#But I hope people see this and either go “oh shit I gotta learn more about the world around me”

[averagefungus]

Ill give my answers here, but don't cheat! Thats why theres a read more under here

Romania is in south eastern Europe, specifically situated inbetween Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, and the black sea!

This area of Europe is landlocked from the atlantic and arctic oceans. Here people must reach the ocean from their country via the Black, Adriatic, or Argentinian Sea to enter the Mediterranean Sea and thus exit out the Gibralter Strait. This is a handicap compared to the countries of Europe bordering on the ocean, who gained strong influence overseas and empire status, like France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Britain, and etc. Southeast Europe is much closer or even overlapping with the ancient greek empire over the different seas, as seen with the empire at its absolute largest. Topologically, the area seems much more elevated and rough in the terrain as compared to Northwest Europe, excluding Serbia, Hungary, and the top half of Croatia, which appear to be the bottom of a bowl with the round elevation around them.

The 1989 revolution happened over the course of a week, starting on Decemeber 16th in Timisoara and flaring up dramatically on the 21st, when the current ruler Ceausecu gave a terrible speech that hundreds of thousands booed at. The next day, the National Salvation Front announced its existence and intention on seizing power. After Ceausecu and his wife were captured and executed, the NSF took ahold. However, two things that make this suspicious as a coup and not a revolution, is first that the NSF was founded ONE DAY after when Ceausecu would have been directly affected by the revolution, and that when the NSF took power, it dissolved on February 6th... 1990.

I am trying to be as thorough as possible here, using multiple sources, going beyond wikipedia and onto the internet archive alongside other organizations who serve educational purposes. However, what I have gained from this obsessive quirk of mine is that if you have to ask if the CIA was involved, then the answer, 99/100 times, is yes, the CIA was involved.

The immediate effects from the installment of the NSF were nearly nothing. Economical and living conditions either continued to deteriorate, or staggered around where they were under Ceausecu, as could be seen with an annually decreasing GDP from 1990-1996. The peoples lives hadn't improved at all.

The United States Government had already planned upon what action to take when Ceausecu would pass/die, advising the then president Reagan on what course the USA should take. When the socialist government was implemented, the United States took great care to groom it into being an economic source of labor and an appealing market to manufacturers. The BIT signed in 1992 and then enacted in 1994, advised to be enacted as soon as possible by George Bush, is evidence of this. This would serve a similar relationship between the United States and China, giving the US great control in exchange for financial support. https://www.state.gov/investment-affairs/bilateral-investment-treaties-and-related-agreements/united-states-bilateral-investment-treaties/ You can see when the investments started happening in the next link, the moment the BIT from the united states was enacted, 1994. https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/ROU/romania/foreign-direct-investment'>Romania Foreign Direct Investment 1960-2024. www.macrotrends.net. Retrieved 2024-06-09.

7. Romanian wages are kept low as to keep production costs cheap for businesses, who are often sourcing this labor overseas. How low?

That low. The United States specifically set this up as our business would experience economic prosperity at the cost of human life.

8. This question has already been answered, the United States set up Romania as a target of new markets and labor when the new government was created. Romania as a country was already struggling back in the 90s and it seems to have continued to this very day.

9. The previously existing industrial industries of Romania were divided into two sectors, the 30% and the 70%, 30% of which being available for purchase by foreign investors and the other 70% state sanctioned. However, privatization is a valuable, profitable practice and proved itself to be more and more influential in negotiations which ultimately hurt the economy of Romania, and thus its people.

10. I hate to sound like a pretentious prick but fortunately none of those characteristics apply to me. They have in the past, but I hope I have shown at least a slight want to grow, at least a strong hatred of the united states, and hopefully a desire to show others the joys of learning about the world. Unfortunately, these stereotypes are not without basis. And if you are living in the United States, reading this, depersonalize for a moment. Understand that this could apply to you, but is not about you. It is about the systemic issues plaguing us.

My country is deeply, deeply ignorant and we are taught when young that the United States is so powerful and important that we will be born here and die here without ever needing to leave. This country is powerful, but instead of learning the raping we've committed to the world around us, of the Caribbean, the Central and South Americas, Asia, Southeast Europe, we learn of our many erotic, wonderful, justified wars and our new generation of gods known as the founding fathers. We treat our own states as individual countries, and these phony, surface level rivalries as our important news while our country terrorizes those who hold no power over their situation. The United States presents itself as the only important place in the world, and we believe that. Not as an important place in the world, but the only important place in the world. And then we ask why the world hates us. People here are angered by the term Usamerican, because that means they aren't the default anymore. We're not in a bubble innocent because of our ignorance when confronted by the term "Usamerican".

Hello usamericans. Before you are permitted to engage with me on how much of a condescending and rich and gross European I am, I would like you to very quickly answer a quiz about my home country of Romania. Don't worry, this is an open book quiz. You may not use Wikipedia articles full of "citation needed".

Question 1. Point the location of Romania on a map. Where in Europe is it? [10 points]

Question 2. List three basic facts about this region of Europe and how it differs from the rest of the continent. [15 points]

Question 3. What happened during the 1989 coup? What reason might there be to call it a coup instead of a revolution? Hint: it has to do with the National Salvation Front and the length of its existence. [12 points]

Question 4. Was the CIA involved? [1 point]

Question 5. What were the immediate economic effects upon the general population and on national industry? [10 points]

Question 6. How much involvement did the US have in "advising" the early post-socialist Romanian government? What reasons did the US have to encourage the Romanian government to adopt a policy of 100% foreign ownership of investments? [10 points]

Question 7. Why are Romanian wages kept so low? [ 2 points]

Question 8. Why have Romania's resources and industry been bought by foreign companies so cheaply? [5 points]

Question 9. If Romania had a powerful industrial base of industrial production, where did it go after 1989? [5 points]

Question 10. In your own words, describe why you believe your country is the centre of the universe and people hate it for no reason, why you are so incurious about the world around you as an adult with internet access, and lastly, why do you get so mad when someone refers to you as usamerican instead of just American (a demonym that applies to two whole continents)? [30 points]

[ashwhowrites]

Hello, my love! I gotta ask for my Stevie boy... will you do one where reader is head over heels for Steve but is positive that he's dating Robin? I think it'd be funnier if Robin found out about the crush and just immediately shut that shit down 🤭🤭

I hope this is what you wanted and you enjoy it, my love 🫶🏻 I believe I wrote all the correct pronouns! Thank you for requesting

Single

Y/N was just like most people, falling in love with Steve Harrington. It almost felt impossible to not fall for his charm and shy smile. They could get lost for days in his brown eyes, or trace the moles on his face.

They didn't exactly know him, just another admirer from the sidelines. Even if they were confident enough to say something, they were positive he had a girlfriend. He was always with this pretty brunette, with shiny blue eyes and freckles. They had seen them together a hundred times, and they never seemed to be apart.

The girl was pretty, and Y/N was jealous of that. They have spoken to Steve a few times. His personality was just as attractive. He was easy to have a conversation with and he made them laugh all the time. They even felt like Steve flirted with them a few times. Certain glances, light touches, and a hinting smile. But that could have been them getting their hopes up.

Y/N walked into the video store, and to their prayers, Steve stood at the counter.

"There they are, my favorite customer," Steve greeted them with a big smile.

"Had to come see my favorite worker," They joked back, walking up to the counter.

"Dingus, your turn to clean the bathrooms," Robin said as she walked up, Y/N finally learning her name as she read the name tag.

"Wait for me?" Steve asked, giving them a small wink as he walked away.

Y/N felt their face burn and nodded. They didn't notice that they were staring at him as he walked away until Robin spoke up.

"Got the hots for Harrington, huh?" She teased, suggestively wiggling her eyebrows.

Y/N's eyes snapped to her, fear in their eyes. "No! NO, not like that." They tried to laugh it off but Robin looked at them unconvinced. "I know he's with you and I respect that."

Y/N watched confused as Robin began to laugh. She was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of her eyes.

"Oh no, immediately no," Robin said through laughs. "That boy is all yours to go after."

"Really? You guys are just friends?" Y/N asked, needing the clarification as their heart raced.

"Yeah, not sure how I found myself friends with the doofus, but he's painfully single. So please, go ask him out so I can have some peace." Robin groaned, planting her head in her hands dramatically.

"Bathrooms are done!" Steve cheered. A smile on his face as he leaned on the counter. "What are we talking about?"

"About how painfully single you are," Robin smirked. Steve gave her a "Are you kidding me" look. Robin just smiled and walked off.

"I'm sorry about her, and I am not painfully single. Just a basic single." Steve clarified, laughing off his red cheeks.

"Well either way I hear you are single," Y/N smiled. They reached over the counter and grabbed a pen. Steve watched as they grabbed his hand, the soft pen tickling his palm. "So give me a call," they said, clicking the pen.

Steve stared in awe at the numbers on his hand, barely noticing them walk away.

"I'LL CALL YOU!" He yelled after them, the other customers turned to look and he blushed more.

Y/N laughed and walked out.

Robin wasn't so bad after all

[allwormdiet]

Hive 5.9

Don't worry everyone, dragons are notoriously easy to defeat with little harm done, right?

Taylor's attempt at bravado is very humorous, if dramatically misplaced

Also Sundancer I'm so sorry you have to catch up so fast on Skitter stuff, but this is what you deal with in Brockton Bay

I dunno Taylor, I get that the objective here is that the ABB gets taken down, but are you sure the correct answer here doesn't involve Kaiser getting his stupid pointy ass cooked inside that armor?

Snark aside, this isn't a fully incorrect complaint to have about a teammate who's like. Not fighting. On a mission where you kinda all gotta fight. Like I know why Sundancer's not doing it, but that didn't get explained in much detail to anyone else

Skipping the part where Kaiser does his thing because he's a fucking Nazi and he doesn't get called "cool" or "interesting" he gets called a fucking Nazi

What I'd give for the shoe to be on the other foot here, but alas

Taylor, I love the noble intentions thing, your dedication remains as admirable as ever, however: he's a fucking Nazi. You're not spinning the "it's bad to murder people" idea this time.

Yeah yeah yeah! There we go! Use the friendly fire power while the Nazis are in the blast zone! Perfect! Sundancer I forgive everything, you're great

please don't make me eat those words later

Jesus fucking Christ that is hot

Guess that's proof Lung isn't totally immune to fire though

Yeah that

Fucking Nazi scumbag idiot.

Kaiser dies, right? There's no way he comes out of this story in one piece. I hope it's undignified. I hope his own spikes pin him in the Family Guy death pose.

What a great fucking sell on this moment, Jesus Christ

Oh no.

Ohhh no.

Taylor you are so fucking brave and that is a problem

Ho-ho-holy fuck this is so dire, it's great but also horrific.

See, yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the mistake that's gonna keep getting made here, and I'm pretty sure Lung's not even gonna get the worst of that. He's, y'know, still alive by the end of this.

Totally forgot about Newter's hallucinogen the first time I was reading this fight. So fucking cool as a detail.

So I joked back in Arc fucking 1 that either Lung was going to keep getting his eyes fucked up or Taylor was going to keep going for the eyes. I didn't expect to get more data for those at the same fucking time, but here we are I guess

God that's nasty, also incidentally not how eyeballs would come out, learned that by hanging around discussions of Naruto's plug-and-play magic eyes

(Short version is that the eye tissue would give up before the optic nerve would, so any eyes you yanked out would be. Less than whole.)

Oh thank God, I'd wondered about that actually

Nazi capes fuck off!! You tell em Taylor

If this isn't the vibe of Taylor interacting with other capes outside the team, I'll eat my hat.

Current Thoughts

Hoooooooly shit what a fucking chapter

What a fight, what a display, what an interwoven dance of stupid and clever and desperate and resolute

Taylor is only getting more brutal over time and I think she's gonna notice the blood on her hands (literal or otherwise) even less as she goes

Leaving it here for tonight, finish the arc tomorrow and keep this train a-rolling.

[st4rgrl4l1f3]

There was literally no excuse for the way Simon and Soap were the stupidest fucking people together. And only together. They are skillful soldiers, they always complete their mission. But holy fuck, take them out? Put them on a damn leash. It’s like two dogs trying to look at everything whilst on a walk.

Nothing could prepare Gaz for the way Price genuinely says shit like “whoopsies” “We’re in a bit of a jam, huh?” “Uh oh”. Kinda like if he was talking to a little kid. Gaz didn’t know why he used those kinds of words, here’s this special forces captain whom he thought was stone cold; apparently that only applies on the battlefield.

Alejandro’s mind was completely empty, watching Ghost, Soap and Gaz attempt to learn more Spanish. Soap couldn’t roll his R’s, Gaz sounded American whilst attempting to say a word that had been troubling him. It was Ferrocarril. Railroad. Ghost thought that turning Spanish subtitles on his show would help. It didn’t. “Joder, sois estúpidos de cojones..” (Holy shit, you guys are stupid as fuck..).

If Soap is mad, he won’t hesitate to scream. Yell. Only if it’s in the comfort of his home. Captain Price once came over and thought Soap was being attacked. No. He burned his breakfast. Running into the kitchen, gun in hand, he watches Soap pop more toast into the toaster. “Hope my eggs won’t get cold.” “Fuckin hell, Soap. I thought you were dying.” “No, I burned my toast.” “Fucks sake.”

Ghost genuinely cannot go a week without wreaking havoc. Scaring the shit out of people. He likes scaring the new young soldiers, ones who think they’re all that because they got into the military. That is, until Ghost comes up behind them, a heavy hand on their shoulder. “You ever been on the battlefield?” Said in a voice deeper than he’d normally go, but it was funny as shit to him, watching the soldiers jump and then looking straight into their eyes, watching as they attempt to politely disengage in the conversation.

Alejandro frequently plays video games, hard ones that he gets up on his high horse talking about “How hard can a Videojuego be?” (How hard can a video game be?” …Until he is red with rage, veins popping out of his forehead, hands shaking and squeezing the controller so tight that Rudy thought it was going to break. “No es tan grave, Alejandro ..” (It’s not that serious, Alejandro..” he says, getting more and more quiet as he spoke. Alejandro looked back at him, throwing the controller into the wall (denting it.) “You try then, Pendejo.” He says in a dark, creepy ass voice.

The teams genuine reaction when Gaz pulls out a book on the helicopter and starts reading is fucking insane. “Reading?” Ghost comments, wide eyed and sounding astonished. “I mean, the flight will be long. Might as well” He says, shrugging. “You’ve gotta be kiddin’, Gaz.” Soap scans Gaz’s eyes, looking for any humor in them. None. He was completely serious?? “Well, nothin wrong with a bit of reading, yeah boys?” Captain Price reads the room—“..You guys seriously don’t read? Ever?” “Why the fuck would we read-“ they both chirp in unison.

Captain Price is either over dressed or under dressed for the occasion. Why are you wearing a suit at Christmas dinner…And why are you wearing shorts and a Metallica shirt to church…Sometimes Gaz helps him dress so that he won’t look out of place. Has to take him out shopping since he’s rarely in normal clothes, I mean he’s got his gear and a civilian outfit (STRICTLY a civilian outfit.), maybe four shirts, a few pairs of shorts, three pairs of jeans, and a pair of sweatpants. Which wasn’t exactly bad, but for church that just will not do, Captain!!!

Soap has no social anxiety. He’s loud when he laughs, talking with random men at the bar, telling his story to some guy named Daniel who he just met 13 minutes ago. Which for the record, Daniel thinks Soap is fucking awesome. Holy shit dude, you’re a special op? Yeah that’s not something you see everyday. Him and Daniel now meet at the bar a few times per week when Soap is given the green light to do so.

[pinknightsinmymind]

【 hell week - abby anderson 】

abby anderson x fem!reader

wc: 2.2k

based off request prompt: What do you think about them being in college and braving through finals together? Like, they've been working for hours and they collectively decide to encourage each other through it?

content: modern!au, college!au, established relationship, helping each other manage stress through finals, you and abby being caring gf's, LOTS of affection between you two, one sexual joke, abby being happy and sharing her sense of humor, lots and lots and lots of fluff, cuddling, use of pet names (babe, baby, love, etc.)

a/n: wowowow this was so cute to write ik its a little past finals week as the next semester has either begun or will be starting soon for ppl, but i hope reading about going through finals week and being domestic with abby is still heartwarming. i hope it can also be a comfort to be read again at a later time when its finals week again and you're stressed and need a moment to relax :) more than anything taking care of yourself during finals is the most important which is something i've barely learned and figured out how to do. anyways, now that i'm done lecturing, pls enjoy!!!!

“I think I’m going to drop out,” Abby announced. You snorted.

“Like hell you’d drop out,” you said back to her. You knew Abby was just being dramatic and complaining. Despite how draining the work was, you knew she loved her major and being in pre-med.

“No, I think I’m actually gonna do it this time. I’ll just scam people online for money. This medical shit just isn’t it. In fact, I think I’m gonna become the country’s most wanted con-woman.”

“What you need is a break from studying, not to drop out,” you advised. You leaned forward from across the table and closed Abby’s textbook and notes. She sighed and rubbed her temples. “You’ve been studying hard enough. Don’t push yourself.”

“You’re right.” She shuffled some of her note cards in her hands absentmindedly. “Neither of us have taken a break in a while. My brain hurts.”

“Tell me about it,” you grumbled. “Wanna get something to eat?”

“You read my mind. I think the walk would be good for me.”

“Plus, we’ve done enough studying for a while. We can study more later tonight.”

“You’re a genius, [Y/N],” she grinned. “That’s why I keep you around.” You rolled your eyes as you gathered your things together and shoved them in your backpack. Abby followed suit as the two of you prepared to leave the library. You checked your phone and saw it was around three o’clock, and you had both been there since before noon. Yeah, you both definitely needed the break.

“Tonight,” you started as you walked by Abby’s side, “we’ll study some more. I say we take a few hours to ourselves.”

“Oh, yeah?” she asked flirtily. You hit her arm.

“Not like that! I meant we should decompress for a while. Eat, watch some TV, that kind of thing.”

“Physical activities are good for decompressing,” she countered.

“Oh, I’m sure they are to you. Look at you. You go to the gym, like, six times a week,” you joked.

“Five,” she corrected.

“See!” you exclaimed. The two of you finally exited the library, the sun’s warmth and beams hitting you. The warmth was delicious, and much better than the freezing Arctic inside the library.

“I thought you liked my physique. Some say it’s Grecian.”

The laugh spilled from your lips before you could even stop yourself. “Oh, my God. You did not just say that.”

“I think I’d be a Spartan,” she mused.

“You’re joking.”

“No, I’m one hundred percent serious. Sparta’s no joking matter.”

“You are so—I don’t even know what to say.”

“Charming? Hilarious? I’ve heard it all before,” she said cockily. Before you could even respond you felt her hand slither close to yours and lace your fingers together. “What do you want to eat?”

“I don’t know. What’s closest?”

“That sandwich place you like is nearby. We just gotta walk past the art building and it’s right there.”

“Deal!” you agreed. Walking through campus was always enjoyable with Abby by your side. She made the weather less dull, the day less mundane. It was these little moments with her that you enjoyed the most. Sure, it’s boring everyday life, but she made it special. Abby swung your interlocked hands through the air as she matched your stride. Yes, you may have been in the middle of exams, but at least you had Abby by your side while you endured it. You enjoyed the small journey together, taking the time to admire the beautiful landscapes before you. The university had many trees planted around campus whose lush, green branches provided bountiful amounts of shade. There were squirrels roaming around searching for food, while only a few other students wandered around. For some finals week had barely begun, while others were going through the dregs of it.

Nearly everyone had coffee in their hands while they were dressed lazily—and none of them you could blame. Finals week tired you out beyond compare, and you still had a paper to complete tonight. Abby had two more exams to prepare for, while you only had one more in a few days. You were both just trying your best to make it through the week, both vowing to help each other whenever necessary. That included monitoring each other’s sleeping schedules, making sure you both stayed on task, and making sure above all you were both taking care of your health. That was the most important one seeing as the two of you had a streak for getting so involved in your studies you often neglected your well-being. It was a slippery slope, but when you had each other to look after one another, it made things somewhat easier.

“Hey,” you said to Abby suddenly. She glanced at you, waiting for you to finish speaking. “I’ll pay for lunch today.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Yeah. My treat.” You squeezed her hand in yours, watching as a smile spread across Abby’s face. She looked radiant whenever she smiled.

“Trying to wine and dine me?” she teased.

“You know it.”

Lunch with Abby was just as calming and therapeutic as you thought it would be. Not only did it calm your nerves, but it gave both of your brains just the break they needed. You both took your time to eat, looking to enjoy each others’ presence and the food instead of rushing. After eating, the two of you decided to head back to your shared apartment rather than go to the library again.

“Do we have to start studying right away now that we’re home?” you asked her. Abby glanced at her watch. It was barely five, but she didn’t want you to stress yourself out more. In fact, she felt you deserved to rest more, instead.

“’Course not, babe,” she answered. “You’ve already been working hard enough. Let’s just watch something together.” Abby pulled together some blankets and set up her laptop for the two of you on your bed. Settling herself against the headboard with the blanket wrapped around her, she opened up her arms for you to join her. You quickly joined her, Abby wrapping the blanket around you as well. She pulled you close to her body, arms around you tightly, as you began to watch the show you binge watched together. Abby placed quick kisses against your cheek and forehead here and there, but still made sure to concentrate on the show before her. Despite this, you still managed to distract her and pull her into more heated kisses every now and then.

After a few episodes you asked Abby if she was ready to finish studying, and when she said yes the marathon ended. You sat at the small dinner table together, Abby turning through the pages of her textbook and making countless flashcards. You, however, pulled out your laptop and began working on your paper. It was due tomorrow at noon, so you wanted to be sure you got it done by tonight, even if it meant staying up extra late. You’d make that sacrifice if you had to. You wrote page after page, inserting your quotes, making arguments, for what felt like forever. However, you were still nowhere close to done. It was already past 10 P.M., and you had at least three to four pages left to do. After about twenty more minutes, Abby wrapped up her studying and announced she would take a shower.

“I’ll be back, love,” she said, giving you a small kiss before heading to the bathroom. You sighed as you heard the water start running. You knew it was going to be a while before you finished, but you’d have to bear it for the time being. You worked in a frenzy as the pressure of your final grade hung over your head. You just wanted to finish this assignment so the semester could finally be over. Abby finally returned from her shower after some time, rubbing the strands of her hair in her towel to dry it off.

“How’s the paper coming?” she asked. You shook your head.

“It’s coming,” you groaned.

“It’s getting pretty late. Are you almost done?”

“Hardly,” you answered. Abby came up behind you and began massaging your shoulders. It helped to calm you somewhat, her hands managing to rub the spots that ached the most.

“Want me to stay up with you?” she asked softly.

“I’d like that,” you said. Abby finished massaging your shoulders and pulled out the seat next to you.

“I’ll stay here the whole time with you, baby, but let’s make a deal.”

“What is it?” you asked. You looked away from your screen and into your girlfriend’s eyes as she spoke.

“Before I tell you, what time is this paper due?”

“Tomorrow at noon,” you answered.

“Okay, here’s what we’ll do. I’ll let you write a little bit more, but after midnight you’re gonna take a shower and go to sleep.”

“But I need to finish this,” you argued.

“Yeah, but you can’t tire yourself out, babe. You’re not pulling an all-nighter on my watch. We’ll wake up early together tomorrow and you can finish it, okay? So just do what you can tonight.”

“Fine,” you grumbled.

“So, how much you got left?” she asked.

“About two to three pages,” you answered.

“I think you should write until you only have one page left. How does that sound?”

“Doable,” you responded. You turned back to your laptop and continued where you left off. Abby leaned over and rested her head on your shoulder as you wrote. Usually you didn’t like having people watch you write, but with Abby it was different. You adored her and cherished her company. While she leaned on you, one of her hands rubbed circles onto your back absentmindedly.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking you to finish your paper in the morning,” she spoke up suddenly. “I just don’t want you to burn yourself out or stay up too late. I know how we both get when it’s finals, so I just don’t want either of us to make the same mistakes again, you know?”

“It’s okay, Abs. I don’t mind,” you reassured her. “To be honest, I kind of like it. It makes me feel cared for.”

“You’re very cared for,” she said, pecking your cheek. Finally, after about twenty more minutes of writing, you finally reached a stoppining point that wouldn’t be too hard to continue the following morning.

“Done!” you exclaimed. Abby smiled at you and shut your laptop for you.

“Good. Now do what you need to do. I’ll be waiting for you.”

“You better not fall asleep,” you warned. You pecked her lips as you rose from the table to go take your shower. The warm water was calming as it soothed your joints and cleansed your body. Once you finished your shower and nightly routine, you found Abby waiting in bed for you. She had the blanket covering her legs as she read one of her books quietly. You crawled into bed carefully beside her and curled up into her side.

“Ready for bed?” Abby asked. She closed her book and placed it on her nightstand.

“Yeah,” you answered. Without another word Abby turned her lamp off and pulled you into her.

“Good night,” she whispered into your neck.

“Good night,” you said back to her. It wasn’t long before the two of you dozed off.

+ + +

“Hey,” she whispered. “Wake up, sleepyhead.” You groaned as you wiped your eyes and they adjusted to the bright lights. She must have had the kitchen lights on and the blinds open like always since she was the morning person in the relationship. You could smell fresh coffee and feel Abby’s arms around your body. Her hand stroked your cheek as she whispered to you softly. “Come on. I’ve got your morning coffee ready. Just how you like.”

“For real?” you asked. Abby laughed at your response.

“Yes, now go wash up.” You groggily dragged yourself out of bed and to the bathroom to wash up, the cold water you splashed on your face waking you up. After you finished brushing your teeth, you wandered to the kitchen where Abby sat at the table waiting for you.

“What time is it?” you asked.

“Barely nine, so you have plenty of time to finish up your paper and edit,” she said. You came towards her and sat in her lap, wrapping your arms around her neck. Abby’s hands immediately found refuge around your waist as she rubbed them against the small of your back.

“You’re the best girlfriend ever,” you muttered into her shoulder.

“Well, thank you,” she said in response.

“Alright, I’m gonna finish my work,” you announced. You rose from Abby’s lap as she reluctantly pulled her hands away from your body. You pulled out your chair and grabbed the coffee mug Abby left out for you. It was exactly how you liked it, just as she said. After working for nearly an hour, you finally finished your paper and began editing it. That took close to another hour, and by then you were able to turn it in confidently. You let out a sigh of relief as you glanced at Abby beside you.

“All done?” she asked.

“All done,” you said happily. Abby leaned over and kissed your cheek.

“Happy to hear it. Wanna cuddle the rest of the day? I say we rest today since we have a couple more days till our next exams.”

“You don’t even have to ask,” you answered.

[genderlesssinner]

Welcome back nerds

These Fey horse things are giving me windwalk vibes

Ash wanting to go dodging trees makes me think about that post about them riding a motorcycle. Yeaaahh.

I love their naming vibes, these dweebs

Oh man I love it when Matt mixes sayings that was perfect

Not the Creed reference I can't

Dirty 20 (for 22) and he got nicked holy fuck

Dorian riding sidesaddle is amazing and I love him

Oof Braius ate shit a lil damn

Imogen going full racer stance love it

Oh no Ash got got by a bird

Fey art school? Oh boy

Startin us off right, get it little man

"we'll get to that in a moment" uh oh

Okay okay big fancy twin tower

Oh it's covered in skeletons fuck

Hooves are bad for verticale climbing, yall

Ooh I hope they get a moment for Chet to do the Psychometry thing in this town that would be neeaaatt

Robbie following his gut, I love it, yes

Ooohhh shit someone is watching, that damn hawk

EEEYYYY Get it Chet

(fucking fuck I missed a minute there ugh internet issues)

Fuck whatever it is poisoned the fucking land not just the people shit

Oh they brought a guard dog, interes- nope it has a people face mhn, nuh uh, nope

MAP TIME

'for spacial awareness'

So freaking cool every time

"I believe in our 80% rat."

*said rat rolls TRASH*

Ooop- Pâte gone

Sneaky sneaky plus Arcane Eye nice nice

Sneaky ass Fey boys man

I always wonder if they can send images with Telepathic Bond but they never mention it nahdjdhchc

Oh fuck Tal's right I bet that was fucken Gloamgut landing. Damn dragon is scary

Mhm yep yep yep

Weeeeiiiirrrdddd ass fey dragon

Fuck man I forgot there was gonna be a Snow Luda here sheesh. Spooked me for a sec

I kind of want them to like try and listen and learn more but also blow shit up like Travis said, bring the fucken building down (which is a shame, it's gorgeous). More info can only help us here but we gotta make this go sideways for Luda

Ira you creepy sonofabitch

I think everyone kinda forgot about Ira for a minute there

Fluffy fuckboy,, oh no

Love fighting with Ira so far

Liaaamm a one?? No luck reroll??

Duuuudde Travis with double Nat 20s

The quietest HWDYWTDT ever and maybe the nastiest damn boy

"You think you're pretty hidden" Uuhghhhhh maaaatt

Why are fey critters so.. Nasty?

Dorian with a go on, git. I cant

What the fuucckk is iitttt??

Ooh this fight could so bad so quick Silence is saving their asses right now ooofff

Having some issues again but Idk if this is my internet or what. Audio fine but the video is frozen, had to reload... Missed a little bit.

Crazy stealth rolls from Ash and Chet, love that

And a crit fuck yes

Chet getting super gorey and I kind of love it

Fuck him up Orym, get it boo

Yess boys get it. Do the weird shit Tal yes.

I'm so excited to see what Tal is planning, I love how feral he gets with Ashton sometimes

This is going so well and I'm kinda worried

Cosmic space stuff oh yes maaann the wormhole fuck yeah

Man. I wanna read this barbarian stuff so bad

Ludinus knows that they're planning to attack the key - but is that because it's the obvious move or is it because there's a leak?

I do love that the Unseelie are like 'nah we'll sit in the shadows and watch your centuries of work crash a burn, thanks though.'

Oooh animating the statue love it, makes me think of Laerryn summoning a construct, man

Oh this is gonna be either really good or really bad holy shit

So my thought here especially since Ash went ahead and went titan, they could go in and do massive structural damage. And then as shit falls they should be able to get out safe because they can move through stone and shit right? And between that and Fearne making everything squish that shit should go down

THE INSIDE MAP AAAAA

FUCK ME I hate how big that dragon is oh my gods but he is gorgeous

Oop no statue

I think the group should try to focus on distracting these guys and Ash needs to get in there and do some seige damage and fuck shit up and then they got to GO. Fuck they can't move through worked stone, that's what it is. Hell.

I'm not sure if the Hells have ever worked together this well before

MATTHEEEWWWWW

Ugh the cliffhangers yall

I'll totally be watching again Monday because I missed somethings and I'm so tired right now.

See yall then ♥️

[ferrocyan]

ffxiv write day 10 - stable

yaana startles herself awake. she rubs her eyes and rolls her shoulders, wincing in pain from how she slept on it. she checks her watch: 1:40 am. she stayed to wait for tart, but the backroom is still empty. what the hell, did he leave without her? though honestly, knowing the guy he'd probably settle in and take a nap too. not that she'd even meant to sleep here, yaana grumbles to herself.

souleater had his bout against brute bomber yesterday, so of course yaana attended as tart's second. then there was the championship ceremony, and--eutrope crashing that event to challenge tart to a fight. shit, too much happened in such a short time. yaana hasn't seen eutrope again, either--she almost hopes her sister would come see her here, but the idea scares her at the same time. what would they even say--

never mind that! her missing partner is more important right now. after a match, contestants can visit arcadia's medical wing to recuperate--injuries don't usually stick around after coming down from oversoul, unless they're really severe. like losing limbs and stuff... tart had all of his intact, she thinks. although it's not like he had oversoul to begin with--

"shit," yaana gets up and books it to medical. there's no way anyone can fight eutrope and walk away without injuries, not even souleater!

the arcadion is eerily quiet, completely absent of people. yaana hates it. she always used to ignore her parents' warnings and sneak out to visit here, just to see eutrope train. the place is supposed to be open at all hours and have visitors crowd its halls. spectators waiting for the next match, employees keeping the show running, fighters training or holding exhibition matches--there's not even any exhibition matches anymore! not since king zoraal ja's decree. it still pisses yaana off, even after the king's dead.

she arrives at the medical wing quickly, and her irritation isn't helped by the attending physician she sees. ugh, great. she greets the woman, "hey, mel."

"hi, cat," replies dr. melantha. "here for your pal?"

"yuppers. is he good?" yaana approaches her at her station, with tart lying unconscious on the bed to its right. there's a number of electrope sensors attached to his body, but not much else, so he's probably just being observed right now. mel gives an affirmative, and with her unspoken permission yaana glances at the patient chart on her desk. her stomach drops.

in studying about personal training and fitness yaana learned a lot about human bodily functions (some from mel, she's gotta admit). she can intuit how different conditions can feel from her experience, too. and just looking at what happened to tart gives her a chill that runs down her spine. 'he should be dead' is putting it lightly. "...that's not good," she says weakly, to which mel shrugs. "he's got levin sickness?"

"a minor case, perhaps? his circuits would've kept deteriorating otherwise, but the vitals are all good now, see. oh, and do you want to hear something interesting?" mel starts excitedly. being from a family of machinists she has a habit of going off on likening her patients to machinery, so yaana waits until she concludes in a way that makes sense. "...which means souleater has near perfect control of his aether! as long as he's conscious, i assume, since it all fell apart the second he collapsed. neat, huh?"

"huh," yaana echoes. she's really familiar with the concept of aether control, of course--that's the same principle under feral soul enhancement. but the thing keeping that control isn't the person, it's their regulator. fighting an opponent with feral oversoul is less about killing them and more about chipping away that control--this is extremely obvious even to an amateur if they just watched souleater's matches. she glances at tart. "then that makes his body itself the regulator."

fuck, no wonder he doesn't need one to fight. this fucker has the final word on when he dies. yaana shakes her head. unbelievable. does wearing a regulator make you give up this control? is she now disconnected from her own aether, relying on the device to keep her soul and body connected? ...and is that bad?

something at the bottom of the chart catches her eye. oh, son of a bitch--yaana snaps towards mel, "you marked him green?"

"hm? oh, yes. he's stabilized, after all, and i've fixed the wounds. is there a problem?"

"nope," yaana says instead of yelling at her. she's even smiling. "hey, so that means we can leave, right?"

"no." yaana sees it dawn on her. "cat, i'm just following protocol," mel reasons. yaana shrugs.

"and i'm following mine." she walks around the station to reach tart and shake him by the shoulder. "wake up, buddy. heeeey. can you hear me?" it takes a while, but he opens his eyes and slowly comes back to himself. yaana doesn't stop talking to him as she packs his belongings. "you feel okay? you can stand, right? awesome, let's ditch this place!" mel gives yaana a look, but she lets them go.

as she steps outside with her partner in tow, yaana exhales a breath she didn't know she was holding. for the first time in her life she feels relieved to be out of the arcadion.

[abiiors]

okay so while we’re on the topic… i’m a newer fan of the boys, i actually got tickets to one of their concerts back in october when they were touring in america from my aunt even though i had never really been a fan of them (her heart was in the right place 😭😭 bc i do listen to a lot of music that’s like in their sphere ig?? and i’ve been to festivals that they’ve performed at so i can see why she would’ve thought to get me those tickets, i just never really listened to their music before) but i went to the show regardless bc hello free concert tickets?? would have been a sin to let them go to waste tbh and oh my god am i so glad i did, it was actually one of the best shows i’ve ever been too!! especially considering i only really knew their popular songs?? like robbers, somebody else, aaaand it’s not living if it’s not with you

ANYWAYS that being said, since i had never really followed them before i always pretty much ignored anything i saw about them on twitter and stuff, mainly the negative things said abt matty bc not my faves, not my business?? but i gotta ask someone who’s been a fan of them for a lot longer than i have, what iiiis the deal with all the “matty healy racist” “matty healy homophobic” “matty healy [insert smth hateful here]” rhetoric??? bc from what i’ve seen of him after getting to know more abt the band he doesn’t appear that way at all?? like were there things he said that were taken out of context??? what’s up with the nazi accusations??? also homophobic??? is twt not aware of what he did in malaysia?? also straight men that are homophobic would never have the kind of close male friendships that the band have with one another… it seems like he’s twitter’s scapegoat tbh but idk i’m simply so confused and anything i find online trying to explain it all seems very biased based off the language they use so if you can/would like to… pls help 😭

okay first of all, welcome to the fandom!! i'm so glad you're here and i'm so glad you got to see them live!! they genuinely are so so incredible <33

now onto the questions!

i won't say matty's a saint. he's definitely done things in the past that are disappointing (to me at least, as well as to many others on here). last year he went on a podcast called the adam friedland show where many tasteless jokes were made about japanese people, the porn website ghetto gaggers, ice spice as well as countless other tastelss things were said.

now i really really want to clarify that matty never made those jokes but he did laugh along to them which is also a shitty fucking thing to do. he's since said that he was advised not to go on the podcast by people close to him and he still did it. however, he's also publicly apologised to ice spice and she's also said that the 1975 are one of her fav artists.

in may of 2023 he started allegedly dating taylor swift (i still don't believe it, i still think they either just made music or they just fucked or both) which exposed him to a whole new level of fame that was unprecedented. and the swifties are... rabid, to say the least. they made fun of his appearance, his past addiction issues, hoped he would have a relapse and die, all sorts of horrendous stuff. they discovered the podcast which was pretty fresh at the time and the whole thing spiralled into him being labelled a racist, homophobe, transphobe, pedophile, nazi, you name it, he was being called it.

however literally NONE of it was backed by evidence (but i don't expect people whose sole source of information is twt to realise that)

they have clearly never learned what a nazi is. i'm not even going to try to debunk that here because i feel like it would be insulting to your intelligence

he's not homophobic or transphobic, he's literally an ally to the point of being a fruity lil shit. he's been banned from 2 countries (dubai and malaysia) for openly supporting queer rights. they were also briefly jailed in malaysia for the stunt they pulled and had a lawsuit filed against them. he's even won ally of the year at the diva awards in 2019

literally every single fan who's ever met him has had nothing but amazing things to say about him. he's been incredibly kind and sweet to people

the band has always been openly political and vocal about their beliefs

you're absolutely right about him being the twitter scapegoat because unfortunately that's exactly what it is </3

i hope that clears things up tho, i'm sorry this is so long!!

[bazzybelle]

Trope Grading

Omg I kept seeing this on my dashboard and I was hoping to get tagged! Thank you @seiya-starsniper for tagging me, love! :D

Ok so, I'm not picky at all when it comes to tropes and fun things to write and read, so expect most of these to be in the positive range. Also, slight disclaimer, no one's gonna like the same things. What I'm obsessed with may not work for others and that's OK!

Rules: How much do these tropes affect your decision to click on a fic?

-10 -> very dissuaded

0 - don't care either way

+10 -> very enticed

nope -> if it's a hard no and you'd never click on a fic with that tag or or you even have the tag blocked or you'd insta click out of the fic if it wasn't tagged

Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it's conditional.

Age gap: +3

So I'm usually not a fan of large age gaps. I find them rather squicky irl, and I'm not very keen on clicking fics that contain them. That being said, if I happen to read a summary that sounds interesting to me, or if the fic is by a writer I enjoy, I'll most likely read it.

I will most likely not write anything involving age gap though, unless a friend asks me to.

Codependency: +5

I like fics that start out this way. Where the two people cannot function without the other. However, if this leads to them finding independence WHILE still needing the person in their life, yesssssss! Having a character learning to be happy on their own and on their own terms is the good shit for me.

That being said, both Dreamling and SnowBaz have some of the most co-dependant fuckers I've seen. They're so much fun to write though. :D

Obsession/Possessiveness, jealousy: +5

This depends on the level of intensity, and whether it becomes toxic or not. I will not read a fic that involves the main pairing being abusive towards each other. If it becomes dark towards each other, I'm clicking out. That being said, the "No one gets to touch you, but me" or "No one gets to have dirty thoughts of you" shit is so fucking GOOD.

Both Dreamling and SnowBaz have this shit and I eat it up every single time.

And yes, I will GLADLY write this. No questions asked.

Opposites (grumpy/sunshine etc): +10

Oh yesssss!!!! Love love love this trope! It's so much fun to read how different authors decide to tackle this. Will the dark one find reasons to be sunshiny? Will the sunshiny one learn how to cope with darkness as it comes and goes? How does their dynamic work? How do they deal with other people? So many possibilities! Love it!

Enemies to lovers, Enemies with benefits: +50

Hi, hello! This is my JAM. I think every major fandom I've been a part of had some sort of pairing like this, and each one was handled with perfection. Though Dreamling is less Enemies to Lovers, and more Acquaintances to Friends to HOPEFULLY LOVERS.

However, I also live in the Carry On fandom, and my fam from there will tell you that Simon and Baz are perfect Enemies to Lovers! It's just such a fun trope to see tow people going from absolutely HATING each other, to being madly in love.

They DO say that there is a fine line between love and hate.

Friends with benefits: +5

This can be a REALLY fun trope to play around with. I haven't read many fics where they strictly stay as fuck buddies. Normally, they always progress to being in a relationship after developing FEELINGS. I would like to read a fic where they stay strictly platonic, and are happy staying as fuck buddies. Or maybe one ends up in a relationship and it's just... fine.

Sex to feelings: +5

See, this is what the FWB usually ends up becoming. So I'm marking it the same as the FWB. All of the FWB fics I've read eventually end up becoming this. Same with the Enemies with Benefits. Almost always, it ends up with one or both the characters developing feelings.

And I'm pretty happy with that, but it's gotta have a good plot attached to it as well.

Fake dating/relationship: +8

Ohhhh yes! I love a good fake dating story. The underlying angst over one loving the other (because it ALWAYS happens) coupled with the fear of being Found Out is so perfect.

Then you have the moment when Everything Is Revealed, and so you get more angst and pining until the eventual resolution.

Friends to lovers: +50

The amount of love I feel for the Enemies to Lovers is equal to the love I feel for Friends to Lovers. Enemies to Lovers is hot and heavy and good for writing those intense feelings growing into something positive. With Friends to Lovers, it's a bit of a slower burn, but nice because your characters already have a good relationship. But oh no... one wants something different. What if their friend doesn't feel the same? What if it ruins everything?

Dreamling fandom has done this SO WELL.

Found Family: +5

YESSSSSSS! Ok look, if it's the only trope in the fic, then I'll probably skip it, unless it's got a really compelling plot attached to it. I am such a sucker for found family though. Where you have a rag tag group of outcasts and misfits who find comfort and love amongst each other... Yes, give me all of that.

Hurt/Comfort: +10000000000000000000

THIS IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE TROPE! BAR NONE! END OF STORY!

The fucking AAAAAAANGST with one partner being hurt and the stress with wondering if they'll be ok and be reunited with their partner.

Then the soothing balm that comfort provides... Ughhhhh yes. Give me that shit NOW.

Let it known, that I will ONLY read a hurt/whump fic, if there is AMPLE comfort as well. Beat up your characters, but give them hugs and tea and bandaids after.

Love Triangle: -10

I am NOT a big fan of love triangles. Ok well... that depends. If it's an ACTUAL love triangle, where all three people have feelings for each other, I can get onboard. I have recently found that I really like reading poly fics.

However, if it's the type of bullshit where one person has two people fighting over them... it's a no for me. I'm not a fan of Love Angles (because that's what they are).

Poly, open relationships: +8

You know. I never really thought I'd end up liking poly ships as much as I do. It started when I got into AtLA, and saw a really well-written Zuko/Sokka/Suki fic. The writer just really convinced me that they all genuinely loved each other.

I guess it comes down to how well the author can convince me that they all have feelings for each other and are in a respectful relationship.

Convince me that no one is being mistreated and I'm down for reading your poly/open fic. :)

We all have two hands after all.

Mistaken/hidden identity: +1

I'm very meh with this trope. I don't know, it doesn't interest me as much as other tropes do. I mean, if you've got a good spy fic where one has to hide who they are on fear of death, I can vibe with that. If the stakes are raised, I can get on board with it. :)

Monsterfucking: +50

My favourite movie as a kid was Beauty and the Beast. I was UPSET when he changed into a prince.

I was obsessed with Twilight as a teen.

HI CARRY ON FANDOM!!!!

Yes, I am ALL for monster fucking. Go fucking WILD!

Pregnancy: +5

I'm not a fan of writing out the whole process of pregnancy, because frankly it terrifies me. But I do love the idea of unexpected pregnancy and kid-fics. They can be a lot of fun :)

Second Chance: +10

I am currently writing a medical second chance fic. And I am having so much fun writing it. I love second chance fics. Sometimes, people who are supposed to be together aren't together at the right time. Sometimes people need to grow before they're ready to be together.

The slow coming back to feelings after time is so sweet to read. Are the feelings still there after time has passed? Is it too late for us? Did we miss our shot? Is it worth jumping into love at this time?

Slowburn: +10000000000

Yesssssssssssss! Drag that shit out. Have the relationship develop slowwwwwwwwlyyyyyyyyy. Give me missed opportunities, and interrupted kisses. Give me pining and second thoughts, and uncertainty. Give me months of going back and forth.

Give me the Oh... OH moment!

Soulmates: +10

Soulmates are so fucking fun! And I have read so many good soulmate fics (heck, I even WROTE one). There are so many different ways you can portray two people being soulmates. And I'm not just talking about the way it presents, but also the type of soulmate. The fic I wrote had platonic soulmates. Soulmates who are connected and love each other but it isn't romantic. They're just each other's Person.

I would love to see this concept explored more (the fic I wrote had them as background characters), as well as other types of soulmates. Can you have familial soulmates? Sexual soulmates? Purely romantic soulmates? Friendly soulmates? Multiple soulmates? There are so many ways to play with this trope!

Tagging gently: @carryonsimoncarryonbaz @f-ing-ruthless-baz @amywaterwings @namistrella @ninemagicks @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @yellobb @windsweptinred @facewithoutheart @aristocratic-otter @ic3-que3n @artsyunderstudy @j-nipper-95 @messofthejess @mentallyinvernation @spockandthings @mallory-x @nausikaaa @quellawrites @thranduilland @valiantstarlights

[someoneinjersey]

while googling the answer to "why does 5 seconds of summer hate their song 'dont' stop'" last night i came upon a tumblr post from a now deactivated account, dated 8 years ago listing four big reasons why they hate 5sos.

as someone who's almost 40 and just became a 5sos fan and has lived through the golden and bullshit days of pop punk and little bands full of dudes etc, i was like OP I JUST WANNA TALK

like their points were that 1) they steal riffs and logos and designs, 2) theyre mean to fans, 3) theyre sexist, and 4) theyre homophobic.

as to point 1 -- at the time the post was made, they were still teenagers (or three of them were, one was 21) and they were of COURSE going to be making music and designs or whatever that were influenced by the bands they liked and grew up on. that's how that shit works, both being teens and being in bands. its extremely hard to be original anymore, and you can't even say the bands they copied were being original either because they TOO were drawing from artists who came before. everything old is new again, every song sounds like another song and every art design has been influenced by another or is a tribute to another. that's just ART. the video linked to prove that a 5sos song was the same as another band's (it was either MCR or FOB or Green Day, idr) is no longer available, but i think a better video to watch would be one of several that points out all popular songs are from the same chords.

as to point 2 -- again, the post cited that explained the bad experience has since been deleted, but you will find that EVERY SINGLE ACTOR OR SINGER OR BAND OR ANY TYPE OF CELEBRITY HAS STORIES FROM FANS WHERE THEY WERE "MEAN". because people have bad days, and sometimes fans really feel entitled to too much of them. we as consumers of their art aren't entitled to shit. and once more (this is a theme to my pov) they were literal teenagers who shot to fame and by their own accounts were sometimes doing five countries in five days.

points 3 and 4 -- the sexism and the homophobia which were just old twitter posts ... i would like to know if OP has ever met a group of young male friends or anyone from australia. obviously we know now that shit's not kosher and hope they've grown and learned, but they were teenagers (I say this because all the ones cited were by Michael who was not the member who was 21 at the time of OP's list). they're about the same age as my brother, and having been around him and his friends at that age ... that's how they talk to each other. same with having had a best friend from australia for 17 years, culturally it's not a big deal to say shit like that. and AGAIN if it's about putting it on twitter for everyone to see, THEY WERE STUPID BOYS.

even though i'm not on twitter anymore (or fucking X or whatever) and i don't follow them on social media at all, i haven't seen anything to suggest they still have that same dumb boy mindset. and you can look at it like, thats me being sexist or ageist, or you can look at it like i'm excusing it all because of their age and gender and the cultural differences, plus their parents probably didn't teach them any differently. so honestly take this however you want but like man. having lived through the pop punk bandom during the 2000s and 2010s, you gotta be able to separate people making stupid mistakes from people doing really fucked up shitty things.

so thats my rant because that post rubbed me the wrong way OH WELL.

[noodlenibblescribble]

Prison of Plastic Thoughts on Molly, Giovanni and Especially Lorelai (Spoilers)

I finally finished Epither Erased: Prison of Plastic yesterday and oh my freaking god omf I cant get my blorbos out of my head.

The way this series said the system failed Molly, that trusted adults failed Molly, that even her friends who love her and see her suffering first hand can't help her in a way that really matters. Fuck it broke my heart. Hearing Navan's thoughts about being unable to just. Take her away because *he's a pillar to his community* hurt because he's a good guy. He's shown to be an amazingly thoughtful and caring man but classes and occasional money is not enough to save Molly. She needed a wrecking ball and I'm so happy Giovanni didn't even need to be asked. He was already planning on taking her. He just saw a girl in need and he gave zero shits to laws or future ramifications, he was going to help her come highwater and hell.

Epithet Erased is so amazing and means so much to me. A kid forced to grow up gets to be a kid again. Not by any concentional methods but it doesnt matter because she's free now and with people that will actually care for her.

That was amazing.

.......

But as much as I loved the book, I have gripes with Lorelai's part of the story.. I don't feel a sibling relationship as volatile as this was done enough.... justice?

I don't wanna get personal but there's a reason sibling relationships get to me the most out of any other familial one. I was so excited to cry over Molly and Lorelai, and I did! But it definitely felt like their interactions, the progression of their fights and their thoughts on one another could've been polished better. To me, it never felt like Molly got to actually communicate her problems with Lorelai properly. She either apologized or suddenly lashed out, which I understand, emotions run high, but because she never got through to Lori-

Lorelai does not feel like she learned a proper lesson at all. Her takeaway from the whole ordeal being 'I can stand to lose a bit' coming from *playing* a villain and picturing herself playing with Molly as one instead of what it should've been, her recognizing that she really put too much on Molly's shoulders makes her arc (in this part of her story atleast. Since there was no resolution between the sisters, I HOPE we are getting that in tbe future) frustrating.

I also feel like, if one of the main points of congression against Lorelai's powers was gonna be that she can hurt people (to the point where she freaks out about so much a d even WISHES SHE NEVER HAD THEM, THAT CAME OUT OF NOWHERE. UP UNTIL THEN ALL WE SAW WAS HER ENJOYING AND ABUSING HER POWERS EVEN IF SHE WAS LONELY), we could've had most instances of them actually doing something to people in the past other than just her potentially having set the hojse on fire. I thought the story was setting up her loneliness and departure from her school friends as maybe after losing her mom, she became overwhelmed and actually hurt one of them while having a meltdown. It would've solidified to her that maybe she SHOULD be alone, and given her more standing in her mind to freak out about actually hurting people while in this book, not just because she POTENTIALLY killed her mom but because, like Navan said, she already had confirmation of what she COULD DO with another incident.

And on that note, maybe a sprinkle of having Lorelai flinch and be scared of hurting Vincent Murder only to have him insist he's a gargoyle he can't be hurt(!) could've been another cute point to her crush on him. (Not that I'm a big fan of that potential relationship, but hey, if there's a focus on that, then you gotta milk it through the book).

On the subject of Gio/Vincent, I feel like he went too easy on her after the 'revelation' of what she's been doing to Beartrap on the side while hanging with him. He just breezed through it and was still joking with her during the fight. I didn't expect him to be a complete shift in personality and to cut ties with her, but maybe a bit 'tougher love' would've been good to see. I was waiting to see a more serious side to him as a protector of Molly, but he instead of keept it lighthearted and it didn't feel right. Theirs wasn't a matter of just petty sibling squabbles, Lorelai was a big contributor to the pain and stress Molly felt daily.

Brushing it aside felt so. Bad. For a story that does so well with showing how people fail and the consequences of it, they really softened Lorelai's in the end. She is still with the mindset of a child playing a game. It disappointed me ^^"

But uh, anyways. Sorry for the sudden negativity. It's honestly the only major thing I had a problem with. I love Epithet Erased so much, I guess I may have expected too much out of the sibling side of the story. I still heavily enjoy the rest of the cast and their relationships (other than Giovanni and Lorelai because I think he could be a little harder on her. Again, not a lot! I just think that as the person she likes and actually wants to listen to, she'd learn more from him.) But ah well.

[ghosttownwherenoonegoes]

Sweetheart, the answer isn't to watch yourself around him... The old man arguably has less to worry about than you most days. Let him worry, and let him take care of you like he did for me, 'kay? You're wearing my shirt? 🥺 Ah, Wayne was wondering where his flannel had gone off to again. Holy shit, you have an Ozzy jumper??? That's so metal babe! I'm jealous.

I know you're not stupid, babe, okay? You're talking to the guy that flunked twice already. I know how much you're capable of, but you gotta not tear yourself down, the world already does that on its own.

Aw shucks, princess, you're making me blush here. I appreciate your offer to help, it means a lot... Getting frustrated with myself doesn't always do the trick.

See, and I want to be there for you when your shoulders are tensed and your jaw's locked and it's hard to breathe because you're frustrated and you miss me but you won't let yourself see me, hell you forgot what I sound like? Babe :(

I promise, I am with you always in spirit, even when physical distance is a problem. I hope you can always be able to focus and feel the way my arms wrap around you and the way I smile into your neck.

You say it's not nice to murder people, but c'mon, you're killing me here, and I'm not supposed to reciprocate? You're effectively killing two of us at once with your words, and I'm supposed to sit idly by? I don't think so, love.

I'm glad you can get some sleep at least, even if it's inconsistent, and I know you're working on it, which is positive in itself. You know how proud you are of Harrington for being able to change for the better? That's how proud I am of you from trying.

I promise to take care of myself love, cross my old blackened heart, I swear. Though, I wouldn't mind if you stop by a bit more, this place is lonely when you're not here to light it up. I hope I've made you feel better, at least a bit, there's not much else I can do.

I love you, sweet thing.

--Eddie🖤

Eddddddieeeeee ~ !!!💖

As promised, I’m writing to you in the morning after some sleep & during a study break! I knew you were waiting for me🥺did you sleep well, pretty?

I worry so much about disappointing or worrying you and Uncle Wayne, especially the latter because he has so much world experience and if anyone’s gonna know if I’m fucking all this up, it’ll be him. He works so hard every single day and I find so much safety and comfort in that because if he can do it, then so can I. But I’ll let him worry and take care of me, if only because I know he wouldn’t if he didn’t want to. He takes such good care of you and raised you beautifully. Look at you.🥺See, if any of your Hellfire shirts or Uncle Wayne’s flannel goes missing, know that I’ve, uh… borrowed it without consent. It’s like being hugged by you, it’s like having you constantly with me and that’s something I’ll always want.🥺Yes, my Ozzy jumper!!! You can borrow it whenever you want, Eddie. Even if I’m already wearing it; I’d give it to you.🥺

Thank you, honey. This particular semester is… the hardest one yet but unfortunately for me, there are still some years to go before I graduate. But with each year, I learn more and get better so it’ll get easier. But still, you’re right. I’m not stupid, I just haven’t done any of this before. YOU aren’t stupid either, Eddie, far from it. You’re so creative and intelligent and you just, you just GET people and I admire you so so much. If your mind was a swimming pool then I’d be jumping right in at the deep end so I could get lost in you🥺

We can study together, if you want? You, me, some horror films or music, more snacks than we can realistically eat in one night, I can cook us and Uncle Wayne dinner, and we can help each other. Getting frustrated with yourself is understandable but it won’t do you any favours. Gotta take some deep breaths and not tug on those gorgeous curls of yours so hard, hm?

Not letting myself see you is a problem. “Oh, I’ll swing by and see Eddie tonight once I’ve done my work” or I promise myself “in an hour”, but then that hour comes and I don’t see you because I found something else which needs to do and I promise hour by hour and then before I know it, it’s bedtime and I’m upset because I didn’t get to see you even though nothing was in my way except me.💔I’m lucky I have Taylor to call me a motherfucker and send me things from you(😂🥺), otherwise a singular month would become plural.💔

Please stay, Eddie. I don’t want you to leave or go anywhere. My daydreams of you keep me company through the day and encourage me to keep going, even and especially when I’m a mosquito’s dick away from dropping out of university. Uncle Wayne has also stopped me from doing that a few times.

It’s definitely not nice to murder people, but murdering one another with words is sweet🥺you can always reciprocate, Eddie, I wouldn’t ever stop you from doing something you want to do. Hawkins does that to you enough and it turns my blood to lava. You’re the sanest of them all.

I am ridiculously proud of Harrington for choosing to be better and then actively working on it. I know well that it isn’t easy to do that, and so do and Uncle Wayne and Taylor, as well as countless others, and someone really needs to tell Steve how amazing he is. EDDIEEEEE ~ PLEASEEEE I’M ALREADY. DEAD, STOP MURDERING ME AGAINNNN🥺😭🙏💗Thank you for being proud of me.🥺 I’m so proud of you!!!💖

“Old blackened heart” is something we both say we have and YET!!!! We are soft🥺you got a big ol’ heart in there, Eddie. Gotta protect it! Okay, I know as soon as I say this that Taylor is gonna hold me to it, but once I’ve sent this and then replied to Uncle Wayne, I’ll turn off this horror film I’m watching and instead watch some things of yours. I ca’t come by tonight until late because I have plans with a friend and I have work tomorrow (they called me in on my week off💔), but I will see you before the stroke of midnight, Eddie. You always make me feel better. Just by being you.

I love you too, so much.

💗

[an-android-in-a-tutu]

The answer to that question, it turns out, is "steal a car."

The road they landed on is gently winding and wooded on either side. It's not wilderness, the road is well-maintained, and you can catch glimpses of openness through the trees where it's been clear-cut, the loggers leaving just enough of a strip of greenery to prevent people in passing cars from seeing the ugly barrenness left behind. At least, that's what Claire's mom told her, once, in the back of the car driving down a road just like this one, and she never questioned it then.

She's learned since that parents aren't as infallible as they seem when you're twelve.

(She still doesn't know what happened to her mom. Now she never will.)

The point is that it's not a busy road and it's not studded with helpful landmarks that'll tell them where they've landed, so they've got no way of knowing how long it'll take them to get anywhere by following it.

They need transportation.

Of course, their ability to procure it relies on a car actually turning up, and it takes a solid half hour of walking down the side of the road before they hear the approaching rumble of an engine cutting through the quiet night. Claire sticks out her thumb, and Cas slides back down into the ditch out of sight.

The car that ends up slowing to a stop next to her is a blue prius, and the guy at the wheel looks like a total soccer dad. He's got laugh lines for fuck's sake, and the first thing out of his mouth when she cautiously approaches the window is "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just looking for a ride." She mumbles.

"What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" He asks, all fatherly concern.

"Trying to get back to town." She replies vaguely. "Do you know how far it is?"

"About another twenty minutes, if you'll let me give you a ride." He smiles at her. "A lot longer if you keep on walking."

Claire hesitates, wavering on the spot.

"Do you?" He asks, smile fading. "Want a ride, I mean."

"Yeah, that's kind of what the whole sticking out my thumb thing was about." She replies, but she still doesn't move.

His expression softens. "Hey, it's okay, I promise. Why don't you hop in the back? I'll take you wherever you want to go, no strings attached, I swear."

"Shit." Claire grimaces. "I was kinda hoping you'd be a creep or something."

"What? Why?" He exclaims.

The driver's side door gets yanked open and he turns around to come face to face with the barrel of an assault rifle.

"Get out of the car." Castiel orders, voice about as rough as it always is, but in context it's probably especially intimidating. To Claire, he adds: "Not every car theft is going to function as karmic retribution, sometimes you have to go with the convenient option."

"Oh god. Oh god, please don't shoot me." Says the guy, putting his hands up and staring wide eyed at the gun."

"I know that I'm just saying I'd feel better about it if he'd been at least a little bit skeezy." She rebuts, pulling open the passenger side door as well. "I'm young and pretty and I've got nowhere to go, it wouldn't be that hard for some guy to get ideas."

The guy in the driver's seat hasn't moved, and he looks about ready to wet himself.

"Out." Cas repeats, gesturing with his gun. The guy whimpers a little, and Claire winces. "It's not as though people never pick up hitchhikers with altruistic intentions, this was as likely as any other outcome. Maybe more so."

"Yeah, whatever." She rolls her eyes. "Dude, you gotta get out of the car."

He jerks up in his seat, finally startled into motion, and immediately gets caught on his seat-belt.

"You have to unbuckle yourself first." Castiel informs him helpfully, gun never wavering an inch. The guy starts scrabbling at the buckle frantically, not looking at what he's doing and making about zero progress.

"Please- please don't kill me." He begs, voice cracking. "I have a family."

"Congratulations." Castiel replies, bored. "Most humans do."

Claire makes a face. Castiel sees her making the face. He sighs.

"Claire." He says, disapproving.

She puts up her hands. "I feel bad!"

"We need transportation, Claire."

"He says it's not that far, we could probably make it to town on our own and just steal a car there." She points out. Not that either of them are great at hot-wiring vehicles, but they could probably manage, between the two of them, right?

"My feet hurt." Castiel declares, like it's the worst thing in the world and a totally reasonable reason to steel a car from a perfectly nice man instead of walking for an hour or two.

"Point." Claire says, sliding into the car and reaching over to unbuckle the guy's belt for him. Because, well, Cas' feet hurt. What can you do? "Sorry buddy, them's the breaks."

The guy lurches out of the car to get away from her, and then veers aside to give Cas as wide a birth as he can, hands coming up again. Cas keeps the gun trained lazily on him.

"You'll- you'll let me go now, right?" He asks.

"Mhm." Cas shrugs, gestures dismissively with one hand. "You need anything?"

"What?" The guy sounds like he's about to start crying.

"From your car." Cas clarifies, looking unimpressed. "Do you need anything?"

For a long minute the guy just stares at him.

"... Can I have my briefcase?"

Cas looks to Claire, and she twists around to look in the back.

"It's under the seat." The guy says, helpfully, and she contorts herself around over the centre console to grope blindly for it.

"You could just get out and go around." Castiel points out.

"I got it." Claire snaps back, feeling her fingertips brushing leather. She heaves herself forward a little more and manages to grasp the handle, yanking it up with her when she pulls back. "HA!"

She passes it through the open door to Castiel, who tosses it to the guy, who fumbles to catch it with numb fingertips and clutches it to his chest.

"Anything else?" Castiel asks.

"I think I left my cellphone on the passenger seat?" The guy replies tentatively. Claire turns around to look for it.

"I'm not seeing a cellphone." She says.

"Are you sitting on it?"

"I think I'd know if I was sitting on it, Cas-"

"What?"

"...Found it."

"Were you sitting on it?"

"Shut up." She tosses him the phone, which is a lot clunkier than she remembers cellphones being when she was a kid. She didn't actually ask how far back they ended up, if that's even something Cas can tell. Has she even been born yet? There's no way they're that far back in time. For one thing, the guy in the car is dressed basically normal. For another, there are cellphones. Cellphones aren't that old, are they?

Cas catches the thing, and instead of passing it along, he flips it open, looking at the little screen.

"Is this the date?" He asks, turning it to face the guy.

"Um... yeah? Wait, no-" He stutters, sweating under Cas' bland scrutiny. "The damn thing kept resetting on me and it's always such a hassle to change it so I just leave it... like that..."

He trails off, withering as Castiel stares at him.

"What is the date."

"October tenth?"

"Year."

"2005." He supplies promptly, clearly too terrified to comment.

"Thanks." Cas says, slinging his gun back over his shoulder, he tosses the phone over, underhand, and gets in the driver's seat. "Call someone for a ride."

"Our other car is in the shop-" The guy starts to say, but Cas slams the door and starts the engine, and he skitters back to the edge of the road like they're gonna swerve and hit him as they pull away.

"See? He'll be fine." Cas says. "He has another car and everything."

"Yeah but it's in the shop, Cas." Claire counters, waving at the guy in the rear-view as he stands there watching them, clutching his phone and briefcase to his chest. "Who's gonna drive his kids to soccer practice, now?"

"Soccer practice?" Castiel asks, amused.

"Well not in this car, obviously. This car is a sensible hybrid he takes on business trips. His wife drives a station wagon- ooh or a minivan- to cart their five kids to their various extracurriculars." She informs him, tilting her seat back and putting her feat up. "Soccer and baseball for the boys, ballet for the girls. Violin for their youngest who's the sensitive type. His names Jeremy. But now with no transportation, they won't get their required enrichment, driving their mother up the wall and putting a strain on their parents' marriage, leading to a messy divorce, and the stress will put Jeremy onto a dark path that leads him to abandon his passion for music." She shakes her head sadly. "He'll never play Carnegie hall, now."

"Claire, you never told me you were such a talented psychic." Castiel says mildly. "If you'd said something, perhaps I would have spared him. Also, put your seat-belt on."

"Whatever." She rolls her eyes, snorting, but she complies, not even bothering to point out that he's not wearing his, the hypocrite.

"We'll switch cars when we get to town," Cas says after a moment, "he'll get it back in a day or two, tops."

"We should," Claire points out, "because he is definitely going to call the cops on us. Kind of a bonehead move, giving him his cell back. You looking to get into a police chase?"

"Not yet, he won't." Castiel informs her. "He didn't have any bars."

"Sure," Claire says, "you couldn't help it could you."

Castiel keeps driving in silence.

"He was just... so pathetic." He says, finally. "Like a sad, wet dog."

Claire barks out a laugh.

"Mean!" She says, punching him in the shoulder, and he smiles back at her, pleased with himself.

"Where are we headed, anyway?" She asks. "You got a plan?"

Castiel hums thoughtfully.

"It's October tenth," he says, "on November second, in Palo Alto, California, Sam Winchester's girlfriend is murdered by a demon, sending him and his brother down the path that will eventually lead them to starting the apocalypse.

"It's not the first or the last domino, but it seems like as good a place to intervene as any."

"Plus, you know, sucks for her," Claire says. "Dying and all."

"Yes, sucks for her," Castiel muses. "Best if we can prevent it."

"So we're headed to California then?" Claire asks. "That'll be cool. Hey, we've got like three weeks, maybe we can hit the beach."

Castiel doesn't reply.

"Cas?"

"We have another stop, first." He doesn't look at her.

"Where?" She asks, uncertain.

"Pontiac." He says. "First, we're going to Pontiac."

They don't talk for the rest of the drive.

I HAVE. A self indulgent AU that I'm not sure I've ever discussed here but I'm too lazy to check. It's about endverse Cas travelling in time back to season one to stop the apocalypse, which has been done and done very well, but the twist is. Endverse Claire.

[binart]

Hi Bina I love your art so much! You would always drop really good art/life wisdom during streams so I was wondering if you have any tips for ppl like me who don't feel very confident about their art? Sometimes I'll draw something and be like "ah yes my masterpiece oh la la" but then I'll post it and immediately feel a little bit like I'm not good enough to be doing this in the first place. Just shy art gurl tingz 👉👈 Any tips? Anyway I'm so invested in DTOK, can't wait to see what happens next! 💙❤

<333 THANK U!!! yes i have three excellent tips for this

ok so we're not going to pretend that internet validation isn't like.. THE BEST. because it is. yes sure validation from yourself internally should be the only thing we need to rely upon BUT WHO CAN ACTUALLY DO THAT??? not me if strangers don't tell me they like my gay little pictures SAID GAY LITTLE PICTURES DECREASE IN VALUE TO ME.

if you have any friends who you know will reliably gas you up, SHOW THEM YOUR PICTURES FIRST!!! i am a loser shut in with literally only one friend who i regularly show my stuff to, AND THEIR APPROVAL IS LIKE 8X THE SEROTONIN BOOST OF A STRANGER.

nextly, you must learn that People Love Fanart. you don't gotta make Da Vinci level stuff for people to love your fanart either ok. I AM AN EXAMPLE OF THIS. and if you can make a fair amount of it?? HOO BOY YOU'RE IN. YOU'RE GONNA GET THAT VALIDATION AFTER A WHILE. & tag your stuff so people can find it of course B^) so if u have a Piece of Media that you enjoy enough to make art of, DO THAT SHIT!!!

so that's two things you can do. the other thing, though very boring, is to put in the work to increase your technical skill. if you're able to motivate yourself to do this, confidence will come naturally as your skillset increases and you're able to more easily tackle illustrations that would have been much more difficult like a year ago. THIS IS HARD THO. i suggest finding things to get obsessed with so you feel naturally compelled to mAKE ART OF IT, since usually making a bunch of art helps you get better at.. making art. LOL

ANYWAY GOOD LUCK I HOPE YOU GET MUCH VALIDATION!

[chill-pills-yandere-haven]

Incorrect Quotes From the Sagau Programmer au!

An: I put some names into an incorrect quote generator and voila! Enjoy

Programmer au pt 3 should come out on the weekend, I hope.

For those who don't know what Programmer sagau is, basically, you are a programmer for mihoyo but you get isekaied into the world of genshin by the Sagau characters. The story for my programmer au is called "God is overworked, underpaid, and touch starved. Triple threat!"

:readmore:

*The squad is over at Programmer!Darling's house*

Araashita: Ohhhh, we each get our own oven?

Programmer!Darling: ... N-No...

Programmer!Darling, laughing: How many ovens do you think I have???

Araashita, motioning to their kitchen: Three, I thought!

Venti: I see a-

Programmer!Darling, motioning to one device: This is a microwave.

Araashita: Oh, well I-

Programmer!Darling: Hey wait wait, actually- hang on- *fiddles with the buttons on the microwave*

Programmer!Darling, amazed: Its got a bake setting!

Kaeya: Ohoho, you learn something new every day!

Childe: Do we- Do we roshambo for who gets to pick first?

Programmer!Darling: Now I've just discovered I have more ovens than I thought, we don't have to roshambo nothin!

Programmer!Darling: I am someone who owns four ovens...

Programmer!Darling, louder and way too happy: I am someone... who owns FOUR OVENS...

Programmer!Darling: I didn't know I was so rich with ovens...

Ei, pointing to another appliance: Also the toaster oven!

Programmer!Darling:

Araashita: Ohhh, toasty boy! Four- Five ovens!

Programmer!Darling:

Programmer!Darling, fucking ECSTATIC: I AM SOMEONE WHO OWNS FIVE OVENS'

Can I copy the homework?'

Programmer!Darling: I can help you with it!

Araashita: Yeah, sure.

Venti: Bold of you to assume I did the homework.

Kaeya: lol nope.

Childe: Wait, we had homework?!?!?!

Ei: *Read 5:55pm*

*The squad right before Programmer!Darling's wedding*

Araashita: Well I have to go, I have a wedding to attend.

Venti: Wait... Oh! I have a wedding to attend too!

Kaeya: Oh, I have a wedding to attend as well

Childe: I THINK WE ALL HAVE WEDDINGS TO ATTEND

Ei, panicked: I THINK I HAVE A WEDDING TO OFFICIATE

Programmer!Darling, walking into their house: Hello, people who do not live here.

Araashita: Hey.

Venti: Hi.

Kaeya: Hello.

Childe: Hey!

Programmer!Darling: I gave you the key to my place for emergencies only!

Ei: We were out of Doritos.

*Squad reactions to being told ‘I love you’*

Programmer!Darling: Thanks fam!

Araashita: oh no

Venti: *cries* I love you too

Kaeya: Sounds fake but okay

Childe: *A flustered mess*

Ei: can i get a refund

Programmer!Darling: I CAN'T DO IT!

Araashita, laughing: I CAN'T EITHER!

Programmer!Darling: I CANT FUCKING DO IT ANYMORE

Venti: WELL I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, YOU CAN EITHER GIVE UP NOW, OR YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT. BECAUSE WE CERTAINLY CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT YOU, AND WE KNOW YOU CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT US.

Programmer!Darling:

Programmer!Darling: I appreciate it,

Programmer!Darling: BUT LOOK WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH-

Kaeya: Programmer!Darling-

Programmer!Darling: YOU GOTTA DRAW THE LINE SOMEWHERE!

Childe: Programmer!Darling we gotta-

Programmer!Darling: YOU GOTTA DRAW A FUCKING LINE IN THE SAND. YOU GOTTA MAKE A STATEMENT.

Programmer!Darling: YOU GOTTA LOOK INSIDE YOURSELF AND SAY 'What am I willing to put up with today?'

Programmer!Darling, motioning to Ei: NOT FUCKING THIS

Programmer!Darling: I'm incredibly fast at math.

Araashita: Alright, what's 30x17?

Programmer!Darling: 47

Araashita: That's not even close.

Programmer!Darling: But it was fast.

Programmer!Darling: What the fuck is wrong with you?!

Araashita: Wow, you could start with a 'good morning'.

Programmer!Darling: Good morning. What the fuck is wrong with you?!

Programmer!Darling, Araashita, and Venti are sitting on a bench

Kaeya: Why do you guys look so sad?

Programmer!Darling: Sit down with us so we can tell you.

*Kaeya sits down*

Araashita: The bench is freshly painted.

Programmer!Darling: You lying, cheating, piece of shit!

Araashita: Oh yeah? You’re the idiot who thinks you can get away with everything you do. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

Programmer!Darling: I’m leaving you, and I’M TAKING ZHONGLI WITH ME

Kazuha, picking up the monopoly board: I think we’re gonna stop playing now.

Programmer!Darling: What time is it?

Araashita: I don’t know; pass me that saxophone and we’ll find out

Araashita: *Plays sax loudly and extremely out of tune*

Zhongli: WHO THE FUCK IS PLAYING THE SAXOPHONE AT TWO IN THE MORNING

Araashita: It’s 2 am

Programmer!Darling: What do you think Araashita will do for a distraction?

Zhongli: They’ll probably, like, make a noise or throw a rock. That’s what I would do.

*Building explodes and several car alarms go off*

Zhongli: ... or they could do that.

Programmer!Darling: If you bite it and you die, it’s poisonous. If it bites you and you die, it’s venomous.

Araashita: What if it bites me and it dies!?

Zhongli: Then you’re poisonous. Jesus Christ, Araashita, learn to listen.

Kazuha: What if it bites itself and I die?

Childe: That’s voodoo.

Ei: What if it bites me and someone else dies?

Araashita: That’s correlation, not causation.

Kazuha: What if we bite each other, and neither of us die?

Childe: That’s kinky.

Programmer!Darling: Oh my God.

Programmer!Darling: Just be yourself.

Araashita: 'Be myself'? Programmer!Darling, I have one day to win Zhongli over. How long did it take before you guys started liking me?

Kazuha: Couple weeks.

Childe: Six months.

Ei: Jury’s still out.

Araashita: See, Programmer!Darling?

Araashita: 'Be myself'. What kind of garbage advice is that?

[andvys]

Longing (part 1)

Warnings: “enemies” to lovers type of thing, slow burn, cocky!ellie, alcohol consumption

Pairing: Ellie Williams x reader

Ellie always thought you were the prettiest girl she’s ever seen in her life, you had the most beautiful eyes, the way they would always get lighter in the sun and the way they would always light up whenever you were happy about something. She loved how you would always put your hair into a braid and would still have strands of hair fall in front your eyes, you’d always put them behind your ears only for them to get loose again and fall in front of your eyes once more. She loved how fierce and badass you are, always ready for any situation. You are one of the best fighters in Jackson despite your age. Having seen it herself when you patrolled together, you fought skillfully, making Ellie wonder about where you have learned to fight like that. Anytime something went wrong or someone would say something about hunters or a horde of infected coming Jackson’s way, you’d always be first to volunteer to go and get rid of them. The way you held yourself, Ellie was sure that you could actually get rid of a group of people before they’d even make it to the gates of Jackson. She would never underestimate you. You really were a fascinating person.

If you just weren’t such a bitch.

You were nice to everyone but to her, well except for Seth. Always getting into a fight with the older man.

You weren’t necessarily mean to Ellie but you weren’t exactly nice either, you were sarcastic and feisty with her and you loved to push her buttons but you weren’t as good at it as she was, Ellie always had the upper hand in your little banters and she teased the hell out of you, leaving you annoyed making her smirk every time. She’d also jokingly flirt with you or make dirty jokes, leaving you uncomfortable or at least that’s what Ellie thought. She just loved getting on your nerves.

Dina would always try to convince Ellie that you actually liked her and you just had a funny way of showing that. Ellie would laugh at that every time, she knew you had some sort of resentment towards her for whatever reason.

You wanted to be friends with the girl you really did but something about her annoyed the hell out of you and she made you feel weird. You constantly bickered like little kids and you seemed to have a stand off every time you were patrolling together. She just pissed you off.

“You going to the dance tonight kid?” Joel asked you. Right now you were cleaning the rifles and shotguns in the shed you kept them in. Having injured your shoulder while on patrol a few days ago you were off patrol for a few weeks. So you were assigned for keeping the weapons clean. You were annoyed at that, you had worse injuries before and still fought but Maria wouldn’t let you out, not wanting to risk your health. So here you were boring yourself to death, at least Joel came in to keep you company.

“Umm I don’t know, it’s not really my thing.” You said. Laying the rifle on the table you looked at the older man. Since he and Ellie came to Jackson he became something like a mentor to you. You respected the older man, you already learned more from him than your own father and he was there for you whenever you struggled with yourself.

“That’s what Ellie said too.” You avoided looking at him at the mention of Ellie. You thought, he assumed that you two must be friends, considering you’re in the same friend group. You didn’t even know they were talking again.

“She did?” You asked avoiding his eyes.

“Yes.” He studied your face. He was not stupid, anytime he’d bring up Ellie you got quiet and awkward same with Ellie she reacted the same way at the mention of you.

“Are you going?” You asked him, changing the topic quickly.

“Yeah and you should come too.” He said.

“We’ll see, do I get to have a drink?” You asked, giving him a hopeful smile. He never let you drink.

“Are you 21?” He asked giving you a pointed look.

“Ugh come on Joel, I’m 19 plus I’m allowed to blow up things and kill people and infected but I’m not allowed to have a drink every once in a while?” You said shaking your head.

Joel laughed at that “well maybe you can have a little.” He said.

“Finally, I wanna get drunk.”

“You’re allowed to drink but you’re not allowed to get drunk kid.” Joel said sternly.

“I’ll take what I can get.” Smiling at him. He got up and walked towards you, ruffling your hair.

“I gotta get going, I’ll see you at the dance.”

“Ugh, see ya.” You said annoyed at him for messing up your braid.

Stepping out of the little shed once you were done with your assignment you stood there enjoying the fresh air for a second after being in that shed all day.

Deep in thought you were looking down on your way home, not watching where you were going you ran into something or rather someone, almost falling down if it wasn’t the strong arms catching you by your waist, grabbing their arms you looked up at your savior only to realize that it’s Ellie still with her hands on your waist she had a cocky smirk on her face.

“Careful there (y/n), you almost fell for me.” Smirking at you.

You groaned at that, letting go of her arms you took a step back making her hands let go of your waist.

“Do you want me to escort you home? I don’t want you tripping and falling for someone else.” She said, teasing you

“No thanks Williams, now if you’ll excuse me.” You said, trying to walk past her only for her to step in front of you not letting you go yet, probably to annoy you some more.

“You going to the dance tonight?” Ellie asked. Studying your face.

“Yup.” You replied, looking down on your shoes, avoiding looking at her pretty face.

“Nice, I’ll be there as well.” Ellie said.

“I know, Joel told me.” Shit why did you just say that, you wanted to slap yourself now she knew you and Joel talked about her. Now she would think you’re interested in her, well you are but she doesn’t have to know that.

“Oh, talking about me with Joel when you could talk to me?” She teased.

“Whatever I’m gonna go now, see ya Williams.” You said, this time she stepped aside, letting you leave.

She watched you leave, deep in thought about you she didn’t notice Jesse appearing next to her, throwing an arm around her.

“Man you have it bad for our girl here.” Jesse said, smirking at her. He was aware of Ellie having some sort of feelings for you. It wasn’t hard to see that, Ellie always looked like a kicked puppy around you.

“Shut up, Jesse” Ellie said annoyed.

“She likes you too.”

“What?! No she doesn’t. I’m pretty sure she hates me.” Ellie said, looking down, she began walking away.

Jesse followed her. “She doesn’t hate you, I’ve seen how she acts around people she hates and you aren’t one of them.” He said.

“Well I- so what she likes me now?” She asked. Not believing that you could feel anything towards her but hate.

“She likes Dina and Joel or Tommy and Maria, I’m pretty sure she likes me too, I’m awesome.” Jesse smirked at the last part. “But you? I’d say there’s a little more than “like” Ellie.”

“Are you trying to tell me she has feelings for me?” Ellie laughed at that. Jesse was ridiculous and stupid if he thought you could have feelings for Ellie. Not that she didn’t wish for that but it was too good to be true.

“You know what they say about hate. Love and hate are two sides of the same coin.” Jesse confidently said.

Ellie laughed at that, “alright whatever.” She thought about that. She genuinely couldn’t see you liking her.

It was a little crowded at the dance once you got there. You usually avoided going to these things, not liking being around many people but Dina always made you come. Looking at you with her puppy eyes, you couldn’t say no to the girl.

Looking out for Dina and Jesse you weren’t able to find them. Huh she bugged you about being there on time but she herself wasn’t even here yet. Looking around you saw Ellie standing at the bar. You stared at her for a while.

Suddenly she looked your way, catching you staring at her she started smirking, rolling your eyes at her.

She waved at you to come over. You’d rather have Dina and Jesse be there as well, not trusting yourself to be around the girl without anyone around but you didn’t wanted to be alone so you walked over to her.

“Hey (y/n), if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were just checking me out from over there, that’s kinda creepy.” Ellie said with a teasing smile. Leaning against the bar.

Feeling embarrassed now you rolled your eyes.

“You wish, Williams.” You said sitting down on the bar stool next to her.

“What if I do?” She asked you, smirking.

“I- um.” Not knowing what to say you quickly changed the subject. “I need a drink.”

“I’ll get you something, wait here.” She left you alone.

“Alright, thanks I guess.”

Coming back she gave you the drink. Taking it from her hand your fingers touched for a second, avoiding her eyes you took a sip of the drink. Almost coughing at the taste, Ellie laughed at you.

“You never had whiskey did you?” She asked.

Shaking your head “you?” You asked curiously.

“Yeah.” Nodding at her words, you looked around.

Sitting in silence for a while, you watched all the couples dance. Feeling Ellie’s eyes on you the whole time. You glanced at her, noticing that her glass is empty, you figured it’d be a good opportunity to get away from her for a second.

“Should I get you a new one?” You asked her. “A drink I mean.”

“Uh sure.” She gave you her glass, you walked towards the bartender guy. Ellie had a chance to admire you from the side.

Waiting for the bartender to bring you your drinks, you saw someone heading your way from the side, turning to look who it was you saw it was Joel.

“Hey kid.” He pulled you in for a hug. He always gave the best hugs, they were always warm and safe.

“Hi Joel.” Smiling at him.

“I see you and Ellie are alone tonight.” He looked towards Ellie, who was taking a seat at one of the smaller tables, waiting for you.

“I- yeah. We are waiting for Dina and Jesse.”

“I’m afraid they’re not coming tonight. Haven’t they told you?” He asked.

“What? But I- they told us they’d be here.” You said confused. Why would they tell you come here if they weren’t even here.

“I talked to Jesse today, he said him and Dina are having a date tonight.” Joel said.

“Oh well, I didn’t know.” You laughed. Great now you it was just you and Ellie.

The bartender brought you your drinks, putting them in front of you hitting you with the smell of whiskey, you gave Joel a cheeky smile.

He put a hand on your shoulder, “drink responsibly kid, and take care of Ellie.” He said.

“Yes of course, I promise.”

“Alright, well go on and have fun.”

“Alright you too Joel, I’ll see you.” You smiled at him taking the drinks in both hands you walked over to Ellie. Setting them down on the table you sat down next to Ellie.

“Well it seems like our friends have ditched us.” You said annoyed.

“What?” Ellie furrowed her eyebrows at that.

“Yeah Joel said they have a date night.”

“Great.” Ellie suddenly felt nervous. Being alone with you would surely end bad, she was scared that she’d accidentally confess her stupid crush on you or something.

“I know we’re not friends or whatever but I feel like getting a few drinks, what about you?” You asked. Ellie hated that you didn’t even see her as a friend but you usually avoided her like the plague and you’d never ask her to hang out with you, a year ago you’d just leave if none of your friends were here but Ellie guessed you must’ve warmed up to her a little if you asked her to keep you company.

“Yeah sure.”

Throughout the whole night you and Ellie bickered about every little thing, sarcastically replying to everything the other would say. You definitely wouldn’t be friends anytime soon but you two did kind of enjoy this night.

You were currently walking home side by side. Having a discussion about weapons. Arriving in front of your home, you talked for a few more minutes, fighting on which weapon is the better choice, in any situation.

“Alright, whatever Williams you’re right, I’m wrong.” You said, rolling your eyes at the girl. Walking backwards to your door.

“You know I’m right (y/n)!” Ellie said teasing you.

“Go home Williams!”

“Yes ma’am.” Ellie grumbled, turning around she started to walk back home.

Ellie thought about this night. It was the first time you willingly spent time alone with her. She enjoyed it even if you were still your usual sarcastic self, she still enjoyed it. Hoping to see more of you, without having the rest of your friends around. She liked to be alone with you, not that she would admit it to anyone.