#i didn't even get into the different approaches to class between the writers

[fictionadventurer]

It sounds like Joe and Ken focused on telling stories, stories that being stories focused on the world and characters they knew. While Pete's were more focused on delivering a message with story flavored wrapping.

This is very much the case, but the difference seems to go even deeper than that, to a fundamental difference in worldviews that affect how they approach story.

Episodes written by Joe Fallon and Ken Scarborough respect children as people. Children have been shaped by their experiences and have unique personalities. Children are curious and have brains--they are driven to explore new things and can draw conclusions from what they see and do. Children are already people who deserve respect, and like all of us, they're growing into different people as they learn new things and have more experiences. The child characters can thus be the drivers of their own stories and come to learn lessons for themselves. The child audience can relate to those characters, be drawn into the story, and learn what it's trying to teach without having every detail explicitly spelled out.

Episodes written by Peter Hirsch seem to approach children as people-in-training. They might have one or two personality traits, but instead of coming from and interacting with other elements of their background, they're just pasted on, like a sticker you can put on your Generic Child Prototype. These blank-slate children need to have knowledge poured into them so they can become Properly Educated Adults. So in his episodes, these child characters will go through their story with a question, and the adults--the real people--will tell them the information in great detail so these characters--and the watching audience--can go off into the world knowing what the writer has decided they need to know.

In Joe and Ken's episodes, flaws are funny, and can create funny conflicts that will teach the children better ways to approach problems. In Pete's episodes, flaws are horrible things that need to be pointed out, labeled, and sanded away, so these children can grow up into the perfect model of what a Good Adult should be. The first approach is engaging, and celebrates diversity of personality in a community, while the other becomes bland in the interests of shaping all the members of a community into the desired mold.

Comparing the two approaches provides a shockingly thorough lesson in how one should and should not approach writing and education. Story and character and message are all intertwined. Trying to force the message onto the story and characters makes for something bland and generic and unrealistic. Letting the characters shape the story and letting the story bring out the message makes for something much more unique, organic, engaging, and real. And yes, maybe I've come to this conclusion by spending far too much time thinking way too deeply about a bunch of shows for elementary-aged chlidren, but that doesn't mean it's not fascinating to see how, even within the same show, an writer's personality and approach to the audience can make such a vast difference in the quality of a story.

#answered asks #arthur #curious george #it has gotten to the point that i inspired the brother i usually talk to about these things #to google peter hirsch's biography #he couldn't find it #but we thought there has to be *some* explanation for why his work is the way it is #has he ever been outside a city? #has he ever left the east coast? #i didn't even get into the different approaches to class between the writers #joe and ken write episodes that happen in a world with working-class people #francine's family can't afford things the other kids can for instance #whereas in later arthur those real-world concerns are erased in favor of upper-middle-class discourse #i don't think i would have descended to this level of analysis except seeing all these people write for multiple shows #is really making it clear which elements come from the writer's personality regardless of the show #oh also the main post wasn't the place to mention this #but it's fascinating to see this message vs story thing applied to completely secular issues #because it drives home that it's not just the religion that makes some christian fiction so awkward #but how they approach it #message needs to come from story no matter what the message is #and you can have cringy preachy content even in completely secular works

[vikkirosko]

Hey! It's me again with another request for Metal Family 😅

Okay, here we go! May I have some headcanons for Dee and Heavy (separate) with a Brazilian s/o? I'm Brazilian and often there's nothing about Brazilian reader, the best ones are from Brazilian writers, but sometimes we're very stereotyped..

If you want any help, you can send me a message! I'll be glad to help ^ - ^

Many thanks to the author of the request for helping me and giving me the base for writing this request =3

Headcanons Brazilian

📚 Dee x Reader📱

Any new student in the class aroused interest, but when Dee's classmates found out that you were from Brazil, their interest in you became even greater. They surrounded you and asked a huge number of questions, which caused your embarrassment. Dee was even sorry for you. He was in no hurry to start talking to you, but when school started, you were able to get to know each other a little better thanks to the teacher who decided that you would do a school project together

Life in a new country was unusual for you, so Dee offered to help you get used to it. You walked around the city together, he showed you places that he liked himself. He found out a few things about you. For example, the fact that you spoke with a Portuguese accent, that your family moved because of your parents' work, as well as the fact that you supported the culture of your native country at home. Dee found out about this when he came to visit you. Your parents were glad that you got used to the new one and even brought a friend home

When you started dating, some classmates asked Dee what it was like. They were sure that since you were from Brazil, you were different from them in your relationship. Dee ignored his classmates' questions. It didn't matter to him whether you were from Brazil or from another country, because that wasn't the main thing about you. Your culture, music from your native country that you liked and traditional dishes were of great importance to you and he respected that, but he saw in you not only that, but also your habits, your character, he saw in you your personality

You and Dee got to know each other's cultures better and you enjoyed telling him about what life was like in Brazil. He didn't mind when you suggested he go there when you get older. In a way, it was a promise between you. A promise that gave confidence that even after a few years you will be together

🎮 Heavy x Reader 🐱

You and Heavy met on your first day at school. He was late for class and walked down the corridor, realizing that he would not have time anyway and the teacher would be unhappy. That's when you approached him. He had never seen you before, and when you spoke, he realized that you, apparently, were from another country at all. You asked him where the class you needed was. When you called the office number, Heavy smiled broadly and took you by the hand and led you along, telling you that you were in the same class, mentally rejoicing that he now had an excuse for being late

You were able to make friends quickly. He became your first friend in a new country for you and was happy to give you a tour of the city and you were happy to welcome him as a guest at home. You had a lot of things at home that you brought from Brazil and your parents cooked feijoada. Heavy had never eaten anything like this before, so he was thrilled. He was interested in communicating with you and often asked you questions about your native country, even though some of his questions made you laugh

You often spent time together and you told him different legends from your homeland. Sometimes you compared him to Curupira, and after Heavy found out from you who he was, he felt some pride that you called him that. It was as if it was your shared secret that you didn't explain to anyone, and even when your classmates tried to understand why you called him that, you didn't tell, continuing to keep the secret

You were the one who destroyed stereotypes and myths about Brazilians who knew Heavy. Sometimes it seemed to him that you were completely different, like you came out of a bright and warm movie. He liked to communicate with you, listen to your stories and learn new things about your native country. He hoped that soon he would be able to show you what you did not know about the country in which you now lived

#Metal Family #metal family headcanons #metal family x reader #Dee #Dee x Reader #Heavy #Heavy x Reader

[thebreakfastgenie]

What do you think MASH would have been like if Wayne Rogers had chosen to stay with the show?

Different, but a lot the same. That's such a hard thing to answer... Assuming everyone else came and went at the same times, I think the later seasons would evolve in a lot of the same ways, because of Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds leaving when they did. Margaret's arc would have been the same because Loretta would still have been fighting for it. Maybe the sex wouldn't have gotten phased out quite so much, since Trapper was also there to sleep around. I think there'd be a somewhat different dynamic between Trapper and Hawkeye and Potter than BJ and Hawkeye and Potter... at least, if I were writing an AU fanfic I'd approach it that way. I'm not sure the show would have, because I think they wanted Potter to be your friendly neighborhood regular army CO and they would have written him that way regardless.

The truth is, I think Trapper and BJ are pretty interchangeable in broad strokes. So the scenes would feel different, because he'd be delivering lines differently, and Wayne Rogers and Alan Alda did a ton of nonverbal background acting so we'd get more of that which I would enjoy a lot. But Trapper and BJ basically play the some role in most of the episode plots and could easily take each other's place. Trapper wouldn't melt down about cheating on his wife, but he might have a crisis if he developed actual feelings for someone. The primary way I don't see them as interchangeable is Trapper was always Hawkeye's partner in crime and the later seasons create tension by having BJ refuse to do that, but I don't exactly have faith that the writers wouldn't just make Trapper do it anyway, even if it was out of character. It's out of character for BJ some of the time and that didn't stop them.

I hope they would develop Trapper's character more and with it his working class Boston background and that they'd take the opportunity to use that in the dynamic between Trapper and Charles but I'm not really sure they would, because the show doesn't really do that much... we don't see east coast vs west coast vs midwest rivalries, Charles only calls Hawkeye a Maine hick once, etc.

One thing I do not think would have happened is a Trapper/Margaret arc. They might have hooked up similar to Comrades in Arms, but only if Wayne and/or Loretta pushed for it imo... Comrades in Arms only happened because Alan pushed for it for years. If anything significant happened with Trapper romantically, I think it would have been him realizing he did love his wife, if the hookups still got gradually phased out.

Obviously Wayne would have made different character choices... who knows, maybe Wayne would have remembered White Gold and Preventative Medicine never would have gotten made, but if it did, it would have been different.

#mashposting

[sanversandfriends]

Fic isn't just an act of repair as Henry Jenkins says, but sometimes a safe place in which to tear everything apart. Here to talk about diving into those darker and grittier character spaces is @nerdsbianhokie, a writer who's been captivating Sanvers and Director Sanvers fans for years.

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get started writing fic? Have you written for other fandoms? What are your favorite tropes?

Over two decades ago, I was six years old and reading a new book and had the sudden realization that I wanted to make people feel like that book made me feel. Since then, I've been a writer. The first fic I wrote was before I even knew fanfic was a thing. I was barely thirteen years old and all about CSI and had this vivid idea of a very short scene. I quickly found places where fic was hosted, and began to read and post.

Since then, I've moved through fandoms, sometimes staying for a time, like with Bering and Wells, other times only lingering for a brief moment. I watched Supergirl between season 1 and two, after learning that Maggie Sawyer, one of my favorite comic book characters (one of the first openly lesbian characters in mainstream comics? out before the comic code was done away with? what's not to love) was joining the show. I didn't watch beyond the first few episodes of season 3, but the characters have a hold of me and aren't letting go.

Since my time in the Bering and Wells fandom, angst and aus have been my favorite spaces to play in. Exploring darker spaces in the safety of fiction has always been a draw of writing to me, and the Supergirl characters can fit so well in so many different universes.

What were your inspirations for this particular story? What was it about this/these ships that grabbed you?

This fic started as a tumblr post by magicmumu2 about Alex and Maggie reuniting years later because their kids keep getting in trouble at school. I then made it sad by giving Alex a recently dead wife.

I really fell into the idea that Alex and Maggie did move on after their breakup, but then remeet at a later point in their lives. When thinking on how Alex might move on in a way I find interesting, I landed on my beloved Lucy Lane. My ultimate ship for Supergirl is Director Sanvers, so I've written all combinations of Alex, Maggie, and Lucy over the years, but the idea that Alex was happy with Lucy, but then lost Lucy and found Maggie again while still mourning, really pulled me in

Has the time spent away from your story changed your outlook or approach to any of the storylines or themes? Have you had any new inspirations or breakthroughs/revelations in the meantime? 

The time away hasn't really changed much, as I've been distracted by so many other fics, but having new eyes on it has really helped me figure out some things I was stuck on that kept me from working on it more.

 Any advice for new or aspiring fic writers?

Write. The best thing you can do is get ink on the paper. Writing is an art that needs to be practiced just like any other. As somebody with a degree in creative writing, I think the time I've spent writing and the amount of writing I've done has, cumulatively, done more for me than all the classes I took. 

If you were going to promote this fic with a single line, what would it be? 

A deep look into grief and healing, mourning and love.

If you’ve already posted some of your work, please provide a link. 

This is the original post, with the prompt and my initial addition.

I have also posted two separate fics that aren't part of this one but are in the universe as I worked out how Alex and Lucy got together and their family dynamic.

#Supergirl #Fanfic #Sanvers #DirectorSanvers #Finish the Fic

[coffeebanana]

If you're still doing writer asks, 17 and 25!

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic?

Way too more than I ever needed to know about the french schooling system 😂

LOL but aside from that...I think I either tend to research next to nothing for a fic or fixate on one tiny detail and research it for an absurd amount of time. Like, for This Distance Between Us I spent several hours researching the Ritz London (ie. what it looks like, how the afternoon tea works, the menu, when courses are served, dress code, etc...) because apparently that had to be accurate. And for I Don't Believe In Umbrellas I had the characters taking a Psych course, which I've never taken, so I asked people for old course notes, looked up a syllabus for the actual NYU class, and looked through a few different topics and picked a few to learn a bit more about for some throwaway lines. For that one I went as far as taking attachment style quizes from the POV of the characters--or at least for Kagami, I can't remember if I actually did the ones for Marinette and Adrien.

For a lot of medical things I use Reddit for part of my research--not for the actual medicine, but for the how it feels part. Because you get a lot of first-hand details there that's missing from the more scientific/medical information. And I think that's made me feel a lot more confident writing about those sorts of things, because you start to realize that people will experience/describe having experienced the same thing in different ways. There's not a one-size-fits-all and that means there's lots of room for interpretation! And that's sort of how I've always approached writing things like depression and anxiety because I always knew it's not the same for everyone, but it's cool to see the same thing on the more physical side of health.

Lately I've also been researching PTSD for Marinette in Say Something, and I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've actually pulled up the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for mental health realted things in my writing. And I hadn't added the tag to the fic until recently--because it wasn't something I was explicitly trying to write in yet, even though it was in the back of my mind, and I hadn't written down a list of symptoms for her yet even though I had looked through the criteria a few times. But then I DID write down a list and I recently added the tag to the fic because I realized in my last couple rereads I realized I've actually touched (at least briefly) on pretty much everything there already--except that the symptoms have to have lasted for a month and the fic's only taken place over the course of like...a week I believe? So...it wassomewhat satisfying to find out I'm on the right track ahaha.

25. Have you ever upset yourself with your own writing? Yes! Usually after the actual writing part--when I go back to reread something and I've forgotten a specific line that packs a punch and I'm like...ouch? That happened to me like last week when I was rereading the last chapter of Say Something because a lot of that chapter touches on things that are somewhat personal to me--even though Adrien's circumstances are very different. So that resonated ahaha. And then I was upset I didn't have the ending yet to make everything better 😂

I think the only fics I ever had to step away from briefly in the middle of writing them were talk to me through the Christmas Lights and A Drop In the Ocean--the latter because (cw pregnancy loss, and this might be oversharing askjdbfskjfd but) while pregnancy loss is not something I've personally experienced, it did happen to my mom when I was 8 or 9, and that definitely impacted me too in ways I don't think I really ackowledged or realized for a long time. It's weird to be grieving in a place where people aren't giving you space to grieve--because people were telling me in different ways that they weren't my feelings to have. Which is understandable and also...not really true. And I guess I wonder how it impacted my relationship with my mom. We're not really close, but at the time I think she was actually the one person who did try to make space for my feelings. And that wasn't really what the fic was about, but it still brought up all that for me. So idk, that fic was unexpectedly hard for me to delve into. And it's probably the most nervous I've ever been posting something haha.

Thanks for the ask!! 💜

Fic Writer Asks

#ask response #kasienda #long post #cw pregnancy loss

[mediaevalmusereads]

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft (10th ed.). University of Chicago Press, 2019.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: academic book, creative writing guide

Series: N/A

Summary: The most widely used and respected text in its field, Writing Fiction by novelists Janet Burroway and Elizabeth Stuckey-French guides the novice story writer from first inspiration to final revision by providing practical writing techniques and concrete examples. Written in a tone that is personal and non-prescriptive, the text encourages students to develop proficiency through each step of the writing process, offering an abundance of exercises designed to spur writing and creativity. The text also integrates diverse contemporary short stories in every chapter in the belief that the reading of inspiring fiction goes hand-in-hand with the writing of fresh and exciting stories.

***Full review below.***

Content Warnings: references to war/violence/trauma/suicide/etc (as examples of stories, excerpts from stories about these topics, etc)

This book is non-fiction, so my review will be structured a little different than normal.

I picked up this book on recommendation from a friend who is a creative writing instructor. I wasn't really looking to improve my own creative writing, but rather, I was looking for a guide that would give me the language to talk about writing from the perspective of craft. That being said, you can still use this book if you're interested in creative writing instruction: I'm just letting you know that I'm not coming at this from the perspective of one who writes creatively.

There were a lot of things I really appreciated about this book. I really liked how focused each chapter was, getting right to the point with few embellishments but plenty of illustrative examples. Every concept, therefore, was easy to grasp, even if implementing it in one's own writing is a challenge.

I also appreciated that each chapter dealt with a particular topic (character, plot, point of view, etc) and offered numerous freewriting prompts and suggested readings. These collections help the reader both practice what they've learned and to seek out material that illustrates the concepts of each chapter, and I think they're varied enough that most readers will find a reading or prompt which resonates with them.

Lastly, I appreciated the way that Burroway explained why certain writing choices were better than others while also acknowledging that some prescriptivist "rules" can be broken. For example, Burroway very clearly breaks down the difference between showing and telling and explains when showing may be more effective versus when telling is the better choice. She also explains what effects showing and telling have in the reader so that authors can approach a project more mindful of their impact.

All that being said, I didn't give this book a full 5 stars because there were some little things that irked me. For one, this book is somewhat biased against genre fiction and makes some generalizations that I don't think are fair. Still, there are some passages that acknowledge that genre fiction can be productive and that writing to reader expectations isn't always a bad thing, so maybe I'm more annoyed than offended. Additionally, this book uses some metaphors that may or may not be upsetting to people. For example, Burroway describes plot in terms of a war (specifically the conflict over the Gaza Strip) and facial features (which may come across as ableist at times). I can't speak for everyone and perhaps I'm reading too much into these comparisons, but it's better to be aware that they're used.

TL;DR: While there was nothing in this book that was essentially "new" for me as a person familiar with literary criticism and craft, I do think Writing Fiction is a good resource for people who may just be starting out (like high school or college create writers or adult writers who don't recall much from English class). It gives a lot of clear, concrete advice and provides useful language for articulating what constitutes "good writing" in the modern age. For these reasons, I think it's a helpful text, but by no means the only handbook one should use when crafting a story.

[jojotichakorn]

my thoughts and opinions on "lovely writer": criticizing the critic

tw for discussions of age gaps, rape, and sex

before i turn into the mean and constantly dissatisfied archer that we all know and hate, i just want to say that i liked this show. i think it's great, actually! gene and sib are appropriately cute, the premise is nice, and the attempt at criticizing the industry is... well, an attempt, which is better than nothing. moreover, "lovely writer" came with gifts because it gave me my new favorite character, so you can't go telling me i'm trying to completely obliterate it or something.

besides, this specific post isn't going to get into analyzing the show as a whole anyway. i won't be talking about any irrelevant plot points, cinematography, sound design, or anything like that, though i could probably write a post just as long as this one about that side of things as well. however, i am here to specifically look at the problematic things that were both criticized by the show and included in the show without any criticism. i'm going to talk about the more serious side of things here, which means i'm going to get serious. and i'm going to be harsh. very harsh.

gene and nubsib: yes's and no's

overall, the relationship between gene and sib was a fair attempt at showing something complex, yet ultimately quite healthy, which i appreciate. there were some things i was especially glad about. the fact that sib dated other people before settling on getting together with gene, for example, makes the whole situation a little less codependent. however, as much as this show prides itself on not wanting to romanticize problematic relationships, there are at least two major problems with genesib.

the age gap (and why it was not needed)

i've tried my very best to give this entire concept the benefit of the doubt. at first, i was convincing myself that they were simply close childhood friends, then i was trying my best to believe that even though sib did have a sort of crush on gene (which sometimes happens to little children), gene only saw him as his younger brother, but eventually, the show gave me no choice, but to deem the entire storyline problematic, because they did their best to romanticize that relationship - from gene's dad seeing the "early signs" to the counting and kissing the cheek turning to counting and full-on lip-locking in the last episode.

i could go into how this could all easily be mended if little sib was shown as kind of obsessed with his older friend, but gene was shown as not being anywhere near interested in the kid. but the real question is - why was the age gap needed at all?

i've researched the age of the boys during the flashbacks to the best of my ability and it seems that gene is 11 and sib is 6 or 7. if sib was the same age as gene (or maybe just one year younger, but not any more than that), not only would none of it feel weird, it would also be quite appropriate to explore that first glimpse of romantic feelings some of us experience exactly around that age. i don't think it's necessary for sib to be much younger than gene (children can be just as impressionable at 11 as they are at 7, and as for gene being surprisingly nice and helpful and the other kids not wanting to play with sib, he could have easily been - for example - bullied by his peers instead, which would have the same effect).

moving forward to the present, i don't think the lack of an age gap would affect the storyline that much either. even if they desperately needed sib to be a university student, they could have that one-year difference i've talked about before, which is not as significant. sib could be in his last year of uni, while gene could have easily written his very first novel during his university years, which would actually make more sense (since that guaranteed him employment and freedom to write after he finished uni; and i would rather believe that he had time to write his first novel in-between classes than in-between shifts at work, which he would surely need to have if he started writing after finishing university).

so that brings me back to my initial question - why was it needed? and much like the show often does, i will leave this one up for your interpretation because i do not have any sensible answers myself.

the issue with sex and consent

"but archer!" - i hear you exclaim - "lovely writer is known for explicitly denouncing rape romanticization in bls, how could there possibly be any problems with consent here?" and i hear you, my dear reader. and you aren't incorrect, "lovely writer" is indeed very explicit at calling out bls for having rape scenes (and i do appreciate that). however, as i'm sure you know, there are different ways in which consent can be taken from a person, and there are different non-consensual acts that someone might perform. for example, there are many different forms of coercion, such as the person being persuaded until they feel like they have no other choice, but to say yes. touching someone or kissing someone without asking for permission are also non-consensual acts. i can go on and on, there are many examples outside of what so many people consider rape.

now, what if i tell you that though there (thank the gods) has been no rape present in "lovely writer", not all scenes with gene and sib are consensual? well, that's what i'm telling you because it's the truth. both the first kissing scene and the scene where gene and sib "try out different poses" have clear coercion in them. the entire "joke" of the scene before gene and sib's first time is literally built upon the concept of "a person is trying to run away from someone, who wants to have sex with them" and it is NOT funny. the later reveal of gene actually looking up how to have sex seems to be there on purpose, to show that everything that's happened is "ok" because gene was thinking about it. as a sensible person, i will only accept actual enthusiastic consent and not someone possibly maybe probably considering it. not to mention that right before having sex, sib asks gene one last time if he is sure, which is great, except it is immediately followed by "i'm not going to let you change your mind anymore", which - daily reminder - you are allowed to stop having sex at any point during the act if you start feeling uncomfortable with it. that's absolutely normal.

now the problem that we seem to run into here is that "lovely writer" appears to think that it's ok to push someone to the limit until they either finally agree or confidently and loudly disagree. the drama has repeatedly shown us that actually forcing someone to have sex is not ok; however, persuading and otherwise coercing someone, as well as taking an approximate guess of them wanting to have sex based on some marginally related factors, is ok. i would like to once again remind everyone that all of that is not ok.

one more issue i want to bring up in connection with sex is something i wish was common knowledge: it is NOT supposed to hurt during your first time. whether you are planning to have vaginal or anal sex for the first time, it should not hurt. and if it does, something has definitely gone wrong and you need to stop. you are not supposed to experience any pain or discomfort during sex, including your first time (outside of desired and therefore intentionally inflicted pain, but that's not what i'm talking about here). i have seen this misconception brought up many times in bls along with the other person "thanking the person who got hurt for bearing the pain to bring them pleasure" and absolutely none of that is normal. stop. please, just... stop.

criticism of the BL industry

there are certainly quite a few things i liked about the way "lovely writer" criticized the many problems that surround bls. i think they dealt especially well with the fan aspect. the breaches of privacy that are considered normal, the toxicity of social media that encourages people to comment on other people's personal life, harass and stalk them - all of that was shown in its full glory (or rather horror) and clearly condemned. it was also interesting to see how easily everyone around sib fell into the routine of having to hide genesib's relationship, just because "that's what's supposed to be done in these situations" - even tum did that without thinking twice.

however, i have not spent the past three years hating gmm for a show trying to criticize the industry not to focus on criticizing the production company and everyone professionally involved with the making of bls. don't get me wrong - they didn't completely overlook that side of things, but i found the way they approached it dissatisfying.

like yes, tum fights with his sister (aka sib's manager) and calls her out for her terrible actions, and the publisher (bua) eventually apologizes for what she did, but all of that feels a bit too... personal. i do not care about these individual stories. i care about you saying that the whole system is broken because it very much is. i wanted manner of death but with the bl industry, and instead, i got an "uwu the fans are demanding we do this, and our hands our tied" (which is a lie) and "uwu i'm just trying to make money" (which i mean... if you feel ok milking even more money than you already have by doing something unethical and immoral, then be my guest, but also go fuck yourself). besides that, i didn't see any criticism of tabloids or exploitative celebrities either (both of which we had examples of in the show), and that was kind of disappointing.

coming back to the fans for a moment, i also think that the criticism of real people shipping was entirely unsuccessful. we basically mostly got an "oh, what if this person's partner thinks they are actually dating", which... if a bunch of people on the internet who do not know your boyfriend personally and make all their judgments from screenshots and their imagination can convince you that your boyfriend is cheating, i've got some bad news for you and also a number for a therapist. partly i know why it was so complicated for them to get into it properly - the issue with real people shipping is an issue of privacy, boundaries, the perception of celebrities, acceptable interests, and many other complex topics. however, it's better to not criticize something than to criticize it badly and inaccurately (because the latter usually leads to even more encouragement of whatever you were attempting to criticize).

aey: the flamboyant villain

aey certainly starts as a promisingly complex character, but the farther we go from his backstory and his family, the less complex and the more evil he gets. eventually, the trauma he goes through is no longer enough to give him a get-out-of-jail-free card, and he loses all remaining sympathy after sexually harassing gene and pretending to drug sib. and i did start this post by saying that i am not to analyze any plot points or characters from the show here; however, i'm saying all this to prove a point that aey is a clear villain in the show. this is further cemented by the fact that by the end of the show he loses the only two people who cared about him, and the very last moment with him in the show is literally just him crying for about 3 minutes. there was no redemption arc, no pity, no revenge - he was left alone and broken, clearly punished by the narrative. and i've got a bone to pick here as well.

one of the first things that we find out about aey is that he is gay, and quite openly so. he is repeatedly described as very feminine by many characters, he flirts with men, he talks about being good in bed, and his entire character is built upon being gay (half of it directly, and the other half due to the fact that his entire backstory and therefore personality is also built upon the fact that he is gay). he is - for the lack of a better term - the gayest character in the show and the only one who is loud about being gay not because he is in love but simply because it is a part of him and he doesn't want to hide it. and he is the villain. not the disgusting publisher or the terrible manager - no, this guy was specifically chosen to ruin everyone's lives. and i can't say i'm particularly happy about that. *british voice* seems a bit homophobic love

not quite queer enough

as i said, aey is openly gay. gene and sib also eventually say that they are gay, gene's father teep is queer, so are tiffy and mhok. but it just doesn't seem to come up as much as it would in real life. the only time anyone has a problem with any of the characters being queer is when we deal with the parents. but knowing actual queer thai actors in real life, we are all aware how hard it can be for them, but it has not come up even once for aey, gene or sib (with genesib only being a problem because they are a "non-shippable couple"). being queer is far from being a non-issue in the industry, and i found it incredibly weird that it was never brought up (and i would also prefer if they brought that up instead of showing the unaccepting parents plot for the millionth time).

same goes for the lack of conversation around queer people on set. i think we all have a wonderful example of how much better a bl can get simply when it involves a queer director and/or screenwriter (gods bless p'aof), gay actors, etc. i also thought it was a missed opportunity that gene being a gay man writing a bl novel was never highlighted. if anything, everyone made a big deal out of him being a man writing a bl - never mind that he is a gay man that is far more qualified to write bls than a straight woman.

in conclusion, there are simply not enough queer issues talked about here for a show that is about queer people facing difficulties while making a queer drama.

tiffy and tum: the good, the bad, and the ugly

overall, tiffy and tum are quite cool. outside of my own personal feelings, i really liked the clear reversal of gender roles they have going on: he knows lots about make-up, she knows nothing about it, he knows how to sew, she knows how to repair a car, etc.

tiffy is also a nice addition to the precious few queer girls we have in bls. however, the way her being bi is executed... it isn't great. when she first talks about dating girls to tum, she says things like "even though i look like this" (implying queer girls have a certain look?) and "maybe it seemed normal because i was at an all-girls school" (which wtf does that even mean?). i think the worst thing, though, was when she assumed tum was gay. my best guess is she thought so because she initially thought that tum and gene were a couple; however, she should be the first person to know that just because he likes men, it doesn't mean that he doesn't like women or any other gender. even though there was nothing explicitly leading me to make this conclusion, this whole thing did kind of feel like the old "flipping the switch" stereotype (meaning, she used to like women, but now she likes men, and both of them can't happen simultaneously).

make it make sense

i think i've never been more confused in my entire life than when i found out that the director of "lovely writer" also happens to be the director of "th*arnt*pe". and if at first, i was asking a lot of questions about this peculiar individual, who went from working on the worst rape-romanticizing show we have ever had to a show that explicitly states that rape is not normal. but the more i thought about it, the less i was interested in him, and the more i was interested in whoever made the decision to hire him. there are dozens of different directors that have worked specifically on bls, and even more that haven't. yet out of all those, you decided to choose this one. the dude, who before your show has only directed the show with the biggest rape-y vibes. that casts a particular kind of shade on the entire show that i simply do not like.

conclusion

at the end of the day, i think what "lovely writer" tried to do was very interesting. it succeeded in some ways and failed in others. frankly, i think this show could have easily been made better if someone queer was involved in making it. that's always true, but especially so, when we try to talk about the issues of making a queer drama. either way, it's certainly a good start to this conversation; however - as i said - i'm still waiting for my manner of death but with the bl industry. this was unfortunately not it.

#it is here it is queer it has some controversial hot takes #archer speaks #lovely writer

[katsuflossy]

Can I request headcanons for Bakugou, Shinsou and Deku where they like someone who can be very honest and blunt so sometimes their comments might come off as an accidental roast or maybe they didn't read the room and didn't sugarcoat something they said? It was never out of malice, but they don't have a filter if you know what I mean?

Their Blunt S/o

Pairings: Bakugo x reader, Izuku x reader, Shinso x reader

Warnings: a lil’ obscenities, one la ganja joke.

A/n: Sorry for the long wait. I myself is quite blunt but I didn’t want the reader to be completely mean 😭 I hope you like it!!

Taglist: @goatsenpaiultimate @sunset-novice-writer

💥 Really loves how you smoke everyone with your blunt ass (huehuehue marijuana joke)

💥 He’s usually on the same wavelength as you; you two are both crude, poison-laced tongue individuals.

💥 But you don’t mean any harm at times while Katsuki does.

💥 The first time you guys met was when he was talking about how he’ll destroy Midoriya during the first quirk test of the class.

💥 The scene was taking up all the time in the day and you were hungry. So you intervened. “Just get on with it. You’re wasting everyone’s time here Atomic Blonde.”

💥 I made that joke already just leave me alone

💥 He turned around, ready to light your ass on fire however Aizawa wrapped him up like a mummy before he could reach you.

💥 Really despised you for a while. Mans is upset because you don’t care about what comes out your mouth and you’re always pointing out some flaws in his technique or personality.

💥 But the miracle happens that he saw how your comments actually pushed him to perform better in both school work and training.

💥 Thus you are integrated in the Bakusquad! 🥳

💥 He loves your presence, eyeing you while you both help the rest in the frequent study sessions, Laughing when you comment on Denki’s lame pick up lines and Kirishima’s clumsy ass.

💥 When it’s his turn, he goes all dramatic with it to keep your attention on him. Once your eyes land on him, he intends to keep them there by any means necessary. The usual strategy is to tease and start a roast session that becomes a staple in your everyday lives.

💥 He really appreciates how you treat him differently than everyone else.

💥 So when everyone was pitying him after his kidnap and the battle of All Might vs AFO. He was so frustrated.

💥 The day he arrived to school, everyone was willing to do everything for him: hold his bag, get him lunch and other offers that made him seem helpless.

💥 So the day when everyone was in the lounge room and Kirishima offered to take his suitcase upstairs, you decided to say a few words.

💥 “Why are you doing that? He’s not a fucking baby. Stop treating him like a limping wolf.” You then turned to Bakugo. “And you, we get it. Your backbone is strong and you hate being helpless but sometimes you need fucking help both physically and mentally so be an actual man and actually fucking talk instead of blabbering all this unphased bullshit.”

💥 Dead silence dissipated all the nonsensical talk in the room before Bakugo stormed off, a shadow casted over his brow as his fingers creaked under its own force to remain fisted.

💥 As soon as he left, Tsuyu turned to you criticising your approach even though it was true. But the truth hurts and you believe everyone should deal with the pain 🤷🏽‍♀️ cmon bad bitch

💥 Arrived at your door after the whole brawl with Midoriya, jaw puffed and red coordinating with a nasty gash on his arm. You dragged him in, berating his choices on releasing his emotions like a neanderthal. Among the constant scolds, he silenced you with a simple sentence.

💥 “I’m sorry. You were right and I need to talk to someone.”

💥 The night consisted of him talking about his life, insecurities and fears while attempting to compose his emotions. With a little push, all the feelings he kept where released to the wild, for the better.

💥 Now he has a whole new meaning for liking you.

🥦 Little baby boy can hardly withstand your bluntness

🥦 Attempts to be your translator if someone takes your words wrong.

🥦 Your critiques aren’t the nicest so Midoriya fills that gap in.

🥦 He’s always as flabbergasted as the receiver of your comments. His verdant eyes widened grandly and as he inhales a sharp gasp. After the shock he turns to the person with apprehension, letting your intentions be known in a softer version than it was given.

🥦 “Tenya, don’t ever try to make breakfast again. The eggs were shit like how did you even burn the water?” Midoriya quickly jumped in, waving his hands erratically to ensure no harm. “S-she meant that your eggs were—ehm— had a little saltiness to them and also to try keep the fire to—uh m-medium?”

🥦 Scared that someone will beat your ass over something you said but that isn’t no problem because that mouth comes with a good pair of hands.

🥦 But he really admires your sharp tongue and frank mind. Unlike hisself, you plough through all nervous talks and thoughts, making your thoughts as clear as day.

🥦 But he’s not excluded from any harsh comments.

🥦 After figuring out why he almost missed the talent show, you laid it on thick.

🥦”Are you completely nuts? Couldn’t you wait on Rappa or I don’t know call someone from up here to get security? You really just love to throw yourself in trouble, don’t you?”

🥦 Ngl, it did sting a little but whatever Izuku believed he did right, he will forever be proud of it. Aside from that, he is hurt that you thought his actions were irrational.

🥦 Noticing his frown and glossy eyes, you quickly apologised, not intending to ridicule his actions.

🥦 “Izuku, I...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you like that. I was just really worried and I care for you a lot.”

🥦 If he was close to crying from before he’s in tears now. His blush ignited his face as his mind mulled over your confession.

🥦 He accepted your apology and as his heart couldn’t take anymore blatant affection from a girl, you hugged him, hugged him.

🥦 And that’s how Midoriya fell even more hopelessly in love with you.

🎆 The tired baby boy

🎆 He is also blessed with the ability to be brash, although it is underhanded.

🎆 but he definitely noticed how brash you were when he confronted Class 1A before the sports festival.

🎆 The tension between Bakugo and the students outside palpable, the mixture of agitation and unease stifled the air everyone breathed until you trod to the door.

🎆 “Are you boys done with your little intimidation battle? Because I have an anime to binge watch and I’d rather not have it wait any longer.” You then turned to Shinso.

🎆 “By the way your hair is really cute.”

🎆 You left everyone gobsmacked as you passed through the crowd without fail, as if you didn’t even interrupt a brewing clash a second ago. But no one was as gobsmacked as Shinso who was blushing from the compliment.

🎆 Ever since, your bluntness has not wavered even after becoming friends with him through Kaminari and Sero.

🎆 You obviously showed you liked him. Your frank attitude included being downright honest in your attraction to him and others.

🎆 Exhaustion clouded his eyes heavily as he walked past your lunch table filled with Class 1A’s girls talking about their fears for the future. Mina’s almost drawn to tears about the upcoming math test as Uraraka consoled her worries.

🎆 Everyone was nervous, anxiety wore on their face and through the sounds of nail biting from Hagakure.

🎆 As soon as the mind control quirk wielder caught your eye, you couldn’t stop yourself from talking.

🎆 “Shinsou is so handsome. And he’s getting quite buff judging by how his shirt was constricting from before. Don’t you guys think?”

🎆 Your comment was loud enough to reach the by-passer, who blushed at the sudden compliment. His hand naturally travelled to the nape of his neck, soothing his own embarrassment as the table’s eyes, in particular yours, laid on him, waiting on his response.

🎆 “Why t-thank you, (Y/n)” He nodded in acknowledgment of your compliment and then walked briskly off to his own table.

🎆 Mina turned towards you as he was out of ear range. “Have you no shame?! I was crying about my grades before you suddenly wanted to say Shinso was hot.”

🎆 Everybody started saying how random and sudden you were before you shrugged your shoulders.

🎆 “A girl knows what she likes.”

🎆 Shinso eventually warms up to your sudden compliments and impartial bluntness

🎆 The two of you were eventually called a“pair of blunt knives” by Kaminari.

🎆 Doesn’t matter, it’s a cute couple name ☺️.

#bnha bakugo x reader #bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki #bnha bakugou #bnha izuku x reader #midoriya izuku x reader #izuku midoriya x reader #midoriya x reader #midoriya izuku #bnha midoriya #bnha shinso hitoshi #shinso x reader #shinso hitoshi #bnha shinsou #shinsou hitoshi headcanons #izuku midoryia headcanons #bakugou katsuki headcanons

[hopeymchope]

Unpopular opinion: I really dislike the twist of Tsumugi being the one to murder Rantaro instead of Kaede. There are minor things that bother me about it, like: how did Tsumugi pull that shit of in thirteen seconds? How did Rantaro not notice someone sneaking up on him? How could no one (especially the ultimate detective) tell the difference between the injury you'd get from on top of your head versus on the back of your head? 1/2

I can't speak to the writers' intentions, of course, but I don't think they were attempting to make Kaede a sacrificial saint. Nothing about the later reveal actually changes that Kaede tried and intended to kill whoever approached the bookcase. The nobility of her intention is certainly up for debate, but there's nothing "pure" about it. Her flaws and her aggressive attempt to get rid of the mastermind are part of what I love about the character.

The reveal of Tsumugi as the real killer serves a lot of purposes, IMO, but you can certainly argue which (if any) are really necessary.

1) First off, it deepens the tragedy and horror of that first case; not only did Kaede never have to die, but it suddenly appears likely that none of the cast would've participated in this stupid "killing game" if the embedded writer/producer hadn't forced the issue by committing the first murder herself, which escalated everyone's tensions and fears massively. In that sense, Team Danganronpa is indirectly responsible for every death that ever occurred here.

2) Secondly, you know how much they love to make these games mirror one another. Having a fundamentally unfair trial has always been part of the setup. Although in the previous games, it was Chapter 5 that was the impossible/unfair trial, it turns out that it was the very first one here.

3) Thirdly, it makes Tsumugi even more of a copy of Junko. Junko secretly killed someone and then manipulated things so that all the known classmates were later suspected of that murder, forcing them into a class trial that targeted someone of her choosing. In doing so, she broke the precious "rules" of her own game to serve her own Despair-fueled benefit. And now Tsumugi has done the exact same thing... except she did it all in Chapter 1, whereas Junko killed someone in Chapter 1 that she used as a corpse in Chapter 5.

4) And finally, the reveal of how unfair the game has been from the very start, with the initial trial built on a foundation of lies, really underlines the whole "truth vs lies/fiction" theme of the entire thing.

Was any of that really needed, though? Arguably not. *shrug* I mean, I'd certainly be happy to see a Danganronpa game come out that doesn't repeat certain tropes like the third-case double-murder. And I think the whole "the entire foundation of this game is a lie" thing already comes across later in Chapter 6 when they claim that the cast all volunteered for the game even though we know they were abducted and dragged into this.

But given how many players didn't piece that together, maybe they didn't underline the theme enough times. :P

P.S. Maybe Tsumugi did some kind of overhead lob or slam-dunked the damn shot-put onto his skull? Idk, lol

#danganronpa #drv3 ending #drv3 spoilers #asks #anon #drv3 #ndrv3 #danganronpa v3

[taehyungsgrowl]

Duncan x Sugar Babies Angst Pt 2

Can we just appreciate this gif for a moment? I forgot how much I love Duncan Shepherd. 

Thank you all for hanging in there for a year for part 2 lmfao! I hope you enjoy it!

Italics to signify time jump! I hope it makes sense lol

love you!

also...... the fact that this..... is finally out a YEAR after part 1.... what am i?? a hollywood script writer? ugh i hate myself. 

also.. this is really just one version of how the met! i know we’ve talked about different scenarios of how they came together but i liked this one for the storyline :’)

tw: duncan kink shames piss kink (as he should) jjnkdvjskv, a smutty mention, but genrerally pg-13, a lot of fluff. 

word count: somewhere over 4,000 words i think

Duncan huffed as he walked down the narrow aisle of the plane. How the airline mixed his first-class seat for an economy one was beyond him. But after a stressful conference and being away from his home for so long, he didn’t have the energy to fight them. All he wanted was for this flight to be over. 

He glanced at his boarding pass and back up to the numbers above the seats. 18 B. A middle seat. As if this could get any worse, he thought to himself. 

Duncan’s sharp blue eyes found where he would be seating; he held in a sigh as he noticed his seat mates were already in their designated seats. 

Y/N peeked up at the man who stuffed his carry on in the overhead compartment. She tried not to stare as his shirt rode up his tummy exposing a bit of skin. She looked over at her best friend, Jim who was watching out the window with his headphones in. 

“Excuse me,” the older man offered her an almost shy smile as he asked her to stand so he could take his damned middle seat. 

“Oh! Sorry!” Y/N stood from her seat allowing Duncan to squeeze in between her and Jim. 

After Duncan was seated, Y/N reached over his lap to tap Jim on the shoulder, “Sorry, sir,” she told Duncan - he lifted his hands and nodded, “You’re good.” he flashed her a quick smile. 

“What time do we land again?” she asked when Jim removed his headphones. Duncan glanced between the two; curiosity took over him as he wondered whether they were a couple. They were both very attractive, roughly around the same age, and had arrived together.

“10:00 p.m” Jim shook his head at his best friend. He loved her to death - truly. No one else could convince him to fly across the country with so much uncertainty. 

“I’m sorry,” Duncan interrupted, “If you two are.. Together, I can switch seats with one of you.”

“Oh no! We don’t mind, sir! Thank you.” she glanced at him once again. 

Duncan tried to get comfortable before the plane took off - he had a long day and an even longer flight ahead of him. 

The flight attendant started to make her way down the aisle 

“What would you like to drink,” she set down napkins on each of their trays. 

“I’ll take a Sprite,” Jim answered, giving her a sweet smile. “Me too,” Y/N echoed. 

While she worked on getting their sodas, she turned her attention to Duncan, who was taking out his AirPods, “Anything for you, sir?” 

“Scotch; neat.” he nodded, putting his earpiece back in. 

Thinking back to that flight, it’s hard for Duncan to recall how one thing lead to the next. 

Y/N, always the extrovert in Jim and Her’s duo, asked Duncan what brought him to Washington D.C. 

He told her he worked for a company there, being careful not to divulge too much personal information (like the fact that he was the heir of the company in question). 

“And you two?” Duncan glanced at Jim. Duncan wasn’t used to small talk on planes - but he had a few drinks on an empty stomach making him looser than he’d normally be. 

“Uh..” Jim hesitated, giving Y/N a panicked look. 

“Work!” she answered, 

Duncan gave her a puzzling look, but decided to not press it. 

What Duncan had expected to be a long flight, literally, flew by, with conversation with Jim and Y/N. 

They were careful not to give each other any information that felt too personal, but it was easy to just listen to his interests. 

Before they knew it, the flight was over and they parted ways. 

Duncan lingered with them as they gathered their bags. It’d been so long since he had real conversations with people who weren’t just interested in his power or company. 

Duncan watched out the window of the car that his chauffeur picked him up in as Jim and Y/N stood by the curb, fumbling with their phones for an Uber. 

‘I should have offered them a ride’, he thinks as the shrink off into the distance. 

--

Not a week had gone by since Duncan arrived back home when he already had another event lined up for the weekend. Perks of being the face of the Shepherd Foundation often times felt more like chores. 

At least the Gala was just out of a D.C and he didn’t need to worry about an airline messing up his seat again. 

He smiled and waved at the flashing cameras. 

As the night started Duncan made his way through familiar faces and strangers. A glass of champagne secured in his hand as he made rounds.

As elegant as these events were, they were often a bore - especially when he came alone. He found himself seated alone at the bar waiting for his eyes to land on someone he found vaguely interesting enough to chat up. 

His eyes scanned the room until they fell on a pair that seemed to be new comers. The woman wore a silk red gown with a low back, tracing over her figure. When Duncan turned his attention over to the man that stood by her, he realized he recognized them. 

Jim fumbled with the cuffs of his shirt, trying to keep himself together before his “date” got back to him. 

Duncan recognized them from his flight back a few days ago. Truly, D.C was smaller than he realized. He picked up his drink from the bar and strolled over to them, easy grin on his face. 

“Hey, 18 A and 18 C, right?” he glanced them up and down a bit. He almost could have gone the whole night without realizing who they were - they cleaned up so well from the old t-shirts and sweats they were wearing on the flight to the designer clothes they wore now. 

Jim felt his face go hot. Both he and Y/N had gushed over the handsome man they sat next to after that flight. 

“Hope our first clients are as hot as that guy...”

“HA!” Y/N let out a humorless laugh, “If only...”

Y/N kept her cool demeanor, offering Duncan a sly smirk.  “Hi stranger,” 

“Duncan.” his lips. tugged up into a smile, “Duncan Shepherd.” 

Y/N and Jim had assumed right to think Duncan was just the kind of guy they sought after as a client. The way he carried himself screamed wealth and power. 

“And you two are...” he raised a brow, waiting for their names. He hadn’t seen them at any other gala or even so he knew they were new comers. Maybe heirs to some fortune 500 company. His eyes wandered around the room wondering who their parents were. Duncan had the reputation of getting “inside information” on some of his competitors by pulling his charms on their trust fund babies. 

“Working,” 

Duncan chuckled, raising his champagne flute, “Work hard, play hard, right?” his gaze flickered between her eyes and her lips. 

“Duncan,” his attention was called by a big name politician that had appeared at Y/N’s side. “It’s been too long,” he extended his hand out for a shake. “Tell me, how is the development of your app coming? We really could use someone like you before reelection,” he laughed. 

Duncan didn’t fail to notice his hand on Y/N’s waist (or the tight lipped smile she had as soon as the man appeared). 

“You’ll be the first to know when it’s ready,” Duncan answered, tearing his eyes away from his hand. 

“James,” another man approached them. Duncan had seen him before at other events. The man looped his arm in Jim’s before handing him a drink. He leaned in and whispered something in Jim’s ear, making him blush. 

Duncan lingered between them, easily making conversation until both men made their rounds for more drinks, leaving him with Y/N and Jim again. 

If he knew anything, he knew the game the powerful in D.C played. And he knew well enough to know what kind of work Jim and Y/N were doing. 

“Working,” he gave them a knowing smile. He raised his flute to them before taking a long sip, drowning back his champagne. 

He watched the color flood to Jim’s cheeks again and it only made him chuckle. It wasn’t past Duncan to hire an escort. Dating as an up and coming business mogul doesn’t always allow him the time for dating or anything other than business. Sometimes, he just needed to secure his own private deals. Much less of a hassle than having to deal with the entanglements of relationships.

Duncan wasn’t a callous man. He planned on settling down at some point. He was an older bachelor. Well seasoned - he didn’t mean to sound cocky but it wasn’t that he didn't have the opportunity. He didn’t want that - not yet at least. 

“Walk with me,” he nodded his head towards the hallway. 

Y/N looked over at Jim, both exchanging in a silent conversation before following alongside Duncan. They turned the corner into a quiet hallway away from the gala. 

“You both clean up nice,” he smirked, “Although, I personally loved your airport wardrobe,” he winked. 

Y/N mirrored his smirk, reaching forward to adjust his pristine tie, “Are you wanting to talk business Mr. Shepherd? If not... our clients are waiting.”

Duncan chuckled. “I’d like to propose something more... exclusive.” He searched their eyes, smile tugging on his lips. He remembered enough about his flight with them to know he liked them. And now, seeing them look so... sexy. “Let me take care of you.” 

Jim shifted back and forth on his feet. He was sure the offered only stood for Y/N. He looked down at the floor, chewing on his bottom lip. 

“Both of you,” Duncan met Jim’s eyes. 

“You two made for great... companions on the plane. If you’re willing to,” he coughed awkwardly into his fist for a pause, “extend your uh... companionship -- I can be very generous.”

“Like a sugar daddy!?” Jim finally spoke up, his voice dripping in a mixture of surprise and interest. 

Duncan shrugged easily, his thumb running over his bottom lip. “That’s one way to put it,” he bit his lip. He reached into his card holder and handed them a beautifully embossed business card. 

“Give me a call if you need to think about it. Unless you’d rather go up to my room to... discuss it further,” he chuckled. 

Y/N and Jim remember ditching their dates to follow Duncan to his suite. Hushed whispers between them as they got the courage to take up Duncan’s offer. 

None of them knew the love that was about to blossom for them that night. They sat out on the balcony of his suite, letting the cool breeze hit their skin. Always the gentleman, Duncan didn’t initiate any advances that night. He bought them room services and gave them a safe space away from the former clients. 

They curled up in the California king bed just talking like they had on their flight. 

“Uh so... what exactly do you like,” Y/N asked. She fidgeted with the gems on her dress. It was beautiful - beyond what she could ever afford, but it was starting to become uncomfortable.

“Cashmere and fine wine,” Duncan laughed, making Y/N roll her eyes. He caught her struggle with getting comfortable. He got off the bed and found his small suitcase they’d brought up for him, digging for his pajamas. He placed a few comfy items on the bed, “If you two.. wanna get more comfortable,” he smiled sheepishly. 

Y/N sat up on her knees sorting through the clothes and tossing a tshirt at Jim. “Seriously like... we have to know what you... enjoy, daddy..” she pouted, playfully testing the waters. 

It was his turn to roll his eyes, but there was no hiding the fact that he did like the sound of that. “I don’t have a piss kink or anything like that,” he scrunched his nose, “But,” he got closer, tilting her chin up, “I’d like to hear you that again for me some time.” 

--

Y/N and Jim floated back down from cloud 9 a few days later when they were back in their not to luxurious apartment. 

After that first night, they spent the next two days at Duncan’s penthouse slowly going over what the arrangement would entail (although, if they were being honest most of the time was spent between Duncan’s bed and sharing sharing pastries with Duncan on his balcony). 

Duncan pulled up up to their run down complex. He’d been having so much fun during the past few days, he didn’t want it to come to an end yet. 

Duncan didn’t say what he wanted to say, but he felt a strong distaste for where they were living. 

They’d just moved to the city and started working when they met Duncan - they were still hoping to make enough money to find a nice place. This was just a temporary stay. 

It wasn’t long before Duncan gave them an extra key to his place...

“I figured if where you’re staying is just temporary... you’d rather stay here..”

Duncan knew he could easily get them their own loft or apartment, but he was enjoying them being there more than he realized he would. 

He knew starting this arrangement would be fun. He knew he liked them. He just hadn’t realized how lonely he’d been before. 

He looked up at the ceiling as Y/N and Jim slept on either side of him... reminding himself that for them... it was just a job. A way to get their things paid for. But then again... it was he wanted, right?

Another realization that came far later for Duncan Shepherd was that to Jim and Y/N... it had also become much more than a job. 

--

For Jim, he remembers the moment he knew he was falling for not only Duncan, but his friend of many years, was on one of the first trips Duncan ever took them too. Jim had always wanted to be near the ocean. He had such bittersweet memories connected to it. But for him now, the sweetest one comes from laughing in the sand after convincing Duncan to try and surf. Y/N was rubbing sunscreen on their backs soon turning into a pile of kisses on to one another with the sunsetting softly over the horizon. 

From the beginning, it never felt “mechanical” or “strictly business” with Duncan. Not like their first few clients. It’d always been easy with Duncan. Maybe it was the initial crush Jim had developed on the plane that made the difference. Either way he knew he loved Duncan. 

--

Y/N would be lying if she said she didn’t have feelings for Jim before the whole affair started. She often brushed it off as just a friend crush -- but after being with him and Duncan things began to develop quickly. She loved them both so much in their own way. They each filled different parts of her heart to make her feel whole. 

The moment she knew -- the moment she took them to uncharted territory by being the first to say “I love you,” was after she’d spent the day in bed crying. Feeling so vulnerable after a hard day. She felt herself isolating herself from Jim... from Duncan. 

She remembers them silently coming into the room to hold her. Duncan let her cry on his chest while Jim played with her hair. In that moment of safety, she whispered, “I love you,” and there was no question as to who it was directed to -- because they knew she loved them both. 

--

“You want to what?” Duncan spoke, his composure faltering. “I don’t - I’m sorry.” he felt loss for words. He hadn’t noticed that his hands started to shake until Jim reached forward to take his hand in his own. 

“Shh,” Jim cooed. Duncan wasn’t used to this. He wasn’t used to being the one who needed to be babied. He wasn’t the one who needed his hand held, for Christ’s sake. 

“Hear us out.” Jim led Duncan down on the chair. 

“Duncan.” Y/N’s voice was clear and steady. “We don’t want to be your sugar babies anymore. We don’t want this to be…” she searched for her words, “an exchange.” 

Jim rubbed her back reassuringly. “You mean so much more to us than the nice things you buy us. We want you, Duncan. We want to end the arrangement because we want to be with you. Like, as a real relationship.” she peeked up at him from her lashes, “If you’ll have us,” she nodded her up towards Jim, who was all but vibrating next to her. 

Duncan blinked back tears. The knot in his throat made it hard for him to say anything. All he could do was nod - nod and let the tears fall freely from his eyes. 

Y/N reached up to his face, wiping it clean. “Is that a yes?” her lips tugged into a smile.

Duncan cleared his throat and took both of their hands in his, “Of course. Yes. A million times yes.” 

The way they made him feel so loved - after years of feeling like he wasn’t capable of it, and here he was -- madly in love with two beautiful souls. They wanted - they loved him for him!! He knew it in his heart before that morning but hearing it sent his heart into overdrive. 

--

He called into the office that morning to be able to spend the day with the people he loved the most. The idiots back at the Shepherd Foundation could figure it out on their own. 

After that restless night, they all needed all the R & R they could get. 

After a few mimosas and waffles, Y/N and Jim dragged Duncan out to their hot tub on their back patio. Duncan had that hot tub long before he met Jim and Y/N, but didn’t start to truly enjoy it until they moved in with him. 

Duncan sighed as he slipped into the hot water, the jet pressure working against his calves. “Well,” he smiled up at them, “Are you not going to join me?” 

Y/N smirked at him right before grabbing the hem of her shirt and pulling it over her head. She exposed herself completely stripping down to nothing before she slowly made it down the steps into the water, “Mhmm,” she sighed as she took a seat next to Duncan. 

Duncan chuckled softly, shaking his head, “Baby?” he called over to Jim, his hand, already wandering up Y/N’s thigh. 

Jim followed Y/N example and stripped off his clothing before climbing into the tub, on the other side of Duncan. “You’re overdressed,” Jim mumbled into Duncan’s neck, snaking his hand into the waistband of the little black trunks...

--

Duncan told himself he wouldn’t cry. After everything they’ve been through - it had led to this...

His toes dug into the white sand as he looked out into the sea. He couldn’t have chosen a better place - his their beach house was their haven. Their little slice of paradise. It was only natural for them do it there. 

Every thing was picture perfect. The sky was a beautiful array of purples and pinks, reflecting on the clear water. To his left, a gorgeous set up of candles, blankets, twinkle lights, and a picnic of his babies’ favorite treats. 

Jim and Y/N knew that Duncan had been planning something for weeks now. When he booked a getaway to their beach house, he didn’t allow them to lift a finger packing. Told them he’d take care of it all. And he did. 

He had their outfits laid out on their bed for them. For Jim, he had a thin pair of linen pants in a light sandy colored with a baby blue shirt of the same material. Y/N’s wasn’t too different. He had a white dress of the same fabric. It was soft and flowy - perfect for the beach. 

They made their way down to the beach where Duncan waited for them. He turned to face them, his hands behind his back, biting down on his lip to try and keep it together, 

He knew they were his life and he was spending forever with them.

“Duncan,” Y/N breathed out, her eyes going over the set up. She reached for his hand, “This is beautiful,” 

Duncan squeezed her hand, and took Jim’s in the other one. 

“I have something for you,” he dropped their hands and dug a little velvet bag out of his pocket. “I know there isn’t anything... traditional,” he laughed, “about our relationship, but” he pulled the string of the baggie and dumped the contents of it into his palm. He played with the cool metal, shifting them around his hand. 

“I wouldn’t want it any other way and,” he paused to look into their eyes, “I’d want to spend the rest of my days with you,”

He took his time, placing a finger on Jim’s finger and then YN’s. “Since we can’t really do a courthouse wedding,” he laughed, taking both of their hand again - this time adorned with the precious jewels he gifted them, “I figured, we could do something more our style,” he gestured towards the romantic scenery he’d set. 

“Will you take me to be yours forever?”

Without an ounce of hesitation, Jim and Y/N replied their “I do”’s over each other. When Jim noticed the tears pooling in Y/N’s eyes, he reached over to wipe her cheek. 

Duncan couldn’t smile any more if he tried. Jim loved the way the corner of his eyes crinkled when he smiled that big. Duncan’s hair blew softly in the gentle breeze. His peppered hair matched his graying beard, but like the fine wines he adored, he aged well. 

He pulled them closer, caressing their cheeks before kissing them. 

He loved them. Duncan Shepherd had found love.

Y/N and Jim embraced him with everything they had. They never wanted to let each other go - but when they finally did, Duncan popped the champagne, loving the way Y/N giggled when the bubbles poured out of the bottle. 

By the time they downed the champagne and cake on the beach, the buttons of Duncan’s shirt where messily unbuttoned. He had sand in his hair and lipstick marks on his neck. 

The sun was close to being gone, but the candles and fairy lights were enough for them. The were covered in the soft glow of the moon. 

Duncan’s heart felt so warm as he watched Y/N feed Jim another bite of cake. Jim’s laughter like music to his ears. Jim caught his eye and crawled over to Duncan. He swung his legs over Duncan’s thighs and sat on him. Jim took his face in his hands and kissed him tenderly. 

Jim found his place. 

He found a home with Duncan and Y/N - a home with nothing but love to offer and he was ready for it. 

They each had their space in each others hearts and it melted perfectly into who they were. 

Who would think that a day would come when Duncan Shepherd would be thanking his lucky stars for an economy flight seat?

--

Tags: @desertsunflower00 @xavierplympton @quillanpie @spoo-per @langdons-pinkyring @little-grunge-flowerz @sexwon131 @leatherduncan @royalblueviper @shenevertricks1831 @sadhoecentral @chloelucia13 @shyvirgoanon @langdonswhoreprobably @littledemondani @bitchchatter @rpwithjayn @chloelucia13 @agonydearest @midnightontheearth @7-wonders @prophecy-is-inevitable @wroteclassicaly @ritualmichael @wickedlangdon @fckinsupreme @michael-langdon-appreciation @jimmason @brattylovee @dark-mei-rose @lovelylangdonx @blakewaterxx @dyns33 

sorry if i missed someone!

and please LMK what you think 🥺

#duncan shepherd #duncan shepherd x reader #duncan shepherd x sugar babies #jim mason #jim mason x reader #cody fern

[positivelypetty]

A REALLY long rant on the Joint Training Arc.

Okay, so since the Joint Training Arc is basically done, I thought I would share my various opinions and adress certain issues that A LOT of people had with this arc.

But, before we get into the actual rant, I think I should distinguish the difference between an opinion, criticism and just plain antagonism.

Here is an example of just misinformed toxicity:

This is just being TOXIC!!! You can’t shelter these horrible comments by saying “it’s just an opinion.” Please don’t act like after 4 years of really enthralling writing, he’s now the worst writer ever. Instead, explain why you don’t think this was the best story choice, instead of being clearly misinformed. It’s nothing absolutely terrible, but just a simple example on how people can be so demanding and completely inconsiderate to the creator.

“Forbidding” Horikoshi from writing is actually ridiculous. He WROTE AND CREATED your “precious sons” that you love so much. So, if you claim that the manga is now utter trash because it doesn’t personally cater to you, please abandon or take a long break from the manga/anime to maybe clear your head. Thank you.

We don’t need any more toxicity in this fandom than we already do.

Now with that said, let’s talk about the arc! (Also keep in mind that these ideas spurred from Reddit so, I decided to expand on it)

1-B vs 1-A situation:

I've been reading a ton of comments too, the good, and the bad and it's fine, everyone has their opinions and that's cool, but for me, it didn't seem it was about who won or lost, it was more about how each class was taught. And this boils down to both Vlad and Aizawa.

Vlad has obviously been pushing his students and their quirks to the max in regards to working in teams. This shines through in all of the fights they all work together very well and know the strengths and weaknesses of each other as well as their enemies. They go into a battle with a plan and are ready to execute the plan flawlessly.

Whereas Aizawa I believe has pushed for more individualist thinking style, and I think this comes from his basis of fighting villains. No one will come to save you, you have to be able to handle yourself whether escaping or defeating. He doesn't coddle his students, and he does push them to the brink as well. What's interesting is Class A has had more hands-on experience. With Aizawa’s teaching style I think they sometimes have a harder time working with one another and they can fall apart with their teamwork. HOWEVER their real-life experience has taught them that the best-laid out plans can not go as plan, and they are able to utilize their 'individual' thinking to fight regardless of a plan falling through.

I found it really interesting and I think there's value in both ways of thinking for Vlad and Aizawa. For Class B, they will have to learn how to abandon a plan that's not working and strategize on the fly, and Class A will have to hone their teamwork for long-running battles.

And let's be honest, these are just kids, pushing their bodies and minds to the limit, I don't find Class B to be 'trash' just because they lost, they still fought hard and worked better together in the long run then Class A. Class B didn't have any dead weight with their battles, everyone was utilized and contributed to all their fights. People are so set on who “won” or who “lost” the battle, that people overlook everyone’s overall individual quirks and techniques. I personally believe that many of the 1-B students were amazing and are forces to be reckoned with. It’s just that 1-A knows how to handle themselves when things don’t to go to plan rather than 1-B (as mentioned before) which gave 1-A the upper-hand in most of the battles, but I can definitely name a few fights where Class A's members were carried by their team.

Now to address the Shinsou thing:

To everyone who was PRESSED that Shinsou didn’t win....

What do you expect from Shinsou? I feel like people were overestimating him. Even with those cloth bindings and his quirk. All you need to do is shut your mouth, grab his cloth bindings (at best he has a few months training) keep focusing on him,restrain him, and boom you're done.(I obviously know it’s not that simple, but basically) I love Shinsou, I really do, but he’s basically Aizawa (I love Aizawa too don’t get me wrong). Aizawa mentioned that it took FIVE YEARS for him to truly master his quirk, and even though since this is the younger generation, so he’ll probably get the hang of it sooner, how long as he really been “training” his quirk under Aizawa? Definitely not long enough for him to go 1v1 with someone who is a close combat fighter. (It really isn’t that shocking that Deku won, he could probably win without Black Whip). Don't get me wrong Shinsou has improved MONUMENTALLY but not to the extent of 1-A who has direct experience in fighting villains. I just think people are mainly mad that 1-B lost is as because they think Shinsou won’t get into the Hero Course. Like chill. One of the main reasons 1-A won in the first match was because of Shinsou, so I think that proves that he is MORE than capable to get in to the Hero Course.

The whole OP Deku thing:

First off, I honestly don't expect him to ever match All Might at his prime in terms of consistent pure raw strength. Deku isn't a giant man of pure muscle, so I don't think he'd be able to go 100 and maintain it like All Might could. Deku is more of a person of different techniques and strategy, rather than brute force. Like, I don't know if Deku is going to be throwing punches that can blow away a city block.

That being said, each generation is getting stronger. Like, Endeavor will be surpassed by Todoroki by the time he graduates (if it even takes that long). Iida is already faster than Gran Torino. In the very beginning of the manga, they mentioned Deku will be the strongest holder of OFA, since it gets stronger each generation. Deku will have formidable rivals if the other strong students also reach their full potential. Hell, those rowdy kids we saw at the makeup exam already had really strong quirks at their young age. Generational power creep means that everybody around Deku will get way stronger than the current pros.

I understand the sentiment that Deku doesn't need more quirks, but Deku's quirk development was already approaching a plateau in terms of being able to fully control what power he could handle. He'd just work on his technique and slowly get stronger and stronger. Sure, he's gonna eventually be able to punch/kick hard enough to shoot himself around in the air, but we've already seen that stuff (plus Bakugo does that too). I know Horikoshi is creative and will develop some cool moves for Deku, but Deku's struggle to control OfA was mostly over. All he had to do wast master OFA steadily and he’ll be good. More quirks means that he may unlock more quirks when he's able to use more %. So instead of reaching 30% and just being X amount stronger physically, he may unlock a new tool to try and master/incorporate into his combat toolkit.

If this is a negative turn for the story, we won't even be able to tell until many, many more chapters are released. We may look back and decide that this was a bad move, but we shouldn't assume that's the case when it was literally introduced TWO WHOLE CHAPTERS AGO. (even though I don’t think it was a bad move AT ALL)

What I hope to see in future Arcs:

I think what fans would really enjoy and we could all use some real Deku character development. Deku’s my favorite character, but I feel like people can’t connect to him as much as someone like Todoroki, because his lack of emotional development. He’s indeed way more confident then he was in the beginning, I still feel like he has low self esteem. Someone needs to tell him that he’s worthy of this mega powerful quirk. ( he needs it 😭)We know so much about him, but rarely see him living his day to day life outside of training, costume updates and the occasional villain attack. Last time we got anything close to development in was only told through Aoyama's development.

These next few chapters will definitely give us something, but only as it relates to One for All. I'd honestly like to know Deku's thoughts about his situation, he seems determined that's for sure. Does he feel stressed, uninformed, unprepared, scared...resentful? We can infer a bunch, I'd just like to see him talk to All Might, Bakugo or his mom about it.

In Conclusion:

Honestly, to me,It never seemed to matter who won or lost any of these matches people were gonna complain regardless. When Class A wins they call it predictable and when class B won they say call it BS or plot amor. Even when it’s a draw people got upset saying Todoroki was disappointing. Some people wanted the matches to be fleshed out over a couple of chapters rather than rushed, then a few weeks later complained that it was taking to long. Bakugo wins his match quickly and those same people lose their minds about how they wanted the match to be longer. People complained about Horikoshi not letting the girls shine in battle after the second match, but conveniently forgets Tsuyu was the MVP of the first match and Kendo and Mushroom girl made 1-B win the second match. (AND WE’RE NOT GONNA FORGET HOW URARAKA AND MINA DOMINATED THE MATCH)Then you have the people who say all of 1-B is worthless and then Juzo and Tetsutetsu prove otherwise. Now we have people think Deku is OP but in this new chapter it seems that he much has a limit to using these other abilities but I’m sure that won’t stop the myriad of complaints. Every week the same people come to see the spoilers and complain based off of a fragmented non-contextualized summary of the chapter and wonder why they enjoy the chapter itself less. Maybe going into a chapter with a negative outlook will do that. The part that irks me is that virtually everyone whose binge-read this arc seems to enjoy it only seems to be us week to week readers with a issue. Either way I hope the discussion going into the next arc are far more level-headed constructive than they have been.

I think this will be one of the arcs that played out better once it was animated. Individual panels maybe favored over the anime, but overall pacing will surely favor the anime. Waiting week in and week out, over analyzing every short chapter has really done no favors for fans and Horikoshi.

#mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #deku #midoriya izuku #bnha #mha 213 #mha 214 #mha 215 #mha 200-215 #mha 216 #thanks for coming to my ted talk #yall are so annoying #i stg #rant #anime #manga #manga spoliers #bnha spoilers

[irageneveart]

How about jumin having an argument with mc about rika who is back but with malice intentions but everyone didn't notice especially Jumin because he still has feelings for her even though he is with mc. Rika and her followers went to kidnapped mc and tries to kill her (beaten, force the elixer on mc) because she felt threatened by mc. How would jumin react to this when he finds mc pretty beaten up? Would he be traumatised? Would he cried? Will he hate rika? I love to see a desperate jumin

Hi anony!

Because this is very specific I felt headcanons wouldn’t be enough, so I triedto write a drabble with a different approach because you already wrote half of the storyyourself xD I didn’t want to just write exactly what you said but with prettierwordscause I started this while I was in class and I was pretty bored, Iactually ended up with a fic lol. I hope you’ll like it!

Under the cut like always, thank youfor your request and I hope you enjoy! I’m not a writer by default so feedback isappreciated, I’m trying to get better in this area too! :D

PS: In my opinion Jumin gave up on his feelings on Rika, if there really wereany, pretty early. We know how strong his will is, and so are his morals. Hewouldn’t let himself think of the lover and later the fiancé of his best friend,like ever. But let’s imagine hedidn’t give up on those feelings for the sake of your scenario o/

The CEO of C&R could never be moregrateful for his life. He had a beautiful wife that was all he ever imaginedher to be. He proposed to her in public and he would do it again, any time,with no second thoughts. He finally had someone to call his own, with no fearthat someone else might take her away from him. If she ever wanted to leave, hewould make her stay. Somehow, in any way, she will not leave.He won’t be alone again.The discovery of more lies from his friend didn’t settle well with Jumin, Rikawas alive and Jumin felt like he was losing control over everything. Hestarting coming to bed way too late, his smile wasn’t as warm as it used to beand his touch was absent pretty often, way too often. They used to share smilesand sweet nothings during the day and the bed during the night, and now itfeels like he is barely home. What happened?His thoughts were poisoned, and no matter how much he loved MC he needed timealone to sort them out. Rika was alive and he should be angry. Everything shewas doing was illegal, and there were innocent people involved. She didn’treach out to him and she lied and hid. But he still felt like maybe he canhelp, maybe she will come back. Why was she in his thoughts? Why did heremember the exact way her golden locks shone in the sunlight, the way shesoftly smiled and the little tilt of her head from that day? Why does he hearthose words so clear even after all this time, “Maybe if I met you first…”?

 After they discovered the first glimpse ofMint Eye, every trace of it disappeared. They had a hacker just as good asSeven, and somehow the old building that had their logo was now completelyempty. She escaped and evaded him once again.

He didn’t know it frustrated him, for notbeing able to do the right thing, or if he felt relieved. Maybe, just maybe,she will call. She will ask for forgiveness and will ask him for help. Would heable to do it? Would he be able to forgive her? And then what?

Those were the questions tangling around histhroat every night when he slid into bed next to his beautiful, sleeping wife.

 And then, the worst happened.

When MC disappeared he could only blamehimself. He should have loved her better, treat her better, spend more timewith her. It was only his fault and now she was gone. Zen was telling him theywill find her; Jaehee was constantly trying to reassure her boss that thingswill be fine. There was only one thought as he drank the last sip from the Chateau MargauBottle: she left on her own. He deserved this, letting anangel to escape through his fingers just because he kept thinking of the crowon the fence. Even so, the entire C&R was working to find her. Herlingering scent in their house was the only thing that kept him sane, that madehim keep his hope. RFA was on alert and he sent bodyguards for everyone. Hecan’t afford to lose his family, no; the thought itself wasn’t allowed toexist.

 Blessed be the day when he found her. The knotin his chest was threatening to split him open with every step he took on MintEye’s halls. Every sleepless night, every empty bottle and every grievingthought was coming back to him. He was afraid, he was happy, he was feeling somuch that for the first time in his life, he felt like puking.

 On his way there, between the policemen andthe doctors, between the followers who were fighting and those who were crying,happy to be finally free, he saw her. Rika was wearing a dark blue and whiterobe, and she was nothing he remembered. Her eyes that used to be the color ofgrape leaves were now sharp and cruel, like poison. Her full hair that used tobath into the sunlight was now pale and lifeless. Their eyes met and he feltnothing. There was nothing behind her furrowed eyes and there was nothing inhis chest. Then, a sudden feeling was tickling his core. He felt like a huge weightwas raised from his shoulders, he felt free and he smiled.

 Jumin smiled at her in the middle of all ofthese people because she no longer had power over him, he smiled at himselfbecause he knew what he had to do now and he smiled for everybody to see thatnow, after all this time, he was finally a new man ready to forget the past andbuild towards his future.

 His love, his future, his life, now it alldepended on one single person: MC.

 His future was waiting in a big ceremony roomthat looked creepily grim, with a big chair in the middle that he assumed itbelonged to The Savior, Rika’s self-chosen title. He made his way through thesea of doctors to finally see her, sitting down with her head bowed and herarms lifelessly hanging on her sides. MC’s eyes were unfocused and she lookedpale and skinny, bruises flourishing from underneath her bangs and under theblanket that was covering her frail shape. But she was alive.

 His heart shattered at the sight, and he fellto his knees. “Just few minutes, leave me alone with her.” his voicealmost begged and hesitantly the doctors left, none of them complaining infront of Mr. Han. Not when they saw him like this.

 "My wife…“ he begun,cupping her soft hand bruised with green and purple in his bigger ones. She wasstill starring into nothingness while his heart ached to see her looking athim.

 "I am sorry. I am sorry foreverything I did, and for everything I did not. I love you, I always had, and Iwill always will. I can only beg to God you will allow me to stay by your sideonce again.” he muttered every word with pained voice. Bringing her handto his lips he pressed a soft kiss on the damaged skin.

 "My threads have grown spikessince you left and they were clenching closer to my heart with every secondthat I could not have you in my arms. I missed you, my wife, and I loveyou.“ he exhaled against her hand and he was ready to get up, when herother hand came to cup his cheek. His eyes grew so big when she smiled againsther inflamed cheek, like he saw an angel unfolding her wings in front of hisvery own eyes.

 "I forgive you.” she saidin her weak voice and it was enough to make his eyes glossy, pulling her in atight hug and letting go only when the doctors urged him to.

He was happy, and he was free.

#ira geneve #jumin han #jumin han x mc #juminmc #mystic messenger scenario #anon request #writing request #my writing #i really have no idea how to tag these mini fic / drabble stuff #mysme imagines #mystic messenger

[bouttogolinkurbitch]

Forever and Always: Grayson Dolan

Mentions of death, it’s a car crash. Suggestions of smut. Also really fucking sad. I cried a lot and got a nosebleed while writing lmao strap in sorry for errors my loves <3

Tags:

@platinumgrayson

@graicin

@rockstardolan

@doltishdolans

@dolanoodle

@joeyskinnyleg

@cheesygrayson

@dimply-dolan

@grayson-dolans-dangly-earring

@deluxedolans

@goldendolans

@jellyfishdolan

@chaaandlaah

@dimply-dolan

@dolayn

@kissdolans

@dolanswhore

@graysonsscruff

@kara-dolan

@dolandreaminn

@sisterdolan

☀️☁️☁️☀️

not my edit, credits to Grayson’s insta, bless you bub

College wasn't for me. School definitely wasn't my thing. But here I was, in college, more fucking school, to become a professional writer. Ever since I was a kid I had wanted to publish books, something millions of people would see, and I sought out to achieve that goal in the next ten years. My entire life was a check list. Graduate high school, took forever but I did it! Get a dog named Wiggles, accomplished when I was six. Have sex for the first time, did at the young age of seventeen to a boy who smelled of deli meat and exotic mustards. We don't talk about him. Now, the next hurdle was college.

I was two years down, nose deep in my studies for a chemistry class- why do I need chemistry to write- when my door opened. Adrianna, my beloved roommate and only real friend, stood with a maroon halter dress over her arm. "You need to start getting ready! We leave in half an hour!" I dropped my pencil as I looked at her, my brows drawing together. "Ready for what? I got a chem test to study for." Her eyes rolled and she stepped into my room, before she took my textbook. "No. No studying tonight! It's Friday, Y/N. Friday!" I sat up on my bed before I shimmed off and stood in front of her. "So your validation for me going to a party is that it's Friday?" She huffed and shoved the dress into my arms. "No, tonight, you're gonna meet your soulmate."

I stood next to Adrianna, who wore a deep purple velvet dress and strappy white heels. "You're going to meet my best friend and practical brother Ethan! And then you'll meet his actual brother, twin brother, Grayson." I nodded and followed her through the crowd of sweaty bodies. I didn't want to be here. Partying in college wasn't on my list of things I wanted to do. Although, being outside of the dorm, and in a new environment made the adrenaline rush. Nerves racked my body, but for once, they were good nerves.

We approached to identical bodies, both holding drinks in their opposite hands, and both were facing two girls and guy. "Ethan!" Adrianna said cheerfully, the one on the right turned and smiled widely. My eyes widened and I looked at Adrianna. "Hey Ade." Ethan said before he hugged her. I stood silently before she laughed and put her arm around my shoulder, "Guys, this is Y/N!"

"I'm Ethan, and this is my twin Grayson." I waved at them both before Adrianna chuckled. "This is Erin, Kaylynn, and Bryant!" I smiled, "I would introduce myself but Adrianna already did." Bryant laughed before he smiled, "What do you major in?" I smiled before Adrianna led me closer to the group, "I'm trying to become an author. We're thriving." I teased and Erin giggled. "You're gonna fit in well, Y/N! Come have a drink with me and Kaylynn!" She cheered before she tugged me by my wrist, along with Kaylynn who had yet to speak, towards the bar.

The next morning, I woke with deep bruises on my neck and collarbone. I was laying in my bed with last night's attire still on. Sweat clung to my body like a second skin, and I felt sick to my stomach. I rolled over to grab at my phone. Whoever took me home was a literal angel, and put my phone on the charger. I checked the time to see it was well past nine in the morning, which meant only one thing. That huge chemistry test had already happened and I was failing that class now.

I let my head rest against my desk in my literature class. I was far too hung over from last night to even think about knowledge. With a sigh, I slumped against my palm. "This seat taken?" My eyes widened and I looked up to see Ethan? Or Grayson? I couldn't remember the difference between the two. "Ethan or Gray?" I muttered as he slid into the wooden seat. With a laugh he pulled out his notebook and pencil.

"Grayson. You can tell the difference because Ethan would never take a class over the English language. He and Adrianna spend most of their time together so he takes early morning classes anyway." He spoke as he took a sip of his coffee. "How are you not fucked from last night?" I groaned as I looked to my notebook, doodling on the paper. "Don't drink." I nodded with pursed lips, "I could imagine how clumsy you'd get." He laughed and looked at me through his lashes, "Oh yeah?" I smiled and nodded as I scribbled over the terribly drawn eyebrow. "Definitely."

Lit suddenly had a meaning. Mr. Loyd was probably the most annoying professor in existence, but English became easy with Grayson. Any time we learned a new subject, Grayson would help me study. Study dates became very regular for us. Loyd couldn't teach but he sure could give a test. I let my head fall into my palms as I groaned. Grayson sat across from me with his book on his lap. Take out containers littered the coffee table, as well as coffee cups. I rubbed at my eyes before I looked at him. "If I have to read this text one more time, I'll fucking scream!" I whined.

Grayson pouted before he put the book on the floor. "What can I do to relax you?" I sighed and pouted back, before I looked at him, "Would you rub my back?" He smiled slightly and nodded before he reached behind and got a throw pillow off the couch. After fluffing it, he laid it on his thighs and looked at me expectedly. I laid across the floor with my head on his legs before I lifted my shirt slightly. He started to scratch way to hard and I whined. "Soft Gray, like you're barley there." He wordlessly scratched softer, making my eyes slide shut. "Perfect." I muttered. Soon he was rubbing my back and shoulders in a slight massage. I felt as if I was in heaven.

I woke up the next morning in my bed, tucked securely under my blankets. Beside my phone, a note sat with my name scribbled on the front. Grayson wrote saying he tucked me in and wished me good luck on the test. I grabbed my phone to check the time. It was eleven thirty which meant I had half an hour to get to my test. I quickly got up and changed before I brushed my teeth. With my hair thrown up in a bun, sweats low on my hips, and Uggs, I got my keys and phone, leaving for the stupid fucking test.

Grayson looked so good when I came him. He was wearing jeans and a fluffy looking sweater. I slid in my seat behind him, wearing an over sized hoodie he left at my house. "Morning, Y/N. Brought you a coffee and bagel with cream cheese." He said as he put a bag and cup on my desk. I looked up at him with my tired eyes and a lazy smile. "I love you. Wow." I said before I dug the delicious bagel from the bag and took a bite. "Holy fuck!" I exclaimed. Several people turned and looked at me, glaring. I snorted and took another bite before I fell back into my seat. "You're a godsend, Grayson Dolan." I muttered through a mouthful of bagel. He just smiled and laughed before Mr. Loyd came in.

We were all sitting around Adrianna's room. Ethan and Grayson were bickering over hockey, before I got a notification on my phone. "Gray! Our tests were graded!" I said excitedly before I went to check. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him do the same. "Did you get above an eighty percent?" He asked as he looked to me. I nodded with a huge smile. "On three! One, two, three! I got a ninety!" I squealed. He cheered, "I got a ninety five! I'm proud of us!" He said before he pulled me in to a hug. Our other friends clapped for us before Bryant held up his camera, "Pose, my A students!" Grayson pulled me against his side and held up a thumbs up. I smiled widely and the flash went off, signaling the picture was taken.

"Y/N!" Erin squealed as we were chased by Adrianna and Kaylynn. "I'm gonna get you, Y/N!" Adrianna yelled as she hurled the water balloon at my back. I laughed before I ducked behind Ethan. The water balloon landed on his chest and he groaned. Grayson laughed at his side and I quickly moved behind him as Kaylynn ran closer. "Hide me!" I yelped as I clung to him. He turned slightly, "Jump!" I did as told and he grabbed my legs before he ran with me across the yard. All the balloons that were thrown missed us by centimeters.

I laughed by his ear as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. His hands cupped my thighs in the best way and I felt my cheeks heat up. "You can put her down now, Gray!" Bryant joked as he snapped a picture of us. I giggled before I slid off his back and Erin ran to me. I caught her in my arms before I giggled, "You're awful energetic this morning." I spoke as I carried her towards the pool. We had all flown to Jersey to Ethan and Grayson's parents house. She slid into a pool chair beside Kaylynn, who had finally warmed up to me. Adrianna was laid out on a towel, her arms crossed under her chin, as she soaked up the sun. I settled beside Erin on the chair as I laid back, attempting to get a tan.

"I'm so happy you all have befriended my boys." Lisa said as she laid down a plate of sandwiches she and Sean had made for dinner. I smiled before I said a quick, "Thank you." She nodded to me and winked before they both sat down. "So, you all met at a party last year? It's taken a year to meet your friends, boys?" Sean asked and Grayson groaned. "We didn't drink, dad. They did. And yeah, it's hard flying six people across the country." I felt my cheeks heat up and Sean chuckled. "You a lightweight, Y/N?" My brows shot up and right as I was about to say no, Grayson cut in and said, "Yes, yes she is." Everyone laughed and I rolled my eyes before I took a sip of my water.

"A little birdie told me his twin has a crush on you." Kaylynn sang as she, Erin, Adrianna, and myself sat around the guest bedroom I was staying in. "Doubt it, Kay." I spoke as I got on to the bed beside Erin. She laid her head against my arm as we faced Kaylynn. Adrianna laid at our feet with her head on my butt as a pillow. In the beats of silence, my phone buzzed with a text.

you up

"It's from Gray." Erin said as she handed me my phone. I read the text and typed back a quick,

yeah why?

All the girls were watching. "Told you." Kaylynn spoke before my phone buzzed again,

can you come to my room?

I looked at Erin and she smiled, "Go get your boy."

I knocked on Grayson's door softly before I heard him shuffle behind the door. I smiled at him and he smiled back before he led me in. With a bounce, I sat on his bed, before I crawled up to the pillows and I snuggled in. "You caught me at a bad time, Gray. I'm awful tired." Grayson smiled as he got in bed next to me. His face was so very close to mine, and we were both staring at each other, so me taking in every detail became less awkward.

I felt his hand on my pajama clad hip as he shifted closer. "Tell me if I'm reading it wrong, Y/N. Words are your thing." I laughed softly, "Body language isn't close to being verbal or written Gray. I've had to decipher just as much as you have." He smiled and suddenly, we were closer. "I could get used to laying next to you in my bed." I raised a brow, and this time I moved closer. Our noses bumped, breaths mingled, and then I felt the gentle brush of his plump, pink lips against my own. His hand had moved up my back, drawing me closer.

I ended up seated on his hips with my hands in his hair, and our lips rushed together. His own hands found solace against my hips, with the occasional brush against my ass. I jumped the first time, but the feeling slowly became familiar as we went on.

I sighed against the skin of his neck as we took a quick breather. "Y/N, please stay." He spoke so softly. I nodded before I let my body slump against his. "As long as you rub my back, just how I like." I joked. He started to rub soft circles against my skin and I smiled before I kissed his neck. "Goodnight, Gray." He turned and kissed my temple, "Sweet dreams, honey."

"Grayson!" I whined as he chuckled. He stood above me as I laid on our shared bed. Grayson had a banquet dinner tonight that I wasn't in the mood to go to. "I need my best girl at my side. My good luck charm." He said happily as he pulled me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him softly in a series of kisses. "You're such an ass." I groaned and he chuckled. "Come on, baby! It's one dinner. And then when we get home, I'll run us a bath." My brows raised and I stood on my tip toes. His eyes became droopy as he focused solely on my movements. With a quick tip of my jaw, I gave him the lightest kiss on the lips.

In the closet of our room, I plucked out the most revealing yet elegant dress I owned. It was sleek and black, cut outs on the side to expose the right about of skin in the right places, and a low cut back. The black pumps I had matched perfectly and I smiled to myself. Grayson watched as I did my hair in the bathroom mirror before I started in on some makeup. "You're a natural beauty, Y/N. Don't cover that up."

After a night of being paraded around with Grayson, we finally arrived back home. I took off my shoes and held my dress up as I walked to our room. Grayson was hot on my heels with his tie undone. "Tough night, my love." He said with a sigh as he slid the jacket of his suit off and hung it in the closet. I turned to see him with his button down undone slightly, his lion head Gucci belt woven through the loops on his slacks, just below his caramel hips.

I bit my lip before I turned, "Unzip me?" He made quick steps before I felt his lips on my skin and his hands on my zipper, "Thank you for sacrificing your night for my banquet." He spoke gently against my skin. I turned as the dress pooled, leaving me in the black lingerie he had gotten me for my birthday.

His hands landed on my hips, the cold rings searing my skin. "I'm really banking on you drawing me a bath. Also, I kind of love you with my whole heart, and I'd spend any night with you no matter what." He chuckled and pressed a kiss to my lips, as he tugged me flush against his front. The belt seemed to burn my skin with its icy finish, as he pulled my leg to his hip, dipping me. As I bent back, his lips trailed down my entire front as the hand on my back popped open the clasp of my bra.

I laid with my body curled against Grayson's. His chest heaved as he sucked in the oxygen he didn't get as we fucked. My head laid over his heart as he trailed his hand down my side, squeezing my hip. "You still awake?" He muttered, his voice deep and raspy. I nodded and pressed a sloppy kiss to his skin. "What's on your mind, Gray?" He puffed out a breath and rolled to where I was in his arms, chest to chest. Our eyes met in the dim light that flooded in from the bathroom. "I want to be with you forever, Y/N. You're my forever." I smiled and rolled him back on to his back. Quickly, I took my rightful place in his lap, and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Forever and always." I muttered, and he gave me a short chuckle before he lifted me and quickly slid back inside of me. "You're going for a ride, flower." I bit my lip before we kissed again.

When I woke, Grayson wasn't in bed. The sheets were cold and empty. Kinda how I felt before I met Grayson. He really livened up a room, or in my case, my heart. I rolled out of the sheets, before I grabbed a shirt off the floor. "Gray?" I called as I walked down the hall. He was watching tv when I got in the living room, a mug of coffee pressed to his lips. I slipped into the kitchen and made my own cup before I joined him. "I can't believe we graduate soon." I muttered as I kissed his jaw. He smiled and turned before he kissed me firmly, "Gotta kiss me like you mean it, lovebug. We made it through college." I laid my head against his shoulder before he rubbed my back how I liked.

"Do you ever wanna have kids?" He asked suddenly. I stiffened before I sat up. "I could handle a few more Grayson's in the world. Girls or boys?" I asked as I propped my chin on his shoulder. "One of each. I want a son and a daughter." I nodded before I let my cheek rest against his skin. "Names?" I muttered and he chuckled, "Avery Lyn and Tyson James." I smiled and looked at him, "You really want kids with me?" I asked softly, my voice wavering. His hands pulled me onto his lap before he kissed me. "I wouldn't want them with anyone else. Wouldn't feel right."

Grayson and I swayed beside each other as we cooked. Tonight the gang would be back together. I chopped veggies as Grayson made the lasagna. "Did you get that good wine from the winery?" I asked as I tore lettuce for the salad. "Yeah. I got a couple bottles, we know how Kaylynn and Erin get." I giggled before he turned and kissed my shoulder. "I also picked up some dessert from the bakery on Welburn street." I turned and threw my arms around him, "Are you trying to spoil me?" He bumped his nose with mine, "Always." I let my lips drop to his in a quick kiss.

"It's been too long!" Adrianna whined as she saw me. I held her in my arms as Bryant and Ethan walked past with her purse and coat. Ethan hugged Grayson before he sat her things down. Bryant and Gray exchanged their handshake before he waved to me. I waved back before I turned back to Adrianna. I pulled her back into a hug as I rubbed her shoulder, "We have tonight to catch up on everything! We need a girls day." She nodded and looked at Ethan, completely ignoring my words. "I really love him, Y/N." I smirked and rolled my eyes, "Really? I had no idea!" She lightly punched my arm before we giggled. Seconds later, the doorbell rang and Kaylynn and Erin stood waiting for hugs.

We all sat around the table full of wine and full of food. Grayson stood before he coughed. We all stopped to look at him. My brow raised and he sent me a wink. "I figured I'd do this in front of the people I love the most. You all mean so much to me and Y/N, so I think it's fair you see this." He pulled me from my seat and I gasped. He rubbed his hands down his pants as he got on one knee and he looked up at me. Our hands joined and then he took one look at our friends who had gone eerily silent. As his eyes met mine, he dug in his pocket and produced a small black box. And in that box, he revealed the most Grayson Dolan wedding ring possible. Medium sized diamond, glistening band, and an engraved message on the top of the box. I say the most Grayson Dolan wedding ring because it was perfect in every sense of the word.

"Y/N, I've loved you ever since I laid eyes on you at that party. You always catch my eye in every room and every photo. You're my beacon of light in my darkest times. You are my other half. I love you so very much and want to spend my forever with you. Forever and always with our little kids, and our house, your writing career, and mine in film. I want all of our dreams to come true as we do them together, but that journey starts with you saying yes to being my wife. So, Y/N, my love, will you please marry me?" I felt all the air get knocked from my lungs as warm tears dripped down my cheeks. "Oh my god, Gray! Yes!" I sobbed as he stood and slid the ring on my finger. I was still shaking as he pressed a light kiss to my lips.

"White roses or white peonies? Remember we'll have the gold sprayed on them." I said as I sat next to Grayson in bed. He looked over from his phone and pointed to the peonies. "I know they're your favorite." I smiled and kissed his cheek before I jotted that in my notes. "What do we want to serve for dinner?" I asked as I showed him menu options. "Let's go steak and chicken, those good dinner rolls from the bakery, mashed potatoes, collard greens, the pie and cake for dessert, and as many soda options as possible." He said as he propped his chin on my shoulder, watching as I typed that in my notes.

"Okay, do you want Brody to be the ring bearer?" I asked and he nodded. Brody was Cameron's son. "Yeah, B can be the ring man. Ethan is my best man." I rolled my eyes, "That was obvious, Gray. Thank you for helping me." I said before I kissed his hair. I put my phone on the charger and got situated for bed before I looked at Grayson. He smiled and turned my body towards him before he gave me a sloppy kiss. "You wanna try to make Brody a cousin?" I laughed and shoved his shoulder before I tucked my body as close to his as I could. "Goodnight, my love." He said softly as he kissed my hair. I tangled my hand with his and I smiled, "Goodnight, hubs." He laughed and almost rolled completely on top of me, as he pulled me closer.

"You literally have three weeks before your wedding, Y/N!" Kaylynn said happily. I had treated the girls to breakfast, so we could catch up before the big day. "It's unreal. I really wanna thank you, Adrianna, for making me go to that dumb party." I said and she laughed as she sat her cup of coffee down. "I told you! I said you'd be meeting your soulmate and low and behold!" We all laughed at her comment, before I pulled her into a hug. Our waitress came over with our food and we all got excited. "Your avocado toast looks amazing!" Erin whined as I took a bite out of it. "I had never had it until I met Gray. He eats this all the time, and I've gotten so accustomed to stealing his food, I started to like it too." Kaylynn smiled as she cut into her pancakes.

"Walk us through the ins and outs of being almost Mrs. Dolan." I laughed as I sat my coffee down. "Well, every morning, Gray wakes up before me to go to the gym in our house. And when he's done he makes himself breakfast." They all nodded as I wiped my mouth. "He'll come wake me up before he eats and then I'll end up taking some off his plate. He started making himself extra because he knows me."

Erin giggled before she took a bite of her eggs and pointed at me with her fork, "What's he like in bed?" My cheeks heated up as the other girls laughed. "If he's anything like Ethan, he completely rocks her world." Arianna muttered before she took a sip of her coffee. I cackled as I sat my toast down, "He definitely takes care of me. On multiple occasions, I have not been able to walk the next day." I teased and Kaylynn snorted. "I've seen her hobble so I believe it."

"Okay so thank you for breakfast, angel, but now it's our turn to treat you! We're taking you to get your honeymoon lingerie and some swimsuits for the trip to Greece." Adrianna spoke as we all stood from the table. I scoffed, "You guys don't have to buy me anything!" Erin patted my back and pulled me in a hug, "Don't have to but we want to! We love you, Y/N!" I felt my cheeks heat up and I looked at my three best friends. "I love you all too."

"Grayson likes red." I said as I watched the girls slide through the teddies and panties that were on display. "Red? What else?" Kaylynn asked as she held up a black thong and bra. "Red, cream, gray funnily enough." I joked and Erin giggled. Adrianna came around the corner with a deep red fluffy, sheer house coat and matching teddy. "This will kill him." I laughed and nodded, "That's the one! Now I need heels to match." I said as I took it from her. She winked and pulled a box from under her arm, before she opened it. Red suede heels adorned with fluff along the band that goes over the toes were presented to me and I wanted to faint. "These are gorgeous!"

After we hit a few more stores, Adrianna asked if we were ready to go home. "Listen, baby, you gotta wear that your wedding night and I want full details after." Erin said as we all squeezed into the Uber Kaylynn had ordered. "Why full details?" I asked as I adjusted the shopping bags I had on my arms. "I wanna know when and how I'm going to be a godmother!" I felt my cheeks heat up before I looked away. "What? Why did you look away?" Adrianna asked as Kaylynn gripped my arm and smiled. "I think someone's already pregnant!" Kaylynn said with a smile. I felt my own lips turn as I nodded. "I haven't told Gray yet. I found out two weeks ago." I said softly. Erin pulled me in for a hug before they all did. Adrianna gripped my hand, "We'll be here every step of the way."

I laid across the couch with my hand over my bump, watching reruns of Friends. Grayson had meetings all day for his ever growing production company, so I was left to my own accord. Wedding planning, snacking, throwing up whatever I ate, and drinking water was what my day consisted of. I looked down at my tummy and sighed, "Already too much like your father, so stubborn." As I gently caressed my stomach, minutes from falling asleep, my phone started ringing. Adrianna was calling. I swiped and answered, "Hey Ade! What's up?"

Her silence made my heart plummet. "What's wrong, Adrianna?" I sat up quickly on the couch, my fingers tightening around my phone. "Gray, he got in an accident. Hit head on. Y/N, Grayson's in the hospital. Ethan's with him." My skin felt sticky with sweat as I moved to our room. Throwing on some shoes, I grabbed his hoodie, and made my way outside to my car. Adrianna was still talking on the other end of the phone but I didn't hear her. White noise. "What hospital and what room?" I asked, she spouted off the information as I started my drive.

I passed the wreck on my way there, seeing Grayson's Porsche crashed against an old pick up. I sobbed before my stomach started churning again, I felt sick. The flashing lights from the police cars that still littered the scene blurred together behind the sheen of tears that threatened to fall. With a hiccup, they cascaded down my skin, dripping on my hoodie. Grayson's hoodie.

"Grayson Dolan, please, I'm his fiancé." I rushed to the secretary. A woman grabbed my arm, "I'll take you. I'm his nurse." I nodded and followed her, my mouth still hanging open in shock. When I got to his room, Adrianna hugged me tightly. I started to cry against her shoulder before I moved back and looked at him. Ethan sat emotionless in the seat, his lip between his teeth, and his hand holding his brother's. "Should've been me." He muttered before his eyes met mine, glossed over in tears. I shook my head before I sat down on the cotton bed, my head falling on to Grayson's stomach as my entire body shook with sobs.

"Come on, Gray." My voice sounded scratchy, broken, as I tried to persuade his subconscious to let him wake up. Open those pretty, deep, dark eyes. Let his lashes flutter with life. Get some color back in his cheeks. I was begging to a corpse. "Grayson, I don't know if you can hear me, but I love you. And I had something I wanted to tell you, just didn't know how to say it." My breathing hitched as I spoke. With my free hand I wiped my eyes and nose, not caring that I looked just as broken as he did. At least my eyes were open and I was speaking. I pressed a chaste kiss to his hand as I laid my head down beside his thigh, "Gray, baby, I'm pregnant."

I sat back in the chair as Erin, Kaylynn, Bryant, Adrianna, and Ethan came in. "Have you eaten?" Erin asked as she crouched in front of me. I shook my head as she pushed my hair off my face before she tied it in a bun. My eyes met hers as my chin started to wobble, "Not hungry." She shook her head, "Not acceptable. Your little one needs food even if you don't feel like eating." Her thumbs came under my cheeks and swiped the tears away. I clenched my eyes and leaned forward into her arms as my body shook. "Mom, dad, and Cam are flying out tonight." Ethan said softly as he came over to me. He took Erin's place, and gripped my hands.

"Y/N, you're not my sister in law yet, but you're still my family. Grayson would want you to eat. Hell he would spoon feed you until you choked down a bowl of soup. You need to eat." This time, he was the one to run his thumbs across my cheeks. "You need to keep your strength up for him and for my nephew or niece. Ade will take you. And I'll call her if he progresses. I love you." I threw my arms around him and nodded before I kissed his cheek, "Love you too, E."

Adrianna handed me a spoon and kissed my hair. "How do you feel right now? Do you think he'll be okay?" She asked as she rubbed my back. I shifted away and shook my head, "Too hard." Her frown deepened and she started to scratch lighter as she watched me take a sip of the broth from my soup. "He's strong, he'll make it." My voice was raspy when I spoke but I ignored it, and took another sip. She sighed and we sat in silence until I pushed the barely eaten soup away. "Full."

Back in the chair beside his bed, my hand gripped his firmly. His chest still rose and fell in the same rhythmic pattern it had for the past week. Lisa and Sean were staying at Ethan's, and Cam stayed with me so I wouldn't go insane. Leaving the hospital, scratch that, leaving Grayson here was the hardest part of my week. The novel I had started previous to the accident was put on a hard pause as I spent most of my days in this chair. In this room. Locked in a cage it seemed. I couldn't escape until Grayson did.

"Do you remember when we went to that Halloween party? You were my devil, and I was your angel. Totally opposite of how we really are. You're my light Gray. You're my sun. I need the sunlight back." My eyes started to water before I moved next to him on the bed. With shaky hands, I pressed my palm to the mattress as I leaned down to kiss his forehead. My lips quivered and I rested my head on his shoulder, away from the tubes and wires. "My plants are starting to die, Gray. I'm wilting. I've told you time and time again people are like plants. I need my sun." I started to sob against his gown. My hands scrunched up the sheets as I shook with vigor.

Seconds passed and I sat up. Breaths came in uneasily as I looked out the window. The world was still going on around me, even though I had put mine on pause. I let the icy tears glide down my skin as I watched family's rejoice with their loved ones, they got to go home. My home was laying in a hospital bed, barely grasping on to his precious life.

"The wedding is next week. What are you gonna do if he doesn't wake up?" Kaylynn asked. Erin frowned and pushed her arm as they watched. Adrianna and Cam were on the couch with Lisa, who let out a sob. My eyes darted to Lisa before I let my head fall into my hands. Today I stayed home so Sean, Ethan, and Bryant could get some time with Grayson.

I felt defeated that I was here and he was there. "I slept in his clothes last night. They still smell like him. I don't know what I'm gonna do when the cologne wears off, and his scent leaves." I started to sob as I bit on my upper lip, tugging until I tasted copper. "He's gonna be okay." Erin said as she gripped my hand. My eyes met hers and I nodded, "But if he's not, a part of me is gonna die too."

We all stood around Grayson's bed in silence. Just three days after Kaylynn had asked, we got our answer. Grayson Bailey Dolan wasn't making it to our wedding day. Lisa was crying against Sean. Ethan and Cam were holding each other beside his bed. And I stood, the ringing of the flatline echoing in my ears. I reached for the bed, barely missed, and crumbled to the floor as I started to sob.

Only noise didn't come out. Nothing did. I was screaming with no noise. Erin wrapped me in her arms as I started to thrash with sobs. Kaylynn was on my other side, holding me. I stopped moving and I watched as the doctor came in, frowning. Nurses followed him in and I watched. Wishing they could take me away too.

Ethan and Sean held Lisa and I up, Cam stood between us with her eyes screwed shut. Lisa was crying with Sean. Ethan and Adrianna had tears in their eyes. Erin had her hand on my back and Kaylynn was supporting Cam. We made our way to the front pews in the funeral home. Erin held me as I watched.

Everyone was silent as the pastor walked to the podium. He looked down at Grayson's still form and looked back with red eyes. "Thank you all for gathering today to mourn the loss of Grayson Bailey Dolan." With those words, Lisa and I let out matching sobs before we both crumbled like rocks.

I could hardly listen as my eyes drifted back to Grayson. He wore his wedding ring per my request. It glistened in the lights above his casket, giving him a sort of lively glow, although there was no life left. Lisa held my hand as she leaned on me, her head buried on my chest. Sean rubbed my back and I looked at him. He did it how Grayson always did. Just soft enough to where it was still a scratch, but also comforting. I sucked in a harsh breath before I kissed Lisa's head and I let my tears glide.

I stood next to the still fresh grave, days later on what should’ve been my wedding day. My white heels dug into the ground as I stood, holding my dress up. Bryant stood with Erin, a wobbly smile adorned his cheeks. “Grayson loved you so much. There was never a day he didn’t tell me how much.” I smiled at Bryant before I started to cry. Erin sighed and started to dab at my makeup with a tissue. I let my dress fall as I turned and looked at Grayson’s tombstone. I rested my arm against it before I rested my head against my arm. My body started to shake as I sobbed into the open air.

I heard cars pull up and I knew it was the family who would’ve been here for the wedding. I sat in a heap, ruining the dress Grayson never got to see me wear, with the soil that kept him below. I knew I looked insane but I didn’t care. Grayson was my love. My forever and always. Ethan got down next to me in his tux, before he pulled me in for a hug. Cameron joined us and laid her head on my shoulder. All the while Bryant was taking photos for me.

When I finally moved, Grandma Bernadette pulled me in for a hug. I let myself cry against her as she rubbed my back. “Grayson was so lucky to have you, angel. And I’m so thankful you’re going to be having my second grandchild.” I smiled as I wiped under my eyes. Poppy John kissed my hair, “You treated him so well, kid. You gotta know Gray passed away being his happiest self. You did that for him.” I nodded and he took my hands.

“That boy called me every weekend to tell me about you, how great you were, how good you treated him. Every weekend. And when I finally met you, you lived up to every word. He used every positive adjective he could to describe you and still wasn’t enough to cover his vast love for you. Gray passed away being the happiest man alive, I’m convinced.” I started to cry again before Grandma Bernadette pulled me back in.

“When we first met you,” she paused to wipe away some tears of her own, “Gray pulled us aside and asked what we thought. He valued our opinion, and after minutes of knowing you, Pop and I valued you. Legally you aren’t my granddaughter in law, but you are my family Y/N. You always have a place in my home.” I nodded and kissed her cheek before they both pulled me in for a hug.

“Push! Come on, Y/N!” Erin urged as she gripped my hand. The doctor gave me a nod before I pushed as hard as a could, screaming as I did. My head fell back against the bed as I started to pant. “Oh my god! I want it out!” I yelled. Erin chuckled before the door opened and Ethan came in with scrubs and gloves on. “I’m gonna cut the cord, okay?” He asked and I nodded before I white knuckled against the rail of the bed. Erin rubbed my back as I started to lean forward. Adrianna pulled my hair off my neck as I let out one last scream. As my yell faded, another began.

“Y/N, here’s your baby boy.” The nurse said as she delicately handed me the soft purple bundle. “What do you wanna name him?” She asked as she smiled down at me. “Tyson, spelled T-y-s-o-n, James Dolan. That’s his dad’s last name.” She nodded before she wrote that on the chart at the end of my bed. Tyson started to squirm in my arms, drawing my attention to his form. He had Grayson’s dark hair, and a few misplaced freckles as well. “Welcome to the world, Ty.” I said softly as I ran my finger down his plush cheek. Erin sat on the bed next to me before she smiled, “I’m so proud of you, Y/N.” I looked up and smiled before I wiped my eyes. “Gray is too. I can feel it.” Her chin wobbled before she leaned forward and kissed my hair, “He is, forever and always.”

#grayson dolan fluff #grayson dolan smut #grayson dolan x reader #grayson dolan edit #grayson dolan imagines #grayson dolan imagine #grayson dolan #dolan twins #dolan twins imagines #ethan dolan #ethan dolan imagine #ethan dolan fluff #ethan dolan x reader #ethan dolan imagines #youtube

[douchebagbrainwaves]

KIDS DIDN'T ADMIRE IT OR DESPISE IT

But if they don't, you're hosed. NYC, and when I asked them about their trip.1 VCs' money? When we started Viaweb, all the time? But I'm willing to let people see an early draft if it will be easy, and common, to try Web-based applications, there is not much going on, and why this company is going to beat them. You're just looking for something to spark a thought. When they can, for example, the idea was discovered during the Renaissance. There have probably been other people who did this as well as its results. What little original thought there was took place in the rankings.

And yet does anyone who was there have any expectation those days will ever return? The danger of symmetry, repetition and recursion. The really dramatic growth happens when a startup only has three or four people, so only three or four people see that, whereas tens of thousands see business as it's practiced by Boeing or Philip Morris. So why isn't he on the list, and indeed, no one will know. If you get someone really good, really early, it might be wise to give him as much stock as the founders.2 That would be a lot more eager to close—and not just because the returns are high but also because such investments are so easy to get distracted working on small stuff to work on big stuff. In fact the second step can propagate back into the first: if something is hard to appreciate is that it has started to be driven mostly by people's identities. Result: this revolution, if it is one, will be unusually localized. The biggest difference is that you focus more on marketing? So they're going to raise $200,000 worth of new shares to the angel; if there were 1000 shares before the deal, this means 200 additional shares.3 When you're riding a Segway is that you get instant feedback from changes: the number of toys my nephews have. Barring some cataclysm, it will work at any college.

Why? As long as things are going smoothly, boards don't interfere much. No one would dispute that he's one of the people who just make exactly what the customers tell them to stop. That one is easy: don't hire too fast. Till you feel comfortable investing, don't invest more than that.4 So you spread rapidly through all the colleges.5 That's an interesting idea.

We are still very suspect of this idea; it forced itself upon them gradually. Often users have second thoughts and delete such comments. But reading Austen is like reading nonfiction. Calder's sculptures never get boring. What do you do differently when you treat programming languages as a design problem instead of a research topic?6 You're not limited to small, artificial focus groups. Good design is suggestive. Maybe mostly in one hub.

The reason it pays to put off the second kind of errand. I didn't, not enough. Particularly the sort written by the architect. That's what I thought before Viaweb, to the extent I thought about the question at all.7 Hackers can be abrupt even in person. The danger of an idea, how do you choose between ideas?8 In a way. Benchmarks are simulated users.9

Sh And so good writers just you wait and see who's still in print in 300 years are less likely to depend on such tricks. The reason is that investors need to get their capital back, ideally after the startup IPOs, or failing that when it's acquired.10 It can be hard to understand, you could succeed this way. Hiring too fast is by far the biggest killer of startups that end up in it are ones you thought of while writing it? Risk and reward are usually proportionate, however: you should be eating fruit. Bad founders seem hapless. Design doesn't have to be created without any meaningful criteria. Maybe the alarm bells it sets off will counteract the forces that push you to overhire.11 So what does Hardy mean when he says there is no such thing as beauty, we need to be software for making them, so we are now three months into the life of a few carefully observed and solidly modelled objects will tend to seem very positive about your company. For the rest of the class, I just skimmed the Cliff's Notes, it turned out. If you get inspired by some project, I can work in noisy places. The designer is human too.

When you use the organic method is the example of the organic method, you don't need the narrowness of the well per se. You can at least use yourself as a good investor in the startups they funded. Odds are it will be easy to tell apart. The only way to get things right the first time. It's a live thing, running on your servers right now. You may be thinking, it's a mistake to conclude that because a question tends to provoke religious wars, it must a make something lots of people want and how to reach those people, there's a period of rapid growth. Most programmers wish they could start a startup. The less you spend, but as long as you have a beachhead. Like any war, it's damaging even to the degree it isn't, it's a bug. This article explains why much of the next generation of software will be easier, cheaper, more mobile, more reliable, and often more powerful than desktop software.

And for many if not most of the advantages of seed firms is the advice they offer. The suburbs of Pittsburgh in the 1970s before they figured out how to make the company good. His class was a constant adventure. Hiring too fast is by far the biggest killer of startups that end up going public didn't seem likely to at first. They can't dilute you without diluting themselves just as much. In my case they were effectively QA and to some extent the unsexy filter is to ask what you wish someone else would build, so that you could not, if asked, explain why one ought to write about it. A lot of them wrote software for them.12

Notes

So it may be a big effect on social ones. Why go to work your way up. When we got to targeting when I first met him, but there has to be a source of food.

The current Bush, for example, to drive the old one. 43. Obviously this is a way to see it in the most valuable aspects of startups is a bad idea, period.

Org Worrying that Y Combinator only got 38 cents on the relative weights? The point of view: either an IPO, or a blog on the grounds that a their applicants come from meditating in an absolute sense, if you're a YC startup and you have to sweat whether startups have elements of both.

The shares set aside an option to maintain their percentage. If only one restaurant left on the way up into the heads of would-be poets were mistaken to be most attractive when it's their own company. Currently, when they talked about convergence.

Philadelphia is a lot lobbying for harsh sentencing laws, they said, and a back seat to philology, which a seemed more serious and b made brand the dominant factor in deciding what to do good work and thereby subconsciously seeing wealth as something you need. With the good groups, you may as well, since they're an existing investor, and this tends to be about 200 to send a million spams. August 2002. And intimidate the NBA into letting him play.

So it's hard to pick up a take out your anti-dilution protections. The question to ask permission to go to college somewhere with real research professors. Though most founders start out excited about the qualities of these groups, which means you're being asked to choose between great people. The only people who should quit their day job, or some vague thing like that.

35 billion for the future. As a rule of thumb, the startup. The second biggest regret was caring so much in the sense of the world, and we don't have to say, but it is more important.

For example, if you are unimportant.

They also generally provide a better user experience. But that is a good grade you had small children pointed out by a factor of 20.

The Sub-Zero 690, one of them could as accurately be called acting Japanese. They have the.

If you want to approach a specific firm, get an intro to a car dealer. Look at those goddamn fleas, they tended to be important ones. But you can discriminate on the basis of intelligence.

There's not much to hope for, but suburbs are so much a great hacker. The best case. Indiana University Publications.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #Till #investors #architect #class #killer #fact #IPOs #something #time #reason #beauty #Sh #Renaissance #deal #years #programmers #suburbs #Viaweb #advantages #Design #startups #view #project #things

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY TO HAVE BAD IDEAS FOR STARTUPS ARE SOFTWARE PATENTS EVIL

You have to be Web consultants. It's demoralizing to be on any shortlist of admirable people. Some VCs lie and claim the company really needs that much. The third cause of trolling is incompetence. The best ideas are also the highest maintenance. You want the deal to close, so we try to do in the new language. Of course, a would-be founders believe that startups either take off or don't. File://www. It's more a question of fashion than technology, even he can probably get even more effect by paying closer attention to the company during that time too.1

File:///home/patrick/Documents/programming/python%20projects/UlyssesRedux/corpora/unsorted/before. The disadvantage of taking money from less known firms is that people won't take you seriously. It's like seeing the other interpretation of an ambiguous image. This is the most important thing in the world they care about getting the big questions.2 99 2, etc, and that kind of thing. Sufficiently aware, in my house in Cambridge, and Silicon Valley because I've lived for several years at least, so it should be distributed equally, rather than working on the startup, but startups are extreme. I really mean here is that teenagers are always on duty as conformists. Perhaps the most successful founders is that they get paid up front. So the acquirer is in fact the default in the predefined page styles couldn't do what they guess it will, because eventually the valuations will get so high it's not worth the overhead of negotiating individual deals, but they also invest at later stages. But they've been trained their whole lives doing things that are new, and if I didn't—to decide which is better. They are doubly hosed: the general partners themselves are less able, and yet blogging has only really taken off in the design of lives, as in many others, the eminent are actually disadvantages.

Even Microsoft, who have nothing, would prefer a 100% chance of $1 million than a 20% chance of $10 million, while the names of things should be short as well. There are only 5 MBAs in the top 50 do. The danger is to companies in the first ten topics.3 It seems to me that succinctness is what programming languages are not equivalent, and I don't expect to. If you just need to feed data from one format to another. If a writer rewrites an essay, most of which fail, and one of the ingredients in our common culture. But I know they seemed dangerous as late as 1984. Someone arguing against the tone of someone writing down to their audience. Fortunately, if startups get cheap to start a startup soon after college, which will switch from when one graduates from college to cubicle, and stay there. In an essay I wrote a lot of other people. I bet that particular firm will end up ahead.

But this approach is hard to implement. Another way to fund a startup is hard, at least for them. Why to Not Not Start a Startup I advised startups never to let anyone fly under them, meaning never to let any other company. In fact, the book can start as online documentation. But surely they should have, Microsoft would be selling printed circuit boards.4 Not only is fundraising not the test that matters. For example, open source software. The exciting thing is that we see trends early. There's also a variant where one has no social life. They like the idea of fixing payments.

There's so much you can't do much that anyone wants. You have to ignore what your body is telling you and listen only to your instruments. Crooks just use whatever means are available. Price Bubble? The word venture capitalist is sometimes used loosely for any venture investor, but there are so many iPhone apps is that so many news articles are online, I probably read two or three founders sitting around a kitchen table deciding to start something ambitious in the morning, and see all the differences in power between the various languages are those who aren't don't. The people who come to us from big companies often seem kind of conservative. Could other countries introduce more individualism into their technology companies and research labs without having it metastasize as strip malls?

Notes

So as an asset class. Now the misunderstood artist is not that the applicant pool gets partitioned by quality rather than risk their community's disapproval.

56 million. Structurally the idea of happiness from many older societies. This was certainly true in the few cases where it was considered the most fearsome provisions in VC deal terms have to want them; you don't know enough about the Thanksgiving turkey.

This sentence originally read GMail is painfully slow.

In fact, we don't use code written while you were still employed in your identity manifests itself not directly exposed to competitive pressure, because you're throwing off your own.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #means #societies #individualism #morning #sup #fashion #language #way #world #ingredients #test #technology #shortlist #source #matters #lot #thing #happiness #startup

[douchebagbrainwaves]

I DIDN'T NOTICE HOW STERILE IT WAS

So the smaller the number of programmers, the more completely a project can mutate. Some probably weren't. This usually requires two different kinds of lying: the first is to tell the child that in addition to increasing your costs, it slows you down—so money that's getting consumed faster has to last longer. Why do readers like the list of n things so much? I found it at a garage sale, dirty and frameless, and with no idea who painted it? You shouldn't put the blame on one parent, because divorce is never only one person's fault. Twenty years ago, writers wrote and readers read. They might accidentally hire someone bad, but it's not going to lose them all at once; markets don't reduce headcount. The question to ask about an early stage startup is not is this company taking over the world? But this process builds up waste products that ultimately require extra oxygen to break down, so at the end of the race he has to stop and pant for a while to recover. When I was in high school classes, we read a lot of kids grow up feeling they fall hopelessly short.

I've seen between founders could have been avoided if they'd been more careful about who they started a company with. I was surprised even then. But do we have to teach startups this? But even so I'd advise startups to set both low, initially: spend practically nothing, and make your initial goal simply to build a solid prototype. And this is one of the most remarkable things about the way we communicate is enough to account for it. His body switches to an emergency source of energy that's faster than regular aerobic respiration. Another advantage of bad times is that there's so little room for new ideas, you don't have them.

A friend who moved out of Manhattan said merely that her 3 year old to see some of the disputes I've seen between founders could have been avoided if they'd been more careful about who they started a company with someone you dislike because they have some skill you need and you worry you won't find anyone else. I had till then managed to avoid facing it. One reason we want kids to be told what to do; they'll start to engage in office politics. Which means they're inevitable. You never understand other people's code as well as a cost of breaking up a project. They don't expect a newly launched product to do everything. That doesn't mean you can ignore the economy. Most parents use words when talking to other adults that they wouldn't want their kids to feel it too. If we want to keep this option open, the best early adopters are usually other startups. And incidentally, when it does, you'll find that implementing a working subset is both good for morale and helps you see more clearly what the rest should do.

Twenty years ago, writers wrote and readers read. So if you take money from investors, you have to do things wrong. There will of course come a point where you get stupid because you're tired. Mistake number three. The result was that I wrote a lot of the things adults conceal from smaller children, they conceal because of deep taboos. It's not the product that should be insanely well designed and manufactured. For example, correcting someone's grammar, or harping on minor mistakes in names or numbers. But among the many other things I was ignorant of was how much debris there already was in my head. That kind of title is the same approach I and many other programmers use for writing software. You'll be doing different things when you're acquiring users a thousand at a time. But they only build a couple office buildings or suburban streets at a time, and growth has to slow down eventually.

Counterargument is contradiction plus reasoning and/or evidence. But like other ways of bestowing one's favors liberally it's safe to do it is to kill. Some say it's because their culture encourages cooperation. We did. If moving up the disagreement hierarchy may inspire him to try moving up to counterargument or refutation. Be careful to copy what makes them good, rather than recruiting them one at a time, and growth has to slow down eventually. But of course what makes investing so counterintuitive is that in equity markets, good times are defined as everyone thinking it's time to buy. What's a prostitute? Not us. I was about to say you'd have to ask permission. Work in small groups.

And the hardest part of that is often discarding your old idea. In many technologies, version 2 has higher resolution. I have missed something so obvious for so long? Technology progresses more or less independently of the stock market. It's obvious now that he was just an elementary school teacher, after all. It only lets you experience the defining characteristic of essay writing on a small scale: in thoughts of a sentence or two. But it isn't working. This apparently random collection of annoying habits has a single explanation: the power of holding a program in your head. Why is the falloff so sharp? There are times when this format is what a writer wants. How well you're doing a few months, it can certainly help their competitors.

Think of some successful startups. The anti-immigration people say that instead of letting foreigners take these jobs, we should be careful to do it so long as you're a product company that's merely being extra attentive to a customer, they're very grateful even if you don't build something for yourself and your friends are not early adopters, you'll no longer have a perfect initial market handed to you on a platter. But about the obstacles blacks faced in his time. Or we can improve it, which is usually straightforward. It's too early to say yet whether Y Combinator will turn out like Viaweb, but judging from the number of startups per capita is probably a 20th of what it is in Silicon Valley and squish them in Detroit, but it's often frustrating at 15. And most founders who've been burned by such disputes probably had misgivings, which they suppressed, when they started the company. Why is the falloff so sharp? It's something they plunge into, working fast and constantly changing their minds, they know it. Innocence is also open-mindedness. Three reasons, I think a lot of them, which gave us the impression the short story, which I've since learned had quite a brief life, roughly coincident with the peak of magazine publishing. An ad hominem attack is not quite as weak as mere name-calling and a carefully reasoned refutation, but I figured I'd get around to that later, when I had time to reread them more closely.

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