#<--- don't like this term but its the most widely used one at the moment.

[figmentof]

i'm pitching kaos exclusively to ofmd fans bc i think it's a show that is right up our alley, plus it's on netflix which is the service that djenks is currently trying to get the attention of, so why don't we show them what we're capable of in terms of audience numbers? 😏

for starters, kaos does what tumblr loves, which is take existing ips and give them a modern twist. we got to see that firsthand with bbc sherlock and elementary (and to a lesser extent, house md), and even though ofmd is kept in its historical setting of the 1700's, it's anachronistic af what with all the modern lingo and therapy speak

kaos is extremely queer, obviously a show that is based off of greek mythology not being queer would be weird, but it's not just that there are an abundance of queer characters, you can tell the show itself has queer writers (the showrunner is nonbinary) and queer people working behind the scenes. the queer characters all have a story beyond their identity, there's no unnecessary commentary on their queerness or any fixed labels, queer people just exist and are very much characters instead of caricatures. there's a wide array of queerness across the board-- the fates are portrayed by trans/nonbinary actors, the furies are motorcycle riding butch lesbians, and caeneus is portrayed by a trans man (his story is interwoven with his identity)

more than half of the cast are poc-- poseidon is portrayed by a māori actor, eurydice and persephone are black women, and honestly there's so many characters of color it'd be hard to include them all in this post without like, spoiling the whole season lol

there's disability rep in this show as well, with several supporting characters that don't hide their disability onscreen and play crucial roles to the plot

most importantly, it's a show that delves into deep topics while still remaining a comedy, it's not afraid to be a bit camp at times and it doesn't take itself too seriously. i know a lot of ofmd fans have no interest in shows like iwtv bc although it's very queer and has it's comedic moments, it's not remotely in the same genre nor has the same vibe as ofmd, plus "queer media" isn't one single genre to begin with. so i genuinely do think kaos is a show ofmd fans would appreciate, and idk, maybe it could fill a little bit of the hole ofmd left and tide us over until we receive news about netflix picking ofmd up or... dare i say, grant us a third season?

[pseudofujo]

THIS POST WAS MADE ON APRIL 6TH, 2024, AND IS NOT RELATED TO YAOIBOYPUSSY'S DEACTIVATION. YAOIBOYPUSSY DEACTIVATED OF HIS OWN WILL. WHILE MY POINT IS VALID AND MOREOVER A DESCRIPTION OF WHAT I BELIEVE PERSONALLY, IT IS ABOUT A PRIOR INCIDENT. NEVERTHELESS, YAOIBOYPUSSY SHOULDVE NEVER BEEN HARASSED OFF OF THE PLATFORM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

after learning about what happened with yaoiboypussy i almost feel scared to continue this blog, as a trans man who enjoys yaoi unironically.

i will continue, even if the weirdos who hate trans men get to me, i suppose.

to make things clear, and to clear out my follower list, if any of you somehow ended up here...

i am a transgender man, i use he/him pronouns, and using other pronouns for me that i have not stated are okay is misgendering, blatantly. i am a supporter of trans men, and their unique experiences with misogyny and oppression even within the trans community. i am an ally to all trans people, and i believe that discussions of transmasc oppression can and should coexist with discussions of transfem oppression, and that discussing one is not overshadowing the other. we are one community, we are siblings, and while we experience some things differently, we have the same enemy.

i believe that BL and yaoi is not a genre exclusively for women, and i believe that the BL community needs to become more inclusive of other people.

i don't like that i had to make this post. if what happened to yaoiboypussy didn't happen, i wouldn't have made it at all. but since we run in similar circles, i felt the need to do so, even though i am a much smaller blog.

let trans men be funny, let trans men be part of the BL community, let trans men take up space. we have always been here, we have always supported you, and we will continue to do so.

[omarwolaeth]

thinking 'bout how the lads interact with what the bracelets represent, especially in their decks

[tritoch]

i have seen people be like "if you think what the dawntrail protagonists do in zone six is valid you have to conceded emet's approach/perspective was valid, what you do is basically what he does" and it's like...nah. it's obviously intentionally very similar ("it's like poetry, it rhymes") but there's some key differences:

emet is disgusted by sundered life, which he sees as inhuman, and longs to return to the unrecoverable past. so he does seven(ish) planet-wide genocides. the endless aren't new life, their ability to grow and learn is specifically in question (at the very least they are fundamentally incapable of taking in new sensory experience of certain forms), they're shades from the unrecoverable past, and you are destroying them in favor of those still alive.

also, we aren't disgusted by them nor do we think anything is fundamentally justified if done to them (everyone pretty much no-sells cahciua "we aren't alive so it doesn't matter if you kill us :)," in fact). we don't have like 12,000 years and the most advanced magic known to anyone alive. we are forced by serious exigency to destroy them due to a political impasse with their leadership's policy re: resource extraction. this tonal difference is in fact extremely important.

the endless themselves seem pretty ambivalent about the whole deal. they're bored or they're wary of the way their world keeps shrinking, and it's very explicitly neither a functioning society by any recognizable human terms nor a paradise.

related to the above, basically every named endless turns to the person most relevant to them (cahciua to erenville, krile's parents to her, namikka to wuk lamat, otis to you) and is like, huh, i really appreciate having this moment of grace at the end of my journey to see that it was all worthwhile and to resolve my lasting regrets, but i understand what you're here to do and yeah, it's probably time for us to go. (does the writing put a finger on the scale by doing this? sure, but the writers also designed and built the scales and everything they're weighing on them, so i find it hard to discredit any one aspect for being the writers' invention.)

finally uh no one in the party has kids with the endless or lives a full human lifetime as one of them lol.

it's important to remember that emet was definitely at least somewhat lying about not seeing the sundered as real people. the fact that he has "lived a thousand thousand of your lives . . . broken bread with you, fought with you, grown ill, grown old, sired children and yes, welcomed death’s sweet embrace" makes everything he did soooooo much crazier than what you do. if i managed to convince an endless to fall in love with me and i had a kid with them and i loved that kid so much that their death threw me into a permanent grief spiral then like. yeah i guess i would have to be like "well hats off to emet, folks." but luckily the game doesn't make you do that.

even if you insist everyone in living memory was a full living person that we killed, you're still weighing like a city of people versus 7+ planet-wide mass murders. you do not under any circumstances got to hand it to him.

living memory absolutely is evocative of everything that happens in shadowbringers. but rather than placing us in emet's shoes, it forces us to relive what we already did, to really fully face up to what we have done by promising to remember emet's culture after destroying any chance of its return. after two games going hard on the hope part of the game's central theme of hope arising from grief, now we're doing grief. we are forced to see the past of our memories not as a cold, ghostly art deco cubus-plagued socratic method hellscape but as the most beautiful technicolor theme park where everyone's happy and no one's sad and there's parades every day and your parents are alive and they love you so much. and then the game's conclusion is, yeah, you were still right to let go. in fact, you were and are morally obliged to let go. the living were and are worth more than the dead. our grief in letting go of them may be immense and turns our world to bleak nothingness for a time, and that is important to recognize, but at the end of the day our most pressing duty is to those we can yet save, not those we have lost.

[dduane]

How do wizards from different cultures (or worlds) reckon with units of measure, like time or distance?

(I'd ask if it was like X or Y, but I don't know if that would prevent you from using X or Y in the future.)

These things tend to be handled along planetary lines, with wizards' manuals (or other instrumentalities) automatically handling time and measurement translations for them when they're off their homeworlds.

Measurements used by wizards while at home on a given planet, though, normally default to the systems most widely used on that planet (with periodic checks on these being run by the Powers that Be to make sure their details are valid and in synch with the physical realities of the local universe). On Earth, this means the metric system, as well as its associated standards for time—building upward or downward as necessary from the second, which these days is based on 9,192,631,770 energy transitions of the cesium atom*. Like others who deal with the sharp edges and hard corners of the universe, wizards are encouraged to stay in the majority measurement system and not, on the spur of the moment, reach for a more familiar or local one. That kind of thing, for example, is how you wind up losing Mars probes.

The system used by wizards on Earth for timetelling on a more casual level is the Julian date system. Julian dating makes for more exact assignment of times to events by getting rid of the need for stating things in terms of time zones, and additionally by avoiding the sometimes problematic differences between/among the various Earth-based calendars. This is why most events in the Young Wizards books are time-fixed using the "JD 2xxxxxx.xxx" format (it having been about two and a half million days since the start of the system, which counts from 12 noon UT on Julian-calendar date January 1, 4713 BCE). As an example, this makes it JD 2460414.016921 for me at the moment. ...Well, a moment ago.

HTH!

*The full formal wording of the definition is over here if you need it.

[writingoddess1125]

Sunset Pirates pt. 2

Old Men Series Masterlist <<<

Previous <<<

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• The Sunset Pirates- A Young band of new generation Pirates that has been bulldozing their way into papers as their bounties grew with each passing month. Racking up Billions in damage as they sailed on and becoming on the World Goverment biggest problem

• Each of these young pirates where carving their own paths right into the already scared side if the Goverment

• They each had their own goals in mind. Wishing to better the past generation. Build past the shadows each of them where born in-

• However it was clear one one thing-

• They still had no real idea what the fuck they were doing...

• While the four of them where incredibly skilled in terms of combat and ship maintenance- they were all now incredibly broke.

• "How the fuck are we gonna get money?! We will be out of food in days" Vi protested as the crew sat on the deck trying to have a meeting of sorts to figure out a game plan.

• They had been sailing aimlessly for the last few days and getting close to running out of needed supplies. All of them feeling a strain on their personal pockets-

• "I know I know- We need ideas. Sure destroying shit is fun but we need to make real money here" Dee expressed rubbing his temple, Alucare looking at the crew and rolled his eyes- However he couldn't disagree with them...

• "We need to obviously steal- its how all pirates make their money most of thw time" Alucare pointed out-

• The crew grimaced at this Alucare included, knowing well that they weren't the type of pirates to raid defenseless people and rip gold from their necks or steal Berri from helpless people.

• "Listen it's one think stealing from a rich person but-" Vi started but Dee waved her off before she could finish that sentence.

• "We know, I don't think any of us want that either" Dee expressed. Sighing as everyone fell silent- That was till Bee chuckled to himself suddently and everyone turned their attention to him.

• Bee being the ever extremist yet the only one that seemed to pitch ideas sat up from his lounged position on a barrel with a wide smile like the devil at the crew.

• "So sounds like- We steal from the World Goverment-"

• Everyone Stared at Bee before the Vi and Alucare erupted in disagreement.

"And please do tell, How and where? You cant just say Steal from the World Goverment" Vi argued and Bee smiled "Easy- I heard when we are that ship that you Alu was imprisoned on-"

"Don't call me that-"

"I heard that they where planning to renovate Marine Base 45 with a new Safe after the summer ends since its faulty- We can just break in and steal it. It's broken anyways"

• Bee pitched as the other two crewmates ripped apart the plan. Dee however quietly thinking and giving a defeated sigh "It's the best idea we have-" He finally said making Vi look at his shocked "Are you fucking serious-"

• "This is a bad idea-" Alucare pointed out

• "Do you have one?" Bee shot back, Making the swordsman scowl at him and Vi huff but fall silent-"

• "Since you two are hell bent on this, then you two have someone to help break into the safe- Neither of us know how to" Alucare pointed out. Making the twins look at each other for a moment.

• Dee clicked his tongue and leaned back- Bee smirking as well.

• "Know just the Duo-"

- This is not what Alucare ment by getting a skilled Theif or in this case thieves. Bee and Dee had just returned from grabbing these skilled 'highly skilled pick pockets' but instead Alucare stared at two cherry nosed brats, his eyebrow starting to twitch.

There was two little girls- clearly not even in the double digits in terms of age, both in little pink-tails and dressed in frilly dresses with pale blue eyes like the older twin duo. It didnt take a wild guess to figure out these where their baby sisters.

Vivian was gushing at the two little girls the second their boarded the ship, Leaning down and poking their little cheeks as she swooned at how adorable they were and gifting them candy. A clear softy for kids-

"You've got to be shitting me- You couldn't find anyone who had hit puberty yet?" Alucare growled at the older twins, Dee rolling his eyes.

"You said we needed thieves and this is what I got- Now do you got any better idea?" Alucare scoffed, gesturing to Vi who was still gushing over the girls who where eating up the attention from the redhead.

"You expect us to break into a secure Marine safe with two toddlers-"

"We are right here you know-" Ari grumbled, glaring up at Alucare who sighed heavily at this.

"I'm aware-" Alucare calmly shot back, Looking to Bee and Dee as he rubbed his temple.

"If I knew I'd be babysitting I'd just have went home-" Alucare mumbled- Ali glaring hard at Alucare as she casted her sister a glance.

"We have to get someone else- I understand love for a siblings skills but this is ridiculous. Im not going to let two infants on a dangerous task like this. Your sisters or not- I doubt they could steal candy from each other" Dee and Bee looked at each other and just shrugged. Alucare ready to tear into them again but being quickly cut off.

"Pretty ring- And lots of money!" Ali said loudly to herself, Holding up Alucare prized Ruby ring in her tiny palm the one that Mihawk had gifted him when he left home and his bag of Berri he kept hidden on his person- The dark haired man blinking in confusion before looking at his hand.

"How did you-" He started before snatching the ring and money from the little girl. Ali giggling at this as Did Ari who was scooped up by Vivian.

"Told you- Best damn thieves you can find" Dee waved off, Already suspiciously touching his own pockets as he was sure his sisters had lifted something from him.

"The infamous Bubbles and Squeak- Now if these two can steal from Sir Crocodile, Mihawk and essentially all of the Pirate Lords undetected including cracking ever safe they can get their little fingers on. I'm sure they can steal from the military-" Bee detailed Excluding themselves from the stolen list. Alucare crossing his arms, looking.. impressed?

"These two did all that?-"

Vi commented with a eyebrow at the little girls as she held Ari who was tucked to her side. Looking to the little girl and chuckling a bit in amusement-

"How long do we have them for?"

"72 Hours, Father has our Mother distracted and lied to her about where the girls are for this" Dee explained with a sigh- Knowing their mother would lose her shit finding out they were taking two 7 year olds out on a pirating adventure.

Alucare adjusted the ring on his finger and nodded- Looking to the two little girls calmly.

"Seems we are setting sail to Marine Base 45-"

○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~

Authors Note!

HELLO! So I've been stewing over this project for quite some time and wanted to open the floor up to everyone!

I want to Build the Sunset Pirates into their own Respectable Pirate crew, so Please leave some suggestions on Ideas either of OOC or even Legacy children you think would he great for the crew!

[dropthedemiurge]

Some language comments for Gray Shelter [Episode 5], just like I promised!

"Do whatever/however you want to. (literally: 'Do it the way your heart desires') You do things how you want to anyway."

"I'm sorry" - the translation is correct, it's just it's funny how Yoondae's level of apology to his friend he just lashed out at last time + he wants to ask him for HELP, and all he says is: 미안 (mian). The most informal and short way of apologizing possible. He's so teenager-minded still.

Even when he asks "Can I leave my stuff in your dad's warehouse?" it comes out grammatically more of a demand, like 'Let me do that'. Yoondae is talking like someone who has a lot of walls and doesn't reach out to people, he doesn't talk kindly but he's honest and straightforward and he cries easily but he's very angry about it.

I especially love his facial expression, even when he's at his most miserable, he'll make it everyone else's problem, as if being pitiful is the worst thing that could happen to him. "I have no one else I could ask for help but you >:(("

Fun fact about Korean's sentence structure, when you quote someone or express your thoughts, you put your sentence this way: "quoted phrase" and then + "that's what they said/what i thought/etc". So oftentimes, I see Kdramas use that trick when characters say a phrase... and then take it back with "that's someone else's thoughts" or "that's what you thought I'd say, right? LMAO". It's funny how the translators' way of transferring this was using the word "Sike!" xD

"It wasn't a mistake to me." "If it wasn't a mistake, then [what]? Since you started talking [about it], let me ask you. So what if it wasn't a mistake? What do you want to achieve with me?" "Can I do anything about it? In the past or now, you're the one who runs away and avoids me. I asked you, can I make a decision (do I have any choices)?" "You made the move but you want me to decide? Fine, then. Let sleep together once and end it once and for all. Go wash up first. I don't have time, I only left office for a short time."

The way they both care about each other but their dialogues and words are very sharp and bitter almost all the time, especially here, aaaah. That's the contrast that hooked me for all these 5 episodes. Soohyuk doesn't swear but he's talking to Yoondae very harshly and emotionless here, and for Yoondae harsh talk is the default, it's like Soohyuk is lowering his manners to talk on his level, to provoke him (or maybe that's also how he distances himself from the discovery that Yoondae has feelings for him).

And Yoondae is holding back his frustration and tears, but he understands the way such words were aimed to hurt him, so instead of lashing out back at Soohyuk, as he probably wants him to, he swallows and unusually calmly, almost softly says: "Let's talk when you can be honest. Because I will shut up and wait for you."

And it makes Soohyuk stand there in shock and contemplate.

I'll add next scenes in READ MORE since this post is getting long!

Here's the moment when the boss asks their youngest employee to write something more 'trendy' for their marketing text xD It's very true that trends in Korea come and go very quickly, they also love to invent new terms and phrases all the time. Like "MZ slang", there are many phrases, and the one trendy phrase the boss uses as the example is 킹받네 (king-pad-nae) which literally written as 'receive the king' but means "I got angry" - but with a teasing/playful subtext, like friends could say each other 'ah you're so cute, it makes me angry'.

If I'm not wrong, this phrase was widely used like 1-2 years ago and not really in its trendy peak as well right now but kudos to boss to even learning it xD And it's funny how translator chose to (I assume) use "[living in my head] rent-free" phrase as a substitute. Another fun fact, they ended up using some trendy lingo in their ad that translator gave us as "no cap!" but that part of phone msg was so blurry, I couldn't see which exact Korean phrase they ended up using x)

"Hyung, if you have any ask for help, say so. For you, 2 million... No, I'll try to give you until 3 million won in any way."

Can I just say that we had this character for one moment and I'm so not ready to let him go, I want Jeongwan to have his own storyline and everything and he's too sweet and also caring for strangers/his colleagues, and so he stole the spotlight for me xD

Yoondae said there's no food at home. But also, as you can see, there is: beer, water, rice that you can cook in the microwave, kimchi for a side dish and some other microwaved food. According to my Korean friends, typical Korean person (poor like student) can survive if they have rice, kimchi and also ramyeon. That's their the most basic food. Just a fun fact. xD

Also he was on his third can of beer, and he already made a drunken longing call on the verge of tears to Soohyuk, lying about being hurt and bringing trouble just so he'd return home. "Is that okay with you?" - just shoot me, please. :')

"I called [the cleaning service/you] to tell you to stop it [sleeping outside of home]" "Let's have that dinner [that I promised you] today. Wait for me."

After days, Yoondae was ready to give up, he "tricked" Soohyuk to return home just so he could tell him he'll move out and stop pushing any talk. And then, Soohyuk brought up the dinner (the feelings) that he kept avoiding. No wonder Yoondae looked so struck and confused. It just gave him his hopes back (and viewers too, but we probably should've known better with this kind of series haha)

Interesting cultural context: they are getting samgyeopsal - grilled meat, chosen by Soohyuk because Yoongdae said there wasn't anything he wanted to eat. And usually, the youngest one has to set the cutlery and grill meat, out of respect for the seniors. And here we see that Soohyuk is the one choosing the place, menu and even grilling the meat and pouring soju for Yoondae.

Once again, it shows that despite Yoondae's emotions and pleads, he is not mature enough, he is not ready to focus on other people. We know he can't plan his own future, he doesn't know what to do, and we see where their relationship stands now - Yoondae is still more of a burden than an equal partner to Soohyuk, and Soohyuk is more of a parent.

Even when they drink soju (in Korean drinking etiquette usually you don't drink alone, you toast together and drink together), notice how they don't even clink their glasses together, then Soohyuk is the only one drinking and Yoondae wants to follow him but puts the glass back. He's taking a shot later, when Soohyuk grills the meat again. They are totally unsynchronized at this point of their lives, and it's painful to watch.

"I said he [my father] was dead because that's the truth/reality for me. There was no other [hidden] meaning. I didn't plan to lie to you."

"I moved out completely. If I don't organize my life starting from doing this, then I don't think I'll be able to live like all the other [normal] people."

The fact that Yoondae started thinking about improving his life (the word 'organizing'), immediately made Soohyuk stop in surprise. So he started asking what does the normal life like others mean to him, hopeful to find that equal adult footing from Yoondae... but Yoondae's thoughts stopped there. And Soohyuk offered his own goal and life meaning: "to have a place to go back to, that's enough for me".

Here's when Yoondae thoughtfully agreed with him: "It's important to have a home", and took the meat tongs from Soohyuk, saying how high-maintenance he is. Yoondae embraced that realization, he took the responsibility (even a small cultural gesture) and even though Yoondae nagged him, Soohyuk smirked. Because it wasn't a completely hopeless situation. And Yoondae proved it, by saying how eating like this and going home together is his normal life as well. (and yet they were still unsynchronized until the very end! we can't have happy ending yet)

AND HERE IS WHERE I HAVE TO MAKE A SECOND POST! Because tumblr only allows 30 images in one, and I can't stop screenshotting the last conversation so I'm going to make another post that you can find in 'gray shelter comments' or 'dropthemeta' tags (upd. or here's the link to the post!)^^

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

Two independent terrorist attacks against Israelis took place over the last 24 hours. Yesterday, a Hamas terrorist stabbed in the back a 49 years old Israeli reserves soldier, who stopped to buy something at a shop in a gas station, on his way home. The soldier turned around and, despite being injured, pursued the terrorist, shot and wounded him. The terrorist was later arrested, he had a permit to work in Israel. In the second one, a terrorist started shooting at civilian vehicles passing by, and ended up injuring a 27 years old woman. Thankfully, a baby who is 1.5 months old, who was in the car with her, was not injured, despite at least 10 bullets being retrieved from her vehicle. The IDF is searching for the terrorist.

Israeli soldiers have found and confiscated suitcases with 5 million shekels in cash from the home of a senior Hamas terrorist in Gaza. I want everyone to understand that this sum is currently 1,369,507 $ (yes, I checked with professor Google), and that most Israelis will never see that kind of money. I imagine a majority of "privileged" westerners never will, either. And this kind of money was just lying around in this terrorist's home...

The IDF has exposed and is now in control of what is likely the biggest Hamas terror tunnel. It is about 4 kilometers long (roughly 2.5 miles), and it is wide enough for vehicles to comfortably drive through it. Israeli soldiers have also found footage showing Muhammad Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, doing exactly that, in addition to footage showing the construction of this terror tunnel...

I don't post every single day about the Israeli soldiers injured and killed in Gaza, because the truth is that it has become technically difficult and emotionally painful to keep track. Yesterday, five more soldiers were confirmed as killed, one of them having been injured last week, and he has now succumbed to his wounds. So far, 128 soldiers were killed in Gaza.

Last month, there was a cyber attack on Israeli hospital Ziv, trying to derail its medical activity. Israel has confirmed today that it has traced Iran and Hezbollah as responsible for the attack. If we count the cyber war (and in terms of requiring manpower and resources, as well as in terms of the potential loss in human life, there is no reason not to count it), then Israel has been defending its citizens on no less than six fronts.

The Iran-funded terrorist Houthis in Yemen have been attacking ships unconnected to Israel, for simply passing through territory close to Yemen. A lot of shipment companies from around the world have announced they will not be sailing through this area for at least a time, which means they would have to sail all around Africa, to pass goods between the far east and the western world. This will hurt the entire world's economy, as shipment prices are expected to rise (think of the Evergreen ship blockade of the Suez Canal... these ships will not be trying to get anywhere near the canal. Symbolically, Evergreen is one of the companies announcing they will no longer sail through the Red Sea due to the threat of the Houthis). This will financially hurt so many countries, including Egypt (which operates the Suez Canal), the US and China (this means Iran's move has created a rare moment when American and Chinese financial interests align). The biggest question is, when will the world fully take in the fact that the biggest threat to world peace is the Islamist regime in Iran, and start acting accordingly?

This is Haj Amin al-Husseini.

Out of all of the people who helped shape the Israeli-Arab conflict, he's probably the most influential one, an antisemite, a Nazi collaborator, and a believer in pan-Arab nationalism (he didn't want to fight Jews to establish a Palestinian state, he wanted to exterminate the Jews and establish a greater Arab Islamic state, a new chaliphate, if you will. There is a FASCINATING docu series in Israel, dedicated to the Arab and Muslim leaders who have fought Jews and Israel, interviewing intelligence agents from many countries. The ep dedicated to al-Husseini is unbelievable, and I wish everyone could watch it. It's available online, but sadly, only in Hebrew. The truth is, I don't think anyone can understand the Israeli-Arab conflict without understanding the role of al-Husseini in it, and how different things could have been, if only the more moderate Arab leaders in the Land of Israel at the time had managed to squash his influence, or if the British hadn't tried to "tame" him by appointing him to the position of Jerusalem's grand mufti.

This is the Belchassan family, 31 years old Yuval and Ofir, and their two years old son Tai.

On Oct 7, Yuval left Ofir and Tai to hide in the bomb shelter, and went out to fight off the Hamas terrorists. He and his friends saved their kibbutz, but now, as Ofir is due to give birth to a daughter, they have no home to bring her back to.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[dreamerinthemoonlight]

Secrets in the Rain

Summary: Under the boughs of the great tree at Windrise, you and Kaeya share secrets

Word Count: 1201

CW/TW: Mentioned/referenced Sexual assault, hurt/comfort, use of “lady love” as a term of endearment

Kaeya x Fem!reader

A/N: It took a couple years and a lot of editing, but I think this is pretty good. It used to be one of my least favorite fics, but now I think it's worth its salt.

In the Land of the Winds, sheltered by a tree that has seen the passage of ages, you and Kaeya sit side by side.

The silence that hangs between you is broken only by rumbles of thunder and the constant drum of the downpour on the grass around the great oak. 

The longer it lingers, the more oppressive the quiet becomes.

When you had come out here, hoping to find guidance from Mondstadt’s greatest hero, you hadn’t asked your boyfriend of several years to follow. It's not like you mind his company, but the turmoil inside you urges you to send him away.

He shouldn't be here. He'll hate you. Don't let him see just how broken you are.

For a moment you’re reminded of one of Amber’s favorite stories, the one where the birds couldn’t fly until they gathered the courage and took the plunge. Looking at Kaeya, who seems to be waiting for you to speak, you realize that in this situation, you’re going to have to be that little, flightless bird. That somehow, you have to ignore the terrified voice, and take the plunge.

So you speak. “Why did you follow me, Kaeya?”

“Am I not supposed to be concerned about my --”

A crack of thunder obscures the end of this sentence, but you’ve heard his favorite term of endearment enough to fill in the blank.

Most days, the charming “lady love” falling from his lips warms you, even if all you do is blush and roll your eyes. 

Today, however, isn’t one of those days. Today you sigh, closing in you yourself as one hand wraps around the opposing arm.

A drop of rain splashes on your neck, but you pay no mind.

“Don’t call me that, Kaeya. Not right now.”

“Talk to me, Y/n. What are you thinking? You're not supposed to sit under trees in a storm.”

While you bite your lip, unable to answer, Kaeya narrows his eye at you.

He knows you have your secrets. He sees it in the haunted look that you get sometimes, in the nightmares he knows you have but have never let him soothe. For as long as you’ve been together, he’s been waiting. He knows as well as any that when you're ready to speak, you will.

Another crack of lightning sends a pang of loss and frustration through his heart, reminding him of another, similarly miserable day and the vision he received. His vision, Secrets.

Mondstadt is the City of Freedom, not the City of Trade. Contracts are not its value and Rex Lapis not its god, but perhaps one of its precepts could be a solution. A fair trade, one thing for another. A secret for a secret.

All he knows is that if you're going to be hurting, putting yourself in danger to find comfort in solitude, he at least wants to know why.

Kaeya moves closer, not touching you--knowing that at times like this that you don't like touch--but bringing himself close enough that the storm can't swallow his confession.

“I’m from Khaenri’ah.”

The words are soft, but they’re enough to have you staring at him eyes wide and lips parted.

“Kaeya?”

He takes your question as a prompt to continue. “I was abandoned here, left to be a spy for Khaenri’ah, Though… I’m not sure where my loyalties are anymore.

“The Knights, the Winery--even Diluc as much as I hate to admit it--- and most especially my beautiful lady love. But I was raised for this mission, raised to fight against Mondstadt. I try not to think of what would happen if I were forced to choose between the two.”

Kaeya’s heart hammers in his chest, waiting for your response.

You rest your hand over his. “Is that why you and Diluc fought?”

“It was poor timing on my part. He still hasn’t forgiven me.”

“Neither of you are anything less than mule headed. It’s frustrating, but endearing. I'm happy you told me. ”

You hesitate, biting your lip.

As Kaeya had anticipated, knowing his secrets makes it harder for you to bury yours.

It certainly silences the voice inside. After all, how can he run after sharing a secret like his.

"I guess this means I can't withhold my secret from you anymore. I just don’t know how to say it. I almost can't speak of it, and often, I physically can't."

Kaeya remains silent, letting you take your time.

You sigh, roughly, glaring at the ground. “I’ve spent a lot of time trying to think of a way to say something. To tell you. I trust you more than I trust anyone but…”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Exactly.”

Kaeya doesn’t push, his single, star-pupiled eye giving you quiet encouragement. “You don’t have to tell me, y/n. I might have shared with you, hoping you would tell me what you've been thinking, but if you’re not ready to talk, you're not ready to talk. I won't force you.”

You shake your head. “I want to. You trusted me. I want to return that trust.”

Kaeya shifts your hands so that instead of laying one on top of another, your fingers are laced together. “Take your time.”

You inhale, closing your eyes and steeling your resolve. When you open them your gaze falls to your intertwined fingers.

“Do you know why I won't sleep with you?”

“I’ve made a couple guesses.”

Guesses based on your reactions to certain jokes, to bawdy talk at the Angel’s Share, to your reactions any time he tries to initiate anything more than a heated make out session. 

The conclusions he makes are enough to have anger pooling in his gut. But he never pushed, trusting that the truth would come out in due time.

“I should have figured you would. You’re so perspective it’s scary.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I--” You avert your eyes as your throat constricts, trying to stop the words before they can be aired. You force them out anyway. “I had my innocence stolen. A long time ago. It took me a long time to realize what happened, but now that I have? It hurts, Kaeya. It hurts so bad and I don’t know how to fix it. And--And I’ve been scared.”

“Scared?”

Tears slip down your face, mixing with the rain that now soaks you both. 

“Scared that you’ll leave me because of it. Scared that you’ll learn what my nightmares hold and leave me because of it, because I’ll never be fully whole.”

The look in your eyes is so lost, so scared, a polar opposite to the vibrant aura that surrounds you everywhere you go--his heart breaks for you.

Kaeya draws you into his arms, mindful of any negative reaction to his touch.

It’s gratifying when you melt into his embrace.

“I would never leave you over this. You’re my wonderful Y/n, my lady love. I’m here for you. Always.”

His words break through the last of your barriers and a harsh sob tears itself from your throat.

Kaeya whispers soft words of love and comfort as tears join the rainwater soaking his chest,

Under the boughs of Vanessa’s tree, two secret keepers find honesty and the first step to healing. 

Somewhere out there, the Anemo Archon smiles.

[allastoredeer]

I think part of the problem is why those details are... What was the term? Memetize? It's because of how difficult it is to write three-dimensional characters in fanworks and because of the "establishing moment" effect.

Oh, Lucifer has hundreds of ducks!🟰 He likes to make ducks (A fun little detail of his character)➡️ Lol Lucifer is obsessed with ducks (fandom characterization)🟰 now 7 out of 10 fic NEED a scene with the ducks where it's established that Lucifer is barely functional and that's used as a way to show look!! They are IC!!

Alastor uses nicknames 🟰 Nicknames are a way of insulting or insulting someone, and some are fun puns that, according to the word of Saint Peter, Alastor likes (Canon and a way Alastor shows his cunning/funny/manipulative side)➡️now that feature has been reduced to a single aspect, either as a way of insulting (or more commonly as an affectionate way) and the manipulation factor was forgotten➡️Alastor overuses nicknames now, especially the ones we've already heard because people think it's a way to show that the characters are IC

But do you know that I hate excessively? Fandom treated as canon. My eye twitches every time someone uses "Bambi" but good luck reading an appleradio fic that doesn't have it.

This happens because it is DIFFICULT to show all facets of a character in a fic when their different sides are explored little by little in canon or appear in layers. It's easier to catch the author think it's the core and just... Use it in excess or as a base. Sometimes the other parts just fall by the wayside.

And hey, it's fiction, it's not always bad. There's a reason why cafeteria au's are so common (I hate its) sometimes you just want those dolls named after those characters to kiss each other. (sometimes I think I'm the problem because I prefer character-focused fics instead of plot-focused fics and that and the romance only goes well 1 out of 3 times)

FANDOM BEING TREATED AS CANON!!!

You hit it right on the nail, Anon, with this entire most. I love fanon, especially my own (come on, we all love our own fanon), but GOD I hate when it fandom-wide fanon starts getting treated as canon. (I'm also with you about the "Bambi" nickname, I just - I don't see the appeal of the nickname. I really don't. And it is EVERYWHERE. It's not so bad that it'll take me out of a fic, and while I don't see the appeal I can see why comparing Alastor to an innocent, wide-eyed little Disney deer is fun, it's just feels shoe-horned in most of the time.)

And you're right, it is difficult to write a character who you're learning about little bit by little bit, and you have to rely on the things that you see in the show. It's not always bad. These really are just dolls we're smashing together.

Hahah I think I'm the opposite where I prefer plot-focused fics, but the plot in my fics also tend to be very character focused, so....IDK

But yeah, this whole post hit it on the nail. Fantastically worded 👏

[pikahlua]

I hope I'm not pestering you at this point, but when exactly do you think he changed his idea of what being the number 1 meant to the extent that he no longer cared about the actually title? Because I got the impression that he'd accepted his weakness when compared to Midoriya under the condition that he would surpass him in the future, based on what he said during the War when trying to keep up with Deku. I kind of thought his visceral reaction to failing to truly damage Shigaraki, and him embracing the damage his awakening was doing to himself to kind of imitate Deku and the power he achieved with his self-sacrificial mindset, kinda supported that. How off am I?

Sorry if I'm making you repeat things you've said.

Oh, you're not off at all. Forgive me, I did not originally understand your meaning in the first question:

Do you think there's going to be a moment where Bakugou comes to terms with the fact that he might never be the number 1 the way he wanted? I can see the story is going on a "save to win" route, but I've been curious about how him realizing his most powerful attacked only grazed Shigaraki will play out.

I thought by not being "the number 1 the way he wanted," you meant his original idea of it from the beginning of the series--the "win no matter what" mentality without a thought for saving anybody. I see now you meant something different.

It sounds like you were asking if Katsuki will ever face the possibility that he may never surpass Izuku or be able to reach Izuku's level when it comes to firepower, that Katsuki may be in Endeavor's situation (not with Endeavor's mindset though) where he constantly sees how wide the gap between them is and must reconcile with that, that Katsuki may have to settle on a "number one" where he surpasses Izuku not with his own strength but only with help from others (i.e. teamwork).

To which I must say, uh, western fans, we gotta talk.

Anon, you may not be guilty of harboring the idea I'm about to challenge, but I see this one particular sentiment all over the place in the English-speaking fandom, and I really need to make something clear to everyone:

Horikoshi has never stated there is an upper limit on any character's power growth potential--NOT EVEN IZUKU'S.

Don't get confused by the "100% One For All" thing. That's a measure of how much of One For All Izuku is USING. It's meant to compare with how much power All Might could use at 100%--but Izuku's real 100% will be different. One For All didn't just get more powerful by being passed on. Each user before Izuku, including notably Shinomori, cultivated and improved the power. Izuku will do so too. His current 100% is not his end-all-be-all 100% over the course of his life. Izuku can train and work hard and grow and make One For All stronger, too.

And Izuku isn't the only one who can do this. Anyone, Katuski included, can improve their quirk. They don't have some set 100% limit they can't increase with enough effort.

To which you might say: okay, but realistically, there is SOME upper limit to that, right?

But actually...no. This is manga/anime, not real life. And shounen manga is particularly notorious for its focus on effort and improvement through hard work. This is a time-honored tradition of the genre dating all the way back to Son Goku of Dragonball (and probably even further back too). The upper limits of Goku's power growth become so absolutely ludicrous as his series carries on and needs him to grow stronger--SO HE JUST GETS STRONGER. That's like the EPITOME of what he is: someone who wants to get stronger so he works to get stronger and, lo and behold, he gets stronger!

And lest we forget, Horikoshi has named Goku as one of his ideals of a "hero," as one of the characters from whom All Might (and by extension Katsuki) takes inspiration.

You know how each generation of quirks has greater potential than the last? This is a direct parallel of One For All's evolution. It showcases that ALL quirks have the ability to evolve into something powerful just like One For All did; it's just a matter of what the quirk user does with it. And each generation can cultivate their quirk and pass it along to get even stronger too. If you want to be a real stickler about how maybe only CERTAIN generations of quirks could surpass One For All, sure, fine, whatever (actually not fine but I'll deal with this later*). We don't know which generation of quirk users Katsuki falls into, and there's a real chance he doesn't know either. But he was born in the same generation as Izuku, so there's no reason his quirk can't be of a ninth generation too. So, he has every reason to believe he could become just as strong as Izuku. He always believed he could surpass All Might, after all.

*Okay let's deal with this little nugget now. Does the ordinal generation of Katsuki's quirk really matter? Not really. Izuku's power was cultivated by many as a theme, but he acknowledges his is a strength made from others'. That doesn't make One For All inherently the best quirk ever, just that it was able to become so strong BECAUSE of others. If the others had done nothing with it, it wouldn't have become so powerful. MHA acknowledges there are other important and good ways of improving one's power: through hard work and effort. It's not that one form of cultivation is absolutely better than the other, just that they both have their uses--and that BOTH TOGETHER would be the best route to improve one's power. This ties into how Japan traditionally views talent and intelligence as products of hard work and improvement in contrast to how the west traditionally views these things as inherent and set at birth. If you're unaware, the Japanese word for "quirk," kosei, translates to "individuality/personality." Individuality/personality is also one of those traits a person has that can be seen as inherent or cultivated--but really it's a product of BOTH. The question of nature versus nurture, as always, is answered with "well actually, both nature and nurture play a part."

(If you want to go off on a tangent with this, go read whatever is the latest version of @siflshonen's Katsuki Bakugou powerpoint presentation on their blog at the time you are reading this.)

Now, I told you all that to tell you this:

Katsuki should never have to face the idea that he will never be able to be number 1 because it's simply not true.

Katsuki has every potential to surpass Izuku. If Izuku were to be satisfied with his quirk's growth and call it quits, Katsuki's quirk's growth would eventually outshine his GUARANTEED. It's because Katsuki is that kind of character, and this is demonstrated in spades throughout the entire manga. Gosh, remember when Izuku said he was only using 8% of OFA in Deku vs Kacchan, Part 2? Remember how the fandom assumed he would dwarf everyone else in comparison as he progressed further down the line?

And remember how Katsuki "grit his teeth to keep from falling behind"?

Everyone's always going on about how Izuku's power will someday eclipse everyone else's, but he's had that monstrous OFA power with him all along since he got it. He just has to improve his BODY to match OFA's power. Has no one really put any thought to how absolutely BATSHIT it is that Katsuki kept up with him? After Katsuki's growth had stalled for so long?

Remember, Izuku's raw power surpassed Katsuki's in DvK2. So by the time of the Paranormal Liberation War, Katsuki developed his quirk to match OFA at 30% in the same amount of time it took Izuku just to develop his body to handle that much OFA. If we're gonna get into the western versions of power-scaling where we care about natural limits...

THE HEIGHTS OF KATSUKI'S "NATURAL" LIMITS ARE EMPIRICALLY ASTRONOMICALLY INSANE.

So, I come back to something you said:

I kind of thought his visceral reaction to failing to truly damage Shigaraki, and him embracing the damage his awakening was doing to himself to kind of imitate Deku and the power he achieved with his self-sacrificial mindset, kinda supported that.

...and to something I said:

But if you mean he'll reconcile with how his firepower compares to TomurAFO's, I'd say, uh, keep an eye out, because already he's had a quirk upgrade since he tried his Howitzer Cluster on TomurAFO. It's very likely that is no longer the upper limit of his capabilities. And that's just assuming he hasn't achieved any other power ups yet/won't get another one soon.

Katsuki's Howitzer Impact Cluster vs TomurAFO was a single snapshot in time. Katsuki has already had a quirk upgrade since then, and as you so aptly pointed out, he's had a sort of philosophical/meta upgrade too as he emulated Izuku. I doubt these will be the last improvements he experiences in his life. He was always held back from surpassing Izuku by the story because he was missing such a huge part of being a hero: saving people. But that's been resolved now. He and Izuku will be rivals who challenge each other to be better for the rest of their lives, and I doubt either one of them will ever truly pull away from the other in terms of raw potential (at least not for long). Katsuki may have instances of self-doubt, of course. He even may at some point acknowledge Izuku as his superior. But I don't think that's a reason for him to ever lose hope or give up. I think there's plenty of reason for anyone to believe it's possible for him to surpass Izuku someday. After all, All Might was considered the best hero of his age not because of his strength but because of his spirit.

And Katsuki's sure got a shitton of spirit.

[disabled-dragoon]

Now that I'm on the verge of officially leaving (read: supposed to be graduating, highly likely to be failing) university, I feel it is only fair to share with you all some of the best (/s) accessibility moments that I have experienced over the last 3 years in this godforsaken place.

Let us begin:

Every. Single. Lift. Is. Different. There were at least 3 different "hold button to work" lifts in one building and two of them were consistently broken.

The main/most reliable one was broken for half a term and they didn't even so much as put up a sign to notify people.

Another takes you down half a flight of stairs. The door release buttons don't work. The up button doesn't work inside of it. The down button doesn't work to call it. More than once I had to get out and struggle up the stairs just to reach into the lift and control it from the outside. Absolute nightmare. This is the only accessible entrance to a certain classroom. Every other entrance is endless staircases.

Why are the lifts DIRECTLY at the top of the staircases and behind a set of heavy pull doors. This does not seem safe.

The library was made into a partially one-way system after the initial covid lockdowns. The front door was automatic. The exit door was not until about 2 months ago and had not 1 but two heavy pull doors that had to be opened. And it was broken for the longest time before that.

Someone tell me why to get to the "accessible" entrance of one of the classrooms I genuinely had to leave the building, go around to the other side and wait to be let back in in the rain because students can't access the door from the outside. Feel like this is one of those rare times I would have rejoiced at the "push to work" lifts. This is a computer suite.

One of my lectures was in an art lecture hall down two very steep staircases. The disabled entrance is outside (again), behind the exit staircase, and is not very clearly signposted at all.

Also on point 7, apparently (!!), the damn thing routinely gets stuck?? A passing lecturer had to open it for me then spent about 15 minutes on the phone to maintenance to report it AGAIN.

STOP PUTTING MASSIVE PROJECTORS IN THE ONLY WHEELCHAIR SPACE IN THE WHOLE ROOM. THEY ARE TWICE THE SIZE OF THE WHEELCHAIR AND IMPOSSIBLE TO MOVE.

They've been restoring one of the oldest buildings now for 2 years. Which is great- it's a gorgeous building- but the scaffolding cut off a lot of access, including the main, most wheelchair accessible doors, and the car park that can be used to be bypass the uneven pavements.

Bikes chained and left on ramps that VERY CLEARLY state not to leave or chain bikes there

The PCs that were specifically supposed to be given up for disabled people, and were kitted out for people with various disabilities, never had keyboards. Just a monitor, a mouse and a tower. People used to unplug the keyboards when they thought they weren't being used and put them in different PCs. God knows why.

Disabled bays are not reserved bays. They are not extra bays for security cars, or buses, or the grounds keeping truck. They are disabled bays, for disabled people. Use one of the other 150 spaces available on campus. Leave our 4 alone.

Also just making university students pay to park on campus is evil. What do you mean they can't even use the car parks until 5pm. Lectures start at 9am! Not everyone lives on campus!

Wide open cupboards in the narrowest of hallways.

One of the disabled bathrooms is behind an incredibly heavy rolling folding door that keeps falling off its tracks so it doesn't close properly.

Tiny triangular disabled bathroom on the opposite side of the building to the lift, despite the "regular" bathrooms being next to the lift. Had to partially fold my chair to get the door to close.

People congregating on the only ramps to leave the building, chattering away, then getting pissy with me when I ask them to move so I can actually leave. There are no loitering signs for a reason, people. Read them.

[piastrinorris]

The Buffer

Pairing: Eddie Munson x gn!Reader (no gendered terms/pronouns)

Genre: fluff, tiny little smut mention at the end

Word count: 5k

Summary: Chrissy just wants to play wingwoman. If only the two people in question weren't so clueless.

A/N: Writing Chrissy is so fun. I hope I've done her justice.

Being friends with most of the school newspaper had its perks and its penalties. Pro: you get all the hot gossip before it hits the shelves of the school store. Con: whenever there is a big scoop and they have to work through their lunch break, yours becomes far more lonely. Usually you can find someone to sit with, but today you just so happen to prefer your own company.

Coincidentally, today is the day Chrissy Cunningham decides to sit at your table. "Hi!" she beams, setting her tray down, sitting down and then offering her hand out to you. "You don't mind if I sit here, right?"

Eyes narrowing, you take her hand warily. You've never heard anything bad about her, but you wonder why now, in your senior year, would she finally extend the olive branch? "You already made the trek all the way out here," you muse, and she giggles.

"Yeah, it's not my table but I thought, it's been a minute since we last talked and since your friends aren't here, I figured I could keep you company!" You can't get a read on her. She's the human equivalent of sunshine.

"That's sweet of you," you smile. "Yeah, it's the one downside of being on the outskirts of the school paper team," you shrug, and Chrissy nods in understanding. "Normally I'd find someone else to hang with, but I dunno, something told me to just sit here anyway."

Chrissy's eyes widen. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, if you need some alone time I totally get that, I'm so sorry I assumed -"

"It's fine," you hold your hand out with a reassuring smile. "I'm actually glad you joined me."

She gasps exaggeratedly, pressing her palm to her chest and putting on a voice, "Who, li'l ol' me?!" You laugh, and she joins you. "Well, I would offer for you to sit with more of us, but some of the other girls are…"

"Say no more, I know how a lot of cheerleaders feel about me," you roll your eyes. "Nah, usually I'll go and sit with, like, the theatre kids, or those Hellfire boys, if I need a good book to read, they'll know."

"Oh my god, can I tell you something so bad?" She asks you with wide eyes and a hand over her mouth.

You look from side to side. "Bad, like… Like, scandalous or -?"

"Oh, no! Not at all! This is about me," she giggles. "Did you know that, up until a few weeks ago, I had no idea that Eddie the Fr… The one who plays Dungeons and Dragons," she quickly corrects herself before leaning in to whisper to you, "I had no idea that was Edward Munson from middle school."

"Girl," your eyes widen as you lean back and she holds her cheeks, laughing silently. "You mean to tell me you couldn't tell that Edward the metalhead became Eddie the metalhead?!"

"He had buzzed hair, I don't know!" She presses her fingers to her temples as her face cringes. "When he started talking about his band, it all came flooding back, and I felt so bad!" Her face starts to soften, though. She rests her elbow on the table and sits her chin on the palm of her hand, her fingers curling against her cheekbone. "He's kinda cute now, wouldn't you say?"

Of course she'd say that as you were taking a sip of your drink. Taken aback, your breath catches at just the wrong moment and you start sputtering and coughing. She grimaces, though you can tell she's trying really hard not to laugh. When you finally catch your breath, you say, "Can't say I've noticed any difference." 

That's not technically a lie. You liked Eddie in his buzzed phase. You liked him in his half-grown-out phase. You even liked him in his irons-his-hair-straight phase, though you're grateful that it looks far healthier now that he keeps it curled. And sure, maybe your heart skips a beat or two when he calls you over personally to sit with you, or points to an empty spot next to him (provided one of his "baby sheep" hasn't taken it already). So there's never been a difference to whether or not you'd thought him cute. But if Chrissy Cunningham is into him? Any shot you might have had if you'd had the confidence to do something about it is definitely out of the window.

And so you come to your conclusion. Clearly, Chrissy has seen that you and him are still somewhat friends, and clearly she wants you to play wingman. It'll sting, sure, but it's not like you were planning on making a move anytime soon.

"You don't think he is?" she asks with a slight frown. You're perplexed. Do you chase her off his scent, would that make things too obvious? Or do you encourage it, and risk her questioning your enthusiasm? Either way, the risk is there, and at least now you can live vicariously through her.

You shrug, "I mean, I didn't say that, he's just… I dunno. He's always been Eddie," you allow yourself a small, wistful smile for a few seconds, which is cut short by Chrissy noticing something behind you.

"Oh my god, shh-shh, there he i- Eddie!" The tonal change from being so hushed when she started talking to yelling and waving by the end hurt your ears. 

Tray full of food in hand, he saunters over to you both. "Well, hello to you both," he balances the tray in one hand while doing a funny salute-bow motion with the other. "To what am I owed this pleasure?'

"Well, we were just catching up, since someone was sitting here all alone," Chrissy starts with a pout, and Eddie frowns, turning to you.

"Well, hey, you know there's always room for you with us, right? I know the boys tend to… Get excited and forget other people exist, but you just gotta be just as loud," he explains, his head shaking slightly.

You giggle, "It's been fun, actually, just me and Chrissy here. She's real fun to be with." You didn't realise quite how much saying things like that would sting, but you're here now. Hopefully it'll get easier with time.

"You should come sit with us!" Chrissy pats the table at the spot next to you. You turn your gaze quickly to your own meal, poking at the parts you're yet to eat. You conveniently miss Eddie and Chrissy's silent conversation of eye flashes, tiny gestures and facial expressions.

Eventually Eddie caves and slides into the seat next to you. Chrissy waves her hand towards her, "No, no, come closer! I don't want to have to yell." Even when making her demands, she's adorable. He should be putty in her hands within seconds. Then your work will be done.

Eddie slides his chair over, so his leg barely grazes yours. If you lean even the slightest amount, you can feel the chain on his jeans press into you. "So, what hot topic are we catching up on, then?" he asks.

"I was -" Chrissy collapses into laughter, which makes both you and Eddie smile. There's that sting again. "I was just talking about yo- how I didn't know you were you from middle school!"

"I mean, can you believe." Eddie deadpans, looking at you while gesturing with his open palm to Chrissy.

"Even you said, didn't you!" Chrissy continues, now also talking to you. "You said even you knew he was the same guy from middle school, it was just me!"

You shake your head in disbelief. "I can't believe it's just the hair that fooled you! I remember you in middle school having to move your ponytail so you didn't sit on it! This doesn't even look half as long!" You gesture towards her hair, and she giggles even more.

"Yours doesn't seem to have changed much though," Eddie muses, mouth half-full of food as he points his fork at you. You hate that you don't even find that repulsive.

"Nah, I've pretty much looked the same since the age of six, just stretched out in certain places," you shake your head, to a chorus of laughter from the other two. "Except for the few months I was missing a chunk out of it because I tried to bleach that one part with toilet cleaner." The pair of them hiss through their teeth in sympathy.

"I can do you one better than that," Eddie smirks. "Though it's not my story, guy I met at the Hideout one time. He had tried to bleach his hair at home, was told to wrap it in plastic and heat it up. So he takes a grocery bag -"

Your hands fly up to your face in shock. "Not one that had a logo on it!" Eddie presses his lips together and nods.

Chrissy whines, "Oh, no! So did it transfer onto his -" Eddie interrupts with another nod. "Noooo!"

"I so wish I could have seen it," Eddie laughs. "In Chrissy's defence, though, I didn't think I was all that memorable," he glances over at you.

You shake your head. "I’ll never forget the day you dressed up as a Hobbit for Halloween wearing sneakers with hair taped to them," you laugh, and Chrissy looks at you wide-eyed.

"Sorry, what?! Where was I?!"

Eddie laughs behind his hand. "Oh god, I thought nobody had noticed that! So - I wanted to give the outfit my full devotion, which meant walking around barefooted with extra hair on my fe- You asked!" Eddie exclaims as Chrissy cringes. "But the teacher told me I couldn't not wear shoes, so I had to keep it canon somehow. God, that teacher sucked," he groans under his breath.

"Oh, yes. How terrible it must have been for you to get dress-coded," you deadpan, and Chrissy joins in, once again trying not to laugh.

"You poor thing, Eddie. Having to be told to put shoes on, so oppressive."

"You guys are really coming for my jugular, huh? Last time I join you two." Thankfully, his tone doesn't sound serious.

"Aww, but who else is gonna come bowling with us after school?" Chrissy pouts. You give her a wide-eyed stare and she simply bounces her eyebrows up and down at you in response.

Eddie blows air between his lips in a rasp. "I dunno, you drive a hard bargain..."

"I'll buy you a portion of loaded fries," you offer, clearly understanding your place as the buffer, the third wheel.

Eddie slaps the table, "Now I'm sold!"

He and Chrissy set up a time and a place and you simply nod quietly in agreement. It’s their date, after all. You’re just moral support until it’s your cue to leave them to it.

Once he’s finished with his food, he nods over at his usual table. “S’pose I should go see my herd. I guess I’ll see you later on this evening,” he smiles before leaving you to join his friends.

Chrissy grabs your wrist, looking all excited. “Isn’t this awesome?! I thought that’d give us time to go to the mall first - don't sweat it, I'll drive us - find something cute to wear, and then we can start the journey over to the bowling alley!”

You’re not sure why you have to dress cute, too, but you assume she doesn’t want to potentially appear overdressed, so at least if you’re there and he’s underdressed, he’s in the minority. You let her have her little makeover moment - as much as it all hurts to help Chrissy live your dream, she's just too nice to direct any ill will towards. 

When you meet up with Eddie, he has smartened up a little - he's wearing a plaid button-up, though you see his homemade Hellfire shirt peek out beneath it, and a leather jacket. He's absolutely beaming at the sight of you both - which if course he is, you're stood next to the most infectious smile in Hawkins. He greets you with the same motion he did in the cafeteria, “Long time no see,” he smirks. “Shall we?”

Eddie turns his nose up at swapping his Reeboks for “clown shoes”, while Chrissy notices that hers squeak if she slides her feet in just the right way and obsesses over it, trying to get a sound out of every step. 

Chrissy insists on "ladies first" as she writes her name without hesitation. She writes yours next, then Eddie's. It goes about the same as any other bowling game - though when you revel in getting the first strike, Chrissy pulls you in for a hug and practically throws you at Eddie to also hug him. 

He smells nicer than he does at school. You feel his laugh rumble in his chest, "Thank you? I'd put that down to Hawkins High smelling worse in general."

Shoot. You'd said that out loud. You play it off with a semi-awkward laugh and a, "Yeah, that's probably it!" 

Eddie gets the next strike, and Chrissy ushers you forward first to praise him. This tactic, admittedly, just genuinely puzzles you. Does she just want to be the most recent physical contact of his? But then why wouldn't she do the opposite when you got your first strike? None of it seems to make sense. Is this why she needs a wingman? Do you need to step in and intervene? You offer him a hug identical to the one he gave, and as much as you try to keep it as brief as possible, you can't help but linger just a little.

You try your best to not play your A-game, giving Chrissy the chance to try and impress Eddie all by herself, but she keeps hyping you up just as much, if not more. You try and play off like you're at least mildly disappointed, and Eddie ruffles your hair sympathetically. You glare at him and he chuckles, "C'mon, you promised me fries, didn't you?"

The three of you share the food between yourselves, Eddie eating the most, which he'd predicted and already "repaid" for by buying all your drinks. Chrissy excuses herself to the bathroom, and Eddie spots you eyeing a nearby claw machine. "You know there's a trick to those, right?"

Your brow furrows. "Isn't it, like, random? When the claw actually grips or whatever?"

Eddie taps his nose knowingly, "Trust me. C'mon," he gestures with his head and you follow him over to it. "Pick one."

You raise your eyebrows. "You're that confident?!" He nods, and you press your forehead to the glass as you choose, "That one. Teddy bear, black and curly hair."

"Just like me," Eddie smiles, taking a final loud slurp of his drink followed by an equally loud gasp. "Stand back, please." You comply, hopping back to watch over his shoulder as he explains his actions. "See, you're not wrong, but you can increase your chances, thanks to a handy little friend called physics. If we just keep, it, moving," he punctuates every pause with the press of a different button, aiming the claw so that it starts to swing, "so that it still wants to swing even as it comes up," his voice drawls a little slower as the claw descends, clutching your preferred toy in its grasp, "and then when it does," he pauses for effect to show you the claw swinging on its ascent, "gravity should keep it central enough as it swings back and forth that it should… Fall…" He extends each word until it drops into the shaft, where he extends his hands out proudly, "Right where you want it."

Your eyes are wide, fixated on where the best now sits. "And yet it's taken you how long to get a D grade?!"

He laughs, "Listen, if physics was taught through hotwiring cars and figuring out arcade game mechanics, I'd be running that class. Same as how I can count a 7d6 roll in seconds, but long division? When am I ever going to use that again, you know?"

“You’re a smart one, Mr Munson,” you smirk as he takes the bear out and hands it to you. Your breath hitches as you feel his fingers brush against yours, and you chide yourself for getting so flustered, not only over someone who a separate person has sought your help to set them up with, but over an action so basic.

Chrissy suddenly appears, bouncing between the two of you. “Ooh, what are we up to?” she asks in a delighted sing-song.

“Just showing off my mad skills," Eddie beams, leaning against the machine and holding his arms out to point at himself proudly.

Slightly dejected, you hand the bear over. "Yeah, look, he won this for you!"

Chrissy looks at Eddie with a face you can't quite read. Like she's questioning him. He returns the expression, and Chrissy shakes her head. "You hold onto it for now, come get another drink with me!" Less of an offer, more a warning as she takes your wrist and pulls you over to the vendor again. "So, talk me through this," she says when you're both definitely out of Eddie's earshot. "How could Eddie have won something for me when I wasn't even there?"

You shrug, "I dunno, but it seems to be going well, right? So, you want me to get out of you guys' hair now, or…?" After that brief contact, you're ready to go home and just scream into your pillow for all eternity.

"Why would - Oh! Oh. Oh, no," Chrissy goes on a whole journey of expression, from curiosity to surprise to realisation to bursting into a fit of giggles. "No, no, oh my god. Did you think that I was - that you were -?"

You look at her, totally lost. "I'm going to need you to please finish at least one of those sentences."

Chrissy holds back a snort of laughter before ordering just two drinks. "Oh god, you two are just precious little disasters, aren't you?" Your eyes narrow, and she holds your arm gently. "Okay, so I'm going to be the one to go, now, because my role here was to try and push the two of you together."

Chrissy's words echo in your head. So many thoughts consume you. She notices this and, after taking both drinks, guides you over to one of the designated booths for food, also waving Eddie over. He walks up to where you both sit, opting for sidling into your side. "Do I get to be filled in on whatever's going on here, or…?" Eddie asks, waving between the three of you.

"So, debrief time," Chrissy starts, placing her hands on the table. "Maybe I'm not the wingwoman I thought I was." Eddie's eyes go wide for a second before his expression becomes one of confusion. She continues, looking straight at him, "I, uh, accidentally led your date on to believe that I was the one who wanted to come here with you. So,” she slides the cups over to your side of the table, “I'm going to go now, you two finish these drinks and go play the one more game of bowling I already paid for, and I'll see you guys tomorrow, 'kay?" With one more slap of the table, Chrissy stands up, slides out of the booth and leaves.

Eddie sucks on his straw nervously while you play with the teddy bear sitting in your lap. You're the first one to break the silent tension, "So. Never thought to just, ask me out?"

Eddie chuckles humourlessly. "You live the life that I have, and matters of the heart become an unattainable luxury." You rest your head on his shoulder comfortingly. "Although," he smirks, "if you had just asked me out, I wouldn't have been caught longingly gazing at you from afar by Chrissy Cunningham, of all people."

You laugh, "Shut up," But Eddie shakes his head, his hair tickling your face in the process. He notices, and tucks it behind his ear.

"It's true! Since all cards are on the table, Chrissy caught me looking over at you last week, before your theatre friends caught you, and then next thing I knew, I'm being flagged down by the two of you, who are suddenly best pals," he crosses his fingers together.

"And… How long before that?" You ask tentatively.

Eddie shrugs his shoulder to gently jolt your head. "Nuh-uh, your turn first, I've already embarrassed myself enough." As you lift your head, you notice a flush of colour adorning his cheeks.

You, too, immediately turn red enough to blend in with the Coca-Cola sponsored furniture. "Um, well… We never really talked in middle school, but I remember thinking you were really cute, with your hair just growing out and the - the handwritten shirts you used to make, I always thought they were cool. I told my best friends at a slumber party, and they said you probably wouldn't even give me the time of day; I was younger and not skilled in any way to play in your band, so they told me you wouldn't care." Eddie's brow furrows, but he lets you continue. "Then, freshman year, I'd tried to join the school paper with my friends, but it was so not my scene. And I didn't know where else to go, but you just… Took me in, just like that. I told myself I wouldn't screw this up, that I'd only act on stuff if I knew it wasn't going to make things weird.  And now, ironically, here I am having the weirdest conversation of my life."

"So, good news about that, weird is kind of my thing," Eddie starts, amused. "You really liked me for that long, huh?" You nod, and he laughs. "So, whenever you would sit next to me on the bus, even when there were empty seats…"

You nod, cringing, "I thought that might be something, like the start of some kind of epic middle school love story, but you proved my friends right. You wouldn't even talk to me,” you shrug.

He smirks, "Because my freshly-teenaged brain had no idea how to approach the very first person he felt attracted to."

If this were a cartoon, there’d be steam blowing out from your ears, you’re that red. “Shut up,” you mutter with a shy smile, looking back down again at the toy in your lap.

“It’s true!” Eddie beams. “I just kinda thought that… I don’t even know,” he shakes his head. “I thought maybe you might be the one to bring up the fact that you would always sit next to me.”

“And I would always sit next to you in the hopes you would bring that up to me,” you giggle.

Eddie moves his knee to rest next to yours, “God, what a pair of idiots we were, huh.”

“Speak for yourself, I’m the one who didn’t even realise I was being set up on this date,” you admit sheepishly.

“I mean, there were moments today where I thought maybe I was the third wheel all along!” Eddie laughs. “So, I kinda get it.” He reaches over to gently poke at the bear. “Got a name for him yet?”

You hold it up onto the table. “Yeah, Teddy Munson, after his dad,” you gently nudge him with your shoulder and he laughs. “He’s got your hair.”

“Yeah, but he’s got his mom’s cuteness,” Eddie looks sideways at you, the smallest of smiles tugging at the corners of his lips.

Taken aback, you scoff, “Oh sure, now he’s smooth!”

Eddie’s loud laugh fills your ears, causing your smile to reach them, too. “Well, now he knows he’s got a shot. Better late than never, right?”

“In that case, you should know that I totally botched that last game on purpose,” you nod.

Eddie leans back in his seat, a cocky half-smile adorning his face as he looks at you with head cocked and an arm draped across the back of the booth seat. “Oh, yeah? Sure you did.”

“Sorry, remind me, uh, who was it that got the first strike? And then suddenly got way worse? How do you explain that?” you lean back to match his energy, the adrenaline of a half-lifelong crush finally being actively reciprocated charging you.

“I’d call that a fluke, but it’s okay. Whatever helps you sleep tonight,” Eddie’s arm reaches up to once again ruffle your hair. In doing so, he ends up at a closer proximity to you. Oh, you could just lean in a fraction and simply smooch his smug face clean off of him right there and then, but your competitiveness just gets the better of you.

“Fine. Chrissy said she bought us a game, right? Let’s go,” you gesture to the alleys, and he hops out of the booth by pushing himself up to perch his feet on the seat and then vaulting over the back. You clap at his acrobatics and he bows his signature bow at you, before offering his hand to help you out. You take it, carefully shuffling out of the booth while also holding the teddy to your chest, explaining softly, “I’m bearing precious cargo, here.”

Eddie snorts, “Bear-ing,” while pointing to him, and you roll your eyes. “C’mon, you love it,” he drawls as you jokingly start to walk towards the exit, but he tightens his grip on your hand and instead pulls you over to the counter. Apparently, Chrissy had already explained the situation to the girl who was working, having given her a brief description of who to look for.

You take on the responsibility of writing your names on the card beneath the projector, while Eddie drapes himself over you. With a laugh, you ask, "You good?"

"Who, me? Sorry, my presence isn't too distracting for you, is it?" 

"So is your tactic to annoy all your dates, or am I just the lucky one?" You ask with amusement.

"Oh, yeah. you mean the absolute hordes of people just lining up for a night with ol' Eddie, you're gonna have to beat them all off with a stick if you want a shot!" He yells sarcastically as he dramatically prances around you, making you laugh harder.

"Right, but I can't be your first date, surely?" You ask. You've never seen him with anyone, but you never know. Maybe he's more of a casual guy. Maybe even this is casual. Maybe, considering how wrong you were about Chrissy, you should stop making your own assumptions and wait for him to tell you.

He shrugs, "I've been on plenty of double dates where I've been the buffer-slash-distraction, but I've never really clicked with any of those. Let me put it this way - I bully the people I hold dear to me, and you're the only date I've bullied."

"I think there's a compliment in there somewhere," you pull a face, eyes darting around as you try to piece his sentence together. 

"Alright, hotshot, let's see what you got," Eddie smirks, patting your back.

"Ooh, he's a poet! Can I expect a Corroded Coffin song about me, soon?" You grin, picking out your preferred ball.

"Yeah, it's gonna be called Humble Pie, 'cause that's what you'll be eating soon," he pinches your nose between his index and middle knuckles before gesturing towards your lane. "The floor is yours."

Taking aim and bending low, you take the shot and nail it, watching all the pins fall with glee in your eyes. You swivel round to grin at Eddie, "See?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't think I'm not onto your little distraction technique, bending that far just to bowl," Eddie raises his eyebrows.

You narrow your eyes, gesturing to the other lanes, “It’s a legitimate strategy, Eddie, look at everyone else.”

Eddie barely glances over at them before stepping towards you. “No, I think you’re definitely doing it on purpose.” He closes the gap between you, looking down as he drawls, “I’m onto you, kid.”

Yet again, you could just give into temptation, grab his face and kiss him. Let him think of nothing else for the rest of the game. But then, perhaps that’s his plan for you. Regardless of how the game goes, your flirting’s become a competition in itself now. And you’re going to win.

You do lean in. You watch his eyes flicker down, his lips twitch. And then you pinch his cheek, “Your turn, big boy.” You walk back to the bench, and take a little extra pride in the oooh you can hear as he blows a breath out while he watches you.

On every good shot you get, you gloat. On every bad shot you get, you completely avoid Eddie, despite him chasing you around to goad you. On every good shot of Eddie’s, you pull a sarcastic look at his celebrations. 

On a particularly bad shot of Eddie’s, you pout as you tease condescendingly, “Aww, could somebody not keep the ball out of the gutter? Poor thing.”

“Alright, now I am gonna have to stop you there, unless you want all this to go to waste,” Eddie points out with another drawl.

“And why would it go to waste?” you ask, folding your arms. “That’d only be the case if we both forfeited, which isn’t -”

Eddie stands close to you to murmur, “Keep that tone of voice up, and I’ll be forfeiting us both into the back of my truck, if you catch my drift.”

Normally an admission like this would render you floored, but you’re competition-fuelled-adrenaline-filled now. You narrow your eyes, “Using theoretical sex as a distraction technique, Munson? A low blow, even for you.”

“God, you are doing so many things for me right now,” he growls. “And I’d show you how non-theoretical that promise is but, uh, I think Gramps and the crew might have something to say,” he jerks his head over to the team of older bowlers in the lane next to you.

You bite your lip. “Loser of the game has to get the winner off?”

“Deal.”

When Chrissy calls you up the next morning, you tell her of how you and Eddie kissed for the first time as a celebration of the result of that second match. You opt to leave out the part that took place inside the van, where Eddie came in his pants while moaning your name between your legs as he devoured you to your climax.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 13/04/2024

Locked In The Underground

Season 4 Episode 2 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume C

Ripped by Jamangar

Whaaat? More Undertale?? Say it ain't so!!

Look, I lamented it a bit over on Logan Paul's Shop, and its something you can even see for yourself by viewing the Undertale tag on the blog archive. In terms of games to have been featured on the blog one way or another, Undertale/Deltarune are leagues ahead of the competition. And I am torn on this, still. Like on the one hand, I want the blog to cast a wide net of rips, to not just cover my personal favorites, but to cover as much of SiIvaGunner's history and growth. But on the other hand...Undertale IS a huge part of that history and growth, it has been since the very beginning, and as I discussed in Your Best Nightmario and Shiny Smily TALE the game's very DNA and themes is just a perfect fit for everything that SiIvaGunner stands for. Well, there's that - and there's how rippers like Jamangar just keep absolutely outdoing themselves with how much leverage they can get from this 9-year old game's soundscape. Its rips like Locked In The Underground that remind me of WHY Undertale rips are so prevalent on here.

If you've been reading for a while or just kept up with SiIvaGunner in general to the degree I have (or are from the team!! hi team!!), you may well recognize Jamangar's name. Much like ShonicTH with Trial of the Heart and many others on the channel, Jamangar has carved out her own very specific niche in terms of what she contributes with. That niche is the same one you'll hear in World Out There and Story of Undertale: There are few SiIvaGunner contributors who have as much expertise in ripping Undertale as Jamangar. Yet all of these three rips feel quite different from one another - Story of Undertale is a magnificent journey throughout just about the entire Undertale campaign with instruments changing along the way, wheras World Out There was an incredibly resonant mashup/melodyswap, a full-on shot of nostalgia on all the senses. Indeed, Locked In The Underground follows their footsteps in quality, yet is excellent in a subtly different way - its just a flat-out banger.

I don't know what it is about Bruno Mars' music that makes it work so incredibly well in mashups. Perhaps I have BotanicSage to thank, with Pokemon GSC Is What I Like and 16BIT Magic both permanently etched into my soul ever since I first heard them - but Locked In The Underground takes on the very same challenge, and in my eyes passes with absolutely flying colors. I mean, it only takes a few seconds for the rip to sell you - as soon as you hear Mars' "oh-yeah-yeahs" followed by Undertale SFX playing to the beat, you KNOW Jamangar's made far more than a mere mashup here. It helps, of course, that CORE is already one of the most stand-out songs in the game, much like Colress' battle theme was to Pokémon Black & White's soundtrack in Light! (Potentialseeker Colress) - its hard NOT to get excited seeing a CORE rip knowing just how distinct of a sound any take on the track will have, due to the pure quality of the track underneath.

So much is done to have Locked In The Underground truly fit together. The melodyswap is fantastic on its own, having CORE's lead instrument play in tune with Mars' vocals yet rising high in volume to the song's chorus, and CORE's synthetic backing paired with the drums of Locked Out Of Heaven create such a unique soundscape to boot. But beyond that, there are tons of little flourishes - small segments where CORE's original melody peeks through in the backing, Undertale sound effects sprinkled in to censor expletives or punctuate key moments of the song...like Semi-Charmed All Star, you get the impression that Jamangar GETS both of the songs used, that she's "studied" how Locked Out Of Heaven works in order to have the mashup work so perfectly.

Really - Locked In The Underground is the kind of rip that just feels like a shoe-in for the blog, as one of the most popular rips made during 2020. Funny enough, beyond the obvious combination of Locked Out Of Heaven and Undertale, you could even read the rip's title itself to be referencing the feeling all of us had during the pandemic - sort of reframing its pleas and shouts, in a way. But then Locked In The Underground also isn't the kind of rip where I'm desperate to know more about its possible lore and inner workings: I know Bruno Mars, I know Undertale, I know Jamangar, and she made one of the season's cleanest bangers by doing what she does best. That's awesome.

[manifesting-principessa]

the beginner's guide to making money by investing in stocks (hot girl version)

since one of my goals here is to make money i wanted to teach you about what i know about investing in stocks. i use the website etoro to invest, below you can see a picture of my portfolio at the moment. i am by no means an expert but i've found the whole process of investing to be unnecessarily mystified so i thought i'd share what i have learned so far.

what does buying stocks mean?

in simple terms, buying stocks means buying a (tiny) fraction of a company. if the value of the company increases the value of your share goes up, if the company loses money the value goes down.

when should i buy and sell?

ideally, you should buy when you think that the value of a stock will increase in the future and you should sell when you have made a profit. in practice, this means you try to invest when a stock has reached its lowest value and you sell when you think it has reached its peak (but this is, of course, impossible to predict perfectly).

where can i buy stocks?

i would personally recommend going through an online stock trading platform, like etoro. you can look up what the best stock trading platforms are for your country. you should pick one with minimal fees that offers some tutorial or introduction to trading.

you can also go through a stock broker (a person that makes the investments for you) or more broadly your bank - be aware though, that they might take a cut of your profit for their services which is something you need to subtract from your expected profit.

how do i know what to invest in?

There are a few recommendations that I have seen time and time again:

ETFs - exchange-traded funds are bundles of stocks that are traded together. the advantage of ETFs is that they don't rely on a single company making a profit, the companies just need to make a profit overall. they are much less volatile than individual stocks and since economies usually always grow in the long-term, you are very likely to make a profit.

large companies - you can also invest in large, well-established companies that are very likely to make a profit and very unlikely to go bankrupt (e.g., apple, amazon, etc.)

diversify - this means you should invest in a wide variety of companies and industries. even when one of them does really poorly you are likely to make a profit overall.

copy-trading - this means 'copying' the investments of a more experienced trader. so you specify an amount of money and invest it the same way someone who knows what they're doing is.

how much should i invest?

most websites have a minimum amount you need to invest so you could start with that to get a feel for how it works.

as a rule of thumb, they say you should not invest money that you will need within the next 5-10 years. that rule prevents you from having to sell your stock at an unfortunate moment - even if you initially write losses, you can wait for a moment when your stocks have increased in value again.

if you have a fixed income you can commit to investing a part of your income every month. i've seen this referred to as dollar-cost averaging and i have not tried it yet but it is said to be a good way to build wealth in the long term.

how do i actually make money using this knowledge?

simple answer: by selling your stock at the right time and withdrawing the money. investing is a marathon, not a sprint - you should generally give your money some time to make a profit instead of checking every day and panic selling when you see a slight change. for some stocks, the company may also pay dividends. disclaimer: at least where i am from you need to declare what you made from stocks as income and pay taxes on it.

thank you so much for reading!

if you have questions or know more about this and want to add something please leave a comment 💕

[crushsblogstories]

Camping Trip - Part 3

WARNING(S)!

None of these are my characters!

I came up with the plot.

Mention of washing up and changing! (NOT s3xually)

Mention of AND kissing!

Suggestive themes?! ('Questionable' speaking of Gilbert & jokes + hinting towards intimate acts + 'sensual?' touching) MDNI

Pronouns! Not specified (Dress is worn)

Long-ish?! Incase you're looking for something short.

Note! George is a name I gave a random background character. His name is only mentioned once but I wanted to clarify.

Potential Inaccuracy! Zippers were in fact used at this time for clothing but there is no specific year (that I could find) where it states they were used for tents. I also referenced a spider found in Canada, but I'm not sure if they are found on Prince Edward Island (Where Avonlea is).

NOT PROOF READ

REQUEST/CREDIT! @isa172736637 asked for more and has received!

||Wordbank:|| Knickers - Shorts || Trousers - Pants || Fawn - Baby Deer || Nert - 1940s term for stupid or crazy person || Dunce - Someone who is 'slow at learning' and/or stupid || Courting - an older form of dating (at the time you could court more than one person and it was moreso 'competative dating' but I used the word for the sake of emersion and in the sense and term of dating) || Bbak - Random sound effect...

PART 1 [] PART 2 [] Current: PART 3

Thank you all so much for reading ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

I will say, I don't really like this.. I worked on it for wayyy too long and even tried restarting but I hope you like it anyways.

The silence of the night is so tranquil and quiet, sometimes with an ominous undertone but tonight was scerene. The soft blowing of the wind, the faint flow of the river, the leaves-

*Rustle Rustle*

Rustling?

I toss a little in my sleep. *Rustle Rustle*

My brows furrow at the increasingly louder noise. *Rustle..*

My brows unfurrow as I get comfortable again, the sound now gone. The quiet of the night seeps in again and-

*Rustle*

'OK! I'm up!' I groan and rub my eyes as I sit up, taking in my surroundings. I'm in my tent, so the noise is coming from outside, right?

I toss my blanket to the side and zip a little hole inbetween my tents curtains too peek through. I look around... Nothing is there, I close the curtain and just as I'm about to lay down,

*Rustle Rustle*

At this point I'm awake and decided to look for the sound again. I peek out - nothing. I wait - nothing. I'm not dumb, I'm not going to leave my tent when theres a weird reoccuring noise outside. So instead, I grab a rock (more like a pebble) that was on the grass outside my tent and throw it towards Gilbert's. The rock flies through his curtains and makes a thunk sound. 'Did he not close his curtains?' I wonder.

Soon, a groggy looking Gilbert pokes his head out of the tent and looks around before spotting me. I point to my ear then point outwards and we both pause for a moment, listening. It's quiet.. Still quiet.. Gilbert looks at me confused before,

*Rustle Rustle*

He looks around, most likely for the source of the sound then looks back to me with an even more confused look. He looks as though he's about to get up and make his way over, and before he does, as well as before I stop him a figure walks, almost leaps partily inbetween us. I look up and see a- a fawn? It has long legs for its tiny body, a pretty brown coat with speckles of white and wide glossy black eyes.

Another deer, seemingly it's mother, waltzes up behind it before continuing to walk through the campsite. The fawn looks around and makes eye-contact with me. 'Do I look away? Would that scare it?' are probably the questions I should be asking but my mind goes blank, seeping in all of the moment, remembering each small detail. Then, the fawn prances up to it's waiting mother and they walk away into the night. Just as my brain finishes processing I look back to Gilbert who looks at me and smiles. I'm not entirely sure if it was a returned one, I couldn't tell if I was smiling or my brain was. Gilbert ducks back into his tent, zipping it behind him, and I do the same.

-In The Morning- I wake up, I hear birds chirping and no chatter so I assume I'm one of the first up. I make my way to the river with a large cup-like container in hand, hoping to not get seen in my nightgown. I grab a scoop of water and head back to my tent. Closing the curtains I grab a cloth from my suitcase and set it beside the container before undressing and begining to wash up. I ring out the cloth, and grab another to dry myself off before changing. (White knickers are underneath)

I brush my hair, style it, and smooth out any wrinkles in my dress before pouring the water from my container out onto the grass putting it, along with my cloths and nightgown in my suitcase. I take a deep breath, savouring the clean air before heading outside my tent seeing Ms.Stacy up and ready for the day. "Good morning Ms." I smile, earning one back. "Good morning, mind stacking some wood closer to the fire pit so I can start breakfast?" Ms.Stacy asks, I nod and head over to the pile of wood that was collected yesterday and begin moving some little my little to the firepit until I think there's enough to keep a fire going. Everyone slowly starts waking up and getting ready just as Ms.Stacy starts breakfast with ingredients she packed. I spot Gilbert leaving his tent from the corner of my eye and walk over. "Good morning." I say a bit too cheerfully for such an early hour. "Good morning, love." Gilbert smiles. 'WOAH. It wasn't just me who heard that right?' I ask the internal me's. 'No, we alllllll heard it.' An internal me squeels. Gilbert morning voice? DAMN. I swear to every single cloud in the sky that if we weren't together now I would get down on one knee and confess right then and there sloley for the chance of hearing that voice everytime I wake up beside him, doesn't matter to me if that means during marriage or after s- "Last night.." Gilbert speaks, he snapped me out of my him-induced trance. Last night? I'm thinking about the nights to come. Get it? To c- "The deer we seen were so cute." Yet again he intercepts my thoughts. "Oh my gosh yes! They scared me at first, that's why I woke you up. All I could hear was random rustling but when I seen them I was at a complete loss for words. I mean, have you ever seen a prettier sight?" Gilbert stares at me after my rant. Did I rant for too long? No, wait. He's smiling at me? Now he's laughing? "I refuse to believe you are this pretty everyday without looking into a mirror. You're the prettiest sight I've ever seen." I can't help but smile like a giddy child. Maybe it was his morning voice or how the sentiment seemed almost poetic - like Romeo and Juliet without the creepy age gap, but I swear I was falling for this guy all over again.

"Breakfast is ready!" Ms.Stacy shouts. I notice a couple of boys dash out of their tents, some still in their sleepwear, to get some food. I grab Gilberts hand and start speed-walking my way over smelling pancakes, sausage, eggs, and bacon on my way over. Breakfast was fairly uneventful aside from Tily and Moody's profuce blushing towards one another, Josie gawking and praising Billy for practically breathing, and the flirtatious glances Tillie and Charlie shared. I wouldn't have noticed the glances if Gilbert hadn't pointed them out by nudging me with his elbow, nodding towards the two, then wiggling his eyebrows causing me to laugh. "Alright, listen up!" Everyones attention turns to Ms.Stacy. "You will be splitting off into groups of four to explore the forest. I will be giving four of you papers with your group members names and the direction you will be traveling on it. You are to be back before lunch, and must stay a reasonable distance from camp, understood?" Nods and reluctent 'yes'' were given. I got a paper, Diana got a paper, Anne got a paper, and George got a paper. 'Uh oh.' I thought. Anne and Dianna got papers, they aren't together. 'Hope they do ok without one another. What if I'm not with Gilbert?'

I look to my paper reading out the first name on my list. "Gilbert?" I call, registering the name only after having spoken it. I turn to him with a smile, greeted with one in return. "Who else are we with?" He asks. I read the second name, "Josie," and look up to beckon her over. Billy was the last person standing alone. 'Great... That means-' "Billy! You're in my group!" Josie just about squeels, grabbing the paper from me and waving it in the air on her tippy-toes as if he wasn't a meter or so away. "So, which way are we heading?" I ask, trying to peek at the paper. "Um.. West." She reads, continuing with a question "Which way is that..?" Billy smirks cockily pointing past me, "That way obviously!" Me and Gilbert share a glance but I speak up first. "The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. It's still rising so east is actually that way." I point in the complete opposite direction and begin walking, everyone catching up and following suit.

We're about two miles away from camp and have two hours or so until lunch. "Ugh, can we take a break? My feet hurt." Josie stops in her tracks. "You've made us stop like fifteen times already." Now it's my turn to complain. Josie rolls her eyes and sits down on a rock. "How about we just sit around here for a bit then head back?" Gilbert rests a comforting hand on my lower back. It's not like there's much to see besides plants, squirrels, and the occassional bird so I sigh and give in, sitting on a large stump. I pat the area beside me for Gilbert to sit and Billy just leans against a tree near Josie, arms crossed. Conversations begin, topics changing here and there. Then,

Josie giggles.

She giggles again,

"Oh, stop." She says flirtatiously, meaning 'keep going', who is she talking to though?

(A/N: NOT HOW IT WORKS IRL. CONSENT IS A MUST IN ANY SITUATION! Even if it's 'obvious' ALWAYS ASK ANYWAY-unless they aren't in their right mind).

Another giggle.

"Oh Billy, stop it~" She laughs.

"Stop what?" Billy asks, his tone slightly defensive. "Stop tickling me silly!" Josie giggles again.

A pause.

"Josie.." I start, slowly standing, "His arms are crossed..." Gilbert finishes. "Wha.." Josie looks over to Billy, his arms now raised by his head. Her breath hitches, she swallows hard. "Then what, is touching, my.." She slowly turns her body,

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Josie lets out a shrilling screech, like nails on a chalkboard, a screem so high pitched yet vile as if she was disgusted, offended, and scared all at once. Josie attempted to shake a spider off, it was a big hairy wolf spider, she shakes her arm agressively and slaps it away, then shaks the hand she slapped it woth, probably having felt it's fuzziness. Josie runs into a random direction yelling. "EW EW! Get it off! HELP! EWWWW!"

"Josie! Wait!" I yell, running after her. I stop when there are two distinct openings in the tree's to walk. "Which way did she go?" Billy asks, catching up along with Gilbert. "I-I dont know.."

The next I don't know how long was spent yelling Josie's name, looking for her to no avail.

"Josie!?" "Josie?!" "Josie!?"

We'd yell after one another.

It'd been getting late, the sun was setting and it would be about dinner time now. We wandered farther and farther from the camp, remembering our way as best we could, but we were getting hungry..

"Why don't we head back? It's getting late and we can look for her better in the morning." Billy stops as he speaks, me and Gil doing the same.

"I agree," Gilbert turns to me specifically.

"We should head back, but to tell Ms.Stacy what happened and come back to look with flashlights."

"Tell the teacher? Really? We'd get in trouble! Are you stupid or something?" Billy combats. Gilbert scowls, eyebrows clenched, "If we head back without her and it'd be obvious something happened and we'd get in even more trouble for not saying anything." It wasn't a yell, but it was close.

"Oh! Really?" Billy scoffs, "I didn't know Mr.Know-it-all had it all planned out!" And here starts the yelling..

"It's not my fault you're a nert! Maybe pay attention in class once and a while and you wouldn't be a complete dunce!"

'Well that was definitely pent up.'

Billy's gaze flickered to me for a second, he looked embarassed. "Oh shut up Blythe! Half the time you're chatting about Y/N! We get it, you've been courting her for ages! If you're not gonna do it, why not let someone else give 'em a spin?" Billy smiles slyly, like he did something other than make this unnecissary agrument detour worse.

BBAK

No blood, but a big red spot on Billys face, it would form into a black eye for sure. I look at Girlbert, ok, time to stop this. I grab Gilbert's arm, trying to drag him away a bit when Billy left hooks him. 'Greattt.' I think. "Ok, you both got your hits it, you both said some words, now stop-"

"Hello?! Is-is some one there?!"

It was faint, but I heard it.

"Josie?" I breath the name, not sure if it's her.

"What?" Gil asks, his tone more mad than he probably meant.

"H-hello? Please! Help!"

The two boys look over, they heard it too.

"Josie!?" I begin again, walking faster and yelling louder than I had before. Finally.

"Y/N?! Y/N!?" She's louder, I walk closer to the sound, Gilbert and Billy behind me. There's a small clearing, "Y/N!"

I look, up?

"Jos-ie..?" A tree, she's in a tree.. "Why are you-"

"I ran from the spider, then I heard something in the bushes and climbed up here. Get me down please. My dress is dirty, it's ripped, and- I think I have twig in my hairrrr." She was near to tears, being lost, alone in the woods, probably a traumatizing experience.

"We can't climb up and bring you back down with us, you're going to have to jump." Gilbert states blanantly, he had the habit of doing so when assesing situations while he spoke. "Jump? No. Not happening."

I'm hungry, I'm tired, I'm sorta annoyed, I'm not doing this.

"Billy, you catch Josie when she falls." I say, hiking up my dress' skirt.

"Falls?"Josie just about squeeks. I climb up the tree and sit on the same branch as Josie. "Gil, you catch me."

"Now we're both stuck, what are you gonna d-"

Wooshhh

Theres a faint sound of wind as I shove Josie off. Maybe that was my pent-up fight. I jump down after her, aiming for Gilbert and he catches me.

"Hi." He smiles.

"Hey." I smile back.

It's quiet for a second before his stomach growls. "We should head back. I'm hungry too" I laugh.

☆~☆~Back at camp cause as I'm writing it is exactly 3:51 AM~☆~☆

As we return to the campsite, everyone is around huddled in one area, Ms.Stacy speaking, and everyone looking concerned. Anne notices us and runs over, Diane following behind as everyone turns to look at where they're headed. There is a look of relief of everyones faces as worry slowly disperses.

Anne nearly tackles me and Josie with a group hug as Diane joins.

"Where were you!? Everyone was so worried!" Diane releases from the hug as she lets out a seemingly held breath.

"Yeah, when you guys didn't come back I-" Anne is cut off by a hand on her shoulder.

It's Ms.Stacy...

"Where were you four? I had very clear instructions and you disobeyed them, missed lunch because of it, and had the whole class worrying."

We were all silent. We didn't want to say it was Josie's fault.

"We're sorry Ms." Gilbert steps up, the rest of our heads hung low. There was no excuse for this one, none I could think of in the moment at least..

"It was my fault Ms.Stacy, I'm sorry. There was a spider, and it was on me, and I got scared and ran off without the group. I made it even harder to find me because I ran up a tree when I heard rustling in the bushes.. It is completely my fault." Josie confesses, she stands tall but lowers her head when she apologises and admits her fault.

Ms.Stacy sighs and theres a pause. She analizes all four of us and I assume she sees Josies ripped dress and believes the story just as she speaks again,

"I can't fault you for that but next time don't run off, and if one of you do, come back and get me. Understood?"

We all nodded and gave a quick "Yes Ms." before we were dismissed.

We all cleaned up and got ready for the campfire and dinner.

Tonights mood was much less lively than the last because of what had happened, but we still had all of tommorow.

I sigh, "One more day here, then we go home first thing in the morning.."

Gilbert, still eating, swallows before replying. "Hopefuly it's better than the last two." He laughs.

"And if not?"

"If not.." One of his hands rub up and down my thigh, "We can go to my tent and-"

I stiffle a small laugh but can't help the smile creeping up my face.

"What?" Now Gil is laughing.

"Nothing." I bite my lower lip in another attempt to hold back my laugh.

He just stares at me with a smile. There's a shine of longing in his eyes, not desire - it's the look you'd imagine when reading forbiden-love and the main character thinks they'll never have the love in the way they so dearly wish. The same look they have when their so close in proximity but so far in every other aspect so they're scared to touch them, or even talk to them and just, admire from afar. And the same look I imagine they have when they finally have the love interest all to themselves.

I'm lost in thought just admiring Gilbert's features and almost miss him whisper, "I want to kiss you so bad right now.." He's still just admiringing me, in his own world as I register what he said.

I stand up and drag him along, finding my way to a tree behind my tent.

"What are we doing back here?" He looks confused but goes to hold my waist.

"To fufill your intrusive thoughts." I smile but his face looks concerned.

"In the woods? Not a tent? Kind of unsanitary, no?" As I realize what he means I smack his arm, causing him to pull it back from my waist, the other stil on it. "Gilbert!"

"What? It was your idea!"

"I meant kissing. You said you wanted to kiss me."

A pause.

"I-..."

Another pause.

NOTE: Kissing scene ends at the next orange line

I cup his face and go in for a kiss, a hand immediately drifts to his fuffy hair. He cups my cheek to deepen the kiss and pushes me up against the tree, pressing a leg between mine. Gilbert's hand trails up my torso, lingers on my thigh, and goes back up. He trails kisses down my neck, to my collarbone, and goes to trail lower before I catch his head.

"Gil.." I breath, just above a whisper.

He grabs my hand and kisses the back of it, working his way up my arm. "When I said kiss, did I not mention all over?" He smiles as he reaches back to my neck.

"Gil..." I repeat.

"I know, I know love. I'm sorry." He kisses my forehead and gives me a quick hug.

I press my head to his and smile, "I'm gonna head to bed, don't stay up too late alright?" I stroke his cheek with my thumb as I wait for a response.

He has the look in his eyes again. After a moment he nods and presses another short, but lingering kiss to my lips. "Goodnight beautiful/handsome/lovely." He smiles as he walks in the direction of his tent.

I round the tree and make my way to the front of my tent with a smile. I get in, zipping the door behind me, wash up and change into my pyjamas, tucking my clothes back into my suitcase, and get ready to sleep.

I close my eyes and slowly begin to drift off,

.

.

☁︎.𖥔 ݁ ˖

˙܀𖥔˚☽˚˙⊹☁︎.𖥔 ݁ ˖

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

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I feel like I'm hating on Josie but this is how she was portrayed.. :(

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