#this might be late but that’s just because I presumed I had already posted it

[snapehateaccount]

I think this is becoming a yearly tradition.

#spotify wrapped #glee #this might be late but that’s just because I presumed I had already posted it

[tricktster]

how long have you been getting burritoed... i love the thought of you guys being together for five years and you still fall for it every time

Slightly NSFW warning but the full backstory for the burritoing is honestly very sweet and i can take absolutely no credit for it being so.

so it has not been five years, it’s only been five months, but given that my tolerance for being in relationships can usually be measured in weeks, five months with me harboring every single desire to keep this going is saying something. but rest assured the burrito thing has always been a threat in this relationship. lemme explain.

see, i met my boyfriend the most romantic way a person can, in that i hopped on tinder one friday when I was bored and he was the most interesting person that night to ask me to grab a drink with him the following week. I agreed, with every expectation that this was going to be a one night stand situation. This was because I had already concluded I would probably sleep with him since he was hot and funny over tinder/text but also, more importantly, because I had decided to plunge back into the dating world after several years of being resolutely single by having what my roommate described as “a wanton winter,” which is a nicer way of saying that I was here to sleep around without any strings remotely attached. I had every intention of this being followed by a slutty spring, sexually-available summer, and perhaps even a fuckboi fall.

All this to say, I was not looking for an actual relationship when I agreed to “grab a drink” with the man who is now my boyfriend. In fact, even though he was categorically hunky all-round? I was by this point in my wanton winter not even optimistically hoping for a good time. I had recently re-discovered that hunky meant absolutely nothing, and was still haunted by memories of sleeping with an extremely attractive massage therapist who was not only terrible in bed but also read me a very bad poem that he’d written afterwards and started crying about the state of his life at one point and also his mom called like 11 times while he was over. Like, my expectations were subterranean.

Now given this background, i presumed that this guy would follow the established pattern set by every other guy i’d hooked up with during wanton winter; we’d go back to my place, fool around, he’d leave, and i’d get occasional “u up” texts from him for the next few weeks until one of us ghosted etc. so like it was a surprise - but certainly not an unpleasant one! - when he asked (a little nervously) post-hookup if he could stay the night. he didn’t want to impose, he explained, but he had a day shift the next morning and it was really late and his house was 24 minutes away and while he didn’t want to be presumptuous he’d thrown what he needed in a backpack just in case and also he wanted to cuddle and be big spoon.

well. this was a deviation. this possibly suggested more interest than just a one night stand.

ideologically i was opposed to the threat this posed to my no commitments wanton winter lifestyle but given that he was significantly cuter and funnier in person than he’d been online and also that he had just absolutely rocked my entire world for several hours(!!!) i was just like “yeah homie you are more than welcome to stay,” and decided against issuing my standard warning whenever anyone proposes sharing a bed with me that “I do not tolerate people attempting to cuddle me in my sleep well so don’t be hurt when you find me as far from you as physically possible tomorrow, and also you may be kicked in the process of me rolling away, and my toenails are inexplicably sharp so you may bleed.”

and then, you know, suddenly the alarm was going off, and he was extracting himself, unwounded, from the big spoon position that I had not felt the unconscious need to escape from all night, and I was just internally like “haha! i might be in trouble!”

that mighta done it on its own, honestly, the whole bit about him being the sole exception i have ever encountered to my instinctual need for space when i’m sleeping. but he was not done. he quietly got ready while i was mulling this development over in a state of half consciousness, and then? instead of slinking out into the barely-morning, that motherfucker very gently rearranged the bedclothes to actually cover me, gave me a kiss, said he’d text me when he got to work, and then the bastard tucked me in.

he then left me, the victim of the cutest goddamn nonsense that has ever happened after a tinder hookup, to process this unexpected turn of events.

I concluded that I was, in fact, in trouble.

so like… needless to say, that act of tucking me in was the death knell for my wanton winter, as well as my adversarial relationship with the concept of developing feelings. I am an extremely crotchety housecat that doesn’t like to be crowded who has unprecedentedly fallen incredibly hard for a wildly enthusiastic golden retriever, and our relationship is foundationally based upon this man’s desire to make me all snug and cozy before he leaves.

the burrito aspect was merely an afterthought. it’s all about the tuck-in babey.

[littlemisslipbalm]

Karaoke Nights at the Hooded Crow

Jake Kiszka x fem!reader

Absolutely impossible decisions were made in regard to this cover photo wow...jake is just so beautiful anywayssss my return to posting fics is a piece I realized was good enough and complete enough to finish and I haven't worked on in months so enjoy! Maybe eventually I'll work up a part 2 and then wait months to post that...anyway theres a potential for a josh moment in this let me know what y'all think hmmm...

Word Count: 8.4k | Warnings: swearing, drinking, angst, and some smut 18+ (just fingering?)

-

Josh found himself alone at this dive karaoke bar for a multitude of reasons. And he could count on his hand all the ones that made this Jake’s fault. 

Jake had insisted that the band do another outing to a bar for photographs, he had hated the ones from when they went to billiards and Josh had missed those anyway. This was supposed to make up for it. But then Jake had come down with food poisoning a half hour ago and Josh was already there. Sam and Danny had bailed once they heard Jake wasn’t going to make it. 

Why hadn’t Josh been late like the rest of the band? He had to walk because his car was in the shop and had left early to give himself ample time. And why –? Because of Jake. He had borrowed Josh’s car to take a quick camping trip up in the mountains the other week and an engine light had popped up when he returned it to Josh. So since Josh was already there and had no car to drive him home easily, he decided he might as well stay for a drink before walking the 25 minutes back to his home. 

That’s how he ended up with a beer in his hand watching drunken strangers absolutely demolish beloved karaoke classics. And he meant demolish in the worst sense possible. That is, until, one girl bounced up to the stage, a blue mini bucket of alcohol in her hand. She wore a pair of purple plaid pants that buttoned in the front and a matching yellow tank top, with black platform boots that made her seem taller than she really was. Her hair was in braids that swung hypnotically as she walked onto the shitty scuffed up raised edge that the bar called a stage. 

She grinned at a table that had people that were presumably her friends. She and them were the youngest people there besides Josh it seemed. After another long sip from the blue bucket, she placed it on the patched up stool that adorned the stage for people to sit on if they wished. She grabbed the mic from its stand and switched it between her hands a few times before looking out at the measly crowd. 

“How’re we doin’ tonight?!” 

There was a surprisingly large roar of response for how little people were there. Josh looked around the room and saw that most of the bar had livened up at her presence on the stage. If he had to guess, she was a regular. 

“Beautiful, my darlin’s, really. It’s good to see all my friends after such a long week,” She beams as she truly smiles at the majority of the crowd. Her eyes must roam past Josh quickly because he barely feels her gaze on his, but she certainly notices him. He doesn’t exactly fit in. “And any new friends, welcome to the best night of singing you’ll hear in all of Nashville.” 

The crowd laughs boisterously, with some hollers of agreement and Josh swears she just winked at him.  

A guitar riff begins to play softly and then louder, an unfamiliar song to Josh, but the girl nods her head along and smiles to herself before turning on her heels and walking to the back of the stage. 

“I take my time,” She begins to sing, “to walk a straight and narrow line.” Her body follows a straight line as she walks back to the front. She grins, “My mind’s a haze and I am stuck in just one place.” 

She continues to act out the song, performing it with vigor as her melodic voice belts the lyrics loudly. “No I can barely move, no I can’t get away… Well my vanilla shoes, they won’t let me escape!” 

She belts the chorus almost at a level that Josh might and he’s blown away, jaw slightly slack as his eyes track her every movement. She winks again and this time it’s not to Josh and his head is quick to look for the recipient, before realizing he needed to chill. 

For the second verse, she drops to her knees and Josh is in awe that she wanted more than just her shoes to touch the gross floor. Before he knew it she was back to the chorus and then the song was finishing up with a run of ‘la da da da, da da da’ that the bar joined in on and she was grinning from ear to ear singing it right into the faces of the tables closest to the stage. 

The song finished and she applauded the crowd as they applauded her. She laughed and then scooped up her drink and took another sip before returning to her friends’ table. 

Josh wanted to go talk to her but he wasn’t sure what he’d say. For once, he was at a loss for words. He didn’t want to just approach her and compliment her singing ability, that felt weird for a karaoke bar, but it was true. She was incredible, much too good just to be singing a single song at a random bar on the outskirts of Nashville once a week. 

Before he could make up his mind on what to say to her without looking like an idiot or worse, an asshole, he looked back to the table he had seen her walk over to when the song finished and saw that she was nowhere to be seen. Gone. His first instinct was to look around the rest of the room, look down the rest of the bar top and see if she was waiting for another drink…No such luck. Josh waited for another hour of wretched singing in hopes that she would pop back up, but she had seemingly left without her friends who still sat there laughing and drinking the night away.

Josh managed to drag Jake back to the bar the next Friday. The same bar where he’d seen that girl perform flawlessly. He was still in awe of how good she was just to be doing karaoke, even in Nashville. She was an incredible singer and performer yet it didn’t seem like she was trying to make it in Nashville, she was just there having a good time with her friends. Maybe she was just visiting but Josh had a hard time believing that any tourist would end up there on purpose and the way the crowd responded to her gave away her loyalty to this haunt. So he was left to hope that she was a regular who came in like clockwork and she would be there again tonight. 

At around 10:30, Josh was starting to get nervous that he was wrong and she wasn’t a local or she didn’t come every week on the same day and Jake was starting to get antsy no matter how many Jack Daniels neat Josh supplied him. But at 10:35, Josh was no longer worried, nervous still…maybe. 

She trounced up to the stage once more in a similar fashion as last week. An easy smile on her face and slightly droopy eyes from alcohol mixed with something else. She cleared her throat before pointing at the two girls at the high top table she had just thrown her jacket at. Josh couldn’t remember whether they were the same people as last week or not. 

Josh wondered briefly if she’d sing a similar song or if it’d be completely different. 

He didn’t have to wonder for very long because she pointed her finger next to the dj, subtly and steadily cueing for him to play the song now that she was settled on the shoddy stage. 

A bluegrass song began to sound and after one strum of the recording of the guitar she began to sing. Another song Josh didn’t seem to know, which puzzled him, but also delighted him at her thought-provoking nature. 

“C’mon down to where them tracks cross High Street, we’re gonna watch the whole world go insane.” 

She sang along to the words without looking at the monitor again, clearly knowing the song. Last week she had belted the lyrics with strength, this week, she was still strong, but she let a bit of a twang enter her voice and Josh wondered if it was just part of her performing the song because it sounded so authentic.

“Laugh if you want, really is kind of funny,” She regards the crowd after singing the chorus once more, “’cause the world is a car and you're the crash test dummy!” She points her finger and since Jake and Josh were seated at a hightop this week, about centered with the stage, it felt like she was pointing right at them. 

When she caught Josh’s eye for the third time in a row, Jake also leaned forward at her performance, whispering, ‘is that?’and Josh nodded before he could finish. Her eyes shifted to Jake and they widened a little bit. The twins noticed since they were watching so intently but before Jake could widen his smile or even half-smirk, her eyes had moved on and he was left feeling a little perplexed. 

The song was longer than the last one she had sung, but her energy was a little different. Not less, but shifted. She hadn’t greeted the audience and maybe it was because she had seemed late, given that she had run in and thrown her jacket on the table as if this was always her time. She also seemed more intoxicated than last week, but so was Josh so he couldn’t be sure. 

Afterwards she goes to the table with her jacket and as much as Jake and Josh want to go talk to her, someone comes up to them and interrupts. They ask for a picture and talk with the twins for a while, since the guys were nice and didn’t want to be rude to a fan. But when they look back up, she’s gone. Again. Her jacket was no longer on the high top where the two girls sat and Josh shook his head in dismay. Jake still looked around hopefully, making them sit there for another half hour in hopes that she would return. But as Josh had learned last week, she wouldn’t return for another week. 

The third week, Josh and Jake convinced Sam and Danny to come as well, hoping to see her once more. Entranced by the mysterious singer who was performing for free here, they implored their bandmates that this performance was worth the seedy location. Plus, the ambiance was starting to grow on Josh now that it was his third time visiting the establishment. Jake was happy to return as well, even brushing his hair for the occasion. 

Jake and Danny started with beers while Sam ordered a Topo-Chico seltzer and Josh got a Salty Dog, feeling the need for something stronger than a beer tonight. By around everyone’s third drink, it strikes the 10 o’clock hour. Then like clockwork at 10:34 she stumbles in and walks to the stage throwing her jacket at the bar today and grins at the bartender and gives him a two handed thumbs up and then a salute to the dj. Once again, she didn’t have a drink in hand, but she was clearly intoxicated. 

“Hello friends,” She smiles at the crowd, “Did ya’ miss me?” 

The hollers follow and she does a little bow as if she lived to serve this dive crowd. 

A familiar tune begins to play shortly after, the salute to the dj seemed to have been an indicator to begin the music. The four men look at one another before looking back to the stage to find her staring straight at their table. She salutes them as well and begins to perform a song that Josh, as well as the rest of the band, was almost painfully familiar with. Mountain of the Sun by Greta Van Fleet.

“The sun shines brighter from above and you’re the one that I love,” She sings, almost mimicking the way Josh sings it on the recording, “Climb the mountain even higher, kiss the sun and fight the fire!” 

She grins and gets the crowd ready for the chorus, acting out the words like always. 

“I’ll make you mine, you’re my sunshine,” She belts it and lets her voice sound a bit whiny as she hits different dips in the words. 

During the guitar solo, she does an air guitar and plays it superbly. Afterwards, Jake raises his hands over his head and claps loudly, bringing her attention back to their table. He was a little drunk by then but appreciated her attention to actually trying to make the chords on the imaginary guitar. 

The song comes to a close with an uproar of applause and shouting, a lot of it came from Sam and Danny who were truly blown away by her ability to hit Josh’s notes. She bows once more and moves to leave the stage with a slight wobble to her feet, the same platform boots she had worn the past two weeks as well. She makes a bee line for the bar, but Josh is one step ahead, waiting by her jacket for her. 

“Can I buy you a drink?” He tilts his head with his inquiry. 

“I’d never say no to a free drink.” She laughs. 

Josh laughs as well and asks what she’s having, she tells him a beer is fine. The speed of her blinking up close shows she’s plenty liquered up. He insists about what kind she might want. She waves him off saying any IPA is fine. Josh suppressed his chuckle, thinking of a conversation – an argument – he’d had with his two brothers about how pretentious it was of them to only drink IPAs. 

“Want to come sit with me and my brothers?” Josh asks once they both have fresh drinks in their hands. 

She gestures for him to lead the way and he smiles. At the table, Jake, Sam and Danny busy themselves with a random conversation in an attempt to seem like they weren’t watching their entire interaction at the bar. The smile she gives them is knowing though and they drop the pretense. 

“Hello,” She starts.

���You’re very talented,” Danny blurts out. 

She falters at the flattery and blushes a little, looking away from the table of men she had been so sure she was going to keep on their toes. 

“Thanks,” She mumbles and takes a sip of her drink. “What do I owe the pleasure of your band stalking me?” 

“Stalking?” Jake questions with a little laugh, embarrassed almost, his own cheeks pinking. 

She arches her brow at him. “Maybe not all of you, but I’ve seen you,” She directs her eyes at Josh as she speaks, “For the last three weeks. It’s why I dedicated my song this week to y’all.” 

“We appreciate it,” Sam speaks up. “How’d you know we’d all be here?” 

“I didn’t,” She laughs, like it was just a joke for herself. “Hell, if none of you had been here, I still would have done it. I love that song.” 

“What are you doing at a bar like this just singing karaoke with a voice like that?” Josh asks, tilting his head again. His hand fiddled with the little straw in his drink. 

“It’s just for fun,” She swigs her beer again and shrugs. “I like to come out here and act like a rockstar but I’d hate to actually be one…No offense.” 

“None taken,” Jake responds for all of them and her eyes flash to him, holding his gaze longer than she had before. 

She was between Josh and Sam with Jake and Danny across from her. They didn’t need to introduce themselves, she clearly knew who they were, but they wanted to know her. 

“So do you have a name, Ms. Insanely Talented But It’s Just For Fun?” Sam inquires, since everyone was wondering.

She laughs and smiles sweetly at him, tearing her eyes away from Jake’s. It was interesting to her how they all (except Danny) practically had the same eyes since they were siblings yet they looked so different surrounded by their features and the way they held themselves. 

“That’s it, how’d you guess?” 

They all laugh and then look at her seriously and she gives them her name. 

“Lovely name for a lovely girl,” Josh muses. 

Her eyes flash to his face now, “I figured your twin would be the charmer, but it also makes sense that you’d use that on a girl.” 

The rest of the guys laughed and Josh’s jaw dropped a little as he sputtered an apology, trying to tell her that it wasn’t supposed to be a flirtation, just something he would say to anyone. She clapped him on the shoulder and shook it a little, “It’s alright, kid.” 

She talks the night away with them. For once not absconding out of the bar the second her song was over. They learn a lot about her and she tells them it was nice to meet them. Jake offers to give her a lift home but she declines. 

“I’m an avid pedestrian,” She insists when he tells her that he worries for her safety. “Plus, I live just around the corner.” 

“Then let me walk you just around the corner,” He supplies, a pleading look on his face. He had been entranced with her since last week and after tonight he desperately wanted to get her number. To see her again not inside this dingy bar. But he didn’t want to ask in front of the rest of the band, it felt immature and like they’d mock him for it. 

She rolled her eyes, but secretly found it sweet. Letting him walk her home wouldn’t hurt. 

She waves the rest of them a farewell as they get into their shared cars or rideshares home. Josh winks at Jake and Jake just shakes his head shyly. 

She really did live just around the corner, but Jake manages to ask her a few questions before they reach the entrance to her apartment complex. 

“The song you sang last week,” Jake starts and she looks at him with interest. “I’ve been listening to the Devil Makes Three since then. They’re fantastic.” 

“You really think so?” She responds excitedly. “They’re like my favorite band,” She pauses and adds a little sardonically, “After Greta Van Fleet, of course.”

“Ha ha,” Jake shakes his head at her and his hair falls from behind his ears in a way she wants to push it back behind them. She liked his little ears. “But seriously, they’re really fucking good, I can’t believe I’ve never heard of them before.” 

“Yeah, I heard you guys were real pretentious about music. Figures you wouldn’t have that good of taste,” She goads him again and Jake laughs a little.

“You’re a funny girl, honey,” He says and she quirks her head at the pet name, the alcohol from earlier had metabolized and she was mostly just tipsy from the few beers she had with them. 

“So I’ve been told.” 

She pauses and Jake feels it, stopping with her. They had arrived at her apartment. It was time. 

“Could I get your number? As much as I enjoy hearing you sing and that shitty bar you hide out in, I’d like to see you in the light of day, somewhere not so…charming.” 

She raises her brows at his request, a bit of a smirk twisting onto her face. It masked her trepidation in the same way she’d been handling all of tonight. Coolly, but a little unlike her usual self. She wasn’t sure how she was doing what she was doing, but she had managed to charm an entire famous rock band and apparently one of them specifically. She was in awe, but in the moment she was rolling with it by exuding complete confidence. Normally, she was skittish, like a small woodland creature. At the bar she was cool so she had met them in that persona, that setting, allowing her to play it cool, teasing men she thought were beyond talented. 

“Sure, but isn’t it just so much more fun that you only know me there? I’ve got this whole life outside of it and so do you, yet we convene there and it made you want to know me more. Are you sure you would notice me walking down the street?” 

The smile that graces Jake’s face is almost in disbelief and it was so big he felt his cheeks hurt a little but he didn’t care. 

“Of course that’s your response.” 

She smiles genuinely, the smirky flirtation falling away as her giddy shyness creeps up. The reality of the situation dawned on her with Jake’s strong cheekbones and brows, his big brown eyes, soft-looking hair, parted lips puffing out breath into the cold night air all staring back at her. 

After exchanging numbers, she tells him to let her know where he wants to convene with her outside of the bar and he promises he will. Holding to his word, he texts her when he gets back to his own home, letting her know he got home safe at her request as well as an implorment to go out with him tomorrow. 

She finds herself at coffee shops and record stores, small gigs of big bands, nice dinners, quiet walks and of course the dive bar every Friday with Jake and his bandmates. It shouldn’t have been that easy. It shouldn’t have been a rockstar finding a girl in the last place he might have found anyone of interest. She thought she shouldn’t have wowed him the way she did. After every date, every day, every night, she went home and asked herself what it was about her that Jake found so intriguing for the last month. He had stolen a few chaste kisses here and there, but he didn’t press for more and neither did she. She couldn’t understand it. She wasn’t used to easy. It almost felt like Jake just wanted a companion not a lover. A friend but nothing more, which she didn’t necessarily mind. She just wanted to know why. 

On the third week of them going to karaoke together, Jake took her hand in his and asked if she wanted to do a song together. She had laughed and agreed when she realized he was serious. 

“What do you want to sing?” Jake asked.

“We should probably do a duet, right?” 

“Only if that’s what you want.” 

Her head tilts and she smiles up at him. He returns it with a small one. His brothers watched on as they conversed quietly with one another. 

“What’s the verdict?” Josh asks when he sees them nod at one another, her smile more giddy than his. 

“Don’t go breaking my heart, Elton John and Kiki Dee,” She beams and then gives Jake a little wink who chuckles. 

“Well isn’t that sickeningly sweet?” Sam interjects and she rolls her eyes at him. 

She had gotten to know the rest of them relatively well since their first official meeting all those weeks ago. Sam was the younger brother she never had but always wanted. He had learned he could never best her after their first real conversation, but that didn’t mean he didn’t still attempt to goad her. 

The first conversation consisted of them talking about their homestates, something normal for people who’ve just met to talk about she guessed. 

“So you’re from California,” Sam stated when she and him had been left to their own devices one night when Danny was stuck at the bar waiting to be served and the twins were talking to the act who had just finished up at a more private, nicer club in the heart of Nashville. 

“Yeah.” 

“That’s pretty cool,” Sam continues. 

“Yeah,” She says again, her lips curling at the sides, and he rolls his eyes and huffs a slightly annoyed breath. In the beginning she had been wary of them all, not sure if Jake was going to keep her around for very long or what was going on. Not that the last part had changed, but she was less wary of them all now. 

“I’ve been a few times.” 

“Like Los Angeles?” She replies. 

Sam hums in affirmation, taking a swig of a glass beer bottle and swallowing, looking like he’s ready to launch into discussing Los Angeles now, finally finding a common ground they could discuss. 

“Oh, I’m not from there,” She stops him. “And honestly? You haven’t really been to California, if you’ve just been there.” 

He gives her a bit of a glare and she laughs, unfazed. She went on to school him on the brilliance of California outside of Los Angeles and outside of any city in the state actually. He was left with a bit of wonderment for her ability to describe the California coastline and the different national parks that littered the state. After that, he liked her a lot more. He didn’t just see her as some random talented chick that he was confused as to why his older brother kept bringing around. He understood. She was fascinating. 

She didn’t know that, but whatever that special charm was that she held was maybe the reason Jake kept her around. And why he took it slow with her. Because he couldn’t quite puzzle her out yet. As much as they hung out, he still felt like he barely knew her. He’d ask a question and while she’d answer it, he’d be left with a hundred more in its place. All begging to be asked. 

She puts their names down for Don’t Go Breaking My Heart with the DJ, Jason, who was a good friend of hers. He laughed at her when she blushed about Jake singing with her. Jake and Josh watched on, the conversation she and the DJ were having unknown to them.

“Any progress?” Josh inquires. 

Jake chuckles and ducks his head, gazing into his glass, “Not even a little.” 

“I told you, weeks ago. She’s an enigma. Did she ever explain why she always would tear into here at the last moment before her song and then run off?” 

Jake shrugged and swirled his glass, taking a sip while keeping his eyes on her talking with the DJ. “Just said she was committed to coming here every Friday so even if she has other stuff going on she’ll still figure out a way to get here in time for the 10:35 slot. We just happened to catch her on the nights where she was otherwise preoccupied.”

“That is…” Josh trails off, watching her turn towards them with a dazzling smile directed at Jake. “Confounding.” He sighs and Jake looks from her back to his brother, for the first time wondering if her voice wasn’t the only thing that had brought Josh back to the bar time and time again. 

She looked at Josh and gave him the same smile, but shortly turned her attention towards Jake once again. The way the light shown on Jake made her never want to take her eyes off of him. It wasn’t exactly radiant on him the way it was with Josh, it was quieter but just as, if not more, meaningful to her. The light brightened his soft brown hair that flowed over his shoulders and whispered around his neck. It darkened the circles around his eyes and gave them a serious somber look, but it bounced off his perfect smile that offset the brooding eyes, making it impossible not to wonder more about him. Even if Jake confused her, she loved the absolute mystery of him. 

At 10:35, hand in hand, the odd couple made their way up to the stage. There were extra hollers tonight when the regulars saw she was bringing a partner with her onto the stage. It didn’t help that Sam and Danny were yelling at the top of their lungs and Josh was whistling as well. Jake gave them the finger, but she just grinned. This stage felt like home. Every. Single. Time. 

“Hey y’all…This is Jake, be nice to him, it’s his first time up on the big stage.”

She winked at Jake when he laughed wholeheartedly. It bubbled out of his chest and he couldn’t stop himself from kissing her cheek, she pushed at his chest in a playful way, loving the feeling of his soft lips on her. The poppy beat came in when she nodded at Jason. She wiggled her hips a little and Jake grinned down at her. 

“Don’t go breakin’ my heart,” Jake start, his voice strong and smooth but tinged with slight nerves.. 

“I couldn’t if I tried,” She smiles up at him, the pair staring into each other's eyes already. 

“Oh honey, if I get restless?” Jake smiles and widens his eyes, trying his best to play it up for her. 

“Baby,” She pushes his shoulder a little harder this time. “You’re not that kind.” She walks away from him and then flips around getting ready to sing the chorus. 

He twirls her around, deciding to bust out the dance moves he knew best. Her giggles sound through the mic and for once she gets lost in the feeling rather than the song. Jake’s hands in hers and the way he’s looking at her distracts her from singing all of the words. She falters on a few lyrics, but all she does is smile wider. 

He asks to kiss her when the song fades out and she blushes slightly but nods her head with a cheeky bite of her lip. The kiss is filled with more passion than she’d ever felt with Jake, more passion than she’d ever felt with anyone, to be honest. His hands clutched at the small of her waist, hugging her hips and legs as close to him as possible. She feels the tips of her boots bump his. His lips chasing hers and leaning her back ever so slightly as he pressed into her. She feels his lips move against hers and she feels hungry to kiss him back just as hard. Her hands slide from his shoulders and into his hair, toying with the ends for a few moments before the whistles of the crowd get so loud she remembers where they are and she pulls back. Breathless. 

“Where’ve you been keeping that?” 

“In my back pocket,” Jake winks and wraps an arm around her waist, this time leading her off the stage and back to their table where the boys had two drinks waiting for them. 

The kiss leaves her perplexed and wanting more. The rest of the night, Jake’s hand is hot on her hip, hugging her close to him. A physical reminder of his presence in her life. That kiss made her want more than just this limbo state that Jake was keeping her in. Was she his lover or his friend? Was she just a companion to keep around so he wasn’t lonely or did he actually want her, desire her? 

Jake couldn’t discern the look in her eyes for the rest of the night. They were bright and wide, but he could tell she wasn’t fully paying attention to any of the conversations, even the ones that she led. He’d see her eyes wandering around the room, behind the heads of his bandmates. Her mind was beyond the bar and he didn’t understand why. He’d squeeze his hand at her side to bring her back to him and she’d look at him for a moment with a soft smile on her lips before nodding at whoever was talking, pretending like she knew exactly what they were saying. 

Did she want to be with him or somewhere else? Someone else? Was what he gave her not enough to hold her attention? Was he her lover or her friend? Did she want a companion or did she desire him? 

In that kiss, Jake had given his all, begging with his lips for her to understand how much he wanted her. In that moment it felt like she wanted him too, but he couldn’t be sure because since then she’d been miles away. 

After saying their goodbyes to Josh, Sam and Danny, Jake walks her home like usual. But unlike usual, she insists that Jake come upstairs while he normally declines, citing various reasons for why he can’t stay. 

Once upstairs, she starts to make them tea and Jake wanders around her apartment, a mix of dark and light, of bright colors and deep browns. It could be classic but it holds a certain touch for the current style landscape that would never fit in the 60s or 70s. Jake’s fingers drift over the covers of the books that line the walls. Eyes over the prints and paintings. She tells him he can continue to snoop in her room if he wants when she walks out with a real tea set and two types of tea for him to choose from. She kneels on her rug, beside the coffee table and nods for him to sit. 

“Why do you always decline coming upstairs, Jake?” She asks. Simple enough. 

He begins setting up his tea and shakes his head with uncertainty. “I don’t know. I don’t want to rush anything.” 

“And look, you’re upstairs and I haven’t jumped you…The invitation wasn’t supposed to imply sex. I like hanging out with you. I always want to spend more time with you.” 

Jake nods, “Me too.” 

She takes a sip of her tea. The silence is deafening but she can’t bear to try and pick out a record right now. Her fingers were shaking just trying to make the tea. Jake still made her nervous. She was terrified that the truth might hurt her, but the uncertainty was eating away at her. She needed to know. 

“But,” She starts after a sigh. “Do you ever want to?” She trails off. “With me. Because I’m okay if you just want me as a companion, a bit of a friend but a little closer, that’s good and fine. I just want it to be clear…what we are.” 

Jake smiles down at his cup. “Do I want to?” He repeats. “Christ, honey, I fucking would love to, but I don’t understand you. We’ve been hanging out for, what, a month, but it feels like I still barely know you. And a companion? We’re dating, aren’t we?” 

“Dating?” 

“Yeah, at least that’s what I thought I was doing. Taking you out, introducing you to my friends. You know, the things couples do.” He messes with his lower lip and she knows it's a nervous habit of his. Her hands rest her mug on the table and reach for his hands, he relents. 

“You didn’t say they were dates so I didn’t want to assume anything,” She wraps her hands around his, looking up at him from her seat on the floor as he leans over his knees, sitting on the worn leather couch. “I didn’t think you actually would want to date me.” 

His deep brown eyes widen in surprise, his voice sounds hoarse. “Why would you say that?”

“Cause guys like you don’t date me. I’m nobody compared to the people you and the guys hang out with. We live in different social stratospheres. You’re in a famous band, your dream, and I’m still running errands for the position I want to have someday even though it’s not the career I actually want. We don’t make sense.” 

“Hey,” It’s Jake’s turn to grip her hands harder, tugging her body slightly closer to him. “Sure we make sense. As long as we both want this, it makes more sense than a lot of the fucked up shit in our world. Is that why you don’t want me to meet your friends or know more about you? Because you think it will put me off?” 

She nods and looks away, feeling on the verge of crying. 

“Don’t ever be ashamed of yourself, honey. I really like you, for all of you even if I haven’t seen it all yet. I want to know it all. You challenge me and I want to know it all.” He repeats his want to her and she looks back to him with a watery smile. 

“Jake…” 

“Yes.” 

“I was in a really bad place before I met you and this last month has been the best month I’ve had in awhile. So thank you, I’ll try to let you in more.” 

He grins down at her when she laughs at the tear that falls down her cheek. His hand leaves hers to have his thumb swipe it away. His caress gentle as ever. 

“C’mere,” He grabs her waist and pulls her onto the couch with him, cradling her in his lap. He pets at her hair with one hand while the other stays at her waist, giving it a soothing rub. He nuzzles his nose against her ear and whispers, “Never wonder if I want you, honey. I want it all.” 

She keens into his touch, feeling comforted by his warmth now. They sit in silence while her breathing evens out. Jake is patient with her as she presses closer to him, one of her hands resting on his chest and her other encircling around his shoulders, hugging him at a bit of an angle. Her face tucked into the soft but burning skin of his neck. He was so soft and smooth everywhere. She wanted to run her hands over every inch of him, mapping it into her memory. 

Jake speaks up after a reasonable amount of time, maybe it was 10 minutes, maybe it was 30, it didn’t matter. “You really thought I was just keeping you around for? Companionship?” 

He tilts his head to look at her and she lifts her face from its home against him. “Yeah?” 

“Oh honey,” He chuckles, and she raises her eyebrows at him. “I’ve literally got a built in life long companion already. Josh is by my side constantly, which I actually love. But what I want to do with you, what I hope to do with you, is something my twin brother can’t really provide.” 

She grins and feels her heart flutter slightly erratically. She felt an odd desire to consume Jake or maybe this moment. It was too soon to say he loved her but she felt loved in this moment. She felt so safe. She wanted to stay in his arms forever, feel his heart beating steadily in his chest. She wanted to grow into love with him because it seemed like it was possible with him. He was the first man she’d ever let herself imagine a future where things worked out. 

His eyes were steady on hers. He was no longer wondering what she was thinking or why she was miles away. He saw that she was present with him, her gaze matching his in adoration. His hair cascaded around his shoulders and she twisted her hands in it, breathing in the scent that was becoming recognizable as Jake to her. He winked at her when the staring got long and intense. She giggled at him, causing him to smile shyly. 

“You’re kind of like all I’ve ever wanted,” She mumbles as she presses herself further into him. Her nose bumping his before she placed a gentle kiss against his soft lips. 

When she pulls back, Jake hums, his hand on her waist pressing her back into him, not ready for the kiss to finish. After a more prolonged making out with one another, she pulls back breathless and laughs at Jake’s expression. Hungry. Needy. 

“Honey,” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair that had been significantly tossled by her insistent fingers, running and twisting through the tresses, entranced by the softness of it. “Please let me love on you just a little tonight?” 

“How could I say no to that?”

“Good,” Jake smiles again and she wants to make him smile for the rest of her life. He nuzzles his nose against her cheek and places a kiss to it and then her other cheek, her nose, eyelids, forehead and lips. She laughs with each one, wrapping her arms tighter around his back, bringing them closer and arching her back slightly as he leans her back. 

Her laughter soon turns to heavy breathing, a bit of yelping in surprise and finally a long unfiltered moan. Jake’s kisses had moved to her jaw and neck, suctioning and licking insistently at her skin. She held onto him harshly, fearful that if she let go she’d fall down with how he had her leaned back. 

She felt his smile against her skin when she moaned. He rasps against her skin, “C’mon let me hear you, honey. You make such pretty sounds on stage, I bet you sound even better like this.” 

She whimpers in response, pushing her hips against Jake’s lap, starting to feel the burning in between her legs. “Jake,” She sighs when he chuckles and sucks on her skin at the base of her neck and her collarbone. 

“Do you want more, honey? Just tell me, I’ll give you whatever you want. Just tell me and it’s yours.” His eyes are wild as he pulls back from her and stares into her face. His cheeks flushed as he took a deep breath, attempting to minimize how out of breath he was just from kissing her. 

“I want you to touch me…” She pets over his ruffled hair, adoring the way he looked at her with such intensity. 

He squeezes her shoulder and waist where he was holding her, “Was I not just touching you?” 

She rolls her eyes and wiggles her hips, “C’mon rockstar, you know what I mean.” 

If more lights were on, she would’ve seen the bright red that Jake’s blush turned at her words. “Yeah, okay,” He stutters a little. 

She smiles at his uncertainty, only slightly confused that he wasn’t super confident in this situation. He seemed like the kind of guy where sex would barely faze him, but it seemed that intimacy meant more to him than she might have thought. 

He shifts their positions on the couch, draping her over the cushions so that she could lie back. She fiddles with the buttons on Jake’s shirt as he moves them and he nods at her silent question. She tells him to do the same and he begins to work on the few buttons on her pink striped dress shirt as well. Shirtless, now, leaves both of them gaping at one another. She smiles shyly up at him and Jake dips down to give her a quick kiss. She giggles and runs her hands up his soft naked chest. His hair drapes over her shoulders when he lowers over her again. She reaches a hand up to touch his hair now, conflicted on where she wanted her hands to be on him. She wanted to touch everything. 

He sighed as her hand ran over his scalp and she felt him nudge against her clothed center. 

“Jake,” She sighs, “I want your fingers.” 

“Okay, honey,” He nods and trails them down her torso to the button on her pants. His lips follow the path, kissing as he goes. 

He looks up at her when he successfully undoes the pants and pulls them down, leaving her in a cornflower cotton thong and her black lace bra. One of his long slender fingers dances lightly over her clothed mound and her hips stutter as she tries to refrain from whimpering once more. It had been so long since someone else had touched her here and she was over the moon that it was Jake. 

He taps at her legs and she opens them wider for him. His hand trails down to travel down her slit, still teasing her over her panties. He presses his middle finger against her entrance and pulls back up to her clit that now felt like it was on fire. She was breathing heavily, her chest heaving with Jake’s watchful eyes going between her face, her chest and her pussy. 

“Fuck, honey,” He breaths. “You really need this, huh?” 

“Yes, Jake, please just take them off.” 

He nods with a bite of his lip and concentrates on his fingers curling around the blue fabric at her hips and pulling down. The cool air that floods the hot flesh that was just exposed is enough to offer some respite from this exquisite torture. For good measure, as if he knew, Jake leans down and blows more air on her pussy, spreading the lips to really make her squirm. 

“You look good enough to eat,” He mutters before swiping a finger through her folds, a noncommittal swirl around her clit before pulling away. It’s enough to make her whimper, she was so sensitive. 

“Your cunt is so fucking wet,” Jake sounds overcome with surprise and happiness. He runs his fingers along her slit once more and brings the fingers to his lips. “Like fuckin’ honey, I knew it.” 

She surpresses a smile and bucks her hips involuntarily. Jake continues to babble, in disbelief that she was this wet just from him kissing her and how sweet she tasted. 

When his fingers finally enter her, she cries out. A hand reaches out to grip Jake’s jaw, bringing his lips back to hers as he begins to pump into her cunt. His pink lips move against hers as he tries to keep his pace steady, but greedily he wants to see her fall apart around his fingers. He wants to see her face when he makes her cum so that he can memorize it. Conjure it up when he’s away from her and has his hand around his cock, imagine he’s fully inside her, bringing her this pleasure. 

His hand has sped up and she’s staring at him with a slack jawed expression. His fingers thrust into her with a wet sound as her juices soak his hand and her pussy. “Does it feel good, honey?” 

“So good, Jake. So fucking good. Keep going.” 

His thumb begins to circle her clit and she begins to moan louder. It slips against the nub, flooded with her slick. Her hips move with his hand and he grins down at her and she can’t take her eyes off his face, how happy he looks. 

“Will you cum for me, darling? I want to see you cum pretty with my hand in your cunt.” His fingers are massaging inside her walls and they both feel them tighten. His dirty words sent her over the edge. A mix of profanities fall from her mouth as her hips begin to shake and buck on their own volition. Her orgasm flows through her and Jake watches after giving her a hard kiss. Her chest rolling and her knees trying to close but his arms keep them open as he pumps her through it. 

After she comes down, Jake gently removes his hand from her and sticks his fingers in his mouth before wiping them on his jeans. She watches him with wide eyes and closes them when he runs his clean hand over her hair. “You are perfect,” He whispers. 

“So are you,” She replies with a slight laugh. “Can I?”

She nods at his bulge, but he shakes his head no. 

“Another time, honey. I wanted to do this without getting anything in return.”

“But, Jake, it must hurt a little? And I want to…” Her hand moves to flutter over it but he pushes it away and grabs her hand instead. 

“I promise I’m fine, but if you insist, I’m also not against getting off.” 

They laugh together before she languidly removes her hand from his, unzips his pants and pulls his cock out from beneath the boxers it was straining against. Her eyes flit between her movements and Jake’s face. He huffs out a breath of anticipation. Her light touch on him feeling like so much after getting so worked up over her noises and taste. 

His brows furrow as her hand begins to pump his length and he’s trying to contain himself, embarrassed by how quickly he’s ready to cum. She must sense his unease. 

“Just let go if you’re ready, Jake. I can imagine you’ve been wound up for a while. It’s hot that you’re already close.” 

“Yeah,” He huffed a laugh, his voice raspy. “I’ve imagined this for a month now and it’s just, fuck. It feels so good.” 

She smiles at him and leans over his tip before he can protest. Her lips envelop his head and suck it into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it gently, coaxing him to cum in her mouth while her hand continues to rub over his shaft. The wet soft suction of her mouth sends him over the edge he’d been trying to stay on top of, but he can’t stop himself from cumming down her throat. She hums in admiration as the warmth fills her throat and Jake throws his head back in exhaustion. His hair splays around him on the couch as his eyes tilt close for a moment as his chest heaves, attempting to calm himself. He couldn’t believe she’d just swallowed his load like that, no hesitation with no request. 

She tucks his softening cock back into his boxers delicately after cleaning him up and crawls up and cuddles into his side. He smiles with a sigh, his eyes peeking open slightly to look at her. Her hand runs up and down his chest, stroking the softness and cherishing his warmth. She smiles when he notices his gaze. 

“That was nice,” She suggests  in a whisper. 

“More than nice, honey. I think we’re going to continue doing that for a long, long time.” 

She giggles and tucks her head into the crook of his neck, placing a chaste kiss against the slightly clammy skin. 

“Okay, Jakey.” 

They settle into a soft silence. Content with one another. Jake strokes over her arm and hair while she remains hugged to his chest. Loving his warmth and firmness against her. 

-

should there be a part 2, lmk what you think inbox is open and reblogs (w comments and concerns, esp) are always welcome

#jake kiszka x reader #jake kiszka fanfic #jake kiszka smut #jake kiszka fluff #jake kiszka x y/n #jake kiszka x you #jake kiszka fic #greta van fic #greta van smut #greta van fleet fan fiction #jake kiszka one shot #josh kiszka fanfic maybe #greta van fleet fan fic #karaoke nights at the hooded crow

[frau-kali]

On Self Awareness and Cognitive Dissonance

So @jaynovz made this really interesting and excellent post about Silver's crazy decision to go to Charlestown at the end of S2. I thought I'd toss out my two cents as to why he might have done it. And also discuss some related stuff. Buckle up, folks!

So first, let's begin with THE SCENE:

Silver: I've had my fill of adapting lately, doing your bidding, keeping the crew in line for you. Flint: I wasn't the only one who benefited from that. Silver: It certainly seemed that way.

Here Flint refers to Silver's position among the crew, which Flint sees as a benefit to both of them. As we see:

Flint: I need your help. They need your help. Silver: Oh please. Don't try to convince me to do it for the sake of their futures. Flint: For the sake of your own. Those men listen to you, they care about what you think, what you want them to think. Where else in the world is that true? Where else would you wake up in the morning and matter?

I could talk endlessly about this whole scene, particularly about Silver's incredibly amazing lie and how he acts during it and his bitterness toward Flint, but that's beyond the scope of this. Instead I wanna focus on self awareness.

With these few words, Flint basically drags Silver kicking and screaming to self awareness land. He is suddenly exposed to the fact that he actually means something here. And by his reaction, I think it's fair to assume this is one the few times, if not perhaps the first time, he's been in a position like this. Based on his past actions and his desire to remain anonymous (see refusing to show his face during the schedule thing, it’s safer to be anonymous), I think his previous modus operandi has been to position himself behind some powerful figure and work in the background to help them achieve their shared goals of getting lots of money. Said people were also probably not as smart as him so he could easily manipulate them as well. We see him do this with Flint a bunch, too, working in the background to help him. And that's what his position on the Walrus crew starts out as.

But then he becomes the centre of attention. They start to like him, which he didn't even necessarily expect when he started his gossip monger plan, he just wanted them to need him, despite his proclaiming that he’s a hard man not to like. But no, they get attached to him. And he, unbeknownst to himself, becomes attached right back.

Now, it's entirely possible that he's been in similar situations in the past just like this one, but because he is very good at repression and lying to himself, he was able to walk away without any real trouble. Maybe he realized afterwards that he actually liked those people but it didn't matter because he'd already left and he tells himself it’s for the best anyway. Silver is likely carrying around some heavy trauma related to emotional attachments to other people, given how he tells Muldoon that “we’ll take care of you” is the most terrifying part of everything that’s happened after losing his leg. And, considering everything else, that sure is saying something.

But here, he has hitched his wagon to James Flint, a man after his own heart. Flint is a lot like Silver, a brilliant liar and excellent manipulator, able to bend people to his will and look damn good while doing it.

Then he does it to Silver, too. And it's all while Silver is in the middle of pulling off his own master class in lying, some of his best work, by being outraged and angry that the gold he actually stole is gone and trying to extricate himself from Flint and the crew. Except Flint won't let him.

Flint's request for Silver's help doesn't, I don't think, extend merely to the lovely speech Silver gives to swing the vote in his favour, either. During the voyage to Charlestown, Silver continues working to convince the men of the dangers that lie ahead, presumably at Flint's behest. Scott does indicate to Billy that Silver is using his storytelling powers to “help the captain” when Silver is addressing the crew.

So Silver stays because he has come to value his position on the crew. However he doesn't yet realize how attached to them he's actually become. Jay is right, he could’ve easily deserted after the vote, run off to hide somewhere until Flint is gone, but he doesn’t. And he's still lying to himself about why. He thinks “yeah ok, Flint, you won this round. I'll stay and go on the voyage so as not to arouse suspicion from you and everyone else, and I’ll take the scouts along because I don’t trust them not to fuck this up, but I am leaving after that.” The real reason he stays is because he values his position, he actually likes that he matters, but he is still convinced he’s going to leave because he also wants the money. I think he probably would’ve left, too, but he’s trying not to think too hard about the newly exposed self awareness and continuously telling himself he doesn’t need this and he sure as fuck doesn’t actually care about these people, even as he stays. It’s like he’s torn between how he wants to be and how he actually is and he cannot bring himself to go no matter how much he wants to.

That’s also not even going into how, during the voyage, he is exposed to how much power he actually has over the men on the crew when he gives the scout a fucking look and said scout kills their co-conspirator because of it. And then that same scout tells Silver that all the men know he cares about their best interests and Silver is just fucking taken aback by the level of regard these people have for him. This is on display again when they all stand up in his defence after Vane’s men come to grab him.

When Vane’s men attack the ship, Silver could swim to shore with the remaining scout and if they kept their heads down, they'd probably be ok. They could likely swim far enough away to not get caught, especially at night. Silver surely knows this, too.

Instead, he cuts the forestay and saves the crew. And then he refuses to give up a list of names, once again saving the crew. He has, against all his own cognitive dissonance, become attached to them enough that he endures torture and risks death for them. Now, I don’t think that he ever thought that he would lose his leg, I don’t think that he made space in his mind for the possibility of being tortured either, he knew that one of the men had grabbed the keys during the scuffle when they took him away and he thought that he could stall long enough until they broke in and saved him because he’s good at talking his way out of trouble. I also have to say that it is such a nice moment when he says this to Vane’s man: “The question you should be asking yourself is, where are his keys and has he seen them since he took me away from my men?” They are his men now, his brothers, whereas before he always set himself apart from them.

And it's all because Flint made him see that he valued his position enough to stay and go on the journey to Charlestown in the first place. Silver even gives Flint credit for this in 305 - “Such a waste, it seems to me, knowing that it doesn't have to be this way. That the man who talked me into giving a shit about this crew, he could talk those people out there into anything. If he wanted to.”

Or that’s how I read it anyway. The way Silver’s attachment to the Walrus crew is developed over the course of season 2 and the final culmination of him refusing to betray them is one of my favourite things about his story and I have a lot of feelings about it. I could be wrong in my interpretation, of course, but thank you all for coming to my Ted Talk :)

#black sails #john silver #silverflint #black sails meta #i've never written meta before #i just have a lot of feelings about this #and about silver in general #so i wanted to share #i could just be coping with this headcanon to paper over something that doesn't make sense (silver refusing to leave) #but it makes sense to me #who knows tho #shrug emoji

[itsclydebitches]

On the topic of the Curious Cat: As an enby, I don't know how to feel about the fact that the first major characters in RWBY who were canonically enby were a) animals from a whole different world b) killed off in the same volume that introduced them.

Actually, no, I do know how I feel about that.

Little: A mouse who has, by their own admission, no purpose in life and thus swears to help the group on their quest... except they don't. No time is spent developing Little or demonstrating how they're beneficial as an ally. They're squashed to death by the villain during a pseudo-suicide scene and then magically reappear as a totally different person, which is presented as a good thing. They're left behind by the story, presumably never to be seen again.

Curious: A cat who is first presented as an annoyance that the group doesn't want to deal with, then as an outright villain who has been manipulating them this whole time. The story refuses to engage with the ways in which their situation is both relatable and sympathetic, instead having them suddenly gain the power of possession/physical transformation for a lackluster fight scene. They're torn apart by the illusion of another villain that only existed for one episode and, for obvious reasons, will likely never be seen again.

Yeah. I wonder why fans, particularly enby fans, would be unhappy with this representation...

You know, I've brought this up before but I think it's really important to keep in mind that RWBY is an ongoing series. Any representation that's introduced to the canon is, for a significant length of time, the only representation we have and that severely colors our feelings towards the show as a whole. Lately there have been some angry posts about people calling Blake/Yang queerbaiting and they're right, by definition it can't possibly be queerbaiting because they were made canon... but we thought it might be for several years. That's the criticism. The later you're introduced to RWBY and the more you have to binge watch, the less likely you are to understand the issue with these portrayals—especially with a fandom that will talk up what you have to look forward to if you just keep watching to X Volume. Why would I be upset with a stalker, villain lesbian when Saphron and Terra are so cute and just around the corner? Why would I think trans rep is an issue when Mae is arriving in Volume 7? How can anyone possibly claim that the queer rep is bad when the flagship, main character couple kissed on screen and I've already seen the beautiful, romantic GIFs of the moment? Putting aside other issues here (how long queer characters last, the lack of rep for men, etc.) fans ignore the staggeringly long time we were not only waiting for rep, but then waiting for what many would consider positive rep. For years all we had was a lesbian who wanted to kill the parents of the woman who didn't return her affections (notably with the implication that Blake was might be straight...) and a super duper minor character who isn't actually gay because they wanted to kill him off. For years all we had was Coco leering at women behind her sunglasses in the novels, or the hint of gay side-characters in other teams, while Blake and Yang continued a multi-Volume will-they-won't-they dance. For years we've had queer character appear for a few episodes only—the cute couple, the trans activist—before disappearing from the story because they're not important enough to make a core part of the tale. The fact that we have Blake/Yang now doesn't erase those feelings leading up to their canonization.

Now here we are again. "How can you be unhappy with the nonbinary rep?" someone might ask in a few years time, if RWBY continues and we've gotten another cute, minor, short-lived character who uses they/them pronouns. Well, it's because in 2023 everyone was waiting to see if the show would even return and in that uncertainty all we had for rep were two literal animals who were horrifically killed by the story and then left behind, one a full-fledged villain whose death we're meant to celebrate. I'm all for a diversity of representation—I'm by no means saying all your queer characters have to be heroes, or even decent people. I love me a queer villain—but when that's all you've currently got in a show that's struggled both with its rep on screen and its treatment of queer employees... it doesn't feel great.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

[heroesriseandfall]

How Long Tim Drake First Lived at Wayne Manor (+ Drake Manor)

A reference guide and timeline, because I am an incurable nerd.

Gotham Knights #45 [description in alt text]

From what I can figure from Tim’s pre-Flashpoint comics, Tim originally lived at Wayne Manor (after his mom’s death and his dad’s hospitalization) for about 7-9 months until his dad left the hospital. Then the Drakes bought the mansion next-door to Wayne Manor at Alfred’s suggestion, and they lived next-door for less than two years, then had to move downtown after losing money, where they then lived until Jack’s death.

Disclaimer: Due to the annoying nature of comics timelines, this summary will not account for how much time various major Batman storylines take. DC comics tend to take up a lot of time in an apparently small amount of time, which means this technically correct timeline might also make Knightfall, Contagion, and Cataclysm look like they all occured within like, a few months. This is DC’s fault and for the sake of this post I will not bother trying to make that make sense. You can decide how things fit together based on the information here.

Timeline details and references:

When Tim, age 13, first begins training to become Robin (after Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying, which is implied to occur during late summer/early fall), he’s mostly living at his boarding school just outside Gotham City while his parents are nearly always away traveling for business (Batman #441, #444-445). At some point, Tim begins staying at the Manor overnight sometimes when he’s not at school, probably over breaks or weekends (Detective Comics #615-616).

In (presumably) December, Tim (age 13) is already staying at Wayne Manor for vacation when his parents are kidnapped. Janet Drake dies, and Jack Drake is hospitalized in a coma (Detective Comics #618-621). Tim continues staying at Wayne Manor after their kidnapping. The kidnapping storyline doesn’t mention what vacation it is, but Janet’s funeral and him becoming Robin occur on Dec 24th, so it’s likely winter break (Batman #455-457).

Soon after his mom’s death, Tim goes abroad for additional training. He’s abroad for at least “a few weeks” (Robin Vol. 1 #1), and at the end of this trip is when Tim first encounters King Snake (Robin Vol. 1 #1-5).

In Batman #469, during which Tim is still living at Wayne Manor while his father is in a coma, Bruce runs into King Snake, who says it has been 6 months since his encounter with Tim in Robin Vol. 1. This means in-text statements now give us at least 6-7 months having passed since Janet died and Jack was hospitalized.

(Note: It’s possible for a while Tim also stayed at his boarding school for the rest of middle school, since he’d been staying there before. We never see him there after Janet died, though, and he was then shown studying in the Manor, so he might’ve stopped boarding early and just stayed at the Manor full time. This part is unclear, and it’s not specified if Tim has started high school in Batman #469. Either way, he was under Bruce and Alfred’s care, and spent a fair amount of time sleeping at the manor.)

Tim turns 14 and starts public high school at Gotham Heights while still living at Wayne Manor (Robin II: Joker’s Wild #1). Tim’s birthday is in July, and in the US, high schools usually start mid Aug/early Sep, so I’d wager that’s at least Dec-mid Aug of living in Wayne Manor (though he was abroad for a few unspecified weeks of that). If we take those date references, that’s at least 7-8 months. Tim’s also probably known the Waynes for around a year now, by my estimate (based on Jason death dates & time mentions in A Lonely Place of Dying).

Relatively soon after Robin II: Joker’s Wild, Jack Drake is released from the hospital and at Alfred’s suggestion they buy the house next door to Wayne Manor (Batman #480-482). Tim is 14 when they move into the new Drake Manor. They eventually hire a live-in maid, Mrs. Mac, to help in the house (Robin III #3). Tim still occasionally stays at Wayne Manor or other family properties (Robin Annual 2 + Robin v2 #3), but for the most part lives at Drake Manor.

While they live at Drake Manor, Tim temporarily runs away from home multiple times (to do Robin stuff, mostly). During the Cataclysm, Aftershocks, and No Man’s Land storylines, where an earthquake turns Gotham into a disaster zone, the Drakes almost sell Drake Manor and they move to Keystone City for a short time (Robin Vol. 2 #62). But after Tim runs away back to Gotham, they end up moving right back into Drake Manor again not long after they left (Robin Vol. 2 #66). The original Wayne Manor also gets destroyed and they rebuild it differently. Tim turns 15 during this time.

Jack Drake sends Tim (age still 15) to boarding school because of all the running away. Tim lives at Brentwood Academy with Alfred for less than a full semester (Robin Vol. 2 #75-100). During this time, Jack marries Dana Winters (Robin 80-Page Giant).

Drake Industries loses money so the Drakes have to sell their mansion, and Tim (15 almost 16) has to leave Brentwood early. They move into their condo in downtown Gotham, near Barbara’s clocktower (Robin Vol. 2 #100). Sometime after they move downtown, Tim turns 16 on July 19th (Robin Vol. 2 #116).

At one point while he lives downtown with his dad & Dana, Tim is interviewed by a social worker investigating Bruce’s parenting. The social worker says, “Tim, you stayed here with Mister Wayne several times for extended periods, correct?” to which Tim responds, “A couple times, yeah. Mostly for a short while after my mom died and my dad was in a coma from his injuries. Bruce and Alfred looked after me until dad got better.” (Gotham Knights #45) “A short while” is vague and subjective so it doesn’t tell us much about whether my timeline is accurate, but this scene does confirm that Tim staying with the Waynes is information that a social worker could find out (though I doubt most of the public knew much about it).

So Tim was 14 already when they moved next door to the Waynes, and 15 almost 16 when they moved out. So it’s less than two years. Tim lived next door to the Waynes barely twice as long as he lived with the Waynes before that. Idk I just find that kind of funny.

Bonus Notes: When Tim was young, the Drakes only stayed at the downtown condo (the one they moved into long-term when Tim was 15) to attend downtown events like the opera or galleries (Robin #100). The Drakes also allegedly owned at least two penthouses (unless the two different names refer to the same one...I'm assuming not). Robinson Park Penthouse is where Jack wanted to move in before Tim convinced him to buy the mansion next door to the Waynes (Batman #480). The Mooney Towers Penthouse “on Diamond Street in Neville,” near Wayne Tower, is where Tim snuck off to stay at a few times during school vacations while Bruce and his dad were gone (Robin Annual 2 & Robin #3).

Additional Note: I’m not sure where Tim regularly lived when he wasn’t at boarding school before his mom died. We see brief glimpses of what is presumably his childhood home(s) in flashbacks but I don’t remember it ever being mentioned in depth. Tim implies that the Drakes didn’t live in one place in Gotham for more than 6 months until he was 14 (Robin v2 #66). They probably didn’t have one permanent residence.

If they did have one, though, presumably it wasn’t in downtown Gotham, since they considered the condo closer to downtown events than their regular home (Robin v2 #100), and it wasn’t in the more country area of Bristol where Wayne Manor is (Crest Hill), because Jack Drake was disturbed by the bats and new to the “countryside” air when they moved there (Batman #480).

#tim drake #batfam #dc comics #bruce wayne #batfamily #dc continuity #jack drake #janet drake #drake parenting #this has been sitting in my drafts for months for some reason. enjoy #wayne family #heroesriseandfall

[letthewhumpbegin]

Return to Base, chapter 1 - Top Gun: Maverick

Fandom: Top Gun Maverick Characters: Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw Short summary: The return from the dog-fight isn't as safe and sound as Maverick had believed it was. Word count: 1704 Warnings: contains descriptions of blood, gunshot wound. Mentions of medical procedures and hospital. Contains spoilers for Top Gun: Maverick.

A/N: this story is already posted on my FF.net and AO3 account, but now posted onto here as well.

This is chapter 1 of 2. Second chapter will be up on 27 November.

How the hell he and Rooster had managed to survive this, Maverick would never quite know. It was a miracle alone that they even survived their initial mission, let alone this as well.

At least a huge amount of luck must have been involved. How else would two fighter pilots both survive getting shot out of the air, steal an F-14 from enemy territory, manage to escape unscathed from a dog fight against an Su-57, and land their crippled jet safely back aboard an aircraft carrier?

The entire ship's deck crew stood waiting for them, cheering and clapping their hands as soon as the jet had come to a stand-still. The two pilots had already been presumed dead, so everyone was elated to see them return safely after all.

Maverick quickly climbed out of the jet. He was just as astounded by his own safe return as everyone else was. But between all the cheering and jovial pats on his shoulders and back, Maverick only realised quite late that their safe return might not be so safe after all…

It took him a full minute to notice Rooster had not moved at all, still in his seat and making absolutely no attempt to join in the celebrations. One might assume he needed a moment after everything that had happened today, but the look on the young man's face told Maverick something was seriously wrong.

"Rooster?" He stepped back up on the wing of the jet to get closer to Rooster, still in the RIO's seat. "Are you alright?" "No…" Rooster took a shuddering breath. "I– I'm hit." The words didn't immediately land with Maverick. It wasn't until he noticed the golf ball-sized hole in the side of the jet, right next to Rooster, that the severity of this situation dawned on him: some time during the dog fight, a bullet had penetrated their jet after all and struck Rooster.

"Show me." Maverick did his best to remain calm. Rooster slowly took his hand away from his left side, the fingers and palm stained a deep crimson. He looked up at Maverick with absolute terror portrayed on his face, and his entire body trembling with fear. "Okay, okay…" Maverick felt the fear surge through himself now, too. "I'm getting you help. You're going to be fine, I promise." Maverick hoped beyond hope that that was indeed true, because he was not losing this kid so soon after reconnecting with him.

"Get the medics!" Maverick yelled over his shoulder. "Get the medical team over here. Now!" "Mav, I…" Rooster muttered painfully, "it– it hurts, and I… I'm scared." His hand took an iron grip on Maverick's sleeve. "Please, don't leave… don't leave me alone." "I won't, I'm not leaving you." Maverick covered Rooster's shaking hand with his own, and gently patted it to try and instill some reassurance.

Their moment was broken by the arrival of the medical team. Maverick almost had to pry Rooster's fingers away from his sleeve. "No…" Rooster moaned softly, fear shaking his voice. "I have to, kid," Maverick apologised, "I need to make some room for the doctors, but as soon as they've got you out, I'll be right back with you." Their eyes locked for a moment. The blood loss and pain were already visibly taking a toll on Rooster, with his eyes starting to lose some of their focus and his breaths way too rapid for comfort. "It's just for a minute, kid," Maverick assured.

Finally, Rooster's fingers slackened, and Maverick moved himself off the jet's wing. He had to do it, but it still felt like he was abandoning Rooster. The kid wanted him by his side, and Maverick wanted to be by Rooster's side just as much. But he had no choice, because what Rooster needed now most of all was medical attention.

The ship's team of doctors immediately sprang into action. Maverick had barely cleared the wing or they were already up there. All their attention was focused on Rooster and determining the severity of his injuries. Maverick caught only flashes of their conversation.

"Bullet wound left side, clear of heart and lungs… substantial blood loss… breathing and heart rate elevated… immediate surgery required…"

It didn't comfort Maverick much, as it all sounded urgent and intense. But he took some hope from the fact that the doctors were still speaking to Rooster, and that he appeared to be answering them, albeit with some difficulty.

Finally, after a few tense minutes, the medical team pulled Rooster out of the jet. He screamed out in pain at being moved, continually whimpering and groaning until he was placed on the gurney that stood ready underneath the jet's wing.

Just as Maverick had promised, he was back by Rooster's side as soon as he could. With Rooster now on the gurney, Maverick saw the full extent of the injury for the first time. And it looked worse than he had first feared… A large bloodstain stained almost Rooster's entire left side. Underneath his sun-bronzed skin, Rooster had gone extremely pale and it wouldn't be surprising if he passed out any second now. Still, Rooster managed to fix a glassy gaze firmly on Maverick. "D–don't leave me…" After all the bravery he had shown today, during their mission and after, the young fighter pilot broke. He was trembling from head to toe now with fear, pain and blood loss, almost begging for Maverick to not leave his side.

Maverick shared a glance with the head of the medical team, whom he also knew was the ship's surgeon. He received a minute nod back, telling him he was cleared to stay with Rooster for as long as possible. It was evident that Rooster would go straight into surgery, but Maverick was committed to be there for him right until that moment and immediately afterwards. "Calm down, kid." Maverick rested a hand on Rooster's shoulder. "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."

---

Maverick followed at a trot as the medical team hurriedly wheeled Rooster inside. He knew his way around this ship, and, unfortunately, also to the infirmary, so Maverick knew exactly which turns to take.

After what felt like endless zig-zagging through the ship's many corridors, the gurney was finally pushed through the doors which granted access to the infirmary. The team of doctors immediately started preparing Rooster for surgery.

Rooster was relatively calm now. On his back, he lay staring glassily up at the ceiling, still fighting to remain conscious. He felt a little short of breath, and his heart raced to pump the limited amount of blood through his veins. Seeing Maverick still by his side comforted him, but he was not consciously aware of having his fist curled tightly around the captain's sleeve.

"What– what's happening? What are you doing?" Rooster startled back into a panicked mode when a nurse started to cut away his G-suit and the shirt he wore underneath, baring his torso and arms. "We need you to remain still, lieutenant." The nurse spoke calmly, yet urging Rooster not to struggle against her. "No, no, I need…" Rooster tried to sit up, even though it sent fresh waves of pain through him, and he was quickly working his way into hyperventilation. "I need my suit. Without it the G-forces will knock me out." He frantically pushed the nurse's hands away, effectively blocking her every attempt to continue what she was doing. "Lieutenant Bradshaw," she said seriously, "the blood loss is causing a delirium. Please, listen to me: calm down, and don't work against us. This will all be over soon." Rooster rapidly shook his head. "No, no, no, no…." He rambled.

Suddenly there were hands on either of his shoulders, pressing him gently, but definitively, back onto the gurney. Maverick now hovered over him. "Calm down. Breathe. They're helping you." "Mav…" Rooster's voice shook. "Everything hurts. And the G's…" "There's no G-forces, kiddo, you're not in the jet anymore. You're injured, though, and you've got to let these people do their jobs." Maverick forced himself to sound calm and collected, but inside he was just as scared as Rooster. "They're going to bring you under in just a minute, and you won't feel any pain anymore, but you have to calm down."

The nurse took the opportunity of Maverick distracting Rooster to cut away the rest of the clothes from his upper body. She quickly checked his dog tags, before passing along instructions to the rest of the medical team. "Get me two bags of O-negative, please. No known allergies. IV-line is in and dripping, line for blood transfusion is ready. Let's bring him under."

The nurse stepped away and was immediately replaced by the anesthesiologist. "Lieutenant Bradshaw," he addressed Rooster, "I am going to administer the anesthesia now. You may experience the sensation of blacking out. I realise it can be an unpleasant feeling, but no need to be alarmed. Just give into it."

Rooster fixed another fear-filled gaze on Maverick. "It's okay, kid," Maverick assured, giving Rooster's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I'll see you on the other side." "Will you be there when I wake up?" Rooster's voice had never sounded so small, and so void of his usual confidence. A small lump formed in Maverick's throat at seeing Rooster this vulnerable, and he had to swallow it away before he answered. "I promise you I'll be right there. You won't be alone."

The anesthesiologist slowly emptied the contents of a syringe into Rooster's IV-line. "Please count back from ten, lieutenant." "Ten." Rooster kept his eyes on Maverick as he softly counted backwards as instructed. "Nine, eigh…" Maverick listened to Rooster's voice trail off, and he knew the anesthesia was kicking in. Rooster's eye slowly slid shut and his head lolled to the side as he was dragged under completely. Maverick gave Rooster's shoulder one final squeeze. "Hang in there, kid."

"He's under," the anesthesiologist confirmed. "This is where we leave you, captain," the surgeon announced as they wheeled Rooster through another set of doors, behind which Maverick knew was the operating room. "We will inform you as soon as we're done." "Thank you," Maverick answered softly.

Now, the long wait would begin…

#top gun maverick #top gun: maverick #pete mitchell #bradley bradshaw #pete maverick mitchell #bradley rooster bradshaw #top gun rooster #tom cruise #miles teller #whump #whump writing #whump fanfic #whump fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #ltwbwriting

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

Scans from Railway Archive No. 19's print of "The H.L. Hopwood Collection 1901-1926 Part 2: The Furness Railway at Barrow in 1902"

Scanned these primarily for @angryskarloey, but posting them here along with some very basic explanations of the engine classes seen.

Original scans as pdfs available upon request.

Harold Hopwood was a rail photographer. He seems to have been particularly Useful for nabbing high-quality images of endangered railway engines. (You should get a load of how often RA managed to use the words "antiquated," "elderly," and "anachronistic" in the ~1000 words dedicated to its write-up and captions.)

Below Mr. Hopwood takes us on a day trip to Barrow Dockyards in the summer of 1902.

Just to orient the general reader: The original Bury Copper-Nobs are not pictured because three of them were gone and No. 3 was in storage, still awaiting the construction of a glass house.

However, have you heard of... Fairbairn Copper-Nobs?

The Furness Bury bar-frame engines were already so dated on arrival that, eight years later when the F.R. wanted to purchase more, Bury was out of business. To a normal railway this might be a sign to gracefully move with the times. But this is the F.R., lol. They knew what they liked, and Fairbairn's had inherited the blueprints, so Fairbairn's built them a total of 8 more from 1854-1861.

F in the chat for the two poor engines built to this design in 1861. I mean there's nothing inherently wrong with it—witness their useful 40+-year careers—but they definitely never got to be fashionable, lol.

The Fairbairn bar-frame engines were different from the original Burys in various small technical respects that are all too boring to get into (bit bigger and stronger, mostly). The most visible difference is the splashers—as one can see above, the Fairbairns had closed splashers with a handsome brass detail that RA calls "beading."

(The "closed splashers" probably mean you can actually get from the footplate to the buffers without hopping down to the ground, walking, and then hauling yourself back up again. Which is very useful for rail-sanding. Especially in tunnels.)

After Fairbairn's went out of business, the F.R. applied for its new 0-4-0 goods engines from Sharp and Stewart. However, S. & S. produced them from its own coppernob-less, bar-frame-less design, like the COWARDS they were—

Eight of this class were added to F.R. stock over the course of the 1860s. The preserved engines 20 and 25 are of this class, being of the six who were sold to Barrow Hematite Steel Company and rebuilt as saddletank engines between 1870-1873. The above picture shows one of the remaining two, No. 28, the youngest of its class.

The caption observes that 28 does not appear to have any lining. This would make No. 20's current paint job technically inaccurate, but who cares? She deserves it.

Here's a change of pace! There's a lot going on in this picture: a close-up of the tracks (TIL that this is called inside-keyed track), a flatbed, a little old tar tanker, some cattle trucks, and a Sharp 0-4-0ST, presumably built in 1874.

The caption claims that there is a great mystery as to why the engine's buffer appears to carry the number 4 instead of 94, but I think the answer is pretty obvious. She deliberately lost the 9 so that she could pay tribute to her old friend and mentor No. 4, at this point only a couple of years scrapped and its number unceremoniously handed to some new-fangled 0-6-0 who didn't appreciate it.

There is a good bit of discussion (both published and internet) about whether 94 is carrying a special hose as firefighting equipment. I can shed no light on the matter but I certainly prefer to think that she is.

Because it's more fun that way.

A 2-4-0 for ya! No. 58, est. 1871. There seem to me to be several questionable claims in the caption: 1) This is the only place I've seen it claimed that the Bury 0-4-0s were anywhere near regular passenger traffic as late as 1871 (I think RA just forgot the 2-2-2WTs existed), and 2) Given the mention of a new locomotive shed nearby (hey wait is this the same one whose roof D5714 would torch 60+ years later? lol but i'm really asking), I would not be so fast to assume 58 was awaiting shunting duty rather than a passenger train.

I'm going to go ahead and assume this source is right about everything, though. Laughing at the bit that's like yeah, you might think ol' 58 here looks to be in pretty fine nick, but if this were in Scotland in the same era the smokebox hinge and buffers would ALSO be burnished. Just sayin'!

This is an 0-6-0 "Sharpie" from 1866. I don't have much else to say that the caption doesn't: They're cuties, and the location here is close to the original Barrow station (which is where passengers used to have to terminate, before they built Barrow Central).

Below, for our final exhibit, is a map. Study carefully. There will be a test.

... I was lying, pfftttt. My eyes start swimming in my head the moment I examine it.

#real true railway stuff #furness engines #the furness series

[varenykmeson]

The ages in Gungrave games and Gungrave anime do not match up: an unhinged rant

Hello and welcome to "Varenykmeson goes on a long tirade about discrepancies in ages of fictional characters".

Apologies for any mistakes (English is not my native language) and strap in because this post gets pretty long:

The games tell us little to nothing so I had to refer to the Gungrave Archives, copy of which I do not possess, and therefore had to scrape off all the following information from this video on YT and especially this page (approx. 7:00 time mark):

Even though the quality of the screenshot is pretty ... bad, with some desperate squinting you can dig up this information:

Beyond the Grave - Age: 29 (at time of death) Mika Asagi - Age: 14 Dr. T (Tokioka) - Age: Late 50's Bob Poundmax - Age: Around 33 Balladbird Lee - Age: Around 35 (unfortunately, the paragraph for Bear Walken is an accidental copy of Bunji's. Shame.) Bunji Kugashira - Age: Around 36 Harry McDowell - Age: 42 Big Daddy - Age: Mid 50's (at the beginning of the story) Maria Asagi - Age: 29 (at the beginning of the story)

Now, is that consistent with the information in the anime?

Well-

When it comes to Brandon himself, according to his tombstone in episode 15 he died at age 27, which is slightly off.

(also on an unrelated note, damn, the anime is taking place really far in the future and also guess we now have an official date for the infamous elevator incident :( )

Mika is mostly likely 13 years old (or 12 and approaching 13) in the anime as in episode 18 Bear and Lee say that Brandon has been dead for 13 years. Also, in episode 17 Maria says that "it's been our 13th winter here".

If we try to figure out Harry's age then things get slightly messy because from episode 26 we know that he is the same age as Brandon (he pulls out a 43 year old bottle of bourbon and says it was made the same year he and Brandon were born). However that contradicts the fact that Brandon died aged 27 and then is "dead" for the next 13 years, therefore Harry should be 40. To make things even "worse", when Harry pulled the same bourbon trick on Big Daddy in episode 15, which takes place shortly after Brandon's death, he claims that the bottle is 28 years old. Help.

Now this section might get somewhat unhinged.

In episode 7 Bob compiles a file on Bunji, which is also shown on screen.

The whole thing is full of grammatical mistakes and general nonsense, but the first line says "This man appears to be in his 15 years old and has the characteristic skin." (????), which,

well,

if that information is true then this is the roughest anime teenager I've seen in my whole life (and i've seen the Stardust Crusaders OVA).

Now, in episode 15 Widge tells Maria that Brandon was 17/18 when he worked for him and Gary, which means that in episode 7 (which as the name implies takes place "5 years later") Brandon must've been 22 or 23. If you pair that with the fact that he dies at 27 and returns 13 years later, then approximately 18 years have passed between Bunji's introduction in episode 7 and episode 17 (5 years of working with Brandon + 13 years during which Brandon is presumed "completely dead") in which the anime timeline arrives to the plot of the first game, and Bunji would be somewhere in his mid 30's.

On the other hand the ages for Bob and Lee do not add up at all.

They are both introduced in episode 5 and the issue is pretty much evident right away as if we went by the ages in the book, they both would be younger than Bunji (33 and 35 respectively). Since Bunji is approx. 15 in the episode 7, here he would be a measly 10 year old and these two definitely aren't children.

Also, in the english dub Lee introduces himself as "Balladbird Lee, Esquire", which means this bastard is already a full fledged lawyer (however, in English subtitles for the Japanese dub there was no mention of this and he introduces himself just by his name).

As for Maria, we know that in episode 6 she is atleast 15 or 16 because Jester adopts her as an infant (shown in episode 3) and Big Daddy tells Brandon that it happened 15 years ago. However, in episode 25 Harry says that she seems to be same age or older than him and in episode 7 she tells Brandon that she used to view him as her "little brother".

I don't think there's been any mention of Dr. T's or Big Daddy's age.

TL;DR: help.

#gungrave #gungrave anime #help i put wayyyy too much effort into this #my younger sibling just told me they're disappointed in me

[adamsvanrhijn]

I’m so intrigued by the john oscar clone poll bc i swear when I answered last night, most people thought john would be more upset and now the ratio is flipped… i feel like oscar is one of these people thats surprisingly good at rolling with the punches and is probably weirdly good in a situation where you’d expect anyone else to flip out. plus he’d be so good at repressing any uncomfortable feelings that might arise! versus john, the guy who tearfully proclaimed his love over business lunch in the late 19th century men’s club dining room. like come on, this is not a guy who’s good at dealing with sudden revelations. he’s a guy who Processes

I am so glad I have make everything about the thing I am obsessed with syndrome because it means we have fun conversations like these!

John Adams is already a guy named after a guy and I feel like finding out he is an intentional exact physical model of a guy really would fuck with him because he would think about it A Lot — but on the other hand he's already had to cultivate his own Identity and is presumably used to being subject to unattainable expectations, so maybe he would take it in stride — he knows who he Is so he is less concerned now with who he may have been meant to be, since I think it would be those terms to him, he would make it about him and his purpose the way all of the people disturbed by being a clone in the notes of that post did

Oscar is equally but differently self centered and self oriented but I think he would, if upset, successfully repress that and just brush it off... it doesn't matter anyway!! And everything is going to be perfect anyway👍 Totally with you on him generally rolling with the punches.

They both are going to need to take some time from the revelation before reacting but John is going to use that time to brood about it and Oscar is not.

#johnoscar tag

[dreamingofscully]

xvii. the star

t / post-arcadia / idiots to friends / wc 1808 / no beta / ao3 / @today-in-fic 

mulder gets them red-eye tickets after arcadia / the between

“Mulder, you were supposed to turn left back there…” Scully’s voice was laced with exasperation. He didn’t have to turn from the road to know that she was staring at him with an upturned brow and a frown. The same expression she’d worn almost the entire time they’d pretended to be married at Arcadia.

He nodded, trying to keep his face neutral, but didn’t say anything.

And for her part, she didn’t press. Just let out a sigh and continued to stare out the window. If she’d ordered him to tell her or to turn the car around, he’d do it. But she never did. Only peppering questions, the tilt of her mouth telling him she enjoyed the process just as much as him. Something had changed, though, and he wasn’t sure of the last time he’d seen her look at him with more than frustration and anger, simmering underneath her silent visage.

The brochure he memorized had a tiny cartoon map, directions to their destination written in blue and red and green. Clear and bright. Leading to something happy, he presumed. He’d never been, and hoped Scully would forget her irritation at him for a few hours and be his guide.

As they turned the final corner into the parking lot, a bright blue structure with rails poking out of it stood right in front of him. Beside him, Scully stood straighter in her seat.

“Mulder? Sea World?”

He shrugged, feeling his face burn. When he found a spot, somewhere near the edge of the full lot, he turned to her.

Arms crossed, and an expression he couldn’t interpret on her face. It was better than annoyance, at least. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

“When I knew this case was going to take us out here, I thought…”

“You thought we’d take in a show? Not the kind I would expect from you.” A hint of a smile. His heart sped up.

“Did you know, Scully, that dolphins have long been seen as messengers of the gods, as helpers of humankind?” He leaned against the door, facing her. And though she didn’t smile, she didn’t tune him out, watching him with guarded eyes. ”In fact, there’s a tale of a dolphin rescued by a fisherman from some nets. When his ship sank, he was the only one rescued, carried on the back of a dolphin. And ships, even today, see dolphins swimming in their wake as a good omen.”

“Confirmation bias,” she scoffed. Though her words didn’t feel as venomous as they had lately. “Also, you’re far more likely to be attacked than rescued by a dolphin. People forget, because they’re cute, but they’re vicious predators. They attack females, attack their babies. Even humans.”

“So your mom was right then, you were a ‘Sea Adventurer’ back in the day.”

“My mother?” she said. “Mulder, what’s going on? Why are we here? Some sort of psychic orca?”

He flashed her what he hoped was his most charming grin, and she relaxed into her seat. “She said you came here most days in the summer, when you were 13 or 14. I’ve never been, so I thought… maybe… you could show me around.”

She didn’t speak, but he saw the subtle transformation. A flush crept up her cheeks. The tilt of her head, curiosity and perhaps a bit of amusement. The corner of her mouth twitched as she tried not to smile.

“I got the red-eye. But I can switch it if you need to get home…”

She sighed. Bit her lip. Her hair, layered and curling, couldn’t hide her face when she bowed her head. Then she unbuckled her seat belt. “Well, we’re already here.”

Mulder fist pumped the air, grinning at her as they left the minivan, his dark sweater abandoned on his seat. She didn’t look back at him, and he couldn’t pretend that this might be an awkward afternoon. Talking about whatever was going on between them felt like it was off-limits. That it would only lead to more of a mess. He hoped that, at least, he could get her to smile and laugh. And maybe, just fucking maybe, she could see him as a friend rather than an annoyance.

She changed into clothes packed away in the back of the minivan. Her current dark funereal garb wasn’t appropriate for a hot afternoon of rides and getting splashed by sea creatures. It was out of place for sharing cotton candy and corndogs. While her change was practical, he wasn’t blind. Her ass looked great in her blue jeans, and her striped t-shirt was stretched tight over her chest. The deep vee gave a hint of cleavage. This Scully he hadn’t had the privilege of knowing, not lately.

How long had it been since they’d hung out like this? Just friends? No aliens or conspiracies to get in the way. Had they ever? What on earth, or in the universe, made him believe he could only see her when he invented an excuse?

As they walked underneath the oversized arch and he paid their tickets, it almost felt normal, like they’d planned to come here together. They were Mulder and Scully, not Rob and Laura. Partners and friends, not husband and wife. Though he supposed everyone would still see them as a couple, wandering around together at a theme park. Maybe they still had masks on, but instead of hiding their true identities behind a married couple called Petrie, they hid what they really felt and needed to talk about behind a shell of necessary congeniality. Leaning on the routine of working together. They never talked, but they should. They needed to. Something had to change. Impossible, though. Words stuck in his throat, and he suspected it was the same for her.

The roller coasters made his head swim. Though he would have lined up again and again if it meant he could see her smile, she put a stop to it when he wandered off the last one like a drunk, sitting heavily on a nearby bench. Educational pavilions were next, though Scully sped by the plastic-sheathed placards as he trailed behind, the knowledge already encased within her magnificent brain. He attempted to win a few prizes on the midway, but it was her aim that won them a giant orca plush. After carrying it around for about an hour and annoying her with whale sounds, she made him give it to a kid with sticky hands and face. It would have looked good atop his waterbed, before it had to be carried away. So would Scully. He banished the thought, but not before imagining the double vision of Scully beside him and reflected above, curled around black and white fuzz.

Worth it, he thought, as the real Scully took his hand and squeezed, looking up at him with a bright smile.

Mid-afternoon disappeared, the edge of dusk on the eastern horizon beginning to chase away the light. They were sitting on a bench near the orca show, staring out at the ocean just a few yards away. Mulder wanted to go inside, but Scully tugged on this side of his t-shirt and led them away.

They sat in silence, though it was companionable. Normal.

“I always felt bad for them.” Her gaze was locked upon the blue-green waves just out of their reach.

“The orcas?”

She nodded. “And the dolphins. The seals. Locked away in little pools for our entertainment. Kept from their families, from each other. The more I learned about it, the more wrong it felt.”

“Yet you stayed a whole summer.”

She tilted her head, watching him out of the corner of her eye, and shrugged.

“I have a distinct feeling I am missing some of the story here, Scully. What kept you coming back? A boy?” He nudged her with his shoulder. “Or did they let you feed the seals?”

Leaning her arms across the back of the bench, she looked upwards into the inky sky, stars just beginning to peek out. The sun had brought out her freckles, despite her liberal application of sunscreen. They scattered over her nose and cheeks, over the fair skin above the vee of her shirt. It looked good on her. His arm was beside hers, but they didn’t touch. He wanted to, but it felt wrong. Like it was crossing a line; even though he’d invaded her space the entire six years of their partnership. Even though the small of her back and the soft skin at her wrist felt like home.

He looked at her differently now. After the hallway. After they’d almost–

“I didn’t actually stay here,” she said, interrupting his thoughts.

His eyes traced the movement of her throat as she swallowed. If he couldn’t touch her, he would watch. “Oh?”

“Maybe if we come back, I can show you where I snuck off to, after my mom dropped me off.”

“Scully…” He smiled as she turned to him, a twinkle in her eyes.

The sky turned orange and pink and purple as the sun set over the ocean. Screams of children, the mechanical whirr of rides, and the endless jingle of the concessions surrounded them on all sides. All of that disappeared as he sat next to her, except for the feeling that things were finally getting back to normal. The dizziness from the rollercoaster, from not knowing where things were going between them, fading with the sun.

“Hey Scully, I know I’m a couple days late, but… happy birthday.” He watched her profile, the lights from the midway bouncing off her skin in the dim light. Azure and pink and white, a mesmerizing kaleidoscope. Her eyes shone, facing away from him.

“I thought you forgot,” she said, her voice so quiet he had to lean forward to hear.

“Never, Scully.” He risked a touch, squeezing the pinkie that laid on the bench between them. Curling her finger around his, she gave him a tight smile and stood.

“Thanks, Mulder. For this. I had… I had a good time.” She turned her wrist, checking her watch. “But I think it’s time to go?”

“Aw, ma, do we gotta?”

She laughed, and pulled him up to his feet. On their way out of the park, he dared to press his palm to the small of her back. He felt the shift, or maybe he wished for it. She stared out the window in quiet contemplation as he drove to the airport. Instead of frustration and anger radiating from every pore, every tense muscle, she sat next to him like she always had. Before. And when she glanced at him, her face was soft. Recognizable.

He puffed his cheeks. Allowed himself to breathe.

Though they didn’t talk about anything important, perhaps this afternoon was enough. For now.

#xf fanfic #msr #mulder and scully #post-episode #arcadia #idiots to friends

[tillywunderwing]

C&D and the early Eventide

So this was a theory bouncing around in the discord a while back, but I’ve been thinking about it lately and decided to bring it to tumblr as a talking point.

It’s been well established in canon that the Eventide we saw happened earlier than it should have - a year exactly, iirc. We don’t know enough about what determines the length of the Ages to say why or how, but I’m going to say with confidence that it wasn’t natural. It’s very likely that Eventide came early because it was in some way forced.

(I say this because of the fringe chronologists or whatever they were called - the fact that there’s people specialised in detecting when Eventide occurs definitely implies some natural process behind it, but the fact that some of them predicted the early Eventide and weren’t believed suggests foul play to me.)

The probably more obvious explanation is that Squall caused it. He’d certainly be the type to have the power to - like I said, we don’t know enough about why or how the Ages change for me to say that with certainty but, y’know, he’s been the only Wundersmith around for a hundred odd years, so anything probably goes. The likely explanation is that he brought Eventide early because he knew Jupiter was going to come and take Morrigan, and Squall wanted to beat him to the punch.

But I kind of feel like there could be more to it than that! Namely - as outlined in the title of this post - what if the early coming of Eventide was orchestrated as a C&D event by Jupiter, so he could smuggle Morrigan out of Jackalfax unnoticed?

It’s that thing again of not knowing enough about the process behind the Eventides to say if this is feasible, especially presuming he did it alone. But even if he couldn’t, maybe he’d predicted that Squall was going to bring Eventide early, and played that to his advantage. People were going to notice a giant mechanical spider waltzing through an otherwise dreary little dump of a town, but Jupiter had learned enough from his experience with C&D to know that if they were sufficiently distracted - like with, say, an unexpected New Age and all the accompanying fanfare - they were less likely to ask complicating questions.

I raise you the fringe chronologists again. They’d been theorising an early Eventide for a while; we know that it wasn’t a day-of decision, that whoever caused it had planned it far enough in advance that select experts were finding breadcrumbs on it before the big catalyst. Assuming Squall did it, it’s possible he knew in advance that Jupiter was planning to come and get Morrigan - and it’s also very possible that Jupiter was aware of that, or even trying to ensure that Squall knew of his plans. Because Jupiter wanted to guarantee that nobody would be paying attention when he took Morrigan away.

The thing is, as much as I love Jovey boy, and as insanely multi-faceted as his skill set is, I don’t think he could have genuinely outgunned The Wundersmith Ezra Squall if he hadn’t been expecting the early Eventide. Whether he intended for it to happen, Jupiter would had to have been absolutely certain that Eventide was coming early, because quite honestly, I think Squall would have won otherwise. If the Wundersmith had had as much of the element of surprise as Jupiter might have led Morrigan to believe, I feel we would be reading a very different set of novels.

I just think that the idea of Jupiter having had a hand in it is fascinating. The straightforward answer that Squall did it feels too basic for a series that has demonstrated really brilliant foreshadowing in even otherwise mundane moments. If anything turns out to be deeper than its surface, I feel like it has to be this.

Something else to consider in the possibility that Squall WASN’T responsible for the early Eventide is this:

Disregarding their respective competitors, Squall didn’t need Eventide to come early. Jupiter did.

Squall could have gone and gotten Morrigan whenever he chose. In fact, we can assume that was already in the process of happening, when he gave her a letter on Bid Day. In a normal timeline, he could have returned to that, and acquired her as his apprentice through whatever means he liked, conventional or not. But most importantly, he could have done that literally whenever, because he wasn’t on a time constraint.

But Jupiter was. He needed to enrol Morrigan in the Wundrous Society Trials before she was too old, so that he’d be able to grant her safety and protection in Nevermoor. He had a cut-off date for that - he didn’t have the freedom Squall had regarding when he tried to bring Morrigan over.

If we’re ignoring each of their need to get to her before the other did, then the fact of it probably is that Jupiter would have needed an early Eventide way more than Squall did. It was a distraction that kept people from stopping him taking Morrigan, for one thing, and it was a very convenient excuse for why she was gone, for another - everyone could simply presume she’d died. Whereas with Squall, he wouldn’t have technically needed Eventide to come early to get her under his thumb, as I said earlier with his attempt to recruit her on Bid Day. Heck, if he’d wanted to, he probably could have sent the Hunt on any given day, and just concealed it from everyone but Morrigan - surely that’s within his abilities. But for Jupiter’s plan to work, he needed Eventide as a distraction.

The D in C&D. You can’t say he never paid attention in his classes.

I know there’s probably more to this that I haven’t explored, or alternate explanations I didn’t consider. Whether any of it holds water or not is up in the air! I just think it’s interesting to think about and could be a fun point of discussion. If anyone has thoughts to add, please do so!

#Nevermoor #Nevermoor theory #Wundersmith #Hollowpox

[meimi-haneoka]

Thank you Cinzia! I seriously need to check my notifications more. I didn't even realise that you had answered my ask. Loved your timeline and fanfics. I completely get what you are saying about writing fanfic. It kind of just flows out when you are that invested in a pairing. Also, that CCS in Public domain ask.... if I am not wrong, Japan seems to have a different approach to it. I mean I have seen doujinshis and light novels being sold legally featuring (and being advertised with) CCS characters. I am not sure but it seems that is legal in Japan? Not sure of all this but I assure you that I have come across some R18 doujinshis featuring Junior High aged SyaoSaku. The horror...... Also, I didn't realise that Akiho and Sakura had lived together as sisters for 5 months post Alice in Clockland. I mean, they all don't look much different (I kind of presumed that it had been just a bunch of weeks, like autumn is over and winter has begun). Frankly, they should be nearer to the heights in the final chapter of OG CCS manga if the second year is about to begin (since Sakura and Syaoran were reunited in the beginning of the second year of JHS in the OG manga). Oh well, I will just chalk it down to art style change.

Thank you so much for reading my drabbles and finally check my timeline, Aubretia!! 😁I'm glad in the end it worked for you! ✨

About the doujinshi matter, hehe, it's not that simple. From what I know, doujinshi are considered 二次創作, "derivative works", and as such technically they aren't legal, if they don't have the authorization of the author. Often fanartists who produce doujinshi also produce what we call "fan merch", like printing their art on acrylic keychains, stickers, acrylic stands and such. Those fall into the category too. However, in the industry there is an unspoken agreement that such works are "tolerated" by copyright holders as long as the price they're sold at can be proven as a mere "reimbursement of the cost" to produce such merch (like the printing cost for the doujinshi/anthologies and the manufacturing cost for other items). Basically, the fanartists don't have to earn money from this (or I guess the don't have to earn too much). Usually artists print a definite amount of copies to sell at conventions and a definite amount to sell online, so it doesn't "become too much" and attracts "too much attention" from the copyright holders. These are tolerated only because it turns into further promotion for the IP, so of course the fanartists need to know their place and not overdo it. So it's not legal, but it is common practice to "close an eye" on it (and yes, this means that there's literally anything, as you pointed out, out there).

For Akiho and Sakura living together, yeah it's more or less from 4 to 5 months! I calculated this from the fact that when the play started, they had barely changed into their winter uniform at school, and usually that happens on a set date in Japan, on October 1st. Now, in the chapter of the play (63) you can see lots of people attending the school festival, and many of them wear short sleeves, while other wear mid or long sleeves. This definitely made me think that there were still quite nice temperatures so it probably wasn't in late October but rather at the beginning of it (I even thought it might have been September and they changed uniforms early). When Kaito activated the forbidden magic, things continued exactly from where they were left off before he brought Sakura and Akiho to Clockland, so when we come back in chapter 70 it's still everything on the same day of the play. And then, when we see how things are going for them in chapter 71, we see everyone wearing the "super winter uniform", as I jokingly call it, along with coats, scarves, gloves, it's even snowing at some point! And they also say that "soon" Sakura is going to become a second year student at Tomoeda Middle school, so I had already pinpointed the month when all of this was happening as end of February. When the last chapter dropped, turns out I was right, because just 4 days after the "last battle" Akiho says she would've left Tomoeda one month later, and when we see her and Kaito on their departure day, cherry blossoms are starting to bloom, so that means that they are at the end of March. So, in short, Sakura and Akiho spent as sisters an indefinite part of October, all of November, December, January and all of February together before they realized what the heck was happening. Yeah, it's all a matter of looking around you and observing "the silent hints" (isn't all of Clear Card like that, after all?) and you can get a lot of the context. 😉👍

And oh, I absolutely don't suggest to take any of the OG manga panels as a reference for the heights and such because back then CLAMP's style was very different. They tended to make their characters so tall (and their legs so long!) especially when they had to indicate that kids had grown up. Their chins were more pointy, the shoulders wider (I always laugh when I look back to Syaoran with those wide shoulders)...yeah it was something completely different. Now Mokona sensei respects body proportions a lot more and I also have to say that the poses of her characters are more natural and not "stiff" as they were before. I also love how more expressive they've become. I do agree though that if she could make them a tiny bit taller it would be better. This is something that I've constantly "complained" about during the serialization.

Besides, I always understood that Sakura and Syaoran were in their first year at Tomoeda Middle school, at the end of the OG manga? Cause Sakura says "my brother is going to poke fun at me oversleeping even though I've become a middle schooler!" so it suggests that the change had just happened? Well, Clear Card is its sequel and it starts exactly like the last pages of volume 12, with an "extended version" of the finale, so I think that the kids being in 1st year of middle school is what CLAMP had always intended since 2000.

#reply #clear card arc #ccsakura

[leighlew3]

Hi Leigh. I hope you’re feeling okay. And if you’re not, that’s fine too. We all love you and are here for you.

I know it’s probably not the best time to discuss my concern but like ptsd sometimes ruins my head and I feel extremely paranoid if I don’t try to protect someone I care about.

What I’m trying to say is(and this is entirely presuming through some of your previous posts) that sometimes you do more than your sibling. Which doesn’t mean that it’s bad unless…..it’s sort of intentional in his part?

Once again I’m sorry if this makes you mad and I get it, family can be complicated and I’m just a stranger trying to give you unsolicited advice.

I have a reason to do so and that is I’ve seen my mom under the shadows of her brother. Considering he was a monster and I’m assuming your brother isn’t. Because I only know just one part of his life. However, I’m trying to advice you(sorry for the unsolicited advice btw) because my uncle is a horrendous man. When my granny got cancer and was on her death bed, it was almost the exact situation that you had described in one of your posts. And so I got flashbacks of that time(ptsd??) and I have to admit my uncle is probably way worse considering he tried to sexually assault me when I was 10. But that’s besides the point. What I’m getting to here is that it took years for mom to recognise the behaviour and the nature of her brother until she snapped and then completely cut him off for good. But all those years, she suffered under his tyranny (?) and unfortunately I had to deal with it too.

I just hope that if your case is similar even just a little to what I described, just think about it as a whole. That’s all. I’m not telling you what to do. All I’m saying is be careful.

Much love ❤️

First, thank you, and I'm so sorry you went through that. 💜

So, my brother... was always a genuinely good guy who did the right things, when it counted most at least, especially compared to our evil, abuser 'father'. Unfortunately, he's lately been going through some sort of early mid-life crisis or something, I dunno. But he's just abandoned a lot of people and responsibilities he shouldn't. Things and people that should mean the most are now on the bottom of the priority list.

I've always taken care of our mom single-handedly. I think he's chipped in financially, barely, like... a couple minor times. And for a long time he made more money than I did, so there was no excuse. He just always even as kids amidst trauma -- checked out. His way to deal was to just... not. To run away. To shut it out. Go about his life. Leaving us to survive alone, etc at the time.

Anyway, it broke my heart when I told him this last Christmas might be our last with mom, and to please come, she wanted to be with him and the boys (my nephews) for Christmas, badly. And he instead decided to spend it with his new girlfriend of (at the time) 2 months. The boys were devastated because they could tell grandmama's health was declining and they wanted to be with her/us for Christmas...

Now, after her death, the oldest (15) has said, "Well, we didn't get to see her for Christmas and now she's gone." and the youngest (11, an extra sensitive young soul) hasn't stopped crying fairly regularly since she died. They were already dealing with their parents' split a year or so go, and then their dad basically checking out the second he met the new girlfriend. And now they lost their grandmama who loved them SO much and made them her whole world in the way she made her own children (us) her whole world.

Mom did the best she could for us under hellish circumstances, and she was not perfect, but she was a GOOD mom who loved her two children, would die for her children, always put us first above ALL, including and especially herself. She loved and cared for him so much and he just abandoned her. But for me I always saw no other option BUT taking care of her. She took care of me the first 18 years of her life. So I took care of her the last 18 or so years of hers. I told her she could retire as a teacher's aide and I'd take care of her when her back and legs got bad after years of steroid use due to her asthma + years of abuse. I took care of her, and us. For so long. And in the very end, her last year or so, I was the one bathing her, cleaning up her bowel movement bags, helping her get to the commode by her bed, I was the one feeding her, bringing her her pills, and bankrupting myself on her medical costs -- even as I myself was dealing with long COVID exhaustion/heart/BP issues. To the point that she and I even started having issues of emotional conflict due to both of us being so fucking TIRED and exhausted and frustrated, her suffering, me exhausted and at wits end mental health wise in every way. Those are things I'll forever have to live with and try to process and forgive myself for but at the hospital one night I washed her hair and face and put her lipstick on her and she forgave me for my moments of frustration, and gently thanked me for taking care of her, especially because I was the only one who ever did...

Anyway, I asked him, in order to make room for her hospice bed while she was in the hospital, if he would grab some bed cover bags for the beds to go into my storage, so hospice had room to install her literal death bed. I hadn't slept in a week, being at the hospital anywhere from 5-12 hours a day to be sure she was being treated right and wasn't alone. She hated being there alone and I refused to let her be alone. I was exhausted. His ex wife was there at the hospital with mom to relieve me more than he was. She's been there for me this whole time in ways that if I hadn't had her, I don't think I would've made it through.

So, I was running around making sure mom's whole room was redone for her comfort, the equipment, etc (for what wound up being 2.5 days before she died, but at least I got her home in time and she passed at home like I always promised her I would make sure she did) -- and I just needed him to grab $10 plastic covers from U-Haul and come help me move the beds. He came to help me move the bed, but claimed her couldn't buy the bed covers (?!). He came by a total of... 3-4 times, briefly, throughout the hospital / hospice / hell final days because his priority was his new girlfriend and her children, over his own dying mother, his sister who was exhausted, and his sons who were devastated and hurting and trying to process it all.

I love my brother, I always will, but in her final days he broke her heart. He abandoned me. And now she's gone and aside from him holding me for 30 seconds the night she died (the first time he's really hugged me in half our life) -- he hasn't even called or texted since she died, or the memorial, to ask if I'm okay. He hasn't checked on me. He's just... living his life.

One of mom's dying wishes, I even have on tape, was telling him to take care of his little sister (me) and his sons (especially due to recent events that were devastating her around all that).

And I'm breaking. And I'm not okay.

But this is where it's that thing... where it's always been mom and me, just us, against the world, on our own, no matter who else came or went. No matter what, we at least had each other.

But now she's gone.

I don't have my mom anymore, my best friend, my confidant, my biggest champion and defender... my world is gone. Half my heart and soul is gone. And I don't even have my brother either, really. Barely ever have. I took care of our mom alone most of my adult life while he got to live his. And I'm angry with him for abandoning us all this time and putting it all on me, but especially at the end. And I don't know if I'll ever be able to get past that. My mom always thought he'd come around, she only ever wanted to see the best in him, and it's heartbreaking. She loved him so much, just as much as she loved me even though I was the one who was always there for her... because she couldn't ever really face that he just... wasn't there, and wasn't going to be there.

But I was. Even in the end. And now I'm broken.

But he's just living his life.

And none of that seems fair.

But that's life, I guess.

#personal #crying as i type this #i've cried more the last month than in my entire life #i dont usually cry #so #yeah

[zot3-flopped]

The Sun was wrong about Hamille tho, they said they broke up in late July, and then a week later they had a story about Camille dating Alexander Skarsgard. In actuality, Harry and Camille broke up much earlier and stayed friends~ (I guess that’s what TBSL is about). She went to a couple of his shows after they broke up, so The Sun didn’t really add up that they were over until after his tour. Camille did date Alexander, but in May-June (the pics The Sun claimed confirmed the relationship were from May for instance). And by July Camille was very obviously dating Theo already, all her fan accounts knew about it, she wasn’t exactly subtle.

Like, yeah, they broke the story and made it official, but they’d BEEN broken up for like two months by the time they published that, EVERYONE had speculated with them breaking up, she had a new man and everything. And to top they were very slowpoke about Alex too (I remember Alexa Chung even unfollowed Camille when she dated Alex).

I don’t think Harry’s team sent anything about Camille (or about any of his relationships). I think The Sun just added stuff up.

The Sun doesn’t have an in with Harry. They’ve consistently been wrong about him. When he was with Taylor, they published stories about him dating Candice Swanepoel, who hadn’t been in the same continent as him in months. They continue to call Kiko Mizuhara his ex, even though she denied dating him twice and Bobby Berk even told the story of what happened, calling The Sun out. They speculated about Harry and Emily having an ongoing casual thing, which I really don’t think happened at all. They had an article about the recording of the Late Night Talking music video being “for the lead single of his third album,” and had a whole fluffy story about the directors and the concept, as if they knew anything when they clearly had no clue. They said his third album had been mainly recorded in London (nope! Mostly recorded in LA, with some in Oxford, and only a tiny bit in Angelic, in London). They claimed in September 2021 that his third album was “imminent” (I think 8 months later is not imminent… at all).

They recently had an article claiming he was renovating his house, joining two houses together, that he’d been staying at a hotel and that the whole thing might take up to two years. A couple of issues with that:

1. He’s not joining two houses together. The two houses are across the street from the white Hampstead house he’s owned since 2012. If he was joining those two houses together he wouldn’t need to stay in a hotel. He has… his usual house lol.

2. Not to mention that there was a tik tok posted a few months ago about Harry renovating his White House. It’s still up. It’s not the two houses The Sun mentions and the information was out months before The Sun posted it… wrongly.

3. How is he “holed up in his north London house” three weeks after they claim he’s “staying in a hotel because he’s renovating his house which might take two years”

Like… choose one narrative?

Also what the anon posted. Taylor was in London the 19th, so how did she “fly to London” if she’s been in London all along?

My friend said she thinks Taylor had a shoot at the hotel, and The Sun got a tip about her being there without Harry and ran with it.

Deuxmoi has a sighting of them together at the movies this past week. Whether that’s true or not, without pics idk! But the sighting was sent to deuxmoi prior to The Sun posting that, and it’s not like Harries have been sending fake sightings of them. It also isn’t a walking contradiction, so if I have to choose between believing The Sun or Deuxmoi, on this specific thing, I choose deuxmoi (in general I honestly trust neither).

The Daily Mail was actually the first to break the news that 'confirmed' Tayrry, not People or Deuxmoi. They were the first to publish photos from the opening night of The Effect.

I don't believe the latest Deuxmoi sighting at (presumably) The Everyman cinema in Hampstead for reasons explained below.

The faith some of you have in People Magazine could be misplaced considering Harry is a British celeb based in London. Olivia used an interview with People for the Jason break up article but Harry has never particularly favoured them.

#harry styles #tayrry #taylor russell

[ufonaut]

Might be a weird ask, but after that convo about the JSAer's ages, what about their partners and kids (especially the kids)? Because of the sliding time scale, characters like Jennifer-Lynn, Todd, Rick, Jesse and Jack Knight are presumed to have been born sometime in the late 80s or 90s (as of 2023)? So that leaves a situation in which most JSAers kind of avoided having kids until they were in their 60-70s? That or maybe DC will one day say that these kids also are time-displaced.

see my best friend katie (@slaapkat) and i have spent ages trying to figure this one out, and i know the folks over on the cbr forums (which is basically the last bastion of old time fandom, not that that's necessarily a good thing) have been recently discussing this exact thing post-lost children finale... and, well, there's no easy answer!

there's cases like rex tyler, where even by wendi's first appearance in showcase 1956 #56 it's pretty obvious she's significantly younger than rex (she's introduced as a 'girl' and rex already has grey temples by that cover date of '65) and that's made even more clear in hourman 1999 #24 when their age difference actually leads to some arguments about rex not getting the hip music wendi listens to but. that's just one case of many and it's one that'd have to be updated with the timeline, too.

i think the solution is either time displacement or what i'm personally leaning towards is having the jsa's time in ragnarok come sooner and last longer, have them come back at a decent age (having effectively been frozen during their time there) and then settle down and have families. with that particular avenue, i think we'd reach around the same ages roy thomas had in mind during infinity inc. i've gotta say this is one of the main reasons i love judy garrick's introduction so much, having her born in 1949 is absolutely a stroke of genius and jay & joan having the first of the jsa kids is perfect considering they're the only ones of the 'default' couples to have ever discussed marriage & kids in their actual golden age comics (as per flash comics 1940 #35 and #45)!

that being said, even keeping canon as it is, i don't think it's actually as big of a concern as it seems at first glance! out of the original team mcnider, kent, al, wes, corrigan, johnny t and terry never had kids -- with the caveat that grant emerson isn't really al's son and the closest thing wes has to a kid, sandy, is kept ageless in sand monster form for as long as necessary. similarly, johnny t's peachy pet can keep her original timeline as she doesn't inherit any legacy, and the hawks can have hector at any point because it's his return from the dead as fate that needs to be in line with the current timeline instead of his actual birth. as stated above, rick also requires no real update because rex could've simply met wendi much later and dating a twenty-something year old actress as a status symbol doesn't make him more of a creep than he already was if it happened in the 60s or in the 90s.

and here's where it gets problematic. david & jack knight... well, let's say ted's in the same boat as rex, he's not a family man type to begin with. jennie & todd? i can see alan holding onto his confirmed bachelor status for as long as he's able until societal pressure wears him down, and mr gbc ceo getting with young secretary alyx rose thorn makes him a believable straight cliche that would raise no suspicions (and it would also account for the blind anger of the 90s sentinel era, he hates what he's had to do... plus, you know, other real world events of the 90s that might influence for the worse the way alan feels about being gay)*. the one that's really giving me trouble is jesse quick but i suppose we can either move up johnny and libby's wedding and allow johnny the normal course of his original canon (he was still a bachelor living with tubby watts by adventure comics #174 in '52) or jesse's older than she looks and the speed force lets her age real slow.

as for their partners, in the case of those who aren't simply with significantly younger women, it's canon that they were all bathed in that weird ian karkull shadowland radiation that makes the jsaers themselves eternally sorta young as per all-star squadron annual #3.

WHEW THIS GOT LONG, I'M SORRY!! what do you think?

*as a side-note to the alan situation -- considering his marriage with alyx rose thorn lasted precisely a day and a night, molly's timeline doesn't need to be moved up for longer than a couple years when alan eventually gives in to that too and we can have their divorce somewhere around 2011 as a fun reference to the life-changing events of new 52.

#asks #anon #jsa #justice society of america #'this makes most of them complete creeps' no worries. they already were