the bottom 5% of all Black students in Ohio.

Nice to see the people there making excuses instead of taking responsibility too, one more lesson in failure from this school.

I do hope they can figure it out though, I still have hopes for this one.

But if you've been around here for more than a few months you'll likely know I have hopes for everything to be better, I try to be very bright side oriented.

and in that vein, at least these kids get 3 hots 5 days a week maybe more so that's a W, less hungry kids is always a W

[writingonjorvik]

What did you mean you were "biased" about the Elli & Helena stuff? You said it in your tags, but how can you be biased about that?

Ehhhhhhh, alright, might as well. This is copy-pasted from the ROJ Discord:

"I figure y’all are all due an update since I said I’d be back by now and ROJ has gone pretty quiet. And with some recent discussions going on in the community, discussing ROJ came back up.

I wanna tread carefully with this because I don’t want saying any of this to feel like I’m trying to take the spotlight off people more directly involved. Because while I did miss an opportunity here that I’m very sad about, other folks lost actual jobs and that feels self centered to focus on me. But I’m also not gonna lie and say that seeing some of the community response has me hopeful that maybe the community could motivate the team to change their minds.

That’s a bit vague so let’s be direct. You may have seen recently that SSE has shuttered their publishing department from Elli and Helena talking about how there won’t be more comics or books. I knew this happened months ago because, surprise, I’d been in contract negotiations with SSE to make ROJ an official IP. I’d been kinda tongue and cheek about this, it was an open secret with friends since there was no contract yet. And there never ended up being one unfortunately. When the team shuttered the department, I got a very kind email from the department head and that’s been the end of it.

This is why 1.1 got delayed for so long. I’d been hoping that instead of 1.1, ROJ would move into official production and get a relaunch. So I kept pushing off the release of what was arguably an already ready version of 1.1 until things got signed and we moved forward. 1.1 released very shortly before I got the news. Just had a feeling things were changing, and I was right.

All of this has made coming back to ROJ difficult. I back burnered it originally to focus on other projects until contracts were done but ended up a lot more painful than that after nearly two years of trying to make a deal happen. I don’t begrudge that being the time these things take to produce well or SSE for it taking that long, but it is still two years of my life that I spent excited that maybe I’d get to bring more lore and worldbuilding to this franchise I adore, and a platform for all of y’all to share your ideas as well! ROJ was never going to be true canon but it was a fan’s dream come true. I’ve been playing since international launch, this was bringing every community fan head canon to the table. In some small way at least.

Again, of any people who deserve attention during this discussion about the department shuttering, it’s Elli and Helena. They’re amazingly talented and they deserved better than what they got. If there ever is a return of the publishing department, it should be for their works.

But the discussion has brought it all back up for me too and I thought I’d at least talk a little about why ROJ has come to a standstill. It’s hard to go back to working on the system after two years of talks and because of the short notice that things rolled out, not even some closure on running ROJ as a fan project. That’s how serious things had been, I wasn’t getting resources to continue ROJ as a fan project cause I’d been told the team was committed to seeing it officially published. It’s kinda hard to come back to that and the hiatus was a good enough excuse for me to just not.

This all is very bittersweet, and I should say, I’m not mad at the team or the folks I worked with during that time. It would have been an amazing opportunity and I’m grateful for them working so hard to get ROJ out for so long. But I’m also just sad about the whole thing and I don’t see ROJ getting more attention until I can process that.

Please show your support for Elli and Helena. Their works are amazing and they deserve more support from the community. And if you haven’t already, follow their other works too!

Y’all have been the best and most supportive community and ROJ wouldn’t be where it is without you. I’m so grateful to have met you all. ROJ may come back one day. But we’ll see."

Again, I've been hesitant to talk about this because, mostly, I don't want to take the spotlight off the people who were more seriously impacted. ROJ didn't get a contract, I'm not in the lurch like this closure left other folks because I hadn't adjusted to making ROJ my full time work yet. I also don't want to burn bridges in the event that the department ever returns, which is why I've tried to focus this discussion on the creators and supporting them over pushes to reestablish the department (although I appreciate those as well). I would love still to make the official ROJ transition happen, but I don't want that so badly that I'm not trying to do my best to support these creators post the closure, and realistically, y'all should be too. That's why I made that post with all the resources.

Hope that clears up my "bias."

[ashboy-3]

Nice to Meet You

Written for DannyMay day 5 Prompt: 10 min vs 1 hour Fandom: Danny Phantom Charcters: Jack, Maddie, Danny, OC Words: 2242 Summary: It's time for Danny to move into college and meet his roommate.

This is where the Ten minutes starts.

“You sure you don’t need us to come with you?” Maddie asked her only son as he was packing his essentials into a duffel bag and backpack.

“No Mom. We already sent everything else ahead in the mail. I can fly there easily,” Danny grabbed his favorite hoodie and put it in the duffel bag, following a Fenton thermos.

“Oh okay, sweetie. You know I worry,” Maddie hugged her half-ghost child.

“Yeah I know, but I promise I’ll be fine. You and Dad built this awesome bracelet that hides my ecto signature so I can fly the whole way and the GIW can’t find me. That’s really all that I’m worried about.” Danny said as he waved his wrist that held a black and ecto green bracelet. It was cleverly disguised as a simple rope bracelet with a small ghost charm in the middle of it. That charm was the key to hiding his ecto signature from those who might be trying to find him for very bad reasons.

Once he was done packing he looked up to see his mom’s face still free of worry. Sighing he sat down on his bed, letting her join him. “I’ll be fine. It’s just college.” Danny smiled grabbing her hands.

“I know I should worry. You’ve already accomplished so much! Saving the world, becoming a prince of the realms, and graduating high school all on your own. I shouldn’t worry,” a few tears were about to come out of her eyes.

“I didn’t do any of that alone. I had Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and even Ellie. I had Clockwork, Frostbite, Ember, Dora, and all the ghosts. I had a big support system helping me and they still help me to this day. I wouldn’t be anywhere without all of them. Even my enemies. I’m grateful for everyone in my life who has challenged me and helped me get here.” Danny told her, as he looked at the pictures of his friends and family, the last things he has to pack.

“Oh, you’re right. You will be coming to visit right?” she asked, standing up to carefully pick up each picture as she smiled at how happy her son was in all of them.

“Of course I will. Jazz still came to visit when she left for college,” Danny pointed out.

“Jazz didn’t have as many responsibilities as you do,” Maddie also pointed out.

This is where the ten minutes ended (Words 401). This is where the next fifty minutes start.

“She was still going for a hard course,” Danny voiced for Jazz.

“Oh I know she did and we knew she was going to do excellent. Maybe I am worrying to much,” Maddie thought as her husband entered the room.

“Of course you are! Our Danny has got this! If he needs anything he knows to call us!” Jack smiled.

“Thanks, Dad!” Danny smiled.

“Now here’s some vials of ectoplasm to keep you going in California, call us when you need replacements. This is for the trip there,” Jack gave him a case of twenty vials of pure ectoplasm and a water bottle filled with ectoplasm.

“Thanks, Dad. I really should get going,” Danny said as he looked at his complicated watch that was on the opposite wrist of his bracelet, his right wrist, and put the vials in the duffle bag while the water bottle went into the backpack pocket.

“Call us as soon as you get there!” Maddie demanded with one more tight hug.

“I promise Mom. As soon as I find my dorm and settle in I’ll give you a call,” Danny smiled.

“Make sure you stay invisible-”

“Unless I’m above the clouds. I know Dad,” Danny gave Jack just as tight of a hug, before taking a deep breath and grabbing the two bags, the weight practically nothing for him after training with Frostbite and the other ghost for over two years now.

“Bye, Danny!” Maddie yelled as she saw her son flying away outside of his bedroom window.

“He’ll be okay Mads,” Jack gave his wife a comforting hug.

“I don’t doubt it,” Maddie smiled.

It took half a day of flying at his top speed but Danny was able to make it to California without stopping, but he was dead tired on his feet by the time he arrived. Making sure to turn back human where no one could see he found a desk that clearly said freshman here for info.

“Hi there! Freshman?” a girl with short blond hair asked.

“Uh yeah. Daniel Fenton.”

“Daniel? Nice to meet you! I’m Christy! I’m a senior here, have been for three years, but let’s see. . .aha! Here you are! Your dorm building is Castle 2, it’s going to be this building right here,” she handed him a map of the school, circling the building and where they currently are. “You are going to be on floor three room 313. If you have any trouble finding what you need to know just look for someone wearing one of the Freshman shirts like I have on. We’re all over campus. This is a list of activities that we are putting on for the freshman the week before school to help get you introduced to others on campus. This is a log of when all the separate tours are starting, they all start at student services, this building here. This is a calender of not only the school semester, but also the main events that have already been planned along with a list of the clubs, the fees, and when they meet. Oh almost forgot! When you get to castle 2 at the entrance their will be another freshman worker, she should have your dorm keys! Have a great day!”

“Thanks!” Danny smiled back as saw the building was a short two minute walk. Just as Christy said their was another person with the same shirt, just a different color sitting at the entrance.

“Hey there! This your dorm room?” the guy asked.

“Yep! Name’s Daniel Fenton?” 

“Daniel let’s see found ya. My name’s Jack I’ll be your RA so if you have any problems or anything you can knock on my door. I’m in room 225. Here are your keys and student ID! Enjoy your freshman year and if you ever need to find me I’m normally doing homework at the local coffee shop after four!”

“Thanks, man and you can call me Danny.” Danny held out his hand, which Jack gladly shook.

“Nice to meet you, Danny!”

Danny walked up to the third floor, finding room 313, and unlocked it.

“Oh my shit!” a person who was in the room already jumped up and yelled when they saw Danny enter the room.

“Sorry man! Didn’t know there was already someone in here,” Danny was quick to apologize, he really didn’t mean to frighten his roommate.

“No, it’s my fault. I knew I had a roommate, but it didn’t occur to me when I saw the key turning. Name’s Parker. Pronouns they/them.” Parker said, holding out their hand.

“Danny. he/him/thing/gremlin,” Danny took the hand as Parker laughed.

“I’ll keep note of that. So I’m a freshman. I’m an English major, yeah don’t yell at me. I’m doing multiple languages, the school only offers English and Spanish as official majors though,” Parker rolled their eyes, as he jumped on his bed to lie down, he was already moved in. Danny looked over and saw that his stuff had already arrived and the school was kind enough to move it in for him.

“Do you like languages?” Danny asked.

“Hell yeah. I hope to be a translator for as many languages as I can. This school is the one in California that offered the most. I’m taking the normal English and Spanish classes for my major. I’m also going to take ASL, Latin, Russian, French, Japanese, and Chinese.”

“Damn! I thought that I knew a lot of languages,” Danny laughed.

“I don’t know that many actually. I only know some Spanish and I’m fluent in Italian. Everything else I just know a few phrases here and there. I’m also going to be joining all of the language clubs so theirs more to learn. What languages do you know?”

“I know Esperanto, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Egyptian, Old Norse-. Sorry nothing that’s really helpful. Their kinda all dead languages,” Danny rubbed his neck as he walked fully in the room, shutting the door behind him to put his bags down on his bed. Seeing that he was given his own closet and furniture.

“No dude that’s awesome! Where did you learn those?” Parker asked, amazement in their eyes, Danny suddenly remembered the grueling training he had and still has to go through the become king. Memorizing every dead language that is spoken within the realms. He also speaks ghostly speak, but that one can’t be explained.

“I had a few friends teach me. I know people who needed to learn all of these languages and so to help them I would learn it with or for them for easier communication.” Danny shrugged.

“Man hook me up with your friends. Well, at least we have Latin in common. Are you going to take the course?”

“Ah maybe. I’m a science major, astrophysics to be exact. I don’t think language will exactly be helping me a lot,” Danny shrugged, opening the box that he knew had his bedding stuff in it. Smiling as he set up his bed as talked with Parker.

“Man, and I thought my major was going to be hard.”

“It’s not that hard. I come from a family of scientists so the vocabulary isn’t exactly foreign to me, but if you ever need help with your language classes I’m a quick learned,” Danny smiled, happy that his bed was made. He still had plenty to unpack but he was to tired to worry about it right now.

“Do you mind if I leave the boxes here for now? I’m tired as the dead,” Danny laughed at his own inside joke.

“Nah I don’t mind. Did you drive?”

“I flew. It was a long flight. I don’t think it was supposed to be that long, but delays,” Danny shrugged.

“Alright. I’ll leave for some coffee, while you get some sleep. We can work out dorm rules and shit later,” Parker suggested.

“Oh shit yeah! Don’t let me forget dude. Although I’m pretty easy. Just respect my privacy and don’t fuck with my stuff,” Danny shrugged, grabbing a baggy long sleeve shirt and sweat pants from his bag, happy that their dorm room had a shared bathroom.

“No arguments here. Want anything while I’m out?” Parker asked.

“Nah. If I need anything I can get it later,” Danny waved him off as he walked in the bathroom to change, hearing the dorm room door open and close indicating Parker’s absence.

Although Danny was super tired he wanted to unpack the ghost supplies from his bag as quickly as possible. Grabbing his water bottle, the ecto one and not the one filled with normal water, he put them both on his side table, the ecto one was marked with a piece of green tape and had danger written on it in black sharpie. It made Danny laugh. He then proceeds to put the vials in the top drawer of his dresser, only unpacking enough clothes to hide the vials, should someone accidentally go looking. 

He repeated the process with the other drawers in his dresser, making sure to cover up anything that could be considered weird.

Now that he was done putting away his important items he could nap peacefully. Setting an alarm to go off in time for the latest freshman tour he let his mind fall into peaceful sleep.

Danny awoke to his alarm going off beeping like crazy, he was very grateful he grew out of throwing or blasting his alarms.

“Hey dude your alarm is going off,” Parker said, when Danny opened his eyes he could see his roommate sitting at his desk.

“Yeah I know. I wanted to catch the last freshman tour,” Danny yawned, grabbing his favorite black and green ghost hoodie to change into. . .maybe letting Sam revamp his whole wardrobe to be ghost themed wasan’t the best idea, but he can’t deny that he didn’t vibe with it.

“Oh shit I was going to catch that,” Parker groaned.

“I don’t mind you tagging along. Might as well get used to each other,” Danny shrugged as he came out of the bathroom.

“Bet,” Parker agreed, quickly turning off his laptop and grabbing a brown shoulder bag.

The two walked together as they headed towards student services learning alot about each other, or at least the basic things that new roommates should know about each other.

“Man this campus is bigger then I thought,” Parker groaned as they finally made it to student services.

“It wasan’t that long of a walk,” Danny laughed.

“Says you! I’m not a sports guy!” Parker groaned, ready to flop on the ground.

“Neither am I, but I like to keep in shape,” Danny patted Parker on the back comfortingly as he continued to laugh.

The two went on the tour, making sure to mark the buildings that they would need know on their own maps before being let go, deciding that the best way to end the night was a trip to Denny’s for some late night milkshakes.

“Yeah,” Danny thought. “College to going to be awesome!”

(Work was completed under the time limit with 5:42 left to complete. words written in this time was 1841. The total amount of words for the work is 2242.)

Since this is the intro fic for Parker and I couldn’t think of a description during the challenge. Parker has dirty blonde hair and blue eyes with a rounded face. Their a little on the heavier side, but that changes as he starts to exercise more. They like to wear button up shirts that have goofy patterns with jeans. Their hair is cut in a mullet with the sides shaved down. They have their ears pierced.

[thompsborn]

Hi! How are you?

First, thank you for create tbaf and hb, I really love the au's you create and how you tell stories, idk you are amazing. I just needed to tell you :D

Now, I'm sorry if this ruins the 'no spoilers' but can you say if there is a happy ending for homeward bound series or is there not one planned yet?

Have a nice day, thanks!

hello!! i’m pretty good, actually! i hope you’re doing good, as well!!

no one has to thank me for tbaf and hb, these two projects have been very fun to write and have helped me a lot in terms of developing my writing styles and exploring different approaches to writing in general, and i genuinely LOVE writing them (even if i sometimes go a Very Long Time between updating them lmao) so please no need to thank me!! thank YOU for reading them !! ❤️❤️❤️

honestly i’m not against giving spoilers, i’m more just worried about posting them and anyone who may have wanted to avoid them getting upset? it happened a few times back when i wrote reddie fics (the reason i stopped writing for the it fandom is because i would get a lot of messages and asks that were in general not nice and very demanding about what i write and how often i post and it just took all the fun out of it) so i’m just like… overly cautious probably lmao

but!! if anyone WANTS vague spoilers, there are some that i don’t want to share at all because i’m very excited to see peoples reactions to them (there are things i haven’t even told oddy, who i have messaged A Lot about hb and have told the most about my plans for it) but i’m down for some spoilers/hints !!

here’s my compromise i guess for anyone who WANTS to see these hints and mild/vague spoilers and stuff: i’m down to post them, but i’m gonna put them under a read more tab and maybe i’ll start a hb spoiler tag?

homeward bound fic is my tag for the series (i also follow the tag in case anyone else ever wants to post about it pfkfkf) but i’ll tag this homeward bound fic spoilers and any posts in the future that drops hints and shit will be tagged the same !!

anyway, your question: will hb have a happy ending? look under the cut if you’d like to see my answer!!

okay, so here’s some transparency about the series: i don’t have the whole thing planned out.

i have a lot of ideas and i have certain things decided and vague ideas about the other parts, but past the last three chapters of the first fic, i don’t have like proper outlines or anything just yet. i didn’t even have a plan for the first fic when i posted the first like two or three chapters—i was coming up with it as i wrote it and it wasn’t until i was a couple chapters in that i started planning ahead because it was at that point that i realized how massive i wanted the fic to be and it was around that time that i started thinking about making it a series instead of a stand alone fic.

i’m still trying to decide who the antagonists of the second fic are gonna be (i know one, but i’m debating adding more and am ironing out subplots and such)

basically: i don’t know how the series is going to end yet. i’m planning on having the four main fics that will basically be the main story, and then having additional one shots/short fics that kind of fill in gaps and provide moments after college, as the four fics are supposed to encompass one of their school years. this might change, i might make it three fics or add a fifth one or something, but as of now that’s my plan.

while i don’t have the actual ending figured out, i can say with certainty that i want it to be a good ending. maybe not necessarily a super happy one, but it’s not going to end in tragedy. harley and peter are going to have a future together. the spidey squad is going to remain a found family and support system for each other. (also the spidey squad is going to consist of more than the core four we currently have, but i’m not going to spoil that part. it’ll start to be clear who else will be in it group as the series continues. matter of fact, the last chap of the first fic starts that process!)

the one shots that i plan to write based after the end of the main fics will have a lot of snapshots of moments as they all grow up — ups and downs, highs and lows, relationships taking next steps and having fights and making up and everything in between.

this answer is kind of long and rambly, sorry, let me try to summarize my answer in a few sentences:

while the ending of homeward bound has not been officially decided, it is not going to be a bad ending. it’s not going to end in sadness or tragedy. that being said, it might not be a super upbeat ending either, because life will always have its struggles, but the ending will be hopeful and happy in whatever way is most fitting of the series once it ends.

hopefully that answers your question well enough? idk i don’t wanna make it sound like it doesn’t have a happy ending at all, because i definitely want the best for these characters and their futures, but homeward bound has, at its core, been the embodiment of being a realist—not an optimist, not a pessimist, but a realist. the reason i started writing the first fic was because in the emotional turmoil following nwh, i wanted to try and take a realistic approach towards what peter’s story could be following the spell and may’s death and the loss of everything that his life used to be. and also wanted to explore how harry and gwen could be introduced and how harley could be brought into the loop. and of course as a parkner shipper how to make it into parkner as well lol.

life is hard. these characters have been through a lot (and will go through a lot more as the series progresses) but they are strong and they are full of love for each other and that will get them through it.

thank you for the ask!!! genuinely i LOVE answering questions about my fics and having a chance to ramble about them so please feel free to send more!!

[watching-constellations]

Reptiblr! Advice needed!

Hey, snake people. In a few months I’ll be getting a ~9 year old female ball python. A former breeder.

She used to be mine when I was a teenager, but my dad sold her and all of my other snakes when I went to college without telling me. We had an agreement that he could sell some snakes, but he was supposed to keep the few I specified. This snake was one of them. He sold her anyway. I’m still in college, but I’m getting my shit together so I can get her back... and hopefully some of my others, too. If I can afford to, and if I have the ability to care for them. Her current owner has agreed to sell her back to me, and I’m thrilled. She’s gravid right now, but after she lays and starts eating again, I can bring her back home.

Here’s the trouble: She’s been in a rack system her whole life. That picture up above is from when I used to own her. I didn’t know any better when I was a teenager (I mean, I got her when I was fourteen. I was still in middle school), but now I’d like to transition her to the pet life. I bought her a 4x2x2 foot PVC cage, which is the best I can afford and the most I can realistically fit in a college dorm, and the most I can even sort of move with. I know she can go on and off of food when her living circumstances are changed, and her current owner told me that she’ll only eat if she’s in a grey tub.

So, anyone who has any ideas at all, how can I transition her to pet life? What do I need to do? I’m reading up on ball python care again, but I also could really use personal guidance if anyone can help me. Anything on the transition, moving with a ball python (due to, you know, not permanently living in a dorm), enrichment... Really anything. She’s probably pretty overweight and undermuscled, so uh, snake physical therapy advice would even be helpful.

Also, if anyone has any guidance on how to DIY appropriately sized and enriched ball python enclosures that are easier to move with, cheaper, etc., please let me know. I want to do it right this time, and if I can get more of my former snakes back, I’d like to. It’s just.. really challenging.

I do have two snakes at college with me now, a Honduran milk snake and a Kenyan sand boa. No trouble there. It’s just intimidating jumping back into ball pythons when I know I’ve made so many mistakes with them previously.

This has been really rambly. This is an emotionally challenging and financially draining process for me, and I would appreciate literally any advice or support. I’m doing my best.

[kuma829]

AKATSUKI- Bright Future◆Black Paradise Flycatchers Facing the Heavens Chapter Four

Cast: Souma, Nazuna

Writer: Akira

Season: Summer

Souma-chin, you’re literally the very definition. I would have never thought someone would be able to carry a sword around in public like that.

Chapter Four: 

(Yesterday, in front of the main gate at Nazuna’s university)

Souma: So this is Nito-dono’s university?

(Aaah… It is even grander than I had imagined. It is even larger than the Yumenosaki academy, which is a private school… There is so much, you could easily get lost if you get too careless…)

(It appears that a great many college students go here for their studies…?)

(Observing the passing college students around me, I am out of place… The meeting spot should be right here, but Nito-dono has yet to come…)

Nazuna: ​​Ooi~ Over here, Souma-chin!

Souma: ​​Nito-dono! I was worried you would not show up.

Nazuna: Don’t worry yourself like that~ The campus is busy right now, so I was slowed down.

But, I’m surprised! Souma-chin, of all people, interested in college?! 

Souma: Mhm. Truthfully, I surprise myself. When Hasumi-dono told me he took the exam, I didn’t realise I would grow curious about the “outside” world like this…

After all, Hasumi-dono seemed like he had no intention of going onto higher education..

I came here to see how it was. I am fortunate enough to have a mentor like you, Nazuna-dono.

Nazuna: Ahaha! Whatever the reason may be, I’m real happy you’re interested in college~?

I don’t really get why, but recently I’ve become some sort of model student for the idol course?

I’ve been getting requests to speak as a representative for inquiries about the campus from the idol course, you see~?

So, it’s like knocking two birds out with one stone! You get a tour, and I get some practice!

Souma: ​​Oh, I’m just hearing of this.

Yumenosaki’s “aidoru” course is, by name, an “aidoru” focused course. I would think there to be little support for those who wish to further their education, but…

Nazuna: Well, I guess the idol course was a bit unwelcoming, they were more focused with their main interest of training us all as idols…

But this year, things changed.

With Trickstar winning the SS, and the introduction of the ES system, Yumenosaki was back in business as the top idol school. 

Now that they don’t have to focus on producing only the very bestest idols, they can afford to let a few guys who didn’t quite make it as idols to college. 

I mean, you don’t always know where a celebrities big breaks going to come from, y’know~

I guess they want to capitalise on a past student’s achievements by showing how you can continue to be an idol while also going to college.

Souma: You speak the truth, the world of art is not a straightforward one.

Some people are instant hits, other’s late bloomers… The variety of choice is befitting this time.

Nazuna: Well, with the whole, “there is more to life than being an idol” thing… I think it’s sort of unfair they’re reaching out to me now, when they didn’t give me any of the same support…

Whatever, they’re on the right path now…

… Oh right, seems I’ve lost track of time. I tend to ramble with former classmates~

Since you made a trip all the way up here, I’ll show you around. C’mon, I don’t want to waste your time on chit chat!

Souma: I am indebted to you. The “kyanpasu” is so grandiose, I cannot even fathom where to begin.

Nazuna: That’s the case, isn’t it? I was just like that.

Walking around here, everyone here is just an ordinary person, or well… That’s how I see it—

It really makes the stuff that happened at Yumenosaki seem like a story right out of a book!

Souma-chin, you’re literally the very definition. I would have never thought someone would be able to carry a sword around in public like that.

Souma: Fufu, I have special privileges granted to me to wear my sword. This is what it means to truly be a samurai ♪

Nazuna: Ahaha, all this really makes me nostalgic ♪

… Well then. Souma-chin, do you like history or the like?

There are various historical documents available at the college’s archives, it’s open to outsiders, so c’mon, we can go check it out if you want. 

We’ve also got archaeology and history courses here, and I’m sure they’ve got swords and armour collections, some of which you haven’t seen~?

Souma: ​​Oooh, this school is just the very best! It has all the facilities for learning in excellence…!

Well then Nito-dono, the floor is yours!

Nazuna: Leave it to me! I’ve always wanted to tell my fellow ES idols what I do here.

To make sure no one tells you that the time you spent here was wasted, I’ll make sure you know all about the charms of university~☆

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