#So sick of all of these media hacks

[cyarsk5230]

[scificrows]

Okay, my brain refuses to think about anything other than Murderbot, so I looked at every use of the word "friend[s]" in TMBD and... created some pie charts. Normal human activities.

Some Thoughts™ I had while putting this together (under the cut):

In All Systems Red, Murderbot notes that the PresAux crew are all close friends (twice! and goes on to explain their internal relationships which I think is very cute). This is pretty much the only use of 'friends' in ASR, except for when Murderbot says that SecUnits can't be friends with each other.

It seems that this may be one of the first times Murderbot has ever really been around a group of friends before? Murderbot notes that this is not the norm for its contracts and admits that the fact that they are all friends and the way they interact with each other make it actually enjoy that contract (before!!!! the hostile attack, so it already enjoys this contract before they start seeing it as a person etc ghghhhh). [Inference: Friendship seems enjoyable.]

The first character that calls Murderbot its friend is ART in Artificial Condition. Murderbot immediately refutes this (and then goes on to call ART its friend to its clients for the rest of the book). [Inference: Maybe ART is Murderbot's friend. And maybe that is... agreeable]

Rogue Protocol has more than twice as many instances of the word 'friend' as any of the other novellas. Why? Miki. Friendship and its implications for non-humans are a central theme because Miki is friends with everyone. Murderbot initially scoffs at the notion that Miki and Miki's humans are friends. At the end of the book, after witnessing how desperately Don Abene tried to stop Miki from trying to save them, and her grief after its death, Murderbot has to admit that she had in fact been Miki's friend. [Inference: Humans can be friends with bots and can sincerely care about them]

In Exit Strategy, Murderbot tentatively uses the word "friends" for its humans for the first time (several times actually). It questions whether it can actually call them its friends or not and later realizes that it had been afraid what admitting that the humans are its friends would do to it. At the end of the book, Mensah tells Murderbot the PresAux crew are its friends, which is the first time a human has directly said that to it (at least on-page). [Inference: Humans can and want to be Murderbot's friends]

In Network Effect, Murderbot seems to be more habituated to the word 'friend', confidently calling ART and Ratthi its friends, like it is no longer just trying the concept on unsure if it fits. There are many instances in which other characters refer to MB as ART's friend or the other way around and Murderbot's humans refer to Murderbot as their friend several times. Generally, there seems to be less hesitancy, because yes, all of them are Murderbot's friends, why wouldn't they be. [Inference: SecUnits can have friends. This SecUnit has friends. They care about it a lot.]

Conclusion: The Murderbot Diaries tell the story of a construct that does not seem to consider the possibility of friendship for itself and is fine with that - until it accidentally starts caring a little too much and suddenly more and more people annex it as a friend (ew) to the point where it can no longer deny that this is happening and has to begrudgingly admit that yes, it has friends now and maybe that is actually not a bad thing.

[frascospecimen]

Finished bocchi all in one day👍very very good would highly recommend it for anyone who has seen clips/screenshots/etc but hasn’t watched the anime in full yet. It’s such a delight… such a fun time from start to finish and can easily be watched in a day. Very very funny with a lot of heart it’s so fun to cheer on bocchi…. I want her to be happy 🥹 loved how expressive the animation was

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Look, Don't Touch 4

Warnings: this fic includes noncon/rape, stalking, breaking and entering, possible blood and violence, and femcel energy. Tags are not exhaustive and more may be added as the series progresses.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You get bored of watching and that makes you careless. (dark!reader)

Characters: Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes

Note: mondayyyyyy

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. Thanks to everyone who reads this one and thank you for all your energy.<3

Love you all like snakes love Woody’s boots. Take care. 💖

The warmth spreads through your jeans, the pungent smell permeating the air. You don't even care. You pissed yourself and that's the least of your problems. 

You're barely cognizant of the moisture spreading across your ass. You're so fucking hungry and thirsty that you're vision is starting to haze. He really is a sick fuck. Starving you out. Well, fuck him. He doesn't win because you're not losing anything.  

"You fucking stink," he snarls as he enters. You can't see him as the chair remains on it's back. 

You chuckle. He huffs and stomps around.  

"Ugh, disgusting," he sneers. 

You laugh louder. 

"Fucking rat," he comes to stand over you, arms crossed. "You just can't wait for anything. I was just making you something to eat." 

You spit at him and it hits his jeans, just above his knee. He exhales and takes out his phone. The tension in your wrists and ankles slackens. He grabs you by the back of the neck and hauls you off the chair. 

He flips you so you land on your stomach. The plastic crinkles and he shoves your face against a small yellow puddle. He wipes your nose in your own waste. It's not as funny. 

He wrenches you up. Your arms and lengths are still weighed down by the cuffs, even as they are apart. He grips you by the back of your neck as your legs wobble with disuse. 

"You'll need to clean up before you eat," he tuts. 

He marches you across the room. Your muscles are like noodles, your knees buckling as you stagger. He squeezes until you grunt. 

"You should be thanking me. Vermin don't typically get these luxuries." 

You scoff and elbow him. He huffs and shoves you through the bathroom door. You flail and hit the edge of the tub, folding over it. 

He stomps in after you and hooks his arm under you. He tugs down the zipper of your hoodie and strips it off your arms. You fall to the floor, limp to his onslaught. You have to save your strength for the right time. Not that you have much. 

He steps over you and tears the collar of your tee. He makes quick work of it too. He tears your jeans down and the button pings off. He takes your boots with the heap of denim and tosses it. Your boy shorts stick to your pelvis and your sports bra twists awkwardly. 

He rips through the fabric of both without effort. You growl and he lifts you, dropping you onto the tub without care. Your elbows and ass hit. The pain radiates through you.  

He has a fistful of your hair clumped in his hand in seconds. He flips the faucet to cold and grabs the showerhead. He brings the hose down and sprays you in the face. You gasp and gulp, kicking as he aims it up your nose. 

You gag and he turns the spray onto your chest and stomach. Your skin tautens and pricks with goosebumps.  He scours you from toe to head again.  

You spasm as he pins you by your neck and floods your nose is mouth. Motherfucker is water boarding you. You hack and spit but don't beg. Fuck that. Drown me, bitch. 

He flips you over as you shiver and choke. He sprays down your back and the water suddenly turns scalding. You growl and gnash down on your tongue as your skin steams. You slap the porcelain and bite down on your stubbornness. You will not give him the fucking satisfaction.  

The temperature softens and he angles the head between your legs. You twitch as the stream tickles you. Nope. Uh uh. 

You reach back only for your hand to being drawn back by the sudden weight in the cuff. He tisks and wiggles the shower head. You hiss and press your forehead to the tub. What the fuck? 

You rocks the hose as you fight the sensation creeping into your core. This isn't going to happen. You're not going to give in.  

With all your strength, you turn yourself over and bring your knee up. You hit his shoulder and the shower head slips to pour over your pelvis. You wriggle as your ankles and wrists stay pinned like anchors. 

"Fucking perv!" You snarl. 

"You pissed all over yourself, I'm helping!" He jerks the spray back against your cunt and you exclaim. Jesus! 

"Gotta be thorough," he splays a hand on your chest as he once more works the showerhead against you. Your toes curl as the swell pulses inside you. Fuck, fuck, fuck. 

He hums smugly and slips his hand over one side of your chest. He kneads your tit and clucks. "Well, you're not entirely useless. Didn't think there was much under those rags." 

"You are fucking--" 

He turns the hose and sprays you in the face again. You spit and sneer. He's so goddamn annoying. 

Then, the thrumming flow is trapped along your cunt. You groan and growl, fighting back the rise as it creeps up and up and up. Your breath shallows as you approach the crest and resign yourself to the defeat. 

Clang! He twists the faucet off and drops the hose. It dangles as you lay panting, just short of your climax. Throbbing. 

He laughs as he stands and grips his hips victoriously, "ask nice and I'll finish the job." 

You heave and shudder. You suck in a deep breath and bat your wet lashes. You put on the most pathetic voice you can muster, "please, Bucky, please won't you... fucking kill me!" You thrash and shake on the porcelain. "I'd rather drink acid than cum for you, idiot!" 

He snorts, "oh I know what makes you cum and it's never going to happen." He wrenches you out of the tub, water dripping off of you. "The only reason you're still here is because I want you to see the sheer revulsion in Steve's eyes before I break your fucking neck." 

"You're a bitch," you teeter on your toes and lean in to snarl at him. "You can't fucking do it because you're still ass-fucked over all those victims you stacked up for Hydra--" 

He swings you into the wall and you wheeze as you crumple to the floor.  

"Bitch," you rasp. "Bitch boy. Fucking Hydra dog." 

"You don't know what the fuck you're messing with," he barks. 

"I saw your dick, fucker. I had it between my teeth like a cocktail weenie," you snicker. "I know what the hell you are and aren't--" 

He kicks you so your back is against the wall and plants his foot against your chest. He leans on you until your ribs burn. You stare up at him. Do it. 

He lets his foot off and sighs. 

"Steve deserves to spit in your face before you go out," he grabs you by the wrist and drags you across the tile. Your ass scrapes and your heels bounce off the floor. 

He hauls you back to the living room. He puts the chair right and perches you in the seat. Your wrists snap down on the armrests and your ankles to the legs. You're bound again. 

"Means I gotta keep you around for another day or two so... better give the mouse its cheese." 

He taps your cheek before he stalks of. You shiver as your skin cools. You fidget and try to get comfortable. Every part of you hurts. 

You listen to him fussing in the kitchen. He appears with a large bowl in hand. You can't see the content. He puts it on the table near the couch. He's gone again. 

When he comes again, he has a hose and funnel. He drags another chair over, then grabs the bowl. He sits next to you as he balances the bowl in his lap. 

"Open up for daddy," he taunts. 

You sneer as you stare at the hose. You're not fucking stupid. You know what he's up to. 

"Now don't tell me you're scared," he grabs your jaw and squeezes. 

You gasp and open your mouth. He shoves the hose through and jams it into your throat until it snakes past your gag reflex. You breath through your nose as the constant pressure makes your stomach contort. 

"Better fill you up," he takes the funnel attached to the other end and the bowl. He stands as he start to pour. 

You close your eyes as you brace yourself.  You wretch as he force feeds you the sour concoction of eggs, plain yogurt, and something acidic. Your insides contort and your muscles clench. 

Your mouth overflows and the excess dribbles out and smears around your mouth. You puff messily around the hose. He tips the bowl until its empty and the mixture floods your nose as you heave again. 

He wiggles the hose as he puts the bowl on the chair and you gurgle around it. He leaves it there as he smirks at you then slowly tugs it. The friction nearly makes you vomit. 

When the hose it out, he grabs you again. He keeps your mouth open as he shoves two fingers inside. He considers you as he teethes his lip. 

"If you weren't a biter, I might just try it," he sneers. "You gotta a hell of a throat, doll." 

He lets you go and spins away. He takes the bowl and the hose and leaves you breathless. The pasty substance is streaked across your cheeks and down your neck. It'll start to stink pretty quickly.  

📷

You're dazed as suddenly you lurch off the chair. Not for long as Bucky dangles you from one hand and stamps the other against the seat. Disoriented, you have no power to stop him. 

"One of the toys I found in your shit hole," he angles you down, one hand on your throat, the other on your hip. Your eyes snap open and you grimace. "You're quite the collector." 

He slips his hand under you and spreads your cunt as the tip of the toy prods you. You hold your breath as he forces you onto it. The dry scrape of your insides burns. He moves his other hand to your shoulder and jerks you down all at once. You snarl. 

"With how fucking desperate you are, I'm sure that's nothing," he steps back as your stomach tightens. It's your biggest toy by far and you usually do a lot of warm up. 

"I'm the desperate one," you snicker then quiet as your muscles ripple. 

"You're getting tired, doll, I can see it. I mean, you're no super soldier so you don't got a chance," he snorts. "But you can try to get some sleep. I hear white noise helps." 

He turns and picks up a pair of over-ear headphones. He winks as he steps closer and pops them on your head. You flinch as he brings out his phone and taps the screen. The blare of Mary Poppins rattles your brain. You bare your teeth in disgust. You fucking hate Julie Andrews. 

He turns and stretches his arms. You can't hear him or his footsteps. The volume makes your eyeballs hurt. 

He faces you again and laughs and taps his ears then shrugs. You narrow your eyes and bop your head. Fuck it, you can get into musicals if it shuts him up. 

He rolls his eyes and struts away. This might be the limit but you won't fold easily. You shift and your stomach aches with fullness. Typical man, can't even give you a bit of foreplay before jamming it in. 

📷

The hours fade with the sky. Bucky takes his place across the sofa, hands behind his head as he watches one of his lame PBS docs. He might not show it but he is truly an old man. 

Your ears ache from the constant roar of Disney classics. This is Guatanamo level torture. You watch him without moving. Even the slightest twitch makes your walls pulse. You can't move any sort of way to get stimulation.  

Slowly, his eyelids droop. He blacks the screen of his phone and turns his back to you. He nestles into the couch, the muscles of his naked back easing. You smile and wait. 

When you sense his breathing even out, you start. You sing along to the repetitive anthem 'SUPERCALLIFRAGILISTICEXPIADLIDOCIOUS. EVEN THOUGH THE SOUND OF IT IS SOMETHING QUITE ATROCIOUSSSSS!" 

Bucky jolts up as you continue your siren. You're not much of a singer but you're belting like Aretha. He barrels off the couch and grabs you by the throat. 

You chuckle as the force knocks the headphones down to your neck. You smirk up at him. Your eardrums vibrate as the world buzzes around you.  

"The fuck?!" 

You twist your head down and aim your teeth for his arm. He shakes you and you laugh again. It's funny when he's mad, especially when he tries so hard and you give him nothing. 

"You are a crazy bitch." 

"Look who's talking," you throw back. "There's an easy way out of this, guy. You can do it. One last time. Just a twist of the neck--" 

"Fuck off." 

"You first." You stick your tongue out. 

He brings his hand up and cracks his knuckles across your cheeks. Blood rises in your mouth as the vibranium plates leave cuts on your cheek. The headphones fall to the floor. He lets you go and curls his fingers as he paces. 

The moonlight limns him as he fumes. You spit out the back tooth he finally knocked free. It skitters over the floor. He grumbles and faces you again. 

"Fine, if we're done giving a fuck..." he stomps back you and grabs you off the chair.  The dildo slips free and you wince. He pulls you close and seethes. "Then let's do this, huh?" He spins you and pushes you against the chair. Your knees hit the edge and he bends you so your neck it against the back. "I'll give ya the real thing before I turn the lights off, how about that?" 

He jostles behind you and his briefs fall to his feet. He leans until you feel your esophagus pinching against the wood. He flicks your ass cruelly and smacks it. 

He guides his tip up your thigh and grazes your cunt. You close your eyes and whittle air through your throat. He'll be quick. He's been holding back too long. As long as the end is fast too. 

He presses against your entrance and a sudden flash illuminates the room. The door clicks and he grips your neck tighter. You angle your head as much as you can. You can see only the brown boots with the tidy laces. 

"Bucky?" Steve utters and his timbre flows through you like ecstasy. You purr. 

"Uh, hey, Steve," Bucky lets you go and you slump. You steady yourself as you stay on your knees, the dildo poking your pelvis. "You're home early." 

"Didn't need me for the last day," he sounds stunned as stands his rolling suitcase next to the mat. 

Bucky pulls up his underwear and coughs, "Steve, I need to talk to you." 

"Yeah, I think there's a lot of talking to do," he mutters. 

You lift your head slowly and look at him dreamily. You smile, shamelessly showing off your bloody teeth. He blinks at you and chagrin twists his perfect features.  

Bucky huffs and grabs you. He rips the toy off the seat and flings it. He sits you down and the chair rocks. Your arms stick to the wooden rests once more. 

"Right," he marches toward Steve, "lets talk." 

[redclercs]

DELICATE✰ CHARLES LECLERC.

ix. i'm so sick of running as fast as i can

— the one where they painted you out to be bad (so it's okay that you're mad).

warnings: fair warning you're going to be pissed, foul language, this one has more media between text and it's a little long. 2.3k words (+articles and a very long youtube thing!!)

currently playing: it's time to go by taylor swift!

masterlist ✢ next

By Alana Blake

YOU read it here first, friends. #YNCHARLES is still going strong even after the mess y/n found herself in during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend.

Rumor had it that after y/n's declarations where she said 'it was not serious' and 'she was just having fun', the Monegasque heartthrob dumped her immediately. This was fueled by the fact that we didn't see any pictures of them together during such weekend.

But sources have come to the rescue, letting us all know they're not broken up! "They talk every day for hours," our source said, "Both are still trying to keep it fun but more lowkey after everyone found out about the cheating."

RELATED: Victoria Presley's top five beauty hacks.

You would think that after a partner refers to you as a 'toy', dumping them is the best course of action, but apparently that doesn't apply to Mr. Leclerc who has "nothing but good things to say about y/n".

"He's excited to see her in New York before the Canada Grand Prix, they have it all planned out since she has her apartment back." The source added.

One thing is for sure, if we see y/n at the next Grand Prix, that's the big confirmation that they are together, since they blew their Elix cover by forcing them to end the contract.

SEE ALSO:

→ Victoria Presley's inauguration after party at the Grand Havana Room, you just had to be there.

→ Taylor Swift defends y/n y/ln: ''All of you have learned nothing!"

→ Aidan Kim on Charles Leclerc: "Never heard of him until my girlfriend cheated on me"

𝙂𝙊𝙏 𝙎𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙊 𝙎𝘼𝙔? 𝙇𝙀𝘼𝙑𝙀 �� 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙊𝙒!

You're seeing the top comments.

Anonymous – 4 hr ago

They're both so shameless! and charles was liking tweets saying they were friends like he could really trick us.

kollhha – 3 hr ago

I hate her, Charles dump her ass for the love of god.

adriennewells – 40 min ago

no but seriously what is it about y/n that has men brainwashed?

Anonymous – 10 min ago

They WOULD be cute together, i don't think they're dating though.

June 10th, Los Angeles, California

You fit your life for the past months into two suitcases, and a carry on. Your room at Vic's house is messy and it feels strangely empty without your discarded shoes and dirty laundry on the floor. But it's time to go, you cannot impose your presence in this enormous house anymore. You have felt like an intruder since you started traveling to Formula 1 and coming back every week like this is your hotel and not your best friend's home.

"Are you really going back to New York?" Vic asks from behind you, voice low with sadness.

"Yes, Vic, I have to." you sigh, turning to meet her. She's dressed up in her fucsia workout gear, holding a light ring in her left hand and her phone in the right. Your flight leaves in the evening and you were hoping to have a meal with Vic before parting to the airport, but it looks like she's all booked.

"No you don't," she argues, entering the room. "Hollywood is here, y/n why do you need to go back to New York? You're an actress!"

You feel like a lot of things, except for an actress right now.

"I don't think Hollywood wants me right now, Vic," you say, going back to the unmade bed to lie down. You asked the cleaning lady if she could leave your room for last so you could finish picking your stuff up, and she agreed gently. "Plus, I really miss New York."

"y/n you haven't even visited my store, you can't go!" Vic's tone changes in octave, and it's not her whiny 'please don't do this' tone you're so used to. "I asked you for ONE favor and you're running to New York and you can't do even just that?"

"Woah, Vic, what the fuck?" you use your elbows as support to lean up and look at her. "Calm down. It's okay." you know her tantrum comes from the fact that she truly believes you could boost her beauty line sales and make her store a 'hot spot'. And it would work, for the wrong reasons. You don't want Vic being dragged down into this mess too. Mati and Charles are enough casualties.

"NO IT'S NOT!" Victoria is full-on yelling now, the light ring has been tossed aside. "I have given everything you've asked from me in the past months since your life started falling apart. I think I deserve something in return."

You ignore the bite of her words. She's angry, which is understandable to some level. She doesn't mean it, right? That she always expected something in return.

"Vic, listen, I know how important your store is to you. But I promise you, you don't want the attention I'm bringing to anyone close to me right now."

"Oh, so you're doing this for my own good now?" she scoffs, ponytail flying in the air as she turns around. "Are you fucking Charles Leclerc for his own good too? Or do men's reputations don't matter?" she spits.

You halt completely, halfway out of the mattress. "What did you say?"

"Oh, please y/n. You really want me to believe you don't want to be seen with me to 'protect me'" she throws the quotations in the air, "And yet you went on your pretty vacation with that bitch Matilde, and you talk to fucking Charles Leclerc every day!"

"Victoria, stop," your brain is a mix of anger, sadness and confusion. You’re having trouble catching up to the where the conversation is going. "That was different, Vic. In case you haven't noticed, things can't stop getting worse. My life is not good right now." You choke on the last words, because it's the first time you say such things out loud. You have never been more miserable.

Victoria scoffs yet again, and it’s a tear in your heart. She's really not backing off. "Of course your life isn't good y/n wah, wah. You have money and beauty and a pilot boyfriend, it sucks so much to be you!"

"Why are you so bothered about it? Why is Charles the main problem here?" you wipe the tears from your cheeks, scratching the skin with one of your rings. "Why the fuck are you acting like this?"

Everything was alright this morning at breakfast, when you reminded her you were leaving and your luggage was almost done. When you thanked her for taking you in and told her you could never really repay her support.

"Because you get everything you want all the time!" Victoria stomps to you, her face inches away when she stops. "You always get what you want no matter what. It didn't even matter that I said you view him as a fucking piece of meat! He still went after you."

The world moves in slow-motion as her words cascade on you. Your lungs close and your throat tightens again, and you want to fight the panic attack because you just know Victoria is not going to help you. How could she? If she's the one who betrayed you.

"How–Why–" you stutter, the hem of your shirt on your fist. You can fight this. "How could you do this to me?"

Victoria finally comes to the realization of what she let out, and covers her mouth. "y/n no– look–"

"Who told you about the ring?" your jaw is locked and you're trying not to lose focus. "How could you tell them about the ring?!"

"How could you not tell ME?! I'm your fucking best friend, you bitch!" she's raising her voice again, her surprise pushed aside because you're still fighting. "I had to find out through Aidan, months later."

The Cannes party. Of course.

You thought about asking her about it. Telling her it hurt you that she hung out so happily with Aidan when he was the reason you arrived at her house one night in February, frightened, sad, and confused. But you didn't because you trusted her. You would have trusted Victoria with your life at some point.

"It really is you, then," tears are streaming down your face again.

You feel stupid because only yesterday, in another rage-scroll through Twitter, you noticed people were already making theories about how it was Victoria who was selling information about you. And you felt so offended, how could they think your best friend would do that to you?

"How could you, Victoria? How could you make all that shit up?"

You talked to Victoria about the articles. You cried and told her you were sorry you didn’t let her in on the failed proposal, it was something you were still processing and couldn’t bring yourself to talk about, still wondering if it had been a mistake every now and then. You told her how sorry you felt to Charles because he just wanted to hang out with you—to be friends with you—and people marked him down as a home wrecker when he had nothing to do with it.

“It was definitely Mia though, wasn’t it?” She said as she rubbed your back and passed the box of tissues to you. “She always hated you, so weird. It was like she loved Aidan in a fucked up way.” Victoria even shuddered exaggeratedly, trying to make you laugh.

“Yeah I’m sure it was Mia, Aidan just won’t admit it.” You let her wipe your tears and smooth your hair down. Nobody could convince you that your ex-sister-in-law didn’t run to People and spewed shit. It was the most logical conclusion that Aidan was protecting his little sister.

This had been three days ago, she lied and made fun of you, to your face.

"So now I'm a liar? You are fucking Charles Leclerc! Or what, you expect me to believe all you do is hold hands and peck each other's cheeks?"

Again with Charles, it infuriates you.

"You told the press I'm a cheater! And I am NOT with Charles, God you're so stupid!"

"How would I know whether it's true or not? You never tell me anything anymore, do you? You don't care about me! I'm your best friend. I deserve to be your priority!"

"You deserve to rot in hell, you lying bitch." you don't even raise your voice anymore, "How could I ever love you?"

Victoria laughs, and your heart finally shatters. "I would do it again, y/n, because it's what you forced me to do."

The apartment is a mess, and you know it's on purpose. Your clothes are everywhere, the dirt from the plants you kept on the balcony is all over the floor, the coffee table is broken and your room looks like a hurricane passed through. Your coffee maker and your Specialty coffee both lie on the floor of the kitchen, and there is a horrible smell coming from the fridge. Aidan hasn't been gone long enough for things to rot to that extent, especially because every appliance is plugged in.

You don't want to look at the rest of the house, or your belongings. All you do is lean down to pick up your Moka pot, and make time to think, but you're unable to stand straight again. It's like the pain is pulling you down. How did your life become this?

A ruined apartment, a rejected engagement and a backstabbing best friend are things that happen in the movies. You would know. This wasn't supposed to happen to you.

Crying in that ruined kitchen, holding a Moka pot like it's your greatest treasure and not some piece of trash that you will never be able to use anymore, you get angry, furious. Because this is not your life and it was never supposed to be. And it's about time you start doing something about it.

You are sick of running. Of having people question you for not 'defending' yourself when you have no reason to be attacked in the first place. Relationships die, and yours had been past its time to be buried. Saying no is not a crime. And it never will be.

Victoria had burned her own thread with you in the worst way possible because you didn't make her the only person in your life. And you had overlooked every time you felt used by her, unloved, and tossed aside. Friends can break your heart too, and Victoria had ripped yours out of your chest.

Nobody has to tell you who you are, because you know. And you are nothing of what you've let tabloids, netizens and reporters say. You cannot keep running and you cannot keep hiding, and though you wish you had understood that earlier. It's never too late to pick yourself up.

Mildred and Walter are going to be pissed, but their advice was that you remained lowkey for however long it took Hollywood to get their next big scandal. Weeks, months, years.

And you're not about to scurry away into darkness like a rat.

FROM “JUST WATCH THIS” POSTED IN Y/N Y/LN'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL POSTED JUNE 12TH

[y/n,minute 01:30]: ❝...So I've finally decided to come here and tell you everything that has been happening for the past months. It's the truth, but whether you believe it is a personal choice.❞

[y/n,minute 05:56]: ❝It was a three-year dead-end relationship. You cannot, and should not, have a future with someone who laughs at your dreams, and tells you how you should behave and how to look to exalt him.❞

[y/n, minute 07:15]: ❝I said no. And I have not regret it for one second. I didn't tell anyone because I respect Aidan, although I don't think that is reciprocal by now.❞

[y/n, minute 10:01]: ❝I never cheated on him, and I know the source of those rumors. It breaks my heart to know that someone I trusted made up stuff about myself, and a part of my life that was so important to me. I am not telling you who it was, however, I will take legal action against them if the defamation continues.❞

[y/n, minute 14:54]: ❝Aidan decided to tell this person about our failed engagement, and I do not know if his intention was that this all became public. But I wish he'd been mature enough to handle it privately, like the adults we both are.❞

[y/n, minute 16:59]: ❝I started attending Formula 1 races because of an Ambassador contract I held with Elix until three days ago, when they decided to rescind it.❞

[y/n, minute 18:07]: ❝That's where I met both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, back in April. Since they are the drivers for Ferrari, we spent a lot of time in the same place, which led to us becoming friends.❞

[y/n, minute 19:04]: ❝Charles Leclerc is my friend and we are not romantically involved, I urge you to stop making stuff up about him too. He never messed with my past relationship, we did not know each other.❞

[y/n, minute 21:55]: ❝When all of this started, I believed—naively— that it could just die down on its own. I am an actress. I was not only 'Aidan Kim's girlfiend' and I am not only his ex-girlfriend now. I am y/n y/ln.❞

[y/n, minute 23:31]: ❝I should have spoken sooner. I should have shut everything down the moment I started feel miserable and out of control. But I also know, I was being crucified so badly because I am a woman.❞

[y/n, minute 26:00]: ❝You have made me feel miserable and anxious, I have suffered from panic attacks and sleepless nights. And I'm not saying this to make you all feel bad and regretful, because the one thing you lack the most is empathy.❞

[y/n, minute 28:45]: ❝But I want you all to think that, if it had been the other way around and Aidan hadn't wanted to marry me, you would have said 'he wasn't ready' and you would have let him move on and find "The One" in peace.❞

[y/n, minute 31:35]: ❝If it was Timothee Chalamet—whom I also have a deep appreciation for—doing RomComs and nothing more, you would call it 'his specialty' and never question his talent.❞

[y/n, minute 33:17]: ❝If I was a man, this wouldn't have killed my reputation.❞

[y/n, minute 36:21]: ❝I will not remain quiet anymore while you step on me and diminish my work. I do not owe anything to Aidan Kim except for the drama the past months have brought me.❞

[y/n, minute 38:11]: ❝I'm going to focus on the future. And I am well aware this will be continue to be a topic of conversation, but I am not scared anymore. Because I know who I am and who I can count on.❞

[y/n, minute 40:12]: ❝If it weren't for my fans, who have been fighting my battles so hard, I wouldn't be here either. They're here for me, and I can never repay such pure love.❞

[y/n, minute 42:22]: ❝If you watched up to here, I'm sure you're wondering whether you should believe all of this, and like I said, it's all up to you❞

[y/n, minute 44:50]: ❝I will not be speaking about Aidan Kim again, so I ask you to refrain from asking about him. It's all been said and done, and I'm eager to move on.❞

[END]

You are looking at the all the comments.

aidanbabes WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BITCH EVEN ON

flowerbedkim Oh so now Aidan forced her to be with him? Bullshit. You are never saving your lying ass y/n, fuck you!!!!!

thatbitch123 You are absolutely right y/n if you were a man this wouldn’t have happened it's so sad

ynbabes2 my queen i waited for you to speak for so long!!! WE HAVE TO MOVE ON FROM THIS

leclercstar you all have made this girl's life absolute hell, i hope you never find peace!! I'm glad she's friends with Charles and Carlos.

presleyvibes wait and you thank people but not Vic who let you stay at her house? you're an ungrateful bitch

albstappen I saw her pic with Lily Muni and I just knew she was one of the good ones

ynmybeloved EVERY TONGUE THAT RISES AGAINST YN SHALL FALL

kim41d4an IT'S YOUR WORD AGAINST AIDAN'S YOU CHEATING WHORE

June 12th, SoHo, New York.

You are trying to clean the mess around you as best you can. And although you could call someone to help you, sweeping and scrubbing keeps you busy and distracted. The first message you received after posting the video was from Mati a 'proud of you xx, tell me all about it later please!' text that made you take your first deep breath of the afternoon. You made an appointment with a doctor first thing in the morning, you want the panic to go away, you need it to.

Thoughts of how they're destroying you again, calling you a liar and a whore, swarm your brain and you try to toss them in the trash along with your ruined Dolce & Gabbana coat, mysteriously cut up with scissors. You told the truth, and not even the whole of it.

The video is being shown everywhere, you're sure you'll see it tomorrow in Good Morning America where they'll dissect every single move you make and every word that comes out of your mouth.

It's almost 9 pm when you finally stop wiping the apartment down, trying to get rid of every sign that Aidan Kim was ever inside it. It's not true that he paid for the apartment, you picked it yourself and made it a home and then he chose to come and live here, paying the rent once every three to five months. This is your home and you are reclaiming it.

Your phone rings and you take another deep breath before picking it up. Mildred and Walter have resorted to communicate with you through email, so you wonder who it is. Victoria called a few times during the weekend, left voicemails and text messages until you blocked her. Each of them with a new excuse and a more creative way to pin all of what she had done, on you.

It's a FaceTime call from Charles.

"Charlie!" you greet with a smile, before the image of him loads completely. "It's 3 am in Monaco, what the hell are you doing awake?"

Charles shrugs and you notice his bare shoulders, he's shirtless. You're suddenly self-conscious about the way you look. With your hair sticking up from the sweat, your greasy face and ragged shirt. It's a silly worry.

"I wanted to talk to you," he says, and you know he's tired. "I saw your video earlier, but I was doing something else."

"Oh, you saw that."

"I'm proud of you y/n, you are brave for speaking your mind like that. I know it must have taken some effort." Charles moves again and you see his chest, he's already in bed.

"Charles, go to sleep, we can talk about this later," you chuckle, heat is rising to your face.

"I wanted to see you y/n, it doesn't matter what time it is. And I really wanted to tell you I'm glad you posted that video."

"Thank you, Charlie. I should have done it sooner."

"The only one who knows what timing is right for you, is yourself."

"Yeah, I guess so." you sigh, you're exhausted too and you blame it more on the rollercoaster of emotions you've been through than deep cleaning your apartment.

"Are you tired?" he asks, suppressing a yawn.

"No more than you," you retort, but can't help yawning as well. It's a scientific fact that yawns are contagious. "Go to sleep, we can talk tomorrow."

You talked yesterday too, and the day before, and you cried so much on the phone again you thought he would eventually hang up until you calmed down. But Charles soothed you through the phone at 1 am Monaco time and told you to let it all out, and listened without interrupting you once how you called Aidan and Victoria every name in the book.

"Fine," Charles says, rubbing his left eye carelessly. "Will you give me a tour of your apartment tomorrow, then?"

"Yes! I finished cleaning it today!"

Charles laughs softly at your excitement. “We’ll talk tomorrow then, just because you need to sleep.”

“Sure I am the sleepy one,” you roll your eyes and Charles smiles, both dimples showing. “Goodnight Charlie, sweet dreams.” The last part you say it in a slightly mocking tone but Charles doesn’t take it as such, smile widening.

“Goodnight soleil,” he says and waits a few seconds for you to react to your newly given nickname before hanging up, anxious but satisfied.

─── team principal radio: ❝thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and are liking the story so far. We're slowly getting to the y/n redemption. Once again, i really appreciate all of your interactions they mean the world to me. Also check out the series playlist if you haven't♡❞

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[maxwellatoms]

I bought a Gartenmeister Fuchsia plant for my birthday back in January. It was a centerpiece all winter long, but recently it started looking a bit sickly. I'm not a "green" gerdener anymore (haha), but I am also by no means a master. I think it was infected with powdery mildew, but I also convinced myself it was spider mites. I try to keep things all -natural out there, so I dried it out and sprayed it with some neem oil after pruning it back a bit. I really should've pruned off all of the infected bits, but I didn't want to lose the flowers.

I did that a few more times, unable to commit to a hard prune because I kept telling myself "I don't know what I'm doing, so maybe it's not sick. Maybe it'll fix itself. Sure would be nice to have those flowers back." I finally gave up and cut it to the bone yesterday, but yesterday was too late. I had to remove every single leaf because I dithered for too long. It's probably not going to make it.

I feel the same way about our culture. US culture. Western culture (though its really a global problem). The Entertainment Industry. The Media. It's sick. We probably need some rather serious surgery to fix the problem, but we just will not see a doctor. To see a doctor would be to admit there's a problem, and for some that is the greatest sin of the 21st Century. Maybe some of us are just hoping the system will recover on its own so we can have our pretty flowers back.

For me, it was around 2010 or so when I first started to smell something "off". The symptoms had certainly been around a while. This was just when I noticed. This was when I got my first, "Hey, let's not make fun of corporations" note. It's when The History Channel stopped airing stuff about history in favor of aliens because that's where the money was. And rather than rebranding, they just left it as "History", encouraging future generations to believe whatever they felt like. This was also about when traditional news outlets started skewing to clickbait in order to compete with sites that were clearly 100% not legitimate news sites. Again, as long as the money is right it's "just entertainment" and you' can're welcome to believe it if it means you'll watch more.

I'm all-in on Dead Internet Theory now. The disparity between what major news media outlets will report and what you see from actual people on Tumblr or Threads or Reddit is pretty shocking. And those sites are already compromised by bots and bad actors. The tools exist now to actively bamboozle millions of people, and I have no doubt we're already seeing some of this now. In six months or a year you'll find out it (whatever it was) never happened or was generated by an LLM. The time to stop listening to anyone online was a year ago.

Trust no one.

Not even me!

It's cultural rot. It's spreading faster and faster, and I'm not sure what happens when we get to the end of this ride. Actually, I AM sure what happens. If we don't prune back hard now, then the rot takes over. Best-case, you clip the infected branches off too late and it takes years to recover. Worst case? Nature soldiers on but the plant succumbs to infection and dies completely, replaced (eventually) by something that can actually hack it in that spot.

When humans produce art and information, and then comment on that art and information by producing more art and information, we call it "culture". We're moving toward a time when the vast majority of art and ideas we get out eyes on won't be created by humans. Or at the very least won't be created with the purpose of commenting on or enriching the organic human experience. When that happens, what will we call it? What will remain of our culture?

[meazalykov]

nice to finally meet you

lena oberdorf x bayern!reader

summary: reader discovers that her long time rival will be her teammate-- and possibly more.

warnings: long chapter, not 100% proofread

you walk into the training headquarters at bayern, excited since this is the first training which will prepare for the pokal round of 16. since this will be your second time in this competition, you hope to win finally. 

as you walked into the locker room, the familiar chatter of your teammates seemed subdued. it was still there, with sydney and sam with their inside jokes– but it was quieter. your mind can't shake the feeling that something is off. 

sitting down on the bench in front of your locker, you change into the training kits then drink a bit of water, since there was still time before you had to head onto the pitch. 

you look up and see klara give you a sympathetic smile, you smile back brightly. this made klara’s eyes widen– did you not know?

as you lace up your boots, you catch georgia, sam, giulia, sydney, and klara exchanging glances before looking back at you. this bothered you. these people are some of your closest friends on the team– are they hiding something?

"alright, what's going on?" you demand, your voice echoing off the walls of the locker room as you crossed your right leg over the left. 

your shoulders flinched when you felt lea’s hand rest of your right shoulder. everyone knew about the news– except for you. lea hopes you will take the news well, for the sake of her best friend. 

georgia hesitates, her eyes darting to sydney before she takes a deep breath. she moves to sit beside you. 

"did you hear about who's coming to bayern?," she starts, her voice cautious.

you eyebrows knit together in confusion. usually, transfer news doesn’t occur this early before the summer– so you shake your head. 

“no. who's coming?” you look over at lea, who looks down at your cleats without saying anything.

"lena. lena is transferring to bayern." sydney says. 

they’re all happy for lena transferring to bayern, since they’re all close to her. they knew that you never had a good experience with lena– so they were nervous to see your reaction. 

this news hits you like a punch to the gut. lena, your nemesis on the pitch, the wolfsburg midfielder who always seemed to have the hack for getting under your skin. 

the first time you guys met was in the champions league final in 2020. 

you weren't with bayern. lyon was the club of your life at the time. you were 18 years old during this final and weren’t wise enough to hold back your words. 

being subbed into the final in the 70th minute, you wanted to contribute something. 

when you had the ball at your feet in the midfield, you felt the spike of a cleat smack into your ankle. you squealed as you hit the ground in an awkward position, lucky that your ankle didn’t twist. 

you looked up to see “5 oberdorf” standing up and walking away from you nonchalantly. the medics determined that you were okay, all you needed was a bandage since your ankle started bleeding, but you took her actions personally. 

lena had the ball and before she could pass it to alex popp, you pushed her to the ground harshly before dribbling the ball away from her. you didn’t bother to pass up to sommer before shooting the ball– scoring the third goal in that champions league final. winning against the german club. 

after finishing third in the 2022 ballon d’or ceremony, and lena getting fourth— just below the two spanish superstars bonmati and putellas– the media declared that there was a new rivalry among you and lena.

you remember the friendly between germany and the united states later in the year too, just after your transfer to bayern months before. 

germany won the first game against the united states, but you were out sick with a fever. 

the second game– you were back healthy. you took every opportunity to play aggressively against lena, even earning a yellow card for a particularly hard tackle after she tackled you moments before. 

despite lea, sydney, and klara’s assurances that lena was a sweet person, you could never reconcile that with the competitor you faced. you were stubborn and knew that lena felt the same towards you. 

you force a laugh, trying to mask the mixed emotions inside of you. "lena? lena oberdorf?"

“yeah, she wants to be closer with her friends and family.” lea says. 

“that's surprising, she said that she never wanted to come here. i guess things change.” you say, after tying your cleats quickly, you walk out of the locker room. 

practice didn’t start for another twenty minutes, but the girls decided to leave you alone with the news. 

the reality of the situation sinks in, and you are terrified.

you KNEW you had to be friends with her once she joined the club in july. there was no way you would sacrifice your professionalism over lena oberdorf. 

but– how are you supposed to get along with lena after years of arguments, yellow cards, and on-pitch battles? the thought of sharing the same locker room, training together, her wearing the same colors as you working towards the same goals—it all feels overwhelming. it's a thought-process you don’t know if you’ll get used to. 

the rest of the day passes in a blur. on the training ground, your mind isn't on the drills or the tactics; it's on lena. 

what if she hasn't changed? what if the friction between you only gets worse? what if she tries to take your spot in the midfield? you knew that last question was ridiculous, since you’re an attacking midfielder and she's defensive. 

and yet, a small, nagging voice in the back of your mind wonders if maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance to turn this rivalry into a duo that would terrify the future opponents. 

a few days later, you saw a post made by lena. yes, you both followed each other on instagram. you didn’t know why, but it just happened. 

she confirmed her transfer to bayern after receiving many hate comments about an old interview she did. 

in your mind, you felt bad for her. It's not just about football anymore; it's about finding a way to exist together, to move on from the years of competition that have been created. she will be your teammate soon and you have to accept it.

over the next few months, you focus on your training. the reminder of your rival coming to bayern disappeared from your mind for a while. 

until july 1st. you woke up that morning and you did everything that morning to delay your route to the training grounds. 

however, you still arrive on time– walking into the locker room, you see all of your friends and greet them for the new season.  

today was just performance diagnostics, which requires a lot of running, balancing, and strecthing– but that wasn’t the only thing on your mind. 

sitting down in the locker room, you avoided your eyes from looking at her. 

she sat in the locker right next to yours– with lea on her other side. 

little did you know– the coaches and captains wanted it this way so you both could try and get along after years of only knowing each others competitive side. 

you take a quick glance at her when you put on your adidas running sneakers. you say to yourself that she looks different in bayern's red and white.

standing up, her eyes meet yours. 

“hey.” lena speaks. 

for a moment, you pause. at first, you thought she might’ve said hey to someone walking in the locker room– but no. 

she is looking right at you. 

the expression on your face is unreadable, “hi.” 

“we're teammates now." is all lena could say. she looks awkward just as much as you do. this is a hard watch for your teammates in the locker room. 

you nod, trying to keep your emotions in check. "yep, we are."

neither of you knows what to say– so nothing else was said. the rest of the team still watches– knowing what will happen. 

your teammates know that lena and you will get along and become friends. the two of you are very similar in terms of personality, passion, and hobbies. 

obviously, years of hard feelings don’t go away in a day– but they hoped that you guys would accept that you’re teammates and it's okay to be friendly now. 

the performance diagnostic goes well, everyone is happy. you forget about lena for a while when you, giulia, sydney, and klara are fooling around in one of the rooms. you’re happy to be back with your teammates for a new season. 

as you’re running on the treadmill with a breathing tool over your mouth– sydney, klara, and georgia clap around you in encouragement. you want to smile– but you’re focused. you move your eyes to see that lena is staring right at you. this didn’t throw your running off– but you’re curious about what she is thinking. 

as much as you hate to admit it, having her on the team might actually be good for everyone involved– including yourself. you hope that she feels the same about playing with you. 

the next week, after receiving advice from lea and the coaches– lena approaches you. 

"can we talk?" she asks, her tone earnest as you take off your boots from your tired feet after a day of training on the pitch.

you hesitate, looking at her, but eventually nod. "sure."

you find a quiet spot away from the rest of the team, knowing that they’re all eavesdroppers. 

choosing a media room, where the tables are empty with no outside presence, the both of you sit down in chairs beside each other. 

you chose to not speak first, since you weren’t the one that wanted to be here. 

lena takes a deep breath, clearly gathering her thoughts. "i’m sorry if i have made you feel some type of way over the years," she begins, "i feel like we would both be great together in the midfield. you’re a very good player and i don’t like how we are avoiding each other. "

you study her, searching for any hint of insincerity, but find none. "yeah i agree," you admit. "i’ve built a bias about you and i need to push it away for the sake of bayern. i don’t want the team to be affected by what we went through.” 

“i agree, i’m sorry again.” lena frowns.

“don’t apologize. i’m glad you finally chose the right team.” i smirk as lena rolls her eyes, playfully, at my remark.

“this isn’t going to be easy though.” i mumble as i cross my feet together. 

lena nods. "i know. but I'm willing to try if you are."

“i will oberdorf, its nice to finally meet you.” i hold my hand out and smile. 

“es ist auch schön, sie kennenzulernen.” lena smirks and shakes my hand.

---

weeks turn into months and the season is in full-swing.  

the oberdorf, stanway, and y/s/n midfield is an extreme combination. no opponent can walk into the midfield with you three.

for the first goal of the season– it was scored by you against essen. something unexpected happened. 

lena had the ball and dribbled it around a few defenders from essen. she looked forward and saw that you were free from a marked opponent, so she passed the ball up to you. your feet dribbled around the last defender before you launched the ball past the goalkeeper. goal!

processing the golozo you scored, you ran to the corner and did a knee slide. lea jumped on your back which made you both fall onto the ground– but you were happy to provide the first goal for bayern this season. 

standing up after receiving hugs from your teammates, you saw oberdorf standing with a smile on her face.

lena wasn’t sure if she could hug you– yes you’re her teammate now, but that doesn’t mean that you’re friends. 

however, you were high off of the joy from the goal. knowing that lena assisted your goal, you launched your body onto her– giving her a hug that was unexpected from her and your teammates. 

“what an assist oberdorf!” you yelled as you released your body from her arms and ran back into position. 

she didn’t know what to say– but lena did want to hug you again and she didn’t know why. 

a few weeks later, bayern had to play a game which determined if they'll be in the champions league group stages.

remembering mistakes from last year, you didn't want another repeat of that.

during the match, bayern was up 2-0. thanks to a goal from giulia and madga.

in extra time, you had the ball and looked around to see if anybody was free to accept a pass. before you looked back to pass the ball to stanway-- a midfielder from the other team pulled your shirt before throwing you onto the ground.

the opponent wasn't going for the ball, so it was a yellow. many of your teammates argued that it should've been a red.

you didn't have a chance to argue for yourself. you hit your head off of the grass and pain struck throughout your upper body.

you couldn't move, as the quickness of it all had you overwhelmed.

"y/n, y/n! are you okay?" you opened up your eyes slowly to see lena kneeling beside you. you closed your eyes again and held her hand that was on your head.

"I think?" you mumble.

"the medic is coming. can you breathe?" lena asks, just to keep you talking.

"I can yes. my head hurts though." you mumble again.

gently, lena moves her hands to the back of your head- laying it there as a block between the hard grass and your head.

you didn't think too much about the gesture at the moment-- but it hits you later in your living room hours later.

over the months-- you started to see glimpses of the person your teammates always insisted lena was: kind, dedicated, and sweet.

lena's actions from earlier replayed from your mind and your heart started to flutter as your stomach felt tingly.

"lena, I just want to say thank you for helping me last week before the end of the game. i didn't forget about it." you sat down beside lea, who was talking to lena across from her in the lounge room at the training center.

lena smiles slightly, "it's no problem-- the opponents were playing dirty and that wasn't right."

"I agree, usually I'm fast but I didn't see her coming." you say as you giggle at the memory.

you had to skip out on a few training practices and most of the next game-- since the head slam on the grass could've gave you a concussion, but you felt fine after two days.

lena and you talked more, which caught the interest of a quiet lea. she sat back and let you guys talk while she observed.

the blonde saw a look on lena's face that she hasn't seen since she was with her ex. a look of happiness and desire.

as she turned to look at you, she saw the same look in your eyes. this made her eyebrows knit together-- she knew she had to tell the other girls. there was no way that this could be ignored.

the next morning in the gym rooms-- lea tells the girls about her observation before you or lena arrived.

"wait I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed their behavior towards each other!" georgia yells. klara covers her mouth and looks towards the doors, uncovering it when she realizes that lena and you aren't nearby yet.

"yeah, they're giving each other the same googley eyes that sydney gave sam last season." giulia comments.

"hey?" sydney says, pretending to be offended.

"at least they're getting along-- well, a little too well. I knew they were gonna be friends once they pushed their old rivalry aside but a potential relationship? I didn't see that coming." ana joins into the conversations.

"you didn't see what coming?" you say, walking into the door seeing your teammates surprised at something you were unaware about.

some of the girls exited the conversation and pretended like they were doing their workouts the entire time-- others look to find an excuse to your question.

"we were talking about the champions league group stages that come out this morning. we are grouped with paris fc, real madrid, and ajax." sydney says.

pernille rolls her eyes,

"lets not lie-- yes those are the group stages that came out but we were talking about you." pernille says. your heart drops at her words, what were they saying?

"about me?" you question as you sat down on a workout mat.

"you have a crush on lena and its starting to become obvious." ana says.

your heart skips a beat as you shake your head in denial, "no way! I don't have a crush on her. you guys aren't used to seeing me getting along with her that's it!"

"we are, and you're getting along with her just a tad more than with us. we see the blush on your face and the twinkle in your eyes with you see her, love." georgia squeezes your cheeks as goes she sits beside you.

"I don't know what to say."

"you can say that you have a crush on her-- but its fine since she might have a crush on you too." Sydney says.

"no she doesn't."

"well you didn't deny that you have a crush on her!" sydney smiles.

you playfully roll your eyes.

"it hasn't been that long you guys-- I need to wait a bit." you say.

"and you can-- but you can't hold it in forever." sydney replies.

another week goes by when lena and you are sitting outside a cafe in amsterdam. the first group stage match between bayern and ajax occurs later that night and everyone is excited.

originally, everyone was going to go to the cafe.

little did you and lena know, everyone was going to back out of the cafe plans. just leaving lena and you to go by yourselves.

neither of you minded that nobody else was going. in the middle of the hangout while you were talking-- lena slips up.

"this a nice date, i mean when-" lena cuts herself off when she processes her words. you smile at her as she goes to rub her eyes in frustration at herself.

"a date?" you tease.

"i'm sorry it just slipped out." lena mumbles as she takes a sip of her coffee.

"don't apologize. I can see this as a date with you obi." you smirk. lena's eyes widened, in shock, before she smiles back at you.

after winning against ajax 3-0, thanks to a brace from you and a goal from franz, lena and you switched jerseys.

"well, hello #8 ms. oberdorf?" an ajax player and your friend from the national team, lily, walks up to you as your back was faced towards her.

you wore the number 16, and oberdorf isn't your last name (yet haha), so the swapped jersey confused her at first.

"omg lily!" you turn around and embrace the younger girl in a hug when you notice her. she holds you with confusion on her face as you pull away.

"I was going to ask if we could swap jerseys but I see you already have someone." lily smirks. you playfully roll your eyes, knowing what your fellow american friend is hinting at.

"oh be quiet! I'll give you my jersey when you play us in munich next time ok?" you smile.

"is oberdorf the girl you were talking about back at camp?" lily says.

back in the united states, you might've told the girls on the national team that you had a crush on someone from your club team. all of them begged for you to tell them who, but you refused.

"maybe..." you say.

lena and you grew extremely close throughout most of the season, and all of the fans were starting to notice.

all of your teammates did too-- and they were sick of lena and you cutting corners and not confessing your feelings to each other.

in march 2025, sometime before the start of the pokal games, lena and you sat in a media room, trapped thanks to pernille, ana, giulia, sydney, and georgia.

neither of you were allowed to come out of the room until you both confessed your feelings to each other.

three minutes of silence in the room passed by before lena had enough.

"I love you, y/n" she spoke up.

your heart flutters and your dimples appear on your face as she stares at you. she's sitting right beside you and you could see that she was nervous.

"gosh-- the dimples on your face are so cute. you've been my number one since I've arrived at bayern and if I told myself a year ago that I'd be falling in love with you or that I'd be here right now-- I'd laugh at myself. your laugh replays in my mind all of the time and the way we connect on and off of the pitch mad me realize how much I miss you when you're away for international camp. y/n If you don't feel the same--"

you knew what she was going to do. she was going to invalidate herself and start the whole "if you don't like me back" part of her confession.

she didn't have to though. you pulled your body on top of hers and kissed her. as if this happened a million times before, lena held onto the outside of your thighs and pulled yourself on top of her lap.

still kissing, five minutes ago by before you pull away.

"lena, i love you. i feel the same way about you. please be mine and let me be yours." you whisper against her lips.

you didn't give her a chance to respond before you made out with her lips again. she kissed you back and slipped her tongue into your mouth after you moaned slightly. the tension building up over the months was a lot.

"I'm yours." lena says as she forces herself to pull away from you. forgetting that the two of you are still at bayern training grounds.

"and I am yours." you repeat, starting a new relationship with your once old rival.

[mariacallous]

By now you may feel scared and helpless. It’s how I felt this week. I had the same sick feeling I had watching UK political coverage before the pandemic. The government was just going to ignore the wave of deaths rippling from China to Italy and pretend it wasn’t happening? Really? That’s the plan?

This is another pandemic. Or a Chernobyl. It’s a bomb at the heart of the international order whose toxic fallout is going to inevitably drift our way.

My internal alarm bell, a sense of urgency and anxiety goes even further back. To early 2017, when I uncovered information about Cambridge Analytica’s illegal hack of data from Facebook while the company’s VP, Steve Bannon, was then on the National Security Council. That concept of highly personalised data in the control of a ruthless and political operator was what tripped my emergency wires. That is a reality now.

The point is that the shock and awe is meant to make us feel helpless. So I’m telling a bit of my own personal story here. Because part of what temporarily paralyzed me last week was that this is all happening while my own small corner of the mainstream media is collapsing in on itself too. The event that I’ve spent the last eight years warning about has come to pass and in a month, 100+ of my colleagues at the Guardian will be out of the door and my employment will be terminated. I will no longer have the platform of the news organisation where I’ve done my entire body of work to date and was able to communicate to a global audience.

But then, it’s all connected. We are living through an information crisis. It’s what underpins everything. In some ways, this happening now is not surprising at all. Moreover, many of the people who I see as essential voices during this crisis (including those above) are doing that effectively and independently from Substack as I will try to continue to do.

And, the key thing that the last eight years has given me is information. The lawsuit I fought for four years as a result of doing this work very almost floored me. But it didn’t. And I’ve learned essential skills during those years. It was part of what powered me to fight for the rights of Guardian journalists during our strike this December.

The next fightback against Musk and the Broligarchy has to draw from the long, long fight for workers rights which in turn influenced the fight for civil rights that must now power us on as we face the great unknown. What comes next has to be a fight for our data rights, our human rights.

This was former Guardian journalist Gary Younge on our picket line and I’ve thought about these words a lot. You have to fight even if you won’t necessarily win. Power is almost never given up freely.

IT IS A COUP

[raileurta]

The tfp kids were some of the first things I created in GL2, and it's been a few months since then and I have gotten much better. So here's my updated version of their designs/story.

Also fyi before I forget this is not what I would actually have them be in the show if I had written it. This just self indulgent takes on the characters. Let me know if you want to see how I would have written the show.

Miko

Age: 17

Pronouns: Uses any.

Likes: Skateboarding, drawing, slash monkey, kemonomimi, horror movies, fighting, her friends, and monster trucks.

Dislikes: School, conformation, bullies, and authority.

Description: Miko is a full blooded Japanese exchange student that came for America’s music, art, and to free themselves from his overly strict parents. She's quite energetic and finds it hard to sit still. So to help rid herself of her extra energy he'll practice kickboxing or parkour around town. While she may not act it she is actually intelligent. Miko is also quite the music and language prodigy, easily being able to learn them. He just hates the rigid school system and doesn't care for homework. Miko doesn't have many friends as most are put off by their strange personality and or scared of her. If you do become their friend though Miko is very loyal and will be your ride or die to the end.

Miko is a force to be reckoned with so watch out Decepticons, they're coming for you!

Raf

Age: 12.5;

Pronouns: He/Him

Likes: Coding, his friends, studying, snakes, robots, math, science, cats, school, chocolate, and nature.

Dislikes: Yelling, pity, scary movies, being alone, hospitals, and dogs.

Description: Raf is a young techno genius that was born with quite a few health problems. He is the second youngest out of his many siblings, five to be exact. Since his parents are always busy with work and Raf’s other siblings, he tends to be forgotten a lot. He doesn't let that get him down though (most of the time) and is quite a cheery kid. He puts his smarts to good use and has skipped four grades already while also taking some college classes. While he likes science and math his real passion is coding along with robotics. He dreams of one day opening his own tech company.

He might be a sweet kid but don't underestimate him. Raf could hack circles around even among some of Cybertronian’s elite.

Jack

Age: 16

Pronouns: He/Him

Likes: Motorcycles, girls, family, social media, and his friends.

Dislikes: Risks, seeing his friends hurt, and bullying.

Description: Jack is quite an average guy all things considered; he's not overly smart or a great fighter but he is quite the strategist and knows how to deal with people. Jack helps bring out the strengths in Miko and Raf and how to make them use it the most effectively. If he is trained properly he could become quite the leader. He lives with only his Mom, Jack’s dad having passed away a long time ago. He does every he can to help support his mom. While yes he feels she can be too overprotective or a bit embarrassing at times he loves his mom and wants to lessen her burden as much as he can. The reason he even got a job in the first place was to help her out with the bills.

Watch out for our very own human prime! He won't hesitate to sick his friends on those deserving.

Explanation undercut

Miko is still my favorite out of the trio and I will continue to show blatant favoritism. I learned much much more into the punk aesthetic because I think it's perfect for her personality. While I did like how colourful her old design was from a character design perspective it wasn't really unified or fit there enough.

Anyways she has some big ol stomping boots now that are definitely steel tipped. (Ouch man) They give them around 4-5 inches and make her the same height as Jack when wearing them. She also has knee pads and a shoulder pad. Well because skating and I wanted her to have armor without it being armor. If that makes sense? Miko also has horns partly since she likes kemonomimi but mostly because he's a “daredevil.” Miko's skateboard is Bulkhead themed, of course no explanation needed there. I tried to do some messy makeup since they give off that vibe.

I'm a sucker for the black people with white hair design. Plus I thought Raf kinda being (fictional) albino would play into Raf being ill. When something is wrong with you you're more likely to have more problems. For him I kept it generally similar to the last design just made more cohesive. He still has that nerdy school boy vibe and stuff. He also has a wrist brace now since someone told me how bad canes are for it so I wanted him to have some extra support to help.

If you look closely, his bag has a bumblebee on it.

Jack's design also didn't change that much; the main thing is his eyes are now blue. I thought it would be a nice nod to how since he's a human prime that his eyes should be autobot blue. Plus it fits the color scheme better. His gloves are leather and arcree themed. Yeah nothing to say much, as he also didn't change a lot. 🤷

Edit: Forgot to include the updated irl me design.

[jinwoosbabyboo]

I want to ask why you chose Aaron Warner, Christian Harper, and Rhys Larsen as a good comparison to Sylus? I want an essay!! I LOVE Aaron Warner but honestly haven't yet read the twisted series. Also, I don't mind spoilers so... excited to see what you come up with!

You want an essay??? Please 🙄 ….. No problem lets get it 😘

bear with me I read the twisted series over a year ago

‼️SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS‼️

Aaron Warner [Shatter Me Series ~ Tahereh Mafi] - This 5'9" golden haired military assassin with a heart of STONE. Yea you thought I was gonna say heart of gold huh? Nah this boy was trained to be a killer from birth. However when it comes to Juliette/Ella she is quite literally the only thing he cares about and is also the only girl he's ever loved.

He will quite literally sacrifice the world if it means she will be okay. His memory was erased multiple times, but he fell in love with her every. single. time. If it's for Juliette/Ella he's a goner because she is his only weakness in the world. He wants to love her and be loved by her and only her unconditionally.

“The reason why he had to keep wiping their memories was because it didn’t matter how many times he reset the story or remade the introductions— Aaron always fell in love with her. Every time.”

Christian Harper [Twisted Lies ~ Ana Huang] - Now this man stalked his girl for I think 5 years before making himself known. He's a billionaire who runs a security/tech company and he can hack into anything. He's a modern day genius obsessed with this girl Stella. They finally met in person when she moved into one of his apartment buildings with her friend Jules. He really slipped into her life though when Jules moved out and she couldn't afford the rent. He made a deal with her by letting her stay for a lower price and these were high end apartments (At least like 80% off the listing price). He also happened to live just one floor above her. The deal was she would take care of his plants in exchange for the low cost. He claims he isn't a jealous man yet he's jealous of every person she smiles at, every laugh that he didn't cause, etc he's completely and utterly obsessed with her from page one.

He will do literally anything for her including pretending the be her man for her social media platforms oh yea she's an influencer/model. Stella also likes being tied up and Christian happily obliged to tying her up ON A YACHT and was a real pussy pleaser. He supported her in her fashion designer endeavor and married her ass and IMMEDIATELY put a baby in her.

Oh one more thing Stella got kidnapped while her and Christian were fighting (this man was SICK) he sent a Code Black Out to all his agents in the area to find her and code black out if for extreme emergencies. Let’s just say her kidnapper is having a nice nap. A permanent nap. (Reminds you of a certain someone who turned MCs kidnapper into fucking black and red mist huh?)

Rhys Larsen [Twisted Games ~ Ana Huang] - Forget Prince Charming give me Mr. Scarred Knight Rhys Larsen 😮‍💨. He's ex-military and works as a bodyguard now (He works for none other than Christian Harper & they're in a sense friends) This man and his girl Princess Bridget who is a literal Princess. He was her bodyguard and she was forced to step up and become Queen because her brother married a commoner so he couldn't become king and Eldorra (their country) needed a ruler.

She basically starts acting up and Rhys is like girl wtf is going on?! She ends up wanting to do everything on her bucket list before becoming Queen so Rhys takes her to Costa Rica to do it. They fall for each other but it's a forbidden love so they can't really be together because she's royalty and he's a commoner. He fell in love despite him telling her he doesn't get involved with his clients. Him and Bridget were blackmailed by someone close to her which caused him to be terminated as her bodyguard. This man never drank in his life, but the minute he had to let Bridget go he drank himself stupid.

He was down bad for her (and so was she). They went through hell trying to get a centuries old law overturned so he could marry her. He didn't care about the fame or the royal title he just wanted to be with her. This man broke every single one of his rules that he'd set for himself for her. He never really opened up about his scars to anyone, but her (and I think Christian).

He's rough around the edges and can be a dom daddy made her stir down to her heels and said "Crawl to me" (SCREAMING WHINING AND RUNNING AROUND THE ROOM) He's also VERY possessive I quote...

"From this point on you're mine. No other man touches you. If they do I know seventy-nine ways to kill a man and I can make seventy of the look like and accident. Understand?"

I hope after reading all that you can see the similarities that I see. He's not dark romance he's just romance sunshine x grumpy basically.

I say all that to say this....

Sylus is morally gray like these characters above and he has a soft spot for MC (& the twins) he'll do anything for her and protect her at all costs. He's been through hell and may be a high functioning sociopath due to that trauma, but he still has a heart and is selective with who he's vulnerable with. He's not out here murdering people because they looked at MC. He knows his girl fine as hell, but he gets to touch while they hopelessly gaze.

[oatlystrawberryicecream]

you know i have always loved an underdog. a team that hasn’t won in fifty years and is a long shot to make the playoffs but they have a couple of players who are endearingly hard working and scrappy and loyal. the type of players who brush up against success and put their head down and go three times as hard to try and grasp it. and as a fan you watch and yearn and hope that one day they get it. you tell yourself that they can’t possibly be bad forever, i mean the cubs managed to break a hundred year curse and your team isn’t doing that bad. year after year through training camps and season openings and all star breaks and tear stained post season press conferences and lackluster drafts you tell yourself that it is a matter of time. you stay as they cycle through coaches and general managers and executives and maybe even owners. the players who taught you how to love the sport retire ringless, prospects fail to blossom and are sent to the minors, rookies become vets and request trades and decades later you still can’t help but curse at the tv when refs miss a call. winning will be worth it. if they win it once you will be able to hold those memories in your heart forever and nothing will be able to touch it. you will be able to talk about the meagre years with pride because you kept the hope alive through it all. but the real truth is that even if they never do it you can’t bring yourself to love them less just as long as they keep trying like hell, you might hate them for the ordeal they put you through but you are a sick freak who is so broken you couldn’t stop loving them if your life depended on it. so of course i ended up a jason todd fan and of course it is gonna stay that way. commiserating and ranting and making cracks about god hating my faves in particular is second nature and i can and will out stubborn those hacks at detective comics. you want jason to die a meaningless two second death to tie up a stupid plotline? you want him to become as bad as his murderer? gonna wash away all his notable personality traits? ignore all his motivations to use him as a prop to make batman seem reasonable? i watched claude giroux score a hat trick in the final game of the regular season to secure a playoff spot and still lose the mvp vote to a decent taylor hall year, i can name all eight goalies they used in the record setting nightmare season, i saw richards and carter leave and finally win, i remember when the vinny lecavalier contract was so bad putting a hit out on him would have been good cap management, and i saw the head coach compare one of his players to a toilet seat TO THE MEDIA. you can kick jason down the bad writing stairs as many times as you want and i will still be here trying to pick him back up.

[paigegonerogue]

Something ‘When We Are in Need…’ does SO well is that throughout the whole episode you have the same reactions, and feel the same things as Ellie.

It starts and she’s hungry and Joel’s really sick and it makes you, the viewer, scared for Joel and scared for Ellie, too.

Then she goes hunting and finds the deer and then she meets David, and it’s suspicious and you don’t trust him, then they start to talk and it’s a good time and you almost start to have fun and then…

“James put the gun down.”

Right along with Ellie you think: Oh fuck. Shit just got real.

I watched a video essay on how they were able to accomplish this setup and turn, and it’s really just an incredible feat of writing, directing, and acting.

Then you and her are desperate to heal up Joel, and feel that sad sort of warmth as she cuddles up to him.

Then the Silver Lakers come back and Joel’s helpless and still you feel the same thing as Ellie through the whole sequence, you feel the same worry for Joel and the same intensity. Then she gets taken down and right along with her you think ‘uh-oh’.

The next scene with Ellie is when she wakes up in the cage, and once again it all applies. You, along with Ellie, are super wary of David and are desperate to escape. To get out of there.

Then you see the ear at the same time as Ellie. Even if you already suspected the cannibalism from the earlier scene with the stew, you still have that same disgusted reaction of ‘oh god are they gonna eat her?!’.

Then he takes her hand, and you have that same awful, shuddering realization. Even if you were like me and immediately were like “this guy is definitely bad”, you still get that confirmation, and the you still absolutely have that ‘oh fuck’ moment.

Then she breaks his finger, and just like her you have that moment of victory, before once again it all comes crashing down.

Then through the ‘I’m infected’ and restaurant fire fight your heart is pounding and you’re barely breathing. It’s intense and scary and then he’s on top of Ellie and I don’t think any piece of media has ever gotten me more scared.

Then she starts hacking at his face with the cleaver, and that scene is… indescribable, honestly.

Ellie stumbles out of the burning building and you just feel shocked.

Joel comes up behind her and her pulse jumps momentarily, and then you see it’s Joel and just like Ellie you’re so so glad he’s here. And his ‘I gotchu baby girl’ is in my opinion the most comforting, sad, cathartic moment on television.

The way that we’ve been in Ellie’s shoes the whole episode, with her rather than watching from the outside, makes that final moment so much more impactful. We’ve been through hell with Ellie, and now we get that comfort too. It’s absolutely brilliant filmmaking, and was such a good way to play it for maximum emotional ‘oomf’.

It’s also why I sorta disagree with many of pacing complaints about that episode, because if it was too extended or had unnecessary action scenes it would’ve lost those “shared feelings”.

Also, I know not everyone felt this way watching the episode, especially people who played the games because they already knew what was going to happen, meaning that they couldn’t have those heel turns and realizations that put you so well in Ellie’s head. (I have a different post about this general effect).

But I think it was very intentional, and for people who it worked for it was some of the most impactful, incredible tv, period.

[hacked-by-jake]

SPOILERS

Alright I have way too many thoughts and emotions so there ain't no way I'm gonna be able to organize everything into a nice sentence but I still gotta get it out 🤣🤣

First off, my notes app with some of my thoughts I wrote down while playing (in chronological order):

Where's Jake?

No premium?

Why and where is nymos

Why are we playing candy crush instead of hacking

Again: Where's Jake, he prob sees our chats and knows whats happening (hopefully)

The characters seem like an almost identical reflection to duskwood

What happened to Richy, please don't die on me 😩

Where's the others

We're now paying to see the secret chats

Why's this game taking so much of my money

Ash really be making me cry about Jake again 🥴

Eric be throwing himself at us when I still want to stay loyal to my hacker boy 💀

The ending: I KNEW MY BABY WAS ALIVE I LOVE HIM, I DEMAND HE TALKS TO US NEOW 👹

AND ALAN I MISSED HIM TOO MWAH MWAH

Rant 1:

The money milking makes me sick and don't even get me started on the ai 🫡 I spent 17 bucks today, halfway through the first episode and already out of all the materials I bought. It's disgusting how Everbyte has completely flipped and is practically scamming their players. Based on the prices, it's almost 3 dollars to view one picture 🙄 I would be more than happy to buy a premium package like duskwood for $20 or even 30 but $17 for not even half an episode is a crime 😭😭

Rant 2:

It's crazy how long this game took and yet it's way worse than duskwood. I was expecting a few additions, not subtractions.

Rant 3:

There is no way to see previous media and calls like in duskwood and no chat history like they promised. I never would've thought it was possible, but these mini games are way worse than duskwoods. And I realized how childish it all looks, I hate how we get no explanation for anything we're doing in the game.

Conclusion:

I'm pissed but seeing the anonymous mask gave me life. I need to go replay duskwood to cleanse myself of moonvale 😮‍💨

Pahahaha you're really killing me with your thoughts, I love your humor so much. 😭

I really should also start to write down my first thoughts while playing but I fear I will write down something to every little sentence I read. xD

But it's so true, where's Nymos? Give us Nymos back! My emotional bond with this unreal little dude is huge so I seriously need him. It's literally a program but it's a he you can't change my mind because I imagine Nymos as Jake best friend who's exactly like Jarvis from Marvel. (Sorry if you don't know it but then I really recommend you to watch the Iron Man movies. (Actually all marvel movies but we're talking about Jarvis here so you best see or more like hear him in Iron Man)

Btw my headcanon is that Nymos is not just any program but also an AI. So and now I will expand the headcanon and say Nymos is an AI that is against AI art and nobody can stop me, hehe.

The Candy Crush comparison makes me laugh every time and it hurts me because it’s true. xD

The thing with the characters being identical with the Duskwood characters... It's a hard topic in my eyes.

Some people say it way too early to judge this. And it's true. We didn't saw much now. But I do think we can already judge them a bit by what we saw. And when we compare it with how the Duskwood characters were in the first episode, I do think you can see that there's not much yet, sadly.

Like, we had Thomas, the idiot in love with problems to take criticism. We had Jessy the hanger-on that were clinging to Dan but then decided to change sides. We had the funny sunny boy Richy. The pretty cold acting Cleo. We had bitchy Lilly and of course we had the grumpy and unfriendly Dan. They all acted pretty strong from second one, in my eyes.

But I somehow absolutely don't think the Moonvale characters are like the Duskwood characters. Because well, I really think they need stronger personalities.

We have Eric who's a pretty normal guy and even though he tripped twice in one episode he's not at all like Thomas.

We have Ash who's like a very, veeery light version of Jessy and Lilly, in my eyes. Somehow kind but somehow absolutely not trustworthy.

We have Violet who's just.. there sometimes. Even the drunken police chief is more expressive.

Well and Charlie is.. Somehow like Richy and in my eyes has the strongest personality so far.

Oh and not to forget Brian who wasn't even there. Lol.

So yeah, I understand both points but I might see it a bit differently.

"Why's this game taking so much of my money" had me on my knees, laughing and crying at the same time because it's almost funny what Everbyte did and it's just as sad.

During my first playthrough I was also like: Someone give me a crucifix I need to get rid of Eric as soon as possible.

But while replaying I just had to see what happens if you decide to get closer with Eric and I swear it didn't disappoint me. It was hilarious and truly, I want this with Jake. I need such a chat with Jake! Everbyte, please!

I mean, I'm not flirting with Eric because I think he's hot or anything. Sadly, his character isn't interesting to me in this sense. (I need the mysterious guys xD) But I just had to try it and I mean, who knows if it will be important later. It's manipulative, I know, but don't judge me. And also, there's still this little hope for a jealous Jake. *ahem* Sorry, I promise I still feel bad for flirting with someone else. 😩

But gosh, the side story end. It was worth all the wait, really. I said before, I don’t forget about the negative things because of it but I'm just a silly, lonely, disappointed girl in love with a fictional hacker, let me have this adrenaline boost!

And yes, I was so happy when I saw Alan's body cam. I immediately knew what that means but at first I was just so happy to "see" Alan as well. I really like this guy, I can't stop myself.

About rant 1: I love the comparison with "So expensive is a picture" it is just as true and actually shows again how incredible it all is. I’ve said my opinion many times now, and I still want to protect Everbyte and give them a little empathy. But it's sadly just true.

I had a thought about that (what you said in rant 2) before and wanted to make a post about it later. So I hope it's okay if I get to it later.

Rant 3: This is actually one of the things that botherse the most. We can't rewatch calls, videos and pictures. The chats are disappearing and are gone forever. And they told us it will be different and that's so annoying. Not being able to see it in the app is just bothering for me. And yeah, that they broke the "promise" is as well. We all were so happy about the chat thing and now...

I actually like the look of Moonvale even if I would prefer something much darker. Especially with the mini games. The background is AI, of course, so. It would look much better with a real background.

And the damn mini games... I loved the ones in Duskwood so much. I really did. It was so much fun and I was one of the people who found them very easy.

But now the Moonvale mini games. By lord. Even though they're much easier for me in my replay, the first time I was actually this close to throwing my phone against the wall. I mean, I even went to sleep at some point and finished the game the next day! Everyone who follows me since duskwood knows I would rather shave my head than that. But they're just pain. And I seriously hope Everbyte will make them a bit easier or give us moves! Because this was often the biggest issue for me. Not enough moves. But they want you to buy gems so... 😒

Your conclusion sound good. I'm definitely planning to replay Duskwood as well. If I want or not. I have to. I need the comforting atmosphere and my emotional support hacker.

So I would say, see you in Duskwood, my detective friend. 🫡

No, jokes aside. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me and us. As I said, I love your humor and the way to describe the things. And I really enjoyed answering it. 💚

I hope you could calm down a bit as well. I definitely needed some days before I could see it more clearly.

And as always a huge pleasure to see you here again. 💚😌

[saintmeghanmarkle]

The irony that Labour UK and Hugh Grant wants laws to restrict negative opinions on Meghan Markle across social media &amp; media by u/Negative_Difference4

The irony that Labour UK and Hugh Grant wants laws to restrict negative opinions on Meghan Markle across social media & media If the looney tunes ever dare accuse us of being racist, this post is your clapback and highlights what we can expect in the future. We always knew there was a double standard here but now it is so blatant every where. The whole post references politics and is political. Labour (opposition) is likely to win the UK election. Please skip this post to avoid politics. Saying that, I will be moderating the post for arguments about political parties. (For example, I don't want discussions about which political party has pledged to fix the potholes, try to stick to the scope, this a lenghty post) 6th Dec 2022 Chris Bryant Labour MP with Hugh Grant at University of WestminsterReferencing Christopher Bouzy's Bot Sentinel analysis of hate on social media and the media. https://ift.tt/pxXOQ6N source: https://youtu.be/QECZY1Eh_w4 Labour MP, Chris Bryant and Hugh Grant (Hacked Off) proposals when Labour come into power Credit: Jon Danzig The same Labour got into trouble today for encouraging racist, sexist abuse towards a British black female politician Kemi Badenoch (ruling UK party - Conservatives)https://ift.tt/tuUsnCW - David Tennant ((Dr Who) said Kemi should shut up and not exist. Watch full video here. Dawn Butler, Labour MP (opposition MP) came out in full support of this. https://ift.tt/onS9cF0 people who cant remember, here is a selection of Dawn Butler's tweets in support of Meghan in the past. She is batshit crazy. https://ift.tt/c2pBPj9 course she has ties with Shouty Shola. I believe that there is a picture of them with Ngozi too.https://ift.tt/nmr0aOH you haven't already, watch TRG's (The Royal Grift's) video on how Meghan Markle claimed in the media that she put her sister, Samatha Markle on the fixated persons list. She did this to critical youtubers - Yankee Wally, Murky Meg and According to Taz too. This video has the clip above of Chris Bryant calling out all these Youtubers for hate and baseless negative opinions on Meghan Markle. Seriously, good video and worth the watchMeghan Markle's Legal Headache Is About To Get BIGGER!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UGyizs0Al0TRG gets a lot of heat here for her views ... but it is shocking to see an MP soft launching this agenda at a UK universities. For those thinking, so what? Well this is how most policies are launched... initially in closed member meetings, then universities and then the public. I haven't heard Labour say anything about online protection / censorship laws during any discussions. And now they are literally telling a black british woman to shut up and "not exist". The whole double standard makes me sick. P.S. I tried tweeting this on twitter and it was an awful experience. The stress of the character limit. post link: https://ift.tt/eErngjx author: Negative_Difference4 submitted: June 26, 2024 at 11:44PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[roseapov]

Streamer

Idia Shroud x GN!Reader

Tw: stalking, invading privacy, being delusional, mentions of obsession, collarbones fetish

Povtober 2023, Day 13 [Masterlist]

You two met just by chance, getting paired up against each other, in a game you decided to play, as a game streamer.

You used a typical supporting character, with not much attacking capabilities, meant to be power and hp boost to your teammates, but even then you were making kill after a kill.

Idia couldn't believe it, you managed to kill him, him of all people! with a support character no less.

Someone actually managed to surprise him in a game? Are you serious? That can't be happening. That made him so enraged, focusing all his attention on you, to take his revenge.

After he and his team unexpectedly lose, he starts to look through your account, and sees in your bio your streamer name with a link, such a normie thing to do.

He starts to stalk through your social media, and with a pain in his heart admits, that his defeat was recorded on your actual live, it's nothing he can't take down anyway.

Hm? You're streaming with a camera? Oh, how bold of you, but don't worry, he won't stop hacking your phone camera and microphone even after you beg for it, falling into paranoia.

It's your unlucky day, he took an interest in you, slowly treating you as a character from his beloved games. Your merch on the shelf, his phone littered with your photos and edits, a special spying program made by him personally, to see your activity on your devices.

Soon you're the only one he can think about, you, your voice, your hair, your face and your.. collarbones. Such an exciting sight for this shutted in otaku.

If you're counting for a high donates from your newest follower, Gloomurai, then you hit the jackpot, literally.

Tons of money flowing into your bank account, each one of the descriptions more unnerving than the other, but hey at least you got the money. Yeah, no, you're terrified.

You started to wear blouses for your streams, afraid of more uneasy commenters on your donations, contemplating quitting your side job for good. Your sanity was worth more than some money.

Yet you still felt endangered, so to ease your worries you bought cameras and installed them inside and outside of your home, wrong move.

He, of course easily hacked into it, feeling delighted that you decided to do so, the fact that you liked him enough to make it easier for him to observe you, how thoughtful of you, he's so delusional.

If you like him this much, then he mustn't deny you his presence any longer, he may be afraid of humans, but you're an exception.

When he heard you talk with your friends about quitting, all hell broke loose. The next thing you know, you're in Shroud manor, not allowed to leave.

Yes, the thought of you leaving the media was enough to make him snap and be really daring, doing things he normally would've never done, the effect you have on him is insane. After all he loved your streams very, very much.

Ortho is super supportive of this as a cute sibling he is, after all his older brother finally took an interest in someone real!

You have no idea how relieving it was for him, maybe his brother won't have to be alone? Of course not, you two live together already, should he plan your future with Idia already? Maybe you can date, and later on marry his brother! He's so happy!

Don't you dare disappoint him.

Ugh, after my sickness I lost my enthusiasm and motivation to write even tho I had a lot of ideas😭(it's better since I added Roxana, but still). It's not fair, even more so since I am already way in the back of my Povtober writing challenge.😭😭 Not sure of how this one came out tho, I'm writing this at 3 am💀 I'm not exactly proud of this, I'll probably rewrite it in the distant future (he's so hard to write smh)

~roseapov

[somber-sapphic]

Hi! Can I request 1, 35, and ill timed with Yelena and sick reader? Love your writing!

Old Wives' Tales

This is my first Yelena fic! This is also unedited! Mostly because it's 2am!

[[Summary]] Most of the avengers would kill to get out of a press conference. Not you. You would do whatever you could to make sure you got to go. (yelena x reader)

-----

You had been looking forward to the press conference all week. Most of the others absolutely hated dealing with the media. Natasha voiced her hatred outright and had even recruited Clint and Wanda (who were clearly only supporting the assassin because they were dating) to boycott any sort of press event. Fury had shut it down, insisting that it was a part of the job and that people needed to view all of you as a unit. 

Tony loved the attention, Bruce didn’t really care about any of it as long as the big guy didn't come out, Cap was, of course, all about the people, Strange enjoyed showing off his intelligence in any way that he could and Thor always looked bored. Yelena only went because she had little choice. Natasha decided that if she had to go, so did her sister. 

You, Tony, and Cap were the three who truly loved the conferences. It was fun for you, it was some of the only times that you could snap back at the public for the way that they saw some of you, mainly when it came to the three women. For some reason, they were more okay with the men destroying cities than with the rest of you accidentally knocking down some statues in a battle. Calling them out on it and watching faces go red was quite entertaining. 

Imagine your dismay when you woke up three hours before the conference with a blocked nose and full sinuses. Your throat felt like someone had force-fed you gravel and your body was unnaturally heavy. Damnit. You were sick. You hadn’t been sick in years but could recognize the feeling anywhere. It went without saying that you were no longer looking forward to dealing with reporters. 

With a hacking cough, you heaved yourself out of bed, swaying when your feet hit the floor. All of the blood rushed from your head, leaving you dizzy and vulnerable. You fell back onto the bed and clutched your head in your hands, groaning quietly. This was going to be an incredibly long day. Suddenly the idea of sitting under harsh lights and arguing with misogynists sounded like a nightmare. 

You took a final deep, bubbling breath and stood up again before shuffling to the bathroom to get ready. Despite knowing that there would be someone to do your makeup you applied a small amount, simply enough to make yourself look less like a walking zombie and more like a semi-living human. 

It was difficult to do proper makeup with shaky hands and blurry vision, but you pulled it off with minimal screw-ups. You’d thought for a moment that you could handle doing mascara and eyeliner but after accidentally drawing a dark black streak on your cheek. Then you’d had to do the makeup again, leading you to give up on doing anything close to your normal look. 

You threw back a shot of cold medicine and chased it with two Tylenol tablets swallowed with a gulp of water. Your throat burned and you coughed into the sink, wincing at just how much worse that made it. The fever you could deal with, but the sore throat was really getting to you.  

There was this old wives tale that you only vaguely remembered, but you knew that it had something to do with salt water. After a quick Google search, you found yourself in the kitchen mixing a teaspoon of salt into a glass of warm water. The internet had recommended less salt, but your logic said that more would make you feel better faster. 

You took a sip and nearly gagged as you attempted to gargle with it, the salt burning your throat even further. You only managed to keep it in your mouth for a few seconds before needing to spit it out. Wrinkling your nose you did the same thing with the rest of the glass, managing to keep the disgusting water in your mouth for longer each time. 

When it was gone you rinsed your mouth with clean water and took a big sip, thoroughly annoyed when you found that your throat seemed to hurt even worse than it had before. So that had failed. Of course, it did, why would it have worked? Why couldn’t it just make you feel better?

You checked your phone and sighed, wondering what you were supposed to do for three hours. If you had thought it over better you may have waited to do any sort of makeup and instead set an alarm that would let you sleep for a little bit longer. But no. Now you had to figure out what to do with yourself. 

Then, it came to you. Some people swore by exercise to cure minor illnesses and you needed to train anyway. Screw the makeup. You made your way down to the gym and changed into a tank top and leggings, pulling your hair up in a tight bun before you entered the actual training area. 

You made your way over to the punching bags and began to hit one, growing tired after only a few seconds. That didn't matter, it was good for you. It would be good to sweat out the germs and you’d get in a bonus workout. 

Twenty minutes later you had moved onto the obstacle court and were drenched in sweat, struggling to avoid said obstacles. You had fallen on your ass twice and there was a fresh bruise on your cheek which would of course hurt much worse when that was the only pain that you’d have to focus on. 

“Y/n! What on Earth are you doing?” You stopped and turned around to find Yelena stalking toward you, wearing a nice dress and a scowl. You opened your mouth to respond when the blonde’s expression turned to one of worry and you felt something slam into your back. The breath was knocked out of you and you fell to the ground, curling up to protect your head. 

You stayed in that position until you felt calloused hands on your shoulders, coaxing you out of your protective ball. 

“Idiot.” The young widow grumbled, pulling you to your feet. She held you steady and glared into your eyes, her face softening as you felt yourself wanting to cry. She could tell, of course, she could. There was no bullshitting Yelena Belova, especially when you didn’t have the energy to put on a mask. 

“The germs aren’t leaving.” You complained, your voice a mere whisper. The woman raised an eyebrow and nodded, pressing her hand against your forehead. You whined and pulled away, swatting at invisible bugs as you did. 

“Okay weirdo, you sure are delirious. Come on, let's go.” She ordered, wrapping an arm around your waist. You sniffled and put your head on her shoulder, nearly letting the tears fall when she pulled you closer. 

It wasn’t often that Yelena would show affection where others might see the two of you, it simply wasn't the kind of person she was. But in private she was incredibly loving and attentive, she was an absolute sweetheart who would quite literally kill to keep you safe. Well, she may also kill for fun. The woman had a violent streak. 

“We’ve gotta go, Lena. We have-”

“Shut up.” You shut up. It just wasn’t a fight that you would win, nor a fight that you wanted to start. You’d rather just let her do what she wanted and maybe she’d cuddle with you. She’d definitely cuddle with you, it was a matter of whether or not you’d get a lecture about neglecting your health or not before the cuddles. 

Yelena half-carried you to your shared bedroom, not complaining about how much work you were making her do. It wasn’t intentional, but it seemed that forcing yourself to train had sapped every ounce of energy that you had left and you were struggling to make your body move the way it was supposed to. 

Your clear lack of strength came to a head when your knees gave out under you and you found yourself crumpled on the floor of the hallway containing everyone’s rooms, Yelena unable to keep you standing any longer. 

“Damnit, Y/n, are you alright?” The Russian woman asked, maneuvering out of the tangle of your combined limbs. That was it, that was all that you could take. You had been doing such an okay job at keeping yourself steady, making sure that your illness was on the sidelines, hyping yourself up for the press conference that you had been so excited for but now you were starting to break down. 

Tears slipped down your cheeks and you hung your head, body beginning to shake as you let yourself give up. Yelena cupped your face in her hands, her striking emerald eyes searching every part of your face for anything that could tell her how to help. 

“Hey, hey why are you crying?” She murmured, quickly rearranging the two of you so that you were leaning against her instead of the wall. You knew that your nose was running and that you looked absolutely disgusting, you were amazed that she was willing to be so close to you. She usually shied away from sick people. 

“Talk to me kotenok. Tell me what’s wrong, let me help.” Her kind words just made you want to cry harder. Rather than forcing you to answer Yelena held you tighter, pulling your head down onto her chest. She pressed her lips into your hair and whispered to you in Russian, promising you that everything would be alright. 

“I-I don’t f-f-feel good.” You finally managed, speaking into her shoulder. 

“I know Y/n, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this sick. But that’s why I’m here, I get to help. Even though you’re kind of an idiot.” You let out a waterly laugh and smiled, sniffling thickly in an attempt to get rid of some of the snot. Gross. 

“Gross.” Yelena echoed your thoughts and pulled a tissue from her pocket to wipe your nose with. Where she had gotten a tissue and why she had one you didn’t know, but you were grateful. 

“Thanks, baby.” You mumbled, giving her a weak smile. She snorted and kissed your forehead, rolling her eyes at you. 

“Alright germ bag. Ready to get up again?” The blonde helped you back up and the two of you went back to stumbling down the hall, your tears subsiding slightly.

Maybe you could convince Yelena to let you join the press conference via Zoom. Then at least you’d get to be a part of it. If not though, at least she was there to remind of you of your bad decisions all while making you feel like the most loved human in the whole world.