#Alien Jigsaw Puzzle

[arcadebroke]

[creativethought]

UFO Selfie Cat 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle

[ruinedholograms]

(1979)

[jigsawjo]

2024-03-30, 1000, "Cartoon Aliens"

[stinkygobbelin]

got this alien puzzle from the charity shelf in tesco!! can't fuckin wait to put it together and then hang it on the wall👽

[70sscifiart]

1979 Alien jigsaw puzzle. Art by Earl Norem. Via @WeAreTheMutants

[almostempty]

question tag game!

Thanks for the tag 💕 @itwasntimethatdidit40 @thundermartini @ace-turned-confused and @deviseren !!

i once again am reminiscing about myspace and xanga surveys heheheh

do you make your own bed? i wake up late and don't look back as i launch out of bed most days, so no

favorite number? 8? 7? 36? 2? idk man they all got their own vibes i don't discriminate (except for 51 being divisible by 17 that feels against nature somehow)

what's your job? to be non-specificish, manage a program that works with court-involved and incarcerated youth

if you could go back to school, would you? i usually make it about 3 years max before i go back to school to change career fields, i get bored or disillusioned and also struggle with finding something interesting enough to dedicate so many hours of my life into and have it also pay the bills

can you parallel park? daily, street parking only at my place unfortch

can you drive a manual car? never tried, tho i was very concerned about this for a solid year to the point where i had dreams that i had to figure it out to save everyone?? eventually i just decided i knew how to in my dreams so??

do you think aliens are real? gotta be

what's your guilty pleasure? hm, i try to own and embrace all the weird things like @ace-turned-confused said, especially if i think they're funny!

tattoos? some japanese trad, american trad/sorta neo trad, working on filling up the rest of my arms when i get the $

favorite color? black, and also yellow

do you like puzzles? sure, i like games with puzzles like zelda, or like jigsaw puzzles? fun to do with friends, hard to focus on alone

any phobias? I'd if it counts but the sound effects of limbs snapping in movies, like when it's a horror movie and all the limbs snap in the wrong directions - NASTY that shit gives me lingering intrusive thoughts hahaha

favourite childhood sport? i am the least competitive person ever. i liked floor hockey? i showed horses for a few years, not like dressage or anything fancy- but rather the most boring of all equestrian events (to watch) western pleasure!

do you talk to yourself?

I forgot to answer this one the first timeeee, um in my head always? Not as much out loud, but I will talk to the dogs heheh.

no pressure tags : @auteurdelabre @gothcsz @lovely-vamp-princess

@moodstabilizr @magneticecstasy @hoelaris

@swankyorange @mermaidgirl30 @thischarmingmandalorian

@victorian-cherub if y'all haven't yet

have some free memes for reading:

[guiltyasdave]

questions tag game!

thank you for the tag @strang3lov3 @thundermartini @burntheedges @noceurous @jennaispunk @hellfire-state-of-mind @zloshy @the-mandawhor1an 🫶🏻

do you make your bed? kind of 😅 i try making it look somewhat tidy but i’m usually in a rush when i get up and it’s not high up on my list of priorities lol

favorite number? 7!

what’s your job? i work at my city’s government and make decisions about funding to make school and social activities more accessible for children with disabilities :)

if you could go back to school, would you? absolutely not.

can you parallel park? i can’t do really tight spots, but yeah.

do you think aliens are real? 100%

can you drive a manual car? it’s all i can do lol

what’s your guilty pleasure? i don’t think you should feel guilty about things that bring you joy :) (smoking)

tattoos? none. i really want to get a few but i’m terrified of needles 🥲

favorite color? light blue.

do you like puzzles? LOVE THEM. there’s a halfway finished jigsaw puzzle somewhere in my apartment at all times.

any phobias? spiders spiders spiders 🥲

favorite childhood sport? horse riding!

do you talk to yourself? all the damn time, especially when i’m nervous lol

tags: @sizzlingcloudmentality @catchallfangirl @alltheirdamn @huntingingoodwill @luxurychristmaspudding @iamasaddie @reddedmiller @hearteyesforjoel @cavillscurls @amanitacowboy @sceletaflores @sugarcoated-lame @almostfoxglove @eupheme

[lilacargent]

Here we go again,

Puzzles/ jigsaws would confuse Aliens so much

Set on the serpentine, beginning of the humans tenure

Important crew:

Primoz, captain -Limoyh a four armed species-Krag, second in command (brother of Primoz)

Kit, dokter -avian, bird like, she has feathers like a swallow-

Ortez, ASR (all species resources, human resources in space) -kiltak, insectoid species, think ants but exoskeleton-

Lugea, helmsperson (does the steering) -rock like alien-

Artex, engineer/mechanic 1 -also Kiltak-

And then our humans:

Kamari, navigator -Eritrean woman- (has cat named Sidra)

Markus, weapons expert (knows how to use them and upkeep, also shields) -Swedish man-

Petrus, mechanic/engineer 2 - Italian man-

Lilly, administrator/note keeper (learns languages for fun)-english woman-

~~~~~~~

Puzzles

The serpentine is on route between trading posts, this is currently the furthest route without proper jump point because of the static energy surrounding the dual planets castor and pollux.

Primoz is getting worried. The humans are becoming increasingly more jittery and Kamari looks like she a pinch away from punch someone, Markus has been ‘humming’ a song that annoys her greatly. Honestly the noises the tall man is making don’t seem that bad but every few minutes her eyebrows twitch which Ortez told him is a sign of frustration.

Before the captain can figure out how to keep them from doing something deathworld worthy, Lilly comes in with precariously stacked carton boxes and Petrus carrying a table. Setting the pile down the smallest human straightens out “look what i brought! Old earth puzzles! This one has a deer and this one has the old world wonders” immediately the humming stops and Markus is at the table with Petrus “oh yes Lilly you are the best! I wanna do the deer one, that is gonna be a challenge”

With the table in the corner of the bridge the tension among crew is nearly gone, as all species try to put the cut apart pictures together, Lilly brought 9 puzzles and at a certain point a competition was forming: after one of the human unit had finished a puzzle the other crew try to make it in less time. They have yet to win.

Looking at his relaxed crew Primoz grins at his brother who is trying to use all his four arms to put pieces together without much succes. Turning away from the competition he taps Lilly on her shoulder “how do you guys do it? Also why did you think to take these things with you.” Lilly looks up from her drawing (the crew bent over the table making the puzzle) “well i knew it was going to be a long trip, Kamari thinks Markus will be ‘professional’ but he can’t help himself” her soft smile when she puts air punctuation around professional makes her look much younger than she is “puzzles are something many humans enjoy, not everyone is as good at them as Markus, but he does this thing where he uses the shape of them more than colours. While he isn’t colour blind, he has real trouble with telling differences in shades. No idea why it works this well but it does, Petrus has already won three nights of free drinking on Castor from betting.” All of a sudden looking bashful Lilly ducks her head “ah eh yes sorry forget i said that we don’t bet on this at all!” Primoz just grins “nobody has broken anything this whole trip, im not going to disrupt the flow you and your unit created. Don’t worry.”

At arrival Petrus has won the whole human crew free drinks for the foreseeable future, and the crew in its entirety hooked on puzzles. While not all species see the colours the same way or understand the patterning in the pieces the feeling of putting in the correct pieces makes it such an enjoyable activity that Lilly brings new puzzles after every holiday back home.

~~~~~~~~~

This one was born out of the confusion my family had when we were making puzzles (jigsaws?) the pictures in pieces… this is where it becomes super clear English is not my first language. Anyway, we had two puzzles out and they were so surprised i could differentiate the positions the pieces needed to be in without context. I had to tell them that the pattern otherwise won’t make sense,

I have the same thing as Markus that colours are fine unless you put several of the same colours next to each other and call them different. This is why the deer one is super hard,

The two puzzles that were described:

[ravenna-reid]

"I Mean No Harm" "I Know."

Leon Kennedy x Ex-UmbrellaAgent!Reader

WARNINGS: violence, blood, swearing, bullying, but mostly fluff hehe

Whispers had circulated of the new agent that had been recruited. 

How could it have possibly been allowed? How was the academy so tempered about hiring her? Either way, it didn’t matter what anyone else thought. You were here now and the academy was eager to use someone as skilled, loyal, and reclusive as you.

Walking down the hallway in your compression shirt and tactical pants, you made your way towards one of the meeting rooms. As far as you were concerned, you were forced to work with Umbrella against your will. A situation you never wanted to be in again. But no one here would understand that, nor were you willing to share your story, the only person knowing the truth being the commander that saved you. So, rumours continued running rampant throughout the building. Were you a spy? A double agent? Of course, none of it was true. But you weren’t going to waste your time defending your image when it was clear no one wanted to listen.

Walking into one of the rooms, a group of agents were already seated before you. Taking a seat at one of the desks, you ignored the eyes that peered at you. But one person stood out. Dirty blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, a strong build and mysterious aura to him. 

You were aware that you weren’t the only one who seemed to carry a reputation. You had heard whispers too of the rookie police officer turned skilled agent. He was ‘one of the best.’ A man of few words and a spine made of steel. Leon S Kennedy. 

And you were surprised to find he seemed to be falling for all of the lies the agents were spreading about you too, given he was staring at you like you were a jigsaw puzzle. 

The meeting was thorough and quick. A general explained that agents were going to be selected for a group that is going to investigate small branches of Umbrella hiding in various parts of the country. Of course, you were vital given you knew how they operated. However, in order to choose who would be best for this elite group, a set of skill tests will take place and everyone will be assessed. The blonde agent that had been sitting at the front, with his melancholic eyes and grave expression, was already a part of the group and would help choose the rest of its members.  

Once the meeting had finished, you were one of the first people out of the room, eager to leave the watchful eyes and agents that seemed to act like immature school students. But you didn’t get far though. 

“Hey, double agent.” Someone called out, poison lacing his voice. 

An unimpressed expression falling across your face, you turned to look over your shoulder and were met with a tall, brute man. Hair the colour of autumn leaves and eyes the colour of the sky. A sly smirk spread across his lips. 

“Do you think they’ll actually choose you for the mission? I mean, come on. It’s obvious you’re just here to screw us over.” He spat.

“I didn’t realise you were keeping tabs on me.” You responded coolly.

“Oh, you bet. And don’t worry,” He said, inches from your face. “I know what your intentions are. And I’ll be making sure you don’t get into this group.”

Your narrowed eyes followed him as he walked off, and you were surprised to see that standing behind him was the blonde agent. Leon glared at the man that had confronted you before his eyes met yours. But before he could say anything, you hastily walked off.

Leon wanted to say something to you. Wish he had. It must have been horrible having everyone look at you as though you were an alien just because of your past. Your first day here and already they all acted as though you were some sort of villain eager to take them down. You kept your composure though. Long, silky hair pulled back into a braid cascading down your back, Leon watched as you turned the corner. 

For the rest of the week, that boy had given you shit every time he saw you. You snapped back but it only seemed to amuse him. And this didn’t slip past Leon. Whenever he saw it, he made sure to make himself known so that the boy would step down and go away. Most days Leon would threaten the boy’s – Jared’s – position in the academy, given he was known for being the academy’s bully. But given Jared’s expertise in weaponry and his strength, the academy wasn’t getting rid of him any time soon. Much to both Leon’s and your dismay. 

The next day, Leon eagerly waited on the field for you to show up to your first assessment. Hand-to-hand combat. Eventually, you showed up. Your hair in the same braid and a stoic look plastered across your face. It seemed you had made a friend; a chipper girl with platinum blonde hair spoke with you as you gathered around Leon and two other commanders. The first commander, an older man with scars painted across his weathered face, was brutal and stern as he explained how the assessment was going to work. Each of you would go up against each other in a fight, and whoever was left standing would go on to the next round. Given your training at your old academy, you weren’t too nervous. Swiftly, you got through the first three rounds, only sustaining a few bruises and red marks here and there. But now you were a finalist, and there was only one last person standing in your way.

The boy with red hair and jarring, bright blue eyes glared back at you with a malicious smile. Something churned in your stomach, more so from anger than fear. Leon’s stomach flipped too as he watched how Jared stared you down. 

“y/l/n. Kingston. Take your places.”

Jared spat a few insults at you to throw you off, but you paid no attention. Once the whistle blew, you were at each other’s necks. He was playing dirty though, and you guessed the commanders wanted to see how you would handle it, because no one said anything or stopped him. He was large and surprisingly fast, his whole demeanour threatening. You had to be quick on your feet and quick with your hands. You swiftly sent roundhouse kicks and elbow strikes his way, only connecting with his jaw once. Once that had happened he crouched down onto the floor, and much to your dismay, dug dirt out with his hands and threw it in your face. Taking his chance, Jared stormed over to you, and grabbing you by the shoulders pulled you down and slammed his knee straight up into your diaphragm. 

The pain was intense. But not as intense as the feeling of not being able to breathe. Stepping back with a gasp you quickly clutched onto your stomach and doubled down, fearful he had broken a rib or two. It took everything in Leon not to step forward and help. Muscles tensing, all he could do was stand back and watch. 

A laugh left Jared’s lips as he circled you like you were prey. 

“Come on. I thought you were tougher than that.” He shoved you back, almost sending you to the floor. The thrumming in your stomach was intense and air still seemed like a luxury you couldn’t afford. He shoved you again before tripping you over. 

“You dumb bitch. Get up so I can beat you some more.”

Leon was close to grabbing Jared himself and breaking his jaw. 

As he stepped forward to kick you, you manoeuvred to trip him in a blink of an eye. Hitting the ground hard, you quickly crawled over and grabbed hold of his shoulders, applying all of your weight onto him to pin him down. It wouldn’t last long, so you had to be quick.  Leaning your head back, your body moved with you as you fiercely swung it forward, cracking the crown of your head down hard onto his nose. A guttural yell and array of curse words left him as you quickly moved away from him. That was it though, you had won all of the rounds. But at what cost? Did you just prove to everyone that you really were some kind of monster? It seemed that way by how they all looked at you now as blood trickled down your forehead.

As you got to your feet, you tried to regain your balance but swayed to the left. Before you had the chance to stumble though, a strong arm encircled your waist and held you up. 

“You did good, y/l/n. Are you alright?” He said, his voice close to your ear. 

Your head snapped over to see the blonde agent holding you up.

“You’re all dismissed. Jared, come with me.” The first commander barked as the second followed.

Ignoring the others, Leon sheepishly let go of you but his eyes remained focused on yours and the blood you began wiping from your head with your sleeve. 

“Yeah, I’m alright.” You replied with a sigh. 

Leon gave a nod, but wasn’t convinced. 

“Come with me, we’ll get you cleaned up.” He said gently. 

As you both walked towards one of the first aid bays, you subtly took him in. His sharp cheekbones and sunken cheeks lent him a serious, almost stoic look, but you couldn’t help but notice the undeniable boyishness to him. From the tousled hair falling into his eyes to the way his body language was almost shy. 

Sitting down on one of the foam beds, you grabbed the kit yourself and unclipped it. Leon watched you, wanting so desperately to help you. Talk to you at least. But you were both two reclusive agents that kept to themselves. He was still willing to try. 

“I’m sorry about that asshole.” He began, leaning against the door frame beside you. 

“Yes, he does seem to have a real problem with me, doesn’t he.” You grabbed the antiseptic and began tipping the liquid onto a cotton ball. “I just wonder if it’s going to get worse now –”

“It won’t.” Leon responded too quickly. Clearing his throat, you looked up at him. His statement almost sounded like a threat. A promise. A smile fell across your lips, prompting a small smile from Leon himself. As you held up the cotton ball to your forehead, Leon realised you were applying it onto the wrong spot.

“Here…let me,” He offered reluctantly. 

It was unlike you to let people help with your injuries, especially strangers, but with the comforting presence he had and the warmth in your chest, you handed the cotton ball to him. 

“Thanks.” You said. 

Sitting down beside you, Leon moved his gloved hand to your face. Resting his finger below your chin, he tilted his head to the side and asked, “Is this ok?”

You nodded in response and he prayed a blush hadn’t crept upon his face. Moving his other hand up to the cut on your forehead, he gingerly dabbed the antiseptic onto the laceration. 

The smell of heady spices and musk filled your nose. Avoiding eye contact, your eyes fell down, and you found yourself looking at his sculpted arms, lines carving out his muscles. He did the same, focusing on the cut rather than on your eyes or else he would lose all train of thought. But it seemed that being this close to you was affecting him anyway.

“You know, I’ve seen you before.” He said, his soft eyes focused on cleaning your cut. 

Your brows furrowed. 

“What do you mean? Where?”

“Back in Raccoon City.” He responded, a glint of pain in his eyes as his mind dragged him back to that horrid night. Raccoon City. It was probably the worst night of your life. 

“You were one of the guards at the Umbrella facility. You weren’t supposed to let anyone in, but you let me in.”

Your mind scurried for that memory, thinking desperately of what he was talking about. Then it dawned on you.

“That was you?” You ask in surprise. 

The young police officer. With his big eyes and soft, hopeful face. Now replaced with a hardened look and eyes that looked like they’d seen too much. 

“Yes,” Leon responded, carefully placing two steristrips across your cut. “I really appreciate what you did that night.”

Something warm spread through your chest, before guilt quickly came.

“I didn’t want to work with them. I promise. They had…something they were using against me.” 

Leon felt your pain and understood. 

"I mean no harm." You finished.

He just wanted to grab your hand.

“I know," Leon said, "and I just want you to know that I don’t see you as a threat.” 

That night, Jared went out to the bar, the alcohol mounting onto his hate he had towards you. Taking a wrong drunken turn down an alleyway, he began cussing you out under his breath for the bandage that sat across his nose. Little did he know that in the dim lighting of the alley way stood the blonde agent, watching him and getting ready to teach him a lesson.

Part 2 -

[basicallyaturtle]

never been part of a tag game, sounds really fun! tagged by dear Lanvender, @khan-crete

Do you make your bed? A freshly decrumbed, stuffed animal arranged and dirty clothes removed bed feels great. How often do I do this? We mustn't ask (like once or twice a month) that's all making the bed entails for me, I just have a fitted then normal sheet and blankets

Favorite Number? 4 4 4 4 4! I've loved four my entire life she is like a goddess to me. 2+2 2*2 2^2, divides into halves twice. can only compete with sixteen, whose status and 2^4 and 4^2 is nice, but not as symmetric. 37 and 73 have a place in my heart as the 12th and 21st primes, but not a large place compared to 4

What's your job? What do I get paid for? undergrad lab TA, what do I do? grad research in low energy nuclear physics

If you could go back to school, would you? In school technically still. Would I rewind time to experience school again? highschool no college yes. would I go back for another college degree? I could be convinced if it would be cheap and unobtrusive to my current schooling. Was always torn between physics and linguistics. I made the right choice but I always wonder what if.

Can you Parallel Park? I have done it, on the driving test, like four or five years ago. I think I could do it again, but not too confident

Do you think Aliens are real? Eh, probably in a 'the observable universe 9.3e+9 ly across, it must have happened more than once' kinda way, but not in a 'they've been feeding us tech for thousands of years or are visiting us' kinda way.

Can you drive a manual car? Never tried, hubris tell me yes, anxiety with even normal cars tells me I'd probably fuck up the transmission while trying to leave the driveway. gonna say yeag

Guilty Pleasure? I think like cheesy childhood disney live action movies?, generally I'm pretty full chested about the things I enjoy

Favorite Type of Music? yeah, hard, a lot of vocaloid, which isn't reallly a genre, a lot of edm genres from like old school monstercat, a lot of jrock by way of anime OP's of show's I've never watched then finding other songs by those artists. some rock music though that genre is also extremely expansive and I'm not sure how I'd categorize a lot of it. Generally my music consumption consists of a group of maybe five songs completely unrelated on repeat for months at a time and genre is not a huge factor in that

Do you like puzzles? twisty puzzles like rubik's cube type puzzles are really fun working, towards doing a 3x3 blindfolded but challenging, I used to do jigsaw's with my mom but over the course of a very long time because we'd get frustrated. crosswords, but I'm no good at them

Favorite Childhood Sport? Soccerrrr. Wish I'd stayed with it, but there were only a couple more years before there wasn't a league for my age group anyway, been trying to get back into it recreationally

Do you talk to yourself? I do, but as if I'm talking to someone else. I prefer not to do it because I'm not content with my voice atm, but I find myself doing it a lot especially when getting stuck on research stuff trying to talk it out or I will say a comment to someone I disagree with outloud rather than typing it and posting it. A lot of this is to my reflection which is probably part of the reason it feels like someone else lol

Tea or Coffee? tea all the way. drank iced sweet black tea my entire childhood and started drinking it hot with milk in college. I was the kind of person that disliking coffee was a sort of pillar of my tastes, but then a few years ago made it with like half milk and a lot of sugar and like it, lotta people wouldn't call that coffee, but eh.

First thing you wanted to be when you grew up? The actual first thing was everything. I would amalgamate like all the stereotypes of things kids want to be into one so a firefighter-astronaut-whatever else. When I got a better sense of my interests, inventor, so I guess like product designer, but what that meant to me was I got to sit around and think of neat gadgets and items then figure out how to make them like freeze ray, time machine, clone gun, that kind of thing lol. the first practical idea of a job I wanted was theoretical physicist in like middle school, which I kinda am now so success I guess

What Movies do you Adore? not much of a movie person, but like to watch movies other people are interested in with them, love castle in the sky, LOTR, howl's moving castle, your name, probably others in those categories I don't know about yet or have forgotten and I have a strong soft spot for childhood halloween movies like twitches and halloweentown

I'm curious what @arc-archernar and @charyou-tree have got to say if they'd like to, and anyone else that wants to participate!

[driftwooddestiel]

get to know me ‼️

thanks to @dear-space-cadet for the tag :-)

1. Do you make your bed? not really, but i do tidy up my bed a little

2. Favorite number? probably 7, i know its a popular favourite number but thog dont c aare its a good number

3. What's your job? don’t have one 💪 🔥 💯 i plan to apply to some like. shelf-stocking and similar type jobs soon when i get round to it

4. If you could back to school, would you? haven’t left it yet so i dont have much choice in the matter here lol

5. Can you parallel park? never tried but i doubt it considering i cant drive lmao

6. Do you think aliens are real? i believe theres bound to be other forms of life somewhere out there but idk if i believe in aliens in the traditional sense

7. Can you drive a manual car? once more i cannot drive any car

8. Guilty pleasure? watching true crime videos and then getting paranoid, getting into stupid arguments in youtube comment sections & getting way too invested in niche internet discourse

9. Tattoos? none atm and i dont think i plan to get any . but that could change

10. Favorite color? dull-ish blue (similar to the colour of my blog)

11. Favorite type of music? truly i cannot pick one

12. Do you like puzzles? jigsaw puzzles im ambivalent towards, logic puzzles i usually enjoy

13. Any phobias? no full-on phobias but i do kinda freak out at the idea of swimming with jellyfish

14. Favorite childhood sport? climbing!

15. Do you talk to yourself? all the time 👍

16. Tea or coffee? to be fully honest i drink neither but i’d have to say tea . ive had more tea than coffee in my life and i enjoy tea more generally

17. First thing you wanted to be growing up? when i was like 3-6 i would always say i wanted to be a dog (bc i did) and when i eventually came to terms with that not being a career option, i would usually say artist (but i also somewhat wanted to be a comedian from like ages 7 or 8 to age 10)

18. What movies do you adore? saw (2004) is my absolute fav, i also love donnie darko, american psycho, zoolander, ten inch hero & anything directed by jordan peele. + horror movies in general are my favs

im gonna actually continue a tag game for once SOOO. tags (no pressure ofc 👍): @nintendont2502 @gorillaxyz @s-ccaam-era-crepe @paranormalglass @dykesism

[milla-frenchy]

question tag game!

Thank you for tagging me, @fruityreads and @covetyou ❤️

do you make your own bed? I do. When I don't do it, it's because my mental health is not very well. It's a very good indicator 😬

favorite number? I don't have any.

what's your job? I check construction projects in my city, to see if they're autorised by our construction laws.

if you could go back to school, would you? I'm not sure. I was a very lazy student, doing the bare minimum. I probably wouldn't

Do you think aliens are real?: probably yeah

can you parallel park? Yes. Getting your driving license in France is not very easy. First there is a theoretical exam of 40 questions. You must make a maximum of 5 mistakes before you can learn to drive.

Then you have to spend an average of 30 hours (often more) with a driving school instructor, then take a practical exam.

The exam lasts 30 minutes, in town, highway, etc (driving, maneuvers, technical questions about the vehicle).

At the slightest mistake you are eliminated, you have to take new driving lesson hours, then retake the exam.

If you fail the practical exam 5 times, you must retake the theory exam.

can you drive a manual car? Yes. There are way more manual cars than automatic cars in France. I currently have my first automatic (it's my 5th car), but I love to drive a manual.

what's your guilty pleasure? I'm not sure I got one 🤔

any phobias? Arachnophobia. I've had panic attacks because of spiders before

favourite childhood sport? basketball and swimming. I played several sports as a student (danse, karate, rythmic gymnastics...) but I got bored very quickly.

do you talk to yourself? Nope

Tattoos?: 4 on my forearms

Favorite color?: black

Do you like puzzles?: yes, jigsaw puzzles 😍 I love it

npt: @aurorawritestoescape @iamasaddie @thundermartini @sawymredfox @schnarfer

@toxicanonymity @evolnoomym @bonezone44 @arcanefox207 @604to647

@ace-turned-confused @iknowisoundcrazy @itwasntimethatdidit40 @corazondebeskar @almostfoxglove

@ellasinnombre @magpiepills and whoever wants to play ❤️

[try-set-me-on-fire]

whatever you write is probably going to take me straight out but i love the way your fics do that to me, so "laughing while kissing" for the soft prompts please and thank you 🤗

-@buckactuallys

Soundtrack to this one. Soft prompts! Finished ones!

“Chimney’s doing another round of s’mores, you want one?”

Buck half turns from his spot at the edge of the tide. It was hot enough earlier that the cool bite of the ocean around his ankles still feels good as they creep closer to midnight than evening. “Nah, I had like eight of them with the kids.”

Eddie does a little hop over the foamy surf to stand beside him, and then licks his marshmallowy fingers clean. “Suit yourself.”

Another wave comes in and Eddie does his little hop over it again, except they really are at the very edge of the water so there's not really much foam to avoid. Buck squints at him a little, but he's unable to help the fond smile yanking his mouth around.

"What… are you doing?"

"Huh? Oh…" Eddie looks down at his feet and lets out a sort of bashful laugh. "Uh, we came to the coast to visit Pepa when we were kids - like little kids, I don't know if I was even five yet - and, uh…" Eddie looks at him, also sort of squinting and smiling. "I had it in my head that if the very edge of a wave touched me I'd get eaten by an alligator."

"W- why?" Buck gets out past a laugh. Eddie shoves him gently.

"I dunno, I was four. Made sense at the time. I think I maybe thought California was in Florida."

Buck laughs again, and when the next wave comes and they both hop over it he laughs harder, hands on his knees as Eddie chuckles beside him. He hasn’t bothered to straighten up when Eddie speaks again.

“Not in a bonfire mood?”

Buck looks out at the moon’s reflection cutting a path all the way to the distant islands that are just visible on this clear, bright night. “Just nice to be in a different ocean for a bit.”

Eddie hums, and kicks a little wet sand at him. “Now who thinks he’s in Florida? Same ocean, Buck, we’re two hours from home.”

“You know what I mean.” He waves a hand in a sweeping gesture. “It’s… vacation ocean.”

Eddie’s smiling in a way that seems to have trapped the words in his mouth, and Buck has to look back out at the waves or the full moon will give away the burning in his cheeks. “Yeah,” Eddie says eventually. “I know what you mean.”

Buck thinks he does. Eddie is the responsible one, of the two of them, level headed and no nonsense and calm, so it's been a little delightful to watch him throw himself into this camping trip with reckless abandon. He’d challenged the firefighters among them in a swimming race out to the floating platforms just offshore, begged alongside the kids to go walk down the beach to the little burger joint for ice cream, and charged around the woods with them after dinner, playing right along in their game of hunting for a spaceship full of aliens that might want to make friends, blinking their flashlights and throwing their laughter up into the sky in attempts to communicate.

Buck had spent the week before the trip feeling kind of sad about getting dumped, and feeling kind of guilty for not feeling more sad, and feeling a little… something, about how relieved Eddie had looked when he’d told him things with Marisol had also fizzled out. He’d liked Natalia, a lot. She was cool, and beautiful, and thought he was too, and she knew so little about him and his life that she felt like a safe place to exist without context for a while. It’s all a little dreamy, though, in hindsight, and Buck thinks he’d maybe tricked himself into finding a new method of running away from his own life disguised as grabbing on to a new one.

Vacation ocean. Maybe that’s what this is, too, another escape. Except Eddie is here, standing next to him and real as anything.

Buck feels like he’s got all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle floating around in his head, and has just started in on the edges when Eddie says “Hello, earth to Buck.”

“Oh, sorry, were you saying something?” Buck takes a step further into the water, back to the waves despite any good advice about ocean safety. Eddie’s watching out for him, he’ll be ok.

“No, not really.”

“Did you ever find them?” Buck is wet up to his mid calves now.

“Who?”

“The friendly aliens.”

Eddie’s face scrunches into a grin. “Uh huh. Turns out they like s’mores too. And look a lot like Maddie and Jee-Yun.”

Buck breathes out laughter, and Eddie steps closer to him. “I didn’t text Bobby this morning.”

“Well, he was like five feet away. Drew short straw, had to set up his tent next to you and your rhinoceros snores.”

Buck takes another step back, and Eddie takes another step forward. They’re wet to the knees, now. “I mean… I was less surprised today. When I woke up.”

Eddie’s expression almost looks neutral, Buck can only see the smile because he might know this man’s face better than his own. “Yeah?”

“Mmhm.”

Eddie nods. “That’s good. You’ve seemed a little… something.”

“Before now, or this weekend?”

Eddie tilts his head, in a move so like Buck himself it makes him smile. “Both. In different ways.”

Buck takes another half step back, water licking at his thighs. “I think things were a little dull before. I think things are a little bright now. Letting my eyes adjust.”

Eddie nods again, thoughtful, and just a hair nervous. “Hope you like the view.”

Buck grins with half his mouth, biting his cheek with the other. “Mmhm.”

They’re quiet for a moment, the gentle roar of waves around them, a distant happy shout drifting over from the campground. Eddie takes the half step to close the distance. “Buck,” he sighs. “I have bad news.”

“What?” He frowns, and his stomach flip flops just a little. He’d like to think he knows Eddie well enough that he hadn’t misread the situation, but he’s been known to be an idiot about these kinds of things before.

“Unfortunately…” Eddie tilts his head forward, very close to Buck’s own, and says “There were also evil aliens and I did get possessed by one,” before shoving him backwards into the sea.

Buck goes down laughing, and comes up spluttering. Eddie is giggling as he moves sideways in the surf to escape revenge, but he’s not trying all that hard and Buck’s lunge takes him off his feet. They roll around in the water, a lot colder now that it's not just their ankles submerged, and end up in a kind of breathless tangled together kneeling situation, rocked by the current as it comes and goes.

“You piece of shit,” Buck says, fully grinning, and Eddie roars with laughter. “We’re gonna get our tents soaking wet.”

“So we change in yours and you come to mine,” Eddie says, a little scared and a little brave.

Buck splashes him, and Eddie laughs, and then Buck kisses him, and Eddie laughs into that too, the sound a little disbelieving and a lot giddy. Buck pushes forward into it and Eddie falls back till he’s sitting and they’re both almost underwater, so Buck pulls him back up again and Eddie chases the kiss, and they’re both laughing into it now, puffs of air passed back and forth between them.

“This is-“ Buck speaks the words mostly into Eddie’s mouth, shaking a little from the giggling and the cold and the everything else. “I can come to your tent?”

“Yeah, Buck.”

“And this is- it’s vacation ocean?”

Eddie pulls back, just a tiny bit, and puts his hand on Buck’s face, fingers already a little pruny. “It’s the same ocean as always, Buck.”

“I can… come home, after?”

“You can come home forever,” Eddie says, and kisses him again. It’s not a very successful kiss, what with Buck nodding into it and Eddie smiling too much to work his mouth at all, but Buck is putting it in the top five kisses of his life anyway. “Come on, let's go get dry.” Eddie stands up out of the water, and then pulls Buck to shore.

[toomanytookas]

✨Questions Tag Game ✨

Thank you for the tags, @luxurychristmaspudding @schnarfer @katareyoudrilling @pascalssbabyy !! It’s been so fun to see everyone’s answers 💕

do you make your bed? Basically never. To my regret upon occasion.

favourite number? 12 (my soccer jersey number for six years!).

what’s your job? I'm a teaching fellow and work IT support during exam periods.

if you could go back to school, would you? I think I will be done after this current round 😂 And if I keep these memories, I don’t think I would want another layer of them. That said, I will probably always try to take new classes and things when I can afford/find them! I’m also not opposed to doing research/writing outside of my official discipline just for funsies.

can you parallel park? Yes, although I did not acquire the skills my mother—a New Yorker—has. I've popped a photograph of her most impressive parallel parking job that I’ve been witness to below the cut because it baffles me. She somehow didn’t tap either car. 😂

do you think aliens are real? Probably. Even if they're just microbes.

can you drive a manual car? Nope. I've received one lesson in a field on a farm with the steering wheel on the wrong side and that's it.

what’s your guilty pleasure? Bubble tea. Waaaaay too much bubble tea.

tattoos? Three! Although two are very close together and so people often think they are one piece when they see them.

favorite color? Deep teal, generally jewel tones.

do you like puzzles? LOVE them. Jigsaw as well as things like crosswords, sudoku, bejeweled…

any phobias? Spiders. I once screamed so loud in my basement rental that my AirBnB host came down to make sure I wasn’t dying.

favourite childhood sport? Ultimate frisbee.

do you talk to yourself? Not really? I'll swear out loud, but that's more at the universe.

np tags <3 @kedsandtubesocks @rebel-held @jeewrites @oonajaeadira @jessthebaker @maggiemayhemnj Please also consider yourself tagged if you see this!

[sixhours]

question tag game ✨

Thank you for the tags @wolvieispunk and @burntheedges and @ace-turned-confused!

Do you make your own bed? Nope. We use separate blankets and sheets (the key to a lasting marriage IMO) so I don't feel like making it just to tear it apart every night.

Favourite number? I don't have one.

What’s your job? Web engineering for WordPress.com; I write code.

If you could go back to school, would you? No thanks! I have a BA and worked at a state university for many years, that was enough to convince me I am happier outside academic spaces.

Can you parallel park? Usually. 😅

Do you think aliens are real? Given the size of the universe I'd have to say yes.

Can you drive a manual car? Yep. My first car was a 1990 VW Jetta Wolfsburg edition in maroon, stick shift, bought with a loan from my parents for $3,000. I had to learn how to drive it if I wanted to drive, so my now-husband very patiently taught me.

What’s your guilty pleasure? Laziness. I like to rest more than the average bear. I struggle to not feel guilty about that.

Any phobias? I don't love heights, but I think it's probably a normal level of distrust, not a phobia. And stinging insects freak me out, but I've gotten better about keeping my cool around them since having kids.

Favourite childhood sport? Being a fat kid with terrible hand-eye coordination, I was not welcome in sports circles and PE was hell. I did dance (jazz, tap, ballet) from 5 to 14 and enjoyed it, but finding ways of moving that sparked joy rather than dread took a loooong time. The world is not kind to fat kids. :(

Do you talk to yourself? Sure, sometimes.

Tattoos? Three lil ones. A celtic knot made from two hearts behind my left ear to match the one on my husband's wedding ring finger, "amor fati" in script on my left wrist with a star, and a key with a heart-shaped bow on my right wrist. I want more, specifically something Last of Us themed and something for my kids.

Favourite colour? Salmony pink.

Do you like puzzles? Jigsaw puzzles, not really. I won't go out of my way to do them. I love building LEGO, though, and I enjoy puzzle-solving games like sudoku. I got really good at crosswords over the pandemic.

No-pressure tagging @bumblepony @becomethesun @wordywarriorwrites @justagalwhowrites @two-birds-alone-together and anyone else who wants to play <3