#i say tried as if he didn’t succeed LMAO

[monstersinthecosmos]

Okay I don’t want this to be like an obnoxious millennial assumption because I’m positive that every generation has things like this, but the way autism and ADHD was treated for us in the 90’s and how it affects adult diagnoses is like, imo, so integral to our coming of age and the stories we tell and the way we’ve gotten to know ourselves, even the way it relates to our job market and economy and how we operate inside it, and especially the way a pandemic uncovered it for so many people and exposed the cracks and revealed that we were all just barely functioning and held together with popsicle sticks and anyway

I say that because maybe it’s the un-diagnosed 90’s child in me but I feel particularly emotional about Keith’s arc in learning that he’s part Galra, and the way even the creators said they made him sort of prickly because of his biology, and I just !! Think so much about Keith’s neurotype as a part Galra!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cause something about being diagnosed later in life is like, looking back at all the other ways you tried to handle yourself, all the missteps, maybe even misdiagnoses. Like, how many times did you try to treat ANXIETY without realizing you didn’t have an anxiety disorder, you just can’t deal with your family blaring the TV from the next room? How many times were you told you were lazy, or lying, when you didn’t know what executive dysfunction is? 

Keith is such a lovely rich character because his prickliness is EARNED—we know what happened to him, we know he’s traumatized, we know he’s been treated poorly by many people in his life. We know that he grew up thinking that he’d been abandoned by one of the people who should’ve loved him the most, in the whole world. He even questions that in his vlog—he makes the connection that he has trouble with people because of his mom. 

But I just wonder like, how much of it is just his biology. Not understanding the body he’s in, being completely ignorant of one whole half of his culture. Had he ever mutated before the TBP fight? Did it take him by surprise, did it frighten him? ((* This is head canon territory LMAO there’s no way to really know—like, is he able to do this because he just spent so much time with Krolia, or does Shiro going That’s the Keith I remember mean they used to have really primal sex that turned his eyes yellow? Lol)) 

Like when we talk about even the most broad generic terms of saying someone is neurodivergent, we don't even need to put a real life label on Keith. Like he's literally not human! Of course his brain looks different! Of course he functions differently! And I wonder how much is nature v nurture -- if he knew the truth about his mom, if his dad had lived, if he'd been allowed a normal childhood, would he still have been a weird kid?

Cause like, even seeing the way Shiro is able to get through to him, we see ways that he allowed for thrill seeking, and he didn't judge Keith for stealing his car. It reminds me of like, what we know now about asking children to sit still in school, and how perhaps some children would do better with standing desks. Shiro wants him to behave and succeed, and doesn't judge him for being a car thief, and gets through to him by bringing him cliff diving. And it just feels like this clue, you know, that nothing is wrong with Keith, he's just living in a weird place where people don't get him.

It’s just really special to me, because there’s so many pieces in the sequence of events of Keith’s character arc, and I know I’ve said this a handful of times now, but I really sincerely believe it’s the only thing the show really nailed. Accepting himself during the BOM Trial -> MOMENTS later learning something very important about his biology -> spending time with Krolia -> coming back to pilot Black when he’s READY and WANTS to (unlike the first time, when he resisted) -> becoming a pragmatic strong leader by the end.

Gosh idk. 

I don’t really have anywhere to go with this, it’s just something I was thinking about today and it gets me real emotional. Like, Keith must have had these moments, re-evaluating who he’d been before he’d known, finally understanding why he was Like That, and it’s so healing to imagine him accepting his past self and forgiving it because he understands now. 

[augustinescruelsummer]

hiii! are you taking requests atm? if you are, can i request for a jake fic where he and reader are married, they're both pilots and they got called back to top gun. reader's preganant but she doesn't tell jake til after the missions coz of whatever reason you want for the fic

thanks! and i lovee your work! keep it up!

CALL BACK | J.SERESIN

AN: ok, so I changed the request a little I hope you don't mind. I didn't want to send the reader on the mission if she knew she was pregnant:) gif cred @hxneyhxrts

WC: 3.4K. got a lil carried away LMAO

Two letters sat in your mailbox, both stamped with the same sticker. You tried not to pass out when you read the return address, your heart dropping while standing in your driveway. You had gotten the mail when coming home from a quick grocery run, and the two letters from TopGun were staring menacingly back at you. You didn't open them, instead choosing to ignore that the letter could only mean one thing. You bit your lip, remembering that your period was still painfully late, and the thought jarred you. Jake still didn’t know you were 3 weeks late and you were still too scared to tell him about it. His car wasn’t in the driveway, and you clenched the letters in your hand tightly before getting back in your car.

You unloaded the groceries by yourself, not daring to ask Jake where he was through a text. Lately, he had been pretty inconsistent about telling you where he was. Maybe it was just your mind, but it was beginning to put you in a painful mindset of insecurity. You finished putting the new tin of butter in the fridge when your phone rang from the pocket of your leggings. You huffed and pulled it out, seeing Jake’s name flash across the screen. You slid the button across, trying not to put an annoyed tone on your voice.

“Hello?” You asked impatiently, realizing you did not succeed in not having a bite in your tone. Jake was quiet for a moment, probably taking notice of your tone. “Hey honey, did we get any letters today?”

You grinded your teeth, trying to think quickly of a response. Why would he be asking if he didn't know that TopGun was calling them? You shifted your weight from one foot to the other, but remained silent. He asked you if you were still on the line after a beat and you sighed heavily. “TopGun wants us back,” you told him, feeling like a weight had been lifted off your chest.

“Holy shit, it’s true!” He exclaimed, and you heard some rustling in the background. It sounded like he was at a bar, but you pegged that up to you just being paranoid.

“Jake–” 

“Listen, hon, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you when I get home.”

The call cut off then, leaving you with a can of tomato sauce in your hand dumbstruck. He had just fucking hung up on you. The audacity. You were seething in anger as you shelved the rest of your groceries in the pantry, ignoring the incoming texts from Fanboy. He was freaking out about getting a letter from TopGun as well, and you breathed a sigh of relief knowing he would be there at least. You were only three weeks late, and you still didn’t even know if you were pregnant. You were banking on the fact you weren’t, because you and Jake had always used protection. As well as the fact you weren’t having regular pregnancy symptoms. You decided to just call Fanboy, and he instantly dove into why you guys could be called back. The possibilities were endless with him.

As he was talking, you opened your own letter. It had given you all the information about your dorm arrangement and you grinned at the fact you had got your previous bungalow from your original days at TopGun. You nodded along with Fanboy’s theories and ramblings, debating whether you should text Phoenix. “Have you talked to Jake about this?” He asked inquistively, the sound of him munching on pretzel sticks filling the silence as you thought about what to say.

“Sort of?” You began, choosing to be honest. “He called me and asked about us getting letters, but then hung up on me. He’s been super weird about where he’s been with me recently, it’s starting to scare me.” You hated the vulnerability in your voice, feeling the need to get out of your suddenly cramped kitchen. You trudged into your shared bedroom, shutting the door behind you. Fanboy was trying his best to give you advice, but it was clear even he was struggling with what to tell you. Jake had never acted like this towards you before.

“It’s not like we’re even married,” you grumbled with a salty tone after he finished talking. You put him on speakerphone, popping the wine cork. You poured yourself quite the hefty glass and waited on Fanboy to comment on how long you were pouring for. When it didn’t come, you listened to him try to justify Jake waiting a year to even bring up dates for your wedding after the engagement. Your lips pressed into a thin line as you stared at the band on your dainty finger, debating if you should take it off and leave it on your nightstand for him to see whenever he got home. Not like you knew what time that could be.

“Today’s the third night he’s been gone for more than three hours and has not told me where he’s been. He barely even talks to me on the phone.” Verbalizing your thoughts made you even more angry, and you gulped down your wine as fastly as you could. Before you knew it, a second glass was being poured, then a third.

You had fallen asleep in your wine-drunk state, the glass fallen over on the duvet. Little bits of white wine sploshed around at the bottom, and the bottle rested on the nightstand. You had taken your ring off before going to bed, because of how angry Jake not showing before you fell asleep had made you. The time was one in the morning when he walked into your shared home, the eerie quietness of the house putting him on edge instantly. Were you ok? Jake knew he had been doing a bad job communicating with you, but he needed his space right now. Or, at least, that’s what he was telling himself to justify his shitty behavior.

He opened the door to your shared bedroom, his eyes locking on to the wine glass. He furrowed his eyebrows, and his eyes darted around the room, observing. The bottle of wine rested on your nightstand, basically empty. It was a new bottle, too. He shifted over to your nightstand, holding the bottle up. His thoughts were confirmed when he realized you hadn’t bothered with the price tag, meaning it was new. You drank an entire bottle of wine by yourself? He reached for the glass, taking it off the bed and placing it beside the bottle. When he went to place it down and it hit something, he was even more confused.

His heart sank as he looked at the O-shaped object in the dark. There was your engagement ring, sitting beside the bottle of wine by itself. Not on your finger. Had he really pissed you off this much?. He reached for your phone next, which was in your hands. He carefully removed it, trying his hardest to not wake you up, and the bright screen made him groan softly. His eyes adjusted to the light, grinning at your lock screen. A selfie of you and him after a hike you had suggested. Fanboy had sent you three text messages thirty minutes ago. He bit his lip, only able to read the top one unless you unlocked your phone for him. It read, “I’m sorry. Every couple has their struggles, sleep tight. Hope the wine doesn’t give you that bad of a hangover.”

You both were due to return to TopGun tomorrow, and yet you won’t tell him why you’re mad. He was of course, thinking in a confused state of mind, not realizing he hadn't given you any time to explain our frustrations. So it was about me, he thought. He locked your phone and plugged it in your charger, and quickly stripped himself of his clothes. 

He turned his brightness down as he climbed into bed beside your sleeping frame, and he settled on his usual side. It was especially odd for him to be awake when you were asleep. He had been with Rooster the past three nights, trying to figure out how the hell he was going to pull off the best wedding of his life. He had been putting it off due to your inconsistent jobs, but had decided the time was now. Then, the letter came in Rooster’s mail, and then yours. He hadn’t told you about him and Rooster because he wanted his effort to be more of a surprise to you. He wanted to woo you like he used to do all the time back when you were dating. He sighed, texting Rooster back that he had gotten home safe, and realized how shitty of a fiancé he had been the past week.

Jake couldn’t sleep, his inner voice rotting his brain. What if you chose to break off the engagement? He had to stop thinking, so he made his way into the kitchen and made himself a snack. When that didn’t help distract him, he packed his duffel bag for both of your departures tomorrow, and laid out your favorite clothes to make your packing easier. He had eventually fallen asleep in one of the living room chairs around 3:30, your favorite book open in his lap.

The bed was cold when you woke up, and you instantly thought of Jake not coming home. You grabbed your ring and selfishly slid back onto the finger, feeling disconnected without it. You pulled the duvet back and slid on your slippers, and padded down the stairs. As you made your way, your eyes caught sight of your handsome fiancé completely slouched over in your favorite reading chair. Not to mention your favorite book, To Kill A Mockingbird, lies in his lap. You smiled at the sight, making your way over to him carefully. As you made your way into the living room, you saw his Navy duffel all packed up, and your heart stopped. It resumed to beat when you looked over and saw your own lying beside it, your favorite clothes folded neatly in a pile beside it. You crossed your arms over your chest and gently shook Jake’s shoulder to awaken him. He slowly opened his eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them, his eyes falling on you. You stood about a foot away, wearing his Naval Academy T-shirt and a pair of plaid pajama shorts that were hidden because of the shirt. A closed smile grew on his lips and you cocked your head to the side.

 “Hi, handsome.”

“Mornin', honeybee.”

You blushed at his use of the nickname, and gave him a quick chaste kiss on the cheek. When you pulled back he grabbed your wrist, holding you close to him.

“I’m sorry about me closing out on you, just been really caught up. I wanna marry you, baby, and I was talking to Rooster about good venues and dates. I didn’t tell you because it was supposed to be a surprise, which was poor planning on my part.”

You reassured him it was okay a plethora of times, due to his inability of believing you. You gave him a kiss on the lips to seal your promise, which was quickly deepened by him. You tsked and pulled away from him, “You have morning breath, J.” He rolled his eyes and made his way upstairs to brush his teeth, pouting like a child as he stomped up the stairs.

  You both made your way to the TopGun base together in his truck, and you sighed contently at the scenery. Your house was only forty five minutes away from this naval base, because it meant so much to both of you. As well as the fact you’d both fallen in love with the area itself. Jake had profusely apologized for his askew actions the whole car ride, and you had finally shut him up by cranking the radio up over his voice. He took no offense, chucking at your antics. You took the time to look at his features in the outdoor light for the first time in a while. A white t-shirt gripped his muscled body, and his naval academy windbreaker was thrown casually over it. He wore one of his favorite pair of gym shorts, and his running shoes on his feet. His hand was stuck out the window, casually drumming along to the beat of the song blasting loudly. He was biting his lip in thought and not a blonde hair was out of line. Why were you so enthralled by him now?

TopGun had not changed one bit when you arrived, and Jake had been a chivalrous gentleman by carrying your duffel to the bungalow. The gesture was enough to bring you to tears, weirdly. He gave you a long kiss goodbye, which was broken up by Phoenix sliding her window open from the upstairs level. “Get a room!” She shouted jokingly as she stuck her head out the window, her bun slickly in place. Jake gave you one last kiss before slipping away from you and walking down to his shared bungalow with Rooster. Phoenix ran down the stairs quickly after, embracing you in a bone crushing hug. “I missed you, honey!” She gave you a platonic cheek kiss, before bounding off to show you her room. She had brought suprisingly a lot of decorations, and she was extremely proud to show it off. Yeah, maybe you did miss TopGun. 

Pete Mitchell stood in front of the lectern, blabbering about how the F-18 manual was not going to help the pilots at all. You were distracted, watching as Jake gave Rooster a reassuring nod from beside him. Rooster was completely tensed up, practically staring daggers at Pete. His call sign was Maverick, and he had quickly hurried a crew onto the jets. When he called your sign and not Jake’s into the first group, you didn’t miss the way he threw glares at Pete. He knew you guys always flew together, and even the Navy wasn’t stupid to break your extremely talented duo up. You shrugged and walked by him, smiling when you heard Jake let out an almost undetectable whistle. 

Maverick’s training exercise was gruesome, and you were feeling especially sick as your jet hit the ground. You were notorious for always being the last one to throw up in g-force exercises, but at this moment you felt like your liver was going to come up. You stumbled out of your jet, which was parked next to Phoenix’s and fell to your hands and knees, Your vomit spewed everywhere on the tarmac, and Phoenix quickly rushed to your side. She put your hair in a makeshift ponytail, her worried eyes flashing up to meet Rooster’s. You were nauseated, dizzy, and running a fever. “You’re ok,” she cooed comfortingly as Rooster ran to grab Jake. Maverick had landed his jet but was yet to notice your condition.

“I’m gonna pass out,” you told Phoenix before your head hit the tarmac abruptly, before she had time to catch you. Your fainting cancelled out the splitting pain that erupted from your head hitting the ground.

You woke up an hour later, hooked up to an IV. You woke up with a startled gasp, Jake’s eyes instantly meeting yours. He had his head in his hands, his foot tapping impatiently as a nurse checked the results of her test. He squeezed your hand and rose to stand over your hospital bed. “Can we have a moment?” He asked the nurse, and she nodded her head quickly before slipping out of the room. You didn’t miss the surprised expression on her face as she thumbed through the results. “Hey honeybee,” Jake greeted you with a soft tone, reaching to brush a hair out of your face. You melted into his touch and he slid his hand down to grasp your face before pulling a chair out. “Fuck, you scared me, baby,” he said. You looked up to meet his eyes for the first time, and it was a moment full of firsts. His flight suit was disheveled, which was never a thing for Jake. He prided himself on having the most pristine flight suit in the squadron, even around just you. His blonde hair was ruffled and hairs were sticking out in every direction, which was an inconceivable conception. Most shocking of all, his eyes were filled with dewy tears threatening to spill out.

“Baby, they think your pregnant,” he announced and a tear rolled down his face. Your heart thudded in your chest and you stopped breathing. Jake squeezed your hand, bringing you back to the moment at hand. “I’m crying fucking happy tears, just so you know,” he said through a throaty chuckle as he wiped tears from under his eyes. His long lashes were wet as he leaned in to place a kiss on your chapped lips. You were speechless and you went down to instinctively rub your belly. “I want you to go on this mission,” you told him as you pushed yourself up using your elbows. His eyebrows knitted together, going to protest. You held your hand up to stop him.

“This mission means the world to you, J. The squadron needs you. Rooster can’t do this without you. Besides,” you sent him a loopy grin, “I know I married the best aviator, I don’t need to worry about anything.” Jake’s cocky demeanor instantly took hold of his face at your ego boost, and he raised an eyebrow. “Oh is that now, sweetheart?” You nodded your head and sat in comfortable silence with him.

The nurse came back in a couple moments later and confirmed that you were actually pregnant. Jake grinned at the floor as you thanked the nurse for all of her help and signed your discharge forms. You were told to simply rest tonight, and the Navy was sending you back to the bungalow. After tonight, an escort would take you home to your house where you would spend the rest of your time until the mission was over. Penny’s house was only twenty minutes from yours, and you knew you could call her if problems arose. She had her own daughter, so you knew she would be happy to help with any issue. You two had hit it off when you and Jake originally graduated from TopGun, but had lost contact when you were stationed. But now, you had all the time in the world to hang out with her.

The rest of the squadron came to see you tucked into your bungalow bed. Phoenix was on her self proclaimed guard duty, claiming you needed to be in the maximum amount of comfort possible. You rested your head on Jake’s shoulder, as he had slid into your bed before the group stopped by. Fanboy brought you a bouquet of flowers, and placed a kiss on your cheek before wishing you the best possible pregnancy. Jake stared at him after the kiss, and you quickly elbowed him for his antics. Coyote and Payback showed up at the same time, Coyote with a chocolate heart box and Payback with a stuffed small teddy bear. Rooster brought you a card with an olive garden gift card inside, knowing how hard pregnancy cravings could hit. Of course, Phoenix had spoiled you with chocolates and flowers, knowing how shitty you felt. Bob, the sweetest human that society has, brought you two boxes of chocolates and a heating pad. “My sister suggested it,” he said nervously as he put it down in front of you. You instantly broke into tears at the gesture, and Hangman aggressively sprung towards you when he saw the interaction.

“Why the fuck did you make my fiancé cry?” His protective streak rose up from his chest, and Bob instantly paled at his angry face. His blue eyes were narrowed and he sized Bob up. Jake had always been protective over you, but it was like it had intensified when he knew you were pregnant.

“Jake, I’m crying because he got me a heating pad,” you told him as you feebly held it up for him to see. 

“Oh.” Jake said, instantly backing down from his size up. “Sorry Bob!”

Bob nodded and quickly moved to get himself a large glass of water, frightened from Hangman’s tone. Deep down everyone admired how much he cared about you, and they were glad that you had someone who was like that. He was the perfect man for you.

“Thank you for everything, ‘Tash,” you said as the night settled down and the aviators all talked amongst themselves, and Jake had fallen asleep on your shoulder. The soft in and outs of his breathing was enough to comfort you and get you to relax, because the fact that you were carrying a child was enough to put you into a tizzy. She smiled and gave you a soft hug before retreating to her own bed upstairs. Jake stirred, before waking himself up. “Let me hold you,” he whispered lovingly as he shifted you into his arms. “I love you,” he said before crashing back into a content sleep.

[tragedy-peanut-gallery]

Sharing more ocs again it’s my enrichment hours 🤭

Lore for them under the cut! Tw for mentions of self harm and incest (which is kinda there in asoiaf but still). If you can’t handle these topics that’s more than alright! I just recommend you don’t read for the sake of your mental health. Love y’all <3

Allyria Ladybright: I don’t have much on her tbh, but she’s one of my favs already <3 basically her story is that she witnessed Baelor’s whole hostage return/Aemon rescue at around seven years old, and that rocked her shit so hard she became a religious fanatic and was convinced from that whole event that King’s Landing was some incredible holy land. She’s a lesbian and acknowledges it but still thinks it’s a sin so hurts herself as a form a repentance whenever she has a gay thought. She’s part of Myriah’s royal retinue and was super excited to finally see King’s Landing only to get really sad when she realizes it’s kind of a shithole and the royal family are incestuous freaks. These are mostly scattered thoughts but she’s been banned from the Great Sept for confessing her absolutely graphic gay sex thoughts so kinda just prays in private, she idolizes all the seven worshipping Targs but immediatelyyyy starts crying if she ever gets put in Aegon’s presence, so she moved to Daeron and Myriah’s social circle until they thought it best she just… go back home. So anyway she goes back home and builds a little sept in her family seat and becomes a pseudo-septa before walking out into the desert and never coming back, yippee <3

Rowan Tully: Probably the one I have the least amount of info on, honestly her whole thing is that she’s the middle child of four daughters and was my other oc Naera’s former friend/kinda lover? She’s really jealous and hated it when Naera would flirt with any other girl even though she spent years simping for the sexy st. Sebastian-esque painting of Criston Cole she saw exactly once. She gets married to a Mallister guy but they don’t like each other so she just stays locked away in Riverrun making really nice clothes for her extended family. Has probably pushed for her older sister to support the Blackfyres out of spite, didn’t succeed in that though since the Tullys did end up pledging to the Targs. Honestly idk how she dies, maybe I’ll be nice and say she got to he geriatric and died of natural causes but I’ll take any suggestions lmao

Laenys Blackfyre: Ok I’ll be honest she’s my real favourite lol. She’s the oldest child of Aegor Rivers and Calla Blackfyre, and took her mom’s last name in order to push the Blackfyre agenda. Girlie’s charismatic as all hell and has absolutely won support from important figures in the free cities, but definitely has a more cruel side that she likes to hide behind closed doors. A little weird about relationships because she fully believes in the whole incest practice but is also a lesbian so she’s only psychosexually obsessed with her younger sister and is incredibly controlling over everything she does. Kinda believes herself to be the family’s real heir because she’s super committed to the cause and is the reason why they still have some support and when one of her brothers tried to argue that she had him “taken care of”. Anywayyy tho all her connections kinda fall apart once she gets assassinated in front of all her political allies, people think Bloodraven might’ve done it but nobody can prove it so the Blackfyres kinda just…. Brush Laenys’ whole legacy off to the side and keep trying to fight their wars. Rip queen.

[bylrlve]

To add to yesterday’s observations about Will and how his feelings for Mike are being hammered home, there’s an insane sequence in the VR game - Chapter 4, the good stuff is from 50:00 onwards. To put it concisely: Vecna tauntingly asks Will how to get to each of his friends, then tries to get into each of their heads by targeting their weaknesses. He uses Dustin’s friendship insecurity, but Dustin ignores him because he’s watching TV lmao. He uses Lucas’s desire to succeed, and tries to tell him that his friends are holding him back. However, Lucas is on a drive-in movie date with Max. he uses Mike’s guilt over losing El at the end of s1, and Mike doesn’t even seem to register Vecna’s presence in his mind. Why? Bc he’s too busy playing D&D with the boys, trying to get his Nana impression on-point. Two dice are rolled, one red and one rainbow, and those visually wipe away the Vecna part.

Vecna then returns to taunting Will, saying awful things about how he’s alone, his friends hate him, he’s going to rip him apart. Will’s nose starts bleeding heavily. Mike? Mike springs into action, grabs Nancy’s old white shirt, and physically wipes the blood off, getting super close to Will. His actions and words contradict what Will is being told by Vecna in that moment

I want to note something I haven’t personally seen observed. In this play through, anyway, it goes Dustin, Lucas -> Mike. Before Lucas and Mike, Vecna asks mockingly how to get into their minds. The nosebleed happens right after he tries and fails to get to Mike. We’re then treated to a full 90 seconds of Mike getting right up in Will’s face, tenderly wiping his face clean and asking if he’s okay, serving as the ‘light’, to quote Max, that drags Will from the darkness that is Vecna, that disproves everything Vecna says.

Is the implication that Vecna uses those tactics because that’s what Will thinks his friends’ big Achilles Heels are? What does that say for Mileven? I’d love insight from someone who’s played it.

Oh, and Mileven was low-key/high-key shaded in the Elmax section.

@will80sbyers has posts with screenshots of the full quotes.

(X, Y)

It’s very interesting that mileven is barely an afterthought, and treated very coldly and impersonally. To get to Mike, Vecna says, and I quote “more of that game. He’s distracted. You’ll never find her, Mike. The greatest person you’ve known forever is gone because you didn’t try harder. And now you’ll never know what could have been-” only for it to cut to Mike still talking about the particulars of his Nana impression. ‘Greatest person’, ‘cool’, ‘different’, ‘amazing’, only for any guilt re: her to not move him at all. Did I mention the consultant was Paul Dichter, story editor on 108 and every s2 and 3 ep, and main writer of Will the Wise and Dear Billy?

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[bronx-bomber87]

Happy weekend Fandom :) Per usual we have a few high content eps then the next is a little lower. Still a good ep to be had though. Seeing a softer side to Tim for Angela. What a good friendship they have. And the continued reasons to dislike Lucy’s parents so much. I go off on her mom so be prepared. They spend this episode apart which always makes me sad. But it’s a great episode regardless. Let’s get this started.

3x10 Man Of Honor

We start off the ep with some flashbacks to the academy. At first I thought my clip was shaky, then I realized its Nolan's shoddy camera skills not mine LOL This is the one moment I wanted to highlight out of the academy shots. Lucy’s reason for becoming a cop. It’s prominent for later in this episode. Especially with her bloody mom….Her feeling adrift since college and not knowing where she belonged. That when she stepped into the LAPD It finally clicked.

Saying she didn’t feel the time she spent before this was a wasted effort. Which is amazing most people regret the wasted time. To me I agree with her. It’s that time before you find your thing that eventually leads you to it. That need to want to protect others from harm as part of her reason. Fantastic and very Lucy. I do love her finding her place as a cop. It’s why she fights tooth and nail at everything she does with this job. What Tim saw in her from day one. That fire and drive to succeed. Love our girl.

The scene in roll call is hilarious. Jackson’s dad told him when he got P2 he got bottle of whiskey. That he was called up to the front and given this. They are both operating under this assumption when Grey mentions them. It’s too damn funny. I love their friendship so much. It truly one of the best parts of this episode. Jackson gets tongue tied so Lucy steps in for them both. Telling Grey it's their first day as P2's all exicited.

He asks them if they want flowers? Cupcakes? It's why Grey asks Lucy what the reward is for making P2 above. They’re insanely embarrassed by the time Grey is done with them. They get to ride together which is the highlight after all that. It’s so weird to have roll call without Tim there though. I feel his absence but I guess even T.O.’s get days off. Boo.

We catch Jackson and Lucy in their shop. Jackson keeps getting ‘Congratulations’ texts from his family. You can see the slight jealously on Lucy’s face. I totally get it. For the most part I relate to Tim. When it comes to poopy unsupportive parents I'm right there with Lucy. She and I are alike where I too have tried on a lot of hats. Just trying to find myself as well. My parents being judgy unsupportive jerks the entire way.

Lucy has finally found what her calling is and just wants her parents to be proud of her. Makes me wanna cry just writing that out. Because even when you don’t have good relationship, there is still a part of you craves that approval. When really is should be the other way around. They should be vying to be in your life.

Jackson invites her to his family tradition dinner. So sweet he really takes care of her so much. Lucy declines because her parents are supposed to come over for dinner. She thinks they’re finally coming around to her being a cop. Jackson is so excited for her and says that’s great. I love this scene. They’re so excited to be riding together it’s adorable. Getting to use ac and listen to music haha It's precious.

We cut to Tim on his day off. Yelling at Kojo to move when he’s given up on their walk LOL It's the way Tim whines at Kojo that makes me laugh so hard. Kojo refusing to get up even though they are close to the house. That dog clearly runs that relationship and it makes me giddy to no end. I adore any scene we get with Tim and his dog. Ovary explosion for me. I’m a huge animal lover. To have a dog and Tim in a scene? Phew lord. Gimme. Tim gets a text from Angela saying she needs him ASAP. He finally gets Kojo to move by asking him if he wants a steak? Lmao Spoiled Fur-baby.

Tim gets to the address and it’s a wedding dress shop. He enters hesitantly wondering what is going on... He asks the employee where she is? They tell him she is currently in the changing suite. She’s gone through half their tissue supply. Aww poor thing. Tim sighs and makes his way to her. Once inside asks what’s wrong? Is she going into labor? Lmao No love. Nothing like that. He is straight with her when she asks if she looks fat. I love how he tells her like it is while also being sweet about it. The Tim Bradford special. Telling her who cares what her stupid friend thinks. If she's not ashamed of her baby bump then screw everyone else.

Angela is still upset she can’t hide her belly in her dress. Then we get to see protective/supportive Tim come out. Mmm one of my fav flavors. Asking her ’Who said you have to hide your belly?’ Angela tells him her bridesmaids did. The dress she’s in was supposed to camouflage it the best and its not doing that.

I adore him building her up when she’s down. Look at him taking the skills he learned from Lucy. Using them in this scenario. I love it sfm. Tells her to show off her baby belly. To be proud not ashamed. To wear what she feels confident in. Ugh my heart Timothy. He’s doing exactly what she needed. This is why she texted him. To be that emotional support friend. Her face says it all in that gif above.

What I love about this scene we get to see another side of him. Not just work Tim. A supportive and thoughtful friend. If Lucy could see him right now she would be dying haha He asks her what her dream dress is? Angela tells him what she wants. He says he’ll go get the dress lady and they’ll start there.

I love this man so much. It’s insane. She looks so at ease and taken care by the end of their scene. What a good bestie does. Can only hope we can have scenes like this when Tim marries Lucy. Angela helping him out but giving him crap in a loving way baha Good man right here. Already loved him before this but this only adds to it. Like a sundae that was already delicious and adding on more yummy toppings. Only makes it even better.

Angela is trying on more dresses. Tim asking her if she’s doing ok? I’m loving this soft version of Tim. If he’s this sweet and supportive with Angela. Can only imagine how he would be with Lucy and their plans when they get there. Angela says hard to get dress on over her bowling ball. Naww Tim’s face when she finally comes out is so cute. Once again all I can think of is his face when he sees Lucy in hers someday. I'm sorry I can’t help it LOL My brain is wired to go there now with them together.

Tells her ‘Whoa.’ building up her confidence even more. It’s so sweet. Angela agrees it’s perfect and thanks Tim for doing this with her. He does the sweetest smirk and lets her know ‘Of course’. A crash interrupts their little moment. Two ladies are fighting over a dress. Tim and Angela come out to see the fight. The dress lady says she’s called the police. Not to worry. Tim starts to film it in case they need it for evidence.

Then his future wife and her bestie show up on the scene. Tim couldn’t be more delighted to watch her and Jackson handle this. Lucy is distracted the minute they enter the scene. Tim Is in a dress shop for one and two with Angela. Her reaction couldn’t be more pure and adorable. Asking if he’s there to help her pick out a dress? Just the thought of it is making her so happy and proud of him. The immediate joy on her face.

The thought of him doing this makes Lucy so damn giddy. Jackson doesn’t have time for her work flirt and goes after the suspects LOL Tim’s reply is classic Tim. God forbid she get to see another soft side of him. Which is exactly why she’s so giddy BTW. Tim replying to her question 'All he’s doing right now is watching her not do her job.' Ha God Tim you could’ve at least said hello. She gets nervous and side steps before helping Jackson. It's adorable. She's totally lost her place in her excitement and is clearly distracted by it.

The more the situation escalates the more Tim and Angela enjoy themselves. Angela commenting ‘They grow up so fast don’t they?’ One of them tries to take off with the dress. Tim helps Lucy out cause he can’t help himself. Sticks out his leg tripping the suspect. He could not be enjoying himself more if he tried. Just being a proud hubby filming her arrest and making comments along the way hehe Lucy's face while he does this. She is not amused at all. I’m cracking up. God I love these two idiots so much. Act more married please. You are fooling no one.

Her dinner will her parents Or really parent has arrived. Lucy being a wonderful daughter her mother doesn’t deserve. She's made lotus root soup which is her favorite for their evening Trying to curry favor with her before their dinner even begins. I get it. Her mom shows up solo…. Congratulates Jackson before he leaves. She is nicer and more of a supportive parent to Jackson than her own daughter… ugh been there…Lucy asks her where her father is?

Her mom says off handedly like it’s no big deal he’s at his book club. Like this dinner meant nothing to him. Her face kills me. Trying to just shake off the hurt. Melissa crushes this scene btw. My heart breaks for her over and over. Lucy continues to brush it off and say they can have a girls night to celebrate then. Her mom drops the hammer very early. Doesn’t even try to pretend to be happy about her graduating to P2. Says she isn't there to celebrate.

Saying how they need to talk about this whole police thing. Like it’s just been some random hobby the last year or so for her. Even gives a sarcastic 'Brava.' Like she didn’t almost friggin die from this 'hobby' last year. Telling her to do something meaningful with her life. To get a real profession. The emotional abuse happening in this scene hurts to watch. It gets under my skin as the hits keep coming. Basically saying what she’s doing doesn’t mean anything. Once again Melissa is wonderful in this scene. Watching how it slowly escalates and her body language through out. Trying to take what her mother is telling her and not let it affect her. It works for a little bit but not long...

States she wants Lucy to do something she’s proud of. One of the rudest things to tear your child down with. To only think of yourself and how their decisions make YOU look. Pisses me off so much. Just because my parents are the same damn way. To only think of themselves and not of their child. Such a narcissistic way to view Lucy and what she’s done with her life. How her career embarrasses them and they'd prefer her to just leave the last year or so behind. Just because it doesn't puff them up around their friends.

My parent's are obsessed with status as well. If I'm not using my degree (which I only got for them BTW) for a job it's not something to be proud of. Even though the job I currently have gives me independence to live on my own with no roommates (which is not cheap these days), pay all my own bills, and take care of me and my dogs with no help. But since it's not what they consider a profession to be proud of they aren't proud of me. So I relate painfully so to Lucy in this scene. Also the school thing such a boomer answer. My parent's are the same way.

To think school is the only answer to everything. That obsession with status and only wanting your kids to do their approved career choices. What makes them look good and smell good in front their social circle. Instead of thinking hey my kid is happy, they’re providing for themselves, they love what they do. They’re independent. No they only think how it negatively impacts them. I'm so mad for Lucy because I’ve lived this. The heartbreaking way she asks ‘Can’t you just support me?' Thinking why is this such a big ask?

This is why the support she gets from Tim is EVERYTHING to her. Why she lives and breathes for it. When you’re torn down your entire life it’s hard to have self esteem. Hard to believe you’ll ever be good at something. Even if you are you don't truly believe you are until someone tells you repeatedly. Emotional abuse growing up leaves lasting scars. You can see where it all stems from for Lucy in this one scene with her mother.

Her mom goes on to tell her to find a career that really helps people. Like a doctor. Uh she has. You just don’t like it. Says she doesn't mean to be blunt, but really she does. If her mom would take her head out of her ass for two seconds. She would see Lucy already has all the things she’s harping on her to achieve. I want to hug Lucy so much while her mom berates her. Giving me flashbacks to my own mother. The pot shots leave wounds that are hard to heal.

The way she says ‘They'll always love her but’ and there’s the emotional manipulation. Basically saying our love has a price tag and that tag is the job of OUR choice. Not the one that makes you happy but the one that is socially acceptable for them. The way she cringes and moves away from her mother's touch. Knowing it’s manipulative. Hurts my soul to watch. Last thing she wants right now is fake affection.

I do need to commend her for having the backbone to tell her mom to give her space. I've never had the guts to stand up to my mom. I just avoid her like the plague these days. Rarely interact with her. Easy when she lives on the other side of the country. All the way in Alaska and can stay there. So huge props to Lucy for being overwhelmed and setting a boundary in this moment.

That if she’s done expressing what a disappointment she is that she can just leave. Her mom doesn’t fight her in the least really. She does a little stomp trying to exude some power over her. It doesn't work. Then Lucy yells at her to go and she finally takes off. Phew. Hard scene to watch. The shot that pans out of Lucy is a great one but a heartbreaking one. Makes me so emotional to watch this scene. This scene resonates with me so much in the worst way. I wanna hug her so badly in that last gif. Wishing Jackson was there to do it for me.

The cuteness continues for Tim and Angela while they taste test cakes. This is a much needed contrast to Lucy's SL atm. Angela sighs and says this is stupid. That no matter what she picks Patrice will overrule her. Tim is sitting there all arms crossed. Has become one of my fav poses for him. Yum Tum. Says all authoritatively ‘Don’t let her.’

What I’m loving about theses scenes is we’re getting background on Tim. Which I always love getting. Why am I not surprised his dad got drunk and ruined his wedding? That his whole family seems like one giant disaster zone? (Other than Genny) I love him taking his past experience to help guide Angela with her wedding. Such growth. Saying a million things like what his wedding had you can’t control. But this she can. So to pick what she really wants.

Angela says she wants a Tres Leches cake, but Patrice will think it's too ethnic. SMH ..Tim goes into protect mode once again. I love it sfm. Letting her know ‘Screw Patrice. If she has a problem with Tres leches or anything else for that matter she can answer to him.’ Side note anytime Eric says any Spanish word I wanna climb him like a tree. He says it with the right inflection and it’s sexy af. You know he learned all that from his wife and I love it. Feral Caitlin will cool down now but hot damn. Protective Tim and a slight accent with a Spanish word? Lord help me. Also in the black hoodie? He’s trying to kill me.

Angela replies really? Tim nods his head and says 'Hell yeah.' Then proposes to him with a cookie to be her man of honor baha I love this episode for them. He tells man of honor isn’t a thing...She says yes it is. Lets him know he’s only person who’s made her feel sane. That she needs him to get through this wedding. He caves and says fine hehe Angela tells him his first duty is to fire her current made of honor Gretchen LMAO His reply ‘What?! ‘ I’m rolling. I love this man so much.

We catch Lucy and Jackson at the station next day getting their war bags loaded. Lucy saying he got in late must’ve had a good time. He shows her the necklace they gave him. St. Michael. Patron saint of cops. Lucy looks jealous and asks if his parents will adopt her? Jackson immediately sensing something is wrong. He asks if she had trouble with her folks? Picking up on Tim’s habit of being a lying liar who lies. She isn’t truthful with him and he can see right through it. The concern written all over his face.

Angela invites Gretchen to the station to be fired by Tim. It’s too funny. Tim asks why she can’t fire her? She says she’s working a case and has to go. Tim calls her a coward when he see’s Gretchen arrive lol. Another fun piece of history for Tim. He was at Angela’s nieces quinceanera. It’s how he introduces himself to Gretchen seeing as they met there before. Love them being close enough friends for him to attend that.

Gretchen is legit eyeing him the entire scene. Her eyes checking him out up and down. Can’t blame her look at the man. He is a sight to behold. Low key hits on him asking him if wants to make a little extra cash as the stripper? LMAO Too bad Lucy isn’t around to see this interaction. He always gets so flustered when someone does. I swear he doesn’t know the gorgeous creature he is when they do this.

Tim tells her she’s been fired from MOH. His cute little look when he says Angela picked him to be her man of honor. He’s happy to do it for her but doesn’t want anyone to hear it....lol You think she’s gonna be mad. Nope just relieved. Telling Tim it’s been a nightmare. Pulls out this massive book of ‘Patrice’s picks’ and the anti-anxiety meds that come with it. My god. Also the phone just for wedding needs. Tim’s face is hilarious he looks so very overwhelmed.

Lucy and Jackson get to end their day on a high note. They were able to link up with Nolan/Harper on their OP. Rescued a little girl and got her safely back to her mom. This scene is so validating for Lucy. Reminding her despite what her parents think this is her calling. That this is the right path for her and she’s helping people like she wanted to. May not be the way her parents approve but she is. Grey telling them that little girl wouldn't be here without their hard work. They're being put up for an award too from Grey as well. That is the icing on the cake for her in this scene. She needed this after that horrible fight with her mother.

We find Tim and Angela on the rooftop walking toward something. She asks him what he’s doing? He tells her ‘Being your man of honor.’ They walk up to a trashcan that has the 'Patrice picks' book in it. He tells her he has one job. Give her the wedding she wants. He douses it all in the lighter fluid. Hands her the lighter and asks if she cares to do the honors? Then Angela praises him and calls him amazing.

He could not be cuter when she says this to him. Being Tim he deflects it with sarcasm saying ‘All the time.’ Ha! It’s much different than the smile we get out of him in 5x13 when Lucy calls him amazing. But it is different when the love of your life calls you that vs your bestie. Still I love this for him. The Patrice phone rings and Angela tosses it in the fire. Tim has them step back cause the battery in it is gonna explode LOL Such a damn cute episode for Tim I can not stand it.

Best part of the episode for Lucy is this next scene. I love Jackson so very much for his loyal and loving friendship. Also for how he handles this whole thing. Knowing something is off with her. He called her mom and was told what her mom said. Tells Lucy he told her mom if she didn’t apologize to her she wasn’t going to set foot in their apartment again. Such a good friend. That’s a true blue bestie right there.

Then he follows it up with something even sweeter. Handing her a jewelry case saying this was from the West family. To remind her there are people out there who are proud of her. Proud of what she’s accomplished. I’m melting this is so damn sweet. I might get a cavity. He helps her put it on. Then tells her he’s taking her to dinner. For baseball steaks. She asks if they can do sushi instead? LOL Jackson easily concedes and says ‘Deal.’ He'll do whatever she wants.

Jackson takes care of Lucy so well. Filling that role until Tim is ready to step in and take his place. He would’ve been SO SO happy for her and Tim. To see Lucy be taken care of and treated like a Queen. Which she so very much deserves. To see her properly loved and happy. Makes me emotional thinking he’ll never get to see how happy Tim has made her.

Such a good episode even though Chenford were apart their SL’s separately were so good. What makes them so great. Can have amazing SL’s even when apart. Although I prefer them together heh.

Side notes-Non chenford

Getting to see Capt Anderson in their graduation flash back. My heart. I miss her.

The flashbacks to them at school were every cute. Lucy kicking ass in their combat classes. Of course she did. Nolan even commenting 'Think twice before taking on recruit Chen’ Obviously.

Nolan had a SL but I didn’t care about it until it involved Jackson and Lucy 😂

Thank you as always to those to like, comment, reblog and support these reviews. They’ve helped me a lot getting through this extended hiatus. I hope they’ve been helping you all as well. Shall see you in 3x11 :)

[princess-of-the-corner]

I think it's a chat fic?

So, I just remembered a fic where Aizawa finds out about Izuku’s Quirk (just the manifesting on Exam day part). Like, he finds out during a staff room chat, when Toshinori sort of casually mentions it, and Aizawa’s like “WaitwaitwaitHold the FUCK-!” And All Might says, “wait, you didn’t KNOW!?” Because apparently, All Might was actually NOT going to send the kid in blind, and helped him with his paperwork. He wanted Izuku to succeed, and that means accurate (or mostly accurate) records - including being one of the very rare people who manifested their Quirk late because their body couldn’t handle it yet, ya know, like All Might. So by all accounts, Izuku’s Quirk Status manifesting the day of the exam SHOULD be in his file. Aizawa yanks out Izuku’s file, goes over it, and indeed, finds the appropriate passage. It’s ONE SENTENCE, on page 3 of his medical record, which Aizawa NEVER reads entirely, only skims, because besides general allergies, he’s of the opinion that other people’s medical records are only his business in an emergency. If there’s anything TRULY concerning, Recovery Girl usually brings it to his attention, so he goes to her. Recovery Girl calmly apologizes to Aizawa, saying she should have alerted him and not just trusted Izuku to bring it up on his own. 

We then have two different conversations. 

First is Aizawa and Izuku. Aizawa confronts him on manifesting the day of the exam (Izuku: “YOU DIDN’T KNOW!?”) and … I’m not sure apologizes is the right word, but tells Izuku if he’d known, he would have tried to help him more. He thought he was dealing with a kid who was reckless with his own Quirk and didn’t understand the consequences, not one who’d only had it for a week and was still adjusting. Izuku is all, “no, it’s fine, really, you’re actually the nicest teacher I’ve ever had!” (which does not actually make Aizawa feel better).

Second conversation is All Might and Recovery Girl yelling at Nezu for Izuku’s medical file, because you’ll NEVER GUESS who All Might went to for help when he needed to assist Izuku.

-

Honestly this is pretty close to how it’s gonna go down in Chaos Children lmao.

Like like like. Izuku’s file was updated of ‘suddenly has a Quirk’(that’s actually canon lmao) and assumed his teachers all knew about it because it’s in his file wouldn’t they read the entire section on a kids’ Quirk? 

But yeah Aizawa tends to skim the file for the basics because he wants to get a feel of the kid’s personality and their Quirk with a mostly-fresh viewpoint instead of possibly outdated information(kids rarely update their registry after first manifestation) or the kid’s own hangups/biases, and expects the kid to bring up any issues because he’s a teacher here to help them why wouldn’t they do that?

Usually there’s no reason for him to look into it further unless something happens. Like what happened with the Tokoyami situation: Aizawa noticed ‘Dark Shadow’ wasn’t behaving right when he used his own Quirk on ‘it’, and looked a little deeper into the files and found out about Eimi.

Izuku is /starting/ to have this situation, but not quite. Because Aizawa kinda assumed at first that Izuku was just an idiot thinking he could rely on pure power while letting everyone else pick up the pieces. Izuku doesn’t challenge this, but seems to improve once he’s ‘called out on this behavior’. Then Izuku starts improving really quickly, but even so Aizawa can just now kinda write it off as ‘okay the kid had a powerful Quirk that can hurt him, and just didn’t have much practice because it being so volatile meant either property damage or injury to himself, which UA can now deal with for him freeing him to actually use it. Ofc he’s going to improve’. But yeah he doesn’t know the Quirk ‘just manifested during the exam’.

Which yeah Izuku, when confronted, is like “I thought you knew? Also I’m not really the type of kid who trusts teachers, even when they’re Heroes who have saved my ass before.”

[mightbesmall]

D’AWW your accent <3

Requested: Hi! I love your writing! I was wondering if I could request the Octavinelle dorm and Che'nya with an mc that has an accent that they hide due to embarrassment, but they accidently reveal it to the other person when they get excited or angry in some way. Romantic or platonic relationship is fine! Thanks!

Genre: Fluff

Characters: Floyd, Jade, Azul & Che'nya

Warnings: Platonic forehead kisses because yes. I am not sorry.

Summary: You were cussing out some annoyances when out slipped your accent. Darn.

Additional Notes: Lmao don’t know if this is what you want but here you go. You can ask for more if you want a particular scenario/headcanon that I didn’t include. Probably didn’t think about it either tbh.

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

Floyd

He thinks it’s cute. He was a little upset when you initially hid it from him but got over it quickly when you got so embarrassed that you were stuttering. So cute Shrimpy!

He’d encourage you to speak in your accent more in his own Floyd way, it sounded like a threat but he means well, swear!

He definitely tries to mimic your accent, whether he succeeds or fails is unknown. Probably annoys Azul when he’s practicing.

Jade

Another one who finds it cute, though more amusing for him. He’s not that upset you hid it, maybe a bit disappointed but not that affected. He’s dealt with Azul after all.

He would ask you to say things how you would normally, accent and all.

He would also try to mimic your accent, though not as much as Floyd but enough to get the impersonation pretty good. Yet another annoyance to Azul.

Azul

Speaking of Azul, he’d get why you would hide this sort of thing. He can relate heavily. He may be a little upset, thinking that you didn’t trust him before he realised that isn’t the case. 

He would try be supportive and subtly try and encourage you to speak how you would naturally but he is dog shit at this sort of thing. Still he tries his best, gets you on tangents about what you love most and your hyperfixations once he observed how you would slip back into your accent when angry or excited.

He may try to mimic your accent out of curiosity but stopped once the twins started to tease him for it. Soothe him with a forehead kiss please.

Che’nya

This silly little guy, he honestly doesn’t mind one bit if you hide anything from him. It’s just all the more fun to unravel bits and pieces of you, like a complicated riddle.

He loves to tease you quite a bit, enjoying how you huff in annoyance before going off at him, not realising how you slipped into your accent. He does this often that it becomes second nature to speak to him without masking your accent. He does revel in the fact you trust him enough.

He would mimic your accent and either get it spot on or be oh so wrong. There is no in between. He’d rock up to unbirthday parties singing in your accent and pissing off Riddle to a professional degree.

[underratedandoverit]

kip tries to text penelope about his crush on oc, but he accidentally texts oc instead and now oc knows exactly what kip likes about him

~3k words orangekip (orange cassidy/kip sabian)

i dont have the brains to edit this rn but i wanna post something since i finished this and its been a hot second so. i might come back to edit this a tad later but for now it is what it is apart from that the only warning is that kip says fuck twice in text messages so. theres that lol

just something cute and fluffy for a change yay. because kip is an idiot and i think its adorable. the prompt basically says it all lmao

on ao3

@stormbornpirate @ss-trashboat

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

Laying in the hotel bed, Kip was barely awake, but sleep just refused to claim him. He had been tossing and turning for what felt like hours now, honestly annoying him to no end. Kip could feel his eyelids very heavy over his eyes, his whole body was tired and ready to fall asleep, but something was keeping him up tonight.

Tonight. Just like almost every night. Maybe that’s why he was so annoyed by it, because it was such a recurring thing. The thoughts kept coming back to him time and time again, night after night, every time he was almost asleep he could see a vision of the blond flash before his eyes, almost startling him back to the side of consciousness.

When Kip promised to both himself and Orange Cassidy that he would not rest until he got that International title belt in his grabby little British hands, he didn’t mean it as literally as his whole body and mind was obviously taking the statement.

With a sigh Kip rolled to his side, barely opening his eyes as his lazy hand reached for his phone on the nightstand, squinting at the screen as it lit up with a push of a button, revealing the time to him. It had been an hour since he had gone to bed, which was still a lot longer than he had been hoping for. Kip inhaled deeply, dropping the phone from his hand next to his pillow, trying to close his eyes again for at least a moment of sleep, no matter how restless.

Soon enough the darkness behind his eyelids were occupied with the events of tonight instead. Kip had been backstage, just watching the show tonight, witnessing once again Cassidy successfully defending the title against an opponent that Tony Khan had seemingly pulled out of a bag filled with random names. Kip had to wonder though if his name was in that bag as well and he was just unlucky enough to never get called up into action against the champion, but at the same time he didn’t mind.

He enjoyed watching the champion. Observing him. His every move, every hand brushing through that hair, the intensity in his bright eyes as he focused on overcoming the increasingly difficult obstacles in his opponents. Every land of the Orange Punch, every pin he made, every victory celebration after another. Week in and week out, Kip liked watching him succeed.

…Of course, for his own personal gain only, that was obviously the only reason. There were no other thoughts going on in his head, he never reflected the rare smile on the champion's face with his own, Kip never wished that he could go up to him after a successful match to congratulate him, to hold… No, shake his hand, to tell him that Cassidy did a good job.

…That Kip wanted him to do more than just that, as he had already done a very good job against him.

No, Kip would never do such things. Never.

He groaned, still annoyed as now he definitely couldn’t shake Cassidy from his mind. Kip might have had a better chance of winning this war in his head if he just admitted to what he wanted, but at the same time he just couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing. He had managed to mask it behind just wanting to get his hands on the title so far, and that had been working in his favor, more or less – at least in the sense that nobody questioned him about why he kept haunting Cassidy so mercilessly, when he was back in the back of the line for another title shot. Kip could just claim he wasn’t planning on giving up so easily, and people would buy it, and that would be it.

Well, in a sense it was true. He wasn’t giving up, or at least his mind wasn’t, but it wasn’t about the title anymore.

It was only about the champion himself.

Rolling on his back, Kip forced his eyes open, staring up at the dark ceiling. Sleep obviously wasn’t coming to him, so in the dark his hand patted for his phone, picking it up, scrolling up his contact list. As soon as he spotted Penelope’s name he clicked the messaging button, beginning to type.

‘I can’t sleep. Wyd?’

Kip stared at the three little dots very quickly forming on the screen, signaling for her typing. Soon a message popped up on the screen, much to Kip’s delight. At least he hopefully wasn’t going to have to deal with these thoughts alone tonight.

‘Nothing much. Was just gonna crash.’

As Kip stopped to ponder how he was going to present his thoughts to her, another message popped up.

‘This isn’t a booty call, is it?’

He chuckled, shaking his head a little, beginning to type.

‘No, I just wanted to talk.’

Kip stopped again, quickly typing again before Penelope had a chance to respond yet.

‘I can’t stop thinking about Clementine. I feel like I’m losing my mind.’

Maybe a bit over the top, but Kip was known for his flare for the dramatics, and they had talked about this with Penelope before, his… Supposed crush, as she liked to refer it to as, on Cassidy, so the wording felt appropriate to him. After all, it was keeping him up at night, multiple nights a week at this point, putting him in a state that he wasn’t quite sure what he was going through.

As Penelope took a while to start responding, Kip began to type again. He was hoping she was just giving him space to talk as she didn’t outright tell him no or that this wasn’t an appropriate time for this conversation, as she was usually very straight forward when it came to that kind of stuff.

‘Every time I see him I can’t stop looking at him. I want him to stare at me with those intense eyes of his again, but not as opponents in the ring, but as something more. I want him to run his hand through my hair like he does his own. Fuck I want those hands on me just in general. I can’t stop thinking about the things he would be so good at doing with them. It fucking keeps me up at night like… I think I’m going insane. He makes me go insane.’

He almost regretted the paragraph of text right after hitting send, but as the mark of it being read appeared on his screen, Kip had no place for such feelings in him anymore. He read the lines over a couple of times while waiting for Penelope to process everything and to reply back to him, nodding his head along his own words in approval. Those were the things he had been thinking about tonight, all of those about Orange Cassidy, and then some Kip wasn’t quite sure he should just pour onto her without any warning. This was already a lot, though Penelope did know quite many of them already, but still. He had to draw the line somewhere and keep the rest of his thoughts private in his own mind, where he could just as easily imagine Cassidy doing all the things he wanted him to do when Kip closed his eyes.

Kip was almost startled out of his thoughts as his phone suddenly pinged, signaling Penelope finally responding back to him. Kip’s eyes narrowed a little at the message as he read it, Penelope asking if he wanted to talk face to face about it, and asked for his room number. Maybe he had revealed a little bit too much this time, but at least Penelope wasn’t telling him to shut up and just go to sleep.

He quickly texted her back the room number, watching Penelope send back a thumbs up emoji. Kip dropped the phone from his hand, reaching with it for the light switch for the lamp next to the bed, shielding his eyes with his free hand as he managed to turn it on. Pushing himself up from the bed, Kip double checked that at least the shorts he had chosen to wear were decent before picking up the hoodie he had worn earlier in the day and just thrown over the back of the chair, quickly pulling it over his exposed upper body. He didn’t need to dress fancy or perfectly for just Penelope, but some decency was in order at least.

Kip brushed his hand through his hair a few times, trying to get rid of the possible bedhead he had managed to gather while tossing and turning in bed, walking into the bathroom to make sure in the mirror that he looked decent. As the lights flickered on in the room, he winced a little at his reflection; Kip was very well aware he was dead tired, but for some reason he hadn’t expected that to reflect on the way he looked on the outside. He had gotten rather good at cleaning the makeup after shows now so the dark circles were definitely not smudged eyeliner anymore.

With a sigh he quickly ran the faucet, splashing his face a few times with cold water in hopes of looking a bit more alive. In his head Kip quietly cursed that dastardly Orange Cassidy, keeping him awake at night like this, making him sleep deprived and looking like hell against his own will. Without being there in person doing that to him himself. What a coward.

Kip jumped a little at the sudden knock on his door, peeking his head out of the bathroom as if to confirm that he had heard the noise correctly. It repeated after a short while, Kip turning off the lights before exiting the bathroom, making his way to the door. He flipped the lock open and pressed the handle down, pushing the door open.

And getting face to face with Cassidy standing in his doorway.

Kip stared at him for a moment, the blond looking back at him equally silently, observing him from behind the sunglasses. Kip didn’t even think it was odd that he was wearing them inside at the dead hours of the night; as far as he was concerned, Cassidy probably even slept with them on. The only time they came off was inside the ring.

“So, uh,” Cassidy was the first one to break the silence, Kip just blinking blankly back at him. “Can I come in or…?”

Kip’s mind was reeling, but his tired body was working wonders for him, his feet shuffling him away from the doorway to allow the blond entrance into his hotel room. Kip knew rationally that he was waiting for Penelope, but at the same time, Cassidy was here now. Maybe Penelope had ran into him on her way, just deciding to send Cassidy his way instead to help solve this dilemma that Kip was clearly having. Maybe this had been her plan all along, the moment she asked for his room number, Penelope was just planning on giving it to Cassidy to send him over. Or --

Kip suddenly drifted back from his thoughts as he felt a presence very close to him, blinking his eyes to bring himself back to reality as Kip registered that Cassidy had stepped right up to him, standing directly in front of him. Kip froze up, not being sure what to expect from him, as Cassidy carefully untangled his hand from the door handle, proceeding to push the door shut again before his eyes slowly dragged back to Kip, the Brit feeling his face heating up against his will as he watched Cassidy pull the sunglasses from his face, with almost scary precision throwing them onto the bed across the room with just a flick of his wrist.

“So what was the other thing you wanted?” Cassidy asked as his eyes locked onto Kip’s, the Brit just staring wide eyed back at him, feeling his heartbeat rising, the pounding ringing in his ears. This was way too close to the message he had sent to Penelope, had she ratted him out to the man himself?

Kip opened his mouth, but closed it again, being both aware of what he was supposed to answer but also not being sure if he should say anything. Cassidy just looked at him, without breaking eye contact fishing his phone from his pocket, only briefly looking away from Kip to check something on the screen, a soft smile tucking the corner of the blond’s lips.

“Oh yeah,” he muttered to himself, nodding a little as he put the phone away again. Kip could barely breathe for a moment before Cassidy established eye contact again, locking Kip back in place with that mesmerizing look – the Brit just barely avoiding the hand that Cassidy extended his way, breaking Kip out of his spell as he stumbled a few steps back.

“Wha-what are you doing? Why are you here? What do you want?”

Cassidy looked at him, slowly lowering his hand down, stuffing them into his jeans pockets. Kip’s eyes unintentionally followed his hands now that there was some distance between the two of them, him swallowing thickly as he noticed the waistband of Cassidy’s boxers under the jeans showing. It wasn’t unusual for him, but at the same time this wasn’t the kind of a moment Kip wanted to be caught observing his underwear.

“Wasn’t this what you wanted? You said you wanted to talk, among all those other things. Right?”

Kip looked at him for a moment, his eyes slowly drifting away from him towards the phone still sitting in his bed. So Penelope had ratted him out actually, probably forwarding all the messages to Cassidy to put Kip in this position where he finally had to deal with all of this himself.

“So I’m here to… I don’t know,” Cassidy shrugged, his eyes following Kip’s towards the bed, the Brit’s face flaring up an even brighter color of red as he saw from the corner of his eye Cassidy observing the bed as well. Kip didn’t need to think any further to figure out what Cassidy was thinking. “Talk. Or do the stuff. Or whatever.”

Kip didn’t reply to him, instead he quickly moved over to the bed, grabbing his phone into his hand, popping the previous messages open, beginning to furiously type his distaste of this situation to Penelope. As soon as he hit send on the message, he could hear a faint sound coming from elsewhere in the room, that a quick glance around it revealed it had come from Cassidy’s phone, the blond raising a brow at his screen in confusion before looking back at Kip.

“…You do know you’ve been texting me this entire time, right?”

Kip blinked, eyes slowly falling back onto his phone, finally actually looking at the name of the receiver of the texts he had been sending tonight. He was so sure he had clicked on Penelope’s name, but much to his horror, the name on the receiver line actually did read ‘Orange’. Kip quickly backed out of the messages, double checking his contact list; unsurprisingly but absolutely disappointingly, both Penelope’s and Orange’s names showing right next to one another on the list.

He had accidentally clicked the wrong one while in his sleep deprived state earlier.

The horror slowly dawned on him, revealing to him what he had actually done. The things he had said. The feelings he had revealed. Kip slowly took a seat at the edge of the bed, throwing the phone to the side as he hid his face into his hands, letting out a pained groan filled with disgust and discomfort as it settled in how this whole situation probably looked like to Cassidy.

And the worst part about that was that everything Kip said he did actually mean.

“…Hey.”

Kip’s hands dropped from his face, but he refused to look up at Cassidy who had walked up to him, stopping in front of him. With a sigh Kip prepared to hear the berating that was rightfully coming his way, but instead he suddenly felt a hand softly brushing through his hair, gently tucking it to make him follow the movement, looking back up at Cassidy, who just softly smiled back at him.

“Did you mean… All of that?”

Kip could feel his face heating up, but he just couldn’t look away from that pair of beautiful blue eyes of his. Cassidy’s hold of his hair was so lax Kip managed to nod slightly, still a bit hesitant, but if Cassidy had indeed seen the messages in full already, there was no reason for him to lie about it. The worst he could do was make fun of him, laugh at him, leave Kip hanging after such a nonconfession. Which he probably deserved and at least it would make it so much easier to forget about the desires he had for the International champion.

But instead Cassidy just hummed at him quietly, a small smile playing on his lips as he carefully ran his hand through Kip’s hair again before positioning himself in his lap, surprisingly to both of them without any resistance. Cassidy’s hand slid out of his hair to the back of his neck, his fingertips dancing along his skin while the other arm lazily rested over his shoulder. Kip’s awkward hands found themselves on Cassidy’s thighs, his nervous energy coming out with little taps of his fingers against them.

“I think I can make you a little bit more insane, if you wish.” His voice was barely louder than a whisper, Kip just responding silently with another nod before Cassidy leaned closer, pressing a soft, slow kiss against his lips.

[spicyicymeloncat]

The Overlord lmao (for doodles/character discussion thingy)

The Overlord

Ooh what to talk about.

The overlord, in my opinion is… kinda boring. I mean he’s is and is intended to be really simple - the literal personification of everything bad in the world. Whilst this is kinda not great for world building reasons, the overlord is supposed to be more of a allegorical, symbolic abstract plot device and in the writer’s defence, they didn’t think they’d get renewed after s2 and thought that “the good must have evil” backstory was enough context for the world’s backstory. Disclaimer: I have yet to see crystalised part 2 so if idk if this ramble will become less or more relevant after that (also no spoilers about that pls)

The overlord is a pretty good symbolic plot device - he’s a ghostly manifestation of any issue that a viewer could see themselves facing and the story is about overcoming that problem and pushing through - hence “Ninja never quit”. Tbh in that sense, he’s a really good foil for the moral of s2. I think (although I’m no professional) good villains are those that specifically challenge the message of the story. So for example, if the story’s message is love wins, then the villain is written in a way that tries to disprove that idea and tries to say something else like “actually no, manipulating others while not caring about them at all is more effective”. So in Ninjago, the message is “No matter how hard life gets, always push forward and don’t give up! Ninja never quit” and s1 is all about the ninja pushing forward past what was holding them back, and gaining their true potential. S2 is all about how no matter what Garmadon throws at the ninja, no matter what challenges Lloyd faces in training for the hardest day of his life, they push through it and succeed. It’s literally the lyrics of the weekend whip. Meanwhile, the Overlord and Garmadon’s arc follow an antithesis of this: Garmadon has had to struggle all his life and eventually succumbs to his hardships and to the Overlord. His goal is, instead improving himself, but to bring the rest of Ninjago down and recreate it in his own image; make everyone evil and miserable like he is. That’s also the overlord’s power - to corrupt everyone in Ninjago and make them evil. These two characters try to bring the worst out of people in a show that says be your best self. So thematically the overlord is pretty cool. He’s the scary big bad that can be a metaphor for any looming, seemingly insurmountable problem we face in our day to day lives that threatens to turn us and the world for the worse.

However, whilst that’s a great concept, the in universe lore feels really unfinished. The overlord is literally a cloud of purple smoke that came out of nowhere and has decided that it wants to become a dragon and make people angry. The overlord doesn’t really have a past other than “he had to exist because balance bla bla” and he just pops in the second half of s2 as a device to ramp up the stakes of the villain (and save Garmadon from being held accountable). Tbh it’s been like a few months since I watched s2 so I might not be remembering the pacing exactly right but s2 was paced kinda weirdly and I wish the overlord had a lot more set up. Like simply knowing his existence earlier on would be nice. It would also be nice if he was a bit more… developed. Like what if the overlord is less of a sentient being and more like a disease that made people think worse, kinda like the scrolls of forbidden spinjitzu. Or maybe he is sentient and we touch upon his greed to take over more and more of the fsm’s territory. I mean I do like the theory and the overlord is part of the fsm master, since the fsm master was part Oni and dragon and the overlord is an evil spirit dragon. But that would mean that at some point the fsm master was a fully good person if he somehow severed his connection to whatever darkness the overlord is and Yknow I’m not too convinced just because I don’t think it should be that easy idk. Maybe at some point the fsm somehow severed all his connection to the Oni and dragons and became as mundane as an ordinary human, which is why he was able to die. Idk there’s definitely a lot of opportunity to explore the overlord and the fsm and I’m sure if they are the same person it only amplifies that metaphor about being a better you/worse you. Also the generational trauma of guys becoming evil…

It really would’ve been nice if they set the overlord up earlier in the season, since he’s supposed to be this mountain of a threat, I feel like that fear factor isn’t as effective when we don’t even know who is are why he’s showing up now of all times. Like maybe he’s someone even wu and Garmadon are terrified of because of his rivalry with their dad. Maybe Garmadon, every episode, hears whispers of the overlord, tempting him to become worse and worse whilst Lloyd is forced to watch from the other side of the battle field as his dad falls further away from being saved. These would not only add a really ominous and scary note at the end of all those fun quirky filler episodes at the start of s2 but increase the tension and add a sense of progression in the story. Idk the overlord is a little plain and I think he could’ve been spicier.

He’s not the most entertaining villain to watch, which is fine, as evil personified ig he doesn’t need that much of a personality. He’s got some oddly hilarious moments tho:

Not the overlord being self conscious about his appearance. He saw cryptor bullying mindroid and knew he wouldn’t survive. Overlord ashamed to be shorter than mindroid.

At this point I actually forgot he was in s3?? S3 was kinda a humbly mess anyways (and this post is ridiculously long), but I think something to mention is that, at the end of s3, the overlord actually won. If the overlord, from a writing perspective, exists to turn the protagonists into their worse selves, then he succeeded. He split the ninja up, and they quit. Even if he didn’t win, they still lost. And they should’ve totally gone with that angle yknow. I think the overlord could’ve been terrifying, I mean he controlled the whole city. Aesthetic wise the spider imagery is very fitting and I can tell it’s only gonna get better with the new season.

That is FINALLY all I have to say on the overlord. Sorry to have overloaded (ithinkimfunny) you with ramble but that’s just what happens. Not my favourite villain and I think he’s a little underdeveloped but he’s got his quirks and fulfils what he needs to.

[bropunzeling]

dvd commentary of your favorite scene in the girl!leon verse, AND/OR, any of the ducklings frat au from sonny milano's pov

ok in trying to pick a scene that was not. literally just pornography (lmao) i have selected the party at rob's, featuring the one and only captain brady

Leon sticks pretty close to Connor’s heels as they walk through the living room, nodding to guys she doesn’t know, chatting briefly with the ones she does. The one thing about being a little late to the party—and the drinking—is that everyone seems to accept her presence without question. All most of them want to talk about is whether they’ll be around next week or heading home; if they’re going to the lake at all before they have to report to camp. Leon nods her way through, but spends most of her time with her head on a swivel, on the lookout for broad shoulders and curly hair. [i have noticed that like. i love to have a scene of people going to parties and being on the lookout for someone else. it's just an emotion i associate really strongly with being twenty-something and pining and horny and having lots of big feelings. it's also good i think for like, showcasing the loneliness that comes with being in a crowd. i also liked this part because it's a little moment of like, Leon is part of this scene and this league, but also a bit a part from it. she's not someone who trains with scary gary, she's not someone who is going to be doing small talk with these people, and part of that is personality, and part of it is feelings, but also part of it is that boy's club vibe, you know?]

Eventually she gives up on staying inside. It’s too warm, has too many people she isn’t really interested in talking to. She leaves Connor with Zach, [i kept meaning to put more zach in because it seems like they're buddies! which was something i found out late in the process. sorry zach. see ya next time.] who they found by the table with the chips and dip, and heads out towards the patio. There’s still plenty of people in the back, but at least she’s outside, and there’s a bit more air, and she can grab another beer.

“Hey!”

Leon turns around, only to find herself facing Brady Tkachuk, double fisting a pair of Molsons. Brady Tkachuk, who’s smiling genially at her with an expression that makes him look unflatteringly like a cross between a chimpanzee and a baby [i know i say every joke is my favorite joke, but this may be my favorite joke. sorry brady. love you brady.] . Brady Tkachuk, who she’s only encountered sparingly, mostly when she’s trying not to get bulldozed by him and get the puck out to Connor or Kailer. [he is SUCH a wrecking ball lmao] Brady Tkachuk, who has no idea that she was fucking his brother for two and a half years. Or at least, she hopes so. [okay so my personal head canon (which, i guess it's my fic, so it's canon?) is that brady has suspected that matthew like. has had SOME sort of secret romantic thING going on, just because like, matthew is good at keeping secrets but also brady is his brother and like, matthew has had a LOT of feelings going on that will come out. but brady figured it was some normie and matthew wasn't telling him because he'd only want to say if it was ~something serious~.]

“Draisaitl! Didn’t expect to see you here,” Brady says, beaming at her.

“Uh,” Leon says intelligently. “I was in town, and Connor. You know.”

“Gotcha,” Brady says. Damn, he’s tall. She’s going to get a crick in her neck trying to maintain eye contact. “Well, good to see you. Even if Matthew might kill me for talking to you; he complains about playing against you a lot.” [matthew: gotta keep my secret not-a-relationship secret, because i said i would, and it's casual. also matthew: god leon draisaitl is so fucking annoying and skilled and keeps scoring fucking hat tricks and is so hot ]

Leon tries valiantly not to choke on her own spit and barely succeeds. “Oh?” she manages to get out. [leon the bad liar appears again! any time she has a real feeling she can't keep it off her face]

Brady laughs. “Well, guess all that doesn’t matter now. He'll have to hate Stammer instead.” He takes a sip of one of his beers, then continues, “Okay, so I know this is random, but do you mind giving me your number?”

Leon stares at him as her mind whirs, trying to catch up. “What?”

“Well, Jimmy Stu—sorry. Timmy, you know, Timmy Stützle?” Brady’s broad accent mangles the poor kid’s name; Leon winces, but he doesn’t notice. “He’s a huge fan of yours. Literally will not shut up about you, it’s kind of embarrassing—but he’d totally die if I gave him your number.” [timmy stu absolutely has an idiotic and horrible crush on leon that he will get over when he actually spends a weekend with her. timmy stu ALSO has an idiotic and horrible crush on his own captain that he will not be getting over any time soon.]

Leon has a fuzzy memory of watching the 2020 Draft and texting her dad about the kid from Germany who also went third. She knows she’s played against Stützle, obviously, but clearly his face hadn’t stuck with her. Doesn’t matter. She can be nice. “Yeah,” she replies. “Yeah, that’s—I can do that.” [i think one of the things i liked playing with here is leon being a mentor/leader -- obviously she has that with Kailer and her other teammates; in the secret future i have not written she definitely has this with rookies on her future team (esp esp if they're also girls in the league); she wants to be able to pay things forward, especially for people she feels similar to in terms of not being offered the same kind of respect and deference as other players]

“Sweet.” Brady beams at her again; Leon’s still reminded of monkeys, but in a more endearing way. [there is a line in an eva ibbotson book that describes someone's smile as a mix between an angel saying, behold! and a monkey offering someone a nut. anyways. i think about that in relation to brady] Maybe Matthew was right when he said Brady grows on people. “Thanks, Drai. I know it’ll mean a lot to him.”

“Leon,” Leon says, as she accepts the phone Brady manages to pull out without spilling his beers and starts typing in her number. “Just call me Leon.” [one thing that was fun to play with in this fic (less apparent right here but) was nicknames! obviously we now know that "only my friends call me drai" but for this version of leon, i liked having a team nickname (leo) and a family nickname (leonie) and what opponents call her (draisaitl) and then what matthew calls her (leon)]

“Leon it is.”

“Here you go.” Leon hands back his phone, then takes a sip of her own beer. She’s starting to get nervous again, which isn’t ideal. Maybe another sip will help. “Tell him I’m happy to talk.” A third sip. “Oh, and congratulations,” she adds. “On the engagement, I mean.” [god the engagement really was so perfect for this story. thank u brady for ur contributions to the narrative]

“Thank you,” Brady replies. He’s so fucking smiley; she wonders if his face has ever gotten stuck that way. "We're really excited to celebrate with everyone, you know?”

“Sure,” Leon says. She takes another sip of mediocre beer, but it doesn't make her feel better [listen. i just know in my heart that leon is a total beer snob in each and every universe, but in the way of like, she's still gonna DRINK it, she'll just complain about it.]. Brady takes her engagement comment as permission to tell her all about it.

It strikes her, as Brady starts talking about wedding planning and she nods along, that if she and Matthew were still whatever they were[she still can't say they were in a relationship yet because she is TOO NERVOUSE], if Leon hadn’t ruined everything, she already would’ve known everything Brady’s going to say. She would’ve heard about the proposal, the ring, the date, the venue options. She would’ve heard Matthew complaining about how it’s the only thing anyone will talk about, even though it’s only been a few weeks since Brady popped the question. She would’ve had a hundred texts on her phone and laughed at each one while being secretly grateful that Kim’s years away from her own wedding. The whole thing would’ve been funny, rather than jarring a sore spot between her ribs.

If she hadn’t fucked things up so badly, she might have even ended up on the fucking guest list. [leon does go to the wedding. she wears a suit. she gets trapped in conversation with some of matthew's aunts and great-aunts and various shirt-tail relatives and has to beg for freedom by staring desperately at matthew in the receiving line. half the nhl player guests aren't really sure why she's there. timmy knows, which is good, because she's seated at the sens table. taryn makes her do the macarena and then she and matthew have a lot of bubbly and sneak away to go make out.]

Jesus, she needs to get over herself.

Leon manages to check back into the conversation when Brady’s voice changes, and he waves so enthusiastically with one of his beers that she has to dodge to the side to avoid being showered in shitty Canadian lager. “Over here!” he calls, loud enough to make her ears hurt.

“Chill out, Brades,” says a familiar voice, and oh fuck, oh fuck.

She turns, and sees Matthew for the first time since they were shaking hands in the Saddledome. It steals the air out of her lungs. [hahaha girl u r so FUCKED]

Fuck, she thought she was ready. [this is obviously reflecting a motif in the previous chapter, but i think also like, isn't that so universal? you think you've managed to figure out your own feelings, figured out the logical way to get through them and react exactly how you want, and then it's like NOPE] But as she takes Matthew in—still tall enough that she has to tilt her chin to maintain eye contact, still broad, still horribly handsome—she has to admit she absolutely wasn’t. Maybe it’s yet another sign of how she hasn’t been thinking straight, but she wasn’t prepared to see Matthew and immediately want to have his skin under her palms again, to feel him laugh against her mouth. To have so much longing hit her in the gut that she can’t do anything but stare.

Judging by Matthew’s wide-eyed expression, he’s equally at sea. So that’s—that’s something, at least. [hahahaha boy u r so FUCKED] [genuinely though matthew is like, truly freaking the fuck out here. he also has been trying to get over leon, and has been kidding himself that he's succeeding at it (he reacted sooooo normally when she called him out of the blue! he did the emotionally responsible thing! he's taking care of himself and going to florida and gonna be Just Fine) and now here she is to prove that he hasn't. and even worse, she is standing next to his brother, the person who maybe knows him best after his mom.]

“Hey,” Brady’s saying, which snaps Leon back to the present, as he wraps an arm around Matthew’s shoulders and shakes him slightly. “I was just telling Leon about the wedding stuff.”

“I—oh,” Matthew says, and Leon really knows she’s fucked now, because even hearing him say that much makes her palms sweat. “Like you haven’t been doing that every day since you proposed,” he chirps weakly. [brady loves love, god, matthew is SUCH a cynic]

“Rude, Matty,” Brady says. His eyes flick between them and his forehead creases; Leon hadn’t wagered that Brady would be all that perceptive, but clearly she’d be losing money right now if she had. [the shoe has dropped for brady that there may in fact be a connection between "matthew almost definitely has some kind of secret situationship that he isn't telling me about" and "matthew did not shut up about leon draisaitl during most of the bubble season"] “Here, you can have this,” he says, pressing one of his beers into Matthew’s hand. “I’m gonna go find some food. You good if I leave you together? I mean, it’s not like you’re rivals anymore.” [obviously captain brady can tell when he's gotta give people can space! genuinely tho i think brady while bombastic and a big personality also obviously clearly has a pretty fine-tuned people sense]

“We’ll be fine,” Matthew says, still staring at Leon [he is soOoOoOo into her. he absolutely has not gotten over her but has told himself that, like a liar. rip]. Leon nods in agreement.

“Cool.” Brady nods, then gives Leon one last grin. “Nice talking to you, Leon.”

“You too,” Leon manages, and then it’s just the two of them. [:))))))))]

[milflewis]

Omg can I use this to get 3 chapters sentences from your Hunger Games AU pretty pretty pretty please

lmao yes you can. i put more than three sentences bc i am so so sorry how long it’s taking me to write this fic 😔🥺

send me a pairing and an au prompt and i’ll write a three sentence (ish) fic about it

The cannon goes off and Pierre’s world tilts on its side. He breaks into a run, forgetting the bird, forgetting about the three other Tributes hiding somewhere in this arena, screaming Yuki’s name.

Yuki slams into him, shoulder jamming under Pierre’s arm. The force of him nearly knocks Pierre over. His eyes are wide and terrified. It’s like looking in a mirror.

Yuki’s hands are warm and damp on Pierre’s forearms. The liquid looks suspiciously like blood. Pierre blinks. Nightlock, he thinks. I could’ve lost him, he thinks.

“Did you eat that?” Pierre asks and Yuki’s eyes are so fucking wide as he shakes his head.

“Are you stupid,” Pierre tries not to scream at him but he doesn’t think he succeeds. “That shit is lethal, Yuki, what were you thinking?”

“I—” There’s a slight cut along the side of Yuki’s nose, bruised dark along his neck, and his hands are covered with berries, not blood. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Pierre grabs him, digging his fingers into Yuki’s shoulders, hair soft and dirty against his jaw. He smells of earth and sweat and blood. He smells of death. Pierre can’t breathe around this feeling. “You scared me,” he says, quietly into his hair and Yuki holds him right back. It feels like a secret even with all these cameras around them, picking up on the slight change in their breathes.

You’re mine, Pierre thinks. You’re mine now.

[cookinguptales]

So uh TIL that my relationship with failure is not normal and there's actually a word (acronym) for it, thank you for that (sorry I don't know how to make that not sound sarcastic!), I'm gonna go read all things ever about RSD now

[cw: frank discussion of mental illness and its symptoms]

Being absolutely real with you here, anon, RSD is fucking terrible. It’s a terrible symptom of a frustrating disorder and I’m sorry that you’re dealing with it. Like I say this as someone with a variety of mental health issues (maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s PTSD) who’s struggled with suicidal ideation since about age seven or eight -- RSD is one of the absolute hardest things I deal with. It’s more than just feeling broken or fucked up or unlovable; it’s an absolutely physical, devastating reaction that can be impossible to logic your way out of.

It is not normal to fixate on perceived rejection, faults, or mistakes. It is not normal to hate yourself every time you make the smallest error or don’t succeed at something you’ve tried. It is not normal to make a tiny error or get in an argument and then spiral over it for days, weeks, months, maybe even years. I definitely disobeyed once when I was like eight and worried about my mom finding out and not loving me anymore for... I wanna say about seven years. I finally told her like three years ago (I WAS STILL NERVOUS) and I am thirty-two now. She... was not mad. Because I was a child who didn’t even do anything that bad. But that’s RSD. It’s like niggling at a scab that you just can’t leave alone, even though you know it’s only going to hurt you. (And yes, skin-picking and hair-pulling are also symptoms of ADHD. Dermatillomania struggles are so real, lmao.)

Like friend, I get it. I get the way that you make a mistake or you get in an argument or you think someone is upset with you and it is an actual physical clenching of the chest. The spiraling. The panic attacks. The anxiety. The intrusive thoughts. The way you literally cannot fucking breathe. None of that is normal.

I didn’t know that it was weird, either, until just a few years ago. I knew I had bad ADHD that couldn’t be safely medicated (I believe my doctor’s exact words when he looked at my test results were “I can’t believe you graduated high school”) but no one told me that obsessive thoughts and RSD were symptoms of that. I knew that sometimes my ADHD felt like I was batting a thousand racquetballs around a court at the same time, but I didn’t know that sometimes my dumbass brain would direct every one of them right at me.

It’s kind of like hearing the Jaws music at all times... You don’t know what the rule is or how you broke it but you know you did and that very nebulous consequences will happen. And if you haven’t fucked up yet, you will soon! That Jaws music is warning you!

There’s a lot of overlap between ADHD and autism/OCD, and I think RSD is where you really start to see a lot of OCD-esque symptoms. The obsessing, the fixations, the compulsive physical actions and thoughts. The way you spiral over things that you know aren’t serious, that you know aren’t real, but that doesn’t ease the pressure on your chest, the buzzing in your head. You can’t logic your way out of RSD and it really fucking sucks.

I really, really recommend going to see a doctor if you can, anon. I can’t take ADHD meds (I got a shit-ass heart lmao) but I’ve heard they really help with the RSD for some people. If they don’t help you, therapy might. 

In the meantime, what helps me most is breaking the spiral before I get in too deep. When I feel the panic coming on, I do something that I know will distract me. This can be something physical (like going for a walk or dancing (poorly) to some music or making food) or something that will force me to focus on another living creature (like playing with my cat or calling a friend) or, if I have to pull out the big guns, purposefully invoking a known hyperfixation so I get focused on that instead. Just something that will make you think about literally anything but the trigger and your own panic response to it. Once you’re deep in the spiral, it’s very hard to get out.

Mindfulness exercises can also be useful here. I don’t mean meditation as much; that doesn’t empty my mind enough. Grounding exercises help me more. Focusing on tastes, smells, feels, sensations. Strong smells (I keep citrus essential oils on hand), strong flavors, a texture that you find interesting or comforting. Sometimes I go outside and touch trees lmao. Just find something that works for you. Focusing on a purely physical stimulus can be helpful in breaking a mental spiral.

This is a rough, rough road that you’re walking, anon, and I’m sorry to hear that you’re on it. But millions of people walk it every day, and we muddle through. There’s definitely hope and you’re definitely not alone. 💜 

[star-shuttle-scout]

I’m still on my RPM rewatch, but did anyone else notice that it’s obvious that Gem and Gemma were not being purposefully disobedient towards Scott as the team leader, but they just genuinely didn’t understand what he was saying? I’ve always said that it’s obvious that more than one of the RPM characters are autistic, Gem and Gemma included. But it’s plain and clear that in Three’s A Crowd, they just genuinely do not understand what Scott is trying to tell them.

When he tries to scold them for reckless actions, he mentions that they’re being very “shoot first and ask questions later” and they can’t do that. But they don’t seem to understand what they did wrong. And when he mutters under his breath that it’s like “talking to children” (very uncool bro) they grow seemingly remorseful. It’s obvious that they know Scott is upset, they just don’t understand why. “We’re sorry, Scott.”  “We promise we won’t do it again.”  “Whatever it is we were doing.” Whatever it is we were doing.

And then to follow that up, right after Scott walks away, they blatantly talk to each other about how they didn’t understand what he was talking about. They misinterpreted the whole situation and only got part of it and assumed what they could. So, when they try to run off and Scott scolds them again. they try to rectify it by promising “We promise to shoot first and not ask questions later!” And afterwards they acknowledge that they have been a bit reckless and to work together more cohesively because they experienced something that made them realize what Scott was trying to tell them. It was like yeah, they do tend to only depend on themselves (likely because of how they were raised in the Alphabet Soup, so they only really had each other until they met Dr. K) but also, they just weren’t understanding what Scott was asking of them. Why the others were mad, all that. 

Also, when Scott suggested Dillon talk to them, I automatically was like “What, cause he’s autistic too?” as if that was something that was canon lmao.  In all seriousness though, Dillon trying to explain to Gem and Gemma why they shouldn’t do what they’re doing would have been a memorable scene I would have loved to see. There are two outcomes in my head. In one, they ask too many questions which frustrates Dillon, and he storms off. Two, he explains the whole thing in one careful go and somehow succeeds and ends up the accidental interpreter for them whenever something is going on. Which exasperates him to no end, and he ends up the recipient of so many Gem and Gemma hugs (which he pretends to hate but secretly likes). 

[lord-squiggletits]

Speaking of the Metzen trilogy and people not liking it for bizarre reasons, one time I saw a conversation here on Tumblr where someone claimed something along the lines of “During Monstrosity, Optimus tried to arrest the Dynobots instead of letting them leave Cybertron to manage their condition and that’s why I think he’s an asshole.” And that’s just not fucking true because it takes a bunch of individual events out of order and completely warps the context just to make Optimus look like shit lmao.

The Dynobots were trying to leave Cybertron because of their uncontrollable, violence-/rage-fuelled alt modes, but the only people who knew that were the Dynobots themselves (and us, the readers). The reason Optimus tried to arrest the Dynobots is because they were raiding one of the last large-scale energon refineries on Cybertron that was still functioning AND which was the only source of fuel for actual millions of people. The situation from Optimus’ end was that he got an emergency broadcast from this very fucking important refinery that it was under attack by Decepticons (since they also showed up to raid the same refinery). So like, no fucking shit Optimus tried to arrest the Dynobots, he’s the leader and head of security of the Autobots in the middle of a full blown civil war, trying to defend one of the last stable food sources for millions of people, and he had literally no way of knowing that the Dynobots were only raiding it to get enough money to flee Cybertron so that they wouldn’t put people in danger.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

When Grimlock decided to say “fuck it, I’m a monster, I’m going to just blow up this refinery since I’m just such a horrible and violent person that everyone expects the worst of” in that very same scene, Optimus is the one who talked Grimlock down from it by saying that Grimlock may be hurting, but blowing up the refinery would hurt innocent people, and Grimlock doesn’t want to do that. AND IT LITERALLY DOES MAKE GRIMLOCK STOP (although the refinery is blown up by Skorponok anyways because he’s a chaotic evil dumbass but I digress)

And then Optimus doesn’t even stop the Dynobots (or anyone else, for that matter) from leaving Cybertron! He does digging into the Dynobots’ case files from when they were members of the Primal Vanguard. He asks Kup about what they used to be like. He ignores the suggestion that it would be easier to kill the Dynobots so they don’t harm anyone and instead directly approaches them to say “You don’t have to quarantine yourselves on a random planet out of fear of your alt-modes. I have scientists on my side who can find a cure for your condition.” The Dynobots appreciate Optimus’ offer, but leave anyways (with Optimus again doing nothing to stop them btw) and only return later as surprise reinforcements in the battle against Trypticon, no doubt convinced by Optimus’ faith in them when even they didn’t have faith in themselves.

And by the way, the following story (Primacy) shows that Optimus did keep his word and instruct his scientists/medics to find a cure for the Dynobots, which succeeds.

Optimus was literally one of the only people helping the Dynobots during that entire arc. He’s only antagonistic against them for the first ~3 pages they interact with each other because he met them in the middle of a crisis they were partially responsible for, but from the time he talks Grimlock down onwards he’s basically the only person that cares about telling them they don’t have to be/see themselves as monsters. The interactions between him and the Dynobots are literally a shining example of Optimus being the optimistic, never-gives-up-faith, willing to give anyone a chance hero that he IS and that people want him to BE. But somehow people found a way to twist that into him being an asshole anyways???

[elliebartlets]

veronica mars rewatch 3x15: papa’s cabin

• for all of Professor Landry‘s faults (which really only seems to be sleeping with the Dean’s wife lol) he seems to be a decent professor. He sees how much potential Veronica has and wants her to succeed. A few episodes back when he recommended her for the FBI internship, Veronica thought he was buying her silence about his affair, and then when she confronted him about it, he said he recommended her because she deserved it. And now here he’s saying he’s glad he can mentor her and that students like her are rare. Idk I love when professors care about their students and want them to do well.

• I really don’t get the vibe from him that he could be the murderer but I could be wrong. God don’t let him be the murderer!!!

• very interesting that Mindy O’Dell wants to find out who murdered her husband, but decided not tell the truth from the very beginning?

“I wanted to know who did, even if it was Hank.” Ok then why didn’t you tell the truth about his whereabouts???

• and that there’s the big difference in Sheriff Lamb and Keith right there: Lamb would’ve arrested Landry on the spot in front of the whole class, whereas Keith gave Landry the opportunity to dismiss his class to avoid humiliation.

• so Landry thinks Mindy set him up

• maybe Tim did it??? The murder and framing Landry? Don’t really know why he’d wanna kill the Dean though

• “Does it look like we smoke?”

“Yes.”

lol Tim

• Mindy you’re looking more guilty with each scene

• “I’m just trying to figure out which Gilmore Girl you are.”

• wait maybe Tim killed the dean and framed Landry cause he doesn’t like how Landry treats him and didn’t like Veronica becoming his new favorite.

• But then why would he try so hard to prove it’s not Landry?

• so Mindy O’Dell fucked off on the boat she bought…I wonder if she took her kids nevermind the kids were shipped off to England?? lmao ok

• “If you’re wondering where I am, I’m outside a convenience store eating corn nuts and watching strippers.”

• damn this is insane really don’t know who killed the Dean. I really think Mindy is too obvious of an answer.

• “Nice gloves. You headed to the parlour to strangle Colonel Mustard after this?”

• idk what tapes they’re trying to find that Mindy’s ex husband had ohh they’re trying to find proof that Botando bugged Landry’s phone

• “So, there's these dvds.”

“Does he have A Bug's Life?”

Ha.

• yeah Landry doesn’t think very highly of Tim does he? That’s also motive for Tim to kill the Dean and pin it on Landry.

• Landry disappeared too lmao

• oh and he’s on Mindy’s boat. Jesus what is going on

• maybe she was afraid Landry would come after her for turning on him? and that’s why she fled?

• wow Landry blackmailed the stripper into providing an alibi for him or else he’d take her kid off probation

• god dammit Landry. You are not looking good in this.

• so Mindy did kill the Dean?? and Landry tried to cover it up for her but then she turned on him?? And then he just tried to talk to Mindy but ended up hitting her and she went overboard and died??? Hmm

• o m g it was Tim!!!!

• also I wonder if these students think this is some sort of act by Veronica and Tim with Veronica basically accusing him of murder

• I’m wondering how Tim didn’t get any DNA on Landry’s shirt or in the blood he put on it

• well ok then. Case solved.

• I’m fine with Tim being the killer (honestly should’ve seen that coming) as it makes sense with his grudge against Landry, but I’m really upset Landry ended up being a murderer too anyway. I wish it would’ve

• also a bit confused about the alibi Landry provided after he was arrested. He said he bought cigarettes and a lady bummed some off him. I think it was a legit alibi, but they never actually found the woman? Because Tim called the woman who had the troubled son Landry knew from the Juvenile Probation board and blackmailed her into giving an alibi for Landry so it would fall through and make Landry look guilty.

• and then I guess Mindy and Landry both thought each other killed the Dean, but wanted to protect each other? Until Landry thought Mindy turned on him.

• I love how Keith says “Give me my meat, woman” while pointing to his plate

• “You know I don't like you exposed to all this crime and violence. It's gonna warp your mind.”

Keith if that’s the case you should’ve moved out of Neptune like 3 years ago

• also just think, if Veronica didn’t write the perfect murder paper (as she was given the opportunity not to), Tim would’ve have had a way to kill Landry lol

[stormcallgaming]

🖋️ Tiger’s Review; Bully

This has been 5 years and 4 months in the making and I don’t even know what to say about that lmao I’m so bad at starting things and taking eight lifetimes to finish them. In my defense, I get obsessed with stuff and focus only on that for a while but then I move on for a while (in this case 5 years pft.) I thank the Bingo, Kaleidoscope and Casual A-Z challenges for giving me the motivation needed to FINALLY finish this game.

Bully is one of those classic games that can easily withstand the test of time. It’s such a good game with a damn good story and pretty cool characters. The main character has that little brother feel to me and I had that feeling throughout my playthrough.

I wanted him to succeed so I tried my best. And by “tried my best” I mean I failed a shit ton of times. Which brings me to my first complaint. When you fail a mission, there’s no option to retry, it just kicks you out and you have to run ALL the way back to the NPC that gave you that quest. This is super annoying, especially if you’re like me and fail a lot. I ended up giving up a few times because I got tired of having to run back and do everything over lol This is pretty understandable given the game’s age, though.

Another really weird thing for me is the button layout. Like, instead of O being the back button, it’s triangle. The amount of times I sat there pressing the O button repeatedly wondering why the feck nothing was happening lol And to pause the game, you press the touch pad instead of options. L2 and R2 cycle through your weapons/items, while you aim with L1 and shoot with R1. That kept messing me up on Mass Effect because I was pressing the wrong button (but I did learn the Mako has boost so it’s not all bad.)

I didn’t learn this until I was literally on the LAST chapter of the game, but you have to press the left side of the touch pad to get the map up. As someone who gets lost easily, this would have been really helpful lol

The trophies are all pretty simple, at least for the PS4 version. I didn’t really have any trouble with any except for “Sharp Dressed Man.” I’m not really one to buy clothes in games unless it’s my own character, like GTA, so I only have a couple pieces bought.

Between running around trying to make enough money and trying to FIND all the clothes, I think this is the trophy I spent the most time on. I was so confused because I bought out all the clothing stores, the school shop and the fair but still hadn’t reached 250. I read that the barber shop sells clothes, but I went to two and they had none so I didn’t bother checking the third. Turns out, 3rd time really is the charm lol

One thing I really love about this game is the fact that, when the game ends, it doesn’t actually end. It lets you run around and continue whatever you missed so you don’t have to play through the game again to collect trophies. The fact that this game, old as it is, had the thought to do this while new games don’t is honestly incredible. They do make you sit through the credits first, though. No amount of button pushing can skip ’em.

I suggest getting the flower trophy out of the way before finishing art class. You CAN flirt with guys, but there’s only like 2 or 3 that you can flirt with while you can flirt with ANY girl. I wish they had put a bit more into the NPC students… there’s only a couple unique students in each clique before they just copy and pasted them a bunch of times. It was kind of offputting… and creepy.

Maybe it’s just me, but the kiss trophy was painful. It’s so cringey watching them makeout and I had to look away, it’s just uncomfortable lol And the thing with Zoe… it was so weird because he had literally met her TWO TIMES and then they were talking about love. Is that normal for fifteen year olds? Am I just old?

Speaking of romance, here’s a hot take: Johnny Vincent deserves better! The whole game, I kept wishing he would just break up with that cheating [redacted]. Why did he keep taking her back? She claimed to love him but as soon as he turned around, she was making out with another guy. Not just one, either, she was with basically the whole ass school okay.

My man deserves better. Period.

Speaking of characters, whats-his-face nerd leader was creepy and annoying as hell. I thought he was cute at first but after seeing how he behaves, he became uglier every time he was on screen lol Derby is cute but I want to punch him sometimes. He reminds me of Atobe from Prince of Tennis in a way. Russel is the man and he is a precious idiot, okay.

The gym teacher was also a creep and I hate him. Like I said before, Jimmy is great and I view him as a baby brother. Must protect. Finally, I felt bad for Pete. He’s such a good kid but everyone treats him like dirt, even Jimmy – I would smack him for this if I could. Honestly, I think he’s the only sane person in this whole damn town.

I almost forgot to mention Dual Nebula. This trophy requires you to beat the high score in three different arcade games. The sumo one is the easiest, in my opinion, it only took me two or three tries. The one with the squirrel flinging nuts is second. I died a bunch of times but most of that was because I was trying to glitch it, having ZERO faith that I could do it on my own. The glitch didn’t work and I made it! Finally, the hardest one is the monkey one. It took me sooo many tries to get this one because you can’t jump over the spiders, you just gotta wedge yourself in the corner and hope for the best.

It was fun, but it’s time to say goodbye, Bullworth.

I think I’ve covered everything I wanted to about this game. It’s a really great game and I highly recommend checking it out. I didn’t do a playthrough of this game, but I do have some clips posted and a bunch more waiting to be posted. You can check out my playlist here.

I started this game on September 5th, 2017. I completed this game on January 14th, 2023.

My rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5)

Honestly, I wish I hadn’t done the clothes one last. Just look at the damn platinum screenshot, it’s terrible ò_ó) I should’ve waited on the last quest for Kleptomaniac… oh well. Nothing I can do now.