#hey did know this is my butch wife

[fiberglassandflowers]

Hey idk if there’s some master post about mbts but if there is may I please ask where and if not could I perhaps humbly request a description because it sounds cool as FUCK

omg yayy okay so there's not a masterpost as of now (though there is a google doc in the works that will probably be. very big) BUT i will try to give a brief rundown. underneath a readmore 👍

OK SO. IN SUMMARY

MARY BELL TOWNSHIP: more like mary bell CLOWNSHIT ha ha. heavy surveillance like everywhere (including in peoples homes. how fun). it's also got some like radiation stuff going on. all the residents are a lil radiation poisoned But it's mostly fine. also the town moves and i dont know why.

VANNIE OVERTURE: based on suburbia overture. the mayor who is a vampire. major control freak. sucks shit. like most of the reason mary bell is the way it is. permasmile swag. has killed before. hates when people are weird freaks and is actively passive aggressive if not outright aggressive.

TRIP LETWO: based on 2econd 2ight 2eer. world's silliestguy contrarian and infamous public nuisance. deeply tortured individual but shes dealing with it i guess. physically cant leave mary bell township. he has too much goddamn lore

LYDIE LAPLACE: based on laplace's angel. so lame. just deeply lame. killed a guy and got kicked out of office building heaven (laplace's inc. id give this its own section but it doesnt really matter all that much). i dont ever think about it unfortunately im sorry women.

MINA BYRD: based on i/me/myself. very sweet very nice. ladybugpilled socialanxietycel. doesnt have a whole lot going on but she is nice im glad shes there. im gonna have a significant relationships section of this but im saying that shes roommates with lia here bc its not really significant otherwise

WALTER LEE: based on ...well, better than the alternative. worlds first cis father to be a butch lesbian. probably a girl but she doesnt know that. weird nostalgia issues so bad his wife left him.

DOTTY LEE: ten years old. strange little girl but i dont really think about it a lot. not much else to say about her really.

LIA CRATES: based on outliars and hyppocrates. her name is pronounced like lie-uh cray-tees not lee-ah crayts. i have to clear this up because i realized most people were wrong LMAO. a little mean but not so much when you get to know her.

WARREN LEARY: based on blackboxwarrior. actually the worst therapist you will EVER meet. isnt even licensed. you book a session with her and she only talks about herself the entire time. constantly referencing a dark and contradictory past.

MARSHA TILLIS: based on marsha, thankk you for the dialectics. slightly better therapist! still not that good. has the spirit of an old man despite being in his 40s. will begin to psychoanalyze your behavior upon the first thirty seconds of knowing you.

NORMAN LEE: based on love, me normally. guy trying really really hard to be a regular guy. has a loooot of problems that stem from this. hugest people pleaser the world has ever known. a little bit offputting. has hair symbolism :-)

MORTIMER: based on memento mori. doesn't have a last name. worlds silliest grim reaper death thing. works in the death division for laplace's inc. lived a pretty normal life. then it died :-(. more here

FERN O'DYNAMIC: based on thermodynamic lawyer. hates his bitch wife (who is a praying mantis for. unknown reasons? will elaborate). just has a lot of anger inside him and doesnt know how to deal with it so he takes it out on other people. he kind of sucks but he's a neat character.

MIRANDA WRIGHT: the person being sung about in thermodynamic lawyer. bug wife (i can blame anything on radiation). she wasnt always a bug she just kinda did that idk. there's not much about her but she's an etymologist.

COTARD LETWO: based on cotard's solution. she has so many problems oh my gooood. deeply lonely person. fascinated with the macabre. its like coping mechanism that makes you worse. im insane about her writing a basic description is so difficult fkdjsfhsjd

RAMONA MCLAREN: based on red moon + hand me my shovel (though the latter was included later on bc it fit her). worlds most intelligent and stupid single celled organism. patheticswag. absolutely batshit insane. attempting to solve the end of the world.

KUIPER SUNSHINE: based on dr sunshine is dead. uh. i dont really know much about her to be honest SORRY... its really silly though + haver of prophetic dreams that she is NOT transparent about. fucks with people a lot just for funsies

COLIN THESIER: based on cover this song. girl who used to be in a band but got kicked out bc of friend drama. survivor of a toxic codependent queer friendship. trying to be a better person bc she used to suck pretty bad unfortunately. a bit more here

theres like a couple more characters but none of them are really important enough to give their own sections. debbie letwo is trip and cotards mom, laplace is the head of laplace's inc, maude is walter's ex wife who left him (heres the scoop on that).

OK NOTABLE CHARACTER DYNAMICS TIME:

VANNIE/NORMAN: norman has been pretending to be a normal dude this whole time + vannie totally fell for it. normans stuck in this friendship bc hes too much of a people pleaser to break it off even though vannie actively drains him emotionally. also he feels validated by vannie thinking hes normal. its so awful im so insane about their dynamic

VANNIE/TRIP: THEY HAAAATE EACH OTHER. their entire core beliefs are at odds (guy who thinks everyone should do their best to conform vs. guy who loves being a weird freak and doing fuck all). their dynamic is honestly pretty simple in comparison but theyre so petty and stupid its insane. if you put them alone in the same room one of them isnt coming out

TRIP/NORMAN: theyre gay together. there's a weird lore thing about the way relationships are handled in mary bell but long story short theres paperwork that has to be filled out if you want to be registered for one and trip thinks its really funny for xem and norman to constantly break up so they'll have to fill out the paperwork because it fucks with vannie. theyre also kind of awful and tragic

WALTER/DOTTY: that is a father and his daughter. walters trying his best and hes doing well but nothing would have been better than just moving out of mary bell township to raise his child.

WALTER/NORMAN: they’re brothers 👍 not much else to say there but they’re cool

WALTER/MAUDE: already linked a more in-depth explanation of their deal but ill summarize it here. maude thought living in mary bell township was really bad for a child (and it is) but since walter has issues about idealizing his childhood he was like "whaaat well i was raised here and im fine" and they fought about it and once it became clear walter wasnt changing his mind maude figured shed just spare herself from all of it. so she left 💯

WARREN/MARSHA: what if the two worst therapists ever were queerplatonic and violated hipaa together. also what if one of them [marsha] was helping the other [warren] because they're on the run from the law. would that be crazy or what

FERN/MIRANDA: actually awful. they really want to divorce but trip and norman keep clogging up the paperwork so theyre on a waiting list forever. their relationship was really good at one point but its not anymore :-( more info here

NORMAN/FERN: fern haaates norman because of the previously mentioned paperwork debacle but normans ass cant deal with the thought of anyone disliking him so hes just been really trying to get on his good side to no avail. also theyre coworkers so its more relevant

MORTIMER/TRIP: man how do i even summarize this one. due to lore reasons that you can read about in the link provided in trips session they have a super weird dynamic present day. or at least on trips end, mortimer is just super friendly to them and it wigs her out.

TRIP/COTARD: OUGUIGHJ. AOAUYFGDSFHSJ. tragic sibliiings. man i dont even know if i can go into this. go here and here if you want to learn more about them. jesus

COTARD/COLIN: frienndsss :-] classic extrovert forcing themselves into introverts life trope a little bit. they play music together and its great. mina's also in their little group but the two of them are closer

KUIPER/RAMONA: have been described by my friend as being "nonromantic freak4freak" and this is true. theyre working together on the end of the world stuff. they also rope cotard into it but thats lore i havent talked much about yet. go here and here for more info about them.

that might??????? be it?????? if there's more ill update it but thats the general basics i think. thank you for being interested and hopefully reading i greatly appreciate it :-)

[teruthecreator]

TW FOR RACISM, CHILD IMPREGNATION, EUGENICS, & TRANSPHOBIA

okay @silvercistern! thats okay! if you dont wanna be here for this conversation then i'll have a conversation without you! for all those readers out there who might've missed it

FOR EVERYONE'S INFORMATION:

Side Quest is definitely one of the weirdest fics I have ever seen get popular, for several content-related reasons.

Firstly, the racism. She writes her Serizawa to be half-black, half-Japanese, which is a perfectly valid hc if not for how she handles this fact. Ignoring the moments of subtle racism she gives Reigen (having him comment on the apparent "sloppiness" of his afro--which she also refuses to call an afro, by the way--and also having him guess his race via his racial characteristics), she blatantly and openly makes Toichiro racist towards Serizawa in a way that I feel we cannot ignore. For example:

I shouldn't have to say that calling a black man a "slave" in any context is fucked up, but I will for the sake of this post! Since she already think I'm insane :-) Also:

Once again, shouldn't have to say this but I will: Saying a black man has a "brutal masculine appeal" is so obviously and blatantly racist while also being entirely unnecessary for his character! We understand, as both readers and watchers of the base material, that Toichiro is a bad guy. We do not need him to then become racist, borderline-pedophilic, and a supporter of eugenics! And if you need quotes for some of these points, I will include one that has both:

Even if he is saying that he won't facilitate the "impregnation of a child", why the fuck is he laughing about it? Just a reminder: Toichiro in canon is only a terrorist and a child abuser. Yes, he is a bad person. However, I think elevating his evil to this level removes any concept of character depth that you could possibly have, and makes the ending of this fic (where he is seemingly normal and fine, with both his wife and child in his relative good graces) all the weirder. But again, I'm insane, right? Oh yeah, one more point about Toichiro that I found from the comments:

Now this tells me several things. Firstly, it's that she lacks the oversight to recognize when there is blatant racism in her works of fiction. Which is questionable, but I'm willing to let that slide because people should always be given the opportunity to grow. HOWEVER, the second part of this tells me that the first part might be a lie!!! Because hey!! If you are headcanoning a person's parent as being a WHITE SOUTH AFRICAN WITH EUGENICIST BELIEFS, you are basically saying your character was raised by an APARTHEID APOLOGIST. So I really don't know how you can avoid the racism embedded in that statement.

Now, let's move away from Toichiro because he's not the only character she completely butchers with weird concepts. Shimazaki is a trans chaser in this fic.

That's right. I'm not kidding. He is a chaser.

Once again reminding you that I'm the insane one.

There is literally no reason I can see as to why she would write this, other than that it is supposed to be a joke. Now, as an afab trans butch, there is only so much I can say to this point, but I will still ask: Who is laughing here? Who is this joke funny to? Is it to the trans women, who have to deal with similar kinds of harassment each time they try to go on a date? Or is it the Shimazaki fans, who I guess aren't weirded out by their fav being a chaser? Or is it just you, silvercistern? Is it just funny to you?

That point brings me to one of my last points with context. She seems to enjoy throwing in random "edgy" topics for either shock value or a laugh, neither of which I think her wording lands on. I did collegiate improv comedy for all four years of college (yes that may seem pathetic to you, but it was fun)--if anyone knows how a joke should sound, I think I'm one of the few. And, frankly, none of these land. For instance, the repeated "joke" of calling Reigen a creep or alluding to him being a pedo:

But, again, me? I'm insane, apparently. If you take issue with any of this, like I did, then to her you are insane.

This is not surprising to me, given that she already had a kind of breakdown to my friend regarding when they asked if silvercistern could tag one of her fics with sa.

Here is the link to their post. I ask that you respect their wishes and do not send harassment to silvercistern (as that is my wish as well) and do not be weird to them in their inbox.

But this is why it does not surprise me that she 1. would private her twitter account when faced with even the slightest backlash, 2. would then talk about the situation to her mutuals to garner sympathy, and 3. not even bother to read a single thing I said, given that she replied to my post in less than a minute after I had posted it.

By the way, one of those mutuals? Yeah, they are literally a toichiro/shou shipper. Here's the proof:

Anyway, this is not an excuse to go harass her. I DO NOT CONDONE HARASSMENT OF ANY KIND. ANY OF MY POSTS ABOUT THIS SITUATION WERE MADE TO DIRECTLY ADDRESS HER AND THE ISSUES I HAVE. IF YOU FEEL THE NEED TO CHIME IN, DO IT ON YOUR OWN TIME WITH YOUR OWN POST. DO NOT HARASS HER.

So yeah. Guess this would be something an insane person does, right? lol

[gmanwhore]

I saw someone do this but uh. My TNMN ships but I assign all of them song lyrics. Yippee.

Roman x Lois

Roman: "Nothing in the world belongs to me/but my love is mine all mine all mine" (My Love, Mine All Mine)

Lois: "My sweetheart's piano is rat filled/and mine is infested with bugs/though the music we make is unnatural/it sounds just like falling in love" (Butch 4 Butch by Rio Romeo)

Gloria x Arnold

Gloria: "What if when he sees me/I like him and he knows it?/What if he opens up a door/and I can't close it? (What If He Sees Me from Waitress)

Arnold: "We fit together like the ignition and the key/and you're safe and sound with me" (Safe and Sound by Hawksley Workman)

Nacha x Francis

Nacha: "Just one look and I can heat a bell ring/One more look and I forget everything" (Mamma Mia by ABBA)

Francis: "Say you're still her/The woman you were/and you haven't turned into/Someone who could never love me again" ((Cover This Song) Just a Little Bit Mine by Will Wood)

Selenne x Margarette x Nacha

Margarette: "Gonna do my very best, baby can't you see/Gotta put me to the test, take a chance on me" (Take a Chance by ABBA)

Nacha: "Where do you get off/being so god damn beautiful?/Oh lord!/Don't ask me what I mean" (White Knuckle Jerk (Where Do You Get Off?) by Wil Wood)

Selenne: "No, I'm not falling for you/so, please have mercy on me" (Despair by Leo)

Steven x Francis 2/Scarlet Milkman

Steven: "I don't care what they say about us anyways/I don't care 'bout that" (Buddy Holly by Weezer)

Francis 2: "Kiss me until my lips are bruised/till there's blood pooled all around our shoes/hold me tight within your arms/till my ribs are shattered and deformed!" (English translation of Suki Suki Daisuke by Jun Togawa)

Francis x Mclooy

Francis: "One last kiss/I need you like I need a gaping head wound" (Love You Like an Alcoholic by The Taxpayers)

Mclooy: "And I said oh gosh golly you should call your pops probably/or get the cops on me" (Bad Vibes by That Handsome Devil

Izaack x Robertsky x Elenois (Izzack and Elenois are dating Robertsky separately he has two hands)

Izzack: "They're telling you the same things that I planned to say/I thought I was unique/maybe I'm not that way" (I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend by Hot Freaks)

Robertsky: "Hold me, I'm your bunny/tell me I'm not funny/tell me I'm legit" (Puppy Princess by Hot Freaks)

Elenois: "Hey, boy, where do you get it from?/hey, boy, where did you go?/I learned my passion in the good old-fashioned school of lover boys" (Good ol' Loverboy by Queen)

Lois x Rafttellyn

Lois: "When you wake up next to him in the middle of the night/with your head in your hands, you're nothing more than his wife/and when you think about me, all of those years ago/you're standing face to face with "I told you so"/you know I hate to say, "I told you so"/you know I hate to say, but, I told you so" (Good Luck, Babe by Chappell Roan)

Rafttellyn: "I had to have this talk with you/my happiness depends on you/and whatever you decide to do" (Jolene by Dolly Parton)

This next one is something I don't actually ship but they are in fics I'm writing so like

Izaack x Angus x Francis (Angus is cheating on Izzack with Francis and on Francis with Izaack)

Izzack: "And the more that I am in pain, the more that you'll gain/and to me, that seems like a pretty fair trade/you bite, my nervous system ignites/the tormenting spite, sacrifices must be made" (Misery Meat by Sodikken)

Angus: "You're the only one who's making me come/to my sinful senses/I'll never love anyone the same/I'll never feel ashamed of using you for pleasure" (Using You by Mars Argo)

Francis: Go on and step on me/you're free to have everything you can see/all that you want from me/you're free to be all that you want to be/do what you want with me" (Step on Me by The Cardigans)

[buried-in-stardust]

⚠️ Content warnings: homophobia, hate crime, knife attack, graphic violence, murder ⚠️

Fong Hiu-tung, 26, and Lau Kai-hei, 22, were stabbed to death by a 39 year old man in a Hong Kong shopping mall on June 2nd, 2023. The man had purchased a knife just before stabbing Fong Hiu-tung in the back. Lau Kai-hei tried to fend off the assailant and pull her partner away, but failed. After stabbing both of them multiple times, the assailant waited calmly for the police to arrive. The police believe the assailant and victims had no connection and did not know each other.

Fong Hiu-tung was a waitress in a high-end restaurant, while Lau Kai-hei was a hair stylist at a nearby salon. Lau Kai-hei also worked part-time at a bar, which is where they had met. On the day of the attack, the couple had planned to meet with Fong Hiu-tung's family to attend her grandfather's birthday party after visiting the mall.

Fong Hiu-tung and Lau Kai-hei loved each other and died for it. May they rest in peace.

Thread has links and information, but contains a graphic video and pictures. Please proceed with caution:

Some details on being a lesbian in China below the cut:

From Naomi Wu, an explanation of what lesbians face in China/Hong Kong:

When men attack Toms (butches), they think a lot of things- sometimes in Chinese we say "one lesbian steals two men's wives"- herself and her partner. And for bitter middle-aged, unmarried men like this attacker, they've been told their whole life they are owed a wife to wait on them hand and foot- and they feel robbed and wronged by a young handsome Tom taking what's "theirs". They are angry, entitled, jealous- they want to teach her a lesson. They want to punish her for having what is rightfully theirs when they don't. Then it's "Oh, if you want to act like a man, I'll treat you like one". Most need to justify it to themselves to get started. Of course, the femme/Dee/P is always next, because we will fight to save our Tom, and once we do, they can justify turning their violence on us next. In their twisted head, they decide their unprovoked attack was "fighting 1-on-1" and it's our fault for getting involved. All Toms know the deal, they cannot win, all Toms tell their girls again and again "if something happens, just run, I can take it". When the time comes, all Toms try to buy their girl time to get away- even as they go down under fists and boots…or knives😭 They want to buy us time, but no femmes can bear to leave them, so it never works. But they always go for our Toms first, then us. Every time.

And Naomi Wu on how the assailant would know they were lesbians:

Good questions "how would he know they were lesbian?". See pictures below- Chinese lesbians with a Tom are pretty obviously lesbians, at least to our eyes. Chinese lesbians basically come in three varieties- T, P, and H. Historically that's 99% of us, these days, probably 95% with a bit more variety coming in. Very, very, very loosely mapped- T- Tom/Butch P-Dee/Femme/Pretty Girl/Po H- Half/Futch (Amber [Lau Kai-hei] kind of gives H vibes but not my place to say.) If you see a butch girl like Daniel [Fong Hiu-tung], or my Kaidi [Naomi's girlfriend], or the other Toms you have seen me with, they're lesbian. I'm sure there are some non-lesbian Chinese women out there with that clear Tom aesthetic- but I've never met one. I suppose there are also some straight guys that look like Tom of Finland Leather Daddies walking around with similar-looking straight male friends- it's just not common. That gender expression is as clear a signal to you, as ours is to us. Some girls that look H are straight, some boyish girls are straight- but almost never Tom presenting women like Daniel or Kaidi. Now two Chinese women with more conventional gender expression simply holding hands would leave plenty of room for doubt, and there is the polite obliviousness of Chinese who will pretend they don't know a LGBT couple is a couple, but if I'm out with Kaidi- or with any Tom, basically zero people don't actually know we're a couple at a glance. That's just how LGBT works here, we have a look. Amber and Daniel were, likewise, for lack of a better word- and in a bit of celebration- flamingly, gloriously lesbian and easily picked out of a crowd as such- as Kaidi and I would be. More here: https://popula.com/2019/03/27/the-t-on-chinese-transmasculinity/

[abstractgirlobject]

Oh yeah I should probably do one of these

Hi.

This is my pinned post I know it's not much to look at but hey it's a WIP ok?

I'm a 20 year old system who likes posting about horny trans people things very infrequently. Might also post about other stuff depends.

Some folks you might see posting:

Kat - He/They. Trans Butch Lesbian. In a monogamous relationship with #the wife. Who he'll probably post about a lot. He's into Petplay, Robots and BDSM.

magenta - She/They Pansexual Girl-thing. Mostly prefers trans people but could go for anybody. They're into Blood, Piss, Musk, Feet, Petplay, and hard BDSM.

Strawby - She/They Fluff/Purrself. Lesbian Catgirl. Appreciates headpats and cuddles. Into Petplay.

Vivian - She/Her. Lesbian.

Calliope - it/it's. Woaaahb casts a spell on you. did your penis* twitch? Please tell me it did

* spell only works on penis havers. Even if they're ghost penis or tdick

I'll add the others to the list if they ever post but for the most part this is who you'll be seeing a lot of. If you send asks please specify who they're for, thank you.

DNI List

- TERFS, MAPs, Pedos.

- Race players, racists of any variety

Minors (anyone under 18)

I can't think of any more right now I'm sure I'm forgetting some but this is babys first pinned post.

Other than that, happy sucking sluts.

If this account goes down, it's staff. I want y'all to riot.

[nervousron]

Where do you stand on shipping Michael and Trevor? Pre-prologue did they have an established relationship, an unlabelled "thing," or just ridiculous romantic tension? How about post-canon?

i flip-flop on where I stand a lot. Especially with the pre-game stuff. I don't think it was ever an established relationship, but there are a lot of little comments in the game that make me think they had something going on between them.

(Post Deathwish conversation)

"we're back baby! Mike and Trevor - top of the world."

"T, come on."

"Trevor Philips and Michael... De... *fart sound* together again!"

"Yeah. We're together at this moment, but... ahh... you know it's not..."

"I know, alright? Shit, you're such a downer. I don't even feel drunk anymore."

"Well, you are still drunk. So cheer up."

"Nah, you ruined it."

(Drunk conversation)

(T) Fuck you, actually (M) Dont you wish

(Cutscene in By the Book)

(M) hey, fuck you (T) You know? I'm beginning to think that's exactly what you wanna do (M) Yeah, Jesus. I just said the same fucking thing to my wife

Trevor's attraction towards Michael seems to have been there from the get-go. Lamar jokingly refers to it as "love at first sight" and i dont think he was very far off. When Trevor blew their first robbery together, he was sent to prison for it. By all accounts Michael should've skipped town and continued on his way. But he didnt. He waited for Trevor, a man at this point he hardly knew, and that decision changed Trevor's life irreversibly. I think thats where his infatuation begins.

As for Michael I think the attraction to Trevor comes on slowly. He doesnt realize its happening, and when he does, he makes up excuses for himself so he doesnt have to worry about being a queer. Buddies jerk off together all the time. If your best friend is willing to go a little farther than that and doesn't make it weird in the morning, why not go with it? And if Michael loves him a little, so what? Who doesn't love their best friend. They're Bodhi and Johnny Utah. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid. That's all.

I think they had a good thing going for a while, up until Mandy got pregnant. Then they had an on-and-off thing for years that got more and more volatile as their friendship fell apart.( I wrote like 6 paragraphs about that but it was getting really lengthy so that's a post for another day lol.)

Or maybe they just never acted on it and the farthest they got was weird flirting, drunken three-ways with call girls, or jerking off to the same skin-flick. I can see em' all happening and its a horrible back and forth on my end of which makes the most sense canonically.

No matter what I think they had something really deep and guttural together before the Ludendorff heist

As for post-game i have my realistic idea of what would happen, and my idealistic ideas of what would happen.

Realistically:

Trevor is done pining after Michael. He still loves him, that will never change. But he's done with the heartache. They made up, and they'll hang out from time to time, but Trevor is never going to let his heart be broken by Michael again.

Michael is trying with his family. He wants to make his marriage work. He continues to fuck up, probably still sleeps around from time to time, but he's genuinely trying to stay with Amanda. He doesnt think about his past with Trevor very often, because if Trevor doesnt want to bring it up, neither will he.

They have a strained fucked up friendship, but a friendship nonetheless.

Ideally:

Abso-fucking-lutely. They figure it out. They're a goddamn mess together, but they're happy. They fight like they always do, but at the end of the day they're both trying

(im working on a post about my ending C Trikey thoughts that was supposed to be a reply to iagami a while back. i have so many ideas for a post-C ending for them and most of it is just dumb "lol thatd be funny" type stuff, but a lot of it has genuine thought put into it too. This post is already too long lol. thanks for reading through it!)

[readingandwritingandreading]

The Day Before You ~ Part 8

My Blurb: Sorry for the slow updates. I have been busy but hopefully things re calming down again. I have one more chapter and an epilogue currently planned for this story but that could change if given proper inspiration. DAMMIT SMACKDOWN GIVE ME MORE THAN JUST A GLACE OF HIM EVERY WEEK! Ahem, anyway if you didn’t write it don’t post it anywhere. And if someone else is interested in being added to my lil tag list feel free to message me!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I have no clue if there’s a club at the address I put and I definitely made up everything about the world tour and how they would air. Also I have nothing against Emilia (Millie) as a wrestler or person, I went through the rosters and she’s the one who stood out to me as fitting the persona the best.  

Summary: Forced into an awkward dance with a stranger at Sheamus’s wedding, Ridge doesn’t think he’ll ever see her again until she turns up at a show a few months later with Sheamus’s wife and he gets a second chance.

Pairing: Ridge Holland x OFC Lyssa Hutchinson

Warnings: Violence against a woman, caveman Ridge

Tagging: @pioched​​​ @snarkandsarcasmftw​​ @pikapuff-316​​  @raynachaoss​​  @thebookwormcat​​

Read First: The Day Before You Masterlist 

Also Check Out: Main Masterlist 

I sighed as I looked at my phone. No notifications and I had checked every app possible. I tried not to get frustrated but how in this day and age could we not get ahold of each other? Was he ignoring me? The three week, twelve stop, world tour had kicked off and the Canada and Mexico stops had been fine but something happened after they got to Australia for the third stop. We kept getting disconnected, messages not sending or being received. Completely different time zones weren't helping anything either. I had just chalked it up to being part of dating a wrestler, I loved Ridge and I trusted him. 

But while watching Raw from Tokyo, stop 4 of their tour,  I was surprised when Emilia McKenzie made her main roster debut as a female member of The Brawling Brutes. It made sense, they were in a feud with Judgement Day and were constantly being undermined by Rhea Ripley who they couldn’t lay a finger on. I also knew Butch had teamed with her on the Indies several times. The part that had me checking my phone repeatedly was her draped across Ridge’s back as they stood on the ramp, finally victorious with Emilia there to down Rhea. Biting my thumbnail, I waited for a call or text or anything from him for an hour after their segment ended before calling Isabella.

“Hey, did you see Raw?” I immediately asked when she answered.

Her voice was groggy like she had been asleep, “Ya, until their segment was done then I headed to bed.”

“Did you know Emilia was going to be joining them?” I prayed I sounded casual. 

“Ya they just found out today, I guess it had been talked about months ago but it just got decided. Some type of scheduling conflict with her other contracts. I’m surprised Ridge didn’t say something.” 

I bit my lip, trying not to feel hurt. “I haven’t talked to him…” stopping when I could feel my voice start to crack. 

“He must still be having phone issues.” she paused, “Lyssa? I know what you’re thinking. Ridge isn’t like Astaire. He’s crazy about you.”

“It’s probably just phone issues like you said.” I was anxious to get off the phone before my emotions got the better of me. “I’ll let you get back to sleep. Love you.” I hung up before I could hear her reply. Taking a deep breath and checking my phone again, still nothing. I got ready for bed in a daze. One part of me fighting that Ridge loved me and this was all a communication issue, the other confident that something was going on and he was using phone issues as an excuse. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I swore as my phone refused to connect to anything. We were in Germany for Smackdown and I hadn’t talked to Lyssa since Sunday. Isabella had told Sheamus it sounded like she had been hurt about Emelia, not that I could blame her. I hadn’t expected to be so touchy with Emilia. Holding her back from Rhea, her hanging on me during our intro and exits. Even my attempts to use Sheamus or Ridge’s phones to get ahold of her had failed and I was almost desperate to talk to her. 

“You alright Ridge?” Butch’s voice cut into my thoughts. 

I rubbed my hand across my face, throwing my phone in my bag. “Still can’t get ahold of Lyssa. She either doesn’t answer or I can’t get anything to send out.” 

He smirked, “You’ve got it bad huh?” 

I stared at him, nodding my head, “Ya, I think I do. It’s killing me not talking to her or seeing her. I don’t know how I'm going to make it another week and a half.” 

“Then don’t.” Butch shrugged. 

I opened my mouth to reply but closed it when Sheamus entered our locker room followed by Emilia who didn’t bother checking that we were dressed before barging in. “Oi! Let me make sure they’ve got pants on!” he yelled.

“You act like I've never seen a dick. You all are worse than women.” She rolled her eyes.

“And the fact that we are all in committed relationships with women who don’t want to share has nothing to do with it?” I pointed out, raising my eyebrow at her. 

She shrugged in a way that was eerily similar to Butch’s. They had been friends for years, he had been one of her trainers when she started wrestling. When Hunter had brought up having a woman join our group months ago she was the first one that came up as an option. I had to admit, she was perfect for the role, fitting in with our rough and tumble personas well. I sighed, wishing I had had a chance to give Lyssa a head’s up. After what she went through with her ex, I didn’t want to give her the slightest indication that I couldn’t be faithful. 

Butch’s words repeated in my head and I thought back to her words on our first date: “I want to see more though. I’d love to see so many places. I’m sure England isn’t a big deal to you but I would love to see it and Scotland.” I grabbed my phone to double check our travel schedule, grinning at the gap and our next stop. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Lyssa Hutchinson, you give me that phone and take a shot!” Claire yelled at me, returning to our table with a tray of shots and other drinks. I hadn’t heard from Ridge in almost a week, I'd stopped calling him a few days ago. I didn’t want to be that girl, the one who couldn’t take a hint. I had also ignored Isabella’s last few calls and watched a movie instead of Smackdown last night. Claire had talked me into going to this new club tonight and I had considered passing but decided against it when I caught myself deciding what kind of ice cream I should grab. I wasn’t going to sit at home and cry about it, I was going to go out and get drunk. Really drunk. That would help. I handed my phone to Claire who shoved it in her back pocket and handed me a shot. 

Two hours later and I was feeling much better. Claire and I were on the dance floor, she was grinding on a hot blonde while I just let the music and alcohol guide my swaying. A few guys had tried to buy me drinks or join me but I just waved them away. I wasn’t in the mood for men at the moment and plus they all seemed so…small. Dammit stop comparing everyone to Ridge. I was berating myself when a pair of hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me back. I felt a breath on my neck and turned my head, prepared to send another guy packing when I looked up into Astaire’s smug face. 

“Didn’t expect to see you here,” his hands held my hips tightly, not letting me pull away from him. “Where’s your new boy toy?”

“Let go of me” I insisted, ignoring his question about Ridge and looking around to try and see where Claire had gone. 

“Come on baby, just one dance” I trembled when his hand groped my ass and I tried to pull away but he pulled me back hard enough to feel his dick against my back. The pleasant buzz I had going was effectively ruined as I searched more frantically for someone I knew. “You must have broken up hmmh? Can’t imagine he would leave you all by yourself in a club looking like this.” 

I froze in his arms. Dammit I didn’t need Ridge or anyone else to defend me. I was a strong, independent woman and I was so fucking tired of Astaire’s shit. I relaxed back into his body. The second he felt me relax he ran his hands up my arms and I felt his breath closer to my neck. I moved quickly, swinging my arm back and turning with all my might, landing a punch directly on his nose. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Pick up, Lyssa. Where are you?” I muttered, making my way back to my car. As soon as I had landed I headed to her place. I hadn’t bothered packing luggage, knowing I’d be taking a flight out in 12 hours. Anything I needed I could buy, I didn’t want anything to slow me down from getting to Lyssa. The second I had turned my phone back on it had started blowing up with all the messages and calls that I had missed. Making a mental note to check on my international plan when I had time I tried Lyssa’s cell again, surprised when I heard a voice pickup. 

“Hello?” The voice on the other end was not Lyssa’s and I pulled the phone away from my ear to double check I had hit the right number.

“Where is Lyssa?” I growled. 

“Trying to drink you away. I’m in charge of keeping her from calling you. I only answered because her phone’s been blowing up non stop.” the voice I now recognized as Claire replied. 

“Dammit, I just got back in town, I need to find her. Where is she?” I started my car, I could hear music in the background, they had to be at one of the clubs downtown. 

“You’re back in town? Aren’t you supposed to be on a world tour?” she paused before gasping, “Oh my gosh did you fly all the way back just so you could see her?” 

“Yes, I want her to come back with me. Now, where are you?” I tried to sound patient, I swear I was trying. 

“Hmmm, that’s actually really sweet. We’re at the new club on Bumbry and Maine. I’ll go find her.” Claire sounded excited now.

“You aren’t with her?” I floored the gas. 

“No, I was about to hook up with a blonde hottie. Thanks for ruining that by the way.” The music grew louder as she headed back to the main area. 

“I’ll be there in 5 minutes.” I hung up and threw my phone in the passenger seat. 

Five minutes later I had found a parking spot and stalked into the club. No one tried to stop me, but they gave me a wide berth. I probably looked like a bouncer but I was glad for it. I spotted Lyssa on the dance floor and my heart dropped. She was wearing a tight red skirt and a black tank top and was leaning into Astaire. I only paused a moment before moving through the crowd towards them, shocked when she tensed and I saw her hand form a fist. She swung with enough force to push Astaire backwards. She winced and held her hand. I’d have to teach her how to throw a punch. Astaire looked shocked for a second as he held his nose but his face quickly morphed into one of rage and he advanced on Lyssa who was stepping backwards. Good girl, don’t turn your back on an opponent. His hand reached to grab her as I burst through the crowd, shoving her behind me and grabbing his wrist. 

“I warned you what would happen if you touched her again.” I growled, feeling Lyssa’s hand in the back of my shirt. 

“She punched me!” his voice sounded nasally and I felt a hint of pride that her punch had done damage. 

I twisted his wrist and he grimaced. “You’re right, plus I’ve changed my mind about breaking your hand.” I could see some of his buddies approaching from behind him. I couldn’t be involved in an all out brawl at a nightclub per my contract. 

Astaire visibly relaxed when I released his wrist. “If you don’t want anyone touching your whore, don’t let her out of the house dressed like that.” Astaire smirked when Lyssa gasped behind me. 

I cracked my knuckles, “Is that so?” before swinging my fist towards him. I connected directly under his jaw and he staggered backwards into his friends, knocked out cold. They caught him and met my gaze, holding their hands up and dragging him away. 

I turned to find Lyssa staring at him, mouth hanging open. She turned to face me but I grabbed her around the waist before she could speak, flinging her over my shoulder and turning towards the exit. I heard her squeak my name but I squeezed the hand on her thigh. Claire stumbled out of the crowd carrying Lyssa’s phone, jacket and purse. “Thank you for your help earlier.” I nodded, grabbing the items from her hands. 

“You can put me down now.” Lyssa whispered when we reached my car. I slowly let her slide down my body, steadying her when her feet hit the pavement. She looked at the ground before raising her head to look at me, her lip trembled and her eyes were watery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stared at Ridge, trying to keep the tears that were threatening at bay. I couldn’t believe my eyes when he appeared in the club. One second a furious Astaire was advancing on me and the next I was safely behind the width of Ridge’s back as he knocked Astaire out with one punch. That reminded me of the pain in my own hand that roared to life as my adrenaline waned. 

“We need to get some ice on that.” Ridge opened the passenger door and helped me in, placing my purse and jacket on the floorboard and my phone in my lap before heading to the driver's side. 

“Why are you…” I trailed off when I saw the hundreds of notifications on my phone. Missed calls, voicemails, text messages, dms all lighting up from Ridge. “Your phone really wasn’t working?”

“I don’t know what happened. I’ve never had that problem before, I’ll get a hold of the company tomorrow. It’s like every force in the universe was trying to stop me from talking to you.” Ridge spared me a glance as he headed back to my apartment. 

“I…I thought you…that maybe you…” I shook my head trying to clear the lump in my throat. 

Ridge grabbed my uninjured hand, pulling it to his mouth and kissing it. “I know and I can’t blame you with your past.” 

I could only nod my head feeling ashamed that I had jumped so quickly to the worst conclusion. When we reached my building he hurried to my side and we walked in silence to the apartment. He led me to the kitchen, lifting me up on the counter before turning to the freezer. He grabbed a bag of frozen veggies and a towel before returning to me, taking my wrist in his hand. “You didn’t break anything but maybe leave the punching to me until I can teach you to do it properly.” he grinned, placing the cold veggies and towel on my hand. 

“I definitely will.” I smiled at him, looking around the room I realized I didn’t see any luggage anywhere. “Where’s your bag?” 

“I didn’t bring anything, I have to catch a flight back in 10 hours.” he replied, looking at his watch. He slid me down off the counter before leading me to my room. “Where’s your suitcase? You have a passport right?” 

“Wait, what? Why do I need those?” I stared at him rummaging around my closet. 

He turned back to me, crossing the room until he stood directly in front of me, lifting his hand to my face. “I want you to look at me when I tell you this.” When I nodded he continued, “There’s nothing going on with me and Emilia. She doesn’t hold a candle to you. I love you. Not talking to you for six days almost killed me. I can’t do it for another week and a half and I don’t have time to get my phone sorted out before I’m due back in Paris for the next show. You said you wanted to travel, I have to travel, so come with me. Take a vacation or bring work with you, I don’t care as long as I get to see you everyday. The tour ends two hours from my hometown. I want you to meet my parents, see where I grew up. I want to see your face when you visit the places you told me you wanted to see.”

I stared at him open mouthed as a warmth bloomed in my chest and my eyes welled up with tears again. “You want me to meet your parents?” I whispered and he nodded. “My suitcase is in the top back corner of my closet. 

[bigbutchtalks]

Big Butch Talks Movies: Mad Max 1979

Movie first watched 9/28/23.

“Mad Max” directed by George Miller

General likes -> costuming is probably my Number One like in this movie (absolutely leathertastic!!) homoeroticism, stuntwork/action, use of budget, worldbuilding given with small budget, some of the dialogue, 70s/80s movie dialogue use of slang and nicknames, the Wild West/knight allusions/general vibe, (not as specific to the movie itself moreso this era) the way the characters were very human and while theatrical, still believable and grounded. The crazy revenge violence enacted by Max

Not-so-General dislikes -> threatened or explicit violence against women was a constant in this movie, one could argue that violence is a constant in this movie but the misogyny and sexual assault both explicit and threatened was very hard for me to stomach (crazy fake car crashes and explosions were easily stomached), also the way the Villainous Biker Gang was portrayed seemed very purposefully homosexual and such, in my opinion as a lesbian, definitely came across in a homophobic manner. However this was remedied in part by how homoerotic the cops were portrayed in their interactions. (As such, I welcome my gay brethren’s opinions.) The fact that Mel Gibson who sucks majorly was the main character sucked but thankfully we as the audience didn’t really need to like him to watch. The motive of Toecutter’s gang was mediocre, if one of your dudes purposefully antagonizes the apocalypticops they’re gonna die, don’t involve randos, though as evil maniacs, I guess such a motive makes perfect sense.

Things I think could’ve been done better (aka my time to complain) -> worldbuilding, I think this was done passably for the genre, era and budget however some of the detail (or lack thereof) was confusing (this may be my fault as it was very late at night), female characters that weren’t assault fodder (though I loved the efforts of the auntie and I thought Max’s wife did her best to protect herself) ableism, sadly this seems very common in this era of film but the “Benno” character added literally nothing but a jumpscare and then what I assume to be something to laugh at. (The same effect for the jumpscare could’ve been achieved with a scarecrow, a mannequin, sculpture, tree etc etc.) I would’ve liked some backstory on Toecutter, why was he such a freak, was his gang a sect of a larger one? Is his name literal? Should I bleach my hair like his? Where does he shop? You know, normal questions I’m sure many have. An Actual Grievance I have not relative to misogyny or homophobia is the fact that (to my knowledge) the version available on streaming is the American Dub that for some genuinely insane reason, dubs over the main villain to be much less impactful than the actor actually achieved, apparently the choice is regretted but like, tough, I’d like to have the other version be available? I could’ve somehow been shown the non American version but doubt it bc the dubbing/dialogue seemed to frequently be badly synced and Toecutter’s accent seemed static.

Detailed Synopsis (INCLUDES SPOILERS) -> In the not-so-distant future Australia, the world is changed. Criminals who dress like they’re going to a dungeon party in the 90s roam the “wasteland” and they love doing upsetting things but don’t worry, homoerotic cop duos dressed in leather will drive very very fast and car-crash all of us into safety <3. The main character is Max, a young cop with a wife and toddler and a really really cute dog (do not get attached to anyone in this movie except maybe Max’s sweetass car) bc he’s great at driving fast he causes the violent death of Nightrider and his unnamed gf no one cares abt apparently. Because of this, the gang Nightrider was involved in, promises violent revenge on those involved, and hey, why not, random civilians. Goose, Max’s actually charming buddy gets charbroiled, Max gets targeted and decides to go on a road trip, I’m sure the highly mobile maniac motorcycle gang will move on, (sadly, I am being sarcastic, this does not end well.) Violence is done, Max returns it in kind, barely able to walk but delivering some fantastic torturous murders.

Ending thoughts -> would I recommend it? Honestly? Not that much, only after researching the warnings. Would I watch it again? Maybe. Did I enjoy parts of it? Yes. Did I strongly dislike a lot of it? Yeppie. Is the leather making me want a wardrobe rejuvenation? 100 percent!

[murderbirds]

My top 5 Gotham ships no one else cares about (and why I love them)

A silly little list with the silly little ships I see no one (or very few people) talk about. I also genuinely believe Gotham would have been better if these ships were canon or at the very least give some more depth to characters who needed it, but hey just my silly little opinion.

1- Fish X Gertrude

Listen. Fish already calls herself Oswald's mama, why not make it canon? Of course, that isn't the only reason why I love this ship almost as much as I love Nygmobblepot. I am a huge sucker for 'evil', broken character who is made better by a character who is a literal sunshine and that would be their dynamic. Fish is someone who fought to get where she did her entire life, she is teeth and nails dressed in red, but what happens when someone who has only been shown pain and anger meets kindness and care for the first time? If I remember correctly, Fish's club opened 20 years prior to the show, so, imagine if you may, what if Gertrude began working for Fish as a cook and bartender to take care of Oswald, but instead of becoming more hardened like everyone else does, Gertrude never loses her kindness, something that shakes up Fish along with her dedication with her son (something she knows well from her own mother) and before she knows it Fish has fallen for this simple woman who is sunshine personified. Oswald grows up mistrusting Fish, but neither of them allow Gertrude to learn about the "dark" side of their lives. In this version, Fish doesn't want to 'kill' Oswald, but Falcone insists after his betrayal as a display of loyalty. Fish truly sees him as her own son and his heartbroken while Oswald thinks that all of his mistrusts were true and that this woman needs to be taken down before she takes away what is most important to him: his mother.

In this version, Fish allows Oswald to kill her on that roof, but Oswald doesn't realize this. At first, Oswald is happy, he is finally king of Gotham, but he is forced to watch as his mother forever waits for his love who he knows will never come back. It's a bittersweet victory and, after a while, Oswald starts missing Fish as well.

Imagine, if you will, after Gertrude dies and Fish comes back, she comes back home to try to find her wife, asking Oswald where his mother is while Oswald tells Fish through broken sobs that she is gone and it is all his fault. Of course, Oswald expects Fish to be angry at him, hate him, even shoot him, but she doesn't. She wraps her arms around him and both of them cry in each other's arms to mourn for the person in their life who brought them together, finally as family.

-----------------------------------------------

2- Victor Zsasz X Lucius Fox

The main reason why I like this ship so much is their personalities. Victor is the most chill, easygoing character in Gotham, a character that is aloof to everything and everyone. Lucius is the opposite. He is a workaholic with a tendency of making other people's problems his own. They are opposites, but in a way where they make each other better: Vic helps Lucius relax and chill and Lucius shows Vic why there are people that is worth caring for.

Little headcanon of mine, but I like to think that Victor and Lucius have been secretly dating for years, right under Jim's nose. Lucius is the one who prevents Victor from being caught by Jim and crew. I think they would have broken up in season 4 after Vic betrays Oswald, but get back together shortly after Vic is nearly killed. They are the ultimate Nerd X Bad Boy and I think they are pretty neat.

-----------------------------------------------

3- Barbara Kean X Renee Montoya

The one and only canon ship here. I'm sorry Tabitha fans, but Tabitha kinda deserved to die, not to mention, Tabitha never loved Barbara. She was in love with Butch, so much so that love got her killed. If only she had listen to Barbara. It was a beautiful, poetic death.

That being sad, it kinda sucks Barbara was left all alone. Now, when it comes to Barbara, she is such a tragic character that is so poorly written, all relationships in her life are extremely toxic, from her parents to Jim who never loved her, he only loved the perfect mask that she wore for that very purpose. You know who was the only person who saw past that mask and still loved her enough so for both of their sakes? Renee Montoya. It's bad how she broke up with her, but it makes sense. More importantly, Renee was right. They were making each other worse, falling back into an addiction that was each other. Neither of them were ready back then.

But here is the beautiful thing about people, they can change, evolve and grow and Barbara has grown. She saw the worst version she could be and was punished for it, she rejected it, but not in a way that pushed her back to the mask, she became her own person, someone not fully enveloped by darkness, but not willing to walk in the light either. We don't get to see Montoya after season 1, but maybe, just maybe, she has grown just as much.

-----------------------------------------------

4- Sofia Falcone X Nyssa Al Ghul

Not gonna lie, I like this ship because they could potentially be the perfect Nygmobblepot foil. While Nygmobblepot is messy, full of emotions and both sides are barely functional, these two have little to no emotions attached, they are together because it is useful to both parties and fun as well. They respect each other, but are willing to stab the other in the back in a heart beat and they know this and they are fine with that. Superficially, this is what Oswald and Edward want with each other, it's much easier than those messy feelings of theirs, but boy is that not what they are truly after, because love might be their biggest weakness, but both of them would die in a heartbeat for it, no matter how painful or messy it could be.

And yes, I know it is hypocritical of me to judge this show for using women for the sake of men and do this here, but hey, not all characters need to be deep. Sometimes a ship can be two bad bitches who are great together and make fun of everyone else who can't accomplish the same.

-----------------------------------------------

5- Firefly X Selina Kyle

The reason why I use Firefly here and not the name used in the show is because I headcanon that Firefly is Trans Masculine and later on adopts the name we see in the comics for himself.

Now, this isn't a never seen before ship or anything, but I have seen very few fics with these two and I wanted to add at least one hetero ship here and when it comes to Gotham, this is all that we can get as when a man and a woman are on screen in that show they have as little they can, probably because when that happens the woman in the relationship is generally diminished to either an object of desire, something that needs to be protected or something warped and E V I L that needs to be stopped or just plain out annoying. The only exception is women interacting with Oswald and he has 0 interest in them. Go figure. That being said, Selina had more chemistry with firefly way more than anyone else in the show with the exception of maybe Ivy, but, uh, I don't want to touch whatever this show did to Ivy with a 10ft pole, especially in a shipping context.

Back to these two, Selina is someone who acts like she doesn't care about people, but in reality she acts like a protector to quite a few people including Bruce, Ivy and Firefly, since I'm not talking about Ivy, the most interesting relationship is definitely between that Selina and Firefly as, with Bruce, their banter and will they won't they gets old real fast, which is a shame since I am a big Batcat fan in the comics.

Both Firefly and Cat are broken people who have seen the worst life has to offer from a very young age, but they react to this differently as these scars help Selina grow and mature while with Firefly, they push him into becoming a more violent and angry version of himself, one might say, the very type of person he once hated and wanted to escape. It's Selina's compassion and never ending loyalty to someone she knows is most likely gone that makes this ship so appealing. Selina even manages to touch Firefly's soul, enough so to convince him to protect her as they escape Arkham. It is a shame we didn't get to see more of them later on (and how OOC firefly becomes in season 4 with that whole scene where he threatens to burn Barbara, Tabitha, Selina and Ed) but I think that they would have eventually made up and possibly even become allies once more as Firefly lacked the jealousy and rivalry Ivy had with Selina. Perhaps, if things had gone a little differently, Firefly would have stayed by Selina's time the entire show.

[ehtoomanydimensions]

Got adopted by this beautiful butch at the bagel store today (i really just love these gay moments we have) her eyes locked on me immediately pinged me as gay and sped right over to the counter to talk to me with that look and during the order calls me sweetheart the whole time and does extra stuff happily without me asking

i said " for the other maybe with cream cheese on the side cause i dont know if she can eat it her allergies are really specific"

and she BEAMS and goes "yup dont want to put it on the bagel and make her mad. Ive been married 30 years to my wife you dont want to make her mad if you know what i mean"

This bagel was for my married straight coworker but im going to have this moment gdangit so i say "ah yup i know what you mean"

And (still BEAMING) she goes " i knew you were family."

And we were just 2 queer people beaming at each other in a bagel store honestly she said it right like we were family.

we see each other and go whats the most casual way i can let this other person know im gay just to say hey you dont know me but also you do we're much closer than you think like can i just connect with you in this quick interaction we are having and idk 🥺🥺 do you think she went home and told her wife about me? I find older butches love to call me a baby gay did she say she saw a baby gay at the shop and that we had a nice moment and that the baby gay smashed 5 dollars in the tip yard and walked out beaming too?? Like if she came out of nowhere and asked me to come over for a bbq with her wife i dont even know her name but id be sprinting to be under their wing

[jaspersummerbummer]

Normal Essay

A lie so thematically relevant that it is more powerful than the truth. That is when it is acceptable to lie in your nonfiction.

The Normal Essay

By, Natalie Summer 

Hi, I’m doing great! There's not much to write about I guess. There was this boy, like there is always. He just couldn’t take a hint, and he kept swearing that he knew me. Like this guy made up five classes trying to hit on me. The guy got my name from some chick in your English class. All he could say was ‘hey Natalie, no babe, I swear I have a class with you’ or some stupid shit like that. Pretend that last part was in a funny mocking dude voice. Thank you. Anyways this dude, sorry I’m getting sidetracked. This dude was following me like a sad little kid then this girl came up. Like I have never seen her before, and she says she is in a class with me actually. Her hair was great, like Pinterest board great. She was asking me all about the homework, but I was so lost in her eyes. She had the prettiest green eyes like to die for. I would write poetry about them if I knew how. 

She kept saying I was really pretty and gave me her number. It was amazing, she was like if prince charming was a lot less butch. Like at this point we are two drunk chicks on a college campus, so nobody is gonna say shit if we wander back drunk, together, to her dorm room. Right? This is fine like its normal. She has a pride flag up. She took my hand, pulling me toward her bed. This is college. Everybody does this. She looks so pretty under her shitty LED lights. How’d she get them on the walls? I’m sweating. I followed her lead, and we sat on the bed. She smiled looking at me, like I was the single most important girl in the universe. That if I were to perish she would travel back in time to save me from my own doom.

I woke up without a hangover and in someone else's pajamas. An oversized red jersey, with the number thirteen on it matched with a pair of athletic shorts I know aren’t mine. My head on someone's chest, I hoped she wasn’t mad at me.  The girl who was not from my class. 

We exchanged numbers. She made me coffee in her keurig.

“Are we allowed to have those?” I asked her while watching the keurig spit out some sounds before filling up a cup. We stood in silence for a moment. 

“I have class soon, but feel free to come by tonight or later and stay as long as you want. I don't have a roommate.” She sounded nervous, and I was too. Her anxiety weirdly made me braver and I smiled at her. Same as I did last night or at least the sober equivalent. 

“Yeah for sure, I’ll finish my coffee and go.” I walk toward her, maintaining eye contact and a smile. 

“Yeah cool, well call me or text me actually.” 

“Sure.” I kissed her cheek. I felt like a wife in a romcom. 

After that night I wasn’t sure of myself. I nearly called my mom, a spike of panic in my gut. What if she thinks I’m weird or gross or anything. What if I don’t have a place to stay in the summer? Pressures weighed on me, I could hardly focus in class. 

I visit that girl a lot actually, we started dating too and I came out to my friends. It all went weirdly smoothly. Minus that one night with the Pina Coladas but we all get one alcohol induced emergency room trip in our lives. There is absolutely nothing wrong with my life! 

Professor Feedback; I enjoy your descriptions, and you have some solid prose at times but the piece feels too messy to be fully understood. You allude to some anxiety about your parents, maybe work on that more? Don’t you find it interesting your future girlfriend said the same thing as that guy you found creepy?

[iputthediscoindiscourse]

hi! i’m reading your blog after stumbling across your life update post (i’m sorry people are being so rude to you btw), and i’m really intrigued by, well, a lot! can you explain what the “trad to rad pipeline” is please?

i’m really interested in your area of study, so if you wouldn’t mind talking about your degree and aspirations in the field, can you? you mention wanting further degrees and wanting to do some research, i’m super interested in the topic of religion and it’s intersection with women so if you don’t mind sharing more please do! how did you decide on this field of study? if you’ve written/published anything about this/within or related to your field, or have any readings you recommend i’d love to read it!

also, would you mind sharing about your religious views? in your posts you mention a variety of different houses of worship, and i’m curious about your attending different ones; would you be willing to share any about what it’s like attending different places?

i also never realized it was so “controversial” in radfem spaces to have the ideas/goals that you do, so the response is… enlightening lol. i have no interest in being a “career woman,” i want to be a librarian and work with kids and do a lot of volunteer work in the future, as well as academic pursuits. i’m almost shocked at the backlash your getting, it seems mostly just reactive to the term “tradfem” but are the two communities not already associated in some ways? or at least a subset of tradfems? both seem to prioritize women and their wellbeing, so it’s a bit confusing to see the hate you’re receiving (i’m glad you seem to be handling it well though!)

sorry if some of this is kind of basic questions or is annoying, you seem kind and i’m hoping you won’t mind sharing any info on this! i appreciate your time! i know it’s a lot of questions, you’re very a interesting person and i sincerely hope you don’t mind! obviously feel free to not answer any part of this if you don’t wish to, i’m just very curious and i hope you’re doing well 💕

hi! i’m reading your blog after stumbling across your life update post (i’m sorry people are being so rude to you btw), and i’m really intrigued by, well, a lot! can you explain what the “trad to rad pipeline” is please?

oh hey there anon!! <3 (it's fine i find this all so funny some friends and i literally made a bingo card based on what reactions i would get and see what would happen it has been fun to watch so).

honestly it was a typo I meant rad to trad pipeline since there is a phenomenon a lot of white radfems end up becoming conservatives once they find a man that takes care of them, they basically lose their solidarity for the female sex. but also I did grow up somewhat tradfem in a way, since my mother was grooming and trying to force me into the traditional female sex roles of a stay at home wife, and at one point i was almost a child bride. along with that my mother was a stay at home mother and my father was the provider but i saw first hand how fucked it can get cause my father was an abusive alcoholic and was extremely violent.which traumatized me a lot and then while at college i became radicalized because i would read second wave radfem works and i was like "oh i agree with them!!". along with that my body was just so traumatized by the male sex i literally was a lesbian for like almost three years cause i had no attraction to the male sex.then covid and my drug use during it made me deconstruct everything like the gender roles i assumed at that time cause i considered myself butch for like two years and a half, along with my sexuality and what i wanted out of life, and now here i am!!

i’m really interested in your area of study, so if you wouldn’t mind talking about your degree and aspirations in the field, can you? you mention wanting further degrees and wanting to do some research, i’m super interested in the topic of religion and it’s intersection with women so if you don’t mind sharing more please do! how did you decide on this field of study? if you’ve written/published anything about this/within or related to your field, or have any readings you recommend i’d love to read it!

i have a bachelors of arts in religious studies with minors in jewish studies,psychology and women studies. honestly i have no aspirations really, i just want to collect degrees and be a trophy wife.

 the degrees i want to collect are an mls (master of library science), an mdiv(master of divinity) and finally a masters of liberal arts in like bibical studies or near east studies or something of that nature, then finally a phd. i have no desire to be in academia anymore cause it is so cutthroat and i am too disabled to put in the work to get tenure so like unless if i can find a uni to adjunct for fun or are chill with giving me tenure but not expecting much i cannot see myself in academia.

honestly if you want me to be brutally honest with you, all my choices in undergrad were to just to work out my ptsd since i don’t trust mental health professionals that much due to trauma and reasons. like i happened on this route to figure out how my mother turned out the way she did along with figuring out a way i can be religious without being harmful cause i grew up in quiverfull circles along with a bastardized form of calvinism which has fucked with me terribly. so like it wasn’t a conscious choice persay, i am just trying to figure out how my the people around me turned out the way they did.

i have not officially published anything, but i plan to rework old papers of mine and create a portfiolo so i can get some writing jobs, cause there are certain topics and conversations that are not being made that i want to make so lol. if you want me to make a reading list for you i can if you want that btw!!

also, would you mind sharing about your religious views? in your posts you mention a variety of different houses of worship, and i’m curious about your attending different ones; would you be willing to share any about what it’s like attending different places?

honestly i am having a bit of faith crisis rn due to some personal stuff going on in my life. honestly due to my ptsd. but i do believe in a higher power and i do participate in ancestor worship. along with that i am a syncretist to a certain extent cause my theological framework is part neo-hasidism, part folk catholicism and sunni islam so lol.

 the fact a lot of my lovers up here turn out to be lazy fucks, i have mostly just gone to sex segregated houses of worship, like more traditional synagogues,mosques, and i go to mass here and there. i also have been to the hindu temple in queens. i mean in these sex segregated spaces the experiences that women have are completely different from men. like i mostly just hang out with the women, socialize and chill with the children. fun fact i actually tried to attend the mosque near my house and they kicked me out more or less cause they didn’t have a women’s section which was fun to say the least lol. honestly just dress modestly for the place,hope for the best and take it as it comes. i’m the type that does first thinks last so lol.

i also never realized it was so “controversial” in radfem spaces to have the ideas/goals that you do, so the response is… enlightening lol. i have no interest in being a “career woman,” i want to be a librarian and work with kids and do a lot of volunteer work in the future, as well as academic pursuits. i’m almost shocked at the backlash your getting, it seems mostly just reactive to the term “tradfem” but are the two communities not already associated in some ways? or at least a subset of tradfems? both seem to prioritize women and their wellbeing, so it’s a bit confusing to see the hate you’re receiving (i’m glad you seem to be handling it well though!)

i will just be honest along with upfront and say that most of the reaction i am getting is a trauma response and just plain jealously. like a lot of these women who have acted so rabid at me are pissed off that their puritan purity views on women’s liberation and radical feminism along with how women are supposed to be in general basically get challenged by my existence.

like the way these women were giving me shit over my drug use and what i learned on them, sorry y’all but i repressed shit to survive due to trauma and they just came out when i was not sober!! like lots of people are like this but since i figured out my sexuality, my gender expression and other controversial topics on substances they think it is a gotcha instead of a like i grew up.

 like as i said before on here both radfem and tradfem are coping mechanism for male violence and patriarchy.which is why these two movements are like a horseshoe cause one goes one way and the other goes another way in trying to answer “how to improve the material conditions for the female sex and people who are apart of the class of women?”. like certain radfems want female separation, personally female separation that radfems want is not my cup of tea. while lots of tradfems just want a good man to protect them from the male violence and to live a life dedicated to their houses and families. which personally is more my style, i like it when men are actually good people, want to provide and protect for their lovers and offspring along with creating a home is so much fun to me!!

but honestly if you want me to be honest i purposely word my posts a certain way to illicit a reaction out of people, i want people to think and question what they have been taught to believe. like i purposely go out of my way to use arabic and hebrew terms for religious stuff because i want evangelicals to start to question the status quo of what they were taught. along with that i dress artsy and modestly irl purposely cause i want people to question what they have been taught about art and modesty in general.

also my dream job after my future children are in school is to be a part time children’s librarian while they are in school. i love love libraries so much and i love helping people find materials they need so.

sorry if some of this is kind of basic questions or is annoying, you seem kind and i’m hoping you won’t mind sharing any info on this! i appreciate your time! i know it’s a lot of questions, you’re very a interesting person and i sincerely hope you don’t mind! obviously feel free to not answer any part of this if you don’t wish to, i’m just very curious and i hope you’re doing well 💕

bestie this ain’t basic questions and not annoying at all, you seem like such a lovely soul and if you wanna be besties my dms are open!! and thank you, life is pretty cool rn i think i met my future husband a few weeks ago and shits wild cause his uncle wrote a lot of material i read in undergrad and the seminary he was dean of i want to go to for my mdiv, we also grew up in the same cult and grew up not too far from each other also which is freaky and wild. the fact that we were so accidentally interconnected before we met is wild and a sign from the universe i think lol.

[nightmaretherabbit]

War Vets Meet Again (Howling Aces fanfic)

"Come on Elder Kettle!" Hollered Cuphead and Mugman as they excitedly ran over the bridge that led to the graveyard on inkwell isle IV."Hold on boys!" Elder Kettle shouted to the boys but they weren't listening, per usual.Elder Kettle got over the bridge but didn't see the boys anywhere "Where did those two run off to now?!" He pondered to himself.

"Elder Kettle! Over here!" Mugman waved to his grandpa. Elder Kettle made his way towards Mugman and saw that the boy was standing in front of an airplane. "No. You can't fly the airplane Mugman" "I wasn't planning to ask. I was just calling you over here to stay with me while Cuphead gets the pilots." Grinned Mugman Kettle gave the boy a quizzical look."Oh Elder Kettle! Meet Pilot Butch Bulldog and Pilot Saanvi Saluki." Exclaimed Cuphead.

Kettle's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. "PILOT SALUKI AND PILOT BULLDOG?! IT'S REALLY YOU!?""Yes, also how the fuck are you still alive old man!?" Butch questioned Kettle.Saanvi punched her husband's arm. "What he means to say is, how are you? You look well." Said Saanvi. She gave Butch a death glare."Haha yeah. What she said." Butch was afraid of his wife's strength. Saanvi was a strong woman. She could break any man's bones of she wanted to."Why thank you. I get my mustache waxed every week." Elder Kettle was quite proud of how he looked."So you got grandkids now, huh?" Smiled Saanvi "Yep. They are my pride and joy!" He's said with such bliss as he ruffled Cuphead and Mugman's hair."HEY!" Said the boys in sync. "How are the two of you?" Elder was very overjoyed to see his old friends."Well we're married and we got 4 puppies." Said Saanvi sounding very proud "Congratulations you two!" Elder Kettle exclaimed , he was very excited to hear this new.Cuphead and Mugman groaned. They were getting bored and sick of all this discussion.Butch whispered to Cuphead and Mugman "I know. This is so boring."Saanvi cleared her throat. "Well it was nice catching up with you Mr. Kettle. But me and Butch got to go pick the kids up from school and then make dinner.""Alright bye! Hope to you both soon!" Kettle and the boys went back to the ferry and went back home.

(hope y'all enjoyed! I'm very proud of this fanfic I wrote)

@blackf10wer25 @scropio09 @oye-milka

@cephalopvnk @generalfoxy21 @cuphead-fans

@tireddicehead @ionlypostmymeemocs @local-business-man

@pancan @medic-does-art @hey-imma-fangirl @marshmallow-biscuit-blog @zibiscusloon @firecurls-27 @fizzypopsoda-comics

[istanleyff7]

TOTP, Episode Aerith, Scenes 15-21

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Traces of Two Pasts Episode 2: Aerith Scenes 15-21 A Light Novel by Kazushige Nojima Translated by Stanley (@istanleyff7 on twitter) Scene 15

"My mother and I think alike. There are too many names, and we didn't know whether they're good or not. So we said, that's good enough. This name will be somewhat fine. Whew, perfect.'

"But you're Aerith now, aren't you? So there was an issue after all?

"Yeah it was a big one. In terms of the number of incidents, I don't think you’ll beat me to it, Tifa."

She let out a huge sigh, and Tifa then showed sympathy for her struggles.

Scene 16

It was the day after they decided on the name 'Rona'. Marvin came down in the morning, Roger in the evening. And the day after that, Bauman came down in the morning and Lewis in the evening. All of them brought gifts for Rona, the daughter of a relative taken in by Elmyra Gainsborough. She was the wife and the representative of Clay, the second in charge, who was the representative of Gabriel, the first in charge. Apparently, the news spread quickly to everyone who was related to the business. The old-fashioned room on the second floor turned into a vibrant space full of primary colours because of the children's souvenirs.

Aerith particularly liked the 'animal cards' and 'plant cards' that Bauman had brought over. With Elmyra's permission, she pasted the cards on the wall. She was able to lose track of time gazing at the illustrations of unknown creatures. It's not that she didn't like the other gifts - such as the books and the dolls. Whatever it was, the experience of receiving things like gifts and souvenirs was new and exciting. Except in the mornings and evenings when she had to attend to her guests, mainly the members that were the third in charge, Elmyra still spent her time outside. Rodin secretly told Aerith that Elmyra no longer went to the station but roamed around the slums. She wonders if Clay was wandering the streets because he couldn't go home for some reason. That's what she thinks.

Scene 17

"And then, the night came."

Tifa then nodded quietly next to her.

"My mother, Ifalna, came that night and looked down the corridor with a troubled look on her face. I got out of bed, opened the door and looked down the aisle. I could see the light downstairs. I went down and saw my mother, Elmyra, washing the dishes and scrubbing them clean in the kitchen. I could smell the grass. It had a thick, stuffy smell. I thought I heard voices, and I saw a trooper standing at the door."

Scene 18

Aerith thought that Shinra's soldiers had come to take her away. Startled, he called for Elmyra, but she did not move. Her voice was not heard, and the trooper turned to look at her. Then he took off his helmet. He was the man she had only seen in pictures.

"Clay?"

His face was dirty, and when looked closely, he could be seen covered in mud. He really looked like he had been wandering around a lot.

"Welcome back, Clay."

However, Clay was only just looking around his surroundings and looked like he was unsure where to go. Elmyra didn't notice him, even though the Clay she loves was right over there!

"Mummy!"

Sure enough, she can't hear her.

“Clay!”

Clay closes his eyes tightly and opens them again. He probably thought that this would change the scene in front of him. What was he seeing? He closed and opened them again and rubbed them with the back of his hands repeatedly. He let out a loud sigh and then crouched down at where he stood. Even though she tried to get closer, her legs would not move.

"Clay!"

As expected, Aerith couldn't be heard. Clay sprawled his body on the floor, and it looked like he used all his strength to do so. His lips were moving. Aerith wondered what he was saying and then focused on his consciousness.

“Elmyra, I'm sorry,” Aerith felt that he said that.

"Clay, no! Mummy, please look here!" Aerith yelled.

After that, she woke up. She was on her own bed. However, she firmly believed that it was not a dream. Clay passed away. Moments before his death, his spirit connected with the planet, and he probably went to see the place he had wanted to visit the most before he died. She wondered if he had seen Elmyra.

Aerith got out of bed, went downstairs, and saw Elmyra standing in the kitchen, washing the dishes. There was no longer any unusual smell.

"Mummy."

How should she tell her?

"Mummy, don't cry."

Elmyra turned around with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong?"

"A man you really really love just died. His heart came a long way to say goodbye. But he couldn't stay 'cause he had to return to the planet."

Elmyra looked at her in silence.

"Are you saying that Clay is dead?"

"Yes. But, I think he had properly returned to the planet."

"Aerith. Go back to your bed."

There was undeniable anger in her voice. Aerith's chest tightened.

"Mummy..."

"Go back to your bed."

"Clay had returned to the planet. He'll always be connected with you, Mummy. That's why..."

Elmyra forcefully took Aerith in her arms, carried her up the stairs and put her back in bed as if she were luggage. She slammed the door and left, with her anger lingering in the room. Aerith covered herself with her blanket and cried. She wasn't crying because she had angered Elmyra. She was sad that Elmyra could not see Clay.

She felt Ifalna's presence was very close to her. Even though she had her blanket, she knew it was her.

"Mummy..."

She peered out of the blanket and saw a kind face, but Ifalna looked different than usual. Aerith could see the wall through her face, and she could see through Ifalna's body. She looked like Clay just before he disappeared.

"Mummy!"

Aerith jumped up in a panic. Her mother's face blended in with the patterns on the wall. Her lips were moving, and she was saying something, but Aerith couldn't hear anything. She reached out to feel Ifalna, but she lost her balance and fell off the bed. Her whole body hurt, but she bore with it and searched for her mother. Her whole body was disappearing, and her mouth was moving. As expected, she couldn't hear her voice, and she completely disappeared. There was no longer a sign of anyone.

↞↠

The next day was quiet. When Aerith woke up, Elmyra had already left the house. She had prepared a simple meal for her and left a note saying that she would be out until evening before returning home and that she would not have any guests today. Aerith finished her meal and went back upstairs to her room. She opened a drawer from her desk and took out a small pouch. In it, was a white materia that Ifalna had given her. She placed it on the palm of her hand and grasped it tightly. She then felt at ease. That was the only thing that did not change.

In the evening, the door opened quietly. The sound of footsteps, followed by the pull of a chair, can be heard if listened carefully. Aerith concealed her footsteps and headed downstairs. She saw Elmyra sitting at her usual seat at the dining table, sprawled on the table, and could hear her weeping. Elmyra probably noticed Aerith's presence and turned around to look at her. Her eyes were deep red.

"The news came from Shinra. The helicopter he was on crashed into the forest. Because he went away from the crash site, it seems that they discovered him late. He probably tried to exit the forest. Why didn't he just stand by and wait? He was always like that."

"He wanted to see you, Mummy. That's why he walked. He came to see you."

"And then he returned to the Planet? Stop talking about that already."

"But..."

"Why did he return to the Planet! His home is here, isn't it? Shouldn't this be the only place he returns to? That's a reason why he couldn't do that, and because of that, he's dead. No matter what anyone says, Clay's already..."

Elmyra raised her cries and bawled like a child. Aerith chest tightened by the sight of an adult crying.

"But even so, he returned to the Planet! We are connected with the Planet! That's why he'll always be together with you!"

"Aerith, I beg you. Stop it already, please."

"But I lost my Mummy Ifalna too! I won't believe that she didn't return to the Planet, I won't!"

↞↠

Over the next few days, Elmyra and Aerith were companions overcome by grief. They spent their time together, huddled together, and the warmth of each other's body was an antidote that relieved their loneliness. Butch and colleagues took turns to come and check on them after hearing of Clay's death. It seemed that Rodin told his colleagues to deliver Elmyra some food after finding out that Elmyra had even lost the will to do her house chores. Carlo appeared on behalf of Meguro, who was not feeling well. It was Aerith's first time meeting him. He was a tall, thin young man and had black, wet-looking hair combed down backwards. He seemed restless and always had some part of his body moving. Aerith was afraid of him at first because he gave a strong hooligan-like impression, but he was kind to Aerith from the start. To her surprise, Carlo volunteered to do all the house chores. Elmyra disliked him, but she tolerated him coming in and out of the house. Her spirits must have been so low.

A week or so has passed. There was a loud noise of tableware breaking in the kitchen. It did not seem like minor damage. Elmyra and Aerith were upstairs, but they couldn't ignore it and went to take a look at the situation.

Elmyra stared at the vast number of broken fragments scattered about the floor. Carlo drooped his head to the side.

"Is this expensive?"

"I have no idea. These were collected and given by Gabriel when Clay and I first got together."

"That probably isn't cheap... Or should I say, it's perhaps an exceptionally top-grade item? My apologies, Elmyra. I looked in the cupboard and saw a lot of dust... I can’t stand things being dusty, so I couldn't help myself but clean it..."

Elmyra was still staring at the fragments, ignoring Carlo, who was looking at her. Carlo, having given up on words of forgiveness, squatted down and began to pick up the broken pieces.

"Hey, Carlo. Can you go home now?”

"Elmyra," he said in a shameful voice. "Give me a chance."

"It's not that. If you pick up the pieces like that, won't you hurt yourself? I'll clean up afterwards. You go back. I'll talk to Meguro and tell him that you've helped a lot. Yes, that's the truth. You've helped me out."

Carlo's face lit up.

"You are so simple. You have to hide your emotions more to get ahead in this world."

"Ahhh, right."

Carlo slapped himself on the face, and his expression changed.

"Well then, I'll get going now, and call me if anything comes up. And, about the injury on your face, I'm sorry."

"I fell on my own, you know."

"No..." Carlo shook his head in denial. "I don't know how to apologise to Clay otherwise."

His voice was trembling. They looked at Carlo in surprise. He was crying.

"'He was a good man. He was always there for me when I made a fool of myself, scolding me and even connected me to Gabriel. I can't believe he's gone..."

"Hey, don't cry. It isn't cool."

The usual Elmyra was back. Carlo rubbed the area around his eyes with his arm and grinned.

“You too,” he awkwardly remarked and left.

"Well then..." Elmyra said as she looked around the house, "They've cleaned the place pretty well, but it's far off my standards! I'll have to clean the whole house. Aerith. No, Rona. Do you have the energy to help?"

"Yup!"

Aerith was surprised by her own cheerful voice.

Scene 19

"Then we did a major cleanup of the whole house together. Firstly, we cleared the broken fragments, then we opened all the windows and used a feather duster and a broom to get rid of the dust and the tears — Mum loves to clean, she has many brooms and mops in the house. She cut the handle of one of them with a saw for my use. We wiped the house down the next day. Once the house was clean, it was time to remodel the home. We decided to change the curtains in my room and the cover of my bed. It was then that we went shopping for the first time. It was the first time that we went out together.”

Scene 20

They were walking down an alleyway that continued from the front of their house and went past the neighbourhood "Sector 5 House" orphanage. Children around the same age as Aerith leapt out and blocked their way.

"You're Rona, right?", "Rona? She's Rona?", "You're an orphan?" , "Nope, I heard she's an adopted kid. How lucky!", "Come live here!", "How cute...", "Why are you so flashy?"

Aerith was disorientated by the rapid succession of crude remarks pouring down onto her and hid behind Elmyra. She felt uncomfortable because she wasn't addressed by 'Rona' when it was just the both of them back home. After Carlo left, the self-consciousness that she's Rona was also diminishing. She was feeling nervous, and then someone touched her hair from the side. Startled by the suddenness, Aerith let out a small shriek.

"Ayumu, stop it!"

An older boy yelled.

"If you pick on Rona, you'll get in trouble."

"I wasn't picking on her!"

"Yeah, she wasn't. I was just shocked. She isn't a bad kid."

"If that's the case, it's fine, but..."

"No, no, this is not fine." Elmyra butted in. "Jean, who would y'all get in trouble with?"

"Carlo said so."

Elmyra frowned at the reply of Jean, the older boy.

"Did you hear about Rona from Carlo?"

"Yup, that's right. If we make Rona from the Gainsborough household cry, he'll make us cry threefold."

Elmyra let out a sigh.

"Well, Rona, don't be shy. Say hi to them. These kids are from the Sector 5 House. They're like neighbours to us, so be nice to them, okay?"

Aerith was now ready.

"Hello, I'm Rona. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you!" A cheerful voice replied.

"I'm Sarah", "I'm Zoey", "I'm Glad", "I'm Yoko", "This is Ayumu. She's my sister."

Ayumu was the girl who touched her hair.

"'I'm Jean,' said the older boy at last. "You can come and play with us whenever you want."

"Okay, thank you."

"Do you want to play now?"

Ayumu invited her. The children all looked at her with eyes of expectancy, and that tickled Aerith. It was the first time that so many children of the same age, even though it's six of them, were staring at her. When she was at a loss as to how to respond, Elmyra stepped in to help.

"My bad, you all, but we're going shopping today. I'd like Rona to choose lots of things, so I can't leave her here. Please let her play with you all next time."

Elmyra took Aerith by the hand, and after a short distance, she looked back to see the children staring at her. One of the children, who introduced herself as Sarah, waved her tiny hand across her chest. After she waved back, the other children waved wildly in return. What a happy sight, wasn't it? Until they were out of sight, Aerith turned around and continued to wave her hand.

"It seems like you all can get along, doesn't it?"

"Yup!"

Aerith was then introduced to numerous acquaintances of Elmyra, including a café owner and the town doctor. They were all very friendly. Before they parted, Elmyra told them about Clay's death as if it were just another topic. Before they could express any surprise or words of condolences or sympathy, she would add, "I miss him, but having her helps me take my mind off him."

Before the slight smile on their faces faded off, Elmyra would walk away.

"I'm sorry, Aerith, for using this as an excuse to end the conversation. But I don't want to talk too much about Clay. It's probably better for me to talk about it, but for now, let me do this, please."

"Okay. I'm fine with it. But, I'm Rona, right?"

"Ahhh, yes. Rona. Even when it's just the both of us, I'll still have to address you as 'Rona'."

↞↠

It was one week after the introduction of Rona. Aerith was playing with the children in front of the Sector 5 House when she saw Meguro walking down the road. His pure white suit stood out against the earthy-coloured road. She was told earlier that he was coming over to visit and promised Elmyra that she would play at the House until then. A boy, probably around ten years old, was walking behind him. He was wearing relaxed-fitting trousers, a bright white shirt and had a bored look on his face. There was also a girl who walked up behind him. She was wearing a skirt, with the hem almost touching the ground, which was a rarity in the slums. She pinched her area around her thighs, and it looked like she had difficulty walking. She was wearing an ornate blouse and a large hat. With one look, they were three people who appeared to be well off.

"Oh!"

'Rona' (Aerith) understood the meaning of what she was seeing. Even though the impression was that Meguro was coming over alone, that was not the case. He had brought his children with him. In other words, the real Rona had come.

She apologised to her playmates and ran down the road. She then ran through the planked road in the garden and darted into the house.

"'Mummy, it's Mr Meguro. He's with his children. The real Rona is here!"

Elmyra did not seem too disturbed.

"'He didn't tell me that he would be with his children."

"What should we do?

"You mean the name? He isn't a shallow guy. He'll understand. I'm sure he already knows it too."

Meguro first introduced his son, Marcellus, then his daughter, Rona. Rona was looking at Aerith, who was not hiding her curiosity. Meguro then opened his attache case and took out three white flowers. He gives one to Marcellus and the other to Rona. Elmyra looked at the remaining one, which Meguro was holding onto.

"I'm sorry that these flowers are fake, but there's no way I would steal flowers from your garden."

Elmyra nodded and pointed at the photo frame on top of the table. It had a picture of a father and son, Clay and Gabriel, together. They looked as though they were brothers. Meguro and his children placed a flower in front of the picture. They crossed their fingers in front of their chest, put their palms together and closed their eyes. Aerith wondered what they were doing, and she looked at them with her mouth agape. Eventually, they opened their eyes and looked at Meguro. Aerith hurriedly closed her mouth.

"Is it unusual to pray? I'm old-fashioned, so this is how I convey my thoughts to the dead."

"Can you actually convey your thoughts?"

Marcellus snorted after she asked, and he probably felt fear the next moment as Meguro glared at him. Aerith glanced at Rona for a moment. Their eyes met, and Rona smiled.

"That's what I believe, and the important thing is to believe. Gabriel used to tell me often that it is the foundation of everything."

Elmyra was listening, and she quietly nodded.

"Well, Elmyra. I would have immediately come over, but my body didn't allow me to," Meguro said apologetically.

"It's alright. You sent Carlo over, didn't you? He really helped me out."

"How was Carlo?"

"He worked as though he was a different person, I can't help but wonder if something strange happened.”

"Clay was someone he adored dearly like his own brother, you know. I think he wanted to repay Clay by helping you out. He probably was so aggressive towards you all the time because he didn't like that you took him away from him, Elmyra.

"That's childish of him. Nope, I was the same as him too. Clay always took Carlo with him when he goes out for the night,  and I can't tell you how many times I've complained about it."

"Hey, I'm thirsty," Marcellous muttered to his father. He was pouting.

"What should you do if you're thirsty?"

The boy looked annoyed for a moment, but he quickly realised what he should do and asked Elmyra for a drink.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't notice. I'll be right with you."

As Elmyra was preparing the drinks, Rona came running up to Aerith.

"I was born in March. What month were you born in Aerith?

"I was born in February."

"Ahhh, so you're only a month older than I am."

"She's not Aerith. She's Rona, isn't she? She stole your name," Marcellus condemned.

"I don't mind at all, okay?" Rona uttered with a smile.

She truly didn't seem to mind. However, there was a premise amongst everyone that Aerith stole her name. Aerith felt pain in her breathing as if her heart had been clenched."

"About that..."

Elmyra was carrying a tray of lemonade. She handed them out to everyone, interrupting Aerith.

"Meguro, I was thinking of a new name for Aerith at your suggestion, but I didn't decide on it properly, and Aerith had to introduce herself suddenly. And at that time, she replied 'Rona' on the spur of the moment."

"After I heard from Mr Meguro about Rona, I wondered what she was like. I wondered if I could meet her and wondered whether we could get along. I kept thinking about Rona, so I said her name."

"It's my fault that I didn't control the situation properly. Since the word has been spread across the neighbourhood, may we leave her name like that?"

Meguro gave a composed nod.

"Of course. There shouldn't be an issue."

"I'm happy about it!" Rona's voice lit up. "After all, you liked the name, didn't you? My mama thought up the name 'Rona' and named me that."

"But she died after giving birth to you, though."

Marcellus struck his sister in the shoulder, and the expression on Rona's face completely went away.

"Marcellus, if you blame Rona for that again, I'll throw you out of the house," Meguro declared with a low voice.

"Okay." Marcellus nodded. He looked like he was sulking.

He was foaming and playing with the lemonade, blowing it through a straw inserted in the glass. He was having fun gushing the lemonade out from the glass and getting the table wet. It's going to be tough getting along with this boy, Aerith thought. But Elmyra trusts Meguro, and that was his son. She decided to make peace with it all and went ahead with it.

"Then we will also..." Meguro uttered, "address you as Rona, not Aerith. It's important to make a habit of these things regularly."

"Rona, nice to meet you," said the real Rona.

"Nice to meet you, Rona," Aerith replied. "Marcellus, nice to meet you too."

There was no response.

"Okay, children. We have some business to attend to, so you all can go outside and play. Only in the garden, though. Don't go into the alley."

"Understood."

Marcellus replied firmly and drank his lemonade in one gulp. Rona imitated him in a hurry and Aerith also did so, but she choked and spilled some on the table. Elmyra laughed and pressed her to go off quickly.

When they went out into the garden, they saw Jean and his friends from Sector 5 House watching them from the garden entrance.

"'Pathetic orphans!” Marcellus spat and waved at them.

"'Hey~!”

"What should we do, big brother? Orphans are scary."

"We don't have to worry since we've got a powerful dad."

The conversation between them made Aerith nervous. She had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

"Come on, y'all!" Marcellus called out for them in a cheerful voice.

"Is it alright if we come over?" Jean asks again.

"Of course. Let's play 'Tickling Ogre'."

"What's that? We don't know what that is."

Jean came into the garden accompanied by a group of children from the Sector 5 House. There were around two or three faces Aerith didn't recognize.

“It's a game that's popular in the Sector 4 Slums. Ahh, you all won't know that since you all live in an orphanage.”

Aerith did not overlook the gloominess that dwelled in Jean's eyes. But Ayumu was still young and unaware of Marcellus' malicious intent.

"Sounds interesting! Can you teach us how to play 'Tickling Ogre'? Hey, what're your names?" asked Ayumu.

"I'm Marcellus."

"I'm Rona."

The siblings introduced themselves. Aerith braced herself nervously.

"Ehhh? There are two Ronas!" Ayumu looked at Jean with an amazed look on her face.

"It's not a rare coincidence," Jean replied with a know-it-all look.

"It's a coincidence, alright."

Marcellus said in a low voice and looked triumphantly at Aerith.

"She stole the name of my little sister over here. Her real name is Aerith. She's Aerith, the name thief. Right?"

There was a grin on Marcellus' face. All the children who were there looked at Aerith.

"I'm not a thief! I'm not a thief!

"All thieves say that," Marcellus, who has finally shown his true colours, mocked her.

"Stop it, big brother!" Rona pleaded, but Marcellus didn't seem to hear her.

"I'm not a thief!"

That was the only thing she did not want to admit.

"Name thief."

"I'm not!"

Her voice was hoarse. She thought to herself that she should not cry, but tears rolled out of her eyes.

"I'm not!"

"You're an orphan, aren't you? You know what? You suit being at an orphanage. But you went into Clay's house. How clever!” Marcellus showed his disgust.

"Shut up!"

Someone rammed himself into Marcellus. It was Jean. With a short period of anguish, Marcellus falls on his back. Another boy pinned Marcellus down. His name was X. He doesn't usually play with the others much and instead helps the teachers. He was a small boy, but he must have been three or four years older than Aerith.

"Stop it! Get out of the way!"

"Don't make fun of the House!" X shouted.

"Shabby orphans, poverty-stricken orphans," Marcellus' abusive language did not stop.

"Fight! Fight!" the girls cheered on.

The children's violence made Aerith cower in fear.

"Stop it!" Rona shouted. "Big brother, apologise to them!"

X grabbed the collar of Marcellus' shirt and shook him.

"The first one that should apologise is Aerith! She's the name thief."

Marcellus did not give in. Jean looked down the alley and then at the door of the Gainsborough house.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault. I used Rona's name without her permission."

"You used it without her permission? Tell them you stole it!

"That's not true."

X slapped Marcellus on the cheek.

"Stop it!"

Aerith felt as though she had been struck. She did not feel like standing up for Marcellus, but she felt this was too much.

"Stop it, X.”

"Not unless he apologises. I can't forgive him for making a fool of us and the House.”

"Apologise!"

X shouted and was about to strike him again.

"Aerith first!"

Aerith wanted it to be over.

"I'm sorry. I stole Rona's name. I'm sorry, Rona. I'm sorry, Marcellus."

She was in tears. Jean moved and helped X up to his feet. Marcellus, now free, staggered to his feet.

"Hmm. You finally admit it."

There was a trickle of blood oozing from the cut on his mouth. His whole body was trembling. He looked as if he was doing his best to keep up a bold front.

"You're next. Apologise for insulting our House."

Marcellus slowly looked at Jean, then at the children of the House.

Then he grinned...

"Poverty-stricken orphanage!"

Firstly, Jean, X and the children whose names she did not know because it was the first time she saw them, jumped onto Marcellus one after another. Another fight had begun. Rona then let out a scream and ran to the Gainsborough house. That was it! She should have called for help from the start! Aerith also chased after Rona. Just as Rona was about to put her hand on the door, it opened, and Meguro appeared. He understood the situation at an instant.

"Hey!"

It was an angry voice that sounded like it gushed from the depths of the earth. Aerith could not imagine Meguro other than what he usually was, and she shuddered. The same was for the children who were fighting. Elmyra was astonished as she appeared by the doorway. Leaving Aerith, Rona and Elmyra behind, Meguro shortened the distance between him and the children.

"Run!" either Jean or X shouted.

The children of the House quickly disappeared into the alley. Meguro grabbed Marcellus by the ear as he stood there and brought him back to the Gainsborough house. Marcellus stumbled along, exclaiming that it hurt.

"I'm seriously fed up with you."

"They came into the garden. I tried to chase them away, but they started it."

"That's the reason for your actions?"

"It was firstly Aerith's fault."

"It has been settled. Rona and I gave her permission. It has nothing to do with you."

"But...!"

"You have to be smarter than that! How many times do I have to tell you for you to understand? Listen, Marcellus. You don't have a mother. Whenever you mess up, they'll say it's because you don't have a mother. You'll be smearing mud on the face of your mother and me, you understand?" Meguro continued to pull Marcellus's ear while scolding him.

"Meguro, that's about time to stop it."

Elmyra could not keep watching this and gently pressed down Meguro's hand.

"Yeah, I know."

Meguro then let go of Marcellus' ear―

"Aerith, I'm sorry. Please forgive Marcellus. He's a moron, but he did what he did because he thought of his little sister. Please forgive him for Rona's and my sake."

Marcellus was behind Meguro, glaring at her. Aerith was okay to accept whatever conditions so that she could put an end to this mess now.

"It's okay. It's my fault. I'm really sorry."

Aerith faced Meguro, Marcellus and Rona and apologised to them individually. Lastly, she looked up at Elmyra, and she gave her a tiny nod.

"Well then, Elmyra. Let's finish up the job. Rona and Aerith, you can go inside. Marcellus, you'll stay here and reflect."

Once inside the house, Aerith was looking out of the window at Marcellus. She wondered if that was what monsters were like. Soon it was time for Meguro and the others to leave.

"I'll stop by the orphanage to warn them. They are not to enter the Gainsborough garden. And if anything happens to Aerith... no... Rona, the orphanage may disappear. I probably should nail that into them that much."

"No, Meguro. I'll talk to them. I'm very close to the adults there. I'd like to keep things peaceful."

"...Well, if you like it that way, then it's fine. It's your property. But if you ever need my face, feel free to turn to me. Don’t need to hesitate."

He was no longer the kind-looking gentleman that Aerith met at first. That was a front for the children.

While she was vaguely thinking about that, Rona ran up to her and whispered, "My name, I'll let you use it, okay? You're special, Aerith."

Rona was both kind and cruel.

Scene 21

"Hey, is the Sector 5 House that Jean and the others were from, different from the Leaf House?"

Tifa, who had been listening in silence, raised the question.

"It's the same, it's the same. If I recall correctly, the 'Lower Class Sector 5 House' was the official name, and Sector 5 House was the common name. That name was changed to the 'Leaf House'. I didn't know it at the time, but there was a rumour that its proprietors were selling kids away."

"Ehhh!?"

"It seems that neither the children nor teachers knew about it. Negotiations were then held with the house's proprietors by X, and he bought the house over. He was one of the kids that stood up against Marcellus and had grown up."

"I see. There was a fellow Avalanche member who had been aiding the orphanage he was raised in, so I thought he was related to this, but it seems like it's different..."

Tifa looked disappointed.

"Biggs?"

"You know him!?"

"I never met him, but a lot of the teachers and kids were talking about him. He was respected... ahhh!?"

Due to shock, Aerith's voice unconsciously became louder.

"X is Biggs!"

"What do... you mean?"

"He didn't have a name because he was picked up as a baby. So the people in the House decided to call him 'X' until his name was decided. He liked the alias, and he kept calling himself 'X'. He declared that he would give himself the best name one day."

When the kids at the House found out that Aerith's name 'Rona' was fake, the reactions were mixed. But only X, talked about the situation about his name and consoled her. It was better to decide one’s name on one’s own.

Aerith saw Tifa's eyes welling up.

"Amazing, Biggs... You were amazing... I have to tell Barret about this too." ↞↠ You’re on page 93/142 of Aerith’s segment of the Light Novel. to be continued Next Scenes: Scenes 22-27 Previous Scenes: Scenes 10-14 Back to Content Page (click/tap here) follow @istanleyff7​ on twitter for updates support the TOTP translation project financially here (click/tap here)

[zibiscusloon]

War Vets Meet Again (Howling Aces)

"Come on Elder Kettle!" Hollered Cuphead and Mugman as they excitedly ran over the bridge that led to the graveyard on inkwell isle IV.

"Hold on boys!" Elder Kettle shouted to the boys but they weren't listening, per usual.

Elder Kettle got over the bridge but didn't see the boys anywhere "Where did those two run off to now?!" He pondered to himself.

"Elder Kettle! Over here!" Mugman waved to his grandpa. Elder Kettle made his way twords Mugman and saw that the boy was standing in front of an airplane.

 "No. You can't fly the airplane Mugman" 

"I wasn't planning to ask. I was just calling you over here to stay with me while Cuphead gets the pilots." Grinned Mugman 

Kettle gave the boy a quizzical look.

"Oh Elder Kettle! Meet pilot Butch Bulldog and pilot Saanvi Saluki." Exclaimed Cuphead 

Kettle's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. "PILOT SALUKI AND PILOT BULLDOG?! IT'S REALLY YOU!?"

"Yes, also how the fuck are you still alive old man!?" Butch questioned Kettle.

Saanvi punched her husband's arm. "What he means to say is, how are you? You look well." Said Saanvi. She gave Butch a death glare.

"Haha yeah. What she said." Butch was afraid of his wife's strength. Saanvi was a strong woman. She could break any man's bones of she wanted to.

"Why thank you. I get my mustache waxed every week." Elder Kettle was quite proud of how he looked.

"So you got grandkids now, huh?" Smiled Saanvi 

"Yep. They are my pride and joy!" He's said with such bliss as he ruffled Cuphead and Mugman's hair.

"HEY!" Said the boys in sync. 

"How are the two of you?" Elder was very overjoyed to see his old friends.

"Well we're married and we got 4 puppies." Said Saanvi sounding very proud 

"Congratulations you two!" Elder Kettle exclaimed , he was very excited to hear this new.

Cuphead and Mugman groaned. They were getting bored and sick of all this discussion.

Butch whispered to Cuphead and Mugman "I know. This is so boring."

Saanvi cleared her throat. "Well it was nice catching up with you Mr. Kettle. But me and Butch got to go pick the kids up from school and then make dinner."

"Alright bye! Hope to you both soon!" Kettle and the boys went back to the ferry and went back home.

(Btw Saluki and Bulldog were like 16 year olds last they saw kettle)

[theofficialjerenablog]

Loving Her Softie

A little drabble dedicated especially to @noitsnotshortformildred today, because I know you’re feeling down today and need some love 🥺🤍 hopefully this little self-comfort fic I wrote helps 🤗

And to all my softies out there: stay soft because you’re perfect just the way you are 🤍✨

“Have you noticed that tall, dark and handsome seems a little… down lately?”

Serena took a sip of her coffee, watching Jamie clean the kitchen over the rim of the cup. Though her wife had definitely amped up the “butch” in her wardrobe, hair and in the bedroom the past few weeks, something about her sweet Jamieson was off.

She seemed withdrawn, quiet and, as Becca had noted, down. Setting her cup down and nibbling on a strawberry, Serena sighed. “I’ve noticed. I want to help but I don’t know what’s wrong. Every time I ask she just smiles and distracts me with gummy worms or sex or a movie, or she just shrugs it off and says she’s tired.”

“Did you notice when it started?” Becca asked, both of them watching with twin smiles as Jamie and Ollie goofed off while they washed the dishes together.

Serena thought back, trying to pinpoint when the change in Jamie’s mood had occurred. She sighed after a moment, shrugging and sitting back in her chair. “All I know is she stopped sending me all those mushy messages she used to send… and she’s been working out a lot more…”

“Which we love,” Becca interrupted with a wink.

Serena grinned. “Yes, we do.” She paused again, watching Jamie and Ollie together, her heart filling with warmth at the way Jamie interacted with their daughter, how Ollie was smiling big at something Jamie was telling her before they broke into goofy giggles. “She seems like her normal Jamieson self, except she isn’t as soft anymore.”

“You finally teased it out of her, Serena,” Becca said with a snort.

Serena frowned. “I did not.”

“Did too. You’re always teasing her or calling her a sap and brushing her off. Remember a couple months ago when you killed that huge ass spider for her? You didn’t let her live it down for weeks.”

“Yeah, but she knows I’m kidding,” Serena insisted, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “I don’t mean anything by it.”

“You sure she knows that?” Becca asked. “‘Cause every time she sends you one of her nauseating, albeit sweet, messages, you send the puke emoji.”

“Hey you mock the sweet stuff just as much as I do, if not more,” Serena argued.

Becca shrugged. “I do, but I’m not married to a softie who worships the ground I walk on.”

Serena thought back for a moment, back to when the messages had stopped, back to when Janie’s demeanor had changed. She was still loving, still kind, always present and she still checked in on Serena throughout the day.

But she had lost that softness, that tenderness that Serena had become so accustomed to.

And had maybe taken for granted.

“So, what do I do?” Serena asked with a sigh, realizing that she had probably hurt Janie’s feelings and hadn’t done anything to make it right. “She doesn’t even want to talk to me about it.”

“Well, for one, start acting like you need her,” Becca suggested. “Let her open a jar or build something. You are strong and independent and Jamie loves that about you, but you can’t tell me you don’t notice the dopey way her eyes light up when you let her help you.”

Serena had noticed and thought about how she hadn’t seen that dopey look in months. “My poor soft dumbass,” she murmured, resting her chin in her hand as she watched the two loves of her life finish up the kitchen, concocting a plan to get her softie back again.

><

“Do you want some help babe?”

Serena turned to Jamie, shifting the box in her arms and pausing briefly before her typical ‘I got it’ slipped past her lips. The box wasn’t even that heavy and she was pretty sure she would be able to manage. But remembering her talk with Becca the day before, she nodded, smiling when Jamie immediately stood from the couch and walked over, the dopey look Becca had mentioned painted all over her face. “Thank you baby,” she replied, rising on her toes to press a kiss to Jamie’s cheek.

“Of course, beautiful,” Jamie replied with a small half smile, following Serena into her office and setting the box down by her desk. “Any more you need help with?”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d help me rearrange my office?” Serena asked, leaning against her desk. “I’ve been meaning to do some organizing and deep cleaning in here and just haven’t gotten around to it.”

Jamie nodded, rolling up the sleeves on her sweatshirt. “Sure, where did you want to start?”

And so, they spent the morning cleaning, dusting and rearranging Serena’s office, switching out some frames and curtains, installing shelving and moving the furniture around until Serena was satisfied with how it all looked.

After they were done, Jamie made them some lunch, and they sat in the newly arranged office, the window open to let the crisp fall air flow through the space.

“You should sell these,” Serena mumbled around a bite of the chicken wrap Jamie had made her, noting the shy smile on Janie’s face. “I’m serious Jamieson. They’re delicious.”

“They’re alright,” Jamie replied with a shrug, though Serena could tell that she was touched by the compliment. Jamie took a lot of pride in her cooking and feeding Serena and Ollie was a big part of her love language.

“Don’t argue with me when I’m trying to compliment you Jamieson,” Serena teased, stealing a potato chip from Jamie’s plate before taking a sip of her strawberry lemonade. “Thank you for helping me with the office baby.”

Jamie nodded once, her smile growing warmer. “Thank you for letting me help you,” she replied, the happy look on her face breaking Serena’s heart a little bit. “It was nice to spend time with you and help out.”

Serena shifted, climbing into Jaime’s lap and pinching her cheeks playfully until Jamie gave her that ‘I’m so done with you’ look. Pecking her on the lips softly she said: “You know I love you right?”

Jamie nodded once, though she looked away. “Yeah I know, I love you too Ser.”

“Don’t make me bite you Jamieson,” Serena warned playfully, cupping Jamie’s cheeks again so that her wife would look at her. “I love you. And even though I know it doesn’t seem like it sometimes, I need you. And I miss my sap, my sweet, soft dumbass.”

“You need someone strong, someone who’s not soft all the time,” Jamie replied. “That’s who I want to be for you.”

Serena shook her head. “No, baby. I need you. The woman who sends me flowers and coffee and sweet little messages when I’m having a rough week. The one who helps Ollie with her homework and has dinner ready when I come home and who knows when I need a big ass glass of Riesling and a bubble bath with those rose oils that smell pretty.”

When Jamie looked like she was about to protest, Serena pressed a finger to her lips and shook her head. “I need the woman that makes me feel safe on those nights when nightmares are especially bad, the one who goes out of her way to make me smile even when I’m in the worst mood. The woman that reminded me with her big heart and big love that it’s ok to be vulnerable, to trust, to be soft sometimes.”

“Even if she can’t sit through a horror movie without gagging a little bit?” Jamie said with a wobbly chuckle. Serena smiled, kissing Janie’s lips again.

“Especially then, because even though they make her sick, she sits and watches with me because she knows they make me happy.”

Jamie nodded, swallowing hard and Serena could tell she was fighting being as emotional as she felt, so she pulled her close and gave her a minute to collect herself, running her fingers through her hair when Jamie tucked her face in her neck, humming when she felt her wife’s arms wrap around her waist and squeeze.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a dumbass.”

Serena clicked her tongue softly, pulling back so that she could look into Janie’s eyes again. “I think we’re both guilty of that this time baby. I’m sorry I didn’t notice you were hurting.”

Jamie shrugged and sniffled softly. “You did, I just distracted you so I didn’t have to talk about it. I felt stupid.”

“Your feelings are never stupid to me,” Serena replied firmly, though she kept her tone soft, grinning when she saw a tiny smile curve Jamie’s lips. “Though I have to admit I didn’t hate your methods of distraction.”

Jamie rolled her eyes and chuckled. “I didn’t think you would,” she replied, finally kissing Serena back before cuddling into her again. “I figured sex and gummy worms would be my best bet.”

Serena smiled, kissing Janie’s temple and scratching the back of her head gently. “You were correct. But no more using them to cover up if you’re hurting. Deal?”

Jamie pulled back and nodded. “Deal.”

“I mean it, Jamieson, next time I’m just gonna koala cuddle you until you can’t breathe,” Serena warned.

“You do that anyways,” Jamie teased with a grin, digging her fingers into Serena’s sides playfully.

“Yes, but I have never used them for evil, so don’t force me,” Serena replied, not able to fight her own smile at finally seeing her Jamieson smiling again. “However, if you’re ever feeling like bending me over the counter like the other day, you will never receive any objections from me.”

“Duly noted,” Jamie replied with a smirk, leaning forward to kiss Serena again. “I love you Ser, more than anything or anyone in this whole world.”

‘There’s my softie’ Serena thought with a smile. She wrapped her arms around Jamie’s neck and kissed her again, her heart feeling light with the knowledge that her Jamieson was back.

“I love you too, you big sap.”

THE END