Don't ask, Tina.

jesse’s natural instinct to be a caretaker is like. it’s something fundamentally Small, but to me it’s the best part of jesse’s character in how soft and subtle it is while still coloring every relationship he has. the way they integrate this aspect of his personality, this instinctive urge to Take Care of people even when they wrong him and even when he’s enacting violence against himself or others, into his character is one of the quietest things in the whole show while still being hugely influential. we get so much from those moments: from “i was the one who drove aunt ginny to her appointments and made her lunch”, from the mentioned interest in sports medicine, from the way he takes walt’s shoes off as he lays him down on the couch in “fly”, from the automatic grab for medical equipment when he realized the cartel doctors were going to prioritize gus over mike. he wants to take care of people, even if he doesn’t always go about it in a “good” way or loses himself along the way.

“Why can’t we put everything that we have into everything that we can?”

Sydney Adamu (The Bear)

Ongoing sketch ✍🏻

I love that The Bear is about this group of people coming to respect and appreciate each other, and yet it does that not through a flat egalitarianism, but through the development of Good Hierarchy

Social Media Manager : The Series

I have too many ideas and want to incorporate CANVA media (I fully blame @thebearsoc; I am obsessed with their account and feel inspired.) so it's gonna be a series...

Introductions and Donuts

~

“There she is… lookin’ good, Rusty.” Marcus grinned as you followed him into the kitchen of The Bear, “Thanks, Markie.” you laughed. “Be careful, technically shouldn’t be lettin’ you back here.” “I don’t think your boss’ll care.” he shrugged, “I don’t know… Carmy’s in a weird mood.” 

You stood by Marcus’s station as he went to the walk-in to grab the dessert he’d made you for a friend’s bachelorette party. “Oh, hi…” an unfamiliar woman greeted. You looked up from your phone and smiled, “Hey! I’m Y/N- Marcus’s friend… I think he only refers to me as Rusty.” you stuck your hand out. She nodded and shook your hand, “I’m Syd. He’s told me about you.” “Hopefully, only the bad stuff.” you joked, making her chuckle awkwardly. “He’s told me about you but failed to say how pretty you were. Like he said you were but like- did you no justice.” Syd blushed at the compliment, and Marcus came back to his station. “Yo Chef, this is-” “I introduced myself, Markie.” you cut him off, taking the white pastry box from him. Marcus swallowed, knowing you’d said something to embarrass him.

Carmy walked toward the back entrance as you walked out with Marcus. He bumped into you, resulting in you stumbling and almost dropping your box. “Oh shit,” Carmy said, catching the box before it fell out on the ground, “Sorry bout that…” Carmy swallowed when your eyes met. You smiled, “You saved my donuts; don’t stress it.” he nodded, hoping you didn’t notice the sudden flush of his cheeks. You did, but you figured he was embarrassed enough for one day. “Hey Carmy, this is my friend Rusty- I made her some donuts for a bachelorette party-” “Not mine. Maid of honor.” you clarified as you looked Carmy up and down. He was your every weakness. You bit the inside of your cheek when you noticed his blush had extended to the tips of his ears. He nodded, “Cool… Did you finish the, uh, the cake?” Carmy asked, turning his attention to Marcus. “I did. I’m just gonna walk Rusty to her car.” 

“So Carmy…” you started as you and Marcus approached your car. Marcus chuckled “Remember Mikey?” you shrugged at his question. “I think so…” “Carmy is his younger brother. Big-time New York chef took over The Beef after Mikey died and turned it into The Bear… he’s quiet but cool.” Marcus laughed, scratching the back of his neck. “Well, he’s cute. If y'all need help with Instagram or something, hit me up.” Marcus nodded. “Of course, Rusty. Tell Mandy I said hey.” you set the donuts in the passenger’s seat before quickly hugging Marcus. “Of course. Love you.” “Be safe. Love you too.” 

Hello again! It's Syd 🥰🩷

I sent an ask a few days ago but I just saw your post about sending more so here I am! (& good luck on your journey quitting vape, you got this!! 🩷)

Here's an idea:

(Could be with bob, nat, jake, roost, it's up to you really) Reader just got home from work and starts rambling about work gossip with her partner while getting undressed to take a shower. The partner stops paying attention to the story as she lifts her shirt and takes off her pants, ogling at the brand new set of lingerie they had never seen her wearing before.

Reader is busy walking around the room gathering her skin care products & pajamas while going off on a tangent about a particularly annoying coworker. Noticing her partner isn't responding, she playfully asks "are you even paying attention to what I'm saying?", finally turning to find her lover on the edge of the bed with a dreamy look on their slightly flushed face, reaching for her as they ask "is that a new set...?"

Could be just fluffy with a hint of suggestive or smutty😌 feel free to change it anyway you want it!

hello !!! thank you so much for sending this request in and I'm so sorry that it took me an unreasonable amount of time to post !!! but, my first Bob fic ! this just screamed Bob to me, I took some creative liberties but I hope I did your request justice!

focus / bob floyd x reader

word count: 1k (short and sweet!)

warnings: a little spicy at the end but otherwise pretty pg-13!

“Bob, you home?” you asked, shutting the front door behind you as you dropped your keys in the bowl and slipped out of your heels and coat. Excitement had been radiating throughout your body, threatening to rattle you apart from the inside out the entire drive home. You were sitting on a rather juicy piece of intel you’d been counting down the seconds to be able to share with your partner… the first and usually only person you told anything and everything.

“Bedroom, honey!” You heard him call out and you raced down the hallway, bursting into the room with sheer glee written all over your face. “Good day at work?” he asked, amusement creeping into his tone.

“No, not at all actually. Remember that case I’ve been working on I regretfully cannot tell you anything about? Client withheld something major and I spent the entirety of my day reworking the whole thing… after I’d just done that yesterday.”

“Then what has you so excited?” He watched as you took off your watch and earrings, delicately placing them in their respective homes atop your dresser. The book he’d been reading was abandoned the second he heard your voice echo throughout your shared home. If you were even remotely in his presence there was nothing else that could hold his focus, not that he would have wanted anything else to take precedence over you anyways.

“So, in the break room today I overheard something I definitely wasn’t supposed to, regarding a certain coworker and her husband.” you started, eyebrows raised as you watched the excitement on his face mirror your own as he shifted down the bed to listen with rapt attention.

“Please tell me this is about Denise,” he almost begged. This particular saga of workplace drama was a personal favorite of you two.

“Oh, is it ever. She was on the phone with her husband in very hushed tones arguing about the pick up and drop off schedule for their kids when she suddenly said ‘this has nothing to do with him’.” you continued, placing your blazer in the hamper.

“Him, as in the kids tutor, right?” he asked and you nodded. 

“Mmhm,” you confirmed. “But the real pièce de résistance of this story is who made an impromptu stop by the office today… with flowers.” You’d already discarded your silk camisole and were sliding your favorite slacks off… a beautiful shade of emerald green fitted perfectly to your body before flaring out and creating the illusion your legs were a mile long. They weren’t just your favorite though, and you were completely unaware of the way Bob’s eyes tracked their movement down your curves into their puddle on the floor where you bent over to pick them up and he suddenly felt as if the room had gotten warmer.

“Is that so?” he asked, while his attention was hung on your every word a few moments ago, if you’d asked him any follow up questions on what you’d just said he’d have no response… he was far more interested in the black lace adorning your body, particularly in the fact that it was unrecognizable to him.

“Mmhm,” you hummed again, still blind to the way your boyfriend was looking at you as you moved around the room, lost in your after-work routine of shedding your work persona before your shower. “It’s as if she’s unaware of the fact that we all know, or maybe she is aware and just doesn’t care. It’s incredibly ballsy. You know, I actually like her husband, of course I know nothing of their home life and I know better than anyone the public façade can be polar opposite from the reality behind closed doors but he does seem like one of the good ones.” You’d paused for his response, expecting agreement or a snarky quip but when you were met with silence you turned around to find his eyes far lower than you anticipated. “Bob? Are you even listening to me?” you asked, pretending to be annoyed but really you were anything but as you saw the lovesick look on his face.

His head snapped up, eyes wide like a man caught, “sorry sweetheart, I just… is this a new set?” he asked, swallowing harshly as his hands reached out and caught your hips, tugging you to stand in between his legs. He was looking up at you with pure adoration, the kind that knocked all the air from your lungs and rendered you almost speechless. Your first meeting by chance at the Hard Deck all those months ago had done nothing to prepare you for the man before you… timid glances and bashful smiles, earnest conversation and a chaste kiss to your cheek after walking you to your car. There was nothing timid or bashful about him now, nothing chaste about the way his fingers trailed up your sides, leaving goosebumps in their wake as his eyes raked your form, fire burning within those blue eyes.

“It might be,” you teased, moving to straddle his thighs and his arms were quick to cage themselves around you, locking you in place and keeping you from falling backwards.

“And you expect me to give a damn about Denise when you’re parading around this room looking like this?” he asked, pressing kisses along the column of your neck.

You gripped his jaw, pulling his face back and forcing him to look at you. “You’re damn right I do.” you shot back, a mischievous smirk tugging at the corners of your lips.

“My apologies, ma’am, but I’m afraid your beauty is a bit distracting.” he replied, pulling your hand away and kissing the inside of your wrist. “Besides… I think my attention would be better served elsewhere.” he added before continuing his path up your arm and to your collarbone where you couldn’t help but tilt your head back, a soft sigh falling from your lips.

“I think you might be right,” you agreed, tangling your fingers in his hair and pulling his head back to press your lips to his. The previous topic was entirely forgotten now with your excitement channeled directly towards the man beneath you… the one person you wanted to share everything with and the one person who could make you gladly abandon anything and everything for.

taglist: @callsignspirit @thegodessc @failuretothrivestuff @olliepig @cruelmissdior @underaveragefangirl @grxcieluvr @amatswimming @camilaricci @nolita-fairytale @dempy @pinkpantheris @aviatorobsessed @tiredqueen73 @pono-pura-vida @binnieslove @nik2blog @waklman @abaker74 @halstead-severide-fan @percysaidnever @memeorydotcom @eli2447 @dumb-fawkin-bitch @Genius2050 @stargazer-88 @chloeforde @kmc1989 @casa-boiardi (if your name is struck through it means I couldn't tag you, sorry!)

Syd and Jedi have been banned from singing the campfire songs after they took the kindergarteners into the woods and sung hits such as, The Hearse Song, Necromancing Dancing, A Gorey Demise, and Momento Mori

Those kids grew up to dabble in necromancy and were Removed by The Government

Justice for bear ghost kids

god. jesse just Doesn't understand why baby gets bullied. demi can and does explain it to him, how kids can be cruel especially to peers with autism, but it still doesn't make sense to him. she isn't doing anything wrong. she isn't being mean to anyone. what the fuck is the problem?? he and demi get a call from the school principal one day when baby's in the fourth grade. some kids have been breaking school rules about throwing snowballs at the past couple of recesses by throwing them at baby and today, she got cut in the face by one of them. the mother of the boy who threw it is also called in and jesse loses it on her once he learns what happened. "what the fuck is wrong with ur kid?? what'd she ever do to him?? what's his fucking problem??" because beyond being so angry that he can taste blood and sand, he genuinely wants to know. what did she ever do to him?? what's wrong with him?? it never makes sense to him. it's not fair.

why syd calmed carmy and claire didn't

So I've been thinking about this a lot, more like a weak but consistent questioning at the back of my head. I've been seeing the debate whether carmy and syd is platonic or not. Especially the scene where carmy calmed down from his anxiety when his thoughts drifted to syd. I think carmy is used to the ambiguous nature of his relationships, like we've seen in the thanksgiving episode, how dysfunctional his relationships with his family. His brother, alive and dead, hovers over him like a heavy, depressing blanket. And richie, don't get me started with cousin, he was never really welcoming to carmy, he's resentful, and hostile even. Yet, carmy had his back, they had each other's back. I finally understood why the thought of claire sent him to having an anxiety attack, she was part of his history, i remember at the thanksgiving episode where there's this very stressful scene on how he's reacting on his family's meddling with his crush with her, I think at some point, he would associate that sort of emotion with claire. The feeling of not being in control, which brings me to syd. She arrived and saw the potential of The Bear the same moment carmy was struggling to keep everything together, and we all knew that after he exploded and syd quit, she came back. I think when fans claim that syd and carmy should be together with the argument that syd saw his worst and still came back, they are placing a label to the nature of relationship. For me, I understood carmy and syd better when I refused to put a label on what they have, I think the label of romantic, platonic, casual and such only defines what kind of transaction and what level of sexual intimacy two people should share. But if we look at the nature, that's a whole different thing. carmy is used to being in the purgatory, if he is loved or hated, his family never really had that sort of security where he can find his identity in terms of relationship. he's sensitive, and he can express himself, if he feels safe. He doesn't feel safe with claire, because for him, she's too good to be true. But with syd, the only place he feels in control is in the kitchen, and where do syd offers help and safety? in the kitchen. The scene where they figure out their menu at carmy's house is evidence. carmy learned how to diffuse explosive behavior in his family because all they ever do is explode, that's why he's good at dealing with stressed people in the kitchen. syd is someone that fits into his current nature of loving and caring, and she challenges him, she challanges him in the safety of the explosive world that carmy is used to, while claire puts him in comfort and challenges him to love, something he cannot deal with. carmy's sense of safety is the driving force of how his relationships are formed, and the foundation and the nature of how he interacts with other people. I really loved the writing of this series and I hope they do carmy and syd justice, romantic or platonic, i am really looking forward to how they will explore that.

hey syd just wanted to say hi 👋 and also.. due to your ongoing Bug Posting i'm starting to get over my fear of insects and can now react (mostly!) calm to spiders and centipedes as they are usually just Little Guys

YAAY YAY YAY YIPPEE!!!!💕💕💕 Thank you for allowing creepy bugs into ur heart!!!!!!! This makes you a BRAVE WARRIOR OF JUSTICE 👍

god….ok

now i can’t stop thinking about sydcarmy and bones x booth parallels but it’s just like???

i said these ships are two different people with a shared passion. at first you would say no bc while both syd and carm are chefs. booth is an FBI agent and bones is a forensic anthropologist. BUT their shared passion is crime solving/catching the bad guys etc.

what i loved about bones and booth relationship is that booth really helped bones be less analytical and use her “gut” when solving cases.

she’s extremely type A , educated nerd while booth is a religious all american veteran so he is way more sentimental and emotional. they often clash due to this.

while bones is extremely talented, the best in her field and is famous for her work (carmy!!!), she at times could be a little too distant and emotionally detached from the murder victims. Not from lack of caring or being cruel, she’s just extremely emotionally stunted in a job that doesn’t allow for “gut feelings” just objective facts and logical conclusions. unlike booth who uses his gut and emotions all the time in the field.

Booth really showed her that you need both brains and heart to solve these cases.

ultimately they both really cared about bringing justice and peace but had different approaches that worked better together than apart.

parallel this to carmy a jaded famous chef whos only motivation to excel in his field was out of spite and abandonment issues from his brother meets sydney who teaches/reminds him why they do what they do. to take care of people, to make people feel good, to spread love through hospitality.

Sydney by just being herself and having these standards/ethics helps carmy strive to do better and be better and also rediscover his passion for cooking. while they build something new together.

roleplayers who inspire me. (extended edition)

mentioned a couple people earlier, but i feel the need to include some others as well. i love you all, hope you're having a great night!

@vihilum. lux, one of the very best writing partners i have ever had. i'm so grateful that this year has made us much better friends. you write with such love and intimacy with every character, each of your muses feels so fleshed out to me, i am constantly in awe of your mind. i love every dynamic we have built together. we've gotten used to autoshipping, which is something i don't really do with most people, but i trust your visions so much that there's no one i would rather do it with.

@lvebug. dee, by far one of the nicest people i have ever encountered here. admittedly my comic knowledge is quite limited these days, but you and andie have become such a staple on my dashboard. you write her with such vibrancy, everything about her is beautifully colourful and raw with emotion.

@tartt9. s, i know we haven't known each other long or talked a whole lot, but i admire your portrayal of jamie so very much. he's one of my all time favourite tv characters and you excel at doing him justice. his voice is so distinct and i imagine can be hard to capture in text, but every thread you write feels like his voice and i really applaud that.

@jupiter3. syd, an absolute genius. i love reading everything you write, i love talking to you as a friend even more. your writing feels very cinematic to me, i feel that you capture and understand not only character voices really well, but also their surroundings and circumstances. each of your characters feels so complex and human to me, to the point where many of them might as well be real people i know. it's challenging maintaining a multi while also differentiating each individual, but you do it incredibly well.

@dumbthink. kc, a true staple and a forever follow. i love hearing about your life, you're one of the funniest people i know, and your ooc posts always make me smile really big. you're an extremely versatile writer, both with canons and ocs. i very much admire how much care you put into crafting each of them, making canons your own, making ocs feel real and engaging.

that's all for now because i don't want this post to be too long! there's a lot more people who come to mind and i'm sure i'll make another post another time. thanks for listening!

so this year I ~challenged myself to post a gifset once a week, because making gifsets is something I enjoy very much and can always improve in but literally cannot do for money or lbr meaningful validation and I am historically bad at doing things that fit those categories!

I ended up posting 54 gifsets in 2023, one a week plus a few extras lol. A few stats behind the cut just for fun!

Most popular overall: "I'm so glad I met you" with 1,738 as of this morning. Objectively correct. The nicest-looking gifs I maybe made all year and an all-time scene. Made it my pinned post recently.

Least popular overall: A Community set of Jeff making a Dane Cook joke, coming in at a grand total of 39 notes. This was actually a remake of a set I made YEARS ago because I think it's a great joke lmao. A set doomed imo by the youths on my lawn not knowing who Dane Cook is and also tbf Jeff as the only featured study group character.

Honorable mention to the Rangers World Series set I made, but I'm actually floored and delighted that it got 43 notes. There are dozens of us!!

Gifsets made per fandom:

Community: 14 (!)

Doctor Who: 10

Elementary, Mythic Quest, Ted Lasso: 5

Succession: 3

Last of Us, Leverage, Severance, Shrinking: 2

Always Sunny, The Bear, MLB (haha), Scrubs: 1

I'm a little insulted for Elementary tbh! Otherwise this pretty much tracks.

By average number of notes and not counting the one-offs:

Least popular fandom: Mythic Quest with an average of 130 notes across 5 posts. I don't care. I'll win you all over.

Most popular fandom: Leverage with an average of 837 notes across 2 posts, both of which were Hardison/Parker, so...

Most popular fandom not inflated by Hardison/Parker: Doctor Who by a mile with an average of 775 notes per post. Feels good. Feels right. We're back baybee

Interesting split of 18 shippy sets and 36 non-shippy. Including "outliers," shippy sets averaged 621 notes compared to an average of 332 for gen sets. Throwing out the two lowest note-getting posts from each set, the averages jump to 680 and 350. Also not a surprise; fandom loves a ship lol.

Number of sets (avg. notes) per ship, not including one-offs:

Ted/Rebecca: 2 (333) (womp womp)

Jeff/Britta: 3 (267)

Hardison/Parker: 2 (836)

Ten/Rose: 2 (619)

Nine/Rose: 6 (890)

Doctor/Rose: 8 (823)

It shows that I trailed off my RTD1 rewatch mid-s2 lol. (Which seems blasphemous!! but it was never the right time to handle the satan pit episodes, you get it) Doctor/Rose supremacy obviously but also justice for Jeff/Britta, the greatest relationship ever known

Some one-off fandom set thoughts:

The Dr. Cox set was a mostly-for-me fave. The Always Sunny set happened because I thought the Aaron Paul/Bryan Cranston episode was one of the funniest the show has had in years; that episode was also what finally pushed me into watching Breaking Bad this year, which I mostly really enjoyed lol.

The set I made from the finale of The Bear s2 ended up the sixth most popular set of the year with 1k+ notes and it's probably the set I most notice on my activity page every week. It does look really nice but also, I see you, Syd/Richie fandom, and I hear your siren song. Maybe in 2024...

So OK! Hey! I set a meaningless fun goal and accomplished it!! I'm not setting another specific gif goal for 2024 so will probably be a lot more sporadic. Or not! Who knows!

OK pals, thanks for indulging me, happy new year <3

hello again! I was the anon who asked if you were taking requests for Phoenix 💞 lord knows I've spent too much time on the #natasha trace x reader tag HAHSAHAJS tumblr needs more nat content (I'm pleading on my knees 🧎🏻‍♀️)

I was thinking about Nat having a girlfriend but struggling to come out to her friends. She has been dating reader for long enough that they've moved in together and has yet to mention to them that the reason she's been leaving the hard deck earlier than usual is because she has a girlfriend at home.

She thinks nobody suspects a thing but bob found out somehow (it's up to you) and asked her directly. She gives up the facade and tells him everything and they have a long talk about her struggles with her sexuality and her fear of coming out to her friends and actually showing off her gf. That night, she talks to her gf too and decides she's going to finally introduce reader to the dagger squad.

I would looooove to see their reactions on this, bc in my head, everyone must've thought she was into guys like hangman or whatever and she's shows up with this pretty girl by her side. They're already planning on who's gonna get her number first and nat just "uh.. guys this is my girlfriend😄"

Just super fluffy and kinda angsty too? Maybe throw in some smut if you feel like it 👀💞 It's totally up to you!!!

mwah!💋

- Syd

syd !!! thank you so much for sending this in, I absolutely loved this idea and I hope I did it justice!

The Hard Deck wasn’t as crowded as it usually was and Phoenix was grateful for the breathing room as she sipped her beer at the bar and checked her phone, letting you know she’d be leaving soon… Friday night was always bar night for the squad, a way to relax and unwind heading into the weekend after a long week of training and she really loved it… it was always fun getting to spend time with them, the squad had turned into its own little family but that didn’t stop her from always being the first to leave to get home to you as quickly as she could. 

No one knew about you yet… she’d wanted to tell the team for weeks now but every time she thought she worked up the nerve she backed out at the last minute, anxiety overruling and shutting it down before she could even get the words out. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t even notice Bob slide into the seat next to her until he was tapping her shoulder and pulling her focus back to the present.

“Hey Nat, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked softly as she nodded, turning to give him her full attention. “Why haven’t you told anyone you have a girlfriend?” he whispered and her eyes widened at the question… she’d been thinking he might want to talk about the training exercise today, she’d made a decision in the air he didn’t agree with and it was normal for them to talk it out afterwards but this felt like Bob had dropped a bomb on her.

“What do you… how did you know?” she asked and he gave her a soft smile.

“Overheard you on the phone at lunch,” he replied and she thought back to the conversation she’d had with you… she’d laughed while you filled her in on some of your coworker’s antics and told you what time she’d be home before calling you her sweet girl and telling you how much she loved you. She’d thought she was alone in the locker room, otherwise she wouldn’t have let that slip. 

“Oh… uh, just haven’t felt ready to, I guess.” she answered and Bob nodded, giving her the space to continue when she gathered her thoughts. “I’ve gotten mixed reactions from other squads in the past and… I don’t know, we’ve just got a good thing going here and I don’t want to ruin it.”

“Why do you think you would ruin it?” he asked, genuinely interested in the answer and she sighed.

“It’s not easy… being a woman in the Navy, let alone being a gay woman in the Navy. We’ve never talked about that kind of stuff before, I don’t really know what everyone’s views on that are. My parents struggled with it when I came out to them and it’s been an issue in the past at my other stations and I guess I just didn’t want to deal with the fallout again,” she shrugged. 

“If it helps, I really don’t think anyone here would have a problem with it,” he said, and she lifted her attention from her glass to look at him questioningly. “I know we’ve never talked about it but… I can’t see anyone on the squad treating you differently because of it. I think they might be a little shocked, but that’s mainly because of how you banter with Hangman, everyone kind of thinks you two might be a thing on the down low-”

“Wait, what?” She cut him off and his eyes widened.

“You guys just have this like… thing, you’re very competitive and playfully mean to each other, I guess some of the squad just assumed it was because you were a thing,” he explained and she chuckled as she shook her head. “But once they get over the shock of being wrong, I think they’d be happy for you.”

“I just don’t know what I’d do if it doesn’t go that way. I’ve tried to get to a place where I don’t care if people aren’t accepting but… I’m just not there yet,” she sighed.

“I understand… I mean, as well as I can understand. It can’t be easy but you shouldn’t have to hide who you are, and I can at least speak for myself when I say I’m really happy for you… but I really think they’d like to meet her, they’re probably going to figure it out anyways because they all want to know what has you slipping out early every night. Whatever you decide, I’m in your corner… if you don’t want to, your secret’s safe with me,” he said, giving her a soft smile and a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder before he rejoined the group to leave her alone with her thoughts. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to introduce you to them, she really did… she’d told you everything she knew about each of them and you’d expressed your interest in tagging along one night but were understanding when she said she wasn’t ready for that yet.

If she had it her way she’d be screaming from the rooftops how in love with you she was… she’d invite the squad over so they could try your amazing cooking, and you’d be by her side every Friday night but there was truly no way to know how everyone else would feel until she came clean, and that idea absolutely terrified her.

“Hey honey, I’m home!” Phoenix called out as you heard her keys rattle against the dish on the entryway table and you padded down the hallway to greet her with a warm smile.

“Hey Nat, how was work today?” you asked, giving her a sweet peck on her lips before watching her pull her boots off and you immediately noticed the slump in her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and gave you a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as she grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the couch, “Bob found out about us.”

“Yeah? What’d he say?” you asked as the two of you sat beside each other and you instantly pulled her legs over your lap. 

“He was really supportive, he said I should tell everyone else,” she sighed.

“How do you feel about that? Are you ready?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know… once I open that can of worms it’s not like I can stuff it back in,” she said and you nodded, your thumb rubbing reassuring circles against her uniform-clad thigh. “It’s not that I don’t want to… I don’t want you to think for a minute it’s because I want to hide you, I just don’t want it to blow up in my face.”

“I never thought that sweetheart,” you said with a reassuring smile. “I know it’s hard, and I know you’ve been burned before in previous squads but you speak so highly of them… from what I’ve heard they all sound like really great people and I think it would be good to finally clue them in,” you said. “You know I’m okay either way, it’s at your pace, Nat… but this has been stressing you out ever since you got permanently stationed here, and they are probably going to find out sooner or later… I think you might feel better if you get to control the conversation instead of more people piecing it together like Bob did.” She knew you were right… you always were, it really was only a matter of time. Sure, Bob was the most observant of everyone else so she couldn’t be surprised he was the first one to piece it together but it’s not like her squad was stupid. “It’s up to you, but I think you should get it over with. Just rip off the bandaid and whatever happens we’ll deal with it together just like we always do.”

She gave you a soft smile, the first real one of the evening as she looked at you with nothing but love in her eyes, “what do you think about meeting me at The Hard Deck after work next week?”

“I think that’s a really great idea,” you answered, leaning in to press your lips to hers. 

“I really love you, you know that?” she asked and you nodded with a chuckle.

“I know, I love you too.” 

The entire week leading up to their usual hangout at the bar had Phoenix on edge… logically she knew you and Bob were right, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that had settled deep in her bones as the day creeped closer and closer. She didn’t want to call it off (though she’d thought about it a dozen times), she had to stick with it and follow through otherwise she never would and as she stood around the pool table with the rest of the boys she honestly felt like she might throw up.

“You good, Nix?” Hangman asked, looking her over curiously, “worried I’m going to kick your ass again?” He gestured over to the pool table and she just rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know what you mean by again, you’ve never beaten me,” she replied and he scoffed. “Revisionist history, I see how it is,” he teased and when the bar door swung open she whipped her head around to see you walking in looking as beautiful as ever… you were wearing her favorite dress of yours, a simple little wrap dress that really brought out your eyes and she couldn’t help the smile that overtook her face but no one around her could notice as they all stared at you too. 

“Damn, she is gorgeous,” Rooster said, eyes tracking you as you scanned the bar and Hangman just shoved his shoulder.

“In your dreams, Chicken, watch how the professionals do it,” he said, straightening his posture as he started to move towards you but he stopped in his tracks when recognition flashed over your face and watched as you walked directly towards their group. You gave her a bright smile, not standing too close and waiting to see how she wanted to proceed… you didn’t want to toss her into the deep end by planting a kiss on those lips you loved so much (despite how you really wanted to) and you watched as she laughed nervously, grabbing your hand as she introduced you.

“This is my girlfriend,” she said, squeezing your hand and waiting for everyone’s reaction and you watched the variety of emotions that passed over their faces before they all seemed to put the pieces together in their heads and soon they were giving you big smiles and extending their hands as they told you their callsigns. 

“Well, I see why she’s been hiding you away… you are beautiful,” Bob said with a genuine smile and you chuckled as you shook his hand. 

“How long have you two been together?” Rooster asked and Phoenix shifted her weight nervously.

“A few years,” she answered and you bit back a smile at their shocked expressions.

“Years? Nix, why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Hangman asked, and you thought the concern in his voice was out of character for him… well, as much as you knew about his character from what she had told you. 

“I uh.. Well, I didn’t know how you guys would react,” she said honestly with a shrug and you saw the understanding pass over their features.

“Phoenix…” Rooster said, giving her a sad look before wrapping an arm around her. “I’m sorry if anyone ever gave you the impression you couldn’t tell us,” he said and she shook her head.

“No one did… it’s just, not necessarily a well-recepted thing in the Navy even though times are changing.” she replied.

“Well I speak for everyone when I say the squad just gained its newest member… and if anyone has a problem with that I will not-so-kindly throw you overboard,” Hangman said as he slung an arm over your shoulders. “You and I have much to catch up on, I want all the details,” he said and you chuckled as you walked down to the bar with him. You knew Phoenix would have nothing to worry about, you could tell from your after-work conversations she immensely respected all of them (even Hangman) and after meeting them you honestly felt like she might have been selling them short all this time. The way they welcomed you with open arms had your chest feeling warm and you could just tell it was all genuine as Hangman started talking your ear off and ordering you a beer.

You’d been passed around from person to person all night, barely getting a moment alone with your girlfriend but that was fine with you… you knew the novelty of a new person hanging around would wear off and they were all just excited to get to know you. 

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” you asked when Fanboy finally relinquished you from the very intense discussion you’d both had about Star Wars. You wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into you, smiling softly as she melted against you.

“Good. So good, you were right… I should have gotten this over with sooner. I love seeing you with them,” she said and you pressed a kiss to her lips. 

“And I love getting to know them. It doesn’t matter if I was right, you needed to do this when you were ready to,” you said and she just beamed at you before pulling you back in and kissing you passionately… earning some whistles and cheers from her friends and making your cheeks burn.

“I love you so damn much, you know that?” she asked and you nodded as you giggled.

“Yeah, I know. I love you too,” you said, pecking her lips once more before dragging her over to the dartboard where Hangman had all but promised to take it easy on you (you didn’t believe him one bit). Phoenix had found her family, and you were so grateful to now be a part of that.

taglist: @callsignspirit @thegodessc @failuretothrivesstuff @olliepig @cruelmissdior @underaveragefangirl @grxcieluvr (if your username is struck through it means I couldn't tag you - sorry!)

crappy art dump bc i feel the need 2 establish me and my friendy's ocs on this platform bc im probs gonna end up posting about them a lot and i love them and i will make everybody on earth love them also

open for sillies :3

darleneee!!!!!!! my silly this drawing does not do her justice but she is a 13 yr old lesbian (she/her) and 🔥suthern. she is thr coolest oc i have ever had any part in creating and her lore consumes my mind daily and i am gnawing at the bars of my enclosure containing myself from infodumping abt her and the rest of them all the time until the comic my bestie and me r making w them starts coming out but im posting this oc stuff here on purpose to motivate myself to actually draw it by summer so u guys will not be safe for long. shes a virgo 💖

starria delaunchey my sweetie pie her design has actually developed a lot since this piece she has completely different hair now and all sorts of stuff i mean i dont think she even plays hockey anymore but the essence remains the same 💗she is ALSO a 13 yr old lesbian (she/they) and she and darlene r in a long term loving relationship so get ur starlene fanart started asap pwease and thank yew. if im gonna list the zodiac signs for all of them then starria is an aquarius.....

fun fact she is the oldest oc of all 4 she was the very first to ever be created !!

matty! matisse! mat! he is stars half brother and they are bffs and he is the most peculiar fella on the planet and is lowkey my fav tied w syd but i practically never draw him bc i am like. intimidated and so bad at replicating what we actually want him to look like😞 i have no clue bleh but hes the one with the full torso and hes a sagittarius like meeee!!!!!! hes 13 too and a transmasc aroace with he him pronounce

this is syd my stupid idiot i love her w all my heart.same thing as matty i have barely ever drawn her ever bc im like scared to but shes basically leonardo ninja turtle 2018 if he was mikey batman vs the tmnt edition and also donatello 2023 all at the same time (very normal points of reference yes). his only flaw is hes a libra

he is a 13 year old bigender bisexual (she/he) and also btw every single one of them is autistic because we can

WE ALSO HAVE MIN!!!!!!! shes the best character but i have literally almost never drawn her ever let alone RECENTLY with a REMOTELY up to date design so the only information yall get about her is shes a cancer

the comic is called honeysuckle and/or cheriton creek bc we changed it recently but we still tend to refer to the overall project as honeysuckle so oh well deal w it

BE A FAN NOW (pointing gun)

₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ about my characters pt. 1

this is going to be an ongoing series of just little character bios of my original characters for my wip, "The Witches of Opalworth". i'm not going to share too many details of the plot (for plagiarism reasons) but i'd love to tell you guys about my little characters !!

first up! introducing.. Sydney Lynn Webb-Shaw, my protagonist.

Sydney (or Syd) is 19, born on December 27th, making her a Capricorn. her pronouns are she/her. she was born in Missouri to her mother, Isla Webb-Shaw, and father, Colin Shaw-Webb. she's bisexual with a gigantic female lean (aren't we all). she's also on the autism spectrum, along with her mother, little sister and aunt.

she's 5'10. pretty lanky and skinny. literally the worst posture you've ever seen in your life. pale skin (mf has never seen the sun before and it SHOWS). hair cut boyishly short and dyed a retina-burning green (which earned her the nickname "lettuce head" from her family). a strong, hooked nose. dark brown, nearly black eyes that don't seem to reflect light, only absorb it. possibly millions of little freckles that cover her face, neck, shoulders and arms. sharp canines that make her look almost vampirish. a charming, crooked smile. usually seen in knee-length jorts, scuffed up sneakers, big tshirts or sweaters/sweater vests, funky earrings and a shit ton of clay rings made by her eccentric aunt Joesephine. basically the Adam Sandler look but gayer.

personality-wise, Sydney is an ambivert. she's got a razor sharp wit and is insanely sarcastic. she tends to be intense and obsessive, maybe to an off-putting extent to those that don't know, love and understand her. she's always been deeply passionate about being an activist and speaking up for others and herself. already, she's been to many rallies and protests for witches rights along with her grandmother, Lorelei. her mother claims she got her strong sense of justice from Lorelei, and no one else in their little clan refutes that. she loves her entire family very very dearly, though she's always been a little more connected to her grandma, as Syd seems to have been a copy/pasted version of Lor. both women are intensely passionate, fiercely protective of those they love, loud and unafraid to make some serious noise about the things they feel need to be changed, and have pretty much the exact same sense of humor. as her grandmother (who's well over 100 years old) was a suffragette back in the early 20th century, Sydney grew up listening to her tell stories of her adventures and the battles she'd fought in her lifetime. all of the change that Lorelei helped create inspired her to make a difference too; to help those that need it, and rage against the broken system that binds them.

₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ some songs i think Sydney would like...

Paul Blart Mall Cop - Girlhouse

Angry Too - Lola Blanc

Stuck - Daywave

18+ - Scene Queen

Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance (cause i KNOW this girl had a pretentious emo phase at least once in her lifetime)

I Write Sins Not Tragedies - Panic! At The Disco

Dancing with Myself - Billy Idol

Anxiety - Lilyisthatyou

that's all i can tell you about her right now, as i myself am only just beginning to get to know her. she, like the rest of the cast and the manuscript itself are still in their pre-alpha-hello-neighbor phases (the girls that get it, get it and the girls that don't, don't) so as the story and characters grow and change i'll update the characters profiles !!

thank you for reading <3 stay safe, and my dms are always open!

you can also reach me on...

Discord: gayanarchist222

AO3: soobzgyu

Pinterest: problematicraccoon