#bc they went from where we were and then crossed into DC to make other purchases

[cinematicnomad]

so my wallet was stolen. either last night (the last time i remember seeing my wallet) or this afternoon (when i was out and about), but i suspect it was stolen while on my date!! bc all the fraudulent charges (over $8k worth!! on my personal cards AND my work card) were made like 15 min away from where we were. and my true crime paranoia brain wonders if he had anything to do with it bc he ended the date v suddenly literally right about when i now know was the first fraudulent charge and made no mention of meeting up again. which at the time i chalked up to it just being an average date but now i wonder if its bc he helped fucking rob me. which i have no proof of but. what the fuck.

which as i was typing this, one of the banks called me back to tell me some other places the thief’s tried to use my card and told me that they’re usually v fast so it would be surprising if it was stolen last night and when i told him my theory he was like “i would trust your gut on this” and said that in cases like this, usually the victim is targeted and that's what he assumes happened here.

anyway! fuck my life!!

[fourcornerstar]

Random assorted Moral Orel Headcanons:

Moral Orel HCs

Orel:

- Likes to draw comics of Barthalomew- similar to the DC superpets

- Wants to grow up to be either a pastor or an artist. Doesn’t know what an animator or film maker is but is interested in movie production

- Doesn’t like to spend much time outside after the camping trip. Finds comfort in movies, comics and video games.

- He saves up all the money he earned by working for Stephanie to buy a Nintendo system (the show takes place around 2005, so probably a ds)

- His favorite game is Nintendogs, he owns all different versions and loves going on walks with his ‘pet’

- But he thinks Pokemon is satanic.

- Fav movie as a kid is Prince of Egypt

- Veggietales kid.

- Catches himself singing “where is my hairbrush” when he’s looking for something.

- Wears “virginity rocks” merch when he’s a teen. No one can tell if it’s ironic or in sincerity. It’s a bit of both.

- LOVES Paramore when he’s first in his emo phase. Slowly grows to like My Chemical Romance once he fully dips into Emo music.

- As he gets into his teens he has an indie phase- Florence and the Machines is his favorite along with The Mountain Goats and Cage the Elephant. Likes some Hozier, Noah Kahan, They Might Be Giants and Jack Stauber. (this is if we assume their in universe would have access to our discography)

- His favorite extra curricular class is art, which Clay disapproves of, but Orel is really good at it- near prodigy level. Loves painting and chalk pastels in particular

- Hardcore Disney fan. For his graduation he and Christina go to Florida Disney World for the first time

- A Goofy Movie and Goof Troop are his favorite comfort media

- Wants to go to California or Florida for College, secretly is applying to Loyola University or other Christian campuses. Wants to take religious studies with a minor in art.

- Has never been to the beach/seen the ocean in person but has always dreamed of it.

- Quit his scout troop after the hunting trip bc camping would make him spiral into panic attacks. It took him years of exposure therapy to ever go into the woods ever again

- After the camping trip, the go-to family vacation for the Puppingtons would usually be road trips cross country. But it was always awkward and tense, so Orel would spend the majority of the trip reading, listening to music, or playing a card game with Shapey and Block.

- He always lets Shapey or Block win

- Uno was banned in the puppington house because “it wasn’t in English.” But he had no problem playing it at school behind his parents backs

- Is interested in learning other languages, but a bit scared of it. He eventually took ASL courses when he was in college

Shapey and Block:

- Both have an extensive stuffed animal collection, at least where they can hide them under all the storage and mess of his room.

- Tends to steal or borrow Orel’s stuff when no one is home to see. Is particularly fascinated by the viewfinder and Orel’s record player.

- Shapey suffers from night terrors. Orel would comfort him sometimes, other times Block would help.

- Both are Introverted. They helped each other transition to school when they, eventually, went. But they were loners in the class and had trouble assimilating.

- Other than cake, Shapey’s favorite foods are pb and j

- Block really likes cookies and pastries

- Shapey and Block snuck out a lot as kids and teens, sometimes they would go to the corner store, other times they would just wander around town or even up to the nature reserve.

- Christmas is their all time favorite holiday, more so than any other.

- Orel sometimes helps them clear up their shared room so Shapey and Block can actually have a clear space to walk around and play in.

- They steal Clay’s credit card to buy some actual furniture when they’re teens. Clay never brings it up, he probably never noticed.

- Both struggle at keeping a space clean. Struggles with routine, chores and scheduling all through their life, sometimes Orel or even a therapist helps

- Shapey’s favorite Disney movie of all time is Alice in Wonderland

- Block adores Peter Pan, he even went as Peter for halloween 2 years in a row

- Both love adventure movies

- Shapey loves showtunes, favorite musical as a kid was Matilda

- Block finds showtunes kind of annoying, but won’t say anything. Block prefers softer music, indie, folk, country but even LoFi when he discovers it later.

- Both love cooking and baking. They weren’t allowed to learn when they were kids, but when they moved out they read Bloberta’s old recipe books to teach himself. Block preferred online recipes

- Shapey was Diagnosed with ODD and ADHD as a toddler, Orel tries to find some resources at the library to figure out how to help Shapey, at least where he can. Unfortunately, the library is a bit of a dead end. But the constants in Shapey’s life help him a lot.

- They never talk with Clay. They are complete strangers to one another. Shapey and Block consider Orel to be the closest thing they have to a father figure

- When everyone is grown up; Shapey gives a speech as best man at Orel and Christina’s wedding that makes everyone cry

Bloberta:

- Has an extensive record collection of her favorite bands from when she was a teenager.

- Clay has pestered her to get rid of it but she can’t bear to part with it. She keeps it hidden in the dresser and closet alongside her other unmentionables.

- Loves doo-wop, 60s pop, rock and roll and even some modern punk and metal. Doesn’t actually like listening to Christian rock but will put it on to be a “good influence”

- Was interested in student council and politics herself before she married Clay, but was pressured out of it bc “godly women let men take the lead” (ew)

- Her mom forced her to babysit as a first job when she was a teenager and she despised it.

- When she’s home alone she likes to put on romcoms such as Pretty Woman or Dirty Dancing. But she’ll mute the volume and block out the windows so no one can hear or see her.

- But more often then not they leave her crying wishing for something better. One day after watching one of her movies she locked Clay out of the house for a week because she couldn’t bear to even look at him.

- She’s a lot more supportive of Orel going to an out of state college than his father. She doesn’t want him to feel trapped like she does.

Clay

- Took ballroom dance in high school- is an amazing dancer but doesn’t like showing off.

- Has Irish ancestry, his great grandparents emigrated during the great famine.

- Likes to read when he gets the chance- favorite book is Catcher in the Rye or In Cold Blood (yes, they are supposed to be red flag books, remember who we’re talking about)

- Loves true crime- extremely fascinated by serial killers and mysteries.

- He likes movies, but rarely is ever able to put them on. But he likes Wolf of Wall Street and Fight Club (all the red flag films) (Call me By Your Name and Beauty and the Beast when he’s in private, would never watch them unless he’s completely alone) (once again, RED FLAGS)

- Believes all colleges are satanic propaganda. At least that’s what he told himself as he got older. When he was a teen thought about art school but could never afford it on his own.

- Never graduated with a full 4 year degree, but out of high school he was in and out of trade or secondary schools. He tried nursing, mechanic/auto shop, accounting, and technician work and hated everything. Bloberta suggested politics and somehow he had enough charisma and writing prowess to sell competency.

- Loves Queen. Could listen to any album any day- but has a particular soft spot for “I want to Break Free” and “Somebody To Love” has made him sob uncontrollably . He puts on Queen when he’s driving alone.

- Loves to drive. Before he started drinking it was his one escape. Sometimes he would just take his keys and a handful of his father’s cash and drive off for a few days without telling anyone. He’s been all over the country, but particularly loves to see the Grand Canyon or even up north near Niagara and the lakes.

- Even after he got married he would drive off on a bender for a week or two not to be seen. Bloberta never brings it up. He only HAD to stop when Orel was born.

Reverend/Rod Putty

- Never imagined himself as a pastor, when he was younger he was more interested in the hippie subculture. But he’s good at talking. He originally tried his hand at standup comedy, and that was a total flop. So when it came time for him to settle on a major/career he went religious… Partially to dodge the draft.

- Agnostic leaning. He believes in a God, but struggles with connection.

- Grew up in the south, but moved to the midwest in his teens. Sometimes his accent slips through when he’s tired.

- Scarily good at poker. Feels very torn about this skill.

- Banned from at least 4 casinos in a 100 mile radius.

-

Stephanie

- Was a straight A student all through school, but decided against University for financial reasons and pressure, she goes to the community college closest to Moralton. She dreams when she saves up enough she could go to a music or art college

- Had a band once but all her band mates moved away. She does try to pursue music herself. Has an album lined up but she doesn’t feel ready to put it into the world yet.

- A friend from out of state gave her her first tattoo in his garage. Since then she’s been interested in learning but doesn’t know how to practice back in Moralton. Is saving up for a machine.

- Hates the cold and cold weather, she’s always bundled up when it hits below 60 and it always complaining about how cold it is until the weather warms up

- But she loves rainy days.

- Her mom tried to sign her up for an after school Christian youth program but Stephanie always ditched to go hang out around town with Kim and others.

- She uploads song covers to Youtube when she has time, and has amassed a huge following

- She likes snapchat as well, she can keep in touch with out of state or online friends easier, it makes her feel more connected to people in similar situations

- Her first guitar wasn’t the best quality, but it’s one of her favorites for the sound, she covered the entire face with stickers and intricate drawings

[robinofgothamcity]

♡ scenario: meeting dick's ex girlfriend and it going awkwardly well

♡ characters: jason todd ( red hood ) x fem! reader

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / i'm sorry but have yall seen that comparison of Jason Todd from Titans to the comics that the DC Titans twit made? bc every time i look at it, it takes me out. my twitter groupchat have slaughtering it all night :').

you in Dick's apartment, fiddling with a few of his weapons as he sternly told you to put it down before you hurt yourself. you, clearly not bothering to listen, continued to fiddle with the batarang as it managed to hit you on the nose. in between Dick's laugh, he wheezed out an 'I told you so'.

"fuck off, when are we going to your dad's place?" you asked, "I want to get back home before we get back to our apartments later than we already are," you mumbled, getting up and grabbing your keys.

Dick ushered you out the door, murmuring that he'd buy you a coffee on the way to Gotham as compensation for helping his family out. you were Dick's ex girlfriend and although the two of you ended on friendly terms, you managed to know his families secret and thus, you decided to help Dick out with his hero work in Bludhaven.

the two of you had realized a while into the relationship that neither of you were really into each other romantically. it felt a bit forced with the kisses and dates and a part of you saw the way Dick felt about his ex still. you weren't mad at the way he felt about Barbara but you could tell that he still had feelings for her and you didn't want him to deny his true feelings for her anymore.

both of you hopped into your car and made your way over to his father's place. you had met Bruce a while back when you were dating Dick and by extension, you had met Dick's younger brother Damian. he was still a bit of a prick to you every time you met him but Dick had told you that Damian was just that way with everyone. you had a few interactions with Duke and Cassie from time to time but it was only when they stopped by. the only two you had yet to meet were Dick's two younger brothers, Tim and Jason.

you had heard stories about them it wasn't anything too crazy. all you knew was that Tim was a bit on the shyer side and Jason was the one with the crazy backstory. they hadn't told you everything about Jason but you did know that Jason was dead at one point and managed to come back. how? you didn't know and frankly, you didn't want to know. knowing that this world was filled with superheroes from out of this world and held supernatural abilities was enough for you.

by the time you arrived to Bruce's place, you had Dick take in your back pack as you sipped away on the Starbucks he had bought for you. Dick entered through the batcave, waving a hello to everyone as you saw Damian and gave the little gremlin a smirk before chasing him for a hug.

"get away from me you peasant," Damian screamed, grabbing his blade and pointing it at you. you laughed, sitting down on his chair, "aww, and to think I thought you'd be happy to see me!" you giggled, taking your laptop out of your bag with a few other things.

you noticed that there was another person in the room that you hadn't familiarized yourself with and got up, "hi, I'm ( your name ), Dick's work partner," you said, stretching your hand out for him, "and the pain in my ass." you rolled your eyes as the man chuckled, "I'm Jason," he replied. his voice alone made the hair on your arms raise in goosebumps as you found his voice extremely attractive, "pleasure," you responded, trying not to sound nervous.

Dick wasn't the smartest of all brothers, clearly but it didn't exactly take an idiot to see the way you immediately acted around Jason. he noticed the way you pulled yourself back a bit as Jason stood up to give you a proper hello. when he first met you, you were instantly the confident person you always were but this time, you were pulling yourself back a bit.

"so, how did you meet Dick?" Jason asked. you laughed, "we're partners at work and I even dated the asshole for a while," Dick whipped his head around as you heard Damian hollering from laughter, "I'm right here!" he exclaimed. you rolled your playfully, "please, I heard the way you talk about me to Barbara," you pressed, making Dick slump down in his seat in shame.

Jason laughed at the way you managed to make Dick fall back. he had never seen someone do that to him before and frankly, he kind of liked the way you poked at Dick a bit. everyone knew he was the easiest target to mess with but it seemed as though you were professional at it, just like Damian was.

"so, who are the ones on patrol tonight?" Bruce asked, getting up. Damian and Dick raised their hands as they all looked to Jason, "you're still hurt from your previous run in so you will be sitting this one out Master Jason," Alfred spoke up. you saw the way Jason wanted to argue but Alfred gave him the 'you better not try it' look.

"you can stay with her," Dick offered, slipping into his suit, "she's helping out with communication tonight since Tim is off doing work with the Titans." you gave Jason a wave of encouragement as he agreed, not as excited as you thought he'd be. you shrugged it off, waving everyone off with a 'be careful' lecture.

the batcave went silent as Alfred had offered to bring the both of you coffee for the long night. you were sitting across from Jason, your legs crossed as you slipped in your headphone into one ear to make sure you could hear what Damian, Dick, and Bruce were saying clearly. you cracked your neck, trying to make it unstiff as you gave the three of them their coordinates of where they were to meet if they all separated....which was the first thing they did.

"so, why did you and Dick break up?" Jason asked suddenly. you lifted your head up, "oh, we just realized we were better off as friends," you replied, "everything felt kind of forced and a bit weird so we figured it was best to just be friends before it got any weirder."

Jason nodded, smiling underneath his stoic face. he knew he wanted to make a move on you but realized it was a slimey thing to do so quick. he hadn't known the real reason to the break up but figured since you were still friends with Dick, it clearly meant that there were no hard feelings, especially when Dick was trying his time again with Barbara.

the two of you remained silent, sipping away on water and coffee. a few yawns crossed your face as you tried to keep yourself awake. this wasn't the first time Dick had you doing this but you hadn't went strictly from work to Dick's place and didn't get the chance to take a nap before leaving. Jason saw the way you were fighting off your sleep and chuckled.

"tired?" he asked. you nodded slowly, "long day and an even longer day tomorrow," you replied. you saw your phone ping up with text messages as you let out a groan of annoyance, "something wrong?" Jason asked, seeing the way messages came in left and right.

you flipped the phone over, "it's dumb. some guy I was seeing hasn't stopped messaging me ever since I gave him my number and even when I told him I wasn't interested, he still kept going," you confessed, wanting nothing more than to chuck your phone against the wall to make it stop.

Jason thought for a moment. he could play this one of two ways. one: trying to give you mature, adult advice or two: being the petty teenager he used to once be. "wanna try to get him back?" he asked, quickly checking the communicators and cameras to make sure everything was still okay. you nodded your head a bit slowly, not knowing what he was hinting at.

Jason grabbed your phone, quickly taking a photo before writing a few thing down and sending it. your eyes widened, seeing what he wrote out.

"might wanna stop texting the girl who has no interest in you."

you gave Jason a look as he laughed, "what?" he asked, going back to the cameras and communicators. after a while, you got a message that they were heading back to the cave as others took their place. you clapped in tired happiness as you shut the computers down and put every thing into your bad so you and Dick could head out as quickly as possible.

"leaving already?" Jason poked playfully. you smiled, "I have work in the morning and I doubt you'd want to spend anymore time with me," you joked back. Jason grabbed your phone again, this time putting his number into your phone before shooting himself a message.

"you couldn't even wait a day?" Dick said as he got out of the batmobile. you shrugged playfully, "what can I say? your brother is hot," you responded, waving your phone with his number in it. Jason choked on his spit as Damian gagged, "gross, keep that shit to yourself," Damian yelled, slamming the door of the batcave as he made his way to his room.

you gave Jason a wink goodbye before getting into Dick's car.

"see ya soon sweetheart."

[thedeadthree]

🍓🍓 for two ocs ur feeling!! (hope u feel better 🥺🥺)

I THOUGHT TUMBLR ATE THIS ASK BUT IT DIDNT THANK GOODNESS ✨🤧 anyways! hiiii! IM GONNA CRY THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE WELL WISHES ELLIE! and for the ask! 🖤 i went with lhysa in her witcher canon and yelena my baby bc they are the head clowns in my brain at the moment!

give me a 🍓 and one of my ocs, and i’ll tell you some random facts about said oc!!

— LHYSA AEP LONÁN, the witcher

🍓- there is a lot of speculation as to how lhysa became a member of emhyrs inner circle. she actually first talked to the emperor by doing what most assassins would deem as a FATAL mistake: talking to, and confronting her target… and flat out telling him why she was there! never seeing anything like that and with such confidence the emperor offers her a contract one that would mutually benefit the other and their seperate goals. Which of course was that lhysa was to take out the kings in the north and dismantle the northern nations so nilfgaard could take them over. WHAT HE DIDNT REALIZE was that she’d put “puppet” rulers who yes, had loyalties to the empire BUT were actually those she could use to preside over from the shadows. if the elves couldn’t take on a full on war with men, she would control their nations from the shadows ✨😌! and in the end of her contract of course she would take him out as well and set his son maxen on the throne for her to manipulate nilfgaard hehe! LOVE LOVE a manipulative queen! 🖤

🍓- the witcher geralt and lhysa have a strange sort of acquaintanceship that i sort of love a lot? for the LONGEST time since they first crossed paths around in the mid 1260s across the continent, geralt usually encountered the end of lhysas (likely) poisoned daggers first. at this point (circa 1273 ish Witcher 3 timeline) its almost a customary greeting amongst the two enemies? acquaintances? friends? if being friends with a assassin that STILL the emperor has a contract with her for on your life that is currently paused for the time being so geralt can search for ciri? like it’s got me wheeezing WHEEZING. geralt: is walking in vizima and spots lhysa, “hey how are… wait, where did she—.” *SMOKE FROM BEHIND HIM AND LHYSAS DAGGER ON HIS THROAT* lhysa: hey bestie how’s the family? ✨😌 DYINGGGGG aksmkswja

— YELENA VORONIN, fallout 3

🍓- her first REAL impression of alaric wasn’t much of a positive first impression in fact it was bad! (peak enemies to lovers as we know hehe!) in prior to the end of fallout 3 and the beginning of the bos’s last attack on the final major enclave base in DC he had sent mind controlled deathclaws, erected laser force fields to stop her and the gang in their tracks, soldiers with experimental hellfire and tesla armors, and a loooong list of things! so who’s the LAST person that she wanted to see? him! of course on Alaric’s end yelena was also NOT thrilled to see the snot nosed brat that foiled his research endeavors into project purity 🙄. so imagine how THRILLED the two were when alaric was forced to tag along with her to show the BOS into the Air Force bace not very! of course as he gets to know her in his travels with her, seeing her care for the wasteland and it’s people, wanting a better place to be without the harshness of the organization he grew up in, that MAYBE there’s hope for the wasteland yet? It’s endearing ✨🥺!

🍓- her story with roman my other bb is meant to be a narrative foil of the others story! i was super interested in the idea of taking the intro where it walks the player through the lone wanderers childhood and had the thought of taking that story but maybe putting it into a reversal! Yelena has the loving parent, living in the vault, seemingly safe and happy childhood! whereas roman grew up in the enclave on raven rock, being a product of an experimental scientific experiment that spanned generations making her the first successful case of the FEV working as it was intended. Both had VERY lonely childhoods, so at first the two were unwilling allies who never saw eye to eye! she saw roman as an apathetic and a cold person who didn’t understand or had any sympathy for what she was going through! when in reality its the opposite! shes is the closest thing Yelena has had to a sister and the love I have for the found family of Yelena, kellan, and roman is IMMENSE 🥺

[ectonurites]

for the character headcannons ask game, jason and cass?

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT im putting this one under a cut because it got SUPER long bc i cant shut up ever

lets start w jason

A (realistic headcanon): 

ok using the ‘realistic’ category here loosely but GOD i love the idea of Damian & Jason having interacted while Jason was staying with the League before getting dunked in the Lazarus Pit. like. this obviously would need to be set more in preboot and following the Lost Days & Batman Annual 25 version of Jason’s resurrection, but god the idea of it just makes me scream in a good way. Like... these are things Jason likely doesn’t remember very clearly once he’s brought back to life more fully by the pit because he was uh pretty catatonic, but Damian being a little kid and knowing about the boy that his mother keeps around the base, that she’s trying to help bring back to health. Damian not even knowing that’s his big brother, just that he’s a presence that shares his mother’s attention. Jason again being unresponsive but like, ok god you know that part of lost days where Talia shows the others observing him that he only fights back at those he perceives as genuine threats trying to hurt him, 

Because Jason can perceive that she’s safe, she’s not actually trying to hurt him, he trusts her because she saved him? thinking about lil child Damian who is ya know already being trained in fighting stuff and like the idea of him trying to provoke Jason just to see what happens but Jason not fighting back because on some level be it his connection to Talia or even little baby Damian visually reminding him of Bruce, he knows that Damian is safe too 🥺 

and then when Jason and Damian meet again in Gotham as Red Hood & Robin respectively, Jason not really remembering because there was so much going on back then for him, but Damian realizing that oh... that was Him

B (hilarious): 

alright so if we are looking at comics currently, in modern stuff jason is what, like 22? hes old enough to drink in the US but still definitely early 20s so around my around my age, thats what im using as a basis here. if we adjust timeline and still consider his death having happened when he was 15, that puts it around 2013. and then coming back to like interacting with people about three years later if we still kinda base things off of the preboot timeframe (since we never got a super solid retelling of the timeline of death -> resurrection -> training -> tries to get revenge aside from knowing he went to the all-caste instead of the lost days version of the story) making him reenter the regular world and stuff around age 18 in 2016. meaning a solid three years of pop culture that he was entirely missing, and like im sorry but he really doesn’t strike me as the type to bother looking into what he missed, he’s kinda busy focusing on other stuff. lets take a quick look at some major things from those years. 2013 gave us ‘what does the fox say’ and ‘the harlem shake’ . 2014 had that time U2 just put a fuckin album on everyone’s phones, The Fault In Our Stars movie came out. 2015 introduced the phrase ‘Netflix and Chill’ and the whole blue & black vs gold & white dress debate happened. imagine any of the other batkids (or even arguably roy during rhato stuff) bringing these things up and jason’s ensuing confusion. thank you for your time

C (heart-crushing): 

so. there are two specific instances from rebirth era Jason i want to bring up here and much like a lot of these it’s less a headcanon and more of an inference based on observations, but i wanna take a sec to discuss Jason’s relationship with other people’s death. early in rebirth, Tim ‘dies’ from that whole thing in detective comics. he didn’t actually die, we as readers know, but in-universe they all very much so thought he was dead. frustratingly a lot of the batfam wasn’t really shown mourning him aside from in the Detective Comics Rebirth title itself (which just. when a major character dies even if its temporary- that should have a ripple effect) BUT an exception to that is in RHATO 2016, where we get this offhanded comment in Jason’s internal monologuing

similarly later when Roy, who like, had an incredibly close relationship w Jason that had just gotten mended before Heroes in Crisis, gets fuckin murdered in that whole thing... Jason doesn’t go to his funeral either. He leaves a dramatic voice mail and then visits the grave on his own later, choosing to instead keep working on the mission they’d started rather than going and taking the time to mourn properly.

Jason’s relationship with death is incredibly complicated, obviously. He has died, he has come back, and he now is willing to cross the line most other bats won’t and will kill people when he deems it necessary. I think thats something important though- he doesn’t just like... go around killing for fun (usually, some writers preboot made him a little murder happy but even then usually this still was vaguely followed) he kills people he thinks deserved it. Like, even looking back at the mess of Morrison’s Jason during Batman & Robin 2009, Jason was still trying to bring a sense of justice with who he was killing (”punishment that fits the crime”), it wasn’t killing for the sake of killing. He sees things in this kind of almost black and white ‘people who deserve it’ and ‘people who don’t’ way, and he has no problem dealing with death when it’s with the people he thinks deserve it. 

but when someone who doesn’t in his mind ‘deserve it’ gets killed? i think he just goes into total avoidance mode. throws himself into other things he’s doing, tries not to dwell on it too much no matter how much he still thinks about it (this is especially evident in him consistently telling people “i’m fine!” after what happened to Roy, despite bringing Roy up literally like every few issues for a WHILE after he died and very clearly still struggling with it, Artemis is the only one who gets through to him on it a little bit) 

but yeah, I just think that from Jason’s relatively unique situation of having been murdered, he knows what it’s like and he is perfectly fine wishing that on people he thinks are bad and deserve it, but it crushes him to imagine the people he loves and cares about having to experience something as painful as what he went through. not to mention the whole “I came back, why do I get a second chance at all this when they, who are a much better person than I am, probably won’t” mindset we get some implications of him having 

D (canon is a coward and won’t) 

hello DC i am once again insisting a batfam member is bisexual

CASS TIME

A (realistic headcanon): 

ok so we know cass likes ballet. thats canon. however i think we also should in general explore cass experiencing other types of dance/performance as well, be it herself as a performer or even just watching. like... god imagine her & like my brain just automatically for group activities puts her with tim steph and duke but also for this in particular I feel would be a Jason embraced activity, but like them going to see a broadway show or some other professional theatre or something, and her just being enthralled by the reading of body language of the performers! like again by any point in current stuff cass does have like, the ability to speak fine (reading still hard tho) but even so I think like. okay im a theatre kid if that’s not obvious from the Everything About Me but one thing I always do after seeing a show is ya know spend dinner afterwards discussing it with whoever i saw it with.

I just think that like, bringing those people i just mentioned to the table to discuss seeing a show after would be so FASCINATING because cass would bring this whole perspective of critiquing their acting on a whole different level- not based on how well they delivered lines out loud, but by what their body language was saying as they moved on stage. like im very amused by the idea of cass getting a totally different picture in her mind about what a character’s motivations were because she was paying way more attention to what their physicality was saying vs the words that were written and how they were delivered. i think the debates her and the others would have would be EPIC there. jason defending the text as it was written adamantly and cass being like ‘ok yeah sure but thats not what they did’

B (hilarious): 

cass having no concept of money because why would she bother? is SO funny to me. like it’s not that she couldn’t be reasonable if she wanted to, but like, she knows that the Waynes are well off so it’s not something she actually needs to be concerned about, so she just goes hog wild. takes steph out to fancy dinners and makes steph order for them since cass ya know doesn’t really read the menus, and steph’s like ‘jesus christ this costs-” “don’t worry about it” “but cass-” and she just holds up one of bruce’s credit cards and steph’s still like “but you don’t even know the range-” “it is fine”

bruce does not have the heart to tell her to stop

C (heart-crushing): 

i mean this is pretty much canon but especially now after death metal where she’s remembering, not just being told by a guy using weird alternate timeline technology, that she used to be an adopted member of the Wayne family... like that hurts so bad. To look at these people who have ya know been kind to her, Bruce has still been a father-like figure to her (i mean literally from the moment they met in New 52 canon during the flashback in Batman & Robin Eternal, where he’s telling her that she’s not a monster just because of what people forced her to do.... that she’s a hero... that hug.... dad behavior), and they do to some extent treat her as family... But to then really know, to feel and remember that she was actually adopted! She was a part of their family. To look at how she’s been calling herself Orphan while working with them this whole time... that’s so heartbreaking! I have cried about this idea so much! I want so badly a conversation between her and Bruce now where he offers to officially adopt her again, I need it so bad and if it doesn’t happen at some point in the next year or two I will be so distraught.

D (canon is a coward and won’t) 

i want an in-depth exploration of cass’ relationship to her own gender. being raised without language and you know with so much of her life being independent (remember: CASS RAN AWAY AROUND THE WORLD WITHOUT REALLY KNOWING ANY SPOKEN LANGUAGE) and outside of an organized society impressing too much of gender expectations on her, i feel like the way she experiences it would be very unique! like sure she’s so far been fine with being assigned ‘girl’ (ya know that comes with batgirl, and how people just automatically treated her based on how she looks) but in terms of gender expression and like her actual relationship with ‘traditional femininity’ etc like... because of how she was raised I just think she’d have a really different perspective on it that could be cool to explore, and I think she’d fall outside of the binary after she really thinks about how she identifies.

tldr on that: she/they nb cass is what i’m getting at here

[cara-terra-pace]

RICH NEIGHBORS PART 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

Part 1 THE GABRIELING

-wow does Lila get absolutely C R E A M E D in this au.

-almost makes you feel bad.

-almost

-since we got Mr Felix “I don’t need friends. They disappoint me” Agreste here, you better believe this girl gets exposed faster than you can say “Watermelon Kids”.

-(I mean Felix quotes that vine all the time to his FRIENDS so it sorta doesn’t apply but whatever you get what I mean.)

-Lila lies immediately about Marinette. But she obviously doesn’t know it’s Marinette, because Marinette goes by Marie Mêler, and not Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

-it’s actually kind of funny because Noel Bulles (I’m going with Nino’s brother’s name being Chris, not Noel because I needed a name and Noel was the best one so) or Nino Lahiffe also overhears her bragging about being best friends with him, just as he had said about Marinette.

-“oh Marinette Dupain Cheng and I are besties! Us and Nino Lahiffe, we’re like this!” She grins, crossing her fingers to signify how close they are.

-Oh heck to the no!

-Marinette is now becoming angry and that’s not good, so Felix decides “hey, I’ve met Dupain Cheng and Lahiffe before, and they are almost never in the public eye. It’s basically impossible for that to be true. But if you want to continue trying to make this class your sheeple, be my guest. You’ll see what happens when you do.”

-silence

-And the entire class kind of explodes

-everyone realizes that, hmm, yeah that’s a bit suspicious.

-there was no reason for Felix to lie about that, because they know that this 17 year old that acts like some 30 something businessman literally could care less about the class liking him.

-They immediately are more cautious of Lila’s words, and when she starts talking about Jagged and his cat, that really brings it home.

-they ignore her.

-they aren’t mean to her, since that’s just not anyone’s style. Chloe went to homeschool a few years ago, and that’s the only real “bully” they had.

-but they don’t take anything she says seriously. Lila eventually realizes that the lying is not working. So she just stops talking as much, moves to the back of the classroom without prompting, and plans her next move.

-“that wasn’t too bad!” You say, forgetting that there is more.

-Watermelon kids and their reveal!

-Marie is Marinette Dupain Cheng?!

-Noel is Nino Lahiffe?!

-Lila, who hadn’t really talked in weeks except to attempt to gain some sort of sympathy, paled immediately when she was confronted with it on Monday morning.

-“this is proof that you were definitely lying. You should be glad Felix stopped me before I put that video of you on my blog.”

-Alya Cesaire everyone!

-she has a blog where just writes about different attractions and news in Paris. She figured getting such a scoop from the best friend of two never seen in public rich kids would really jump start her blog.

-Felix and Adrien stopped her, Adrien being nice and calm about it and Felix telling her it would be idiotic to post the interview without sources.

-and she listens, bc even though she’s still hopeful that Lila is telling the truth, it does sound a bit too good to be true.

-Alya is still best friends with our baby Mari.

-it’s different than in canon but they hang out at Alya’s a lot, sometimes when Mari stays at the bakery she’ll invite Alya over, and basically they are inseparable

-Alya isn’t really into romance, at least not for herself since she’s trying to kickstart a career, but when she sees the budding romances between Mari and Felix and Adrien and Nino

-Madamoiselle Matchmaker at your service.

-but enough of my girl Alya

-lets get back to the WATERMELON KIDS

-they are both so awkward after the reveal.

-people in class are all starry eyed and it’s weird because okay, they were both nice and well known in the class and throughout the school

-BUT THIS IS NEXT LEVEL

-Mari basically sticks close to her friends because when she gets overwhelmed, they help her out a ton.

-Nino tries to be chill and it’s not working.

-but the thing is, now people either try to become best friends with them for the benefits, or they insult them because they’re rich kids

-and, yeah it doesn’t really bother them.

-sticks and stones, you know?

-but then someone insulted Alya, saying she’s a suck up and she’s just hanging around the group so she can get a scoop and expose their secrets and stuff.

-and Mari and Nino actually go off.

-that is their little baby reporter friend who can definitely take care of herself and doesn’t need to play dirty to get good news and be a great reporter thank you very much

-they can handle being insulted themselves, but touch their friends and family and it’s game over.

-Alya finds it very sweet

-she does remind them that she can take care of herself, but thanks them for backing her up

-Emile Agreste

-woah where did she come from???

-there’s a movie premiere in Paris and she’s attending and Adrien is like !!!

-Felix is just kind of... standoffish when she’s in town??

-he’s just bitter that both his mother and father are distant and his dad’s assistant is more of a mother figure to him at this point.

-btw, Nathalie is so done. She sometimes cries in her office, which sounds really sad until you learn she is just leaning her head on the wall and crying as she bangs her head.

-ma’am please take a month off and take a vacation

-but she can’t because she loves the boys too much

-she’s emile’s best friend, and so when she gets kind of mad at em for being gone so much, everyone’s really surprised.

-she’s walking into the premiere with a tablet in her hands and Emile is like “wow I missed you and Gabe so much!!!”

-and Felix and Adrien are RIGHT THERE LIKE-

-and Nathalie just snaps

-“obviously not enough to actually take a break. Felix, Adrien, it’s time to go into the theatre. Your father won’t be joining us, he didn’t deem this important enough to attend in person.”

-mari and Nino are nearby and OH DO YOU NEED SOME ICE FOR THAT BURN MADAME AGRESTE

-what was I talking about?

-oh yeah, back to fashion.

-that’s Marinette right there, making new designs.

-she does special celebrity commissions and gifts herself, but they have tons of other designers and seamstresses helping with the actual mass production of lines.

-Mari’s first fashion show is a collaboration between DC and LE. They provide the runway music and have live up and comers, and Mari does the same, with smaller designers presenting their lines before Mari’s and her’s being the final and the crown jewel.

-she jump started a lot of careers that way, both in the music and fashion industries.

-the watermelon kids are on every teen magazine

-they are huge in America

-both of them traveled there to just get a better feel of American culture, fashion, and music and wow

-paparazzi

-EVERYWHERE

-Nino meets some American singers and convinces his mother that an American location would be good for the company

-Marinette does the same, insisting that it would be full of profit

-it works and the summer following the reveal, Marinette, Nino, Alya, and the Agreste Twins all go to America.

-which will be elaborated on in Part 3!

This whole thing was sort of a mess lol

I jumped around a lot but most of these were the first ideas that popped into my head and it was a lot of fun to create.

(Note: if you guys want to be tagged, just let me know and you’ll be added to the taglist!)

Taglist: @animegirlweeb

[noheroes-allowed]

10/22

I’m hoping that I’m actually doing ok and not bottling anything in. I’m thinking about the last time I liked someone and how I made really stupid decisions trying to get over him that were unhealthy and made everything worse. and I was so emotional back then too and so insecure and naive, and to be fair to my younger self, I still am. but I hope I’ve matured enough to just handle this situation better than I have in the past. I’m really hoping the way that I’m feeling right now isn’t just a part of me lying to myself bc I can’t deal with an emotional breakdown later down the line. overall though, I can’t believe I actually did it. and I think I was probably able to bc it came in bits and pieces, like our conversation last thursday just made me more aware of how he would probably respond and, it was truly just me needing to admit it and get it off my chest rather than getting anxious over the anticipation of his answer. which I’m hoping is better than if I told him earlier without knowing these things about him already bc maybe I can reassure myself that it’s bc he’s not looking for anything with anyone really and he gets really excited about the time before anyone admits anything rather than something being wrong about me. like him saying that before I had to say anything makes me believe him more bc if I admitted it and then he said that stuff I would’ve thought we was just trying to soften the blow. anyways I hope I’m ok. I was so close again to not saying it but I was like no, if I put it off again I’m gonna hate myself and regret not doing it again. so I told him in front of his house after our walk. 

(side note, the walk was super nice. we talked for like ~1.5 hours and went down this dark trail that was not lit at all, and once we got to the end, he wanted to keep going bc I think he wanted us to keep talking. but we had to turn back for safety/road visibility reasons. like he told me about what he wants to do in life and I really like him for pursuing something that isn’t traditionally successful and he comes from a place of privilege to be able to do that, but also the thing that he wants to do with his life would’ve sent me swooning (if I hadn’t already started getting over him). but still, like I love him for that, and I love his passions and what he wants to achieve, and just talking to him bc he understands how I feel about not just wanting to work for some company and it doesn’t seem like more people in segc do even though theoretically we all should. and I told him how I really liked the work this one company was doing in dc with data science consulting for nonprofits and the public sector and he was like maybe we’ll cross paths someday. (I hope they do. I hope I run into him and he tells me about how he took his kids canoeing last weekend or how his work is going at whatever agency he’s running or how his master’s is going.) he talked about the last time he felt this way was high school senior year when he didn’t know where his life is going. like, it just felt nice to be able to converse with someone who understands how I’m feeling and to hear someone else’s worries or uncertainty too. idk, it was just a really good conversation, and he said it was nice too. I had suggested us to play overcooked bc I didn’t want him to think that all I ever did was talk about deep things? bc like yeah I love that stuff and connecting with people but sometimes I can just chill too. but the walk was the best part. also I brought those little jelly cups with me bc I wanted to share something with him. I am cute.)

anyways yeah I told him. like I just had to do it and get it over with and stop sitting on it for my sake. and I do regret some of the things I didn’t say or didn’t phrase in the way I could’ve, but I think I said enough of what was necessary. like I asked him if I could ask him something and then he suspected after I looked at him and didn’t saying anything and then laughed nervously. but yeah, the gist was I told him I wanted us to still be friends but I needed to get it off my chest and just move past it and reframe our dynamic in my head. and I didn’t really expect anything from him based on our conversation last week. and that the thing that scared me the most was him distancing himself from me and not rejecting me. but he reassured me that he wouldn’t treat me any differently. and I told him I still wanted to talk about the things we talked about before. to make me believe him he was like what should we do next. but yeah we’re going to the cat cafe next week lol

to be very honest though, I obviously wish he liked me back. but ultimately this is better for me bc I don’t need it to build up more intensely the more time I spend with him or misinterpret things bc I know I’ll just end up more hurt later on. but I feel like it’s weird bc he’s the person I’ve liked for awhile now, and the person before that was complicated, and the other person during that was complicated, and the person before that was high school. and I can’t tell if it’s part of me maturing or if I’m bottling things up and not dealing with it, or if it’s bc I kind of got my answer indirectly last week already, but I feel ok. I did like him a lot though, and I feel like I got to know him at a level I haven’t with other people I’ve liked. bc with *****, so much of it was the novelty and all the new experiences I was going through and having to leave people and just not being ready to start over. like he was a good friend and we had deep talks too, but we didn’t have that much time together to know each other in other respects. and with ****, I still can’t comprehend what was going on between us. like I knew her the most for sure, but it’s difficult to compare in this situation. keith is still confusing sometimes, but the keith I know, there are things I admire about him, and things that annoy me about him lol I know he’s not perfect, and things I like hearing from him. idk I just feel like I know this person, or at least the sides he shows me, and not just my idea of this person. so I think that’s why I wish he liked me back. but I’m also relatively ok he doesn’t bc I will (hopefully) still be spending and enjoying that time with him. I think the most I can compare him to is ****, who I got over and still hung out with and helped him pick out a valentine’s day card for another girl lol.

I think also, to be very honest here, I wish like the thought could’ve crossed his mind. like removing everything he said last week about relationships and commitment, he still has crushed on other girls. and I just can’t help but be insecure and wish that maybe if I was prettier or more attractive, the thought would’ve crossed his mind. it sucks, I wish I didn’t feel that way.

also I have this newfound respect for people who have ever admitted anything to me bc wow I couldn’t even say the words. arguably though, one of them was at the end of a program and we weren’t gonna see each other so he had like nothing to lose. and the other one, I think I was giving mixed signals to which I felt bad about, but I really wanted friends and I didn’t want to be labeled as *****’s gf in the org, and I wanted to be my own person that people got to know. yeah I think that was bad timing bc I might’ve ended up liking him. and he told me relatively early before anything intensified. anyway. I have more respect. I do think I had more to lose though bc keith is my lifeline in ithaca unfortunately and I would make some poor decisions if I didn’t have him to hang out with. 

I think that’s all I have for now. reminder to my future self, there will be ups and downs and please be nice to yourself. 

[stfuisaac]

hello hello it’s lucky again and,, sadly,, we don’t have the technology that makes the thoughts we have just.... appear onto our screens yet... so this took a hot sec and still isn’t perfect bc i don’t plan on proofreading :\ but! here,, is,, my new,, drummer boy,, parumpumpumpum

‹ avan jogia, he/him, cis man, bisexual. › ISAAC BAROT is the TWENTY-SEVEN year old from SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA. when a friend asked them what they thought of the manor they said,  ❝ I HEARD THIS IS WHERE THEY DECIDED TO MAKE THE TWILIGHT ZONE. ❞ they claim GET OUT is their favorite scary movie, and if they were to die in a horror film they would BE OBLIVIOUS TO THERE EVEN BEING A KILLER UNTIL IT’S TOO LATE. their fears include MANNEQUINS, HITCH-HIKERS and DYING WITH NOTHING TO SHOW, and they don’t know we know, but… HE GOT INTO A (MUTUALLY) NEAR FATAL ALTERCATION WITH A STRANGER HE GAVE A RIDE TO (YES, HE WAS AN UBER DRIVER - HIS GREATEST SHAME). hope they enjoy their stay. ‹ PLATANCHOR requested by JOAKIM from STRESSED OUT penned by, LUCKY, 20, EST. ›

QUICK FACTS:

full name: isaac benjamin barot

date of birth: september 12, 1992

*does not perfectly reflect the below Big Three zodiac chart because that’s so much math

zodiac big three: virgo sun, taurus moon, libra rising

gender & pronouns: cis man & he/him

sexual orientation: bisexual

occupation: session drummer + lyft driver + ex-uber driver

mbti: entp

enneagram: 5w6

the song i listen to on repeat while i write the intro: “deja vu” - roger waters

BACKGROUND INFO:

alright. so.

isaac's backstory is neither tragic nor easy. his father was an immigrant who married his mother solely to get a green card (y’all, to be fair... the citizenship tests are whack). there wasn’t any real romance between the two, but the drop-ins always said otherwise. no, outside of putting on a show for government officials, isaac’s father and mother were friends at the best of times.

the best of times culminated in a son who grew up in an interesting dynamic. his father and mother never even attempted to be anything more than friends (with, as you can see, the occasional benefits). after the check-ins finally stopped, his father and mother even began sleeping in different rooms. his mother would trade in her queen for a double and replace the space his father used to take up with his cradle.

it was nothing like the ‘unhappy marriage’ trope, though... again, because they barely ever pretended to be married. they would take their wedding rings off when they went out with friends. sometimes they would even take off their rings around each other and talk the other up to someone attractive.

so it was unorthodox, but it was much better than his parents pretending to be in love in that way and giving him a skewed version of what romance should look like.

one down-side to it, though, was that isaac never knew who he was supposed to go to for what. usually it’s just a given that “if you need/want x, go to the matriarch, if you need/want y, go to the patriarch” but... what happens... when your parents are basically just your friends?

so thank god for growing up in the age of technology. like,, ya,, a literal baby can’t google things like “how to say ‘mom’” but a 15y/o can google “how to shave”

so... ya... his parents were his friends, the internet was his parent(s?).

one thing the internet couldn’t do? give him drums. it could introduce him to the likes of ringo starr, john bonham, keith moon, and ginger baker, but it couldn’t give him drums... not when he was only, like... 10, at least.

so he put a set on his christmas wishlist and figured they would divide amongst themselves.

so ya, his 10th christmas, he got a shitty little rockwood hohner kit that he would use for the next nine years.

he never received any professional training. again, he didn’t know who to ask and... youtube wouldn’t exist for another three years. he tried to teach himself using a few books and, if nothing else, figured out a few simple beats and how to gain independence.

after learning those simple little beats and not knowing if he wanted to buy the next book, he decided to take a break and, instead of going back to professional books, he’d just listen to some of his favorite tracks... most of which were ginger baker... which made things kind of hard when he only had one bass drum, two tom-toms, and one floor tom. those, plus the really low quality pearl cymbals. still, he did his best to make it work.

just a side-note that, because of videos of ginger, isaac used (and still uses, out of habit) a mix of traditional and matched grip.

he went back and forth between the books and mimicking the patterns of other drummers (mostly ginger) up until he was around 16 and his friend, ribs (y’all), decided to teach him a few more technical skills. what you want to learn for this song are polyrhythms, but those are hard and no, ginger isn’t using a crash there, he’s using a splash and do you want a discount on some better cymbals and drumheads from my parents’s music shop because this is a very functional kit but it kind of sounds whack

he continued using the same whack kit, but replaced the heads with aquarians, as per ribs’s recommendation (but evans and remo are also good) and, after literally examining baker’s kit, replaced the cymbals with various zildjian collections

even though we stan istanbul agop in this house.

he also started listening to more drummers than... pretty much just baker with a hint of john bonham, keith moon, and ringo starr. as his friend suggested, he tried out drummers like buddy rich, art blakey, travis barker, dave grohl, karen carpenter, neil peart, nick mason, simon phillips –– even was told to listen to ac/dc songs just to see how a successful band could be made using essentially the same beat over and over and over.

so now he had some split time. school. work. practice. figure out who the hell was making dinner that night/if there was someone making dinner last night because they might both be talking each other up.

although he applied to various colleges, and although some of these colleges actually accepted him, he ultimately decided not to go. instead, he moved from san jose to los angeles in the hopes that he’d find something bigger than himself... and a new drum set...

he found the latter in a ludwig kit with two bass drums, two tom-toms, and two floor toms. then he just added a bunch of stuff and tried to make it like ginger baker’s. pretty much spent all of his money on it and then some.

when his friends formed a band and found success, he was very very happy for them... but... he found himself stuck... driving ubers.

and lyfts!

he’d seen the twilight zone before. he loved that show. he’d seen the episode ‘the hitch-hiker,’ so he was really driving for the companies against his better judgment. 

his worst uber story? the time a guy got into the car, had pinged a location that was still marked as a store on the uber gps but had recently been torn down, and tried to attack him when they got there :\ he 110% fought back, though. was fired because the other guy was the one who made it out injured.

only drove for lyft after that :\

he did take on a few projects, but he... proved to be too much of a roger waters for people who just wanted to chill and have fun. there would be adverts for people who wanted to form a band and he’d be like “hell yeah! finally! a band!” then he’d get pissed that they advertised it so seriously but really... just wanted to jam. did not have any plans to try to do anything with it.

the few projects he did join that involved people who wanted to actually achieve success... if they were slacking, you best bet his inner roger waters came out! which is why he never stuck around in any projects for too long!

but ‘projects’ and ‘jam sessions’ were totally different. you want to do ‘wipeout’ in a project? he’s gonna take that intro that literally everyone on the planet knows SERIOUSLY. you want to do ‘wipeout’ in a jam session? LET’S HAVE SOME FUN WITH IT.

he does some session/studio drumming for other artists to make some extra money while doing something he genuinely enjoys... but... still... it is no project™

in between things right now, he got a call from joakim that, while muffled and staticky, sounded like it said ‘get here, please’ and clearly stated where he was.

of course, voicemail lines were crossed and many many many essential words were left out – words that were basically saying the exact opposite ahfsdkjl. the shadow’s really playin them :\

so here he is, in all his glory.

TL;DR:

i was gonna kms if i didn’t play another drummer, so this is my ginger baker fanboy whose parents were literally just best friends and, as a result, were also both his friend. the internet raised him. started playing drums when he was 10 on a low qual kit with low qual cymbals that his parents got him for christmas, but literally why would you get a beginning a good set? continued playing. eventually moved to los angeles and tried to form many successful projects, but was too much of a roger waters. was summoned up here by the shadow man fucking around joakim. his greatest shame is how many ubers he has driven.

PERSONALITY INFO:

he will always say his proudest moment was when he learned how to play ‘toad’ by ginger baker cream all the way through.

big ginger baker fanboy.

loves the twilight zone and will just spill a random fact out about it every now and again.

a lowkey control freak which completely goes against the way he dresses and the vibe he gives off. 

is only a dick about it if you’re part of one of his ‘projects’ but aren’t taking it seriously tho :\

ok i’m too tired 2 write a personality section rn when im already rly bad at them but!! again!! feel free 2 j refer to the zodiac big three + the personality types!!

FEARS:

mannequins: they’re already creepy enough when you really think about it, then you add in that episode of the twilight zone where the characters wake up in an unfamiliar house and go outside and basically everyone is just a mannequin? ya he hates mannequins.

hitch-hikers: so, as we have just seen, he’s had it bad enough with people who were registered to an app, paying, their personal information readily available, etc., etc... so then what would happen if it was just a complete and utter stranger who didn’t have any personal information, any ping, and was the sole focus of a different twilight zone episode? he... is going... to drive past you. he’ll feel bad about it, but...

dying with nothing to show: here’s the money shot! here’s the deep fear! as has been shown throughout, isaac craves success and some form of a legacy. if he dies with nothing to show for his life, then was his life ever worth it in general?

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

ok,,, it might be bc im tired rn,,, but i have the most basic list that will hopefully be updated tomorrow bc it is SO VERY BASIC:

friends

fwb

ons

exes

enemies (much easier to get on his bad side than it is w/ fluke)

BRAINSTORMING AND/OR SOMETHING FROM YOUR WANTED CONNECTIONS AND/OR WHATEVER YOU HAVE AN IDEA FOR!!!!

[cherubsoda]

!!!!! 38 for Medic and/or 41 for Dante! [DC] (I'm not even putting this on anon why am I leaving my signature lmao)

ok so i went ham for no reason @dizzycoyote i apologize,,, this was supposed to be a doodle yikes,, also i wrote a fat fic for it so ,, its like my first time writing a real fic? sucks fr bro

hruggnn tagging @tibbygetsrekt, @sundewsunset and @heartstringsymphoniesbc i am,,, gay

under the cut

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HakfW2av-gRiemn39g8cVh8wKG8cFOXVH6u-mo9OF28/edit?usp=sharing

Medic 38: reunited/ “haven’t seen you in a while”

I shake my head, finding myself spacing out again. A few more transfers and I’ll be there… I have time to think. Old thoughts started resurfacing, things I haven’t thought of in months. How was he? I would give anything to hear from him again - to see him again. I don’t think we would need to speak; being next to each other again would be enough. ‘I wondered if he’s ever thought about me…’ I shifted to get comfortable. 

‘I’ll just rest my eyes’, 

I can remember what it was like before you left,

———

“- a job where they’ll let me practice what I please!”

My eyes shifted up from my plate to look at you — you’re practically ready to spring up on your feet, excitement evident on your face and in your voice, I smiled,

“That sounds perfect for you! When do you start?”

I saw the curl of your lips twitch and the corner of your eyes crinkle,

“Ah, in a couple of months — the beginning of spring — I begin a ‘test trial’ at this…establishment. Bah, there is just so much to prepare…” you trailed off and turned your gaze upon a suddenly interesting looking glass. I tilted my head a bit and raised my hand to catch your gaze again,

“I’ll help you pack or plan- whatever you need, I’ll do it with you!”

I smiled when I stumbled over my words, hoping that it did enough to distract you from seeing the sadness on my face or hear the hurt that I felt. I seemed to forget my woes for a moment when you smiled up at me again, 

“Thank you, my friend”

———

We began packing a couple days later — I came over early and we packed away the trinkets you couldn’t bear to part with and we laughed while boxing the ones to give away. I wonder if you still have them. Minutes turned to hours and morning turned to midday. I looked at the clock hanging on your wall: 4:37. We agreed that we’ve done enough for today and went to a diner a few blocks away. The meal was quiet, a few comments here and there, but you were quiet. I couldn’t help but wonder what you were feeling. ’Probably just tired from all the packing … or maybe he’s actually upset that I called that ceramic piece was ugly … maybe he’s just as sad that he has to leave-‘. I downed the rest of my water.

You drove me home, walked me to the door and said good night. You didn’t leave until I waved out my window.

———

I plopped down on one of the armchairs you were taking,

“I think it’s time for a break,”

A month passed and the majority of your things were packed and ready to be shipped off.

“I think we’re both stressed from all, this” I gestured to the boxes stacked around us. It’s been on my mind for a while, “Let’s visit some of your favorite places before you leave” I suggested “make some new memories to take with you.” You straighten your back and let out a sigh,

“I suppose you’re right about a break,” you massaged the bridge of your nose,“but what place did you have in mind?” you looked at my slumped over form,

“Anywhere.” 

“Anywhere?”

I sat up straight and watched you reminisce.

———

We went to the museums you promised you’d visit one day, walked through the gardens in the heart of Stuttgart, you got me drunk at your favorite bar, watched plays you never thought you’d see, and we sat in parks you had played at when you were younger. I listened as you rambled on about what changed and what stayed the same — I stood aside when you ran into an old classmate — when they introduced their wife and daughter to you, I smiled and looked away. 

———

Your departure inched closer and closer. I think you could sense my desperation, my fear — but you never said anything if you did. You promised to call or write to me when you had the time. You reassured me that you’d visit during holidays and would keep me in your thoughts all the time. You walked me to my door and waited for me to wave. But you didn’t say goodnight.

Just a couple more weeks until you leave.

You spent a week with your family. 

Just about a week left until you leave.

You came home exhausted.

Just a few more days until you leave.

“Did you get to see and do everything on your list?”

We sat on a park bench, the cool winter air sent a shiver down my spine. I turned to look at you, a bittersweet smile adorned your lips paired with a wistful look clouded your eyes — I wondered what you were feeling, maybe for too long; your mouth moved but I couldn’t hear you, as you grabbed my hands and led me back to your car. We drove, and we parked, then you finally turned to me and spoke,

“We’re here,” voice low and soft, I peered out my window and saw my porch, my door, my house…

You opened the car door and led me up the steps, my gloved fingers fumbled with my keys, I finally managed to find the right key and push the door open. We’re greeted by Archimedes’ enthusiastic chirps.

“I think they’ll miss you the most,” I giggled, walking over and opening the cage. The white dove happily hopped onto my finger and made its way up on my shoulder,

You let out a soft chuckled as he flew to your shoulder instead, “Do you really think so?” you asked while petting his side.

“They were always very fond of you…” arms crossed, head slightly tilted. I smiled “Take him with you.”

Your eyes quickly found mine across the room, staring at me; a confused, worried look flashed across your face.

“What are you talking about?” it seemed like Archimedes was looking at me the same way you did,

“Please, take him. He always liked you better,” I teased, pacing a bit “besides, it’s the least I can give you as a — a going away gift.” I tried to smile, my voice cracked and I wish you didn’t hear it.

You sent me a bittersweet smile from where you stood,

“My friend, will you miss me?” you asked as if you were waiting your whole life to get it out. I let out a sob. Of course I will.

———

That night, you drove. Parked. Led me up the steps. You walked inside with me. You didn’t wait for me to stand by my window and wave, so, I cried. I cried and you held onto me and spoke in hushed tones and made promises I wish you had kept. You stayed the night because this time you’d be saying goodbye instead of goodnight. 

———

My mind was blank but racing at the same time. Archimedes’ made no noise in his cage — I promised I’d see him off, so I called a taxi and drove to the train station. The ride was brief but gave me time to think: I wanted to apologize for that night; how awful I must’ve made him feel. I paid the fare and waited for you to arrive.

You pulled up in a similar taxi and I helped you with your luggage. I gently put the dove on a bench and we stood there watching trains that weren’t yours rush by.

Everything that I wanted to say couldn’t wait any longer but there will never be a perfect moment to tell. I will never be brave enough. I’m grateful it’s winter; to excuse my shaking shoulders and hands; grateful that the trains blew my hair every which way to cover my warming face; grateful that the cold, nipping air stopped oncoming tears.

“Why didn’t you tell me,”

I glanced up at you, you were watching as people trickled out of the train,

“I don’t know what you’re talking about-” 

“That you were going to miss me — that you were this upset,” you cut me off.

I gaped but closed my mouth. How selfish of me to try admit that I’d miss my one friend here.

“I’m sorry,” I shook and mumbled out in the cold air “I’m sorry for getting so worked up that night. I just — I’ll miss you I didn’t want to say it because…” I don’t think you could hear me or cared. I bit my lip.

How selfish would I be if I said I loved him so much I felt like I was being torn apart?

“Do not miss me.”

My eyes snapped up, this time you were looking at me, a smile in your eyes,

“You make it sound like I’m dying!” you laughed, a real laugh. “I will always be a phone call away, my friend, remember that,” and your smile widened as you put a gloved hand on my shoulder. I let out a choked sob and you held me.

I wish I had said I loved you, that you had leaned in so I could meet you half way. But how could I confess when I knew this was your dream? That I was the reason you got held back-, I cut my thoughts off when your train arrived; I shifted my weight. I passed Archimedes over to you with care — I suppose it was a foolish dream of mine to be with you. This time I waited until you were inside. You stood by the window and you smiled and waved. I finally said goodbye.

———

I wake up with a sudden jolt. I look around and ran a hand down my face

‘I dozed off… I must’ve been exhausted.’ 

After a couple more stops, a ‘ding’ signified I’m at my stop and brought me out of my sleepy daze. I quickly gathered my belongings and trudged out the train station. I checked my watch for the time; 9:17am, ‘hopefully I make it in time’. I take a taxi to another nearby town, some place that seems more desolate, more… rustic I suppose. ‘They should be here any second now.’ I look around at the stores nearby, when something bumped into my shoulder. I jumped, throwing my hands up and taking a few steps back; white feathers clouded half of my vision. I gingerly put a pair of fingers under its feet and turned to face it, hoping it doesn’t attack again. The bird - dove - begins crooning, pecking at my hair, 

“Archimedes?” ”Archimedes!” a distant yell overlapped my voice, other voices followed but were drowned out by the approaching man’s voice,

“There you are Archimedes! You shouldn’t fly off like that!” he scolds, “Ah haa, so sorry about-” his sheepish smile drops as he makes eye contact with me,

“Ludwig…?” I let out a surprised laugh, “Wha-“

“Schatz, what are you doing here?!” He takes a step back and quickly looks at me, he shifts around a bit, unsure what to say, “Why - How —“

I couldn’t help but stare. How long has it been since I’ve seen him? His hair is greying much more than before, his cheeks sunken in a bit more, the worry creases on his brow deepened, but he - he’s stayed the same. What about me? I must look like a mess - freshly woken up after a who knows how long train ride, my hair unbrushed and —

“Lay, you’re crying,” his accented voice gently pulled me away from my thoughts; I haven’t heard my name used so tenderly in years. I didn’t realized that he had slightly bent down to look at me. My tears ran freely. I let him wipe them away and took in a deep breath. I let my forehead rest against his cheek, while he held my hand in his, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. He gently nuzzled his cheek against my hair and placed a kiss on the crown of my head; letting out a soft laugh that shook his chest when slid my hand over his shoulder to the back of his neck. He finally leaned in and I met him half way. I closed my eyes and I can remember what it was like before you left.

[robinmagik]

Not A Minute Wasted (Part Three)

A/N: Uhhhhh enjoy! Also wtf @ DC @ Tom King??? pls enough is enough my heart is breaking like when I saw Asra cry in The Arcana Game??? Oh yeah and there’s two parts of part three bc it’s too long to just post the whole thing like that so i divided it

Recap: “That’s not…please stop crying, L/n.” He didn’t know what to do.“Excuse me.” She sniffles. “W-we’ll continue this conversation…I just gotta…go.” Tim was going to greet her but she passes by quickly. He turns to glare at Damian who was confused himself.“What did you do?”“Nothing, Drake. Excuse me.” Tim is left alone in the kitchen with an empty cup in his hand. “What in the hell?”

PART ONE  PART TWO  FINAL 

Like a child, Y/n hides in the green house near the rose bushes, and sobs. How truly horrible she is. Maybe Damian’s right. Breaking up with Bruce is best but then again Damian doesn’t like Y/n one bit so who is she to listen to a child who is crazy smarter than her. It was weird though, despite his dislike towards her, she sees him as her own. But she would never tell that to Bruce. 

Damian found her but he didn’t know what to tell her, what to say, or how to comfort her. Times like this was when Dick was needed. He was best with words and emotions. Such a hassle. Damian sighs. What would Grayson do? He left and then came back five minutes later. He gave her a tart. Children and women like sweet things so this should calm her down. 

“I-I did not mean to make you…cry, L/n.”

“No. No. It’s not you, papito.” She chuckles. “I woke up feeling sad is all. But I suppose you’re right, your father’s well-being is important and breaking up is better.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, L/n!” He says sharply. “I was simply going to suggest for you and him to take a vacation. I read somewhere that vacations help couples relax more and therefore get along better.”

She begins to cry even more. 

“What did I say now?!” He frowns. Emotions are troublesome. How can someone who is not a baby cry so much?!

“You’re so sweet, Damian!” She cries. “Don’t you hate me?”

“Please, L/n, I don’t have time for that. I dislike you, that’s all.” He hands her a handkerchief.

“Why?” She dries her tears. “Is it ‘cause I’m not your mom?”

He narrows his eyes at her before looking away. He began to pace back and forth with his hands behind his back. 

“I do prefer my mother, Talia Al Ghul, to be with my father but that simply cannot be because…it’s complicated.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“You apologize too much and for no reason at all.”

“What the hell else am I supposed to say?”

“Nothing.” Damian simply shrugs. 

Y/n giggles. “You’re the cutest boy, y’know?”

“I’m not cute.” He pouts cutely.

“No, you’re right. You’re handsome.”

He smiles a bit. 

“Well, vacation for both of us is…well…not going to be easy. Why don’t we start smaller?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Getting along for once?”

Damian looks offended by the idea but then nodded. “Fine. If that helps father then I am willing to get along with you.”

“Whoo, boy. You sacrifice so much.” She said sarcastically. 

“Now, eat your tart before Alfred finds us. I’ll get in trouble if I spoiled your lunch.”

Y/n giggles. The tart was the sweetest thing she had that morning and will ever have. She had a feeling that Damian’s thoughtfulness made it sweeter than it should’ve been. She savored every piece and moment with that boy. They even began to like each other after pretended to do so in front of Bruce. There was no more pretending. 

When Y/n stayed away from the manor because she was simply to tired to come over, he’d stop by during his patrol and stay for a while until he had to go. Sometimes he’d stay until the next day for her pancakes and scrambled eggs with tomatoes and scallions. It was different from Alfred’s cooking obviously, but he liked her food. 

One day, while he was eating the eggs, he over heard her talking to a friend over the phone. 

“Aw lucky! I can’t believe you got to pet a llama! I’ve always wanted one. They’re so cute!” She laughs. “Send me the pictures, okay? Okay, I love you. Besos. Ciao.”

“Who was that?”

“My girlfriend from college. Her class went to the Andes Mountains and got to meet some llamas.”

“Oh. When do you plan on going back to college?”

“Honestly, next year.” She took his plate and placed it in the dishwasher. “I’ll get a bachelors degree in engineering or linguistics. Or both. I got the time.” She shrugs. 

“I have knowledge in both majors. Whatever you choose I can always help.”

“Thank you God because you and I both know I’m not as smart but smart enough…y’know?” She laughs. “Anyway, you gotta get going. I have to leave for work and you have to sleep. You’ve been up all night, nene, you gotta sleep.”

“I can perfectly take a nap here, L/n.”

“Uh, no. Go home, besides I’ll pop up after work.” 

“If you insist.” 

As promised she went by to the manor only to find something out of place. 

“Is that a llama?” Y/n looks behind Bruce to see a white llama grazing on the grass. 

“Yes. Yes, it is.” He sighs. “Damian stole one from a zoo.”

“Pft, of course he did. You guys have Bat-cow and now Bat-llama. That’s just so cute. Is Ace Bat-dog too? Do-does he go on missions with you guys? Huh? Huh?” She couldn’t contain her giggles.

Bruce grunts one of his many grunts of displeasure yet he couldn’t help but crack a tiny smile as Y/n giggles. 

“Y-you gotta get a bat-bird…oh my god, a bat-bat!” She squeals, now laughing. “A bat-bat! Oh, I’m gonna cry!”

“You’re enjoying this a little bit too much.”

“Bruce, honey, please!” She laughs. Then she gasps in sudden realization. She slaps his very flexed bicep. “Where’s batboy?! You guys have Batgirls but no Batboy! Robin?! That doesn’t even make sense! I’m gonna have a fucking stroke! Hahahahahaha!” 

“Batboy was one of the names considered and so was Tonto—“

“Tonto?!” She shrieks of laughter. “Batman y Tonto! Ohhhhh gooooood! B-Bruce yo-you’re killing me! Y-you’re killing your cute girlfriend!”

“Cute?” He chuckles. 

His arms were crossed across his chest as she held on to his arm, bent over laughing with tears running down her face. He knew the llama had something to do with Y/n and it did when she fawned over the llama and Damian stood proudly. Sadly, the llama had to go back but not before they named him; Batboy The First. She held onto Damian as Batboy was shipped off. At least they could go visit him at the Gotham Zoo. This wasn’t the first or last adventure or trouble those two gotten themselves into. 

No one could believe it though. It’s been a year that Bruce and Y/n were together. They were the couple of the century, with how beautiful and wild she was and how he chased after in the tabloids. But it wasn’t really like that. They just put a show for the people of Gotham. 

She got terribly worried when he came back one night half dead and half alive. She wanted to cry but she couldn’t. She was too scared of loosing him and crying meant that she lost him. Anyone would’ve seen that as the last straw but no, not Y/n. This was what she signed up for. Dating Bruce Wayne meant dating the whole package. 

Y/n was part of the family even though she didn’t fight crime or did anything except cheer them on and just be there for the hard times. Dick, Barbara and Y/n always had mini dates whenever he was in town or just the two of them whenever he wasn’t. Jason would teach her about cars and guns and then they’d go shopping for some good books to read, or just hang out and do nothing. And Y/n loved Tim and she loved listening to his rants about whatever case he was on. It helped him hear himself and open up a bit because just like all of them, he overworked himself. Then there was Stephanie whom she adored so much. She loved how determined and strong-willed she was and how she took on the world. Cassandra was curious about Y/n and they quietly got along, she made Y/n laugh a lot and she even taught her how to kick ass just in case because this is Gotham after all. And Duke, she loved their nightly conversations. He was a good listener and so was she when it was his turn. 

There was something missing though. Y/n looks at Bruce who was talking to Lucius Fox. She could listen to him for hours and never get bored. Yet, she didn’t know why she felt this way. 

“I bought you this dress.” He says. “I saw it and I thought of you.”

She gasps. “Oh my God! Babe! This is gorgeous!” She was giddy. She took it out of the box and went to try it on. When she came out she lit up the room. “I love it!”

It was yellow, fitted dress with a beautiful trail and a slit on the right. The dress made her curves pop out even more. She looked amazing. It even glittered under the right type of lighting. She was truly the highlight of the evening. Bruce Wayne had the most beautiful woman on his arm. She was incredibly happy. Then she met Selina Kyle. 

A/N: Honestly??? Selina could murder me and I’d thank her???

[sea-lilli]

I’ve got some negativity to spew. I don’t feel it’s a lot, like last time, but it’s something I’ve been keeping in. My boyfriend and his daughter. I love him, probably. I’ve been waiting until all my parts are on board with saying it. One of the things holding back has been his daughter tho. I feel like if I said “I love you” to him, I’d have to also love her. And you know what, she is legitimately growing on me. I genuinely care for her. I appreciate how wild she is now, when it used to stress me out. She’s like my little buddy now. So parts of me do love her. Mostly all of my parts like her and some like her a lot. Idk about love yet.

The other day Jeremiah and I had a fight, a big one in terms of impact, but small in terms of fight management / relationship. Jeremiah wasn’t feeling well from his surgery, and so he was cranky. He was going off on a rant to me about how I am with Ramona. He said she will manipulate me, and doesn’t need to be coddled. Said that I was coddling her and teaching her to be sad when she wasn’t even necessarily sad to begin with. That she could get over her sadness.

So I took it in, and wasn’t going to say anything, but then something inside of me (Big?) was like, no! Speak your truth. It’s your responsibility and he needs to know now how you feel. Plus, Jeremiah had started, I think, to realize what a shitty thing that was, tho he didn’t get why, bc he started softening the rant. So I educated. I was so pissed I educated him on mental health and ended up telling him that Ramona could not express her feelings to him, because any time she gives him an emotion other than “happy,” he tells her she is faking it. I said it to be kind, because I really don’t think he saw it. But I said it mostly, because I was feeling frustrated he didn’t see it for himself. And I was frustrated that he is so much older, but still less emotionally intelligent than I am. But I was also angry at myself, because I know that’s a judgmental way to look at it- he didn’t have to go through the years of therapy I needed to.

He denied it very quickly, but I could tell it hurt him (in a good way) and made him think. And I think he’s made a change. He’s been.. kinder to her. He talked to me about how his parents treated him as a kid with his emotions and said that’s why he followed that path with her. Has made comments about knowing he needs to be careful about what he says to her when he’s in pain, because he’s cranky.

Anyway, that’s all resolved now. Our relationship is good. But then today. Ramona is sleeping over two nights in a row. So she will be here tonight, tmr and a little bit of Sunday morning.

I’m in a position at work where I’ve finally mostly adapted - but it’s still hard work. Even when my shifts are easy, it’s still stressful because it’s working with kids, and I’m not all the way comfortable with them yet. I don’t have much experience with them, because I spent my 20s (I can say things like that now) completely avoiding the shit out of them, other than a spare few. Anyway, I’m requesting a week where I can have two days off, but my supervisor is saying it will not be until next weeks schedule.

I’m worn out. I go to work, the kids need me. Specifically, Kiara needs me. She’s living in this potential DCS home mirroring what I went through as a kid. I see her multiple times a week. I’m the main support. I have to schedule massive self care to be able to support her. The parents need me to help them be better parents. My sister needs me. Ophelia needs me. My friends need me. My boyfriend has had major surgery and needs me. And Ramona needs me, hard, because I’ve been meeting needs of hers that her dad hasn’t been able to meet because of his surgery.

I just need some time alone where someone doesn’t need me. Where I can just take care of myself. *I* need me. And it was an incredibly difficult thing to do, to show up for myself first, because I ~do~ want to spend time with Ramona, and I do want to help Jeremiah, but I also… love me. I choose me first, always. I can’t pour from an empty cup. And my cup is 3/4 filled up but it’s still missing 1/4. I need my cup to be overflowing, if so many people need me. I can’t operate at a high level and be there for people in the way I want to be, if my own cup isn’t flowing.

There’s a part of me that doesn’t like Jeremiah. That says he just wants me there to basically babysit Ramona… to take off some of his responsibility. Because I can make Ramona just completely ignore him, she is so engaged with me. He can do whatever he wants to do and have freedom. He gets the benefits of having a kid, but not the hard parts if I’m taking the lead.

Which I also get. I would be the same way too. But also, I’m not a babysitter. I’m not the one who decided to have a kid. I listened to what people were saying about having kids and I steered clear. Also? It takes a shit ton of energy to take the lead always with her. Because i don’t have experience. Also, she just doesn’t… stop. It’s not my role to be a parent to her, or the favorite one at that.

I end up feeling resentful sometimes about the amount of energy I’m giving her. Especially now that I have to support all these kids, all the time. I feel like I need to ration my energy. It’s hard to keep up on my self care. And then I feel guilty about feeling resentful. For one, Jeremiah does it all the time. But also- he’s the one who had the kid, not me. I also feel the teensiest bit resentful because I’m not the main focus of Jeremiah when Ramona is around. It’s just the teensiest bit tho. But things change when she is around. I don’t get cuddled, touched, etc. We are like friends. Which is fine, but I miss that part of our relationship when she’s around. I also like that it’s almost like dating two different people in one. ❤️

Also, I made this choice, because, and I know this isn’t super healthy to hold onto stuff like this, and maybe an indicator it’s not all the way resolved, but the last time we had an argument, Jeremiah criticized the shit out of the way I interact with Ramona. He was judgy and mean, and tried to force me to conform to the type of parent he is. Which is a good type, but the stuff with emotions is not good. Also, my way is valid too, and I have never pushed that onto him (until pushed, and even then, just pointed out a flaw in his logic). I guess what I’m saying is that it wasn’t very fair, either. I also felt like he wanted me to throw away all of my years of therapy / emotional education, because of his opinions. He tried to put a lot onto me.

He’d also done it before, when we made pink sparkly unicorn cupcakes. I let Ramona dump the whole container of sprinkles onto the cupcakes, and he was angry. He’d walked away and let me deal with her by myself, instead of participating. So I guess a part of me was getting even with him for that, but a bigger part was like.. well? I bought them FOR her. They brought so much joy to do the sprinkles, and for so little money. Who else was ever gonna let her do sprinkles like that? She deserved sprinkle cupcakes. It was the best day ever with her. I’ve had fun with her before, but it’s always been stressful. This was JUST fun. I took a photo of them to save, because it was so great. It makes me smile each time I see it.

Anyway, on the way back from her mom’s house, Jeremiah was lecturing me and giving me all these rules about sugar etc. Started telling me to not undermine him, or break rules with her (she has specific sugar rules). He said because of the cupcake incident, that he could see me just feeding her sugar and being like “it’s okay! Just eat all the sugar!” .. which is totally not even related, and also not very fair. I always respect rules. He didn’t set any rules before he left me alone with her, so it was my rules. And I decided it wasn’t a big deal. He also said Ramona was manipulating me, because she knew her sugar rules, and that I didn’t know them. But she didn’t manipulate me. It was a conscience choice for me to allow her to do the sprinkle cupcakes. I will always remember it, and she probably will too.

So yah. That’s why I chose to not come back over tmr. I have to take care of me. + the feelings with him about that fight / him saying that stuff about me as a parent role.. without actually saying I would be in that role. Sometimes also I feel like he looks at me and sees a walking uterus. I know that’s also part projection tho. But it does bother me. I’m not a mom. I’m not a potential mom. I’m good with kids, but I don’t want them for me, and if Jeremiah didn’t have one, I probably wouldn’t have any more in my life than necessary.

He also made it very weird for me with Ramona now. Because I know he is judging me and thinking I’m too soft, gonna be manipulated by a seven year old.. etc. I just don’t wanna deal. It’s too much on top of others. I’m sorry Ramona has to feel the impacts, but also, 🤷🏼‍♀️. I need to value myself above others. Also, I feel that Jeremiah needs to reappreciate how much I help with her.

I feel guilty for saying that too. Bc he has been doing so much better since we had that fight. He’s been more taking the lead and more involved, less cranky, etc. I can see him being a good dad. But also, it’s the bare minimum to treat your kid okay (low bar for him to cross bc male). And I still have these feelings. I think it really hurt me when he was expecting all that from me and that maybe it was a boundary violation, but I didn’t realize until later that my boundaries had been crossed. Or that I crossed my own boundaries. But I’m not sure.

[allaboutfoodgwu]

Cheers to my final post on beer

Beer is a product that not only has a long history, but has also passed the test of time in remaining a popular drink. It can be traced back to over 9,000 years ago from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt (Xu p. 12). In 2017, an academic article hinted at the possibility of beer having been made in the late 3rd millennium BC in what they previously thought to be just wine making (Valamoti p. 611). This hunch is a result of finding “archaeobotanical remains of sprouted cereal grains as well as cereal fragments” at the Bronze Age sites of Argissa and Archondiko on mainland Greece (Valamoti p. 611).

Currently, beer is the most popular alcoholic drink within the United States (Xu p. 11).

Beer is primarily made from barley, hops, sugar, water, wheat, starch, and yeast to create a fermented low-alcohol drink (Xu p. 11). I think the inventors of beer would be proud to know that the drink is such a popular item today. Although beer was invented thousands of years ago, it was not mass produced until several hundred years ago when monasteries and pubs in Europe began to produce and sell their own beer to the public (Xu p. 12). In 1620, the Mayflower brought European-style beer to the United States (Xu p. 12). However, Native Americans were also already producing beer from maize (Xu p. 12). Thus, it is incredible to think that beer was being produced in many different areas throughout the world by people on their own accord (Xu p. 12).

What is special about a product like beer is that it is often part of many special events: an individual’s first legal sip of alcohol, a “cheers” between friends and family, or even an ice cold beverage on a summer holiday.

The research assignment we were given requires us to visit five food stores in Washington, DC to perform optical research on an item of our choice. I chose beer because it is a social beverage and I enjoy drinking it. Having grown up with a Cuban mother and a Dutch father, I have so many memories that have involved family and beer. When visiting Europe, it was legal to drink alcohol at the age of sixteen and my parents allowed us to do this at meals with them. Also, we were offered wine or beer with our family meals at home in Atlanta.

To create a structure for my five grocery store visits, I decided to stick to the Northwest region of Washington, D.C. First, I visited the Whole Foods Market in Foggy Bottom, located within The George Washington University’s campus. This store never seems to rest, I would love to know how much money this specific store takes in on a daily basis. It is open seven days a week from 7am to 11pm. Second, I went to the Trader Joe’s near Washington Circle. Third, I ventured into Georgetown to experience what has been coined the “social” Safeway. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, it was far from social. I was one of the very few people in the store. Fourth, I simply crossed the street from the entrance of my dorm to see what beer was on offer at FoBoGro in Foggy Bottom. Foggy Bottom Grocery, situated in a picturesque townhouse, is clearly marketed towards the college students of GWU. Last, I walked about five minutes from my dorm to visit The Market at Columbia Plaza, also located in Foggy Bottom. Although this market is so close to me, I never even knew it existed due to its placement within a larger plaza hidden from street view.

Across the board, the location of the beer in all five stores was towards either the very back of the store or one of the far-back corners. Interior architects and designers of grocery stores know that beer is an item that one meaningfully comes to purchase. It is not typically one of the products that while perusing the grocery aisles, you pick up because it catches your eye.

Therefore, by placing the beer at the back of the store, shoppers have to walk through the rest of the store to get to it. This positioning is intended to make them purchase other items during their visit. An assumption could also be that since beer is a popular item, many shoppers are willing to walk toward the back of the store to get it. Another reason could be that since beer is quite bulky and heavy, it is placed towards the back where customers will end up at the end of their shopping trip. Therefore, they do not have to carry beer around while looking for other items.

The only store with more than one permanent section for beer was Whole Foods. This store is split into two levels, the basement is for grocery shopping and the entrance floor is for ready-made meals, coffee, and flowers. As a result, they have a large beer section in the basement with larger packs of beer. On the entrance floor right by the shoppers who have to wait in line to check-out, individual beer bottles and six-packs are stacked within easy grabbing distance. I often find myself looking at the different varieties of beer when standing in line and have bought one due to interest. This area seems to easily tempt shoppers who are forced to wait to pay.

Both Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s had separate temporary beer setups. Whole Foods cleverly capitalized on the timing of the Super Bowl LIII by having a setup specifically of items that customers would for the game. This included 12-packs and 6-packs of Heineken, Stella Artois, Corona, and Brut which are all typical brands to have at watch parties since they are reasonably cheap to buy in bulk and are liked by many people. Moreover, bottle openers, hangover medicine, and nuts were a few of the items within the beer stacks. This was clearly an attempt of upselling by Whole Foods. Trader Joe’s also cleverly had a separate temporary beer setup right by the snack section of the store. An entire end cap was devoted to Tijuana’s Mexican Lager, chunky salsa, and salsa verde. This was clearly here to spark creativity in shoppers’ minds on what items you can pair with each other.

What I really came to notice throughout this project was the difference a well-kept and visually pleasing beer section makes to a browsing customer. It is hard to say which of the five stores had the best representation, but I did appreciate the attempts made at particular stores for creativity. As already mentioned, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s did a fantastic job in their temporary beer setups. Another creative tactic that I saw was being able to create your own six-pack; Trader Joe’s and Safeway both had this option for shoppers. By doing this, not only do they spark creativity in their shoppers, but they improve their chances of selling more beer in the future by letting them taste test multiple different brands for the cost of a typical six-pack. Safeway definitely had their creative juices flowing since they also had suggested food pairings to go with their differing beer sections. My favorite pairing suggestion was Pale Ales and burgers, cream based sauces/soups, cheddar cheese, and carrot cake.

As for beer selection, I would have to say that hands-down Safeway was the winner and a total game changer for anyone wanting to browse a huge selection of beer. At first, I saw an end cap with beer that had a blow-up Spiderman staring down at me from the top of the shelf. Then as I turned down the larger aisle, I could not believe the vast amount of beer that was being offered. The aisle seemed endless and one entire half of it was dedicated to beer. I did appreciate the huge walk-in fridges at both FoBoGro and The Market at Columbia Plaza. These were inventive ways to display a large amount of beer in buildings with limited space. Due to these additions, they were able to house large amounts of 24-packs of beer, which would have otherwise been very difficult.

The pricing of beer at the locations varied. Safeway was very reasonably priced, especially with the 12-pack and 6-packs they had on offer. For example, a 6-pack of Heineken was being sold for $9.99. It should also be noted that The Market at Columbia Plaza also had the same price for a 6-pack of Heineken. Since I visited Whole Foods during the week following the Superbowl, they had 6-packs of Heineken on offer in their temporary display at $9.49. However, from buying beer at Whole Foods on multiple occasions, I can say that overall their offerings are quite pricey. This is especially true when you try some of their local IPA brands, a 4-pack of Freak of Nature IPA was $14.99. At Trader Joe’s a 6-pack of Peroni, which is comparable to Heineken was $8.49, which is reasonable. I have no idea what the prices of FoBoGro’s beer is exactly due to the lack of price tags, but I remember buying a six-pack of Heineken there once and vowing to never do that again.

In an article titled, “The embourgeoisement of beer: Changing practices of ‘Real Ale’ consumption,” the author states that “beer consumption has become subjected to upward social mobility in becoming more complex and refined, meaning that it now functions more readily as a marker of social status” (Thurnell-Read p. 539). This project has made me more aware of the high cost of locally brewed beers, especially ones with flashy marketing. In Whole Foods Market, for example, you can easily pick up a six-pack of beer for close to $20. Johnston explains how one of Whole Foods’ key business strategies is to offer consumers as many options as possible (p. 250). However, I noticed that this accessibility to such a varied amount of beer does not come at a cheap price.

What was clear when visiting shops in the Foggy Bottom and Georgetown areas of Northwest DC was the emphasis on “frat beer” and craft beer. Although these two are quite the opposite, “frat beer” is cheap and large in quantity while craft beer is expensive and focuses on quality over quantity, they are both popular in this area. I believe the prevalence of “frat beer” is because of the college campuses of Georgetown University and The George Washington University. I think the popularity of craft beer in this area is due largely to the middle and upper class individuals living in the Northwest DC area. This part of DC is predominantly made up of wealthy individuals due to the high living cost.

In “The Craft Beer Revolution: An International Perspective” by Garagvalia and Swinnen, they discuss how craft brewers and their customers have brought about an end to a “century of consolidation that resulted in the domination of a few global multinationals and the homogenization of beer” (p. 1). The American Brewers Association defines a craft brewery as “small, independent, and traditional” (Garagvalia & Swinnen, p. 1). Small refers to the annual production of less than 6 million barrels, independent refers to the ownership as being mainly craft brewers rather than large alcohol industry members, and traditional refers to the production of the beer (Garagvalia & Swinnen, p. 1).

Therefore, craft beer is completely opposite to “frat beer.” This beer comes in huge bulk sizes, the bigger the better. It is typically not of great quality, think of Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, and Natural Light. “Frat beer” can easily be found in 24-packs and is cheap in comparison to craft beer. Both The Market at Columbia Plaza and FoBoGro, located near and on campus respectively, had walk-in-fridges that housed 24-packs of “frat beer.”

Overall, there are fantastic choices for beer at supermarkets in Northwest DC. Another exciting development in the Northwest area is the amount of local breweries that are popping up. These make great places to visit for a happy hour or on the weekend with friends. I also could not finish this series of blog posts without mentioning my favorite beer hangout, Sauf Haus at 1216 18th Street NW. Not only do they sell a plethora of local and foreign beers, they specialize in German beers which are ever so delicious. You can try multiple beers in one go by ordering a flight. If you’re feeling a little hungry, make sure to also order a Bavarian pretzel. At this time of year, Sauf Haus has the entire roof open which is great during sunny weather.

In the spirit of keeping tradition alive, I have picked my three favorite brand names across the five stores: Lieutenant Dank (Whole Foods), Sour Monkey (FoBoGro), and Hoptical Illusion (The Market at Columbia Plaza).

          -- Alina Brenninkmeijer

References

Garagvalia, C., & Swinnen, J. (2017). The Craft Beer Revolution: An International Perspective. Agriculture & Applied Economics Association, 32(3), 1-8. Retrieved April 27, 2019.

Johnston, J. (2007). The Citizen-consumer Hybrid: Ideological Tensions and the Case of Whole Foods Market. Theory and Society, 37(3), 229-270. Retrieved April 15, 2019.

Thurnell-Read, T. (2018). The Embourgeoisement of Beer: Changing Practices of ‘Real Ale’ Consumption. Journal of Consumer Culture, 18(4), 536-557. Retrieved April 18, 2019.

Valamoti, S.M. (2017). Brewing Beer in Wine Country? First Archaeobotanical Indications for Beer Making in Early and Middle Bronze Age Greece.” Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 27, 611-625. Retrieved April 19, 2019.

Xu, P. (2008). Beer. Journal of Agricultural & Food Information, 8(2), 11-23. Retrieved April 15, 2019.

[jess-oh]

Reflection

i had a pretty okay day. i woke up early this morning and finished my lab report, e-mailed my teacher, sprinted to an interview bc the DPC manager had to move up the time, forgot to retrieve my USB, went to ITM, made a group for our project and.... life’s going pretty okay. i just need to make sure to remember to call my granny!!! I think a part of me is overwhelmed just bc there’s so much to do but the other part is calm and collected and I’m kinda torn rn. I’m also trying to push myself to stay awake and be more proactive and stop procrastinating and at least get some of it out of the way. I totally forgot about my web design discussion questions and the reading for physics. I already wrote the intro for physics so if i don’t read, it’s not terrible but i def need to finish the discussion questions. and plus, it’s easy! and short! so i should just do it and get it out of the way! it is currently 12:50am and im worried that im going to regret staying up late tomorrow but man, i was so distracted earlier today. i was rewatching clips from DC animated movies and shows along with clips from Supergirl and the Flash. I’m so excited for my shows to return in October! I’m also wondering where that friendship line is with me and Andrew because I don’t want to cross it but at the same time, he’s a guy and i want to ask him things that only a guy would know? But idk if that’s too awkward or something you just gotta ease into or what. Hopefully we do get to that point where it’s not weird but if i’m gonna be honest, i think it always will be. just maybe less weird in the future. and hey, maybe it’s just about me being comfortable with him asking the female versions! I don’t think it’d be weird? but i guess i’ll never know until he actually asks? Jeanne asked me how I was doing yesterday and I was pretty honest. My grandma’s blood pressure still has me worried and yesterday was the day when Genie passed away. I can’t believe it’s already been a whole year. It makes me sad. 

I was also pretty frustrated at John Cunningham yesterday because he kept bitching about the teacher and how he doesn’t understand anything and how it’s all her fault and used his anxiety as an excuse and the fact that he had to go out and buy ink for his printer and felt it wasn’t his job to do so. i pointed out that he shares and uses the printer so it is and it’ll just be upon the next person to buy it the next time. and he was just upset that he went to CVS and they didnt have it so then he had to go to Target. That is only. Two places. And he didn’t even call and check? He was acting so spoiled! And I did feel bad because Andrew sat next to me and we were having a ball while John found another seat and yes, anxiety sucks. But my dog had died that day and I was holding it together way better than he was. And yeah. his life is pretty shitty right now but he’s got to move forward and stop relying so heavily upon me. I want to branch out and network and he’s holding me back because he is constantly talking to me. All the time. Even when the teacher is talking. And I’ve gotten pretty good at shushing him when the teacher is about to say something important but I still feel rude doing it. But it is necessary so that I don’t get behind. But man, I was just so frustrated. I kind of want to tell him that I get that his current situation is not ideal but that is no reason to act all pessimistic and spoiled. It might offend him but I also think it’s something he should hear.