#'someone DIED in this HOUSE???!!! (NOT CLICKBAIT)' | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

differenteagletragedy · 1 year ago

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GHOST MC CAUGHT ON CAMERA REAL NOT CLICKBAIT EMOTIONAL (headcanons for the olba boys with a ghost mc please)

Ooh, I don't know if this means like a Casper thing where MC met the boys as a ghost or if MC turned into a ghost then sees the boys that way, so I'll do a little bit of both!

I hope this is at least sort of what you wanted OP because I kind of went off lol

-- If Cove is 8 and moves to a new town and a ghost lives across the street, well, that's going to be a lot. He's not going to question it -- ghosts are real, obviously, he sees one right there -- and he's going to be a little scared but more intrigued.

-- No difference in friendship level between human MC and ghost MC with Cove, btw. You're the bestie regardless.

-- This Cove is going to be more studious because he's going to do tonnnnns of research about ghosts. He wants to know everything there is to know. When he's like 12 and getting to that awkward stage, he asks if you need to be released somehow, to let your spirit move onto the next stage.

MC: Yeah, go ahead and burn my bones and set me free, you dork. Put on a movie I'm bored.

-- But if MC is a ghost because they died, ohhhh that's bad. The first time Cove sees you he knows that can't be quite right, but he doesn't tell anyone because even if it is some kind of mental break, he still gets to see you again and he's not going to risk someone putting a stop to that.

-- Maybe in this situation you should have a talk with Cove about a healthy ghost-life balance, because he is not going to want you out of his sight in the worst way.

-- OK, but if MC was a ghost when Cove met, then when he's 13 he's like "Hey, new buddy Derek, my bestie is a ghost, wanna meet them?" And Derek is too polite to say anything but "sure," but then Cove brings him over to his house and you come over and Derek LOSES it.

-- 13-year-old Derek, best most polite boy in the world, rattling the neighbors' windows with a "WHAT THE FUCK"

-- But then everybody gets to chatting and he settles down. He likes Cove a lot, and Cove likes you a lot, so you must be ok. He slowly gets the hang of it, and before long he's like "Do ghosts need anything? Can you eat? Are you hungry?"

-- If you can travel and go to visit him too, he feels SO SPECIAL. Part of him is like "Derek, it's a literal ghost" and another part is like "Yeah but they came to see ME."

-- If the MC dies and becomes a ghost timeline, ouch. He needs to know that you're not in ghost form because you have some kind of unfinished business or you're trapped (it's a big trope ok!). He's struggling because he wants more time with you, but he wants you to be in the best possible place.

-- Dying at the thought of Baxter moving in at the beginning of Step 3 and meeting Cove outside his house when he pulls up for the first time. He's just chatting him up, trying to flirt like he does, then Cove is just like "Btw, there's a ghost that lives across the street."

Baxter: That's ... that's very good to know, thank you, I'll keep that in mind.

Cove: OK.

-- Then MC uses their ghost powers for a little fun, going invisible in Baxter's condo and pulling some poltergeist stunts -- chairs stacked on the table, things in different places than he left them, they turn the tv on and off. Baxter thinks he's losing his mind and then MC un-invisibles and is cracking up.

Baxter: I'm sorry, may I help you?

MC: You've already helped me more than you know, buddy. *mimes Baxter freaking out* *laughs more*

Baxter: I hate it here.

-- I feel like I'm giving ghost MC too much personality for this to be like real headcannons but I'm just along for the ride at this point.

--Eventually Baxter gets the charm of ghost MC, and they make friends. They tease each other a lot, but it's all affectionate. At the end of the summer, he still tries to cut them off, he does the whole "I'll be on the other side of the country" song and dance.

MC: Lol I'm a ghost goofass, if you don't want to be friends anymore than just say it.

Baxter: It's for the best.

MC: And I thought I was the ghost! Get it? Do you get it? Do you get it, Baxter?

Baxter: *wills a piano to drop from the sky directly onto his head*

-- Ok ok, but on the flip side, with human to ghost MC, Baxter actually transforms into like an old woman living in a cottage by the sea, coming down to the village for supplies every once in a while while other townsfolk whisper about how she went mad.

-- Does that make sense to anyone else? It paints a very vivid picture in my head.

-- Baxter will go on with his life, he'll keep working and keeping everyone else at a distance because he's got his dead lover to go home to at night.

-- Is that kind of creepy? Yeah, it is. It's not a great plan, but it's Baxter's plan and he's sticking to it.

#our life beginnings and always #olba #our life #cove holden #derek suarez #baxter ward #olba cove #olba baxter #olba derek #our life cove #our life derek #our life baxter #our life headcannons

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ausetkmt · 1 month ago

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When reading this piece, you will see placeholders for photos - these are because we are using a paywall buster to see this article. WIRED has blocked this article from regular view even though they emailed us a link to it - hoping we'd subscribe.

THIS IS WHY WE DIDN'T AND WON'T

If you think we should read the article why restrict it to those who subscribe if you sent it to us as regular readers of your site WIRED?

we give you this article so that you can decide for yourself, if wired and others like it are misusing links to their articles, as a basic clickbait approach.

WIRED, will not be on our visit list forward because we don't agree with these types of clickbait schemes to dis-enfranchise readers. If you agree with us, boycott those sites who demand you subscribe to read an article which should be clearly open viewing.

ENOUGH PAYWALLS AND ENOUGH CLICKBAIT

----------------------------------------------------------------------

If you step into the headquarters of the Internet Archive on a Friday after lunch, when it offers public tours, chances are you’ll be greeted by its founder and merriest cheerleader, Brewster Kahle.

You cannot miss the building; it looks like it was designed for some sort of Grecian-themed Las Vegas attraction and plopped down at random in San Francisco’s foggy, mellow Richmond district. Once you pass the entrance’s white Corinthian columns, Kahle will show you the vintage Prince of Persia arcade game and a gramophone that can play century-old phonograph cylinders on display in the foyer. He’ll lead you into the great room, filled with rows of wooden pews sloping toward a pulpit. Baroque ceiling moldings frame a grand stained glass dome. Before it was the Archive’s headquarters, the building housed a Christian Science church.

I made this pilgrimage on a breezy afternoon last May. Along with around a dozen other visitors, I followed Kahle, 63, clad in a rumpled orange button-down and round wire-rimmed glasses, as he showed us his life’s work. When the afternoon light hits the great hall’s dome, it gives everyone a halo. Especially Kahle, whose silver curls catch the sun and who preaches his gospel with an amiable evangelism, speaking with his hands and laughing easily. “I think people are feeling run over by technology these days,” Kahle says. “We need to rehumanize it.”

In the great room, where the tour ends, hundreds of colorful, handmade clay statues line the walls. They represent the Internet Archive’s employees, Kahle’s quirky way of immortalizing his circle. They are beautiful and weird, but they’re not the grand finale. Against the back wall, where one might find confessionals in a different kind of church, there’s a tower of humming black servers. These servers hold around 10 percent of the Internet Archive’s vast digital holdings, which includes 835 billion web pages, 44 million books and texts, and 15 million audio recordings, among other artifacts. Tiny lights on each server blink on and off each time someone opens an old webpage or checks out a book or otherwise uses the Archive’s services. The constant, arrhythmic flickers make for a hypnotic light show. Nobody looks more delighted about this display than Kahle.

Brewster Kahle, the Internet Archive's founder and biggest cheerleader. Photograph: Gabriela Hasbun

It is no exaggeration to say that digital archiving as we know it would not exist without the Internet Archive—and that, as the world’s knowledge repositories increasingly go online, archiving as we know it would not be as functional. Its most famous project, the Wayback Machine, is a repository of web pages that functions as an unparalleled record of the internet. Zoomed out, the Internet Archive is one of the most important historical-preservation organizations in the world. The Wayback Machine has assumed a default position as a safety valve against digital oblivion. The rhapsodic regard the Internet Archive inspires is earned—without it, the world would lose its best public resource on internet history.

Its employees are some of its most devoted congregants. “It is the best of the old internet, and it's the best of old San Francisco, and neither one of those things really exist in large measures anymore,” says the Internet Archive’s director of library services, Chris Freeland, another longtime staffer, who loves cycling and favors black nail polish. “It's a window into the late-’90s web ethos and late-’90s San Francisco culture—the crunchy side, before it got all tech bro. It's utopian, it's idealistic.”

The Internet Archive headquarters houses clay sculptures by artist Nuala Creed. Each sculpture depicts an employee or collaborator; getting one is a rite of passage. Photograph: Gabriela Hasbun

But the Internet Archive also has its foes. Since 2020, it’s been mired in legal battles. In Hachette v. Internet Archive, book publishers complained that the nonprofit infringed on copyright by loaning out digitized versions of physical books. In UMG Recordings v. Internet Archive, music labels have alleged that the Internet Archive infringed on copyright by digitizing recordings.

In both cases, the Internet Archive has mounted “fair use” defenses, arguing that it is permitted to use copyrighted materials as a noncommercial entity creating archival materials. In both cases, the plaintiffs characterized it as a hub for piracy. In 2023, it lost Hachette. This month, it lost an appeal in the case. The Archive could appeal once more, to the Supreme Court of the United States, but has no immediate plans to do so. (“We have not decided,” Kahle told me the day after the decision.)

A judge rebuffed an attempt to dismiss the music labels’ case earlier this year. Kahle says he’s thinking about settling, if that’s even an option.

The combined weight of these legal cases threatens to crush the Internet Archive. The UMG case could prove existential, with potential fines running into the hundreds of millions. The internet has entrusted its collective memory to this one idiosyncratic institution. It now faces the prospect of losing it all.

Kahle has been obsessed with creating a digital library since he was young, a calling that spurred him to study artificial intelligence at MIT. “I wanted to build the library of everything, and we needed computers that were big enough to be able to deal with it,” he says.

After graduating in 1982, he worked at the supercomputing startup Thinking Machines Corporation. While there, he developed a program called Wide Area Information Server (WAIS), a way to search for data on remote computers. He left to cocreate a startup of the same name, which he sold to AOL in 1995. The next year, he launched a two-headed project from his attic: “AI and IA.”

That “AI” was a for-profit company called Alexa Internet—“Alexa” a nod to the Library of Alexandria—alongside the nonprofit Internet Archive. The two projects were interlinked; Alexa Internet crawled the web, then donated what it collected to the Internet Archive. Kahle couldn’t quite make the business model work. When Amazon made an offer in 1999, it seemed prudent to accept. The Everything Store paid a reported $250 million in stock for Alexa, severing the AI from IA and leaving Kahle a wealthy man.

Kahle stayed on with Alexa for a few years but left in 2002 to focus on the Internet Archive. It has been his vocation ever since. “His entire being is committed to the Archive,” says copyright scholar Pam Samuelson, who has known Kahle since the ’90s. “He lives and breathes it.”

If Silicon Valley has a Mr. Fezziwig, it’s Kahle. He’s not an ascetic; he owns a handsome black sailboat anchored in a slip at a tony yacht club. But his day-to-day life is modest. He ebikes to work and dresses like a guy who doesn’t care about clothes, and while he used to love Burning Man—he and his wife, Mary Austin, got married there in 1992—now he thinks it’s gotten too big. (Their current bougie-hippie pastime is the seasteading gathering Ephemerisle, where boaters hitch themselves together and create temporary islands in the Sacramento River Delta every July.)

What he really loves, above all, is his job.

“The story of Brewster Kahle is that of a guy who wins the lottery,” says longtime archivist Jason Scott. “And he and his wife, Mary, turned around and said, awesome, we get to be librarians now.”

The Internet Archive’s headquarters, a former church. The graffiti van was commissioned by Amir Esfahani, who runs the Archive’s artist-in-residence program. Photograph: Gabriela Hasbun

Kahle is now the merry custodian to a uniquely comprehensive catalog, spanning all manner of digital and physical media, from classic video games to live recordings of concerts to magazines and newspapers to books from around the world. It recently backed up the island of Aruba’s cultural institutions. It’s an essential tool for everything from legal research—particularly around patent law—to accountability journalism. “There are other online archiving tools,” says ProPublica reporter Craig Silverman, “but none of them touch the Internet Archive.” It is, in short, a proof machine.

What makes the Internet Archive unique is its willingness to push boundaries in ways that traditional libraries do not. The Library of Congress also archives the web—but only after it has notified, and often asked permission from, the websites it scrapes.

“The Internet Archive has always been a little risky,” says University of Waterloo historian Ian Milligan, who has a forthcoming book on web archiving. Its distinctive utility is entwined with its long-standing outré approach to copyright. In fact, Kahle and the Internet Archive sued the government more than two decades ago, challenging the way the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 and the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 had expanded copyright law. He lost that case—but, certainly, not his desire to keep pushing.

One of those pushes came in 2005. At the time, beloved hacker Aaron Swartz was often working on Internet Archive projects, and he cocreated and led the development of a new initiative called the Open Library program along with Kahle. The goal was to create one webpage for every book in the world. Kahle saw it as an alternative to Google Books, one that wasn’t driven by commercial interests but loftier and decidedly kumbaya information-wants-to-be-free ambitions.

In addition to its attempt to catalog every book ever, the project sought to make copies available to readers. To that end, it scans physical books, then allows people to check out the digitized versions. For over a decade, it has operated using a framework called controlled digital lending (CDL), where digitized books are treated as old-fashioned physical books rather than ebooks. The books it lends out were either purchased by the Internet Archive or donated by other libraries, organizations, or individuals; according to CDL principles, libraries that own a physical copy of a book should be able to lend it digitally.

An archive employee at work. Photograph: Gabriela Hasbun

The project primarily appeals to researchers for whom specific books are hard to attain elsewhere, rather than casual readers. “Try checking out one of our books and then reading it—it’s tough going,” Kahle says. He’s not lying. A blurry scan of a physical book on a desktop screen compared to a regular ebook on a Kindle is like music from a tinny iPhone speaker versus a Bose surround sound system. Most borrowers read what they check out for less than five minutes.

Like other digital media, ebooks are typically licensed rather than sold outright, at a much higher rate than the cover price. Libraries who license ebooks get a limited number of loans; if they stop paying, the book vanishes. CDL is an attempt to give libraries more control over their inventory, and to expand access to books in a library’s collection that exist only as physical copies.

For years, publishers ignored the Internet Archive’s book-scanning spree. Finally, during the pandemic, after the Internet Archive took one liberty too many with its approach to CDL, they snapped.

In March 2020, as schools and libraries abruptly shut down, they faced a dilemma. Demand for ebooks far outstripped their ability to loan them out under restrictive licensing deals, and they had no way of lending out books that existed only in physical form. In response, the Internet Archive made a bold decision: It allowed multiple people to check out digital versions of the same book simultaneously. It called this program the National Emergency Library. “We acted at the request of librarians and educators and writers,” says Chris Freeland.

Kahle remembers feeling a vocational tug in that moment for the Internet Archive to do whatever it could to expand access. He thought they had broad support, too. “We got over 100 libraries to sign on and say ‘help us,’” Kahle says. “They stood behind the National Emergency Library and said ‘do this under our names.’”

Dave Hansen, now executive director of the nonprofit Authors Alliance, was a librarian at Duke University at the time. “We had tremendous challenges getting books for our students,” he says. “What they did was a good-faith effort.”

The Internet Archive's collection includes a sprawling array of old newspapers and periodicals from around the world. Photograph: Gabriela Hasbun

Not everyone agreed. Prominent writers vehemently criticized the project, as did the Authors Guild and the National Writers Union. “They are not a library. Libraries buy books and respect copyright. They are fraudsters posing as saints,” author James Gleick wrote on Twitter. (Today, Gleick maintains that the Internet Archive is not a library, though he says “fraudsters was a little harsh.”)

“They seem to work by fiat,” says Bhamati Viswanathan, a copyright lawyer who signed an amicus brief on behalf of the publishers in the Hachette case. Viswanathan thinks it was arrogant to circumvent the licensing system. “Very much like what the tech companies seem to be doing, which is, ‘we're going to ask forgiveness, not permission.’”

The Internet Archive was in its first full-blown PR crisis. The coalition of publishing houses filed its lawsuit in June 2020, alleging that both the National Emergency Library and the Internet Archive’s broader Open Library program violated copyright. A few weeks later, the Internet Archive scuttled the National Emergency Library and reverted to its traditional, capped loan system, but it made no difference to the publishers.

The publishing houses and their supporters maintain that the Archive’s behavior harmed authors. “Internet Archive is arguing that it is OK to make and publicly distribute unauthorized copies of an author’s work to the global public,” Terrance Hart, the general counsel for the Association of American Publishers, tells WIRED. “Imagine if everyone started doing the same. The only existential threat here is the one posed by Internet Archive to the livelihoods of authors and to the copyright system itself in the digital age.”

After the lawsuit was filed, over a thousand writers signed a letter in support of libraries and the Internet Archive to be able to loan digital books, including Naomi Klein and Daniel Ellsberg. One supportive author, Chuck Wendig, had very publicly changed his mind after initially tweeting criticism. Even some writers who currently belong to and support the Authors Guild, like Joanne McNeil, were staunch supporters of the Archive. She sometimes reads out-of-print books using the lending service and still sees it as a vital tool. “I hope my books are in the Open Library project,” she says, telling me that she’s already aware that her critically acclaimed but modestly popular books aren’t widely available. “At least I’ll know that way there’s someplace someone can find them.”

The shows of support didn’t matter. The publishers didn’t back down. In March 2023, the Internet Archive lost the case. This September, it lost its appeal. The court refuted the fair use arguments, insisting that the organization had not proved that it wasn’t financially harming publishers. In the meantime, legal bills continue to pile up for the Internet Archive’s next challenge.

After the initial ruling in Hachette v. Internet Archive, the parties agreed upon settlement terms; although those terms are confidential, Kahle has confirmed that the Internet Archive can financially survive it thanks to the help of donors. If the Internet Archive decides not to file a second appeal, it will have to fulfill those settlement terms. A blow, but not a death knell.

The other lawsuit may be far harder to survive. In 2023, several major record labels, including Universal Music Group, Sony, and Capitol, sued the Internet Archive over its Great 78 Project, a digital archive of a niche collection of recordings of albums in the obsolete record format known as 78s, which was used from the 1890s to the late 1950s. The complaint alleges that the project “undermines the value of music.” It lists 2,749 recordings as infringed, which means damages could potentially be over $400 million.

“One thing that you can say about the recording industry,” Pam Samuelson says, “is that there are no statutory damages that are too large for them to claim.”

The Internet Archive's basement, the site of many animated discussions about encryption and internet freedom. Photograph: Gabriela Hasbun

As with the book publishing case, the Internet Archive’s defense hinges on fair use. It argues that preserving obsolete versions of these records, complete with the crackles and pops from the old shellac resin, makes history accessible. Copyright law is notoriously unpredictable, and some find the Internet Archive’s case shaky. “It doesn’t strike me, necessarily, as a winning fair use argument,” says Zvi Rosen, a law professor at Southern Illinois University who focuses on copyright.

James Grimmelmann, a professor of digital and information law at Cornell University, thinks the labels are “vastly exaggerating the commercial harm” from the project. (If there was a sizable audience for extremely low-quality versions of songs, he reasons, why wouldn’t the labels be putting out 78-style releases?) On average, each recording is accessed only once a month. Still, Grimmelmann isn’t convinced that will matter. “They are directly reproducing these works,” he says. “That’s a very hard lift for a judge.”

It may be years before the case is resolved, which means the uncertainty about the Internet Archive’s future is likely to linger, and potentially spread. And if it is resolved through either a settlement or a win for the recording industry, other copyright holders could be inspired to sue. “I'm worried about the blast radius from the music lawsuit,” Grimmelmann says.

In Kahle’s view, the Internet Archive’s legal challenges are part of a larger story about beleaguered libraries in the United States. He likes to frame his plight as a battle against a cadre of nefarious publishers, one piece of a larger struggle to wrest back the right to own books in the digital age. (Get him started on the topic, and he’ll likely point out that both ebook distributor OverDrive and publishing company Simon & Schuster are owned by the global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.) He’s keenly aware that everything he has built is in danger. “It’s the time of Orwell but with corporations,” Kahle says. “It’s scary.”

Losing the Archive is, indeed, a frightening prospect. “There is a misperception that things on the web are forever—but they really, really aren't,” says Craig Silverman, who thinks the nonprofit’s demise would make certain types of scholarship and reporting “way more difficult, if not impossible,” in addition to representing a disappearance of a bastion of collective memory.

Just this September, Google and the Internet Archive announced a partnership to allow people to see previous versions of websites surfaced through Google Search by linking to the Wayback Machine. Google previously offered its own cached historical websites; now it leans on a small nonprofit.

The Internet Archive also has challenges beyond its legal woes. For starters, it’s getting harder to archive things. As Mark Graham, director of the Wayback Machine, told me, the rise of apps with functions like livestreaming, especially when they’re limited to certain operating systems, presents a technical challenge. On top of that, paywalls are an obstacle, as is the sheer and ever-increasing amount of content. “There’s just so much material,” he says. “How does one know what to prioritize?”

Then there’s AI, once again. Thus far, the Internet Archive has sidestepped or been exempt from the new scrutiny on web crawling as it relates to AI training data. This June, for example, when Reddit announced that it was updating its scraping policy, it specifically noted that it was still allowing “good faith actors” like the Internet Archive to crawl it. But as opposition to rampant AI data scraping grows, the Internet Archive may yet face a new obstacle: If regulators and lawmakers are clumsy in attempts to curb permissionless AI web scraping, it could kneecap services like the Wayback Machine, which functions precisely because it can trawl and reproduce vast amounts of data.

The rise of AI has already soured some creative types on the Internet Archive’s approach to copyright. While Kahle views his creation as a library on the side of the little guy, opponents strenuously dispute this view. They paint Kahle as a tech-wolf disguised in librarian-sheep clothing, stuck in a mentality better suited for the Napster era. “The Internet Archive is really fighting the battles of 20 years ago, when it was as simple as ‘publishers bad, anything that hurts publishers good,’” says Neil Turkewitz, a former Recording Industry Association of America executive who has criticized the Archive’s copyright stances. “But that’s not the world we live in.”

A portion of the servers holding the Archive's vast data collection. Each time someone accesses a book, website, movie, song, or other file, a light flashes. Photograph: Gabriela Hasbun

When I talk to Kahle over Zoom this September, shortly after he’d learned that the Internet Archive had lost the appeal, he’s agitated—an internet prophet literally wandering around in the wilderness. He’s perched in front of jagged cliffs while hiking outside of Arles, France, a blue baseball cap pulled over his hair, cheeks extra-ruddy in the sun, his default affability tempered by a sense of despondency. He hadn’t known about the timing of the ruling in advance, so he interrupted a weeklong vacation with Mary to jump back into work crisis mode. “It’s just so depressing,” he says.

As he sits on a rock with his phone in his hand, Kahle says the US legal system is broken. He says he doesn’t think this is the end of the lawsuits. “I think the copyright cartel is on a roll,” he says. He frets that copycat cases could be on the way. He’s the most bummed-out guy I’ve ever seen on vacation in the south of France. But he’s also defiant. There’s no inkling of regret, only a renewed sense that what he’s doing is righteous. “We have such an opportunity here. It’s the dream of the internet,” he says. “It’s ours to lose.” It sounds less like a statement and more like a prayer.

#paywall buster #fuck wired #paywalls #Free The News #Internet Archive #Wayback Machine #Words Matter #the news does not belong to anyone - it's everyones

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kikithefox231 · 2 years ago

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About me!

Hey! Call me Kiki or Amaryllis! I mainly scream about animation and cartoons here! :D ☆ Status:

THE WHIMSY IS BACK BABEYYY (depression meds kicked in)

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ─── Separate about page ─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

⋆｡° ✩ More info ✩ °｡⋆

Fandoms: (Bolded + Italicised are the one's I am screaming and crying over right now) Amphibia ✮ The Owl House ✮ Svtfoe ✮ Gravity Falls ✮ Miraculous Ladybug ✮ The Dragon Prince ✮ She-Ra (Reboot) ✮ Ducktales (Reboot) ✮ Pokemon ✮ Over the Garden Wall ✮ Infinity Train ✮ Glitch Techs ✮ Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts ✮ Phineas and Ferb ✮ Milo Murphy's Law ✮ MLP ✮ Warrior Cats ✮ Your Name ✮ Weathering with You ✮ Suzume ✮ HTTYD ✮ Your Lie In April ✮ Exu ✮ Critical Role c3 ✮ Wolfwalkers ✮ Aggretsuko ✮ Genshin Impact ✮ Honkai Star Rail ✮ Animal Crossing ✮ Neko Atsume ✮ Spiderverse ✮ Murder Drones ✮ Nisekoi ✮ Nimona ✮ Zootopia ✮ Sonic Franchise ✮ Littlest Pet Shop ✮ Keeper of the Lost Cities ✮ Tamako Love Story ✮ Spy x family ✮ Percy Jackson and the Olympians ✮ One Stormy Night ✮

The Blorbos ever!!! Marcy Wu ✦ Star Butterfly ✦ Fluttershy ✦ Starlight Glimmer ✦ Cinnamoroll ✦ Willow Park ✦ Miko Kubota ✦ Jesse Cosay ✦ Lake ✦ Hazel ✦ Rayla ✦ Marinette Dupain Cheng ✦ Adrien Agreste ✦ Robyn Goodfellowe ✦ Mebh Óg MacTíre ✦ Leafpool ✦ Hollyleaf ✦ Yae Miko ✦ Sucrose ✦ Lady ✦ Webby Vanderquack ✦ Della Duck ✦ Fearne Calloway ✦ Goldie ✦ Gwen Stacy ✦ Serial Designation N ✦ Chitoge Kirisaki ✦ Miles "Tails" Prower ✦ Amy Rose ✦ Zoe Trent ✦ Penny Ling ✦ Coco Pommel ✦ March 7th ✦ Firefly ✦ Robin ✦ Bailu ✦ Huohuo ✦ Anya Froyer ✦ Mabel Pines ✦ Dipper Pines ✦ Pacifica Northwest ✦ Mei ✦

Characters that are me fr fr:

Fluttershy ⟡ Star Butterfly ⟡ Marcy Wu ⟡ Huo Huo ⟡ Miko Kubota

Socials: AO3 ✧ Amarylily YT ✧ Amaryllis Spotify ✧ Kikithefox Amphibia Sideblog ✧ brb-crying-over-amphibia ML Sideblog ✧ chaton-et-buguinette Glitch Techs Sideblog ✧ glitches-and-techs Svtfoe incorrect quotes blog ✧ incorrectstarvs A Miles a Day blog ✧ a-miles-a-day Hubris Bracket Blog ✧ hubrisbracket Art insp blog (warning: not tagged for mild gore, religion, flashing lights, and etc.) ✧ kiki-screams-abt-art

Tags I Track: #fav - favorite posts/posts I want to find later #my stuff #kiki stuff - both used for tracking my original content #kiki rambles - for stuff where I talk a lot in the notes #tagged - for tracking stuff I'm tagged in #Important!!! - important posts (feel free to block since they will contain topics like mental health and real world news) #funnies - posts that made me laugh #ive been personally attacked - what it says on the tin lol #thanks for asking! - for asks answered by me #thanks for answering! - for asks sent by me #bee bestie <3 - starting to use this tag for posts where I'm tagged by @mell0bee or mention bee bc there's so much and I wanna save them 🥺 Ultimate fav posts! ✪ Amphibia Trio Playlists ✪ Amity’s TRUE Hair Color!!1!1! ✪ PARTNER IN CRINGE!!! ✪ One of the most insane posts on this website (affectionate) ✪ HE'S SO CUTE SHUT UUUUP (picture of Georgia) ✪ Follow your dreams ✪ Leafpool request (spoiler: got kissed on the forehead 🥺🥺🥺) ✪ Princess Joe (of USA) ✪ "i appreciate the (extremely cursed) bee bee." ✪ polyamorous power move ✪ happy robotnik slaughter saturday everybody ✪ IT FINALLY MAKES SENSE TO ME ✪ it's okay fish. don't let this get you down. you are all of you. ✪ AROACE AND TRANS SONIC REAL?????? (NOT CLICKBAIT) ✪ Everything is canon. ✪ cant be mentally ill in PEACE!!! *sobs* ✪ last book that made you cry ✪ disney romcom (on a VERY evil and fucked up train) ✪ LGBT bar so good it made someone gay <3 good for them <3 ✪ POLY PLS ✪ Happy birthday Grimace! *fuckin dies* ✪ y’all are always finding new ways to make fossils fuels. ✪ Bill better sleep with one eye open lmao ✪ CONGRATS ON THE DIVORCE!!! ✪ "AND NOW YOUR BODY SHAMING!!!" ✪ POLY SHIPPING!!!!!! ✪ ALYAGAMI SUNSET FANART IM GONNA GO CRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAAAAGH!!!!! ✪ GO MILO GOOO!!! ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ (updating soon!)

Likes and Dislikes! ♡ Tea ♡ one-liners that cause me to break down immediately ♡ Extremely specific aus catered to me directly ♡ amvs ♡ Alt/indie music ✘ Confrontation ✘ Heavy gore ✘ Waking up early ✘ Horror movies ✘ Fermented Black Beans

Hobbies!

⟡ Traditional + digital art ⟡ graphic design ⟡ writing ⟡ singing ⟡ sowing

⟡ video editing

⟡ crying over fictional characters

Personal: ✿ I get socially anxious easily so I will try my best to communicate how I feel but just fyi in case! ✿ My memory is horrible so feel free to remind me of something if needed! ✿ I forgot to say this but I’m Asian GAKHSKSJ I’m Taiwanese and Chinese! I can understand and say basic mandarin but I don’t know how to read or write it sadly 😔 one day!!! ✿ I have ADHD, depression, and anxiety (probably?) so please be nice :’) I’m trying my best

Extras: ❀ I don't mind being tagged in things if we are mutuals! If you're not sure just ask me in advance! ❀ feel free to ask for me to use tone tags or tag trigger warnings for posts! If you'd like me to ID a post let me know! ❀ spam liking/reblogging is welcome! ^^ ❀ feel free to ask my a question! I am not guaranteed to answer it if I feel uncomfortable with it, however! ❀ fun fact: this URL is my animal jam username from ages ago lol ❀ I got called a donut once???

DNI List Please don't interact with me if you post: -nsfw -heavy gore -do not tag triggers -cp -extreme horror

⋆｡˚ credits: purple city divider ⟡ moon dividers

#kiki stuff #tw moving image #about me #cw gif

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dandywonderous · 7 months ago

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20 Questions For Fic Writers

Tagged by @kiaxet

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

210, but about 110 of those have been copied over from my old FFN account (almost all of the One Piece fics, basically).

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

709,457

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently I'm mostly only writing for Rise of the TMNT, but I have written a lot for One Piece and Free!, as well as Twisted Wonderland, Persona 5, Fire Emblem 3 Houses, FFXV, KnB, and others.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. I May Be Invisible, But I Still Look Good (ROTTMNT) 2. Tight Fit (FFXV) 3. Tapping Out (ROTTMNT) 4. Lab Accident (ROTTMNT) 5. Things Overheard (Hiding Under the Bed of the King of Athens) (Hades)

5. Do you respond to comments?

No |'D I don't know why but it just gives me anxiety so I don't. I do appreciate the comments, I'm just bad at responding. I'm sorry!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably this old fic where Sanji just dies in the end, but I think I have fics that are angstier in the middle even if they end better. For something that's not just the character dying, probably Herbal Tea (ROTTMNT), or maybe Failures and Heroes (You and Me) (ROTTMNT)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics have happy endings so this is hard! Probably a tie between Tight Fit and IMBI, since those have their central characters going through pure hell but getting all kinds of love in the end (including romantic love in Prompto's case).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Once. This is the hazard of writing AkeShu (P5) lmao.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOY I sure do. I write all kinds of smut, including a few gross kinks most people put in their hard nos. If you're poking around in my full fic list proceed with caution. Lately since I've been writing so much ROTTMNT I haven't been writing smut, though, since I'm more into the canon for the fluff and family feels. The last smut fic I wrote was The Appearance of Impropriety (FE3H), which is a Dimitri/Edelgard/Hubert threesome. And before that, it was a TWST AzuJami fic that, well, took advantage of Azul's octopus anatomy, if you get what I'm sayin'.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven't really written fandom crossovers since I was a teenager and tbh I don't remember much about them, I think they were more crackfics than anything serious. I have written several AUs that use other fandoms, though. Probably the weirdest one I've actually written is a Free! RinRei Dragon Age AU, where Rin is a templar and Rei is a mage (the forbidden love of it all). I also have waaaay too many ideas in my head for an ROTTMNT FFX AU where Mikey is a summoner.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I remember back in my FFN days I would occasionally search up my fics and find them c/ped to random clickbait sites, probably as a bot scrapping operation. But to my knowledge I've never actually had anyone take one of my fics and claim it as theirs. Even that bot reposting still had my username attached lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yep! The fabulous @e-turn has translated several of my ROTTMNT fics into Russian! I've had other requests before, too, but I'm not sure how far those went. If anyone does want to translate my works, feel free! Just be sure you're crediting me, and if it's going on AO3 be sure to link the original!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have done some co-writing and some fic round robin events but none of them ever got to the point where they actually got published, because someone would flake out or we would just lose steam. I might be up for it, if it were a project we were both really invested in, but I'd probably have to be friends with the co-writer first.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

MMM this is hard... probably RinRei from Free! I've never felt quite as intensely about a ship as I did that one.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Hold On To Me (KnB); I love it but I am so far out of KnB fandom at this point haha.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Character voice, I think; it's what I usually get compliments on and what I feel the best writing. In a way, fanfiction (and fandom RP) has really helped me think about characterization. Something I was certainly guilty of in my younger days (and that a lot of amateur writers are guilty of) was having my characters act as vehicles for plot, doing or saying whatever I needed them to in the moment to move the plot where it needed to go. This meant none of my characters had any kind of consistent characterization and all of them were samey. We joke about "he wouldn't fucking say that," but in a funny way this kind of thinking really got me to think about characterization and character agency. Before I would say, "we need to get from point A to point B, so let's do that." After trying to get into the groove of writing already strongly characterized characters, and please an audience with certain expectations, I found myself thinking really hard about what would motivate a character from point A to point B, and if the circumstances I'd set up weren't enough to cause that, I'd need to tweak them, or better yet, explore what I think the character WOULD actually do in that scenario (which may be more fun anyway). This is a skill I think fanfiction is great for helping new writers develop.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I wish I had stronger word choice at times, and had stronger imagery. I'll read lines in other people's work that just blow me away haha. I could never write so poetically, I think.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

If you are good at a language, or have someone fluent helping you out, then go for it. There's no reason any work needs to be written in only one language. I'm not a purist on this. That said I also think writing "he said in Spanish" or something like that is fine. If it serves your purposes better for your fic to all be in one language, or you aren't confident enough to write in a different language, then you can just make it clear to your audience that a different language is being spoken now. Especially because I come from a lot of anime fandoms, I'm used to there being a sort of unspoken understanding that the characters are not speaking English and what we're getting is just the English approximation/localization of what they're saying. So this doesn't bother me. And of course, throwing in random Japanese exclamations in an otherwise English language fic always comes off a bit campy. I do think it's fine for things like terms of address and nicknames, though. I've never really gotten the hubbub over not having honorifics like "-san" or "-chan" in fics because the same people who usually hate that are also fine with "Señor" or "Mademoiselle" in writing and, like, what's the difference? Idk if any of what I said answers the question. My thoughts are that it's variable, ig.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Technically it was for the book Alas, Babylon, and it was a class assignment in 9th grade English.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Ah this is hard... IMBI is my longest fic and I'm really proud of how it turned out, but I think I'll always have a soft spot for I Keep on Hopin' (We'll Eat Cake by the Ocean) (TWST) - warning that this fic is NSFW and has explicit smut.

Idk who to tag. @aria-faye @unpredictable-probabilities @daboyau ? Anyone else who wants to do it feel free!

#fic questions

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jayflrt · 2 years ago

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𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐆𝐔𝐄 50. epilogue

JUNGWON’S HEART WAS POUNDING.

He swiftly evaded the arrows hurtling in his direction as he ran through the dense forest. He could hear the taunting laughter of his pursuer getting closer. The sound was almost overwhelming, nearly drowning out the sound of his blood rushing in his ears. Jungwon had hope, though; if he could just get past the—

At that moment, the screen faded out with the message: You died!

“Aw,” you cooed in that sugary voice of yours, “you were so close, Won.”

Jungwon’s cheeks darkened. “Shut up, Y/N.”

“And, there you have it, guys,” you announced to your Twitch audience that was currently totaling 44,507 users, “Y/N kicks Jungwon’s again.”

Life went back to normal after Jungwon and his friends had their little mishap in the Paris Catacombs. Sure, he needed to see a therapist for a while, but at least he was better off than Jay, who was currently weighing the pros and cons of having a Satan worshiping girlfriend. Jungwon couldn’t see how there were any pros to this list, but he supposed it didn’t matter as long as Jay was happy.

That, and his YouTube video: I Cuffed a Hot Satan Worshiper?! (NOT CLICKBAIT) hit a million views. It was a win for Diamond League’s joint channel.

Sunghoon and Jake were still as ambiguously in love as ever. Although, it so happened that Jake was the one being more forward than Sunghoon lately. He was apparently enjoying how easy it was to get Sunghoon flustered over the little things. Sunoo and Riki were still roommates, though they bought a bigger house to live in so that they could flaunt their new wealth. However, Sunoo had begun complaining about Riki’s dodginess when it came to chores.

Heeseung was the same as ever. His mother profusely apologized for not being able to pick him up from the Paris Catacombs, so he was spoiled more than ever. However, he ended up moving out to his own place, saying that he needed to be alone when “all his side chicks came over.” Jay later confirmed that he was, in fact, playing video games all day.

As for Jungwon and you, there was a lot of rekindling that needed to be done. Jungwon spent months making up for his lack of communication, and that forged a stronger flame between you two. He was satisfied that you two were finally at a comfortable point in your relationship, and that you were able to get past Jungwon milly rocking to Shostakovich. (You had, in fact, started milly rocking with him.) Post-catacombs Jungwon became a whore for classical music.

Joining college, though, had started a new feud between you and Jungwon. Albeit lighthearted, Jungwon still found it cute when you were aggravated.

When you two said your goodbyes and ended the stream, you pouted. “Someone called you their boyfriend on the stream.”

He bit back a smile. “Yeah?”

Jungwon was completely oblivious to his popularity until college started. He always thought his fans saw him more as comedic relief, but apparently being a loser translated into “boyfriend material.” It was quite shocking how much attention he got from girls now.

You, on the other hand, were not happy with this. Although you were getting used to the idea, it was still strange that your boyfriend got so much attention. Jungwon tried extra hard to make you feel more secure because of that.

He opened his arms for you to crawl into his lap when you went in for a hug. You buried your face in Jungwon’s chest to avoid looking him in the face.

“You’re my spring chicken,” you muttered. “I procured you.”

As always, you had a way with words.

“I’m your spring chicken,” he agreed, although he had no idea what the fuck that meant. “You procured me.”

It was 11:56 P.M. and the moonlight was illuminating your features. Jungwon wanted to turn the lights on, but that meant pushing you off of him, which he didn’t want to do.

More importantly, there were four minutes left until your birthday.

You were insistent on not going live or making a video for your birthday, which Jungwon completely understood. He wanted to spend the day with you, away from all the cameras and social media. Considering you were Jungwon’s first girlfriend, he was racking his brain over how he wanted to make your day special. He heard around the grapevine (read: Nishimura Riki), though, that you wanted something discreet and thoughtful. You weren’t one for glamorization.

“Are you excited?” Jungwon asked.

You shook your head. “I don’t wanna be old.”

Jungwon snorted and pressed a kiss to your forehead before reminding, “Two minutes.”

“I’m gonna blow up your base,” you threatened.

“Chill.”

But Jungwon knew that you were anticipating the clock striking midnight. He could see it in the way you kept peeking at his phone, the way you stiffened up when there were hardly seconds left until the hand reached twelve.

And when it did, your breath stilled.

“Happy birthday, Y/N,” Jungwon murmured with a smile.

You grinned up at him. “Thanks.” Your expression morphed into one of shock when your boyfriend reached over the arm of the couch to pull out a bouquet of pink flowers. He handed it to you, and your eyes widened. “What’s this?”

“Peonies,” he answered, and you had to narrow your eyes at him for him to elaborate, “I thought they were pretty, and peonies symbolize good fortune, too.”

“You think I’m good fortune?”

“Not really. You kind of have shit luck.”

“Hey!” you exclaimed, though there was a hint of a smile curling at your lips.

“But,” he continued, “you’re my good fortune.”

You sniffled once. It was endearing until you continued sniffling, wiping your eyes as tears started streaming down your cheeks. Jungwon smiled and tried to wipe them away with his thumb. You were just too cute in his eyes.

“Don’t tell me you’re getting emotional already,” he cooed. “This is only the beginning of what I had planned for your birthday.”

You blinked away the tears that welled up and gestured to the flowers. “I’m allergic.”

Oh.

Jungwon knew that. On your third or fourth date, he took you to the Conservatory of Flowers because he thought you would be amazed by the beauty. Instead, you had a sneezing fit and could hardly see anything because your eyes were far too watery.

“It’s so pretty, though,” you tried to say, mustering up the energy to hold the flowers up and smell them. Your voice broke when you tried to hold in your sniffles. “W-wow, so nice.”

Jungwon laughed and took the bouquet from you, setting it aside. He cupped your cheeks and wiped your tears properly.

Just like that, he leaned in slowly, leaving you frozen on the spot. Even though he was initiating such an intimate moment, Jungwon felt like he could hardly breathe. He opened his eyes to look at you before your lips met. His nose barely brushed yours, and he looked a touch bashful with red tinting his ears.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked.

You nodded, and Jungwon sealed his lips over yours. Your lips felt like slow, heart-tugging music that made his brain turn to mush. He was sure that you could pick up on how Jungwon had been waiting to do this for the longest time.

Jungwon didn’t believe in soulmates. He thought that each soul was unique to the individual, that no one needed another soul to complete them. With his hand intertwined with yours, however, he agreed that you two fit together. Souls could never match, but it was clear that yours and Jungwon’s filled out each other’s spaces.

There was nothing anymore. It was just you and Yang Jungwon.

“Ew,” a voice called from the hallway. “Get a room, you two.”

And Lee Heeseung, apparently.

“This is my house!” Jungwon exclaimed.

You stared blankly at Heeseung before looking back at Jungwon. “What’s he doing here?”

“Well, he was supposed to bring out the cake,” Jungwon grumbled. “I don’t know why he’s just standing around.”

“We didn’t know how to turn on the lighter,” Heeseung explained, “so Jay’s still working on it in the kitchen.”

“Wait,” you interjected, stopping him with one hand. “You guys were here the entire time?!”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

You turned to your boyfriend and whined, “Jungwon!”

“It was a surprise!” he defended.

“Happy birthday to you,” Jay started singing, and then the rest of Diamond League joined in at an awkward interval. All of their voices were at different pitches, making the whole song sound off. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Y/N, happy birthday to you!”

To Jungwon’s delight, you seemed to get over the fact that Heeseung witnessed your private moment once you saw the cake they made for you. You scooted off Jungwon’s lap to sit in front of the coffee table as Jay set the cake in front of you.

“Blow out the candles,” Sunghoon encouraged, “or I’ll blow—”

“Sunghoon,” Jake warned. He reached over and ruffled your hair, making you snicker. “Happy birthday, Y/N.”

Sunoo cupped his hand behind the flame of the candle so that you could blow it out, and everyone clapped for you as soon as the flame went out.

(“Blow game weak,” Riki coughed out and promptly got punched in the shoulder by you.)

“What’d you wish for?” Jay asked.

“I can’t tell,” you replied, “or it won’t come true.”

But Jungwon sort of already knew what you wished for because he was thinking the same thing.

With the way your eyes were shining as you looked up at him and all your friends, it was clear as day that you wanted this moment—this friendship—to last forever. Jungwon couldn’t agree more; there was nothing he wanted more than these precious moments with his best friends to continue.

He had no doubt that they would last forever.

(Spoiler: They did.)

END.

AUTHOR’S NOTE ▸ EPILOGUE SOOOO OVERDUE but it’s here !!! thank you for sticking around for this ending and thank you so much for reading diamond league <33 it’s so dear to me and i’m really glad you guys liked it :’) all the asks and comments i’ve gotten about it have always brightened my day so thank you for all the love! s/o to everyone who asked to be part of the tag list, it meant so much to me !! i hope you guys enjoyed this ride as much as i did & jungwon lesbian ♡

SUMMARY ▸ in which lee heeseung creates a minecraft server for his friends and all sorts of chaos ensues, including the budding romance between you and yang jungwon.

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CAN’T TAG ▸ @iconjaeyun @maknaechu @variwrites @wonjpg @drunkanddazedalways @jaemcaffe @chaersly @hwasooyoungie @bbangiez @leemione26 @saturn-navaeh @jennie-dazed @rikiinish @ikangeee @l0st1nserenity @nomurahayami @zigzag1166

#enhypen #enhypen imagines #enhypen smau #enhypen fluff #jungwon fluff #jungwon smau #jungwon imagines #yang jungwon #enhypen social media au #jungwon x reader #enhypen x reader #enhypen scenarios #the end <3 thank you for everything

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kens-double-sunglasses · 2 years ago

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Twst 3rdies when your card gets frauded

Trey

Damn

Also joined Ace's mob

To provide snacks and make sure nobody dies

10/10 mom friend

Cater

Live tweeting the mob (with selfies)

I joined a 16 year olds angry mob (not clickbait)

Just kinda there otherwise

Leona

Probably victim blames you and goes back to bed

"Well if you took better care of your card info"

Stfu Leona

Hate this man (affectionate)

Vil

Probably promoting debit card fraud awareness or something

Vague posting the whole thing

"Imagine signing up for a dating app AND using someone else's money for the fees"

I know I keep saying it but it's just so funny to me

If I don't laugh, I'll cry

Rook

^^^^ Rook and the Tweels

That's it, that's the Rook section

Idia

Who do you think gave Rook and the Leechs the location?

What fucking normie signs up for a dating web-

You know the line

Malleus

Pissed

Who would do this to his child of man????

Who is this cruel?

Now card fraud is on par with treason in the Briar valley

Angrier than you are

Probably why Sebek is as worked up as he is

Lilia

The only person who knows what the strike team is up to

The strike team is probably 3 degrees removed from his idea

Meaning he planted the idea in someone's head to plant the idea to plant the idea in someone else's head before the idea was finally planted to actually do it

Lilia > Azul > Idia > the actual dispatch of the strike team

Probably frauds the person back if they survive the team

Ortho

Chilling with you because he isn't absolutely insane like some of the others

Sets the person's house on fire to hide the evidence

BONUS

Crowley did it

And he isn't sorry

#disney twst #twst yuu #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland #twst

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nikakistos · 4 years ago

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The Perfect Closure of EreMika

The title is pure clickbait (as always), there will be lots of tags (as always) and this post will be huge. As always. So, let’s examine and evaluate the perfect conclusion of the most important relationship in Attack on Titan. We will analyze why this is the best conclusion they could have gotten and of course we are going to talk about what their scenes meant for their relationship, their feelings for each other and the themes of the story.

First, let’s ask the question: What was the purpose of this chapter? Ending the fight obviously, but also giving closure to the relationship between Eren and Mikasa. Now, there were 3 questions that needed to be answered in order for the two of them to have closure.

Why did Eren say to Mikasa that he hated her?

What does Eren feel for Mikasa?

What would have happened if Mikasa had given Eren a different answer back in chapter 123?

Isayama answered all 3 of them in a spectacular way. Let’s see how he did it. The chapter literally starts with Isayama, via Mikasa, setting up the closure. This was achieved by having her wonder if this really was the end for her and Eren. Could it be that their last interaction ever ended with him saying that he hated her?

Isayama answers that with a big, fat NO.

That’s the purpose of Mikasa’s vision. Mikasa’s vision is not there to introduce us to Alternate Universes or to portray her as a delusional fangirl that can’t cope with reality. It’s purpose is to answer the above 3 questions. And that it does.

Essentially, Mikasa’s vision is a “What if” scenario. If Mikasa had chosen the ideal for her answer back in chapter 123, Eren would have abandoned everything and lived with her. This means that Eren is also in love with her. He said that he hated Mikasa, because he wanted her to forget him. That’s why he also asked her to throw away the scarf.

Mikasa though, being the truest representation of all major, positive themes in the series says no. She chooses to remember him. That’s essentially the meaning of life. That’s what Armin taught to Zeke back in chapter 137. Memories of everyday life. That’s the meaning of life. Back in Trost, Mikasa said that she couldn’t die, because she wouldn’t be able to remember Eren. Even back then, Mikasa always knew the true meaning of life.

Afterall, the series heavily criticizes the usage of memory manipulation. Deleting memories or altering them have been methods empoyed by the Royal Family for years, hiding the truth from the people. One of the themes of the Survey Corps is remembering their fallen comrades and carrying on the torch. Mikasa forgetting Eren would be an insult to the themes of the story. As would be if Eren was revealed to have been sending fake memories and dreams to Mikasa out of pity for her.

Finally, Mikasa decides to kill Eren. Not because he hated her or because he didn’t have romantic feelings for her. Because she had to save the world and because that’s exactly what Eren wanted. Back in chapter 133 Reiner foreshadowed Eren’s desires. He explained that it is very hard for Eren, mentally, to handle the murder of the entire human race. Through Reiner, Isayama reveals that Eren wants someone to end it all for him. That someone was Mikasa. That’s why Mikasa knew where to find Eren. His relieved face when he saw her swinging the blade said it all. That was Eren’s design and Mikasa delivered.

And so, the chapter that starts with Mikasa thinking that the only closure she would get with Eren was the “I’ve always hated you”, ends with the first and the last kiss between the two of them that puts all of her worries to rest.

Is Mikasa delusional?

I’ve seen this being thrown around, so i have to also tackle said point. No, Mikasa is not delusional. This wasn’t a fantasy that only she experienced. This dream of hers is the same dream that Eren had back in chapter 1. Eren experienced the exact same things she did in the dream. We even see him with his titan marks. It is clear as day that they shared these moments.

Also, i have to give credits to Isayama here for his usage of “itterasshai”. The word generally means “Go and come back safely” and is usually said to people leaving the house. For Mikasa, Eren is her home, but she is also home for him, as shown in the RtS arc:

These were the perfect parting words for the two of them. Nothing else could encapsulate their relationship better. Eren of course, won’t come back, but that’s the irony of the word here.

Moving on to the next point, Mikasa’s characterization in this final arc is about her seeing Eren for the person he truly is and stop ignoring his faults. It starts from the Marley arc and it concludes with chapter 123 where she realizes that this was simply part of Eren’s nature.

He always had it in him to become the monster that he became. However, he always had a different side to him. A side that had been shown to her a few times. At first, when he wrapped the scarf around her and later when he asked her “What am i to you”. Finally, it manifested as a desire to live quietly with her in their shared dream. It would contradict her development and characterization in the final arc, to have Mikasa start seeing an incomplete Eren again, after realizing earlier who he really was. Mikasa understood who Eren truly is and she accepted him and continued to love him anyway, even though she didn’t agree with his genocide.

It is not out of character for Eren to run away with her either. At least not in that instance. The series highlights the moment that he asked Mikasa “What am i to you” as a pivotal one. Sure, under normal circumstances, Eren would have chosen to fight, but we saw him breaking down just moments earlier. The only person that could have saved him was Mikasa. Alas, that wasn’t meant to happen.

In any instance, the biggest indicator that Mikasa is not just a delusional girl who kissed the decapitated head of the man she loved, when he never really loved her in the same way, is Ymir’s face at the end of the chapter.

Ymir, as i have mentioned in previous posts, is a girl who never knew real love during her lifetime. She didn’t understand what she was looking at, when she first say a couple kissing with their friends cheering them on. And after that she was sentenced to a cruel life, with a man who never loved her and only viewed her as a tool. This girl, remembers longinly that scene of the couple kissing for 2000 years. She was waiting for 2000 years to see real love again.

She witnessed that through Eren and Mikasa. In a scene that would have otherwise been painted in a negative light, Ymir’s warm smile at the sight of the final act of love between two people who never got to be together the way they wanted to, clears any and all doubts regarding Eren’s feelings for Mikasa and the latter’s sanity. Eren reciprocates Mikasa’s feelings and he was alive for enough time to kiss her back, before completely fading away. Eren and Mikasa replaced the married couple and Ymir replaced the crowd that was cheering at them from 2000 years ago.

Of course, one might ask, could Eren really kiss her? Didn’t she just take advantage of him? No, he did kiss her. The way the scene was directed, it shows us that the events, which take place in their dream, mirror the events in real life. Just look at Eren’s lips one moment before Mikasa kissed him and compare them to the picture above, where they kiss. They are different.

Also, you have to remeber that decapitation doesn’t kill immediately and does not immobilize facial muscles. That was the entire reason that Eren and Zeke managed to get the Coordinate. Eren survived long enough from Gabi’s shot to make contact with Zeke. Even his facial expression changes as you can see below:

More importantly, was there really any chance that Ymir would look at Mikasa beheading and kissing Eren, while also smiling in approval, if Mikasa was a delusional girl who was unable to understand Eren’s feelings for her up to the very end? Most of all, do you think she would have allowed him to die, without experiencing real love? She died in such a way and she stayed for 2000 years in the Paths waiting for someone to show her real love. Eren was her benefactor. Would she ever allow him to die in such a way, when she was being mistreated (sexually and in many other ways) by King Fritz? I doubt it. Actually no. I don’t doubt it. I’m sure this is not the way we are meant to interprete the scene.

Eren’s relationship with Mikasa, from the very start, is an allegory for the world of AoT. The world is cruel, but is also very beautiful. Eren’s story with Mikasa starts with him murdering in cold blood her kidnappers (cruelty) and then warmly and gently welcoming her to his family by wrapping a scarf around her (beauty). Their story ends with Mikasa decapitating him (cruelty) and kissing him (beauty).

Eren’s tendency for violence has always been portrayed as going hand in hand with his better side. That side has always been represented by Mikasa. It is only fitting for them to have their most beautiful moment happening almost at the same time as their most cruel one. This is how Isayama juxtaposes this duality:

If we interprete this scene as Mikasa being delusional and Eren not being in love with her we get a very disturbing and creepy scene, between an obsessed, psychosis-suffering girl who can’t understand the feelings of Eren, a genocidal maniac who never had any chance or willingness to live a normal life, even though there are hints of that, and a 2000 year old ghost who just happily smiled at the decapitation and forceful kissing of her emancipator. I am pretty sure this is not the message Isayama wants to send. Not simply, because it is a disservice to Mikasa as a character and to her relationship with Eren, which has been one of the most prominent and consistent part of the series from the very first chapter, but because it is also a huge disrespect to Eren as a character as well. Does anyone really think that Isayama would choose to write Eren’s death like that? Not a single important person in the entire story has gotten such an exit. Not even Floch. Even Zeke, who thought that his father never loved him and only used him as a tool, got to see that his father truly did love him, before finally dying. Of course Eren and Mikasa would get the same treatment.

What i mean to say is that Eren and Mikasa’s closure won’t be recontextualized in a way that will paint their feelings for one another and their relationship in a negative light. If anyone’s expecting that, he/she will be disappointed. Eren and Mikasa were confirmed as a canonical couple in chapter 138.

On the other hand, if anyone’s expecting that this wasn’t their real closure and that they will get an even happier ending, he/she is also coping hard. Eren died here in this chapter. There won’t be a scarf rewrap (i’m here to eat my words if it happens), because Isayama gave the couple a kiss. A kiss that was in the makings ever since chapter 50 dropped. And of course, there is not going to be a baby born to Eren and Mikasa. Like, no way it’s happening. Eren is not coming back to life as that would turnish the series and it’s ending.

In conclusion, Eren’s relationship with Mikasa ended in the same way it started. Violently and Beautifully. Tragically and Happily. They acted on their romantic feelings for each other the very moment they had to part ways forever. This is how Isayama hurts us. The essence of a bittersweet conclusion.

EDIT: EATING MY WORDS AS PROMISED. EREN DID REWRAP MIKASA’S SCARF. HE KEPT HIS PROMISE.

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sour--disposition · 4 years ago

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Across The Miles

harry lewis x fem!reader

please check my masterlist to see if my requests are open

(gif from the amazing @sdmngifs)

You stepped off the plane and were met with the dreary skies that seemed to always plague England. Simon had told you he and JJ would meet you outside of the baggage claim to help you with your bags and take you home.

As soon as you’d wrestled your cases off of the conveyer belt, you walked towards the big exit sign, looking very much like you’d just stepped off of a long haul flight. Donned in sweats and a Sidemen Clothing hoodie with a travel pillow hung around your neck, you weren’t going to be winning any fashion awards any time soon.

“Y/N!”, JJ and Simon called from the other side of the large arrivals hall. You grinned, waving manically at them as you walked over as quick as you could. You dropped you hand luggage down next to your cases and flung your arms around both of them.

“I’ve missed you guys!”, you smiled up at them once they’d released you. “I can’t thank you enough for giving me this opportunity. And letting me live with you guys? I mean... there isn’t enough words to thank you!”, you gushed.

You’d met Simon, JJ and the rest of the Sidemen at the 2017 Upload event and had stayed in touch with them ever since. You’d been planning on moving in together for quite a while, but finding a time when the three of you were free enough to facilitate moving an entire human and her belongings across the Atlantic Ocean was harder than first imagined, but the minute that the three of you had decent schedules, flights were booked, you’d handed your notice in for your apartment in New York and started packing up your things.

By the time you’d been moved into the spare room, your room, it was nearing 5pm. “We were thinking about grabbing dinner with the rest of the guys? They’ve all missed you and I know Freya and Talia are dying to see you”, Simon said from the door frame.

“Yeah, sounds good”, you smiled from where you sat on the floor, surrounded by your clothes as you tried to organise them.

“You don’t have to do it all in one go. Why don’t you grab a shower and get changed and then you can have another go at this once were back from dinner?”, Simon suggested, the exhaustion from the day beginning to become clear on your face. You nodded, putting down whatever it was you were trying and failing to fold and took yourself off for a shower.

Of course, the guys took you to Nando’s. With there only being a handful of the restaurants in America, and none in New York, you made a point of going whenever you were in the UK. “Are you excited to see Harry?”, Simon poked at you from the drivers seat, glancing back at you in the rearview mirror.

“Wait, what!?”, JJ exclaimed from the passenger seat, struggling to turn around and face you in his seat. “What’s this then?”, he pestered, reaching out to shove against your knee.

“It’s nothing”, you said pointedly, glaring at Simon.

“Oi, so Simon knows and I don’t? Bit unfair”, JJ sassed, pulling a face at you.

“Simon knows nothing”, you told JJ. “He’s getting ideas in his head that I haven’t said anything about”, you said, eyeing Simon again.

“So, was I just supposed to ignore one of my best friends’ names popping up, literally non-stop, on one of my other best friend’s phone?”, Simon quipped, raising an eyebrow. “I’m just saying what I see, is all”, he shrugged.

“Okay, sue me, I’ve stayed in touch with Harry. Have you guys forgotten that I’ve literally just moved into the same city as all of you and your friends?”, you snipped.

Simon grumbled in defeat, all whilst JJ’s eyes followed the back and forth between the two of you. He sat there with a massive grin on his face, and you just knew that he wasn’t going to leave this alone over dinner.

When you walked into the restaurant, you were greeted by a round of hugs from all the guys, being given the eye by Simon and JJ when you looped your arms around Harry’s frame. You were hugged by Talia and Freya as well, when the guys finally let you go.

“It’s so good to finally see you again in person”, Freya beamed. “Discord and twitch just don’t do it after being friends for this long”, she pouted, eliciting a laugh from both you and Talia.

The group sat down at the table, smaller groups of people all chattering amongst themselves. “How was your flight?”, Harry asked from the opposite side of the table.

“It wasn’t too bad, I’m kinda used to it now, I guess? I mean, 8 hours is 8 hours so it was pretty dull, but I managed to get a few movies in”, you smiled.

“Oh yeah?”, he asked. “What did you watch? Am I gonna be disappointed?”, he asked you with a laugh.

“Of course you’ll be disappointed, you don’t like watching films”, you laughed happily. “I finally started chipping away at my Disney plus watchlist, so I watched Up and both of the Incredibles films”, you told him.

You kept chatting with Harry, along with Ethan, who was next to Harry, and Vik, who was next to you, until your food came. Once people had plates in front of them, chatter died down significantly, only the occasional comment here and there made itself known.

“He likes you too, you know”, Simon commented as he drove the three of you home. You’d been bundled into the backseat, wrapped up in JJ’s jacket as you were practically falling asleep on Vik’s shoulder.

“No, he doesn’t, Simon”, you denied sleepily, eyes drifting closed as you rested your head against the cold glass of the window.

“And how do you know that? He doesn’t even know that you like him, so how could he have turned you down?”, Simon asked.

“Because he’s Harry. I’m just some small timer from New York that you guys seemed to adopt after Upload”, you told him. “Look. I’ll get over it, I just need you to stop bringing it up so that I can actually forget about it and ignore the mushy feelings”.

As soon as Simon pulled the car to a stop, you climbed out and started making your way to the lift. You leaned heavily against the wall of the lift as it hurtled the three of you up to your floor. “Thanks for the coat, Jide”, you smiled tiredly, hanging the jacket up on a hook by the door. “I love you and all that, but I’m off to bed. My eyes are melting”, you groaned, waving your hand roughly in the direction of your room. Simon and JJ only laughed at you, wishing you a good night as you trudged down the hallway.

What you’d quite easily admitted in your half awake state wasn’t mentioned again, much to your relief. You got on with filming you ‘I’ve moved house!?’ videos and ‘Guess who I live with?’ clickbait titles. You started streaming more with the the girls, since you were finally in their timezone, and even dropped into the occasional Among Us stream with whoever was playing that night.

You settled into life in London well. You were surrounded by your friends and you doing what you loved with the people you loved. You’d felt more at home in the short months you’d lived in London than you ever had in New York. There was only one problem, though...

The Harry situation hadn’t resolved itself.

Which is why, when Simon came and asked you if you’d be in a video where he sets you up on a blind date, you couldn’t see a reason to turn it down. Worst case scenario, the date went horribly and Simon got a funny video of it. It wasn’t like you’d ever had to see the guy again.

You sat in front of the camera with Simon. “So, before I can send you on this blind date, I need to know what to look for”, he said.

“Erm - someone who’s funny, easy to get along with, can take a joke. Someone who won’t be intimidated or annoyed about me having quite a few male friends, someone who’s supportive of my career...”, you listed, trailing off when you realised who that described to a tee.

“And what do I need to avoid?”, Simon asked. If he had noticed any similarities of your description to Harry, he chose to keep his mouth shut about it.

“Someone thats going to be ashamed of me and my career or is going to want me to take my attention away from Youtube and Twitch. It’s one of the most important things in my life and I love what I do for a living and I’m so lucky that I get to do this for a living, so avoid someone that’s going to try and come between me and that, I guess”, you told Simon.

You knew that you weren’t going to find the love of your life doing this. It was more than likely going to be another single youtuber that Simon had roped into his video with the promise of a great video title and some decent content. But it would be nice to get dressed up nice and have an evening away from editing software or your stream deck.

Simon had told you where to go and when, he’d also told you to dress “all nice like”. He’d set the date up at a cocktail bar that you’d been wanting to visit since you’d moved to London. You only agreed to it once you confirmed that the expenses would be on him because top shelf liquor was on the bottom shelf in this place.

You picked out a dark green satin dress and paired it with some strappy silver heels. You took advantage of the opportunity and filmed yourself getting ready so that if things didn’t go too horrifically, you could post a ‘get ready for my blind date with me’.

Sitting down and chatting to the camera as you got ready took longer than you’d expected. You were rushing around, stressing about your Uber not being there quick enough to get you to the bar in time.

“I’ll drop you off”, JJ offered, already heading over to pick his keys up. “And that way, if he’s a weirdo, you don’t have to worry about waiting for another car to come get you”.

You climbed into the Porsche, thanking JJ for what might have been the fiftieth time since leaving the apartment. “You can stop saying thank you, Y/N. I offered”, he chuckled as he drove out of the parking garage. “You look lovely tonight, whoever Simon’s got you set up with is lucky”, he told you, sending you a genuine smile.

“Thank you, Jide”, you smiled. The rest of the car journey was shrouded in a comfortable silence, disrupted only by the radio. “I think it’s just around this corner”, you said, pointing out of the front window.

JJ pulled up by the bar and came around to help you out of the car, causing you to laugh. “You don’t have to escort me in, J”, you told him lightly. “Why are you acting like an over-protective dad?”, you whispered to him in a giggle.

“Just trust me”, he told you, rolling his eyes softly.

You kept your arm looped through JJ’s as he walked you down the pavement. As you neared the entrance to the bar, you saw a figure standing outside, looking around nervously. That must be him.

“Harry?”, you asked. You turned to JJ, “I think there’s been a mistake. I’m supposed to be on a blind date”.

“Surprise, I think”, Harry said awkwardly, scratching his arm.

“Look after her, Harry”, JJ told him sternly. JJ dropped a kiss to the side of your forehead. “Call me or Simon if either of you need anything, yeah?”, he said before he turned and walked back to his car, leaving you and Harry alone.

“I promise I’ll say something, I think I’m just still trying to process what’s going on”, you laughed awkwardly, fiddling with the strap of your clutch in your hands.

“I can maybe clear things up over a drink? Simon’s paying”, Harry said lightly, reaching his hand out to you. You smiled and nodded, letting him take your hand in his and guide you into the bar.

Once you’d got your drinks, Harry lead you to the terrace garden out the back. It was decorated with flowers and muted fairy lights, making for quite the romantic atmosphere. Harry pulled the tall chair out for you and held his hand out to help you up before walking to the other side of the table and sitting opposite you.

“I - uh. Basically, I asked Simon’s advice on how to ask you out and he said that whenever he brought me up around you, you shut him down. So he came up with this idea. I totally get it if you want JJ to come back and pick you up after this drink, I just couldn’t not try... at least once”, Harry said, sounding dejected as he finished.

You put your hand over Harry’s that rested on the table. “I won’t be calling JJ, Harry. I’m over the moon to be here”, you told him with a smile. “I only kept shutting Simon down because he’s been trying to interfere since the day I landed in London. I was convinced that you wouldn’t like me so I just tried to... I don’t know... get over it, I guess”, you told him. You could feel the blush creeping up your cheeks as you spoke, hoping it wasn’t too obvious.

“Why wouldn’t I?”, Harry asked quietly, rubbing his fingers over the back of your hand absentmindedly as he did.

“Are you kidding? You’re part of one of the biggest youtube groups, have a successful youtube channel, you’ve been someone for so long. And I’m just... what? A newbie who got adopted by the big boys in London. I never thought you could”, you said, voice dropping to a whisper.

“Y/N, you’re amazing”, Harry boasted. “You’re an amazing streamer and your youtube content is quality. Okay so I’ve been uploading longer? And? It doesn’t mean anything, Y/N. And believe it or not, I like the you I see off camera, you know”, Harry said shyly.

“I guess I owe Simon an apology then”, you smiled at Harry, who took your hand in his.

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commonwealthoccurences · 3 years ago

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The Quiet Comprehending of the Ending Of It All

Note: Y’all ever write something a little too relatable and projecting? Anyways, no specific Sole backstory other than the fact that they existed Pre-War. Word-vomity, but I'm getting back into the swing of writing (:

CW: Derealization/dissociation, existentialism. Heavily heavily inspired by Bo Burnham’s That Funny Feeling and nods to modern day events.

“Is it weird for me to feel at home in the Wasteland?”

Preston started, an eyebrow raised at the question. He had been born in the Wasteland: it wasn’t unusual for him to feel at home in the desolate landscape, but he supposed Sole’s situation was entirely different. After a moment of musing, thinking over the abrupt changes that had been thrust onto them, the way they were forced into something anyone would consider hellish compared to their previous circumstances, Preston came to the conclusion that it did seem pretty odd for Sole to have settled in like the Commonwealth was where they always belonged. “It’s not really up to me to determine whether or not how you feel is odd, but I can’t imagine not missing your past life. From what you’ve told me, at least,” Preston said.

Sole hummed, shoulders hunched forward. They sat on the wall overlooking the river of Sanctuary, staring into the water, watching the light dance over the surface. They were at ease, elbows resting on their thighs, kept company by someone they knew would always be by their side. “I don’t know.” There was a beat of silence. “This is gonna sound weird, but… coming out of the vault, seeing the way the land had changed… it felt like I just had my expectations realized, you know?”

He didn’t. He had no idea how they could expect to come out of the vault and take the destruction of their world in stride, how they could expect such a thing. Preston told them just that, honestly, drawing a laugh out of Sole.

Before the war, before everything had turned to ash and irradiated dust and the buildings crumbled like a gingerbread house, Sole had felt a sort of quiet anticipation lodged in their chest, between their ribs, nagging at them. It whispered when they joined friends and family in celebrations. Annual backyard barbeques marked the years stepping closer to what felt like an inevitable collapse. Weekly visits to their favorite coffee shop left them with a bittersweet melancholy, the habit like putting down a mark for every visit they had left. They weren’t naive. They watched the news, talked over the current political climate, and observed the way the world was changing.

Sole could pinpoint the exact moment it set in. They had their feet kicked up, having just ended a conversation with a friend about the way the paint was chipping off their patio set, and had changed the subject about how they wanted to see the Pacific Ocean before they died. It had always been a goal of theirs, and they could never put a specific reason to it; it just was. Their friend had thrown their head back, laughed, nudged Sole’s shoulder, and said, “At this rate, the Pacific Ocean will make it here and you won’t even have to travel to go see it. You’ll open your door and it’ll be there waiting for you.”

They didn’t have it in them to give more than an obligatory chuckle. They stared down into their drink and felt the hollow, anticipatory feeling make its home in them for the first time. Suddenly, everything around them was too colorful, too bright. Overwhelmingly plastic. Their friend’s face was borderline unrecognizable and they felt no connection to a world that was so doomed to fall apart in front of their very eyes.

From that day forward, Sole found it difficult to accept their place in a space so temporary. They saw the clickbait headlines on the news. The world is ending, don’t you know? the reporters conveyed, are you ready? Sole knew. Your space here is temporary! Count down the years! the weather screamed. Sole knew. I’ll see you when the war’s over, their friend promised as the announcement of another bomb being dropped came through. They were leaving overseas. Sole knew better.

And then it was over with a snap, the press of buttons, the falling of nuclear missiles, the rush to a vault. Climbing in the cryo-chamber felt like the first real steps they had taken in years, the cold rushing in and the realization that they were done was a promise they were willing to keep.

In a flash, Sole was awake again and had stumbled their way through the deserted vault and to the surface and they finally could recognize their surroundings. The acrid sting of the air in their lungs felt real. They fell to their knees, legs weak from a lack of use, and finally felt the sharpness of dislodged stones digging into their skin. This was the other shoe dropping; it had finally happened. There was nothing else to hold anticipation in their chest, the way their world pre-war had. It was over.

They could fully admit that the melancholy stuck to them like glue, despite the relief of the end having come and gone. It returned when they saw the shattered ads for products once considered necessary, now useless and extinct. But it was easier to mourn than to hold out for hope, and over the course of their first few months in the new world, they found themself letting go of a life they hadn’t quite fit into.

Sole told this to Preston, explaining that they were simply waiting for the unavoidable most of their life. He took a moment to process; it was bizarre enough that Sole had taken everything in stride, but the fact that they had been waiting for something that every member of the Commonwealth wished they could escape from was something else entirely.

When Preston looked over at them, they were swinging their legs, and he swore he could almost see the lack of weight they were talking about; a tired relief, and a knowing unique to Sole themself. He reached over and clapped them on the shoulder before tugging them closer. Sole leaned over with a relieved sigh and pressed their shoulder into his, resting their head against him as they looked up at the sky.

It had been so difficult to go through life pre-war, knowing that it was all for naught. Their job, their gatherings, their laughter and tears were all a way to pass the time till the end of the world. Even their anger at tragedy felt watered down, diluted with the idea of it’s not like it matters anyway bouncing around in their skull.

But now? Now they woke up in the morning and knew that this was it. The world would continue spinning, bruised, scarred, and burnt, but there nonetheless. Their crops would come in and there were mouths to feed, friends to protect and love. And it was still temporary; death was somehow even more real, but it didn’t feel useless anymore.

Sole breathed out and gently pushed against Preston. I’m here, their movement whispered, we’re real. How cool is that? Preston pushed back, a quiet laugh leaving him at their antics. I’m glad you’re here, against all odds.

#Fallout 4 #Fo4 #CW: Derealization #Fanfiction #Fanfic #Oneshot #Imagine #Sole Survivor #SoSu #Preston Garvey

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centrally-unplanned · 4 years ago

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Allocating Your Aesthetic Budget: Sailor Moon Edition

Sailor Moon is a show that undoubtedly built a powerhouse of a visual brand. Should I even bother posting a screenshot of the sailor scouts, given that I am 100% confident anyone reading this can recall them instantly? I guess it won’t hurt:

Anime is often really good at creating iconic designs like this, through repetition of the visuals. It is awkward in live action shows if characters just wear the same outfit every scene (what, they only own one outfit? Are they homeless/work in the tech industry?), but animation gives us enough aesthetic “distance”, an awareness that this isn’t accurate to real life, that you can buy into the conceit. By wearing the same outfit every time, it just becomes the character. Not to mention a studio can really save quite a few bucks by streamlining production with neat tricks like having only one character design to animate - when you are on a shoe-string budget, like pretty much every anime in the 90’s was, every cut corner counts.

What is interesting about Sailor Moon is that most of the time it doesn’t really use this conceit at all.

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Episode 15 of Sailor Moon’s first season has, in its opening act, this shot of all of the Senshi (at the time) talking to the plot-of-the-day character, who clearly trains rock Pokemon in 16-bit caves in his off hours:

If you knew nothing about these three characters, you could probably infer about 80% of their personality just from their outfits. Usagi (the blond one in the middle, if that's necessary) is wearing:

Light pastel colours, with pink on top of that: girly, feminine, bubbly and breezy

Short-but-not-too-short of a skirt, and red heels: cares about fashion, wants to project an image of being a woman with a romantic hint to it

Long-twin tails w/ buns: Contrasting the shoes, she is still immature and childish. It also means she is the protagonist of an anime

Rei (far right) rocks a very different look:

T-shirt and jean shorts, shoes over heels: sensible, practical, a bit sporty

Very short shorts, long black hair: Confident, a bit aggressive, and suggestive of a more overt sexuality

Ami (far left) settles into a more restrained vibe with:

Full, long, but sleeveless dress, bob-cut hair: Chaste, more conservative, but not to the point of prudishness; particularly with the length (and the hand posture, shielding her body) probably a bit shy

Monochrome blue colour in outfit & hair: reserved, serene, possessing a calm demeanor

I know I have seen the show already, but really none of these details are a stretch - this is just the language of fashion. And all of these outfits are outfits that the characters have never (or rarely) worn before up until this point. The cast of Sailor Moon, far from that animation conceit of “standard outfits”, change clothes all…

the….

time.

I just randomly clicked on episodes to find these, it requires no hunting

And while it isn’t always as spot on as the top picture, they all in some way embody the language of visual design to speak to the personality of the characters. If you want to see more, check out one of the multiple tumblrs dedicated to the everyday clothing the Sailor Senshi wear, because of course those exist.

If this was a 2010’s Kyoto Animation show, pointing this out would be the end of it - every one of their shows has this level of impeccable detail. Sailor Moon is notable in that it is not at all that kind of show; the animation and designs in Sailor Moon take perpetual shortcuts to get the job done. I don’t think the transformation sequences need to be belabored - the way they permitted the team to recycle identical animation sequences, multiple times per episode, was surely a godsend to the production schedule. Yet not all of the budget limitations are so prettily masked:

I’m sure they finished the background art in the...VHS release?

The show is filled with dirty animation, unfinished backgrounds, backgrounds that are a simple color gradient for no clear reason, and so on. It is clear that the Sailor Moon team did not have the resources for every detail - which is why the decision of what details they did choose to prioritize is so interesting.

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What is the point of Sailor Moon? I do believe that shows have “points”; and by that I don’t mean a message or theme but a core appeal to an audience, something specific that they will get out of the show. Almost every show appeals along multiple axes, and Sailor Moon is no exception, but I want to focus on one: aesthetic identification.

If you learn someone is a Sailor Moon fan, there is the obvious follow-up question you have to ask, namely “which Sailor Senshi are you?” It’s the which-Harry-Potter-house-are-you question of anime, a horoscope where you can choose your sign (in this case literally). The premise of this concept is not hard for media to execute on - it is just personality traits and aesthetics grouped together under a label, a basic building block of media and clickbait internet quizzes. Harry Potter, ironically, raised up its memetic question almost by accident, as its focus is so squarely on House Gryffindor that the others are almost forgotten; it was just so mind-bogglingly popular that it didn’t matter.

Sailor Moon, however, takes this concept and allocates so much of its aesthetic budget into making it a centerpiece of the show. Sailor Moon herself is a klutzy, lazy romantic, Sailor Mercury is a shy, earnest bookworm, and so on, with none of them ever really becoming very complex characters. However, the show devotes itself to making you *feel* these archetypes as strongly and intricately as possible. All of those outfit changes are chosen because not only do real girls care about their outfits and can therefore identify more strongly with characters who do the same, but so they can constantly emulate their archetype in diverse, different ways. The show doesn't have the budget for intense action scenes, so after Sailor Moon engages in her hyper-serious transformation sequences, she proceeds to, nearly every time, bumble through the combat scenes like this:

Oh sure, the scenes are done this way because it is funny (and good comedy can be done on any budget - these shots are frequently still frames with motion lines!), but it is also done this way because Sailor Moon is a total screw-up, and if you identify with that it is validating to see someone “just like you” able to pull off wins despite it all. The transformation sequences are not only beautiful animation that showcases aspirational power, but are also crafted to highlight the personalities of the Senshi in question - unless you think aggressive, combative Rei got fire powers by coincidence. Half of the run-time of every episode is spent, not on the plot du-jour, but on light-hearted personal squabbles between the cast because those scenes are not just funny, but also allow for far more moments of character expression.

All of that work pays off in building with the audience, not a connection with a character who reflects their identity in total, but a connection that reflects one aspect of their identity in an extremely deep (dare I say multifaceted?) way. I think if you were to describe Sailor Moon as a “shallow” show, you would actually be right to say so, in a sense. These characters will never have the true depth of personality, themes and so on of a more ‘adult’ show. But those adult shows have to spend their effort somewhere - for all that the themes of say Evangelion or Paranoia Agent are pristinely detailed and impactful, you aren’t ever going to be memorizing the moves of their transformation sequences. The way Sailor Moon committed so strongly to fleshing out the archetypes the Senshi stood for is, I think, one of the keys to how this cast of five became so iconic.

Not even their school uniforms match! They had to spend time in-universe *justifying* this!

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A Final Note:

At least, everything I’ve said here applies to Sailor Moon at its peaks. The show, however, is not one without its stumbles, even in Season 1. This section doesn’t flow into the core essay too well, but I wanted to note it because if you were to watch Sailor Moon today, you might struggle to feel the dynamic outlined above. The biggest culprit here is the length - Season 1 is 46 episodes long, and sections of it most certainly drag. They also take a startlingly long time to introduce the cast - this choice builds tension around their arrival, but it also means the later Senshi get a lot less time to establish themselves. Sailor Venus in particular gets hamstrung by this - she is introduced and then immediately arc plot elements sweep the narrative, and so she is left as a hollow shell for some time. The pacing of the show is undoubtedly flawed.

I think Sailor Moon is a show that you do have to keep its time and place in mind for - namely, middle schoolers and anime nerds watching it on broadcast TV in the 90’s. As an adult you “get” the point of the show pretty quickly, and get satiated on it almost as fast. Watching it all in a few sittings only heightens this problem. For a younger audience, and one that is waiting for a week between episodes with no internet for plot reminders, all that extra time is needed to jog memories and build connections. And younger audiences just have that limitless commitment to the things they love! If you think no one could actually enjoy seeing the same transformation sequence for the 30th time, watch it with someone who would have died for this show when they were 10 and you will be disabused of that notion *very* quickly.

Still, we can’t travel back in time - Sailor Moon is a show of its era. There are “filler-reduced” guides out there, though I caution that the plot of Sailor Moon is absolutely not the point of the show in comparison to the character dynamics, and so sometimes the filler is the best part (Cat-Rhett Butler is the best character in the show YOU KNOW I’M RIGHT). Certainly, however, some method must be used to cut down on its length. If you are going to be a first time viewer in adulthood, that reality should be kept in mind, and if you do accept it for what it is you can really appreciate its core appeal - and don’t forget to finish it off with a 1990′s era internet personality quiz to really wrap it up!

#essay #anime analysis #sailor moon

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msgrumpygills · 4 years ago

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I gotta say, the more relatable the Pads try to seem, the more they piss people off.

I am a mother two. My husband constantly works to keep us afloat and I take side jobs when I can as long as it works with my kid's school schedules because we can't afford child care. I don't have multiple nannies to watch my kids or help with housework and you know what? I don't complain about how hard it is. It's the life I chose to have. I don't expect praise for doing what I am supposed to do. My husband works 5 days a week and when he isn't working, he's spending time with us. Sometimes he'll even take the kids off my hands for a few hours so I can get a break because that's what a good father and husband does. When he posts about them on social media, it's always talking about how grateful he is to spend the time with them that he does get to spend. And we all get on each other's nerves. The kids drive both of us crazy and we drive each other crazy, but we don't try and pretend like we're perfect. We're a typical family.

A family who can afford to have staff on hand at all times, a mother who never has to worry about bills and education, who never has to feel guilty for taking a few minutes to herself because she knows someone else is there to take care of whatever she's putting off, a mother who has time to do anything other than provide for her spouse and her children...a father who spends all his free time away from home, who complains about how hard it is to be around his kids, a man who praises his wife for all that she does without acknowledging that she has help, all while pretending that they are perfect...that's not a family, that's Hollywood.

Pictire perfect doesn't exist and anyone with a brain knows that. If they want to peddle their crap they need to stop trying so hard and be real for once because, lets be honest, you cant live off the money of adoring fans forever. People lose interest in thing over time and Walker isn't exactly thriving. Eventually the spn crowd is going to fizzle out (of course there will still be those few who stay forver) and a handful of people emptying their pockets to line theirs isn't enough to keep their lifestyle. People don't want to see perfect and they sure as hell don't want to listen to people with more money than anyone needs and help around every corner complain about how hard life is for them. And sure? Celebrities have struggles, but those struggles are not on the same level as the people they're trying to relate to. People definitely don't want to keep shelling out their hard earned money give to a celebrity so that celebrity can donate a portion of it to a charity when thay celebrity has more than enough to reach the goal that they set on their own.

I hope they wake up to reality soon. Otherwise they're gonna end up like the rest of us and as much as I would pay to see that wake up call, i don't wish that kind of abrupt life change on those children (being raised by parents who don't know how to function without gobs of money and never had to raise them alone could be seriously damaging)

I want to say that I commend you and admire you so much! I can’t imagine the strength and willpower it takes to do what you do, and if no one has told you today, you are so appreciated! <3

Your family is the exact type that Jared and Gen are trying to portray. They wanna paint themselves as the hardworking parents that work so hard to support and take care of their three kids and how Gen is a hero for doing it all on her own while Jared is winning that bread. They’re definitely actors playing a role here and their “family” is as authentic as Jared’s sobriety.

I think by trying to be relatable, they just make asses of themselves. Everyone knows they have a staff of help, but Gen acts like she has to fight to get time to herself. Jared acts like seeing his kids is the worst thing on the planet and he makes sure everyone knows it. Like I said, some parents joke around about the kids driving them insane, but it’s not every single post. On top of that, those parents who make those jokes once in a while are present all the time, they’re with the kids, they appreciate their kids, they don’t pop in for the weekly dad appearance and then complain about it the whole time. Jared might think he’s being cute and relatable, but he looks like an asshole.

I don’t know if anyone else here ever watched Wife Swap, but I would LOVE to see the Pads swap lives with an actual family who has actual problems. They would implode. I think you’re right about the kids, they’re the ones who are going to suffer ultimately, more than they probably already are. Their father is barely there (I wanna say Jared brought that up about his kids not really knowing him? Maybe it was someone else so don’t quote me on that.) and when he is there, he acts like he can’t get away fast enough. He just pops in for the staged “family goals” pictures and then shovels the kids back onto the nannies so he can go act like a 20-something college kid. Their mother only pays attention to them when she needs them to pose for her charade of happy family on instagram. When she doesn’t need them, she’s shilling them onto the nannies so she can go have “me time” which she certainly doesn’t get enough of, being unemployed and letting ghost writers take care of her passion projects. When she should be a caring mother, she monetizes it. Nothing is genuine and you can tell that the kids are getting tired of being the performing monkeys for her clickbait social media posts.

I’d hope that Jared has some money stored away and has invested it well so they’ll be prepared for when Supernatural fizzles out and when Walker (hopefully sooner than later) dies out. Gen won’t be able to jet around the country and buy clothes that are as much as car payments, and Jared won’t have the extra money to go blow on weekend getaways and traveling to anywhere that isn’t his compound. They might even have to downsize and what are they gonna do without their 3 gyms, tennis court, pool and guest house?

I hope they get a wake-up call or snap out of it, but I don’t see that ever happening with these people.

#grumpy answers #anti genevieve #jared padalecki #Anonymous

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rebelpeas · 3 years ago

Note

sending this again so u can post it if you'd like!

hello dearest rebelpeas. it is i, fifteen_pounds from ao3 and i have come to bare my heart, soul, and excessively long notes app about devil town. this is updated as of ch 12, enjoy:

DEVIL TOWN

weird dreams list

• techno - tommy dream (2) and arguably the forest (multiple)

• quackity - forest dream

• karl quackity bad dream buddies (same night)

just going places (woods) and not remembering

• quackity

• karl

-> update! he's possessed by the forest

• techno my man

forest fuckery

• weird dreams (techno quackity)

• quackity is a tree (quackitree)

• tubbo forest related trauma

• karl quackity techno show up there sometimes smile

• tommy there question mark

• ranboo spawned there (potential)

• karl tried to kill? sacrifice? drag? quackitree into the woods

• can read minds

• maybe the forest is simply collecting boys and who are we to disobey its leafy, boy-oriented will

• gun? gun bullet someone else who isnt karl in the woods potentially?

-> maybe thats where ranboo went hes on a boy hunting exccursion

church

• murder site (or not)

• ppl live in basement (tommy? probably not but ?? someone probably. ranboo even???? surely not)

something weird with schlatt and quackity and tubbo

• maybe the pastor that killed his wife and tried to kill the two kids

-> not schlatt pastor but what if

• tubbo quackity very involved in church :///

• tubbo -> doesnt think of quackity as his brother (or tries not to think of him like that)

tommy disappearance

• tubbo and tommy were up to something before they got back home (wednesday)

• maybe he died not dead in the forest techno dream

• forest (they?)

-> techno they same as karl they? karl voices?

• hoodie blood forest (not his? question mark)

• trail far away

• tubbo saw him put on hoodie (inconsistent with went to bed angry) -> connor tape

• an exchange of boys

philza minecraft problems

• extant and numerous

techno

• voices (different? from forest/dream voices?) (multiple)

-> similar to karl voices (alleged)

• does techno have a psychic link of special brotherhood magic with tommy and/or the forest

-> techno magical murder princess arc

-> i mean he does have a knife

• told tubbo voices

• something wants someone (probably tied to the exchange of boys)

wilbur

• whats up with him and tubbo

-> maybe related to schlatt quackity and tubbo

-> it was the quackity bullet gun kill father incident huh

• cry related to family bad or maybe tubbo old house (pastor murder kill death)

techno wilbur

• know an awful lot about guns

tubbo

• weird about wilblur

• lived in house too close to woods? house trauma woods trauma combination house woods trauma

quackity

• daddy issues

• dad fucked up (bad)

• really into karl and sapnap (ages)

ranboo

• fucking weird

• liar who lies

• mask?? weird face??

-> scar (on face)

-> scratch from woods? trees mad?

• parents weird

-> are they even real (this was a joke but its probably correct huh. man did just spring up from the dirt one day. man straight up spawned and went yea that one (tubbo))

• odd boy

• probably tied to tommy disappearance

-> saw it? question mark?

-> exchange of boys one normal boy for one weird boy

• stain shirt shirt stain stain on shirt

• how long he's been here discrepancy -> popped out of the woods one day (forest boy boy from forest) (weird)

• everyone thinks he's weird (tubbo wilbah techno)

relationships

• karl and sapnap together (seems like quackity likes them both)

-> just kiss dumb idiot

• dnf real (not clickbait)

• tubbo and quackity bio brothers potentially

• techno and wilbur twins (adopted? if not kristin dead? but techno calls phil phil?)

• tommy and tubbo adopted

• everyone's got wilbur problems ig

theme

• concept of home/returning home

-> wilbur and quackity

• concept if cycles and how things change

-> also wilbur and quackity but to an extent everyone

-> also sort of how techno thinks about tommy going missing (less cycles but it feels similar)

• the unknown

-> the woods and various mysteries

• brokenness and hurt

-> everyone really

-> church stuff with tubbo and quackity

ps. hope u dont mind that i edited some of the formatting :p i realized it messed up the first time

HI FRIEND THANK U FOR RESENDING!! 💖

look at all these fun notes n theories guys :3 i loved reading over this, the way you phrased a lot of these are soso funny AND very interesting to think about. i’m so honored you took the time to make notes about all this stuff!!

#long post #devil town spoilers #devil town #ask box #cedarovercoat

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matchacloudz · 4 years ago

Text

Humilated Heartbreak

Just something I wrote while feeling a little down (trigger warning I guess? Nothing graphic just mentions of depression) Also my favourite video game and character ><

Masterlist

Word count: 1.5k

Its common knowledge that when a heart breaks, it can feel like the worst thing in the world. Your mind twists and manipulates things, making you feel even worse – if that could be possible. A majority of humans experience a heartbreak while in school, whether it be from a significant other, disconnecting from a friend, or the death of a loved one.

All things that can make the human heart break.

What they aren’t told, is how to deal with it. There are countless articles online on the grieving process, how to get over an ex, or how to get revenge – if you’re petty enough. Its all clickbait, its all word of mouth from others.

Everybody has a different grieving process. Some more severe than others, some longer than others. This isn’t my first heartbreak; my life story can tell you that. But one thing to note is; it doesn’t get any easier than the first time.

The first time I ever felt my heartbreak was when my older sister was killed. She was at her grade 12 graduation, having the time of her life, just starting the newest chapter of her life. She was responsible, she was the one to organize the ride home afterword. Her death may have been an accident, but it was the hands of a drunk driver. A drunk driver who was at the same graduation she was.

The second time my heart broke was when my parents separated. The grief over losing their first born was weighing heavy on their shoulders. They couldn’t cope together, it was tearing them apart, and ultimately, they decided to divorce. My father fell into a deep depression, barely functioning, hardly going to work, staying up all night. So, my mother won primary custody of me. She wasn’t doing much better however, she threw herself into her work, I barely saw her as is, leaving me to my own devices.

This is the third time I can count that my heart has broke. I didn’t know how to cope with my sisters death. I have had grandparents pass away due to complications or old age, but I’ve never had someone so close to me be gone. It was weird, I didn’t see her everyday. I couldn’t say I loved her everyday, it was hard. My entire routine was thrown off, my life was shaken up. I started going out more, hanging out later with my friends, anything to keep my mind busy and off of the loss of my older sister. That’s when I met Jai.

He seemed to be my night in shining armor. He took me under his wing, he would check up on me, made sure I was doing my homework, making sure I wasn’t slipping. I thought things would be better with him. I felt myself growing out of the shell I had built. He was everything I could have ever wanted, he was there for me, he never asked for anything in return; he seemed genuinely kind.

Until he didn’t.

I had learned from social media that he had been cheating on me. The girl hadn’t made her account private and I had been tagged in the comments. After being happy for what felt like so long, it all crumbled. The boy I thought I knew, was someone completely different.

This is when I started skipping school. I was humiliated, Jai had completely played me, making me look like an idiot. I didn’t know how long his second relationship was going on for, but it was enough for me to grow back into the shy quiet girl I used to be. The first week at school after our ‘scandal’ I was getting sympathetic looks, everyone was pitying me. It was slightly nice to know they thought he was the jerk, but I couldn’t take it. It wasn’t prominent, but it was enough attention for me to want to curl back into my skin.

I couldn’t go to school knowing he was there, the wounds too fresh to face them head on, the sympathy I was receiving was too much for me to be comfortable. I attended less and less, and with mom working all the time, nobody knew.

Or at least I thought.

It was probably day 3 this week of not bothering to show up at all when the doorbell rang at 11am. I tried ignoring it, figuring it was a door to door salesman or something like that, but the rings became more persistent, I just couldn’t find the energy to go see who it was.

“Y/N! I know you’re in there!”

The voice scared me, not just because I knew exactly who it was, but because of how close they were. The door was locked, but that’s not where it came from. He was under my window. I debated going over and closing it, but that would be the confirmation he needed that I was indeed home.

“Y/N/N, you know I’m not afraid to climb in the window” he said. But again, I just started at the open window. A few seconds pass, until I see his boot on the window ledge, and all of a sudden one of my best friends was in my bedroom. He looked around for a second until his eyes fell on my figure in the bed.

“Hi?” He said quietly, taking note of the solemn look on my face. I just stared back at him, a little irritated that he ‘broke’ into my room, and still exhausted from the lack of sleep I got last night. “Y/N, you know me, c’mon I’m not leaving until you say something.” He said taking a seat next to me on the bed. “Sean” I said, turning away from him.

The Diaz boy sighed and laid next to me. “You gotta say more than that Y/N/N” he said using my nickname again. But once again, I was silent. “Alright fine, I’ll speak. I know why you’re skipping, I get it ok? But you can’t do this to yourself. This isn’t my best friend, I understand what happened and trust me it sucks, but everyone thinks he’s an asshole, that girl? She dumped him, and basically no one is talking to him at school” Sean explained.

I sighed and turned over to him, taking his hand in mine and holding it close to my chest. “I’m humiliated Sean. I mean, he cheated on me for who knows how long. I mean cool, he ruined his reputation, but how is that supposed to make me feel better?” I said. “He broke my heart, he played me like a fool, and I just went along with it” I whispered. “Okay shut up, the only reason you went along with it is because you didn’t know. You were the one being wronged, and its happened before and it’ll happen again. Some people are just so shitty in the world, you can’t let shit like this get you down. You didn’t do that when your sister died, so why are you doing it when a dickhead cheats on you.”

Sean held truth in his words, I knew he was completely right and was telling me what I needed to hear, but right now I didn’t want to hear it. I wanted to let the world swallow me up and start over in a new town.

“Are you not talking because you know I’m right?” He asked leaning his head on mine. “I will hit you” I say, pulling his hand closer to me. Sean just chuckled at my answer, feeling satisfied I was actually talking.

We just laid there semi-cuddling as he let me wallow in my own embarrassment. “Where’s Lyla?” I asked noting she wasn’t with him. “If her mom knew she was skipping she would be grounded for the rest of high school” Sean answered. I chuckled with him, acknowledging once again he was right. “I know it sucks Y/N/N, but are you up to going to school with me?” I let out a loud breath, “not today.” I answered him. “I mean, it’s already 1:30, I don’t think theres a point in going anymore. But tomorrow, Lyla and I will come and pick you up, and we’ll get on the bus and go to school okay? We’ll protect you from everyone” he teased.

This time, I finally hit him. “Hey! What the hell?” “You make me sound like a fucking damsel in distress! I can take care of myself Diaz!” I tell him.

The next day, my friends kept their promise. At 8am sharp, they came to my house, we waited for the bus, and I shared the seat with Sean. I could feel people looking at me, either shocked that I actually went to school that day, or they were still pitying me. What ever the case, Sean would squeeze my hand, and Lyla would confront whoever dared glance my way for a second too long.

They don’t tell you how to handle heartbreak, its something you need to heal from on your own. People tend to fill the void with whatever they find best, and in my case, all I needed was my two best friends.

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