#challenge response

[strawwritesfic]

Kelvin!Spock x Female!Human!Reader: Mr. Right

Summary: When one door closes, another opens—perhaps the door you were meant to enter all along.

Warnings/Tags: Starship Enterprise; post-Star Trek Beyond; friends to lovers; breakup; almost kiss; counselor!reader; Star Trek: The Original Series references; Star Trek: The Next Generation references

Relationships: Spock/Reader; Spock & Nyota Uhura; past!Spock/Nyota Uhura; past!Kevin Riley/Reader

Challenge: “160 Collective Drabbles” challenge by BobaPop on Lunaescence Archives.

Requester: @lovemesomeescapism

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Notes: For once, this is not a repost for this challenge…technically. I did write a response to the prompt "Mr. Right" ages ago, but when I was reposting, I decided that the Now You See Me one shot I wrote really wasn't worth keeping. Someone on Tumblr asked me for a Spock one shot, so I slipped him in as a replacement.

It's been a really long time since I finished something new. I realize that I am rusty. This is actually several drafts into attempts to write this one shot. For the first time ever, I actually cannibalized previous drafts while trying to get the meandering dialogue and point back on track. It still doesn't feel quite "right" to me, but it's probably going to take some time before I get back in the swing of things, and I'm ready to let this one go.

Mr. Right

Throughout Terra's history, human beings had sought the comfort of white noise. Quiet droning sounds proved beneficial for many aspects of mental health in the species. As a counselor on board the U.S.S. Enterprise, you'd recommended listening to white noise to dozens of fellow crewmates and patients alike. The best way to do this in the deep space you'd all been exploring for nearly five years was to turn everything in one's quarters down until the low hum of the ship's warp drive became audible. Many of those crewmates and patients reported back to you with decreased stress levels, improved mood, and a distinct uptick in ability to concentrate. Almost all of them said they got better sleep.

Now you learned that every single one of them had lied to you.

You'd spent the better part of the evening-adjacent hours lying face-down on your sofa, trying and failing to take a nap. The scratchy, standard-issue pillow beneath your face was soaked with tears. Your chest ached. Worst of all, any attempt on your part to get your mind off what upset you just ended with you crying harder. All the while, that awful rumble went on and on and on and on relentlessly, allowing you no respite long enough to drift off and forget your current predicament.

A chime cut through your misery. You paused without so much as lifting your head. As of three hours prior, you were officially off duty for the day. Nothing required you to answer the door unless an order came down from a superior officer, and they would call first. Probably it was only Uhura coming by to check on you. Having been through her own breakup during this voyage, surely she would understand when you didn't let her inside.

The chime sounded again, and with it came a surge of possibilities flooding your mind. What if your visitor was dealing with a crisis? Cases of PTSD had been on the rise since the events on Altamid. You could hardly ignore that in favor of your own small, personal crisis. Off duty or not, your role as a ship's counselor would not allow you to wallow in self-pity when someone might need your help.

As your boots hit the floor, you pressed one sleeve of your rumpled blue uniform to the corner of each eye. The gesture wouldn't do much to disguise what you'd been doing over the course of your time off, but you felt a little steadier afterward. Breathing deeply in and out helped too—until you hiccuped. But you could prepare yourself no more. Squaring your shoulders, you stood, walked over to the door leading to the corridor, and opened it.

Just outside stood the familiar, lanky figure of the ship's science officer. The second you spotted him, you wiped your sleeve across your face with greater urgency.

"You're not one of my patients," you said, "or Uhura."

"A very astute observation, Lieutenant [L Name]," Spock replied.

A long moment elapsed during which the two of you stared at one another. Several fellow crewmates in various uniform colors threw curious looks at his back as they passed by on their ways to wherever they were headed. Your friend, meanwhile, allowed a single dark eyebrow to drift toward his hairline. He clearly had no intention of moving on.

"What are you doing here?" you sighed at last.

The wayward eyebrow rejoined its brother. "Lieutenant Commander Uhura informed me that you left your office this afternoon in distress. I note that her assessment was an accurate one. If anything, you appear to be in more distress now than she described to me then."

You couldn't lie to Spock, not when you looked the way you looked after a crying jag like the one you'd just had. So you didn't bother to try. "Fine. I'm in distress. But really, Spock, it's not the kind of distress you can help with. I'm sure Captain Kirk will need you on a landing party any minute now, so if you'll excuse me—"

"Lieutenant Commander Uhura also informed me of the cause of your distress."

"Of course she did." Sometimes you wished your two friends were a little lighter on the "amicable" part of "amicable exes." "Let me guess: You came by to tell me that you told me so."

"As a Vulcan, I have no reason to rub my correct prediction in your face, if you will forgive the Terra colloquial."

You let out a wet laugh despite yourself. "You're pardoned."

"What I have done is stopped by the mess hall. If I am not much mistaken, ice cream is a traditional consolation food in these types of situations."

He produced from behind his back a number of different colored tapes. So startled were you that you found yourself unable to say anything. Never in a million years would you have imagined Spock of all people standing in front of you and offering you junk food of all things. Your silence went on for so long that he had to prompt you to speak:

"Was I incorrect in my understanding of how to handle Terran breakups?"

"No," you said, then, "I just didn't want you to find out about the breakup until I could pull myself together."

"I surmised as much, given that Lieutenant Commander Uhura found out about your circumstances before I did, although you and I are closer friends. It would have been more logical for you to contact me for assistance than her."

Vulcans as a whole were difficult to read. Even factoring in your education and training, as well as your friendship with Spock that had gone on for several years now, you could only guess his feelings the majority of the time. Not so then. Something about his tone made him sound hurt. Maybe you could chalk that up to projecting your own feelings onto him, but you couldn't risk that assumption.

"It's just that you warned me against dating Kevin," you explained. "As ship's counselor, I should have seen the end coming a kiloparsec away."

"Perhaps. But one might also say that your extensive proximity to the crew's emotions might cause some loss in objectivity on your part."

"So you're not here to make me feel worse?"

"I came for consolation purposes. That is all."

"Well, all right, then."

You stepped away from the doorway. Spock followed you in. He paused only long enough to press the button to close the door before he came to join you in your sitting room. A crate sat on the floor along his path, and he looked at you questioningly as he walked by it.

"Those are Kevin's things," you said.

"Expedient," he observed.

Normally, you might have tried to go for a little more decorum around him, but that day you didn't have the energy to do more than flop back onto your couch. At least you were upright. Spock, on the other hand, claimed a dignified perch at the end of your chair. The two of you certainly made an odd pair.

"He had so many hair products!" you burst out when the awkward silence turned unbearable. "I should have known we wouldn't work out. Who brings that much hair spray into deep space?"

"Humanity can hardly be expected to iron out all its flaws when you all cling so hard to your baser emotions."

"Do you mean Kevin's desire to look nice, or my need to be in a relationship?"

Spock blinked, then smoothly said, "In this case, I refer to your former beau's preoccupation with personal grooming."

"Right. Either way, I'm about ready to get rid of all my own baser emotions. Not feeling them would be a blessing." You got back to your feet and thrust one hand in Spock's direction. "Ice cream tape, please."

He offered one to you.

"Spock," you said warningly.

"I do not believe that heartbreak is an excuse to overeat. I only brought so many because I was unsure which flavor you would select."

The glare you leveled at him seemed to make him think better of lecturing you on the dangers of gluttony—as well it should have. This was the same glare that you gave Dr. McCoy when you were tired of listening to him. Unlike with Dr. McCoy, you smiled once Spock dropped the rest of the tapes into your outstretched hand.

"Thank you." You headed for your in-quarters food producer, then turned your head to ask over your shoulder, "What flavor do you want?"

"I do not require ice cream."

"Come on, Spock. If you're going to spend the evening commiserating with me, you have to have some ice cream, too. That's a critical part of the Terran breakup process."

One corner of his mouth twitched. "I'll have pistachio, then."

You fed the yellow-green tape into the slot. A quiet beeping noise covered the hum of the warp drive as the computer worked. While you waited, you flipped through the remainder of the flavors until you found the one you wanted.

"I don't think it would be a good idea for you to give up emotions," Spock said.

"Huh?" Frowning at him, you replaced his tape with yours. "Aren't you the guy that's been talking about doing the Kolinahr when we get back to Earth?"

"That's different. I am a Vulcan."

"Half Vulcan."

"Vulcan enough."

A shriller beep put an end to this potentially sticky subject. The ice creams were ready. You dumped the rest of the tapes in a basket next to the food producer, picked up the bowls, and brought them back to the living room. Spock took his with a grateful nod, though he waited until you sat down again before taking a bite.

"Maybe I'd be a better counselor if I didn't have emotions," you mused. "If I wasn't blinded by my own feelings, I could help the crew more with theirs. I shouldn't have the same problems as they do after all the studying I've done."

"While that may indeed make sense, it is hardly realistic. Besides, if you did not have your human emotions, you would no longer be the [Name] that I know, and I believe that I would miss her."

You couldn't help but smile around the spoon in your mouth. Popping that out, you said, "I bet you say that to all the Terrans you like."

"Hardly. In fact, that captain may benefit from an hour or two without his usual emotions."

"I appreciate you saying that, Spock."

"I am only speaking the truth. I have no intention of bolstering your ego artificially, even if doing so is a part of the Terran breakup process."

"I know." You slowly lowered your spoon back to the bowl, staring off into space. Something was dawning on you—something that might have dawned on you sooner had you not been so enthralled with your own feelings. "You know what else I appreciate? You coming here to help me today. Not every first officer would go out of their way for a ship's counselor like that."

Spock fixed you with an unblinking gaze as he said, "You mean a great deal more to me than most ship's counselors mean to their first officers."

"I don't care what Captain Kirk says. You sure know how to make a woman blush."

"I have had some practice with the activity."

"Remind me to thank Uhura later."

"Thank her for what?" Spock asked.

Maybe you were reading the signs wrong. Maybe you were just desperate. If he had to ask, you had to be wrong. But you took a deep breath anyway, and said, "Helping me realize that maybe the guy I've been looking for this whole time has been my best friend all along."

How could it have taken you this long to work it out? No one else spent as much time with you as Spock did, not outside of your office hours. It didn't matter if you were in the mess hall asking for a round of Fizzbin after dinner or you wanted a quiet night in your quarters. He always seemed to be there. You felt comfortable around him. Maybe you didn't always understand Spock; maybe Spock didn't always understand. But you didn't enjoy anyone's company the way you did his. And you had to wonder when your eyes met just then if he felt the same way, and if this coming-to-see-you-with-ice-cream thing was his way of showing you that.

"Well," he moistened his lips before going on, "I certainly feel that our relationship is founded more steadily upon mutual interests and desires than it is upon a passion for hair products."

You leaned forward. "You know, that sort of relationship sounds really appealing right about now."

"It does?" Spock shifted closer to you.

"I think it's about time that I dated someone whose first thought in the morning isn't beating me to the sonic shower, don't you?"

By that time, you both had come so close that it wouldn't have taken much more movement on either of your parts to touch lips. Your heart gave a painful leap inside your chest. Was this too much too fast? Even if you had just realized you'd had a thing for Spock for a while now, you had only just broken up with your last boyfriend that morning. Treating Spock as a rebound was the last thing you wanted to do. He didn't seem to mind, though. His mouth drew closer and closer to yours until you could feel his breath on your face.

The communicator in your room chirped. You jumped. Spock paused before sitting back up in his chair. Then you rose wordlessly, stepped over to the panel, cleared your throat, and pushed the button.

"[L Name]," you said.

"[Name]?" Uhura did not remark on how breathless you sounded, thankfully. "I need to talk to Spock."

"It's for you," you said unnecessarily. Spock had already reset his face into its typical blank mask and made his way to the communicator himself.

"Spock here. What is it, Lieutenant Commander?"

"Captain Kirk needs you on the bridge. We have a situation up here."

"What kind of a situation?"

"There's a former United States President floating outside the ship. He says he needs our help."

"I will be there right away."

A second chirp signaled that communications between your room and the bridge had ceased. Spock turned back to you.

"My presence is needed on the bridge," he said.

"So I heard."

"I apologize. I believe we were in the middle of something."

"It's all right."

He didn't move.

"Spock, go. Don't you want to know why a deceased historical figure has asked for the Enterprise's help?"

"I'd prefer to stay here," Spock said. "But you are correct. I must leave. Will you still be here later tonight?"

"Yeah." You surprised yourself with the eagerness of your answer. "Yeah, I will. I promise I won't run off with any other lieutenants while you're away. I'll save the rest of the ice cream. We can share it when you get back."

There it was: The slight curl to Spock's mouth that told you that you weren't making up the mutual attraction between you both after all. "To use another Terran phrase, it's a date."

He hesitated another moment longer before he quickly exited your quarter. You grinned as the door slid shut behind him and the white noise returned full force. As you sunk into your couch and pillow this time, you found you didn't mind the hum as much. In fact, the sound did exactly what it was supposed to do: Relax you. Kevin and his excuses from that morning felt farther away than your own home planet. Maybe you owed him a thank you, too, because if you were still with him, you wouldn't have slept as well as you did that night knowing that Spock would be back soon.

#fan fic #straw writes #reader insert #second person pov #star trek #star trek beyond #challenge response #request #spock #spock x reader #spock x you #spock x y/n #star trek x reader #star trek x y/n #star trek you #kelvin universe

[thevioletcaptain]

i genuinely don't care how good a piece of ai generated art or writing looks on the surface. i don't care if it emulates brush strokes and metaphor in a way indistinguishable from those created by a person.

it is not the product of thoughtful creation. it offers no insights into the creator's life or viewpoint. it has no connection to a moment in time or a place or an attitude. it has no perspective. it has no value.

it's empty, it's hollow, and it exists only to generate clicks (and by extension, ad revenue.)

it's just another revolting symptom of the disease that is late stage capitalism, and it fucking sucks.

#''but i just want to use it to--'' don't care! it's shit! stop fucking feeding it! #if you need help generating ideas or jumping off points then join an artist or writer group online #talk to people #make connections #that's what art and writing is supposed to be about in the first place #i'm mad as hell etc. #so goddamn sick and tired of seeing ai shit get passed around on here #it's bad enough in general but every time i see more of it showing up #tagged as fan art or as fic #the angrier i get #heartfelt imperfection in art and writing will always ALWAYS be worth more than the most technically ''perfect'' ai generated image or text #fandom problems #ai generation algorithms die in a fire challenge 2k23 #just a heads up that i'm muting this post and will no longer see responses to it #because i'm tired of seeing dogshit takes from jackasses who want to ''debate'' me #there's no debate you're in the wrong on literally every level and you can die mad about it

[martyrbat]

ok sure you don't believe in god or the church anymore but what are you doing to unlearn the propaganda you wre taught? what are you doing to educate yourself about marginalized groups that the church attacked and that you absorbed subconsciously? how are you challenging your viewpoints on things such as addiction, sexuality, poverty, other religions, disabilities, illness, race, and more without it being through a christian lens? are you careful to not spread propaganda or harmful ideologies? youre ‘reclaiming’ shit for your poetry and healing and thats great i guess, i wish you the best, but what have you actually renounced?

#sometimes i want to shake some of the people here and yell at them to stop being a spokesperson for the catholic church #like it doesn't matter how you revamp it to fit the modern posting style!! youre using the same guilt tripping! #youre still spreading misinformation that you never thought to challenge after leaving the misinformation building! #i get its not on purpose but its your responsibility to educate yourself instead of relying solely on being corrected!!!! #ransom note

[edenfenixblogs]

Let’s put some numbers to Jewish fear right now.

In news that I’m sure will thrill all antisemites, it would take startlingly little effort to foment widespread violence against us and cause another genocide of the Jewish people.

I have had many fellow Jews express to me how overwhelming it is to see the rising antisemitism. I have seen many Jews express fear at being drowned out of public, online, and IRL spaces due to dangerously violent vitriol.

I have also seen people who claim to advocate for Palestine—especially western leftists—openly mock Jews who express this fear.

Finally, I and my fellow Jews have often expressed that, while we wholeheartedly support Palestinian freedom and self determination, it is exhausting to have to say so repeatedly, especially when we are trying to advocate for ourselves. This is not due to any latent or widespread hatred of Muslims, Arabs, or Palestinians. It is because we are an extremely maligned and marginalized minority that is fighting to be heard against strong, hostile forces that at best wish we’d shut up and at worst want us eradicated from the planet.

There is a disconnect about how much harm people can do to Jews by spreading antisemitism and refusing to dismantle their own internalized antisemitism—and everyone has internalized antisemitism. It is one of the oldest forms of prejudice in the world and is found in almost every single culture. It is as, if not more, pervasive than white privilege. Yes. You read that right. And if asked to elaborate, I will provide numbers on that to the best of my ability. For the purposes of this post, however, I want to focus on the global distribution of religious groups only.

Specifically, this disconnect is between Jews who are fully aware and feel the affects of this damage and goyim who simply do not comprehend our marginalization.

To help, let’s put some numbers to this. In this post, I’ll be using the Pew Research Center’s survey and findings on the Global Religious Landscape. This is the most recent data from a reputable source that I could find which surveyed every world religion at the same time. While the Jewish population has grown slightly in the intervening years, so have most (if not all) other religious populations around the globe. I wanted to use figures measured at the same time to avoid bias for or against any religious group.

For the purposes of this post, I will not be discussing folk religions or other religions. This is not because they are not important. This is because they are not a monolith and individual folk religions and other religions may have even fewer adherents per religion than Judaism. I am currently only focusing on religions and religious groups who have more adherents than Judaism.

In descending order of adherents, there number of people in the world belonging to these groups:

2,200,000,000 (2.2 Billion) Christians

1,600,000,000 (1.6 Billion) Muslims

1,100,000,000 (1.1 Billion) Religiously unaffiliated people

1,000,000,000 (1 Billion) Hindus

500,000,000 (500 Million) Buddhists

14,000,000 (14 Million) Jews

Reduced to the simplest fractions there are:

1100 Christians for every 7 Jews

800 Muslims for every 7 Jews

550 Religiously unaffiliated people for every 7 Jews

500 Hindus for every 7 Jews

250 Buddhists for every 7 Jews

Combined, there are 6,400,000,000 non-Jewish people in religions or religious groups (including religiously unaffiliated people).

This means that for every 7 Jews there are 3200 people in religious groups who outnumber us.

Jews are 0.2 % of the global population.

When we tell you that hate is dangerous, it is because…

It would only take 0.21% of 6.4 Billion people to hate us in order to completely overwhelm and outnumber every single Jewish person on the planet. In other words, only 67.2 out of every 3200 people.

And given how violent and aggressive people have become toward us in recent weeks, that doesn’t seem far off.

No, most Christians, Muslims, Atheists/Agnostics, Hindus, and Buddhists do NOT hate Jews.

But if even 0.21% of them do hate us, Jews are at a legitimate and terrifying risk of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

It is not possible for Jews alone to fight this rising tide of hate. There simply aren’t enough of us. And many of us are too scared to tell you the truth: if you don’t vocally and repeatedly stand up for Jews (and not just the ones you agree with) you will be complicit in the genocide that follows. Police your own communities.

Nobody acting in good faith is asking you to abandon Palestinians or their fight for self determination and equality in their homeland. All we are asking is for you to learn about antisemitism, deconstruct it in yourself, and loudly condemn it when it occurs in front of you. We are asking you to comfort us and not run away when we are scared or even angry at you. Because a lot of us are angry with you, because we are extremely scared right now and many of you are not helping us. Many of you are actively and carelessly spreading dogwhistles that further the global rise in hatred against us.

You can support Palestine AND avoid Islamophobia WITHOUT making antisemitism worse. But you can’t stop antisemitism by staying silent in the face of it. And if you don’t speak up, you will get us killed. Silence, in this case, is quite literally violence.

Many of us have armed guards posted at our synagogues and schools and community centers because of this. I certainly had times where my synagogue and school had to have armed security for our safety.

The only reason more of us haven’t died already is because we have millennia of experience in confronting this kind of hatred and guarding against it.

But in pure numbers, if you don’t speak up for us now, we don’t have a chance at survival without support.

So, what can you do, specifically?:

* Make a stand or public statement about condemning antisemitism without mentioning another group. Acknowledge Jewish fear, pain, and current danger without contextualizing it in someone else’s. It could literally be something as simple as “Antisemitism is bad. There’s never a reason for it. I won’t tolerate it in presence in real life or online.” If you cannot bring yourself to publicly make this statement, you should have a serious look at yourself to understand why you can’t.

* Learn about the six universal features of antisemitism and the many, various dog whistles affecting the global Jewish community

* Do not welcome people who espouse rhetoric that includes any features from the above bullet point in your community unless you are able to educate them and eliminate that behavior.

* Check in on your Jewish friends, regularly and repeatedly. Do not wait for them to reach out to you. They are scared of you. Even if you don’t have the emotional space to have conversations about antisemitism. Just send a message once in a while, unprompted, “Jfyi, antisemitism still sucks. I support you.”

* Redirect conversations about which “side” is “right” to how to attain peace. Do this by saying that this line of argument is not conducive to peace, and link to a well-respected organization not widely accused of either antisemitism or Islamophobia that is devoted to achieving a peaceful resolution, increasing education, or providing humanitarian aid to relevant affected groups—including Jews, Israelis, Palestinians, Muslims, and Arabs. You can find over 160 such organizations at the Alliance for Middle East Peace https://www.allmep.org/

* Look to support experienced groups without widespread and verifiable claims of prejudice against either Jews or Muslims or Arabs or Palestinians. Many of these organizations can also be found at the AllMEP link above. Avoid groups on the shit list as well as unproductive and harmful movements.

* Do not default to western methods of political demonstration. Specifically, protests are not useful in attaining peace in western nations at this time. Israelis and Palestinians can and should protest to the best of their abilities in Israel and Palestine so as to pressure their own governments. However, protests in western nations have proven to be poorly regulated and to further the spread of bigoted rhetoric and violence against Jews, Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians. Furthermore, there are nearly as many Palestinians in the world as there are Jews. It is extremely easy and common for the voices of bad actors and bigots on all sides to completely drown out Jewish and Palestinian voices and concerns at these events.

* Spend more time listening and learning than speaking and acting. Anyone who tells you this conflict is simple is someone who is lying to you. Take the time to learn the ways in which your actions and words can get people hurt before joining the fray.

* Stop demonizing Zionism as a concept, even if you disagree with it. Understand that it is a philosophy with many different movements that often conflict with each other. The Zionism practiced by Netanyahu and the Likud party is NOT representative of most Zionists or interpretations of Zionism. It is an extremist form of Zionism known as Revisionist Zionism.

* Don’t deny Jewish indigeneity to the levant. It doesn’t help Palestine and hurts Jews by erasing our physical and cultural history as well as erasing the Jews who remained in Israel even through widespread diaspora.

* KEEP THE HOLOCAUST OUT OF YOUR MOUTH

Things That Are Always OK

* Denouncing Antisemitism loudly and publicly

* Denouncing Islamophobia loudly and publicly

* Telling your Jewish and Muslim and Arab friends you support them and won't abandon them

* Elevating the work of respected, widely accepted people and organizations devoted to attaining peace for all, rather than just one group of people.

* Develop media literacy

* Understand what aspects of the current western leftist movements Jews are criticizing, rather than assuming our criticisms are motivated by hatred for Palestine or Palestinians.

* Expressing sorrow for civilian deaths regardless of religion or nationality.

* When you are not Jewish and you share a post about antisemitism from a Jewish person, please say you’re a goy. This isn’t because you’re not welcome to share. This is because it is indescribably comforting to know we aren’t just talking amongst ourselves and screaming into the void. Let us know you are supportive of us. It doesn’t mean that you or we hate Palestine or Palestinians or that we oppose their full and equal rights in our shared homeland.

#antisemitism #leftist antisemitism #israel #Palestine #Zionism #anti zionisim #jewish muslim solidarity #Jewish goyim solidarity #media literacy #responsible advocacy #direct action #life under stochastic threat #I dare a goy to reblog this challenge

[leafdoodles]

maybe gem in 6 or 46? if you’re still doing the colour palette thing!

I flipped a coin and got 6 so that means Pirate Gem (I don’t make the rules) ((I do make the rules))

And I’ll try to keep doing the palette challenge for as long as I get requests :)

#leaf doodles art #color palette challenge #doodle requests #GeminiTay #geminitay fanart #Pirate gem #Please bare with me there are quite a few requests #but the response to me just messing around with art style is so kind <3 #hermitcraft

[uncanny-tranny]

Whenever people who are entrenched in diet culture talk about how terrible chemicals are, I just want to whip out this:

#diet culture #diet culture tw #described images #image description in alt #'it's got CHEMICALS in it' and so do you! and me too! IT'S ALL CHEMICALS ALL THE WAY DOWN #instead of running from this world we must learn to embrace it #i'm not particularly angry at people who say this because it makes me think that they're incredibly invested in diet culture... #...i just don't want the whole 'food = bad' or 'bodies = bad' to go unchallenged... #...part of the reason why diet culture seems just as prevalent now (if not moreso) is partially because it isn't really... #...challenged or questioned without provocation. it's just assumed to be correct because it makes you 'feel in control' #when chemicals are bad you can control what chemicals you consume. it's individualistic and places the blame onto you for 'being good' #it places responsibility onto the person in such a way that it becomes impossible to fulfill #it isn't that i'm upset that people want to treat their bodies in a way they think is responsible... #...moreso that the *way* they go about it ensures that they're stuck in a cycle of self-blame and even self-hatred #because the METHOD is ineffective. not the desire to treat your body well #also the state of ohio looks stupid and i do Not respect it #it looks like a ball that is simultaneously deflated and over-inflated #also their state flag looks silly to me #it looks like the person who was making it fell asleep making it #i'm just clowning on ohio at this point. have never been to ohio but. are you guys okay

[ao3commentoftheday]

I dearly love you, tumblr, but sometimes you're just absolutely exhausting. Not every statement is a personal challenge that needs to be countered aggressively. Sometimes I'm neither being bold nor assuming anything.

#there are plenty of times when I'm on my soapbox #and I totally understand responses that are counter to mine #but sometimes I'm just putting a thing out there #with no opinion at all attached to it #and people take it as a personal challenge or affront anyway #and those are the posts that make me feel tired

[axoqiii]

OMG OMG OMG! #18 - navy, with maybe the duck twins?

DUCK TWINSSSS!!!!

#wheezes under the weight of academic responsibility #im alive i promise #I LOVE THESE TWO A LOTTT i want more centered moments witj them #wish we got more eps that specifically centered on them o(< #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #dt17 #della duck #donald duck #my art #color palette challenge

[abirddogmoment]

Ready for sniffings

#dogblr #rory borealis #ive been doing a lot more scent work in the fields #hiding frozen birds in big areas and then having her find them #this was the biggest area yet #my usual field is about 2 acres #i throw my birds wherever (so she cant track my scent and i dont really know where they are to help her subconsciously) #and this time i used a river valley which was about 14 acres #and threw my birds wherever #some additional challenges included cattails elevation changes and weird wind patterns #it was so cool to watch #honestly there isnt much i love more than watching her in the field #she is so responsive and so in tune with her environment #i see why people get hooked

[strawwritesfic]

Ryohei Sasagawa x Female!Reader: Cootie Catcher [Ch. 3]

Summary: You liked it better in the old days, when boys had cooties and didn’t talk to you.

Challenge: “What to do, oh, What to do?” by crimsonxtearx5 on Lunaescence Archives.

Ratings/Warnings/Tags: T (Friends to lovers; idiots to lovers; childhood friends; happily blended family; embarrassing parents; civilian!reader; bookworm!reader; opposites attract; Namimori Middle School; TYB!KHR Cast; no honorifics; boxing club; tutoring; Seven Minutes in Heaven; birthday party; mild language)

Relationships: Ryohei Sasagawa/Reader; Original Character/Original Character; Kyoko Sasagawa & Reader; Ryohei Sasgawa & Kyoko Sasgawa; Tsuna Sawada & Hayato Gokudera & Takeshi Yamamoto; Hibari Kyoya & Reader; Hibrari Kyoya & Ryohei Sasagawa; Kyoko Sasagawa/Tsuna Sawada/Haru Miura

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Master List

Chapter 3: Should Have Lost the Invitation

As you walked up the familiar path that led to the Sasagawa house, butterflies nipped your insides. They did not seem to care how many times you’d been to visit Ryohei over the course of your lifetime. Merely pressing the doorbell sent them into such a frenzy that you nearly turned around and sprinted away. You planted your feet in an effort to resist the temptation. Did you really want to ruin Ryohei’s birthday party over something like random nausea? Thankfully, you were able to fix a smile on your face before anyone came to let you inside.

“[Name]! You made it!” said the person that did, a younger girl with honey-colored hair, matching eyes, and a smile as bright as her older brother’s.

“Hi, Kyoko,” you said as she stepped aside to let you cross the threshold. “How are you?”

“I’m fantastic! And Big Brother will be so glad that you came.”

She waited until you had taken your shoes off, then gestured for you to follow her down the hallway. You did.

“Did he really think I’d miss his party?”

“He just said you’ve been extremely busy lately. Something about Hibari roping you into after-school tutoring? I think Tsuna said the same thing.”

“Well, yeah, but I wouldn’t prioritize Hibari over Ryohei.”

Kyoko peeked over her shoulder at you, then smiled at you in such a way that suggested she knew exactly what you were thinking about. You hoped she didn’t. “Big Brother knows that.”

The butterflies bit harder. In the hopes of hiding your reaction to this, you pulled the gift bag you’d brought along high enough to hide your burning cheeks behind the tissue paper. Thankfully, you were spared thinking of a natural segue to this statement by the sound of loud conversation coming from a nearby room. This startled you enough to get you to lower your shield. In previous years, Ryohei’s parties had included you, his sister, and his parents, but you heard a lot more voices than that in the roar.

“Big Brother! [Name] is here!” Kyoko called.

You caught only a quick glimpse of the Sasagawas’ living room and the many underclassmen inside it before your vision got blocked by a very large, very bright grin.

“[Name]! You made it!”

You would have recognized that delighted roar anywhere, but you were given no time to respond to it. Ryohei’s well-defined arms (what were you thinking?!) wrapped around you, squeezed, and lifted you into the air.

“Ry-Ryohei!” you stuttered.

Yes, stuttered. First the nerves, now this? Something had to be seriously wrong with you. Or maybe, you mused with your face smashed into your friend’s chest, something was wrong with him. Yes. That had to be it. All the weird things you’d been feeling lately were Ryohei’s fault. And continuing to let him hug you like this would only make things worse.

“Can you put me back on the ground, please?” you asked in a muffled voice.

“Oh!” You found yourself back on your own two feet in a flash. “Sorry.

“It’s fine. Happy birthday, Ryohei.”

Your second attempt to hide behind your slightly-crushed bag did not succeed as well as your first. Ryohei took it from you with a loud “Thanks,” then dropped it into a nearby pile of similarly-festive boxes and gift bags. Now you were even more exposed in front of a group of people you didn’t know—well, mostly.

“Hey, senpai! I didn’t know you and Ryohei were friends,” said the tallest of the bunch. Of course. Even your tutoring students had to see you in such an embarrassing embrace.

And it didn’t end there. Ryohei threw one arm around your shoulder, and used his other to give you a noogie. Since you couldn’t wiggle out of his grasp without looking even dumber than you already did, you had to grin and bear it as he said, “[Name] is my best friend to the extreme!”

“Hello, Yamamoto,” you said. “Did you finish your homework?”

“Sure thing! I’m doing much better now. I just have to remember to pay attention!”

“[Name]’s extremely good at classwork!” Ryohei put in.

“I can tell!”

“Sawada!” Ryohei barked at a second familiar boy. “This is [F Name] [L Name]!”

“I know.” Somehow, Sawada looked about as uncomfortable as you felt. “She tutors me, too.”

“And you’re doing your homework as well, Sawada?” you asked weakly.

The question only seemed to make the boy more miserable. “Reborn would literally kill me if I didn’t.”

Who? “Okay. Good.”

“Haru is here, too!” The dark-haired girl sitting next to Tsuna waved at you. At least you knew her from somewhere other than Hibari’s required tutoring sessions. But why had all of Kyoko’s friends turned up for Ryohei’s birthday party?

“So we all know each other!” Ryohei shouted.

“I’ve never been to after-school tutoring in my life,” snapped the last boy in the room, this one with long silver hair. This was true, but you thought you knew him by reputation.

Ryohei finally stopped clamping you to his side so that he could brush away the other boy’s concern. “Yeah, well, you heard her name.”

“And that’s supposed to count as an introduction?”

"If it matters that much to you, introduce yourself!”

“I never said it mattered to me.”

“Fine. [Name]. this idiot is Hayato Gokudera. You can just call him Octopus Head.”

“Hey!”

“Pleased to meet you, Gokudera," you said.

“Whatever.” Gokudera didn’t spare you another glance. Glaring at Ryohei, he downed another mouthful of soda. “This is a pretty shitty party, Turf Top. What do you expect us to do? Talk to each other?”

“Haru and I made cake,” Kyoko offered.

This did not appear to impress Gokudera in the slightest. “Cake. Wow. Since there’s no sushi, I can only call this the second shittiest party I’ve been to.”

“Oh, Haru loved the party at Takesushi!” said Haru.

“No one asked you!”

As the two of them quarreled (which must have been a common occurrence, because no one else paid the argument much attention), you watched Ryohei. His expression grew darker and darker and darker—until he punched the air with a triumphant whoop.

“I’ve got it! We’ll play some extreme party games!” he said.

Gokudera and Haru fell silent. Neither they nor anyone else spoke until the first said impatiently:

“Games like what?”

That stopped Ryohei’s enthusiasm cold.

“Oh! Oh! Haru knows!” Once she had everyone’s attention, she blushed, looked down, and pressed her fingers into her pink cheeks, “We should all play Seven Minute in Heaven.”

Again, Gokudera broke the stunned silence: “That’s stupid!”

Haru slapped her hands onto her legs and glowered at him. “It is not!”

“And just who are we all supposed to get in a closet with? I’m sure as hell not getting in a closet with you!”

“Haru didn’t want to get in a closet with you anyway!”

“You only came up with this batshit idea because you want an excuse to kiss the Tenth!”

“Well, so do you!”

“Hold it!” Ryohei stepped between them before they could come to blows. He looked back and forth between them, then said: “What’s Seven Minutes in Heaven?”

“Tell me you’re not that stupid,” Gokudera said.

Stupidity had nothing to do with it, at least on Ryohei’s part. You, on the other hand, felt stupid standing there mutely. Surely you could do something to salvage this situation! But your voice had left you. Seven Minutes in Heaven wasn’t a game you played at the parties you went to, which were, obviously, the same parties Ryohei attended. The thought of being shoved in a closet with any of those present sent a cold sweat across your skin. The thought of being shoved in a closet with him made you feel even worse.

“Well, Big Brother,” Kyoko spoke up when no one else did, “each person pairs up with someone else, and then they get in a closet for seven minutes so they can—”

“It’s an adventure in a closet?” Ryohei asked.

“Sort of, but—”

“Let’s do it!”

“Are you kidding me?” said Gokudera.

“Sounds fun!” Yamamoto said.

“Let’s not! Let’s definitely not!” Sawada said.

But it was too late. When Ryohei’s eyes started flaming like that, you knew you couldn’t talk him out of whatever he’d got it in his head to do. He didn’t acknowledge Sawada or Gokudera’s protests. “Who goes first?”

“I think you should go first,” Yamamoto said. “It’s your party, after all.”

“Sounds fair!”

Ryohei threw himself in the direction of the nearby door. His bandaged fingers wrapped around the knob, but he didn’t get to open the closet before Gokudera said:

“Did you forget something, Turf Top? How about the person you’re taking with you on your ‘closet adventure’?” he added when Ryohei only stared at him blankly.

“Oh! Right! [Name], let’s go!”

“Wh-what? Me?”

“Yes, you!”

“But—what about—” Though you looked wildly around the room, you found no one else suitable for shoving into a closet with Ryohei in your place. Kyoko was related to him for goodness’ sake, and almost every other guest was male. That left Haru, who you could already see giving furtive glances in Sawada’s direction even as he eagerly eyed Kyoko. Defeated, you sighed. “Okay.”

He wrenched the door open to reveal the closet’s dark interior. “Come on! We’re wasting time!”

You kept your eyes on your feet as you hurried inside. Ryohei threw himself in after you. Just as he pulled the door shut you heard Gokudera’s mocking voice call out:

“Have fun!”

And then everything went black. On the bright side, this meant Ryohei wouldn’t be able to see your face, which was surely blazing by then. You blinked as you waited for your pupils to dilate. Only by grasping blindly in front of you did you find a space on the wall not taken up by dusty boxes and the Sasagawas’ winter coats.

“Isn’t this extremely fun?”

You jumped at feeling Ryohei’s whispered voice on the back of your neck.

“Sorry,” he said, and this time he sounded like he meant it.

“That’s—That’s all right. I just didn’t see you.”

“That’s the point, I think. We’re supposed to have extreme spelunking adventure!” He pushed past you to the very back of the closet. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to explore such an extremely small space for seven minutes, though.”

At least he wasn’t trying to kiss you. Nothing more embarrassing could have occurred. You pushed a few articles of clothing aside and joined him. In the very small amount of light creeping in from the crack beneath the door, you could see nothing but a white-painted wall.

“Maybe we’ll find a lamppost?” you suggested.

“What? Why would there be a lamppost in my closet?”

“Never mind.”

“Oh.” He dropped the sleeve of the coat he’d been holding and looked away from you. “Right.”

You frowned at this uncharacteristic behavior. “Ryohei? What’s the matter?”

For a moment, Ryohei didn’t speak. He rubbed the back of his head and purposely avoided your eyes. Then he said, “Name, do you think I’m stupid?”

“What?”

Of all the things you might have guessed would come out of his mouth, that question came entirely out of left field. You opened your own to assure him that you didn’t think anything of the kind—but at that very moment, the door opened. So startled were you that you leaped away from Ryohei before the light from the sitting room had the chance to reach your socks.

“Times up!” Yamamoto said as he peered inside. “Did you guys have fun?”

“Extremely!”

Ryohei strode confidently out of the confines of the closet. You, however, crept after him while trying to make yourself look as small as possible. Maybe no one would ask anything else if they forgot you were there. But you had no such luck.

“What did you get up to in there?” Gokudera asked sarcastically.

“We looked for lampposts! We didn’t find any, though.”

“Why would you be looking for lampposts?” Haru wanted to know. “That’s not how you play Seven Minutes in Heaven. You’re supposed to—”

“I have to go.”

The words tumbled from your lips. They had to, or you would never have had the courage to say them. But you knew for a fact you didn’t have the courage to stay where you were while the rest of Ryohei’s friends explained the concept of Seven Minutes in Heaven to your him. You made a break for the hallway as soon as you'd said it, but not quickly enough to keep from seeing him look at you with obvious dismay.

“What? You’re leaving already?”

“We haven’t even had cake yet,” said Kyoko.

“I know. I’m sorry. I just—I promised my mom I wouldn’t stay too long,” you said. They knew you were lying. How could they not? It was the most obvious lie in the world. “I’m sorry,” you said again.

“[Name]? Are you okay?” Ryohei asked.

“Fine!” You answered shrilly. “But I really, really have to go. Happy birthday, Ryohei!”

You turned and ran from the room, shoved your shoes on your feet, and opened the front door. Just as you stepped outside, you heard one last exchange between Ryohei and Gokudera:

“She looked extremely upset!”

“Moron. You were supposed to kiss her.”

#fan fic #straw writes #reader insert #second person pov #challenge response #khr #katekyo hitman reborn #ryohei sasagawa #ryohei x reader #ryohei x you #ryohei x y/n #ryohei sasgawa x reader #ryohei sasgawa x you #ryohei sasgawa x y/n #khr x reader #khr x you #khr x y/n #katekyo hitman reborn x reader #katekyo hitman reborn x you #katekyo hitman reborn x y/n #ryohei reader insert #khr reader insert

[dontblameit]

Billy resenting his mother for leaving him in an abusive situation and never looking back🤝 Billy yearning for his mother and forgiving her

Billy hating his dads guts and wanting nothing more then for him to DIE 🤝 Billy still wanting to have his dad since he’s the only parent he has left and he longs for his dad to just love him

things that coexist in my mind 24/7

#I just love them both so much #and I love the writers that tackle the challenging task of trying to write the complexities of abuse and love #the same thing kinda go for Neil in some way #responses to abuse are valid even if they are hard to understand or unconventional #billy hargrove #harringrove #shout out all the writers who fuel me and my thoughts

[a-ramblinrose]

JOMP BPC || March 10 || Character Growth: Sam Vimes from Discworld by Terry Pratchett

#Sam Vimes #Discworld #Terry Pratchett #jompbpc #justonemorepage #book photo challenge #book photography #books #Reasonably Priced Love and a Hardboiled Egg #Not out of void but out of chaos #did i plan to stop using Discworld as my answer to everything? yes. but this is still my go to response to this prompt

[synechd0che]

I think something important to remember is that just because somebody on here has appointed themselves king of … early medieval lit … or cold weather composting … or Joan Didion think pieces … or whatever, that doesn’t mean they’re nice - or even correct. It takes a while to figure out who actually knows more than you, versus who just likes to act like they do.

The follow up to this being that occasionally someone is quite knowledgeable - which does nothing to sweeten how sour they are at heart. I promise you can find the same pearls of wisdom on the lips of a nicer person, and spare yourself an ulcer.

#from the Mary-Oliver-hating halls comes another volley: #*you’re obviously inspired by my poem a month challenge and you’ve decided to memorize a Fiona Apple song - #-which I’m going to ridicule you for so I can roleplay the lit teacher that tore up my papers and spit on my dog* #girl this is a cartoonish response to the tumblr equivalent of showing your rock collection to your older brother

[leftonred]

gay people in my phone:

thoughts on weight gain as a sign of healthy growth re: gabv1el post disconnect from god

#ultrakill #gabv1el #gabriel has to keep up an image as an angel #but without that responsibility he can exist comfortavly #and healthily #and living with the love and attention of another #someone who he feels comfortable around #someone who challenged his idea of what he can and cant be

[jojo-schmo]

I have attempted something resembling the Evil Art Style Challenge! Who better to try this out on than me! Jojo! And the Mirror World version, Shadow Jojo!! Oooooh. Ahhhh.

If my art style is typically cleaner, bouncy, and round, let’s try some messy, scratchy, pointy linework! And becoming a Mirror version means going from permanent (uWu) face to permanent (•ᵥᵥ•) face hehehehe

#kirbysona #evil art style challenge #Kirby series #art #I think shadow jojo should have a stray dark matter borb in her scepter #that she taps into to draw spooky powers from!! #it’s ok tho the dark matter actually attacked her first #and he’s mostly cool with it since now he’s free of responsibility #he’s in there because he’s in time out tho. no attacking people unless I say so!! :P

[skwtches]

“Absolutely not. I mean, well, after all, he… It was not my… He wanted to leave. Didn't he?”

Reading through this line, something about Rabbit in The Tigger Movie occurred to me: the plan that the gang comes up with in order to spare Tigger’s feelings is one of the few instances where Rabbit isn’t present to take on the leader’s role. Throughout the movie, Rabbit is preoccupied with winter preparations, so much so to the point that he, unlike the others, fails to identify the weight of Tigger’s familial dilemma. When he walks in on the gang dressing up as Tiggers in the “How To Be a Tigger” sequence, he questions what they are doing, but does not stick around for an answer, or even try to take up the leadership mantle like he normally would. In an act that is both unorthodox and so completely in-character, he storms off and away from his companions' harebrained scheme to complete his preparations, but not before ironically proclaiming, “at least I haven't lost sight of what’s important.”

To no one’s surprise, the plan falls through. But to everyone’s shock, Tigger runs away that same night. 

“It was not my fault,” is what Rabbit wants and starts to say after hearing of his friend’s disappearance. The members of the group who congregate at Rabbit’s to request his help don’t blame him for Tigger leaving, and Rabbit knows them well enough to understand they wouldn't suggest such a thing by arriving at his house all at once. But Rabbit still has the reflex to defend himself; to confirm that Tigger leaving was indeed not his doing. The one time Rabbit isn't there to lead his friends–believing they all had “lost sight of what’s important,”–the friend whose crisis the lagomorph missed completely had run off into the cold, dreary night. But it wasn’t his fault. It couldn’t have been his fault. 

“He wanted to leave,” Rabbit says, trying to reason with himself. He tries to justify Tigger leaving, searching for a reason–any reason at all–that doesn’t loop right back around to it being his fault. Because it wasn’t. If Tigger had wanted to leave, what good would it have done for Rabbit to have been present? If the bunny had been there alongside his friends to aid their striped pal in his time of need? Whether or not he could have come up with a different, possibly better plan that didn’t result in the heartbreak of the usually bouncy Tigger did not matter here. Of course Tigger would have left anyway in search of his supposed family. He was simply unpredictable that way, and nobody could predict and stop something unpredictable–not even Rabbit. Tigger had most certainly wanted to leave from the start. “Didn’t he?”

As the members of the gang try to convince a hesitant Rabbit to leave with them in search of Tigger, the guilt racks up. He finds himself struggling more and more to excuse himself from the situation as his friends go on about Tigger whilst he fixes up his winter-proofed home, the sadness visibly present amongst them making it even harder for him to dismiss them. As a look of unease–a flicker of guilt–graces his face, he asks, “what do you need me for? Why don't you go find him yourselves?” 

Pooh simply and earnestly responds with, “but we're just not clever enough, Rabbit.” 

A huge facet of Rabbit’s self-appointed leadership role is that it comes from a place where the persnickety critter truly believes himself to be smarter than the majority of his peers in the Wood. He sees himself as the most capable and responsible, and so takes it upon himself to lead whenever he gets the chance. Here however, he tries to deny the opportunity to take charge of the search party. Perhaps it is mostly due to fear of his already fragile shelter coming apart at the seams while he isn’t around. But perhaps it’s also thanks to the aforementioned guilt that he can’t bring himself to diligently lead his friends in searching for the one who he’d inadvertently let slip away. 

Before he can respond to Pooh, a small voice makes itself heard. Rabbit catches sight of Roo, who just tells him that he misses Tigger. The final nail in the coffin. Here is where Rabbit truly can’t bring himself to deny them his help anymore. Here is where the guilt is finally too profound to excuse. 

Here is where Rabbit decides to lead his friends again. 

#Remy try not to analyze every single line uttered in The Tigger Movie challenge (failed miserably) #anyways imagine if after this entire fiasco Rabbit's overprotective nature kicks back in with soft punches as he's tempted to always keep a #eye on his friends as well as just check up on them frequently (esp Tigger) bc he's worried about smth like this going unnoticed by him and #it leading to yet another disaster that he feels responsible for- (gets dragged off the stage kicking n screaming) #wtp #rabbit (wtp) #tigger #pooh #piglet #eeyore #roo #vid #rema.txt #rema.mov #ttm #winnie the pooh #the tigger movie