#it!) and used that for lighting reference. talking about how that one guy who spent most of his time setting up composition and had his

[fridgedeeznuts]

thinking abt this video im watching between two artists chatting and how at some point the painting part of painting becomes the easiest part of painting, and most of the work is actually about the preparation of the piece, and anything else that is more work during the piece is shit that u forgot to cover in ur prep work,,,,

[headspace-hotel]

Just spent a couple hours digging into this book. I'm not even sure what has worse environmental impacts, the paper the book is made of or the opinions printed within.

Is "post-colonial" literary theory a joke? It's distressing that a book printed in 2021 by a reputable academic press can be so painfully Eurocentric, and I mean PAINFULLY. The philosophical and literary frameworks drawn upon in most chapters are like what some British guy in 1802 would come up with. In most of the chapters, every framework, terminology, and example is inseparably fused to Latin, Greek, and/or Christian philosophers, myths and texts, even down to the specific turns of phrase. You would think only Europeans had history or ideas until the 20th century.

Don't get me wrong, non-european and even specifically anti-colonial sources are used, and I don't think all the writers are white people, but...that's what's so weird and off-putting about it, most of the book as a whole utterly fails to absorb anything from non-European and in particular anti-colonial points of view. The chapters will quote those points of view but not incorporate them or really give their ideas the time of day, just go right back to acting like Plato and Aristotle and Romantic poets are the gold standard for defining what it means to be human.

In brief, the book is trying to examine how literature can shed light on the climate crisis, which is funny because it completely fails to demonstrate that literature is good or helpful for the climate crisis. Like that is for sure one major issue with it, it shows that people *have* written stuff about climate change, but it sure doesn't convince you that this stuff is good.

Most of the works quoted are rather doomerist, and a lot of the narrative works specifically are apocalypse tales where most of Earth's population dies. The most coherent function the authors can propose that literature fulfills is to essentially help people understand how bad things are. One of the essays even argues that poetry and other creative work that simply appreciates nature is basically outdated, because:

“One could no longer imagine wandering lonely as a cloud, because clouds now jostle in our imaginations with an awareness of atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other atmospheric pollutants” (Mandy Bloomfield, pg. 72)

Skill issue, Mandy.

The menace of doomerism in fiction and poetry is addressed, by Byron Caminero-Santangelo, on page 127 when he references,

the literary non-fiction of a growing number of authors who explicitly assert, some might even say embrace, the equation between fatalistic apocalyptic narrative and enlightenment…they are authoritative in their rejection of any hope and in their representation of mitigatory action as the cliched moving of deckchairs on a sinking ship

He quotes an essay “Elegy for a country’s seasons” by Zadie Smith, who says: “The fatalists have the luxury of focusing on an eschatological apocalyptic narrative and on the nostalgia of elegy, as well as of escape from uncertainty and responsibility to act." Which is spot-on and accurate, but these observations aren't recognized as a menace to positive action, nor is the parallel to Christian thought that eagerly looks forward to Earth's destruction as a cathartic release from its pain made fully explicit and analyzed. Most of the creative works referenced and quoted in the book ARE this exact type of fatalistic, elegiac performance of mourning.

I basically quit reading after Chapter 11, "Animals," by Eileen Crist, which begins:

The humanization of the world began unfolding when agricultural humans separated themselves from wild nature, and started to tame landscapes, subjugate and domesticate animals and plants, treat wild animals as enemies of flocks and fields, engineer freshwater ecologies, and open their psyches to the meme of the ‘the human’ as world conquerer, ruler and owner.

This is what I'm talking about when I say it's dripping Eurocentrism; these ideas are NOT universal, and it's adding nothing to the world to write them because they fall perfectly in line with what the European colonizing culture already believes, complete with the lingering ghost of a reference to the Fall of Man and banishment from the Garden of Eden. It keeps going:

“Over time, the new human elaborated a view of the animal that ruptured from the totemic, shamanic and relational past.”

Okay so now she's introducing the idea of progression from shamanic nature-worshipping religions of our primitive past...hmm I'm sure this isn't going anywhere bad

“While humanity has largely rejected the colonizing project with respect to fellow humans, the occupation of non-human nature constitutes civilization’s last bastion of ‘normal’ colonialism. A new humanity is bound sooner or later to recognize and overthrow a colonialism of ‘nature,’ embracing a universal norm of interspecies justice.” (pg. 206) 

OKAY????

Not only denying that colonialism still exists, but also saying that humans' relationship with nature constitutes colonialism??

Embracing limitations means scaling down the human presence on demographic and economic fronts…(pg.207)

ope, there's the "we have to reduce the human population"

Embracing limitations further mandates pulling back from vast expanses of the natural world, thus letting the lavishness of wild (free) nature rule Earth again” (pg. 207) 

aaaaaaand there's the "we have to remove humans from wild nature so it can be freeeeeee"

don't get me wrong like I am a random white person with no particular expertise in anti-colonialist thought but I think this is an easy one. I'm pretty sure if your view of nature is that colonialism involving subjugating humans doesn't exist any more and actually humans existing in and altering nature is the real colonialism so we should remove humans from vast tracts of earth, your opinion is just bad.

Anyways y'all know I have an axe to grind against doomerism so it was probably obvious where this was going but good grief.

[kiss-theggoat]

Over the Phone

Billy Lenz x Reader

Word Count: 1.6K

Summary: You and your Sorority sisters have been receiving some pretty scary phone calls, but you’re too embarrassed to admit that you don’t hate answering them.

Warnings: Billy is nasty, Lewd language, Smut, Mutual Masturbation, Billy refers to reader’s female anatomy and female anatomy is used but no pronouns

Ah, Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year, especially in this cozy home. You’d never seen so many twinkle lights, strings of garland, or pieces of mistletoe in one area. All of the sisters really went all out this year, and you couldn’t be happier.

With a record in the background playing Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, you hummed along to the tune while grabbing the hot tray out from the oven. Your sugar cookies had become tradition, and you really liked making them for you and your sisters. The low lighting of the kitchen, illuminated by red and green bulbs along with a few candles on the dining table really set the festive mood, and your heart swelled with Christmas spirit.

You spent nearly an hour frosting snowmen, snowflakes, candy canes, little trees, and a couple reindeer. Hunched over the counter with a bag of frosting in your hand, hair a mess and a smear of blue frosting on your right cheek, you suddenly heard a commotion coming from outside the kitchen. You groaned, as you were nearly done frosting, but wanting to see what was going on in the living room.

The piping bag thudded against the counter as you plopped it down, licking some frosting from your finger.

“What’s going on?” You asked, walking into a circle of sorority girls. They were surrounding Jess, who looked sufficiently upset and had the phone pressed against her ear. Once you saw this you knew. She was on the phone with “The Moaner” as you and the girls so affectionately dubbed him. A creep who’d been prank calling the house for the last couple of weeks, and boy was he vulgar. At first everyone thought it was just a frat house that was messing around, but it’s been going on for months, and the phone calls are getting worse and worse. Bad to the point where you know none of the frat guys are doing it. Or, if they are, you could probably get them in huge trouble.

Jess held up a finger in a shushing motion to quiet Barbara, who was practically yelling at the man on the phone. She liked to antagonize him. You could hear the man’s voice over the phone, and only then you realized how loud he must be talking. Jess scrunched her face in disgust. You knew she hated taking the obscene calls, so you held your hand out to her. She placed the receiver in your hand, and reluctantly, you held the speaker up to your ear. The girls around you waited anxiously for your reaction, and immediately your cheeks went red.

“Piggy cunt, you want my fat cock...I'll stick my tongue up your pretty pussy.”

You were flustered. The feeling that rose to your chest was not entirely unpleasant, and you felt a teensy bit ashamed about the fact you didn’t hate what the man was saying to you. I mean, the term ‘piggy’ was a little strange, but the rest made the butterflies in your stomach bounce off the walls.

You cleared your throat, trying to play it cool. “Who…w-who is this?”

“Suck on my juicy cock! I'll come over…I'll come over and you can…you can suck it. Suck it! Okay?”

The man sounded frantic, yelling loud in your ear. Suddenly, Barb snatched the phone from you.

“Why don’t you call Lambda Chi, they could use some action, creep.” She slammed the phone down hard, holding her drink and cigarette in the other hand. “Just ignore him next time. It’s annoying having to talk to him!”

You stood there, frosting still smeared on your face as you listened to everyone walk away from the phone, arguing with an increasingly drunk Barb. You decided to let it go for now, walking back towards the kitchen.

Half an hour later, your cookies were done and served to your sorority sisters. They lay out on the table in the living room next to three empty cups that once held cold milk. It was later at night now, and only you, Barb, and Jess sat downstairs. Everyone else had gone to bed. The music had been turned down and you flipped through a novel, cuddled up with a quilt and legs swinging over the side of an armchair.

You swore you felt your heart drop when Barb jumped up out of nowhere, still holding a half smoked cigarette away from her face. “Oh…” she groaned, hand on her stomach. “I’m gonna spew…”

She walked quickly towards the bathroom. You and Clare made eye contact, dreading who had to go help her this time.

You held your hands up in defense, pages fluttering. “I cleaned her puke out of Phyl’s sweater last time, you’re it.”

Clare whined as she stood up, throwing her textbook and notebook down back onto the couch. “Fine…” and off she went.

You were happy to be in peace now, reading by the light of the dying fire and the colorful lights hung around the room. The tree in the corner made your heart happy, so you always sat facing it.

Ring Ring.

You muttered a few cuss words at being interrupted again, but during the holiday season, phone calls were important. Usually from family or friends wanting to make plans with someone. Your socks slid on the hardwood as you nearly slipped standing up, book being slammed down on the table.

“Hello?” You said, sounding more unfriendly than you meant to. After all, it was nearly midnight. Who was calling the house at this time?

“Pretty piggy cunt! Billy wants to lick it, wants to touch it.”

You sighed, leaning against the cabinet the phone laid atop. Your brain said to hang up and just leave the phone off the hook, but your body told you to listen to this man, which is apparently named Billy. What’s he saying now? You tried to decipher but instead of words…he was just moaning now. A deep silky voice, usually aggressive and loud was now soft and breathy with soft whines every once in a while. The sound of his moans immediately made you perk up, heat pooling in the base of your stomach.

“Pretty piggy suck on my cock…” he moaned, louder this time in the receiver.

You bit your lip and pulled on the cord in order to check your surroundings. The hallway was clear, and so was the living room. You turned around…so was the kitchen. Barb and Clare must still be in the bathroom, and everyone else was in bed. You decided you were safe to indulge a little. No one would find out, right?

A shaking hand trailed down the center of your chest and down to the button of your jeans. With one hand you popped it open and slid down the rest of the way, nestled inside your underwear. You decided to be a little brave.

“Billy…” you said quietly. “It is Billy, right…?”

A loud moan on the other end of the line confirmed your question. “Wanna fuck pretty piggy cunt.” He growled. Your lips parted as you rubbed circles over yourself, pleasure running through your whole body. This guy had really gotten you hot and bothered.

“I’m going to touch myself, Billy.” You whispered, eyes locked on the hallway that the bathroom was in. All the sound on the other end stopped, and so did you, tensing up. You were suddenly horrified and humiliated, what if this actually was just some stupid frat guy carrying on a joke too long? What if it’s one of the sister's boyfriends and you’d just revealed the fact that you were going to get off on the phone with a stranger?

Your fears were eased when you heard shuffling, and then loud moans once more. Growls and squeals broke up his moans, reminding you he was still nuts, but you didn’t care. There was, however, a new sound. A wet slapping sound on the other end made your stomach erupt with lightning bolts. He was touching himself too. Your fingers moved faster, deftly circling your clit in desperation. You hunched over the cabinet, elbows aching from the pressure.

“Pretty cunt…wet piggy pussy, Billy wants…”

You closed your eyes before remembering to stay on guard, grip so tight on the phone you were sure it’d snap. Without realizing, a few whimpers and pants slid from between your lips despite how hard you tried to clamp them shut. You clenched your thighs and laid your head against the wood, pushing the receiver closer to your ear, hoping somehow you could magically make him even louder, loud enough to fill you completely.

Already, you were close, and from the way he was whining and whimpering on the other end, he was too. You started to cum, dropping the receiver on the cabinet and slapping a hand over your mouth, legs shaking and clenching together as you writhed, struggling to stand up. Billy’s moans filled your ear on the other side, and you both went silent and still at the same time. You laid against the cabinet, taking deep breaths and trying to be as quiet as possible.

Billy hung up the line, more concerned with how beautiful you looked illuminated by the Christmas lights. Or, at least he thought so, from the hole in the ceiling he watched you through.

[universecorp]

Hearbeat pt.2 Teaser

Summary: After starting a situationship with your best friend from high school, things start to become complicated. Especially when you start to catch feelings.

Jaehyun x Reader Haechan x Reader (In pt2 and 3 )

w.c.: 2.3k

Genre: Comedy, smut, and angst

Warnings: Sexual themes, small argument

PLAYLIST: ♡

Sitting in a Dennys at 2:00 AM is not how you expected your night to end. You and Donghyuck had spent the better part of an hour talking and getting to know each other. He was easy to talk to, and funny, you didn’t feel like you were forcing any of your reactions which made you feel a lot more at ease than usual.

“Wait, you're Haechan? The streamer?” Donghyuck nodded, shoveling a scoop of hash browns into his mouth. “That’s so fucking crazy, my best friend loves your streams. We used to fuck and I remember one time he got the notification for your stream and stopped mid fuck to watch you.” Donghyuck nearly choked on the strip of bacon he was munching on.

“Please tell me you’re joking.” You shook your head. “That’s so sick, did he at least like pick up where he left off while watching?” Another shake. 

“I had to push him on his back and ride him.” Donghyuck laughed loudly, catching the attention of most of the other late night eaters, but it was clear he didn’t care. 

“Now that I think about it, there was this one time I read a comment and it deadass said ‘I was fucking my girl and stopped to watch.’ I thought it was probably a troll, but that might’ve been him.”

You scoffed, shaking your head once again. “There’s no way that was him, he would never refer to me as ‘his girl’ it would be kind of funny if that was him though.” Donghyuck hummed in agreement, it was all he could do since he didn’t even know Jaehyun. 

There was a small awkward silence filled only with the sounds of plates clinking and light chatter from the other patrons. Donghyuck looked like he was having a debate with himself befofe hr finally opened his mouth. “Look, uhm, I don’t usually do this, I honestly don’t usually take my hookups to pre-breakfast either, but I was wondering if I could get your number?” 

You were a bit shocked. You thought maybe this was normal and Donghyuck was just one of those nice guys who treated his fucks to post coiatal meals. Hearing otherwise brought a bit of heat to your cheeks. 

“So uh… is that a no? Don’t leave me hanging here.”

“Oh no, wait no, I mean yes! Yes… you can have my number.” 

“You’ve been smiling at your phone a lot lately. You and big head aren’t fucking again right?” Minjeong was doing your nails on the floor of your dorm, and you were definitely making it hard since you were texting Donghyuck with the hand she was trying to get you to dry. 

“Of course not. I’m texting a new guy, I met him at that party me and Jae went to.” Minjeong perked up at the mention of a new guy. Talks like these reminded you of being a teenager, but they were always relaxing. You seriously owed Minjeong some girl time anyway with how far up Jaehyun’s ass you had been for the past year.

“So what’s his name?”

“Donghyuck, he goes here obviously, also get this, ” Minjeong leaned in “he’s that streamer that Jae likes a lot.”

“No way!?” Minjeong gasped, she accidentally swiped a little polish on your finger, but you didn’t mind.

You nodded, smiling basically ear to ear. “Yes way, and he’s so cute. He’s telling me how he wants to take me on a date this weekend!” You closed your phone to give Minjeong your undivided attention while she swiped acetone over her previous mistake.

“I’m happy for you, I know I was kind of an ass with all the ‘I told you so’, but I really just wanted you to be with  someone who treats you for what you’re worth.” You knew that, but hearing it felt really good. You always knew Minjeong was just looking out for you, but she also knew that whatever you felt for Jaehyun wasn’t going away like magic. Even now you sometimes felt a twinge of what you used to when he did certain things, but it wasn’t as strong as it was a month ago. 

“It’s ok Minnie, I know you only had my best interest.” You brought your nails hand up to blow on the wet polish. “Look on the bright side though, I went through all that and now I've learned my lesson. No more wasting time or energy on people who don’t deserve it.” 

Minjeong jostled your shoulder, “That’s my girl.”

 A week later you were with Donghyuck in his apartment, playing a co-op game called “it takes two” that he specifically bought for the date. He turned on his twitch to stream, but he left his mic off to enjoy the moment with you. He was ticking so many boxes and even Minjeong gave him the stamp of approval when he met her a couple hours ago. Everything today was perfect, he bought you flowers, ordered from your favorite takeout place and even surprised you with slippers for you to wear around the apartment. You had been seeing each other for about a month now so you figured he would be asking you to be his girlfriend soon, but you were in no rush. His gestures meant the world to you and even then just his presence was enough for you to feel satisfied. 

Now the two of you were snuggled up side by side, controllers in hand and your head on his shoulder. Nothing could ruin this moment, nothing except your phone which had been buzzing on the nightstand for a good two minutes. “Hey babe, I can pause if you wanna get that?” You looked up at Donghyuck with a small pout before shaking your head. You felt bad that whoever was calling you clearly didn’t get the memo that you were busy. 

“We can keep playing, I’ll talk and play, m’sorry.” Donghyuck waved it off as he waited for you to answer your phone. You rolled your eyes slightly when you saw Jaehyun’s photo, but still answered the facetime call. “What’s up loser?” You sounded less than enthused, but he should’ve expected that since you ignored his calls for two minutes. 

“God what crawled up your ass and died weirdo and why aren’t you showing your face?” Jaehyun scoffed as if his facetime screen wasn’t paused.

“Just the fact that you’ve been calling me for two minutes. What the fuck did you want? I’m kinda busy.” You cursed under your breath since you and Donghyuck failed the game stage for the fifth time. 

“First of all, I wanted to see if you wanted to grab dinner and come watch a movie, I’ll buy obviously. Second of all, if you’re gonna lie about being busy at least make it believable, I can hear you playing a game in the background.” Jaehyun had some fucking nerve assuming you would lie to him about being busy, but you weren’t gonna fight about it. You were gonna be civil. Even though Donghyuck had heard the way you and Jaehyun talked to each other before, he was a little annoyed that the other man was accusing you of lying. 

“Jae, I’m on a date and we’re playing a game, so I actually am very busy. 

“Wait… are you playing ‘it takes two’?” Jaehyun didn’t know about Donghyuck. He knew you had been on dates, but since he didn’t ask who with, you didn’t bother telling him it was Donghyuck A.K.A. his favorite streamer. 

“Yeah, with my date.” You knew you sounded like a bitch, but you didn’t care. Jaehyun had barely been hanging out with you and even then it seemed like he only wanted to when he was bored. You were trying to follow Minjeong’s and your own advice and stop wasting time on people that don’t deserve it.

“If you’re actually playing a game with your date, show your face and his, then show the tv.” You were so close to hanging up on Jaehyun, but when you saw the screen pause and suddenly your phone was being held up by Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck didn’t look happy. All of the irritation must have been building up to a point where even Jaehyun looked concerned. “Look, Jaehyun, I get it, you’re bored. I’m sure you miss having Y/N at your beck and call because you knew she would drop anything for you before.” Jaehyun opened his mouth to speak, but one glare from Donghyuck had him closing it immediately. “Those times are past and whatever sick game you’re playing at needs to stop. Got it?” The silence on the line was loud, Donghyuck knew he made his point. “Good. Now I’m going to go back to playing games with my girlfriend, enjoy the stream Jaehyun.” With that he pressed the end call button with a sigh and immediately after you were straddling the man.

“Girlfriend huh?” 

Donghyuck set his controller down and placed his hands on your hips, it was all he could do to look cool despite the blush rushing his face. “Yeah uhm… I was going to ask you later during pillow talk after some earth shattering sex, but this is cool too I guess.” 

You giggled, placing a kiss on his cheek. “This is cool too, don’t worry. We can still have earth shattering sex but now as boyfriend and girlfriend.” It was Donghyuck’s turn to giggle now. “Do you want to keep playing, we could even turn on the mic?” 

Haechan shook his head, “No I think it’s time for that earth shattering sex we were talking about.” You bit your lip trying to suppress a laugh, he was so goofy and hot at the same time, you didn’t understand how anyone could be capable of that. 

“I think that can be arranged…boyfriend.”

“He told you off?” Mark nearly yelled, catching the attention of several of the other students in the library. 

“Dude keep it down, we’re in a library.” Johnny reminded before focusing back on his music theory assignment. 

“Sorry, he told you off?” Mark asked again this time in a more suitable whisper.

“Yes, and she didn’t say shit bro, she just let him.” Jaehyun grumbled, taking a chip from the bag Johnny had managed to smuggle in. 

Johnny was pretty unamused with the entire situation, given that he asked if the two men wanted to study in the library, but had basically been talking the whole time. “Have you ever thought that maybe she’s over how you treat her. I know you think you’re like bestie of the year, but you literally evaded her feelings for at least 6 months just so you would have an easy fuck.” 

Jaehyun scoffed, “Remind me to stop telling you about my problems.” Johnny simply rolled his eyes before training them back on the score in front of him. 

“I mean he has a point. You knew she caught feelings a while ago, and your agreement was to break it off, but you kept everything up. Plus you were the one who kept fucking with her and being all domestic, she’s probably traumatized.” Jaehyun shot a glare at Mark; he did not come here to be ganged up on.

“She can’t be but so traumatized since she spends all her time with Haechan, or Donghyuck, whatever the fuck his name is.” Mark and Johnny looked ready to hit their heads against the table, but clearly this was a delicate situation that needed to be nurtured and cared for so that Jaehyun would actually get some sense.

“Jae, buddy, pal, old friend if you will.”

“Get to the point Johnathan.” 

Johnny sighed, “See the point is, she’s in a relationship now. You had your 15 minutes of fame where she basically avoided getting into something because she was holding out hope for you. Now, she’s tired of waiting. She wants something that makes her feel loved and worth it and frankly, your bare minimum effort of taking her back to your place to watch a movie and then fuck, isn’t cutting it.”

“Bars.” Mark fist bumped Johnny, adding an explosion sound effect at the end.

“You guys are losers. She didn’t seem to be complaining about the movie and fuck a couple months ago.” Mark cringed and Johnny simply shook his head at the way their friend could so shamelessly talk about you like that.

“Jaehyun, listen to yourself, you sound delusional. She may not have been complaining, but that’s also because if she did you would’ve had to break all of that off. You’re acting like she broke up with you when the two of you weren’t even together in the first place.” Johnny’s volume was starting to increase, but he couldn’t help it, he wasn’t the closest to you, but he refused to let Jaehyun disrespect you like this. “Also you literally only text or call her now when we can’t hang out. Do you think that makes her feel good?” Jaehyun opened his mouth, but Johnny cut him off. “Don’t answer that because I know you’re about to say some bullshit. You need to get with the program and stop treating her like some play thing that you decide to pick up everytime your other toys are broken!” Johnny finished closing his laptop and packing up his belongings. 

“Dude, where are you going?” Jaehyun groaned before looking at Mark who was following in Johnny’s actions. “You too? Come on!”

Mark just shook his head, slinging his backpack over his shoulder before speaking again. “Dude, you have some serious soul searching to do. We don’t mind if you vent, but the way you talk about and treat her is sick.” Jaehyun just clicked his teeth in response to the younger man. 

“Whatever.” Jaehyun stood up from the table and stormed out of the library.

“He needs to get laid.” 

“Totally.” Mark agreed.

Taglist: @snapcracklen, @peachesmilk

[l-starlight-l]

The love of a hero

Dinner for two

Master list

Part one, Part two

A/N: oh wow three post in one night, I must be a master writer. I wish.

Description: the red hood creeps up on you after work inviting you out for a heartfelt dinner together.

Warning: talk about messy families

Pairing: Red Hood x Reader

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

:reference:

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

You had finished up your sessions for the night and your boss had let you go home early, which was a delight. You had decide you were going to take the scenic route back to your apartment going through Gotham Park. Going this way always helped you clear your head after a stressful day. You had been in Gotham for almost two weeks now, you were settling in just fine. You made some friends at work including a tall, dark and mysterious vigilante you spent your smoke breaks with and some pretty kind neighbors. You smiled to yourself as you walked down the street towards the park.

“What are you smiling about” a familiar voice echos from an alley way next to you. You jump at the sound and slipped on the icy sidewalk. As you fall backwards a muscular arm is quick to catch you.

“Red!” You exclaimed angrily, “don’t sneak up on me like that”. You steadied yourself with his help.

He chuckled that deep chuckle that you loved. “Sorry sorry” he apologized, “what are you up to?” He asked once you were back on your feet.

“Im on my way home, I got off early tonight” you say still annoyed with him, “shouldn’t you be on patrol or something?” You ask with heavy attitude.

“Just got off” he says as he starts walking, you have to hurry to catch up, “you hungry?” He asks trying to play it cool.

Your cheeks heat at the thought of having dinner with him, “I could eat” you say, butterflies in your stomach.

He smiles and crosses the street quickly, “great, I know a good place close by”. You didn’t know if this was a good idea, you didn’t know anything about him, not even his name but you decided to take the risk and go with him.

He leads you into Gotham park and finally to a group of food trucks. There are a lot of people around but most only give a short glance to the vigilante casually getting a bite to eat. As you get in line to order you admire all the stickers on the truck, there seems to be a sticker from every city in the nearby area. A smile crosses your face as you think about how many different people have enjoyed this food.

The red hood removes his helmet, revealing his handsome features covered by a domino mask. You blush lightly and try not to stare. “My brother use to take me here all the time, they have the best food in Gotham” he says with a sour-sweet smile on his face. You admire the distant look in his eyes, desperate to know why.

“ I didn’t know you had a brother” you say quietly hoping for him to open up.

“I have quite a few siblings, they’re all handfuls and get on my nerves but they’re family” he says looking down at you, “how about you?” He asks with a raised eyebrow and a light eager look in his eyes.

You hesitate, you never talk about your family. Rarely to your close friends so definitely not to someone who’s practically a stranger, it was to much of a messy topic for you. You struggle to find the right words and luckily for you it’s time to order food. The two of you grab your fresh dinner and find somewhere quiet to sit.

There is silence between you and him, you squirm in it unsure if it is a pleasant comfortable silence or an awkward one. “I have brothers” you say quietly, “and someone who’s like a sister to me” you add not daring to look at him.

You can feel his soft smile with out having to see it, “are you guys close?” He asks

Your body tightens at the question, you debate how to answer it. “Not as close as we use to be” you explain with a sigh.

“Do they live close? Is that why you moved here?” He seems to be so eager to know more about you and it catches you off guard.

“No they don’t my dad would never let that happen. I know my younger brother lives in metropolis with him, but I’m not sure where the others are now a days” you admit sourly. A feeling of sadness creeps up your spin. You shudder and force yourself to take another bite of food. “I wish they lived close, I wish I knew them better” you say more to yourself than to him.

You look up at him and you can see a look of understanding in his eyes, like he knows exactly how you feel. “I basically live with my brothers and I still feel like I’m not close enough with them” he pauses and his lips knit together, “I just feel like I’m to much of an outsider to have a good relationship with them”

You look at him with appreciation, you like that he’s opening up to you like this. It makes you feel good like he trusts you. “We’re not so different then” you say finishing your food.

He nods his head, “I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this, I just feel like I can talk to you” he looks into your eyes with such emotion it makes your heart skip a beat.

You let out a small laugh, “I tend to have that effect on people, it’s why I’m so good at my job” you smile up at him and you can feel the mood lighten. You were only joking but it did feel different listening to him talk. He didn’t feel like a patient, he felt more like a friend. “I don’t open up to my patients like I do to you though, thank you” you tell him while standing.

His cheeks heat but the blush does not form on his cheeks, so you don’t realize his sign of weakness. He likes the way you make him feel, and he wants to make you feel the same way. He wants to make you feel important and seen. He walks you back home to your apartment and on the way there you two continue to talk about your lives. You share stories about unique patients and he tells you about crazy missions he’s been on. Regretfully you two have to part ways, but you know you’ll see him again very soon.

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

Word count: 1,072

Tags: @princessbl0ss0m @mxtokko @atadoddinnit

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

[aahsokaatano]

A Brief Examination of Margaret Houlihan and Gender

(aka I'm doing my rough draft of my essay on tumblr bc I can ramble here)

I spent 6 weeks watching all 251 episodes of M*A*S*H with the aim of critically analyzing Margaret Houlihan, and more specifically how she is referred to throughout the series. I was initially doing this with the idea of tracking the change from "Hot Lips" to Margaret, but I got more than I bargained for - I really forgot how often she's referred to as a man or in a gender neutral way, and it's super interesting, so under the cut is a list of quotes and some light analysis.

Season 1

"Oh, sorry baby." / "Major to you!" ("The Pilot" s1e1) Neutral

"You're dismissed!" / "Thanks, Mother." ("The Pilot" s1e1) Feminine

"One lady in our outfit..." ("Dear Dad" s1e12) Feminine

Season 2

"You are no gentleman!" / "Good thing you are." ("Divided We Stand" s2e1) Masculine

[Margaret speaking on behalf of Frank] "That's pretty strong stuff, Frank." / "It's true!" ("L.I.P. (Local Indigenous Personnel)" s2e7) Masculine

"You've emasculated me for the last time!" ("Carry On Hawkeye" s2 e11) Masculine

"Margaret Houlihan; nurse, friend, and all around good egg." ("Carry On Hawkeye" s2e11) Neutral

[Radar calls Margaret "sir" - this is something that he ends up doing for several more seasons] "Men are sirs, women are ma'ams!" ("Hot Lips and Empty Arms" s2e14) Feminine (with Masculine connotations long-term)

Season 3

"You know, for once I agree with him?" / "I [Margaret] said that." / "I know." ("Rainbow Bridge" s3e2) Masculine

"Speaking man-to-man, Colonel," ("There is Nothing Like a Nurse" s3e10) Masculine

"He's a creep." / "She's a creepette." ("The Consultant" s3e17) Feminine

"I know you didn't volunteer because you're a married man [...] Well, I'm a married man, too, Frank. Married to the Army." ("Aid Station" s3e19) Masculine

"I'm not just Major Margaret Houlihan, army nurse. I'm also Margaret Houlihan - frail, vulnerable, sensitive female." ("Aid Station" s3e19) Feminine

"Don't think of me as a woman!" ("Aid Station" s3e19) Neutral/Masculine

Season 4

"When I was five, I had a crying fit because they wouldn't let me have a crew cut." ("Deluge" 4.23) Neutral/Masculine

Season 5

"He [Donald] calls me his little plebe." ("Margaret's Engagement" s5e2) Neutral

"I'm an engaged person!" ("Margaret's Engagement" s5e2) Neutral

[Speaking to a newborn baby] "Major Houlihan is here to help you." ("The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan" s5e6) Neutral

"Anybody can open with a pair of 10s if they're wearing civilian boxer shorts." / [...] / "I'll open for 25 cents." ("Dear Sigmund" s5e7) Neutral/Masculine

"Margaret, when you're sick, can't you call me Frank?" / "You know I'm an engaged person." ("The Colonel's Horse" s5e11) Neutral

"Margaret, I'm as taut as a watch spring." / "Your state of tautness s no longer a concern of mine, Major Burns. I happen to be an engaged person." ("Hawkeye's Nightmare" s5e13) Neutral

"Sure, nurse..." / "Nurse?! You're talking to a major!" / "Sorry. Would you help us move this guy into pre-op, Major?" ("Post-Op" s5e23) Feminine/Neutral

Season 6

"A head nurse who is part seductress, and part Attila the Hun" ("The Winchester Tapes" s6e4) Feminine/Masculine

[the nurses to Hawkeye] "Do you think you could talk to Hot Lips?" ("Images" s6e9) Feminine

"Hot Lips Houlihan: blonde landmine." ("Patent 4077" s6e16) Feminine

"Congratulations. You're still a major, Major." ("What's Up, Doc?" s6e19) Neutral

Season 7

[about her divorce] "Best thing that ever happened to me. The weight of the world is off my shoulders! I feel like a new woman!" ("Peace On Us" s7e2) Feminine

[BJ] "The king is dead." / [Hawk] "Long live the queen." / [Margaret] "You bet." ("Hot Lips is Back in Town" s7e20) Feminine

"I'm going as far in this man's army as any woman can go. Maybe even general!" ("Hot Lips is Back in Town" s7e20) Feminine

Season 8

"I'm a woman, and I can tell you what it's like for a woman to be away from the man she loves." ("Too Many Cooks" s8e1) Feminine

"To be a woman, with the rank of major..." ("Are You Now, Margaret?" s8e2) Feminine

"Hot Lips?" / "Yeah, that's a nickname she picked up." ("Are You Now, Margaret?" s8e2) Feminine

"Hot Streak Houlihan strikes again!" ("Life Time" s8e11) Neutral

"I'm just as much a major as any other major. You'll notice these leaves come in gold, not pink for girls and blue for boys." ("Stars and Stripes" s8e14) Feminine/Neutral

"What do you suppose I am deep down?" / "Deep, deep down? A woman." / "Go a little deeper." / "A major." / "I'm me. Sometimes a nurse, sometimes a major, sometimes a woman in love... sometimes all three at once." ("Stars and Stripes" s8e14) Feminine/Neutral

[speaking to an infant] "Hello there, sweetheart. I'm your Auntie Margaret." ("Yessir, That's Our Baby" s8e15) Feminine

Season 9

"What's the matter? She isn't man enough to bring it in [to the men's showers] herself?" ("Bless You, Hawkeye" s9e17) Masculine

[speaking to Margaret] "You know, you don't get to be a high-ranking officer, to run an O.R., to command respect, unless you've earned it." ("The Foresight Saga" s9e19) Neutral

Season 10

"I know everybody thinks I'm tough, demanding, insensitive, cold, callous, crabby - feel free to disagree at any time!" / "Think of it this way; maybe you are all that stuff, but deep down underneath, I think maybe there's some more stuff that's... pretty good stuff. You know?" ("The Birthday Girls" s10e11) Neutral

Season 11

"I do not need the help of a nurse." / "It's a good thing I'm a lady or you'd need a nurse, buster!" ("Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" s11e16) Feminine

Total Counts:

Feminine: 19

Masculine: 12

Neutral: 17

These aren't all of the quotes I collected during my rewatch, or the only thing I was paying attention to, but it definitely caught my interest. And laying out like like this, by season, you can really see the trends ebb and flow. Margaret is portrayed pretty firmly as feminine/neutral through the first season, but season two introduces the running joke of other characters referring to her as "Frank" and using he/him due to how often she speaks on his behalf, as well as Radar calling her "sir" rather than "ma'am." She sticks even more firmly to referring to herself neutrally in season five, calling herself an "engaged person" rather than an "engaged woman" on three different occasions.

After her marriage and Frank's departure, Margaret is referred to more femininely again, but she doesn't refer to herself as a woman until season 7, after her divorce. I find it especially interesting to compare "The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan" in s5 and "Yessir, That's Our Baby" in s8; both deal with very young infants and show us Margaret's interactions with these babies. In s5, she refers to herself as "Major Houlihan" to the baby, but then in s8, she's "Auntie Margaret." Between these events were her marriage and divorce, and Margaret's self-confidence being boosted by her work on herself and her duties as head nurse.

BJ refers to Margaret loosely in masculine terms in s9, and it's the first time the joke has been really touched on since s6, when Charles compares her to Attila the Hun. This is the last time anyone refers to Margaret as masculine, with the final two seasons having her presented either neutrally (by rank) or femininely (as a "lady").

Margaret's character journey actually can be tracked through this list of quotes pretty well. She's more of an antagonist when she's referred to more often with masculine terms, and as she develops into a more traditional protagonist, the narrative refers to her with more feminine terms. The fact that Margaret herself is most likely to use feminine terms when she's at her most confident in herself is definitely interesting, and I think says a lot about how her confidence is tied into her self-image.

[smittywing]

FicBit 6: Jason Todd/Tim Drake

Previous parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

In which Jason definitely does not freak out.

~

Jason did not have a gay freakout. Instead, he spent a few days reading up on sexuality. Treatises, studies, popular fiction. He remembered liking girls before he’d died but then he’d only been fifteen and it was hard to differentiate what specific part of “everything” was causing that minute’s uncomfortable state. 

Sleeping together had been Talia’s idea; he hadn’t even thought about it, but at the time it seemed like a perfect, “Fuck you” to Bruce. 

Not, he realized, like a closeness he’d wanted to share with Talia. No. A big old Fuck Bruce. He probably shouldn’t parse that one too closely either.

There was Essence, Isabel, and Artemis, and they had all counted. Again, he realized uncomfortably, he wasn’t usually the one pushing for intimacy. He could be a flirt and he’d definitely dropped enough hints to Artemis until she took pity on him - no.  It wasn’t like that. He wasn’t sure what it was like, but it had been mutual. But she had left, and he had come home, and now he was here in Gotham with a crush on a guy he usually referred to as his brother.

Another can of worms but one less fraught than the others. Bruce thought of them as brothers. Dick thought of them as brothers. Jason and Tim hadn’t met until Tim was sixteen and Jason nineteen and well, that had a rocky start. They’d never lived together, they’d never really worked together until Mother and their months-long trek through the Middle East. 

Roy felt more like a brother than Tim, so Jason called him.

“What’s going on?” Roy asked.  

Jason hesitated, then blurted out, “I think I like Tim.”

“Tim Drake?” Roy asked.

“Yes,” Jason admitted.

“I mean. Most people do, dude. I know you’re pissed about him taking the Robin suit but you were AWOL for like - “

“No,” Jason interrupted. “I mean I think I like him. Like. Like him, like him.”

“Like want to make out with him?” Roy clarified.

“Yes. One hundred percent.”

“So…what’s stopping you?”

“Uh, mostly that he has a boyfriend. But don’t you find it kind of weird? That I’m suddenly into guys?”

“I mean, most of us experimented as kids, right? You never really got to do that so you’re doing it now. I’d kiss you but honestly how many of Dick’s exes do you want to score with?”

“Stop,” Jason ordered. “I don’t want to hear any more. And I didn’t score with any of Dick’s exes, We all crushed on Barbara. It was tradition.”

“I was talking about Kori,” Roy teased.

“Oh. Right. I never actually slept with Kori,” Jason admitted. “I just said I did so you wouldn’t hit on her.”

“And look how well that worked out.”

“Oh, shut up.”

~

Jasin was doing a little light Tim stalking around the marina. 

Seriously, Timbourine, what was the point of arming the boat like the BatCave only to sit out on the deck canoodling with your boyfriend?  Cannon Fodder was sitting between Tim’s legs, Tim’s arms around him, head tilted back on Tim’s shoulder. Jason felt a little green around the edges and this time he couldn’t blame it on the Pit.

He wasn’t going to *do* anything and he wasn’t going to *say* anything but then someone landed, featherlight, on the roof behind him and how had he failed to clock Dickie a building away.

“What are you doing?” Nightwing asked without much of a question in his voice. “What is going on with you? Are you stalking Tim?”

“No,” Jason said defensively. “I’m just. Looking out for him. Since he’s clearly not paying attention to anything.”

“Oh, you think not?” Dick said,because apparently something was happening over Jason’s shoulder. He whirled around with a little too much alacrity.

Tim was kissing Cannon Fodder goodbye at the edge of the boat and he definitely had one eye on the rooftops. Jason blamed Dick.

Dick gestured to Tim, who turned around and went below decks, and then rested a heavy hand on Jason’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to tell me what’s going on,” he said softly, which made everything Jason was feeling a thousand times worse. “But I’m going to guess and it’s up to you how wrong this guess is going to wind up.”

Jason sighed and turned away from the sightline of the boat. “So it turns out the guy I didn’t know I liked is in a disgustingly cute relationship and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about that.”

He didn’t look at Dick’s face. There was nothing there he wanted to see.

“Tim’s happy right now,” Dick said. “You have no idea how happy.”

Jason had some idea. He had seen the smile on Tim’s face when he mentioned Cannon Fodder and he had heard the fondness on Tim’s face when Cannon Fodder came up.

“Oh, calm your tits,” Jason said. “I’m not gonna go beat up his little boyfriend.”

“That was, somehow, not even what I was going to worry about.” Dick sounded rueful. “I know things have been rough between you two and I want them to get better. But butting in on his relationship is not going to help. Maybe.” Dick sighed. “Maybe if this runs its course and you still feel…like you feel…maybe then you could ask him out. You gotta stop stalking him, though.”

“I’m not stalking him,” Jason said even though that was very much how he would have described his actions before Dick touched down. 

“Hey,” a third voice interrupted. Tim. Glorious. “Dick, I got this.”

“Nothing to get,” Dick said lightly. “Just checking in on our little bro.”

“Appreciate it, but I’m good,” Tim said and did the bro hug thing with Dick. He was in the Robin uniform this time and it was strange to see him back in it after so long.

“All right,” Dick said. “I’m here if you need anything.” He grappled away with a warning glare at Jason.

Jason absolutely did not scuff his foot on the roof he and Tim were standing on. Absolutely not.

“You want to talk about it?” Tim offered.

“Nothing to talk about,” Jason said stubbornly. 

“Yeah,” Tim agreed. “That’s what I said, too. So you want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?” Jason reached for his hood and tried to put it on one-handed. He was usually better at that.

“I kissed you. And you kissed me back. And it was really good.”

“It was all right,” Jason conceded.

Tim grinned. “I guess,” he said. “Listen. I know it’s weird. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m with Bernard and I’m happy with him. But if I wasn’t, things would be…different.”

“Different how?” Jason gave up on putting on the hood. Hiding wasn’t an option right now.

Tim shrugged. “Maybe we’d do it again,” he said. “Maybe we wouldn’t. But um. I would probably want to.”

Tim wanted to.

“It’s never felt like that before,” Jason admitted hoarsely. “Never.” He finally lifted his eyes to look Tim square in the face. Tim looked sad, a little wistful and Jason took a step toward him.

“I can’t,” Tim said, but he didn’t back away.

“Why not?”

“You know why not.”

“What if?” Jason asked through a mouth as dry as the deserts of Qrac, “I don’t ever feel like this again?”

“You will,” Tim says after a moment.  “It might - I don’t know.  I don’t know what else is out there for you, Jason.  I don’t.  But I can’t be the only possible one for you.”

Because that would make him, Jason, the only possible one for Tim in exchange, Jason realized, and there was Cannon Fodder who lit up Tim’s eyes like sunshine.

“Yeah,” Jason agreed, even though he couldn’t fathom ever wanting anyone else.

“I know it hurts,” Tim said.  His smile was sad.  “I’ve been there.”

The SuperClone, Jason assumed. He didn’t ask. If Tim had felt even half the longing Jason did now, and he was happy now with Cannon Fodder, well.  Jason could be happy, too.

~

[howlinchickhowl]

Returning for some penpal action for @gallavichthings a.u.gust. This one is a scooch NSFW, hehehehe.

Picasso Baby fifteen - penpals

Every day in the joint is a lot like the one before, and the one before that. Woken unwillingly by the aggressive flash of the strip lights coming on, cold shower, sloppy eggs on stale toast, and then the laundry. Six hours of steam and starch and stains that don’t come out even after being boiled. Every day follows the same relentless pattern, with one exception. One bright spot in the drudgery of Mickey’s days. Every day after work, during their allocated free time, the mail gets delivered, and every week, on Thursdays, Mickey gets a letter.

He’d been skeptical at first. His rehabilitation advisor, because that’s a thing they had at this prison, had been keen for him to join one of the programs they offered, said it showed willingness to make a change, would look good on his record for when his parole came up. There were a few different options, book club, drama therapy, all of them sounded like shit that was more likely to get Mickey into more trouble than out of it, so he’d picked this. Fucking penpal scheme, get paired up with some do-gooder on the outside to write letters with.

Mickey’s guy, Ian, he was kind of a lot at first, overly formal, way too fuckin’ enthusiastic. He had this irritatingly positive way of writing, always trying to see the bright side of shit. Took Mickey a couple months of getting rubbed up the wrong way every Thursday to finally blow his top and let the guy know it don’t matter how hard he tries, there’s no fuckin’ bright side when you’re looking at the uphill stretch of a five year bit, and Mickey would appreciate it if he’d give up and just talk normal.

After that he got less irritating. Stopped trying to tell Mickey how to feel about shit and started asking him more about himself, started sharing a bit more of himself with Mickey. He was an EMT, training to be a paramedic. He had a bunch of brothers and sisters, a dead mom and a bum dad, and some sort of brain disorder that Mickey had to look up in the prison Library and still doesn’t understand a lot about.

He’s an interesting guy, a little too fond of puns to be considered really funny, but Mickey likes him, likes hearing from him, doesn’t mind answering his nosy questions and telling him all the shit that’s going on in the lockup each week, the stuff that goes through his head sometimes in his darker moments. There’s something, now they know each other a little better, about Ian that makes Mickey feel calmer, more relaxed. Happier. Or something.

It was Ian who had persuaded him to start drawing again, said Mickey needed an outlet or some shit, sent him a fancy sketchbook and some pencils, and Mickey had sat running his fingers over that sketchbook every night for a whole week before he’d even dared to put something down in it. And then, he didn’t know what to draw.

When he used to draw as a kid it was always whatever was around, guns and spliffs and bleeding fists, black eyes and swastikas and girls with massive tits. He started sketching out a glock, used to be his favorite thing to draw, and just ran out of steam. Didn’t want to start this blank white page with relics of his old life.

When he’d told Ian about it, in his next letter, he’d felt stupid. It was just a fucking drawing of a gun, it shouldn’t bother him this much. But Ian’s reply had been so full of understanding, of sympathy, and he had made Mickey feel like it was ok. Like it was totally reasonable to not want to fill his new book with shit that was violent and hollow and fuckin’ evil. And he gave Mickey a few ideas of things he could draw instead.

He started to send pictures, visual references for Mickey to work from, an L platform at dawn, a hand holding a hotdog. Ian’s hand. And hadn’t that been a shock to the system.

It was. Big. That hand. Long freckled fingers wrapped around a jumbo dog, a glob of mustard on a massive thumb. Mickey had spent a lot longer than he had ever intended to staring at that hand and wondering how big it was compared to his own. Compared to other parts of him. He drew the hand, over and over, holding the hotdog, holding a cup of coffee, holding someone’s throat, holding a throbbing hard cock right on the verge of blowing its load. He got kind of obsessed with the hand, desperate to know what the other parts of Ian looked like.

Was the rest of him as big as his hand implied? Where did that hand lead? What was his face like? His chest? His cock? On impulse he had shoved one of his tamer compositions into his next letter to Ian and implied, heavily, that he was thinking about doing more life drawing and could use some further references to draw from.

And in his very next missive Ian had come through in a big fucking way. Mickey must have stared at the pictures he sent for hours before he could even bring himself to put pencil to paper. And for hours since, studying the lines of his absurdly handsome face, tracing the outline of his shoulder in his white tanktop, touching his fingertips to Ian’s lips, spread wide in a glorious smile directed at the stupid bright pink flower he’s holding in his perfect massive hand.

He’d sent back a drawing, his interpretation of Ian holding the flower, and written something about wanting to help him with his studies of musculature, not able to help himself, not even sure if Ian would read anything into it. But hoping all the same that he would.

And Ian, Ian had fucking delivered. He’d sent Mickey a silly shirtless picture of himself doing a strongman pose, and Mickey had worn a whole pencil down to the nub doing different studies of his chest, his biceps, his fucking throat. He’d sent a couple of them by return and from there their correspondence had devolved into a spiraling series of near pornographic exchanges with increasingly flirtatious letters all leading upto what Mickey is expecting in his delivery today.

An actual picture of Ian’s actual cock. Hard. Potentially with fluids. They’ve been building up to it for a while, and Mickey can hardly catch his breath every time he so much as thinks about it. He’s sat on his bunk, breathing shallow and trying not to think about it too hard when Jensen comes by with the mail. He passes the letter to Mickey like it’s nothing, just another day, just another letter from Mickey’s state assigned penpal, just another tick in Mickey’s column on the rehab officer’s form. He couldn’t be more wrong.

Mickey waits until just before bedtime to open it, doesn’t want to risk his bunkmate seeing anything he shouldn’t, luckily he’s got the top bunk so there’s no chance of having his shoulder looked over. He clambers up and shoves his legs under the cover, shimmying down until he’s only half upright and carefully opens the envelope, he doesn’t want to tear it completely in case he needs to cover up something incriminating.

And fucking hell. Incriminating is fucking right. It’s all right there. Ian’s huge fucking hand holding onto his, fucking hell, proportionate fucking cock. Hard as a ramrod and flushed pink and fucking. Glistening. With lube, or with pre-come, or sweat, or Christ with spit. Endless possibilities for Mickey to ponder on, play with in his mind. The tip is beaded with a perfect drop of clear liquid that makes Mickey’s mouth water, he can practically taste it.

Ian’s letter is long, like usual, guy has a lot to say, and Mickey will read it properly tomorrow at breakfast when his head isn’t so clouded with bedtime thoughts. But there is a short note attached to the photograph that puts a devilish smile across Mickey’s lips as he reaches down into his shorts to grab ahold of himself.

Send me a drawing of you in return. Any part you like ;)

[tomorrowxtogether]

All TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s Taehyun Needs Are His Bandmates and MOA

"Nothing can compare to the happiness I feel on stage,” he says

If you’d asked Taehyun last year how he’d describe his relationship with his TOMORROW X TOGETHER bandmates, he probably would have referred to them as family. These days, though, he’s found a new way to categorize Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, and Hueningkai.

“The phrase ‘team members’ is more precious to me right now,” he tells Consequence, seated for a one-on-one interview in Osaka, Japan. “It’s special itself.”

Considering the sheer amount of time the five members of TOMORROW X TOGETHER spend together, being as close as family would make sense — but to be a successful team requires a different kind of commitment.

Although Taehyun is the second-youngest member of TXT, there’s a singular air of maturity about him. When in the room with his bandmates for a group interview, he’s able to track who is ready to answer a question with just one glance out of the corner of his eye — and, if he gets the sense that no one else has the desire to do so, he’s able to jump in. Throughout the days spent with TXT’s camp, there’s not a moment where Taehyun isn’t engaged with the people around him, whether it’s rehearsing introductory and closing comments, navigating lighting cues at the arena, or making the most of the interviews.

TXT’s team dynamic is strong, but there’s still plenty of room for the members to explore and express their individuality. Quick-witted and thoughtful, Taehyun is also a superb performer, standing out with his athletic dancing and particular vocal gifts (look no further than the bridge of “Opening Sequence” for proof). When asked how he’d like to be described, Taehyun uses the phrase “never before seen character.” He wants to be unique; he wants to walk his own path — one he hopes will one day bring him to Switzerland to spend some downtime in the mountains.

He talks fondly about his close circle of friends, most of whom don’t work in entertainment, but who have been in his life long enough that he doesn’t need to explain the nuances of his unique job to them. He recalls showing them the poster for Lollapalooza (where TXT are headlining this upcoming July) and seeing his band’s name in the same size font as the artists they listen to while taking long drives.

“I don’t think there was a year that we performed as much as we did last year,” he says of 2022, which included TXT’s first appearance at the annual Chicago festival. “I learned that I really love performing, and that I’m really serious about performing — and the next thing I learned is that I’m loved by so many people.” MOA, TXT’s dedicated, global fanbase, have certainly underscored that latter point over the years.

“I think something joyful happens once a day,” Taehyun observes. Like his bandmates, Taehyun explains that he tries to soak up all the love they receive from their fans and reflect it back in the moments they’re together during concerts. “Since I’m in a very special line of work, nothing can compare to the happiness I feel on stage,” he says.

The group’s ongoing “ACT: SWEET MIRAGE” tour (tickets available here) is a longer show than many others out there; like most K-pop concerts, there is no opener on the bill, and the guys are onstage for nearly three hours, doing all the heavy lifting themselves. The work required to pull it off extends far beyond the time spent with the audience. “We have to do photo shoots, a lot of meetings, and things before and after the performances,” Taehyun shares. “But on stage, no one can tell me to do other things. It’s just me, the members, and MOA.”

The group got their sea legs last year during the “ACT: LOVE SICK” tour, their first trek outside of South Korea post-pandemic, and Taehyun thinks that this year sees the members having more fun onstage than ever. Yes, the stamina required to pull off a show like theirs is demanding, but as the guys have continued to hone their performance skills, they’ve also continued to grow that much more comfortable in front of crowds. Taehyun shouts out the group’s 2023 track “Tinnitus (Wanna be a rock)” as one of his favorite parts of this latest outing, crediting the vibey new choreography as a highlight.

The nature of a creative is to always have one eye on the next project, and while MOAs wait to see what’s coming down the line from TXT, Taehyun offers some words of assurance: “We have nothing to fear as long as we have each other. As long as I have my four other members, I’m confident.”

[persephoneflouwers]

Lucky Again

I spent the last few days thinking about this song quite a lot. I haven’t paid much attention to it at first, probably the excitement felt a bit mitigated by the fact we knew the song already, but I’ve been binge listening to the album for a month now and every week it’s a new week obsessing with a different song, so now it’s Lucky Again turn. I haven’t read many analysis or opinions lately, because I’ve been pretty busy, so I’m sorry if this is something someone already wrote about or if it doesn’t really make sense. It does make sense in my head tho, so I’ll hope I can articulate my thoughts well enough to convey the message lol.

I think Lucky Again is a very comforting song, more like self-comforting. It is a love song, but to himself. And since when I started reading at it like this… Lucky Again has been hurting more than any other song in the album. Yeah, I said that about All this time too but yall know what I mean lol. They are very very very personal songs. Louis is so good at writing about himself and being so open to fucking stub your heart with a single word, but sometimes it goes a bit unheard. Not here tho, not here.

Anyway. Let’s start!

You give and give until it's gone away, Just tell yourself you've got another day

Starting with a bang. I usually read deeper than necessary but the incipit feels a bit tough, doesn’t it? He’s saying life can get consuming. It consumes you, your time, your energies, sometimes your feelings. You give and give until everything is gone and you go though your day by inertia, one day after the other.

You've lived that life, you just don't see it yet

Truth been spoken. When you are in your darkest place, it’s hard to appreciate what you have and usually you miss it when it’s gone (oh wait! Maybe you don't know what's lost 'til you find it 🎶)

I see how hard you've worked to be yourself

When I tell you I sobbed the first time this line clicked in my brain. Just imagine Louis saying this to himself… argh! I don’t know how to react. It’s like absolutely amazing he appreciates and values how much he has grown as a person and how many steps forward he has taken and how rough some times were. It’s amazing to see him acknowledging he came out of his own dark places or at least he has tried. I was wondering what Louis meant when he said in some interviews he doesn’t like when people pity him, and I see why. There’s nothing to pity here, it’s just congratulations for how strong and tough he is. Hard work always always pays off.

If you believe that guy is Superman, They're selling tickets at the cinema

The interpretations of this line are potentially endless, but it always hit me for how real it is. It spoke to me like the best way to say ‘it’s bullshit, but you do you’. It’s a recurrent concept in FITF, the disillusionment and the concreteness of reality. He’s not a dreamer in this album, always very optimistic, positive, mature but never not pragmatic. He sounds jealous at some point, like one of those things you say to your partner when they make a comment about somebody else, right? But it’s the way he sets this in a specific direction, he sets the tone with two words: superMAN and cinema. So it feels to me like he is talking about a famous person who usually gets idolised, and by extent fame, popularity in general. I am not a teacher, but I would say this is a rhetoric figure called Synecdoche and I absolutely adore it! So does Louis, by the way. The choice of words is interesting and telling. He’s using believe as something a bit negative here. That’s ironic for an abum called FAITH in the future, isn’t it? But it’s his way apparently. He wants to create a paradox, a contrast and it’s clear since the cover of the album, since it doesn’t strike as a faithful cover to me lmao

Whatever gets you through the darkest night, Just find the light, Out in the madness, hold tight

Now that I’m writing about it, every line in this song feels like a ring of a chain and everyone references the other like it’s 🤯. Sometimes when I listen to songs I imagine how the singer would speak to someone else. For this part, I clearly see future Louis talking to present Louis and that applies to any other timeline, it’s an inception of Louis talking to himself basically. He’s encouraging to keep going no matter what (whatever gets you).

Through the night… isn’t it a-m-a-z-i-n-g how consistent this theme is in Louis songs? He’s been singing Through the dark for months and look at her, coming back in disguise! Self references are hot, but this one gets the cake. Is he by any chance saying «whatever gets you through the night… we will find a way through the dark» etc etc? Love it. 10/10.

'Cause I'm a hard man to lose

This has always felt a bit… weird. Like imagine you go “im hard man to lose” in a song where you are basically saying you are happy you’re together again or something. It feels… arrogant? A bit? And honestly that’s not a ‘songwriter Louis’ move. I just don’t see it. And I know, it’s always about the layers with him, but what if it’s literal this time? What if he is saying “I am not the one gives up, I am not the one losing”? After all, he’s been pretty open here about how hard he worked, he has just said he has to hold tightly.

But I figured it out then made my way back To a life I would choose

He settled it for me in this line. He is not one to lose, that’s how he went back to the life he chose and he says it as proudly as he can because the thing is… it doesn’t matter how crazy it is (the madness and all that) but he would do it again. Despite all the shit, he would do it again. You can take it as a nod to his relationship of course. He changes the line second time with ‘I'm a hard man to find, but you figured it out and I love you for that’, almost pushing for a love story interpretation. But to me it feels more like he is talking about second chances, specifically in his life and work opportunities . The life I would choose part screams career to me and hits you in the face pretty hard if you think of how many obstacles he has been going through since the start of his solo career and even before during the band.

We were lucky once, I could be lucky again

He’s been using only you/I form til here. Now, I know this we can be misleading. It’s very natural to conceive a we as an us, like two people in a relationship or something, but see… that’s very Louis lol. He writes songs like stories and here he’s storytelling. Sometimes it even feels like a plurale maiestatis! I use it an embarrassing amount of time especially for non-formal conversations, and probably this is my bias of interpretation since English is not my first language but it’s curious the way he switches from a We (in past form), to I (possible future form). That’s why I think the we is used only to help with the story he’s writing about, the past he’s recalling while writing the song.

Before the world had got so serious, Before the time it got away from us

Layers againnnnn! Is this about his past maybe in the band or before that? Is this about… I don’t know, the pandemic? The world got pretty serious in 2020 didn’t it? And stunt-wise things haven’t been looking pretty bright since the second half of 2020 so… yeah. But actually I consider this a description of more innocent times. He seems nostalgic of. Still… he doesn’t seem to be willing to go back then again. He misses simple times, but has faith the future would make him feel lucky again.

It got away from us… is so strong. It’s powerful the way he never really blames anyone for the bad or the wrong. It’s just that time goes away. Very Heraclitus of him with the panta rei and all (an usual recurrent theme in Louis songwriting) and very it is what it is too. He’s very coherent in his songs, I love it.

I meet you at the favorite subway stop, We grab some food then meet the lads for one

Storytelling king strikes again. He’s so good in describing moments from the past. Like Saturdays is a song born entirely from past memories, so I really shouldn’t be surprised he does it in Lucky too, but still! Look, lines like this are seriously meant to paint a scenario in your head and he does it so well. Meet, eat and smoke with friends like a Netflix and chill ante litteram. It’s so straightforward. 11/10.

Look back on a time, I was lucky once, I could be lucky again

I love love LOOOVE the way he uses look back on a time, because he really kinda confirms how all he just did was recalling moments from a past life through lyrical narration.

What a gem of a song.

Also special mention to The unfiltered version of Lucky again with the “I’m lucky/I’m in love” whatever the fuck you meant by that, Louis, that was pretty sick and it should have survived the final revisions.

[acourtofthought]

I recently saw a theory about the Elucien bond being fake or missed assigned.

This is what it said:

The cauldron lie because when Elaine was made AZ was dying and so it picked the next suitable male.

Also; feyre and Nesta describe the bond as a tug on their soul whereas Elain describe it as a thug on her ribs.

I call BS.. pardon my French, because there is so much more that debunk this however what are your thoughts?

First, what kind of bullshit system would mating bonds be if they were randomly assigned simply because one person was injured? 😂. If that's the story we're going with than why was Feysand made mates while she was human, with a mortal lifespan and near starvation at certain points?

Mating Bonds aren't randomly given, they are decided well before people are even born (we have proof of this in the TOG series). New mates aren't assigned in adulthood just because one person from the pairing is injured. Azriel wasn't dead despite his injuries and I'm pretty sure the system that decides who is paired with who isn't going to randomly look at a bleeding guy and go "hmmmm, there's a chance he's not making it, on to the next random Fae male within Elain's vicinity!".

I think this is yet another attempt to discredit the Elucien bond because for all the cries that Elain doesn't want a mate and how Elucien's don't respect that, I think the bond still a worry for them considering SJM is a Fated Mates author.

This is how Feyre once described Rhys pulling on their bond:

I was pulled from sleep by something tugging at my middle, a thread deep inside.

If Feyre can feel a tug in the general area of her stomach ("her middle") or possibly lower since middle is probably more in the area of your intestines and she turned out to have a legitimate mating bond then I feel confident that Elain feeling a tug near her ribs (which protect the heart) is a bit more romantically coded and would also indicate her bond with Lucien is real.

The only time the bond is described by Nesta or Feyre as a thread between souls or something merging them together is when the bond is consummated:

until I felt and saw and smelled that bond between us, until our scents merged, and I was his and he was mine, and we were the beginning and middle and end. We were a song that had been sung from the very first ember of light in the world.

The golden threads shimmered and sang, and she couldn’t take it, the music between their souls, the feel of his body on her and in her, and—

Since Lucien and Elain haven't been physical (yet), we're not going to have the same kind of language in reference to their bond. Lucien went a bit feral over Elain being taken back to the NC. Mor used her gift of truth on him. Az can scent the bond. Elain and Lucien both felt the bond snap at the same time. Feyre used her demati powers to slip into Lucien’s mind and confirmed his feelings and instincts towards Elain as being sincere.

Not only would it be really odd for SJM to have to turn around and explain how every single person was rendered completely clueless for multiple books by this supposed false mating bond but what would the point of it be?

"Your bond is fake".

"Oh, thank goodness! I'm so relieved we spent the last two years feeling angst and confusion and guilt over the past loves we thought we were betraying, all for nothing! Now we're free to be with who we want even though we could have been with whoever we wanted the last two years anyway since we really didn't spend that much time together in the first place. Let's shake hands and part ways, sorry about all the discomfort and tension!"

It just makes no sense and I get they're trying to pull a TOG storyline to make a mating bond between E/riel a possibility but no villain is trying to have Lucien or Elain swear loyalty to them because they're so distraught over the loss of their mate who was never actually their mate. Lucien and Elain aren't really talking so what does a fake mating bond add to the plot? Not only are they not talking but they're both spending time with the character who some claim are their "true mates". Which again, doesn't make sense if the goal was to keep them away from their "true mates" 🤦

[mllx-anazra]

tis the damn season (part.1) 

Here is the Taylor Swift-inspired reader insert fanfiction to hopefully tame the brain rot Eddie Munson has induced since Vol.1 (also posted on Ao3).

TW: smut in later chapters so minors DNI, talk of therapy and trauma in later chapters, Eddie Munson is pinning, so is the reader, mentions of asshole rockstar boyfriends, drugs (the old devil's lettuce), explicit references, reader is a Henderson to make my no Y/N rule easier but is a cousin so hopefully it's ""inclusive"" enough?

Part 1: And it always leads to you, and my hometown 

"Jesus, man, can you drive any slower? We're late already!" Dustin pestered for what felt like the hundredth time in the short time he, Wheeler, and Sinclair pretty much begged Eddie to drive them to the other side of town to help you move in. 

            His curiosity got the better of him, and he not only adjourned the DnD meeting of today but agreed to drop the freshmen on your doorstep, hoping to understand why the hell you were back in Hawkins two years after your graduation. 

            The golden child, all straight A's, bouncy hair and toothy grins, bedazzled acoustic guitar, and the flare of the next Stevie Nicks, had made it out of bumfuck Indiana through a contract with a fancy Californian label, like some kind of modern fairytale. And yet, as the fall of 85 was settling slowly and surely in this small town, Eddie grew to see as his personal hell, you were coming back, settling back in your parents' small old house not too far from the trailer park, for no understandable reason.

            "Remind me again why the fuck is your cousin settling here again?" the metalhead glanced at his rear mirror, catching Dustin's impatient gaze. 

            "I don't know, something about a job and taking a break from the label or some shit. C'mon, man, it's the SEVENTH red light we have gotten in the past five minutes; for the love of CHRIST, could you speed up!!"

            "Calm the fuck down, Henderson and get a grip, jeez; little miss sunshine can wait five minutes for us to move her couch or whatever."

            "Steve is probably there already!" the teen whined. "I wanted to be the first to see her!". 

            At the mention of Steve "The Hair" Harrington, Eddie felt a pang in his belly, immediately remembering the chaste kiss he had seen you exchange with the King of Hawkins during your sophomore year winter dance on Toto, where he had been dying to ask you out. He mentally scoffed at the memory; pretty girls like you frenched and held hands with pretty boys like Harrington, while guys like him, well… Were at best dirty little secrets. 

Which is whatever the fuck you could call the first, and in your case last, senior year, you spent in dark corners branding him with scalding lips that tasted like cherry chapstick. After a too-drunk encounter at a Halloween party in 1983, where you had sloppily told him, "Today we're all allowed to be freaks, Munson," and kissed him like there was no tomorrow, you had both sought each other out for the months until your graduation. Official tutoring lessons where you'd wear the shortest preppiest skirts to drive him crazy and jam sessions to "exchange creative ideas" were just excuses to fool around like the horny teenagers you had been. And God, if you were not one little devil behind all your good girl skit. Eddie fought to not get too lost in the raunchiest memory of your skin against his, lips nipping and kissing every crevice of each other's bodies in his van, your car, his trailer, your childhood bedroom, the school's bleachers, empty English classrooms and study halls at the library, Lovers' Lake shores, the movies…

            How the hell was he supposed to make small talk with you after two years without so much as a call or letter? Oh, the cruel torture of politeness with a woman who rocked his world and that he still had trouble shaking off, dropping your cousin and his friends at your door when the only thing he wanted was to drop was his knees and see for himself if you tasted like he remembered. 

            "Turn left on that corner!" supplied Dustin, after five minutes of bickering with Mike and Lucas about the following steps to best approach the brutal campaign Eddie had set up for them. 

            "I know where the house is, deep shit."

            "How?" pressed Wheeler, eyebrows furrowed. Fuck, pestering reporter genes might run in the family. Nancy had provided the same inquisitive tone after Eddie had agreed to drive the kids rather than her at the school parking lot thirty minutes ago. 

            "Because the trailer park is really close to this neighborhood, and I've lived on this hellhole my entire life?" the mere fact he had to justify himself made him pissed off. 

            "There, there, stop the car!!" Dustin excitedly screamed, unfastening his seatbelt and bolting out of the van to jog his way to your front stairs. 

And there you were, dropping the box you were holding to immediately hug your cousin, gushing over his growth, matching dimples on both of your faces. 

            Were you a sight for sore eyes, all long summer dress and silky shawl, skin radiant and smile beaming, sunglasses pushed back on your forehead, and bracelet clicking as you embraced Lucas and Mike once Dustin had let you go. 

Psyching himself up, Eddie summoned his coolest demeanor as he locked the van and strutted towards your porch. Your look of initial confusion morphed to a wide grin, almost feral, making him weak in the knees. 

            "Do my eyes deceive me, or is this you, Munson?" amusement laced your voice, making his heart jackhammer in his ribcage. Same timber, warmth, and spice characterizing your voice after all this time. 

            "All metal and denim, sunshine." God, he hated how easily the nickname rolled off his tongue, electing strange looks amongst the boys and a glint in your eyes he had thought of so often. 

Before you could quip further or embrace him (fuck did you still use the same perfume and conditioner, he needed to know), Steve fucking Harrington interrupted your reunion:

            "Now that you cruds are finally here, come help us set the couch, it's super heavy. Oh, hey, Munson."

He was still wearing his Family Video vest, literally having come here from his workplace to help you settle, Eddie interpreting this as an eagerness that immediately gritted his nerves. It was no secret that Steve had chased you before he set his sights on Nancy and did not shy away from what could be qualified as grand romantic gestures to win you over. 

            "Jeez, Steve, let them grab a drink first it's so freaking warm today. C'mon in, there is a lemonade cooling in the kitchen, help yourselves. You know the house!"

The teens skited towards the entrance of your modest but coquettish home, Eddie leisurely strolling up the stairs to meet you on the last step. 

            "Long time no see, Henderson. Looking good." Smooth, Munson, keep it smooth. 

            "You tell me, Eddie." A shiver ran up his spine at the way your plump lips curled around the syllables of his name. "Are you converting my kids to your satanic cult through the impenetrable ways of DnD?"

He smiled at your teasing. 

            "They say it's better to get them young when they're more influenceable."

You chuckled, a side smirk still firmly planted on your face. 

            "Well, be my guest, Dungeon Master (his knees buckling again); I have a beer in the cooler if you prefer."

            "Hey, why does he get beer and I don't?" Steve indignantly called out, apparently shamelessly eavesdropping on your conversation.  

            "Because, unlike you, he is turning 21, and you're supposed to be a role model for the kids or something", you retorted, slightly exasperated. 

The guffaws the boys made at the implication were enough to bring a delicate warmth to your gaze as you guided Eddie through your corridor towards your kitchen. Fleetwood Mac was blasting in the living room, and his fingers couldn't help but tap in rhythm, reminiscing how you would let it play in the background of your study make-out sessions. 

He followed and pretended to look at your walls interestingly as if he had not slammed you there several times while driving you back home after school. 

"Cool house, Henderson." He supplied, prompting you to look back at him, eyebrow raised, as if your mind had joined his. 

The boys were gathered around your small kitchen island (another fun memory), sipping on your lemonade as you fetched too cooled beers in your ice box. Steve's grumbling only intensified when he figured out the second can was for your sake and not his, prompting you to bonk his head with it. 

Eddie tried not to envy the easiness with which Steve and you seemed to interact, probably already caught up with each other's lives as it was.  

            "So," Lucas started after a very loud sip, "what brings you back to Hawkins after this time?"

            "Seeing my favorite people on Earth is not a good reason enough, Sinclair?" you said while leaning on the counter, hands joined. Eddie thought he recognized a glint on one of your fingers. Did you keep… 

            The unimpressed looks on your audience made you fake gasp loudly. 

            "Fine, FINE!" you huffed. You mulled over your response for a second, eyes adrift. "I was in the studio when I heard about the Starcourt fire. I was so scared that something might have happened to any of you… I don't know; it freaked me out. So many weird things have happened in Hawkins these past few years I feel like…."

            Fiddling with your rings, including the one Eddie gifted you after your marveled at his a few weeks before you left, you didn't register the looks the kids and Steve exchanged. 

            "Also, I need field experience for my college credits, and Hawkins High has been looking for a part-time librarian and teaching assistant since Mrs. Sinema retired."

            "Why the hell you're going to college for? You work", Mike said, disdain clear in his voice. Damn, did Wheeler know damn well how to be annoying when he wanted to.

            "Yeah, well, working sucks Mikey, so I'm going back to school," you chuckled. 

            "Don't ruin it for all of us, Henderson. Some are trying to graduate this year", Eddie quipped, gulping down his drink. 

            "Are you now Munson? Who will lead your hordes of satanic minions in your absence?"

Mirth was evident in your tone, but Dustin clearly missed it. 

            "Hellfire is a Dungeons and Dragons CLUB!! Not a satanic cult??? Are you getting your talking points from Jason Carver or something??"

            "Jeez, Dusty, can't a girl crack a joke? I know what DnD is, it's all you nerds yap about. Also, ew, is Jason Carver still preaching his choir at school?"

            "You have no idea…." Mike mumbled. 

            "He's not that bad, guys," Lucas started, prompting a chorus of groans from his club. 

            "He is incredibly entitled and a terrible basketball captain, in my humble opinion," offered Steve, eyeing your still untouched beer. 

            "Moh, salty about the person occupying the throne you vacated, King Steve?" Eddie snarked with perhaps a bit too much gusto. 

The look Steve threw him, a mixture of "who the fuck are you again" confusion and "why are we interacting" that cheerleaders would throw his way, made the metalhead's stomach drop a little. 

            "Maybe I don't miss high school all that much," you hummed, finally sipping on your drink. 

            "Well, we sure did miss you," concluded Dustin, hugging your side as you smiled at him brightly, squeezing him back. 

            "You might less after moving my furniture, Dustibun." 

The boys collectively groaned as you jumped back into action, your cousin and his friends making their way to the large trailer attached to your car outside. Eddie lingered, chugging the remanent of his beer. 

            "You don't have to help Munson, I didn't expect you here," you offered, and was it a twinge of nervousness he could hear in your voice? Oh, that was interesting. 

            "Always here if you need a hand, Henderson." You caught the suggestive wiggling of his fingers, rolled your eyes, and pushed him towards your front door. He did notice the blush tinging your cheeks. 

            After what felt like hours of moving boxes – how much shit could you bring back into your semi-empty childhood home was truly baffling –the sun was starting to dim significantly. 

            "All right, y'all, thank you all so much for your help, but I'm afraid it's time to scram if you want to be back home before dinner!".

            "You're still coming over, right?" asked Dustin as he polished the last gulps of the lukewarm lemonade on your counter, much to Steve's dismay. 

You nodded enthusiastically and hushed them all to the door. Your hand might have lingered one second too long on Eddie's small back, electing delicious sparks up his spine. You had both danced around each other lightly all afternoon, both sides trying to figure the other out without being too suspicious. It was a skill you had mastered with all these months of sneaking around, for what must feel like a lifetime ago to you, shining bright on stage yet coming back to grace Hawkins with your smile once again. 

Eddie nodded at the tall boxes carefully placed still in the large trailer outside, knowing they probably contained your music gear, before inquiring, "You're not putting them inside? Careful, they might get taken."

            "You fancy my bedazzled folk guitar, Munson?"

            "Depends. Is your name still engraved on the fretboard?" Are my initials still carved on the back of the neck? He was dying to whisper to you. 

The laugh that accompanied the slight push you gave him was enough for now. 

            "Alright, Sinclair, Wheeler, in the backseat. You Hendersons will be okay?" asked Steve, hands on his hips. Since when did Harrington exude this motherly energy, Eddie wondered.  

            "Yeah, I will just detach the trailer and lock it, we should be good."

            "I could drive you."

Eddie had blurted out too fast for his brain to register, the idea of parting from you so soon making his heart lurch. 

You and Dustin looked at him quizzically; "The trailer park is literally down the road, my house is on the other side of town," the younger Henderson supplied. 

            "Rule number one of Hellfire, mini-Henderson; you treat fair maidens gracefully, especially returning ones." He cringe internally, his panicked state at losing his cool making him sound like a grade A nerd. 

            "I thought the first rule was listening to the Dungeon Master," quipped Wheeler as he settled in Steve's car. Oh, he was gonna make Mike lose during the next campaign if the kid did not watch his tone. 

            "Thanks for the offer, Eddie, but I'll need to drive back here anyways, so I'll take my car."

            "Let me help you with the trailer, at least." He thought he heard Harrington mutter along the lines of "since when is Munson that willingly helpful." 

How Eddie hoped the genuine smile you threw him was unique and your lingering gaze not a cruel fabrication of his imagination. 

You hugged the kids and Steve goodbye, dress flowing prettily as you turned back to him and embraced him softly. And yes, your laundry still smelled the same, sweet as lavender and soapy, but with a newer distinctive scent, he could quite not pinpoint. Will need to sniff again, supplied his brain. He wanted to slap the creeper out of himself so hard. 

            "Nice seeing you again, Munson," you whispered in his ear, making him shiver and ache for you only further. The speed with which you could worm yourself back into his body and spirit was frankly concerning, he will ponder later, screaming in his pillow back at the trailer. 

            "You too, sunshine." He brushed his finger along the thin silvery band adorned with a skull on your middle finger. Telling you, he did notice how you kept it. Did remember – how could he ever forget you –. 

            You hopped into your car and honked goodbye as the hopeless metalhead watched you drive away, butterflies swarming in his guts, before the stunned look on Steve's face reminded him of hopping back into his vehicle. 

            Eddie Munson was royally fucked, but so incredibly eager about it if you were the reason. "This really is my year," he muttered to himself as he fished out a mixtape long buried in his glove box, "songs we will fuck to" scribbled on the label with your pink sharpie, the ink fading making the hearts and dick you drew almost transparent. As Eddie drove back to his home, Led Zeppelin blasting in his speakers, all he could hear was the blood drumming in his ears, in time with his pounding heart. God, he had it bad. 

[i-wanna-show-you-off]

rewatching inanimate insanity season two

spoilers!!! vvv

I love analayzing characters facial expressions and Trophy is in season two so of course while he’s there I’m gonna notice his. I think the one time I saw him smile was when he got that picture of Knife. In every single group shot he is frowning. There are several instances where it’ll cut to the grand slams and all of them have neutral/indifferent (or happy) expressions except for Trophy who looks pissed. They said find me a character that’s more angry than Paintbrush and I said I DID.

Soap I love her. She had so many issues to begin with but I really enjoy how she spent her time trying to fix them. Also ‘Theft and Battery’ had me so mad for her because first she gets thrown out of a hot air balloon, and then she’s targeted by the same guy like 3 or 4 times all in the same day. I love Suitcase but I’m not gonna lie and say that Soap calling her out there wasn’t justified. I’ll miss you my gorgeous little freak

Test Tube’s character development. I watched II3 before going back and (re)watching II2 and it’s like. There used to be light in her eyes. She used to be a silly girl who said golly gee and talked about nerd stuff. (Not saying she can’t still be a silly girl who says golly gee and talks about nerd stuff, but her character is a lot more serious in Season 3 than in Season 2.) I think the turning point for her was in the alternate reality episode, mostly because of her and Lightbulb’s interaction. Also, her furiously scribbling out the word ‘secret’ from her board and eventually just destroying the whole thing. She didn’t have a huge change in character, but she went from making nerdy references and science facts to showing real frustration and envy(?) towards the people around her.

This isn’t a huge thing but Nickel literally constantly stepping on people. Like standing on their heads. He does it with Baseball a lot and he (at least once) has done it to Suitcase as well. It could just be a visual gag but I feel like it’s really representative of the way he stepped on people’s feelings as well. He was a huge jerk to Suitcase, and even though Baseball was his friend he did dismiss him and his concerns at times.

[ablizmal]

「 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 」

selfship || 845 word count || my first ever fic lol

hey. do you guys ever, uhhhhhhhhh,,, fall in love with the goofy (affectionate) detective man from death note? no? well i have, and i’ll never shut up about it hahajajdsjdksdjsjaha///

you can find an introductory post explaining the barebones of lawliz (L x me heeheehee <3) in the tag “self ship promo”! (i can’t link it or else this won’t pop up in any selfship tags x_x)

ALSO the letter’s words comes from a show!! i’ll reblog with link after i post this, so check that out for more context :>

N E ways, onto the fic!! <3

❭❭┈┈┈┈❥‧┈⎻‧♡⎻‧‧❤︎‧⎻‧┈┈➤

❭❭┈┈┈┈❥‧┈⎻‧♡⎻‧‧❤︎‧⎻‧┈┈➤

(please note that anything stricken out is subconscious to L! thank you!! ^o^)

Several people have expressed their admiration for L throughout the years, whether through television media or online text. L understands, he knows what he’s doing is, overall, having a positive effect on the world.

But. But. Despite it all, despite the countless compliments he’s gotten, he finds himself reading this sleep hazy one over and over again.

“I loved you from the moment that I saw you, you’re my hero, I believe in you. There’s nothing you can’t do. You make a difference in the world.

And you make all of the difference
in the world to me. ⸝⸝^ˬ^⸝⸝”

Why… is that? And why is his heart rate accelerated? Has he not been given a compliment in that long?

…No. That couldn’t be the case. He’s overheard the Taskforce members state their awe about L and his tactics whenever they’re on call. He felt the common gratitude he typically does and filed it away into the “I’m smart, I’m good at my job, I’m good for my cause, I’m useful” compartment of his brain. So what is it about this slurry of words that makes him so captivated, so—

His face… feels fuzzy. Why fuzzy? What does it mean? It’s such an odd sensation as well. It makes his cheeks feel a bit hollow, it makes him feel seen, more tangible, but it’s not uncomfortable. L places the letter down, fingers feeling light.

He considers all the angles. He’s gotten a compliment… his heart is racing (pitter patter, pitter patter), and his face feels strange and warm. And above all else, he can’t stop thinking about these strings of words.

Just then, L’s body filled with certainty. Of course. It should have been… obvious, in retrospect. But how could he have known before when this was rare?

L is taken aback and feels elated from Liz’s compliment. Perhaps even… giddy?

“Hmmmm…” He drops a few more sugar cubes into his coffee then stirs. He presses his thumb against his lip. “What an unexpected circumstance…”

He starts to dissect the passage that echoes in his mind.

“I loved you from the moment that I saw you”

L knew that was impossible. No one can ever fall in love with someone at first sight. That’s not how love works (he’s heard). Ultimately, this sentiment is used to signify that ‘yes, while it may not be true to have fallen in love with you when we first met, I sure wish it was true, for you.’

For him.

For… L.

Immediately, his eyes shot to the last sentence. He had no use to revisit the already known facts of sentence two and three. He notices his heart skip.

“And you make all of the difference
in the world to me. ⸝⸝^ˬ^⸝⸝”

L was fully aware at this point of Lizzie’s infatuation with him. That was no shock. However… which way did she mean this? Is it merely referring to the infatuation, or could she really… could L really impact someone’s life to this extent?

He’s not sure what that is like. Well, not really, anyways. L supposes, in a way, that Lizzie has altered his life in ways that are too overt to ignore. For the first time in his entire life, he has a friend, one who wasn’t aware of his genius and/or title. A person who liked him for… hm… he wasn’t sure what, but for some reason or other. They’ve spent time with him, or “hung out,” as she refers to it as. They’ve gone to the mall together, have watched countless movies, have talked about everything and anything. They’ve eaten sweets together, attending various café’s. And she agreed to this study with— for him. They agreed to this study for him, expanding his knowledge on this phenomenon that’s so commonly depicted in media.

Now that he thinks about it, Liz… never mentioned having any other friends. None. It simply never crossed his mind, other people, when they were together. (Hmmmm… together. He felt a twinge of happiness at the use of the word in regards to the two of them.) L halfheartedly considers if this line, then, implies that her world has changed due to the social contact, but he brushes it off just as quickly. No, it doesn’t fit, for he knew that Lizzie wasn’t the type to throw words around lightly (at least when it comes down to something serious).

So maybe… L has changed Lizzie’s world just by being him.

⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄

“Huh…”

⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄

Incredible… how incredible… She likes L for him, she sees something in him that he’s not even certain of.

He takes a sip of his coffee. When the rim meets his lips, his motion ceases as he realizes the corners of his lips were curled. L… was smiling over this. He was smiling over Lizzie.

Quietly. He presses the cup to his lips. And proceeds to sip the entire contents of the sweet concoction in one go.

…Perhaps the thought of Lizzie making a difference in his life has more weight to it after all.

[frodo-with-glasses]

More Reading Thoughts: “The Land of Shadow”

Ding dong, finally moving on to a new chapter! I know it actually wasn’t a long time, but feels like we spent so long in the Tower of Cirith Ungol…but now on to new territory!

Two sentences in and Frodo is already trying to chuck himself off a cliff LOL 🤣🤣

“Well, here goes, Mr. Frodo. Good-bye!” Sam really is Mr. Guess I’ll Die in these chapters, isn’t he?

Suddenly: BUSHES

Having gone walking in the desert in Arizona and still finding burrs in my sneakers months later, I can confirm that thorns are little spawns of the devil in plant form.

And then they both have a lie-down. Or Frodo has a lie-down, and Sam has a nap. Good. They need it.

Fjshdskfj this whole thing about the mail coat is. Aaaahh. It’s frickin’ killing me. I can’t believe I glossed over it when I was a kid. Frodo like “I’m too weak to go on wearing this” and Sam like “but we have to protect you somehow” and Frodo like “it’s no use, I don’t have the strength, I’m sorry, please don’t think I’m ungrateful, I know you went through a lot of effort to get it for me” and Sam like “oh my word, don’t worry about me! I’m the one who’s supposed to be worrying about you!” and I just. Nnnnggaahh! They *clenches fist* love each other so much I’mma frickin’ die

Also, “Don’t talk about it, Mr. Frodo. Bless you! I’d carry you on my back, if I could.” FOOORESHADOWING!!

Frodo has a Nazgûl detector. Side effect of the Morgul Blade, perhaps??

THAT REFERENCE TO THEODEN THO. HECK.

The Witch King has just been slain! No wonder the weather is changing in Mordor! Aw, man, if only Frodo and Sam knew what Merry had just helped to do…they’d be so proud, bro.

Sam: “Don’t you feel better?” Frodo: “No, not really.”

Pfffft way to be a downer, Frodo 🤣

WATERRRRRR!!

HECKIN’. WATERRRRRR!!!!

AAAAAHHHHHH I could cry 🤣🤣

Sam like “let me try it first” and Frodo like “:-( but I’m thirsty too” and Sam like “I know that, but I’m trying to test if it’s poisonous” fjshjdks they’re hilarious

Water in the desert. Heck. Frickin’. Do I need to restate how much water is a symbol of hope and rest and restoration and life in this story?? Heck to the frick frickin’ heck.

I love how just the presence of plant life in Mordor makes me feel like that’s a victory somehow. Like “HECK YES, STICK IT TO THE MAN, YA BALLSY LITTLE TREES, YOU GO!!”

Sam holding Frodo’s hand to try to keep himself awake 🥺

THE STAR BETWEEN THE CLOUDS!! HECK! So this is where that passage comes from! “In the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach”, AAAAAHHHHH—

Also the hobbits sleeping hand in hand is very cute but also. Sam. Sam you’re supposed to be on guard duty LOL

Good to know Aragorn’s distractionating is working.

Frodo is. Such a downer. I love him so much you guys. 🤣 “The whole thing is hopeless. There’s no way we’re gonna make it. Welp, let’s do this.”

This is what Peter Jackson’s trilogy got right when they had Gimli say, “Certainty of death, small chance of success—what are we waiting for?” It’s played for laughs there, but that really is the defiant optimistic pessimism that surrounds this story. It’s glorious. Gritty, stubborn, desperately clinging to life, bruised and bloody-knuckled and exhausted but still breathing, and clawing forward inch by inch if that’s all it can do. Relatable as heck, and inspiring like nothing else. Lord give me defiance like that.

Yooooo but that spat between the orcs tho. Now we know Gollum is still around, and nabbed Frodo’s mail shirt, and that word has reached the orcs that the Witch King is dead….and also orcs are ranked by numbers?? Very sophisticated. Very dehumanizing. Very Evil Overlord Army.

Sam hates Gollum with every thread of his being. And for good reason, too.

Frodo hears Sam’s whole story, and when it’s finished, he says nothing, but “took Sam’s hand and pressed it”.

I am. I am going buckwild about this. Didn’t I say that Frodo’s love language is Words of Affirmation, and Sam’s are Acts of Service and Physical Touch?? But here—here Frodo’s love language fails. He has no words left. He’s too exhausted. His love language offers him nothing. So he uses Sam’s.

I am. I am going to throw something. Scream. Cry, maybe. I just. AAAAAAAAAHHHHH—

“I’ll try and be a bit quicker, Sam.” FRODO I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT I WOULD KILL FOR YOU—

Sam just letting Frodo eat and drink the last of their store, and sleep on his own cloak, is. So much. Sam. You beautiful, self-sacrificial little saint, I would die for you (but you would probably insist on dying first).

Ooh, Gollum tried to come take the Ring while Sam was away getting water. Gaaaahhh, this is a so suspenseful.

Aaaand Frodo drank all the water LOL

Well, they’re caught. Here goes. Only about a page left to the chapter…

Oh! So the whole “hit me, start fighting” thing was invented by the movies. Makes sense. Couldn’t be too exciting, after all.

And what we have learned, kids, is that we can credit the survival of Middle Earth to the fact that Mordor doesn’t have traffic lights.

[l-starlight-l]

Brothers and Books

A/n: this is a female reader one, and it’s on the longer side but I hope it’s still good. A few batboys and Steph pop up.

Warning: light swearing

Description: you get invited to a gala at the Wayne manor but you spend it reading with Jason

Pairings: Jason Todd x fem!reader

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:Reference:

—————————————————————————— One of you favorite things about going over to the Wayne manor is that the library is one of the biggest you’ve ever seen. You could spend years in there and would still have books to read. You and Jason spent a lot of time in there together. Reading was his favorite thing to do, so you made it yours. Most days with him were spent quietly sitting together noses deep in a book. It may sound boring but it made you happy.

Bruce had invited you to one of his famous galas and you happily accepted. Jason talked shit about a lot of people but you never heard him talk bad about Bruce. After everything he had been through you could tell Jason respected Bruce and loved him, even if he would never admit it. “Hey babe, you excited for tonight” you asked as you heard footsteps walk closer to the bathroom where you were getting ready. “Yeah i guess” a deep gloomy voice answered. “You guess?” You asked with worry while coming out of the bathroom, struggling to put an earring on. You walked over to Jason who set a motorcycle helmet on the kitchen counter. He reached over to your face and fixed your earring. “You look amazing love” he said smiling down at you, hand lingering by your cheek. He pulled you face close to his “why don’t we stay here and have a fun night” he seductively whispered against your lips. You pushed him back, “this is the first fancy party I’ve been invited to, there’s no way im missing it” you argued. “so you choose those rich snobs over me, I see how it is” he pouted, acting offended. You rolled your eyes and grabbed your purse and coat. “Yeah I really do, sorry babe” you kissed his cheek and made your way to the door., he whined but followed you out.

When you arrived at the Wayne manor it was packed. You and Jason locked arms and made your way in to find Bruce, who was surrounded by women “He’s such a playboy” Jason said shaking his head. “Seems to run in the family” you said chuckling, Jason put a hand to his chest and gasped “how dare you”. “Excuse me lady’s but I must attend to my son and his lovely partner here” Bruce  announced while parting the sea of ladies in front of him. “Thank you so much for coming” Bruce said while hugging you. “Thank you for inviting us” you said smiling, “shes been talking about it all week” Jason whispered to him. You elbows him lightly, embarrassed. They both laughed and Bruce said “well I hope you two can enjoy yourselves, I’ve got a party to entertain so I’ll be leaving you”. He left and the women swarmed him again. As you were walking away a cat ran in front of you, almost knocking you over. Just as you found your balance a younger boy came running by you pushing you over again. “Todd have you seen a back and white cat” the boy said with urgency. “Watch it demon brat you almost ran her over” Jason said while you fell back. “Your useless” he says while running in the same direction of the cat.  A shorter dark haired man caught you. “You okay miss” he asked looking down at you. “Oh um yeah thank you for catching me” you muttered embarrassed. “anything for such a beautiful women such as your self” the amn said trying to charm you. Jason grabbed you, “she’s taken dick beat it” he said angrily. “Oh calm down dude, I was just being polite” dick said winking at you. “Yeah whatever” Jason muttered pulling you away from him. “Is that your older brother, i don’t think I’ve ever I met him” you questioned. “That’s probably for the best” he said frustrated. You two walked over to the opposite side of the ballroom. “Jesus if we see anymore of my siblings we’re leaving” you giggled and Jason went to grab you guys some drinks. You felt awkward just being by yourself. You looked around for a familiar face and saw Tim also standing by himself. You walked over to him and said hello. “Hey I didn’t know you were gonna be here” he said excited to see you. “this is my first gala, it’s been quite fun so far” you grinned. A blonde boy walked up to him and Tim smiled “hi I’m Bernard Tim’s boyfriend” he declared. you shook his hand and looked over at Tim who was blushing. “Oh well hello, I didn’t knwo Timmy here had a boyfriend”, you looked between them. “You two make a cute pair” you added. You guys talked for a little until Jason came back. The boys left so you and Jason talked for a bit.

Jason noticed that you looked uncomfortable, “what’s wrong” he asked, “oh nothing I’m fine” you brushed him off. “you sure?” He pushed, “You can’t lie to me I’m a detective”. You rolled your eyes “these shoes are hurting my feet” you admitted. “I have an idea” he said with a mischievous smirk. He took your hand and the two of you snuck out of the ball room. He picked you up bridal style and carried you to a very familiar door. “Up for some reading babe?” He asked looking down at you. “always” you replied. he pushed the doors open and set you down on the sofa in the library. You took you heels off and began to search for a book. By the time you found one Jason was already on the couch reading. You crawled up to lay on he chest. He slightly moved his book so you could fit. You two sat there reading for the rest of the gala. After a while you noticed Jason had fallen asleep. You set your book down and cuddled in to him, falling asleep a few minutes later.  A certain blonde vigilante had found you two the next morning and snapped a few pictures. Now Jason would never hear the end of it form his team, although he didn’t mind to much.

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