#I hope you enjoy my blog :)

[dailyeohkakyoin]

the crusaders do have a healer.

they don't like to talk about it.

[dnpbeats]

(Almost Solid) Proof That Dan Ran PhilsLion

I'm convinced that Dan was the person who ran the PhilsLion twit and I have receipts.  For anyone who doesn't know, PhilsLion is a twitter account that tweeted from the POV of Lion. It's commonly thought that this account was run by Phil. Besides the fact that he would interact with the account, there are multiple tweets that seem to be about him and dan. Unfortunately there's good reason to believe it wasn't Phil running it. HOWEVER there are many reasons that lead me to believe it was Dan who was tweeting from it, some of which is evidence based and some of which makes logical sense.

DISCLAIMER: All tweets I've included that are ostensibly about dan and phil's relationship are in reference to things that are confirmed by d&p themselves (e.g. the fact that d&p were romantically involved when they first met). I will not discuss anything that is not supposed to be public knowledge.

First let's look at when the Twitter was created. (Note: I am in UTC-8 so all screenshots will be in that time zone. I will say what time it would've been in UTC+0 (d&p's time zone) for clarity.)

Dan’s twitter account was created in May 2009. The first tweet from him (assuming he did not delete any older ones) was May 15 at 1:18pm. Presumably this is the day he got twitter.

On May 16 2009 at 3:19am Phil tweeted that he uploaded “I was kidnapped.” 

In this video he mentions his own personal twitter account, and there is an annotation of Lion saying “i want a twitter” (20sec into the video)

About 3 hours after the video was posted (6:26am UTC+0), we get the first tweet from PhilsLion (presumably this was right after the account was created)

May 16th 2009 was a Saturday. We know from Dan’s video “THE POWER NAP” that he worked at ASDA on Saturdays and Sundays from 5am-10am. So he would’ve been awake shortly after Phil posted the video. Also note that Dan presumably had an iPhone at the time (he tweeted something about iPhones in June 2009 and had no previous tweets before that about getting a new phone). He specifically tweeted in Sep 2009 about tweeting from his iPhone. Based on the fact that Dan literally showed up to work drunk and took a nap, I don’t think he is above going on twitter at work.

While this is not proof that Dan created the account, we can see that it’s definitely possible for him to have created the account. We know he would’ve been awake at the time the account was created, and it was approx. a day after he created his own twitter account, so making a twitter account would've been fresh in his mind.

We do have proof that Phil did not create the account. First, he edited the description of “I was kidnapped.” to say that someone [else] created PhilsLion:

He also tweeted May 16th (10:35am UTC+0 if that matters to anyone) basically saying the same thing as the video desc, implying that someone else made the account:

Finally in “AmazingJason” (posted May 26th) he mentions, again, “someone [else]” creating the Twitter account (about 20seconds in, the timestamp is linked). He encourages everyone to follow it and links it in the description of the video:

So unless Phil was really pushing that someone else created it even though he himself made it, it wasn’t him.

If you want to skip to Proof™ scroll down to the next photo of Phil. Before that, I’d like to debunk the 11:11/different time zone thing–I think this is the biggest reason people have claimed that the account was not run by Phil or Dan but rather some other random fan. On May 30th at 4:12pm UTC+0 and June 3rd at 4:19am UTC+0, PhilsLion tweeted about making wishes at 11:11. In order for these tweets to be made at ~11:11 local time, they would need to have been made in either UTC-5 or UTC+7. UTC-5 is US Eastern Time. UTC+7 is a time zone mainly consisting of Southeast Asia. This includes parts of Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. I have an explanation for this, which is certainly the biggest reach of this whole thing, but it is a plausible explanation :p

It’s very possible that it was Dan who tweeted this if he was on vacation with his family at the time. We know Dan and his family have vacationed in Asia many times (at the very least they went to Thailand in 2006, India in 2010 and 2013, and Sri Lanka in 2016). So while there’s no proof (that I know of) that Dan was on vacation at this time, it’s certainly possible that he was. The location of the tweets would fit with where we know his family likes to go on holiday. Additionally, the second tweet talks about water skiing, which tends to be a fun vacation thing rather than something people do regularly (note this tweet would be at 11:19am in UTC+7)

There’s further proof that PhilsLion was not always in UTC+7. On Christmas 2009, PhilsLion tweeted “goodmorning” at 6:21am UTC+0. This would be 1:21pm in UTC+7. It makes a lot more sense for this to have been tweeted in England.

Then fast forward to January 8th 2011. PhilsLion tweets “I was up all night” at 8:05am UTC+0. This would be 3pm in UTC+7. So again, it seems that PhilsLion was not in UTC+7 at this time.

Okay, now onto much more solid evidence. First, the handwriting of PhilsLion. This is the most tangible piece of proof. On June 25th 2009 Phil posted “AmazingAlex,” where Lion can be seen behind him in one of Phil’s shoes:

Lion tweeted a photo the next day, saying “I’m on a boat :)” in reference to being in Phil’s shoe

Note that the drawing/writing does not appear in the video and therefore was done by whoever runs PhilsLion. Here is some of Dan’s writing (found in TABINOF) for comparison:

This is from the “how to draw cat whiskers” page. Notice how the As all have the crossbar quite high up, just like in the twitter picture. Additionally, the top loops in the Bs are all very skinny compared to the bottom loop. Here’s another one of Dan’s capital Bs from the blindfolded portrait page, which is similar to Lion's writing:

I’m not a handwriting analysis expert, and yes it’s different drawing on MSPaint vs. a piece of paper, but the handwriting certainly has similarities.

And now, the more circumstantial evidence, but things that seem (imo) to be too big of a coincidence to not have been written by Dan (FYI these are going to be added in order of how much of a reach they are, not chronological order, lol). First we have “I month you”:

This tweet is proposing an alternate word for “love” and ends with “I month you” (i.e. is replacing the word love with month), and was tweeted on November 19th 2009. AKA exactly a month after dan and phil met IRL for the first time.

Another one that seems very related to Dan and what we know of his situation is this tweet about “Lion’s” dad:

In Dan’s own words in BIG: “I didn’t think I could ask my family for help or share my feelings about this, mainly due to my dad. Funny guy, kind of a woke hippie who did and said a lot of things I did respect but at the same time used to walk around the house saying how he hoped someone he had a problem with at work would 'die of bum cancer.' Yep, so picked the one area to be a bigot that would further traumatize your child. Nice! This experience coming from a childhood hearing the word gay meaninglessly thrown around as an insult at home[.]” 

Note that Dan was still living at home at the time, so if this tweet was made by him, it wouldn't have meant literally “getting away.” Also, Dan was at home when this was tweeted but it was 3 days before he was going to see Phil.

Next there’s this tweet:

The “admirers” thing could be referring to anything really, but was tweeted during the time that Dan (and Phil) were in the Clipstar video contest. Also, Dan posted this dailybooth two days before this tweet, and most of the comments are just gassing him up, so lol (the pic doesn’t load but based on the comments I think it was a screenshot from his clipstar vid).

This tweet from Christmas Eve 2009. Dan and Phil were together and filming the interactive Christmas adventure:

Proof they were together if anyone needs it:

This tweet (tweeted November 26 5:45am UTC+0)

Many things to note here. The song linked is called “When I See You Again.” It’s by Dave Bullas (one of the founders of SiTC), whom d&p were/are friends with. (They had other friends who were friends with him as well. PJ has the top comment on the video.) The lyrics of the song are not really happy as they insinuate a breakup. But it’s interesting to think about them in the context of wanting to see someone who you are not able to. This tweet was 3/4 days after the “I wonder how biology…” tweet and 3 days before Dan went to see Phil.

Also, Dan just LOVES recommending music to people. He does it a lot.

(^ Proof Dan was seeing Phil on the 29th if anyone needs it)

Now a tweet exchange which doesn't technically prove anything, but I thought was curious. Phil tweeted December 29 2010 about getting a new camera:

Lion tweeted in reference to this 20 minutes later:

I find this interesting because Phil made no comment anywhere about manuals or ignoring them. So it could just be PhilsLion making schput, but a lot of the other Lion tweets are in direct reference to something Phil said/did. It would make sense if Dan ran the twitter acc and he was talking about something that he witnessed Phil do that we don’t know about. Also note “my new camera is here” vs. “phil picked up his new camera” (Lion giving more specific detail than Phil in terms of the manner in which he obtained the camera).

Some Tweets (1, 2, 3) which aren’t proof of anything but just sound like things Dan would say:

For context, this is about floods that happened in Queensland. Again, I have no way to prove Dan said this. But if you’ve ever read, like, anything Dan has said in a print interview ever or watched any of his liveshows, you know that he often tries to say stuff with superfluous/pretentious language and then ends up not making a whole lot of sense. Things that he’s said have been misconstrued so many times, or just outright don’t make sense to anyone but him. So this series of tweets checks out, if it is Dan who ran the account.

This Twitter exchange which doesn’t actually prove anything but is very sweet if it is dan who tweeted it:

The photo is a screenshot from “AmazingJason”:

Note that two weeks later (October 23) in “Life without the internet!?” Phil says the internet led to him “meeting the best friend of [his] life.” The comments all assume he is referencing Dan, but in the video he holds up Lion, so presumably that’s actually who he’s talking about. That is, unless Lion represents Dan :p

Lastly, this tweet which is a Fall Out Boy lyric, but again would be cute if it was Dan:

There's a few more tweets that are interesting to think about being from Dan but don't actually prove anything so I won't put them here lol.

So, at the end of the day, could it be some random fan* who made the twitter account? Yes. But in my opinion there isn’t really anything proving it’s not Dan. On top of that, there are enough things that fit with what we know factually about d&p now, but were not well known at the time, that make it seem much more likely that Dan ran this account vs. a random person.

*technically when the account was started, Dan himself was a random fan. So there’s that too ;)

P.S. best practice is to not interact with old tweets, so pls don't go on a retweet spree

[daisychainsandbowties]

any avatrice recs :)))) have already read all your fics and now i am depression (genuinely daydream abt ur star wars au daily)

i could hype each of these fics individually but basically if it’s here i think it’s incredible and you have to read it 💖💖🥰

///

the sweetest taboo// 1930s au &

i know now what no angel knows// fallen angel au by @dumpsterfireofsubtext

indy au part 1 & part 2// or, ava peels an orange & makes me feel insane 🫠🫠🫠 by @estherthenormal

lemon drop boy// t boy ava au

lazarus woke with a kiss// scp/ lab rat ava au &

how to stitch holes in the sky// dragon age au, all by @the-darkness-does-not-bargain

teach me to love (as you have loved me)// this is. yeah. this is beautiful. newbea au by @birgittesilverbae (💖💖 ily)

beyond our space and starlight// eldritch au by @thistleation

escape attempt number whatever thousand, some hundred and four, probably// hades au by @foulbearobservation

do a flip// aikido gfs au by @sunsafewriting

if saints and angels spoke of love// (bea is a math teacher & ava’s basically the guy from dead poets society) by @mermaidandthedrunks

choose the devil i know (over the heaven i don’t)// firefighter au by @sapphicstacks

leave the light on (i’ll find my way home)// lighthouse au by @snowandwolves

on the run from a losing game// chef au by @fiddleabout

this must be the place// lumberjack au by @littledata

love thy neighbour// my fav roommates au. pokemon strap-on fic 😌🙏

turning sun into sugar, spinning straw into gold// pnw au by @gohandinhand

the world is just an illusion (trying to change you)// roadtrip au, &

a lover, or something of mine// reincarnation au by @smokestarrules

who needs comfortable love// sentient halo au by @the-ominous-owl

this celestial glow is blinding// firewatch au

the thought of high windows// 60s au

pull back the curtains for venus// alien bea au &

of greater marvels yet to be// fleabag au, all by @seabiscuits-us

[y2jiz]

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁺⠀ ⠀ʕ´ᴥ｀ʔ⠀ plushies⠀ :⠀ the event ⠀ . ⠀੭୧⠀ﾟ

hihi everybody!! I recently just hit 300+ followers (we cheered), so to celebrate i will be hosting this event which is about plushies cause plushies are just the most cutest things ever. This is my first ever event so I really hope it doesn't flop, I hope you guys enjoy it. ♡

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁺⠀ ⠀ʕ´ᴥ｀ʔ⠀⠀how it will work⠀ . ⠀੭୧⠀ﾟ

In your mood board you must include a plushie. This plushie can be anything, it can be an animal, a fruit, a vegetable — it can literally be anything. you must also include an idol of your choice. For example : your mb will look like something similar to the first three pics at the top, you'll have an idol (i chose rei) and a plush toy (the red strawberry plush in the middle). That is just an example, you don't have to include rei in your mb as well as a red strawberry plush because as i mentioned you could include any plush and idol of your preference.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁺⠀ ⠀ʕ´ᴥ｀ʔ⠀⠀how to join⠀ . ⠀੭୧⠀ﾟ⠀

♡ : comment joining !!

♡ : rblg this post and tag 2-3 moots

♡ : tag me in your finished mood board & make sure your post includes the tag : #plushies : the event otherwise it will not count!

note : copying other people's moodboards will lead you to be disqualified.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁺⠀ ⠀ʕ´ᴥ｀ʔ⠀⠀prizes!⠀ . ⠀੭୧⠀ﾟ

1st place : 100 reblogs, 5 locs , 2 symbols packs, 5 mbs (idols of your choice), 5 dividers (color of your choice), 10 lyric dividers (optional), 2 headers (also optional, I'm not that good at making headers but i still can make them <3)

2nd place : 50 reblogs , 5 locs, 1 symbol pack, 3 mbs (idols of your choice), 3 dividers (colors of your choice), 4 lyric dividers (optional)

3rd place: 25 reblogs, 4 locs, 2 mbs, 3 dividers (colors of your choice), 2 lyric dividers (optional)

runner ups : 10 reblogs + 1 mb (idol of your choice)

all reblogs on : @/so0bin all locs/dividers/symbol packs/headers : @/iluvpooks all moodboards : on my acc

I hope you guys like my event idea hopefully this event doesn't flop!! I will not be able to make an appreciation post for 300+ followers bcs i am currently rlly busy! but i just wanted to say TYSM for everyone who follows me and likes my moodboards, it makes me so happy that people like my blog ilygsm mwah!! (if there's some spelling mistakes throughout the text don't mind it!! english is not my first language lmao)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁺⠀ ⠀ʕ´ᴥ｀ʔ⠀⠀tagging ⠀ . ⠀੭୧⠀ﾟ

@yeritos @f-loqweres @lil-liaa @y-vna @p-oisn @baesol @y-ves

@eun-luv @mxlly143 @gigittamic @koosuvi @jeonzio @ha-erins

@i08wony @bambicito @koocita @wonysela @chaeneuu @egorls

⠀@mizkie @gaecoo @coralcita @raeceah @h-aerins @iluvrei

⠀@jnthri @gwzitos @gyustarzzi2 @b4dobee @thsv @yrminji

@jaes1lvr @y2qi @p-uki @aenvers @poemale @im4yeons

@eundior @umiena @fairytopea @7hyein @haerins00 @khaer

@jenfaery @wntercafe @obrigados @yeribbon @cheeros

@hourlyhoon @i-kyujin ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀this event is open to anyone n everyone :3

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀feel free to join!!

[superbfurbz]

I'm actually really good at math.

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

hot man hot birdman im so sorry hot fire bird man?!?!

aka glorious gijinka!Tengu Jin design by @hirumi25 has made me 👀💦?!?! because wowie thats some hecking fire design!

and of course i couldnt just not draw Hirumi's Nomi-kun with him too

[little-pup-pip]

Hi! Can I please request a pink, white cat agere moodboard? With a paci and stuffies if possible! Thank you so much! :3

Definitely!!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Decided to take the leap and post the little fanfic I wrote at the start of the month to AO3. The Yiling Laozu takes a break in the burial mounds. Also, there is a worm.

[wonderholegifs]

Rhett & Link's Wonderhole

[faygelehh]

PEACE LOVE UNITY RESPECT - THE RAVERS CODE!

[mel-loly]

-(click for a better quality!)

[rheakira]

Today, May 23rd, is Robin's birthday!

Happy birthday, Robin!

[serxinns]

Hello! How are you? :3

So I have two yandere bnha requests ideas you can pick from ^^

The first is yandere platonic bnha with dabi’s twin sister reader who after dabi/touya disappeared left and lived with a couple of relatives and doesn’t talk to endeavor and when she got older she had a daughter who the reader wanted to live a normal life and didn’t want her to get involved with Hero’s or villains but one day while the reader and her daughter were at the park, they ran into todoroki or Dabi how would they react? (So the reader is protective of her daughter)

Or

Yandere platonic tododeku dads who has a daughter who acts like Mabel pines from gravity falls and wears a lot of sweaters

Mabel!Reader who had gems all over her face: look i successful bedazzle my face! *Blinks* ow

One tododeku dads coming right up! Sorry for the wait! I really hope you enjoy!

A/n: Yandere parents with child reader trips have my heart they can be so wholesome and scary at times 〵(^ o ^)〴

You were a strange child for sure ever since birth. You were an outgoing wild child, and your fathers adored it! But you sometimes give them white hair from all the chaoticness you do...

Like the time you went shopping with your daddy (shoto), you spotted a cool-looking grappling hook. Your eyes shined in desire, you were now determined to have this item in your collection of toys. "Daddy, Can I please have that grappling hook? Please, please, please!" Shoto spotted the hook. He wanted to make his little one happy, but he promised his husband Izuku not to overdo it again and stop giving you gifts whenever you asked for them, Shoto couldn't even argue with that he had a bad habit of spoiling you even the paparazzi knew, they once saw him carry bags full of sweaters cause you wanted all of them looking lively and happy but this time it was an instant no from him. "Sweetie, you already have a lot of toys in your room you dont need a grappling hook"

You then began to frown, cheeks puffing up and your eyes swelled up in tears, shoto began to panic he hated seeing you cry especially if it was because of him, guilt was overcoming him one little item wouldn't hurt he thought plus he could try and convince his husband somehow right "alright fine what color" "F/C!" You skipped out of the shop, the employee waving farewell to the both of you while you happily aimed at your grappling hook making "pew pew" sounds

Izuku was busy cleaning the dishes, swaying his hips, and listening to a song he loved. That's when he heard the door click, "We're home!" Shoto, his beloved husband, called out. Izuku dried his hands off and went to happily greet his two favorite people. "Hi, y/n sweetie, and hi, dear!" He kissed you on the cheek and sent a kiss on the lips. "Dad, Dad, look what Papa gave me!" You said, waving at the grappling hook like crazy. The greenette then glared at Shoto. "That's nice, dear," he said with gritted teeth, still shooting a glare at him. "Why don't you go in your room and play with it while I have a little chat with your father?" You nodded going upstairs to try out the new toy leaving your two dad's alone

"a grappling hook?!" Izuku said sternly, "They were giving me the puppy eyes I couldn't resist!" Shoto protested. Izuku sighed, putting his fingers on the bridge of his nose. "I swear I don't know what to do with both of you sometimes," Izuku stated. "I just wanna protect the both of you, and you gave them a dangerous tool!?" Izuku glared once again as Shoto sheepishly laughed, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry dear, it won't happen again, promise." Izuku switched up his disappointed expression to a brighter one and kissed Shoto on the cheek. "Good! If not you'll be sleeping on the couch for a few days.." he said in a serious tone as Shoto gulped

"You so serious all the time..." Shoto whined but also liked this side of him. "You know, since y/n I busy, we can~" he was then cut off by a crazed that came from upstairs. "BULLEYE!" Shoto and Izuku stopped what they were doing and went up the stairs to see if you were hurt but to only see a bunch of broken and fallen stuff that was victim to the grappling hook and you holding it with a sheepish smile on your face "...whoops" izuku can only stare at shoto saying "we're putting strict rules with the grappling hook" causing both you and shoto to groaned

...

One day at school, you decided to bring your grappling hook to school for show and tell. Today, you even wore your best sweater for this day with your favorite hairpin! When you arrived, you saw Misaki, the mean bully in your class, snickering and smirking at the other table while you went to yours, far away from them, with your closest friend. "Hey, Midoriya san!" Misaki said in a mocking tone.

You signed and looked over to Misaki. She had a devious look on her face. "What did you bring for the show in telling another scrapbook?" The two girls started laughing as you glared at them. "I brought something better than our pathetic beauty pageant trophy!" Your friends started laughing while Misaki glared deadly at you but you didn't care you were gonna show her

"Alright class time for show and tell!" Your teacher said she then called each of the students up here, each of them showing all different types of items from their homes or from what they made even your best friend Kirmi (Akatsuki and Ejirou's daughter) showed off his mini version of his dad's costume copying each of his hero phrases you clapped for her as she gave you a high five and it was now your turn "y/n why don't you come up here and show us what you have!" The teacher announced everyone then eyes were on you especially Misaki ready to humiliate you with her snotty friends alongside her

You grabbed your bag and made your way in. "I'm y/n, and in my show and tell is.." you then pulled out your.. grappling hook! Everyone in the room started gasping and marveling at the item, while Misaki's anger fueled seeing the classmates paying attention to you more rather than her 18th trophy "Oh please!" Misaki scoffed Cleary, unimpressed by the whole thing. "I bet you don't know how to use it!" You glared at her "I bet I can!" You then aimed your grappling hook at the yellow paint and shot towards the painting area reeling it back but it reeled too fast making it fly and land on Misaki's head paint completely covering her hair, the class then started laughing as Misaki started crying loudly running out the door to the bathroom followed by her goons while the teacher tried settling everything down

Time skip

It was the end of the day. You ran up to your papa's with a big hug. "Hey sweetie, how's school?" Izuku said. "It was amazing today. We had a show and tell, and I showed them my grappling hook and-" "You brought your grappling hook to school!?" Izuku stated, showing a bit of worry and upset. "y/n, We told you that you shouldn't bring the" "YOU THERE!" Shoto was cut off by an angry black hair woman in a blue dress with green heels dragging Misaki over. "THAT BRAT MADE A FOOL OUT, MY DAUGHTER," she said as she pulled Misaki behind her izuku and shoto were pissed how dare a flith like her called you a angel a brat?

"She started it!" You rolled down your window to defend yourself "I WASNT ASKING YOU BRAT"

"OK lady listen here you don't get to call my kid a Brat ever" Shoto was showing a murderous glare in his eyes while Izuku got in the car with you comforting you she and Shoto were at it until the principal came and broke them up the drive home was silent for a whole "sweetie we told you couldn't bring that," your papa said as tears began to swell your eyes "b-but I didn't mean to promise I didn't mean to throw paint on her I was tryna prove I'm cool" you sniffed as your papa helped wipe the tears off

"But you're already cool. You don't need those kids to prove you're cool; you're the coolest little angel ever!" Shoto softly said, smiling, "Does the coolest kid want to go for ice cream!" You smiled brightly hearing your favorite dessert you were jumping and dancing around in your car seat singing ice cream songs

Their number one priority was you and you only they won't ever let anyone hurt you in that way again maybe they'll be considered convincing the school to expel that bully of yours or better blackmail the mother but that was for another time they're gonna spoil you like it's no tomorrow you were their angel of course!

[pfhwrittes]

hey p this is nobody you know but do you have thoughts about depot mouse seeing something they shouldn't have seen? 😇

hello friend! (who i definitely don't know, no siree) i waffled over this and my search results are now full of dubiously legal activities that i definitely haven't ever seen in practice, not even once mr/ms/mx GCHQ person checking online traffic. (i also got distracted by portakabin set ups, but that's a separate issue.) and then my brain spat this out for the tradieverse.

does it answer the prompt? eh, vaguely. but i hope you'll be pleased with it.

tags/tw: non-sexual semi-nudity, russian pet names (pchelka = little bee, myshka = mouse, milaya = darling/sweetie/dearest), light angst at the end, and a very brief mention of choking.

author's note: barely skimmed for typos and bad grammar as always and a patented (by @/391780) abrupt ending because i couldn't figure out how to end it and it was getting away from me.

at this point, you're certain nikolai thinks it's funny to have you running around after him. flitting from your office to the driver's "lounge" (another portakabin, this time outfitted with a row of lockers, a sagging sofa, a table and set of scattered chairs, and a small kitchenette area), you yank open the door and your waspish comments die on your tongue.

nikolai is leaning against the counter of the kitchenette. in his pants. in just his pants.

unbidden your eyes skate over his broad shoulders, down over a glimmering gold chain that is nestled in thick, dark hair that spreads wildly over his chest to a soft stomach, to land on the tightest pair of black briefs you've ever seen.

"hello, myshka." nik's voice snaps you out of your staring and you feel heat flooding your cheeks as you tear your gaze away from his... underwear to meet his amused brown eyes.

"i, um, i was looking for you." you absolutely do not let your eyes drop below his neck as nik redistributes his weight as he laughs.

"and now you have found me." nik grins, a flash of surprisingly white teeth considering the amount of black tea and cigarettes he imbibes.

"yes, i wanted to - sorry, but why exactly are you in your pants?" you blurt out.

nik shrugs his broad shoulders and you drag your gaze up to look just past his left ear where a damp lock of black hair curls lazily.

"my clothes are wet." he says simply, like that explains everything. it probably does, knowing the very little you do know about nik.

there's a beat of silence where nik continues to grin and you ignore the way your neck and face are blazing with heat.

"right." you clear your throat uncomfortably. "anyway, i need your receipts."

"it's no problem, i've already handed them to farah." nik waves your words off with a lazy flap of his hand.

"yes, it is a problem! you can't just hand your receipts off to the head of the company, nikolai!" you huff irritably and nikolai interrupts you with a loud boisterous laugh.

"ah, pchelka." he sighs fondly, "always so busy running around, you miss what's right in front of your nose."

that brings you up short and you scowl furiously at him. of course he would think that, all he has to worry about to getting from the depot to the job site and back again. he isn't having to chase wayward drivers around for scraps of paper, or answering the phone to a disgruntled jonathan price when he can't get hold of nikolai, or answering emails with the subject line "how much 4 hardcore??" that you hope to god have come from a bot and not some sad, lonely weirdo thinking that a haulage company offers pornography.

the grin on nik's face flickers slightly and you see his eyes are no longer amused, but soft, almost apologetic.

"sweetness, i'm sorry. i didn't mean to imply-"

"it's fine." you interrupt him, your tone has gone flat and professional despite the way frustration burns at your lungs, urging you to unload all of your irritation on the man. "i'll just go ask farah for the receipts."

nik takes a step towards you.

"milaya -"

"no, really nik." you turn away to push at the door, "thank you for your help as always." you shove open the door and stomp across the dirt to the office you share with farah, leaving nik behind you in his underpants.

(later in the afternoon, after you had emailed farah to send you copies of nikolai's receipts, you lean back in your chair and refuse to let your mind drift back to the glittering gold chain resting on nik's collarbone.

and if you do, it's only because you're thinking about wrapping it around your fist to strangle the insufferable man with it, honest. )

[groingus]

Mob Psycho Doodles! ☆

If it's not obvious, yes I really enjoy Dimple.. 🤸

[merlins-strawberriesandroses]

TO be honest. I don’t understand what it means when people say Merlin was Arthur’s bane. Mayhaps I misunderstand but. Arthur was a bit of an assassination magnet (not to mention all those magical creatures and bandits... so many bandits), and Merlin actively prevented Arthur's death for years, which would have occured without him anway in the very first episode. I can see why one might argue that Merlin was just delaying the inevitable, or that he didn't succeed in keeping Arthur safe until Arthur could enact the golden age, but certainly I don’t see how he could have been Arthur’s bane.

Also, it’s implied in the last episode that the golden age does occur, but under Guinevere. Which makes sense as she knew Merlin was the sorcerer and that she was pleased about it (and I recall it was confirmed in interviews), so I also don’t follow the twin train of thought that Merlin was his own bane or even Camelot’s. Camelot was already bane-d(?) under Uther. But partly because of Merlin's steady friendship, Arthur matured into a king who was kinder than his father. He also actively sought magic's aid on multiple occasions, so he knew magic had potential for good (like healing his queen) without Merlin needing to tell him about his magic.

I don't think it's fair to say Camelot's laws on magic remaining relatively static was because no one close to Arthur came out as having magic. There was still much risk in that, and for Merlin a lot at stake, not just his life. A law change was still possible (and almost seemed to be set up that way) without Arthur needing someone he was personally close to having to do the work to humanize it for him (in the sense that the episodes with the druids, the druid boy with Elyan, and the dolma seemed like they were pointing to a law change because Arthur sees the diversity of magic and those who have it).

At worst Merlin’s efforts didn’t change the status quo, but we do have things indicating that they did. And Merlin was not single-mindedly serving Arthur at the expense of everyone else. He saved Camelot as a whole multiple times. He was also very willing to stick out his neck for many others even during the height of his anxiety and agitation in season 5. (Also only being slightly silly when I say this, but he was also THE wingman for Arthur when he was getting with Gwen, so in a way Merlin’s help led to their courting being a success and thus contributed to her being in a great position to change the laws. so personally I give points to Merlin for that). Most of the decisions centering Arthur's safety seemed to stem from the fear that Albion would crumble before it began if Arthur were to die, so he tried his best to prevent that from happening in any way he knew. (Like, when Arthur is dying, Merlin asks "So I failed?" regarding the whole golden age thing, which I think is telling that the prophesy and his role in it was still VERY much at the forefront of Merlin's mind).

And this is a digression but I know people think Merlin should have done more for Camelot, or for folks with magic (like, as a revolutionary or something akin), which I understand but no one reached out to network with him really? It'd require resources, people (always confused why there weren't a whole bunch more folks offering Merlin material/intellectual/emotional support if they thought he should be the one to bring about the golden age. all he was told was that the forseen way it actually happens succesfully is through Arthur), time (I doubt it’d have been much of a ‘quicker’ way necessarily), and incredible planning + foresight if it's meant to be something that works out effectively + long-term. Okay I think I've digressed enough now. This is a whole seperate thought that I don't think I'm gonna do any justice here lol, and I'm already rambling, so I'll stop now :,)

But anyway, in terms of being his own or Arthur’s bane, we know Arthur will return, and we don’t know how Merlin spent his years. His magic can play with time and maybe he learns how to control that, or he could have entered a stasis like in various legends, etc etc etc. And I mean it is tragic on many levels, and it’s sad we didn’t see Arthur’s arc completed, and that Merlin sacrificed so much for a goal that didn't get much acknowledgment by the show at the end, but still. I don’t think Merlin was Arthur’s bane, or Camelot’s, or his own.