#so it's difficult to share it with others

[yasministration]

apartment hunt - remus lupin

remus lupin x potter!reader secret relationship au summary: when sirius reveals he's moving out of the potter household to fleamont and euphemia, you and james decide to reveal to him some exciting news wc: 1k+

The living room is completely silent other than the occasional sound Euphemia Potter makes as she sips her tea. You sit facing her, next to the fireplace as she flips over to the next page of her book, humming quietly. It’s been difficult, this past week, trying not to say anything. You and James had discussed moving out of the manor and finding a flat with Remus and Sirius — you liked the idea, but was it too soon? Neither of you even had jobs yet, and the security of living with your parents was nice.

It’s time for you to say something. You know Sirius hadn’t told your parents yet, but your mum would be able to keep things between you. At least for a little while.

Euphemia lifts her eyes from her book, finding you squirming on the rug. She lifts her eyebrows at you. You open your mouth, then promptly shut it. She shuts her book, setting it aside. Your mother only looks at you, waiting patiently for you to begin speaking. So you do. “Sirius told James and I that he’s thinking of moving out.”

“Oh.”

“He and Remus are going to move in together.”

“Oh.” Euphemia pats the spot on the sofa next to her, and you scramble up from the floor to join her, nervously chewing at your bottom lip. “And?” She prompts, lifting her mug to her lips again. “They’ve basically extended the invitation to me and James. Not extended, but-”

“You were always invited.” She finishes for you. You nod slowly. “What are you thinking?” You sigh deeply, moving your gaze to the fireplace again. You carefully pick your words, curious for your mother's opinion without revealing too much. “I- we don’t even have jobs yet, and I don’t know if I want to move out so soon. You know, we’ve just been at Hogwarts for seven years, and I like being around you and dad.”

“Honey, if you move out, it doesn’t mean you won’t see us. I’ll be expecting you for dinner every night.” You smile at your mother’s words, recognising the genuineness in them.

“If we move in, me and Remus will share a room.”

It’s your mother’s turn to smile, and one of her hands reaches out to brush some hair away from your face. “Yeah? How does James feel about it.”

“At first he was, you know, the usual James. But he’s okay with it. He says he gets how much we love each other, and he knows the relationship is really serious. And if I ever get sick of Remus, I can hide in his room. I just- I just don’t want to do this if I have any doubts.”

“And do you have any doubts?”

“Not doubts. But, worries. In general. I’d like for us to all find jobs before doing this.”

“You’re just like your father. He’s always been a worrier.”

“What did you just call me!?” The mock offended voice that cries out comes from the door to the backyard. Your dad and James are making their way into the house, and your mother raises her eyebrows at the sight of brooms in their hands. “I thought we agreed that brooms stay outside.”

Your dad pushes his broom into James’s chest, and your brother scurries back to put them in the shed. When he returns, you notice how flushed his face is, and how his shirt clings to his back, spots of sweat seeping through the fabric.

“Where’s Sirius?” You ask, waiting for the third man to show up. James runs a hand through his sweaty curls, a grin on his face. “Guess.”

“Is he showering?” Your mum assumes, and James points two finger guns at her in victory. But then soft dabbing of feet on the stairs reveals that Sirius is out of the shower. He pauses at the bottom of the stairs, clutching a letter in front of him.

“Um, I have an announcement to make.”

“Sirius, love, we know you’re gay.” Your dad says, and you giggle joyfully, pressing a hand to your mouth when Sirius glares at you. “Come sit down, honey.” Your mother says, and all three men obey her words, taking a seat in the living room. James settles on your retired spot on the rug, and your dad stretches his limbs as he sits on an armchair.

“I’m moving out.” Sirius says, and your eyes go wide. You didn’t think he’d do it so soon. “Well, when I find a flat and everything. But, yeah, uh, I got an internship with Ollivander.”

“Ollivander!?” You cry, rising from your place on the couch and snatching the acceptance letter Sirius held. You quickly scan through it, jaw dropping lower and lower as you realise he is telling the truth. “Sirius, Ollivander never takes interns! Like - ever. Wow, congratulations” Sirius grins, face flushing brightly when you lean down to wrap your arms around him proudly.

The rest of your family follows immediately, standing up to give him celebratory hugs. Sirius wrinkles his nose when James hugs him, and he mutters “You seriously need a shower, mate.”

“Yeah, alright, come on.” James wraps and arm around Sirius’s shoulders, and with one last glance to your parents, you follow the two boys upstairs, into James’s room. The door shuts behind you, and you linger in front of the closed doors, shifting your weight from foot to foot. You glance towards James, who looks at you quickly before turning his gaze towards Sirius again.

“Uh, you know, if the invitation is still open, I think we’re gonna join you and Remus.” Sirius grins unbelievably wide, and he jumps up from the bed, glancing back and forth between you both. “Yeah,” You confirm, “And I think sooner than expected too. I got accepted for an internship at the Magical office of Law. It starts at the end of summer.”

“Yeah, and my auror training does too.”

“Auror training? Your internship? You guys both-?” Sirius cuts himself off with a loud laugh, jumping up and down with his arms extended. He pulls you into a hug first, releasing you from his grip only to hug James. “Does-does Remus know?”

You glance down at your feet, nodding guiltily. “Yeah, I told Remus.”

“When did you tell Remus!?” James cries, head snapping towards you.

“Like two minutes after I told you.”

“I see how it is.”

“Our parents don’t know though.”

“Does this mean we can start apartment hunting?”

taglist: @ravisinghs-wife, @amatoanima, @starry-remus, @pain-in-the-ashe, @hiireadstuff, @superlegend216, @treefairy-28, @kitkatkl, @rory-cakes, @juliet-f017, @fl0weryannie, @tiaajosephin, @why-am-i-like-this18, @theoraekenslover, @animalcrossingshameless, @azure-drag0ness, @dream-alittlebiggerdarling, @dearlizzies, @matcha-kitty13, @thenasoneshots, @cakiebleh, @slytherin-princess-x, @daydreamandforget, @bxuzi, @dlljdhsh, @5sospenguinqueen, @aouoo, @spider–girl, @fandomhoe101, @user010380, @simp-for-fiction, @selenewowww, @paytonluvxx, @sharkers00, @joonbread, @rhettsluvr, @iluvhrj

[onyxedenfox]

I've not been able so far to get a doctor's confirmation of a chronic condition or for chronic pain, due to the fact that although mine is predominantly lingering, most of the time it just acts in flare ups. There is no pattern to track of how's its induced. All I know is that through my youth I acquired a series of injuries which now make the nerves in my back and one leg seize up or go numb. I have also been hit by a car, twice, causing further damage to my hip.

There are all sorts of pains that come and go from this, at random intervals, without warning. I'll be walking, sitting, standing, or laying down, perfectly alright, until all of a sudden pain starts shooting up my legs or my back. Then I can't turn. I can't stand. I can't move at all. Sometimes the pain is dull. Sometimes it's blinding. At the best of times I just need to stretch or use a cane, at the worst tho I'm immobilised and entirely dependent on whomever I'm with at the time. Especially in a sexual encounter. I need the other person to close my legs, adjust my limbs, and manoeuvre my body like a mannequin. There's no way to see it coming, so I always have to stay prepared in case it does.

So do the people I share my life with. Everything is made that bit more difficult, more tiring. All of it has to be planned and negotiated in advance and in some ways, however big or little, I'm always relying on the benevolence of others. Most of the time nothing happens, and I'm perfectly alright to carry on as normal. But in the instances it does, I need extra time, patience and support, which not every space or person is willing to provide. Please think of it the next time you meet, make friends with, have sex with or start dating someone with different needs from yours, and remember to make space for them to share those needs with you too.

What you have to understand about being chronically ill, is that I can do all the things that verifiably help me mediate my symptoms, and still I am inevitably going to wake up some days to my body beating me with sledgehammers.

The Best Case Scenario is just that the sledgehammers get smaller & it uses them less often. But the sledgehammers will always return.

It is the nature of chronic disorders to endure. This is why chronically ill folks have to be so cautious about our spoons. The sledgehammers keep breaking them and we only get so many.

[movrningstxrs]

CRITICAL HIT

PAIRING: jason todd x fem!reader

SUMMARY: what happens when you take a hit that’s meant for jason? only his worst nightmare come true

NOTES: 2k, established relationship, vigilante!reader, language, canon-typical blood and violence, medical inaccuracies, jason is not having a good time, slight angst with a happy ending. reader’s alias is nightingale (original, i know), and she’s black canary’s protégée because i love her

REBLOGS and COMMENTS are greatly appreciated

To the others, watching you and Jason fight was like watching a dance. Agile, graceful, and not a single step wasted or unnecessary. The pure rhythm and harmony that you two managed to achieve was truly awe-inspiring, yet it was only made possible after so many years spent fighting together, side-by-side, surviving death and other tribulations. Thus, it was no wonder that your relationship blossomed from simple ‘dance partners’ to something more.

Although it was difficult to name the exact label that defined your relationship—what with Jason being so selective with the information regarding his personal life and you choosing to simply follow your partner’s lead—it was clear to everyone that there was a mutual and ardent love shared between the two of you.

You changed Jason for the better, though you often argued that he didn’t need ‘fixing.’ He only needed someone kind enough to love him, to be there for him, and to listen to him, patiently, lovingly, and with grace. You just happened to be that person.

And God help anyone who dared to hurt Jason Todd’s person.

“I think that’s almost all of them,” you announced with a sigh of relief.

The rusty and dilapidated warehouse was littered with various goons, bloodied and beaten, and all of whom were in the process of being swiftly restrained after a successful raid on the illegal weapon shipments being stored there. The battle had been drawn out and arduous, but it was finally over, and all that was left was to wait for the GCPD to come and collect their soon-to-be jailbirds.

“Good job, everyone,” Bruce commended. “Remain vigilant as we wait for Gordon and his men to arrive.”

“Roger that, B,” Dick said with a playful salute, Tim and Damian responding with their own tired nods of affirmation.

“Got it, Batman!” you cheerfully confirmed.

“Heard,” Jason acknowledged, wincing as he rolled his shoulder and assessed the damage from the bullet that had clipped him minutes earlier. It hurt like a bitch, but in his line of work, it was minimal at worst, which was a lot more than he could say for the sad schmucks that lay before him.

And to think, the two of you had missed date night for this. Surely, Bruce owed you guys a nice luxury dinner, preferably on his black card, but that was a point of contention for another time. For now, all Jason wanted was a hot shower and some sleep.

“Hood, can you help me with this?” you requested while struggling to secure the last guy.

“Sure, birdie,” Jason replied, the answer coming easily to him as he settled next to you and retrieved the zip ties from your awaiting hands. The cute, appreciative smile that you sent his way was enough to spontaneously lighten his mood and ease the weariness soaking into his bones.

One last task before the two of you could go back home and wash the grime and exhaustion of the night away. One last task before you were free to be in his arms again. One last task before the call of sleep lured him in like a siren to a sailor, welcoming him into its gentle and peaceful embrace.

One last task, Jason repeated to himself.

And maybe if he wasn’t so distracted, tired and struggling to cope with the fatigue of tonight’s events, Jason would’ve noticed the slight movement coming from the corner of his eye. Maybe he would’ve reacted faster, like he normally would, the moment the crook drew one of Jason’s very own guns from its holster and pointed it squarely at the vigilante’s chest with a wide, bloody grin. And maybe—just maybe—if Jason had moved the slightest bit sooner, you wouldn’t have felt the need to throw yourself in front to protect him.

BANG!

A single gunshot thundered through the warehouse, rattling the broken windows and carrying through the open rafters, before your body crumpled to the ground with a pained, choked gasp.

Jason, meanwhile, merely snapped.

He had no time to truly register what had happened before his brain went into complete autopilot. His body launched itself forward as his fists connected with the man’s face over and over and over again. Blood began to mar his hands, and his knuckles bruised with every crazed swing he took, but Jason didn’t care. He only wanted the man to hurt, to feel a fraction of the pain that he had inflicted on you.

“Red Hood, stop! You’ll kill him!” Dick attempted to reason as he fought to pull Jason away.

“That’s the point, dickhead!”

“Are you serious right now? Reevaluate your priorities, Hood!” Tim argued, ever the rational one. “Nightingale’s in need of immediate medical attention, or she’ll die! Is that what you want?!”

“Don’t fucking say her name!” Jason snarled through gritted teeth as his anger quickly redirected to the younger male.

“Enough, all of you!” Bruce commanded, immediately defaulting to the stoic and efficient leader that he was. In his arms, you could quietly be heard gasping for low, shallow breaths, as a tight layer of gauze was crudely wrapped around your chest in an effort to staunch the bleeding.

God, while he had been too busy letting his anger and rage control him, Bruce had been the one to render you first aid. As the damning realization hit him, Jason’s body instantly went numb. He dreaded to think what would’ve happened if it was only the two of you. Had he truly been so careless as to let you bleed out while he enacted some stupid form of vengeance? Were his priorities really so skewed?

Some partner he was, Jason thought bitterly.

“She’s still breathing, but she’ll need to be operated on,” Bruce explained as he began to make his way toward the exit. “Robin, Red Hood, you’re with me. Nightwing and Red Robin, you two will stay here and report to Commissioner Gordon on tonight’s mission.”

A noise of confirmation left everyone’s mouth as Jason trailed behind Bruce like a dazed, lost soul. No longer was he the big bad Red Hood that Gotham’s criminal underbelly feared and loathed. Instead, in his place was the scared and broken boy who had faced a distant, ticking countdown and ultimately failed to save another woman in his life.

“Here,” Dick interrupted before Jason could get too far, handing back to him his gun.

“Keep it for now,” Jason instructed, staring at the weapon in disgust. “I-I can’t—”

“Yeah, of course,” Dick gently reassured as he placed a comforting hand on his brother’s arm. “It’ll be okay, little wing. She’ll be okay.”

Jason could only pray that he was right.

The journey back to the Cave passed by in a rushed blur. Rain pelted against his helmet as Jason pushed his bike to its absolute limits. He was an emotional wreck as he weaved through Gotham’s late-night traffic with reckless abandon, his mind entirely focused on one concern: your safety.

By the time Jason arrived back at base, Alfred had already been notified of the situation, as the Cave’s medical bay had been immaculately and meticulously prepared for your operation. As Alfred readied to roll you away on a stretcher, donned in a sterile set of gloves and scrubs, he turned to Jason with a meaningful look.

“I shall do everything in my power, Master Jason,” the old butler promised him.

“Thank you, Alfred,” Jason replied, his smile strained.

All he could do now was wait.

“Aren’t you a sad sight,” Damian noted the second Jason discarded his helmet. The latter was clearly distressed, as the dark shadows underneath his eyes only helped to showcase the pure devastation reflected in his features, and his tall and imposing stature was rendered useless with the way he anxiously curled in on himself.

“Yeah, I wonder why?” Jason sarcastically scoffed.

Damian lightly pursed his lips before trying again. “She’s stronger than you think. She’ll make it through this. So stop looking so pathetic and have some faith.”

“I know that. Fuck, I know that!” Jason cried in anguish. “I just can’t stop replaying that damn moment in my head!”

Similar to a broken record player, the scene of you jumping in front to protect him repeated itself over and over again in his brain. Like gasoline to a fire, his insecurities weaponized the scarring memory to mock and taunt him. Again and again, they condemned him, telling him that he was weak, that he would never be good enough, and that he couldn’t save anyone, no matter how hard he tried.

It was his gun, his inaction, his fault.

“If she was the one in danger,” Damian thoughtfully put forth. “Would you have thrown yourself in the way to save her?”

“Of course I would!” Jason snapped. “What kind of question is that?!”

“There you have it,” Damian stated, like it was the most obvious answer in the world. “You two are a pair of reckless, lovesick fools who’d readily die for one another in a heartbeat. Exasperatingly cliché and disgustingly sweet in my opinion, but that’s beside the point. What happened tonight was a choice. Because she loves you enough to have made that choice. We are vigilantes. Injuries and even death are a part of our daily lives. What matters is not how they happen, but how we decide to handle and overcome them.”

“…When the hell did you get so mature, demon brat?” Jason questioned wryly, feeling the weight of tonight’s tragedy slowly lift from his heart.

“You must’ve been in a far worse state than I had initially realized. If you haven’t noticed, I’m clearly the most mature out of all of us,” Damian retorted as he turned to leave, the fabric of his cape dramatically flaring out behind him. “Father included.”

Hours would come to pass as Jason remained ever watchful and vigilant while seated by your side. Alfred, the miracle worker that he was, had successfully managed to stop the bleeding and save your life. For that, Jason was forever indebted to him, even if the older gentleman would never allow for such a ‘silly’ claim. Still, Jason was so grateful.

Before long, a low groan escaped past your lips as your eyes started to slowly flutter open, and Jason held his breath as you tilted your head back to meet his concerned gaze.

“Jay,” you began. “My body hurts.”

“Y-yeah, getting shot will do that to you,” Jason mused, his words punctuated with a tearful laugh.

“Oh, Jay. I-I’m sorry,” you said mournfully. “Please don’t cry.”

“How could I not?” he rasped, tears dotting the corners of his eyes. “Pretty bird, you almost died!”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry,” you apologized for the second time. “But when I saw that he had a gun pointed right at you, m-my body just reacted on its own. I don’t regret it, though. Not if it meant protecting you.”

“My girl. My brave, stupid girl,” Jason eventually relented, a soft and affectionate chuckle leaving his body when he noticed your slight pout of mock offence.

Cradling your hand like fragile glass, his thumb found solace against the steady thrum of your pulse, a soothing and concrete reminder that you were here, present, right next to him, and undeniably alive. A minute of comfortable silence lapsed before Jason finally made his decision, steeling his nerves as he brought up the topic that never seemed to ever fully escape the back of his mind.

The way he said your name was so sweet. “Have you ever thought about marriage? W-with me?”

You blinked once, twice, stunned, before a comically flustered expression took over the entirety of your face. “O-o-of course I have! Oh my gosh, right now?!”

“No, no! I mean, sure! I-if you want!” Jason sputtered as he struggled to temper his nervousness. “J-just whenever you’re ready. Tonight made me realize that I can’t live without you. So, will you marry me, pretty bird?”

With a smile so heartwarmingly bright, there was no doubt or dishonesty in your voice as you answered, “I would be more than happy to marry you, Jason Peter Todd.”

[utopeian]

be sweet to me

SUMMARY Bob notices that you're painfully shy to initiate physical touch and takes matters into his own hands. Literally.

PAIRING bob reynolds x gender neutral!reader

GENRE fluff, slight humor, established relationship

WORD COUNT 1.7k

WARNINGS a lot of oh's, reader is a working civilian, bob & reader's relationship is fairly fresh, no Y/N mention

AUTHOR’S NOTE requested! i listened to japanese breakfast's be sweet on loop while writing this, enjoy!

The city’s usual hustle and bustle has died down a little considering it was the middle of the afternoon, the sky was bluer and brighter and clearer than usual, soft music murmuring from the cafe’s hidden speakers. Or maybe it was because you were with Bob that everything happened to feel a little lighter.

You’re in disbelief that a man has made you think and feel this way.

You were in the middle of a discussion with Bob about the new book he picked up when your phone vibrates on the table. You shut your eyelids just to roll your eyes under them and redirected your focus back on Bob.

However, he also got distracted and pointed out, “aren’t you going to check that?”

You are, but you knew once you confirmed it was a message from your job, you’d have to burst the comfortable bubble you were sharing with your boyfriend. The title still felt incredibly new, in the awkward, squeaky clean way. In the way that makes you tiptoe around it to make sure the dirt from your shoes don’t soil the shiny ground.

“I— yeah, I probably should.” You sigh, getting the inevitable over and done with.

You see that the notification was, in fact, from your co-worker. Something about needing you to come in at the last minute, revoking your day-off privilege with a promise of giving it back some other time instead. Yeah right.

You grumble to yourself— or so you thought, not used to having a partner with heightened hearing— before putting your phone face down with a little more force than necessary, “I can’t believe I thought I could ever get a day away from work.”

(Bob doesn’t know if it’s acceptable to admit that he finds your annoyance attractive.)

It’s not that you found it difficult or that your co-workers gave you a hard time, but rather it gets tedious and boring at times. Sitting in front of a screen waiting for clients to get back to you regarding revisions and cramming them because it was their fault they didn’t email back right away didn’t sound so appealing right now. You didn’t really have the liberty of choice, though. So much for living in New York.

“Bob, I’m so sorry to end our date here, but I’m being summoned to work.” You sadly tell him. The hand you rest on top of your phone itches to reach over and hold his own that cradles his drink, but you manage to will it otherwise; it takes your whole being not to touch him. Too soon, you think to yourself, don’t scare him away.

He noticed the way your fingers shifted slightly towards his direction, eager to finally feel your hands intertwine. Keeping his eyes on your regretful expression instead, he waits for you.

Your hand never found his.

Bob slumps in his seat out of disappointment due to two things now. But living with a bunch of retired assassins forced into public duty has desensitized him from taking conversations cut short too personally.

He shakes his head to recover, a reassuring smile now resting on his lips. “Don’t apologize, I get it. The others also have times when they need to leave abruptly in the middle of conversations.” 

You’re sure he didn’t mean to, but now you just feel like more of an asshole. As you sluggishly start doublechecking your things, you ask him something out of curiosity. “Do you ever join them?”

He thinks about it a little, trying to see if there have been instances that he tags along because he was also summoned with them. “Hmm. No, not often. Too many risks involved.”

Half of your attention was towards fixing your bag but you manage to nod thoughtfully, listening as he vaguely recalls a time he actually joined The New Avengers to an important meeting, not wanting him to expound further if he wasn’t comfortable.

Before you had gotten together officially, when he knew he could trust you more than the level of friends, Bob had forced himself to open up a conversation with you about everything: his fucked up past, how he landed in Malaysia, and the time he had lost control of his strength and engulfed almost the entirety of the city in darkness.

You heard it all. And you decided to stay.

(If you put it that bluntly, it doesn’t exactly sound… romantic. There were obviously more nuances you considered before dating him.)

You lift your head up to see Bob already looking at you patiently and attentively, both his hands still on the paper to-go cup. You give him a little nod to indicate that you’re good to go if he is. He acknowledges it, standing first to be by your side before you get up. Cute.

Bob throws the empty cups in the garbage bin beside the receiving area; you hadn’t even noticed that he also grabbed your trash.

The barista by the counter says ‘come back soon!’ as the two of you exit, the little chimes above the glass door clinking to announce your departure from the cafe. The two of you walk a minor distance to stand outside by the glass display, not wanting to cover the doorway.

Your thumb slides under the handle of your bag, pretending to readjust it on your shoulder because you don’t know what to do with your hands yet, still painfully hesitant to reach for Bob’s. You peer up at him shyly. “Um, this is where we part ways, I suppose.”

He blinks at you owlishly, your concern only grows when he says a single syllable defeatedly.

“Oh…”

You blink back at him. Anyone intently watching your interaction from a distance might think you were communicating through morse code. “‘Oh’? What, ‘oh’?”

Bob fiddles with the sleeve of his soft sweater, eyes looking away from yours every few seconds. He can feel his face getting warmer and he’s sure you can physically see it.

“I, uh, wanted to walk you to work to… make sure you get there safely. I–If that’s alright with you, of course.”

Oh.

You’re stunned. You know it’s the bare minimum, but you can’t help but be surprised that anyone ever thinks to be a decent person nowadays. The rise of assholes, you suppose. “No, yeah. That’d be perfect, Bob. Thank you.”

He waves you off then stops his hand out right in front of you. Again, what is it with this man just being an annoyingly perfect gentleman? You felt the blood in your veins freeze, thinking he was going to ask for your hand, before he offered, “I can hold your bag.”

Your mistake for thinking he wanted to hold your hand, too! Whatever. You put your harmless bitterness aside to thank him again and give him your handbag, keychains rattling at the motion. Bob looks for the source of the noise, eyes lighting up once he sees the charms hanging on the side of your bag’s buckle.

You start walking towards the direction of your work building as he follows, cradling your purse cautiously in his arms to inspect your decorations and points one out. His finger taps on a sun-shaped charm inspired by the opacity of suncatchers.

“I like this one.”

Your eyes move from the street in front of you to what he was looking at.

…Oh.

“Me too, it’s my favorite,” you share, yet you’re reluctant to verbalize what you want to admit to him. Fuck it.

“I actually bought it ‘cause it reminded me of you.”

Your pace picks up nervously as your eyes immediately fleet anywhere except for the presence to your right; at a rat making its way down the subway stairs, strangers haphazardly crossing the road, a distant digital billboard blinking colorful images out.

Too frantic at the idea of Bob being weirded out at your confession, you don’t realize that he had finally shouldered your bag to reach out for your hand. The moment his palm slides into yours, your whole body is electrified. You love it.

You jolt to look over at him, a shy grin on his face, clearly pleased with your reaction. You realize that he had noticed your reservations and took matters into his own hands. Literally. You mirror his expression in double the glee.

From that moment to when you finally arrive in front your office, your hands never once detached from the other.

“This is where we part ways, I suppose.” You smile at him cheekily, parroting what you had told him earlier. 

Bob gives you your handbag; you almost forgot about it. His face hurts from smiling. Your moods are contagious. “For real this time, then.”

“Yeah…”

You really don’t want to go and Bob really doesn’t want to leave. But duty calls and bills and dates and gifts won’t pay for themselves. This time, you’re the one to take the step forward first, wrapping your arms around his shoulders.

The way you bring him into the embrace is rigid at first but once you feel his body reciprocate, you melt together perfectly. You can’t believe you were nervous to hug Bob.

Pulling away seems like a foreign concept to you, so he does it for you, knowing your work desk awaits your arrival. He didn’t know he was capable of grinning this widely, laughing at your playful pouting.

He thinks you’re about to bid him a verbal farewell when you take another step closer, placing a delicate lip gloss-coated kiss on his cheek. He feels the same exact electricity you had felt minutes ago. You whisper when you pull away, gazing meekly into his affectionful eyes. “Thank you for today, Bob. I really enjoyed it, even if it was cut short.”

“Thank you too, I also had fun.”

You just look at each other, rocking your feet. After a moment of sweet silence, you finally point at your building with your thumb along with an exaggerated look of disgust playing on your features, sighing dramatically to get a laugh out of him. You think his laugh is cute.

Unwillingly, you turn your back on him to move forward, only to turn around a millisecond after. Bob’s still there, looking at you so lovestuck, hand awkwardly raising to wave. You giggle, finally taking your eyes off him and walking into reality.

Damn, you’re in deep.

[narcjsistx]

it’s incredible how seven years can be wiped away after just one glance. the room set up for the ceremony is full, as is the garden visible through the wall sized windows — yet, even though you’re at a distance where you wouldn’t even hear the words of the people between you, his words come through to you clear and strong, sweet but wrong in this moment

"you’re as beautiful as the day i realized i loved you"

you didn’t know he was here, you hadn’t looked into it or asked further after receiving no response to your wedding invitation. you thought his silence was justified — after all, you had been exes for a long time. it wouldn’t have made sense for him to be present on the day you would officially become someone else’s wife, someone other than him. you had sent the invitation out of courtesy, for a last sense of familiarity that you had shared for so long: even if you were no longer a couple, he had been your first kiss, first time, first everything

the first one you had dreamed of marrying, years ago when you still used to run through the school gardens to avoid being seen by the strict teachers. you ran so much that in the end, you took two different paths. far apart now, but once close

he slowly approaches, apologizing to the old high school friends you invited. the crowd makes it a bit difficult for him to get closer, yet the closer he comes, the more the people around you seem to disappear — as if the hundreds of guests suddenly turned to dust. his walk is calm, not awkward, but deeply melancholic. you wish you didn’t drift so far from reality, but the memories that flood your mind are like drums whose only purpose is to disorient you

sweet words, promises, opportunities, kisses — you remember them all, the things that in the end never came true

"he finally got down on one knee, huh?"

"seems like it… how are you?"

"good. i keep surviving"

"oh, don’t get all philosophical…"

"im sorry. but let’s just say that ever since you walked out that door, living became surviving"

you stay silent for a few seconds, lowering your gaze onto your bouquet: it’s made of red roses and lilies, like the first bouquet of flowers he gave you. you raise your eyes, smiling bitterly — you can do it, no one is really looking at you now

"i walked out that door a long time ago. when i simply became an accessory, not a priority. before we officially broke up"

this time it’s him who nods and smiles bitterly, focusing on your pretty white dress and then on your face. you look at each other as if suddenly the promises could come true again, as if suddenly there’s a solution, a compromise you couldn’t find seven years ago — but the more you look into his eyes, the more you understand why, after all, you left years ago

"it went like this. that’s okay. it was a beautiful experience, you gave me so much. i still have to thank you"

"it was such a beautiful experience that i still feel it inside me, but i don’t live it in reality anymore"

this could be your wedding — the one you spent sleepless nights dreaming about during the best years of your life. a lavish wedding, surrounded by people who love you, but most of all, by yourselves

he’s no longer yours. you are no longer his

this is your wedding with someone who gave you love like he did, but who, nonetheless, is not him. you smile at him, this time more honestly, but more aware of the reality

"maybe in another life, you’d be the one to lift my veil"

"i hope so. i really hope so"

just as he came, he left. today, like yesterday, like seven years ago. it only took one glance to relive everything one more time, to feel the chills on your skin again, to feel him again

still, your last name today did not become the same as his

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[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

heya!! im not sure if someone asked this before, but i'm curious.

lilia's face is canonically in the school textbook, right? so, why was everyone so surprised when he revealed that he was 700 years old? is it just a mistake on twst's part, or is it because the 'school textbook lilia' was never a thing(not canon)?? or maybe because he looks and acts so drastically different back then (even tho his name is still the same), and everyone's like, "no way it's this guy. it has to be someone else."???

also, im just imagining students hunting lilia if they ever have to write an essay about him..😭 or if he ever read the textbook and complains to trein about it 'not being accurate' lol

I talked about this topic back in 2021, but that was way before the book 7 came out. Let’s discuss it again with the new information we have on hand!

For context, “This textbook had a picture of Lilia" detail comes from one of Malleus’s Magic History lines when he is in a Lesson.

Please note his wording! Malleus mentions only a picture of Lilia. There is no further description of how detailed it is.

This means the “picture of Lilia” could be framed in a way where it’s difficult to see his face in full or clearly. He could be at a weird angle or shown from behind. Lilia could be wearing his bat mask in the picture (thereby obscuring his face), and only Malleus recognizes it because of his age. Notably, his hairstyle was also different back then. (In book 7, Silver and Sebek did not seem to immediately recognize Lilia in uniform when he has the bat mask on, at least not until they see his magearm and the shining bird flying around him.)

Malleus also does NOT mention there is a passage associated with the picture in the textbook. This means there isn’t necessarily information written in the textbook about Lilia or his accomplishments. It seems possible, given the lore that not much is known about Briar Valley outside of it.

In book 7, Rook (someone who is typically very observant and easily able to gather intel on others) is along the students shocked to find out Lilia’s true age. He confesses that he believed Lilia’s remarks to be “unusually sagacious for an 18-year old”. Rook also states that he knew fae lived for a long time, but “never imagined it was on that scale.”

This implies to me that most humans (which includes humans, beastfolk, and merfolk) don’t seem to properly register or process how long fae lifespans truly are and assume Lilia just acts oddly. Humans don’t think of it on “that scale” because it’s so many times greater than their own lifespans. So to them, they don’t assume “yeah, this must be the same guy” if they see a similar-looking picture or name in a book. Most humans still can’t wrap their minds around someone having lived got that long and it being a “normal” thing for fae.

If there does happen to be a passage mentioning Lilia by name (which, again, we do not have confirmation of), I think most students wouldn’t think much of it?? They may assume it’s an ancestor of Lilia’s or even an unrelated individual since 1) it’s possible for people to have lookalikes and other 2) it’s possible for people to name their children after ancestors or famous individuals. They’re thinking within their OWN frame of reference and not from a fae’s frame of reference.

Actually 💦 when I think about it, I’m not sure why Lilia even felt like he had to hide his relationship with Silver or never mention his age until book 7 (in the spring of his THIRD year)??? I can see how it could make things socially awkward for his son, but why hide the age…? Especially when Lilia makes little effort to hide it (he talks about his life experiences so openly to peers like Trey) and even casually shares the fact in book 7. It’s also made clear that Crowley was aware of Lilia’s age as well (and still allowed him in because he wanted to learn)??? It feels like the devs wrote it like this just to have a funny and dramatic reveal rather than for any logical in-universe reason.

I’m sure Lilia wouldn’t mind sharing stories of his youth with peers if they asked? Trein might not appreciate him claiming the history books are wrong, though.

… Now I’m just picturing Lilia like this when he sees himself in a textbook:

[linderosse]

Heya folks! I'm Lin! Some of you may know me as the author of a humble Zeldas-meet comic series called the Wielders of Wisdom, part of my larger Zelda AU called Wisdomverse.

Every creator has different views on how content should be interpreted, and I figure I should make mine clear for folks who are interested, as well as clarify some things about the Wisdomverse and the history of its creation and influences. These are just some of my thoughts on the series and fandom as a whole with respect to my comics; I'm taking this opportunity to state them in text form.

Extremely, extremely long post. Folks who know me know I like writing longposts-- this is even longer. You have been warned!

Please feel free to read or ignore as you wish! There is a Tl;dr section at the end; please feel free to skip to it.

As always, I reserve the right to edit parts of this if my views change, or if I'm convinced otherwise. And as always, I welcome everyone else’s thoughts on the matter.

Why I Create:

I began the Wisdomverse because I love the Zelda series.

I've been a Zelda fan for nearly twenty years now, and have completed every single mainline game, plus a fair few of the others, and 100%ed a few of them or played challenge modes as well. The Zelda series has its flaws and it definitely has some inconsistencies. But each new game continues to amaze me nonetheless.

Wielders of Wisdom, part of the Wisdomverse AU, is a comic series that features the Zeldas summoning each other to help deal with different problems in their own eras. As a tactical RPG superfan (FE!!! TriStrat!!!) and a huge fan of fairplay mystery plots, I wanted to write a story featuring Wisdom at its core. I've now been working on the Wisdomverse off and on for about two years, maybe a little more, though theories and characterizations from much longer ago have made it in.

I am super glad that my comic has brought people to Zelda. It’s so cool to hear that people started playing the games because they saw my artwork.

I have a story I want to share, and mysteries I want the characters to solve. I look forward to continuing it.

The Influence of LU

On one hand, the Wisdomverse began as an LU spinoff.

I created the Wielders with the LU Chain in mind— not necessarily based on LU canon, but based on mine and others’ versions of the Chain at the time using our interpretations of the Zelda games themselves as source material. The core characterizations of LU are brilliant, and I love them— particularly the combination of Links that make up Legend and Four. I had seen Link-meets before, but combining Links was a novel idea to me. It allowed me to express my love for the lesser known Zelda games just as much as the popular ones.

And folks, LU sparked so much Zelda fan content, which was difficult to find at scale before. I was there in the old-ish days (not the truly old days, I must admit), writing Zelda fanfic and reading it on FFnet (under a different username which shall not be named 😆). LU made it so much easier! The comic is great too, but the framework revitalized my love of the Zelda fandom.

My characters in Wisdomverse still use the LU fanon Zelda nicknames as a tribute to all of us LU fans out there. I came up with everything else about the girls, but not their nicknames. I was there for the tail end of those discussions, and adopted the nicknames because I can't see the Zeldas any other way now. I can, of course, explain why we chose each and every one of those nicknames. But the nicknames do not belong to me; nor to the creator of LU. They are a creation of the LU fandom. Shoutout to those guys, y'all are great.

Characters of my Own

On the other hand, I… have actually seen folks assume that all my work in personalizing the Zeldas for my comics, writing their characters, rebalancing and clarifying their powers and abilities, setting up their stories, and designing their outfits and jobs to make them as unique as possible— that this was all done by the creator of LU as well. I have been sent angry and confused DMs because I made certain decisions, like making Tetra and Phantom different characters, like they are in the canon games, despite Wind also representing Spirit Tracks in LU. Or making Legend and Fable twins when Jojo confirmed they’re not related in LU— ironic, considering that it seems to be the opposite sentiment that sparked the newer discourse. This is actually why I made that info post about it a year or two back, if anyone is wondering.

These assumptions were a little sad to see, of course. I understand the frustration when one's work is attributed to someone else. I wasn't really offended by the mistake, though. It is reasonable, in a fandom as large as Zelda, for ideas to be misattributed. Most folks understood completely when I corrected them. The ones that didn't, I simply ignored.

Fans

In fact, in my experience, LU fans have almost always been super polite and excited to learn new things about the franchise, or learn new headcanons and ways to connect the dots between canon elements. Writing “The Secrets We Keep” is a lot of fun, because I know quite a lot about the games, and I get to work it into the story and hear people go, “Oh, I didn’t know that! And you’ve connected these two things? That’s so cool!” I love getting to see that side of the fandom.

Many LU fans I’ve met also know a ton about the franchise— I never thought I could learn so many new things about a series I already know very well! From glitches and exploits to theories about the origin of weapons and materials; I love hearing it. Some of it has been incorporated into Wisdomverse :) (but not the glitches and exploits; that would be cheating XD).

As I said, the very few folks that were rude, I ignored. That’s to be expected in any group of people.

Building on Others’ Ideas

I myself have used headcanons that belong to other people. Shoutout to raycatzdraws and snowylynxxx for their Spirit design that I iterated on. I definitely wasn’t the originator of the Legend|Fable siblings hc, or the hc that Wild had a sister, etc. Of course, I know the reasons and canon source material for all those hcs. But I no longer know who first connected the dots to come up with them.

Fandom is hard to source. Heck, I’ve seen some people who came to Wisdomverse through other sites assume that I created LU (of course I did not). One commenter on a YouTube video even assumed that Fable’s Cane of Somaria from the Wisdomverse was inspiration for the trirod in the actual Echoes of Wisdom game. (I wish! The Cane is simply a canon item from ALttP/OoA; I promise I had no hand in EoW’s development). Such is the way of life in a convoluted fandom. Ray said it best in a comment somewhere I still remember— we’re all out here playing a game of fandom telephone.

Fandom Telephone

As I’ve been saying for years on stream, that’s one of the things I like best about the Zelda fandom: the fact that there are so many interpretations of everything, and all of us build on each others’ work. The Silmarillion and MDZS fandoms are the same way (shoutout to fandoms where the source material contradicts itself and fans interpret things however they want 😆). Unlike in a normal game of telephone, however, the result at the end of the line is still just as valid as the original message. It’s about creativity, not accuracy. A game of telephone is boring as hell if everyone just perfectly repeats the initial phrase. Variety is the spice of creation.

I personally prefer intentional variety based on interpretations of the games' canon. In fact, I tend to stick as close to canon as possible while telling the story I want to tell. Folks who've read The Secrets We Keep are probably used to my long Game Notes for each chapter.

But accidental variety works too! You don’t have to stick to canon if you don't want to! And no one at all should be enforcing that.

Gatekeeping

I've finished every mainline Zelda game. I have 100%ed many of them, and played some on challenge modes. I know all popular timeline theories by heart, including of course my own timeline for Wisdomverse. I can probably list the titles, release years, and consoles of most Zelda games, plus tons of other useless trivia. To be clear, I knew most of this before discovering LU.

I’d like to think I’m therefore qualified to say: let everyone write or draw or play what they want!

You are still a fan if the only Zelda game you’ve played is Breath of the Wild! You are still a fan if you’ve never played a Zelda game and just love LU! You are still a fan if you’ve never read LU either and are just vibin’ with the characters on AO3! You are still a fan if you don’t know what LU is but think the Wisdomverse girls are cool!

You can check my old posts to confirm that I’ve said this over and over again— I ain’t here to gatekeep the Zelda fandom. No one should be. There is no excuse for anyone to belittle someone for not knowing a detail about the games. Or for having a particular viewpoint on the series. The Zelda fandom has always been a wholesome place, and I know we can keep it that way.

And since tons of Zelda and LU fans are just as knowledgeable about the series as me, if not more, I’m sure all of us are happy to tell folks anything they’d like to know— only if they want to know it, because there should never be requirements to be in a fandom.

Perhaps because I’m from the Silm fandom, I am used to this sentiment. I’ve read the Silmarillion four times, but tons of folks just read the wiki pages or fics and are totally accepted into the fandom. I personally believe Zelda— any fandom, really — should be just as open and free.

Is Wisdomverse still a part of LU?

People have been asking me this for a while. I’ve responded to it in the past, but my answer may have changed slightly.

LU is a great story, and I have to give Jojo massive credit for the amazing framework, designs, and characterization. The core characters that make up the LU Links still match the Wis Zeldas, of course, and The Secrets We Keep is still very much continuing starring the LU Links as I envision them.

But many things about the Wisdomverse have deviated from LU canon now— not because I have changed them, but because I adopted these traits into my stories long before Jojo clarified them about her Links. At this point, the Wisdomverse Info page clarifies all theories that differ from the games themselves, not just LU. Jojo has made decisions that fit the story she wants to tell, and I have made different ones that fit my story.

In Wisdomverse, Spirit and Phantom exist separately from Tetra and Wind, like in Zelda canon. Shadow and the FSA manga are also canon, because the plot fits neatly into Four's character arc in the games. TotK is canon; I have already released my future Wild and Flora designs. The events of Hyrule Warriors are canon. The visiting Links that accompanied Legend in Triforce Heroes are Silent and Hyrule. Legend and Fable are twins, because I follow the ALttP siblings theory. And my comic Echo of the Past has made it quite clear that Echoes of Wisdom and Cadence of Hyrule are canon as well, and I have plans for them :).

There are probably more changes as well; these are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. As far as I know, none of these things are true anymore in base LU.

Some of these changes were imposed to make my series more accurate to the games. Some of them were imposed because that was how I viewed the series, long before LU even existed. And some of them were imposed so I can tell the story I want to tell.

Tagging

I have been using “wis sun” “wis echo” “wisdomverse” “wielders of wisdom” etc tags for my stuff for a while now.

Echo of the Past, for example, is entirely my own thing, and has no LU influence or characters whatsoever. The idea to combine EoW, CoH, and AoL into Echo was mine and mine alone. Silent, Echo, Dawn, and the Prince are all my characters, and are using my designs and personalities. I don’t think that counts as LU anymore, so I removed all the LU tags when posting. I don’t mind if you want to tag it as LU when reblogging, though! From a practical standpoint, that only helps me out XD.

To be clear, when I use the LU Link designs, I will still tag the post with their info. The creator deserves credit for their design, and folks who chance upon the art deserve to know I did not create the LU Links.

This means that I am possibly the one creator that isn’t technically writing/drawing LU but is kind of okay with my posts being tagged as LU.

But please also tag them as Wisdomverse. I put a lot of work into my characters. I want people to know that.

And please don't tag other creators' works as Linked Universe. I allow it at the moment because of the specifics of the Wisdomverse, and the fact that I want to credit LU for the nine Link designs I'm using along with my Zeldas. I don't think any other creators with separate AUs allow this.

Building off of my Works

That said, I hope no one feels like I am imposing my views over the LU characters— or even my Zeldas.

I stated that I view Dusk as ace, for example, and that Fable is lesbian. But if you want to use the Wisdomverse framework, summoning system, and characterization while shipping Dusk with Midna, or Fable with Legend or something, be my guest!

I personally don’t mind anyone interpreting my characters in any way as long as you’re aware that I believe differently. I may even state that I personally disagree with that part of the interpretation, but that’s totally fine! Do what you wish! If you were inspired by me, feel free to tag me— I love it. Other creators may not share this opinion, and that is also completely valid, but I love to see people build on my ideas, even if they’re taking their own spin on it.

I only ask that folks don’t directly ship the Zeldas with each other, because no matter what canon you’re using, they’re all direct descendants of each other, and that… gets a bit icky. I actually personally don't mind Linkcest (not a fan, but not opposed to it), but the LU creator has requested that folks don't ship their Links and I respect that. I guess if you want to ship the Links that I designed: Spirit, Silent, or post-TotK Wild... go for it? I obviously ship those three with their Zeldas, but I ain't about to stop folks from making a really, really strange crackship XD.

TL;DR

Can’t deny the massive influence LU has had on the Zelda fandom as a whole. I appreciate it!

However, it is a bit sad to see my ideas credited to LU sometimes.

The Wisdomverse has deviated quite a bit from LU at this point, and is sort of its own thing that sometimes uses the LU designs and characterizations for the Links. 2.5/11 Links in Wis use my own designs. All 11 Zeldas use my own designs.

I don’t mind if you tag Wis content as LU when applicable! Please also tag it as Wisdomverse though— I’d appreciate that :).

LU fans have almost always been very knowledgeable and polite to me in the past. Shoutout to the LU fandom. Y’all are great.

Anyone who wants can be a Zelda fan! No gameplay required, and no gatekeeping allowed.

Anyone who wants can make fan content interpreting my work in any way; I will not be offended!

The Zelda community has always been a wholesome place to me, and I hope to see it continue that way.

Congrats on making it this far— or for skipping to the tl;dr’s :).

Thanks for reading, and see you around!

Masterpost

[bucketsofmonsters]

A Matter of Time - Chapter 8

Timothy Timepice x Reader, Timmy x Reader

Slow burn, Gender neutral reader, Afab reader, Anxiety, isolation, self-esteem issues

word count - 3k

Masterlist

The next time you summoned Timothy, it was done with a newfound confidence and a note written in frankly awful handwriting with silly drawings all over it in hand. 

Timothy looked more excited than you’d even seen him, his chest puffed up smugly and his eyes gleaming. “Isn’t it a relief that you’ll never have to see that awful creature again?” Timothy asked with a smile. 

You shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.” And then you reached out and handed him the folded paper. 

He looked down at it like it might try and bite him. “What is that supposed to be?”

“An explanation,” you said.

“Are you sure it’s not just veiled insults?”

You winced a little. “Not so veiled. But it’s an explanation nonetheless. Just read it,” you said, gesturing for him to open it.

“I didn’t know the little beast knew how to write,” he muttered as he unfolded the note. He stared down at it for a moment before declaring, “Oh, it seems he doesn’t.”

“Don’t be mean,” you hissed. “He tried really hard.”

“I mean, it’s practically illegible,” he declared, tilting the paper as if the text might be easier to read on its side. 

It was, admittedly, difficult to read. You were hard pressed to think of anyone who had worse handwriting, and the whole paper was covered in scribbled out lines of text you’d deemed to be too mean and practically incomprehensible doodles that Timmy kept making whenever he got bored of writing. There were even pawprints across the whole thing like a cat had stepped in an inkwell and walked across it, which was odd considering both people here knew that Timmy had two regular human hands and there were no other cats to be found anywhere near here. 

You watched him struggle to get through the note, one that you had practically memorized from the long process of forcing Timmy to write it, taking it up yourself to remove some of the crueler parts.

It read: 

Dear Timothy,

Timmy is sorry that Timothy is stupid and that he hates waking up in bed with his crush while they have no clothes on. This was a massive oversight for Timmy. Timmy will not try and help Timothy ever again. Timmy thinks Timothy should get a grip

If Timothy had liked it, Timmy would have said you’re welcome, and also that Timothy doesn’t have to hate Timmy so much. Timmy can be useful and helpful, even to stupid old cats who hate fun. Timothy does not have to make Timmy be alone any more, Timmy promises he can behave. He is tired of being hated and tired of being lonely and Timmy thinks Timothy should let him out, even though Timmy messed up his big gesture because Timothy wouldn’t know a good think if it hit him in the face

Timmy is willing to share master, if master can still stand Timothy somehow. Timmy thinks it is good that master is good in bed because Timothy needs to relax. 

In a show of good faith, Timmy will let Timothy make 5 rules for when Timmy is out, and Timmy will choose 3 of them to listen to unless the rules are bad or annoying. Timmy will wait for your counteroffer.

From, your better half

PS if Timothy tries to make Timmy be alone again, Timmy will smash all his pocket watches into tiny little pieces

Sometime while reading it, Timothy had gone bright red. “He does have a way with words, doesn’t he?”

“He certainly isn’t best received in written form, but the two of you don’t have any other option. If you wanted to write him something, he’d be more than happy to hear it. I’ll make sure he fully understands whatever you have to say, I promise.”

He considered the paper carefully, clearly deep in thought. “What is this bit at the bottom?” he asked, head tilted to the side. 

“It’s both of you hugging me. He insisted it was vital to the message.”

“Do you really believe what he said? That he thought I would like waking up like that, confused and exposed?”

You nodded. “I don’t think it was a good idea, but I really do believe his intentions were pure. Or, at least as pure as Timmy’s intentions can be, I suppose. He told me that the only reason he pursued me at all in the first place was to try and win your favor. And you didn’t see him, Timothy, he looked terrified at the idea that he might be left alone again. You were right about it being on purpose, but I think that it really was for you.”

“The other bits are, of course, completely out of line.”

“I tried to make him keep the insults down, but he is hard to contain at times.”

“No, that much is expected from the creature. But the bits about… you. They are presumptuous, and besides, I would never…”

You could hear the nerves building in his voice, and you weren’t sure what made him more anxious, the insinuation that he had romantic feelings about you, the idea that the two of them might share you, or the mention of the fact that the two of you might have sex. “Hey, it’s alright. I won’t take anything Timmy said about your feelings as truth, I know how deeply the two of you can misunderstand each other. But if any of the things he said were true, I wouldn’t mind, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Timothy groaned, looking at the paper like it had wounded him somehow. “I can’t believe he’s exposed me like this. He is a little scoundrel, a vermin!”

You giggled, half disappointed him and Timmy could never actually meet. It would certainly be an argument for the ages. 

He looked up at you cautiously. “And when you say you wouldn’t mind…”

“I mean, I already have a well established weakness for cute cat boys.”

He glanced between you and the paper as if trying to decode something before finally asking, “Because I look like him?”

Your attempt as a flirty expression immediately crumpled. “No, because you look like you. For the record, I thought you were cute long before I met Timmy. Not that I thought it would go anywhere, but I did think you hated me at the time so there was that. I’ve always thought you were cute, the way you obsess over your schedule, the insistence on being helpful even when you think I’m being ridiculous. The way your nose scrunches up when you’re upset at something I’ve done. I love the way your ears flatten when I say something you think is stupid and I’m inexplicably obsessed with how we argue, despite how much I might seem to hate it. Timmy doesn’t do any of that, at least not the way you do. When I upset the other objects, I avoid them. And yet, every time we argued, I came back and apologized, made sure I made it right. Despite how much I tried not to think about it, I never did that for anyone else. You were irritating and frustrating and you never answered a single question I asked you in a helpful way and yet I couldn’t help but keep coming back, to bicker and get help and drink tea that apparently you hate because you like to be proper, which is horribly endearing, by the way. And, I don’t know, I think that if you really do like me, I could help. Help with Timmy and help you get adjusted to personhood and help you relax a little, enjoy things more. If you wanted me to, that is.”

He gulped, clearly overwhelmed. “Right. I… yes. So not because I look like Timmy, then.”

“No,” you said softly. “Not because you look like Timmy.”

He nodded, eyes now locked on the note, refusing to look you in the eyes. “If you would like, I would be amiable to going on a date. I think I could… share, with Timmy, as he propositioned. If you are not opposed. Which it sounds like you are not.”

“No,” you said with a smile. “Far from opposed. If you’d like, I can…”

“No,” he said quickly. “I can plan everything. If you’d be so kind as to activate me at 6 PM tonight and give me an hour to prepare, I would like to plan the date. I swear to you, it will be the most finely scheduled date you have ever had the pleasure of attending.”

You laughed. “That can be arranged.”

He nodded. “Good, I will add it to my schedule. And if you would be so kind as to leave a notepad behind, I would like to leave some messages for Timmy.”

You nodded hesitantly. “Promise not to be too mean?”

He harumphed. “I will not stoop to his level and be nearly so crude. At the very least, I will be no ruder than he was.”

You made a mental note to come out and check the note before you summoned Timmy next. “Of course, that can be arranged.”

And then you left him, mulling about aimlessly, eagerly awaiting the arrival of 6 o’clock. 

When 6:00 arrived, you were rewarded with more waiting, summoning Timothy into the house before scurrying into your bedroom to wait, just like you’d promised you would. 

About fifteen minutes before your date was supposed to begin, the smoke alarm began going off. 

It wasn’t the best sign. 

“Do you need help?” you asked, deciding that he had about five seconds to respond before you went running out there, regardless of what he wanted. 

“No,” Timothy called back immediately. “I’m fine. I’m going to put the smoke alarm in the bathroom.”

“Don’t put it in the bathroom,” you called out, your voice sounding a little shrill with building panic. “Just turn it off and make it less smoky.”

By now, you could smell the scent of smoke creeping through the crack in your door. 

You heard the distinct noise of your bathroom door opening and something being set in there before he once again yelled, “Everything is fine!”

You weren’t sure if you believed him, but there were only 15 minutes left. Surely he couldn’t do anything that bad in 15 minutes. 

One thing was certain, you had never been more prompt in your life. The second it hit 7:00, you were out the door. 

As soon as you opened your door, you were hit with the smell of smoke, coughing as it entered your lungs. The air was a little cloudy with it still, but at least it did not seem like your house was burning down, so things could be worse. 

You hurried into the kitchen, eager to assess the extent of whatever had gone down. 

The kitchen looked smoky, but largely unharmed. There were two plates on the table, covered in something that looked charred, with two glasses of red wine beside them. In the center of the table were freshly cut flowers, ones that you recognized from your own back garden.

Timothy, for his part, looked completely panicked, ears flattened to his head, moving around rapidly but with no real purpose behind his actions. 

“You okay?” you asked, trying to keep your voice low to make sure you didn’t startle him. 

It did not work, with him practically jumping out of his skin at the sight of you. “Oh, is it time already?” he asked, the panic clear in his voice. 

“Mmhmm,” you hummed, wondering how flustered he must be to lose track of time. “It looks nice in here. Minus the smoke, that is. Am I to assume I will find my smoke alarm in the bathroom?” 

He deflated a little at the mention of the smoke. “The recipes in your books are not scheduled properly.”

You winced. “I should have warned you, my stove runs really hot, you have to cut a few minutes off recipes.”

He harumphed. “That is unacceptable. You should get your stove recalibrated.”

“Of course,” you said with a laugh. “Because you could never just cook it for a few minutes less.”

He scoffed. “Of course not. I saw it burning and had to just let it burn for the remaining four minutes that the recipe dictated.”

That explained just how smoky it had become. You were unsure what the food was underneath the thick charr it had acquired, but you were fairly sure it was inedible. 

“It was sweet of you to cook for me,” you said, hoping he wasn’t too discouraged by this turn of events. “Faulty stovetop aside.”

He sniffed. “Yes, well, it is only proper. Would you like to sit?” He pulled out the chair for you, clearly trying to look confident but failing to hide his anxiety. 

You took a seat, unsure of where this was going but not wanting to disrupt whatever Timothy had planned any more than it had already been disrupted. 

He sat across from you, the tension in his face clear despite his attempt to hide it. 

You looked down at the plated, deeply inedible food and then back up at Timothy, steeling yourself to follow his lead in regards to what to do next. 

He clearly saw your hesitation in your face. “God, this is a mess,” he said, burying his head in his hands. “How did it end up like this? I planned everything perfectly.”

“It didn't go that badly,” you tried to reassure him.

He looked at you like you’d grown a second head. “Didn’t go that badly? Have you not been present? I almost set your house on fire.”

“That was not so good,” you conceded. “Maybe next time I can cook.”

“It’s not just that,” he continued, voice growing increasingly frantic. “I didn’t even know what foods or wine you would like. Even if it wasn’t burned, you probably wouldn’t even have liked it.”

“So? You didn’t like the tea. It’s the thought that counts, I think.”

“For tea, maybe. With that, it’s the ritual of it all that really counts. But not for this, not when it’s you.”

“Is it a bad time to tell you I didn’t like the tea either?” You asked, hoping it might serve to lighten the mood. It did no such thing.

“Perfect,” he cried, throwing his hands in the air. “Why are we even here? Have we had one, singular positive interaction since we met?”

You wanted to reassure him. You really, really did. “Like, the whole interaction?” you asked hesitantly. “Because we had a few moments, here and there.”

He looked like he might strangle you, which would be a new low, even for this date. “Is that what this is based on? A few moments? Why are you here? What can I provide you with? Burnt food and bad taste in tea and we’re stuck in this stupid kitchen and I can’t even take you anywhere so why are you here?”

Oh. That was what this was about, you were sure of it. “Timothy, I don’t need you to take me anywhere for it to be a good date. I know it must be frustrating, being stuck in here like this, but I promise I don’t mind.”

“How could you not?” he asked. “I mind. Anyone would mind. There is no way that you just don’t care, no way it is that easy.”

You shrugged. “I don’t know, I like it here. It would be nice to get out, sure, let you stretch your legs. But here is nice too. Here is where you are.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You care about that? About me being here?”

Your brow furrowed. “Of course I do.”

“I will remind you again, we still have not had a single positive interaction.”

You laughed. “To be honest, I think that might just be how we are. If it counts for anything, I kind of like bickering with you. It’s very funny.”

He scoffed. “My anger is funny?”

“A little,” you admitted with a smile. “You get all righteous fury over the silliest things, I can’t help but find it endearing.”

He harumphed, but didn’t seem quite so upset as he had moments before. 

“Besides,” you continued. “Have you ever even had a conversation with someone where you didn’t fight like this?”

“I don’t have to answer that,” he said, a bit of sheepishness seeping out of him despite his lifted chin and indignant face. 

“See, I thought so. At least I’m amused by it. What else could you ask for?”

“Quite a bit more, I think.”

You gasped in faux offense. “More than me?”

“Well…” he said, looking cornered. “I didn’t mean…”

You laughed again. “You don’t have to answer that either. At least, as long as you’re not upset anymore. I’m perfectly happy to goad you on some more if you need it.”

His hand shifted to the table, fidgeting absentmindedly with the perfectly set up and unused fork sitting in front of him. “You really don’t mind?”

You shook your head resolutely. “Frankly, if I minded our bickering, I would not be here. I’m not expecting miracles. Just expecting you.”

“So is that it then?” he asked tentatively. “Are we courting now?”

You laughed. “Yeah, sure, we’re courting now. That sounds lovely.”

“Right,” he said, a content smile gracing his face. “Good. Exactly as I intended then. All according to plan.”

And then, sensing it would do more to reassure him than any more words could, you got up from your seat and kissed him. 

It took a few seconds for him to kiss you back, a few moments where his brain seemed frozen, working on catching up with what was going on. You were more than happy to wait. 

You could feel him register what was happening, his whole body softening, leaning into you, giving into the kiss completely. 

It was a chaste thing, soft and gentle in a way Timmy could never be. It was slow and unhurried, any idea of schedules fleeing his mind as you kissed. 

He looked stunned as you pulled away, eyes widening as soon as they opened and his tail lifting high behind him. 

You just smiled at the sight. “See? There was no need to worry so much,” you assured him. “It all worked out in the end.”

[beneathitall-thesame]

chapter 474: how did we get here?

or: a long-winded rambling on how the fight in the current chapter was (unfortunately) bound to happen; the slow, inevitable result of two people loving each other fiercely but failing to meet where it matters most: in honesty, in timing, in vulnerability.

*I’m assuming He Tian had to leave Mo twice (or more). While not explicitly stated in the story, at this point I strongly believe this is what happened.

The first time we see He Tian coming back on Christmas, He Tian forces himself on Guan Shan’s life (well, it’s for only a night, but the point stands). He Tian bother Mo at work (but Mo doesn’t react violently), he invites himself to Mo’s apartment (Mo doesn’t mind giving He Tian a ride on his motorcycle). Yes, Mo is angry, but he’s also incredibly vulnerable and with some gentle prodding and alcohol he admits to He Tian -and to himself- he’s missed He Tian dearly. Mo accepts the “engagement” ring and, I think most importantly, understands that He Tian never actually wanted to part ways with him and all he did during his absence was for the sake of reuniting with Mo.

Hard cut to the future-future timeline, where we find ourselves in a (at first) shockingly similar situation. Tian again forces his presence in Mo’s life, crowding him at work, pretending to be his boyfriend and then breaking into his apartment. You could tell Mo was very vexed with He Tian, but he still cooked for He Tian, was this close to reciprocating/accepting an intimate moment and was okay with waking up beside him.

He does understandibly react badly to He Tian doing renovations to the place he bought with his hard earned money without his consent, but he seems to mellow up just a tiny bit to the idea when they arrive at He Tian’s place.

One thing I find very interesting about this chapter: we are shown Mo to be uncomfortable without him being vocal. There’s a tension in the air we’re not usually privy to, almost as if we’re witnessing the water flowing backwards before the wave hits. We wish they could go back to the brief flashes of domesticity we got in the She Li arc or the ones we didn’t get to see when He Tian first came back.

But in their current state, it’s very difficult. For both of them.

It’s obvious Mo is terrified of He Tian leaving him, but cannot even acknowledge that even in the privacy of his own damn mind because leaving himself open like that incurs a risk of actually dealing with the feelings he’s been running away to protect himself. However, seeing that He Tian comes back acting all non-chalant, as if nothing happened… I think this is what ultimately makes Mo the most uncomfortable. Mo Guan Shan longs for He Tian’s touch; blushes when he’s at the center of He Tian’s attention and feels uneasy when he thinks He Tian has left their shared bed.

Subsconsciously, however, he may have been waiting for He Tian to take the first step; not necessarily a romantic one, but a vulnerable one. What would that have looked like? That’s not to say that Mo hasn’t made it close to impossible for this to happen, by telling He Tian he’d have forgotten him if he hadn’t come back.

I mean in his heart of hearts; the core of his trauma. I am talking about how he felt abandoned by his father after he was arrested in a very traumatic event for the child Mo, and how, as a result of that, had to receive the brunt of a violent system who punishes children of convicts and shuns them into marginalization.

(Violence is present at every level of his formative years: institutional, interpersonal and, sadly, internalized. What good -and I’m saying this from Mo’s POV- would feelings do in this situation, if all people see of him is a delinquent and no other bothers to look beyond that? I could write tens of paragraph about why He Tian, Jian Yi and Zhan Zhengxi are so important to Mo’s breaking from this outlook, but I want to focus on the future timeline).

For how big a wall he builds between himself and He Tian in the adult timeline, I’m sure Mo would have come to terms with whatever He Tian told him, as long as He Tian was being honest.

On the other hand, He Tian, who we know absolutely hates having to leave Mo behind, comes back speaking to Mo very casually. He keeps flirting with him, seeking reactions from him and taking everything because even his anger is a side of Mo he likes and reminds him of the Mo whose memory he must have kept in his heart all the time they spent apart. Better to have Mo “mad” at him, or cursing at him, than nothing.

The only times we see him react with anything but his usual cool is when Mo tells him we would have forgotten him, had he not come back to pester him. That feeling of dejection only lasts so long, though, and he comes back (coughcough breaks into coughcough) to Mo’s apartment.

The other time we see underneath He Tian’s mask is when he finds Mo’s box with trinkets that remind him of He Tian. Mo refuses to talk about his feelings, but this shocks He Tian to the core and practically recontextualizes Mo’s attitude towards him. He already knew that Mo missed him, but wasn’t fully aware of how much hurt he unintentionally caused in Mo after leaving.

A while back I said that He Tian is on damage control mode, and I still strongly believe that. His behavior suggests an attempt to (perhaps excessively) compensate for what he imagines Mo experienced. But he himself makes no effort whatsoever to bridge the gap or offer a reason for his disappearance. True, part of the reason is Mo’s lack of receptiveness. But it’s also rooted in He Tian’s upbringing — in a household where vulnerability was dangerous, and concealment was essential for both self-preservation and protecting those he loved.

This guy cannot be vulnerable for the life of him. Whatever the reason for his departure is, it's clear that it's been weighing down on He Tian for a long time. And even if it's not the reason itself, it's the fact that it stands between him and his goal: living with Mo and giving him the life he deserves.

Now, chapters 472 and 474 are finally this wave I mentioned coming back with a vengeance. He Tian asks Mo to kiss him, but backtracks immediately. This is a first for him. Every time he has teased Mo, he’s done so unapologetically because he adores Mo’s reactions. But maybe because of the uncomfortable silence, He Tian says it was only a joke. This makes things worse; we have been shown time and time that Mo can get mad over things that don’t really bother him in the long run. When something REALLY bothers him, though… that’s another whole story. He doesn’t yell, he stays quiet. Frozen.

To me, Mo for a second takes He Tian’s words seriously, but feels betrayed at the thought that He Tian is playing with his feelings when he takes them back. And why wouldn’t he come to that conclusion, seeing the things He Tian has done in the last chapters?

We, the readers, know He Tian does all this out of a need for things to be back as they were, because he loves the only boy who truly understood him. But their teenage love can’t (and shouldn’t!) stay as it was. They have both changed without the other, and must learn to accept it and move on to truly start over.

I love and hate chapter 474 (this seems to be a trend with the newer chapters lol). On the one hand, it seems like He Tian will finally fucking fess up. However, the way we got there… Well, to say this confrontation reminded me of these two in their “earlier days” would be an understatement.

He Tian provokes Mo with a statement he KNOWS will rattle him. Mo, in a fashion resembling his teenage-self rather than the adult we’ve been seeing, reacts with a level of violence we haven’t even seen in a comedic light for a LONG time now. In fact, it gets so out of hand that He Tian has to resort to using his strength when Mo is about to punch him.

One might theorise that He Tian is giving Mo an outlet to vent his anger, but then… why does he mock him? Why the attitude? Honestly, I’m not too sure. Maybe it’s finally sinking in that he has no choice but to explain himself, and at the same time, he’s slipping back into old habits because they feel safer. Hm.

(this is just an incredibly biased aside, but He Tian intentionally ragebaiting Mo and then telling his very visceral reaction is a mere “tantrum” consitutes a certified Asshole (tm) moment. Goddammit, He Tian!)

Then again, we see this panel where he gazes upon the utterly defeated Mo, and… somewhere deep down, He Tian has to know that what he’s doing is not right. This is the moment. The tipping point between clinging to the status quo and finally giving them a real chance. Because if they keep going like this, it won’t be a relationship; just another on-and-off mess, looping back on itself until there’s nothing left.

It’s a shame that it took this to get this conversation going, but the moment we saw these two back in the first chapter of the adult timeline and how they acted around each other, something was bound to give.

I, for one, am excited for what the next chapters could bring to Tianshan's story!

[deduukkk]

I was wondering: in your most recent post, you mentioned something about your ‘Telegram audience’. Can you elaborate please?

I have a Telegram channel for the Russian-speaking people. There, I regularly share sketches and exclusive artworks, as well as artworks from other fandoms (AIS au and another TADC au are also featured there). The language barrier on Tumblr makes it difficult to provide detailed information about the characters, so I prefer to use a social media platform that allows me to write in my native language

So, I was talking about the subscribers on my Telegram channel 😶

[jennelikejennay]

Other Star Trek conlangs

Did you know just how many Star Trek fans have decided to sit down and make a conlang for their species of choice? The answer is, quite a few!

Everybody knows about Klingon, the only canon conlang, and if you read my tumblr you also know about Vuhlkansu.

So far, my researches have additionally turned up:

Romulan: Diane Duane made up Rihan and others have added to it over the years. I think it's amazing. It's not at all related to Vulcan; the idea is that the Romulans wanted a fresh start when they left T'Khasi.

Cardassian: Kardasi looks great, though the link I found to it is seven years old and I have no idea if they're still working on it.

Bajoran: A great effort seems to have been made to use all canon vocabulary and keep it all consistent. Yet another wayback machine link.

Andorian: Several different attempts exist. My son is even making one, though he's not ready to share it. Here's a grammar and a vocabulary which may or may not go together at all.

And there are surely more!

The main thing I am seeing here is that it is difficult to share your work on a conlang, and that people move on from conlangs and the web pages expire. Google docs works surprisingly well, probably because conlangs rarely get much traffic. But people do delete old files and accounts without thinking about it, and then knowledge is lost. If you've ever found an old notebook full of poetry in a language you made up yourself, but you can't find the other notebook that had the dictionary in it, you know the pain.

I thought the ConWorkshop would be a neat solution to this, because you can publish your language there if you have an account. However, you can't make it publicly available, because to even see the languages other people have posted, you need an account and to have already created a language!

So if anybody knows of a good site where these conlangs (and my conlang, lol) could be shared and preserved past the ordinary lifespan of a privately-owned website, please shout out. Imagine a neat little Star Trek conlang website where we could gather all the languages we make, and take care of them jointly so they don't fade out of existence.

[shannendoherty-fans]

One year ago now Shannen left us... her spirit left but remained within us, within her family and friends, within her fans, within all who knew and loved her. It's as hard to believe now as it was then. She was so young, she looked so healthy until the end, she was so active till the end... this is what still makes it difficult. I feel she was stolen from us, she had still lots more to do in this Earth. She tought us love, she was brave, passionate and very misunderstood.

Keep on shinning beautiful diamond, beautiful soul, with your dad, your beloved animals, your ancestors. Keep on minding us, we surely need your courage to face this harsh (yet beautiful) world.

I'll share the last article that was published one year ago now because of her passing. I chose the ones I thought were more beautiful. I'll share more about specifically her cancer journey, "fight" (I don't like to use this word), strength and courage.

July 29, 2024 - Hello Canada

1971 – 2024

Saying Goodbye to a Television Legend.

Shannen Doherty.

Tributes Pour in as the Beverly Hills, 90210 star loses her brave battle with cancer.

Little House on the Prairie. From childhood, Shannen shone on the small screen, begining with a run on a classic family show. "It was really the experience on Little House [on the Prairie] that spurred that passion on for being an actor," she divulged on her podcast. Above right: Her iconic role as Brenda Walsh on 90210 – and love story with Luke Perry (inset) – garnered her fans around the globe.

She put up a courageous fight, but after a near decade-long battle with cancer, TV star Shannen Doherty succumbed to the devastating illness on July 13 at just 53 years of age.

Remembered as a "devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend," the actress was "surrounded by her loved ones, as well as her dog, Bowie," wrote her longtime publicist and compaion, Leslie Sloane.

Shannen's mother, Rosa Wright, shared her own poignant statement, saying, "She is my beautiful girl and my heart. Our family wants to thank everyone who has shown love and support for our Shannen throughout her life."

As heartbreaking as the news was, it was not unexpected. The Beverly Hills, 90210 actress had openly and candidly discussed her ongoing health issues with her fans since receiving her initial disgnosis of invasive breast cancer in 2015.

In typical Shannen fashion, she rebelled against the illness, fighting with vigour for almost 10 years. That determined, spunky attitude is exactly why fans adored the feisty (and sometimes controversial) star.

An Impressive Career

Born in Memphis, Tenn[essee], in 1971, Shannen began establishing herself as a Hollywood household name at age 11 after landing the part of Jenny Wilder on the final season of Little House on the Prairie.

"That show shaped me in so many ways, and it still is the best experience of my entire career," she gushed on an episode of her podcast, Let's Be Clear – a show dedicated to the actress's personal and professional lives.

And what a career it turned out to be. In 1985, the 14-year-old joined newcomers Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt for the rom-com flick Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Four years later, she co-starred with Winona Ryder and Christian Slater in the dark comedy Heathers.

But her breakthrough character was just around the corner: playing high school drama queen Brenda Walsh on Beverly Hills, 90210. Shannen and her onscreen love interest, Luke Perry – who played heartrob Dylan McKay – kept viewers glued to their TV sets.

"There is a special kind of love one has for each other when you experience the journey we did on 90210 and, of course, life in general," the actress said after Luke's sudden and shocking death from a stroke in 2019. He was 52.

After Shannen's passing, Luke's 24-year-old daughter Sophie, took to Instagram to pay tribute on her father's behalf, sharing an image of the fictional couple with a simple heart emoji.

While the character of Brenda was a fan favourite, Shannen was written off the popular show at the end of season 4 as rumours of tension with castmates and stories of difficult on-set behaviour made headlines.

She and Canadian co-star Jason Priestley, 54 – who played her twin brother, Brandon Walsh – discussed the firing on Let's Be Clear, with Shannen citing at-home issues – including a toxic marriage – behind her lack of professionalism.

"I wish that I would have known more about what was happening in your personal life at the time," Jason confessed to his former co-star. "Because I could have hopefully managed it with more compassion."

"I never want to operate like I'm dying" – Shannen

Unluky in love – she had just finalized her divorce from Kurt Iswarienko at the time of her death – Shannen had a passion for animals and was devoted to her pup, Bowie. "I want [my remains] to be mixed with my dog," she said.

Dancing with the Stars, 2010. Competing on DWTS, Shannen and ballroom partner Mark Ballas were eliminated in the first round, but it was all worth it. Explaining that her father, John Doherty, wanted her to go on the show, she joked, "I can't ever say no to my dad!".

Not-So-Charmed Life

Despite the acrimonious parting of ways, Aaron Spelling – her co-star Tori's father and the producer behind 90210 – took a second chance on Shannen, casting her in Charmed, alongside Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs. Her stint lasted three years, ending again in termination due to troubles with the cast.

Shannen's stigma as a "bad girl" followed her, and she was unable to land another major role. "I have a rep," she admitted in 2010. "Did I earn it? Yeah, I did. But after a while, you sort of try to shed that rep because you're kind of a different person. You've evolved, and all of the bad things you've done in your life have brought you to a much better place."

In 2019, Shannen reunited with her old Beverly Hills buddies for a reboot of the popular show: BH90210. Initially passing on the project, Shannen changed her mind after Luke's death. "When Luke passed away, things drastically changed for me," said Doherty. "It felt like it was a great opportunity to honour him."

"Thank You for the Gift of You" – Brian Austin Green.

Reuniting with original 90210 castmates for the 2019 reboot of the drama – BH90210 – Shannen made it clear she wasn't interested in being a villain on the show. "I just [wanted] to keep spreading good, positive energy into the world as in real life."

Staying Hopeful

Just like Brenda's turbulent relationship with Dylan, Shannen's own love life was peppered with ups and downs. After two unsuccessful marriages – to actor Ashley Hamilton (1993-1994) and poker player Rick Salomon (2002-2003) – Shannen looked to have found her happy ending with photographer Kurt Iswarienko. The couple wed in 2011.

But then came her breast-cancer diagnosis, just four years into their marriage. "It's hard to feel sexy and beautiful when going through chemo, and therefore it's challenging to allow one to love you," Shannen said of Kurt in 2016, who initially stood by her side during her gruelling medical procedures.

Despite a two-year remission period from 2017 to 2019, the disease and treatments thwarted her deepest-held desire: to become pregnant. "Not only did I want a child for myself but I wanted it for my husband," she confessed. "I wanted it for our marriage, I wanted him to have that part of himself fulfilled as well."

Sadly, Shannen and Kurt parted ways last year after claims of his infidelity (their divorce was finalized the day before Shannen's passing). That same year, she received the unthinkable news that her cancer had spread to her bones and brain.

"She is fearless yet full of heart" – Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Drawing from her own experiences, Shannen became and advocate for those with cancer, participating in charity events like Stand Up to Cancer (with Spice Girl Mel B. in 2016). That same year, she was presented with the American Cancer Society's Courage Award for her Bravery. "Courage is embracing what you're going through and trying to get through it with as much dignity as you possibly can," she said as she accepted the honour.

Despite her personal heartbreak and escalating health crisis, Shannen held on to her positive outlook, focusing on her podcast, family, friends and cherished German shepherd, Bowie. "I love my dog more than anything else in the world," she told Grey's Anatomy actress Katherine Heigl during one of her last episodes of Let's Be Clear, which aired on June 28.

Shannen believed her intuitive pup detected her cancer well before her diagnosis, explaining that Bowie would constantly sniff at her right side, possibly trying to draw attention to the disease. Her love of four-legged friends extended to animal advocacy: "Shannen spearheaded pet adoption campaigns and was vocal in the fight against horse slaughter.

"She is fearless, yet full of heart," Shannen's friend Sarah Michelle Gellar wrote of the former Dancing with the Stars contestant, who maintained her upbeat demeanour right up until the end.

"Every day is a gift, and there are so many new things in the works that I think hope is always there," Shannen mused earlier this year. "Listen, I can die today, I can die in 20 years, I don't know... But all I can do is live each day in as much of a positive manner with hope as I can and embrace it and feel like, 'Wow, I get to wake up again today – what can I do?' I believe that positivity that you bring into your life, I think it helps with your while body."

[lonelylonelyghost]

MURDERBOOOOOT ep.10

That was fucked up but also a little bit funny

I mean can you imagine if that was real?

At this moment I had to stop watching and pace around my room for a while

what do you mean.

WHAT DO YOU MEEEEEEAN!!!!

Well of course it doesn't you piece of shit

Of course, Madam President. Would you like to take a sit, Madam President? My face is - *gets dragged away and shot in the back of the head*

In my defence, judging by his face Gurathin probably had the same thought

yeah...

I only noticed it while making this post, but I LOVE the stark contrast of the tone between what was going on during the expedition and now that they're back in the Corporation grounds. Despite the hostile fauna and constant and immediate threats to their lives from every side, the "civilized" place is where the real horror lies.

This episode has almost no jokes, no quirky banter, no shenanigans.

Here it is serious. Here it's real and bleak and deadly.

Genuine tension. True fear.

Show must go oooooon 🎵

To be fair, the doomed ones always have the best parties

Divulging slightly, I need these clothes, like yesterday. Photos from every angle, the mock-ups, patterns, everything. I'll learn how to sew properly I swear!

I've been trying to find my style for a while and get something that I actually like wearing, but where I'm living the clothes are either very gendered, cost half an infant or the most boring unisex shit imaginable.

But here the clothes are flow-y, practical, visibly comfortable, not too flashy but also unique and look good. I couldn't find much info about it besides the names of the costume designers (maybe it's just too early?..), so if any of you find anything to share in this regard - please save me!!!

So, are you saying that even a complete memory wipe cannot fix your PTSD?

Damn.

No hope except for therapy I guess

The show doesn't excuse passive enablers of the system, and that's great. Yes, you are a cog in the machine, but you also have your own brain and your own heart and the ability to resist harming others. It's difficult and dangerous, but it's not impossible

Yeah, that tracks. Media has raised me too

The way Murderbot almost timidly tries to ping other SecUnits to understand what's going on

The way it does what it's told and looks completely lost and scared

Now if you excuse me for a sec, my eyes are leaking

two sentence autistic horror story

I think now Gurathin understands in full just how much similar he and Murderbot are.

And he extends the gentleness and care the same way he received it all those years ago

noticing only what's truly important

this one is setting its priorities straight

Identity crisis

who am I if not sword and shield?

HOW DARE YOU

THE PERIMETER THING WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY AND LIGHTHEARTED

If I observe hard enough, if I'm able to hide parts of myself well enough, maybe no one will notice that I'm not like them

maybe no one will notice that I'm not "normal"

Murderbot, end message

******************************************************************

Well,

This was a fantastic ending to a fantastic season.

Just, thank you everyone who helped to bring this show to life. The love and respect that they had to the books and to this world is visible and tangible

Honestly, when I heard that there would be a live-action adaptation to these books a couple of years ago, my first thought was that by the time of the release I would not be alive to see it and that would be such a pity. Happy to say right now that these posts were not typed by an apparition

So

See you in season 2?...

Ghost, end message

:)

[croquettish]

I have I think interesting question: Were people centuries ago aware of "they might be sodomites"? Or "and they were roommates" meme is actually accurate and people were absolutly oblivious about gay couples till they werent too obvious or literally cought on having sex, they were really seemed as "close friends", especially in Hansry context. I mean how much is allowed to not be too obvious. Ofc nowadays we can easier recognise some things as queer, bcs we got all spectrum of terms and when we see same sex couple, it can be assumed that they can be close friends, but they also be a couple until they make coming out to us. But centuries ago it would never happen. So my question is where was the line where "close friends and roommates" can be taken as "sodomites". Was it ok that they were inseparable, going hunting together, sleeping in same tent/bed or hugging till they werent cought kissing or making out? As we know it was very populsr among historian that same things were taken as romantic in opposite sex relationships and as platonic friendship when it comes to same sex relationships (RIP Achilles and Patroclus 💔). I'm really into hear you pov 🥺

This is indeed a very good question while simultaneously being a very difficult one to answer. On the one hand, I can say that there were absolutely instances of "okay, this is crossing a line," and Anselm is a great example of that. He was affectionate enough in his letters speaking to the other monks that he realized that his words could be taken to allow for him to be viewed as a sodomite. And as a result, he had to tone down his language and adjust. So that sort of awareness was absolutely there.

At the same time, we have instances like Philip II and Richard the Lionheart who would eat off the same plate and shared a bed, and they didn't ping any radars that we know of, even though we know both Richard and Anselm both had some private confessions, (in Richard's instance very close to the end of his life) where they confessed to some "private sins" that couldn't be disclosed. Another factor at play here is that of course we don't have the writings of peasants, just nobility. We have records of crimes that were committed, but those don't go into all too much detail in early days (and even later, there isn't that much). If we do consider the Hetzendorfer trial, we do get some answers though. In her case, her lesbian tendencies were a fairly open secret, at least with people she thought to trust in the community.

So what can we conclude from what we do have? The people who were the most under suspicion were monks and priests, all the more so after the ban on marriage was locked the fuck in. People were also inherently more suspicious of them in general on account of church corruption, so they were more likely to scrutinize their actions. But the vast majority of cases that we do have access to often involve either "so and so saw something suspicious and reported it," or, more likely to get you in serious trouble, "the person you slept with reported you." We have a few instances of that happening, of younger men explaining that their older partner told them that oh, this is just fine, actually, and so they were convinced to participate in sin. These admissions usually led to them being given a lesser punishment, which of course was in their best interest. But it does tell us that it happened. You'll also recall Johannes Stocker's comment about Basel and how prevalent the issue supposedly was there (according to a guy trying to get another guy into bed, mind).

Them living together however... we just don't have a lot of data on that. And that is also the part where I have to defend my fellow historians, albeit just a bit. Some of them are indeed ridiculous ("poor people shared beds so the kings sharing a bed is obviously not at all gay," I'm looking at you), but you have to understand that we would lose all credibility if we came to the conclusion that the people of the past held the same conceptions of themselves that we do today. Even Boswell remains controversial in his essentialist view. The unfortunate thing is that we just can't know these things. Our modern-day idea of "identity" (or something resembling it) may have had its roots in the twelfth century, but it would be several centuries later before that sort of thing started showing up in our records. That the idea of queer identity started existing.

And even then it's contentious! Eleanor/John Rykener's situation in terms of gender is so unique (because we just can't know! were they trans? just crossdressing? what??) that the wikipedia article is a goddamn mess. Literally, the only solution that the article's editors have come to is to literally never use pronouns and to only ever refer to them as Rykener. As if they/them isn't literally perfect for an instance like that, where we just don't know. But apparently that would be assigning a non-binary gender unto Rykener, which is an absurd take, but whatever.

My point is that you can't easily place our modern day conceptions of these things into the past. Trust me, if I discovered some court records where a person from the Middle Ages explicitly associated their identity with something like the label "sodomite," I would be writing about it right this second. I wish we could find something like that. But outside of that (and even then, that would be subject to so much scrutiny), we have to unfortunately step very lightly about proclaiming things like "oh, Anselm was clearly gay!" in an academic context. Even if I would argue that yes, he most likely was. You just will never see me putting that into a published article, you know?

[wachinyeya]

Piping plovers have made a dramatic comeback.

Author: Rob Caldwell

Published: 3:53 PM EDT June 30, 2025

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — In a world where encouraging stories about conservation and the environment seem all too rare, it’s heartening to hear what has happened in the last 44 years to piping plovers in Maine.

In 1981, according to Maine Audubon coastal bird biologist Sophie Garland, the state had 10 pairs of plovers nesting on its beaches. This year, there are 174 pairs.

That dramatic increase did not occur by accident or happenstance. Back in 1981 , the Maine Audubon began monitoring, counting, and working to protect plovers as part of its Coastal Birds Project. The mission goes on today on 26 beaches stretching from York County to Reid State Park in Georgetown.

Garland and another Audubon coastal bird biologist, Katie Burns, spend much of the summer walking those beaches, binoculars in hand, scanning for plovers, which are an endangered species. To the untrained eye, the birds can be difficult to spot because their feathers blend in so well with the sand as they nest.

While the locations vary, a key part of the job does not. 

“Know where the nests are,” Garland said as she stood on Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport. “Know where the pairs are that are nesting, and know where their chicks are.”

The other part of the job is educating the public. Garland and Burns spend a lot of time talking to visitors on the beach, explaining why the tiny plovers are so vulnerable.

People who don’t know better can step on nests, get too close and stress plovers, or let dogs threaten the birds by running unleashed. Management areas have been set up and educational signs posted on parts of the beach where the birds nest.

“When you see [a management area marked with] stake and twine, don't sit right up against it,” Burns said. “Give it plenty of space—100 feet, if you can."

If you're planning to toss a frisbee or build sand castles, sharing the space is particularly important. 

“If you're playing catch on the beach, do it towards the shore away from the management area so you don't disturb chicks or the nest," she added. "Basically, just give the birds as much space as you can.”

The education efforts have clearly paid off, as the growing numbers of plovers in Maine demonstrate. After talking with some folks on the beach who were delighted to receive one her “Plover Lover” stickers, Burns offered a final thought to them: “Thank you for caring about the birds.”

[ceristhefallen]

Wanted to share a small story I had awhile back: Literally recalled having a discussion with a user about our criticisms for Nika + Daminika and we had fun talking about it! No arguments! Everything ended well (different account tho)!

BUT ALL OF A SUDDEN. A Daminika shipper comes in and called us *clears throat*

✨️ UNBEARABLE ✨️

WHAT AN HONOR RIGHT?? 💅💅💅 ( 🙄 )

Anyways! The person I discussed with tried to clear up how they misunderstood the point of our discussion. They were pretty nice about it! And what does this person say??

"I ain't reading all that"

💀💀💀

AND THEY TRIED BRINGING OTHER PEOPLE TO GANG UP ON THAT PERSON TOO.

BTW. Something I've wanted to ask "chatline" (because I know who they are)... if you really wanted to trash this person SO bad... WHY DIDN'T YOU TALK IN THERE YOURSELVES??

💀💀💀

HOW EMBARRASSING.

Eventually, I got back in to clap back at their behavior and all they did was send a troll pic (can't find it since they deactivated 😭😭😭)

💀💀💀

AGAIN. HOW EMBARASSING.

Yeah. Daminika shippers were VERY defensive. They couldn't have a discussion without calling people names or acting tough—instead of... dunno... TALKING LIKE AN UNDERSTANDING, EQUAL HUMAN BEING??? Is that so difficult??

Then again, this was awhile back and nowadays, those minority seem chill... but in a way they still act like they're better and know everything.

And ngl?? I feel like I should've responded to that better and it didn't really help in that moment. Sooo, yeah. I'll take some of the blame.

@thebettertraiaad @starstruckloversweets

Lowkey dislike nika and Damian being together and idk what to do abt it cause ppl are shipping it left and right and my TikTok is showing me them as if I just didn’t press not interested like bro wtf 💔😭

And ppl are right to have their opinion but not when it shows on my fyp like lease bro leave me alone 🥀

And if you don’t like this post you don’t have to like it it’s just my opinion