#because that's what I had

[adaines-furious-feast]

They were good kids

This post, but as a fic

None of the kids were in his class. Jace had no idea how they ended up in his classroom so often, but he wasn’t going to kick them out. This was a safe space. It was rare that he had to ask any of them to settle down. He knew some kids thought he was a pushover and maybe he was, but all Jace asked was that they keep the volume down so any other students could also use the space. 

But mostly they sat in the beanbag corner, Ruben watching over Mary Ann’s shoulder as she played some game, Oisin with his nose deep in his spellbook and Ivy doodling. He was a little worried about Lucy. She seemed very… sad. He thought it might have something to do with her divinity and he’d been meaning to speak to Yolanda about it, but he’d never gotten round to it. 

And Kipperlilly… Well, she was definitely driven.

They were good kids.

Jace didn’t know when exactly he’d started noticing a difference. It was sometime early in their sophomore year. They seemed more stressed, more tired. Jace would go into his classroom in the morning to find them already there, huddled around and whispering conspiratorially. On more than one occasion, he’d walked in on an argument which quickly dissipated as soon as he entered.

A few weeks before spring break, he walked into something so fierce they didn’t notice someone else was in the room.

Kipperlilly was standing on her chair, angry tears in her eyes. Lucy sat next to her, rubbing soothing circles into her back and preparing to stop her if she launched herself at Ivy.

“He’s a weirdo, Kipperlilly,” Ivy said. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“He is helping us,” Kipperlilly argued. “We are a great adventuring party and if we were just given the same opportunities as the Bad Kids then-”

Ivy, Oisin and Ruben groaned.

“Why would we want the same opportunities as them?” Ivy asked.

“They spent most of last year in prison,” Ruben pointed out.

“They killed my grandma’s boy toy,” Oisin said.

“Because we’re better than them!” Kipperlilly cried. “I’m a better rogue than Riz goddamn Gukgak. Lucy’s a better cleric than Kristen Applebees. Fig Faeth doesn’t even go to class.”

“I don’t think it’s a competition, Kip,” Lucy said gently.

“But it is!” They’re getting opportunities we should be getting. And Porter is helping us get what we deserve.”

The hairs on Jace’s arms stood on end. Porter Cliffbreaker. He’d seen Porter talking with Lucy and Kipperlilly in the corridor a few times. He’d never thought much of it. Kipperlilly always looked excited. Lucy was a little less comfortable but Lucy often looked uncomfortable in her own skin. Jace wouldn’t be surprised to hear he was the person behind the arguments. The gods knew he caused enough of them in the staff room.

“I don’t want opportunities. I have enough to study,” Oisin said.

“Why even come to this school then?” Kipperlilly snapped. “You’re ruining things for the rest of us.”

Mary Ann looked up from her Crystal Boy, spotting Jace in the doorway. “Hi Jace.”

The rest of the High 5 Heroes span around. Lucy looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Ruben, Ivy and Oisin looked nervous too but Kipperlilly was just angry. No, raging.

“Hi guys. Everything alright?” Jace said, trying to sound as if he hadn’t been listening.

Lucy looked like she was about to speak when the bell rang for the first period. Oisin vanished in a magical flash. Kipperlilly disappeared by non-magical means. The rest of the group tried to rush out, but Jace caught Lucy before she could go.

“Yolanda will understand,” Jace said. “Lucy, is there something wrong.”

Lucy looked down at the floor, trying to make herself smaller than she was. “It’s nothing. Kip’s just upset. We’re good.”

“Upset about Porter.”

“Not Porter, the others.”

“Lucy, is Porter making you guys do things?” Jace asked. He thought back to last year, when Kalvaxus had used students - one of his students - for his own goals. He didn’t know how he’d missed it before, but he was not going to let it happen again.

“He’s not… making us,” Lucy said, obviously choosing his words carefully. “He’s just encouraging us. But he gets really upset when we don’t do what he suggests. Kip thinks he’s helping. Maybe he’s trying. I don’t know.”

Jace nodded. Sure. Helping.

“Lucy, you know you can tell me anything.”

“I know Jace,” Lucy said with a sad smile.

“Ok,” Jace tried not to look as panicked as he felt. He didn’t want to stress the poor kid out even more. “I am going to talk to Porter. He shouldn’t be putting this much pressure on you guys. He might not even know he’s doing it. We’ll get this sorted out, ok?”

“You don’t need to,” Lucy tried.

“But do you want me to?” Jace asked.

Lucy didn’t reply, still looking down at her shoes. 

“This is my job, it’s not a problem,” Jace said. “Someone’s got to look out for you kids, and the gods know it’s not going to be Arthur Aguefort.”

Lucy gave a small laugh. “Ok, thank you. I should get going.”

She left, heading in the direction of the cleric department. Jace leaned against the door, mentally preparing himself for the conversation he was going to have to have. They were good kids. He was going to sort this out.

[tanjir0se]

Disclaimer these are just a small sampling of some possible writer traits I’ve noticed either in myself or in fics I read. Also consider a rb for sample size !

[ardri-na-bpiteog]

Also increasingly aware that a LOT of people "manage" getting through the 40+ hour work week by sleeping less than is healthy and relying on stimulants like coffee and energy drinks to keep them going.

For people who are unwilling or unable to do this...work really does just dominate your life. Like we really should not have to rely on unhealthy practices just to have a social life or keep on top of housework or whatever.

I know I post about this a lot but I'm so TIRED all the time and it's just so depressing that this is how we're expected to spend the one life we have.

[seren-dipitous-art]

I’ve been obsessed with the Olympics for the past week, and obsessed with Dick Grayson for longer, so here’s the crossover we all deserve.

Plus, gorgeous sweaty acrobat in gymnastics poses? Only positives.

[eggwishing]

I ONCE TRIED TO WASH THAT SCUFFED OLD THING WHILE HE WAS TAKING ONE OF HIS NAPS, BUT WHEN I TOOK IT OFF HE WAS WEARING ANOTHER IDENTICAL ONE UNDERNEATH! AND ANOTHER! I GOT THROUGH TEN MORE LAYERS OF THE SAME THING BEFORE HE WOKE UP. I WAS SO FRUSTRATED! WHERE DID HE EVEN GET THOSE FROM? THEY ALL EVEN HAD THE SAME STAINS!!

[artkaninchenbau]

A h-heartfelt reunion..?

Bonus

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

Of the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept 11 attacks:

15 were from Saudi Arabia (a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

2 were from the United Arab Emirates (also a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

1 was from Egypt, 1 from Lebanon.

None of the hijackers were from Iraq.

None of the Sept 11 hijackers were Iraqi.

None of the 9/11 hijackers were from Iraq.

[notbecauseofvictories]

I don't know how strictly accurate this is, but one of the things I find shocking about watching historical dramas is how many people there are around all the time---according to Madame de... (1953) a well-off French household in the Belle Epoque maintains a workforce of at least 3, and the glittering opera has staff just to open doors. According to Shogun (2024) you can expect a deep bench just to mind your household, and again, people who exist to open doors.

Could people....not open doors in the past? Were doors tricky, before the standardization of hinges? Because otherwise, the wealthy used to pay a whole bunch of people to do it for them in multiple contexts, and I find myself baffled.

[incredubious]

MODERN AU ACESAN !!!! first impressions with a guy who barely passes the No Shoes No Shirt No Service rule

[brainrotcharacters]

the easy grip on the knife. the leg over the seat. the hand over the other seat. the sassy "come get it" move. you know the bitch is smiling behind that mask even as he said the line.

[pokimoko]

Asexual bird? Please

How about two asexual birds?

[akanemnon]

THAT'S A LOTTA DAMAGE (emotional damage that is)

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[puppyeared]

renaissance dogys

characters belong to @canisalbus

[egophiliac]

crossing my fingers and wishing upon every star that chapter 10 finally brings us the tweel cards 🤞🤞

[inkskinned]

the thing is that they're so fascinated by sex, they love sex, they can't imagine a world without sex - they need sex to sell things, they need sex to be part of their personality, they need sex to prove their power - but they hate sex. they are disgusted by it.

sex is the only thing that holds their attention, and it is also the thing that can never be discussed directly.

you can't tell a child the normal names for parts of their body, that's sexual in nature, because the body isn't a body, it's a vessel of sex. it doesn't matter that it's been proven in studies (over and over) that kids need to know the names of their genitals; that they internalize sexual shame at a very young age and know it's 'dirty' to have a body; that it overwhelmingly protects children for them to have the correct words to communicate with. what matters is that they're sexual organs. what matters is that it freaks them out to think about kids having body parts - which only exist in the context of sex.

it's gross to talk about a period or how to check for cancer in a testicle or breast. that is nasty, illicit. there will be no pain meds for harsh medical procedures, just because they feature a cervix.

but they will put out an ad of you scantily-clad. you will sell their cars for them, because you have abs, a body. you will drip sex. you will ooze it, like a goo. like you were put on this planet to secrete wealth into their open palms.

they will hit you with that same palm. it will be disgusting that you like leather or leashes, but they will put their movie characters in leather and latex. it will be wrong of you to want sexual freedom, but they will mark their success in the number of people they bed.

they will crow that it's inappropriate for children so there will be no lessons on how to properly apply a condom, even to teens. it's teaching them the wrong things. no lessons on the diversity of sexual organ growth, none on how to obtain consent properly, none on how to recognize when you feel unsafe in your body. if you are a teenager, you have probably already been sexualized at some point in your life. you will have seen someone also-your-age who is splashed across a tv screen or a magazine or married to someone three times your age. you will watch people pull their hair into pigtails so they look like you. so that they can be sexy because of youth. one of the most common pornography searches involves newly-18 young women. girls. the words "barely legal," a hiss of glass sand over your skin.

barely legal. there are bills in place that will not allow people to feel safe in their own bodies. there are people working so hard to punish any person for having sex in a way that isn't god-fearing and submissive. heteronormative. the sex has to be at their feet, on your knees, your eyes wet. when was the first time you saw another person crying in pornography and thought - okay but for real. she looks super unhappy. later, when you are unhappy, you will close your eyes and ignore the feeling and act the role you have been taught to keep playing. they will punish the sex workers, remove the places they can practice their trade safely. they will then make casual jokes about how they sexually harass their nanny.

and they love sex but they hate that you're having sex. you need to have their ornamental, perfunctory, dispassionate sex. so you can't kiss your girlfriend in the bible belt because it is gross to have sex with someone of the same gender. so you can't get your tubes tied in new england because you might change your mind. so you can't admit you were sexually assaulted because real men don't get hurt, you should be grateful. you cannot handle your own body, you cannot handle the risks involved, let other people decide that for you. you aren't ready yet.

but they need you to have sex because you need to have kids. at 15, you are old enough to parent. you are not old enough to hear the word fuck too many times on television.

they are horrified by sex and they never stop talking about it, thinking about it, making everything unnecessarily preverted. the saying - a thief thinks everyone steals. they stand up at their podiums and they look out at the crowd and they sign a bill into place that makes sexwork even more unsafe and they stand up and smile and sign a bill that makes gender-affirming care illegal and they get up and they shrug their shoulders and write don't say gay and they get up, and they make the world about sex, but this horrible, plastic vision of it that they have. this wretched, emotionless thing that holds so much weight it's staggering. they put their whole spine behind it and they push and they say it's normal!

this horrible world they live in. disgusted and also obsessed.