#I made a decision

[thistleanddown]

Joaquin's ten-year plan was simple: Get his bachelor's degree in environmental science (major forestry, minor conservation), find literally any well-paying job in that field, live far, far away from his parents, pay off his student loans, and maybe finally tell Daisy he's been in love with her since sophomore year.

By all accounts, Joaquin had done it. He'd graduated as valedictorian, found a lifelong career working to help conserve both California redwoods and sequoias (which are not the same tree, thank you very much), and was a comfortable 925 miles from home. And sure, maybe that last one was still a work-in-progress, but to his credit it was all wrapping up nicely.

And then Joaquin got bitten. Not on the job by a rattlesnake or mosquito, or at home by a spider. He was walking home from the bar--he'd insisted he was fine to walk, keys stashed safely in his pocket to pick his car up in the morning--and he was bitten.

Officially? His admittance papers listed it as an unknown canine, possibly a coyote.

But that wasn't what Joaquin had seen. He knows what a coyote looks like. For God's sake, he grew up in Albuquerque--coyotes were about as common as seagulls on the boardwalk! A coyote wouldn't run directly towards someone, snarling so loud Joaquin could feel it in his bones. Coyotes weren't twice his size. They couldn't pin him to the ground with a paw that felt too much like a hand, or leave a bite mark so wide and deep his scapula had chipped.

The paramedics who found him drop by to see how he is. They arrive after his second round of rabies shots. He's tired and sore, but they tell him he's looking good.

"We just wanted to follow up,"says one, an older man with silver-blond hair and crow's feet. "Do you have any idea what bit you?"

Joaquin sits up, wincing at the burning pain in his shoulder and chest, and succinctly says, "It was a werewolf."

Both paramedics blink.

"Werewolf?" Asks the second, who looks to be Joaquin's age.

Joaquin nods. The two look at one another, then to Joaquin, and back again.

"Werewolf,"the younger one repeats. "You're sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure! It's not an easy mistake to make. I know what happened to me. It was a werewolf!"

The paramedics look at each other again.

"We haven't had any werewolves in Fresno since the 80's,"the older one says. "Are you really sure? You were pretty drunk."

Joaquin blinks. He had two drinks. He's seen his chart--his BAC was 0.04%. Below the 0.08% legal limit and barely a buzz, but Joaquin refused to chance driving. He was still aware. 'Pretty drunk' as the paramedic had described was 0.17%--which Joaquin was nowhere near.

"Please leave,"Joaquin asks, suddenly so very tired.

When a different nurse strides in to change his IV, she asks what happened.

"It was a werewolf,"he tells the nurse, who doesn't even look up from her clipboard.

"Don't be ridiculous,"she admonishes, clicking her tongue. "Werewolves and most supernatural folk are rare here. It's too hot."

"I live with a vampire,"Joaquin says. "It's not too hot for her."

The nurse lets out a sigh, fixing him with a look that screams 'what do you want me to tell you?'

When the surgeon that had done Joaquin's stitches comes by to check on him, he holds his chart and laughs.

"I'd never seen a dog bite that big!"

"It was a werewolf,"Joaquin says again.

At this, the surgeon tilts his head.

"You sure? Looks more like a pit bull to me. Here, see how the teeth are arranged?"

He holds a photo of Joaquin's injury out to him. With the end of his pen, he gestures to the width of the jaw and marks out the shape, and Joaquin can feel those same teeth tear into him again. It's still the exact same wound. But, somehow, it suddenly looks smaller in the picture.

"So, you see what I mean?" The surgeon asks. "It's an easy mistake, but it was just a dog."

"Then why does it say 'coyote' in my chart?"

From behind wire framed glasses, the surgeon glares at Joaquin. He's still smiling, although it's thinner than before and doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"It does?" Asks the surgeon an a cold, even voice.

"Never mind,"Joaquin finally says. "Just-- When am I getting discharged?"

"End of tonight, thankfully,"the surgeon says, "You'll have to come back next week for continued rabies shots."

He goes to leave just then, but turns on his heel, brows creased in some form of epiphany.

"By the way, have you ever been tested for an anxiety disorder?"

Joaquin had been tested. He didn't have anxiety. He had a dopamine deficiency, inattentive-type ADHD, not anxiety. Even if he was, anxiety can't produce a hallucination powerful enough to see a coyote or a dog as a werewolf.

And yet, Joaquin can't help but wonder, briefly, if his diagnosis was wrong.

When Joaquin goes to fill his prescription, the pharmacist looks at the painkillers and antibiotics. Bushy brows raised high, he reads it over and over again, shocked at the potency of the medication.

"Good lord! What on earth happened to you,"he gapes.

"I got bit,"Joaquin says.

"By what?"

Joaquin's lips purse into a thin line. He doesn't answer.

[miblue]

oh there's a fun fact about darlen. Can anyone guess what it is.

[lemmon-grove]

For my health, the health of me, my fucking sanity, I have decided to no longer read twst fanfics on tumblr. The girls on here are into some FUCK shit.

[omnipointmuses]

heck it

if Mocha is Mom shaped

Tea is Mega-Mom shaped =w=

[geniusbutnah]

what am i looking for with my compass

[littlest-dark-age]

Note to self

Large mug and a half of said large mug of fruity pebbles is too much

I now need tummy rubs

[redeemedrevolver]

helenpxrk -> redeemedrevolver

[pyrophoenix]

I have officially decided:

I am genderfae!!!!!

If you don’t know genderfae is like being genderfluid, but the genders you experience never encompass masculinity.

[shadowcrow]

Light the Forge part 13

A request from my friend and supported by the HZD server I’m in! Also, these are getting too long to be called snippets so they’re titled what the fic is titled! You can find that on my ao3! (I’ll link it in the replies!)

Ersa waited as Aloy did a final check of their supplies before they delved into an Old Ones ruin together. This was her first time with an actual focus to wear, one that Aloy had salvaged and showed her very excitedly how to use and scan files to see what more of the old world was like. She, like most other Oseram, never pined for the world before them, for what the people had left them but this meant a lot to Aloy.

So. She waited, leaning on Mittens with her earplugs on because of a sudden spike in sensitivity in her hearing due to leftover damage from Dervahl’s specific brand of torture he had for her.

It was funny too. Aloy was talking faster than she could keep up with, her hands waving about and bringing up new datapoints and facts that she needed to know to better prepare for her first delve. Ersa didn’t tell her she’d been curious when she was younger, exploring places that the Elders didn’t like because she specifically wanted to say a big fuck you to them because, well, she didn’t want to ruin the spark in Aloy’s eyes. She just grinned as Aloy’s mouth and hands moved at rapid fire, finally declaring they were ready to delve into the large Old World ruin.

Mittens followed them at a leisurely pace, they knew there’d be certain places the sawtooth couldn’t get into but it was helpful to have around for extra protection. Knowing both of their lucks, they’d attract every bandit or Eclipse member in the entire Sundom just because it was them.

Aloy was already scanning around with a sort of feral glee that Ersa hadn’t seen on her before, pouncing into dark corners and poking at old things to try and guess what they would do, or if they actually did anything. She was content to let her lead the expedition, occasionally tapping into her focus out of curiosity as to what Aloy could see and was almost immediately overwhelmed by all the lights and colours that shined around the long silenced machines.

“How did the Old Ones live with so many... displays?” She asked, reaching out to tap Aloy on the shoulder in order to get her attention.

“I don’t know, I guess they were like me, they grew up with it?” Was her companion’s muffled reply and Ersa nodded along, made sense, she supposed. If something was all you’d ever known then it was easy to get used to it.

They proceeded further into the bunker, passing a few old bones that made Ersa feel a little more uneasy than she thought she would be. Aloy had said these bunkers were meant to be safe havens for the Old Ones, so why were there so many things wrong here? She had seen her fair share of death, caused it too under the “right” circumstances and she wouldn’t be scared off by some dusty corpse that looked a little too freaked out even in the throes of death.

Aloy went rigid beside her, her eyes laser focused on a datapoint that she found and she listened to it, barely acknowledging Ersa’s concerned touch. The few minutes that passed were tense, quieter than the Oseram was used to even with the buzzing in her ears and stiller than she’d ever know the Nora girl to be. If something had her this spooked, then she was worried about scanning whatever the data was herself.

But she did and... only grew confused. The voice sounded like Aloy’s but it was time stamped from a time of, “2064″ which sounded like a long time away if what she’d been told the current year was in Old World terminology.  “She sounds like you?” Ersa said as quietly as possible when she was done listening, still somehow startling Aloy who had a far away look in her eyes. It was the most distant she’d ever seen the larger than life girl who sparked brighter than the sun and it was the most uncomfortable Ersa could remember feeling in, well, quite a while.

A loud BANG had them both reaching for their weapons lightning fast, the serious moment broken as Mittens tore ass into the room they were in, hiding behind Ersa with its heckles raised, a godawful hissing noise coming from its mouth while its eyes flashed bright red out of anger. They shared a look of concern before nodding at each other, silently agreeing on investigating what the hell just scared their sawtooth into hiding behind Ersa.

The culprit?

An old vessel with a worn down label that it had nosed off the table that had marked its final resting place until Mittens knocked it over and scared itself half to death to hide behind Ersa. Aloy had scanned Mittens, just to make sure it was okay and all she could read from it was, “MOTHER” in all caps and some sort of code that followed, “>:(” the word. She didn’t understand it but the thought of a dangerous machine getting scared by an old vessel made her start laughing.

Which of course set Ersa off and soon they were both holding onto each other, trying not to howl too much from how ridiculous the string of events had just been. Still, Ersa made a mental note to ask Aloy about the date later, but right now, it was good to let loose and bring some life into a place so tainted by death.

[the-metaphorical-jellicle-cat]

Just a reminder that today is the end of the week. And you did it! You are all amazing and deserve all the hugs!

[ellcrys]

A couple weeks ago I was emailed about an opportunity to attend Diversity Best Practice’s EmERGe Leadership Summit East and I ignored it thinking there’s no way they actually wanted me to attend and the conference seems beyond my position anyways (skimming through the website it looked very HR/people in leadership/management oriented) and then Wednesday morning I get another email asking for a response on whether or not I can attend and I have a mini existential crisis like yES I am definitely very interested in this topic but is this conference right for me at my current stage in my career??? I care a lot about D&I but ultimately I’m an software engineer not a D&I person so like this conference isn’t relevant to my technical career but it *is* relevant to my interests afhalsjdlsjd. Half of me was like no this doesn’t make sense for you and the other half was like but it’s an opportunity and you should take all the opportunities. So I blind-panic-talk with my group leaders about whether going makes sense or not and two days later/just now I responded back to the Wednesday query saying I’m interested in going brb screaming into the void

[tempestaurora]

upload it!!

mmmmmmmmmm nah i plan to never finish the fic and leave it like that for the rest of time night night babies

[ahegao-amigo]

.

[braveveth]

philipssheas  ⇀  minjard !!

[trinarystarsystem]

the ice cream spade is clearly a better tool than the ice cream scoop. infinitely superior. I was unfaithful once but never again. I have Repented and my soul is saved

[rhysispieces-blog]

glad to say i have fucked my playthrough of tftb