#but i'm betting on them making it to 17 at least

[starchaserwrites]

@jegulus-microfic / february 16: tear / word count: 724 cw: needles

Bets are James' speciality, so it comes as a big surprise when the Stars don't win the Stanley Cup Final. The thing is, now Remus and Sirius have to decide where on his body James will have to get his first piercing ever, and to say he's nervous is an understatement. That's how the three of them end up in the waiting room of a tattoo and piercing shop with an appointment for him to get his belly button pierced. 

James is a generally daring and risk-taking person, not that he's terrified of needles but he does feel a little uneasy knowing that in a couple of minutes one will be piercing his skin. Despite having informed himself about the risks and having taken all the precautions beforehand (cleaning the area well, making sure he has the right anatomy for the jewel and wearing a cropped shirt to avoid friction afterwards), he still can't help the thin layer of cold sweat that is building up on his neck.

"Relax, Prongs, you're in good hands," Remus says, patting him on the back. Oh, and the other detail that makes him the least bit uncomfortable is that his ex is the one doing the piercing, isn't that funny? James knows Regulus will do a phenomenal job, he's been doing this for almost eight years so it should be effortless.

They were a couple when they were 16 and 17 respectively, and it's not that they had a bad break-up or completely lost touch, it was just the right person at the wrong time given their respective family circumstances. So if James is nervous about being at the younger man's mercy six years after they broke up, no one can blame him.  

"James, you can come in," Pandora tells him from the reception desk.

The thing about Regulus is that every time James sees him, he looks more beautiful than the last. This time the new snake tattoo circling his entire left forearm in red ink is messing with his mind exquisitely, and when he finally turns around subtly smiling James is gone.

"Look who we have here, James Potter. To be honest, I never thought I'd see you here," he says in the soft, slow voice he reserves for him. "So, belly button piercing, Sirius told me about the challenge. Poor you."

All James can do is nod and chuckle slightly, shocked by the sparkle on his ex's tongue when he speaks. Everything that happens after Regulus asks him to select a piece of jewellery he likes and to lie down on the stretcher happens in slow motion. Regulus putting on a new pair of latex gloves, Regulus sanitising the area where he's going to pierce, Regulus marking where the piercing will be, Regulus tearing off the envelope that holds the sterile needle... James doesn't know much about the world of piercings, but he doesn't think Regulus should be straddling his legs during the process. 

Of course he won't be making any complaints. 

The light on Regulus's tongue appears again as he says something he can't quite process.

"... understood? Oh, no, James tell me you're not about to faint," he says with a hint of concern.

"No, I'm fine, I swear!" he hurries to say. "But can I hold on to your thigh while you do it?" 

"Sure you can," he replies with a smirk.

That's how James doesn't even notice the moment the jewel is installed in his navel, concentrating on the way the tattooed man frowns in concentration.

"You're all set." is all the piercer says but there's no sign that he'll be getting off him any time soon.

The new piercing being forgotten and in a moment of courage, James intertwines both index fingers in the silver eyed man's trouser belt.

"Got something to do after work?" and the question is all it takes for Regulus to lean in and kiss him deeply but slowly. A tongue piercing shouldn't make him feel this good.

"I've got the whole afternoon available if it means continuing to see you in that crop top." he murmurs against his lips then bites down slightly on the bottom one. 

In short, he lost a bet, won the scolding of his best friends for taking so long and got his right person back at the right time this time.

[thissongisawesome]

now, do i personally believe that maya and franziska would actively try to get phoenix and edgeworth together? not really. BUT. i don't see the harm in people writing scenarios in which they would? ik this sounds silly since maya and franziska wingmaning is one of the more popular ace attorney fic tropes, but i feel like recently i've seen a lot of hate towards and and i don't understand why!

think of it this way: maya is phoenix's best friend and like pseudo little sister, they're extremely close, and i'm pretty sure she teases him about his love life AT LEAST once in canon (it could be more, or i could've completely made this up, but i've played the trilogy enough where if i tried i could probably find an example but it's late and i'm tired). anyway with that said, why WOULDN'T she care about them getting together? she's shown in the first game to be pretty invested in "the deal with [nick] and edgeworth" her words, not mine. i'm not one to speak on later games because i honestly haven't touched them in over two years and even then they were a complete blur and i forgot everything except that edgeworth looked really ugly from the front. but. if my memory serves me i don't think their dynamic changed much? i can't see her caring AS much at 28 as she would at 17, because obviously she's grown and matured, but i don't think she'd be completely uninterested like some people say. maybe she wouldn't be wearing comical disguises to spy on them, but i could see her encouraging nick, or idk just telling trucy stuff about their old cases to stir something up.

i think the franziska side of things is where i'm a little more understanding, but also not really. on one hand, i get that she's very well put together and mature seeming. on the other hand, that's only how she SEEMS. i won't get into a whole franziska analysis because this post is already longer than i wanted and no one wants to hear me ramble about her, but she's not really as mature as she seems. anyway, would she care THAT much? the answer may surprise you!

now think of it THIS way: edgeworth is franziska's little brother. despite how she acts sometimes she obviously loves him dearly, and would (probably) just want him to be happy, with whatever foolishness it may endure. phoenix wright is franziska's sworn enemy. she can't stand him and feels as though he has personally wronged her before they even met. absolutely hates his guts (except for when they investigate together then they can be friends). franziska is incredibly smart, but she's clearly not the best emotionally. even with that, though, she seems to understand how important edgeworth is to phoenix ("earthquake blah blah blah" "are you thinking of miles edgeworth blah blah blah"). she kind of just accepts this, even though it implies that phoenix (a man he only recently reconnected with) would be on a similar level of emotional connection as his sister. maybe she doesn't think much about it though. she's just like sure whatever you're his most dear and indispensable friend i don't care anymore. do people really think that, if somehow she came to the conclusion that edgeworth had feelings for phoenix she wouldn't care in any way??? i'm not saying it'd necessarily be positive and all "you go girlfriend!", but to say she wouldn't CARE is so wild. she'd probably be furious, and so maybe she wouldn't wingman. but she does CARE about her brother, and honestly if it were presented to her on the right way she probably would wingman. one "hey franziska. i bet you can't make your brother get with phoenix wright. if they get together without your guidance then that basically means edgeworth beat you btw" and she's suddenly invested. (dramatized, but you get the point)

tldr; maya and franziska are not so nonchalant and cool that they wouldn't care about one of the most significant people in their lives having feelings for their courtroom rival of over a decade. that is all.

[tozettastone]

Hi, I want to say I really appreciate deadbeat and want to thank you for giving me brain worms about dadkuzu and “the dad who stepped up” hidan. I am curious though, what drove kakuzu to seek his child out? I’m assuming he was not aware of their existence until ami (I’m assuming it’s ami) wrote to him, but I’m curious to understand his logic.

Hey anon! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hidan is the most emotionally intelligent person in that trio and it's a bit of a worry because he's a 17–18 year old boy at the time.

Kakuzu definitely knew about Maddie! Ami was passing information across borders, and some of that would have included the odd update on Maddie for Kakuzu. They weren't very emotionally entangled, but Kakuzu and Ami had a pretty open and honest — if not especially warm — relationship with each other. They're just distant coworkers who made a baby, I guess. There's not much of a secret or anything there.

So Kakuzu's actually just being totally honest when he tells Maddie that he's just checking on her. Ami sends him a message like, 'Yeah, so, I'm like, sick-sick. I'm going to die.'

The reason Kakuzu only shows up almost a full year after that is that... it just takes a solid ten months for him to stop avoiding the problem. I considered how long (and indeed if) to leave Maddie in the cursed swamp on her own, and she really didn't have to be there for nearly a full year. But she was. Because Kakuzu got Ami's note and then let it burn a hole in his pocket for almost a year while he grumpily avoided thinking about it and stomped around.

Interpersonal obligations give him hives. However, he still takes them really seriously.

Let me elaborate on that! While writing, I decided that in the highly limited canon we get on Kakuzu, the text indicates his character exhibits a fairly developed and surprisingly pro-social sense of interpersonal obligation. I draw this conclusion from 3 main examples:

1. The betrayal of his home village hit extremely hard and devastated his entire personality, and, because he WAS very loyal, he took his obligations to them very seriously. He obviously expected them to reciprocate. They didn't.

2. He takes care of Hidan despite emotional incentives to do otherwise, including picking up his stuff and bringing it along with them when he's debilitated by a mortal injury

3. By implication, at least, he takes care of akatsuki members who aren't even his own partner? Nobody is forcing him to sew Deidara back together, I think.

So those examples informed my choice to consider it relatively likely that he would actually go and make sure his child is still breathing. I'm sorry it's not more exciting than that though, haha.

I bet Hidan responded in a totally mature, respectful and understated way when Kakuzu told him what they were doing in northern Fire Country though.

[an-entity-i-think]

Jungle Boys and their Knowledge About Sex

Well I'm just gonna say it.

Ace and Luffy BOTH didn't know what sex was until Makino or the Bandits gave them the Birds and the Bees talk.

NEITHER of them know anything about sex besides that b&b talk until they start their respective adventures.

🚫 Um actually ace learned it from the losers he beat up at high town/people at gray terminal

INVALID - he was younger than 10 during all of those instances and was too focused on Roger nonsense. Even if he learned something it would have been raunchy and inaccurate and said in passing cause he was flighty. After Sabo they would have barely went to high town and definitely nothing in gray terminal was left

🚫 um actually Ace understood everything perfectly and never has any misunderstandings from growing up in the jungle while Luffy is Baby and didn't listen to any of it

INVALID - Makino would absolutely make sure both know sex exists. She would struggle maybe but it WOULD happen. Ace being a sex prodigy while not having a single object of his affection until 17/+ does not equal understanding of everything I fear. And Luffy is an idiot but Makino would totally say it's relevant to his adventure to make him listen to at least the basics.

🚫 Um actually they don't bother trying to explain sex to Luffy cause he's clearly asexual/Luffy doesn't understand sex because he's asexual.

INVALID: You're acephobic. Like straight up your acephobic and infantilizing him. He knows what sex is. Stop. He may not want it depending on your hc but acting like he wouldn't know anything at all while Ace knows everything is fucked up. They both were raised in the jungle. In the event that Ace DID understand more, to keep Luffy safe, Ace would definitely tell Luffy to make sure he could protect himself. Sex Trafficking and Sexual Assault exist.

🙏👀🙏👀🙏👀🙏👀🙏👀🙏

✅️ Ace learns what sex is and becomes a whore when he was Spade captain.

VALID: curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back wdyw from me

✅️ Ace blusters and acts like he knows a lot about sex but is either too nervous/guarded/oblivious to have had any after the b&b talk.

VALID: He's hot but also a loser

✅️ Ace tells Makino that the bandits gave them the sex talk and tells the bandits that Makino gave them the sex talk to get out of it. Now neither Luffy or Ace know anything about how sex works.

VALID: Could be true and also hysterical. Ace not knowing anything about sex on the whitebeard crew at age 19? More likely than you'd think.

✅️ The bandits give them the sex talk for real and due to a strange amount of euphanisms and vague terminology Luffy and Ace THINK they know what sex is but are very wrong and/or weird about it.

VALID: Could be true and also hysterical.

✅️ They both avoid the sex talk and all they know about sex is what they see in the jungle.

VALID: Majorly concerning. Good lord that's concerning.

✅️ Ace got out of the sex talk by lying/avoidance but Luffy got the sex talk.

VALID: Objectively the funniest thing ever if 17 year old Luffy is more knowledgeable about sex than 17 year old Ace. I bet Ace would try to explain sex when they met up in Alabasta and Luffys like ? I know? And Ace dies a bit on the inside cause it was just him.

Tldr; LUFFY KNOWS WHAT SEX IS. STOP BABYING HIM AND IF YOU'RE GONNA MAKE HIM CLUELESS YOU NEED TO MAKE ACE JUST AS CLUELESS CAUSE THEY BOTH WERE RASIED IN THE JUNGLE.

[batsplat]

your top 5 fave motogp races? or alternatively what races you’d show to a newbie to get them into the sport or smth

one of those things where it's painful to pick five, but at least this ask gives me the chance to hedge my bets and pick five different races for each category (most of these races will be featured in the recs lists; 27, 4+93, 46)

laguna '08: works wonders to bring both that season and the rivalry alive. delightfully visceral and vicious, there's few duels that tell you quite so much about both participants. I have lap-by-lap notes for this race. I have points tables assessing how much of a turning point it was in the season. I have read the bit in casey's autobiography about this race about a million times. how their expectations going in influenced the dynamics of the race, how the slower man won the race, what valentino was attempting to do to casey, casey's response... I could quite literally talk about this race forever

phillip island '17: idk I don't think this is objectively 'better' than the other two infamous dogfights of that era (pi '15; assen '18), but sometimes you just notice which one has the most rewatch value for you... I really like races where risk/reward calculation is a big deal, where at least one of the riders is having to actively judge how much they're willing to do to win... with the hard style of racing in this one, those calculations feel particularly present. phillip island is in such a perfect calendar spot for generating maximum drama

misano '17: maybe the quirkiest pick. marc is too good and too successful for me to ever really have been 'stressed' watching him in his prime, but bloody hell did he run me close here. something so satisfying about being so adept in wet/mixed conditions... love the spite element of this race, love the risk/reward calculations, how marc just needs to go for it in the very final lap, his dogged determination... a race where he doesn't have a massive margin over the field but just wants it so so badly that he goes for it. he's making a statement, bouncing back from a low point in the season, super compelling stuff

mugello '04: just love races that are kinda a mess! lots of twists and turns... bunch of riders fighting it out, the sete duel, the rain interruption, bunch of riders fighting it out but now on a way more slippery track... I don't know, there's just something charming about a race that has a bit of everything! of course it's also part of my beloved 2004 season, from which I could have easily included five different races (and if you're ever looking for a full season to watch, 2004 2006 and 2017 are the holy trinity - mix of title fight drama and banger races)

okay listen I'm gonna cheat here because I wrote out the word 'catalunya' and then had a crisis staring at this post. '07 I need to include because it's my favourite casey win and it's how he establishes himself as an all-round threat and is so important in the overall context of the valentino rivalry, but '09 is like... right up there with laguna as season lynchpin races and also somehow jorge has been left out from these picks... I love big momentum-switchers I love races that have so much meaning in the context of a rivalry AND season. I also love how they're connected! that valentino did the same move on casey (just not on the final lap) and had basically already rehearsed his coup de grâce two years in advance, before visualising it the week before the race... casey joking about it in the catalunya '09 presser, jorge knowing he kinda should have seen it coming, casey kinda ragging on jorge for not having seen it coming... idk!! I like this little legacy they built there together

for newbies

phillip island '23: you need to include something a little more current to give new fans a reason to watch now... phillip island races are reliably great - this one introduces you to two of the major protagonists of the current game in a way that kind tells you a lot about both of them, gives you a demonstration of one of the best types of races (the multi-rider dogfight), and it also is the most brute force way imaginable of explaining how tyres work in motogp. pedagogically pleasing! it's the kind of race new viewers will be able to enjoy in the moment, but have a lot of questions about afterwards - the sweet spot

assen '15: easily makes my top five rewatched races too, but I put it under the newbie header because again... tells you a lot! it's very likely this hypothetical newbie will have at least have SOME knowledge of who the two protagonists are and know they've fallen out, though I suppose it'd be funny to go in completely blind. obviously a great duel and a very nice introduction to the two big names plus their respective riding styles... what you really want is some late drama and a controversial finish that you can immediately have a hot take about

donington '05: we need a full wet race, not just mixed but wet wet... this one's got one hell of an attrition rate but also proper tussling between the different riders, rather than everyone just riding out on their own. it really gives you a feeling for how these kinds of races work... lot of riders wobbling around, saving near-falls, trying to get a sense of how much they can risk, riding behind each other to have somebody else test out their conditions... plus, the valentino performance kinda slaps

austria '17: got to be a marc/dovi duel in here, and this one has the clear edge not as much for the race itself but a) the novelty at the time, and b) the significance in the title fight. in dovi you've got somebody who is emerging as a threat and is providing a new flavour of challenge.... there's also that fun tension between how marc logically very much should just be happy to be there as a result of what a ducati circuit it is and he's simply supposed to be limiting the points damage... but he also really, really wants to win... actually either this or motegi 2017, almost want to change my pick. one of those two!!

brno '03: sneaking in an old race as a gateway drug, and I think this one is quite 'accessible' to the uninitiated. I considered other ones like phillip island '01 (valentino's first premier class matchpoint race, classic dogfight) or welkom '04 (first yamaha race and one of the duels) - but I think you don't need much context to get absorbed in this one. the race commentary already gives you the most important information... valentino's struggles that season, the criticisms he was facing from the italian press, how badly he wanted to win, the haircut, all of it... and then you get to see the post-race prisoner's celebrations, a flavour of the proper classic camp dramatics

slightly silly number of honourable mentions, each of which I was extremely tempted to include: motegi '10, jerez 2005, misano '19, laguna '11, jerez '10, assen '04, catalunya '04 '05 '16, mugello '05 '06, sachsenring '06, assen '04, phillip island '04, le mans 2005, qatar 2005, suzuka '01, thailand '19, austria '19, qatar '18, silverstone '19, sachsenring '10, qatar '15, mugello '16, sepang '10, assen '07 (and ones I did already kinda mention above: phillip island '15, assen '18, phillip island '01, welkom '04, motegi '17)

[cressthebest]

Crimson Rivers thoughts pt. 13

chapter 24:

1. sirius 🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 james being codependent af

2. ooo reg you’re so close babes. think about that just a little more. he realizes he cares about how james treats him and feels about him. reg just almost gets it

3. “He thinks the arena makes everyone a bad person while they're here. The only exception to the rule is James. He's the only person who could drag himself through all of this filth and cruelty and still hold onto his shine.”

4. ☺️ this “without hesitation” line is gonna bite us in the ass, isn’t it?

5. they’re talking about what their life without tragedy would have looked like. and damn. i’m not okay. their life would have been so beautiful

6. “"In that life, I do," Regulus whispers. "I let you do whatever you want, and when you want to dance, we dance."”

i’m NASTY sobbing over this line. like, snot coming out of my nose sobbing

7. “Regulus said James was his first love, didn't he? James would give anything to be his last.” 😀😀😀 holy shit that hurts

8. that nightmare was VILE

9. god, reg was practically sobbing to hold james’ hand. why is the world cruel to them??

10. 😐 i am unamused. another fucking spider

11. “"Have a go at me. Don't thank me or anything. It's always you're so stupid, James; it's never you looked so sexy and heroic while saving everyone from the murderous spider, James."” PFFFFFTTTT

12. it hurts to read it, but i also have always known that if reg wasn’t called into the hunger games, james would have died for someone else. like he said, either peter or vanity

13. god, peter’s story line and character fucking hurts. his family was mathias, irene, vanity, james, and even reg. this hurts like hell

14. NOOO PETER!!!!!

15. THEY MADE IT!!! THEY SURVIVED! THE GAMES ARE OVER!! THANK GOD!!

16. 😀😧 the rule change is REVOKED??? IM ABOUT TO LOSE MY FUCKING SHIT!! IF I WAS IN THIS UNIVERSE, ID PERSONALLY BE THROWING HANDS WITH SLUGHORN!! I BET SIRIUS HAS TO BE PHYSICALLY RESTRAINED!!

17. “"You're hesitating, love," James says softly.”

SCREEEEEEEEEEECHH

18. “"Axus got me on their way into the water. At least it was your dagger, I suppose," James says with a weary chuckle, his throat bobbing on a harsh swallow. His mouth quirks up a bit at the corner, gentle and lovely. "Maybe this makes me insane, but if I'm honest, I wish it had been you."”

oh no, make no mistake james. this very much does make you insane

19. and james is compared to the fucking sun going down again. i- i’m not okay

20. i need therapy for my trust issues. i trusted my ex best freind who outed me. i trusted my old roommate who i recently found out had a notes app list of everything she didn’t like about me this year. and most importantly, i trusted zar. i trusted that this fic wouldn’t do this to me.

[feanoryen]

Book!Viserys wasn't a good father to the greens either.

Ok, I do admit he was better than show!Viserys. At least book!Viserys didn't go as far as to say Rhaenyra was his "only child"

BUT STOP PRETENDING HE WAS ANYTHING GOOD!!!

Book!Viserys calls Aegon "Alicent's blood" when she suggests betrothing Aegon & Rhaenyra.

I'm not sure in what world saying that about your own child makes you a good father.

Unlike in the show, I don't think he would have even given betrothing Helaena to Jace a consideration because he doesn't think his children with Alicent are even good enough to be consorts.

He was upset Alicent wanted her own blood on the throne, and he betrothed Aegon & Helaena himself and made them marry at 15 & 13. (What a loving father! At least he cares about them enough to make 1 horrible decision regarding their lives right?)

Now let's get to his biggest offence. Aemond's eye.

Am I faulting him for loving Rhaenyra & Luke? No.

Was he as asshole for scolding Aemond over rumors instead of being worried for his well being? Yes.

The very least he could have done is make Luke apologize since he did disable Aemond for life, but NO, he has to make Aemond feel ever worse.

I know book!Aemond was a bully and an asshat ok (and what he does to Luke later isn't justified), but let's not pretend that he wasn't a victim in this particular situation.

"But he was a good father to Helaena! He loved her and her kids."

Wow, amazing how he got along well with the daughter who listened to his every whim and never once complained to him or demanded he listen to her desires.

He was also such an amazing father to her he let her get knocked up at 13 or 14 by her 15 year old brother who he forced her to marry when Rhaenyra didn't have to marry until she was 17. Truly father of the decade!

(Obviously the Rhaenyra thing is not great either but it's very different from being a literal middle schooler.)

Oh, and I'm definitely sure he definitely would have supported Helaena if she ever had bastards that were so obviously not Aegon's.

And wow, how amazing is it that he didn't neglect his teen daughter's children.

Truly something we should be praising him for, but let's remember if Luke ever cut out any of Helaena's children's eyes, you can sure bet beloved girldad Viserys would be on her side.

(Oh, and nothing is mentioned about his relationship with Daeron ever apart from the fact he wanted him to be besties with Jace. Not unlikely he may have forgotten he had a 5th child just like show!Viserys.)

[mamaestapa]

We Need to Talk…

•pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

•series summary: Y/n Hubbard, the younger sister of Cincinnati Bengals Defensive End Sam Hubbard, finds herself in a difficult situation after a steamy hookup with her brothers best friend, who just so happens to be the quarterback for the Bengals. In just nine months their lives will be changed forever. How will Y/n and Joe manage to to go through parenthood together? more so, how will Sam take the news he is going to be the uncle of his best friends baby?

•chapter summary: The time comes for you to tell Joe some of the most life-changing news he’ll ever receive. However, his reaction isn’t exactly what you were hoping for

•word count: 3.6k

•warnings: Pregnancy, morning sickness, vomiting, crying, mood swings, arguing, angst

series masterlist

——————————————————

January 25, 2023

4 weeks pregnant

You pulled into the parking lot of Kettering Health, yawning loudly and tiredly. You were currently having some major caffeine withdrawals. Since you found out you were pregnant, you have stopped drinking coffee. Even though you are able to have as much decaf as you want, you haven't been drinking any coffee due to the fact that it makes you nauseous anytime you're near it. After turning off your car, you reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed your bag. You reached into the bag and pulled out your favorite chapstick. For some reason, this pregnancy is making your lips and skin extremely dry. After putting the chapstick on your chapped, cracked lips, you fluffed your softly curled hair and stepped out of the car. As you made your way into the practice facility, you were greeted by Tee.

"Mornin' Y/n."

You smiled, happy that Tee was the first person you saw upon entering the building, "Hey Tee! How's it going?"

"Pretty good," he shrugged, "nerves are a just lil high around here though."

"Oh I bet. Film this morning?" you asked, already knowing the answer.

He nodded, "Yup, that's where I'm headed now. We'll be watching film all morning," he sighed, "gotta make sure we're prepared for our matchup against the Chiefs."

The Bengals beat the Ravens 24-17 in the wildcard round, moving them on to a snowy divisional round. Joe and the Bengals battled against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, and let's just say, the Bengals came to PLAY. The guys defeated Allen and the rest of the Buffalo crew 27-10. This upcoming Sunday, they'll play the Kansas City Chiefs for the second year in a row for the AFC conference title. If they win, the Cincinnati Bengals will head to Super Bowl 57.

"It won't be easy, but I have faith that you guys can pull out a win." You said with a warm smile.

Tee nodded, "For sure. It's not the defense stopping us that I'm worried about...it's their offense with Mahomes and Kelce," he whistled, "they're one hell of a scoring duo."

You chuckled, "It won't be easy, but think about it. You guys have outscored them before, multiple times at that. I truly believe one that you guys will beat them again."

Tee let out a breath and shook his head, "Shit, I hope so. You comin' to the game?"

You shrugged, stopping at your office door with Tee, "I'm not sure yet. Zac still has to let Kate and I know which one of us is going. I'm hoping it'll be me."

Tee chuckled, "Fingers crossed it's you. we need our good luck charm there."

"Awe, thanks Tee." you smiled, laughing softly.

"Of course. See you out at practice, Y/n."

You waved as he started to walk away, "Bye Tee, good luck with film." He let out a scoff in response, "Thanks, I need it."

As Tee walked down the hall, you shut your door and walked over to your desk. You sat down in the office chair and pulled out my MacBook. For the past couple days, your workload has been fairly small since the season is coming to an end. Normally, when you didn't have a ton of work to do, you would walk around the practice facility and talk with some of guys. However, this season is different. Well, at least now it's different. You have been avoiding talking to the guys the past few days--for good reason too. You're trying to avoid Joe as much as possible. You're still trying to think about how to tell Joe that you're pregnant with his baby. You knew it was going to be hard, but you never expected it to be this hard. As you were typing away on your MacBook, your mouth began to water and your stomach started to churn. You looked at the time: 10:15.

You sighed and got out of your chair. As soon as you were in the hallway of your office, you took off running to the nearest bathroom. Every day around this time, morning sickness hits you the hardest. Your morning sickness was only bad when you first woke up, and then again around 10. You were thankful it wasn't an all day thing like some women experience. You emptied your stomach contents until you swore there was nothing left in there. After flushing the toilet, you wiped your mouth and let out a sigh. Morning sickness was no fun. You walked over to the sinks and washed your hands, grabbing a paper towel in the process and getting it wet so you could wipe the corners of your mouth. You turned the water off and fixed your hair before wiping your hands on your jeans. You made your way out of the bathroom, looking at your shoes as you walked down the hall. Suddenly, you were on the floor.

Hmph.

"Oh my god, Y/n!" a familiar voice said in shock, "I'm so sorry."

You looked and saw Joe standing there, observing you with a concerned look on his face. He held his hand out for you to grab. As soon as you grabbed his hand, he carefully pulled you up from the ground. Your free hand instinctively went to your stomach, protecting the baby in your womb. Joe held onto your hand, a slight blush on both of your cheeks as you looked into each others soft eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked, furrowing his brows in a concerned manner.

You smiled, "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that."

"Don't be sorry, I should be the one apologizing." You nodded in response, "Okay. Well, I uh, I should get going. Bye Joe." you said quickly as you hurried off down the hall.

"Okay..?" Joe trailed off in confusion, watching as you hurried away from him. Joe stood still, his shoulders falling with a sigh as a slight frown appeared on his face.

Closing your office door, you immediately stood against it and let out a shaky sigh. That was a close one. You thought to yourself. You began to breathe heavily and before you knew it, you broke down crying. You've been doing a lot of that lately. You have been extremely overwhelmed, plus all of the added pregnancy hormones don't help. As you choked out a sob, you heard a knock at the door. Trying to control your breathing, you sat back down in your chair.

"Come in!" you wavered out, hiccuping as you wiped away tears from your cheeks. The door opened and a worried Zac Taylor walked in, holding a cup of coffee. Bless his heart. He placed the coffee cup on the small table that sat in your room. He grabbed a chair and pulled it up to your desk so he could sit for a moment.

"Y/n, are you crying?" he asked, voice extremely soft.

You looked up at him with bloodshot eyes. "No?" you said softly, wiping your nose that was dripping with snot. His face softened from his usual hard gaze, "Oh, Y/n..."

You choked out another sob, falling into Zac's arms. He instantly wrapped them around your body and gently cradled your head. "Shhh," he soothed, "you're okay..you're okay." he repeated, over and over, letting you get all of your pent up emotions out. As much as you were thankful to have someone comforting you at the moment, you had slightly wished it was Joe consoling you instead. Zac gently stroked your shoulder as your gut wrenching sobs turned into the occasional sniffle. Zac gently pulled your head up, frowning as his eyes scanned your red face. "Now," he sighed, "what's got you so worked up? Did I give you too much work? If I did, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

You shook your head, sniffing as you wiped your eyes. "N-no, It's not from you." you croaked out, clearing your phlegmy throat and taking a deep breath. You sat up straight and looked over at Zac. He reached out and put a hand on your shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.

"I um," you said hesitantly, "I'm going to tell you something, and when you find out, I need you to not say anything to anyone."

He nodded, "Of course, hun. Shoot."

"I've only told a couple friends, and now you. So you need to promise me, that you won't say anything, please?" You pleaded, tears pricking your eyes once again.

Zac took your pinky finger in his, "Pinky promise. You can't break one of those, yeah?"

You laughed softly at his response. Zac really does have a soft and joking side to him when he isn't on the field. You heaved a sigh once more, "A couple days ago, I.." you began, gulping nervously before continuing, "I found out that I'm pregnant."

Zac's eyes widened and a small smile appeared on his face, "Y/n...congratulations."

You smiled tightly, tears brimming your eyes, "Thank you."

"So, is this, is this good news or bad news?" he asked, brows furrowed.

"It's, it's good, I think? I'm just so terrified. I don't even know how I'm supposed to tell the father. Hell, I don't even know how I'm supposed to be a mom yet. I mean, my schedule is so busy, and, and the baby daddy's schedule is just the same as mine, so that-."

Your heart dropped to your stomach as you realized. Oh no...I have said WAY too much.

"Hold on, his schedule is the same as yours?" Zac questioned.

You gulped nervously, knowing he was catching on, "Please don't say anything." Your eyes giving away the answer to his question. He nodded and placed a hand over yours that sat on on your thigh. "I won't, I promise," he sighed, "but you need to tell him, Y/n. He deserves to know about his kid."

You nodded, "I know, I know he does. I just don't know when to tell him...or how to tell him," you said, voice coming out as a whisper. Your lip began to tremble again as emotions flooded over you as you told Zac about everything. He pulled you into a tight embrace and kissed the top of your head. It was a comforting, but friendly gesture. After a good ten minutes of silence, except for a couple sniffles from you and whispers of sweet nothings from Zac, you took a few deep breaths to compose myself and you pulled away from his embrace.

"Thank you, Zac."

He smiled, "Of course, kiddo. Hey, if he decides he doesn't want to be in this kids life, you let me know, and I'll have a good, long talk with him."

You couldn't hold back your giggle, "Okay."

"And Y/n?" Zac said softly.

You looked up at him, "Yeah?"

"No matter what happens, just know you have a whole group behind you, supporting and loving you and the baby every step of the way."

You smiled, standing up so you could hug Zac. Your arms wrapped around his neck as he hugged you back, tightly. "Thank you so much. This truly means so much to me." you whispered into his shoulder. You felt him nod as he pulled back and smiled, "Of course. If you ever need to talk, or if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask. The guys and I will gladly help."

You smiled warmly, "Thank you. I seriously don't know what I would do if I didn't have the teams support."

Zac chuckled, "You and me both. Is there anything I can do for you right now?"

"Hmm..." you trailed off, thinking about anything Zac may be able to help you with. Suddenly it hit you, "Oh! If it's not too much to ask, could I come to the game Sunday? Even if I'm not the media manager on duty?"

"Yeah, of course!" he nodded, "it wouldn't be the same without you there. Are you sure you can fly though?"

You nodded, "Yeah, I think so? Women fly during their first trimester all the time."

"OK. As long as you feel safe flying, that's fine with me then," he paused, glancing at his watch "Ah shoot, I have to go catch up on some film with Joe right now. I'll see you later Ms. Hubbard."

Your breath hitched at the mention of Joe. Your face fell, but you covered it with a smile, "See you later. Thank you again, Zac. I really appreciate it."

He nodded, a smile tugging at his lips. "It's no problem at all." he went to walk out the door, but stopped in the doorway. "oh, and Y/n. Congratulations, again. You're going to make an amazing mother."

You couldn't help but tear up at his words. He shut the door behind him, leaving you alone in your office. You shook away all the emotions with a deep breath. You leaned back in your chair and placed a hand on your tummy, greeting your unborn baby while you typed away on your computer with your other hand.

~Time skip~

You walked down to the team cafeteria to get yourself some lunch. You kept it light incase your morning sickness acted up again. You got a chef salad, an apple, and a bottle of water. As you were paying for your food, you heard the commotion of the guys coming into the cafeteria. You contemplated on where to eat lunch at. The cafeteria or my office. As you thanked the cashier, you made eye contact with Ja'Marr. He swallowed whatever he was chewing before he greeted you, "Hey, y/n! Come sit."

You smiled, making your way over to Ja'Marr and sitting down across from him.

"Hey, Ja'Marr," you smiled, "how was morning workouts?"

He shrugged, "Eh, not too bad. I think film was worse though. Watching that and listening to Taylor yell at us is torture."

You chuckled and took a sip of your water, letting out a soft Ah before you spoke, "Sounds like torture."

Ja'Marr took a bite of his sandwich. "So, are you coming to the game Sunday?"

You nodded, "Yep." Ja,Marr smiled, "Great! Wanna rep my number?" he asked with a wink.

You let out a laugh, "I don't know. I already promised Tee I would rep his."

"Hey, there's two halves, do a jersey a half." he suggested, laughing lightly.

You smiled, taking a bite of your salad after you replied. "That's not a bad idea, maybe I'll do that."

Ja'Marr chuckled and went back to eating. As you ate your lunch, you saw someone sit down next to you out of the corner of your eye. You looked over and saw that it was Joe. You shifted nervously in your seat as Sam sat down right after Joe did.

Joe smiled, "Hey 'Marr, Y/n."

"Hi." you said quickly, averting your eyes away from him.

Joe turned to you. You could feel his blue eyes boring into you, "Y/n, I didn't see you out on the field today, what were you doing?"

You scoffed, "Does it matter? I was busy. You winced slightly as you noticed your tone was a bit snippy. You didn't mean for the words to come out that harshly, it's just your hormones are making you have terrible mood swings. Oh the joys of pregnancy.

Sam turned to you, giving you an odd look in response to your snippy remark, "It's fine, Y/n. He was just asking."

Before you could say anything that you might regret later, you decided to leave. "I gotta go. See you guys later." You said, getting up from the table and throwing away the rest of your food. You hurried out of the cafeteria and made your way back to your office. The guys at the table all watched as you rushed out of the cafeteria. Ja'Marr and Sam both looked at Joe.

"Bro, what did you do?" Ja'Marr asked, his eyes wide.

Sam chuckled, "Eh, I wouldn't worry. Y/n is probably just on her period. I love her, but when it's shark week, you never ask her any questions."

Joe just sat at the table in silence, suddenly losing his appetite he had worked up from his extreme morning workout. Why were you avoiding him all of a sudden? Suddenly, Joe stood up and walked over to the nearest garbage can, throwing his half eaten lunch in the trash.

"Dude, where you going?" Sam asked, brows furrowed in confusion as he watched his best friend start to the leave the cafeteria out of nowhere.

"I have to go talk to Zac about something. I'lll see you guys outside." Joe said, rushing out of the cafeteria. Meanwhile, you began to pace around your office. A sudden knock at the door caused your pacing to stop, and before you could answer, the door opened. An upset Joe walked I, shutting and locking the door behind him.

"Joe-."

"No." he cut you off, "let me talk, please."

You gulped nervously, preparing yourself for what he was going to say, "Okay." you said, your voice slightly above a whisper.

"Why have you been avoiding me the last few days? Just when I thought we were both getting over the hookup, you start ignoring me. Why Y/n? What did I do?" Joe asked with a pained look on his face. He was completely lost as to why you were treating him this way.

You sighed, "Joe, you didn't do anything, I-."

He rubbed his face, "Oh bullshit, Y/n! You jumped at the sudden raise of his voice. You have never heard Joe get this loud before.

"I don't know what happened or what I did, but whatever it was, how could it be so bad that you have to avoid me?" You sat in silence as he stood and confronted you for your recent actions, "like earlier when you ran into me and I helped you up, you just rushed off! And then just now trying to talk to you in the cafeteria, because god forbid I try talk to you, you run away! Y/n, do you know how much that hurts? I mean, are you embarrassed about hooking up with me? Just, please, tell me what I did to you." His voice cracked with emotion as his beautiful blues began to water from both heartbreak and anger.

You felt the tears well up in your eyes once again. You knew you had to tell him. "Joe, please. Just let me explain."

Joe looked at you, a look of hurt and confusion in his blue eyes.

"Joe, I'm going to tell you something, and I need you to promise me that you won't freak out too much."

Joe's face softened, "Is everything alright?"

Not at all.

You nodded, "Yeah..just maybe it'll be a good idea if you sit down."

Joe sat down on the chair beside your desk that was still there from when you told Zac about the baby earlier in the day.

You took a deep shaky breath. Your palms were sweaty and your heart felt like it was beating a mile a minute. "So," you started, already fearing the worse, "you know how the morning after our uh, our hookup. you asked me if you used protection and I said no, but I did remember I'm on birth control?"

Joe nodded, giving you a look signaling for you to continue.

"Well...about four days ago I found out..."you paused, looking into his eyes as you finished, "that I'm pregnant."

Joe's eyes widened slightly as his breath hitched. "Y-you're what?"

"I''m pregnant."

His face went pale and he stood up, running his fingers through his hair. "Oh my god..."

You cringed, rubbing your temples. "Joe, I am so sorry.”

Joe rubbed his hands down his face, taking a deep breath as he plopped down on your desk, “I thought you were on the pill, Y/n.”

You rolled your eyes, “Yeah well, I hate to break it to you but that’s not a hundred percent effective Joe.”

Joe sighed once again, his blue eyes void of any emotion. You knew he was in pure shock right now. You had felt a wave of many emotions when you found out about the baby, you can only imagine how he’s feeling right now.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” you said quietly, voice cracking with emotion. You watched as Joe stood up and shook his head at your words.

“And you think I did?” he asked with a scoff. You swallowed nervously, “I never said that.”

"I'm not ready to be a dad."

"You think I'm ready to be a mom?"

The two of you were silent, both of you trying to process what had been said in the last few minutes during your important conversation. You weren’t exactly sure how you expected Joe to react to the news; however, you knew he wasn’t going to take the news well and be jumping for joy at the prospect of being a father. Joe walked over to the door of your office and reached out for the handle. He stood there, hand hovered over the handle and contemplating over what to do. You noticed his shoulders heave with a deep breath before he stood around to face you.

“I just,” he wet his lips, “I need time to process all of this Y/n.” With that, he hesitantly took his eyes off of you and walked out of your office without another word.

hey loves!

emotional rollercoaster of a chapter huh? well, get used to them because there will be a lot in this series ;)

do you think Joe will come around soon or do you think he'll take some time?

i hope you all are liking this series as much as i am! i'm having so much fun re-writing it. I feel like it's so much better with Joe. thank you again for all the continued love and support, it is greatly appreciated! you are all so sweet and encouraging, I love all of you🤍

tags: @dandelionwrites8 @joeburreauxsworld @theflawedwriter @mrsshiesty @ann288 @ijustcrypretty @theoneandonlyfanz @wickedfun9 @venus-b @hummusxx @stainednailpolishremover @a-moment-captured @alternativemadchen @erinmartin1987 @sirlewisworld @kkrenae @unhingedfangirl @sublimemusic-rebel @meameagirl @ilovejoeburroww @hallecarey1 @j-worlds-blog @blinkloverx3 @jordyn14 @emherb10

[hiiragi7]

(Warning for discussion of abuse)

There is a certain ableist and classist feel to the way that a lot of people talk about highschool education and graduation that I've noticed. "I bet they never graduated highschool" is often used as an insult and to imply stupidity, for example. I've noticed this trend for a long time, but struggled to put it into words.

While education is important, I often feel very put down by the amount of emphasis placed on being a highschool graduate (and, on the opposite end, the disdain for non-graduates). I never graduated, due to a variety of factors; I suffered very extreme abuse starting in first grade from the school environment (As a diagnosed autistic kid growing up in SPED in the 2000s, ABA was the standard), I was being abused at home, I moved schools a lot, I struggle with several disabilities which impacted my ability to learn and developmentally I was never really at the same level as my peers besides in English and art, I developed chronic physical issues while I was still in school due to a genetic condition, and finally, I was kicked out of the house when I was 17 by my parents and I just never ended up going back to school (not that I could have graduated anyway due to a variety of issues).

I was never able to learn quite right and that lead to me falling further and further behind. By the time I was in middle school, I was already so far behind my peers that even if my teachers had wanted to help me learn the content, there was so much they would have had to teach me that it would have been impossible for them to fit it into the time I had with them, especially when they had a lot of other students to attend to besides me. On top of that, I had already given up on my own education sometime during elementary school, so any attempts that were made by my teachers were not well-received by me. I had already developed a complex web of trauma responses to anything to do with school by that point.

It seemed that I was caught in an impossible situation where between the trauma I suffered with and my autism, I could not tolerate even being in a classroom setting, much less learn in it, but there were no other options, which lead to chronic activation of trauma responses which overwhelmed both me and my teachers as well as everyone else in my life. There was also no understanding for me in these settings either, and nobody informed enough to realize what was going on with me and why I was constantly either shutting down and unresponsive or having severe panic attacks. Rather, I was called lazy, manipulative, not trying hard enough, making excuses, acting out for attention, and a slew of other insults as well as near-constant punishments which only served to traumatize me further.

To this day, I only have a second grade education in math. I do not know multiplication, division, algebra, physics, chemistry, and a variety of other subjects. Attempting to study school subjects gives me flashbacks no matter which method I use, whether it's online or with another person or on my own. I am gifted in English, but otherwise I do not know many of the things that people are generally taught in school as kids.

When I tell people I never graduated, often the response is "it's okay, you can still get your GED!" as if me not having graduated is a character flaw that I must eventually work to fix. It makes me feel as though my worth and value as a person is tied to whether or not I have at least a highschool education, and that without it I am less worthy of people's time.

Going back to my initial point, if not graduating highschool makes you "stupid", you must also consider who in practice is unable to graduate highschool - I find it is often disabled kids, traumatized kids, and impoverished kids. Not all of them, I'm sure, but definitely a lot of them.

Tying intellect and a person's worth to whether or not they graduated highschool fucks over those who couldn't through no real fault of their own and frames them as lesser for it. How can you say you believe in disability rights when you shit on those who are too disabled to complete school? How can you say you are against classism when you view people who could not graduate due to having to work full-time as lesser than you?

I feel that regardless of how much people insist they are an advocate (or how much they say "No no, when I said people who don't graduate are stupid I didn't mean those people, I only meant what I see as the acceptable group of non-graduates to call stupid"), there are biases at play regarding perceived intellect and formal education. I am viewed as inherently less-than when people learn I did not graduate. My lack of a highschool graduation certificate or "at least" a GED is viewed with pity by just about everyone I talk to.

I don't have a neat way to wrap up this post, but I do think it is important for people to examine their own biases when it comes to discussing formal education, as well as the overlap of non-graduates and marginalized groups, especially as it pertains to disability politics and capitalism.

[itzmoonies]

♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ﾟ.

Headcanon about Dazai because why not ??

1 - Dazai once tried to sell Kunikida's notebook for 500$, because this man is broke.

2 - Dazai knows Kunikida's notebook by heart, he can even recite it.

3 - Dazai often dream about Odasaku, and how things could have been very different if Dazai arrived earlier.

4 - Dazai actually ignores that Ranpo knows Odasaku, and Ranpo never tells him because he genuinely feels guilty.

5 - Dazai really wants to be a father figure for Atsushi, or at least a brother figure. Because he wants to know how it feels to be proud, even if he needs to be proud of someone else.

6 - Dazai is tried to steal Fukuzawa's wallet.

7 - When he was young, Dazai dissected the insects he killed

8 - He's scared of dogs and spiders, but he's too proud to admit it.

9 - Dazai also sucks at offering gifts, he always says "Why do I need to offer you a gift ? I'm already the best one you can have."

10 - Dazai mimic Odasaku's expression

11 - The reason Dazai became attached to Kunikida was because he and Oda share the same sense of justice, and neither Oda, neither Kunikida wants to see anyone die because/in front of them.

12 - Dazai once cried because he was so tired of works that he ended up crying

13 - Yosano never authorised Dazai to touch her butterfly pin, since it's from an ability and that Dazai's ability is always actived.

14 - Dazai once skipped work to go to a restaurant that serves crabs.

15 - He always comeback whenever the problem is actually done, not when we need him.

16 - He always pet the random cats on the street.

17 - He never loved kids, he found them annoying and childish

18 - Him and Ranpo always make dumb bet like "The first one who solves 16 cases pays the other a snack." Ranpo always wins.

19 - When he and Kenji or Atsushi play chess, monopoly or whatever, he always lets them win.

20 - He, once, eats lipgloss to d*e. Expect that Kunikida caught him and Dazai tried to explain. Kunikida didn't wanted to know tho…

[satureja13]

Ji Ho, Jack and Jeb's Therapy Game started to merge after they met in Bacalao Bay. And they are not quite sure how to deal with that. Should Jeb and Jack log in with Ji Ho or should they wait to not interfere with Ji Ho's therapy? They decided to wait and just watch what happens since NPC Jeb knows where to find the Captain and real Jeb doesn't and to give NPC Jack time to regain access to his memories.

They took the ferry southbound to the islands where - NPC Jeb is sure - they would find the Captain. The poor Princess did not take the passage well - just like Ji Ho. She sits on the deck next to NPC Jeb and prays to the gods that this will be over soon... NPC Jack, however, seems to enjoy the ride ^^' He started to talk again - because nothing can shut this big snout of him, not even death. But he still can't remember anything from the night he died.

When they reached the landing stage on the main island, the first thing NPC Jack noticed was the fish shack. (To his defence: there wasn't much more to see anyway ^^) NPC Jack: "Gods I'm hungry!"

They didn't even notice the beautiful sunset. NPC Jack because -> hungry, Jihovere because -> sick and NPC Jeb because he's worried for the poor girl.

As soon as the fish monger gave NPC Jack his plate, he started to wolf down his lobster roll right at the stand. Jeb was startled. Jihovere, still a bit weak on her legs: "Can we sit down at least?" (Yes, Tiny Can did a very good job with their NPC versions! hahaha)

NPC Jack: "Hm?"

Jihovere and her new friends had studied the map they found in the Vicegerent's office thoroughly. Jihovere: "Are you sure your Captain will be able to steer us through the shoals and cliffs to the remote cave where the Vicegerent and the Demon entrench?" NPC Jeb: "Oh, he will. I've never met a bolder and more daring ('and daunting' he added, but just in his thoughts) man like him." (I don't know if greasy popcorn shrimps are the right food choice when you're nauseous, Jihovere...)

It was late when they left the harbor. Tomorrow morning they will start their search for the fearless and skilled Captain.

They went over to their lodging nearby the monger arranged for them. (TMI: This is one of adult Ji Ho's houses.)

Jihovere still doesn't feel much better (owing to the shrimps, I bet!) so they just chatted for a while and went to bed soon.

Outtakes

NPC Jack fell in love with NPC Jeb! So this is the counter episode to the mini episode when Jeb fell in love with Jack shortly after Vlad's death ö.Ö' Which lead to Sai and Jeb's first break up...

After NPC Jeb regained his composure: "I'd rather have you, Jihovere!" NPC Jack: "What? Ewww." (Argh! They try to make me sway! Because they know: for me, Jeb is the perfect partner for each of them! For Ji Ho / for Jack) But their hearts want what their hearts want...

'I'll push the wood (stir it, stir it, stir it together) I'll blaze your fire Then, I'll satisfy your heart's desire (Stir it, stir it, stir it together) I'll stir it, yeah, every minute, yeah All you've got to do, baby, is keep it in, and

Stir it up Little darling, stir it up Come on baby, yeah I say stir it up Little darling, stir it up, oh yeah

Quench me, baby, while I'm thirsty Cool me down, mama, when I'm hot Your recipe is so tasty And you sure, baby, can stir your pot, so'

Stir it up - Bob Marley This songtext leaves nothing to the imagination ^^'

The Therapy Game Master Post with the sessions and places so far is -> here

From the Beginning 🔱 Underwater Love 🔱 Latest

Current Chapter: 'Who killed Jack?' from the beginning ▶️ here

📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 17-22 ~ 23-28

[thisismeracing]

some professors are not here today so I'm free (for some hours at least) and I went through your jb22 tag and!! HUSBAND!JENSON IDEAS FILLED MY HEAD!!

and specially im stuck on the him being married to a woman in motorsport... I've thought stuff for her being either a reporter or an engineer🫣

reporter!yn:

they two would be teasy from the start, way before they started dating. when he first came to f1, it was her first year in the reporting world and my my, they instantly clicked!! he would be flirty mid interviews and she'd blush sooo hard, literally wouldn't know how to act

eventually he asks her out, maybe after a win of his because they had made a bet

"if I win today, you owe me a date"

"guess I'm rooting for your teammate now"

NO HOLDING BACK IN TEASINGS!!! and so they date and after some years, when they get married, they are literally one of the most iconic couples. she's grown more into him, is even more comfortable teasing him in front of the camera and he absolutely LOVES it (I just know he has that silly grin of his every time)

ofc he calls her darling nonstop

"Jenson, comments on [x thing]?"

"well, Mrs Button-"

MRS BUTTON ALL THE WAY

and he's such a romantic

and, lastly, when he retires he joins her in interviews and they are really known as Mr and Mrs Button, THE reporting duo

engineer!yn:

oh god, now this one is a match. it's the way they entered f1 together and they learn together, from each other. it's the way they've stayed many, many nights in the garage together, just to make the perfect car with his needs and her brains. and one of those nights, after 5 years of working together, them being alone there makes them kiss and oh, they are really inseparable now

their first time would be the making love type of thing, with so much longing

it's the "she fell first but he fell harder" for sure!! in every race weekend he'd bring her her favourite snacks while he just stays there and admires her working

small crash tw: in case of a crash, she'd be worried sick, but the moment he'd step out of the car, they'd be hugging nonstop

all that ofc behind closed doors, because he doesn't want people to think that she's where she is now because of their relationship

he wants people to see her worth, he wants to give her space to shine

but one day, he wins and she is up there in the podium with him and they can't hold up and they kiss at LAST

when they get married, before every race, he kisses her hand and specifically her wedding band in the most tender manner

when he decides to retire, she stays in f1 still, though wishing she was still his mechanic, as she was all 17 years in the sport

but then she suddenly sees him in the reporting role and she's like !!!! MY HUSBAND !!!!

and honestly they'd be simply unstoppable, with them exchanging knowing looks and smiling and just remembering all those years back, when they were just a rookie and an engineer

all in all, husband!Jenson, whichever case, is an extremely loving and caring man who would do everything for his wife. he'd always try to make her laugh, whenever she'd feel down he'd comfort her nonstop and he'd be her safe place completely

now now we all know that he's surely also a man that craves for his woman's pleasure and would do pretty much everything for it🫣🫣 can totally imagine after race sex to take out all his left stamina AND to celebrate...

-🌻

reporter!yn

jenson would totally ask about her if its ever a different reporter interviewing him. the two meaning jokes would make her forget what even the interview was about because let's be honest how does one stays chill after jenson freaking button hits on them?

"if I win today, you owe me a date"

"guess I'm rooting for your teammate now" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DKGJSDKJGSKHJDSKJHSDH

I think this line is totally something that they would say on camera, live tv, and all, they crossed a line, but everyone loved their dynamic at this point so it wasn't a problem.

engineer!yn

the whole garage roots for them even when they're oblivious to how in love they are!!

I loved this scenario too oh my oh myyyy

asjfkaj after race sex, but also before race sex (its about getting ready and yk he believes that it can give him some luck hehe)

[djsherriff-responses]

Anyone who figured this out better correct me but I think I got a rough estimate of when the wasteland war happened and how old some of the characters might be? Or at least a semi solid head canon for it?

Ok so we know that Sarah was in military school when Sam died. It's important to bring up she's at least 16-18 when this happens as not only is that how old she visually seems, but it's very clear Sarah chose to be there along with several other people her age. Using a real world comparison, many countries have 16 or 17 as the minimum age one can join the military/military school

Dolph meanwhile was taken from his mother at age 4 and forced into being a cyborg. While other kids may have been in a similar position to him, we can make a safe bet a majority of the people in Eden's police and Military are there by choice judging by how many members of those forces aren't as messed up about the status quo as Dolph is

Using that, we can make the guess Dolph is younger than Sarah, but by how much exactly is unsure. I'm personally gonna to make the guess that Dolph would've been around 9-12 when the war happened when Sarah was 16-18 for two reasons:

Dolph was 18 when he left the Military. While he was sent out on missions before he ran off, there's no indication in various source material he had any involvement in the wasteland war. Chances are, he was too young and untrained to be sent off to war at the time

Dolph is canonicaly way younger than what the fandom first assumed he was upon first impressions, and considering how young he met Alex at, they were probably together 3-5 years. I based that on how different their dynamic is from the manga flashbacks to the show's current time. 18 year old Dolph appears far more awkward and , well, like a kid compared to show Dolph being more reserved and "mature", which I imagine is a shift that took a few years from having to be Alex's weight lifter in both jobs and relationship, Alex essentially made Dolph grow up quick

Going with what I've brought up so far , Sarah is likely 26-28 with Dolph being 21 (possible 23 at the oldest?) making them 16-18 and 11-13 respectfully had the war happened 10 years ago

So what about Jade?

Admittedly a boring answer compared to Sarah and Dolph but I'm going with 20 in the current show time based on that being how old her video game version is, making her 10 when she lost her parents

[lulu2992]

Lmao I trust Sharky's infinite wisdom on duct tape, but in my opinion, I think he forgot to consider the power of cement! Also, I am liking a combination of both of these ideas! And ultimately it just makes their stories all the more unfortunate and tragic ; v ;

I don't think we really need to take into account the minimum age for juvie, and though the maximum age is 18, the time one stays may vary. But I'm thinking because this would've occurred about 5 years before the OPAC was beginning to be considered, Jacob lying about his age wouldn't really have to be necessary at all. As for his dog tag, well. It's hilarious, someone definitely fucked up and we're never going to know exactly who probably

The way I'm looking at it, Joseph can be an unreliable narrator because his perspective is very biased; the very nature of writing from specific characters is only an account of their experiences as they see and interpret them to be, which may not be entirely factually accurate. And because of cut content, changes, vague information, etc. perhaps not all the information we take in from the game as players is wholly accurate either. And I'm treating the extra/supporting content in much the same way.

(Also I've been doing a crazy amount of supplementary research on Christianity in general and also just what events took place historically, and I bet John had a hell of a time during and following the Great Recession.)

Of course, we know that the ages from the PlayAsia Blog are not official, but I don't think John's age is impossible specifically because of his profession. Man's been on cocaine for god knows how long- But people graduating from law school exceptionally early or young is not unprecedented (also I'm just very biased about him). The only real age conflict is that, though TBOJ originally describes Joseph from the start as "a child of about ten," but then he later specifies that he was exactly 7, 3 years off but still a small leap, but going by those dates, John wouldn't even exist for another 3 years as well... I've definitely hand waved this and shuffled the event further haha. I need to reread Absolution, but MAN what's with that! (Also sorry this is so long, I've gotten so passionate! I'm so happy you're passionate about fc5 still too!!)

Joseph is indeed an unreliable narrator with a very personal worldview, and some of the things he wrote in the book are definitely biased, but I still believe most of the inconsistencies between The Book of Joseph and Far Cry 5 are just... mistakes, mostly because the story and characters went through many changes, as you said. By the way, I wish we knew when this book was written and who the real-life author is! There are cool drawings in it too, and even though I like to imagine Joseph illustrated it himself, I don’t think they gave credit to the artist(s), but I could be wrong (I don’t have a physical copy; I’m sad).

I hadn’t really thought about this but it’s true that, if John was already born (and even going to school so at least 5) when Joseph was 7, then The Book of Joseph is in contradiction with Playasia because the information sheets say they were born 10 years apart. That said, Absolution also suggests John is at least a decade younger than the Father, so that’s inconsistent with The Book of Joseph as well… And if we want to trust Playasia, Jacob is 12 years older than John and 2 years older than Joseph, so he was either 17-18 or 9-10 when he burned their adoptive parents’ property and was sent to juvie, which... doesn’t really work either.

I think we’re going to need more cement :’)

[sleepytoycollection]

Funko FNAF 13.5in Freddy Figure Review

Saw this bad boy at target's and made an impulse decision. 😎 The retail price is $32.99, but thanks to a target circle coupon I got him for $25, which ain't half bad.

So for the hell of it, here's my review of the 13.5in Freddy Fazbear doll.

Currently there are only two characters available, Freddy and Bonnie. I hope they make make a Chica and Foxy in this size as well, as it'd be cool to have the main four as a set.

Box art is pretty simple, and kinda bland, mostly recycling game images.

The inside box art is just the office from Fnaf 2, which is not the game this version of Freddy appears in. The Freddy on the front of the box is the wrong version too; I'm not sure why Funko always wants to use Fnaf 2 images on the merch. This isn't the only time they've done this.

Here's the big guy out of the box. He's pretty solid, and has a good weight to him.

His mike is his only accessory, and the hat isn't removable. It had a tough time getting him to hold the mike, as he doesn't have enough space in his paw for it. The mike itself is hollow, and I had to squish it in. You can tell it's squished too, and it bothers me.

He's technically got 14 pts of articulation, a ball joint at his neck, joints at shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles, and even his jaw moves! But good luck getting him posed because those joints were SUPER stiff. It felt like, well, wrestling a bear heh.

I wasn't sure they were supposed to move at first, but I looked at another review and yes, they are.

Also, many of them don't go super far anyway. I don't mind too much as I don't expect an anamatronic to have a full range of movements, and it's enough to give him some personality when taking photos.

But they are wayyyyy too stiff. If they were a struggle for me, I imagine a kid would really be having a hard time getting him to move.

Here's a Midge for scale.

Freddy's the perfect size to fit in with the dollies, which is the main reason I wanted him. It's just so fun to combine my interests.

Speaking of combinations, here's big Fred with lil' Fred.

As you can see, it's pretty much the same sculpt, just enlarged. Looking at them together, I wish they had altered the fur texture a little for big Fred. It looks kinda off at this scale, like he has the texture of an orange instead of fleece.

Also, little Freddy has much more accurate coloring and better detailed paint. Might give big Fred a good black wash and dry brushing to match.

...But at least big Fred doesn't fall apart.

My lil' Fred is from the first wave of figures, and he is constantly falling to pieces whenever I handle him. I don't know if Funko ever fixed this issue with later figures, but I don't often handle them because of this.

So what's the verdict?

I like him a lot actually. There are a few annoyances, but this is exactly the kind of figure I really wanted at the height of my 2015-17 Fnaf phase. Plus he's super sturdy, mostly game accurate, and I bet a lot of kids will want him and Bonnie for Christmas.

Hopefully we'll get Chica and Foxy in this size too, maybe even Springtrap.

[wisteria-in-winter]

Too Busy Being Yours 💙Master List💙

They had not gotten along, at least at first.

Bal had acquaintances along the Sword Coast but none of them wizards. A few fellow sorcerers yes, but most definitely no wizards. By the nine hells did she find them arrogant and, consequently, difficult to get along with.

In her opinion Gale embodied all the worst traits of wizard kind. The man was pompous, hubristic, and by the gods he never shut up.

---

Bal hid herself away from the world for three years in Baldur's Gate to deal with her grief, unfortunately that didn't save her from being snatched up by the nautiloid. In the months that follow she learns how to make friends again, growing attached to her fellow tadpals, and eventually falling for the group's ambitious wizard. But the weight of the Sword Coast's fate rests heavily on her shoulders, and love is not always easy. When further loss and expectations take their toll, she flees from the one she cherishes most, unable to handle that he will pass long before she does.

Time and soul-searching will heal Bal's wounds, but only if she can face her fears and doubts.

---

Behold, the master list for my BG3 Gale X Fem!Tav/OC fic!

Chapter 1: How many secrets can you keep?

Chapter 2: Some things just aren't that simple.

Chapter 3: And your tears have been worthwhile, they got you through.

Chapter 4: Down, down, down by the river.

Chapter 5: Lost in the moment, years too late.

Chapter 6: Exposing cold steel, fire, beauty and rage.

Chapter 7: Leave all your shame behind the door.

Chapter 8: If I told you how I really feel would you let me in? Would you tell me all your secrets? Tell me where you've been?

Chapter 9: Shrinking walls of freedom's fantasies.

Chapter 10: I know that I can find the fire in your eyes.

Chapter 11: The night will hold us close, and the stars will guide us home. (Smut)

Chapter 12: I think it's funny, but it seems to heal me. (More smut)

Chapter 13: Did you ever think ascension could turn you into something frightening?

Chapter 14: Now that we've come this far I bet their eyes are watching us move.

Chapter 15: For you, for you, I would bring down the heavens on this earth.

Chapter 16: Save tonight, and fight the break of dawn. (Smut. Again)

Chapter 17: Made me feel so stupid when I burned your trust tonight.

Chapter 18: Oh, how I love you.

Chapter 19: Will you love me for who I am, not who I was?

Chapter 20: They call her Mississippi, but she don't flow to me.

Chapter 21: I've just got to get a message to you.

Chapter 22: So good at being in trouble, so bad at being in love.

Chapter 23: Give peace a chance. Let the fear you have fall away.

Chapter 24: I'm on my way to being so complete.

Chapter 25: Tonight, you're all mine.

This little project of mine is still ongoing, but I should be wrapping it up at Chapter 20. NEVER MIND, THAT AIN'T HAPPENING. I hope you enjoy reading about Bal and Gale's love story because I've enjoyed writing it.💙💙💙 Behold the one-shot section! It's self-explanatory.

Here Be Rewards To Gain: Karlach and Bal make a bet, and Gale learns something new.