#from the way i talk sometimes one might think i dislike going to school in boston which could not be further from the truth

[jungwookjins]

seeing lyons seeing ooo in sf tn like oughhh i am so happy for u but also i am kicking screaming biting why am i not there rn

[marlynnofmany]

Human Magic

You would think that a life gallivanting through space would be an endless string of exciting locations, and mostly you would be right. But sometimes my job on the courier ship is just a job, and occasionally that job sucks.

Like most jobs, it sucks when the people do. Today would have been unpleasant enough because of the location: a jungle area thick with plants, fog, and heat. I dislike sweating. I got to do a lot of it today. I also got my hair caught on umpteen different twigs and branches, completely messing up the braid. But all of that could have been fine if the clients were nice.

Nope! Snooty little buttheads of the same species as the captain, completely uninterested in acknowledging the rest of us, and ready to argue about the price of the delivery.

I stood there beside all the crates we’d just unloaded, wanting to take a nap on the hoversled but knowing that it would probably just make Captain Sunlight look bad. So I just sweated and waited, next to the Frillian twins and Mur, all of whom seemed to enjoy the sauna temperatures. The lizardy Heatseekers did too. Lucky me, the only one not either coldblooded or from a semi-aquatic background. They could have gotten someone else to help with this delivery, but the rest of the crew was busy loading up our next shipment. And I hadn’t realized how distasteful this would be.

“The items clearly smell rank,” argued the lead client. “Especially that crate; I can barely stand to be near it.”

“Once again,” said Captain Sunlight with more patience than these people deserved, “They smelled like that when we accepted them, as I have noted right here, and we traveled with exceptional speed.”

“I just can’t justify paying the full price for a spoiled product.”

“You are paying for the delivery, not the product.”

The argument went in circles while I sighed and undid my braid. Might as well fix that while I waited; there wasn’t anything else to do. When one of the underlings gave me a glare, I rolled my eyes and stepped behind the Frillians. Blip squared her shoulders and blocked me from sight.

How dare I catch their attention with my unsightly mammal fur? I thought, finger-combing the leaves out. No appreciation for — hm. I’d found a loose hair and also an idea.

I tucked the strand into my mouth while I redid the braid, then tied one end of that stray hair to the pen from my pocket, and the other end to my finger.

This was a trick that had gone over well in elementary school. With the fog and the way hair was exotic here, I was curious to see how it did.

“Captain,” I said politely, stepping forward. “Perhaps they would like to pay the full price if we throw in the secret of how I can move small things with my mind?”

Captain Sunlight quirked a browridge but played along. “Valuable information,” she said. “What do you say?”

The clients whispered to each other and argued for a moment, then demanded a demonstration. I happily obliged.

With the fog blocking out any traitorous rays of light that could give the game away, I held the pen out on my left palm, making dramatic flourishes above it with my right. I affected a look of deep concentration. Wiggling the fingers of both hands, I lifted my right, and lo! The pen rose into the air!

They bought it. Such goggle-eyed expressions; I had to work not to snort in laughter. Instead I stood up straight and caught the pen with my left hand, bowing while the clients all talked at once.

Captain Sunlight may or may not have known how I’d done that, but she was no fool. She took their payment as quickly as they offered it, then managed to usher everyone else back toward the ship without making it look like they were preparing to run.

“Go ahead,” she said to me. “Share your secret.”

“It’s quite simple,” I told them, snapping the hair from my finger. “All you need is a single strand of human hair.” I tossed them the pen and stepped behind a bush while they caught it in surprise.

Now, they could have chosen to laugh and offer to buy some of my hair. They could have pulled the same trick on their friends, and maybe won some bar bets or whatever. They didn’t. I’d made the right call by ducking out of sight.

They were yelling some extremely rude things when Captain Sunlight sped past and leapt onto the hoversled. “Back to the ship!” she said. Blop pushed the sled through the undergrowth at a run, with Blip jumping forward to clear a path and Mur scrambling up beside the captain. I wasn’t small enough to get away with that, so I followed behind Blop and kept an eye out for pursuit.

Luckily for us, they decided to stay there and be grumpy instead chasing after us. They’d gotten what they paid for, after all. Even if I’d used slightly more than my mind to move the pen.

“That was a great trick!” Mur shouted from the sled. “I didn’t realize your head-tentacle was useful.”

“So useful,” I called back, ducking a branch. “Sometimes that even works on other humans, though they usually figure it out pretty fast.”

“I appreciate the quick thinking,” said Captain Sunlight. “I’ll keep it in mind for future negotiations.”

“As long as they aren’t the type to end in violence,” I said. “I was pretty sure these guys wouldn’t fight us about it, but I couldn’t be sure.”

“Oh, these were former crewmates of someone I know!” the captain said. “They’ve always been eggholes.”

“Great!” I said. “I hope they enjoy the pen. It’s almost out of ink.”

~~~

The ongoing backstory of the main character from this book. More to come!

[shaunamilfman]

Witch!Lottie Drabble

Summary: "Witch!Lottie keeps stopping by your bookstore to buy shitty occult books as an excuse to talk to you."

Lottie Matthews was, hands down, your favorite customer. Not just because she was liable to spend a couple hundred any time she set foot in there, but you felt a strange connection to her that you'd never felt before. 

Your employee Jeff hated her with a passion, however. He claimed she was "Fucking weird." and that she often walked in, saw he was working, and left. It didn't sound much like the Lottie you knew, so you didn't pay much attention to him. You didn't care much for Jeff anyway, but he unfortunately was a model employee.

Sure, Lottie was a little strange. A little unusual. You think she might be a part of a cult, but that's not a crime. Hopefully. You had checked to make sure there weren't any unexplained missing persons in the area, just in case. So definitely not a crime. 

If that wasn't enough, all she buys are books on the occult. Honestly, you only order them for her. You heard her murmur about "Getting rid of revisionist history," more than once when she bought books on the Salem witch trials. 

You honestly didn't care what she did with them once she left the shop. You wondered if she realized she was creating her own problem by buying up the books she disliked so much. You wouldn't have stocked them otherwise; They really didn’t sell that well.

Still, the highlight of her visits came when she'd stand by the register afterwards and talk with you for hours and hours about everything and nothing. She'd always seemed disappointed in herself when you'd gently remind her that the store was closing soon, like there was something she wanted to say but didn't.  You had hopes that she'd ask you out, but you were admittedly too nervous to ask her instead. Lottie Matthews had always made an intimidating figure, even in school.

She brings you gifts sometimes, little trinkets. She brought you a flower from her garden a few weeks ago. You look at it in awe every time you see it. Not necessarily because it's the most beautiful flower you've ever seen, which it is, but because it still hasn't started to wilt in the slightest. It's like magic.

…

She came in on Halloween one day and actually stops in her tracks to look at your witch's hat. She gives you an immeasurably fond look as she shakes her head slightly in amusement. "That's cultural appropriation," She said. You laugh quietly at her as you lean across the counter to look at her.

"To who, witches?" You ask teasingly. She hums in acknowledgement with a smile just smug enough that you wonder if she knows something you don’t. “Well,” You say slowly, “If a witch would like to come and complain she could file it in the complaint box.” Her face lights up as she looks around and says excitedly, “There’s a complaint box?” 

You grin softly as her and glance towards the trash can. “Oh,” She says, deflating noticeably. You fake an offended gasp as you give her an affronted look.

“You were going to file a complaint about me?” You ask. Her eyes widen and she looks slightly panicked, like she just realized she put her foot in it.

“No, no.” She insists. “I was going to file a complaint about Jeff.” You can’t help the way you snort with laughter, head falling down on your arms as you muffle your laughter into the counter. You look up to see Lottie looking a mixture of surprised and pleased as she looks down at you. 

“Sorry,” You say, “It’s just that Jeff doesn’t like you either.” She smirks.

“Good.” She says. You shake your head fondly.

…

You remember the day you found out extremely well. You were standing on a ladder stocking books on the top overflow shelf when she stormed in the shop, obviously trying to get out of the heavy rain outside. You understandably were not expecting customers when it was raining that hard and startled so hard you fell back off the ladder.

You had your eyes closed waiting for the inevitable landing when you realized it had been an oddly long fall. You peaked one eye open to realize that you were floating in mid air. You looked around to find Lottie staring wide eyed at you with one hand out, soaked with rain and so cold she was shaking. 

You remember it so well mostly because she forgot to put you back on the ground as she confesses. You look fearfully at her before she suddenly realizes she hasn't set you down. "Oh!" She says, failing to hide her blush as she helped you down.

You weren't all that surprised honestly once you got over your initial shock. It seemed ironically on brand for what you knew about her. Once she sets you on the ground you give her a concerned look. You walk behind the counter as you search for the blanket you keep for when it gets cold. She’s watching you curiously as you walk back over to her and wrap the blanket around her, holding tightly around her shoulders. 

“You’re going to get sick being so wet and cold.” You chide. She smiles so wide it practically splits her face in two. “You need to go home and change into dry clothes.” You say.

“I will,” She promises. “If…”

“If what?” You ask.

“If you say you’ll go on a date with me.” She says, touched with a tinge of anxiety.

You sigh dramatically, as if it was a really hard ask. “If I must,” You say, but can’t help the way you smile widely back at her.

As she left the store you shouted at her to ask “Should I be looking for your car or your broom?” She turns back so that you can see the way she rolls her eyes. She says something about “Reductionist stereotypes,” but you were laughing too hard at your own joke to be sure. 

…

She never seems to be very showy with her magic. It's the small things really: you notice that her plants never die, her dishes are always clean, and her food never burns. You teased her for weeks after you realized that her popcorn always perfectly popped as well. 

She uses her magic most often as a sign of affection. Just a way to make your day easier and to remind you how much she loves you.  She'll pick up lunch or bring you coffee sometimes and it makes you think of her fondly all day as it stays perfectly at the right temperature. As if you could ever forget about Lottie, witch or not. 

Eventually you happily fired Jeff as Lottie spent so much time hanging out in the bookstore now that you just put her to work instead. She was overjoyed for weeks about it. She'd never worked a day in her life, you could tell, but she cheated so much with magic that it didn't matter all that much. You couldn't help but watch fondly as the books she 'unpacked' flew across the room into their proper spots. She grins ear to ear as she walks over and asks if she did a good job. You know she’s just fishing for a reward, but you give it to her anyway.

As you watch her fret over recipes as she brewed potions you couldn't help but to think that she really wasn't all that different from anyone else: She just had magic. Your life together was surprisingly more domestic than you had thought it would be, but you wouldn't change it for the world. 

[spectrumgarden]

I keep thinking about how no one seems to think about nuance when it comes to like, the concept of "autistic traits / symptoms" and discussing them, and how that is intertwined with the push to not consider it a disability. And its complex to discuss, but here's my convoluted thoughts. I know it's long but I hope people will take the time to read it.

There are in fact people who do fit some commonly associated with autism traits that are not impaired by them. Let's make up a guy, for a second:

They like routine and repetition a lot but easily handle change in them. For example they wear the same set of clothes for years with no desire to ever branch out, but if you made them wear something else they wouldnt really be bothered by it as long as they dont think it's super ugly, etc. They like to watch the same movies over and over but happily agree to watch other things with their friends when spending time together, and are engaged and interested in those movies. Etc. They speak very formally or choose "complicated" words for things that could be expressed easier. They however do not face problems with communication beyond annoyance of others because they're able to rephrase things easily to be understood, and they also have a normal back and forth in conversations and initiate conversations normally. They sometimes engage in subtle self stimulating behaviors and recognize the desire to do so during boring or stress inducing times (which pretty much everyone does, btw). They dislike loud environments but do not respond with melt- or shutdowns or any other "severe" reactions, and while for example preferring to go to a museum over a club, they easily go through their daily life in busy areas like city centers, shops or cultural events like parades without issues beyond like, mild annoyance and no desire to stay for longer than necessary. They have strong interests in seemingly random topics and spend quite some time researching or engaging with those, but they do not view the world through the lense of said interest, they do not neglect caring for themselves or fulfilling academic or professional responsibilities because they are so engrossed in their interests, they are easily able to hold conversations about other topics. I could go on.

This person would not be diagnosed with autism by any doctor who pays attention to the impairment clause of the diagnosis. They would probably be told "you're subclinical / you do not meet enough criteria / ..." While his person would probably relate quite a bit to (parts of) descriptions of (level 1 and / or low support needs and / or high masking) autism. And this is an imaginary person I made up, but these people obviously exist (and as a side note, are probably what people refer to when they talk about "everyone being a little autistic" etc)

And this person being told they're not autistic might be upset. Because clearly, they have so many autistic traits. They relate to so many videos! But the thing is! There is no impairment! The one thing that connects all of the symptoms related to autism to the actual diagnosis. This does not mean they do not in fact relate to the autistic experience. This does not mean these parts of their life or personality are fake / non existent / not important to who they are and how they experience things. But it is important to differentiate. If they consider themselves autistic, if the world considers them autistic, it waters down the definition to a point of being categorically useless from a medical standpoint, from a standpoint of figuring out who needs support and in what ways. Who needs (early) intervention, who needs extra support in school or at work or at home or in public.

And like. Humanity at large will probably always want to shove themselves into random categories. "Which character are you like?" "What is your personality style?" "What is your star sign?" or "which sports team do you support", and countless more come to mind. I dont think this imaginary person is wrong or silly for wanting to find a category of people they are like, or recognizing this similarity with some autistic people. I wouldnt even mind if they made up a non-clinical category / group of people who relate to autistic experiences without the impairment. It would get the point across that it is a group of people with shared experiences, but it is not the same as autism.

However autism is increasingly treated like something thats just a personality type without impairment, by people online and offline. And when they go "this is an autism symptom" without nuance, without looking at the need for impairment, or even differential diagnosis, it spreads that attitude. "Liking to eat the same foods is an autistic trait"... or is it normal to have food preferences to a degree if it does not cause you stress to eat new foods, if you are capable of eating other food if hungry and presented with them and not the food you prefer? Or is this person anorexic and their mind has created categories of "allowed to eat" and "not allowed to eat" based on arbitrary categories relating to their fear of weight gain? "Only eating with small spoons at home is a common autistic trait"... or is it a harmless preference as long as you are still able to eat food outside a strict routine set up with zero possible deviations? Or is it a person with OCD and eating with small spoons is a compulsive behavior for some sort of intrusive thoughts?

I could go on forever. But in the end, these short sentences are all the same. They are, at the same time: autistic experiences and allistic experiences, because they are so non specific. They are watered down and any additional information is removed.

autism is about a specific combination of experiences that impair you. That's literally all it is. It does not automatically turn us into a category of "other" that is fully not possible to relate to, because we are human too. And some of it will be relatable to people that are not autistic!

And there is value in discussions of experiences of autistic people that go beyond the impairment, as long as we do not forget about it, or treat it as secondary instead of the defining factor. I dont mind if autistic people bond over something they're not impaired by, that they see as a common experience, for example not easily going along with authority. Being creative. Preferring the small spoon (without being impaired by it while having other impairments), whatever, and call those common autistic experiences. But those are not the pillars of what make up autism and solely relating to them should not be your reason for calling yourself autistic. Neither should relating to commonly impairing symptoms without being impaired by your version of them. The impairments resulting from abnormal development are what makes someone autistic.

There needs to be more nuance, detail, when discussing autism symptoms. And the push to, at the very least, expand autism into an area of experiences that do not cause impairment of any kind, or worse claim it never caused impairment, need to stop. It does not help anyone.

I genuinely think part of the whole "everyone is autistic these days" crowd who likes to go after people and invalidate them has picked up on some of this, but they lack the skills to criticize it for what it actually is and / or they want there to be a simple solution, which is that everyone who calls themselves autistic online who does not fit their very stereotypical view is faking. They are wrong of course. But I dont think this comes out of nowhere. There is something to criticize about how autism is treated in many circles, especially among younger people.

I'm really not sure how to end this post because I like to come to some conclusions on my long posts but just. Uhm. The way some people treat "autistic traits" as completely unrelated to the impairment they cause while staying exclusively autistic traits is wrong. The way people try to redefine autism is harmful and in the end not needed because they could simply invent other words for that experience.

[transgenderteensurvivalguide]

you're trans, right? how did you come out to your parents? how did it go? how would you recommend someone go about doing it if they aren't sure how their parents are going to react? (positive to other people's kids being trans, dislike trans women in sports, generally vote democratic). i'm ftm.

sorry if this is too personal or already been answered or something

-- aar

Lee says:

As a matter of fact, I am indeed trans! I specifically identify as genderqueer, non-binary, transmasculine, transgender, and transsexual, although that's neither here nor there.

I actually didn't come out to my parents-- I came out to my friends, and then more publicly to my classmates at school. Then one of my classmates told her parents about me being trans, and that parent met my parents at a party and mentioned that I was trans. Unfortunately it just so happened that while they were at the party and out of the house, I took the opportunity to cut my hair short at home. Yikes!

Anyway, I would fully recommend actually coming out over being outed, if you have the choice, because then you have some control over the start of the conversation and can initially let them know whatever you want them to know.

As always, safety comes first. Do not come out if you do not think you will be safe. If there's any risk of harm or severe negative consequences, you should wait to come out until you're in a more secure position, like being 18 or older, financially independent, not living at home, or at the very least, having a support system in place like a trusted therapist who can help you deal with the repercussions of coming out.

There's a difference between being genuinely unsafe and feeling uncomfortable. Most people will feel their fight-or-flight anxiety response kick in when they have a really scary and stressful conversation, especially when they're talking with someone who means a lot to them and has a lot of authority in their life. But being anxious about their reaction might make something feel unsafe, emotionally, even if you logically know that you are safe and they will not kick you out, abuse you, etc.

That doesn't mean that your feelings aren't real feelings though. If you think that you would not be able to cope if your parents don't immediately and fully accept and support you, then maybe it isn't the right time to come out either. Your emotional well being is important, and if you would be unsafe as a result of mental illness/extreme distress after coming out (if your parent's reaction isn't what you had hoped it would be) then you should consider that to be just as important as if you were physically in danger from an external source. After you've had some time and therapy and got re-stabilized then you can reconsider coming out.

Let's say that you've decided to proceed with coming out. The next step is to continue to gauge their attitudes. You've already observed some of their views. This can be a good starting point to understand how they might react. Remember, though, that parents' reactions to their own child can sometimes be different from their general opinions. So they might be fine with your trans friends, but not be fine with you being trans yourself.

You can't fully predict what will happen, but making sure you have a sense of what they currently think might help a little-- if the topic hasn't come up in over a year and you're working off of what you remember them saying far in the past, it's possible their views have changed by now.

But either way, you'll never really know what will happen after you come out, so if you want to do it, you just gotta go for it.

Now it's time to prepare. You may want to have resources ready for your parents, so looking to find those resources should be your next step. Are there local support groups for parents of trans kids and do you know of any peers whose parents have attended? They might have questions or misconceptions about being a trans man, so be ready to share some basic 101 information with them and don't assume they understand what it really means to be trans. Websites, books, or even contact information for a knowledgeable counselor can be helpful.

Think about what you want to say beforehand. What's the point of coming out? Do you want something to change, like having them call you a different name, use different pronouns, buy you different clothes? Do you want them to understand the nuances of your identity and know the right terms and words to use and what terms and words are offensive? Think about all of your goals, and then write down the key points you want to get down.

This is the time to consider your answers to the questions they might ask you, like "how long have you felt this way," "do you plan on medically transitioning," "what does this mean for your sexual orientation," etc. Even if you don't know all the answers yet and are still figuring yourself out, you want to have an idea of what you'll tell them, even if it's just "I don't know yet, I'm still figuring it out".

I'm personally not a fan of gimmicky/"cute" ways of coming out when you aren't sure whether your family will be accepting. So I would recommend just using a letter to initially come out if you're worried about getting overwhelmed or forgetting important details, and being prepared to follow that up by having a sit-down conversation.

Have a support system in place. This could be friends, other family members, teachers, counselors, or online communities who understand and support your identity. I always recommend scheduling an event with friends either for directly after you come out so you have an excuse to leave the conversation and go, or at least for the next day so you can decompress and discuss it with people who support you.

When you're as ready as you can be, choose the right moment. Find a time when your parents are likely to be calm and not preoccupied with other stressors (so not on their birthday, a major holiday, etc) and either leave the letter for them or ask them if they are available to have an important conversation.

This might not always be possible, but a peaceful environment can facilitate a better conversation. Choose a time and place where you feel safe and where you won't be interrupted. This could be at home during a quiet weekend afternoon, an evening after dinner, or during a walk together, depending on your family dynamics.

Finally, it's time to have the conversation. You should be clear and direct. Tell them "I'm transgender and that means I feel I am a man," or whatever language you feel comfortable with. Don't hint at it because they might not know what you're trying to tell them, just tell them exactly what you want to say.

It’s okay to admit if you don’t have all the answers yet. Transitioning is a journey, and it's fine to be figuring things out as you go.

But if that isn't the case for you, and you are sure, then you should be ready to stand up for yourself and tell them that. They might react positively, negatively, or be unsure, but their feelings are not your fault/your responsibility because you're living true to yourself. It's okay if they need time to process the information, but don't back down and let them railroad you into saying that you're not sure or didn't mean it if you are sure and do mean it.

Finally, be prepared for the long haul. Understand that your parents might need time to fully grasp and accept your identity. Patience can be challenging but is often necessary since it can take several months to years before they come around and truly support you. That means that one conversation is usually not enough. Be open to ongoing discussions and expect them to be sometimes awkward.

We have a coming out page with more info, although some of the links are old and broke (I promise I'll get to fixing it some day!)

Followers, any advice for anon?

[ddarker-dreams]

Hellooooo I have been DYING to know this from you 👉👈. You know how there's a lot of tips for writing stuff? Well do you happen to have any tips for reading stuff? I want to read the books you recommend but I fear I'm just too dumb 😭 and won't understand what is going on let alone the themes and philosophies discussed. I feel like I would be insulting Dostoevsky by reading his work looool. We were never taught this stuff in schools ;O

I'm talking about critical thinking and analysis skills, media literacy, being able to picture and visualise sceneries; characters' voices/appearances etc., and just overall being able to comprehend one sentence that doesn't use the most basic active voice structure 😭 thank you if you choose to answer!!!!

SWEET ANON !!!! YOU ARE NOT DUMB !!!!

this is coming from a survivor of the american education system, so it might not be universal, but my experiences in middle/high school made me dislike reading books. no joke. i didn't see the point and thought reading the classics was a waste of time. i'm sure that's partially teenager arrogance, but from the conversations i've had with others, reading was rarely framed in a way that stoked intrigue. we're not given the tools to engage with the text so i'm rarely surprised when i see the worst takes imaginable on a piece of media i enjoy from a 14 year old.

i'm still learning myself when it comes to media literacy, it's an ongoing journey. when i read notes from underground for the first time last year i was literally so confused. i can normally read anywhere from 80k-100k words in one day if i'm motivated enough, but NFU, a novella at around 43k words, took me over a week.

i say all this to reassure you that you're not alone!

some advice that comes to mind when reading a dense work:

do some background research on the author. i know teachers hiss at wikipedia for some reason but reading a few paragraphs about the person's life, beliefs, politics, etc really helps put their writing into perspective.

look into the time period it was written. what were the pressing social issues at the time? who was in charge? what conflicts were ongoing/just ended? what was the predominant religion? books don't exist in a vacuum, a lot of the classics are filled with jabs at ideologies the author doesn't like (i'm looking at you, dante).

if the author's from a different country than you, getting a basic grasp on the culture helps a lot. with reading dostoevsky specifically, historical events like the emancipation of the serfs was an entirely new concept to my american brain.

not everything is going to make sense. sometimes the cultural/historical layers go so deep you'd need to have been alive at the time to immediately get it. fortunately, there are nerds with degrees in book who do extensive research and can give insight. i'll think i maybe understand a book okay, go to read a journal article on it, and go ??????? wat???? page 632 paragraph 3 references euclid's optics?? how was i supposed to know that.

finally, you're not going to like every book you read, even if it's well written. there's a difference between persevering and actively torturing yourself with words. if you dread picking it up again, there are other books to check out instead. there are some classics that i don't care for much (some of edgar allen poe's short stories, the fall by albert camus, no longer human by dazai osamu, to name a few).

ask yourself questions while reading. why did this character do that? is there a reoccurring motif throughout the work, and if so, why might the author be trying to highlight that? what perspective is the work from? is the protagonist lucid, are they an unreliable narrator? what themes are being explored here?

i hope some of this helps dsfhgkdjshgks there's a lot to be said on the subject but i didn't want this post to be miles long.

[acewithapaintbrush]

A post-Barbie movie short

Sasha stops in the doorway and just watches for a second. She debates leaving again, slowly walking backwards right out of whatever weird situation she has once again found herself in. There have been a lot of weird situations ever since Barbie, sorry, Barbara has entered the real world and started living in their spare room. 

Sasha's threshold for weirdness has gotten a lot higher ever since Barbara has joined their family, but she is still a teenager and as a teenager she feels she has a certain right to act a bit self-centered sometimes and just leave well enough alone from time to time. Let the adults deal with it. 

She sighs and instead of engaging the reverse gear, she steps further into the room. This looks relatively harmless actually. Not like the time Barb had found her parents' secret drawer in their bedroom. 

Yikes. That had been… awkward to say the least. For all involved. 

"What'cha doing, Blondie?" 

Barbara doesn't look up. She stays kneeling in front of the coffee table, locked in a staring contest with Mr. Muffin. "Hello, Sasha. How was school?" 

Sasha rolls her eyes. Sometimes it feels like she gained a second mother. As if the one she already has isn't overbearing enough. 

"Boring as always." She throws her bag into the corner and steps next to Barb. Mr Muffin's fluffy tail is whipping from side to side and his ears twitch. "That is a cat." 

Barbara finally moves. Without losing eye contact with the cat, she scoots backwards and scrambles up onto the couch. Sasha can't help but stare at the way her arms and legs move a little stiffly, uncoordinated. It's moments like these that remind you that this person has been a doll with limited joint movements not so long ago. 

"I know that. We had cats in Barbie Land. They just weren't so… squishy." 

Sasha thinks back to the dog she saw in weird Barbie's home and shudders. Almost automatically she reaches out and strokes Mr. Muffin's back, glad that her hand encounters soft fur instead of hard plastic. 

The cat leans into the petting hand. 

Barbara suddenly gasps loudly. "What is that?" 

Sasha blinks. "Didn't we already-? That's a cat." 

"No! That sound! Is it loading? Is your hand reloading the battery?"

The teenager sighs and lifts the cat into her arms just long enough to set him down on the woman's lap. Barbara holds very, very still. 

"It's actually the other way around. Cats can reload your social batteries." Mr Muffin circles on the new lap before settling down with a content little mrew. "But that is called purring. Cats usually do that when they are happy. Go on. Give it a try." 

There are a lot of false starts before Barbara finally gathers enough courage to actually touch the animal on her lap. The second her long fingers stroke through the fur the cat starts purring up a storm again. 

Sasha is glad that they are alone right now. Makes it a lot easier to deny her sappy smile upon seeing the wonder in Barb's face and the way her eyes light up in delight. 

"That… That is beautiful." She blinks tears out of her eyes (she is a crybaby when it comes to beautiful things) and beams up at the teenager by her side. "I like purring. I like cats." 

There is something humbling about accompanying someone entirely new discover the world. About showing her new things and watching her find her likes and dislikes, her dreams and desires. 

Sasha is still a moody teenager most of the time. Rather pessimistic and always questioning everything and everyone with a snotty attitude. 

But she has also done a lot of growing up. In Barbie Land, of all places. 

Talk about irony. 

And it's the grown-up in her, the woman she herself is growing into and discovering, that beams back at Barbie with nothing but joy. 

"I thought you might." 

*******

Barbara is gonna discover so many new wonderful things!!! The possibilities are endless😍

[angelllcakes]

wooo!!! requests are open! how about shy crushes with chan? i could only imagine how the members would push him to make a move 😭

also, your rules post isn’t showing up for some reason! i’m not sure if it’s just me :((

hope you’re doing well!

arghhh those darn rules >:(

i have a feeling its because i altered my username, but i fixed the link and hopefully it's back up! thank you for being so considerate and acknowledging them though! i rly appreciate you bb 💗

as for this request, you couldn't have sent a better ask for me to jump back in with! but i realized i might have read the prompt wrong about half way in hehe... i hope this still meets your expectations!

just around the corner

with dino x femreader

warnings/announcements: insecure, quiet reader, mild language, ridiculously immature children in good looking, grown men’s bodies. SEUNGKWAN IS BLOND 😏😩 this is also based in a school setting, however ages or grades are not mentioned.

WORD COUNT: 1k

As someone who considers themselves not quite as "outgoing" as they'd like to be, public spaces have always haunted you by the idea of being extremely uncomfortable. It isn't the company of others that you particularly dislike, nor is it the fact that you feel the need to be alone. Sometimes, the silence that lingers in the air between small talk or with close friends is all you need to process your thoughts, and perhaps you need a bit more of that silence when the boy you find just ahead passes you by once again. He crosses through your path at exactly 7:43am each morning, sending you the most contagious smile before disappearing into his classroom. It's the same, small notion he does that makes you lose all grasp of your feelings, yet you always react so flusteredly, as if it's the first time you laid eyes on him all over again.

You wonder how he manages to find you each day, considering your schedules overlap and cycle in completely different agendas. You know for certain it's because of your class' small size, making each student familiar with one another at the very least, yet you like the idea of it being caused by fate, in the hopes that his charm is followed by a more meaningful reason rather than just out of the kindness of his heart. Chan in fact does look for you between the crowds of rushing students, desperately trying to speak with you through his bashful gazes and quick grins, but he doesn't necessarily hate the way your cheeks grown warm for him either. You give him a fraction more of the confidence he wishes for.

Yet as soon as he enters his homeroom, all hopes of his confidence disappear when he comes face to face with three of his closest friends, whom he currently wants to bury alive as they reenact the previous scene between the two of you. Their chuckles are filled with nothing but support and brotherly love for him, and as Chan's book makes contact with the blonde's face, his two followers emit an even louder laugh.

"Yah, quit messing up my look Chan!'

"Your face is already unfixable, give me a damn break."

Seungkwan scoffs lightheartedly before finding his seat as the bell echoes through the building, peeking over Chan's desk for another genuine, but mostly annoying attempt to pry at his love life.

"Are you going to actually go for her today? Or wallow in your own shyness again? If you don't do anything besides look at her the poor girls gonna file a restraining order."

Wonwoo opens an ear to the conversation from his desk, curious of Chan’s response.

In all honesty, the constant pestering by his friends encouraging him to make a move is endearing. Yet they don't understand you the way Chan does, and it makes him slightly agitated over how poorly they capture you as they play jokes with him. They haven't seen the way your shoulders lose their tension as you exit busy elevators, or how your smile which, he didn't think was capable of shining brighter than it already does, stretches a little farther after you leave loud groups or chaotic scenes.

It’s the small, more calmer things you find joy in, and you've made Chan see the brighter, more positive side of life too.

So ultimately he gathers his courage, finding you seated on a bench once the final bell signals it's students home for the day. He figured choosing to find you in peace and away from the busy crowds of your environment would calm your nerves, and save him from public humiliation if all things backfired. Opting to begin through small talk, and getting to know you little by little was his original plan, but how well will that work for him? He prepared a fail-proof scenario for a fail proof guy... And Chan, well he isn't as fail proof as he dreamed of.

If almost tripping onto your lap wasn't too close of a call to failure, almost spilling his drink over your outfit and choking on his own spit mid stutter were definitely warnings that he should apologize, backtrack his entire plan, and go scream into his bedroom pillow. However another thing about Chan is that he wasn't a quitter, and was determined to knock down this wall between you two.

That was always what you admired about him most, his desire to succeed. He helped you believe in yourself, and for all his ‘mistakes’ you’d continue to feel overwhelmed with love. You lean closer, just a few inches from his darkening crimson cheeks.

“Was their something you wanted to talk to me about Chan?”

and from the second his name rolls off your lips, his grin instantly grows wider.

angelllcakes© do not copy, modify, or repost my work without consent and permission.

[veliseraptor]

Hello ! I've read a lot of the posts you shared or wrote about horror, especially in reaction to "pearl-clutching" discourse against the whole genre.

It was very though provoking (thanks!) but I was wondering if/how you draw the distinction between that and, well, honest and "legitimate" bad review / negative analysis of some individual stories who happen to be horror ?

Oh, for sure. Of course there's legitimate criticisms to be made about individual horror works, or even about horror as a genre on the whole. I'm never going to claim that there isn't. While I do feel like there's a place for the "let people have fun" school of thought around media criticism, I don't think it should be a blanket smothering of all criticism - mostly, as with so many things, it is worth considering your time, place, and audience. For your own sake as well, I find.

I do think that sometimes the language of "criticizing" or "being critical" has become a handy mask for people to say whatever they want in some of the same (though less pernicious) way that people use "I'm just asking questions" to shut down discussion of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Again, #notallcriticism, much of it is good and beneficial and keeps things fresh (and me thinking), even the criticism I ultimately might end up disagreeing with. And at the same time, I do see the tendency popping up sometimes to use the idea of "legitimate criticism" as a way to shield a person from disagreement (the somewhat infamous "think critically about x" translating to "and you'll agree with me" comes to mind.)

As far as the how, well, it's certainly a little your mileage may vary - what I might read as an unfair review of a book I liked, for instance, someone else might read as a well-deserved ripping to shreds of a mediocre work, and it's certainly possible for neither of us to be "right" about which it is. Some of this - maybe even a lot of it - is a matter of perspective.

I guess I would think of two things that shape my perception of how someone is talking about a work or a genre, in general and in particular with horror:

1. Is the writer familiar with the genre? Do they have at least a passing familiarity with the conventions, tropes, and other narrative tics that tend to crop up? If not, are the criticisms they are making marked by that lack of knowledge (ime some of the discourse about the A Song of Ice and Fire falls victim to this, sometimes). I'm not saying that criticism is invalid coming from someone without genre knowledge, but I am saying that I'm more inclined to be skeptical of criticism that comes from someone who clearly dislikes the specific genre they're discussing, because it sometimes feels like a willful lack of curiosity and unwillingness to engage with a text/genre on its own terms.

> Addendum to this: is the writer familiar with the genre as it stands recently? Horror now looks rather different than horror fifty years ago, just for instance.

2. Is the argument or point they're making actually coherent? Is the analysis solid and grounded in at least some kind of evidence or source? (Is the author using screenshots of tweets in lieu of actually writing about the phenomenon they're discussing?) I can't always but I'd say I can usually at least recognize, even if I disagree, when someone is actually taking what they're engaging with seriously and when they're not (in terms of the work put in to convince me what they're saying is true, relevant, and important), and if they're not taking it seriously then why should I?

And one more, I guess, which feels obvious but sometimes on the internet isn't, because people love to have opinions (I get it! so do I!):

3. Has the writer actually read (or watched/played/whatever) what they're talking about? This ties in a little with point one but is slightly divergent, because someone can to an extent be familiar with a genre without having read it. But someone talking authoritatively about the problems with something they haven't actually had direct contact with, based purely on a set of cultural osmosis and related assumptions, is frustratingly common, and people will assume that they know what they're talking about from that alone and are qualified to make a sweeping judgment from that position. And I'm just not going to take criticism made from that perspective very seriously.

That's how I'd draw my lines, anyway. I don't claim to be an authority, certainly; I'm a gal on the internet with a big mouth and a lot of opinions. I think the important things here though are a. I certainly don't think that there's no such thing as legitimate criticism (in the negative sense) of horror works or horror as a genre, and b. I have particular standards for how I judge that criticism based on content and context.

I guess it's also worth noting, with this particular example, that the other question is "how much does this feel like it aligns with the present moral panic around dark or disturbing content in fiction?" and if the answer is "a lot" then I'm significantly more likely to dismiss it.

[supergigabigboybabechad]

likes: Animals (cats and dogs especially seem to like me a lot more than the average person), gaming, anime, cooking, food, rock music, goth/punk/edgy/alternative/emo subculture, makeup and skincare (I like to feel pretty lmao), school, taking pictures

dislikes: bitter food, spicy food,school

hobbies: Acting (#1 hobby!), writing, ig I’ll put studying here since i was a honour student.

physical preferences: none

personality preferences: someone willing to protect me (I’ve been stared by creepy old men for 2 days in a row) and someone not too energetic and bubbly, anyone who is not Ace or Floyd, someone who can comfort me as I’m a generally anxious and insecure person

love languages: physical touch and quality time

extras: I’m an infj, would be in Diasomnia dorm, my personality would be I tend to come off as reserved, intimidating and cold due to my trust issues from being stabbed in the back by someone I trusted at first impressions but as I warm up to someone/they gain my trust I can be warm, caring, loyal, affectionate, and protective

Soooo i couldnt pick just one :( Too many ideas! I guess youre getting four charecters 😔 im not that indecisive though they are in order from who i feel would be less compatible to the most! For a big reveal vibe

4. Azul Ashengrotto

Youre giving him the cold shoulder? He doesnt gaf..

An honors student an actor and a beauty, hes so intrigued!

His intentions are likely less than pure but anyone with one working eye can see that

“Let’s make a deal!” Hes probably offering you fame for your acting but we both know youre not falling for that.

The more you ignore him the more hell bother you it becomes some form of personal challenge for him

Hes upping the charm and throwing in all the bells and whistles this isnt about his contract anymore its about his ability as a business man!

Eventually youll tell him to knock it off and that you know you cant trust him

Hell feign hurt but beep down you just charmed him.

So strong and so smart he already knew he wanted you in his corner but now he finds himself wanting you more.

As a buisness man azul is good at reading people, it comes with the territory so he knows how you see him and hes determined to change it

Hed follow you around trying to market himself as an outgoing and upstanding person did you drop something? Hes got it, dont stress! Need notes? Come to him! Free of charge!

It doesnt work.. that is until he finds you in an insecure state or anxious state.

Maybe its before your first role in twisted wonderland where you dont know anyone.

Its so prestigious here! Anyone would be nervous.

He takes this opportunity to comfort you. Once you tell him about your insecurity and anxiety he immediately knows what to say

In that moment you dont see him as some capitalist. For the first time you see him vulnerable, you see him on a level where you can relate to him

You can feel in his voice and the way he speaks to comfort you that hes felt it too, he knows what its like

Even you know being vulnerable isnt something azul does willy nilly so it gets you thinking, maybe you can trust him.

While talking to him you might name drop or tell him about your experience with creeps

Hell protect you but hell definetly hide it from you he doesnt want you seeing his ugly side

Hell be keeping an eye on you and if anyone oversteps in anyway hell be after them

Hes a powerful man, he could send the twins after them or if theyre really hurting you he’ll bring them in for a “word”

As for comforting you, he always knows what to say but hell also have episodes

Sometimes hell wonder how he landed you, so beautiful, smart and talented what if you wake up one day and realize youre too good for him?

Youre going to have to do some comforting too, hold him and tell him you love him, its all hell need.

Azul would be scared to touch you first, hes a gentleman! He cant just grab you! No matter how badly he wants to, he doesnt know how to go about reaching for your hand

Youve gotta make the first move, walking side by side notice how his fingers twitch towards your hand, go for it! Hold his hand!

Hell be shocked, bamboozled, pushing his glasses up and trying to hide his blush but you can still see a light pink on his ears.

From now on whenever he holds your hands hell take his gloves off before intertwining your fingers

His probably still to shy to go forward but if you grab him for a hug hell be sooo happy

He doesnt have much time to spen with you but hell always welcome you to sit beside hin while hes working, hell let you on his lap too if you want but youll have to ask and go through a but of his awkward aftershock

When he does time off hell spend it with you. Hell spare no expense! Spoiling you with fancy dinners and gifts

He works so hard though hell need a break, lie together and hold him or just watching anime together will help him let off steam.

3. Malleus Draconia

Malleus is a really toned down guy who’s willing to go with the flow he wont be too much for you to handle

Upon meeting you and being faced with your colder aura, cant say he’s really phased. With silver coming off in a similar way you wont deter him.

His generally frightening and strong air might not leave you wanting to open up but he probs wont notice and come back to you anyways

Coming back to you over and over again he’ll get more and more friendly. The imposing air around him starts to clear and you start seeing him as sort of an oddball

Hes so intimidating yet so tame maybe you can trust him?

Hes lonely. He doesnt realize it but he is so hes always coming to you he wants to spend all his free time with you just to have you there so he wont be lonely. This feeling is so foreign to him but its like a weight has been lifted from his chest

Itll make him even happier if youre the one initiating quality time. It makes him feel like hes wanted

Physical touch too!

He could be lost in thought worried about you one day finding yourself afraid of him only to be met with you holding him having all his worries vanish

Showing you being vulnerable around him is the highest amount of trust he feels he could have gained

Sleeping with him hell probably hold you while hes still awake thinking about the difference between when you first met and now

You were so closed off, you’d hardly ever respond to him but now look, he always has you by his side, your so warm and kind to him, you trust him enough to be completely helpless around him leaving him to protect you in your vulnerable state.

Speaking of protecting, walking with malleus no one will dare look at you funny let alone disrespect you

God forbid anyone harass you, youll need to phone lilia to calm him down

After that though hell turn his attention back to you and make sure youre alright. Hell insist on carrying you even if you swear you’re fine “Humans are fragile we cant be too careful”

Honestly 1) he just wants to hold you and 2) he knows about your anxiety and needs to make sure you’re okay you could say hes doing it more for his peace of mind than his for yours

Having anxiety or just feeling really insecure? Hell cancel everything hell make someone else do it if he has to

Hes overly cautious of you because your human

Hell hold you on his lap and let you talk if thats what you need otherwise hell just hold you close to your chest and let you breathe, drawing circles in your back, humming and playing with your hair he wants you to focus on him, you and him are all that matter right now and your all that matter to him.

He really appreciates that you can cook, he wants you to cook for him so you can yk, save him!

“Im sorry lilia but Haru has already prepared a meal for me”

Hes scared of change. Taking pictures will eaze him. Take pictures with him and let him have a few and youll find that hes placed them on a board near his bed.

Hell but his favorite in a locket that hell keep with him all the time. He doesnt want to think about a time where hes without you but he knows it will have to come.

Taking all these pictures is so important to him. He needs these traces of you for when youre gone

Acting!! Hell come to all your shows and be so proud! “That’s my Haru, a star aren’t they lilia?”

Hed be so dazed by you hell probably miss the entire play except for the parts youre in.

2. Vil Schönheit (ig were sharing😒)

Vil gives off the same vibes as you at first

Hes cold and hardened on the outside but he cares deep down and that becomes more evident as you get to know him

Vil might not pay much attention at first, hes too busy and the could and distant air around you detrers him a bit, he doesnt see anything he can improve your already beautiful so he leaves you alone

That is until he sees you onstage one day.

As part of film club and an actor himself seeing you on stage, your acting and presence are amazing

Film acting is what vil does most and as a professional knows how different it is from the stage.

He cant help but be impressed in your performance and from then on you just seemed to sort of stand out to him

Hell start noticing things, how smart you are how caring and soft to your close friends you are. How beautiful you manage to be with so little effort

Wait- youre so kind to your friends what is it that they have that he doesn’t? Shouldnt you be charmed by him?

Well either way he comes to talk to you about your performance and how he thinks youd make an amazing addition to film club!

Vil would love to act with you! He does film acting most of the time so hell teach you about that and you can show him a thing or two about stage acting!

Hell love your writing, hell encourage you to publish or even to be a play write!

Maybe you should even start a production company together

He believes in you and wants to star with you and is willing to support you all the way

As a celebrity, vil values his privacy, dating is hard with your insecurities he understands if yoh dont want him to announce your relationship and will do his best to keep it private

On the other hand he has no issue going punlic with your relationship. He knows that people online can be cruel and hell do whatever he can to keep that from you

If youre feeling insecure, he cant have that, WAKE UP!

Youre dating THE Vil Schönheit not only is he beautiful but hes also selective! Hello??? Youre absolutely gorgeous and he wont have you feeling otherwise

Hell hold you, tell you your beautiful and if it helps you, hell give you a self care day together

Face masks painting your nails and doing hair!

Also if you wanna do more makeup all you have to do is ask! Vil will most definitely help you out

Hes well versed! Whatever style you like! (My personal fav is douyin!)

With an eye for style, if youre not too sure on what you want im sure hes already cooked up the perfect look for you

SKINCARE VIL IS SO HAPPY hell sing your praises and go off about how happy he is that someone values their skin as they should!

Hell give you personalized products too!

A photographer x model trope too? SO CUTE(me projecting my want for a photographer partner) BUT LIKE IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE THOUGH⁉️⁉️

Vil sewing makes so much sense and after hes finished with a project hell wanna model it for magicam!

Taking photos on his own is fine but we know vil, he wants spectacular!

He trusts your artistic vision and would love having you take his photo hell come out looking beautiful and he sees it as the outcome of your combined efforts

Vil is so protective he would not let anyone harass you!

In that moment he doesnt care about his name all he carrs for is your safety and well being.

Online or in person he wont hesitate to go all in on them protectively putting himself in between you and your harasser

Quality time would definitely come in your selfcare routines together and picking outfits!

Hes pulling all the stops picking your outfits finding your color-palette

So obviously his gonna spoil you with all this makeup skin care and clothing hell have you feeling absolutely gorgeous like you’re the only person he sees!

Youre so beautiful he cant help but want to accentuate that

1. Deuce Spade

Upon first meeting you his a little intimidated by how closed off you are, but he cant help but admire you!

An honors student whos so straight and narrow! Hes gonna try to befriend you right away! Youre the exact type of person he needs to surround himself more with

Deuce is a good boy so im sure youll find yourself opening yourself up to him more and more

Once you let him in on your trust issues he feels a twinge of guilt, youve been nothing but upfront and honest to him and hes been hiding a secret since youve first met! Would you still think of him the same if you knew???

He wouldnt be able to hide it very well and upon asking him whats wrong he blurts out his past and starts apologizing for not telling you sooner

He says he understands if you would like your distance and that he shouldnt have hid something so big from you

After letting him know that youre fine with it and it wasnt that big of a deal hell be so overcome with joy!

Youre so loyal! So kind! Hes so relieved he grabs your hand to enthusiastically thank you without thinking

Before he realizes what hes done he gets a look at how cute your shocked face looks and he immediately apologizes backing away and going back to sitting awkwardly

From that day he’d be noticeably more awkward around you but who could blame him? Your so sweet!

Deuce games a bit himself, he loves you so much introduce him to the games you play the most and hell pick them up just to spend time with you

His mom raised him right so hell plan dates for you and take a lot of initiative to make sure he’s treating you with all the love you deserve

He wont touch you without permission. He knows better! Hell either have to work up the courage to hold your hand or your just gonna have to go in

He gets really worked up at times and forgets though

After his win in a track meet hell celebrate and right to you and lift you up in his arms without thinking.

Hell apologize after but as time goes on hell get more comfortable, he just wants to make sure he’s doing things right

Hell do the same after a play! You did such a great job and you look so beautiful in your costume he rushes over to tell you how amazing you were and give you flowers

Hell bring his mom to see you act too shell love you, how could she not!

Deuce is very capable in protecting you and most definitely will, i dont think i need to explain that one

The first time he does though its just like he snaps, hes so mad, more mad than youve ever seen him

After whats done is done hell apologize for acting without your permission and say things like “Im sorry, you shouldnt have seen that!”

On his hands and knees bro dont leave him!

The next time something happens hell tell you to leave because he doesnt want you seeing but he cant just let them get away with creeping on you!

Deuce might not have a way with words but he tries, so when youre feeling down about yourself or anxious hell take you for a ride

It makes sense that hed only have one helmet so assuming that you dont have one hell insist you wear his along with his hacket so you do t get hurt and make you promise to hold on tight to him

Hell take you to his secret spot and sot you down and let you let it all out “Im sorry, I didnt know what to say so i just thought id help you run away for a bit” hell listen to you for sure

Hes a bit of a romantic so i see him smiling as he watches you get ready in the morning, watching you put on mascara as he makes the eyes at you

If you turn to face him hell look away though that wont change

He loves how gentle you are sometimes it makes him feel that youre delicate, like if hes too rough hell break you and you might run away

Hes so sweet if you give him pictures you take of him hell buy a book to keep them in and label each one

Hell ask for advice studying too! Youre so smart, honors isnt easy to get in any way, dont forget that

With you in his life he really feels like hes becoming better, like someone his mom can be proud of and someone worthier of you each day that passes

——————————————-

I just wrote a bunch in the notes app and ordered them in what i thought was the cutest order, lemme know which one you liked the best too! Hope you like it❤️

[findafight]

(Okay, gonna try and send this again)

I had a whole spiel about how R0nance has the potential to be very interesting and stimulate character growth on both sides in a similar way to Steve and Eddie. Not to say that Nance needed “ego death”, but she has built too much of her identity around being the smartest person there/the only person who can find the answers, and having Robin challenge her in that way (at times without even needing to) would provide some much needed growth. Because at the moment she’s giving “gifted student who didn’t struggle in school and is going to be eaten alive at college”.

Or, if you wanted to lean into the “Bad R0nance” side of things, they have the potential for a lot of interesting dynamics, scenes and conversations that they couldn’t have with other characters. Like, Barb is already such a charged subject with Nancy - add to that the fact that Barb ditched Robin to become Nancy’s best friend. To say nothing of Steve, who is such a big part of Robin’s life, he’s going to be part of Nancy’s what her she likes it or not.

Hell, assuming that that argument prompt wasn’t meant to be cute or funny, that’s a dynamic that could be interesting to explore. Honestly, I find Nancy’s difficulty with admitting that she’s in the wrong/having to have things done her way interesting, especially in contrast with a lot of the guilt she carries being over things that weren’t really her fault (if a bit too close to how certain loved ones of mine act sometimes). And I already see enough of her sticking to her guns despite common sense going unexplored in the show (quite literally; I love surprise gun-toting badass Nancy as much as the next person, and her and Max sawing down the shotgun was a cool visual. That being said; WHEN have guns ever worked against the Upside Down?).

Anyway - my point is that it’s not that I dislike R0nance, I just find a lot of the stuff written to be OOC, that it ignores many of the elements that I think would make them interesting together, or that it downplays Steve’s importance in Robin’s life/ignores it in favour of treating him more as Nancy’s ex-turned-kinda-friend.

haha yeah I got the first one and was like hm. that's not finished...hope they continue!

yeah Nancy doesn't need the same kind of ego death as Eddie did, but she's in desperate need of the realization she doesn't need to form her identity around her academics and journalism and her ability to Solve the Mystery etc, she can be something other than that. The tidbit from rebel Robin that if Robin tried a bit more, she could be valedictorian or something is so juicy for this! I don't think this is exclusive to romo rnce tbh i think them getting a kind of friendship could be really interesting and change them.

The Barb of it all would be so good and neat to explore. God. the hurt and guilt on both sides? I want them to have a conversation about Barb!! How robin mourned her even before she died, and maybe felt like a fraud for crying herslef to sleep when Barb went missing, because they weren't really friends anymore. How Nancy feels guilt for letting Barb leave, how she wishes she could take it back. How Robin resented Nancy for "stealing" barb away, about her insecurities in her friendships because of that. I want to see it! They could have such a rich friendship!

I want to see them argue! yell! scream and cry! There's so much potential here! their personalities would clash in glorious ways even in a friendship, let alone a romo relationship! hoo hoo!

Poor Steve is just. He's there too. He can't not be, because he might be an ex Nancy didn't talk to unless the world was ending, but Robin would see him everyday? and that's awkward. idk I think people also miss that for Nancy, dating the best friend of an ex she broke up with in....not the best circumstances and tried to avoid since then would be majorly awkward! idk like Nancy has warmed again to Steve in s4, but clearly didn't interact with him a lot between seasons, but she was also flirting with him and then went back to Jonathan, so it's probably not a situation she wants to be in! Besides the whole mess it would be for Robin considering if she actually wanted to date a friend's (best friend's) ex, the ex, Nancy would probably have to consider spending time with an ex like that. (because you're correct! for robin Steve is non negotiable)

(the prompt was absolutely supposed to be cute it blew my mind) But it's such an interesting dynamic, and absolutely something that I can see Nancy doing. It's been haunting me for weeks! Her feeling guilty over things she had no control over, but then not taking accounatbility for things she did and could change, that's so neat! With her relying on body language, and not adequately communicating to partners what she actually wants/needs/is thinking, Combined with Robin not being good at reading people and generally nervous about that inability to read more subtleties, it would be brutal. They would both dig their heels in, but robin wouldn't know why. FASCINATING.

Common sense doesn't exist in Stranger Things <3 Also I know next to nothing about guns but for some reason I know (am pretty sure of?) that sawed off shotguns have worse accuracy. I was like "nooo nancy you don't need to do that! It will also not help at all!" please let Nancy get a meelee weapon please let her beat the shit out of a demogorgon please let her actually inflict damage!

Uhg yes agree. I think it's one of the few ships I dislike more because of the shippers and how they interact with the characters, and that I see it as sort of a relationship that wouldn't last, and the shippers wouldn't like that and also want it canon. So much stuff I find ooc, and also for some reason a number of steve haters (super uncharitable ones that really, idk why they like robin, a character who loves steve so much she wants to combine with him, if they hate everything about Steve). Big turn offs. Not a lot of nuance happening! (which is NOT rnce exclusive!! I exit out of fics with ships I like because I find them ooc etc.) It could be a really interesting ship that would be messy and possibly implode but oof it'd be neat to explore. I've said before that I can see them liking each other and just not working out in an au where Steve and Nancy never had that history, because honestly another part of it is that I just don't see them as compatible (and included it in one of my not at all canon adjacent aus!).

I am with you on a lot of the content fumbles how Steve fits into it. The complexities his relationships both past and present to both Nancy and Robin would bring up between them could be explored more. Like yeah maybe steve's fine with his bff dating his ex whatever. but how would they feel about it? how would Nancy feel about steve being Robin's ride or die? how does Robin's friendship with steve effect that relationship? there's interesting bones here but alas. He's often shoved to the side as Robins friend and nancy's ex-turned friend. WHERES THE JUICE THERE? c'mon! i get some folks want non-conflict romance but maybe the ship that has potential to be so so SO messy that isn't going to be the most incharacter interactions.

[miggylol]

you mentioned textbanking to reach out to potential leftist voters in the tags on one of your posts - what org was that through? it sounds like something concrete and useful to do

It absolutely was! It felt really satisfying, especially when we'd go back to the campaign Slack channel and learn that we'd hit all the outreach goals for that day and more numbers would be released tomorrow.

Who to work with

I went through my main state Democratic party (so, California Dems) for a few reasons. One: they were keeping an eye on all candidates and issues, so I felt like my efforts were probably being directed toward the area of greatest need/risk. (Why you might not do this route: you really care about certain specific candidates/issues, and don't want to show up to volunteer one day and see that voters are being contacted about other things.)

Two: voters can be contacted by multiple groups, which obviously annoys them after a while. (This was in fact the thing that I did dislike about this process.) People get taken off the contact roster with a STOP response, but as political parties and PACs are forbidden by law from coordinating with each other, being removed from one group's roster doesn't mean they'll be removed from another group's. I liked going with the main party because they've been doing this the longest and have already contacted the most people, so I thought they'd probably have a contact list that was already the most edited. (Why you might not do this route: you don't care as much about this problem as me, and you care more about connecting all people who are aligned with you on [issue] instead of contacting the general left-leaning population.)

Three: this state party approach put me in touch only with California voters, and sometimes they do want to ask a few questions about greater details, or even what you personally care the most about. I felt qualified to talk about pretty much anything/anyone on our state ballot, so that was a good match. (Why you might not do this route: you don't want to be limited to contacting people in your own area, and you instead want to contact voters anywhere about [issue].)

So, broadly put: you can work with your own state party or with some PAC that focuses on specific issues (environment, schooling, foreign policy, etc.), depending on what sounds more appealing based on what I described above. There is of course the option of working with some other state's party, as well. For example, someone might think "well, I'm in IL and that's safe blue, so can I spend my energy elsewhere?" That's what I faced in California, and I decided to help our with our own swing districts and initiatives. But someone else near me might have decided to textbank for the swing states of AZ and NV, instead. That person in Illinois might decide to volunteer for, say, Wisconsin. (Which is probably the best-run state Dem party in the country, by the way!)

You also might do this if you're in a blood red state. It might feel like you're doing more good to volunteer for Georgia or Arizona (slowly turning blue) than to volunteer for your own state of Wyoming (the reddest state in the country). That can be a good investment of your time! On the other hand, it's still valuable to contact the locals. Even if they vote for Republicans, people can vote differently on specific local issues. For example, in Wyoming, there's momentum for huge developments in wind power that some entrenched oil/gas companies are pushing back against. If someone really cares about the environment, they could decide it's better to volunteer in WY than GA.

What does textbanking do, exactly?

You might be wondering if you'll be expected to argue with people, answer complicated questions, or what. No! There are texting portals that have a lot of pre-programmed answers to basic questions, like "What is [candidate's] stance on abortion?" If you contact someone who's argumentative or tells you to fuck off, you just click the "should be removed from list" button and disengage. If you contact someone who has questions you're not prepared to answer, you hop back into the Slack channel and ask an organizer to take over the conversation.

So, what are you doing, then? You are identifying voters who are likely to vote blue but are lower-motivation.

This is an incredibly important step to do in the lead-up to election days. If someone votes left and tells you that they've already taken advantage of early voting, you thank them and click the "has already voted" button. Then, the database removes them from further contact for this cycle, because their vote is banked and no more resources need to be spent on them. On the other hand, if there's someone who (for example) cares about abortion access but hasn't had time to vote yet, or doesn't know if they're registered, etc., they can be aided with information on how to vote/register. They can be offered transportation on Election Day, if they don't have a car. Textbanking helps to target the party's resources the most effectively, and get the most low-likelihood voters over the finish line.

In other words, textbanking is all about reaching tons of people and seeing where to aim more in-depth resources. Textbanking is largely not about converting uncertain moderates into blue voters. That's phonebanking and door-to-door visits, because talking with people is more convincing. But you can identify who might benefit from that kind of follow-up via textbanking.

How to get started

If you're thinking "sure, the state party approach sounds like it'd work for me," that's very easy to get started. Just google "[state] democrats texting" and you'll see a variety of options to get started. Or, you can go to the homepage of the state party, and there will be volunteer options listed there.

Alternately, you can go to the Democratic Party events page and see all volunteer events across the country, of every type. So there's not just textbanking, but other things that may uniquely appeal to you, like helping mobility-limited voters. (You can filter by type of event & location.)

If you want to work with a specific charity or PAC on a specific issue, then you'll need to track down their volunteer options. For example, I went to the Sierra Club and found this volunteer page, which has a bunch of options, but not a bunch of direct outreach. On the other hand, they do seem to have a texting team, but it's only visible if you log in, probably? Unfortunately, charities/PACs aren't as standardized and visible as the Democrats' volunteer options. However, once you become familiar with your organization of choice, then you're over the hurdle.

I find volunteering via textbanking to be satisfying, and also a way to burn off nervous stress during political seasons. Not only is it a distraction from the world, but it's also a distraction that achieves something.

What if I care about something, but I can't find textbanking for it?

At this time, you may be thinking "okay, I'll do textbanking for a ceasefire!" I thought the same thing, and started looking for options, assuming there would be some organization that was encouraging people to contact their rep/senators. And... I didn't find one. I did find multiple charities that made it easier to send emails and letters to politicians via online forms, which is certainly good! But I didn't find any charity that was directing people to those resources via texting the broad voter population.

In cases like this, you may choose to do your own unofficial "textbanking" by making posts about those resources, and drawing upon your own networks like they're the database you're contacting. That's certainly better than nothing, and it's a way to take action. If I see an option for this, I will definitely share this. I am obviously a fan of engagement via textbanking. Obviously.

I hope all that helps!

[heycoyotegirl]

wait actually quasi-rewrite of paxton's s4 arc:

starting this off by saying that I do genuinely enjoy the "people don't like me? oh shit i have to leave immediately" plot point (slaps the top of paxton's head: this boy can fit so much adhd coding in him), though I think it should've been longer than two weeks (and maybe not Just social problems)

also I liked miss thompson and thought she and paxton were fine together, but daxton owns my heart and soul, so she's just living her best life being a sub at the school, completely unaware of paxton's existence

with that out of the way, alt paxton arc:

I think it would've been fun and sexy for there to have been some sort of swim team tryouts/meeting at ASU, where paxton could blow everyone's times out of the water (pun intended) and then have some of the people on the team dislike him specifically for the thing that made him super popular in high school, in addition to his roommate's total apathy, but that's an optional change

first major change is don't have him go straight to working at the school. I'd either have him get a job at a community pool or maybe work out some sort of deal with the coach to sometimes get access to the school pool (the latter is logistically harder, so I'll be going the community pool route for the rest of this)

as in canon, devi needs something athletic for her applications. she reaches out to paxton to ask, and he suggests the girls swim team (does their school even have a girls swim team? who knows, but I'm going to say that it exists and has openings) ((I also think it would be good for devi to do something she’s BAD at. we got a bit of that from the relay race, but it was overshadowed by her scheming re: aneesa. and that was a one-time event, compared to training to join an actual team and participate in competitions))

devi is obviously leery of the prospect but paxton reassures her that he'll be right there and wont let anything happen to her

insert fun reference to him pulling her out of the pool at ben's party and probably a joke about the role reversal from when devi tutored him

also a deeper discussion about how she became paralyzed in a pool and could've drowned (this is a show about processing and healing from trauma, so let them Talk About The Trauma. the emotional and narrative through-line of "devi loses feeling in her legs" -> "devi regains feeling in her legs because of paxton" -> "paxton rescues devi from a pool" -> "paxton helps her feel safe to swim again" do you see the Vision?)

paxton teaches her to swim again. there is a pool kiss, obviously.

and at this point we can bring eric in (preferably with less fatphobia). he's noticed that paxton has been giving devi private lessons and also wants private lessons. paxton isn't sure because, yes, he really liked helping devi, but well, he lov really likes devi. also eric is annoying

devi encourages him to give it a shot, since he's a really good teacher (aka fun parallel of them both encouraging each other and pushing each other to be their best)

like canon, paxton teaches eric and realizes, oh shit, he might actually like teaching. like, in general and not just teaching devi specifically

the coach sees how he successfully trained eric and then tells paxton about the job opening, which segues into Daxton Drama (do they breakup so he can take this job? do they try to hide their relationship while paxton works at the school, and does that bring up old insecurities for devi, or has she gotten past those? does he turn down the job and go back to school right away? and in that case do they try long distance?)

[imagine-knb]

i just want to say that i literally love LOVE your blog, thank-you so much for writing for us! <3

for the match up : -

name - cherry

likes - food (italian the most!), art, sports

dislikes - seafood, bugs and i have a bit of trypophobia so dots!

i am someone who likes to try out many things, i can be quite ambiverted though my mbti is entj- but i promise that i'm quite sweet to my friends <3 i have a habit of rambling on sometimes but i can be quite a good listener at times too! i like reading fantasy, thriller and self-help/guidance books and i also prefer to draw/write/play videogames in my free time. i am someone who actually liked going to school (usually), just because it felt more productive to me- as i do have a tendency for procrastination. it's hard for me to get addicted to things, but when i do- i hyper fixate on it until i somehow lose interest in them after sometime (the unfinished drafts are side-eyeing me lol). i asked a few of my friends about my first impression, and they told me that i came off as a sophisticated and polite girl with bookish smarts; their present impression of me is snarky/funny, kind, strong and very guarded (even for them). for some reason i am usually the first friend who people tell their difficulties to even if they might not share all their secrets to me (so i believe that i'm a good advisor on that front)

i try to be nice when i meet people for the first time (but i won't hesitate to be rude if they are)

currently- i am wishing to be more consistent with my work, and join a few sports such as basketball and golf and also manage my time more appropriately.

thanks and have a nice day! <3

Type of Romance

Acquaintances to Lovers

How You Two Met

Himuro had known you through school and, like most people upon first meeting you, thought you were just another studious girl who kept mostly to herself. His social circle didn't bleed over into yours very often, so the two of you rarely interacted.

On the flip side, you also had the impression of him that he was another good looking guy who didn't give girls the time of day. He was smart and calm, also keeping to himself usually if he wasn't with his teammates.

It wasn't until you caught him outside one day, practicing on his own, looking rather frustrated and completely out of character, that the two of you got to know each other better.

The loud curse that had come from Himuro as he missed a shot startled you. You stared at him for a while, watching as he panted heavily, his eyes trained on the way the basketball rolled away from him. As if feeling your eyes boring into his back, he turned to glance in your direction. Having not expected anyone to be outside at this hour, he looked almost surprised to find you.

"Cherry," he greeted. Then, realizing you'd likely witnessed his outburst, Himuro glanced away to break your gaze. "Sorry, I didn't think anyone would be out here right now. I'm just a bit tired and fed up, I'll try to keep it down."

"No, I..." You trailed off, recognzing the frustration in his tone. It wasn't par for the Himuro you slightly knew and you wondered if there was anything you could do to help. "I, uh... I have some time. Did you want to maybe talk about it?"

How He Fell For You

He hadn't taken you up on the offer the first time you told him you'd lend a listening ear, but that didn't stop you from trying every time you caught Himuro acting just a bit out of character. Eventually, he did accept your offer and you found out that the poker-faced, stoic man who ever girl fell for was just a facade for the passionate and hardworking man underneath.

Similarly, Himuro learned that you were more than just the bookworm he had pegged you to be. He appreciated your helpful nature, but he loved your snark even more. It made him feel more normal that there were other people out there who had more to them than their initial perceived attitudes.

You'd think, with how often he was confessed to, Himuro would know how to do the confessing himself. However...

You'd found him outside again, looking contemplative. He was seated on a bench, fingers threaded together while his hands lay in his lap. His thumbs were fidgeting and his eyes were fixated on the movement, lost in thought. When you called out his name, he once again seemed surprised to find you there.

"I was just thinking..." he responded when you'd asked him what was wrong. After a moment, he added, "...about how to confess to someone."

His words caught you off guard and, seeing the surprise on your face for once, Himuro thought maybe you had gotten the wrong impression. He raised a hand to stop you from asking anymore questions, quickly adding. "I don't like anyone!" Then, realizing his mistake, he reiterated again. "I mean, I don't like anyone else." He was messing this up. He knew it. So he finally swallowed his pride and said, "I like you."

What a Relationship with Him is Like

A relationship with Himuro can be easy or hard depending on whether or not you're a jealous person. He still gets a lot of confessions from other girls, despite the fact he's gone public with his relationship with you. Of course, he never does anything to cause your jealousy; in fact, he always seems to come away from confessions a little angrier than he was before.

In spite of that, Himuro doesn't let others' outside perspectives change how he treats you in the relationship. He's the type of boyfriend who will try to help you better yourself, because you've done the same for him. Most of the time, that involves helping you with your procrastination tendencies.

It's one of the few times Himuro actually gets snarky with you right back.

"And just how long have you been on your handheld, Cherry?"

You look up at him over the screen of your game, finding Himuro staring down at you with a single brow quirked and his arms folded over his chest. Despite the disappointment in his tone, you can see the small quirk of an amused smile on his face. When you answer, asking him for just five more minutes, he clicks his tongue.

"Funny, didn't know there was an echo chamber in here. I could've sworn you asked for five more minutes an hour ago," he teases. Before you can respond, he tries to grab the controller from you, making you both laugh. "Come on, Cherry, you said you'd help me with the chores today!"

Match Up Requests are Closed

[yuri-is-online]

Could you share some of your ideas on improving the Twilight series?

There are a few ways that we can fix Twilight, but for now let's just focus on keeping its original premise: Bella moves to Forks, meets Edward, and is swept up into a word of supernatural happenings. I'm going to go through my issues one by one and then get to some overall points, this got stupidly long for no good reason I am so sorry.

I will note that I had to google some information about what happens in the first and fourth books because I did not watch those movies and I think I might have read the first book? But don't remember anything that happened in it.

Bella's Personality

Or lack of one is getting changed immediately. Stories are driven by the actions and desires of their characters and Bella is our MC. We need her to have reasons for making the choices she does beyond "she has to do this for the plot to progress."

Bella moves to Forks because she notices that her mother seems unhappy staying at home with her and not on the road with her new husband. From this we can assign Bella as being self-sacrificing, maybe to the point of self-sabotaging. She also is very self-reliant; she doesn't think she needs help from other people, especially not those who have a degree of authority over her because she assumes their help comes from them assuming she cannot take care of herself (and maaaaybe think that she's a burden) and not from a place of love.

When Jacob expresses a dislike of Sam, Bella supports him and validates his feelings. She is extremely upset and confused when he has suddenly changed his tune later and goes to confront Sam about it. In the movie this comes off as manipulative, as it seems like Bella is only really upset that Jacob isn't 100% focused on her anymore. I hate this! It makes the story much better if Bella goes to confront Sam because she is protective of her loved ones. Edward says he is afraid of not being able to protect her several times and she always responds with "then I'll protect you!" She should mean that! Let her be the over protective friend who will throw hands!!!

The one thing I do remember about the first book is an off hand remark about how "special and not like other girls" Bella was because she had already read Jane Austen for fun and that made her only able to relate to old people (something I had just gotten done doing which was probably why I stopped reading the book because middle school Yuri felt very insecure) and she also seems to like Shakespeare. But the books never seem to do anything with that, and it was pretty much the law in the early 2000s that your YA heroine needed to be into classic lit so it is a sort of basic trait. But it is still a trait, so Bella likes classic lit.

One of the things people unironically like about Twilight is how Stephanie Myer portrayed depression. Bella seems to be struggling from some pretty severe issues with her self-esteem and self-worth. She wants to be a vampire because she thinks it will fix her issues with herself; she's afraid of growing old and not being desirable to her partner which is sadly a very common fear people have so it makes her relatable which is good for the protag of a novel... but

If you are going to cover topics like self-loathing and depression we need to have a think about how to handle those topics responsibly which I don't think the og Twilight series does... for now let's just keep in mind that depression and self esteem are themes we should keep for Bella's personal character arc.

The Parents

Bella refers to both of her parents by their first names, unless she's talking to them. As someone who does this with her mother... that's not really something you do overnight or if you have an actual relationship with your parent. You can actually physically feel the gap between you, and it kind of sucks sometimes. It also explains a lot of those character traits listed above

Bella's mom sucks ass and I was surprised to find that's not as controversial of an opinion as I thought it would be. She is more invested in her relationship with her new husband than she is her daughter, Bella apparently was the primary cook, Bella keeps secrets from her mom because her mom's mental and emotional well being is extremely reliant on her, and to top it all off apparently she told Bella a bunch of intimate details about how she left her dad which IS NOT SOMETHING YOU SHOULD DO OH MY GOD. It isn't healthy for a kid to know the intimate details about the break down of their parent's marriage!!! Especially if it was messy!!! That's so damaging for a kid, it's a form of parentification where the child is forced to emotionally parent the person who is supposed to be doing the actual parenting. Charlie is a character no one seems to have any major complaints about, and that includes me: I think keeping him more or less the same works. He deeply loves his daughter and wants to have that personal relationship with her he never got to have while she was primarily living with her mother. His reactions to the things that happen in the series are completely normal and he shows the appropriate level of concern when Bella enters her depressive state after Edward breaks up with her.

The main thing I would change about how the parents are portrayed has to do with the break up between Edward and Bella in book 2. I think it was mentioned that Bella did not want to go to therapy... but given the circumstances: major depressive episode, night terrors, potentially abusive relationship, all after a major life change (the move to Forks) it would make sense to me for Bella and Charlie to go to a family therapist together before Bella goes to individual sessions. The breakdown of her parent's marriage, her mom's parentification of her, and her lack of real relationship with either parent is something I would want to see addressed and it's realistic for family therapy to be suggested with all those factors I mentioned. Bella doesn't need to have a fully mended relationship with her dad by the end of the series, but it would make the story a lot better if by connecting with him through family therapy she decides to trust him enough to tell him about Edward being a vampire and Jacob being a werewolf.

The Cullens

I have watched one episode of Vampire Diaries, so the concept of a why a bunch of vampire's would want to go back to highschool isn't too much of a concern for me.  Using it as a way to re-learn what society is like makes sense… but that needs to be the stated reason and not vaguely implied.  It also makes more sense to me if Rosalie and Emmet don't attend the highschool and instead pretend to be college students who live with Emmet's parents.  Japser, Alice, and Edward are enough to work with, adding more characters to do nothing with doesn't actually help the flow of the story. And oh god does a lot of nothing happen in the actual series.

The overall concept for their characters doesn't bother me too too much.  They're vampires who abstain from human blood and are empowered by not succumbing to their thirst, that's a pretty basic plot line and more importantly it gives us a conflict to work with.  Everyone thinks the sparkles are dumb, so instead let's just go with the Dracula thing where they can't use their powers during the day.  Since the Cullens are supposed to be stronger due to their lack of preying on humans, maybe they can use their powers but not as effectively? Alice still gets visions for example, but Edward has trouble telling whose thoughts are whose, Jasper can't always get a frim grip on people's emotions, Emmet isn't as strong, and Rosalie sort of just looks tired as opposed to beautiful. 

The Volturi

They are the oldest vampire coven and potentially the largest. Again don't have much of a problem with this or wouldn't rather if they had some fucking character. I had to google Aro's name. He's one of their leaders and the only one who I felt was actually acting in the whole movie and I had to google his goddamn name. Also I am only going to mention this once and I am only going to talk about it here but:

Stephanie Myer is a Mormon and as a result her world building is very Mormon. Did you know Aro has a wife? I didn't, but pretty much every major character in the series is married and lives with their "children" and their children's spouses. Which is a fine way to live if you aren't weird about it but I don't trust these people aren't.

Anyway all of this section is to stay that they Volturi can more or less stay the same as they are already, but the rules they've established for vampire kind need to be introduced to the reader (and their existence) almost immediately instead of in book 2.

The Werewolves

The biggest thing I would change about the werewolves is the bit about them being "awakened" by the presence of vampires.  I think it makes more sense if the wolves just awaken when they feel a strong need to protect their family period, the presence of vampires just makes the process speed up a whole lot because of the tribe's history.  I also think it makes sense for the Pack to be viewed as sort of protectors of the land and the people from supernatural threats by humans who are aware, and for this to be sort of emphasized with Charlie's relationship with Jacob's dad and grandfather. 

I mentioned that I would have Bella and Charlie connect after going to family therapy, but now that I think about it, I would also have Charlie know about the werewolf pack before Bella tells him.  He leaves the supernatural policing to them and focuses on the human crimes, that way he's able to focus his resources and protect his people better.  Maybe he comes to Bella first and admits he's been lying to her and lays out what he knows and that's what gets her to open up about Edward being a vampire.

Misc.

From what I have managed to piece together, the main "plot" of twilight is that Bella and Edward meet, they stare into each other's eyes a whole bunch and realize one has good smelling blood and the other is a vampire. Edward introduces Bella to his coven and some other vampires show up??? And want to eat Bella??? And then they run away and oh no. The evil vampires have found them again and try to eat Bella and then Edward kills him but leaves his wife alive so the rest of the books are just a girlboss trying to get revenge on Edward by killing his partner. Until the last book when the Volturi show up angry because Bella isn't a vampire yet and has given birth to a half vampire and while I am on that last point: no half vampire baby, we are throwing out that whole ass plot point. I think people sometimes go overboard in assuming Mormon creators make everything about their fiction Mormon but there is nothing more fundamentalist than immediately getting married and having kids at 18. It doesn't need to happen, we can just re-write that whole book. Ok? Ok.

This is probably where most of the variations in how to fix the series come in tbh. Is it just a romance series? Do you want supernatural adventures? What are the stakes? Do we address the abusive undertones to Bella and Edward's relationship and make it a plot point or do we try to fix Edward? The original series doesn't have much going on in it... except for one thing which I want to bring up now.  If you like the idea of Twilight (vampire romance set in a small town where supernatural stuff happens) I would highly recommend playing the Wayhaven Chronicles by Misha Jenkins.  Because she also has a protagonist with special blood that is enticing to vampires and blocks their powers… but in her interactive fiction series she explains it as being a natural mutation humans have evolved to protect themselves from supernaturals.  Their blood also empowers all supernaturals, not just vampires.  Both of these ideas are ones I like, but since the only creatures we are working with in Twilight are Vamps and Werewolves, let's keep Bella's blood to only effecting vampires.

For my part, the more I have thought about Edward's character, he doesn't seem like he's mature enough to be in a relationship. He clearly has some unaddressed traumas about his vampirism that are getting in the way of him making friends let alone a girlfriend, so for my "fixed" series he isn't Bella's endgame.

Anyway here are some more specific bullet points idk:

Book 1

James the tracker gets introduced before the actual vampire reveal happens.  He tracks and attacks Bella, Edward protects her, and they start hanging out more based off of a mutual attraction fueled by Bella's desire to be needed and Edward's desire to preserve what he perceives to be as a pure human soul.

Alice becomes Bella's first real good friend and encourages her to explore things that interest her.  Bella starts taking care of her appearance a bit more, not in a "oh good she wears make up now" way but in a way where she buys clothes because she likes them and not because her mom would approve of them and remembers to brush her hair.

Jacob is introduced and Bella thinks of him as friend, it's clear she sees him as still a kid and doesn't take him seriously.  This bothers him, but we don't find out why in this book.

Edward tells Bella that James isn't something she should worry about any more, but that is a lie.  He has been attempting to protect Bella on his own, with some help from Emmet and Rosalie on occasion, but he feels a personal responsibility to keep James away from Alice and Bella. (Alice apparently was turned by James or something? Anyway this should be a bonding point for Alice and Bella)

He still breaks in to watch her sleep and all that shit and Bella rationalizes this, even claiming to be flattered as all she's ever really wanted is to be cared about and this feels like someone cares.

But then she gets a call from James threatening her mother and because Bella sees herself as her mom's protector she runs straight into that trap.

Blah blah blah Edward has to drain poison from Bella, they officially start dating.

Book 2

Bella's birthday.  She doesn't like being the center of attention or birthdays in general and no one really seems to get this.  Her dad asks if she wants a cake or something and promises not to buy candles, and since Bella likes cake she agrees if he promises not to sing.

Her friends at school wish her happy birthday except for Jacob who gives her his present "just because."  It's clear to Edward that Jacob is someone she cares about and this makes him jealous because he cannot stand seeing her interact happily with someone else.

Alice has planned a birthday party for Bella and is extremely excited to officially introduce her to the rest of the family, even though she has already met them, since she knows how much Edward likes Bella and she's rooting for him.

Blah blah blah, cut happens, Jasper freaks, Carslie talks a bit with Bella, and then oof

Edward dumps Bella in the middle of the woods the next day and she doesn't take it well. Speaking of which this pissed me off so fucking much "oh uwu I can't be with u because I am worried about how fragile u are and I'll huuuurt you" *proceeds to break up with her in the middle of the fucking woods where she can easily get lost and die*

Depressive episode like normal

Bella realizes she can still see Edward if she is about to do something dangerous and still goes to find those motorbikes and take them to Jacob.

Bella's human friends don't really get as much of a focus even though they are there, so I'd like to bring them back here for a moment.  Maybe the pink one encourages Bella to go see a therapist after Bella brushes off her dad's suggestion because she's been thinking about the risk seeking behavior and is worried she encouraged it.  She also admits to seeing a therapist herself and this surprises Bella, who decides maybe it couldn't really hurt.

As Bella talks with Jacob she says something about him being a kid and he gets offended by this, heavily hinting at maybe him liking her

But, as opposed to Edward who always brushed off Bella's offer of protection, when talking about Sam Jacob reacts positively to Bella's offer of help and makes the same promise. "You watch my back I'll watch yours."

Cliff diving scene stays but like it's not done on a whim, Bella gets a group together of kids from the highschool maybe? No weird movie date scene because that was cringe.

Anyway Edward thinks she dies, Alice comes for a visit, werewolf Jake freaks but trusts Bella when she says she will be fine and says he trusts her.

The book ends with Bella bargaining for the Cullen's freedom from the Volturi by agreeing to become a vampire, initially she offers to allow Aro or whatever the fuck to turn her but Alice intervenes and offers to do it herself. They set a date for after her graduation, and are warned of grave consequences if they do not comply.

Edward and Bella do not get back together at the end of the book.

Book 3

Bella and Alice are back to being besties.  While Bella is not back together with Edward, but she is not dating Jacob either.  She is attempting to maintain a friendship with both but it's not really working, as Jacob can tell she's keeping some sort of secret from him.

This secret being her impending turning, and the general theme of people trying to convince her that she doesn't need to do this remains.

There is a real focus on the lack of choice most of the Cullens had with becoming vampires and how that has affected them, with a heavy emphasis placed on Edward. 

Edward and Carlisle have a long talk. Carlisle talks about the concept of soulmates and how he always hoped Edward would find his, but admits he maybe placed too much of an emphasis on that instead of actually addressing the problems he was having in the hopes that love would fix him.

Since this is my post, I think Aro should be a sort of character foil to Edward. Ed doesn't want Bella to become a vampire even though she would (allegedly) make a very powerful one, while Aro should be obsessed with making Bella into a vampire because of her blood. I would also make it so that Aro's "wife" was once like Bella, with the same good smelling blood, and directly contrast Aro's sense of ownership over her with how Edward had been thinking about Bella.

This terrifies Edward who also has a deep talk with Bella and apologizes, and while Bella accepts it they still don't get back together because-

Bella always had more chemistry with Jacob anyway. They share interests and hobbies, they like talking with each other, Jake is someone she is good friends with and someone she really is going to miss when she dies and becomes a vampire.

Idc let the plot with the newborn army remain, but like make the talk about imprinting actually mean something. Maybe Jacob has already imprinted on Bella but he's keeping that shit to himself because he doesn't want to pressure her.

Maybe it all comes out while he's wounded and Bella finally tells him about what she has agreed to do.

And then the book ends with them both agreeing they don't want that to happen

There's a book 4?

So I have no idea what goes on in the end of the Twilight series.

There's a war?

But not actually because it was just a vision Alice had?

Um I think there is potential for some sort of actual battle between the Volturi, other vampire covens, and the werewolves.

Apparently according to the wiki Aro's wife is locked in a tower somewhere in a trance because he killed her sister? And she was upset about that?

Uhhhh maybe they decide to use that to spark some in fighting between the Volturi

Jacob and Bella can get married at the sensible age of like 25 in the epilogue

And Edward gets with someone else idk. Maybe one of the newborns from Vicky's army who he goes on a healing journey with.

meh that's what I've got. I still like the idea of Bella being into catching beetles and moths and that's why she's ok with being in the woods a whole lot but that's not super important.

I think it should sort of low key freak both Edward and Jacob out. But that's just my opinion~

[deviildarliing]

can we all agree that jekyll is autistic as all hell, because why wouldn't he be? just look at the guy. he fixates so hard on the idea of masking himself LITERALLY, to the point of his own downfall

okay, but seriously, here's some fun little hcs that won't stop spinning in my head 🧪

so, first things first, he's a bit of an ego maniac, right? like, big yet incredibly fragile ego, ego maniac; one who'll do anything to prove he's correct purely out of spite and doesn't mind looking a bit bad if it means he's victorious. this would play into the idea that he's nice to the people around him, but behind closed doors he can't stop himself from mocking those idiots under his breath

when people are really testing his patience, he's got this neat little eye twitch, left, and usually excuses it with allergies or something of the like. he's very proper at smiling and saying the right things, reading people and using that against them in times of great distress, as i've said before he manipulates others without needing to do much at all. he's awful and he knows it, but he wears a mask of hospitality to pretend he isn't and no one is any the wiser

for things like stims, he can mostly be found fiddling with the cane utterson gifted him, and before in his youth he'd mess with either his hair or his clothes by like subconsciously tugging or twirling. oh my, he used to have a nasty habit of tugging on his hair to the point he just started tying it back so it would be out of the way

lanyon and utterson could tell you all about his little habits during their school days. for instance, if he so much as messed up a letter on a paper he was writing, he'd have to start the entire thing over again from scratch. he'd read books very meticulously, leaving little notes in the margins to mark the most interesting parts, even if they weren't his. he'd always talk about how much he disliked his face, the asymmetry of his beauty mark threw everything off and it was maddening, but with a few encouraging words from both lanyon and utterson alike, he slowly grew to appreciate the mark in time

let's go back to present day jekyll, 50yrs old and doing his best. here's a more sort of serious one

he most definitely experiences derealization, i would believe, considering he drinks literal chemicals and changes his face, that's not very realistic to me, boss. this goes along with the fact that he tends to mutter under his breath or talk to himself when alone because it's basically thinking out loud, helping himself stay on track, that sort of thing (utterson knows about this and doesn't judge him) and it's a harmless habit that starts to get a bit out of hand after he's been drinking the potion for awhile. fear starts to feed into his paranoia of being caught and now anytime he thinks he 'hears' hyde's voice, it's just his guilty conscience taking out its frustrations in the form of a conversation, or sometimes even violent altercations, between a man who's on the brink of delusion and his own bad thoughts. he can't even look in mirrors or reflective surfaces because his mind plays dirty tricks on him and they feel far too real and terrify him

i think that's all i can write down for now before i spin out, so

full disclaimer right here at the end because some people might need to be reminded: just because henry jekyll is an awful person (in canon!!!) AND has mental illnesses, doesn't mean the two terms correlate and if you think so then get off my post because that's absurd

and with that, we will wrap this thing up!

thanks for reading if you did, here's a little something for the road 🍬 and if anyone has their own headcanons, i'd love to hear about them 🤍