#but I can also have episodes that last for weeks or months where I only leave the house to teach

[exopelagic]

I am baking cake at midnight and it is going to kill me <3

[writingwithfolklore]

How to Hold Yourself Accountable as a Professional Writer

              Okay maybe you’re not self-employed or professional yet and writing definitely isn’t bringing in the big bucks, but you’d like it to some day, and you’re working right now on making that a reality. This post is for you, because the best time to practice getting into a healthy writing habit and holding yourself accountable to writing for that future where it’s your full time gig is now—before it’s essential to do so.

1. It will never be easy

It’s easy to think that maintaining a schedule or habit for writing would be easy if only it was your full-time gig and all you needed to do. While it might be easier than trying to cram in writing between classes or jobs, it will never be easy. You’re always going to have multiple things going on, there’s always going to be something you could be or need to be doing other than writing. Developing good habits right now, when it is really hard, is going to set you up far better than just waiting for it to get easy before you fully commit to it.

2. Set a schedule that actually works for you

I did a whole post on making a writing schedule you can actually manage and maintain here:

But the TL;DR is that in order to keep to a schedule, you have to make sure it’s attainable. Fit when you write around your other life schedule. For example, if you’re really not a morning person, planning on waking up at 5am every morning to write for a couple hours is probably not something you’ll be able to maintain. But setting aside an hour before bed may be more manageable for you.

3. Form a habit

To train your brain to make your writing schedule a habit you’ll actually stick to, you should make it into a routine. Similar to how you have a bedtime routine that sets you up to feel sleepy at night, a routine that sets you up for writing will make it harder to turn away from your manuscript, and help inspire a productive writing block.

              You can create a writing playlist with songs that inspire your project you listen to whenever you begin writing, make a tea or other drink to sip on while you write, grab a snack, share your schedule with a writing buddy and write together, put together a document of inspiring quotes, photos, or other muses you can read, or really anything that gets you into the writing mood. By following this routine every time you set up to write, you’ll train your brain to get into a mindset that will make it easier to stick to your writing block.

4. Reward yourself

Brains love doing things for a reward. Maybe after a productive writing block you can spend some time doing something else you love, like watching an episode of your favourite show, lighting a candle, taking a bath, or having a glass of wine, I don’t know, anything that would give your brain the happy juice in response to your good work.

5. Set deadlines and goals

Writing consistently is basically the majority of the battle. I don’t typically worry about word count, but I do know that it can be helpful for others to set wordcount goals and deadlines to ensure productivity. If that sounds like you, make sure your goals are actionable while also being attainable. “Finish novel” isn’t a great goal, but “write 2000 words per week for three months” could be helpful if you know that 2000 words is attainable for you.

              Same as before, you can also set rewards for when you reach your goals. I have a big tattoo upcoming if I complete my goal for the year.

              The last tip I have for this point is to try to find an accountabili-buddy to hold you to your goals and deadlines if you think that would be helpful for you. As a professional writer, you may be held accountable by an editor or agent, so practicing through asking a buddy to help you set deadlines and deliverables will help prepare you for writing towards a date.

The TL;DR is find out what works for you and practice doing it consistently! Anything else I missed?

[luminalunii97]

saying F U to the regime again and again: a quick update on women vs IR regime

Famous Iranian actresses have been appearing in public without a mandatory hijab. This has been happening since the beginning of the protests. Last month, Kiumars Pourahmad, a well known Iranian screenwriter and director, committed suicide. He had a history of criticizing the regime's political decisions. At his funeral, some of the famous actresses attended without mandatory hijab.

You can see Fateme Motamedarya, Katayoun Riyahi, and Golab Adineh in these pictures from the funeral. Ms. Riyahi was one of the first celebrities who took her hijab off at the start of the Jina (Mahsa) Amini protest and for that she's been the target of IRGC harassment and has been to court.

Last week, in the ceremony of screening of the final episode of Lion's Skin (a persian crime show), actress Pantea Bahram participated without hijab. The manager of Tehran’s Lotus Cinema, where the ceremony was held, was fired for letting her attend without hijab.

Other than prosecution, the regime has blocked these celebrities' bank accounts. Basij and IRGC members have also attacked and harassed these women online and in real life.

Students on university campuses take off their hijabs. There's an installed version of morality police in universities that monitor students' styles. Female students must wear "appropriate" hijab and male students must wear "manly" clothes (one of my guy friends once was asked to go back home and change his shoes because they were red casual loafers. Apparently that's gay!). When you enroll in Iranian universities, the first thing you do is to go to the security office and sign an agreement that says you promise to follow the Islamic dress code. There are posters all over the campus that says things like "hijab is security" "respect the islamic hijab" and "not wearing appropriate hijab (tight short clothes, too much hair, makeup, etc) would result in legal action". So not wearing hijab on campus, where a lot of security cameras are installed and it's easy to identify you, is a big deal.

The regime's response to students taking off their hijabs is sending threatening messages to students' phones and increasing the security people. At the entrance of Universities, these security forces check people's clothes and if it's not proper they won't let you in. Some of the students wear the hijab at the entrance and take it off after they're in. They have warned our professors to not let non hijabi students sit in classes too.

One of my favorite trends in Iran now is when guys wear our hijab. These pictures are from universities. Guys wearing hijab make the security mad. This is a great act of solidarity with women against the obligatory hijab.

Some men have been doing either this or wearing shorts in public. The former is to ridicule the obligatory dress code and the latter is because wearing shorts in public is forbidden for guys too.

And women not wearing hijab in general. Though hijab is not our only issue, we want a whole new political system, one that is not theocratic or terroristic, hijab is something the regime won't back down from because it's one of their strongest oppressing tools. If they let us win the fight against obligatory hijab, I quote from a regime head, "people keep demanding more changes"!

So to put people against people to enforce the hijab law again, the regime has closed down many businesses (hotels, cafes, malls, bookstores, etc) for welcoming non hijabi female costumers. They have also warned taxi and bus drivers to not let non hijabi women in their vehicles.

Although not everyone is disobeying the hijab law (some believe in hijab, some don't want to pay the price), the number of women who take the risk and don't wear hijab in Tehran and many other cities is high enough that you feel encouraged to keep doing it.

[strangebiology]

John Oliver just did an episode on body donation, which was very well-reported as usual.

It cites some older news including this amazing series on body brokers by Reuters. Some thoughts on anonymity being an issue:

It is shocking that there is no regulation on what it means to donate your body to "science," although, I'm not sure exactly who can say what that definition is or should be. Also, plenty of people would be happy to have their bodies used in a museum, but you CAN'T, because body donations are shuffled around and anonymized. We wouldn't have any issue with consent if we let people who WANT to be on display be on display.

When I read The Red Market, an amazing book about the trade in human body parts, it really highlighted the issues with mandated anonymity. WHY does a deceased heart, kidney, or blood donor need to be anonymous? That policy has led to horrific abuse of donors all over the world (egregious examples are given in China and India), living and dead, and the recipients have no idea because of that mandate. Mandated anonymity is a shield against regulation, public understanding, and accountability.

I wonder if people believe in anonymizing things because they think that makes the death not real. I've noticed people selling all sorts of human and animal remains with no description as to where they came from, and no one asks, and no one complains. I understand; sometimes some information is lost to time, or a business owner maybe can't take the time to verify the exact origins of things. Fine.

But take for example all these human fetuses for sale on Facebook. I'm not here to argue about that, although it's odd, and I understand both sides of the controversy regarding selling them. When I saw those posts, no one bats an eye.

Then when someone offered to sell her own aborted fetus (context: this person went in for an abortion but was told the fetus was dead anyway) people freaked out. In the same group where they're buying the fetuses of strangers. So...it's only ok to sell body parts when the person whose body it came from did not consent? That's our standard?

The same goes for animal body parts. "Hey, buy these dead rats!" Fine and dandy. "Buy these dead rats! Here is some context about their lives and/or deaths--" Disgusting! How dare you! Those were living things!

Death is disgusting and horrifying and I'm NOT saying that everyone has to think about it all the time or look at dead bodies or even understand it. What I am saying is that when we complain about transparency and enact policies that make it impossible to actually understand who these body parts are coming from, or to track them, that breeds an industry where abuse of consent is hard to avoid.

Lastly, the end of the Last Week Tonight show showed what happens when you let donors be known. It's beautiful.

[themoonsbeloved]

I still need help

Its now the 8th of January and despite being told by my friend who spoke with her boss 3 weeks ago during their meeting that he was to hire me in the beginning of January and would reach out to me, he hasn't. I'm hoping somehow, eventually, when this man finally bothers to, he will contact me for a job offer since he reassured me back in november that he still intends to hire me. But since I have no idea when that will be, that means I'm left hanging completely.

long story short I am mentally ill and disabled who was dismissed from my last and only job that I struggled 2 years to get, only to be fired in 2 months in June because of my chronic fatigue and abusive managers. I rely a lot on my henna but bookings are not consistent enough to make regular income, and majority of the money ends up going to contributing to house bills for my family.

My therapy picks up again this week, very honestly been the only thing keeping me from harming myself at this point with how painful life has been and I want to be able to continue getting it low cost (£25 per session), my therapist is so amazing and we recently came to the understanding that I have complex-PTSD, and plan to look into it more this year. I'm too mentally ill to try and look for jobs right now and am basically doing 3 jobs already (one being joint caring duties with family members for my grandparents since I live with them, which I'm not paid for obviously) with inconsistent money coming in/sessional work that I will be paid for once completed further into the year.

I have so many other costs that are coming in the near future, like paying for more medication, and for more lazer hair removal sessions for my severe hirsutism, which usually is around £300 if I'm lucky to catch offers. This is another I thing I mentally can't afford to stop doing, struggling with severe hirsutism and the trauma of it all my life means its important I can feel and live somewhat comfortably in my body. Lazer hair isn't permanent and I'm looking into electrolysis, but again, I don't have that money yet and would prefer to not leave a huge gap where I don't do lazer and the mental torture of watching my body hair grow back. I also haven't gotten my eyes checked in over 3 years, and know I will need a change in perscription and need new glasses. I hate nothing more than what its come to. I'm just exhausted and burnt out from the constant anxiety and depressive episodes, I'm barely eating or sleeping, I'm sick of everything and everyone and I just wish god would give me a break.

With all of the above in mind I'm aiming for about £600. This is all basically to help me just function and continue getting the things that help me not succumb to my mental health issues. If anything, my birthday's coming up in feb so I would appreciate it if folks gave some money if they have the means to. Anything is fine at this point.

Thank you so much

https://paypal.me/iffiia?country.x=GB&locale.x=en_GB

£0/£600

[mcelroyfamilystaff]

It's MaxFunDrive! If you're already a MaxFun Member, all of this year's Bonus Content should be in your feed already - this year's TAZ BoCo is a one shot of Plato's Rave, with all three boys GMing while Clint is the only PC, and it is ART. The MBMBaM BoCo is a recording of the boys trying to figure out how to run that game, and it's so, so fun - honestly you could listen to either one first and I think it would work well, but imo listening to them plot how they think things will go first is a very fun way to go about it.

Sawbones has another Kid's Q&A this year, with Charlie guest-hosting along Syd and answering questions from young listeners, Shmanners has an episode and video all about emojis, and Wonderful! has a one-off return to Rose Buddies! If you're not a member yet and you wanna listen to all this great stuff, head on over to MaximumFun.org/Join and sign up at $5 or more a month! You'll get access to not just this year's Bonus Content, but all of the Bonus Content from every show, from every year we've done the Drive. There's a TAZ episode DM'ed by Matt Mercer, the Charlieverse episodes, the Prankee Doodle Dandy episode of MBMBaM, truly an abundance of s-tier goofs await!

Also we have so much other stuff planned for the Drive! We're gonna be streaming more or less daily on YouTube, starting with Griffin doing a Fuser DJ stream today at 10am ET, and then Justin and Sydnee streaming watching a buckwild Netflix movie, I Believe in Santa, around 1pm ET.

On top of all of that, we've set our own bonus goals for the Drive, starting with this: At 3,000 new & upgrading members, Fungalore will hear your wishes LIVE. What does that mean? That's such a good question. Only one way to find out! If you wanna see the rest of our goals, you can check 'em out here. If you want to stay up to date on everything we have going on this week, turn on notifications for our Instagram story, that's where we'll be posting all the time-sensitive stuff.

Last but not least, thank you. Truly, from the bottom of all of our hearts. Whether you can afford to join or not, y'all's support is the reason we all get to do this for a living, and it genuinely is a joy to get to spend our days making these goofy things in hopes of bringing a little levity to someone's day. Means the absolute fuckin' world to us. We hope you have an absolute blast during this Drive, you deserve it.

[hatekawa]

Okay this idea regarding the Three Months Au has been floating around in my head for a solid two days now and I NEED to spill it out so. uh. here's my alternative ending for your au (so I guess i made an AU for your AU????) gonna keep it anonymous so I don't out myself as completely cringe LMAO

--okay, so. there's this episode of Doctor Who, right? it's called "A Christmas Carol", and a lot of weird shit happens, but one of the big plot points is this woman called Abigail. Abigail has a terminal illness, and was basically put into some kind of cryogenic chamber, which keeps her alive indefinitely-- but only as a frozen body. She's basically asleep while she's inside. She can leave whenever someone lets her out-- something the boy who loves her does, every single Christmas, so he can spend a day with her once a year--but the countdown to her death only stops ticking when she's asleep and immobile inside the cryo chamber. Eventually, her countdown gets down to one day left to live. And the boy leaves her in there for years. Until he's old and close to death himself, he never lets her out for fear of having to watch her live out her final day.

OK. CONTEXT PROVIDED. STAY WITH ME BRO.

--same situation, but with 3 months Mikey. Draxum and Donnie build something that does manage to "halt" the effects of Mikey's mystics on his body-- but it's something like the cryo chamber, where it only works when he's completely frozen and asleep inside. Mikey's 3-month-long prognosis is still intact (probably a bit shortened by the time the machine is built), but they manage to extend it by keeping him in that stasis chamber until Draxum and Donnie can find a true cure. For special occasions, like birthdays or holidays or really big fights, maybe they'll let him out-- but the countdown is still always in the background.

and, uh. maybe they don't find a cure.

days and months and years of trying, and they never find an actual cure. the only thing they have is whatever original invention Donnie and Draxum made to put Mikey into stasis-- and that countdown gets shorter every time they let him out. soon, it gets down to some miniscule time frame-- two weeks left, maybe. then a week. then five days. then three.

Donnie stops taking Mikey out of stasis.

he tells himself that he can still find a cure, or some way to reverse the effects. Mikey no longer leaves the stasis chamber to celebrate birthdays or Christmas. raph and leo and donnie and april all become adults. splinter or draxum die of old age. april probably gets married. huge universe-ending battles are fought and won. the world keeps turning and shit.

--and mikey sees none of it. asleep in the back of donnie's lab, while his brother spends decades trying to cure him; too scared of watching mikey live out his last day to take him out of stasis.

even as his family lives, and ages, and probably eventually dies-- mikey stays frozen in time. dying, but never dead. forever fifteen years old.

wouldn't that be kinda fucked up? :D

I have never watched Doctor Who so thank you for providing me context also OH MY GOD. YEAH, THAT WOULD BE FUCKED UP.

I just- Okay. I couldn't resist making a fanart of your idea

[genericpuff]

What is daily pass?

Daily Pass is where completed webtoons go to die go to be a part of a separate currency system. Essentially, you get one "daily pass" per day to use on any completed DP series. This unlocks an episode for 14 days, after which the episode will lock again. This also means if you use your own daily pass, that's it, you can't use it on any other series that day and you have to wait until tomorrow to get another one.

If you want to read more episodes and don't want to wait until tomorrow, you can spend your coins to FastPass the next episode. That 14 day limit does not apply here, once you use your coins to FP it you have permanent access to the episodes for as long as the series is available. This ALSO applies to any series that you've FastPassed before that become DailyPass. So for example, I read most of S2 of Lore Olympus through the FastPass system, so when it goes behind DailyPass, I won't have to wait for the Daily Pass ticket or pay again to read them. That said, I didn't FastPass S1 until about the last half of it back when those episodes were first releasing, so for the first half of the series, I either have to stick out the once-a-day ticket system or fork over the coins for the FastPass.

While it is a good way to monetize series after they're completed, especially for the creators who get a cut of the FP earnings, from the reader side it's truly the water drip torture method of reading webcomics. Most of us aren't satisfied only reading one episode a day, especially when it comes to series with shorter episodes (which LO had back in the day, it didn't used to always have 70+ panel episodes), and WT is counting on that in the hopes people will FastPass to shortcut the waiting process (especially because only getting to read one episode per day really does turn reading webcomics from an exhilarating binge into a daily chore.)

Lore Olympus will likely be going behind this Daily Pass paywall in the comic weeks, most series that are completed are put in Daily Pass within a couple weeks to a month after being completed. There's a person in the /r/webtoons sub who tracks the Daily Pass timelines and notifies people ahead of time, so if I hear of when LO is going behind the DP system, I'll let y'all know.

In the meantime though, if you've been planning on reading through all of LO from start to finish without having to pay for FP, now's the time. It's only gonna become a pain to do again as soon as it gets put behind DP.

[inkandarsenic]

I had a dream last night that could have been a fic and I’m disappointed that it wasn’t.

It was Buck and Eddie like after the last episode after Eddie was like “this changes nothing between us” and at first, everything was fine and normal but then it became very apparent after like six months that something very much had changed between them, like Buck was still dating Tommy and Eddie was still dating Marisol and in the field they were as in sync as ever but then everywhere else there was this weird distance between them? Like they were still best friends but like fundamentally they were Buck and Eddie instead of BuckandEddie like they used to be and everyone else in the 118+ could see it and they couldn’t

And then suddenly they could see it, because Buck was at Eddie’s and something happened and he needed to change his shirt but he realized that for the first time in years, probably since Eddie got shot, Buck didn’t have anything of his at the Diaz house. A couple weeks later, Eddie was telling the 118 a story about Chris and Buck had no idea what’s going on in the story and they (Buck and Eddie) were talking about it and they realize that it’s been a while since Buck picked Chris up from school or just like had a day that was just the two of them. And then there was some gathering at Eddie’s house instead of Bobby and Athena’s, and Buck makes cookies at his loft and brings them and Maddie points it out, and Buck has a mini crisis as he realizes abruptly that he is a guest in Eddie’s house and he was looking around and the couch was new (Marisol had convinced Eddie to buy a new one) and he hadn’t even realized.

And then Eddie and Marisol and Buck and Tommy were going on a double date at Olive Garden of all places but Marisol couldn’t make it, so it was just Buck and Eddie and Tommy and it was awkward and Tommy was like “look i haven’t known you guys as long as everyone else around you but even I can tell that there is something not right here and you need to talk it out and fix it because you’re both not the same with your lives being almost completely separate, it’s like not natural for you two.”

And they start talking except it kinda devolves into grocery store fight 2.0, about Buck not being there for Chris and not being around except this time it’s kinda on both of them and it’s really no one’s fault but it’s kinda both their faults. And this argument makes its way into their work life where they’re just not as in sync in the field.

And then something happened on a call (unclear what) that wasn’t really anyone’s fault but Buck blamed himself and the current issues he’s having with Eddie, and asked Bobby to be put on B-Shift for awhile and it was just super awkward in the firehouse and Bobby was talking to Eddie and was like “I don’t know what’s going on but whatever it is you need to fix it” and Eddie was like “I dont know what’s going on either, Buck and I just aren’t the same since he started dating Tommy” and Bobby was like “maybe you need to evaluate that because that’s something that only seems to be affecting you.”

And then like a week later, Eddie and Marisol broke up, and Marisol was all “it’s because of Buck isn’t it, you love him more than me.” And Eddie did not work through that, he just went to Buck’s despite still sort of being in a fight and they got drunk on Buck’s couch and Eddie kissed Buck just kinda out of the blue and then was like “fuck I didn’t mean to do that” and left.

Buck told Tommy immediately the next time he saw him (because he learned his lesson from Taylor) and Tommy was pretty cool about it but he was also like “hey maybe you should think about that because you don’t actually seem all that upset by the fact that Eddie kissed you just that he kissed you while you’re dating me and I feel like that says something” because Tommy is a real one.

After like two weeks wherein Eddie goes to great lengths to avoid Buck outside of calls despite being on the same shift again, and Buck talking through it in therapy and with Maddie, Buck breaks up with Tommy (who again is very chill about all of it and is like “we can all still be friends just give me a little space for a while”) and then he drove to the Diaz house and Eddie saw him pulling up and met him outside and it was raining so they really should have gone inside but I digress. And Eddie was like “Buck it’s like midnight what are you doing here” and Buck was all “i broke up with Tommy because you kissed me” and Eddie was like “fuck I’m sorry I didn’t mean to do that I never meant to get in between you two” and is just sort of spiraling and Buck can’t get a word in so instead Buck kisses Eddie and Eddie is just like “Oh. So you aren’t mad.” And Buck laughed and was all “No I’m not mad I’m in love with you”

And then my neighbor’s kid started screaming and woke me up so I didn’t even get to see the ending and I’m kinda mad about it because I wanna see how everyone else reacted to all of this

[miracleonice87]

new heights, new news, new baby

part of the kissing kelce universe

a/n: I've come to the conclusion that I will never be organized enough to make this a well-planned, thought-out, sequential series, so I've decided I'm just gonna post things hella outta order and then reorganize them into a chronological masterlist. deal? deal. 🤝 enjoy more daddy-to-be trav and, introducing, supportive uncle jason. takes place the day travis leaves for chiefs training camp.

warnings: mention of pregnancy / babies, mention of anxiety / sadness / loneliness, plenty of crying both happy and sad teras, swearing, I think that's it

word count: ~4,400+

___

July 22, 2023

“Now, before we get into our training camp preview and talk about some expectations for the season, Travis, you had a little something you wanted to say to the good folks at home?” Jason prompted, teeing up his brother on this week’s New Heights episode – the last they’d record before they both left for their respective camps. 

Travis nodded, his blue eyes sparkling. “A little something, indeed, my brother,” he teased. “We have an announcement today, y’all! Alright nah!”

“Some new news, one might say!” Jason added, referencing the beloved segment of their podcast. 

“NEW NEWS!” Travis shouted excitedly. “Yo, can I get a drumroll please?”

Jason immediately started rolling his tongue, pretending like he had drumsticks in his hand. Travis continued, speaking over the sound. 

“This is like, the biggest announcement of my whole entire life. There were points where I never thought I’d be sharing news like this. It’s so crazy that I even get to do this right now. Gah dang. But, uh, anyway, I know we joke around here a lot, but this is a big one, folks, and I-”

Jason interrupted his brother’s emotional rambling, as well as his own sound effects. “Get to the point, please, my mouth is getting tired!” Jason picked his drumroll back up seamlessly as Travis giggled like a schoolboy. 

“Alright, y’all… here we go,” Travis said, rubbing his hands together mischievously. “Mrs. Kelce, would you please come over here, sweetness?” he requested, his voice syrupy smooth as he extended a hand, inviting you into the camera shot. 

Instead of crouching to put your face into frame as you normally would for your occasional brief pop-ins to the podcast, you stood next to Travis’s chair so that only your middle was showing, your stance perpendicular to the camera so the now-round profile of your belly was clearly visible. Jason gasped as if he hadn’t already known the news for months. You rested a hand on the top of your stomach, making it unmistakable what you and Travis were announcing, and he reached his own hand out to palm your bump, which at this point he could still easily do thanks to his impossibly big hands.

He held your free hand in his, beaming up at you, then looked back to the camera. 

“We’re havin’ a baby, y’all!” he shouted, before letting out a “wooooo-eee!”

On the other end of the Zoom, Jason was clapping and whooping excitedly, matching his brother’s energy. 

Travis then patted his lap, inviting you to sit down to, one, get you off your feet and, two, make it so your face was also visible in frame. 

“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for, folks!” you heard Jason boom theatrically as you put on the AirPods Max that Travis had set aside for you ahead of the recording. “Wyatt and Elliotte have been asking every day since they found out what a ‘cousin’ was when they were gonna get one, asking why Uncle Travvy and Auntie don’t have babies like me and mommy, telling them they can take Bennett home with them if they wanted…”

Travis cackled, throwing his head back. “That is a true statement,” he said as he held your hips firmly. 

“1000%, can confirm,” you added, wrapping your own hands around your husband’s. He squeezed your fingers a few times, and you threw him an adoring smile over your shoulder as his brother continued. 

“And we all know Mama Kelce has been hoping for this for years now. So this is obviously something the whole extended Kelce family has been anticipating for a long time, and it’s finally here, and we couldn’t be happier for you guys,” Jason said, tone more serious now. 

“Aww, thank you, my brother,” Travis said fondly, pressing a reverent kiss to your shoulder. 

“Yeah, thank you, Jase, so much. We’re so excited to finally give the girls a cousin!” you said. 

“Now, tell us how this happened,” Jason began. 

Travis cleared his throat. “Well, you see, Jason, when two people love each other very much-”

The older brother rolled his eyes and interrupted. 

“You know what I mean!” he insisted. “Just tell the people however much you wanna tell ‘em.” 

Travis looked to you as if silently asking for permission, and you simply gestured toward the camera. 

“Go ahead, Trav,” you said, a jesting tone to your voice. “I know it’s something you’re very proud of, so please share with the class.”

With that, Travis turned back toward the camera and waggled his eyebrows, getting as close to the mic as possible. 

“Well, folks… we made us a Super Bowl baby,” he said dramatically before letting out his signature cackle. You simply deadpanned to the camera, Jim Halpert-style, and shrugged.

Jason nodded emphatically. “You suuure did,” he said with a knowing laugh. “You knew I was having a kid right after the Super Bowl and you wanted to jump on the train.” 

You and Travis exchanged a devilish glance.

“Yeah, something like that,” you joked, knowing that jumping on Jason and Kylie’s train by conceiving a baby mere days before she gave birth to their third was certainly not your original plan. “I mean, what better Super Bowl souvenir could you ask for than a baby?!” you said wryly, causing Travis to look into the camera haughtily. 

“A Lombardi, a ring, and a kid,” he said, counting off on his fingers. “Alright nah,” he repeated, far too pleased with himself. 

“That’s awesome,” Jason said, still smiling. “Now, how are you feeling? I know it was a tough road there at first.” 

You nodded, and you felt Travis’s hold on your waist tighten protectively, maybe even subconsciously. “Yeah, I was pretty sick there for a few months, couldn’t get ‘out of the house’ a whole lot, much to this podcast’s dismay, but thankfully, that mostly passed when my first trimester ended,” you explained. “We don’t wanna necessarily share our exact due date, but I’ll say I’m well into my second trimester now and I’m feeling good. I’ve gotten to enjoy not only just the relief of feeling better but also the excitement of sharing this with friends and family – obviously, Mama and Papa Kelce, you and Kylie, all my family, and we just started telling the team, too, which has been really fun.” 

“Aww, that’s the best,” Jason remarked. “What was Big Red’s reaction?”

Travis piped up at the mention of his head coach. “Uh, to no one’s surprise, he looked me dead in the eye with the most serious fucking look on his face and said, ‘surprised it took ya this long, son,’” he revealed in his best Andy Reid voice, making you shake your head in amusement. 

“Yep, nope, does not surprise me one bit,” Jason said, giggling. “And what about your boy Mahomes?”

“Aw, man, Pat was so pumped up, and Brittany, too,” Travis replied. “Pat just started runnin’ laps around his kitchen yellin’ ‘let’s go! let’s fucking go!’ He ‘bout knocked me over!” 

“Yeah, those two have tagged us with babysitting duty on the regular for a couple years now, ever since Sterling was born, hoping that we would catch that baby fever and give her a playmate,” you added, laughing as you looked down at Travis. “I can’t say that’s necessarily what happened, but, um, either way, Sterling and Bronze will have another little team buddy to play with here soon which will be so fun to see. Brittany and Patrick have both been so great for both of us, just letting us know kind of what to expect, things that you might not learn in all the books or from your parents who did this a few decades ago. Especially with us all being on the same team, even just getting the lowdown on the logistical stuff, those two are just the best. They’re super excited for us which is just a really great feeling.” 

“No doubt – I’ve got a feeling this will bring you guys even closer,” Jason mused.

“Absolutely – already has,” Travis said. “So, yeah! That’s the big ‘New News’ for today, everybody. We’ve been keeping this on the DL for quite some time, and we just wanted to be able to share this ourselves in the way we choose, because obviously with camp starting tomorrow and the season just right around the corner, cameras might catch some footage of Mrs. Kelce visiting camp, in the stands, whatever, and we didn’t want people to be weird, so… y’all heard it here first!”

“Damn straight,” Jason asserted. “And just one more thing… I wanted to say, before our mom-to-be hops off here. I, uh… aw, fuck, I swore to Kylie I wasn’t gonna cry,” he said, sniffling as he fixed his eyes toward the ceiling, blinking repeatedly. 

“Aww, Jase!” you murmured as you watched him tear up. 

“I’m good, I’m good,” he assured, still sniffling as he continued. In the corner of the screen, you could see your husband beginning to well up, too, and you caressed his thigh soothingly as he sat in poignant silence. “I just wanted to say that when Travis told us the news, that was truly the happiest I have ever seen my brother – and this dude has been drafted to the NFL, he’s been a Pro Bowler, All-Pro, broken so many records, won two Super Bowls. But by far, the happiest and most excited I’ve ever seen this guy is telling us that you’re having a baby. And as his big brother, that just makes me so fuckin’ proud.” 

You and Travis were both pawing at fallen tears by now, and Travis could only manage a quiet “thank you.” You patted his knee and, after a deep breath, shared your own thoughts. 

“Thank you, Jase, and while we’re making each other cry–” both brothers chuckled at that, “–I’ll say that I know Travis is going to be the best dad, not only because of the incredible man and husband that already he is, and the way you both were raised by your own amazing parents, but also because of the example you have set for him, Jason, by being such an awesome dad to your three girls.” You paused and took a deep, shuddering breath, and Travis rubbed your back to calm you. Jason was nodding, tears streaking his face. “So thank you for that, and for all your love and support through everything, and Kylie’s, too. You guys are gonna be the greatest aunt and uncle this kid could ever ask for, and Travis and I can’t wait to watch that.” 

Travis let out a whistle, cheeks, nose, and eyes pink from crying. “Uh, I will never make it through this episode if I add anything more to that, so I will just say, here here, baby girl,” he offered with a laugh. “We love you, brother.” 

“I love you guys, too,” Jason said as he finally regained his composure. “Whew! Yeah, how the fuck are we supposed to keep recording after all that?! Can we just be done? I am emotionally exhausted. I need a nap.” 

As Travis giggled boyishly, you agreed, “I do, too, so I’m gonna leave you guys to it. Thanks for having me, guys; thanks for giving me a baby, Trav; and good luck at camp, Jase. We’ll talk soon.” 

Travis tapped the outside of your thigh pointedly, his frequent way of silently requesting a kiss. You grasped his chin to peck his lips as Jason thanked you and said a final goodbye. 

“Have a good nap, mama,” Travis cooed as you took off your headphones and returned them to their original spot. “Daddy’ll be up as soon as we’re done,” he added playfully.

You laughed and rolled your eyes, shoving his shoulder as you stood up and exited the frame. 

“Oh, Jesus, he’s already calling himself ‘Daddy,’” Jason complained with a weary sigh.

___

Normally, after wrapping an episode, Travis would bound up the stairs and infuse your home with all the leftover energy he had built up during the podcast recording with his brother. One of your favorite things about him co-hosting the podcast, in addition to loving the scheduled opportunity it created for him to connect with his brother, was how buoyant of a mood he was always in after a recording.

But today, the feeling that settled over your household when he wrapped the episode about an hour after your surprise guest appearance was much less chipper.

Today, Travis trudged upstairs to do the one thing he’d been dreading all summer – say his goodbyes to you before leaving for training camp. Though camp at Missouri Western State University was only about an hour from your home in the outskirts of Kansas City, he wouldn’t be home again for five days; instead, he’d be staying on campus with the team and bunking in a dorm. Normally, departing for camp and knowing he’d be spending days on end with his teammates focusing on making themselves better football players excited him, save for a hint of sadness about being away from you, but this particular camp, having to leave his five months pregnant wife at home, he was not looking forward to by any stretch of the imagination. 

When Travis pushed open the basement door, he found you lounging on the couch with your back to him, legs outstretched on the plush cushions as you cradled your bump, some version of the Housewives franchise playing on the TV in front of you. You tipped your head back onto the arm of the couch in order to see him and asked, “how’d it go?” 

He took advantage of your position to rest his thumbs on your cheekbones and give you an upside-down “Spider-Man kiss.” 

“Went great,” he answered curtly, a vastly different response than the pumped-up recap you normally received. “That was the easy part of today,” he added, gazing down at you with his brow furrowed. Even upside-down, he was struck by your captivating beauty, which only tightened the lump already forming in his throat. 

Did he really have to fucking do this?

You groaned, drowning in your own feelings of dread, and sat up, signaling the dogs at your feet to follow your lead. You reached out your hands in order to allow Travis to help you up from the couch and gave him your bravest face as he did so. 

“I’ll walk you out,” you said, feigning confidence. But the crack in your voice when you added “can’t have you showing up late” revealed the crack in your armor, and you watched Travis’s chin drop to his chest, his eyes fixed on his shoes as he forced himself to take one… step… at a time closer to the front door. 

One foot in front of the other, Travis.

You led the way, fluttering your eyelashes repeatedly in an attempt to keep the tears at bay. The dogs circled your feet as you attempted to walk out the front door, and Travis, fearing a fall, whistled and called them back into the house, patting both their heads as he passed.

When the two of you reached Travis’s Range Rover, already packed with all he needed for camp – duffels full of clothes and shoes, an array of video game consoles, deck of cards and set of pong balls for the inevitable team drinking games, and all his favorite snacks, along with a secret handwritten note you’d tucked into his toiletry kit in order to surprise him upon his unpacking – you stood a couple of feet apart, quiet, your husband shuffling his feet beneath him as you shifted your weight uncomfortably from side to side. You gazed up at him helplessly, a rigid, lips-only smile fixed on your face, and he took this moment for yet another reveal, sifting through his shorts pockets to find what he’d grabbed on the way out the door.

“I know this sucks, sweetness, but… I do have a surprise for you…” He dangled a set of keys in front of you which you noticed were not his. 

“New car?” you teased halfheartedly, recognizing the worn key fob to your Porsche after a moment. 

“Mm, not quite, we got a baby on the way, ya know? Gotta save that coin,” Travis teased right back. “I think it’s better than a new car.” 

You raised your eyebrows, staring at him expectantly. He let it marinate in your brain for a few more moments, finally breaking when you threw your arms around his waist, pressing your baby bump to his torso, and whined his name. He beamed. 

“Alright, alright, you know that’s gonna work every time now,” he admitted, giggling. He caressed your jaw with his knuckles and you noticed the glimmer in his eyes. “Listen, I know you’re sad because I’m leavin’, but you gotta get on the road, too… because you gotta go pick up your mama from the airport.” 

You gasped, covering your mouth with both hands. 

“Really?” you whispered after a stunned pause. 

“Really,” he confirmed, nodding. 

You’d only seen your mom once since finding out you were having a baby, and Travis had noticed that your pregnancy had you feeling more homesick than usual. Especially with so many of the Chiefs better halves, who would best understand this phase of your life, having scattered for the offseason, and with Travis’s own mom and sister-in-law living halfway across the country, he felt awful that you didn’t have your mom nearby during this exciting, but unsettling, time. Knowing, too, that you always struggled being apart from him in those first few days of training camp, he had preemptively arranged for his mother-in-law to arrive in Kansas City just as he departed for St. Joseph, hoping that that would alleviate at least some of your loneliness at this delicate time when you were already feeling unusually vulnerable. 

Travis melted when you threw your arms around him again, this time desperately, not jokingly. He rubbed your back, beaming when he heard you whimper, “thank you.”

“Of course, sweetness,” he replied warmly, burying a kiss in your hair. “Anything to keep baby mama happy.”

You giggled, resting your chin on his sternum and tipping your head up to look at him. 

“Yeah, you’re pretty good at that,” you praised, fondness thick in your tone as you rested a hand against his neck. “When does she land?” 

Travis glanced at his watch. “Just over an hour,” he informed you. “So don’t rush. You got plenty of time.” A proud smile slowly stretched across his face as he added, “I got a lot of fun stuff planned for y’all this week.”

Your eyebrows lifted, your excitement building by the minute, and Travis watched your face light up with each word as he continued. 

“You guys are gonna do a spa day tomorrow, got you a suite at the Royals game the next night, then you’re gonna come see me at camp, obviously, because I wanna see Mama, too. And then you’re gonna go run around and do your registry for your baby shower, because she knows all the stuff we’re gonna need, and weeee… do not,” he admitted, laughing. 

The corners of your mouth pulled down as your face contorted, eyes welling with tears, and Travis could see that you were overwhelmed with emotion, humming a laugh as he guided the side of your head to rest against his chest. 

“And that’s why I waited to tell you – because I knew you’d cry every other hour ‘til she got here,” he told you, only half joking, as he hugged you tight.

A giggle bubbled forth from your lips. “You were right, like always,” you said, voice tight, so appreciative of how well this man knew and cared for you. “You’re so thoughtful, Trav, thank you so much.” 

“I mean it when I say literally an-y-thing for you,” he repeated, emphasizing each syllable. “I love you so much,” he said as he pressed a kiss to your forehead. And after a deep sigh, he regretfully mumbled, “And now I gotta go.” 

You pushed away from him slowly, your left hand lingering on his broad chest as he looked down at you with what had to be the saddest expression you’d ever seen him wear. He gathered your hand in his and pressed a lengthy kiss to your wedding rings, then the skin around them. 

“Go be great,” you whispered, smoothing your other hand over his stubbly cheek.

Travis’s eyes closed and he drew a deep breath, committing the feeling of your touch to his memory. With a final squeeze of your fingers, he forced himself to back away and open his driver’s side door. 

As he climbed into the seat, he pointed at you and said firmly, “You and that baby stay safe while I’m gone, alright?” 

You nodded weakly, trailing a hand from the top of your bump to the underside. “We’ll do our best, Daddy,” you promised as he shut his door, the window rolled down. 

At that, Travis’s eyes filled with tears – he had known it was only a matter of time until it would hit him, leaving you for the first time for more than a day since you’d found out you were expecting. And seeing you, hand on your belly, standing in the driveway alone as he started his car and prepared to pull away for the better part of a week… yeah, that did it. 

He blew out a controlled breath through pursed lips, putting every ounce of his will into putting the car in drive and coasting toward the front gate to leave. 

He could see your lower lip quivering even from afar, and it sent a zing of anxiety through his entire being — though he’d never enjoyed saying goodbye, he’d never once felt anxious leaving you for camp. Until today.

“I love you, Mama,” he called out the window, inching slowly toward the gate. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

You nodded. “Okay,” came out in a croak. “I love you, too.” 

“Be good,” he forced out. 

You nodded again, but didn’t trust your voice to allow you to respond with words. You simply waved one last goodbye as he did the same, forcing a signature Travis Kelce smile and wink while simultaneously trying to keep his shit together in front of you.

But as he passed through the gate and down the drive, watching you shrink into the rearview mirror and finally disappear as he turned toward the freeway, his breath caught in his throat and he broke down, tears blurring his vision as he pressed ahead down the familiar route. For a minute or two, he simply let the sobs wrack his body as he swiped at the ever-flowing tears with the back of his hand, letting out the occasional frustrated growl, usually saved for a missed ball in the end zone. As he attempted to calm himself down, he glanced at the recent calls list on his car’s hands-free device.

And, moments later, in suburban Philadelphia… 

Jason hadn’t been off Zoom for more than twenty minutes when his phone rang with a call from his kid brother. Smirking knowingly at the screen, he situated five-month-old baby Bennett in her bouncy seat and tapped the green button.

“Figured I might be hearing from ya,” Jason answered the call.

Sniffling and confused, Travis blinked a few times. 

“You did?”

Jason let out a chuckle. “Yeah, you just said goodbye to her and now you’re, what, three miles down the road to camp?” 

Travis was quiet and rubbed a heavy hand over his face. 

“Five, but… yeah,” Travis mumbled.

Jason hummed as if impressed, gazing at his oldest two daughters who he swore just yesterday could barely hold their own heads up and were now talking animatedly amongst themselves as they dressed and posed Barbie dolls in their prized pink Dreamhouse. “Well, then, you made it two miles further than I did before I called Mom my first training camp when Kylie was pregnant with Wy, so, props.”

“Really?” Travis inquired.

“Hell yeah, dude. It’s the worst fuckin’ feeling,” Jason responded, the sensation still visceral. “Leaving your wife and unborn baby to go live in a dorm with a bunch of sweaty dudes… it goes against every instinct in your body.” 

“Yeah, for real… And I used to love camp, too,” Travis sighed. “I just feel so guilty, man.” 

“I know. But you’re doing it to provide a sick ass life for her and that baby — you’re making sure they’re set for life,” Jason reminded him. “You just gotta focus on that as best you can.” 

The smallest of smiles pulled at Travis’s lips. “That what Mom said to you?”

“Of course — you think I came up with that on my own?” 

Travis giggled at that — the way only a big brother could make you do, even in the midst of misery. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Trav. I promise you,” Jason told him firmly. “You did the right thing flying her mom in; she knows who to call in the off-chance something does go wrong; and… uh… and she knows she’s got our support because she’s calling Kylie right now,” Jason finished, handing his wife’s phone to her as she approached the coffee table where she’d heard it ringing. 

“Is she really?” Travis asked, both relieved and more upset knowing that you, too, were seeking comfort from his brother’s experience with Kylie. 

Jason and Kylie shared a sympathetic glance before she answered your call, and as he walked down the hall out of her earshot to allow you both privacy, Jason replied, “Sure is. And as you know, she couldn’t have picked a more perfect person to lean on right now. This isn’t easy by any means, but we’re here for you guys. So are Mom and Dad, Brittany and Pat, so many others. Remember, this is day one — it does get easier from here.”

Travis trilled his lips as he exhaled, his body already relaxing thanks to his brother’s encouraging words. 

“As much as I hate to admit it, that’s a great point,” Travis conceded. “Thank you, bro. I appreciate you more than you know.”

“Anytime, Trav. Always in your corner. Love you, brother. I’ll check in when I’m back at camp too.”

“I’ll hold you to it. Love you, Jase. Bye.”

[cosmichahn]

BEWITCHED

Melissa Schemmenti x Fem!Reader —☆

about: melissa only expected for her friday evening to go as always, but plans change when she sees you crying on the sidewalk

warning/s: mild cursing

word count: 4.7k

note/s: first time writing for mel, might be a bit rusty but i really enjoyed writing this and hope you guys enjoy reading! lyrics from bewitched and from the start by laufey mentioned. (i also have not watched the new episodes yet so yeah)

The parent evening at Abbott Elementary just ended, as every teacher and every parent went their separate ways. Everyone but you who left about an hour earlier than everyone. No one knows why, no one dared to ask when you rushed out of the building after cleaning up your classroom and grabbing your bag. Not even a goodbye like you always do, especially to Melissa who grew worried because of this; but she decided not to call you, especially how it seemed as though you wanted some time alone.

Your movement wasn’t harsh, nor was it rough. It was more of a quiet rush that might as well be considered worse than an angry one.

Melissa says her goodbyes to her co-workers before setting off to go home. She looks at her phone set up on the side with an attached stand to it, pondering on whether she should call you and ask how you are or perhaps not. You’ve only been at Abbott for a year, and in that year, Melissa grew very fond of you. There was just something about you she couldn’t pinpoint in the beginning, not until one of her kids came rushing to her crying and asking for you, for some reason. You started as an aide just to see if the teaching position would fit you at Abbott after about four years of teaching experience in a different state.

When you were Melissa’s aide, her days never ended up being exhausting. You were a breath of fresh air and really helped her around the classroom; with managing two classes at once, it’s not an uncommon occurrence for Melissa to stress herself out. Eventually, you’ve come to apply for an official teaching role at Abbott to teach 6th grade Biology after 2 and a half months of being an aide. It was perfect since the last Biology teacher just straight up gave up and signed up for a resignation; which is a bad image given that it kind of shows the students a message that they may not be worthy enough to stay for since that said teacher left to go to Addington. It’s great that you’re qualified for the teaching role and Ava, especially, was thankful for that.

The redhead drives over the street, her mind only occupied with next week's lesson plans that she should finish on Sunday. Thankfully she’s already done with grading papers. As her mind wanders, she comes across someone familiar on the street, tears pouring down. She stops her car immediately near the familiar broken down car whose owner is the person crying in front of her. You.

Upon noticing the sudden warmth of someone’s presence, you look up only to feel embarrassed, so you quickly wipe off the tears that already stained the bottom of your shirt used for wiping them off. You have the mascara stained from all the tears, and the lipstick that smudged just right on the side of your lips. This is an ugly cry that you never want anyone to see, but Melissa is the exception. You don’t mind her.

She looks at you with not pity, but worry. Wiping off the dust and small grains of dirt she can get off beside where you are, Melissa takes a seat, trying not to be too close to you so you can have enough space to be comfortable or not feel too crowded. “Hon, what happened?” Her voice is so smooth that it sounds like the only symphony you can listen to for the rest of your existence. She looks at you, her eyes speaking more emotion than her words, as always.

“It’s nothing, really.” You sniffle your runny nose in between words that shake your voice and tone. “Just a mishap, but thanks.” Your eyes meet hers, giving her a light chuckle which makes her raise her eyebrow.

“You know me enough not to believe this stunt.” She slightly tilts her head towards you, crossing her arms. Melissa knows you too well upon the year she spent with you at Abbott. She knows when you’re being all bullshit. This is one of those times.

You look at your lap, then your hands that had small stains of black from that mascara that you wore today. “Fine, it’s something. But it’s not really that big of a deal, Mel.” Your gaze turns to her. “It’s just a parent being a parent.”

“Seeing you like this doesn’t make it feel like it’s a small deal.” Melissa isn’t always one for being interested so quickly towards someone, but you just managed to intrigue her the more she knew about you.

In defeat, you tell her what happened; but you feel guilty upon telling her all of this. For whoever up there’s sake, this is only your second year at Abbott and you’re already dropping a bucket worth of tears over one comment a parent made for the first time in your whole career. “One of the parents, um, she called me a terrible teacher because her son was struggling with something and all I really did was help her son out but she wasn’t listening to what I was saying and blamed it all on me.” Talking about your problems really has always been the catapult to a breakdown that you can never find a way to stop. “She blamed it all on me that her son’s grades weren’t high enough, when he has always excelled in all of his subjects. He’s on the verge of burning out, and I’m just trying to help him, Mel.”

“She thinks her son’s grades aren’t enough, when they’re high and he already reached his goal. The mother is so strict but I can’t speak on it because I am not the parent, I am only the one who teaches and calculates the grades. I don’t make the grades, I just help the students achieve the grade they want. She called me terrible. A terrible teacher. I have never been called that and I feel so bad, so guilty, and sensitive, for feeling this way about it. About what she said. And I’m sorry for dumping all of this on you when you’re handling two classes at once, you’re incredible, and I know how stressed you are at times. I care about you a lot.”

Melissa thinks before she speaks, signaling if she can touch you and you nod in response; and so she places her arm around your shoulder, pulling you in with a small apologetic smile. “Some parents really are like that, and unfortunately we can’t exactly do anything about it other than have a quiet and listening conversation with our student.” You hold onto her other hand, feeling her squeeze yours in comfort. “And you don’t have to apologize for feeling this way. No apologies to me, we all have our own experiences, hon.” Melissa removes her arm around you, where she is now holding both of your hands in hers. You melt under her touch, she brings you warmth. She’s the beaming sun that lifts up your glow. “Your feelings aren’t any less. I care about you too, I care a lot.”

You only mumble a quiet thank you to her, letting go of her hands before moving closer and burying your face on her neck, feeling the warmth she had to offer. The comfort her presence gave you was enough to recharge from a tiring day. “Thank you so so much, Mel.” The warmth Melissa gave not only came from her natural body temperature, but also the sudden contact of you leaning into her this close that sent up sparks in her mind and caused her to grow a blush she couldn’t take away.

Melissa places her right hand on your back, leaning her head on yours, before whispering “Anything for you, cara.”

“You’re so nice to me, Mel.” You whisper with a small chuckle, feeling her heart beating, feeling it speed up. “I never knew that something I would say is enough to make your heart crazy.”

“Great assumption you got there.” Melissa jokes, lifting your face off her shoulder. You looked a mess with your smudged makeup, and yet still she was enchanted by you; to her you were still beautiful as always, and she was glad that you felt comfortable being in states like this around her. She keeps your trust the way you take care of hers.

“No use in lying to me when I look like a mess.” You shrug your shoulders, feeling the tension of your feelings cool down and feel lighter. She only playfully rolls her eyes and chuckles at you.

You never denied your attraction towards Melissa, but that’s something she doesn’t know. Something you never had the guts to tell her; you were just scared, confused as to how and why would she date someone like you. Someone younger, obsessed with movies, and could talk about anything and everything within every second of the day. You’ve seen how Melissa acts when Jacob starts yapping about something, but then if you’re the one doing it, she never scolds or avoids you when you talk about your interests even though she doesn’t get most of them. Melissa could just be really friendly to a selected number of people, and you’re lucky enough to be one of those people; that’s one of the main reasons as to why you’d rather not express your romantic feelings for her.

Melissa is too important to you. She’s your friend first before all.

“Why are you even stopped here anyway?” Melissa questions, looking at your car parked on the side near hers.

Embarrassed, you answer her with a small hint of nervousness “Well, you see, I ran out of gas.” You also realize your inability to head home because you remember now that you left your house keys on the desk right before you rushed out of the school a while ago. “Shit! I left my house keys in the school. Son of a bitch.”

Your evening after that parent situation really isn’t going how you want it to. First, you forget your apartment keys in a school that’s already locked, and second, your car is out of gas. You have nowhere to go and nowhere to sleep in, until an idea pops up in mind, but Melissa had another idea. “You can always stay at my-”

“I can call Janine and ask her if I can stay.” You say in full confidence, remembering how Janine once offered for you to stay at her place if ever that there were any cases of unfortunate occurrences. But instead of Melissa agreeing and knowing it’s better for you to stay at Janine’s, she reacts differently.

“No! I meant you can stay at my place.” This peaks the curiosity in you. A year of being friends with Melissa, and yet you’ve never been to her house before, surprisingly.

“As tempting as that offer is, I don’t want to be in the way of your weekend.” You say. Melissa only scoffed and shook her head with endearment. “And I do know how much you cherish your privacy.”

“That’s nonsense, sweetheart. You’re an exception.” Before you can say anything, Melissa stands up to open her car, making sure that you follow. “I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer, by the way.” She’s pretty persuasive. Pretty and persuasive. She smirks at you as she waits for your approach; she leans on the car and crosses her arms with the keys dangling on her finger. “We both had a tiring day, so a little wine wouldn’t hurt too, right?”

You nod with excitement, looking back at your car while approaching Melissa’s. “Don’t worry, we can get back tomorrow. I have a guy that can help with your car without hassle.” Thankfully, the area where you stopped your car when it ran out of gas was a safe space. Knowing this part of Philly, it surely is more peaceful. Melissa is so thoughtful and just the sweetest, when what she always does, at least to you, is what you think of as something like the bare minimum or just something she does to her close friends. You’re not that special to her, as to what you think; but to her, you’re more than that.

Before leaving off with Melissa, you first check over your car just to grab your things. “Let me just get some stuff from my car. I don’t want any important things gone.” She nods as you head off, unlocking the back of the vehicle and grabbing some things. You take your files filled with student papers you need to check off and grade, then in front of the car is your bag with all of the pens you use and essentials. You double check to lock the door then look over to Melissa. “Well, it seems like we’re both gonna be occupied.” You say, showing her the very thick file folder you have.

“We can grade papers and drink wine.” She suggests, and all you can imagine is grading papers on the table together with Melissa’s glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose, hair up in a loose bun with a wine glass in hand and the smell of her lingering in her home. She holds your hand every so often after taking a sip of her wine and you brush a strand of hair off her face while she smiles at you and thanks you. That is all an image in your head.

“Sounds like a fun evening.” Is all you can say in reply.

As you approach her car, Melissa opens the door for you and you quickly thank her for it. The car ride was comfortable and quite fun. It’s not your first time riding in Melissa’s car, and usually she leads playing music in the car, but she actually lends you the aux cord from time to time. You connect your device to the speaker and radio in her car, where you then blast one of Laufey’s songs; a fairly recent artist that Melissa denied when you first played it around her, but she soon grew fond of the artist knowing that you loved listening to her music a lot.

Melissa would always find herself looking the artist up just so she could be reminded of you when she listens to it. It just for some reason makes her feel closer to you whenever she engages with things you love.

“You bewitched me.” You sing along the rhythm, slightly bopping your head to the light and magical tone of the song. Melissa quietly glances at you, a smile growing on her lips upon adoring the sight, before looking back on the street. “From the first time that you kissed me.” The lyrics catch Melissa, causing her to swallow the invisible lump in her throat. “To experience this song is to make my life complete.” You joke, not imagining anyone to dance to this song with other than Melissa.

Upon hearing this, Melissa wanted you to kiss her under the bustling lights of an evening in Philly. She wanted to lean in and whisper how much she wanted to keep you in her heart. She wanted to be the one who makes you bewildered, bewitched.

“Well, if I ever get the time to buy her vinyl, that would also be an alternate way to complete my life.” You shrug, chuckling.

But I’m falling so badly, I’m coming apart. The song continues. You cast me a note, cast a spell on my heart.

Melissa takes a quick glance over the radio. Well, you’re right about that. She thinks to herself, indulging the lyrics of the sweet yet whimsical song.

“Not the first time you’ve talked about the artist.” She looks over to you through the front mirror, noticing the embarrassed chuckling you let out. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I think it’s cute.”

“Thanks, Mel. People don’t really engage with me when I talk about things I love.” You look over at her with an endearing smile. “But thankfully I have you, don’t I?”

“I talk about firefighters to you a lot, hon. I think we’re even.” She laughed quietly. “And you really love the food I make.” In all honesty, there’s a mix of excitement and nervousness in Melissa right now. It’s your first time both going to her house and staying over there for the weekend. Is the sink cleared? Will there be time to whip up a quick meal? Is her bedroom clean? Wait, you’re sleeping in her bedroom? On the same bed as her? Unless you don’t want to, she’ll just sleep on the couch. Melissa’s mind just shuffled.

You notice that Melissa kind of dozes off, so you try to catch her attention. “Mel, you good?” Waving off your hand beside her, until you catch her attention.

“I’m good. Just thinking of something.” You quirk an eyebrow making an attempt to guess, but trying not to push it much as for Melissa to not get frustrated.

You remember the vending machine guy that the Abbott crew would always mention to Melissa. Given that he leaves hints that he likes her. This happens way after they forget to tease you and Melissa for being close. Although there’s some sort of jealousy that flows through you whenever this happens, it’s not really something you can do anything about, given that perhaps Melissa feels the same for him too. “Ooo, is it Gary?” You tease.

Melissa shakes her head quickly. “No, that’s not- he’s not-”

“Oh! My bad, sorry.” You apologize but she denies this apology, saying that there’s nothing to apologize for.

The next moments were filled with comfortable silence, as you then start humming to the next song playing.

Don’t you dare look at me that way; I don’t need reminders of how you don’t feel the same.

─────────

Shortly afterwards, you arrived at Melissa’s place, seeing the beautiful interior displayed right in front of you. She looks at you adoring her house, with only the luminescence of the neighboring houses and the moon lighting up your face. “Beautiful.” Melissa compliments.

She leads you to the door, unlocking it while you stand behind her, carrying the file folder and your bag. You’re greeted by a well decorated living room and several photo frames across the walls and the side tables. “You can just place your things on the couch and I’ll whip us up something to eat for dinner and maybe a snack while grading. That sound good?”

You nod in response, carefully placing your things on the couch that’s still covered by plastic, but that’s okay. It’s very Melissa, quite as you think.

“You know, Schemmenti, you’re all heart and passion.” You say, following her to the kitchen. Melissa manages to short circuit after what you just said, trying to mentally fix her composure.

“Flattery doesn’t work around here. Sorry, Sweetheart.” She shakes her head with a soft chuckle before turning to you and leaning on the counter. “And besides, you’re not helping in the kitchen, but you can sit there and look pretty.”

Compliments like these are common between you and Melissa. Both of you appreciate and care for each other’s everything; even when Melissa’s stress and temper gets a hold of herself, or when you go quiet from being too overwhelmed. “Funny, but I do need to fix this face.” You point at the several faded marks of makeup on your face, making Melissa walk towards you and offer to take you upstairs where the bathroom is.

She points to the bathroom then leaves you there, with the idea going across her mind that you probably don’t have any spare clothes to change into to be able to sleep comfortably. Due to this, while you’re getting yourself clean in the bathroom, Melissa gets an old Eagles shirt that she found in her closet and a pair of sweats she never uses. She knocks on the bathroom door with the clothes hanging on one of her arms. “I got you some clothes, hon.” She says, and you reply to her with thanks. “Just let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you so much, Mel.” You open the door and thank her, carefully taking the neatly folded clothes from her arm.

You soon finish freshening up, looking at yourself all fixed up in the mirror with the change of clothes on. The Eagles shirt smells exactly the way Melissa does, and you take it in, feeling as though she’s with you right now. The scent fills you with comfort and warmth you don’t want to stop feeling.

Upon arriving at the kitchen, you’re greeted with a quick meal that Melissa made that’ll surely fill you up for the evening. You wonder how long you took in the bathroom because Melissa is already in a different set of clothes with, just as you thought, her hair in a loose bun. She sees you and the only thought that comes across her mind is ‘Damn’ There was just something about seeing you in her clothes, in her kitchen, even in her car, that felt so domestic. It’s the same thing she feels every time she offers to pick you up from somewhere or when you have lunch ‘dates’ where it’s just the two of you; or when sometimes she asks you to go to the farmer’s market with her, and you ask her to go to music stores and bookstores with her.

Now, you’re here in her house. You’re staying over for the weekend, and she can’t help but just keep herself from getting too attached to the idea of a domestic life with you.

“That looks delicious!” You exclaim, walking towards the counter where Melissa had already set up two stools and two sets of plates.

“You look delicious.” She blurts out which makes you burst out laughing, in mind that she was probably just joking around like always. You playfully punch Melissa’s shoulder, and if anyone were to ever do that to her, she would probably punch them harder, but she only looks at you with her brows furrowed.

You shake your head, “I thought flattery doesn’t work around here.” You sit across Melissa from the counter where you both prepare to eat. It’s filled with silence, before she clears her throat and tells you.

“Delicious doesn’t say it all.” Melissa shrugs, wanting you to take the flirty compliment.

After exchanging a few laughs with each other over dinner, you stop to look at Melissa who just finished laughing at something you said. “I like this side of Melissa Ann Schemmenti.” You rest your chin on your palm, elbow flat on the table with your eyes only to hers. “Anyone who would have the chance to be with you is lucky enough to experience what it feels to have a domestic life with you.” You say without thinking of what this might cause to the aura in the room.

“Well, um, not that it matters when I say it.” You say, feeling your palms grow sweaty by the clock. “I think a domestic and simple life with a partner I love is just a really incredible thing, I mean, I would want that kind of life to be mine. Not that I’m assuming that it’s the same thing you want, of course.” You smile apologetically.

“You think about it a lot?” Melissa asks, intrigued to know more and yet still going back to what you previously said about her. Even though she knows she has feelings for you, it still sits in the back of her mind that she may not be fond of marriage. Especially with things during and after Joe, she’s not sure when, but she knows she’s not ready for anything other than a relationship. No marriage, no union or anything.

But why is it that when she thinks of you, she thinks of marriage? She thinks of a life where she wakes up with you on her side. She gets ready in front of her vanity with your reflection in the mirror adoring her from behind. Walking hand in hand around every corner of town. Giving each other flowers just because you felt like it. Taking care of each other when one’s sick. Talking about everything and nothing at night.

“Marriage? Not a lot, but settling with someone I love? Of course.” You like the topic of it all. You love love; how it’s always there, how it doesn’t always have to be a person, that it can grow in places or on people you don’t expect. To love and be loved is what you want, and have always wanted. “I want to one day be loved. To be held, heard. Be sappy and all. To wake up and do the littlest of things. It doesn’t matter if it’s only a quiet day at home or looking through the grocery list while the sounds of the washing machine bustle in the background.” After that brief monologue, you catch Melissa’s eyes.

“You never know.” She gives you that reassuring and hopeful smile. “That person might just be the one in front of you after all.” Melissa sees the way your expression changes from sentimental to a confused furrowed look that made her eyes widen upon realizing what she had just said.

This makes you think for a bit, your brain split in half. Is she just being helpful with the conversation or is she confessing something. She waits for a response quietly as the two of you silently sit across each other. Does she regret saying this? Is she overthinking things?

“I hope so.” You respond nervously. “Are you saying what I hope you’re saying?” She takes her hand out on the table, hoping for yours to hold hers and you do so.

“I want it to be me.” She holds your hand softly.

“Oh.” The only word that came out of you, not being able to process things immediately. Until this registers in mind. “Oh.” You’re clueless as to how to respond. “I need to pinch myself.” You say before standing up, in which Melissa lets out a soft laugh. “Jesus Christ.” You mumble to yourself.

Melissa stands up to tidy the table, but all you can do is freeze in place. Perhaps this is what really happens when your mind short circuits. She puts the used dishes properly in the sink, before wiping her hands clean where she then walks to stand near you, the counter facing your back as she is now standing in front of you. Only the surface of the counter and Melissa in between your body, with only a shorter distance between herself and you. She walks closer, making you walk back, but the edge of the counter is now sticking to your lower back. Both of her hands are placed on either side of the counter behind you.

You clear your throat, only able to look her right in the eyes. Her lips were right there, ready for you to lean in closer just to feel what you’ve always wanted to feel. Her. The risk is for you to take. No, for the both of you to take.

“May I kiss you?” Before you could receive a vocal response, you feel her lips coming in closer onto yours. With closed eyes, Melissa’s hands make their way up to your hips, then to your waist, which slightly lifts up the shirt you were wearing; and so the coolness of your untouched waist was cooled from her fingertips.

A smile grows from your lips, returning it. The world feels as though it froze around the two of you. She pulls away only to look at you and your stunned and lovesick reaction, not wanting the moment to end before kissing you again. A groan escapes her lips, relief and excitement. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted this.” Melissa mumbles in between kisses.

You swoop in and place both of your hands on her cheeks, feeling the warmth of her face on your palms. She takes a short step back as you lean more into the kiss, giving a light bite on her lower lip where she then smiles softly. “You’re the most beautiful person I have ever seen.” You whisper close to her, feeling her pull you closer by the waist. You’re smitten, and finally, she knows.

Your hands find themselves on Melissa’s shoulders as she pulls you in for a tight hug, her arms snaking around your waist as you rest your head on the crook of her neck.

The world froze around us, you kissed me good night.

[showtoonzfan]

Okay so I saw S1E2 of HH “Video killed the radio Star” so here’s my thoughts on that, ⚠️SPOILERS⚠️

- So once again, the pacing is all over the place. In the span of 2 episodes we have to deal with introducing Adam and Lute, the main characters of the hotel, the three V’s and Sir Pen, and I don’t like how the three V’s are introduced in the second episode of season 1. Like…can we just let the characters we know breathe and get to know them before you introduce new ones?? Told you this was going to be like Helluva lol.

- So hell is freaking out that the extermination got moved to 6 months later, but Charlie of course isn’t the focus of this episode. It’s mainly the three V’s + Angel/Al/Sir Pen. It still bothers me that the reason behind redeeming sinners is not because Charlie is sick of Hell being a damnation but because she doesn’t want them to be exterminated. It’s such a drastic change from the pilot and the character motivation that it still throws me off sorry.

- So, I actually like Vox. I take back bitching about Christian Borle playing him because while his suave voice may not fit the twink design, he does a fantastic job either way as expected, making Vox an intimidating person. I had thought before that Vox was going to just be this dumb henchman, but I actually like how he’s the runner of things. He’d be so cool if he didn’t curse and talk like every other character in the show though.

- Good GOD Valentino. I already shared how I felt about him when the dialogue leaks came out, but I HATE how his character is just this idiot man baby who throws temper tantrums and legit needs to be “calmed down” by Vox because he’s such an idiot. Like…Velvette calls him a piss baby and Vox legit had to talk to him as if he was one, that’s how dumb this guy is. There’s a scene where Vox asks what they should do about the hotel and Val says “just put something inside, that’s how I get the bitches”- like…kill me. The fan interpretations were better. He was actually someone you didn’t want to mess with and had an intimidating voice, here he’s a whiny baby that you have to remind yourself is the same guy who forces himself on Angel. The Addict and comic version of this character is not the same as the one we have now. His voice is too high pitch, it sucks and his accent goes on and off constantly. Viv can’t write abusers for shit, she sees everything as a joke. Again, how are we supposed to take abuse seriously if this is how you portray your abuser. Crimson is more intimidating than this joke of a cockroach.

- Alastor has been gone for seven years, yeah that “Lilith is Rosie and Al is working for her”- allegation is 100% true like it perfectly lines up together since Lilith has also been gone for seven years. Only for Alastor, it makes no sense. Like…wdym he’s been gone for seven years. The pilot is canon and they state he’s been at the hotel for a week. Alastor was literally walking around town when Charlie was on the news. Do they mean that it’s been years since he’s done his radio show? Viv, when you retcon shit you need to specify. You’re just confusing everyone again.

- They need to explain why exactly it’s dangerous to make a deal with Alastor because all this vagueness isn’t helping the story. The whole reason Vox sends Sir Pen out to be a spy was to make sure Charlie didn’t make a deal with him, yet you literally have Vaggie making a deal with him like it was nothing in the last episode. I also fail to see why exactly Vox cares about Charlie making a deal with Alastor in the first place. Is it because he doesn’t want Al to have more power? Is it because he doesn’t want Charlie to have power? EXPLAIN.

- Yay more retconning and woobifying. So Angel Dust is a whiny wimpy bitch in this episode, he’s very out of character. When Sir Pen comes to the hotel, he’s extra pressed about that, when in the pilot he couldn’t even take Sir Pen seriously and was acting nonchalant towards him. Then when Charlie starts getting all giddy and complimenting Pen, Angel gets sad and jealous??? This is the second fucking episode of season 1. I thought the whole point about Angel and the hotel was that he didn’t trust Charlie nor take the redemption stuff seriously. Now apparently he wants her approval? And then when he finds Pen out, Pen insults him and that causes Angel to just fucking lunge at him and start punching. When did Angel get this goddamn sensitive. Why did the wimpy snake character who’s supposed to be a loser get under his skin THAT much? It’s even more jarring because the last episode Angel was literally saying he loves being exploited and in the pilot he’s presented as someone who could give less of a shit of what other people think, now a simple jab at him being a slut made him go off. Remember when Travis called him a slut in the pilot and Angel just laughed it off? What happened to that Angel lol.

- Vaggie has a line that flat out calls Angel a sexual harasser. And yet we’re supposed to feel bad for him and root for HuskerDust. Makes perfect sense Viv, fuck you. She has no idea what sexual harassment even is because she sees actual harassment as quirky funny jokes and paints it as genuine love. Pick a side. Is Angel an asshole who sexually harasses people or is he an uwu baby who deserves to be with Husk. Clearly Viv chose the second option.

- I liked Vox and Al’s song, tho I wish it was more singing instead of talking. Charlie’s song in the end was boring but at least it was short. I still don’t know how to feel about Pen being at the hotel tho. Like I get he’s a loser and not a big threat but him happily joining the hotel now is way too structurally fast. There’s a lot of things that feel like Viv changed at the last minute compared to the pilot and it shows. Pilot was better.

That’s it, not looking forward to the third one which is HuskerDust focused (female centric show my ass)

[invpulse]

I haven't seen a lot of discussion about RSD when it comes to ADHD discussions, so I thought I would do the honors since it's been affecting me for many years and I'd like people to know more about it!

I have had a diagnosis for ADHD but was never told- instead learning I had autism through therapy but still having some behaviors that I could never explain that just Happened.

I learned I had ADHD over the summer, and with that, severe rejection sensitive dysphoria.

before reading, please keep in mind that this is mostly talking from personal experience and some skimmed research! not experiencing RSD doesn't mean you do/don't have ADHD, and it may not appear like how it appeared for me. I don't only have autism + adhd either, so those may also contribute to any differences! ^^

RSD is the immense emotional pain after being criticized, rejected, or even teased (ignore my misspell in the panel). This rejection can be real or perceived, and we react like this because it hurts.

The pain can manifest as aggression, bringing on symptoms of depression (thoughts of s/h, isolation, demotivation, etc) and anxiety/panic attacks.

it can cause physical aliments like the above. For me, it causes my heartrate to skyrocket, heart palpitations, the feeling of being in a crisis, and extreme shaking to occur along with stomach pain.

(In fact, right now I'm going through it because making a post talking about this, despite having & dealing with it, makes me scared of other's opinions on it.)

RSD can also take the form of avoiding situations, people, or conversations where rejection or criticism is very possible.

Like other types of dysphoria, it is out of our control and hard to manage. It can last from days to weeks to months, all depending on both the trigger* and the individual.

I had a RSD episode that was on-and-off for a little over a year or two; getting more tame and bearable as it slowly drifted and stopped haunting my mind with the incident.

Compared to the other times my RSD was set off, this moment was a rather big moment in my life and ended up permanently changing me moving forward - which can be the reason why it lasted so long.

Despite how unbearable it can get, there are some ways to cope with it & lessen the effect it has.

Communicate - If you need time to process something that's told to you, you should say so (as difficult as it is). Tell the person(s) involved about your RSD, how you need time to digest information like this and take some time to relax. Trying to respond to the information while going through the head of the dysphoria will be very rough and might not be what you truly want to say.

Distract - This is really useful for me personally! Do something that grabs your attention or occupies your mind. One of RSD's main symptoms is rumination, thinking of something over and over again. I usually listen to music, draw, or play a game that won't frustrate me - like minecraft! (i'd say rain world but some of you would call me a maniac /lhj)

Perspective - This may require some communication, but it can really help and connect with others. See what the involved people thought / perceived, explain, talk. This doesn't always have the chance to end in rainbows and rekindling but at least you understand. Sometimes simply hearing the person explain their own side is enough to ease my RSD, being able to have someone explain themselves to me so i can understand them better.

I also wanna point out the "don't take it personally" thing that people try to use to deal with it isn't something i agree with since we're going to take it personally at first regardless. Later on, not really, but you're trying to cope with the symptoms... telling someone (or yourself) that they're too sensitive & over-reacting is the worse thing you could do.

With time, you can even begin to build up your 'armor' and be able to sustain yourself in situations you might get hurt in. Of course, some things may be able to sneak past and hurt you more than you expect, but at the end of the day, you're trying your best to go about it the best you can while taking so many blows. you're doing great.

OK i dont have a lot more to add so if anyone else would like to talk about their experiences, please feel free! Character showcased here was my beloved fursona Shiki! i'm just a little neurodivergent + black artist from new york :]

hope you enjoyed it! sorry for the long post </3

[yaltghoul]

The timeline for Season 3 Part 1 has been bothering me all month, so I broke it down the best I can and guys, maybe I’m just stupid, but this is more rushed than I originally thought.

Let’s break it down.

SPOILERS BELOW:

So Colin comes back the day of the Debutante's Presentation. Presumably, that day or the next Penelope goes to Madame Delacroix to ask for a new wardrobe.

Now, in reality, a new wardrobe for a full Social Season would have included at least 10 simple dresses and 10 elaborate gowns, as well as gloves, bonnets, and shawls. A modiste with no or little assistants could, with no distractions, sew 10 dresses in a month, 10 gowns in about 3 months, and an additional 2 weeks for the accessories. Add in consultations (like the one we saw), design time, and fittings, and you are looking at approximately 4-6 months.

But we are not looking at reality, we are looking at Bridgerton, and we know that the time between when she consulted Madame Delacroix and the glow-up was the same time as the Debutante’s Presentation to the Queen and Lady Danbury’s ball.

Lady Danbury stated that her ball was the first of the season, which was usually held a few days to a week after Presentations. Let’s say, for the sake of giving the timeline the benefit of the doubt, that Lady Danbury needed as much time as possible to prepare for such an elaborate ball (and that Madame Delacroix is a superhuman who can sew a full wardrobe in a matter of days), let’s put that at a week.

We know Colin visited Pen the very next day to apologize, especially since the previous night’s Whistledown was published right after.

We also know Lady Whisteldown publishes Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays, and from their conversation it can be alluded to that there was no second Whistledown column between the one where she called Colin fake and their first lesson. Meaning their first lesson was the next day.

For the sake of, again, giving the timeline the benefit of the doubt, let’s say the second lesson where we learn their Meet Cute story was two days later, and that she read the diary during their next lesson two days after that.

That puts the ball where it’s exposed that Colin is helping Pen as happening that night, and The Kiss the following day after Whistledown’s column talked about it.

The next episode Portia comments that Penelope locked herself away for a week. So her conversation with Eloise was a week after The Kiss.

Since her hair and outfit is different, I’m going to assume the Willow Tree conversation was the next day, and the party where she talks to Debling that evening.

The Balloon, we will say was one day later, and the Innovation Ball where Debling dances with Penelope was the following evening.

Debling calls on Penelope, and John calls on Francesca, the following morning. They are all wearing the same outfits at the Library Collection, so that was the same day.

We know “tomorrow evening” was Colin’s night of “revelry”, so Debling asks for Portia’s hand and Colin gets drunk the following day.

That puts the Queen’s ball and the Carriage ride as the day after that.

So according to my calculations…

Colin getting back to their First Kiss was two weeks. Their kiss to the Hot Air Balloon was 9 days, and the Debling only courted Penelope for 4 days.

First Kiss to Carriage was 13 days.

Man did not “fall harder”. Man plummeted at 180mph to the ground.

"These last few weeks have been a torment" sir, few weeks my ass it hasn't even been two weeks.

[fullcoffeemoon-nem]

Timeline Theory

First update: 09-21-23

Second update: 11-14-23

Third update: 05-01-24 (+ S2 Theory link)

Last update: 06-03-24 (+ S2 Theory upload)

——————————————

Hi there!

After another re-watch and the head to pay attention to the small details, perhaps I have reconstructed a possible

Timeline of Helluva Boss

It would be better to define them as hypotheses. First of all, here is an outline of the episodes and their release dates.

I know, I also included the one whose title we know, just for the sake of general overview. The theory for the moment covers 2 seasons out of 4 announced.

Here the synthetic timeline. From the estimate version I have removed the year here, we'll get to the reason.

Here I also report some of my thoughts:

Already from the first episodes there's a strong focus on clocks and time, it is much more striking in Oops, where Asmodeus' clock marks the whole day.

I'm not sure about the year, but also from the analyzes carried out later, 2021 could be the year of the narrative arc that goes from Murder Family to Ozzie's.

(*) The Verosika's tour t-shirt was official and linked to the episode, at the moment I'm undecided on its validity at the year level, althought the date could be very possible.

However, my research started with Seeing Stars because it's the first episode to feature an almost specific date: the 20th of a 30-day month.

In my opinion it could be April chronologically and it's agreed with the information in the subsequent episodes.

The only problem is that the full moon would't coincide with what was marked by Blitz.

Noteworthy:

Blitz's calendar suggests that the full moon that month is the 14th.

Stolas wrote in the Western Energy chat that Blitz was supposed to come that evening and that therefore the full moon was the 20th.

We are certainly either in 2021 or beyond given Moxxie's coin in Seeing Stars.

From the chat we can understand that:

About a month passes between the trio Ozzie's - Queen Bee - The Circus (1 moon)

About 3 months (3 moons) pass between Seeing Stars and Western Energy

Western Energy is placed a week before Oops and among these the week told in Unhappy Campers

From Millie's flyer we know that her and Moxxie's mission ends on Friday July 17th. We know from Blitz that this lasted a week, so it started on Monday 13th July.

According to what Striker says to Crisom, Western Energy should be set around July 11th and Oops around July 18th.

We should be in 2022 though, but in that case July 17th was a Sunday.

In Mammon's magnificent concert Blitz says on the call with Ozzie that it's a weekend.

There are two options:

It could be set on the week parallel (July 21-22th or 28-29th) to the events of Western-Unhappy-Oops.

It could be set on the following month (August).

Here we come to the gap:

(*) The Mammon's official t-shirt is clearly linked to the episode, but the date (2023) and month (October) cause the information to conflict.

So, at this point we have this options:

The official t-shirts are tied exclusively to the release date of the episode.

They are official or at the date level, or at the year level.

They're official and we're actually 2 years removed from Murder Family.

I think it is more canonical to consider a connection with the month of July shown in the episode and maintain the hypothesis.

Seeing Stars -> April

Wester Energy to Oops -> July

Full Moon → September 29th

I'm pretty sure about the Apology Tour

A month of crisis for Blitz seems like the minimum to me and it's also enough for Stolas to enter a phase of rejection.

——————————————

With the LVL UP on April 29th we got a new trailer for the second part of the second season. In addition, we also have a preview of the Stolas and Blitz duet from the next episode.

I dedicated a post for analysis, opinions and spoilers here.

I'm going to integrate the episodes and data into the theory as they come out.

——————————————

In the end, I report here some of the most interesting posts from Blitz and Stolas' Sinstagrams, due to that they're the only two accounts that hide canonical information.

(Thanks @timkontheunsure for the source)

I underlined my opinion, they certainly respect real events but I don't think that in terms of dating they are canonical.

What a mess...

What do you think about it?

Have you noticed any other details that could clarify the mystery? Make me know it and let's solve the mystery together :}

Bye~

[bailey-dreamfoot]

‼️‼️THE GRAMPA SQUAD COMIC IS DONE‼️‼️

Ok so, wee explanation + headcannons under the cut.

Ok so assuming you've stuck around for my insane ramblings, heres the gist:

This comic is very much inspired by Factual Fantasy's Comics about Marsh, Natquick, and Calico Jack. And while my personal head cannon does share in the idea of the group working together- I thought it would be hilariously fun to include Inkling, and tbh it focuses more on him than the others anyway.

In the show, inkling doesn't really get out much. There are really only a few episodes where he has a significant role, and even less when he actually participates in missions outside of *insert knowledgeable insight*.

I believe this is for 2 reasons:

He just prefers the comfortable vibe of his library. The book-worm role fits his personality well - enjoying studying or cataloging species alongside Shellington - and he likes spending time with the Vegimals.

His Mobility issues. While he can very easily traverse the watery environments in the base show- in a&b, he doesn't really show much interest in exploring the land until he's told an old friend was the one in need of help. He has the ability, its just difficult- and he knows his limitations.

Inkling has his hover chair, that allows him to move around the octopod relatively easily. However - in the Min episode - they make it a point that he cant take it with him on land, or use it over rough terrain.

My version of Inkling uses an actual wheelchair, so I thought it'd be a neat idea that after that adventure- he'd want to try joining missions more often. And to deal with said mobility issues and limitations- say they got specialized tires for his wheelchair- so he could go join up on land missions more often.

After going on a few more missions with the other Octonauts, he hears about Octoagents Calico Jack, and Professor Natquick joining up with Ranger Marsh to help out in the Everglades- you best bet he jumped at the opportunity to tag along. Think of all the species he could ad to his personal catalogue. They might even discover a few new ones! Leaving the Octopod for so long after being basically the one constant to the place was a bit scary sure - and the other Octonauts were certainly emotional ab him leaving (especially Barnacles) - but maybe a change of scenery would do him good.

Sooo He does that! Professor Inkling meets up with the others on a dock near Marsh's Ranger station and get to work! One of the coolest things they did was collecting egg samples and catching an adult specimen of a newly discovered trapdoor spider! the Pine Rockland Trapdoor. Marsh Has a nursery where he cares for tons of snakes, lizards, insects and birds to make sure they have the best chance for survival. Thats where these eggs are going- to hatch in safety and then be released back into the ecosystem. On top of that, they take samples of the adults venom for study, and inkling is sure to make a detailed report of the arachnid in his many journals brought along with him!

As you may expect, Kwazzi takes after his grandad in his fear of spiders. Jack has seen worse, but It doesnt make it any easier to be close to them. Natquick on the other hand- In all his time in the arctic hes never seen anything as freaky as a spider bigger than a quarter.

Aaand that's it! I'm hoping to do some more comics with the lads in the future, although probably not as detailed as this one. It took more than 2 weeks- please.

Also, I find it kinda goofy that the panels get more detailed as you go along. Thats what happens when the first and last panel were made almost a month apart from each other. 💚

Also also- yes I did do actual research for the animals in the last comic. It was going to be a funnel web spider they're researching, but then I looked it up and found out Funnelwebs don't live in the Everglades. :']