#if i actually try i’m only average at math so no

[lokischocolatefountain]

Holdout || Fraternize

Congressman!Javier Peña AU

Fandom: Narcos

Pairing: Javier Peña x Reader

Rating: 18+

Warnings: smut, fingering, arguments, period typical misogyny, American politics, inappropriate workplace behavior, office sex, kinda fem!dom, discussions of healthcare policy, inaccuracies regarding American politics

Word count: 4.5k

Summary: Sometimes it was better to talk face to face than to send his lackeys to speak for him. And who knows? Maybe he’ll get a sweet deal out of it. If nothing else, she was at least a good time.

A/N: I know Javi has nothing but disdain for politics and politicians. He would’ve pushed those DC guys out of the helicopter in season 3 if they’d asked more stupid questions. But it’s the same season 3 Javi who put in all those suits and ties and combed his hair neatly and walked around looking like a WHORE. So it’s actually his fault that I’m writing him as a politician. As usual, give your girl some comments and reblogs 🥹🥹🥹

Tagging: @art-estrange

“How many holdouts, Donna?”

“Thirteen.”

“Fuck,” he whispered, knowing instantly from the number which faction of congresspeople had refused to agree to vote for the bill. He also knew who the ringleader of this group of thirteen was. Without her approval, the other twelve wouldn’t even breathe let alone vote yes. An abstinence, maybe. But a yes? Impossible. She was also one of the few who could reach across the aisle to get them the votes he and Murphy needed to pass the bill in Congress.

“What exactly does she want?”

“Bunch of stuff,” said Donna, flipping open the binder that contained the draft of the Child Health Assistance Program bill. From his seat, Javier could see the color coded remarks that decorated the pages. Only when it went to her office did it come back with the fucking rainbow splattered in the pages. When he was a freshman to congress, the outgoing congressman from his district had warned him about her.

Difficult. Nerdy. Pretentious. A fucking bitch. An absolute cunt.

He would never say the last two things about her, of course. If he so much as thought them, his mama would fly to DC and slap him.

“The premium increase on Medicaid for one. She thinks it’s too much. Did some math on the side, too,” she said, unfolding a sticky note that contained some scribbled out numbers. “She accounted for the average household income nationally and in her district and adjusted for projected inflation and arrived at an increase by 3% on the financial burden on families. She made a calculation for our district, too. And by Stoddard’s calculations, her estimate is accurate.”

“Right, right,” he said, taking a puff of his cigarette and blowing the smoke out towards the open window. “Has anyone told her that healthcare expenses have increased and we cannot afford to keep the Part B premiums at forty four fucking dollars?”

His staffer simply shrugged before beginning to explain all the other demands the congresswoman from West Virginia had. By the time they were through with the major issues, it was time for lunch.

“Try to get Barrett and Kilpatrick on board,” he said, getting up from his seat at the head of the table. He heard her grumble, but didn’t take it too personally. It would be easier to move a boulder up a hill than to convince anyone in the congresswoman’s faction to vote for something she didn’t vote for. He pressed the stub harder into his glass ashtray, his anger towards her manifesting in the present she got him.

“Yes, sir,” she said, marking the page they’d last discussed. His staffers shuffled out of their seats and out of the office, leaving him with just Donna.

“I hear she’s back in the building. Returned from her district last night. Maybe you can convince her?” She said expectantly. Out of all the people in his office, she was the only one who knew that he had a shot. No matter how narrow the possibilities. Fair’s fair, he thought. Since he tasked her with talking to Kilpatrick and Barrett.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “No harm in trying.” He would’ve laughed had someone else said that. There definitely was harm in trying. His sanity was at stake. He had a hard enough time just seeing her at the committee meetings. But if he couldn’t get members of his own party on board, he could bid goodbye to the dream of passing the bill.

He picked up the binder and sped through the hallways to her office, anxious she might leave for lunch. She usually didn’t, but made exceptions for when she met with her campaign team. Something about it being unethical to do campaign business in facilities paid for by the taxpayer. And illegal. Like him, she was a workaholic. If she wasn’t in her office, she was in her congressional district.

He stopped outside the double doors to her office, American flags on either side and a nameplate with her name and state written in gold. Right as he rose his fist to knock for courtesy’s sake, the door opened and a lanky young boy stepped out of her office, sandwich in hand. Intern.

“Is the congresswoman in?” He asked, making the boy jump back in surprise.

“Uhh…” the boy trailed, looking back at the door with wide eyes. So she was in. And the kid didn’t know whether he was one of the people to whom he should lie about his boss’ availability.

“She’s…busy?”

Javi snorted before putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder and gently nudging him away from the door. “Enjoy lunch, kid,” he said before slipping into her office. The boy said something in an effort to stop him, but the door thankfully muffled the sounds. He kicked the door with the deadbolt, eager to not get caught. Nothing interesting ever happened in congress. So the first wisp of smoke would be enough for gossips to start a fire. He walked past the front office with the plush couches for guests and right into the inside where the magic happened.

Sure enough, he found her hunched over her desk, punching numbers into a calculator with her left hand as her right scribbled them out on her notebook. The black high heeled shoes she wore pushed her ass out invitingly. His eyes trailed up the shoes, following the black lines of her stockings. He took a deep breath and turned away, his eyes landing on one of her staffers’ desks.

A carton box with sandwiches from the nearby cafeteria sat open, mostly empty but for three sandwiches wrapped in aluminum foil. He wasn’t planning on lunch, but he wouldn’t decline after seeing some perfectly good sandwiches laid out in front of him.

“Get your own, Peña,” came a cold, stern voice right as he touched one.

“I would, but you owe me sustenance for making me read through all your notes. I need more nutrients to keep up with your shit,” he said, unwrapping the foil. He took a bite, nodding appreciatively as the well seasoned meat and garlic mayonnaise touched his tongue.

She put her pen down and turned around to finally face him. She looked well put together as she always did. A navy blue pinstriped skirt that clung to her beautifully, matching the jacket draped over her chair. Her white blouse was tucked in, her hair up in a neat bun to show off her pearl earrings. She placed a hand on her hip, crossed one leg in front of the other and narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s not my fault that your diet of whiskey and cigarettes doesn’t nourish you enough to read some notes on your poorly drafted bill.”

“It’s called a draft for a reason, Glitter,” he scoffed, his lips curving up in a smirk as he used her nickname against her. He knew she hated it. He wasn’t even in congress for the origin of the nickname, but it took only days for him to learn that the Congresswoman from West Virginia had “accidentally” used a glitter pen to write notes on the final draft of a bill. Sure she changed the pen after she realized. Only one word was in the imbecilic ink, but the name stuck.

“I forgot that your standards are low.” She rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. “What do you want now, Peña? Is it just the sandwich? I knew you had a tight budget over in the 23rd district of Texas, but I didn’t know the situation was so dire even the congressman had to mooch off someone else.”

“I already paid for it. With my soul.” He took another bite of the sandwich, unaffected by her jabs. As he chewed on his free lunch, he slapped a hand on the binder he abandoned on a staffer’s desk.

“We need to discuss your ridiculous demands.”

“I don’t see how asking to restore coverage for disabled children counts as ridiculous.” She leaned back against her desk and placed her palms flat against the surface. “Unless you hate children. Disabled children.”

“You’ve been in D.C. too long,” he said, annoyed by her spin. “And it’s not like I slashed the funding for disabled kids. They did. Don’t fight me for shit I didn’t do. And it’s not like they would’ve changed their minds by now. None of them have grown a conscience all of a sudden. They’ll just laugh us out of their office.”

“Peña, are you proposing the child health program for the children or the fucking pricks in the House who think it’s a waste of money to invest in healthcare?”

“To invest in healthcare, we need to get the bill passed. Would you rather get some coverage for kids or none?”

“Obviously, I would like some. But some or none aren’t the only options. If you’re going to cut out necessary things preemptively, we’ll get even less than what we need by the time we’re done negotiating with them.”

He darted his tongue out, licking his lips as he considered her words. They did not differ much ideologically. He too was an idealist like her. The people of his district voted him in for his ideals, for his promises. But D.C. had a way of making cynics out of optimists. It was easier for her to remain an idealist. There was no real threat to her seat.

“We don’t have an unlimited budget. It’s going to be a pain in the fucking ass trying to get this through. I put the shit you’re asking for and we can forget getting any coverage. Just like your demand to expand benefits for low income folks. If we do what you’re suggesting, it’ll be an expenditure of 3 Billion dollars over five years instead of the 1.5 billion we have available.”

She sighed and leapt up, sitting herself down on her desk. “Listen, Peña. I know you’re holding on to your seat by a thread because your margin of victory was thinner than said thread. You need to schmooze the conservatives back in Webb County. But I refuse to pay with the health of my people so you can keep your job.”

He fist clenched at the accusation and he let out a grunt. “Easy for you to say. Your district would vote for a fucking donkey if it had our party’s name slapped on it.”

It wasn’t so easy for him. Every move he made was like walking a tightrope between doing the right thing and what his constituents thought politically correct. One wrong move and they’d be out there on CNN calling him a fucking commie. Not that it bothered him. It just wasn’t good optics.

She held her pen up like it was a sword, like a threat. “They’ve tried to primary me multiple times, asshole. Never worked. I do the work and people vote me in for it.

“Listen. You wanna talk shit or actually work on this thing so we can get it passed?”

“I did my part, Peña. Thought you read through it since you’re claiming to be so exhausted.”

“It’s not gonna work sending it back and forth. Never does. We need to sit together and sort it out.”

“Right…” she drawled, her pink painted lips curling up in a smirk and her eyes sparkling with a mischievous glint. He huffed, knowing immediately what she was smirking about. He licked his lips and let himself think of what they did the last time they decided they would sit together and ‘sort it out’.

“You know I didn’t mean that,” he said, the words tasting bitter on his lips. He didn’t mean that. But he would never refuse an opportunity to do it again.

“Oh?” She teased, an eyebrow raised.

A carefully manicured fingernail dazzled under the light as she used her pointer finger to beckon him forward. He stepped towards her, his feet moving automatically like his cock remembered how he would be rewarded if he complied with her. Eyes connected to hers, he imagined what she looked like under her suit. If he would be able to catch even a glimpse of her body this time. If he would have to reach under her skirt, rip her stockings and push her panties aside to fuck her.

He loved knocking the smirk off her lips the last time, just the sight of her pliant against his chest giving him all the satisfaction he needed even before he came. She wasn’t arguing then. Just sweet little whimpers as she clutched onto his shirt and begged for release.

Just as he could deal with the smirk by reaching her and capturing her lips in a kiss, she lifted her high heel clad foot and placed it on his pants. Over his fucking cock to be exact. He raised his eyebrows at her, confused by her move. She put a gentle pressure on his cock with her foot, making him swallow.

“The fuck are you playing at, Glitter?”

“Nothing,” she drawled in a low, seductive voice. “Just testing if you have a foot thing.”

He huffed and rolled his eyes. “I don’t fucking have a foot thing.”

“Yeah? Must be an ass thing then,” she said, lifting her leg higher and caressing his face with the top of her shoes. “Maybe it’s a shoe thing…” His breaths got quicker and his heart beat faster, his body enticed by her daring when she was usually quite conservative and no-nonsense. “You didn’t want me to take my shoes off last time. It was fucking uncomfortable. I know you like how my ass looks when I wear these.”

She trailed the pointy end of the heel down his neck, just barely touching his skin, driving him mad with want for more. The hairs on his body stood to attention and his cock twitched in his pants. She hooked the heel under his tie and pulled. When it budged only a little, he tugged on it himself, taking the thing off completely and stuffing it into his pocket.

Before she could retreat, he caught her leg. Hand wrapped around her ankle he placed a kiss above the strap of her shoes. He looked up at her, relishing in watching her confidence chip away bit by bit as he left a trail of kisses up her leg. A silent gasp left her lips as he stopped at the edge of her desk and put her leg over his shoulder.

“You up for a meeting? To discuss,” he said, tilting her head up with a finger to her chin.

A soft smile played on her lips as she said, “We’ll see…”

“Yeah? What exactly do I have to do to get you in my office, Congresswoman?”

“Convince me. Give me something I’d want.”

“Everything’s a quid pro quo to you, isn’t it?”

“Such is politics, Peña.”

“If you say so,” he said, leaning close and kissing her neck right above the collar of her blouse. He felt her swallow, making him smile against her neck. The perfume he knew she spritzed on her neck seduced his senses and he licked her skin in a quest for his other senses to experience her delicious scent.

“Javier… Someone could come in at any time.”

Javier… It was always Peña for her. Except when they fucked. Then it was Javier, Javier, oh fuck please, harder! Once she fixed herself post fuck, it was back to Peña with a tinge of disdain. Like some crude separation of church and state.

“Everyone else knocks. I’m the only one who drops by without announcing myself,” he spoke into her skin, his voice a low drawl. “And I locked the door. Because I know you can’t resist me.” She snorted, but relaxed beneath his touch. Her hand came up to his hair, touching him oh so lightly in a way that she wouldn’t mess it up too much.

“Fucking caveman,” she chided, her voice too warm for him to believe she opposed his behavior. He trailed a hand up her skirt, stopping where her thighs met. He cupped her pussy, his eyes fixed on her face to read signs of displeasure.

“Congresswoman, I just kissed up your leg like you’re a delicate fucking princess. A caveman would rip your clothes up, hold you down and fuck you hard,” he said, feeling proud of himself when he felt her pussy react to it under his hand.

“Guess you have a caveman thing,” he mocked, leaving her no time to respond before grabbing her stockings and ripping it in his hand. She shrieked and grabbed on to his shoulders to steady herself.

“That’s the second pair you’ve ruined, asshole.”

“I wouldn’t have to ruin your stockings if you just took your clothes off and bent over the desk.”

“Oh fuck you,” she laughed, letting out a little whimper when he pushed her panties aside and found her clit.

“I will, Congresswoman,” he said in a soft voice as he rolled her nub under his thumb. Her hand traversed his back, feeling the fabric of his suit and making him wish they had the time and privacy for him to take his clothes off. Feel her bare hand on his back and let her leave scratches as he took his time to get her across the finish line.

“You address everyone by their designation when you fuck them, Javier?” She rocked up against him, her chest flush against his as she searched for her pleasure under his thumb.

It felt so fucking good though she wasn’t doing anything to him, to have his mouthy, disagreeable colleague in the palm of his hand. To play her like an instrument. Have her spinning in her head for a second longer before her snarky retorts left her lips.

“No, just the infuriating, fuckable Congresswomen,” he joked, getting a shove to his chest. He didn’t budge, having prepared himself for the attack since he anticipated it.

“You tease all the men you fuck in your office with your shoe?”

“No, only the ugly ones,” she said, laughing. He smiled, happy with her giving it to him as good as she got. They were close, so close he could feel her warm breath against his skin.

“Asshole,” he whispered against her lips before closing the gap between them. She looped one arm around his neck and allowed her other hand to play with his suit lapel. Her lips were soft, contrasting the sharp words they often spoke to him. A sense of calm settled in his chest as she slipped her hand under his jacket. He felt her hand now, caressing him up and down, making him long to know what she would feel like against his skin.

Spurred by the thought, his hand rubbed her more enthusiastically. She whimpered into the kiss and he took the chance to slip his tongue between her lips. Her hand traveled up his shirt and clutched his collar, her thumb slipping under his shirt and touching his neck. He moaned and quickly felt her smirk against his lips.

Unwilling to give her the upper hand, he grabbed her panties and tugged, making the frail fabric rip in his hand.

“What the fuck, Javier!?”

“Shh…”

Unobstructed by her panties, he was free to let his hand do two things at once. He parted her pussy lips and pushed a finger inside her, her warm wetness inviting him in easily. He added another finger and coated himself in her slick.

She gasped as he returned his thumb to her clit, making him smile smugly. He pulled away so she could see him. So she could see the power he wielded over her.

“You’re much nicer like this, Congresswoman.”

“And you are more of a dickhead somehow,” she said, grabbing his cock through his pants. When she began stroking his length, he drew a sharp breath.

“Why wouldn’t I? You get wetter when I’m a dick to you. You get like this when we’re talking business too?”

“Of course not, assface.” She gritted her teeth and grabbed him harder, making him grunt.

“Maybe I should check the next time we’re yelling at each other in the middle of the hallway. Reach under your skirt and find your wet panties.”

Her grip on him got harder and her eyes narrowed at him, but her pussy clenched around his fingers. “See, you like it.”

“You’ll see what I like and don’t like when I break your little prick, Peña.”

“Thought I was Javier when I’m fucking you.”

“You thought wrong,” she said, squeezing his cock again.

He yelped, the pressure getting too much even through his pants.

“Fuck!”

“Yeah. Fuck,” she snarked, releasing him only to snake around to his behind and grab a cheek.

“Get it done quick. Unlike you, I have things to do after this.”

“Oh yeah? Maybe I should go now. Can’t keep the Congresswoman from doing the best for her constituents,” he mocked, pulling away from her.

She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him back, trapping him in place with them. “Finish the fucking job,” she spoke, a serious expression overtaking her features.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he said, keeping up the pace of his thrust. He found her neck with his lips, placing sweet kisses on her skin. So close to her, he could feel the effect of every touch, every kiss. He locked the responses in his mind, ready to use the information for the next time he found himself with his hand up her skirt.

“The other side, Javier…” she breathed her command and he followed, eliciting a moan from her.

“Just like that… Keep going.” She thrusted back into his fingers, taking her pleasure from him eagerly. Every now and then, she issued a new command. When he obeyed, she rewarded him with sweet sounds of her pleasure.

As he brought her closer, she gripped his fingers tighter. Her eyes glazed over and she stopped giving instructions, only enjoying the fruits of his compliance with her earlier ones. She leaned against his shoulder, placing some of her weight on him. Being the sucker he was for beautiful women in the throes of pleasure, he placed a kiss on her head and cradled the back of her neck with his free hand.

“Come on, come for me…” he said softly when he felt her at the edge of the precipice.

“F-fucking make me, fucker,” she cursed, mewling when he changed the angle of his fingers to add a twist to his touches.

“Will you give me a meeting in exchange then? We could work it over together…” he negotiated with no shame whatsoever. It was a shameless business, politics.

She opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to let out anything other than a breath as he assaulted her senses mercilessly. She shook her head in denial, making him smile at her defiance.

She panted as he wore her out, her chest heaving and her eyes rolled back. The hand gripping his lapel grew weak and she went limp against him. With a low moan, she came around his fingers and collapsed against him. He kept his fingers inside her, not having the heart to kiss out on how her pussy spasmed around them as she recovered from the high he brought her.

She lifted her head off his chest and dropped her legs, freeing him from her prison.

“You’re not getting a meeting in exchange for fingering me, Peña.”

“What does a man have to do then? Fuck you in the ass? Cause I’ll do it,” he said, laughing when she shoved at his chest weakly. He pulled out finally and took a step back before grabbing his handkerchief and wiping his fingers clean of her release. She hopped off her desk and pulled out her handkerchief from her purse. She unfolded the white cloth embroidered with flowers and leaves and dipped a corner in her glass of water.

He raised an eyebrow at her when she turned back around to offer it to him.

“You have lipstick on your face.”

“Ah.”

“Where?” He asked, accepting the cloth from her.

“Right there. On your neck,” she said, pointing vaguely at his neck. He swiped where he guessed the lipstick mark was and looked up at her, asking silently if he got it.

She shook her head and reached back into her purse. She offered him a black circular box- a makeup thing he knew had a mirror in it.

“Thanks,” he said and pried it open.

“Who are you expecting to vote for this from the other side?” She asked as she adjusted her clothes and reapplied her lipstick. He wiped off the traces of her from his neck and lips. He closed the box, careful not to spill the powder inside.

“Hayworth, Calvert, Cunningham, Doolittle. Rohrabacher would do it, but it’ll require a lot of negotiation. Chenoweth would find the bill agreeable, but it’s unlikely that she’ll vote for it,” he said, a little disappointed that she was talking business even though that was why he came over.

“Yeah. She has a poor record on bipartisanship. Is Evans on board? Cause he’s pretty close to Porter and he can convince him to come aboard.”

“I think he will. Stoddard is talking to Evans’ people and it seems he’s content.”

“Alright,” she said, nodding. “I don’t have time for this shit, but it needs to be done. Surely your buddy on the other side can convince a lot more people to sign on. If he isn’t confident, there’s no point in us discussing this further.”

“Murphy’s got a list. He’s still in talks with them.”

“He’s still in talks? Motherfucker, why did you waste my time then? Could’ve waited for his chipped down draft before you sent a copy to my office.”

Because as much as I fucking hate you, I respect your intelligence. I respect that DC’s cynicism hasn’t turned you away from your ideologies.

But that wasn’t what he said. That wasn’t how this partnership worked. Political alliance didn’t equal friendship. Hell, Murphy wasn’t his political ally. He was on the other side. Yet they were friends.

“Mhmm. I had it sent to you so early on ‘cause I know you’re the hardest to please.”

“Well,” she said, mischief playing at the corners of her lips. She walked behind her desk and sat back down. “You pleased me okay today. I could do without all the yapping building up to the act, though. Really sucks the fun out of it, hearing your stupid voice.”

“Asshole,” he mumbled, as he pocketed her handkerchief and retrieved his tie. She laughed, the sound eliciting a smile from him. He pressed his lips into a thin line as he busied himself tying his tie, loath to have her see him enjoy something so trivial.

“I’ll see you at the committee meeting then,” he said when he got his tie back on.

“Yeah, see you there to watch them slash programs so they can give tax cuts to their buddies.”

He snorted, agreeing with her. It drained him to sit in on the budget committee meetings. It was a high honor when he got assigned to such an important committee. Felt like a pat on the back for his hard work. Until he had to do the hard work of arguing against the fucking worst suggestions futilely. Nothing fucking mattered when they didn’t have majority. Yet, he argued. So did she.

“Pass me a sandwich on your way out, Peña.”

He picked one of the two remaining sandwiches. “Here you go,” he said, making a throwing motion without tossing it. She reacted, throwing her hands up in the air to catch a sandwich that never came.

“Asshole,” she cursed, picking up her paperweight. Before she could throw it at him, he skipped away, another free sandwich in hand. As he closed the door to her office, he could’ve sworn he heard her giggle.

.

.

.

Main Masterlist

Guys, I’m so excited about how fun this could be. Javi in his suits. Angry Javi. Javi taking his tie off like in that one Narcos episode from season 3. Javi and reader having clandestine meetings under the guise of work. Maybe a sex scandal? Who know… Let me know what you think of Congressman!Javi and Congresswoman!Reader.

#javier peña x reader #javier peña fic #javier peña #javier peña x y/n #javier peña x you #javier peña x ofc #javier peña fanfic #javier peña fanfiction #javier peña smut #narcos fanfiction #narcos fic #narcos smut #javier pena fanfiction #javier pena fic #javier pena x reader #javier pena x you #javier pena smut #javier peña imagine #pedro pascal #pedro pascal character fanfic #all that i've inflicted on the world

[yuikomorii]

Ayato is slowly turning into the new “Yui” (she still gets hate too but yk less than other years) of the Diabolik Lovers fandom and I really thought the fandom was healing -jokes on me-

The way they complain about Ayato being too caring now inducing that he’s turning into a simp reminds me of the same people who complained about Yui for not fighting back and calling her weak for that. Let’s just let everyone enjoy whatever characters they want WITHOUT TRYING TO RUIN THEIR FUN ‼️

Also, why did Ayato even get so hated anyway? He was always one of the least horrible ones and right now, after all his development, I don’t find anything so unlikeable about him. He tries to see the good in others despite having such a past full of suffering. If I hear anyone say “because he’s too caring/dumb/immature” I will riot because why would it be bad to be caring with your girlfriend? He isn’t even as immature as people say. Isn’t this the same guy who took responsibility for things that were none of his business but he did so just to help others?

And don’t get me started on the fact he isn’t dumb at all. He’s an idiot because he’s uneducated but his brain power is above average. I played Reiji’s route awhile now and there was this chapter where Reiji helped Yui study for her math test but only after a timeskip she managed to get a right result while in Ayato’s after story, there was the same scene but with different characters and Ayato was able to learn very fast after Yui explained to him and even she found that amazing about him because he started getting all answers right. After I got interested in young blood, I came to the conclusion that he was the only Sakamaki brother who found something suspicious about the ceremony and planned to investigate it. I recall a few other moments but I’m curious to hear if you got a favourite one.

I hope this ask wasn’t too long ;w; I tried to fit my thoughts in but it’s ok if you don’t have time to answer it soon ^^

// So many languages in this word, but you decided to speak FACTS!

The reasons why some people start hating on certain characters, are incredibly embarrassing. Just tell me you didn’t pay attention to the story, without actually telling me that you didn’t pay attention to the story.

They had previously complained about him being too bratty and arrogant, but now that his true side has been revealed, they are still dissatisfied since he is not the "edgy and complex" vampire boyfriend they wanted him to be. Do you like such characters? Good for you but only because you have a preference towards those, doesn’t mean you should tell others how much their bias sucks… it’s just so uncalled??

As you said, something I have always found admirable about Ayato is his ability to be pure-hearted, despite his background. I can’t say anyone got much love yet… Beatrix was strict but she canonically loved both of her children, Christa was mentally ill and had her crazy episodes but it was shown that she still loved and cared for Subaru, and then there’s Cordelia, who truly didn’t show or feel any sort of love towards any of her children. In DF, I’m sure she regretted her actions but saying that she loved Ayato, Kanato and Laito would be an exaggeration. It’s no surprise that the triplets turned out so twisted when they didn’t get a taste of affection or kindness AT ALL. And Ayato’s side goes beyond that, since he literally was the piñata of so many characters.

In YB, he was used as bait, betrayed, and brutally knocked down by ghouls, as well as beaten up to the point of almost getting killed.

In Ayato’s character book, it was confirmed that Cordelia threw him in the lake every time he didn’t study. He had several near-death experiences as a result of her, and she frequently whipped and beat him up.

In the DF prologue, Carla and Shin sent the wolves to especially attack Ayato, not Yui, but Ayato thought they were going after her, so he sacrificed himself for her and used himself as shield so as she wouldn’t get hurt. He got severely injured that in some routes it takes a lot of time until he wakes up from the coma.

In Kino’s LE route, he burns Ayato alive and beats him up afterwards.

Last but not least, he got the Adam curse when he was a child and that’s so painful because it basically means drowning in a state of despair and insanity, until getting to taste something similar to that fig.

final YB chapter

Didn’t count the emotional and mental abuse but the physical one was INSANE. Despite so much torture, even if some of his actions were wrong too, most of the time he continued to value his life and to be empathetic and forgiving to those who mistreated him.

Let's not forget that we're talking about vampires here, who will always be more wicked than humans because, although not inherently evil, they still have a predator instinct, but what's truly fascinating about Ayato's character is that he has such a good soul in spite of learning from an early age that there is no kindness in this world. It's no surprise that Karlheinz was taken aback.

Moreover, I thought everyone was aware that Ayato isn’t actually stupid?? A bunch of his dumb moments are merely used for generating laughter and they’re not meant to be taken seriously. People also need to understand that the Japanese audience loves this kind of characters. They consider him an idiot in the affectionate way, because the lack of knowledge and gullibility make him endearing in their eyes. They don’t think of him as a genuine idiot. After all, nobody would like a character who’s completely dense.

It’s true that he’s impulsive and uneducated, which leads to him making dumb choices but I agree that his brain works faster sometimes than the one of other characters.

One of my favorite scenes is the one in which he eavesdropped on Cordelia, hearing that she only gave Karl children for attention, and he was the only Sakamaki who rapidly succeeded in connecting all of the dots, regarding all of Karl's victims and him being the root of all evil, which was the best revelation reaction in DL. I also enjoyed how, while all of his brothers rushed to kill Karlheinz (except for Laito, who had no battle scene in his route), Ayato was the only one who was like, "I won't kill you because I'd lead your plan to success in that case," and he only killed him after Karl wanted to harm Yui. If you haven't played DF, I recommend saving Ayato's route for last because it provides the most satisfaction.

Don't be concerned about the length! I believe I wrote a lot as well haha, but that's because your ask was so interesting to read! You made some excellent points, and I'm glad you're one of those people that can comprehend a character! 🥹🩷

#admin #ayato sakamaki #diabolik lovers #(no matter the hate) #(he’s still Rejet’s Golden boy) #dialovers

[holy-hysteria]

I’ve seen a lot of headcannons on the Sinclair brothers in high school and here’s my take on them:

Bo Sinclair

I don’t think Bo was popular AT ALL.

He’s the kid that gets in fights all the time, disrespectful to teachers + peers, and just doesn’t give a shit whatsoever about anything.

He’s super smart though. He never does his work but he understands what’s going on. I think he was a naturally gifted kid, didn’t have to try in school to get good grades, probably could have been in the top of his class. He probably tried to use his grades when he was younger to get his parents attention but when that didn’t happen, he just gave up.

Along with being smart, I think he’s also pretty good at art too. I feel like if Trudy gave Bo as much attention as she gave Vincent and his art, Bo could have been just as good as Vincent. But since Trudy neglected Bo and his interests, he kinda gave up on it. Thought that it really wasn’t good enough.

His favorite class was probably math. I know most people would think shop but i really think he’d like math.

I think he did play sports in high school, or at least tried to. His temper got him kicked off most of the teams. Out of all the sports he played though, I think he probably enjoyed wrestling. It was a sport where he could get on the mat and all he had to focus on for a few minutes was getting a pin and scoring points. No thoughts about home or his parents, just the sport.

He probably didn’t have many girlfriends in high school. I feel like his whole demeanor in school kind out girls off so he didn’t get much action till high school was over.

I think the one teacher to actually like him was the librarian. The librarian probably knew about how Vincent was favorited and they felt like he was misunderstood. He probably ate lunch in there too since it was quiet and no one was around. He’d even help shelf books and things like that.

I don’t think Bo really had friends. Sure he’d hangout with the douchebag jocks, but it was never more than being friendly and cracking a joke here and there.

Probably started smoking bc of them.

Wanted to be an electrician and would read any books he could find on it while eating lunch in the library. ( That’s why the town still has power and everything works electrical wise down there. )

Vincent Sinclair

I’m gonna say it, Vincent was probably popular. He’s the kid that’s nice to everyone, teachers love him, and he’s always willing to lend a hand.

He was on student council. He helped make decorations for the dances and design the class shirts.

He did get bullied a little in school, only by certain kids, but I feel like he got through school pretty unscathed.

Like Bo, Vincent really didn’t have any true friends. Sure he was friendly with people, and would eat lunch with them sometime, but they weren’t super close.

Vincent had a lot of pressure put on him by Trudy. He always felt like his every move was being watched. As the “gold child”, Vincent felt like he had a lot to live up to.

Vincent was average in school. He wasn’t terribly bad but he wasn’t a child prodigy either. He had to study, things didn’t come easy to him, but he got good grades.

He HATED high school art. When he signed up, he thought we he’d be able to create whatever he wanted, but when he got into class and realized he had to follow assignment rules and didn’t get to have as much creative liberty as he would like, he dropped the class.

His favorite class would have to be English. I can see him liking the classics they had to read in class and would often go home and draw the scenes from the books. His favorites are To Kill a Mockingbird and Mice of Men. He cried while reading both of them.

I’m guessing Bo and him went to high school during the 80s/90s? But i think they both dressed somewhat similar, in that twin way that most parents dress their young children. Probably band t-shirts, pearl snap shirts (since they’re from a rural small town), and jeans. Vincent would have a turtle neck or sweater thrown in there somewhere though.

Vincent wanted to be an art teacher, so that kids wouldn’t have to get projects with little room to take creative liberty.

He drew comics for the school newspaper.

He took french. Just look at him. He DEFINITELY took french.

Also like Bo, he’s very awkward with girls. Not as much as Bo. He’s just shy and i think he doesn’t realize when someone hits on him.

Lester Sinclair

He’s no different than he was in the high school.

He was very much the class clown. Cracked jokes in class all the time and definitely planned the senior prank.

Unlike his older brothers, he had lots of friends. He had one or two super close friends but he got along with everyone.

No one was a stranger to him. He got along with people so well that when a new student came, he was asked to show them around.

He’s also very much like abi when it comes to school. He’s super smart but plays himself down to make people laugh.

HATED math class. Didn’t like the material, didn’t like the teacher, thought he was super creepy bc he flirted with all the female students.

Wore Vincent and Bo’s hand-me-downs.

He played soccer in school. I can see him play forward/striker. He’s super fast and very aggressive.

Unlike his brothers, he’s a ladies man. Always had a date to dances, always had a girl fawning over him. He’s funny and nice, true southern gentleman.

Favorite class was science. Loved learning about how things work, why things are the way they are.

If you looked in his senior yearbook, he’s on almost every page.

Wanted to be a park ranger. I don’t have to explain why, it fits him so well.

Went to parties all the time. He was the life of them too. He smoked pot a couple times too. Still does to this day just to relax.

#bo sinclair #bo sinclair x reader #vincent sinclair #vincent sinclair x reader #lester sinclair #lester sinclair x reader #house of wax #lester sinclair x you #vincent sinclair x you #bo sinclair x you #headcanon

[defilerwyrm]

If you don't mind me asking, how does bottom surgery affect sexual activity?

Gonna put this under a cut due to the nature of the discussion.

Really it depends on what kind of bottom surgery or surgeries you get. XX-typical genitals can be modified surgically in a pretty modular fashion. Do you want to enhance the T-dick or create something average-sized, do you want balls, do you want to get rid of the front hole or keep it, do you want to pee standing up, etc.

For the sake of brevity and accuracy, I’ll just speak to the procedures I’ve had personally: phalloplasty with urethral lengthening, scrotoplasty, and vaginectomy, and my lived experience with the healed results.

The two most obvious changes are that I can top without prosthetics and there’s only one hole for me to receive penetrative sex in (THANK FUCK, I only want & need that one!).

Psychologically, it’s galaxies better. I feel like a man jerking off/using a toy/etc instead of just having to picture myself with the correct anatomy in my mind’s eye while trying to get past the wrongness of my actual flesh.

I haven’t had anyone go down on me since the procedure on account of being the only out, adult, single gay guy within an hour’s drive in any direction, but I now have the option of receiving blowjobs. I’m pretty excited for that one. Fuckin’ sucks that I’ll never be able to blow a load in someone’s mouth or on their face, but that’s just the cards I was dealt. The glans and base of my dick are VERY sensitive so I’m confident I could get off on it at least once.

Due to some truly unbelievable, transphobic horse shit on the part of BCBS, I did not get my implants done in December like I was supposed to, so I’m still full floppy here. That means that if I want to penetrate someone (or a toy) I have to double bag it with a pair of condoms to keep it stationary enough; otherwise it’s no better than a cis man trying to penetrate someone when he’s flaccid.

The orgasms are goddamn incredible. I still feel them in my prostate (Skene’s gland), but they’re a lot shorter and sharper, and a lot more satisfying. Previously I’d often go as many as five or six rounds with myself before I felt like I’d reached a good stopping point, but now I can just go off like a bottle rocket once and I’m happy.

Mind you, I don’t know how much of that is psychosomatic with the removal of my bottom dysphoria, how much of it is testosterone (some of it certainly), how much of it is the actual anatomical change, and how much of it is that I’m getting older, but however the math shakes out, it’s a vast improvement. I don’t have to rub myself raw trying to get somewhere anymore.

It’s also a lot less messy, which I appreciate. The feeling of a wet front hole and all the associated dripping was horrid for me, and I don’t have to worry about that anymore.

I’ll update this once I have some more post-op partnered sex under my belt. Keep your fingers crossed for me that I can get hella laid when I go to New York later this year.

#bottom surgery #phalloplasty #medical transition #spicy content #transgender #ftm #trans matters #lgbtq #queerdom

[the-wip-project]

SloMo WriNo: Failure Proofing Your Goals

A Novel in one year.

So, what are the numbers for that?

If you’re so inclined, you’ve probably already done the math, and come up with some numbers for yourself.

Numbers like projected length of novel (I’m going to use 80k for this, but don’t get married to that, once you get into it the work with find it’s own length) and how many words a day you would need to write to hit that goal. (220)

That’s all very nice, but the problem with word count goals, is that you can create a situation where your writing becomes a pass/fail situation.

A situation where if you perceive yourself as failing (did I meet my word count goal this week? No? I AM A FAILURE!), and the pressure rises, it starts to feel safer to simply quit, rather than face repeated failures.

I’m against that sort of thing. (The quitting and also the negative self talk.)

So how does one measure progress without creating that sort of situation? How can you win the psychology game of getting words on the page?

Of course everyone is different. But here’s two methods (tricks? hacks?) that work for me at various times.

Low Goal, High Results. (The Min-Max zone)

The idea with this is to set a daily, or per session word count goal that feels too easy.

By now I hope you’ve figured out a good time and place to write. So go there, at that time, and do a timed 15 minute sprint. However many words you got, halve it. Repeat this exercise a few times to make sure you’ve got a good average.

Unless you’re a power writer, you will most likely end up with a number that is below that 220 we mathed out earlier, DON’T PANIC. In fact, for this example lets say that you managed to write an average of 200 words in your 15 minute sessions. Which means that your daily goal is now 100 words.

Of course with that number, even if you write every single day for a year that will only give you 36 500 words. Not a novel. Barely a novella!

The point here is not to write only 100 words a day. It’s making the daily task of writing feel easy and approachable. Not scary. If you know you only need to write 100 words, and you know you can get that done easily in less than 15 minutes, then why not do it? And once you’re writing, writing a little more generally happens easily enough. If getting started is the hard part, this should really help.

It’s a common psychological trick. But it’s common for a reason. It works!

Once you’ve set your (very easy) minimum goal, I also encourage you to set a maximum daily goal too. Especially if you’re the type of person who tends to go on 10k writing binges and then not write again for two months. Set your maximum at what you can comfortably write in 1.5-2 hours. So let’s say that’s 1000 words. Meaning your goal is to write 100-1000 words every time you sit down to write, and consider everything, from barely getting 102 to maxing out at 1002 an awesome, winning, writing day.

What does that look like? On a bad day, a day you don’t fee like writing at all, it means you tell yourself that all you need to do is write for ten minutes. Just get down 100 words (or whatever your minimum goal is.) And then if you haven’t found your mojo, you stop. No guilt or regret. You’ve met your goal, even though you’re having a bad day. You’re doing awesome!

On a power day, when you feel almost possessed by the muses, it means that when your timer beeps, or you see that number on the bottom of the screen hit 1000 (or whatever your number is), you make yourself stop. Yes. Stop mid flow. (It’s painful, I know! But please try!) Why stop? Because you’re learning how to have a healthy long term writing habit.

Write yourself some notes, and come at it fresh tomorrow. The goal is teach yourself that your creativity isn’t actually a unreliable muse. You are not subject to it’s whim. With time and practice your creativity will be there whenever you reach for it.

This is the method that I use most of the time, and I strongly recommend you give it a decent try (6 weeks at least.)

However perhaps you’re really just convinced that particular kind of psychological trickery just won’t work for you, or perhaps you’ve tried it in the past without success. Maybe it creates the opposite effect for you, and you find daily writing skippable because the minimum goal feels so low that you think you can make it up later (you won’t, but ahem, brains are weird.) So here is an alternative method that is also quite effective.

2. Higher Goals to Plan For Misses

Instead of setting your goal ridiculously low, you can try setting it high enough that you can miss writing days while still staying on track.

This will only work if you’ve been able to carve out a larger chunk of time for daily writing, thirty minutes to an hour.

So, lets run the example numbers. Using the 80k novel template, we already know that it would take 220 words a day if you write every single day, and never delete anything.

Writing every day is almost impossible, so you’re setting yourself up to fail if you set 220 as your goal.

So instead you plan for writing 6 days a week. Perhaps you intend to take Mondays off. They suck and you know you usually don’t feel like writing then anyway. Awesome. Let’s make that our schedule. Writing 312 days a year means a daily target of 257 words.

But still, that leaves no margin for error. No time for bad days, illness, that one scene you have to cut because it wasn’t working, etc.

So we double it. Your goal, with a plan of writing 6 days a week, is 500 words a day. And also (and this is the important bit) 2000 words a week.

Wait! That’s 4 days, not 6! Yes. That’s the point. It allows room for misses. To allow you to fail without failing. For days when you can’t reach 500, for days when you don’t have time (and with a larger daily goal like this, that’s a lot more possible.) For days when you just can’t.

Of course if you can only count on writing 5 days a week, or 4, or whatever your life situation calls for, adjust your goals accordingly. Always keep your goal word count about 1/3 higher than needed, to give yourself that cushion. If the numbers gets too large to manage, then it’s time to change the long term goal.

Yes. Really. Change it. Setting a goal that you’re bound to fail at is not going to help you.

Perhaps it’s more feasible for you personally to write your novel in 18 months, or two years. As always, your health is more important than an arbitrary time line, and you’ll still be awesome if you write your novel a little slower.

But what if both of those methods still stress you out, or if focusing on the numbers like that kills your joy?

Here’s a bonus method, that I personally use when things get to be a real struggle.

3. Gold Stars

This is for the times when the thought of tracking word count is just one step too many, and becomes an obstacle for writing at all. However when you abandon tracking completely, it’s often a way to abandon writing too.

So having some sort of way to confirm that yes, you’ve written for the day still helps, whether that’s putting a gold star, or an X on a calendar (you can find printable month/page calendars online for free, or you can buy those little book calendars very cheap), creating an art or craft piece (one time I wrote an entire novel assisted by a scarf where I only got to crochet a row after I’d written for the day), or whatever other way you can think of to mark that you wrote. Having a way to look back at your week or month and confirm that yes, you’ve written most days, is often enough keep you honest (with yourself.) As long as it’s something that feels like a reward and not additional work.

So there you have it. 3 methods for setting word count goals and tracking what you’re accomplishing.

Let me know what you’re going to try, or what sort of tricks work for you! (and feel free to ask me for help figuring out how to apply this in your own life.)

—Maree

Subscribe to my substack to make sure you don't miss a post, chat with me on the WIP Project discord, and tag any posts you make about the challenge with #slomowrino if you want me to see them!

#slowmowrino #failure proof goals #word count goals #writing advice

[rachey899]

What The Actual...

When did Matt find out about Luke’s size shifting abilities?

Another short story featuring Luke and Matt approximately 2.4k words.

Luke was sweating buckets by the time he’d gotten to school, the walk from his house seemed to blur as his mind recited everything on his revision notes for the upcoming test today. This test was worth 80% of his math grade and would determine whether he failed the class or not.

He had done so poorly in all his other subjects that if he failed math as well, he would need to repeat the year.

His mind raced as he tried to think up the formula for Pythagoras theorem, he’d literally just looked it over again that morning and now he was drawing a blank, what if he continued to draw blanks for the rest of the day, what if by the time he was looking at his test book he couldn’t remember anything.

“Whoa watch it!”

Luke stumbled as he bumped into someone and continued to then trip over his own long legs and fall, sprawling on the hard concrete ground.

The person he had barged into had long since gone and Luke sat there stunned like a deer in the headlights, in fact he almost wanted to cry, he just wanted today to be over already.

Standing up, he brushed himself off and shouldered his backpack, he had grazed his elbow on the way down and it stung but it would heal. He seemed to heal faster than the average person and he supposed he could thank his unusual gift for that neat trick.

“Luke, hey dude you’ll never guess what Linda said to me this morning!” Matt bounced beside his friend and continued to babble excitedly.

“I got on the bus and her seat was the only one available so naturally I asked if I could sit there, you know all casual like, and she said yes! Can you believe it! She actually spoke to me, Luke are you listening? You don’t look so good.” He eyed his friend who was obviously tense, he looked much paler than usual, and he could see the perspiration on his forehead.

“Are you sick or something?” 

Luke felt sick, he felt like he was going to throw up, and his nervousness only grew as he felt his skin tighten like he was about to shift, he could not let that happen today, he had enough to worry about without worrying about turning into a giant freak of nature.

“Yeah, sorry, I guess I’m just nervous about the test, sorry dude.” Luke excused himself to duck into the bathroom, he literally had to duck his head so he wouldn’t hit the frame of the door, he hoped his friend didn’t notice that he’d just shot up a few inches.

He whirled into a stall and put the lid down on the toilet, sitting there with his head in his hands trying to take steady even breathes, if he could calm himself down, he could resist the shift.

“That was close.” He sighed letting out a long breath as he watched the toilet cubicle shrink back to its regular size. The test was during the first two periods of the day, if he could just get through that and then go home with the excuse that he was sick, then he could grow and get it out of his system and feel much better.

He rejoined Matt in the hallway where he was waiting for him, Matt looked at him with concern. He wondered if there was something else going on for his friend beside the test but chose to believe him, he had no reason not to.

They parted ways at home room and Luke made sure to sit right at the back to avoid anyone who might want to sit and chat with him, he didn’t have the energy to focus on anything else today besides this stupid test and remaining an average human height for a few hours.

The bell rang to signal first period and he shot out of his seat, darting out the door and straight to the hall where the math test was being held, he entered through the large double doors and scanned the room.

Thinking strategically, he should sit at the back closest to the door just in case he had to make a quick exit, however fate had other plans and he spotted Matt waving at him from the middle of the room, signally to sit next to him instead. He wondered with annoyance how on earth he had managed to get to the Hall before him.

“I’ll be so glad when this is over.” Luke sighed slumping into his seat beside his friend.

“You and me both bro.” Matt chuckled good naturedly nudging his friend in the arm.

“Students take your seats, this test will commence in two minutes sharp, you will have ninety minutes to complete your test, use this time wisely.”

With that, everyone in the room watched in silence as the timer began and then simultaneously flipped their test booklets over and began scribbling furiously.

Luke was feeling confident about halfway through, all his answers he was sure were correct so far, that was until he looked up at the timer and saw he only had thirty minutes left and still half the booklet to go. He felt his muscles tighten and his skin felt like it was swelling, he closed his eyes and took a breath, he just had to keep going, focus on the work and take deep breaths. His seat felt smaller.

He only had two questions left when the alarm on the timer sounded, jolting in his seat, he flipped his booklet over and bolted for the door, the pressure in his body was becoming too much and he had to get out of there. Running full tilt toward the forested area that backed onto the school oval, he knew of a clearing there he had used to grow before, he just hoped he could make it there in time before he exploded.

His legs felt longer, his strides stretching further as he ran, the grass looked smaller, he knew he wasn’t big enough to be noticeable, but it was coming, and it was coming fast.

Once in the cover of the trees he let his body go, that tight feeling felt looser as he let himself grow, his forehead brushing against the tops of the trees, he took a few more steps mindful of the smaller foliage, he didn’t want to leave an obvious trail. He reached the clearing and stretched his aching body, letting out a groan from the relief, the anxiety gone and the pressure previously raging through his muscles was gone.

“What the actual-.”

Luke whipped his head around scanning the forest floor until his large blue eyes landed on the small form of his childhood best friend staring up at him with wide eyes, he held Luke’s backpack in one hand with his own slung over the opposite shoulder. Matt had watched his friend’s odd behavior and worried about him, so he’d picked up his bag and followed him into the forest to check on him.

“Matt.” He wasn’t sure what else to say, how to explain himself, he took a step toward his friend who stood comparatively around six inches in height to him, and he immediately regretted it. He watched with the sick feeling of guilt in his stomach as Matt took multiple steps backward, tripping over the branches of the forest floor and falling back on his rear.

Luke knelt down instead, planting his knees into the ground, and flinching as he saw the rumbling effect it had on his friend causing Matt to shake either from the large movement or from fear, neither of them were sure, probably both.

Matt shook his head as if coming out of a trance and before he could think it through, he dropped both bags jumping up onto his feet and made to bolt in the opposite direction.

“Wait!” Luke shouted, throwing caution to the wind, he reached out his large hands that moved much faster than anything that big had a right to and scooped up his friend closing him in between his two hands as though he’d just caught an interesting bug.

Luke’s eyes widened as he felt Matt kick and punch at his large digits, he could hear him shouting from within his hands, but it was muffled. He felt horrible holding his best friend against his will like this, but he needed to explain what was going on, he owed it to him at least.

Once he’d explained he would let him go and he would understand if Matt never wanted to see him again, who’d want to be friends with a freak like him anyway.

With a deep breath he slowly opened his hands letting the light shine within the enclosed space until his eyes settled on Matt sprawled on his back and staring up at him fearfully, he had his arms over his head in defense and his chest rose and fell as he took quick short, panicked breaths.

“Matt, I-it’s me.” Luke’s words caught in his throat, he blinked back the tears that were threatening, he hated that he was the cause of Matt’s fear.

“Luke?” Matt’s small voice reached his ears and he let out a breath of relief ruffling his friend’s shaggy blonde hair in the process. He watched avidly as Matt’s breathing began to slow and recognition was beginning to show on his features.

“Yeah Matt, it’s just me, I swear I won’t hurt you; I can explain all of his.” His words rushed over Matt’s body, and he shuddered at the bizarre feeling of such large breathes washing over him, but he recognized those blue eyes, the freckles that were scattered across his cheeks and nose, his curly brown hair bounced and hung around his eyes, this was Luke, just magnified.

Matt pushed himself up to sit cross legged in his friends’ hands and craned his neck to look up at his gigantic best friend.

“C-can you p-put me down Luke?” Matt internally beat himself for stuttering over his words, he tried to push the fear away knowing Luke would never truly hurt him, but it was hard to do when your life was literally being held in someone’s hands.

“Promise you won’t run?” Luke appeared hesitant to put his friend down even though he wanted nothing more than for his friend to feel comfortable and safe, he just needed to explain.

“I promise.”

Luke lowered his hands to the forest floor and flattened them out so Matt could step off onto steady ground once again, Matt really wanted to kiss the floor once he’d stepped off but refrained from the dramatic display of relief for the sake of his friend’s feelings.

“So, what happened to you dude? Fall into a radioactive pit or something? Is this permanent?”

“I’m a size shifter, as far as I know I was born with this ability, but I can’t always control it very well, particularly when I’m stressed like today, I’m so sorry.” Luke settled himself into a sitting position and crossed his legs, keeping a few feet between himself and Matt.

“How does this even happen? So, what, your parents obviously know right? Does anyone else know?”

“Yeah, my parents know, but no one else, I swear I wanted to tell you, but my parents said it was best to keep it secret, for my safety you know?”

Matt shook his head in disbelief and looked up and up at his best friend’s face, he looked so concerned, he knew Luke had always been the quieter and more self-conscious of the two, but he found it hard to believe that someone who stood ten times taller than anyone else could look so much like a hurt puppy.

“Okay so if you can shift sizes, why don’t you, you know, shrink back down now?”

He watched with curiosity as Luke closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before letting out a frustrated groan.

“I can’t yet.” He looked so apologetic, like all he wanted to do was be his regular size and hug his best friend but couldn’t.

“The burst I had was a pretty big one, sometimes it takes a little while before I can shift again, I’m sorry, I know I must seem really scary to you.” He looked down at his hands that were resting in his lap like he was a monster.

“That’s okay, no harm done.” Matt slowly walked towards his large friend and held a hand out, hesitating only briefly before resting it on Luke’s jean clad thigh and patted it comfortingly. Luke’s lips twitched into a smile watching his friend trying to be comforting despite him being obviously still uneasy around the giant. He appreciated it all the same.

“So uh, is this the real reason you live in that granny flat instead of in your folks house?”

Luke chuckled softly and nodded.

“Yeah, when I was younger, I would have bad dreams and shift in my sleep, it was safer to have me out of the house, that hasn’t happened in a long time though.”

“I still can’t believe you kept this a secret from me for so long, we’ve known each other since first grade!” Matt stood back again, not out of fear but so that he could see all of his friend while he was talking to him.

“I really wanted to tell you dude, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine I get it, just pissed because all this time we could have been using this power to you know fight crime and stuff! We could have scared bullies away or something.” Matt threw up his hands in dramatic exasperation but smiled anyway. Luke rolled his eyes.

“So? You’re cool with this? Really? And you won’t tell anyone?” Luke leaned forward looking earnestly at Matt.

“Yeah gigantor, your secret is safe with me.” Luke chuckled at the nickname and smiled.

The two hung out in the clearing for a few hours, chatting as if nothing had changed between them, just two friends hanging out and passing time.

#gt #giant #gianttiny #gtfluff #tiny #g/t #giant/tiny #size shifter #LukeandMatt #light angst #Smallamountoffear

[donald4spiderman]

i’m not sure if ur still writing for tasm!peter parker x fem! reader but i just love the idea of peter being rlly nervous around reader bc he has a crush on her and so he asks her to tutor him just to spend time with her (but he rlly doesn’t need the help) and then she figures out he never needed the help and then boom confession from him…PLS this was so long ty for listening

THE UNTRUTHFUL ACADEMIC

peter doesn’t need any help in world history. but, you don’t need to know that.

tasm!peter x fem!reader

tw: a small white lie

masterlist

“A TUTOR...” YOU SIGH, INCREDULITY LACED THROUGH EVERY SYLLABLE.

“Yes!” Peter exclaims, disrupting your skepticism. “World history. I need help. Lots.”

You study the awkward boy in front of you who shifts uncomfortably in his seat. Your brows knit together in confusion. “Peter, aren’t you like at the top of our class? I’m finding it hard to believe you need tutoring in anything, let alone from me”

“I-I am near the top—something like that. But I’m only good at math and science stuff,” He reasons, “Social studies, not so much.” He hopes you can’t see right through him.

See, Peter’s had a crush on you since the beginning of freshman year. You were the brilliant girl that sat next to him in his English class, and he couldn’t help but be drawn to you. The teacher paired the two of you together constantly, and you found yourselves becoming casual friends.

Peter’s had a few classes with you since then. But recently, his nerves have been getting the best of him. The more time he spends with you, the more he likes you, and the more nervous he becomes. The unfortunate cycle repeats until he can barely work up the nerve to greet you in the hallway.

So, he’s resorted to a plan based upon a very tiny, super harmless lie. You tutor other students one-on-one in the library after school every week, and Peter figured if he was one of them, he’d spend more time with you and eventually confess his feelings. Only problem is he doesn’t need tutoring. He’s a genius. Even before all the spider-powers, you would be hard pressed to find him struggling over any subject.

Peter decided to play dumb in world history; act like he’s suddenly lost in the class and desperately needs guidance. After all, how could you say no to someone begging for help?

“Alright...” You sigh in acceptance, brushing your hair away from your face. “I suppose even geniuses have their faults. Does every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 work for you?”

Peter nods with a grin, “Absolutely.”

-

A WEEK LATER

Peter completes the work sheet you printed out slowly—oddly slow. Even an average student would’ve finished by now, but Peter seems to be taking his sweet time going through the questions.

“Is everything alright?” You ask from across the table.

He nods, “Just trying to finish my work.”

You narrow your gaze, “Alright. If you have any questions, let me know. We’ll go over the answers once your finished.”

It takes him another 20 minutes to fill in the remaining bubbles. Either Peter’s actually...stupid, or something else is going on.

He hangs off your every word as you explain the answers about French imperialism in Africa and travel patterns on the Silk Road. His chin rests in his palm and he hums along with enthusiasm.

The hour and a half goes by very quickly. Peter doesn’t even care about getting home for dinner. Maybe he could stretch the session a little longer...

“Okay. Well, you did good?” What does good even mean for Peter? “So, I guess I’ll see you this Thursday for tutoring also. Text me if you have any questions.”

“Thanks, (Y/N).” Peter beams as he swings his bag onto his shoulder. “Can’t wait for Thrusday.” He skips off before you can even zip your bag.

What are you hiding Peter Parker?

-

TWO WEEKS LATER

Okay. Something is definitely going on with Peter.

It should not take a competent 17 year old upwards of 18 minutes to answer a three sentence question about the differences between South and East Asia. Especially when the answers are provided in the paragraph above.

Peter, in his mind, was not one bit concerned that he was overselling his facade. Even when he would spend three minutes staring blankly at the worksheet you assigned, he wasn’t worried you’d find his behavior abnormal.

You startled him by snatching the paper from in front of him. He attempts to grab it, but you have it just out of reach. So much for his special reflexes.

Your eyes scan what few words he has written down, rolling your eyes at the scribbled, fifth-grade level sentences.

“East Asia is China. South Asia is India, and so forth.” He smiles sheepishly as you read his answers aloud. “Peter, what the actual fuck is this?”

“Well, the question was: what are the difference between East and South A—“

“No.” You deadpan, slapping the paper down onto the table. “Are you trying to waste my time?”

He raises an eyebrow, “Is this how your supposed to talk to you tutorees?” He feels the foundation of his lie starting to crumble, yet he’s still confident enough to give you attitude.

You shake your head in frustration, “Maybe if you actually needed tutoring I would have an ounce of patience for your antics! But you don’t even need help with world history! I know it!”

“Just because you don’t see me struggle, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.” Peter rationalizes, hands raises defensively.

He swears he can see smoke leaving your ears.“No, no. I’m not stupid or oblivious, Peter. At first, I thought maybe you wanted a little extra feedback on some ideas, or that you were struggling on grasping a specific concept. But the work your producing is the worst I’ve ever seen. I know you’re trying to look dumb on purpose!”

“It’s actually ‘purposefully’...”

You slam your fist down and his eyes snap wide open. “See! You’re not stupid! So why are you wasting my time by pretending like you are?”

Peter sighs, slumping his shoulders in defeat. “It’s complicated.”

You wag your finger in his face, “No. You owe it to me to explain why you took time away from other students who actually need my help. So spill it, Parker.”

“I like you...?” It comes out as a question, but he’s certain about it. “A-and I didn’t know how to approach you outside of class and ask to hang out. I figured if I pretended to need help in a class that you would tutor me; that way I could formulate a better plan to actually ask you out while still getting to know you better.”

Pete chews his lower lip anxiously. That is clearly not the answer you were expecting. You pace back and forth around the table with crossed arms. “I would’ve said yes if you asked me out two weeks ago,” Peter smiles with surprise, “But your plan to ask me out makes you sound like a total idiot.”

“I am! See! I wasn’t faking it, technically.” He chuckles nervously. “Wait. You would’ve said yes?”

“Duh, you idiot.” There it is again. “I actually thought you were kind of cute and sweet before all of this—even now, I still think you are—even though I shouldn’t!”

“So...is that a yes? Will you go on a date with me?”

You shrug, “It’s a maybe.”

“I promise I will never lie to you or waste your time ever again.” He crosses his hand over his heart. “You have my word.”

“Fine.” You huff. “But this date better be fucking amazing. And I’m not paying for jack-shit.”

Peter grins, the corners of his mouth stretching nearly to his ears. “O-okay. Anything for you.”

“Damn right.”

#peter parker #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker fanfic #peter parker x y/n #peter parker x reader #tasm!peter parker #tasm!spiderman x you #spiderman #the amazing spider man #oneshot #andrew garfield x you #andrew garfield #andrew garfield fanfcition #marvel #fluff

[johnconstantinesdick]

Op your post and tags about Artemis doing damage control is absolutely delightful.

I mean, from Titan's curse we know Artemis was trying to get the council to prepare for the war, recognizing what was happening, even before the war gods actively acted.

Also Apollo getting a ping when a new possible child of the prophecy gets born actually makes sense. He knew how old Thalia was, he's also a god of truth besides just prophecy and during the years of the Hunt functioning I doubt the only big three kids to join are Bianca and Thalia. The chances are really small for that to happen.

It could also be Roman demigods, since literally anyone can join and it's better to be safe than sorry. And since it was 'child of the eldest gods' and not specifically the big three, she might have even counted in children of Demeter, since Hestia and Hera don't have (in Hera's case demigod) children.

About anon that Artemis acted predatory: bestie do you want the prophecy to happen? Do you want to risk Olympus falling?

And the average life expectancy of a Greek demigod is like 13 years old, were it not for them, the squad at Westover would have little chances of survival at the age they were at. Also statistically, the Hunt even helps to get demigods the chance to reach the camp by killing the monsters.

In conclusion: was it sketchy? Sure. Was she lying tho? Not at all.

From the few Hunters we got the chance to meet, sure, Bianca was really young when she died, but Phoebe and Zoë were thousands of years old. Let's do the math. If Zoë had been with the Hunt for let's say 3 000 years, and Phoebe for 2 500. Bianca died at 13 I think? Even these three on their own puts the average life expectancy of a Hunter to 1 838 years. And that's a bit higher than the chances of Greek demigods.

Artemis literally is doing the absolute most of a damage control.

(also personal headcanon that Artemis sends the Hunters to the camp instead of being on their own so they were safe from Orion since he usually targets them when they're alone, and being without Artemis who even got stolen and physically cannot help would be quite a chance to miss)

I love your username!

It always interests me how out of all of the gods Artemis is the most involved in the everyday lives of demigods. Mr. D helps run the camp, but she spends her time with her hunters, fighting with them and forging relationships. She’s notable in TTC because when the gang is fighting Atlas with her, she feels like a comrade more than a capricious god.

She’s not above criticism, but even taking my Great Prophecy Damage Control read out of the situation, she does more to directly help demigods than like. Any other god. So when I see wild criticism of her like “if Artemis hadn’t recruited the girl who admitted she might have destroyed Olympus if allowed to age then Hera wouldn’t have targeted Thalia so much. She was really just mad Thalia foreswore her only family in Jason. Isn’t Artemis so bad and evil???” It’s kind of like. Why are you bending over backwards to vilify one of the only gods consistently fighting and advocating for our heroes.

(Btw yes that is an actual take I saw in a fic.)

And you’re right on the Hunters ages!! Like we have several girls that have been around for thousands of years!!!! We have like five named Greek demigods that have lived to the age of eighteen in the original series, and over half of them proceeded to die anyway. Artemis is obviously doing something right to keep her girls alive this long.

With the fic idea… I may just have to write it when I get a chance. If I remember right, I don’t think the Romans were in line for the first Great Prophecy anyway, but it would be so funny if Artemis was like… fuck that. If I have to keep cleaning up my dad and uncle’s messes then I’m going to clean up all of them and get more hunters out of it.

Anyway thank you for the ask! I had fun making the post but then the anons I got kind of soured it :\ so I’m glad you like my thoughts!

#hades keeps his title of ‘only one to not break the oath’ and unknowingly lands himself in Artemis’s good graces. #eli rambles #Eli writes #pjo #riordanverse #ask

[fukuokanodivision]

Eko’s Thoughts On 2nd Members

Jiro Yamada

“Ji-ro? He’s nice actually. Not as ‘exciting’ as his older bro in my opinion, but what’s not to like? Sure, He’s untrustworthy at first, But he’ll eventually open up. Just don’t get in the way of his bros and you’ll be just fiiine. Plus, He’s pretty cool if you’re on his good side. Otherwise, Yuno more has a soft spot for him, So I’d suggest talking to him if you want more opinion. Let’s just say I’m not good at making opinions with people I’ve met, but barely know.”

Jyuto Iruma

”Officer Jyuto~, He’s alright. Always following Samatoki-san’s world of the Yakuza and being sleek at getting something out of literally anything, What else is there to say? I mean, Who would see some random cop with red glasses (+The cleanest face) in Yokohama and not say he’s a “okay” person? Other than that, It would be nice to get my hands dirty and take him on (Or all of M.T.C for that matter) sometime eventually…”

Gentaro Yumeno

”Yu-me-no? Right, The author in Ramuda’s team. All I’ll say about him is with my mom…Let’s start here. Nowadays, My mom has her very own publishing company and mostly welcomes newcomers. You see, Yumeno would mostly be her main inspirations for story writing, A ton of his work even I’ve looked at off her shelf. Anyway, That’s all how I technically know about him, So there isn’t a strong opinion for me on this guy here. Who knows, He does fight pretty solid in the DRB though.”

Hifumi Izanami

“Izanami? Riiight~! ‘Shinjuku’s #1 Host’ as they say. Matenrou really are a great bunch, According to Mai of course, I also would agree with that. Izanami, He’s a great person too. Knowing how to lighten the mood and have a good time, Something both of us can relate even. I think I might have to start making more visits to Shinjuku, You know. After all, It would be cool to see what ‘The City That Never Sleeps’ is like outside its interesting name. Maybe sometime I’ll drop in and pay Izanami a visit someday? Anything can happen.”

Rosho Tsutujimori

“Tsutujimori…Nurude-san’s partner, Right…! Aside from Nurude-san, I don’t know much about his teammates per say. But Tsutujimori, I think I can muster a tiny bit on this guy. A ‘math-teacher-in-Osaka-who-has-immense-stage-freight’. That’s all I can remember. My minds pretty fuzzy when it comes to stuff like this, If only they hadn’t hacked my mind twice. Oh well, I’ll just ask Nurude-san more and see what he says on him. So I’ll have to visit Osaka again sometime soon.”

Jyushi Aimono

“Aimono..? Ohh, I know this guy. Yamada-san’s partner before TDD has quite the “interesting” look for a rap team. Visual Kei…it’s a genre I’ve heard get passed around a bit? Only Aimono really makes it stand out, To me atleast. I have a confession to make, This guy is pretty good. Not like the average person with a talent they call ‘decent’, I’m talking maybe as famous as I am even. Sorry, Not trying to be superior here…Otherwise, Aimono definitely has some hidden potential in him though, So I can’t wait till I can meet him in person, To talk and level up to of course.”

#hypmic oc

[mysmorgasbordoffantabulosa]

https://www.tumblr.com/mysmorgasbordoffantabulosa/726030837633712128/httpswwwtumblrcommysmorgasbordoffantabulosa7

Damn u lack reading comprehension don’t you. Listen honey, i’ll spell it out again very clearly so ur lil brain doesn’t miss it again this time. JUNGKOOK WILL PROBABLY SING TAE’s SONGS on his LIVE too but DON’T EXPECT HIM TO DO ALL THE SAME THINGS HE DID FOR JIMIN! That my dear is the point i am trying to make. Everyone knows he has sang all the members songs on his Lives. I am talking about how much more he did for Jimin than anyone else. He basically kept track of JM’s releases and sang the songs as they came out. And hun, I don’t know how terrible u are at math but Vibe was released in January and Jk sang it in on February 1st. The emphasis here isn’t that he sang the song, it is that, that was the very first things he could think of doing after his littel chitchat with Army! See what i’m saying? Kinda the same way he went Live not long after Angel pt 1 was released and sang the song too without anyone spamming his comments asking for it. Or kinda the same way he watched Jimin’s Suchwita on Live the same day it was aired.

Also, isn’t it kinda sad that Tae is Jk’s “boyfriend” according to y’all but he doesn’t even make an effort to do anything……i dunno different for Tae? Well it’s kinda too early to tell. I might be proven wrong. I guess we all wait and see what happens. But if Jk has the time to scroll on tiktok liking and commenting on random videos of pple and Jimin who debuted months ago, i think he should be able to squeeze in sometime to just….i dunno pop on Live even for 5 mins to play Tae’s songs but maybe that’s just me.

You can read my sort of respond to this lovely prose after the cut...

"Damn u lack reading comprehension don’t you."

Actually, I scored really well for reading comprehension in school… must be why I work in education.

"Listen honey…"

I'm no-one's honey and you don't have the privilege to call me that…

"…i’ll spell it out again…"

Oh no here we go another condescending diatribe…

"…very clearly so ur lil brain"

"According to to a dyslexia specialist I have an above average intelligence… must be why I tolerate nonsense like this…

"…doesn’t miss it again this time."

Ok I'll try…

"JUNGKOOK WILL PROBABLY SING TAE’s SONGS on his LIVE too but DON’T EXPECT HIM TO DO ALL THE SAME THINGS HE DID FOR JIMIN! That my dear is the point i am trying to make."

WOW… DeJa'Vu… Yep got it the first time…

"Everyone knows he has sang all the members songs on his Lives. I am talking about how much more he did for Jimin than anyone else. He basically kept track of JM’s releases and sang the songs as they came out. And hun, I don’t know how terrible u are at math..."

It's called MATHS because it's short for MATHEMATICS…. PLURAL, but yes please do carry on…

"...but Vibe was released in January and Jk sang it in on February 1st. The emphasis here isn’t that he sang the song, it is that, that was the very first things he could think of doing after his littel chitchat with Army! See what i’m saying?"

Yes… but you're still not convincing me… and JK has sung songs from other artists that were release the day before or month before… without being prompted to do so in the comments.

"Kinda the same way he went Live not long after Angel pt 1 was released and sang the song too without anyone spamming his comments asking for it. Or kinda the same way he watched Jimin’s Suchwita on Live the same day it was aired."

And he's watched stuff from other members on the same day, or shortly after they were released, sometimes performing them verbatim others not… but please continue with your selective amnesia…

"Also, isn’t it kinda sad that Tae is Jk’s “boyfriend” according to y’all but he doesn’t even make an effort to do anything…… i dunno different for Tae?"

So according to you (all), all the support Brian is getting, is only the occasional sing-song from JK of Brian's songs on a Live…

"Well it’s kinda too early to tell."

I guess we'll find out in less than 3 weeks time…

"I might be proven wrong."

Yes, you might…

"I guess we all wait and see what happens."

I already said that didn't I…

"But if Jk has the time to scroll on tiktok liking and commenting on random videos of pple and Jimin who debuted months ago, i think he should be able to squeeze in sometime to just….i dunno pop on Live even for 5 mins to play Tae’s songs but maybe that’s just me."

Great it's over… I'm sure you'll come back with more waffle in another equally scintillating ask…

#my asks

[stereopticons]

oversharing on the internet

Thanks for the tags, @jettestar @celeritas2997 and @mostlyinthemorning ! Sorry this took me a minute, I just got home from traveling.

ONE: Are you named after anyone?

No, though I do have the same middle name as my mother. Her primary reasoning for naming me what she did was that she always wanted people to call her a “boy’s” name growing up but no one did and so she made my initials a “boy’s name” so that people would call me it (no one ever has). I wish someone would have told her you can ask people to call you whatever you want.

TWO: When was the last time you cried?

About twenty minutes ago when I stepped on the pointy end of a toothpick that was stuck in a blanket on the floor (welcome home, I guess).

THREE: Do you have kids?

david rose absolutely not dot gif (I searched for it but tumblr hates me)

FOUR: Do you use sarcasm a lot?

I do, but sometimes I feel bad using it because I know many people struggle to understand it but it’s so deeply ingrained in the way I talk

FIVE: What sports have you played/do you play?

For an un-athletic person, I seem to have tried a lot of things: soccer (grades 3-5), swimming (ages 6-15, this is the only one I was actually ok at but quit because it interfered with band), dance (ballet, jazz/modern, ballroom), tennis (one brief summer that my parents were trying to keep us occupied), fencing (college, this was so fun but it was too expensive to keep going), gymnastics (it was called tumbling actually because we were very small), yoga, weightlifting

SIX: What's the first thing you notice about people?

I…don’t know. Is this a thing people know?

SEVEN: What's your eye colour?

Hazel-ish

EIGHT: Scary movies or happy endings?

This is a false dichotomy (and I’m bi so that exempts me from choosing between things)

(for legal reasons that’s a joke)

NINE: Any special talents?

Not unless you count making every conversation awkward.

TEN: Where were you born?

In a town that I still have to google to make sure I’m spelling it right.

ELEVEN: What are your hobbies?

Theoretically, reading, writing, baking, crochet, playing music, staring at large bodies of water but tbh my brain has been so broken lately that I haven’t been doing much of any of them

TWELVE: Do you have any pets?

Three small monsters of the cat variety.

THIRTEEN: How tall are you?

Completely average.

FOURTEEN: Favourite subject in school?

Does band count? Instead of taking calc my senior year of hs, I took three band classes because I was sure I was going to be a professional musician and insisted that all the math I needed I had learned by fifth grade (jokes on me, I ended up in a v math heavy field!)

FIFTEEN: Dream job?

Sometimes I still fantasize about quitting everything and opening a bakery/coffeeshop/bookstore/bar. Or going to work with the otters at the Monterey Bay aquarium. My ultimate dream musician jobs (see previous question) were to be a Broadway musician and/or own my own recording studio. Sometimes I miss that person.

I’m way late to this but if you didn’t get tagged, please consider this your tag.

[jemstarearrings]

S01E09: The World Hunger Shindig

The World Hunger Shindig is the first episode of the series that breaks the continuity and starts being episodic. Naturally that makes it perfect for one of the dull “Charity Good!” episodes where the moral of the story pretty much boils down to “If you’re a Good Person™ and Do Charity™ just like JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS™, you are Good!™ The MISFITS™ are Bad™ because they DON’T Do Charity!™

I know it’s a product of its time, kind of like how cartoons in the 90s had episodes about recycling, but that doesn’t make it any less boring.

The plot is pretty common for a Jem episode; the Holograms are doing a charity concert, the Misfits want to take their place for The Wrong Reason™, so Eric hires Zipper to bump the Holograms off. This doesn’t work, the Holograms end up succeeding anyway, and the Misfits gain nothing. Oh, and there’s a Beatles reference:

Forget about “Paul Is Dead,” we’ve got “Kimber is Pink!”

The most intriguing part of this episode, to me, was the reveal from Pizzazz that she knew Sean Harrison before he was famous.

This actually lends a little more depth to Pizzazz’s hate-boner for the Holograms. If they turned my old flame into a wuss who didn’t even want to hear my music, I’d be pretty bitter about it too. 

Speaking of men having personality shifts, I just want to mention that Rio is a piece of shit in this episode as usual.

Backstage at the Shindig when Kimber's trying to get help, Rio sits there and pouts about how none of the other Holograms have talked to him, especially not Jerrica, "MY GIRLFRIEND!!"

Except when Jerrica spent time with him at the welcome party at the ranch, and when Jerrica wanted him to come with them to ride horses and he decided he’d go set up a stage for ten hours (of course after seeming bummed Jem wasn’t there, only Jerrica, his girlfriend.)

The absolute gaslighting gall of this man. He’s literally the only one who’s kept himself from the girls aside from the ONE time they can’t answer a phone call because they just got hit by a goddamn car and knocked out of a hayride. For all the “good” messages this show tries to send with having the characters be literal white saviors, there are just as many bad ones where Jerrica stays with Rio despite the 500 red flags he puts out every hour

(Aja and Shana can be Asian and black saviors respectively, but that doesn’t change how cringe it is for this candy-colored pop band to fly over a barren African savannah in a thresher and magically grow tons of food for the poor Africans.)

Aside from my nitpicking, this episode really doesn’t have any massive glaring flaws. There are some great uses of holograms (especially when Synergy announces them at the concert just in the nick of time,) but the two “We Are The World”-type songs and the really common plot just don’t do it for me. The cool Misfits song in the middle even has a gross sound effect over top of it, so I’m giving this one a C. Totally average.

Pizzazz's reckless driving earns her a year in jail and $2,500 in fines, BUT, this case is interesting. This is the first time in the series when there's more than one person in the car during a bout of reckless driving, and we all know what that means:

So Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, AND Sean Harrison are all charged! This leads to a total of 4 years in jail and $10,000 in fines.

Meanwhile, Eric conspired twice with Zipper to abduct and falsely imprison the Holograms AND to commit charity fraud. Doing the math, this earns the two together about $500,000 in fines and about 3 years in jail.

Grand Total: $510,000 in fines and 7 years in jail! On the bright side, maybe Sean Harrison will get some of his grittier personality back while behind bars? :P

#episode reviews #jem #jath #jem and the holograms #pink kimber

[kariachi]

Random: Trying to get a sense of an ‘average’ lifetime egg count based on the numbers in Dragon Skies, even though they don’t line up with numbers from earlier books. Though I’m looking through Moreta right now and 25 eggs with a prospective gold is described as being "superb” for a queen at the end of a Pass, which would still make the 15 eggs per clutch mentioned in the later book on the low end, especially since Nemorth was getting shat on for 12, and we had golds early in the Pass laying clutches of 30+... And in Dragon Skies the gold mentioned is clutching every other Turn which with 15 eggs per clutch is supposedly plenty enough to do their share in maintaining the Weyr, but then other books have fuckers Rising every Turn...

It’s a mess, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to work out some numbers on how many eggs we should be expecting in a queen’s lifetime if these later numbers are accurate to the norm. Just means when we do out own work we need to shuffle numbers and make them work for what we’re doing- which is supposed to be the writers’ jobs but apparently nobody could make up their minds.

Anyway- 15 eggs a year every other year. Now the big question comes in ‘how long can a queen be expected to Rise?’. Of course this is going to depend, for instance based on this timeline I can find Nemorth first Rose- or at least first did so successfully- at age 7, while Ramoth seems to have been at age 2, but again we can assume this is an Interval vs Pass thing.

Actually, if we use that to explain then it gives us a potential standard space between clutches for the different periods of time- this is all theory but if dragons have as much time between clutches as it takes to mature then an Interval queen could be expected to lay every 7 or so years and we still get this every other years for the Pass number.

But, carrying on, we’re talking Pass numbers so we’re assuming a queen lays at 2 years old and then every other Turn after that until she becomes too old and/or worn to Rise. So we need a number for that, hence why I am looking at Moreta. Which then gives us the problem of never actually telling us how fucking old Leri and Holth are. We can assume from what we learn in it that dragons keep breeding until they're very old, however, Holth had only just stopped rising a few Turns before the start of the story and she and Leri are consistently described as old and arthritic, and Leri even implies that the two of them are on their last legs. So, we have to start estimating shit.

In Masterharper we’re told riders live well into their hundreds, but we’re not given any other back-up to that that I can remember or have read so, going with base human lifespan estimates for this one. More likely riders more typically live to an older age just because they have better access to care or good food than the masses, but still within a normal range. Now, even in the Middle Ages 60 was considered elderly, and arthritis becomes more likely after hitting 50 pretty much as a rule, and regular exercise make living longer more likely... Cane use is common in those 65+... If we go with medieval averages then 50 years would be a good baseline lifespan for regular folk who who reach adulthood, another 10-15 years on that wouldn’t be a shocker for riders, put Leri above that and it would make sense she’s so flippant about her time having passed and really it’s about time she died so she and Holth can rest...

So, for the sake of the math we’ll put Leri at 70, plenty old enough that she can still describe herself as having ‘few’ old friends left while still allowing for normal human age ranges and riders living longer on average than the commonfolk. Going with this Holth would’ve stopped Rising when Leri was 68, the average age of a gold-candidate is about 20, so we can estimate dragons Rise to mate until they’re somewhere in the vicinity of 50.

She would have had to miss Rising, so her last clutch would have been two years before she officially was listed past breeding, and this would be the norm, so we can assuming a Pass queen, using these numbers we’re working with, would have about 24 clutches in their lifetime. If each of those clutches is 15 eggs then she would be laying about 360 eggs in her lifetime.

Of course the numbers differ depending on how old Leri was which changes how long we can estimate dragons Rising (for instance if she was in her 110s, 120s, then Holth was likely nearly a century old if not older and would have laid closer to 50 clutches), how often they Rise (since the books can’t decide whether they Rise every other Turn or every Turn, and we know the time between clutches varies from Pass to Interval), and how many eggs are in a clutch (is 35 a proper number? 25? 15? 10? Nobody can make up their damn mind). But, it’s a number to work with. 

Cut me some slack, I can’t work too many miracles with this series.

[mareebrittenford]

SloMo WriNo: Failure Proofing Your Goals

A Novel in one year.

So, what are the numbers for that?

If you’re so inclined, you’ve probably already done the math, and come up with some numbers for yourself.

Numbers like projected length of novel (I’m going to use 80k for this, but don’t get married to that, once you get into it the work with find it’s own length) and how many words a day you would need to write to hit that goal. (220)

That’s all very nice, but the problem with word count goals, is that you can create a situation where your writing becomes a pass/fail situation.

A situation where if you perceive yourself as failing (did I meet my word count goal this week? No? I AM A FAILURE!) and the pressure rises, it starts to feel safer to simply quit, rather than face repeated failures.

I’m against that sort of thing. (The quitting and also the negative self talk.)

So how does one measure progress without creating that sort of situation? How can you win the psychology game of getting words on the page?

Of course everyone is different. But here’s two methods (tricks? hacks?) that work for me at various times.

Low Goal, High Results. (The Min-Max zone)

The idea with this is to set a daily, or per session word count goal that feels too easy.

By now I hope you’ve figured out a good time and place to write. So go there, at that time, and do a timed 15 minute sprint. However many words you got, halve it. Repeat this exercise a few times to make sure you’ve got a good average.

Unless you’re a power writer, you will most likely end up with a number that is below that 220 we mathed out earlier, DON’T PANIC. In fact, for this example lets say that you managed to write an average of 200 words in your 15 minute sessions. Which means that your daily goal is now 100 words.

Of course with that number, even if you write every single day for a year that will only give you 36 500 words. Not a novel. Barely a novella!

The point here is not to write only 100 words a day. It’s making the daily task of writing feel easy and approachable. Not scary. If you know you only need to write 100 words, and you know you can get that done easily in less than 15 minutes, then why not do it? And once you’re writing, writing a little more generally happens easily enough. If getting started is the hard part, this should really help.

It’s a common psychological trick. But it’s common for a reason. It works!

Once you’ve set your (very easy) minimum goal, I also encourage you to set a maximum daily goal too. Especially if you’re the type of person who tends to go on 10k writing binges and then not write again for two months. Set your maximum at what you can comfortably write in 1.5-2 hours. So let’s say that’s 1000 words. Meaning your goal is to write 100-1000 words every time you sit down to write, and consider everything, from barely getting 102 to maxing out at 1002 an awesome, winning, writing day.

What does that look like? On a bad day, a day you don’t fee like writing at all, it means you tell yourself that all you need to do is write for ten minutes. Just get down 100 words (or whatever your minimum goal is.) And then if you haven’t found your mojo, you stop. No guilt or regret. You’ve met your goal, even though you’re having a bad day. You’re doing awesome!

On a power day, when you feel almost possessed by the muses, it means that when your timer beeps, or you see that number on the bottom of the screen hit 1000 (or whatever your number is), you make yourself stop. Yes. Stop mid flow. (It’s painful, I know! But please try!) Why stop? Because you’re learning how to have a healthy long term writing habit.

Write yourself some notes, and come at it fresh tomorrow. The goal is teach yourself that your creativity isn’t actually a unreliable muse. You are not subject to it’s whim. With time and practice your creativity will be there whenever you reach for it.

This is the method that I use most of the time, and I strongly recommend you give it a decent try (6 weeks at least.)

However perhaps you’re really just convinced that particular kind of psychological trickery just won’t work for you, or perhaps you’ve tried it in the past without success. Maybe it creates the opposite effect for you, and you find daily writing skippable because the minimum goal feels so low that you think you can make it up later (you won’t, but ahem, brains are weird.) So here is an alternative method that is also quite effective.

Higher Goals to Plan For Misses

Instead of setting your goal ridiculously low, you can try setting it high enough that you can miss writing days while still staying on track.

This will only work if you’ve been able to carve out a larger chunk of time for daily writing, thirty minutes to an hour.

So, lets run the example numbers. Using the 80k novel template, we already know that it would take 220 words a day if you write every single day, and never delete anything.

Writing every day is almost impossible, so you’re setting yourself up to fail if you set 220 as your goal.

So instead you plan for writing 6 days a week. Perhaps you intend to take Mondays off. They suck and you know you usually don’t feel like writing then anyway. Awesome. Let’s make that our schedule. Writing 312 days a year means a daily target of 257 words.

But still, that leaves no margin for error. No time for bad days, illness, that one scene you have to cut because it wasn’t working, etc.

So we double it. Your goal, with a plan of writing 6 days a week, is 500 words a day. And also (and this is the important bit) 2000 words a week.

Wait! That’s 4 days, not 6! Yes. That’s the point. It allows room for misses. To allow you to fail without failing. For days when you can’t reach 500, for days when you don’t have time (and with a larger daily goal like this, that’s a lot more possible.) For days when you just can’t.

Of course if you can only count on writing 5 days a week, or 4, or whatever your life situation calls for, adjust your goals accordingly. Always keep your goal word count about 1/3 higher than needed, to give yourself that cushion. If the numbers gets too large to manage, then it’s time to change the long term goal.

Yes. Really. Change it. Setting a goal that you’re bound to fail at is not going to help you.

Perhaps it’s more feasible for you personally to write your novel in 18 months, or two years. As always, your health is more important than an arbitrary time line, and you’ll still be awesome if you write your novel a little slower.

But what if both of those methods still stress you out, or if focusing on the numbers like that kills your joy?

Here’s a bonus method, that I personally use when things get to be a real struggle.

Gold Stars

This is for the times when the thought of tracking word count is just one step too many, and becomes an obstacle for writing at all. However when you abandon tracking completely, it’s often a way to abandon writing too.

So having some sort of way to confirm that yes, you’ve written for the day still helps, whether that’s putting a gold star, or an X on a calendar (you can find printable month/page calendars online for free, or you can buy those little book calendars very cheap), creating an art or craft piece (one time I wrote an entire novel assisted by a scarf where I only got to crochet a row after I’d written for the day), or whatever other way you can think of to mark that you wrote. Having a way to look back at your week or month and confirm that yes, you’ve written most days, is often enough keep you honest (with yourself.) As long as it’s something that feels like a reward and not additional work.

So there you have it. 3 methods for setting word count goals and tracking what you’re accomplishing.

Let me know what you’re going to try, or what sort of tricks work for you!

—Maree

Subscribe to my substack to make sure you don't miss a post, chat with me on the WIP Project discord, and tag any posts you make about the challenge with #slomowrino if you want me to see them!

#slomowrino #word count goals #failure proof goals

[duggardata]

In Katie en Travis' latest video they say they were on birth control in the beginning of their Marriage. They also want 'only' 3 or 4 kids. Are you going to factor this in (in like the marriage to first born spacing) ? And if so, how?

Katie + Travis Are The First Bateses To Acknowledge Using Birth Control!

Wow, good for them! In latest (November 5, 2022) YouTube video, Katie + Travis react to viewers' assorted "assumptions" about their relationship. Unsurprisingly, one assumption (at ~10:10) was: "You Don't Believe In Contraception." To this, they said—

Katie:  “This one actually is not true.  We did use birth control for a little bit before we had Hailey, but…” Travis: "For a little bit." [Laughs] Katie: "Yeah. A little bit. But, we did use birth control."

They didn't elaborate.

As for how this will factor into with Predictor, if at all... Well, Katie + Travis's Firstborn Spacing is actually very long, by Bates standards. Based on Hailey's Due Date, it's projected to be 447 Days. Leaving Katie + Travis's data out, the Bates Average is only 320 Days, and it varies by a Standard Deviation (SD) of just 39 Days. (Wow!) Doing the math... Katie + Travis's 447–Days Spacing is 127 Days and 3.26 SDs beyond the norm, which easily qualifies it as an outlier. Based on this, Duggar Data is going to exclude Katie + Travis's Firstborn Spacing as an outlier. If waiting longer for Baby #1 becomes more "normal" for Bates Couples, we'll reevaluate. (Note—Their Spacing will still be used for Katie + Travis's own predictions. It's left out of the Bates Data and Overall Data only.)

There were a few other interesting bits of information in the video. Notably, to the assumption "You Guys Want 12 Kids" (~6:18), they said—

Katie: "That's a lot of kids. No." Travis: "No." Katie: "I do love kids.  I grew up with a lot of siblings, but I say 3 [Children] for me.  I don’t even know if I physically could do that. This one has been amazing, and it’s gonna be worth it, but I told Travis the other day: I'm so ready to just not be sick and be able to do normal things, so I feel like 3 Kids, maybe 4 Kids.  More power to you, though, if you want to have more!" Travis: "Three or four, probably, is what we’re thinking."

... and, to the assumption that "You Guys Got Pregnant Earlier Than You Wanted To (~8:26)," they said—

Travis: "No." Katie: "It’s kind of true and not true at the same time." Travis: "I’m gonna say no.  We wanted to have kids.  We were trying to have kids." Katie: "But it was a lot earlier than we thought it would happen and what the doctor had told us.  When we found out, we were so excited and we were trying, so it was in the back of our mind: ‘Oh, we could be pregnant.’  We just didn’t really think it would happen so soon."

Here's the full list of "assumptions" they responded to—

0:54 "You guys never fight."

1:37 "Katie gets annoyed at Travis" more than vice versa.

2:18 "Travis is a neat freak and Katie is the messy one."

3:15 "Katie is snobby."

4:06 "Travis is supportive."

4:15 "Y'all save your money."

6:18 "You guys want twelve kids."

6:56 "Social media is easy."

7:48 "Your parents pay for everything you guys have."

8:26 "You guys got pregnant earlier than you wanted to."

8:52 "Katie is not actually pregnant."

9:09 "Early married live was a steep learning curve."

9:50 "You [Travis] want to do music full time."

10:10 "You don't believe in contraception."

10:24 "Katie can sing."

10:58 "You have thought about moving to Tennessee."

11:42 "You guys act the same on and off camera."

12:12 "It was love at first sight."

12:35 "You guys are going to be strict parents."

13:01 "You don't speak any other language."

13:22 "Katie still teases [Travis] about being younger than her."

13:47 "You're arrogant because you travel and do music."

14:07 "You both are adventurous people."

14:49 "Katie wants to dye her hair brown."

15:19 "You [Travis] are on paid staff at your church."

15:46 "You felt pressure to get married young."

16:09 "You [Katie] blame things on your pregnancy."

16:37 "This is both or your's first relationship."

17:11 "You were arranged by ... family." (Arranged Marriage)

17:26 "You both are amazing drivers."

18:06 "Katie doesn't like doctor trips to go see Hailey."

#katie and travis

[bookswithsav]

How many books have you read in total

(like an estimate I dont expect you to actually know this dw)

Let’s do some ✨math✨

I started REALLY reading around kindergarten, and it would take me about a week to finish a book originally. By the time I hit 1st/2nd grade, I was reading like. 3 a week?

Let’s talk about that 3 a week. I would often go to the library (support local libraries my dudes) and check out about 20 books for a month. If there’s 4 weeks in a month, then that’s about 5 books a week, but I have to be honest and say I didn’t always get through all 20. That was maintained for a couple of years - probably from about 2nd grade to 5th grade.

Now let’s look at my middle school years. I was reading much much less because actual homework was being thrown at me and I was in a decent amount of extracurricular activities. At this point, I was reading whatever book I had for school and then one additional one on the side, putting me at about 2 books a month.

High school I actually read even less, as my free time dwindled more. I read about a book a month, maybe more I don’t know, for my English classes. I didn’t have any free time to read outside of school work, so I kinda stopped reading for personal enjoyment around that time - although I did often enjoy the books I read for school.

Then we hit college! I started college in 2020, which meant that I had a lot more time to take care of myself and do things that I enjoyed since I wasn’t involved in any extracurricular activities at that point. For the first two years of college (oh my god I’m old) I was reading about 2 books a month. The previous two years, I’ve been reading before I go to bed. I’m trying to read casually, so I’m getting through about 5 chapters a night with modern books and 2 chapters a night with older books, meaning that I’m reading about 2 books a week.

Now let’s get some estimations!

There are approximately 4.345 weeks in a month (taking average across all months), and 12 months in a year. If we take 4.345 * 12, we get 52.14 weeks in a year. The easiest way now, in my opinion, to get the best approximation of how many books I’ve read is to multiply the number of books per week by the number of weeks in a year, separating the years, and then add them all together.

Kindergarten

~1 book per week * 52.14 weeks = 52.14 books per year

1st - 5th Grade

~3 books per week *52.14 weeks = 156.42 books per year

156.42 books per year * 5 years (range) = 782.1 books

6th - 8th Grade

~2 books per month / 4.345 weeks per month = .46 books per week

.46 books per week * 52.14 weeks = 24 books per year

24 books per year * 3 years (range) = 72 books

(Totally could have just taken (2*12)*3 but it’s fine)

9th - 12th Grade

~1 book per month / 4.345 weeks per month = .23 books per week

.23 books per week * 52.14 weeks = 12 books per year

12 books per year * 4 years (range) = 48 books

(Also totally could have taken (1*12)*4 here but it’s totally fine)

First Two Years of College

~2 books per month, so 24 books per year

24 books per year * 2 years (range) = 48 books

Next Two Years of College

~2 books per week * 52.14 weeks = 104.28 books per year

104.28 books per year * 2 years (range) = 208.56 books

Sum

52.14 + 782.1 + 72 + 48 + 48 + 208.56 = 1210.8

Round down to only count full books (I’ve only abandoned one book), and you get approximately 1210 books read!

✨math✨

#book math there ya go #I showed my work #also always label your units