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andavs · 12 days

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sorry what do you mean by eddie & shannon being a classic military couple?

Sorry it's been a minute, but this got away from me.

So military couples are notorious for getting married very young and very quickly for the benefits, and they’re also notorious for their relationships failing and getting divorced.

They skip the time usually spent building a solid foundation and partnership, and jump straight into marriage. Then if deployment comes up, one of them leaves for an extended period of time. This leads to a lot of relationships where sex is the only area where they’re compatible, because they’re both growing as people completely separate from each other. They’re handling different stresses, different schedules, sometimes completely different realities, until they’re finally reunited and a lot of the common ground they built their early relationship on isn’t there anymore. So they focus on the good things to keep things going because it’s easier, which is often sex.

Sound familiar?

Eddie and Shannon both said that they were always good at sex, but that’s about it. They never learned how to work as partners before they got married and became parents, and with Eddie deployed almost straight out of basic and overseas for half of their marriage, they never got the chance. Even just communicating was a struggle; anytime they tried to broach a difficult subject, it devolved into a yelling.

Like the fight about Eddie reenlisting:

Readjusting to civilian life is always rough, even with a really solid support system and no PTSD. Not just coming back to safety from danger, but while you're deployed, everything is relatively "simple". Even if you’re in a warzone and seeing combat, everything else is handled for you—food, clothing, medical, housing, etc. Coming back to suddenly having to worry about rent and paying for the dentist and grocery shopping and feeding the kids and getting them to school is a big adjustment and it can be overwhelming.

So is coming back after a year and really realizing how much of your family's life you missed. They handled things without you, your kids grew and changed without you—you don't even know what you missed but you know you're out of sync, and it can be incredibly isolating. Reenlisting to get back to the familiar and "simple" life of the military isn’t uncommon.

Eddie didn't even know how to hold his son, let alone process the CP diagnosis, and all the bills and headaches of everyday life on top of that. Shannon was used to the bills and headaches and wanted him back so she wouldn’t have to handle it all alone, but he was so incredibly overwhelmed and disconnected that reenlisting was, in his mind, the way to solve a lot of those problems. (It’s also possible he got a pretty good bonus for reenlisting, which it sounds like they really needed, and Eddie was raised to do whatever it takes to provide.)

Then the welcome home party:

This comes with all the same problems as the reenlisting argument, but this time with more trauma and no exit strategy because Eddie was shot multiple times and discharged. The only way he's been able to "be a man and provide" for his family is unavailable, and he's clearly struggling with feeling useless and out of his depth.

Each member of his family in that scene puts pressure on common points of stress of returning from deployment:

Helena's on him for not knowing how to care for Christopher, and everything he’s missed while he was away.

Ramon's proudly holding up the symbol of his trauma and reciting the certificate, lauding the job Eddie can't do anymore.

Shannon's clearly been living for the day he gets back so she wouldn’t have to do it all alone anymore and they could get out of Texas. It was her light at the end of the tunnel, and she wants to get out of there as soon as possible.

None of them were being intentionally malicious, but Eddie constantly downplays everything about his military service ("I was just doing my job" / "I just did what anyone else would do") so none of his family really knew what he went through or how much it affected him. He came home pretending he was fine, so they expected him to be fine. Maybe they wanted him to be fine so they didn’t see how much he wasn’t.

This is a really common problem for combat veterans and their families. They don’t want to think about what they’ve been through so they shove their medals in a box in the closet. They don't want to talk about it because their family won't understand or they don't want to go into the gory details, maybe they feel ashamed, or maybe they just aren’t ready to revisit it yet. But by not talking about it at all, the disconnect grows and they feel more alienated from their family, who has no idea how much they're struggling so they don’t know how to help, or even that they need help.

And Eddie’s clearly struggling in that scene, literally backed into a corner, snapping that he needs time because he doesn't know how to say that he can't handle up and moving to another state on top of everything else he's still not adjusting to. He probably can't even admit that he's not adjusting because this stuff should be easy and everyone else can get his son a drink, but he can’t even do that right. He was an incredibly competent and capable soldier and medic, and now he doesn’t even know where the juice boxes are.

But to Shannon, who doesn't know what he's feeling, he's being stubborn and dismissive of what she needs and everything she's been dealing with alone. And again, they never learned how to tackle these kinds of issues without fighting each other.

They were both at the end of their rope, and had similar responses that were incompatible with each other. Eddie dug in where it felt familiar and safe to him, in El Paso with his family nearby. Shannon retreated to where she could feel safe: LA, with her mom, where she wouldn't have someone correcting everything she did and constantly breaking her down further. It's possible she had her own support system there that she'd been largely cut off from while in Texas.

It's also not uncommon for a returning soldier to get boxed out of childcare and family decisions; their partner has gotten so used to handling it on their own that it can feel like they aren’t needed anymore. But sometimes the opposite happens: their partner has gotten so overwhelmed handling it all on their own that they end up dumping it on the returning soldier, like what happened when Shannon left. She was able to get away and breathe without everything on her shoulders, but then it all fell on Eddie who was already struggling with the basics.

Combine all of that with the stigma of PTSD within the military and so many soldiers willfully ignoring the symptoms, the way Eddie was raised to “brush it off, keep moving forward”, and Eddie’s very internal, freeze response PTSD symptoms where he just kind of shuts down and tries to stay where it’s safe, and you’ve got a dude silently drowning in Texas until he’s forced to make a move because his parents want custody of his son.

Most of this came from the book I Always Sit with My Back to the Wall, which again, seems like the instructions Eddie was built from.

#like...really away from me #911 #911 meta

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sweaterkittensahoy · 20 days

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this is soooooo insanely self indulgent but for fic prompts could u write something where bucky is so attracted to buck’s brain to the point where it’s literally a turn on but buck is used to people not caring (his shitty parents) so he doesn’t really get it

The biggest trick any unit has to learn is what to do with downtime. There's things to do in Boise, but it's important to not just let the boys loose every day and night they aren't training.

Lectures are semi-popular. Buck offers up a few on science. High-school level stuff explaining physics and chemistry. Things a lot of the boys already know a little about and want to know more.

Bucky slips into the back of the room for one of them, standing against the wall because there's no free space to sit. It makes him smile. Buck's whole face lights up when he figures out a good topic for a lecture, and Bucky's glad to see how many seem to like them.

Buck steps up to the lectern and grins at the boys. "Who wants to figure out the best order to lose all four engines and survive?" he asks.

"Can we figure it out the other way, too?" Hambone asks, which makes everyone laugh, even Buck.

"Sure," he says. "But I'll let anyone who doesn't want that knowledge cut out before we talk about it."

Bucky chuckles as Buck turns towards the chalkboard and someone sends a paper airplane through the air, hitting Buck in the back.

"Douglass, that's five demerits," Buck says.

There's a few moments of tussling around Douglass as his friends give him grief, but they all go quiet when Buck turns to face the room again and says, "Okay, let's talk gravity."

Bucky follows the lecture easily. He and Buck have had these conversations before, Buck breaking down the science when Bucky can't follow, making sure he can explain it back to him before he picks up again. It means he can relax and simply watch Buck.

Buck's got the room's attention, his deep voice carrying easily, and the loose-limbed way he moves keeping everyone's attention. He walks the boys through equations and illustrations, drawing a full layout of the fuel line hosing from memory to help the discussion about how gravity and mass and velocity all wrap together to affect which engine has the best chance of running the longest even if the fuel pressure drops.

Bucky shifts his hat, moving it from under his arm to hold in both hands in front of his belt to hide the fact that his dick is half-hard. Buck's face is bright and relaxed as he answers a question about the equation. Bucky watches the pilot who asked the question nod along as he makes sense of Buck's answer.

He's so goddamn smart, Buck is. It makes Bucky feel like his insides are sparking when it's on display like this. Buck knows so much and explains it all so well. He's so open with what he knows and never tires at questions or confusion. Watching him be happy to share makes Bucky want to cut the lecture short so he can kiss him silly, taste the chalk dust that's settled on him, and tell him how amazing he is.

The lecture ends, and the room empties out. Bucky stays put, nodding to a few of the boys who say hello. Buck stays up at the front of the room, looking at the chalkboard like he's appreciating his own work.

"Another sold out show," Bucky says once they're alone.

Buck turns and ducks his head. "I think I'm the only show on today."

"That's not true, and you know it," Bucky replies, pushing off the wall and walking slowly up the center aisle to Buck. "You had them eating out of your hand, like always."

"It's just about finding the right way to explain it," Buck says. "That's not hard."

Bucky stops close enough to Buck that their buttons brush together. "You are so goddamn smart it makes me crazy," he says. "You know all this stuff, and you can explain it, and you can figure out how to make it interesting for anyone."

Buck slips a hand over Bucky's hip and shifts so he can slip a leg between Bucky's. "Did I get you riled up again, Major?"

"You rile me up every fucking second," Bucky says, cupping the side of Buck's neck. "But, yeah, watching you work that big brain in front of a crowd really gets me going."

Buck huffs a laugh and brushes his mouth against Bucky's. Bucky tastes the chalk dust and bites his lip so he doesn't moan. "Only you," he says, and it's deeply affectionate.

"Come on," Bucky says, tilting his head to one side. "Let me suck you off while you rattle off geometry proofs."

Buck snorts and shoves at Bucky, but then he reels him right back in and kisses him properly, a slow, steady movement of their mouths matched with an easy glide of their tongues. "I may be the brains of the operation, but you're the romantic," he says.

Bucky laughs and rocks against Bucky's thigh, sighing when Bucky shifts so there's more pressure on his cock. "Come on," he says, "Let's go find a spot to fuck my brains out."

"Only yours?" Buck asks.

Bucky shivers at the challenge in Buck's tone. "I'll never manage, but I will wear myself out trying."

Buck grins at him and takes one step back, grabbing Bucky's hand and pulling him along. "An equal amount of pressure on both sides," he says. "That's physics."

"Uh-huh," Bucky replies. "Keep talking dirty."

#clegan #prompt #fic #buck is so smart it makes bucky so stupid #he's fine with that #masters of the air

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waitineedaname · 1 year

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Um. do you think about how mr & mrs kageyama are undoubtedly on the Good-er side of the Parents scale but also are probably viewed differently by ritsu and shigeo. like i think about how ritsu probably had to be the easy one (the one that doesn't need you to care about them and comfort them) since shigeo has probably come home beaten up and bloodied enough times for the both of them?? also i feel like they might've said something like "well shigeo you don't HAVE to do [thing that will make any parent happy/proud] right ritsu :)" at some point. like idkkk i feel like that is definitely part of why ritsu feels so pressured to be twice as good at whatever he does (to make up for whatever mob lacks) but also if anyone said that to me i'd kill myself on the spot because it puts Zero trust in mob's abilities? like i feel it doesn't give him a chance to try because well ritsu will do it anyways why do i need to :/ (but then body improvement club happened. W)

anyways i just thing his parents (unintentionally) put sooo much pressure on ritsu. like the bar for being Good is drastically different for ritsu and shigeo*. and pre-claw ritsu thought that half of this pressure would probably disappear if mob did what he was ""supposed"" to do as the Older Sibling which might be one of the many many reasons ritsu thought he hated him?

*marathon arc is the first instance that comes to mind cuz...idk..before it happens they're like Hm. we should go wait in the middway of the path for shigeo (who waited for ritsu at the finish line?🤨). and after it they're like hehe ritsu got 9th place and shigeo did his best :) (this just sounds. damn. the bar's that low/high?). and both of these are normal! considering how shigeo and ritsu are! but i also feel like they're only normal because that's what you'd expect from shigeo and ritsu respectively which kind of. fucked up my worldview.

okayyy this got long. Sowwy. 😆

the kageyama parents make me NUTS when I think about them too hard bc they're probably the best parents in the series and definitely the most normal, but with being normal comes very normal flaws and parenting fuck ups, like comparing their sons. like comparing kids against each other is a very normal and common thing for parents to do, but it fucking sucks, and it's only made worse with the specific baggage the brother have

they absolutely put so much pressure on ritsu, which is one of the components of him snapping in the cleanup arc. he's like,, the ideal that they compare shigeo too, like they're always like "shigeo, why don't you get better grades, like ritsu. shigeo, why don't you stop doing weird things, like ritsu." I feel like the best example of this is these two pages from the cleanup arc (chapter 23, if you're curious)

literally every day I think about "ritsu is way smarter than I am. he doesn't do anything weird" [panel of ritsu looking so fucking haunted]

I'm going to put the rest of this under a read more because I had a Lot To Say

anyway, this sets up the expectations for the two of them. shigeo is the one who struggles at school, who messes up, whose psychic powers do weird things. ritsu is the star student, the perfect son, the Normal One. neither of these expectations are fair to them at all, especially since shigeo works really fucking hard when he sets his mind to something, and ritsu has to wear the mask of normalcy and perfection even if it doesn't feel right. it puts too much pressure on ritsu and sets mob up with the expectations of failure! goddammit!!

I don't necessarily blame the kageyama parents, I mean like I said, this is a very normal thing for parents to do, especially with kids so close in age. I've been compared to my stepsister, I've seen this happen to friends who are close in age to their siblings. it sucks ass, but it's a very normal flaw for a family to have. but also, even though the series really emphasizes that psychic powers are just a normal thing, I don't think the kageyama parents were equipped to deal with the specific issues their kids have bc of psychic powers. I can't help but wonder how much they know about that part of their sons' lives... the more I think about it, the more I think that ritsu definitely didn't tell them the truth about the first ???% incident, he definitely lied to protect his brother because I feel like they would treat shigeo differently if they knew he almost killed his brother and several teenagers at age ten. and it's unclear how much, if anything, they know about the major arcs of the show. do they know ritsu was kidnapped? do they know shigeo was trapped in a mental hellscape for six months? I'm pretty sure ritsu actively hid the events of the world domination arc from them. we see their mom watching the news report in the confession arc -- did she see her son on the screen?

idk, I just get the impression that the brothers don't really let their parents into that part of their lives, which means they still get treated normally but also means their parents don't really understand them. I think that's part of why reigen was so important to mob's development as a kid, because he gave him a person he could go to about things he couldn't talk about with his parents. it also means ritsu was especially isolated because he didn't have that kind of person, at least not until he and shou became friends

also what you said about ritsu being the "easy one", that fits directly into the way I think about both of the kageyama brothers being autistic. I think mob was much more visibly autistic, probably needed more support, and because ritsu didn't need the same support, everyone assumed ritsu must be allistic. I think he knew he was the "easy one" between the two of them and I think that got wrapped up in him masking a LOT to make things easier on his parents so they could focus on shigeo. this kid is so damn undiagnosed that I don't think he even realizes he might also be autistic until his teenage years at least

something something psychic powers as a metaphor for autism something something ritsu desperately trying to seem normal because he doesn't have powers, but also desperately wanting to get powers and stop having to act normal. this kid is so fucking sick of masking.

#PUNCHES A WALL. KAGEYAMA BROTHER BRAINROT.#asks #anonymous #should I tag this. I feel like seven hundred words of deranged analysis deserves to get tagged #mp100 #ritsu kageyama #shigeo kageyama #the other day I saw someone liking every post I've tagged with ritsu. I hope that person knows I love them #ANYWAY. AUUUGUUGHHGHHG I THINK ABOUT THEM TOO HARD AND I WANT TO EAT GLASS

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vividwritinglove · 9 months

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Hello I have a request, if you don’t mind✨🤍 I hope you like my idea🫶🏼

Carlos x reader trying to have a baby, but after some failure, during the summer break with all of his family in Mallorca they got the big news (baby Carlos is comingg). After a year they come back to the summer house, as a parents, dealing with baby Carlos, with his sister and his mother🤍

I’m very curious to see Carlos as a dad🥹🫶🏼

Omg - I had to do this request! Carlos (in my mind) is the sweetest Dad and so supporting during the pregnancy and the labor.

I wanna give a TRIGGER WARNING on this one, not for pregnancy loss, but for not getting pregnant instantly and the frustration and stress it comes with. You’ve been advised. Hope you enjoy anyways.

————————————————————————

"It will work next time, mi vida." murmurs Carlos against your temple and then presses a loving kiss on the same spot. This gesture passes you by. Dejectedly, you look at the negative pregnancy test you are holding in your hands. It is already the fifth practice cycle and it just won't work. The initial anticipation you and Carlos felt when you decided to have a baby six months ago is almost gone. You know that you have to give yourself and your body time. But on the one hand, you also put yourself under endless pressure, which is absolutely not beneficial to become pregnant.

During the first 3 months you were still relaxed. But when Carlo's sister Blanca happily announced that she was already 12 weeks pregnant and Carlo's parents were so excited about their first grandchild, your inner clock started ticking. Up until that point, no one knew that Carlos and you were trying to get pregnant too and you both decided not to tell anyone. The last thing you wanted to do was to squeeze Blanca's joy with your gloom.

You are happy for her, even for Carlos, who will be the world's best uncle to his niece or nephew. You will never forget the sparkle in his eyes when his sister announced the good news. That's how much you wish you could give him the greatest gift on earth yourself. Even though Carlos would never admit it in front of you, he suffered just like you. But he wants to be strong, for you. To catch you and comfort you if the next test is negative again.

The next cycles come and you are again not pregnant. In the meantime it is getting to your psyche. Everyone around you seems to get pregnant easily or you are confronted with babies in any way. You read out about a different diet, tried true remedies for natural conception and even look up for artificial insemination. You withdraw yourself more and more from the public, accompany Carlos less or not at all on his race weekends and generally don't want to go out or see anyone anymore.

Carlos is worried. Really worried. He's never seen you like this before, and he doesn't want to see you like this. After a hard weekend of racing, he comes home to find you in bed in the darkened bedroom, as you've been doing so often lately.

"Mi amor?"

"Hmm..." you grumble in response without turning to him.

He lies down in bed next to you. For a few minutes you lie next to each other in silence, until Carlos finally breaks his silence.

"I needed you..."

"Carlos, I can't."

He quickly sits up and turns you to face him. You're a little startled by his brash manner and look at him expectantly. Tears start to form in his eyes. Your heart breaks, and only now do you realize that you are not the only one suffering.

His breathing is faster, you feel his frustration. He has so much on his mind right now, your relationship, which should not be ruined by this, and then the pressure to deliver good results at Ferrari. And of course the great desire to become a father himself. You hug each other tightly and cry together. Long, certainly over half an hour, but it’s good for both of you. You finally release a lot of the pressure and negativity that has built up in the two of you over the last few months.

After a while you look around the room, "I hate this room!"

Carlos looks at you questioningly. It wasn't that long ago that you two moved into this new apartment in Madrid.

"I want to remodel it!"

"Whatever makes you happy!" agrees Carlos.

The very next day, your new project begins and it takes in all your time. You order paints for the furniture. You buy new lamps, bedding, pillows, decorations and a comfortable armchair. You don't let anyone help you, you want to design everything on your own to just be distracted and productive. After the bedroom, you also get to work on your office and the guest room. It helps you to find yourself again in the few weeks of renovation. Carlos also notices your positive change of mood, which makes him feel happy.

Your sex life revives. It's no longer a must, just passion. Like it used to be. You let the cycle calendar be a calendar and only pursue your desire and lust. Just switching off your heads. The last races before the summer break you accompany Carlos again on the weekends and the races are going increasingly better for him. He got back on the podium and even managed to take his 2nd race win. This was so enormously important for him and brought him back his necessary self-confidence. It is only incidental to mention that you two have multiple uninhibited and passionate sex that night.

Like every summer, you'll be spending your summer break in Mallorca with Carlo's family. You are looking forward to it, as you love Carlo's family more than anything, but at the same time you are very nervous, as Carlo's sister recently gave birth and will of course take her newborn daughter with her. You are excited to meet her, but it will bring you back to the fact that you are still not pregnant.

You are in the kitchen with Carlo's mother, preparing dinner, when the new little family enters the living area. Reyes immediately drops everything to greet her daughter Blanca and granddaughter joyfully and warmly.

By now, Carlo's family knows about the attempts of you to get pregnant. They also noticed your changes and Carlos finally told his mother about it. Everyone is very understanding, however, you did not want the joy of the newest Sainz family member to be squeezed. Blanca looks at you immediately as her mother takes the little one from her. You smile at her and approach her with open arms. She hugs you gratefully and you congratulate her again on her beautiful daughter.

For the time being, cooking was out of the question. Everyone is enchanted by the sweet little babygirl. She is literally passed around, until it was quiet and everyone looked at you. Only and alone the baby was crying.

"Would you like to hold her?" Blanca asks timidly, hoping not to hurt you.

You swallow hard, but then smile slightly, "I'd love to."

As you take the little girl in your arms, she immediately calms down and stops crying. She fixes your big and bright eyes and you get lost in hers too. You put your index finger in her little hand and she immediately squeezes. At this contact all your dams break and tears run down your cheeks. Carlos puts his arm around your shoulder and leans his head against yours. Carlos' mother also sits down next to you and strokes your back. You quickly calm down and hand the baby back to Carlos' sister.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad." Blanca apologizes to you as she joins you in the kitchen to help you prepare dinner.

"I have to apologize. I just can't control myself lately and I don't know what's wrong with me." you mumble to yourself as you chop the vegetables, "I'm so emotional and I start crying at everything. On top of that I'm so tired and for the past few days my boobs have been hurting so bad."

"Querida." Blanca holds you by the arm, stopping your cutting motion, "When was the last time you had your period?"

You look up from the cutting board and start calculating in your head. You shake your head and reach for your phone,

"According to the calendar, last week. I didn't came though." you say almost in disbelief and look up at Blanca who is already grinning widely and jumping a little on the spot. After the fallout, you've cursed this app and didn’t used it for several months to track your period properly.

"There should be a pregnancy test upstairs in the bathroom," she says, grabbing your arm and together you sprint off to the upstairs bathroom.

The test is found quickly. Fortunately, the test is still durable and you go through the instructions. Even though you have done countless tests before, you were so nervous that only Blanca's presence could calm you down. She lets you do the test alone and gets Carlos in the meantime. There was no way he was going to miss this moment.

"Mi Amor, what's wrong?" asks Carlos in surprise as he enters the bathroom. Your gaze wanders to the sink and now he also recognizes the test. "It still needs 1 more minute." you say, showing him the timer on your phone.

You both sit down on the edge of the bathtub and Carlos reaches for your hand, "If it's not, then..“

"Then we'll just try it again, without pressure and stress!" you finish your sentence and give him a passionate kiss on the mouth, "We can take care of your niece and practice with her first on how to be parents.“

You both smile into another kiss and are interrupted by your timer. You take a deep breath, squeeze Carlo's hand again, put your phone aside and reach for the pregnancy test. And then there they are, 2 bright lines. Carlos looks back and forth between you and the test. You're in a state of shock. He is confused.

"What does that mean?" he asks excitedly and reaches frantically for the package, "What do 2 lines mean? It usually says pregnant or not pregnant!!!"

You cheer and scream and now Carlos also understands that the test result is positive. You fall happily around each other's necks and Blanca also rushes into the bathroom and hugs you both tightly. The commotion upstairs is not hidden from the rest of the family for long. In the meantime, Carlos' younger sister Ana has also arrived and is more or less greeted with the news. Reyes and Carlos Sr. are falling from all clouds and warmly embrace you and their son.

"I can't believe we're going to spend next summer here with two little grandbabies," Reyes says overjoyed, showering you and Carlos with kisses.

1 year later

It’s the morning you arrive on Mallorca at the vacation home of the Sainz family. This time you travel with more luggage than usual. More than half of it, belongs neither to Carlos nor to you, but to your son Antonio, who is currently taking his nap on top of you.

This bundle of joy saw the light of day 3 months ago and has since turned Carlos and your life upside down in a positive sense. He looks just like his dad, thick dark hair and those dark beady eyes. He is the most beautiful human being you have ever seen and are so thankful to be his mommy.

"Can I get you something to drink, querida?" asks Reyes softly as she approaches your cot, gently stroking your son's mop of hair.

You nod and smile gratefully at her, "Let’s get inside. I'm sure he'll be hungry in a minute."

As softly as you say it, this was Antonio's cue. He wanted his milk, and he'd best have it now. As soon as you enter the kitchen to warm the breast milk in the bottle for you, Carlos jogs toward you and takes Antonio from you, "Let me feed him, mamichula!"

Carlos wants to spend every free minute with his son. Especially during the stressful race weekends, he sees him far too less. It makes you so extremely happy to see him like this with Antonio and you are grateful for the greatest partner at your side and the best father of your child. You hand him the bottle and contentedly your son drinks the milk. You sit down next to Carlos on the sofa and rest your head on his shoulder.

"It's so good to be back," you murmur dreamily, kissing his shoulder.

Before Carlos could answer, he is interrupted by his niece, who will celebrates her first birthday tomorrow. The little girl with the brown curls, climbs up the couch and wants to get on your lap to see her little cousin. You pick her up and immediately her eyes are on your son. She puts a hand on the bottle and together they feed Antonio.

#carlos sainz #cs55 #carlos sainz x reader #carlos sainz imagine #carlos sainz one shot

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zoe-oneesama · 1 year

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ONE MORE EPISODE LEFT TO WRITE! CONGRATULATIONS!! 🎉🎊 Based on everything we’ve seen up to this point in-show, what are your thoughts on Nathalie, her Catalyst akuma and Mayura villain persona, and the Heroes’ Day Season 2 two-parter after your fresh rewatch of the episodes?

I'll be watching both parts at once, but since I'll probably have to rewatch part 2: "Mayura" when I finish my own part 1, I'll mostly focus on Part 1: "Catalyst", with some bleed in from Part 2. I'll be taking a linear critique of the episode in a stream of consciousness way.

To start, "Heroes' Day" is not a real French holiday, yet Marinette's parents say it's come again "just like every year", implying that this has been going on for multiple years? Implying that a Hero Day based off your local superheroes have been happening for YEARS while Marinette and Adrien are in the same class, in the same school year....make it make sense.

Of course, this could be a totally in universe regular holiday that USED to be about just doing good deeds for a day that they adopted to theme around their superheroes, what do I know.

About those good deeds...Marinette deserves slack here. She does good deeds for her friends all the freaking time, but the first part of the two episodes puts a lot of pressure for her to not only do a Good Deed but a Good Enough Good Deed, which to me defeats the purpose of a good deed. You're supposed to do good deeds for the sake of being kind and improving the world, not for...recognition. Or maybe they're being graded...

This feels like a dropped plot line, which is a shame because this was actually a decent lesson for Marinette for once about taking on too much and pressuring herself. Except for Chloe, Marinette is the only person demanding Marinette do a Good Enough Deed, to the point of making a promise she couldn't keep. (Though it's dumb she feels pressured thanks to CHLOE of all people, when all the richest girl in Paris is offering is her own autographs). Yet they only go part way and nearly completely drop this plot line in the second half.

You know, instead of that scene of Adrien meeting Marinette on the steps and assuming he's not invited, they could've used that time for Marinette to admit to Adrien that she panicked and is struggling to keep to her word. Marinette could've actually confided in Adrien, showing their friendship by allowing her to be vulnerable with him about how she was feeling inadequate compared to everyone else and how these feelings spurred her into trouble. This also would've been a great lead in for the end of the two parter:

In Part 2, the picnic/taste testing that Marinette promised but had no time for? It still happens. How? According to Adrien at the end of his speech, the class "jumped at the chance to help". Would've been nice to see any of that, or see any REAL conclusion to Marinette's issue in these episodes, which was putting too much pressure on herself and not telling the truth when it became overwhelming. Even her mom tells her that bravely admitting when you've messed up is heroic, but...Marinette never tells anyone.

On screen anyway.

By having Marinette tell Adrien, Adrien could've rounded up the class to make the picnic happen. And Marinette should've been distraught - this was supposed to be HER good deed yet THEY did all the work! She failed! And then the class disagrees. She does good deeds all the time! Checking in on Ivan after he was an akuma! Breaking Juleka's picture curse! Bringing Marc and Nathaniel together! A single day can't compare to the number of things she's done for everyone here! And now it's their turn to do something for her!

And then she's brought to tears and kisses his cheek in thanks blah blah blah you've seen canon. Instead it's treated as a "oh yeah, we did that thing with Marinette in the first part, uhhh, that's resolved now, okay?" What a waste.

Actually I'm sure this is a completely dropped plot line because Adrien says "Like Rose said earlier" when she didn't say anything.

Where were we? Oh right, Lila's first sighting in a whole season.

Alya here says Marinette is jealous of Lila for trying to hit on Adrien (or in the French, "seduce"~ lol). I'd just like Alya to remember that for later when she actually believes Lila when she says she doesn't have feelings for Adrien, but we all know continuity doesn't live here.

Speaking of, I'm not surprised how many salt fics paint Lila's (first) mom as an idiot. Right after Lila tells her mom that Principal Damocles is also stuck as an akuma thanks to Ladybug's "incompetence", a giant floating balloon of Ladybug floats past her bedroom window.

Woman, how you gonna believe that Paris' heroes are incompetent on the word of your daughter while Paris throws a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in her honor? (I also assume this woman doesn't talk to anyone other than Lila despite apparently being out of the house so often that they don't even share breakfast together. Sure ZAG.) But at least I get to enjoy Gabriel deliberately poking the bear by bringing up Volpina when she was completely and utterly irrelevant. That did in fact make me laugh.

Oh, this is something that I only just put together, but Alya says her good deed was going to the Mayor and getting him to sign off on making the school accessible for disabled students, and we see in this episode on-wards that the school has a ramp. I HAD noticed the ramp in Season 3, but I had completely forgotten that Alya talked about it here at the end of Season 2. So, wow! Good continuity detail, Zag! You get one gold star. ⭐

(though that ramp is hella steep)

I was about to also praise the continuity of Gabriel bringing up financing a Ladybug movie, since that seemed to be setting up "Animaestro"...but then he says it's playing that day (on EVERY tv channel?!). But..."Animaestro" was the movie's premiere...So I guess there's another in universe Ladybug movie ( funded by a fashion director?) that we'll never see. U_U

Damn, I was gonna point out the nepotism of hiring your primary sponsor's son to voice act the male lead, but I guess I can't anymore, bummer 😗

I do make a mental note of the things Lila is calling Ladybug as she's cycling through news coverage. "Liar. Traitor. Coward." Just...interesting. Where did Ladybug lie? Where did Ladybug betray Lila? Where did she run and hide? Interesting, interesting, interesting.

And betrayals only happen when there's trust between you, in order for Ladybug to "betray" Lila she would've had to have Lila's trust or loyalty to begin with.

Even here she didn't accept the akuma as willingly as she did in "Chameleon", but she still greeted Hawkmoth like an old friend, and is DELIGHTED to ruin everyone's Heroes' Day and traumatize them with her illusion for a chance to help Hawkmoth succeed, just to get back at Ladybug. Yikes.

Lmao, not the unfinished png photoshop background on the flute. Great quality check, guys.

I do think this is the first time I actually thought Hawkmoth did something smart. After putting all his eggs in the Audrey/Style Queen basket and then handing the basket to Chloe/Queen Wasp, I wasn't too impressed with him, but this plan was actually good. (I mean it should've PARTIALLY fallen apart once people saw both the Unakumatized Ladybug AND Chat Noir now that we know people can reject their akumas, but sure. We didn't know it at THIS point, so it seems smart.)

But all this energy could've just been channeled into making the ultimate doctor akuma. I mean, you literally made a Miraculous Holder Power Booster with Catalyst, so I'm just saying what we've all been saying~

"I know, it wouldn't be very heroic to use my powers on my personal business" - GIRL at this point YOU'VE EARNED IT, SCREW what Tikki says!

This does make it the second time someone's told Marinette to just come clean to her friends. Why did they drop this plot line after pushing it so hard?!?!?!

"You don't have enough cake for me, do you?" Sir, did you pull a muscle with that leap?! I guess the intention of this scene was that Marinette was ABOUT to come clean to her friends but Adrien's excitement put the pressure for her to pull off the picnic back on. Again, there is no solid conclusion for this part of the story, Marinette just festers on it until there's akuma stuff to deal with. Wait, maybe the mass akuma outbreak is how she really got out of it... "Sorry guys I TOTALLY had this whole thing planned, but, you know. Akumas. Lots of them. Couldn't do it."

How satisfying. 🙃

"Heroes' Day is now...meaningless!" This is like in Christmas movies when people say Christmas is RUINED because a tree caught fire or Santa didn't come. Did the Whos in Whoville teach you nothing, that's the not the true meaning of Christmas and Superheroes are not the true meaning of Heroes Day when you set it up as a reoccurring holiday where people go the extra mile to be kind to one another!

Sorry, this is nit picky, like really nit picky, but don't create a fictional holiday that's about joy and kindness and then "ruin" it by something only tangentially related. I know it's totally just to get the plot going forward, but I'm too old and have seen this too many times (mostly in Christmas media) and it starts to grate on you. Just make the holiday a new one in tribute TO the heroes, then it can be ruined by the heroes turning bad, otherwise you're killing your message about the Everyday Heroes doing Good Deeds to Keep the World a Kind and Happy Place by putting all the weight on the SUPERNATURAL EXTRAORDINARY FIGURES THAT NORMAL HUMANS COULD NEVER COMPARE TO!

*huff huff*

So...Sabrina should know what's up with Lila at least a little, right? Since Ladybug firmly believes Volpina was involved, right? Well, based off some spoilers, MAYBE (strong maybe, this is speculation entirely), Sabrina might finally be using this knowledge. You know, 3 Seasons later. Maybe. They've been doing pretty decent at pulling stuff from earlier seasons, even if it DOES feel too little too late, so it's possible that Sabrina will FINALLY remember this moment with Ladybug.

"You're Rena Rouge and you didn't tell me?!" You didn't tell her you were Carapace either, but I see this is where it freaking starts with you young man. I remember this being a funny moment but hindsight has ruined it, so, thanks for that "Rocketear". 🙃

See, THESE are the Adrien/Chloe moments that I wanted: annoying sibling energy 100%. But alas, this is ALSO ruined. Chloe is calling it her Miraculous, give me MY Miraculous, putting down Chat Noir as Ladybug's "underling". This was never going to work.

Wow, Nora totally nailed it: "If he's talking to Ladybug, then Ladybug and Mr. Whiskers are still on the good side!" I thought she was supposed to be the dumb one?

Anyway, that's part 1 (or at least most of what I have to say about it). As a stand alone, this feels like a huge lead up, which I think gets mostly paid off on the akuma side of things...and definitely not on the Marinette side of things. Wah wah.

I don't have many feelings on Nathalie, Catalyst, or Mayura since they're barely in the first part (or not in it lol) and when she is in it she feels very OOC - smiling a lot, shy glances to the side, all in to go full Team Rocket with Hawkmoth. Up until now she's been so peripheral that seeing her main stage (though again, just barely) is so jarring.

Well, we'll see her "shine" in the next part I guess.

#heroes day #catalyst salt #catalyst #my opinion #ml salt #writing salt #always writing salt #lila salt #an essay by zoe

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winns-stuff · 2 years

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(this is likely going to be suupeer lengthy,so my apologies in advance)Hello,What's up?Hope everything's just fine!Ya know since the new chapter seems to be focusing on demeter presumably(I haven't read it nor am I giving half a quick bother since I don't have the heart to watch her be berated and bashed by overstretched , mutant blue felonious gru)I thought I'd come here and discuss a thing in regards to the fandom and her that's been pushing my buttons for quite some time! From the very beginning of demeter's character introduction , fans would compare demeter to mother gothel and would be associating their characters with one another , and let me tell you something!It bothers the hell out of me,to this very day! Like...Don't get me wrong!I'm not going to pretend demeter hasn't made mistakes in regards to parenting persephone, and one thing she did have in common with gothel, was that she lied to her daughter about her identity(the whole fertility goddess jazz),that along with her keeping persephone sheltered, (though not nearly as much as mother gothel). and that IS something that she should be held accountable for!but...MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN GOD !!!DO YOU KNOW WHAT PERSON YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT MOTHER GOTHEL???you're talking about the woman that's outwardly been neglectful/ dismissive of her biological daughter cassandra, abandoned her,kidnapped another child for the sole purpose of leeching off said child's ability in order to keep herself young and beautiful again,NEVER genuinely felt love and affection towards her and NEVER let her have ANY connections to the outside world ,to the point that she was thrilled to touch grass!(this sounds kind of funny when you look at it through the modern definition of the phrase lol)Demeter always genuinely adored persephone with all her heart and always wanted to have a companion. Furthermore, given how the gods have constantly exploited young women within the comic's canon,it makes sense that she would be a bit more on the paranoid/protective side (not justifiable,but understandable nonetheless) to avoid her only child to be mistreated by a cruel,unjust system . Also, persephone wasn't COMPLETELY STRIPPED OUT OF COMMUNICATION WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD,I'm tired of fans acting like flower nymphs, hermes and hecate weren't there to keep her company and given that scene where a younger kore is at a party with hera,I'd assume they still kept in touch with olympus to some extent.Overall, though similar in a few ways to gothel,demeter is ultimately a much more complex, sympathetic and loving character than she is.Hell,if demeter should be compared to any maternal figures in mainstream modern animated media , it should be alma from encanto and also ming lee from turning red, all of these women had noble, sympathetic intentions and loved their families dearly , all of them unintentionally ailienized their families and put quite a lot of pressure and expectations on them and also, all of these women had to deal with generational trauma!But nooo! Demeter is a selfish, narcissistic bitch that deserves to be mocked and get her s**t kicked in !

Phew, Sorry this was super long!I'd love to hear your thoughts about it, and if you wanted to respond, take your time for answering it as much as you want !

Goodbye🌸🌺👋🏻👋🏻

hi hi! everything’s pretty good, and I don’t mind long responses! they’re fun to read! but I once again agree with all of your points. I’ve seen dozens of comments get mad at Demeter because they think she’s going to use Persephone as an item, honestly if anyones going to use Persephone as an item it’s going to be Hades. he’s only ever wanted a wife because his brothers had one, which is why he wanted to pressure Minthe into marrying him even though she told him multiple times how she didn’t want to. I feel like Persephone is only supposed to be there to prove something, she’s only there as an accessory so that Hades won’t be alone and he can be more like his brothers, that’s what their relationship is giving. I just don’t understand why people would think that anyways, when has Demeter ever used Persephone as an item? she clearly loves Persephone and wants the best for her, which is why she wanted her to go to Olympus to study. not flirt around with Hades to the point that she basically dropped out of school, like honestly everyone was just fine with that? leaving all of your ambitions and your friends behind just for someone you met a few weeks ago? Demeter was just supposed sit around and let it happen? genuinely if any one of those fans had a daughter and they were in that situation they would’ve never wanted her to be with him. also, i’m glad you brought up the communication thing because Demeter did not completely isolate Persephone from everyone, we know that she had dozens of nymphs for company and other gods (like hermes, hecate, and artemis) as company as well so it’s not like she was locked up in some island with no one, she wanted to branch out and do her own thing which is fine but Demeter has seen first hand just how predatory and exploitive the kings can be. that’s literally the main reason why she didn’t want to be in Olympus like honestly think about it. I’ve been commenting in so many comment sections that are just filled with people taking Hades’ side and saying how she deserved it and good on him and it’s just filling me with so much unbridled rage because these people are not understanding that Hades is the one who deserved it, he treats all of his staff like absolute shit and he’s never once apologized for it. why is everything he does “hot”? that’s so stupid if you really idolize a person so terrible that you’re willing to embarrass yourself on his behalf I think it’s time for you to do some real self reflection and figure out why you enjoy him being an asshole so much. I’m so sick of this whole “guy was asshole till he meets girl, girl changes guy but only asshole to everyone else”, it’s the dumbest and most toxic trope ever. take it from me, as someone who’s friends with a girl whose boyfriend literally insulted and discriminated me and my friends to point that we had to confront them both just for her to tell us that he’s changed and he’s not like that, it will indeed chase people away from you. no one wants to be around a person who’s a jerk only because you’re not the person they’re with, like we learned this in kindergarten use the damn golden rule because in the long run you’re only going to isolate your loved one and keep their friends at bay if you continue to just be an absolute dickhead towards everyone. there’s so many people who project when it comes to Demeter, they say things like Demeter abused Persephone and how she’s just such a terrible character all while stanning literally all the actual problematic characters. stop being delusional and a hypocrite those are two very bad combinations, pick one. and the mother gothel comparison, well you’ve said everything I was going to say and I agree that Demeter is a very sympathetic motherly figure, she’s raised hundreds maybe even thousands of nymphs so everyone saying she isn’t a good mother is absolutely invalid because she’s basically the mother of the land, she provides love shelter and care for everyone even guests (as seen with Hades’ bitch ass when he decided to get wasted in the mortal realm) while they’re in her care.

#lo critical #anti lore olympus #anti lo #lo demeter #lo hades

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pens-swords-stuff · 2 years

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Just dumping some of my thoughts here because I don't have anywhere else to put them. Not looking for advice, just looking to vent, scream into the void and maybe some support if anyone is willing.

Trigger warnings: Death of a family member, grief, hospitals, COVID, proceed with caution.

Reblogs are disabled to keep this on my blog, but comments are welcome.

I actually found out that my grandmother was dying yesterday. It went very quickly from "she's going to stay in the hospital for a bit" to "she only has about 5-6 hours left before her death."

As a lot of you know, my family is in Japan whereas me, my parents, and one of my uncles live in America so we weren't able to be there. My aunt and her family were there though, so they video chatted me and my parents so that we could see her again and talk for one last time. It was a pretty weird sight to see multiple people holding up phones to her while she was in the hospital bed. She looked so frail and weak, and she must've been in a lot of pain — they were holding off on giving her painkillers for a bit because she probably wouldn't wake up afterwards.

My aunt had to really encourage her to open her eyes to see us, but when she finally managed to, she saw me and the first thing she immediately said was how pretty I was. And that might be the very last thing she ever says to me.

The entire family was able to be there, half in-person and half virtually. At one point I was video chatting another family member and holding up my phone to my mom's phone so she could also be with my grandmother through two layers of videochat.

It turns out that my grandmother had cancer, and she didn't tell anyone that she wasn't feeling well because she didn't want to bother or worry anyone.

We were told at the time that once they gave her painkillers, she wouldn't wake up. She'd pass peacefully in her sleep, without being in pain. They didn't know when, but estimated it to be around 5 to 6 hours, depending on how much strength she had left.

Well, apparently she had a lot of strength left because she made it through the night and woke up. Her blood pressure was back to normal levels, and she's awake and alert and she pulled through.

I can't emphasize enough how amazing of a woman my grandmother is. She's in her mid-nineties, and she's never experienced any of the typical aches and pains of aging. She's never experienced hip or back pain, she kept really active as much as she could (she lived on the 4th floor of an apartment building that she owned well into her 70s. The stairs were ridiculously steep and there was no railing and it's enough to make any adult wheeze!), and she was always finding ways of stimulating her brain so that she could stay mentally sharp. She's also dainty and elegant like a princess, and loves dressing nicely.

This actually happened just yesterday — the day before my licensing exam. And I was so fucking scared of failing because I couldn't make my grandmother the reason I failed.

And I passed! I actually scored amazingly well despite the circumstances, but it's really hard to be happy about it when so much going on. Moving on with being licensed, transitioning into a new job... It feels really weird with everything happening right now. I've always been avoidant and anxious about it, but this is making it ten times worse and all I want to do is hide in my bed to keep everything away. Because if I don't leave my bed, the day can't start, and if the day doesn't start, nothing bad can happen.

(Despite what I might sound like right now, I am actually very functional and am handling this well, don't worry. Staying in bed past noon when I don't have anything to do that day is one of my indicators that I'm feeling really anxious. And these days my internal clock wakes me up really early, so even after procrastinating leaving my bed I actually get on with my day around 11 or sometimes 12, and I'm currently unemployed so it's not like I'm missing anything important. I'm doing fine. This is just my rambly thought dump so everything sounds much more dysfunctional than it actually is.)

Right now we're in a very weird stasis of grandma is still alive, but we don't know what's actually happening. Because of COVID, no one is allowed to visit her, and the hospital is apparently short staffed so we're not getting a ton of updates. My cousin managed to talk to a nurse by chance when she was delivering some clothes and toothbrushes for my grandma, and as far as we know right now, she's alert and she's stable. But it also doesn't seem like there's a huge chance for recovery? I don't know the details but they're giving her painkillers, and are draining... something periodically, but it doesn't sound like there's any treatment happening.

I guess we're just waiting to see how long she holds on before she's ready to pass?

Part of me thinks that she'll be okay in the end. I really, truly thought that she would easily live past 100. Other part of me is already grieving.

It's so frustrating, because there's literally no point for me and my parents to go to Japan right now. Even if we did get there, we wouldn't be able to visit. My aunt, uncle and cousin were only allowed in yesterday because they really thought that this was going to be the end.

And what's even more frustrating is that I haven't seen my family in Japan for five years. We had tickets to go to Japan in May of 2020. COVID stole away at least two summers that we would've been able to spend with my grandmother. And what makes it worse is that these were my last summer breaks. I was in grad school. I had the summer off; I wasn't working or taking classes, I was legitimately on summer break and goofing around doing nothing productive.

But now, I'm about to start my career! I accepted a job that I was really excited about and I'm going to start really soon. And it's going to be really hard to take extended time off! (I'm already negotiating a couple weeks off in August for a nonrefundable trip, which will make it even more difficult to ask for more time off in the first 3 months of my employment if something happens). It was my last chance to easily spend a month or three in Japan, and the pandemic took that away. Even if I hopped onto a plane right now and went to Japan, I still might never see my grandmother again because visitors aren't allowed due to COVID.

Also it's a busy time for flights to Japan right now because everyone goes in the summer; there are almost no seats left and the ones that are, are ridiculously expensive. My family doesn't have a ton of money; it would be worth it, but it would also be really difficult to make ends meet if we bought tickets. One ticket would be tight but manageable, but not three — and if we're sending anyone, it would be my father, since it's his mother.

it just really, seriously sucks right now and the timing of everything going down just makes it worse on multiple levels because it's giving me a lot of "what ifs" and "if onlys".

The emotional roller coaster has been wild over the past 36 hours, and I just want to get off.

#delete later

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lemonhemlock · 1 year

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Thoughts on baela/aemond, baela/aegon, rhaena(?)/aemond

I'm going to talk about their show versions, since they interacted more there. Honestly, anon, I am not convinced that Aemond and Aegon look at Baela and Rhaena favourably and I think the feeling is mutual. I'm not policing anyone's shipping preferences, but, as it stands, I don't think it tracks.

So, if you're really into these ships and don't want to read any counter-arguments, you're welcome to just not click any further.

So my arguments basically stem from the fact that both Aegon/Aemond and Baela/Rhaena had such an awful first impression of each other, that it very much coloured their perceptions in a negative way. This is not a drag on Baela or Rhaena, this is about how each person appears to the other based on a very high-stress, high-stakes incident that was handled very badly by every party, including their adult parents.

These people have never met before Laena's funeral and, after that, they spend another 6 years apart and meet each other exactly one more time before the war starts. When assessing each other, they really don't have a lot of information to work with; the fact of the matter is that they don't truly know each other, so perception is really all they're got here. How someone truly is and how they genuinely act in other social contexts and with other people is irrelevant in this particular situation.

Aemond's POV

The girls attacked Aemond first in the cave and wrongly accused him of stealing Vhagar, he insulted them and hit them back in self-defence. Then they all kicked him when he was on the ground. Baela and Rhaena did retreat at one point and called for de-escalation, but the entire incident left him eyeless and traumatized.

The girls couldn't have known that Jace & Luke had previously bullied Aemond, but, in his mind, I would find it reasonable for him to associate them with his childhood bullies and perceive them as antagonistic. It wouldn't really matter how the girls are in real life, since Aemond's sole interaction with them amounted to literally the worst moment of his life. They could be the sweetest children in Westeros, would a maimed Aemond really care?

He is then the singular narrator of his tale back to his family. He's gonna tell his mother and siblings that Baela and Rhaena attacked him too. They didn't gouge his eye out, but that doesn't change the fact that he lost said eye as a result of a fight they started.

Six years later, he isn't rude to them the next time they see each other, but he acts completely disinterested and doesn't even spare them one (1) glance. The girls don't apologise for what happened either or approach him in any way. Judging by how much of a pressure cooker Aemond is about this issue, I very much doubt he would be keen to interact with people who'd take Luke's or Jace's side. He doesn't react in any way at the news of their betrothal, not when Rhaenys announces it in court, not when Viserys mentions it again at dinner and not when Helaena toasts to them.

Aegon's POV

Aegon has even less interaction with Baela and Rhaena, but I would argue that he basically insinuates himself into Aemond's beef with his attackers.

We can see that the maiming turned Aegon against Jace and Luke, but what about Baela and Rhaena then? At the funeral, Aegon is not seen acknowledging them in any way, is bored AF and gets drunk as soon as possible. He is then woken up in the middle of the night, most likely still half-drunk & feeling like shit and aggressively interrogated by Viserys. All because a bunch of brats attacked his brother, now he has to watch the maester stitch up half his face and protect his mother from his own father. This is literally his divorce from Jace and Luke, but the girls get off the hook even though they also beat up his brother? People seem to forget Aegon also got put in the spotlight because of a fight Baela and Rhaena started. Let's be real for a moment - would someone with Aegon's personality and in Aegon's situation absolve the girls of any guilt?

At dinner, Aegon decides to antagonize Jace by directing his dumb sex jokes to Baela. Yes, it's Jace he particularly wishes to rile up, but he doesn't care enough to not be vulgar to Baela and he's not even trying to hit on her. Not that those crass comments would be OK in any situation, but he only sees her as vehicle to insult Jace. Aegon is showing us how boorish he is; evidently, he's not above harassing the girls just to annoy their boyfriends. When his first attempt fails, he keeps going. He's not going to stop until he garners a reaction.

When Baela throws hands at him after he smashes Luke's face in, he goes to her and makes a ridiculous "boo" gesture at her, as if he finds laughable the notion that she could fight him. He doesn't think it cute, he's mocking her. Later on in the books, Baela attacks him with her dragon, further injuring him and Sunfyre. As punishment, he wants to behead her (twice??) I think it's safe to say he & Baela are too antagonistic towards each other in order to get along. She'd only end up pissing him off.

Rhaena he completely and utterly ignores. But had she and Luke been seated next to him, I'm pretty certain he would have harassed Rhaena to get at Luke. In the books, she spends the war in the Vale and they don't interact any further.

Baela's & Rhaena's POVs

This one is rather easy. What would Baela and Rhaena even see in Aemond or Aegon?

They probably (and rightfully) think Aegon is a lecherous drunkard. Why would they want a relationship with this ratboy?

They think that, by claiming Vhagar, Aemond took away the last part of their mother they had left. They feel Rhaena was entitled to try to claim Vhagar first, even though she might very well have been burnt to a crisp in the attempt. If they ever had a change of heart on that topic, they never voice it out loud. They don't apologise to Aemond or even look regretful, so they must not feel responsible for what happened or think he should just get over it. They sit at a table next to an eyeless boy and act like they had nothing to do with it. When he has his outburst, they must think it unjustified and out-of-place.

Moreover, they never really look preoccupied with Aegon or Aemond in any way. They appear pleased to be with Jace and Luke. Baela, at least, both in the books and in the show, seems to be a die-hard Rhaenyra stan herself. Rhaena is shown to be similarly predisposed - she offers Rhaenyra a cup of wine in a show of support when she comes to attend the council. That would really just drive Aegon and Aemond up the wall. Baela & Rhaena don't seem in any way willing to defect and, likewise, they really don't come across as secretly pining for the village alcoholic and his anime villain sidekick either.

#aegon ii targaryen #aemond targaryen #shippers i am not afraid of u #i am a red card collector i tackle with both legs #ask #anon #write the fic and convince me you cowards!!!!!

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felineechoes · 2 years

Text

Stone Rebirth Chapter 4

Stirring Weather

Chapter 4 is now out!!!

Masterpost

Chapter 4 - Stirring Weather

“This message is more of a courtesy.”

The TV’s screen went back to showing the weather where throughout the world natural disasters that were kept from occurring through the work of the weather station hit at once. MK and Mei watched the screen as a mixture of excitement and terror flooded their minds.

So yeah, the world may be facing hurricanes, tornadoes, and such, but the two kids no longer had to wait inside the boat dying of boredom. Though as the pelleting rain and the sudden rocking of the boat began it reminded the two young adults that they were on a boat as all of this was happening. When the storm began, MK could feel the fur that ran along the back of his neck all the way down to the tip of his tail stand up. The kid had to cover his ears as they started ringing suddenly, but he couldn’t figure what could be causing it.

“When I’m finished my father will once again dominate the world,” Red Son was back on the screen now boasting and then got a mischievous look on their face as they looked down at what was likely the control panel and said, “Oh look, a lightning button!”

MK took his hands away from his ears, the ringing had begun to die down at this point allowing his ears to pick up on other sounds that were not the whooshing wind or dripping rain. People were screaming and panicking as they desperately sought shelter from the storm, not knowing what to do when there hasn’t been a storm like this for a few decades.

That was when MK rushed outside the interior of the cargo boat where Pigsy, Tang, and Wukong appeared to have finished talking and were commenting on the odd weather wondering what could have caused this. As MK ran, he tripped over his tail before he could make it one step out the door, and Mei paused to chuckle before helping their friend back onto their feet.

“The weather station must be on the fritz,” Tang suggested as MK and Mei rushed up to the two demons and one human that was on deck.

“Red Son has taken over the weather station!” Mei beat MK to the punch.

“I was going to tell them, Mei,” MK pouted with arms crossed. Mei put a hand to her heart and squealed.

The way MK’s ears drooped down with his tail added to the expression on the half-monkey’s face, and it was too much for Mei to handle, “My heart can’t handle this MK, your expression is just…”

Pigsy probably was having enough of this scene as he got between the two declared siblings, as the pig demon got prepared to say something lightning struck about 30 feet away from the boat. The loud krakoom of the thunder that reached MK’s ears caused the kid to yelp in pain and curl up in a vain attempt to ease the pressure and ringing.

The monkey king approached his protégée and knelt down behind them, the sage then hesitantly began to run his fingers through the kid’s hair. Wukong was not a stranger to dealing with kids since he would look after any of the young monkeys on the mountain if the parents needed some rest, but he was unsure if the once human kid would react well to grooming. Humans were touchy about quite a lot of things, Wukong learned that back when he was journeying with the monk.

“Just tune it out bud,” Wukong spoke softly as he combed through the kid’s hair, as the sage groomed the kid, he noticed that on the nape of the brunet’s neck there was some loose skin that formed a scruff. The stone monkey decided to take note of this feature but wasn’t going to tell anyone about it. After all, if word got out then it could lead to a bunch of demons finding out that Wukong also had a scruff, and it’s bad enough that there is one demon out there that knows about that.

“Focus on the sound of my voice, can you do that for me kid?”

MK nodded and hummed, it looked like the kid was about to doze off until another lightning strike happened, and the kid jerked away from the gold-furred monkey. Sandy came out and said that he had docked the boat so now they could go solve this current weather problem.

“Finally,” MK exasperated, but before he could rush off Pigsy grabbed the back of the kid’s shirt before letting go with a huff.

“Don’t just go dive headfirst into danger,” Pigsy put a hand to his forehead and shut his eyes for a second only to open them to find that MK was no longer standing in front of him. Immediately the pig demon turned to where MK stood on top of the Monkey King’s staff that then launched the kid towards the weather station, “What did I just say!”

Meanwhile, Wukong watched as his new son rushed into the fray, realizing that if Tripitaka the demon magnet didn’t give the immortal some gray hairs, then his successor might end up inadvertently doing so. As much faith the sage had that the kid could beat Red Son it didn’t matter if they could hardly take a few steps without tripping. Not that the immortal would ever admit that he was panicking about this.

“Come on, we better go after the kid before he gets himself killed,” Pigsy sounded exhausted as they spoke, “Come on Sandy, Mei…”

It was then that they realized that Mei had already followed after her best friend and was probably miles away by now. The chef growled in irritation and muttered about how they hardly listened before turning to Wukong who was about to cloud somersault away.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Pigsy demanded at the immortal, “You are not getting out of this, the kid’s your responsibility now too.”

“I…I forgot something back on Flower Fruit Mountain?” Sun tried to convince Pigsy but rolled a nat 1 and failed to convince the pig, “Okay, fine…but the kid can handle himself, you'll see.”

The pig demon only raised an eyebrow to that statement before gesturing to the monkey to come with them. Tang also tried to get out of it, but Pigsy picked up the scholar bridal style and he resigned himself to his fate.

...

The weather outside raged on as the perpetrator sat inside the station that was meant to control the weather throughout the world. Red Son sat at the control panel waiting, he already sent out the calling card for those peasants to respond to. The fire bull demon might have lied to his parents when he said that the Weather Station would give their family power, but it wasn’t as if he could tell them the real reason that he was doing this.

The son of the Demon Bull King couldn’t tell his parents that he wanted to evaluate the monkey boy’s power, to see if the former human was a force to be trifled with. Red Son thought of how the noodle boy humiliated him the day before, the demon’s hair burst into flames as his cheeks started to feel warm. Red was already irritated enough that the monkey was living rent-free in his thoughts; the noodle boy’s golden eyes, the feral look on their face as they fought DBK, or maybe the fact that even as a human the peasant bested him. It wasn’t as if the Bull Prince was going to admit that he might have a slight little crush on the monkey.

The best way to get these feelings to go away would be for the Monkey Prince to be beaten by Red’s own hands. If Red Son won then he could find some way to make the weather station useful to his family, other than that they would have control over the weather on a global scale. If Red Son lost, well the demon wasn’t about to disappoint his parents again after yesterday’s fiasco.

All Red Son had to do was wait for the cute monkey to barge into the station and Red had all the time in the world to do so. Though the question was do all those mortals that out there have that time when they face the severe weather that this station prevented from occurring.

“You better hurry up Noodle Boy.”

The demon prince kicked his feet up on the control panel, one of the Bull Clones handed a cup to the fiery demon who snatched it from the robot’s hands and began to slurp it’s contents. It wasn’t too long after that the son of DBK heard what he could only assume was the noodle boy crashing into the party.

“Not so fast Red Son!”

Dramatically, Red turned around in the swivel chair to face towards his foe and crossed one leg over the other with a smirk on his face, “Monkey Boy!”

“It’s Monkie Kid actually.”

“No matter,” the fire demon rolled their eyes before deciding to taunt their opponent. He had already planned the night before what to say to the so-called hero when they arrived, “I thought I smelled some garbage turns out I was…” the sound of water dripping off the monkey caused Red to twitch his eye in irritation, “did you even bother to dry yourself off before you barged in here?”

“Uhhh,” the monkie’s answer was enough to see that they have noodles for brains. Its common decency to dry yourself off before you enter a building, was the noodle boy daft? Then again, it also gave the monkey a tactical advantage over Red Son if he was to use his fire. Why couldn’t it have been anything other than a hurricane that hit once all the measures against severe weather were shut down.

...

Yeah, MK was soaking wet, sure, and he could feel how the water seeped into what fur he had at the moment as well as his clothes to his skin causing him to feel as if something was weighing him down, but he had some demon ass to kick so it wasn’t really a priority.

“Can we just get to the fighting?”

Before the red-haired demon could respond the rest of the gang caught up, and he could hear Pigsy and Tang calling out to him. The pig demon set the scholar down before looking at MK as if he was about to start scolding them only to growl in frustration before sighing, “We’re going to have a talk after this young man,” from the chef’s tone it was obvious that MK was in trouble, “Also why the hell are you soaking wet?”

Along with Pigsy and Tang were Mei and Sandy, though what surprised MK was that the Monkey King was floating on a cloud alongside them. Once Wukong saw the kid they smiled, “Kid, you should probably shake yourself dry…”

“That’s terrible advice!” Pigsy reprimanded the Great Sage who wasn’t listening.

“Why the fuck is that simian here?” Red Son expressed his irritation at the presence of the Monkey King who looked over at the demon prince and grinned.

“Nephew!” the immortal monkey began with exclaiming as if Red Son was an old pal, rolling upside down on their cloud and putting their hands behind their head as he continued, “Haven’t been able to talk to you for quite some time. How’s it hanging?”

“How’s it hanging?”

The son of DBK made irritated sounds in response to that in the middle of those Red would mutter something about how Wukong had no right to talk to him like the whole trapping his dad under a mountain never happened. That was the final straw that broke the already fragile brotherhood between Wukong and the Demon Bull King. After everything the monkey king did while serving that blasted monk, from letting Guanyin take Red away in an attempt to redeem him all the way to the time Demon Bull King was imprisoned in the Heavenly Realm they gave the sage the benefit of the doubt. After all, they witnessed the monk recite that spell that tightened that cursed headpiece that was on the great sage’s head. When DBK escaped his heavenly prison, he wasn’t met with the heavenly armies of the Jade Emperor, instead was faced with someone he used to call brother. Now that monkey has the gull to call Red Son their nephew!

The kid proceeded to do exactly what his mentor suggested earlier, causing water to fling everywhere. The kid’s bandana came off in the process, allowing MK’s hair to fall down to his shoulders. In the background, Red Son seemed to have lost any patience he had as the Demon Bull King’s son’s hair flared wildly.

“Do…do you realize how much of a mess you’re making!?” the fire demon shouted as they chucked a fireball towards the group, “I was aiming for the noodle boy, but there that should help dry you off.”

Wait, was the demon really helping them right now? MK looked at his opponent who had their arms folded and was tapping their toes impatiently. It wasn’t hard to take the hint, so the kid huddled closer to the fire noticing that it was warm but not hot like a normal fire, yet it didn’t take long for the warmth to dry MK off. All that time, Red Son waited for the half-demon to finish.

“Huh, he’s just standing there,” Mei commented next to MK about the demon’s odd behavior, “Though not sure if he’s doing it menacingly.”

“Are you done yet?” there was irritation in the demon’s voice. It no longer felt like his back was submerged in water and MK’s clothes were dry at this point, so MK stood up and picked up his staff and stared right at Red Son.

“Get ready to be MK-Od,” MK was already eager for the fight to start, so he rushed towards his opponent to make the first move only to slip on a puddle causing MK to flail around which inadvertently led to the Ruyi Jingu Bang hitting Mei over the head. Mei recovered quickly, only being stunned for a few seconds before snapping out of it.

“Yeah…” Mei stumbled around, the dragon girl probably dealing with a concussion after being hit in the head, “Show em who’s boss!”

Mei then passed out, but MK knew that she was probably going to be okay even if that didn’t stop the fact that the part-human felt guilty about it, “Sorry Mei.”

“Monkey King,” Pigsy didn’t even look at the sage, “What were you saying about MK being able to handle this?”

Pigsy then turned to face the immortal who was lounging on a cloud with a bag of…were those peach chips…doesn’t matter the fact of the matter was that the Monkey King was no help.

“You’re forgetting that I’m retired,” Monkey King pointed out as he kicked back on their cloud and popped a peach chip in their mouth, “Also all young monkeys have trouble controlling their tail, relax. I may have sealed some of their powers, but they should still be semi-invincible. Have some faith in my…in your kid.”

The two began to bicker, Pigsy scolding the Monkey King for not taking MK’s safety into account while the Monkey King kept telling the pig demon to not worry so much. It was almost as if the two completely tuned out the fact that there was a hurricane raging outside and that they were supposed to be there to help MK fight Red Son.

“Argh! Enough,” Red Son shouted, and flames began to spread throughout the room until the fire separated the younger monkey from their allies. The fire demon was able to walk through the flames with no issue, and now MK was face to face with the demon that attempted to kill them the day before, “It's just you and me now Noodle Boy, lets see how strong you are with this seal shall we.”

Before Xiăotiān could react, he was hit in the face with a fist of fire, the kid clenched his teeth and hissed in pain but knew he couldn’t let Red Son win. MK blocked his opponent’s next blow with the staff along with the flurry of punches and kicks that followed, so far, he hadn’t tripped over his tail so that was a good sign that things were turning in MK’s favor. Just as the thought crossed his mind, he just had to be proven wrong when MK felt his tail wrap around something, at least it wasn’t his own leg this time, but it actually might be worse. Their tail was wrapped around Red Son who then tripped and fell onto MK, the fire bull demon’s face red with anger and embarrassment.

Red Son stood up, the demon’s hair flaming wildly as he got off of MK who was oblivious to the fact that the demon’s face was not just flushed because he was just tripped up by his opponent. Instead, MK was focused on how his vision was tinted gold again, he looked around until his gaze locked on the weather station’s control panel and an idea popped into his head.

“That’s it, no more playing fair,” Red Son then made the makeshift arena bigger, allowing the bull clones to enter the fight. Red Son then began to go at MK relentlessly, MK doing his best to block the blows and return them with ones of his own. Red Son managed to make a blow that caused Xiăotiān to stumble back into the weather station’s controls and step on his tail causing the monkie to flinch at the pain that ran all the way up through his spine.

All of the robots used this as an opportunity and jumped into the air to attempt to bury the Monkie Kid under them, but MK was prepared as he dug the staff into the ground and willed it to seek out each of the bull clones as well as Red Son.

The staff hit each of its targets causing them to latch onto the staff as it quickly grew taller and burst through the ceiling causing the glass to fall on the floor. MK then rushed over to the control panel and sat down hovering his hand over a button.

“Oh, look a lightning button,” MK imitated Red Son before pressing the button which called down lightning that was drawn towards the staff. MK then hid behind some rubble and covered his ears as the lightning destroyed or disabled the bull clones and shocked the fire demon who was at the very top of the lightning rod. The staff then shrunk down to its original size and robot parts fell through the roof before Red Son screamed as he fell to the ground with a thud.

It wasn’t long before the fire demon stood up and glared at MK who was pretty sure he pissed off the son of the Demon Bull King more than he already had. Red Son struggled to string together his words, “You may have bested me today Monkey Boy…but you are still…still garbage!”

All the flames in the room then went to envelope the demon and when the fire dissipated the bull prince was gone. With the fire gone, the kids found family was able to get to MK, but they quickly realized that there was no need. Wukong with a smug look on his face turned to Pigsy and pointed out that the kid had already beaten Red Son, but Pigsy said that it didn’t change anything.

The rain that began to fall through the exposed roof reminded MK that the job was not yet finished. The kid went back to the controls, which surprisingly anyone could just go up to and have no trouble using, and stretched his arms out.

“Okay,” MK said out loud to no one in particular, “Let’s get this place back to normal.” The kid reactivated the safety measures and turned down the weather settings back and not long after the hurricane dispersed outside and the sun once again was shining overhead like it was that morning, “And that should do it.”

Mei was just about to tackle MK but when she did, she found that MK wasn’t there since the Monkey King had swept the kid onto their cloud and began to ruffle the kid’s hair.

“I knew you could do it bud,” Wukong said as he put something into the kid’s hands. MK looked at what the monkey handed him and realized that it was his red bandana that fell off earlier in the fight. A smile formed on the kid’s face as he recalled the day, he got the piece of red fabric. It was the very first gift Pigsy and Tang gave him after the couple took MK in as well as the first gift he ever received from a parental figure.

“I’ve never seen you without it, so I assume it’s important to you, kid, so,” Wukong started to say before the kid wrapped the monkey king in a tight hug. The immortal was stunned for a moment but hugged his kid back, he must have been on the mark with his assumption as the kid nuzzled into the sage.

“Thank you, Bà.”

The sage could not think of how to respond, but a certain pig demon approached the two, at first Wukong thought that Pigsy was about to start scolding him again but what happened instead was not what he expected.

“A little rough around the edges, but we can work with that,” Pigsy commented as he turned towards Tang who was smiling at the scene before him. Then the pig demon looked the Monkey King dead in the eyes and said, “I’ll let you have the kid for three days, starting tomorrow, but after that I want you to once a week come down to my restaurant for some training of your own.”

“Pft, I don’t need any…”

The pig demon refused to let Wukong finish that sentence, “Tang and I will be giving you some ‘Dad Training’.”

At this point MK had fallen asleep with his head leaning on their mentor’s chest, the Monkey King quickly looked around to see if there was anyone who would hear this and saw no other witnesses other than MK’s found family the monkey king relented.

“Fine, but this stays between us,” Wukong said, “I will know if any of you tell anyone about this, okay!”

#lmk stone rebirth au #stone rebirth au #lego monkie kid mk #lego monkie kid #lmk freenoodles #lmk shadowpeach #lmk sun wukong #lmk pigsy #lmk mei #lmk monkie kid #lmk tang #lmk spicydragonnoodles #lmk spicynoodles #lmk fanfiction #fluff and angst #my ace is showing

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greenhikingboots · 1 year

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Hey, for the bts of Fic Writing : 4 10 12 15 17. Thanks and Happy New Year🥰❤️

LOULA! Thanks for playing along. I'm so flattered you care to know. Here are my lengthy answers because I do not know how to be concise.

4. Do you outline before you start writing? If so, how far do you stray from that outline? I outline but I stray A LOT. Wait, let me explain that more accurately. It’s more like a continuous cycle of outline, write and stray, publish a chapter, re-outline the next few chapters, write and stray again — and on and on like that. Usually the straying happens because I can’t commit to secret pining as long as originally intended. Like, I give in and let my characters reveal some feelings too soon, then I have to figure out how to make the later plot points I have planned fit into a different emotional context. Which sometimes means changing the plot points. And then! Because the other changes that have occurred, I often feel as though I can no longer include some gut-wrenching conflict I had planned. I'm like, “They've come too far for that buffoonery now." So I have to soften the blow instead. Basically, I’m not as good at letting my characters suffer as I’m “supposed" to be according to typical writing advice. But that’s when I remind myself it’s fanfiction and I'm here to have fun! So it's all good. ❤ 10. Do you enjoy writing dialogue, exposition, or plot, the most? That’s a question for me. I think I’m pickiest about dialogue because I value it the most. I mean, these are romance stories I'm writing, right? And people fall in love by connecting emotionally which happens in large part through dialogue, right? That’s how I see it anyway. So it’s a double-edged sword. Dialogue is the part I like least because I put pressure on myself and then overthink it. But it's also the part I like best because it’s so important and feels SO GOOD when it turns out well. Plus I just LOVE making Jon say romantic things to Sansa — in both understated and over the top ways. It's my favorite thing ever. BUT! I’ll also add that I have some stretches of exposition I’m really proud of. In Chapter 1 of Inevitable I did a big background information dump right away, which (to bring up typical writing advice again) is a no no, right? But I don’t care. I think the whole chapter flows really well and it sets up Jon’s characterization perfectly. AND! Him thinking he can never be as good as Ned or offer Sansa a relationship as good as her parents is the whole crux of the story dammit! And it’s all subtly included right there in Chapter 1. Hell, it’s all right there in the first sentence! And I’m proud of that. 🤪 12. Is there a trope you haven’t written yet but really want to? I had a S7/8 Fix It Fic that I took down while it was still a WIP. I re-worked and re-published the first half, ending it in a happy but intentionally ambiguous way. Mighty Love & Better Dreams — one of my less popular works, about 25k words if anyone is interested. But anyway, I’ve got another 12,000 words or so left — the second half of the incomple version I took down — that I’d still like to clean up and get back on AO3 someday. To finish it, I have to lean further into Political!Jon and Dark!Dany than I’ve done before, which I find intimidating (especially writing Dark!Dany. I agree that's how it'll go in the books, but how do I write it!? Someone help!) But like I said, I’ve got about 12,000 words already and a lot of it I really like. So it would be a shame to waste it, so to speak, by never finishing. So that’s my answer: Fix It trope featuring Political!Jon and Dark!Dany. 👀 15. A Hollywood producer tells you that they want to film just one of your fics? Which fic would you want it to be?

Sorry, this answer might not be fun because it isn’t a Jonsa fic. Also I'm going to cheat and say I want it to be a TV show not a film. No that that's out of the way... I have a Dramione story I took down quite a while ago, Between the Lines, because I want to eventually rework it and republish it. It’s got the makings to be a 300k word epic told in a non-linear way (which is an idea I revisited recently when I wrote A Good Chance) and a teen ensemble cast type thing, which is popular on TV, right? Also... okay I’ll admit it, I daydream about changing that fic enough you can no longer recognize it as fanfiction. Then I could publish it as a traditional, original book (slim chance but that's why I called it a daydream).

I’m pretty over Dramione though, so maybe if I started thinking of it as a Jonsa AU it’d be easier to to craft it into something new but with some of the important plot points I still like. Maybe?

Woof. Really letting my true self show here. How embarrassing! ☠

17. What fic are you most proud of?A Boy in His Cups might still be my favorite fic I’ve ever written — my first Jonsa one-shot. IMO, the emotional beats are a tiny bit rocky towards the end, but otherwise it’s a very polished fic (maybe because I’ve gone back and edited it so many times.)

It’s Jon’s POV with pining and angst and fluff and confession of feelings and it fits so well with canon concepts. So bascailly all of my favorite things rolled into one. I am the target audience and I just love it!! Maybe someday I’ll write a sequel from Sansa’s POV and call it A Girl in Her Cups. 💋 Holy cow! That's a lot of words. Did you even read it all? Won't blame you at all if not. Thanks again for the ask, Loula. You're a gem. XO.

#fanfiction #writing thoughts #asked and answered

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kirazdaha · 1 year

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HAHAHAHA Every Turk Family has one of those names and unironically mine does too 🫡 Tell your mother thank you she is a very lovely lady

I know all of the artists you listed below because my dad blasts them on the radio everytime we go out... I call it old people music but hey I never said it was bad, they're awesome and I might have memorised some of the artist's songs from how much I listen to them... Barış Manço is a classic without a doubt! Fun fact my parents were able to go to his concert and got a signed picture with him I will always envy how lucky they were 😭 I love how women in the industry made the most iconic songs I hear them often in weddings too! Or clubs, even though I only went to one once I'm not very fond of them...

My questions were do you have any tips or inspiration with how you draw! I love your art and artstyle and it's honestly what I've been trying to achieve for a while, I can't believe I'm learning how to draw men because of a silly lawyer show it's a disease...

(We are just having a conversation at this point) (I feel like those people who speak out loud in public) (I hope you and anyone who's reading this is having a good day :) be kind to yourself and others everyone)

OH MY GOD i envy them too😭😭 also omg that sounds like heaven to me. the other day i went out partying and i felt sooo out of place because i only knew like 3 songs. omg it was so so bad.

hmmm tips and inspiration…. my number 1 tip would definitely be to look at a lot of other artists you like and analyze what exactly you like. and then try to emulate that in your own work. i try to look for inspiration everywhere - artists online, traditional artists, old masters, 3d artists, even theatre and poetry, etc. - doesnt mean that i am equally inspired by them all (because all these things at once sound so scary and big but they really arent!) but rather, i try to be open for anything and that helps me find inspiration :)

ill try to explain my thoughts more under the cut because this got long:

for me for example, so far i only posted some art i made that was lined (which, i would say makes up maybe half of the art i draw - i mostly sketch and recently have been building up the courage to paint more) and one of my inspirations is meltow. i think if you go over and check out their art youll definitely see it lol. but also i love the clean look some comics have and my friends tell me my art looks like it belongs in a comic which, i guess yeah :) when it comes to colors and composition i LOVE this artists works. i still have a lot to learn and just looking at their works inspires me so much!!!

i will say i have ALWAYS struggled with lineart. its probably the worst thing in the world to me because it never feels right!!! i like lining on paper with harsh inks and stiff ink nibs that allow for like. very little variety in line weight, but i havent done that in over 3 years (i hope i can get back to that). but yes, something about lineart makes me feel so icky when i use any brush that reacts to the pressure you put on your tablet LOL i just hate it. ugh. i havent been able to work it out.

it was only in 2020 i think that i decided to try it out with a thick brush with some texture and no pen pressure. that probably was the first time i got actual lineart that (at the time) i liked done. and then later on, discovering that other artists are able to achieve beautiful drawings with similar brushes AND that lining with a very simple brush can feel so satisfying helped me evolve a lot! until 2022, i actually wasnt able to give my art the kind of finished look that i wanted. so what people consider my style is really just born out of my limits and working with them. that obviously doesnt mean that i dont try to challenge myself as much as i can. i do and i think everyone should! thats what makes art so fun

if theres any good advice i can give to a beginner itd probaaaaably be. okay this is difficult and i feel like im not really qualified for this. as a hobbyist much less so because a lot of the knowledge and skills i acquired was through an intuitive process (i could never stick with habits such as regular studies or warmups or whatever is meant to be good for you) which definitely isnt the most “productive” way but i mean it doesnt have to be. its just a hobby! you dont have to perfect art. but yes, i would definitely say dont stop drawing. youll always be your harshest critic and at the beginning, and especially if you begin at an older age because youve been training your eye your whole life but your drawing skills for only a relatively short time you will notice a lot of mistakes. and youll think you wont achieve the image you have in your head. and maybe you wont (because youll always strive for more and youll never really be satisfied as an artist bla bla) for a while. but you have to keep drawing! try out different strategies, find out how other artists draw, watch speedpaints, try out different papers and pencils, try everything that makes it more fun and keep going! it will all pay off!!

in my eyes theres also no point in saying “i should wait till im better to draw this idea i have” because if inspiration strikes you you should use that. even though i still sometimes catch myself thinking like that. you can always redraw things later on!! if theres anything that will keep you drawing you should use that! like getting into shows and games that make me want to draw helps a ton LOL people are not joking when they say getting obsessed with one character is the quickest way to improve. i 100% agree!!! if you saw my first nachos you wouldnt even recognize him. not kidding wow this got long. thank you for the questions though!! i hope some of my rambling can help you. feel free to talk to me whenever!

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dragonmuse · 2 years

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Could you tell us more about your running? Why you do it, what it means to you, and if you want, your typical mileage/paces?

I can! It's a long explanation, sorry. You may all have noticed I don't do concise really.

Content warning: health and weight talk to follow (no specific numbers mentioned)

I am not a natural athlete to start with and I much prefer curling up on my couch then working out much of the time. Periodically over the last decade or so, I have re-resolved myself and managed to make it a few months before falling off again.

Then the pandemic happened. And my blood pressure, never awesome, started to soar. I was working full time as was my husband and we had a kid at home, so like for so many of us, it was pretty stressful and my relationship with food went totally toxic. On the plus side though, I was working out my gender identity, was back in therapy for the first time since my teens and got over a seventeen year paralyzing fear of the dentist to finally get my teeth fixed.

I arrived in February this year the largest I've ever been and probably the most mentally healthy I'd been in a decade. I don't mind being fat, I've been some level of fat my entire adult life. So none of this was in the goal to become less fat, I want to be amply clear on that. It's a byproduct, but not the goal.

The goal was twofold, to build a better relationship with food and to get my blood pressure down as much as I can naturally. I will go on meds if required, but would love to put it off if I can. My doctor thinks this is possible, so I'm operating under her guidance (plus some common sense, someone save us all from doctors who think fast, extreme weight loss is a good thing).

So I bought the cheapest pair of running shoes that still looked like they'd hold up and set out. I started with a couch to five k program and on completion just kept going.

Why running?

I can just step outside my front door and do it. I live in a quiet neighborhood and that's where I do all my running. Just me and whatever other suburban dweller is out getting in their morning air.

I hate gyms. I don't want to go to a class or be taught how to use a machine. Working out already makes me feel vulnerable, I do not wish to interface with anyone else.

I have, against all odds, come to enjoy doing it. This didn't happen the last two times I tried this and I think it was because of the treadmill. This year I have run through rain, freezing and melting temperatures and I have no regrets. I really prefer being outside and there is something exhilarating about taking your frail human meat sack out into the elements and saying 'ha! I am capable of running down a sprinting prey animal out of sheer endurance, not that I would, but you know the theory is sound'.

I can totally disassociate at a certain point. A lot of exercise requires you to be very present. As long as I'm paying enough attention not to get hit by a car or fall over, I can think about what the hell Izzy or Eddy or someone else is up to and daydream my way through working out. It's awesome and has made many words flow.

So what does it mean to me? It means trying to stay on this fucked up planet as long as I can for my kid. Yes, I like feeling healthy for myself blah blah blah, but I brought my kid into the world and I'll be damned if I'm leaving him a parent short for even a minute longer than I have to. This is survival, baby. I ain't eating this much fucking salad because it's fun.

And...okay yeah, it means that I'm proud of myself every time I do it. Every time I get up and move this shambling mortal shell and make it do things it couldn't do even a few months ago is pretty cool, I guess.

As far as mileage and pace, I am so fucking slow, but I am getting faster! Mileage is also building up. I run two to three times on a weekday at about 15:45 a mile for two and a half miles. On Saturdays when I have more time, I go for three and a half miles and last time I got to 15:09 a mile which was frankly miraculous. In March I was lucky to get under 17 minutes for two miles, so I'm pretty pleased with that progress.

Right now, I'm trying to build endurance and speed very slowly. I don't really have time to go for a long run more than once a week, but my next goal is to hit four miles on a Saturday and maybe get a 14 minute mile going.

Also, no one asked, but I listened to an 80s cardio station on pandora for the first few months and that's where most of the titles for the stories came from. Recently switched to the larger mix of a running channel to change things up.

#running #and writing a little I suppose

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ofgentleresolve · 1 year

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meta time: therapy

aka a ranking (callout) by ferre of who needs therapy atm ( will also feature my two single blog muses too ):

9. ahn yoojin

the way i write him, i think of him as someone who has gone to therapy and has done the work. yeah he still have some struggles and there will be more, but ultimately he has the tools to cope, he'll be fine. probably wouldn't go to therapy now anyways only because he prefers to be on the move.

8. lamon chuphong

surprisingly ranked low on this list, but he's one of the three muses in my roster who has seen a therapist, is the only one currently seeing one and therefore is currently working thru his problems. if this had been before his main verse, he's probably be much higher up in this list, dealing with body dysphoia and also just a ton of repression but he already hit rock bottom and is finally letting all that anger and frustration out now. it's really a matter of just flushing out all the bad things that have accumulated over the years at this point and figuring out where to go from there :'D

7. patrick myungdae grace

you know seeing a therapist probably would do him some good especially in the aftermath of felicity's second passing and of knowing the truth about his bio family. that's a lot of take in all at once...but if we're talking about now, i think he has more or less come to terms with felicity's passing- after all, he's had about ten years to really think about it and process his grief...he really just needs that final push to cross the boundary aka her second passing to accept that she's gone and he can move forward.

6. suki nakamura

the other half of my muses who has seen a therapist. she initially went to get her pyrophobia treated....and it has worked somewhat. her therapist also tried to help her find other coping mechanisms aside from folding paper to deal with the excess energy she has...did that work? no :'D i do think though that once the truth behind her parents' death comes out, she will return to therapy as there isn't really anyone else she can rely on 😭

5. mana huynh

considering her past, yeah talking it out with a therapist might be helpful, but also a lot of the growth, unlearning, and softening mana has done, it's been on her own...sure, therapy might be good for other people, but it might not be as effective for her. she's not very comfortable with speaking about herself with most people, so it would take her a long time to feel comfortable with speaking about that with her therapist....and therapy costs money :/ that and she's had bad experiences with therapists in the past so that already puts a sour taste in her mouth.

4. raphael wei

would probably benefit from grief counseling and then general counseling when it comes to unpacking the expectations and pressure he's carried for years on end. i don't think he even realizes he's been carrying that and it's like?? not normal and no person should realistically feel like they have to live up to a dead parent's legacy?? the therapy might also be good for him to help figure out why he wants to cook in the first place.

3. k ( lee ga ram )

years of repression and a desire for revenge on becoming orphaned and not mention devoting almost two decades to following and helping another person has left them with very little of a sense of self, especially in the aftermath when they wake up from their fall since the one person who had been there all that time is gone, the system they've fought so hard against is back in place, and now they have to pick up the pieces and figure out what they're going to do for the rest of their life. a therapist, aka an unbiased voice would probably be very useful here, just saying.

2. calum hyun-ki reynolds

the final of the three muses who has been to therapy. he went for a period of time after daniel's passing before taking flight permanently as his life got busier and he had all the tools. HOWEVER, nowadays, considering he's mourning the loss of his wife, while balancing taking care of his kid ( who is also equally traumatized and scared af of losing dad as well ), and also is dealing with suicidal ideation. he thinks he has it all under control but with how overly self-sacrificial and isolated he's become, it might be time for him to go back.

1. shin myungdae

i don't even know where to begin with this, but literally myungdae please go to therapy. literally he's living as he was in the past five years. transitioning to a civilian life is NOT going well, why else would he pick up the vigilante lifestyle...yes, there's a reason behind it, but also it's chaotic and requires one to be on their feet at all times...basically he doesn't know how to be at peace and literally again, needs a therapist the most, but he refuses to go, not until the whole ordeal is done...and even then, he's not sure if he'll make it out to the end...

#suicide cw #( meta. )#( headcanons. )#now am i actually going to make them all go to therapy...well that's really up to them #of course i want them to be happy....but while i'm writing them i'd rather them be interesting...#and a character that is in conflict is easier for me to maintain interest in than a content character #hahaha this went from 'hahaha' to now i'm just sad :/#anyways instead of doing inbox things i did this instead...#gotta head out though now so be well in the meanwhile!!

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millimononym · 2 years

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The Defenders

its the twins!! (they dont look like twins). i went back to doing reference pics for some unholy reason. Heather has both arms btw, i just didnt draw it lol

OK SO ABOUT THEM:

as you can (hopefully) see, these two siblings are not really that similar looking to the rest of their team, thats because theyre mixed! theyre half Shadow,half...whatever my stupid ass alien race will be called since i havent named it yet. Their dad was a player on the former (old) shadows team and their mom was also a player on the STILL UNNAMED team. Their dads a deadbeat and their mom sucks, so they dont really like them. In addition to being bad parents,their past fame also makes everyone else put pressure on the twins to be the best. They chose to be the defense as to not stand out a lot. Heather is a complete loner and doesnt hang out with anyone (EXCEPT the goalkeeper!! theyre friends, theyre besties),shes mostly reserved and quiet but if she gets riled up enough she WILL fight you. Shes nice,though.

Primrose is the complete opposite, hes basically a meangirl. He hangs out with the team leader whos also a massive bitch and with Venus cuz theyre all in that 1 group. Hes rude asf, he WILL bully people and try to make them cry (particularly the Shadows players, cause...projection. Hes just got a thing against them in particular. I think he has 0 self preservation cuz hes short(u cant really see it in the pic) and the shadows are 3 METRES TALL. i think they dont beat him up out of pity) however if people fight back he CAN and WILL cry his eyes out. He can dish it out but cant take it cuz hes a pussy. (literally the "YOURE CRINGE!!!!!" meme)

EDIT ABOUT PRIMROSE CUZ I FORGOR💀: him and Sugarcane have a weird ass thing going on. No one(including them) can tell if they actually like each other or if they have some sort of advanced form of mild hatred for each other. Best way i could describe it is "eternal friendzone but it's mild annoyance actually"

The twins dont really like each other. like, at all. The only times they interact is when theyre at eachothers throats because of something that was probably started by Primrose. They dont do it in public because of reputation reasons but they fight in private a lot.

FUN FACT: the twins actually had their names switched at one point. Primrose was supposed to be named Heather(as a reference to Heather Duke from "Heathers") and Heather was supposed to be named Primrose as a reference to the animated youtube series Twelve episode 10 where the best friend of the main character(the goalkeeper was actually supposed to be the main character originally cause he was made first) is named Primrose. However i felt like it was just copying at that point so i switched them around.

Also, i didnt actually know what a primrose flower looked like, i only googled it right as i was drawing the ref, i thought it was a pink flower but NOPE. its actually yellow. so i was stuck between giving Primrose his original pink hair color(it was supposed to be a bright color as its one of his non-shadow features, and shadows can have blonde/yellow hair so i didnt wanna give it to him)or making it yellow like the flower. But then i discovered they can be bright pink as well, so i made it so his ACTUAL hair is yellow like the flower,but he dyes it pink to fit in more i guess. Lesson here? do your research before deciding to base a character off of something lol

#galactik football #GF OCs #original character #oc art #my art stuff

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subbyenbywitch · 2 years

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[book review] star trek: discovery: the way to the stars by una mccormack (2019)

in a lot of ways, tilly is the beating heart of star trek: discovery. you don’t notice it at first but by the end of season 1 it’s just super obvious, and it just gets more and more obvious as time goes on. what you do notice right away is that she is such a mood. like, she’s got to be one of the most immediately relatable characters on the show to the average star trek fan.

one of my favorite things about discovery, and i think one of a lot of people’s favorite things about discovery, is that the crew isn’t nearly as… stuffy as in the next generation?[1] everyone doesn’t always have to say the exact right thing at the exact right time, and we see that this isn’t incompatible with the “elevated” humanity that is so central to the franchise’s appeal. it’s okay to get excited about things in messy, awkward ways! and tilly is basically a human-shaped avatar of this approach. on top of that, she’s a genuinely great portrayal of someone who is clearly neurodiverse.[2] she’s just so damn refreshing in a world where a lot of popular entertainment uses “brilliant but rude, not empathetic, and has trouble talking to people” as shorthand for anyone who isn’t neurotypical. tilly is amazing at connecting with people, and i don’t think anyone is going to accuse her of an underabundance of empathy.

… so, uh, yeah! all of that is to say that i was, you know, maybe slightly excited to read a book that’s primarily about her! this book expands on a lot of what we already got from snippets about her–overbearing mother who sounds like a huge asshole (she is), brilliant, had a “rebellious phase.” i also really appreciate the continuity between this and the 2019 annual with her father’s ship!

the book is split into three parts which are extremely unequal in terms of length but nevertheless pretty equally important. part 1 covers tilly’s transition from living on earth to living at boarding school, and takes up almost half of the book, dwarfing the other two parts. part 2 follows tilly’s brief exploits as a teenage runaway, and part 3 finds her aboard her father’s ship and is the beginning of her path to starfleet. although the other two parts are equally important and are maybe slightly more effective as page turners, part 1 is the part that i found myself relating to the hardest.

one of the big obstacles tilly faces is her inability to stand up to her mother, and how she keeps getting bullied into going along with whatever her mother wants. this is what led her to boarding school, and while she’s there despite her teacher feeling she’s excelling, her mother just refuses to be satisfied.

tilly ends up internalizing her mother’s expectations and dropping things that are genuinely fun and important to her to try to do the best she can to meet her mother’s impossible standards. she ends up obsessing over a major project and overworking herself to the point of exhaustion, and when the time comes despite all her hard work she ends up bombing the presentation because of all the pressure she’s put on herself. worse, she realizes she’s alienated all her friends and is left all alone by the end of the term.

i… found this aspect way more relatable than i wanted to. i find that i often get so focused on what i’m working on or making progress with something… chasing the next dopamine release, as it were. and as a result i end up not doing enough to maintain the relationships in my life which are actually drastically more important to me than whatever i’m working on. and that’s without the pressure of a parent or other authority figure! just the ghost of one, in the form of lingering trauma from childhood. so it’s just extremely easy to empathize with tilly here.

i knew i would probably enjoy this book, i really love me some tilly, but i didn’t expect it to be so personally meaningful and genuinely useful. yeah, there’s a lot about tilly’s life that i can’t relate to, and a lot that i’m frankly pretty jealous of! but there are equally important parts that i very much can relate to, and that made this an incredibly satisfying read.

a-rank

notes

1. i hope it’s pretty obvious from my reviews of the series that i do love the next generation. this isn’t a dig against it.

2. i’m not going to put a specific diagnosis in the show’s mouth, but as someone who is autistic and has adhd, i frequently feel very seen by how her character is presented.

#star trek #star trek discovery #star trek books #star trek: discovery: the way to the stars #una mccormack #books #book review #reviews

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