Gale Is Right As Always

I wish that book reviews were presented the same way as fanfiction reviews:

“AFHAKFHDKFHAKHFADSKFHKDFDKJHFKJAD” –The New York Times

“OMG I CANT EVEN WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO THEM” –The Wall Street Journal

“you asshole im crying now” –NPR

“AHH THAT WAS SO CUTE THANK YOU! I’ll publish that book I said I’d write for you like next week, I’m a little busy right now but I LOVE THIS” –Sarah Dessen

My grandfather and my godfather (a beloved neighbor and dear family friend) had a long standing bet- for one dollar- about who would die first. Both of them being slightly pessimistic (in the funny way), they both insisted that they themselves would be the first to die. Any time my grandfather had a health scare, he’d gleefully call up my godfather to boast that he’d be passing “any day now” and he was sure to win the bet. It was a big family joke and they were always amiably sparring and comparing notes about who was in worse shape, medically speaking.

When my grandfather was in hospice care dying of liver cancer, my godfather was quite ill also. It took him great effort to make the journey to see his dying friend. As he came into the room, supported by a family member, he shuffled to my grandpa’s bedside and silently handed him a dollar bill. He was ceding his loss of the bet, as they both knew who was going first. My grandpa had been in quite bad shape for a while and was no longer able to speak but let me tell you he snatched that dollar with unexpected strength and literally laughed aloud. He knew exactly what the gesture meant and he couldn’t help but find the humor within the grief. It was the last time any of us heard my grandpa laugh, as he passed shortly after.

When I talk about my appreciation for “dark humor” I’m not so much thinking about edgy jokes, but rather the human instinct to somehow, impossibly, both find and appreciate the absurdity that is so often folded into the profound grief of life and death. When I tell this story I think it kind of perturbs people sometimes, but it’s honestly one of my favorite memories about two men I really deeply admired. I could never hope for anything more than for my loved ones to remember me laughing until the very end, and taking joy in a little joke as one of my final acts.

romanticizing mental illness is dangerous and misleading

Banana noir wooing Marinette is the best shuwhshsjskssjs

Banana Grams

Marinette scrambled down the stairs, rushing to get to her locker between classes. The time in between was never long enough.

Even as crazy as her life had become, it had been a busy few weeks.

Things with Luka had been okay. Just okay.

It was bad enough that her superhero duties meant she had to bow out gracefully more often than not. But even with all of that, there was only so much music she could listen to, especially when she was carrying the conversation – and there was so, so very much she really couldn’t talk about.

It was increasingly clear to them both that despite their best efforts, it just wasn’t going to work out between them. He’d been sad – and she’d been sad at the prospect of either of them feeling hurt – but eventually, he agreed that they should part amicably. After all, Luka was still a good friend, and she knew without question she could still count on his skills as Viperion.

As Tikki reminded her daily, she didn’t need someone else to be happy.

But with Alya and Nino as affectionate as they ever were, with Adrien and Kagami hanging out more – and after Chat Noir finally moving on… like she’d asked.

Well… it all left her a little lonely.

Marinette sighed, opening the door of her locker to shuffle the books in her locker between classes.

The sunny flash of yellow between her books poked out, allowing the soft smile to bloom across her face.

It hadn’t really been surprising that when the first of these secret admirer notes started to appear, Marinette kind of started to look at them fondly.

At first, she didn’t really know what to make of them. The butter yellow envelope was unlabeled with matching stationary inside. The letter inside was typed to prevent any handwriting hints.

The outside didn’t even bear her name. Just a single heart.

But the letters inside? It was like having a pen pal who happened to know her very well. She’d only gotten a few letters. They weren’t very romantic… just startling sweet poems and jokes and stories. It had quickly become a much needed pick me up long before she herself realized she’d needed it.

She shook her head, stowing the letter away in her bag. There was no time to read it now, between classes.

Marinette pressed her lips into a thin line, shutting her locker and settling her bag over her shoulder as she headed back to the door. Even now, she had no idea who was sending them. She was sorely tempted to try and ask Tikki to stay in her locker and watch. Not that that would exactly be a responsible thing… especially with all her Guardian duties on top of everything else.

But with the letters coming exclusively to her locker, she couldn’t help but make a point to sneak past and watch it as often as she could. Alya didn’t even blink when she mentioned that she forgot her books for the next class.

In her rush back to class, the screaming had started. She hadn’t even made it to the stairs before she collided with someone.

“Sorry!“  She gasped automatically.  Her eyes growing ever wider as she registered just who stood before her.

Effortlessly – and all without a word – Marinette was swooped up by the giant banana, hanging off his outstretched arms like an odd, overly melty scoop of ice cream.

Read More on AO3.

Since I'm just here for the double-secret-identity shenanigans, I'm really into the endless potential around "trying and failing to keep track of who said what as who to whom"

Like Chat and Ladybug are patrolling around an area and Ladybug chimes in with "Oh did you know? Adrien Agreste is doing a photoshoot here next weekend - right across the street. He told me."

And Chat is like Yep sure am but mostly he's confused because. Wait. He definitely didn't tell Ladybug that. Right?

"Wait when did Adrien tell you that?"

"Oh, last Thursday I think. Adrien was walking home from school."

And wait this is even weirder now because

"Adrien was walking home with Marinette on Thursday. He told Marinette that. How do you know that?"

Ladybug stops like Wait, shit, because yeah Adrien told her that as Marinette but she's talking to Chat right now so it shouldn't matter if she keeps straight which of her selves Adrien was talking to but it turns out Chat DOES know somehow that it was Marinette and not Ladybug that Adrien was talking to last Thursday while walking home and Chat is staring at her and Ladybug is buffering trying to figure out what to say

"I was. um. hiding behind the plant when Adrien told Marinette."

"A plant?"

"Yeah there was a plant."

And Ladybug pauses for a beat.

"How do you know Adrien told Marinette that?"

A beat. Chat is buffering.

"I was hiding behind the other plant."

😍😍🤩

Noir’s fangirls

I thought relationships would get easier as an adult, but everybody seems so numb. No one seems to care about feelings and physical touch became meaningless. I wish someone could sweep me of my feet and make me feel loved like when I was a teen.

i think ppl will enjoy these so im sharing the experience of studying a tbh creature in the wild.... fascinating creatur.......

I'm older, but still a bit of the akward kid. Guess I'll start to pay more attention to my interactions...

*this is especially important: these days on Tumblr there’s a wonderful atmosphere of being able to talk openly about your mental illness or your struggle. And that’s great! But there’s a difference between sharing in order to help yourself and other people and sharing just because you have no other coping mechanisms. As much as you’re able, try to work on developing a different outlet. People aren’t qualified to be your therapist because they’re nice to you a couple of times. Please remember that they have lives too, and their job is not to make you feel better or pity you, no matter how difficult your life is. 

And last but not least: 

But… 

I really don’t have a way to better this. 

Your interests are your own. I can’t advise anyone to change their interests to fit in with a certain group of people - that’s stupid, and actually quite damaging to your sense of self. 

Instead, I would recommend that, maybe if you feel like your topics of conversation are falling flat with this group of people, you move on to other, greener pastures. There are bound to be places where your ideas mesh better with an audience. 

And of course - try to be considerate about what you say and how you say it. 

Sometimes, what might seem like a harmless comment to you might be a very discomforting thought to another person. I recently had a conversation on a forum with a guy who was telling me that his headcanon was that Pearl (from SU) would soon get a male love interest who loved mechanics and weapons next, and that would be her best arc, because she would finally get a ‘healthy’ love interest. 

His intentions were good, but he was entirely unaware of how cringey this kind of thing was to a bunch of (probably queer) people, who have spent their entire lives being told that the only ‘good’ character development for them would be to get a ‘male love interest’. No one wanted to be the jerk to say “fuck off, we don’t want that to happen” but everyone was answering him in a flat way, trying to discourage the discussion further. Instead of picking up on the hint, he bulldozed on, thinking he was having a ‘lively conversation’ which was, in fact, in its late stages of death. 

I know I’ll probably get a few messages to this saying: What about people on the Autistic Spectrum? Sometimes, people can’t pick up social cues or ‘hints’. And if that’s the case, it’s incredibly difficult to understand why you’re not having any luck communicating despite your best efforts. 

I feel that on a person level, please believe me. I made this infograph for THAT VERY REASON. Because I WAS that awkward kid who didn’t pick up on hints well. In fact, I still have trouble talking to people. If any of you have had the misfortune of being my conversational partner, you’ll know that I tend to be overly blunt and come off as very unfriendly. It’s something that I, myself, am working on currently in order to grow into a better person. It’s a struggle in progress, but I am aiming towards the progress side, and I just wanted to help out others while I was at it. 

It can be both