#phew that was a lot of names

[synchodai]

I get this impression that House of the Dragon doesn't get that "named" heirs aren't really the norm in Westeros. If it were that easy for someone to just give everything to their favorite child, Randall Tarly wouldn't have needed to force Sam to go to the Wall and Tywin could have simply chosen Cersei over Tyrion as heir of Casterly Rock.

If we look at the history Westeros borrows from, the concept of "naming" heirs wasn't really a thing in medieval England. Landed gentry didn't have direct say over the order of succession until the Statute of Wills in 1540. Before then, land and subsequent titles could only be inherited through agnatic primogeniture.

Agnatic primogeniture prioritized the living, eldest, trueborn son. Claims can only be passed on patrilineally. This means that a grandaughter can inherit a claim of her grandfather's titles through her father, but a grandson cannot be given the same through his mother. However, if his mother finally does have land and titles under her own name (not under her father's), only then does her son and other children enter the line of succession.

The reason it was like this was because it kept land and titles under one family. Daughters are less preferred because when they are married, they become part of their husband's family — meaning that any titles they receive will be inherited through a new line. This wouldn't be an ideal situation because it gives two families claims to the titles. The more claimants there are, the more unstable the hold the owner has.

In other words, agnatic primogeniture was practiced for stability. Because back in the day, titles weren't just property or land. They came with governorship over a people, so a stable and predictable transfer of titles was necessary to avoid civil conflicts and questions of legitimacy.

A landed lord or lady wasn't given the right to designate heirs for a few reasons:

Most of them were vassals who oversaw the land in the name of someone higher up. It technically isn't even theirs to give away (see: feudal land tenure).

The wishes of a human being are less predictable than having a determined line of succession based on birth order. What if he becomes incapable of declaring an heir either through illness or disability? What if he's captured and a bad actor forces him to name this person heir under threat of violence?

People died unexpectedly all time. This was before germ theory and modern medicine — child mortality was extremely high. With no refrigeration technology, a single poor harvest could mean dying from starvation. Bandits, cutthroats, and raiders were a constant threat. They could not afford to rely on a person choosing a different heir every time the old heir drops dead, because the landed lord/lady could die just as suddenly.

Even 21st century families stab each other in the back over who gets grandma's house — so imagine having an uncertain line of succession in the middle ages over a life-defining lordship and without a modern-day court system to mediate.

Going back to HotD, whenever Targaryens did go against the established line of succession, they could only have done it by consolidating the support of their vassals. Only royalty seemed to have the power to bend agnatic primogeniture, but even then they were beholden to it.

When Jaehaerys I ascended the throne over Aerea, it was mainly because there were those who saw Maegor the Cruel's act of disinheriting Jaehaerys as null and void. This restored Jaehaerys place in the line of succession above Aerea.

And when Rhaenys was passed over for Baelon, Jaehaerys had to convene his lords and offer compelling reasons as to why — her young age, her lack of an heir, her Velaryon last name, etc. It wasn't a given that just because she was a woman that she was ineligible. If he was doing it purely out of misogyny, he still had to legally justify his misogyny in order to strip away her rights.

Even after consolidating support, the book mentions Jaehaerys I and Viserys I's respective hold on the crown was still weakened. Even though their claims were backed by reasons cosigned by a powerful majority, they still had to ensure the security of their rule through other means. There were people who doubted their right to rule, and those people had to be placated with gifts (by Viserys) or intimidated into submission (by Jaehaerys).

So we come to Viserys I who never gave his vassals a reason why Rhaenyra should supercede his three sons other than, "I said so." Had he convened with his lords and maybe made the argument that a first marriage takes precendence over a second one, then maybe he could have set a new precedent and gathered support.

But no, he didn't. He relied on the power of his own words and the lords' personal oaths — oaths that he didn't exactly plan how he would enforce posthumously.

And the Realm did not choose to adopt a different succession law after Jaehaerys's designation of Baelon in 92 AC or the Council of Harrenhal choosing Viserys on 101 AC. If those two events did change anything, it was that now women were exempt from the line of succession for the crown and only the crown. It did not set the precedence that monarchs could freely choose heirs. It did not upend the whole system; it only made a tweak, as most lawful policy-changes do, by carving out at an exception. It was a committee, not a revolution.

Before and after the Dance, no other monarch, lord, or lady "declared" an heir that went against agnatic primogeniture, save for Dornish who have cognatic (equal-gender) primogeniture instead. Ramsay had to get rid of Roose Bolton's living trueborn son AND be legitimized by the crown in order to be recognized as heir (only a crowned monarch can legitimize baseborn children which is another world-building pillar a lot of people miss). Randall basically had to force Sam to abdicate because he wanted his younger brother to inherit instead. And of course, Tywin despite his intense hatred of Tyrion is forced to acknowledge him as his heir.

The rigidity of the line of succession is a major and constant source of conflict in the series, so it baffles me that people really thought that characters could just freely choose their heirs. That's why we have a civil war. It wasn't a misunderstanding. It's the expected consequences of someone carelessly going against a foundational tenent of the society they inhabit.

[dandylovesturtles]

Sidelined AU Info Post

Alright, I guess we're doing this

CWs: mentions of internalized ableism, struggles with mental health

Timeline:

all of S1 is the same as in canon up until End Game

however, after Splinter turns over the helmet to Draxum, Draxum does not put on the armor, but chooses to put Leo inside instead, realizing that whoever goes in will probably have something horrible happen to them. that's detailed in this fic

unlike Draxum, who gets spit out of the armor immediately, Leo ends up trapped inside. from Leo's perspective, he is only vaguely aware of what's happening outside (it's a bit sunken place-ish, with him seeing snatches of events like through a grainy television), and he has only small amounts of influence over what the armor does

once Feral Shredder is on the loose, he pretty immediately starts destroying the Hidden City. Draxum realizes that he has inadvertently released a great evil on his people, the exact opposite of what he wanted, and he turns to the Hamatos to help him stop it. obviously they don't want to work with Draxum, but they have to get Leo back so they take the help

it takes them two days, during which the Shredder moves up to start terrorizing New York as well, but eventually they get him subdued. I'm not 100% on what goes down yet or whether Big Mama gets involved (I'm leaning toward not), but Leo fighting from the inside is a big help

Leo is removed from the armor and is in really bad physical shape; meanwhile the Shredder is subdued for now. in the immediate aftermath, the Foot Clan manages to get ahold of the Shredder and take off with him

he's too weak to do anything immediately but he is very much a Looming Threat the family is aware of

Draxum leaves for awhile at this point because none of them want him around and seeing Leo in the aftermath did wake him up to "oh yeah that's just a kid and I did that to him," also he's feeling real bad about that whole "accidentally almost destroying the yokai and also maybe the world" thing

meanwhile, Leo is severely weakened, but there's not anything that the family can do to hasten his recovery. they can only get him hooked up to an IV for fluids and nutrients and wait

it takes Leo a few days to become fully lucid again; during that time he tries to fight anyone around him off or sometimes pushes his family away to "protect" them

eventually Leo does regain lucidity, he tells everyone he's fine but he's Super Depressed. he's also lost his mystic powers completely.

Splinter also retreats a bit at this point, because he feels guilt for handing the helmet over to Draxum instead of trying to find a different way to rescue his boys, which isn't a great thing for him to do but his mental health is also not doing very well (someone get these guys some therapy)

in the meantime the bros and April manage the best they can, they all have different approaches but I'll go into detail about that in the next section

there's no treatment for Leo's condition outside the most boring one: time, exercise, and diet. unsurprisingly he hates this

Healing Bad Times abound, as shown in this fic

eventually the boys have to go out on a mission again. Leo, feeling useless, listens in on the comms from the lair, and ends up catching something the other boys' missed, meaning he's able to save them from a trap or something idk exactly what the point is he makes himself useful

this opens up a new path for Leo, one his brothers very heavily encourage

with a new goal in mind, Leo starts taking a lot better care of himself, actually following his physical therapy routine, spending time gaining new skills, and accepting help in the form of mobility aids. his physical and mental health both start making big improvements

this also helps his dad's mental health, everyone is doing better even if things aren't perfect

Donnie builds Leo a command center modeled after the bridge of Jupiter Jim's ship, he absolutely loves it. whenever the boys+April are on missions, Leo is in his command center helping from the background

eventually Leo has gotten to the point where he has enough strength for day to day life most of the time, he still isn't fighting baddies on rooftops but he can get to a store and back without collapsing on a good day and that's pretty good!

the Foot Clan has been a much bigger threat in this version of S2 and it's clear they're up to something big

of course right when Leo is starting to feel stable and happy again, that's when they launch their final attack

a lot of the finale events go down similarly to how they do in canon, minus Battle Nexus New York. they get Karai back but then she dies, Shredder destroys their home (including Leo's command center :c ), everything is Bad

Leo gets his mystic powers back the same way his brothers do, though he needs a little bit of an extra helping nudge from April/Karai, since he didn't think that was a thing he could still do

everyone getting their mystic powers is emotional but it's especially emotional for Leo. he didn't even know what ninpo was before today, but he knew after the Shredder it was like some part of his soul got locked away, and now that he can feel it again he finally feels whole

it gives him a burst of adrenaline so he can participate in the fight, though he doesn't do much of the actual battling, instead getting his bros where they need to be for the big hits (I mean this is basically what he does anyway haha)

it takes Donnie exactly .02 seconds to figure out how to use his own mystic powers to support Leo physically so that helps

after this, Leo becomes a more constant part of the team in the field, though he still primarily works as support and only gets into direct fights when he feels like he has to

instead of being made leader like in canon, Leo and Raph become co-leaders. Leo's own leadership abilities have improved massively, but Raph has more experience in the field, so having the two of them working together means they cover each other's blind spots, and the division of labor is less stressful for both of them

since Leo's already been through his character development and this tension is gone the movie events play out totally differently but I haven't gotten that far yet lol. I'm sure the apocalypse still happens somehow, though, I'd hate to lose Casey Jr

happy ending whooo

Relationships

Raph

Raph feels a lot of guilt about what happened to Leo; he was supposed to protect his little brothers and he didn't, and now one of them has permanent physical disabilities as a result. add to that it was Raph's idea to be heroes in the first place and yeah... he's not doing great

because of this guilt, Raph's instinct is to essentially baby Leo - he wants to take care of his every need as soon as it arises. this makes Leo feel stifled and infantilized, and drives a wedge in their relationship (the same one Raph is driving between himself and Mikey, in fact)

his and Donnie's distinctly different approaches to the situation also mean that they get into arguments often and can't really deal with being around each other, leaving Raph feeling isolated at the start (and thus pouring more attention and effort into Leo, which compounds the problem)

Raph dealing with his own guilt and trying to find the balance between helping Leo while also respecting his need for independence, boundaries, and dignity is a big part of his journey in the AU, and it also improves his relationship with Mikey and Donnie as he gets better at those skills

Donnie

Donnie is not dealing well with the fact that there's nothing to fix. they can only be patient and work incrementally to improve Leo's condition

he distracts himself by putting all his energy into making the lair accessible for Leo, building him mobility aids and doing everything he can to help

he also has a hard time understanding why Leo won't do the things that will help him (at first), because doesn't he just want things to go back to normal? doesn't he want to help himself? why won't he just do what he obviously has to do, Donnie does not understand

Leo is deep in denial at first, and he feels like he breaks down and starts doing physical therapy and using mobility aids and doing basically any of the things that will help him, that means it's not going to magically get better, it's going to take time and effort and it will probably never be fixed, just improved, and he hates that so much he's choosing to treat this like a temporary cold or flu that will blow over any day now

Donnie doesn't understand that so he takes Leo's refusal as a rejection and animosity abounds!

breakdowns and admissions of feelings will eventually happen

Donnie and Leo together come to grips with the idea that there is no fixing this and there is no return to how things were before but they can work toward a new normal that's just as good

Mikey

this one is a little bit too big for Dr. Delicate Touch and Dr. Feelings

Mikey tries, but he is just a kid, and with their dad emotionally retreating too there's just too many feelings for him to deal with on his own

he's gonna play family therapist until he breaks

he's frustrated because he can see what each of his brothers need to do to feel better but they just! won't! they won't do it, and he doesn't know how to make them

he's really stressed

it's Mikey that realizes that Leo needs goals to work toward to get himself motivated to take care of himself, and it's Mikey who pushes the hardest for Leo's new role in the team

sometimes Mikey will challenge Leo to something silly, like who can make the most throws of a paper ball into a trash can, just to push Leo into exercising

he finds other little ways to help the others too, but he still can't solve the big problems on his own

meltdown ensues

Mikey has to learn to take care of himself, too, while the others have to learn they can't lean so hard on him for all their emotional problems

April

the only one holding on around here. it helps that she doesn't actually have to live in the powderkeg

takes a rationally minded approach to all these problems, kind of functioning like family therapist along with Mikey but in a healthier and more controlled way

helps get them resources from above ground

Leo opens up the most about his feelings about his physical condition to her first, because she strikes the best balance between being a sympathetic ear without coddling him

she's also stressed, but she has an outside support network so she's handling it better

Splinter

fully blames himself for what happened to Leo and has a hard time getting over it

depression in full swing

it means he can't easily get out of bed to help his kids, but then he feels bad because he isn't helping them, which worsens the depression, which makes it hard to get out of bed... a vicious cycle

when Leo starts working on his condition he gets a pact out of his dad that they will both work on being healthier together

maybe they manage to find an actual therapist eventually idk lol

either way, Splinter and Leo grumpily sitting over their plate of broccoli and then Leo says "bet I can eat more pieces than you" and it's on son

he's trying his best

Leo's Condition

Leo came out of the armor severely dehydrated and malnourished, even more so than any person should realistically be after two days; just keeping him from dying of the dehydration was the most immediate struggle

the main issue is that Leo's life force, mystic abilities included, were basically sucked out, leaving his body catastrophically physically weak

his muscle mass can come back with time and diet

the bigger problems are the bone density and chronic fatigue. while Leo can improve these, they'll never be back to where they were before the Dark Armor

his reduced bone density means he has to be careful doing anything physical because the chance he can break a bone is much higher than average, and he stands to suffer more from that break than the average person

he'll eventually get to where he can go through his day-to-day life just fine most days, and can even do some of the physical things he enjoyed before, he just has to be careful and know his limits. he'll never be pulling the 1440 off the halfpipe again, but he can still skateboard as long as he's careful.

even when recovered (as much as he can be), he has bad days and days when the fatigue is really strong. how Leo feels on a bad day is up in the air; sometimes he's at peace with it and generally cheerful, happy to be around his family even if he spends most of the time in his chair or on the couch dozing in and out. other days the depression rears its ugly head and he can get a bit nasty and bitter again. his family is much more patient with him on days like that than he is with himself.

in the beginning Leo also has brain fog and sensitivity to light and sound. these clear up over time, especially once Leo starts making more effort to exercise his brain. he starts reading a lot more and doing puzzles, especially things like sudoku and word puzzles, which helps a lot. thankfully these changes aren't permanent

his inner ears were also damaged a bit, this also heals up largely on its own, sometimes he still has difficulties hearing his brothers if they're whispering or far away but it's not so bad he needs assistance

Leo's Devices

Wheelchair

this is obviously the one Donnie had the most fun building and it shows. this baby is tricked out. Leo also likes to suggest improvements often, some for actual functionality but many just because he thinks it would be cool (like neon lights on the spokes)

it is blue obviously. do you even need me to tell you that?

it's fully electronic but Leo can also wheel it around freely if he wishes. Leo likes to wheel himself when he has the energy because it's good exercise he doesn't have to go out of his way for and he just likes feeling like he's moving himself under his own power. but when he's not feeling up to it he just drives it with the electronic controls instead

it has handles that extend and retract. being allowed to touch the handles is a major sign of Leo's trust and initially it's only for his bros + April + Splinter. Leo hates being moved when he doesn't actually ask to be moved, and he also hates being tipped backwards so his fam knows not to do it even as a joke (and it's so heavy that tipping him is kind of hard, anyway). someone touching the handles or messing around with them without permission gets you immediate backlash from protective siblings

that said Leo has them extended often so he can hang things off them, even though Donnie constantly gripes that that is not their intended purpose!

Sr Hueso is another person who gets handle-touching-privileges pretty fast, and he's also the one Leo asks to move him most often because he thinks it's really funny. he hams it up every time. Hueso is exasperated but does it anyway

(if Hueso adds a few extra wheelchair-accessible tables to Run of the Mill no one has to know)

the chair can also be moved by S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. this is mostly just for emergency situations, or times when the chair is somewhere Leo is not. Shelldon is a very good boy who does not move the chair without Leo's permission.

it has a billion storage spaces and little hidey holes and it can sync with Leo's phone to play music and it also has a charge port for his phone and yeah basically anything Leo and Donnie can come up with goes into this thing. it's a behemoth

Donnie also made Leo a lighter-weight chair with fewer features that he most often uses when he's good using his walker/cane/braces but wants to clear a larger distance first, and eventually Donnie makes him an athletic wheelchair so he can play games like wheelchair basketball

Walker

the walker is also blue but there's nothing particularly special about it

Leo hates using it because it feels like an old person thing. even if realistically he knows there are plenty of reasons people use them, including his own situation, culture is culture and it makes him feel bad no matter what rationality states

so basically once he doesn't have to use it he doesn't

as they all get more comfortable with Leo's situation and he starts openly using humor to cope, jokes about Leo's chair and cane become pretty commonplace in the fam (all good-natured of course). they know the walker is too much of a sore spot though, and poking fun at it is the fastest way to get Leo to do something stupid, so no one does. it's better to just pretend it's not there

Crutches/Canes

he eventually ends up with a variety of these, with different levels of support depending on what he's needing on a given day.

some of the canes are more fashionable than others. this is important to him.

Leo pretty much always has one of these on hand just in case, even on days where he feels alright to walk on his own

he is not afraid to bonk a brother with a cane or crutch but he does so knowing they are free to retaliate

Leg Braces

Leo doesn't need these every day but they're a pretty standard part of his wardrobe at this point

they start out plain but get increasingly elaborately decorated as time goes on because he, Donnie, and Mikey can't help themselves

like the walker, the braces are in the "don't make fun of" zone, though Leo is happy to get positive comments about them and doesn't really need their presence ignored

Other Mobility Aids

Leo has a variety of things to help with his loss of grip strength, difficulties bending over, tremors, etc. all of them are either made by Donnie or ethically "acquired" by April

he drives everyone crazy by leaving them in random places and then forgetting where they are. Donnie starts installing locator tags on everything they give Leo

jokes about these are fine, Leo makes them often himself and has silly names for all of them (this also drives Donnie crazy)

[millacm]

This raddish guy sure loves blueberry snacks! seems like an honest guy to me : D & queen mango...gosh

I'm really enjoying this season but i'm also kinda waiting for things to go...wrong

[grand-line-shenanigans]

Schrodinger's Igogusa. Or something

[starryrock]

JUMPSCARE! I have more.

Also I don’t have links to the specific post but Ty to whoever said “Emilico and Ricky siblings” because that has never left my mind.

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Next]

[indihome-suck]

Omg pls ramble abt your school I wanna hear it

IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED‼️‼️‼️‼️

Ok so kurikulum merdeka or as I like to say "kurikulum terjajah" throws alllllllll the subjects indiscriminately on you at 10th grade (resulting in like 15 or more subjects), THEN you can customize the subjects you take whatever you want depends on the college major you want to take!

11th grade is where you can finally have those "customized" subject combination. Other schools chooses to make "packets" of subjects per class. With different combinations of subjects in every class. And urges the students to pick which class they'd want to attend, according to their major or career choice.

My school on the other hand has WAY more experience with this complicated ass curriculum. Being one of the school where they tested the curriculum on (that being the year before me therefore the current 12th grade). My school made a student survey and urges the students to consults to the school counselors often.

The combination that's more than 10 students want will be accepted as a valid "major" within the school body. Students with niche combinations will be recommended to a similar major.

For example: me and my friend wanted the combo of physics, informatics, geography and advanced math (acronym FIGM) as we both are interested in civil engineering. But we're the only one who wanted that, so we got to choose which similar major to go to instead. In the end, my friend switched geography with economy (EFIM) and I switched geography with chemistry (FIKM).

Some majors are more popular than others for being basically the same as the previous curriculum two class variants. As we said it, pure science (biology, physics, chemistry and advanced math/BFKM) and pure social studies (economy, geography, sociology and German/EGJS. because my school doesn't have advanced history).

There's two more popular combos that doesn't adhere to that though. Like health major (biology, economy, chemistry and sociology/BEKS) and forestry (biology, economy, geography, sociology/BEGS).

Those 4 combo's/majors have enough students to fill a class, so each have classes of their own. Being that, they don't need to move classes between subjects.

How about the rest of the majors you ask? Well, they don't have enough students to fill a class, so they get mushed together to fill one.

I'm not kidding.

For the remaining classes, up to three different majors are situated in the same class. Therefore moving the class between subjects to accommodate all the students.

Physics major have three variants, BFIM, EFIM, and BFIK. There's more than ten students to each major, but none reach more than 15 so they're in the same class. Coincidentally (or not) their homeroom teacher is our physics teacher!

The other variant of forestry that is BGJS, the engineering major FIKM (mine!), And what my friend describe as being the "entertainment" major BEJS, are quite the predicament though. Both BGJS and FIKM reach more than 20 students, not enough to fill a classroom but still a lot. BEJS however, doesn't quite reach 20 yet, and therefore split into two between the classes.

Those last classes being moving classes results in some mixing of majors in the subjects. FIKM often meets BFIK in chemistry. EFIM and BEJS are together for economy. But there's where it ends. The physics major aren't in the physics lab at the same time as engineering, and German forestry (lol) aren't in the lab when entertainment majors are doing German.

All and all, this curriculum is waaaay more fun once you get to this phase (named phase F). 10th grade, or phase E, is only made for torture testing your toes in each subject. I'll admit, 10 graders have it way worse then 11 and 12 graders.

Studying... Wait I'll list it: biology, economy, chemistry, geography, informatics, sosiology and physics, all of the required subjects like maths, English, Indonesian, PPKN, history, arts, religious studies, home economics/prakarya and more. So like, not fun.

Holy shit that's a lot, I hope this ain't boring for you Ori🫡 good luck with school!

[simbasomba]

I’m miserable and lonely so here’s some warrior cat names if been saving!

-deep inhale-

HollowTree, CinderBelly, TroutFin, GillFlicker, LemonFlicker, LemonHead, SmokeSight, VelvetFin, ArrowsTheivery, RabbitSting, LionSpring, PearStreak, SilentCrow, CapeCrow, BearStub, LeapStone, SmallSlip, FrogMane, ToadStool, EarLeaf, GullBriar, BriarFlutter, AmaryllisWhisper, PigeonLeap, CheetahFoot, SwiftWind, RainRock, LupineFur, HorseHair, PearlitePaws, CheckerSwoop, MelancholyHues, CocoSpring, SnailShade, HickoryHiss, CaracalNose, NewtStream, WoodenBird, AlbinoOwl, MapleBat, PlumGrove, NettleFrost, SymphonyCry, DirtMuzzle, LemurFoot, WisteriaHypno, QuillWhisker, MilkWeed, DancingSilhouette, AmberTuft, PirhanaPaw, PumpkinPatch, BatFlight, FerretFrost, GoldWater, InfectedEyes, BeaverFace, RunningStork, DuskStripe, StreamTail, MinkCraft, SpruceBurn, BugPool, OwlMaw, FerretFluff, CarbonSweep, BonsaiMit, EverestTail, IceEyes, MottleRun, IllusionMask, ChamomileSplotch, TurtleStepper, SeaMourn, JaguarTassel, YarrowTail, CarnationCrown, FlintFlower.

-loud exhale-

(I’m basically a warriors name generator)

[rubyceazaart]

Also I've complied all my recent refs for my silly oc crossover idea into a nice clean group pic version of this. This one looks better, but unfortunately doesn't have the cute characters interactions as the previous. At least it looks nice!

[ohshy]

Just so ya know you’ve asked for it

WHO’S YOUR TOP 3 FAVORITE BOXERS

MAY WE SEE THE WOMEN’S CIRCUIT AND WHOSE DESIGN ARE YOU MOST PROUD DOF FROM THAT

And finally who would be trusted to watch your kid to watch your children most to least with both men and women circs (hypothetically)

(Giving an anon emoji sign off bc why not statue of litterby )

-🗽

ALRIGHT BUCKLE UP ANON AND THE REST thisll b a long one

king hippo (Duh)

von kaiser

hmmmm thats a tough one uhhhh probably either bear hugger, disco kid, aran ryan or soda popinksi !! but id i had to pick, rn itd b (joe biden voice) SODA !!!!

and now for the womens circuit !!!!

Ok so... starting with the challenger, Cassidy Cornfield !

hailing from farley, iowa, shes a little off her rocker. She believes she was put on earth by aliens to box. Though, this is likely just smth she made up as a result of a vivid dream she had when chowing down one too many corn nobs! Speaking of corn, she WILL talk your ear off about all the supposed ‘’proof’’ she has of alien existence, like the crop circles that show up frequently around her hometown. That being said, she IS determined to prove herself for her alien overlords, so prepare for a challenge!

She's modeled after glass corn, which looks like this (thanks to charlie for that idea !!):

Other details include...

her full name is Cassidy C. Campbell (she won't tell what the C stands for)

she's of irish/cherokee descent

they are a tiny straw weight standing at 5'2 feet and weighing 90 lbs, and an adult little mac trains her !!

Speaking of little mac, unlike him, she had to wait a year to get her boxing license for her 18th birthday. She simply doesn't look old for her age😔 Poor girl still gets handed the childrens menu at restaurants as well!

Her gimmick is that when charged with enough punching power, she can unleash a painful series of punches known as the ‘’Glass corn combo’’. think hondo rush, except like the star punch, it cant be countered, only avoided.

Next up, Beauty Bling !!!

All bling and no brawn !

I've posted her bio before, so i'll keep it brief; basically shes macho man's fame monger younger sister, and unfortunately for her, shes all bling and no brawn! Despite herself though, she's no quitter! She once pulled many all nighters trying to figure out computer science, and now it's one of her biggest hobbies !

other little factoids about her are...

her full name is Brittany Anita Jones

Cis woman, she/her

shes mixed white/native hawaiian (i hc macho to be white/native hawaiian as well).

She's modeled after 00s/y2k fashion

talks like a valley girl

talks on her phone during intermissions. will either b calling her dad or her friends.

Gimmick: Similarly to glass joe, she has poor defense and rarely attacks. Her special attack is her stepping back, moving a hand through her hair, and saying ''Ready to be punched in style?'' and releasing a very easily avoidable uppercut.

Will also say ''rude!'' when you avoid her punch

Next... Axelerator !!!!

The Mighty Mechanic!

This Welsh wrestling-watching mechanic from Cardiff packs a meaner punch than his predecessor ! Too bad this motor mouth gets so excited he can’t resist calling out his attacks every time he throws a punch ! But hey, gotta put on a good show, just like those cool wrestlers on tv !

other factoids about him...

his full name is Axel Cadogan

21 years old

hes a cis woman but goes by he/him pronouns bc hes swag like that

stands at 5 foot tall and weighs 220 lbs.

he wears a mechanic outfit as his boxing uniform.

Gets flustered really damn easily. Especially around hot women. 

Gimmick: Basically a huge motor mouth (haha geddit) who calls out all of his attacks, and gives you plenty of time to avoid them. You do gotta watch out which way you dodge, though. Next up, Silver Hook and Scallywag !!!!!

The Meanest Hook Of The Seven Seas !

Ever since she was a little girl, she wanted to be just like the pirates from the stories she read all the time. This of course, includes having a parrot, which she affectionately named Scallywag. Unfortunately, Scallywag keeps running her mouth and telegraphing her owner’s moves ! Despite this, however, Silver can’t stand the thought of not having her emotional support parrot by her side. 

Other factoids about her:

Her real name is Maria Bermudez

Cis woman, she/her

shes 29 years old

stands at 6'2 feet and weighs 200 pounds

from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Her parrot is a Black-legged parrot. She’s had it since she was 5 years old.

Brings her parrot literally everywhere

Gimmick: Sure, she might be faster than Axel, but she's still a rather predictable fighter who telegraphs her attacks very clearly. You do gotta watch better which way you dodge, though. When the parrot says ''left!'', well, you better watch your left.

Up Next, the minor circuit champion, Dancing Queen !!!!!

Lay All Your Gloves On Me ~

A huge fan of ABBA, if that wasn’t already obvious, veteran Queen’s entire gimmick is based on that of 70’s pop and disco. She’s also by far the happiest person of perhaps the entire WVBA, despite being arguably the lowest ranking champion of all circuits. Some even theorize that she’d be happy, even if she was THE lowest ranked boxer. That’s because everytime she gets in the ring, she’s 17 again. That’s just how happy those Swedes are !

Other factoids:

Her real name is Heidi Karlsson

She's a trans lady, she/her

shes's 45 years old

she stands at 6'4 ft and weighs 215 lbs.

From Jönköping, Sweden

Always seen smiling. Always.

Became a boxer partially to let our her frustrations about disco fading away as a trend

Gimmick: she has a special move called the criss cross punch, where she diagonally raises her fist to punch you and then the other, similiarly to that iconic disco dance.

____________ Now for the major circuit !!!

Disclaimer: I do Not have designs or certain info for the majority of the characters from here on out. Please bare w/ me

Next up, Black and Bunraku !!!!! (props to charlie for the name)

A Boxer based on the japanese art of bunraku, Black and Bunraku actually consists of ''two fighters''; A puppet who hits you, and the puppeteer who controls the puppets movements, covered from head to toe in black. As a result, the woman's identity is a real mystery.

Other factoids:

Refuses to say her real name, age, height and weight, instead letting the puppet do all the talking.

From Osaka, Japan. This is also where the biggest bunraku theatre is located.

Gimmick: Hitting the puppet won't do anything. Once you figure out the trick to hitting her in the head, she's a fairly easy opponent to take down.

Next up: Nike the Great !!!!! A threatrical tirant and a complete history and art geek, Nike longs to be a wise philosopher slash theater actor like the ancient Greeks, with a boxing twist. Her stage name ‘’Nike’’, meaning victory in Greek, is one she holds because she is sure to be the victor, despite only being in the lower major circuit. Oh well, confidence is a stepping stone to success, right?

Other factoids:

Her real name is Nikki Ioannidis

She identifies as a nonbinary woman, she/he/they

27 years old

She stands at 6'0 feet and weighs 220 lbs.

From Athens, Greece

HUGE rivals with Narcis Prince. only ONE can wear the V for victory and that's HER.

Huge rivals with A Lot of people, including Monarch Mayhem (keep reading to see her bio !!)

During her intermissions and fights, she'll show you some of the art she's made, like painted vases. If you punch it out of her hands, she’ll get REAL mad though, so watch yourself !

Gimmick: Pretty clean fighter, outside of the fact she brings art into the ring. Hey, she's an artist after all !

Up next, Moto Mauler, The Electrifying Biker !!!!!!

This biker chick loves nothing more than the rush of the road and the wind in her hair ! and a good tussle of course. She will make sure to knock you out with the great speed she feels on her motor cycle.

Other factoids:

Her real name's Nguyen Lihn

She's a trans woman, she/her

24 years old

She stands at 5'9 ft and weighs 170 lbs.

From Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

During her intermissions, she'll talk about how beautiful the sights are and how you oughta be quicker on your feet.

She gets along swimmingly w/ Axel bc duh. mechanic x biker chick, cant go wrong w/ that right?

Gimmick: Clean fighter, outside of entering the ring on a motorcycle. Will try to exhaust you with quick jabs, and when you're tired, releases a series of punches to take you down.

Lastly, Monarch Mayhem, The Monarch of the Major Circuit !!!

Formerly known as Butterfly Bash :3

An unsuccesful artist turned boxer, Monarch Mayhem brings her frustrations into the ring, and with success! She is the crown jewel of the Major Circuit after all. That being said, she will NOT let you forget she's an artist! She will try to hypnotize you with stunning butterfly patterns on her sleeves made by herself of course, and dodge equally elegantly. At least the boxing crowd appreciates her !

Other factoids:

Cis woman, she/her

She's 31 years old

She stands at 6'1 ft and weighs 175 lbs.

From Calabar, Nigeria

Gimmick: Like i said, she'll try to stun you with hypnotizing patterns on her sleeves. The way to avoid this is to block your face, otherwise you'll get dizzy and become incapacitated ! Additionally, she does a lot of fake-outs, making her a formidable champion.

_____________

Now for the world circuit !!!

First off, Scarlet Fever, The Bad Omen !!!!!! Clad with arguably the most unorthodox boxing wear, a robe with a plague doctor mask, Scarlet Fever serves as an omen that the next opponents you’re about to face are the real deal. Other factoids:

Trans woman, she/her

She's 55 years old

Stands at 6'7 ft and weighs 210 lbs.

From Florence, Italy

Doesn’t speak, but does speak in Italian sign language.

Also does plenty of hand gestures in the ring

Secondly, Flossin' Fury, The Mental Dental Case !!!!!

After getting her medical license revoked for malpractise, she's now a dentist turned boxer. Got any cavities? Let's find out!

She's my newest addition to the OC roster, so i. Don't have much apart from a basic premise. She'll get developed soon though dw dw ! Thirdly, Sunny Gunny, The Granny with Guns !!!!!

After becoming tired of being bullied all the time, she trained to defend herself against bullies. Don’t let her old age fool you, she’s still a tanky old lady who can deal quite the mean punches ! That being said, whether you win or lose against her, she’s a nice old woman who’ll bake you some delicious goods !

Other factoids:

Her real name is Sondra ‘’Sunny’’ Seydoux

Cis woman, she/her

She's 80 years old

Stands at 6'5 ft and weighs 180 lbs

From Tallahassee, Florida

Of Haitian American descent

Of course brings baked good in the ring during intermissions. Also Oft seen knitting as well.

Balls of yarn spin around her head when she’s stunned

Gimmick: She just loves hugging her grandchildren, and this bleeds over in the ring as well; she's a real powerful hugger to the point you can b immediately incapacitated when you're hugged. During title defense, She will protect her body with her knitted blanket that can be removed in a certain way. Next up, Butch Diamond, A Girl’s Best Friend !!!!!

An Australian football player turned boxer, Butch has a robust body and an near impenetrable defense, making her a formidable fighter ! She puts her skills she learned from football into good use, so be quick on your feet ! Albeit somewhat cocky, she mostly just hams it up in the ring, and is a kind soul outside of it.

Other factoids:

Her real name is Desmond Kelly

GNC cis woman, she/he

He's 39 years old

He stands at 6'0 ft and weighs 235 lbs

She's from Melbourne, Australia

She's of Aboriginal Australian descent

Very sociable and friendly

Gimmick: Your Glass corn combo won’t work on her stomach! In fact, if you try it, you will lose HP! Instead, try stunning her and hitting her in the face with it! During her title defense, she’ll train harder, and somehow become even more robust. Now, your hands will be incapacitated for a short while if you try to hit her in the stomach repeatedly, longer if you try to do a glass corn combo.

And lastly but not leastly, Nessie,

The Shadow Champion !!!!

I've talked ab her before too, so again will keep it brief.

Gimmick: She's called a shadow champion for a reason ! Somehow, her surroundings become all dark whenever she enters the ring. During title defense, its as if you get pulled underwater. Does she use magic? Is she just that powerful? Nobody knows.

_____________

As for who would be good w/ kids...

Cassidy Cornfield: Not good with kids. Keeps scaring them with stories about aliens.

Axelerator: Axel co-runs his dad's mechanic shop, so hes definitely used to the responsibility.

Silver Hook and Scallywag: Makes kids laugh with her parrot, so pretty good with kids !

Dancing Queen: She has a couple kids of her own ! She's a great momma :3 Loves dancing with them

Black and Bunraku: Nah. Has made kids cry with her puppet. On her own, she's kinda awkward.

Nike the Great: Loves kids ! She loves telling them all kinds of stories ab ancient Greece and myths and being all theatrical about it.

Moto Mauler: Cool big sister type figure. Has a tendency to be too lenient towards kids though.

Monarch Mayhem: Think's kids r alright. Despite how difficult her path as an artist has been, she'd 100% encourage kids to follow their dreams.

Scarlet Fever: Same w/ Cassidy and Bunraku, she scares kids (albeit unintentionally).

Flossin' Fury: She's a dentist. and a scary one at that. So no, kids dont even get close to her vicinity.

Sunny Gunny: Has grandchildren, so naturally adores kids. Would bake delicious goods n spoil them rotten.

Butch Diamond: Also loves kids ! Loves carrying them on her shoulders n letting them climb all over her.

Nessie: Again, scares children, although she finds it funny.

[hexiewrites]

on eddie not apologizing in carve your name:

I got a comment on carve your name into my chest that really had me buzzing (in a good way!) with thoughts about character development, and I wrote out a whole reply explaining where I was coming from and figured it may be worth sharing too.

I've seen the take that eddie gets off 'easy' at the end of carve. he never really apologizes to steve for how he's treated, and at the end of the fic doesn't really have consequences for this. steve has grovelled and apologized and done something on a huge public stage, and eddie... well. he's been a little shit.

I love seeing people pick up on that, because it was something I did with a lot of intention! when you write from single character POV interactions like this can often feel unbalanced, especially if we feel connected to one character more than the other. but all of carve was written with both of their ongoing development and feelings strongly in my mind. the sequel is going to touch on this a lot, and there are hints as to what's to come in my answer to the comment I got, so stop here if you don't want any inkling (but still want to know that yes, eddie is going to have a lot of his own making up to do). otherwise, enjoy this unrestrained ramble on my character choices.

(oh, and also: serious spoilers for carve your name below! read at your own peril!)

off the bat: Eddie needing to apologize for how he treated steve is definitely going to come up (more than once) in the sequel. we're going to get some insight into the character development steve has gone through (and if you read the prequel, i hope you can see how much he's a different person in THIS fic compared to that), and these boys are going to need to spend a really solid amount of time working through where they are as people and how they've treated each other (on both ends). eddie definitely has a lot of apologizing to do and is going to really need to prove to steve that he has grown and changed, and is still growing. steve definitely still has wounds from the way eddie has treated him (aka: as disposable), though steve has also made choices in this fic that are going to have serious repercussions.

ultimately, eddie absolutely makes a bad call here when he kicks steve out and refuses to listen to him, and he focuses so hard on all of steve's faults that he really ignores his own (as we often do when fighting with someone who riles us up). but the thing is: he mades a bad call because he has been hurt over and over, and he is STILL hurting with the fact that steve just kind of wants to gloss over everything and go back to their previous arrangement, when it has substantially changed eddie's life. don't forget he's also got brenner over his head and he is terrified of losing his career, so he's trying to take brenner's warning to heart, he just isn't very good at communication (all characters in this fic need therapy should be a tag, huh?).

at the end of the day, we have two characters here with their own faults, insecurities, and struggles. steve (as we'll get into in the sequel!) has his own self worth problems and has always been one to try to smooth over problems and just 'get back to normal' even if it's no longer working for the people around him (see: his breakup with nancy in canon). he is going to need eddie to prove that he's in it, that he wants this as much as steve did. eddie's got faults too, he's a hair trigger who's quick to jump and slower to think through the way his actions read. his original plan here was to sit down and talk to steve after the game but when steve changes things with the kiss, well, he gets caught up.

for me this was a good stopping point because it marks a solid conclusion of eddie's arc (from their first encounter where he still thinks he hates steve, through all these issues of his interpretation of steve's sexuality and fear of being outed, working through what it means for eddie to be queer and out in hockey not on his own terms, etc). steve taking the steps to fix it, to prove to eddie that he's all in, is what eddie needed to conclude this arc, to know that steve is going to stick it out even when it's really really hard.

but it's not the end of their character development, and in a lot of ways this marks the beginning of a huge change for steve. in the background of this fic he's spent a lot of time coming to terms with his sexuality and he thinks that this is going to "fix" it and solve their problems, but he's just opened himself up to a lot of issues and he's going to need eddie to reassure him and support him as they deal with the (absolutely massive) problems that coming out like this is going to cause them.

anyways, phew. tldr: eddie absolutely has apologizing to do, and a lot to make up for and to prove to steve that he is as in it as he is in his head. but steve has more things to overcome too, and they will hurt each other again (as humans do!) before they figure things out. they have a lot to get through as a couple in the sequel, from BOTH sides. I've tried to write this whole verse as balanced as I can (though having single character POV can often make things feel less balanced, even if they're not!) and that's going to continue to be a theme in the sequel.

[cyberkiss2uu]

yayy its almost the end of 2023!! this year was huge for my art growth and its so awesome to look back on everything.. this was super fun 2 make and not only serves as a memory for this year's art and my interests but to my closest irl and online friends who were with me the whole way ^_^

happy new year!! heres to more growth and fun :-)

[arabriddler]

important ! In recent years especially this year I’ve noticed a lot that the internet language picked up so many Islamic phrases and, from a muslim perspective, it makes the internet a little more welcoming. the thing is, a lot of the time with Islamic phrases you have to be careful about when and where to say them they hold their own weight and demand their own respect so here is a list explaining each phrase and some notes about it.

In sha allah

It means “ If God wills “. It’s mostly a response that can mean yes or no. If someone asks you to do something you can say in sha allah as in “ I heard you and I’ll try to do itc but I can’t claim that It will happen “ . Muslims say it because we’re unaware of what future holds it’s actually blasphemous to claim to know the future, so saying so means “ If it’s the will of god it will happen if not it won’t “ and you’d also say it about future events.

Ma sha allah

It means “ this is what god intended “ and it’s a compliment. Saying so is like saying WOW! But it’s also kind of a prayer of protection? If I see someone with pretty hair I should say “ Ma sha allah your hair is very pretty “ the ma sha allah protects the person from the evil eye. By saying that I’m also saying I’m not jealous I’m genuinely enamored and I don’t wish any harm to go to it.

Astagfurullah

it means “ to god I repent “ or “ from god I seek forgiveness” it’s usually used when you make a mistake but people also use it when they see something bad or when they want to avoid saying something bad. Like once my card refused to work and I’d say that so I won’t say any curse words and to calm down my anger

wallah/wallahi

okay this one is important. This one shouldn’t be used so lightly. It means “ by god’s name “ and it’s basically swearing in Allah’s name. You are only supposed to say it if you genuinely mean what you’re saying. It’s such a heavy word that I only say it very rarely and if you say it and don’t follow up on what you said you have to fast for three days as repentance.

ya allah

ya is an addressing word? Like talking to someone or calling them? Like saying O’ ( someone ) so ya allah means O’ god

Al hamdullilah // hamdullilah

it means �� praise/thanks to god ‘ said when something good happens or when you feel relieved about something— for example, my shirt is stained badly and I’m worried it won’t clean well. I clean it and the stain is gone so I say “ al hamdullilah “ kind of like phew!. Sometimes people say it as an answer when they’re asked how they are it can either mean things are good or bad but we preserve .

One more note is that with the name of Allah you should also be careful it’s not supposed to be written on papers that’ll get stepped on or lightly used in art because it also has its own weight it’s regarded heavily. Like even in home decorations it should be elevated and not overshadowed. If I have to throw away a paper I have to sit down and color over the name of Allah or burn the papers so it won’t get thrown in trash.

another note is that those phrases aren’t Muslim exclusive. Some Arab non-Muslims use them as well. This is only my explanation from a Muslim perspective.

Another another note is this is what I can remember at the moment but if you have additions or enquiries let me know

[voltrons]

.

[joyridingmp3]

just got back from my coworker/friends house. she's so cool and nice. we engaged in so much psychoanalysis together and she was so nice to me talking about things. she called me the wish people would love to make and gave me one of her art paintings to take home <3

[kaiijo]

SUPER-GLUED JAR PRANK — [WIND BREAKER]

characters: sakura haruka, umemiya hajime, hiragi toma, togame jo content: gn! reader, a (very old) tiktok prank notes: they’re so silly, i love them

sakura haruka ✶

in hindsight, you should have known giving sakura the super-glued jar might not have been your best idea but his bright pink face paired with an inevitable tirade were too good to pass up. you can’t take all the credit for it — kotoha played a role too, supplying you with a nearly-empty jar of sprinkles and some acting. 

your boyfriend is sitting with nirei and suo when you emerge from cafe potus’s pantry with the jar. she feigns disappointment when she asks, “any luck?”

“no,” you say, shaking the jar in your hand for effect.

“it’s such a waste to just let all that stuff sit at the bottom.”

you turn to sakura and asks, “can you try opening it, sweetheart?”

sakura’s face flushes at the pet name, which makes his friends giggle, and he takes the jar from you. with each attempt his make, sakura scowls more and more, huffing as he sets it down. nirei suggests that he tap the lid against the edge of the table but sakura uses just a bit too much force and the glass breaks. you gasp and the trio at the table jumps back with fast reflexes. 

kotoha’s already running to grab a broom and dustpan and you’re reaching down to pick up the big pieces. sakura’s hand closes around your wrist before you can and he says, “are you crazy? you could hurt yourself, let me do it.” 

“no one touch it,” kotoha orders as she sweeps the shards up. nirei is apologizing profusely and sakura mutters an apology, complaining about how he almost had it and how they shouldn’t make jars that sealed that tight. when you come clean to him about gluing the lid, he’s huffing and puffing at you, and you make it up to him with a lot of food and a lot of kisses and cuddles in private. 

umemiya hajime ✶

you find umemiya on the roof of furin high, tending to his garden. your heart swells as you hear him coo at his plants, carefully and lovingly watering them. you almost feel bad about this little prank. almost, but you remember the prank he pulled last week with that fake rubber bug in your lunch so you don’t feel too bad.

you thank every star in the sky that sugishita’s not here at the moment because you’re pretty sure this prank would be the last thing you’d get to do if he was. “hajime?” you call to him.

 his head immediately swerves to look at you and his smile is as bright as ever as he set down the water can and makes his way over. he presses a loud, messy kiss against your cheek, and you don’t even have to ask umemiya; he notices the jar in your hand and says, “i can help you open that!”

“thanks,” you say and he takes the jar from you. 

he’s beaming when he replies with a breezy “no problem, baby!” and firmly grips the lid, giving it a firm twist. his smile dims a little and he tries again with no luck. umemiya squares his feet and gives it another go, and you can’t deny that seeing his arms bulge with exertion against the sleeves of his white t-shirt is in any way unpleasant.

he slides on his gardening gloves and tries again. the lid doesn’t budge and umemiya is pouting at the jar and mumbling, “i’ll be right back.” he disappears into the school for about twenty minutes. he comes back with a look of defeat, shoulders slumping. “i can’t help you,” he says. “i’m really sorry.”

oh my god, you feel your stomach twist in sympathy and you answer, “i know. i’m really sorry, haji, it’s because i super-glued the lid.”

he blinks once, twice, and then his smile is back on his face. he wipes some sweat off his brow and sighs in relief, “phew! i thought i’d totally lost my strength there for second!” you can’t help but stare at him as he grins, outshining the sun. what did you do to deserve this angel?

hiragi toma ✶

you walk into your living room, where hiragi is setting up a movie for the two of you to watch. “any movie in mind?” he asks as he leans back in the couch, remote in hand. 

“howl’s moving castle?” 

“again? we watched that last weekend too.”

you grin at him. “it’s not my fault howl’s so cute.”

your boyfriend rolls his eyes, grumbling, “he’s not that cute. and he’s not real.” before you can argue, hiragi motions at the jar in your hand. 

“can you help me open it?” you ask him, holding it out to him. 

he eyes it suspiciously. “you hate pickles.”

“i want to try them again.”

“but why buy an entire jar if you want to just—”

“can you please just open it? help me start this new journey in my life?” he still looks confused but, ever the dutiful boyfriend, takes it from your hand. 

one attempt. two, then three. by the fourth, you feel a giggle threatening to burst forth but the familiar sound of the air pressure releasing has your jaw dropping. hiragi doesn’t take the lid off entirely, letting it sit on top as he hands it back to you. he takes in your awed expression with a frown. “is everything okay?” he’s already reaching for his stomach tablets. 

“i super-glued this,” you say, still a little starstruck. “like, with a lot of glue. you weren’t supposed to be able to open it.” 

you show him the lid and as he swallows down the pill. he sighs, “you’re going to be the death of me.” 

togame jo ✶

“these looks so good!” tomiyama says, marveling at the spread of sandwiches and snacks you had brought to the park. he had been the one to propose a shishitoren picnic, though togame was the one who had pared it down to just a couple of people to make it more manageable. 

“thanks! help yourselves!” you reply, watching on with a small smile as the boys dug into the food you had prepared. you lean against togame, who rests his chin on your shoulder. 

he leans forward for a sandwich, handing you one as well. it’s your favorite variety of the ones you made and you’re thrilled that your boyfriend remembered that. as you take a bite, you figure this the perfect time to execute your plan. you reach into your own bag, pulling out a nearly-finished jar of chili oil. you nudge togame. “you think you can help me open this? i tried all morning.”

“sure,” he says, gently lifting it from your grasp. his arms are still around you as he makes his first attempt and you feel the quick breath he exhales as he tries again. he eventually untangles himself from you, eyebrows furrowing. “shit,” he says, “i don’t know if i can.”

tomiyama makes grabbing hands at it. “let me try!” togame hands it over to his friend and tomiyama tries a couple of times, pouting when he can’t open it either. he hands it over to sako, who glowers when he fails too. the jar gets passed between the shishitoren members present and each one is unsuccessful. the last guy hands it back to you and togame sighs, “sorry we couldn’t help, baby.”

as everyone else apologizes to, you feel a little bashful as you admit to gluing it. you’re relieved when they take it in good stride, letting out relieved cries and playfully protest. you pull out another jar of the same chili oil, this one totally super-glue-free and give it to those who want it as a peace offering.  as the group settles into a nice rhythm, you lean back against togame and his head finds its place in the crook of your neck again.

[passingnotions]

On Set | Jihyo

smut, 900~ words

You find yourself balls deep in Park Jihyo and in front of a DSLR camera with a very, very bright studio light setup. You both have your knees up on the cheapest couch imaginable—white, tacky, stiff—as your arms hook and pull around hers. Her back has been arched like this for the better part of two minutes, tits presenting (and bouncing) for the camera as dictated by the director. When you finally let go, she moans. It’s performative, satisfactory. But you also know it’s real.

See, you and her go way back. A few years worth. Jihyo has been in the industry for so much longer than you and, despite it having been your first scene together all those years ago, you blew her back out like she fucking deserved—her words, by the way. Phew, that was new. What’s your name again? It stuck with her and you’re vainly proud of that, so much so that every time you’re arranged for a new scene together, she brings in gift baskets and goodies; pampers you in hopes that you fuck her the only way you know—the right way.

As if you’d ever disappoint.

And it’s funny that you’ve never hooked up off the clock—a shame. There’s always a point in conversation, during prep time, where you both laugh at the thought. You have always thought it’d be disastrous in the best of ways. Have to keep the magic on screen, however. 

Something important to note, to digress: this crew sucks at everything. Your agencies both wanted in with a new fledgling studio, your manager called it. Their content is good, consistent, but you’ll be damned if it’s not generic. However it goes and however trite their camerawork, they’re making bank, and you’re there to profit off both of your names alone. 

There’s a before, during, and after to things. The latter two are good: a pretty girl with a pretty face gets railed by some nondescript cock and some part of her ends up glazed white. The former, however, leaves a lot to be desired. Best summarized? Solid creative vision. Near-zero technical prowess.

So, the sound guy needs another break. Something’s off again, he says as you’re mid thrust. The director yells cut for the umpteenth time and you bury yourself to the base to check in with your costar.

“You’re fucking kidding.” Jihyo says under her breath, head turning back to you. She sets her toned arms on the backrest of the couch and lays her head. “How long has it been?”

“Two hours.” 

It should have taken three, but the timer will count four by the end—

You take another long back-and-forth drag inside of her warm, tight cunt.

—Not like you mind.

Jihyo starts pushing back onto it; an experimental one-two, hips bucking ever so slightly with the majority of your cock still inside her folds. You figure she likes the way your balls brush against her clit. You do, too.

“It’d be a shame if—” She shimmies a little side-to-side. “You filled me up and the cameras weren’t rolling.”

Edging for the last hour. How would you say the question lands?

Jihyo snakes a hand under her body to reach for where you’ve started to fuck, slowly, slowly, purposefully. She runs circles with her middle finger, and with a very serious tone: “Keep going.”

Your hands land right where her ass overflows onto her hips when she spreads the knees a bit further apart. Her arch settles. With a long drag back—and a tight grip of that muscled frame—you fuck into her. Once. This firm thrust that makes her whole body shudder. You catch her profile as her lips curl a smile.

“Keep going.” Her fingertips move faster.

And when Jihyo’s asking—“sure”—you keep fucking going.

Okay, the shoot does end up taking four hours, but not because of the staff’s lack of equipment know-how.

You are fucking. Truly, unequivocally, fucking. Like you’ve missed her (you have—she’s fun), like she’s missed you.

The sheer force it takes you to not cum right then and there—to help her reach that ever sought-after climax—is the same force with which you pound Jihyo into the cheap, faux leather couch. You’d swear, later on, how she near melded with the piece of furniture: nail scratches on the surface, the imprint of the seams on her skin. She loves all of it. It’s guilty-pleasure levels of abrasive. You don’t fuck like that on camera. Authenticity can’t be quantified on a payslip.

And for that short amount of time, the set dissipates; the crew vanishes.

Jihyo is cumming—you know this, her tells. Goosebumps all over her skin, from the top of her thighs up to her rippling, reddened cheeks, and the way her moans turn to breathy coos and needy whimpers. You revel in knowing you can split her apart. That same satisfaction ends you in tandem.

Because there’s no other way you would have it, without a doubt. This short burst of fire burns right through your core. Your hands grasp her skin for dear life as your legs cease and stiffen their motion. All of it—the money shot—coats Jihyo’s pulsing cunt in an instant. It sends ripples through you both as you struggle to maintain a semblance of composure. The load washes over your length in this pleasing warmth that has Jihyo shivering through the remainder of her orgasm. Slow quivers. A bit of contented laughter.

“Fuck yes,” escapes her lips before the crew fades back in, curses and yells accompanying an attempt to catch whatever’s left of your unsanctioned stunt.

You’ll take the extra hour.