#also if this starts going to fast I might up the numbers but we’ll see if anyone gives this any notes lmao

[nymphoutofwater]

gonna do one of these things but low stakes low note counts lmao I just need a lil motivation

10 notes and I’ll text someone I miss ✅

20 notes and I’ll edit another chapter of my novel ✅

30 and I’ll finish reading The Last Unicorn ✅

40 and I’ll clean out my closet ✅

50 and I’ll finish writing a certain script

60 and I’ll finish reading The Iliad

70 and I’ll go take an optional test I’ve been meaning to

80 and I’ll get my car window fixed

90 and I’ll finish writing, recording, editing, and posting the next chapter of EoD

100 and I’ll find a play to audition for

(Crossed off means we reached it, checks mean I did it)

[queen-of-the-avengers]

A First For Everything

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader x Steve Rogers (no stucky)

Word Count: ~3.5k

Warnings: fluff

Summary: Steve Rogers. Thoughtful, considerate, and loving. He makes you feel safe and wanted. Bucky Barnes. Passionate, adventurous, and dangerous. He makes you feel alive and free. You think you can only choose one, but what happens when they offer to share you?

Squares Filled: image of bucky and steve from the comic (2021) for @buckybarnesbingo

Author’s Note: any and all comments are greatly appreciated <3

x

You don’t have a lot of money but you love reading so you spend a lot of time at your local library to read all the books you can’t get otherwise. They have a checkout system that allows you to take home up to five books. If you want more, you’ll return what you read and the cycle continues. You’ve been so often that the librarians know you by name. They often allow you to take home an extra book knowing you’ll return it in the same condition you got it at.

“Hey, Marie,” you greet when you walk in.

“Y/N, dear, how was your weekend?”

“Spent my nose in all the books I borrowed last week. I am here to return them and get five more.”

“I wouldn’t be opposed if you wanted to sneak a sixth in there,” she smiles.

“We’ll see,” you chuckle.

She takes the books and you head to the section you’ve been obsessing over for the last few months. There are three books you had your eye on last week hoping that they’re here now. You turn the corner and see a tall blond man browsing the same section you’re going to. He’s looking at the shelf that contains one of the books you’re interested in. You could ask him to move but you’re mesmerized by this man’s physique. He’s tall and very muscular with short blonde hair and a clean-shaven face.

“Can I help you?”

You’re brought back to reality when you hear his velvety smooth voice.

“No, sorry. I just, um, need a book from that shelf.”

“Oh, sorry. Here.” He moves to the left and allows you to step into his space to grab the book on the very top shelf. Your fingers touch the edge of the shelf but you can’t reach the book. This is so embarrassing. “Do you need help?”

“Yeah. It’s the pink book right there.”

“It’s a good book. I’ve read it five times. I love this book.” He grabs the book and hands it to you with a smile. He even has a gorgeous smile with perfect white teeth. “I’m Steve.”

“Y/N. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Are you new around here or have you lived here long?”

“I’ve lived here nearly a year. I like to come here and read as much as I can.”

“That’s cool. My roommate and I just moved out here. We’re trying to venture out and look for fun things to do.”

“Well, I don’t know what you’re into but there is a concert venue downtown that holds small concerts from bands that aren’t really well known. It has a bar and it’s a good way to listen to some new music. There’s also a farmer’s market on the opposite side of town that has delicious food. I like to go there.”

“Seems like you know your way around town.”

“Yeah, I do. I like to do new things every week and just get out of my apartment.”

“Think you might want to show me around?” You blush at his offer and he chuckles. “You’re incredibly beautiful and I’d love to take you out if you let me. I just don’t know much around here so I think I need a tour guide.”

“I can be your tour guide if you want,” you grin. “The beaches here are pretty nice, especially at night.”

“Good to know,” he smiles.

You hand him your phone so he can put his number in, and you call it so that he has your number. You part ways and grab the other books you’ve had your eyes on before heading back home. Tomorrow can’t come fast enough, it’s all you can think about. Steve says he’ll be over at seven to take you out, and you start getting ready two hours before the date. You take an “everything” shower, dry and curl your hair, get dressed in the perfect dress and shoes, do your makeup, accessorize, and spray your best perfume. You’re ready with ten minutes to spare, and Steve is knocking on your door before you know it.

“Wow, you look amazing,” Steve smiles.

“Thank you. You clean up nice, too.”

He leads you to your car and opens the passenger door for you. You’re not sure what kind of date he’s taking you on but you’re excited to see what he researched. For someone who doesn’t know the area, it’ll be interesting to see what he thinks is worth going to. Steve drives to the coastline and finds a parking spot right next to the beach. You love the beach and often come here to either read your books or enjoy time in the sun. You don’t normally come here after the sun has gone down so it’s nice to see the beach free of people.

“I never come here at night. It’s nice,” you grin.

There is an ice cream shop that’s open late to give people a reason to stay in the area, and Steve leads you over to it.

“What’s your favorite flavor?”

“Either strawberry or mint chocolate chip. Surprise me.”

Steve gets ice cream for both of you, and you two eat it while walking along the shore of the beach. You two take your shoes off to allow the water to wash over your feet whenever it splashes onto shore.

“So, tell me a little bit about you.”

“Well, I live alone. I have a degree in psychology. I own three dogs and two cats so it’s never quiet inside my house. I love reading. I think I spent more time inside the library where we met than anywhere else. If they let animals inside, I’d bring all my dogs with me. What about you?”

“I live with my childhood best friend. I never went to college but I did graduate college. We have one cat that’s mostly my roommate’s but I think she loves me more. I’m more outgoing than my roommate and love to go out and meet new people.”

Talking to Steve is easy. You’re not big on being social but there is something about Steve that brings you comfort. He’s safe and you can see yourself falling for him quickly.

“Despite coming here all the time, I have never had this ice cream before. This is delicious,” you grin and take another bite.

“You got a little something…”

“Where?” you gasp and wipe your mouth with the back of your hand.

“Here.”

Steve scoops some of his ice cream and touches the cold treat to your nose. You gasp and look at him with wide eyes.

“You did not just do that.”

“I did,” Steven grins.

You don’t even think about what to do next. You take a scoop of your ice cream and shove it into his face, watching as it drops from his face onto the sand. You and Steve are at a standstill with a tense silence between you. He jerks toward you and you take off running away from him with a squeal. He catches you easily and threatens you by moving his ice cream-covered mouth toward your cheek.

“No! That’s gross,” you laugh and cringe away from him.

Steve licks his lips and lets you go with a chuckle. You like how easy it is with Steve. Being the gentleman Steve is, he walked you to your front door when he dropped you off at home.

“I had a great time with you,” you smile.

“Me too. I hope we can do this again.”

“I’m sure I can fit you in.”

You think Steve is going to kiss you when he leans in but he bypasses your lips and kisses your cheek. You go to bed that night with a smile on your face and your head filled with thoughts of Steve. The next day, you head out to the gym early so you can start your day refreshed and energized. There aren’t a lot of people at the gym but you’re good at tuning everything out when you’re in your workout. You start with a light walk on the treadmill to get your blood pumping before moving to the weights.

You use the weight machine where you sit down on the small bench and grab the handlebars that you’ll pull toward yourself. You’ve never used this machine before but you’re doing it now because you want to at least try something new. It might work better for you. You set the weights to the amount you can pull before sitting down. You complete one rep when you feel someone tapping on your shoulder.

You look behind you to see a gorgeous man. Tall, dark hair, a sharp jawline, bright blue eyes, muscles for days, and tattoos inked down his arms. You can tell that ink is on his torso because it disappears underneath the collar of his shirt. He waves a hand in front of his face and you snap out of the trance.

“I’m sorry, can I help you?” you ask after taking out your AirPod.

“I don’t want to be that guy or a creep but I noticed your posture when using this machine. I don’t want to see you hurt yourself. Can I give you some tips?” You open your mouth to respond and he quickly speaks again. “Feel free to tell me to fuck off. I just… I know a bit or two about gym injuries.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah. What am I doing wrong?”

The man straddles the bench right behind you but stays far enough away from you so you don’t feel his skin. However, you feel the heat radiating from his body. It’s enough to make your head spin.

“Can I touch you?” he asks.

“Yeah,” you whisper.

He puts his hands on your hips and moves slightly closer to you. The heat increases and your heart beats faster.

“You want to keep your back straight. The point of this machine is to work your arms. Pull down the handlebar.” You keep your back straight when you pull it down because you’re afraid of leaning back into his body. He cups both of your elbows as you lower your arms and stops you from going further down. “You want to keep your elbows at a ninety-degree angle. Try again.”

The man takes his hands away from your arms but lets them rest on your hips. You do it again and you can feel him nod behind you.

“Good girl.”

Butterflies erupt in your stomach at those two words. You’re not even sure if you heard him correctly, he spoke so softly.

“Thank you for your help.”

“No problem.” The man stands making you wish he was pressed against you still. “I’m Bucky.”

“Y/N.”

“Again, I’m not that guy or anything but are you single?”

“Yes,” you giggle.

You and Steve went on one date so you don’t count that as you two being in an exclusive relationship.

“Would you be opposed to me taking you out on a date?”

“No.”

Bucky takes out his phone and opens the phone app so you can give him your number. After you put it in, he calls you so that you have his number.

“I hope you’re free Friday night.”

“I just so happen to be free that day.”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at six. Wear something you don’t mind getting a bit of dirt on.”

“Okay.”

Bucky leaves your side to continue his workout but you can’t continue. All you can think about is Bucky and the feeling you got when you felt him behind you. Friday is only two days away but it feels like a week has passed before it’s finally here. You and Steve have been talking about going on another date. Yes, you told him that you had a date with another man but he didn’t seem all that worried since you two aren’t exclusive. The second you decide that you are, you’ll break it off with Bucky. The same goes for Steve if you and Bucky decide to be a thing.

It’s nearing six when you tie the pink bow into your hair. You’re wearing jeans and a frilly pink shirt, and you’ve done your hair in a half updo with a pink bow. You swipe lipgloss onto your lips when you hear the unmistakable sound of a motorcycle. You look out the window and see Bucky roll into your neighborhood on a sleek black bike. You meet him outside just as he takes off his helmet.

“Damn, I thought you were beautiful in gym clothes and all sweaty. You’re gorgeous now.”

Bucky’s wearing a tight black shirt and jeans that fit him snugly.

“Thank you,” you blush.

“Have you ever ridden a bike before?”

“Once or twice.”

“Then come here, Doll.” You walk over to Bucky and he is careful when he slides the second helmet onto your head, careful to not mess up your hair too much. He straps it into place and helps you onto the back of his bike before climbing on himself. “Hold on tight.”

You wrap your arms around his waist and sit very close to him. Even through his leather jacket, you can feel his muscles flex whenever you touch them. Bucky takes you out of town and to the old Jasper property. Jasper used to be a thriving farmer once upon a time but lost his house after he died. He didn’t have any family to leave it to so the city took possession of it. It now stands as a property kids love to explore, trash, and do whatever else they want to do with it. The city does nothing because they either don’t care or don’t have enough money to put security there.

Bucky pulls into the farm and parks next to an array of bikes. There is commotion coming from the back of the property and the sound of bikes revving their engines.

“What is going on here?” you ask Bucky when you get your helmet off.

“Dirt bike racing,” he grins. “I usually race but this time, I’m happy to watch.”

“Because of me?”

“Well, I can’t be looking like a fool in front of you if I lose,” he chuckles.

You two head to the back of the property and find seats up high to be able to see everything. The bikers slowly drive around the track to get used to it right before the race.

“I’ve never been to one of these things before.”

“Oh, Doll, you don’t know what you’re missing.”

The race begins and all the bikers start it by giving it their all. Bucky cheers his friend who is in first place, and you watch with wide eyes, scared to look away even for a second. The race consists of thirty laps around the place but it feels like they’re doing it in five. They go so fast around the curves, jump over the ramps expertly, and gain a lot of cheers whenever their favorites get closer to first place.

Bucky tries to explain the logistics of it all but you’re too enthralled to listen to him. It’s nice to do this with Bucky because you love the thrill of racing whether that be cars or bikes. Bucky stands up and cheers when his friend finishes in first followed by two of his other friends in second and third. The winner gets a cash prize put together by both the audience and the crew members responsible for the race.

“So, how was your first bike race?” Bucky asks when he walks you back to his bike.

“That was amazing! You do that sort of thing?”

“Yeah. There’s nothing like feeling nothing but the rumble of your bike on a racetrack. Everything else disappears and it feels like you’re the only one on the track. Sure, we do races for fun but the serious ones are the best.”

“I’d like to see you race sometime.”

“I can arrange that,” he grins. Bucky takes the long way back to your house to give you more time pressed up against him. Like Steve, he walks you to your front door. “Can I take you out again?”

“Yes,” you smile.

Bucky glances down to your lips and decides to just go for it. He grabs the sides of your face and pulls you in for a kiss that makes your head dizzy. He dances around the idea of using tongue, and you open your mouth to allow him in. He slides his tongue in and explores what you’ve given him before pulling away.

“I’ll talk to you later, Doll.”

“Okay,” you mutter, still in a haze from his kiss.

Bucky waits for you to get inside your house before leaving. You rest your back against your door and bite your lip in thought. You had such a great time with Steve but you also loved your time with Bucky. Two men. How will you ever decide between them? You get ready for bed and fall asleep with thoughts of Bucky and Steve.

The next morning, you’re woken up by your phone ringing. You pop your head up and reach for your phone with one eye closed and the other squinted nearly shut. Both eyes pop wide open when you see Steve’s name on your phone. You sit up in bed and smooth down your hair as if he can see what you look like over a phone call. You cough to clear your throat so it’s not so obvious that you’ve been sleeping seconds before.

“Hello?” you answer.

“Hey, Y/N. Are you busy tonight?”

“No. What’s up?”

“My roommate is going to be out of town tonight and I was wondering for our second date, I can cook for you.”

“At your place?”

“Yeah. I totally understand if you don’t want to come over and go somewhere public, but--”

“Steve, it’s okay. I’d be happy to let you cook for me.”

“Okay, good,” he breathes in relief. “I’ll text you my address. How about you come over at six?”

“I’ll be there.”

After saying goodbye, Steve hangs up and looks at his roommate who is sitting in the living room cleaning bike parts he got from Facebook Marketplace.

“What have I told you about cleaning your shit in here?”

“To do it because you love it,” Bucky grins.

“You’re going to be out by six, right? My date is coming over then.”

“Yeah, I heard you.”

Bucky continues to clean while Steve gets ready for his date with you. Afterward, both men decide to kill time to watch whatever it is that’s on Netflix. Bucky looks at the time and sees it’s nearly six. He gets up and grabs his jacket on his way to the front door.

“Where are you going?”

“Out, remember?”

“British Bake-Off is next,” Steve says with the remote in hand.

“I’m leaving and you have your date. It’s almost six.”

“Shit, you’re right.” Steve looks at his friend who grabs his motorcycle keys. “You don’t want to take a shower first? Wash your hair, maybe?”

“I’m fine, Dad,” Bucky rolls his eyes. He opens the door right when you’re about to knock, and your eyes widen when you see it’s Bucky and not Steve at the door. “Doll?”

“Bucky? What… What are you doing here?”

Steve pops his head out from behind his friend and smiles when he sees you.

“Hey, Y/N, come in. This is my roommate, Bucky. He was just leaving.”

Bucky doesn’t say a word and opens the door wider so you can walk in. Of course, it’ll be your luck that the two best guys you’ve ever dated just so happen to be roommates. Steve isn’t freaking out so Bucky must not have talked about you or not mentioned you by name.

“You’re dating her? She’s your date?” Bucky whispers at Steve but you hear.

“Yeah, why?”

“Dude, she’s the girl I took to the bike race.”

“Wait, what?”

“Look, I didn’t know you two were roommates.” Both men look at you. “I should go, right? This is something I don’t want to come between. I don’t want to ruin your friendship and before you say anything, it will if we continue to let this happen. Yeah, I should go.”

Neither man moves from the front door so you’re stuck here while they stare at each other like in some macho standoff. They have a wordless conversation only spoken through their eyes. It feels like hours before Bucky finally speaks.

“We’re not going to make you choose but I still want to date you.”

“So do I,” Steve says right after.

“Both of you want to date me?”

Bucky shrugs and looks at his friend who has the same expression on his face.

“You wouldn’t be the first thing we’ve shared.”

“You obviously don’t have to choose right now, and if you’ll let me, I’d love to cook for you still.”

Two men? Two gorgeous men? You had such a fun time with Steve and Bucky, and if they’re willing to share you, who are you to say you can’t do the same? You’ve never done something like this before but there’s a first for everything, right?

“Fuck it. I’m in if you are.”

Bucky and Steve grin mischievously, ideas already running through their heads. This is either going to be the best thing to happen to you or the worst mistake of your life. It is sure fun to find out, though.

x

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[no-gorms]

Steve/Tony, Hanahaki, UST, open ending

It is an unfortunate fact of Tony’s history that he’s familiar with the longing disease. Lung gardening. Hanahaki, or whatever other euphemisms they’ve come up with lately to describe it.

Naming conventions aside, Tony’s knows well enough what the affliction feels like – the warning sting at the back of the throat that’s followed by the pressure of something more personal, more vicious than mere phlegm. The body’s breathing apparatus has decided to betray its owner, and Tony’s had it enough times that he could be embarrassed, if he were the sort of person to be embarrassed by that kind of thing.

A cough, a heave, and then petals are cascading in a disgusting shower onto the tabletop. At least the tabletop is glass, which is easy to clean, and Tony’s reflexes were fast enough that he’d pushed Hill’s paper folder of printouts clear away.

Most people would be grateful to have their symptoms manifest in privacy. Those who do not, get used to the shocked silence that follows.

“Oh no,” comes Bruce’s voice from Tony’s left. Quiet, worried.

“Maybe—” Natasha clears her throat, businesslike, “—we can take five?”

“Ah, shit.” Tony straightens up and dabs at his mouth with a handkerchief. He eyes the pile of petals with a scowl, noting that they’re bright-colored blooms, as if he’s twenty years old all over again and doesn’t know any better. “Fantastic. Just what we needed today.”

“Yeah, we can take five—” Clint starts.

“As if we don’t have enough to do.” Tony sighs. “Goddammit, Steve.”

“What?” Steve says.

Being an old hat at surviving Hanahaki also means that Tony knows the faces he’ll see when he looks around the table. There’ll be surprise, concern, empathy, and discomfort in various combinations, and Tony gets all of that and then some, because the Avengers have so far rolled with a number of far greater inconveniences with grace.

“Look.” Tony takes one last cleaning swipe of his face with the handkerchief and drops it on the pile. “It’s not your fault, I’m not blaming you, but you gotta step up on this if we’re gonna make the flight out in time to follow Thor’s lead.”

“I, what—” Steve blinks twice, quick and robotic, before those same eyes widen.

Ah, so this is a surprise to Steve, which might be even more irritating than the Hanahaki itself. Tony could try to be half-full-cup about it and take it from the angle that this means that he hadn’t been too ridiculous openly about his burgeoning crush on the good Captain. But that would take more effort than he’s willing to expend.

It was supposed to be just admiration. Idle feelings to be nurtured like a baby bird of a side hobby. Good fucking going, Stark. What had Steve even been doing to make it tip over? Squinting at Natasha’s slide with that stoic yet judgmental purse of the mouth that usually has Tony internally clapping his hands with glee?

That could do it.

“Yeah, I know, it’s stupid,” Tony says, waving it off. “You don’t even like me as a human being, but I’m a masochist that way sometimes. Good news is, I’m also fickle, so it probably won’t be that hard to make me hate you. By this afternoon, hopefully? Or whenever you’re ready, I’m sure you’ll figure something out, but anyway this is still…” He eyes the pile of petals. “This is way early stages, we’ll have weeks, but the sooner the better.”

“What do you mean I don’t like you as a human being?” Steve says, as though that’s the most important part of what Tony just said.

“You need to be mean to me, okay?” Tony says.

Bafflement animates Steve’s normally poster-handsome face. Bafflement, and then offense, as though Tony just asked him to kick puppies, which Tony would never do, and anyway Tony isn’t a puppy. Steve can be mean, sometimes by accident and sometimes on purpose, and those glimpses of candid moments are so rare – for Tony, at least, since the others know Steve far better than Tony ever could – that Tony has and does treasure every single one.

Unfortunately, this thought sends a wave of affection rolling through Tony’s brain, which is followed by a wave of petals rolling out of Tony’s mouth. And this time they do destroy Hill’s folder of printouts.

He recovers faster this time, which may or may not be helped by Bruce patting his back gently.

“Sorry, correction.” Tony wheezes through an inhale. “You need to be mean to me, and not in a sexy way.”

“What—?” Steve starts.

“Stark means that you need to be cruel to him to stunt his feelings for you,” Thor says, nodding solemnly. “But to not use language that he’d find appealing. ‘Tis a fine line, indeed, I understand the challenge there.”

“Thor,” Bruce says.

“What?” Thor says.

“Right,” Clint says, “I think we should not be here for this.”

“We were finishing up anyway.” Tony stands up and shoves all the petals into the folder that will be going into the trash pronto. “I need to do a health scan but you guys can keep going with that entry route, and let me know what you’ve decided before suit up, yeah?“

“Tony,” Steve says. “You’re—that’s dangerous—”

“Yes, yes, I am aware,” Tony says irritably. “Romanoff, have my back?”

“We do face death on the regular,” Natasha says. “This is manageable.”

“See.” Tony points at Steve. “I’ll work on my part, but you have to do yours. Mean. You can do it, I believe in you. Just maybe… don’t use Howard?” He sighs. “No, you should probably use Howard. Anyway, I’ll be in lab, give me a buzz if there’s anything.”

Tony goes with a careless wave over his shoulder, and waits until he’s out of the room and the door is closed before he lets himself wince.

Could’ve gone worse, actually.

[razorblade180]

Martial Practice 3

Early in the morning, Yanqing, Yunli, and March 7th arrived onto the Starskiff and met in the ring because of an anonymous group message.

March:Anyone else think this is a suspicious? Don’t tell me some weirdo caught wind of our fight and is challenging us?

Yunli:March, everyone was unconscious or hiding by the time we faced Hoolay. Also, we faced Hoolay! I hope nobody is dumb enough to attack us after that.

Yanqing:Hmmm. *looks at number* I can’t explain it, but I feel like I should know this number. I don’t think it’s any Cloud Knight on the ship. Regardless, keep your eyes peeled for anything.

Suddenly, a powerful pillar of wind struck the arena. Dust whipped around ferociously and disbursed to reveal General Feixiao.

Feixiao:Greetings, young friends. I’m glad you all could come.

March:I…have a bad feeling about this.

Feixiao:Haha, relax. I know I made the message sound urgent, but in truth it’s more time sensitive than anything else.

Yunli:Don’t tell me there’s still a few wolves skulking about in the shadows!?

Yanqing:If so, what are our orders? We’ll help in any way.

Feixiao:Wow, still recovering and willing to go back into the fray. Admirable and brash. I can relate. Fortunately however, I didn’t call you here because of a crisis. Soon we’ll be parting ways. Before that, there’s something I wanted to properly check. That’s why I asked for you three. What I’m about to say can’t make it back to Lingsha.

Yunli:So it is a fight!!?

Feixiao:Precisely. Yanqing, Yunli, I want you both to come at me the best you can. As for March, please observe from the sidelines. Part of training is observing after all. Watch carefully.

March:Don’t have to tell me twice! *runs to the sidelines*

Yanqing and Yunli:….

Feixiao:Whenever you’re ready.

The young sword masters couldn’t believe they found themselves in the same situation again. No one was even fully healed yet! Still, a chance to learn from the Merlin’s Claw; now who would dare pass up such an opportunity.

Yunli was first to close the distance in a single leap, swinging down Old Mettle to meet the war ax that could tear clouds asunder. Blow after blow, metal echoed like thunder. Feixiao could only smile. It wasn’t often someone could actually engage her in a contest of brute strength, and Yunli was giving her just that!

Feixiao:Very nice!

Yunli:I’m just getting started!

Feixiao blocked a side swipe with the body of her ax then slid backwards in the same act for proper spacing, aiming to swing right up the middle. Right as she was ready to send Yunli flying, Feixiao’s eyes shifted to see the blue streak flying at her. She quickly abandoned her ax in favor of her blades, smirking all the while as she blocked Yanqing; Yunli backstabbed out of reach immediately but her next move was hidden by the boy’s assault.

Flying swords swarmed around like insects but the real threat remained in their wielder. Sparks flew like chaotic fireworks as Yanqing kept pace against each blade strike. Left, right, low thrust, high parry, the boy showed his talents beautifully once again.

Feixiao: (Better be careful Jing Yuan. I might have to steal your pride for my troops at this rate.)

Yanqing:(She’s not even struggling in the slightest!)

Feixiao forced Yanqing to jump after trying to sweep his legs. In that moment, he realized his mistake and blocked hastily as she spun around once for momentum and slammed both her blades against his. The strike sent the boy flying too fast for his swords to keep up. However, Yunli was much quicker.

Old Mettle was flying right at Feixiao while the girl was already airborne with her left arm stretched out. She broke nearly all of Yanqing’s momentum by tapping and pushing him up as he flew by. This was more than enough for him to recover midair and land only few feet behind Yunli while Feixiao rolled out of Old Mettle’s way. Yunli ran to retrieve it while Yanqing closed in on Feixiao, who was trying to close in on Yunli!

March watched with batted breath as Yanqing’s flying swords made a curtain between Yunli and Feixiao long enough for her to retrieve her blade and instantly swat away the General. Both her masters lowered their stance and went in to attack but Feixiao suddenly dropped her weapons and put her hands up.

Feixiao:Okay. That’s enough.

The young warriors came to a dead stop, taking a breath in confusion. It was over already? Not only that, but Feixiao’s smile was rather cheeky and one of relief.

Feixiao:The two of you have grown a bit. That makes me happy. I can leave without worry.

Yunli:What are you talking about!? I know we’re all injured but a short battle like this couldn’t have given much about our abilities.

Yanqing:I-I can go a little longer.

Feixiao:Hehe, no need. As expected though. It looks like the both of you haven’t realized it. The youth sure is frightening sometimes. March, did you gleam anything significant?

March:*beaming with joy* Absolutely! I hadn’t noticed with Hoolay but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was happening then too!

Yunli:Enough with the vagueness! What the heck are you talking about!?

March:Master Yanqing was way more aggressive than normal. He got up close when Master Yunli’s attack was completely blocked and didn’t stop. And instead of going back after that, she got distant and calmly waited for an opening to help him instead of going for a giant blow. It’s almost like-

Yunli:We switched…fighting styles…

Yanqing:I mean- that’s natural in a group fight. If you don’t work together then everything goes wrong.

Feixiao:You’re correct. Teamwork is crucial, especially against a stronger opponent. However, the choices you made weren’t simply two people who know the value of teamwork. The two of you were being mindful and considerate of one another. Yanqing, did you choose close quarters simply to match Yunli’s pace, or was your intent to gain my intention fully so she can escape my ax and catch her breath?

Yunli:!?

Yanqing:I-I…. you’re formidable and strong! *red* Yunli’s sword is heavier than your ax and takes time to swing. You don’t leave openings to recover, so…I made one for her.

Feixiao:A clever approach. Yunli! Did you hold back on immediately countering simply out of watching the spacial awareness between your blade and Yanqing, or was it something else? Something more important? Be honest now.

Yunli:..*red* I stayed back because… I was waiting to catch him.

Yanqing:Huh!?

Yunli:Don’t act shocked! You said it yourself, she’s formidable! Not only is she quick but strong. If you landed too hard or wrong, there’s no telling if you would get up quickly. I…I didn’t throw my sword because she was open. I threw it to make time to help your butt.

Feixiao:Teamwork amongst soldiers tends to start with staying out of each other’s way, and ends at creating clear openings. What you two were doing is much more than simple teamwork. Your attacks, you actions, down to the thought process, it put each others safety first and considered weaknesses that had to be covered. That’s not something achievable between people holding grudges.

March:Grudges? General, you were still thinking about their fight at the Alchemy Commission!!?

Feixiao:Haha, of course! It was quite the spectacle after all. I had no doubt in the face of a crisis like Hoolay, talented people like you would put aside such personal matters. To do it here though, after the danger has passed, now that’s truly something to cherish. At that risk of saying too much, I’ll make this part quick. From where I’m standing you two are now proper rivals and not comrades; instead you’re friends who care about each other mutually. Take joy in that. It’ll make you both stronger in more ways imaginable.

Both of them fell silent, utterly embarrassed by how their actions were made known. They didn’t even notice it themselves!! All they could do his bow for Feixiao’ s lesson. The Lacking General laughed as she ruffled their hair before taking her leave. March could sense the awkwardness building between the two as they kept quiet.

March:…*pulls out phone* Huh, look at that! Masters! I’m sorry but I have to go now! Looks like Caelus and Stelle got tangled up in more of Guinaifen’s performances! *runs off* let’s grab lunch later!

Yunli:Honestly, could she be any more obvious?

Yanqing:Hehe, right.*rolling shoulder*

Yunli:….Hold still.

She walked behind him and gently held his right shoulder. Feixiao really didn’t know how to hold back. That sparring match really was moments from a visit to Lingsha. Carefully, Yunli moved his shoulder up and back until…pop! Back in place like it should be.

Yanqing:Th-Thanks. That feels much better.

Yunli:Don’t mention it.

Yanqing:…*inhales* Yunli-

Yunli:Don’t. I’m not dumb and neither are you. *blushes* So let’s not say anything we don’t already know. Not when I have to leave in a few days anyways…

Yanqing:…Then let me say this instead. Yunli, would you like to grab some breakfast with me?

Yunli:Going for my stomach now? How sneaky of you. *smiles* I’ll take you up on that offer. If you’re buying that is.

Yanqing:Of course. Try not drain my savings too much.

Yunli:Please, you would just put it towards more swords to buy and not use. This is a much better use.

They both shared a chuckle before making their way towards the exit. Softly, Yanqing felt a tug on his right sleeve. Yunli had quietly took ownership of it with her thumb and pointer finger pinching the cuff as they walked. Yanqing looked at her to see she was completely avoiding looking back, choosing to look straight ahead with crimson blush burning her cheeks. Yanqing felt his only face get hot as he turned his head back around in silence. Feixiao’s words rung in their head.

“Friends who cared about each other mutually.”

Next they saw her, they’d have to thank her for sparring them a little dignity.

[accirax]

DRDT New Character Talent Analysis

WHO ARE THESE GUYS???? GOING CRAZY GOING STUPID

Ahem. 

As likely everyone has now seen at this point, DRDTdev made a very exciting announcement on Twitter– namely, that he’s been working on another fangan alongside DRDT! (Very relatable, once you make one fangan it’s kinda hard to stop.) Understandably, assuming this fangan is ever developed in full, it will be several years down the road, given that it would only be published after DRDT is complete.

However, we have these designs now, and I wanna know what their talents are, dammit! The blurb says that they are students trapped in a killing game, so I assume that they have been given Ultimate abilities. Thus, here’s my best shot and first look analysis. I tried not to look at anyone else’s work too much before presenting my opinions in order to get them out as fast as possible, so, sorry if I missed any major details that people have uncovered!

Notably, when I downloaded the images to my computer (so I could look at them without waiting for the website’s load time), all of them saved with weird number/letter codes. These probably mean nothing, although they do all end with “_o”, which could indicate that they were put through a code scramble of some kind. At the very least, the codes are a kind of convenient way to refer to the characters, so I’ll use the first three letters as a name. Also, I’ll be using they/them pronouns for all characters, since we don’t know how they identify.

We’ll start with the Protagonist, and go alphabetically by code from there. I’m so excited!!! Here we go:

I’m glad that this guy is basically confirmed as the Ultimate Teacher, because I honestly have no clue what I’d call them otherwise.

The main thing I noticed throughout their design was the repetition of red undertones everywhere. You can see them in two places: on the jacket, and in their hair. We know from the July 31st Q&A that characters in the Despair Time Fanganronpa Universe (DTFU) see blood as red, and that Monokuma’s color palette is black, white, and red. It’s kind of a suspicious color– the children’s hospital color theory of it all. O-or, maybe it’s just their favorite color…!

The bows in n9Z’s hair kind of remind me of the one on Peko’s sword case (sorry I didn’t put in a picture), although I doubt there’s a connection there. The gloves make me think of something fancy, the trenchcoat makes me think of a detective, the ID makes me think it’s something top secret… dude, what are you doing?

I guess there is the question of what exactly this person teaches. If we assume they’re the teacher Min mentions in A History of Hope’s Peak, it seems like the answer would be, “Ultimates.” If you want to teach Ultimates, you need to know and be able to do a lot of stuff, so that could explain the utilitarian design. They could have also initially had a background as something else, such as a government agent or employee of XF-ture Tech, before winding up as a teacher.

The fact that their eyes are always closed is also notable. Given DRDTdev’s penchant for putting important stuff in the eye designs, it’s possible there’s some important info in there that he's not ready to release yet. Like, if n9Z had black/red heterochromia or something, that would send us spinning. (Personally, I’m kinda hoping there’s an apple in there…) I also had the thought that n9Z might just permanently have both of their eyes closed, kind of like how Setsuka Chiebukuro of SDRA2 always keeps one eye closed. That would be a cute parallel to Min, whose eyes are always obstructed.

So, yeah. Ultimate Teacher, probably. Despite the fact that we more or less have their Ulimate talent, I somehow feel like we know the least about them…

My first impression of this person is that they’re definitely athletic in some regard. The ponytail that ends in a braid would be keeping the hair out of their eyes, and the athletic shoes would be helpful for running around.

About the marks under the eyes... While the comparison to my superhero design for Arturo is still a lighthearted jest, the reason for them being there may be fueled by the same reasoning. The superpower that @1moreff-creator gave Arturo was a skill that involved his vision, so I put those marks under his eyes as a natural mark that would mimic eye black. If you don’t want to read the entire link, eye black is those lines of paint (or sometimes stickers) that baseball or American football players wear under their eyes. While it’s not entirely scientifically proven, the point of the marks is supposed to be absorbing the rays of sun around the eyes to reduce the glare you would see. Thus, 0a6 may have these marks under their eyes to make it easier to see in a fast-paced situation (even though they're not particularly dark in color).

Additionally, if we didn’t already know who the protagonist was, I would guess it was 0a6. They have an ahoge in very much the same way that Teruko does, and they share an eye design with Hajime Hinata. The styling of their belt buckle also reminded me of how truth bullets are designed. However, 0a6 is NOT the protagonist, which must mean that these things mean something else. I don’t have much to say about the ahoge, but the eye design might instead imply that this person’s talent has to do with rejecting, opposing, or ending something. The bullet could be a regular bullet, and therefore imply that this person’s talent has something to do with guns.

For whatever reason, the hairstyle already made me think Ultimate Archer at first glance, so with the gun thing, I’m going to submit my guess as Ultimate Sharpshooter. This talent (and other slight variations of it) shows up pretty commonly in fangans (Kiyoka Maki of DRA, Desmond Hall of P:EG), and for good reason. It’s a talent that gives off a cool vibe, a potentially level headed yet aggressive personality, and can obviously be involved in many cool murder tricks.

My other guesses besides Ultimate Sharpshooter are in a similar ballpark– aforementioned Archer, Ultimate Bounty Hunter, Ultimate Spy, etc– but I could be way off track. I don’t see any weapons on 0a6, which would be weird for any of those talents. It could be more of a Debater type talent (with the eye symbol and truth bullet), or the blue gloves could hint at something more scientific (a la Charles and Arturo), although I don’t see the benefit to the sporty under-eye mark in either of those cases.

3Km is interesting, because they’ve got a lot going on. Hexagons, fire, zebra print– put it all together, and what does it mean? One interpretation is that their personality, too, is a lot.

I was immediately drawn to the markings on the left side of 3Km’s face, because I don’t know what they are. They could be angry veins, but… I don’t think veins really work like that in the shoulder. It’s far more than the typical anime stylization, not in the same place, and they don’t look particularly angry, so that's probably wrong. In that case, it’s probably a scar. But, what kind? Acid? An animal? Fire, like the symbol on their shirt?

Let’s move on for now and take a look at their pants. There’s a zebra pattern, which could imply a connection to animals/zoos or travel/Africa. The kind of pants they’re wearing are called chaps, which, hey, are typically ridden by horse riders! They’re meant to protect the rider’s legs from “thorny vegetation, extreme temperatures, and the animals they work with.” That definitely makes it seem like the zebra is important, as an equine animal.

Thus, my guess for this character is Ultimate Wild Animal Tamer. They wear chaps and gloves to protect them from the untamed animals they work with, yet they may have gotten a scar from a taming gone wrong. They’re strong so that they can get the upper hand, and the fire and piercings could speak to their rebellious, similarly wild personality. @venus-is-thinking also suggested that, as a Wild Animal Tamer, this character could work in the circus, which could further explain the flamboyant clothing and fire motif. They definitely seem like a character who could be putting on a show.

As for the other character pictured… that person is almost certainly 3Km’s sibling, likely a twin. However, as a fellow member of the killing game cast, we’ll get to them later! For now, let’s check out somebody else.

This character is one of the ones that I’m the most baffled about. They don’t wear a lot of symbols or field-specific clothing, so, it’s kind of a shot in the dark.

They definitely seem kind of fancy, what with the super swirly hair. Square scarves also typically seem to be worn in professional circumstances for stylish people. They’re wearing a lot of layers (including said scarf and a sweater), so it’s possible they work in a cold environment? Or maybe they just naturally run cold. There’s a lot of draping elements in their clothing, between the folded jacket and two-layered skirt, but that doesn’t really correlate to a specific location or profession.

The eyes patterns are also weird. They’re very spiky and not perfectly circular. What they reminded me of first were either an explosion, a loud noise, or a circular blade distorted while spinning quickly. Glasses are typically associated with nerdy or smart characters (like Eden and Charles), but anyone can wear glasses, so I wouldn’t use that as a huge selling point.

Anyways, the combination of fanciness, loudness, and potential nerdiness made me think some kind of talent incorporating a voice and art. I had ideas ranging from Ultimate Opera Singer to Ultimate Art Critic. In the end, I settled on Ultimate Stage Director, mostly as a vibe check. I could imagine this character ordering writers, actors, and set designers around with the goal of following their vision. A person like that who’s used to being in charge could be an interesting figure in a killing game. Again, though, I don’t have super strong feelings about this, so I’m extra looking forward to learning more.

I was going to slam dunk this one as the Ultimate Shepherd until @fuji-iri pointed out to me that there’s actually a sewing needle pattern in their eye! I’m kind of glad, because it gives me more to talk about and might explain some of the weird things I noticed if this character were the Ultimate Shepherd.

Besides the sewing needle, the eyes are definitely reminiscent of a sheep. Same with the braids in their hair– they’re arranged in a spiral reminiscent of a sheep’s horns. The cloud-like pattern on their cloak, as well as the soft-looking trim, seem fluffy and wool-like. 9lt definitely has a sheep motif, but that doesn’t mean it’s the talent exactly.

9lt’s bell hints at that concept. Although sheep often wear bells, according to google images, they’re more often regular bells than the circular bell depicted in their outfit. It seems like sheep can wear these bells, but they’re more commonly seen on cats.

There’s also a strong focus on pastel colors in the design, particularly pink. The design is very fun and childlike, it’s silhouette appearing smaller due to the large bow and lack of visible arms. (They’re also just pretty short.) The cloak, which obscures most of their body, kind of reminds me of Toshiko Kayura of P:EG. Small, cute, and childish, yet kind of mysterious and strange: that’s the vibes this design is giving me.

Given the sewing needle, it’s tempting to give this character a talent in fashion design. They do have a very specific style, which could play into their designs. However, with the strong connections to animals and fluffiness makes me think that they actually might be something along the lines of the Ultimate Plush Maker. It’s cozy and cuddly while also involving the sharp eye (of the needle) that a creator needs to have.

Now, this is a character with a lot going on. They’ve got symbols all over and a really fun hairstyle, so, let’s see how it could all fit together.

One of the aspects that first caught my eye was the flower in hwR’s hair. I’m pretty sure it’s a dandelion, which could be read in a couple of ways. The first is that a dandelion is a weed. hwR could be a character who often isn’t wanted, but manages to persist regardless. Secondly, dandelions have a lot of medicinal benefits if you consume them. So, hwR could be a character focused on health, especially in alternative ways. Thirdly, there’s the superstition that blowing on a dandelion will grant you a wish. I’d lean against this one because the dandelion isn’t… ripe(???) enough to be blown on yet, but the interpretation is still there.

The bunny symbol also has a lot of interpretations. As I listed out in the image, some options are good luck, longevity, opportunity, and adventure. The white rabbit is also a main character in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, which DRDTdev is clearly familiar with if the LGI MV is anything to go by. Generally, rabbits are also fast, cute, and known for multiplying. White rabbits seem to have generally positive connotations, which is a good sign for this character.

Other symbols include the crescent moon and sparkle type shapes, which seem to indicate nighttime or mystery. The symbol in hwR’s eyes is a spiral, which is also mysterious and could have to do with hypnosis. Apparently they also represent the circle of life, which could be suspicious…? Dying and living, killing games, and the like.

Anyways, with all this supernatural and superstitious imagery, I feel like the talent has to deal with something similar. I’m not exactly sure what to call it, or what the specific niche is. The one I wrote down in my notes was the Ultimate Alternative Medicine Practicioner, tying in the medicinal uses of dandelions and therapeutic uses of hypnotism. However, that title is a mouthful, and there are definitely other options. I sort of wanted the talent to just be someone who believes in spiritual practices, but given that a spiritualist is apparently someone who believes in talking to ghosts, the best name I could come up with for that was Ultimate Believer. hwR could also be something like an Ultimate Fortune Teller or a straight up Hypnotist, or a Lucky Student who really leans into the title. There are plenty of options, but I think it’s something in this genre.

This guy is fun! The fashion is pretty plain so there’s not a lot to work with, but I’ll give it my best shot.

As compared to 8CT (the one with the curly hair), Jfl at least has the very obvious symbol on their shirt to point us in the right direction. I’m pretty sure those are audio levels, which means that their talent probably combines something with sound with something with technology. I don’t know why they would need a lot of pockets or a hat with a visor for that, but hey, always good to be prepared.

The hat is pretty plain, but there is that green square on it. It may just be a large tab, as appears on many baseball caps to show off a logo. This one is blank, though, so it could be something else. It kind of looks like the press marker that appears on stereotypical reporter hats in, like, the 1920s, but those weren’t typically lime green, either (unless the black and white movies are fooling me hard).

The overall color scheme plus the fingerless gloves sort of make this character look like an Ultimate Hacker to me, but then I’m not sure what the connection to the audio levels are. They could also be something more like an Ultimate DJ, but the hat, jacket, and cargo pants make me feel like it’s something a little more active/outdoorsy. Thus, I’m going to go with the kinda-compromise that this character is the Ultimate Podcaster. In my mind, they would do some field reporting first (hence something that looks kind of like a reporter hat), and then come back to their home office and talk about it to publish in a podcast.

With my argument about the clothes feeling more outdoorsy, I have a few ideas for what the podcast could be about. The first is something along the lines of hunting cryptids. Jfl goes into the woods, looks around, and then reports their findings in, like, a ghost log. A little more in the realm of realism, Jfl could tail important figures around, either as a paparazzi-type person or someone who’s unraveling a conspiracy, and then release a report on them. That could also get Jfl involved in some kind of scuffle with XF-ture tech, which makes me lean more in that direction.

With the fish scales, knA is pretty obviously nautically coded. Their talent probably has something to do with water, but, in what way? Let’s look at the other details.

Just like Nico, knA has slit eyes. In Nico’s design, it was meant to make them look catlike, due to their profession as the Ultimate Pet Therapist. Similarly, 9lt has horizontal slit eyes, which are meant to make them look like a sheep. It seems like these elongated pupils are meant to make us think of animals, so knA’s talent probably heads in that direction. They also have a catlike mouth ( :3 ) and wear a collar, which (like Nico) makes them lean feline. Maybe it’s a catfish? Or maybe that’s more of a personality beat.

On the other hand, knA’s eye pattern has two circles in it, a larger one that goes around the long pupil and a smaller one that’s sort of hidden behind it. In context, this most reminded me of a sonar/radar system, which sailors use at sea to make sure they aren’t running into anything. Through that lens, the belt(?) that wraps around their leg reminded me of an anchor wrapped around a post. That’s kinda confirmation bias with the water thing, but it may have been intentional.

To be honest, I was really back and forth on whether to call this character the Ultimate Angler or the Ultimate Diver, but by the bolding, you can tell I settled on the former. I liked Ultimate Diver because it would place the character more among the fish (why they’re coded as an animal) as opposed to someone who catches them. But also, cats are known for catching fish, right? Plus, my interpretations of a sonar and an anchor would connect the character to a boat, which is less important for diving and more important for fishing.

Now this is the character that seems to be the talk of the town! And for good reason, too: they have a lot more recognizable imagery that specifically ties them to DRDT than anybody else.

First off, there’s the obvious XF-ture Tech logo, shaped like a hexagon, which appears on u1l’s jacket. That certainly connects them to the company in some way, whether they’re an employee or just someone who received some merch. This is extra interesting given that u1l wears the same pin that Min has on her design. In A History of Hope’s Peak, Min says she was sponsored by XF-Ture Tech, so maybe this guy was, too? It could be a kind of alternate company logo. Or it could have some kind of bug to listen in with. That’d be fun.

Otherwise, it’s pretty nondescript. They have regular eyes, a regular shirt, and a regular ol’ pink tie (other than the connection it may have to the Sleepy MV). The jacket is tied really weirdly at the bottom, kind of looking like a fish tail, but I think it’s a normal jacket. The boot design kind of reminded me of Xander’s, which could indicate that this character has to be prepared to run around.

Pinning down u1l’s talent is kinda hard because… honestly, I kinda feel like they’re just “Ultimate XF-Ture Tech Guy.” Like, they’re clearly connected to the company, and may be here as their representative. Thus, in my notes, I called this guy the Ultimate Technician.

A technician is “a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant field and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles.” Is that vaguely tech-ish as hell? Yeah. Is XF-Ture a tech company that also does vague other things? Yeah. Ultimate Technician lets this u1l have a lot of skills yet not have to elaborate on it at all, which is something that I feel like they would enjoy. Just like how they might enjoy how all of us are chomping at the bit to learn more about them, and yet, we probably won’t hear anything for a while…

A very pretty addition to the cast! I love their vibes. Time to figure out what they mean.

There’s a lot here that signifies wealth. The crown hairpin is very obvious in that regard, as is the cape. Purple is often thought of as a color of royalty, and uBg is wearing a lot of it. Same with the cape– it’s an article of clothing often worn by kings. Their eye pattern contains a diamond within a circle. Diamonds are a jewel; wealth, royalty, etc.

This character also has some elements of promiscuity to them. Garter socks (which is what I think is what they’re wearing on their left leg?) are typically thought of as a sexually-charged thing to wear, and their other leg is fully exposed (oh my!). You can also see their bra peeking out from under their shirt, as well as some cleavage. Is this related to talent, or just to personality? I’m not sure.

While it’s tempting to go with something more along the lines of Ultimate Celebrity or Ultimate Heiress, I’m actually kind of partial to my interpretation of Ultimate Treasure Hunter. They wear a crown because it’s the treasure they’ve won, and there are diamonds in their eyes because that’s what they’re looking for! The cape could read as more of a heroic/adventurer thing, and the gloves also feel like ones belonging to someone more active. I’m aware this has nothing to do with the promiscuous aspects, but… like I said, that could just relate to personality! Plus, if you’re traveling the world searching for treasure, you might want a chance to tour the people, too.

Finally, we’ve returned to the probable sibling of 3Km, the potential Ultimate Wild Animal Tamer! If the similar color schemes and eye designs weren’t enough, the fact that their little chibis were obviously paired together makes it pretty obvious that they’re related. Assuming that everyone in this cast is the same age (18+), they would be twins.

However, I also want to propose that 3Km isn’t the only character XWu is “related” to. Remember how I mentioned that the XF-Ture logo was a hexagon? Well, the pattern in 3Km and XWu’s eyes is a hexagon. Could they also have a connection to XF-Ture tech, and thus, u1l? Maybe they’re part of the family who founded the company. It’s a big stretch, but it’s possible. Just wanted to bring it up.

Back to XWu, it’s interesting that they’re probably the twin of 3Km, ��cause their designs are pretty opposite. While 3Km seems wild, XWu is very fancy. They have a chain, much like uBg; some boots that look sort of princely; and a very fancily-patterned vest. I didn’t notice while I was making my visual, but I think that the vest has snowflakes on it to mirror 3Km’s fire. Honestly, I don’t know if that means it’s more likely that it has something to do with their talents, or less…

I feel like XWu might have some kind of managerial talent. It could be something more business-y, related to XF-Ture Tech, or if 3Km is part of the circus, XWu could be, like, the Ultimate Ringleader. Leaning on the former, I settled for the Ultimate Business Consultant. I was thinking about 3Km going around the world taming animals or whatever, and XWu tagging along, making business connections and deals along the way. The “X” in their bangs makes me think that they might have a talent or personality that revolves around rejecting things. That could lean business leadership, so… yay?

-

And that’s that! To summarize, the cast of talents as I determined them were Ultimate Teacher, Ultimate Sharpshooter, Ultimate Wild Animal Tamer, Ultimate Stage Director, Ultimate Plush Maker, Ultimate Alternative Medicine Practicioner, Ultimate Podcaster, Ultimate Angler, Ultimate Technician, Ultimate Treasure Hunter, and Ultimate Business Consultant.

Obviously none of this is concrete, and I’m speculating based on very few details. I won’t be disappointed no matter what the talents are because, hey! We get more fangan content from DRDTdev either way! I feel like the Ultimate Winner with that fact.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this, and, if you have alternate interpretations or design elements I missed, I'd love to hear about them! I might make an update if we get any additional information any time soon.

[breadmate500]

The letter (part 7- LAST PART)

October 1st

Hi diary! It’s been about a month since we left gravity falls. UGH. I MISS IT SO MUCH. Pacifica was just starting to become our friend and then we had to leave! Hopefully grunkle Stan and ford have fun on their over sea adventures! I know Soos is excited to run the shop and maybe Melody will come to visit him! I Can’t wait to see everyone next summer.

Okay wait- I am totally getting side tracked. I need to come up with a plan to initiate operation dipcifica. (That’s their ship name- clever right? Well not really it’s just a combination of their names, WHATEVER!) I called Pacifica after I read the letter that she sent Dipper. She was stubborn…as usual. So I didn’t get anything out of her. Luckily though I have spies on the inside AKA- the girls: Candy, Grenda, and Wendy.

They all agree that Pacifica has a crush on Dipper. And Dipper probably does too- honestly it’s hard to tell with him. Either he makes it super obvious or he’s absolutely oblivious. Pacifica did mention they hugged… it’s just a hug tho… HAHA JUST KIDDING! I’m delusional! A hug is like basically a kiss for Dipper! (They grow up so fast)

Anyway Diary, here is my master plan called Operation Dipcifica.

1. Give Pacifica Dipper’s number

- already done! (Look how far we’ve come!) they haven’t really texted a lot at least from what Pacifica says. She told me he’s a really dry texter but she is too. Maybe they both need texting lessons…

2. Communication

- I will give Dipper texting lessons! There is no one better to do it than me! I mean, I can fit ten emojis into a very well structured text… impressive I know! Wendy will help Pacifica learn how to text with boys. Wendy’s basically an expert. Also- an extra bonus to this step is me teaching Dipper how to talk to girls in general. Grunkle Stan tried to but it didn’t really go that well. Don’t worry! I got you bro bro!

3. Vacay!!

- mom and dad have talked about visiting Gravity Falls sooner than next summer. Maybe it’s because of their fighting or because they know how much we miss it. We might even spend Christmas down there! I think grunkle Stan and ford are stopping home for the holidays. If they do, mom and dad will let us go to celebrate. Dipper and Pacifica will talk and get closer and it won’t be so awkward! Maybe…

4.talking time!

- I like to rush things… relationships mostly. I found out that doesn’t really work out well for me. I think Dipper needs to take his time warming up to Pacifica and getting to know her as a person! SOOOO ‘talking time’ will be from after Christmas break until next summer…

And finally the last step of operation Dipcifica…

5. Next summer!

- I have a feeling these two are gonna need A LOT of talking time. Especially with this whole enemies to friends to possible lovers trope going on. But next summer they’ll finally be able to see each other in person! They can hug and go on adventures and dates… OOO I GOTTA START PLANNING OUT FUTURE DATES NOW!!! Who knows maybe they’ll even have their first kiss! That’s wishful thinking though. Next summer is the last step of operation Dipcifica when they finally realize their feelings for each other. Then, after that… whelp I guess it’s up to them. Maybe with some help from me. I guess we’ll just have to wait until next summer.

[bread0nhead]

For Your Eyes Only (18+)

Sam Coe (Starfield) X F!Spacefarer!Reader

It’s the first time you and Sam have been apart since your relationship began. So why not send some photos to remind him of what he’s missing?

“Sarah, ready to head out?” You ask as you and the other members of Constellation stand around the lodge.

“Of course.” Sarah confirms.

“Really? Sending the big boss instead of me?”

“Don’t worry Sam, I’ll be sure to bring her back in one piece.” Sarah teases and a glint in her eyes.

“We’ll be in UC territory, somewhere a Coe doesn’t exactly fit in. Besides, we’ll be back in a week. Tops.” You kiss Sam on the cheek before grabbing your things to head out.

It’s not the week apart that has Sam pouting, it’s the fact he’ll be stuck in the Lodge for a week without you. Sam hasn’t been grounded for that long in months and the stars are already calling him.

The first three days weren’t all that terrible, as he spent most of his time helping Cora with her schooling and gathering supplies. It’s by the fifth day he’s practically bashing his head against the walls.

Knowing self mutilation isn’t the scratch to the explorers itch, he picks up the boxing gloves sitting on the floor of his room and starts wailing at the punching bag. The chain holding up the bag rattle and snap with each swing. He continues long enough to get sweat creeping down his bare chest. It isn’t until a ping from his phone comes in that he takes off the gloves and rests on the steel bench next to the leather bag.

It’s a message from you, the first he’s heard from you since you left.

“Bad news, looks like this mission might take an extra couple of days. Think you can hold out just a little longer for me?”

Sam groans at the message and grabs his explorer hat to put it back on, ready to scream into it. The hat has always brought him a little comfort.

“Another few days and I might need a new punching bag at the end of this. I miss you crazy.”

There’s no response for several minutes, making Sam all the more frustrated. After ten minutes, Sam tosses his phone on the bed and picks up the weights next to him. It’s just as the cell bounces on the mattress that another chime comes in.

Sam’s happy no one is there to see how fast he rushed to his phone to open your message. And when he does, he’s even happier that he’s alone in his room. Sam lets out a breath curse under his breath as he examines the attached image.

You’re on some hotel bed, propped up with your ass in the air and the camera angle just getting the edge of your devious smile. You’re in nothing but your bra and panties with your hair down.

Damn you’re a sight to behold.

“Don’t tease me like that. Show me more of that beautiful body.”

You respond almost immediately with a new photo. One where your bra has been removed and your hand is just barely covering your nipples. Your whole face is in this one, which he finds to be the most beautiful part of the entire photo. Your cheeks are lightly dusted from blushing and your pupils are blown out. You have a flirty smile and a certain twinkle in your eyes.

Sam can feel his loose shorts getting tighter. If you’re going to tease him, he can do just the same. Sam snaps a picture of the tent growing in his shorts. Since he’s not wearing any boxers underneath, every edge and curve of his dick just peaks through in the shadow outlines. His toned stomach is also in the picture, glistening with sweat.

Sam’s a little nervous to send the photo. He’s never sent or received photos like these. Lilian wasn’t the most keen on intimacy, and before her all the girls he’s been with didn’t last long enough to even get their phone number. His heart picks up a bit as he hits send, anxiously waiting to see what you say.

“Look who’s teasing now.”

Before Sam even has a chance to respond, you send another photo. Your back is on the bed and you’re playing with one of your pert nipples. Your teeth bitting and sucking the corner of your bottom lip.

“Fuuuuuck” Sam groans, dragging a hand down his face and letting out a breathy chuckle.

His dominate hand palms his dick over his shorts as his other hand types up a response.

“Such a good girl for me”

“God I wish you were here taking good care of me”

Sam snaps another picture, this time his hand is holding his hard member. Veins, girth, hair and all are in the photo. It’s shameless, he knows. But fuck this is just so fun. He feels young and reckless again.

“The shit I would do to you right now…”

You respond to Sam’s text with the a short video of your slender fingers stroking and dipping into your folds with your fingers coming out covered in your own slick. Sam can hear your soft moans in the video and it has his eyes rolling back.

Sam can’t take this anymore, he needs to hear you. All of you. Every breathy moan and call of his name on your tongue. He hits the dial icon next to your contact in his phone and after the first ring, you answer with the cutest giggle he’s ever heard in his life.

“Well hello handsome. Miss my voice already?”

“I miss waaay more than just your sweet voice.”

Sam starts to stroke himself, feeling himself finch in his hand. He try’s to stifle the moan that’s sitting in his throat, but it comes out louder than he expected.

“What are you doing?” You ask in a teasing tone.

“You know damn well what I’m doing.”

“What do you want to be doing?”

“Ah fuck…” Sam took in a sharp breath through his teeth. “I want to taste you.” He strokes harder, thumbing the tip of his cock.

Sam can hear your gentle cries of pleasure, hear the squelching from below. It’s fucking music to his ears.

“I want to suck on your breasts until you’re panting for me. Then when you’re nice and wet, I want to devour you. Touch you in all the ways I know you like.”

“Sam” it comes out as more of a prayer than a call. He can hear how close youre getting.

“I want to fuck you so bad”

“I need you Sam”

“I know baby. I need you too.”

As your panting picks up, so does Sam’s. Neither of you speak for a couple minutes, just moaning and groaning into the phone, cursing and chanting each other’s names.

“I’m going to cum, Sam”

“Fuck, let me hear you”

Just seconds later you’re unraveling into the mic, calling out Sam’s name. This sends Sam over the edge, moving his hand faster until warmth oozes out of him and drips onto the floor. He groans loud and fulfilled while looking at your photos.

You both take a few moments to come down from the high.

“Please, hurry back to me.”

“I promise.”

[t-the-ring-master]

Funny things that happened to me, my sister, and our best friend in “Escape the backrooms.”

Literally just stuff we did and said while playing. We still are working through it and are on some kind of level on the hotel I think. We hate the dogs.

Okay keywords/names.

Me T: Sword

My sister C: Coco

Our best friend(we’ll call her A I guess): Corgi

Contains spoilers to the game probably.

Level 0: looking for the latter. We all spawn in different places and are using proximity can’t.

Sword: Marco! Marco! MARCO LOSERS!

Corgi: I got the latter!

Sword: *screams bloody murder.*

Level 0: crossing the holed floor to get to the vent. Both Corgi and Coco fell.

Sword: I’m making it.

Coco: she’s not gonna make it.

Sword: I’m making it!

Corgi: she might actually make it.

Sword: I made it! *falls the very second I get there.*

Corgi: she didn’t make it.

Sword: *screams in Spanish because English just didn’t feel right to convey my rage.*

Level 2 (the parking garage): the three girls try to make it past a skin stealer

Coco: there’s a skin stealer.

Corgi: *completely ignores her and gets killed.*

Sword: welp… at least we know what they do now.

Level 2: Skin stealer tries to hit up a couple of girls after murdering their friend/sister

Sword: *sees Coco get killed*

Corgi: I think Coco got killed.

Sword: yeah I saw it

Skin stealer: hey!

Sword: no.

Skin stealer: *literally goes to the window Corgi is watching from* hey.

Corgi: no.

Level 3(?): another version of the parking garage but you need to find a random door to get to the next level. The three girls are in a small room talking and trying to figure out what to do.

Corgi: okay, so one of us needs to go out.

Coco: *is glitched out and watching through the door* yeah he’s gone so we should be good.

Sword: I’ll run and lead him off.

Corgi: *Opens the door and the skin stealer is right there.*

Skin stealer: *Kills everyone and leaves Coco alive. Whom is still standing surrounded by Corgi and Sword’s dead bodies and not even crouching.*

Coco: OH MY GOD!

Skin stealer: *looks her dead in the eyes* hey. *Runs out.*

Coco: wow.

Sword: *in the chat* My man needs to learn how to pick up girls better, because this ain’t it.

Lost track of levels but the one where there’s generators and the weird dogs are there: the girls are on the final three generators.

Coco: *is already dead and is looking at a map for Sword and corgi.*

Corgi: okay, I’m good with the flash light! As long as I don’t die we should be good!

Sword: cool, watch out for the-

Corgi: *walks into the electrified water.*

Sword:…. So about the “as long as I don’t die-“

Still in the dog level (this level took us about 4 weeks to finish oh my god we hated it.): Coco is dead, Corgi and sword finally got the final generator and have to make their way back to the main gate.

Corgi: Final room! We’re gonna make it!

Sword: awesome, just don’t die on me. Keep your flash light on the dog so I can get through the door and lead you-

Corgi: *messes up and gets killed.*

Sword: CORGI! *Starts panicking and somehow manages to get to the main gate after closing the door.*

Sword: I HATE BACKROOMS!

(I managed to make it, I had no clue if more dogs would come so I just sprinted screaming and freaking out -partly in Spanish- because I was now by myself. Did not forgive A for that for a while lol.)

That’s all I can remember for right now. I’ll probably write a little burb about this sometime also more stuff we did/said. We are finally a little ahead in the game but the level we are on got both dogs and skin stealers so we all avoiding like the plague at the moment. I might even do a lethal company for what might happen if the 3 of us played it. (We all want it but don’t got that gamer money and spent it on backrooms 😔)

You all might get some other blurbs of us when we play other games as well, because it’s always chaos. Anyways, bye my darling readers! I gave up on level numbers so fast 💀.

[simpy-reader-inserts]

Blood in the Water (Part 2)

Pairing: Plus size, Fem!Reader x Multi

Wordcount: ???

Summary: A story about hitting rock bottom, in a world that only ever wanted you when you let them walk all over you, and then clawing your way back up out of pure spite.

Warnings: 18+ (Minors DNI), Unreliable narrator, AFAB!Reader, Fem pronouns for reader, hints to past abuse, reader being an absolute pushover and not standing up for herself. Reader has a quirk!

Notes: This is for all the people out there who get nervous about answering the phone, ordering food in person and for those who dread having others disappointed in them. Don't worry though, while it may get worse for the reader at first, it does, and absolutely will, get better.

--

The room was quiet, having an almost homey vibe to it as you looked ahead blankly, unable to do anything other than stare at the coffee stains scattered around the large table between you and your…interviewer.

“A…a job offer?”

As if being back here while missing an interview for a job you actually wanted wasn’t bad enough to begin with.

“Yes, we’re in need of competent medical staff as the number of incidents this year has far exceeded what we’re currently capable of managing without outside assistance.” The…Mouse….thing, Nezu…continued from his seat across from you, the tea sitting before you already cooling as you sat there, unable to find a response. “We’ve been keeping an eye out for trained doctors, nurses and healing quirks, and fortunately for us, you’ve recently become available. I must say, your work on All Might was very impressive, we’d love to have your talents with us here and we’re fully prepared to offer relocation closer to the school, any benefits you may want and a full time salary as compensation.”

This was….

“o-oh. Oh wow I-”

…too good to be true.

“Thank you for the offer, I really a-appreciate it…” You started softly, your shoulders slumping as you hunched over slightly, your hands nervously clenching in your lap. “I’ll definitely consider it- I will! I have another interview planned though, sorry, I don’t want to leave them hanging and not…that’d be so rude.”

“Ah, at the family clinic across town correct?” At your nod, his small, black eyes seemed to shine with an emotion you couldn’t name. “That’s a shame, you’d be sure to secure work at any of the agencies in the city, and your potential to help others would be utilized to the maximum. A family clinic however… ”

“I’ll keep that in mind, I’m very sorry for wasting your time…if this interview doesn’t work out, I’ll most certainly come by to see if you still need help, I promise!” You nearly rushed the words out, eager to be out of the office and off school grounds. “Thank you very much for having me in mind…”

“That’s most alright, we’ll have a position waiting when you need it.”

‘When.’

He smiled.

‘When, not if.’

You nodded happily, perhaps a bit too fast as you tried to hide the subtle shaking of your hands

“I’ll have our information emailed to you, please feel free to contact us if you ever need anything.”

“Okay.”

--

You’d learned not to trust heroes blindly at a young age.

Well before starting your training to be a nurse, you’d been offered many positions with various heroes in the city you grew up in. Small time heroes looking for anything or anyone to help boost their ratings, healing quirks always helping to draw attention as they can just help the hero keep going and going and going until it wasn’t the hero who was worn and too tired to move.

Larger, more popular heroes also contacted your family, promises of safety, of training and the opportunity to help others. To help them and make a name for yourself.

You didn’t want to make a name for yourself though, just the thought of having all that attention on you was enough to send you into hiding, not leaving your room for weeks at a time- your parents eventually having to put their foot down and cut all the offers off before they got to you.

Well, the offers they knew about at least.

More than once an injured hero just ‘happened’ to stumble across you on your way home from school- promising that you wouldn’t get in trouble, but could you please help them? They needed to get back out there to help others.

You were a pushover, how could you say no to someone who looked at you with such pleading eyes?

“Okay.”

It happened again and again and again and again and-

It became too much.

Way too much.

People were starting to look at you, and the day a reporter showed up at your family home asking for an interview with ‘the towns very own Recovery Girl’ was the day you told your parents you were moving out.

To study somewhere else, to get away from this attention and help people in a way that made you feel comfortable.

You’d always wanted to help people- or learned to want to anyway. And no matter how badly the negative side of your quirk sometimes was, it was satisfying in a quiet, subtle way to see people walk away from seeing you with their heads held high and a smile on their face.

One day, you wanted to smile like that too.

--

Sometimes, you felt like a coward, weak and more than ready to topple over at the slightest breeze.

“What do you mean, they said they’d send a message-an…an email or something? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to be a no show…” You pleaded, your face flushed from nerves and pure embarrassment as the woman at the front desk glared down at you, and the fact that she was the wife of the man that owned the clinic didn’t speak highly of his opinion of you either. “I’m so sorry, I swear I’ll contact them and get-”

“’All Might’ to come and tell us that he whisked you away for a meeting? And that you didn’t just throw our very generous offer of full time employment back in our faces?” The lady scoffed, the cold room around you seeming to get smaller and smaller as she sneered at you, various people watching in curiosity, or for some vague sense of amusement to fill the time.

You hated people watching you.

“You were recommended to us very highly and we went out of our way to help you- to offer you a position we can barely even afford to consider. We cleared a day to run you through everything, to get a feel for your character and you just- Spat in our faces. The poor doctor that recommended you will likely never hear the end of this, I hope you know that. Get out.”

“I’m so sorry…”

“Get out. We had so much hinged on you and it’s ruined- you walk in here lying out of your teeth about meeting with heroes and ‘All Might’ giving us his word that you’ve been with him of all people? You can’t even look me in the eye, and you’re expecting me to just believe you? What, are you on something? Are you high? Was that why you were fired from the general hospital? Get. OUT.”

“…okay.”

So, like a coward, you ran.

Ran from all the whispers and the eyes watching you, judging you for what they’d heard.

--

It’d been three weeks since then and you were fast burning through your savings.

Rent, Food, Bills- your brick of a phone was all but abandoned with no hope of having enough credit to call anyone. You’d applied to various clinics around the city and hadn’t heard back from even one yet (You knew why, what with how fast gossip travelled around between businesses here), you’d resorted to applying to even the smallest ad you saw in the paper.

No word back from any of them.

Not even for dog walking or paper deliveries.

Sighing, you lay across your sofa, the late night movies playing softly in the background as a hope for distraction from your thoughts, the cool air blowing in through your open window carrying the faint sounds of the city with it.

An email sat mockingly in your inbox with U.A’s logo blaring loudly across the top, and Nezu had even been kind enough to include a list of all agencies in the city looking for a healer.

You didn’t want to.

You’d rather bite your own tongue off than go back and be talked into something you couldn’t turn down- especially when they just had to know that they were your only option left. Here on your own, you were more than willing to admit that they’d drag you in and never let you go free again. You’d be healing hero after hero, and be pulled into the spotlight when that was everything you wanted to avoid and more.

But in person?

Well, you were a pushover.

A coward.

So you did what you did best and hid away in your home, avoiding even the thought of having to go and sign your life away just to be able to eat.

‘When was the last time I actually at? Damn quirk, I’d kill for a snack right now…’

*BANG BANG*

Startled, you sat up sharply, almost falling from your sofa as you waited for your door to fly off its hinges again- to be dragged away to that hell of a school and-

*BANG BANG BANG BANG*

“OI! OI (Y/N) ARE YOU HOME??!” A shaky voice called from outside, not even minding that it was nearing midnight.

That…wasn’t All Might.

Or any hero you’d met so far…

Whoever they were, you could already see the tell-tale fog of an injury seeping in from the cracks of your door.

*BANG*

“PLEASE TELL ME YOU’RE HOME! PLEASE!?” The voice was distressed, that was for sure, so without giving it much though, you replied, already getting up and making your way over.

“C-Coming!”

“Thank fuck! Hurry up!”

Rushing over to the door, you hesitated only for a moment before unlocking the various chains and locks you’d installed in hopes of…well keeping your door.

And the second it was opened, you took one look at the dark haired man before you (a neighbour from downstairs, he always said hello when you met to collect your mail. Asked how you were. Smiled at you- he had a strange smile.) and fell back into years of detached practice.

The fog you were all too familiar with hang heavily around you both, seeping between you like you’d just taken an overly hot shower on a freezing day.

“You’re a nurse, right (Y/N)?”

Oh god.

“I’ll call an ambulance! Just stay there!”

“NO! NO hospitals, Just- Just move. Let me in and shut the door. Please?”

His hand was clenched tightly to his side as he pushed past you and into your home, a faint trail of blood dropping to your floor behind him- you closed the door quickly, taking your eyes off him for a moment as he braced himself against your wall, likely staining that as well.

“Please go to the kitchen then, I’ll get some towels!”

And with that you acted on auto pilot, your body moving through the well-practiced movements of helping him sit down (which was hard considering how much taller he was than you, how did he even fit through your door?), of putting pressure on the now obvious knife wound in his side, of telling him to give you his arm.

You couldn’t just patch this up normally, it was a jagged, bleeding mess.

Hell, even calling an ambulance at this point seemed like it wouldn’t be fast enough.

…fuck, you were so weak sometimes.

“Alright, please just relax…” With that you ran your tongue across your teeth, inwardly cringing at how unsanitary this was.

“What are you- AHH! YOU CRAZY BITCH!”

Then you bit down.

Eyes clenched tightly shut, you focused on the rush you felt, on the sharp biting taste of blood- on the harsh buzz of the pain running through his body.

Running through your body, as if it were your own.

Slowly, you bit down harder, the mans struggles and the hand threading into your hair not registering as you focused on your work.

You hadn’t used your quirk like this in so long, it was almost a relief, almost like stretching your legs after a 15 hour flight

(Aside from that one, brief moment of weakness you had with All Might not too long ago)

Your mouth slowly filled with blood, and you did your best to just let it run out and onto the floor, to not swallow any as you fought back a gag at the feel of it.

“GET OFF ME!”

That sharp irritating feel in your side was quickly abating, and as your eyes squinted open at a harsh shake from the man in your hold, you could see how fast the fog around you was lifting.

More blood, and more pained yells from the man trying to pull you off.

‘This must have really hurt when it happened’ You thought silently to yourself, cringing as he cursed at you before scolding yourself for not having any numbing creams handy, already knowing how badly the bloody, soon to be inflamed, bite mark you’d leave would hurt for the following days.

And then, almost as soon as it started,

you were done.

The man abruptly stopped yelling, his hand going slack in your hair as he gaped in disbelief- his once injured side now perfectly fine aside from being covered in blood. You quickly unclenched your jaw, pulling away from his slowly bleeding arm and having just enough time to untangle his hand from your hair before rushing to the sink and dry heaving.

You hated the feeling of blood in your mouth.

But at least you could see around clearly again.

“…Well Shit, that’s new.” You heard the man mumble to himself as he wiped at his side, marvelling at the unmarked area as you rinsed your mouth out and turned to look at him, already regretting not just calling an ambulance for him and risking it. “Fuck, you’re good. Real good, I’m not even aching. Thanks a ton babe, I don’t know what I would have done without you…”

“What….what happened?” You managed to whisper out, pushing your hair out of your face as you took in his appearance properly for the first time- ignoring the obvious blood stains left over from your efforts.

And upon glimpsing the gun he had tucked into his belt, your face went white.

“Look, nothing personal, let’s just say I was mugged and call it that. I remembered you talking about your job one time so I gambled on it- good thing I always come out on top thanks to my quirk, huh? I just thought you knew how to stitch me up, but I really lucked out today!” He smiled.

It wasn’t a friendly smile, but not unkind either.

It was a warning- subtle, but still there.

“I’m going home to try to sleep this entire day off. Here, keep your mouth shut about this and I’ll make it worth your while- you’re a smart woman (Y/N)…” And with that he pushed a bloodied hand into his pocket, rummaging around for a moment before pulling out a rather large stack of notes…

You shouldn’t.

You should run and call for help.

You should call the police, call Nezu and have him send someone to help you.

But you were…weak, weak of will, of conviction. One push and you’d more than willingly move in whatever direction people wanted you to go.

But you were also a coward, and you were scared of going to Nezu and asking for a job, scared of being used and used and used and used-

You’d die if you were pushed into a life like that, you knew it. Used by hero after hero until you were old and grey like Recovery girl, not able to retire even if you wanted too.

“O-Okay. Thank you so much…Have a nice n-night?”

And you were left alone in your apartment just as quickly as your company showed up, your clothing almost as crimson stained as your floor and towels. Silently panicking as you shook in place, your knees falling weak beneath you as you dropped to the floor and cried- all the events of the past few weeks bursting over in desperation.

You were a coward, but the thing about cowards?

They ran, they hid, they survived.

You wanted to survive.

[adzeisval]

Raid 58

On their 58th raid Ivan is killed. Also on AO3.

Izzy woke up with a start and realized he overslept. He groaned and got ready as quickly as he could. If all had gone right with the currents overnight they should be near their next target. 

Izzy made it up on deck to find Fang at the wheel and Ivan peering off the starboard side of the Revenge. 

“Has the Captain been on deck this morning?” he asked Fang. 

“No boss,” Fang said. 

Izzy nodded, “We close to the target?” 

“Yes. Everyone else is getting ready.” 

“I’ll get him,” Izzy said. He wasn’t sure what sort of mood Ed would be in when he entered the cabin. He never knew what sort of mood Ed would be in at any given moment these days.

“That you Izzy?” 

“Yes, we’re…” 

“Almost at the target. I know. What I don’t know is why I’m only hearing about this now,” Ed said. 

“Sorry Captain I overslept,” Izzy said. In the past that might have earned a laugh or a good natured ribbing from Ed, but not now. Now Ed glared at him. Izzy started to sweat, surely this wasn’t an offense worth a toe was it? 

“Do it again and we’ll have a problem, we have a record to break after all,” Ed said. Izzy nodded. Ned Low’s record. A ridiculous amount of raids in such a short time. They hadn’t been to land for…nearly two months now. They got their supplies from raids only. Izzy had spent his life at sea, but even he liked to go on land now and then. It was good for morale too which was quickly slipping with every raid. 

Izzy pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind, the raid was nearing and he had to get himself into the proper mood, it wasn’t the time to mope about. 

The merchant vessel appeared to be lightly armed and still unaware of the fast approaching Revenge. It should be an easy job all things considered. Izzy hoped there were some good supplies on board. They needed more food. They needed gunpowder. They needed medical supplies. They needed to go to land. 

“Ready! Let’s get what we can!” Ed yelled as they boarded the ship. Izzy had spotted five guards on the deck of the ship, a manageable number since they didn’t have long to prepare. 

Izzy took down one of them almost immediately after he landed on the deck and went after another. A shot rang out and then another. 

“Izzy! Fuck, Izzy!” Jim was yelling from somewhere behind him and he turned to see Jim crouching over Ivan. Izzy ran to them taking time to slice open a guard before kneeling. Ivan was shaking and ashen, Jim’s hands were clamped tight to Ivan’s neck. 

“Fuck,” Izzy said, “Let me see Jim.” Izzy knew what he would see, with that much blood on Jim’s hands. He didn’t really need to see the wound to know it was fatal. Izzy took a quick look as Jim lifted their hands then put his hand tight on Ivan’s neck. 

Ivan was still conscious and looked weakly between Izzy and Jim. 

“Izzy?” Jim asked.

Izzy looked around and saw most of the merchant crew subdued, they didn’t need Izzy or Jim for the moment. They could both stay with Ivan as he died. 

“Hold his hand Jim,” Izzy said softly. Jim did so with a curse under their breath. Izzy took Ivan’s other hand and squeezed. 

“You did good Ivan, it’s alright, we’ve got you,” Izzy said. Ivan looked up at him eyes dull, the pulse of blood at his neck growing weaker. It was only a few moments until it stopped. Izzy took his hand off Ivan’s neck but held his hand a few moments longer. 

“Fuck,” Jim said. 

“Nothing we could have done Jim,” Izzy said. 

“I know,” Jim said. 

“Izzy, Jim.” 

Izzy looked up to see Ed standing there. He glanced briefly down at Ivan before looking back at Izzy. 

“Come on, we’ve got loot to take over then I’m burning this fucker down,” Ed said. 

“We have to get Ivan…” 

“Leave him, he’s going in the sea either way,” Ed said. 

“What?” 

“You heard me, now get the fucking loot unless you two want to stay here and burn as well,” Ed said. 

Izzy stared at Ed a moment longer before reaching a hand out to Jim. He could see that Ed meant it, if they stayed or tried to move Ivan they’d be fucked. Izzy and Jim stood and approached the rest of the crew. 

“Does he want us to get the loot before Ivan?” Fang asked.

“We’re leaving him here,” Izzy said. 

“What…no…he…” 

“Yes, I…you’d better say your goodbyes Fang,” Izzy said. Izzy felt…he didn’t know how he felt as he took loot back to the Revenge. It was wrong. They had time to take Ivan back. They were in complete control of the situation. If things had gone south and they had to make a hasty retreat Izzy would understand leaving Ivan’s body then but now? It felt wrong. It wasn’t like Ed. 

Izzy and the rest of the crew stood and watched as the merchant vessel burned and slipped into the sea. Fang was crying softly to Izzy’s right. 

“Come on! We have treasure to stow away and another ship to catch tomorrow morning!” Ed yelled. 

“Let’s get to it,” Izzy said.

Later that morning Izzy sat in the galley drinking a cup of coffee and thinking. He was angry. Not holding a funeral for Ivan, just leaving him to burn on the ship was wrong. They didn’t have to do it, it wasn’t an act of desperation. It was stupid, something like that could easily get a crew to mutiny. What the hell was Ed doing? 

“Izzy?” 

“Sorry, did you say something, Fang?” 

“We’re going to hold a little ceremony for Ivan on deck before dinner,” Fang said, “If you want to come.” 

“I probably will. I…need to talk to the Captain. If I’m not there you can start without me,” Izzy said. 

“Alright,” Fang said. 

Izzy needed to figure out what was going on before Ed turned the crew against him. He needed to know why he had just left Ivan there and didn’t say goodbye or anything. 

“Captain? Ed?” Izzy looked around the room. 

“What the fuck do you want?”

“Edward what the fuck was that all about?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about mate,” Ed said plopping down on a chair and taking a knife out to fiddle with. 

“Ivan,” Izzy said. 

“Hmm. We’ll get someone on the next raid, we still have enough manpower for raids,” Ed said. 

“The crew aren’t very happy with leaving him behind,” Izzy said. 

“He’s in the same place he would have been, we’re not going to land to bury him. The sea has him,” Ed said. 

“The crew…Ed if you do enough of that they might…” 

“What? Mutiny? Maybe,” Ed shrugged, “But I’ll worry about that later.” 

“Ed…” 

“No. You’re just sore because a crew of imbeciles mutinied on you in less than a day. Fucking pathetic. I should have let them toss you over. What did you do to get them to mutiny so fast?” 

Izzy’s cheeks burned with shame at the memory.

“Isn’t this what you wanted, Izzy?” 

“I…” Izzy didn’t know how to respond to that, “You should have…” Ed jumped up and threw the knife just past Izzy’s head. Ed rounded on Izzy and pushed him up against the wall pulling the knife free and holding it to Izzy’s neck. 

“Are you ordering me around First Mate Hands?” 

“No Captain,” he said. 

“It sounded like you were,” Ed said, “I take that as a threat.” 

“I…I wasn’t…” 

“Take your boot off Izzy,” Ed said. 

“Ed?” Izzy looked at the man he’d known for so long and saw something he’d never seen before. Ed’s eyes were usually so expressive, they were almost blank.

“Alright we’ll do this the hard way,” Ed said. Ed punched Izzy in the gut and Izzy went down. Izzy groaned and gasped. Ed made quick work of getting Izzy’s boot off. Every instinct Izzy had told him to fight but…he couldn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to fight Ed and he might end up getting hurt worse if he did and…

Izzy screamed as the knife severed his toe. He tried to keep it to one scream but he couldn’t help the moans that came after.

“There we are,” Ed said, “Now open up.” 

Tears streamed down his face as Izzy opened his mouth. He knew what it would taste like and he already felt like vomiting. He somehow managed to choke down the toe. 

“Now clean this fucking mess up and get back to work,” Ed said, leaving the cabin. Izzy couldn’t move for a few moments. How had it come to this? He hadn’t really thought that Edward would take another toe. Izzy had no idea how to make the situation better; he wasn’t sure exactly what the situation was.

Well, the situation was that Ed was going mad because of fucking Stede Bonnet. And because of Izzy himself. Izzy had no idea how to fix it. Izzy looked at his bleeding foot and thought he should leave. 

No. 

He couldn’t leave the crew, and he couldn’t abandon Edward. Izzy focused on what he could fix, or at least mitigate. He found a scrap of cloth to bandage his foot and cleaned the blood from the floor. Izzy went to his room to clean up a little bit better and then made it out on deck for Ivan’s improvised funeral. 

Izzy tried not to limp and he hoped if it looked like he had been crying that they would assume he had been crying for Ivan.

Ed wasn’t there and Izzy was glad; he didn’t know if he could face the man just yet. The crew gave him odd looks and he belatedly realized they had probably heard him screaming. 

Fang led the memorial and Izzy tried to pay attention to what was being said but his foot was throbbing and he felt defeated and drained. 

Ed appeared just as the funeral was ending.

“Good news! We’ll have time to hit the next ship before dark, get ready, we’re raiding in a half hour,” Ed said. 

Izzy looked at Edward and didn’t recognize the man before him. He knew, he hoped, that the Edward he had known most of his life was still there under the pain.

Izzy didn’t know how to get Edward back. Izzy and Ed were too tangled together. Izzy had just let the man cut off his toe and feed it to him. Izzy still felt sick over it. Part of this was Izzy’s fault. The worst part was that it wasn’t just Ed and Izzy suffering, the crew was paying for it as well. Izzy couldn’t mutiny against Ed. He couldn’t do it. He could protect the crew as best he could, he supposed. 

Izzy didn’t know what else to do.

[lenievi]

snw2 #9

My personal episode ranking based on my enjoyment: 3 - 9 - 6 - 4 - 2 - 8 - 1 - 7 - 5

(this is my second time watching the episode)

- this is what bothered me about episode 6. Why wasn’t La’an welcoming him and doing a security check back then? Why could Kirk just move through the ship without escort? Was it because Pike was a fleet captain and Farragut was also “his” so a free movement of personnel was okay? idk (I probably won’t finish the post ep 6 fic now, but this was a thing I wanted to address in it lol)

- love how Kirk just immediately glances at La’an in the middle of his talk with Una

“Good to see you again, La’an. You still owe me that drink, if I’m not mistaken.” - he just decided it’s gonna be an ongoing joke between them lmao

- you know, some people are so excited about Korby - but like Chapel is gonna give up her career because of him, you know? What is so good about that relationship? People will be like good for her for going after what she wants and then... she will give up her career because of him........... (I mean SNW will probably do a subversion - unless they won’t - and have her return to Starfleet because that’s what her true path is or something, but we don’t know that yet. And people seem to want Chapel to become who she was in TOS...)

- OMFG I missed that Spock called Uhura “Nyota” the first time!!!!! I also like how this episode started to show more of Uhura’s flirty side and how much she was aware of Spock in this episode. I don’t think they’re ever gonna do Spock/Uhura in SNW, but they’re finally giving me what I wanted, showing them working together, showing her teasing him, and hopefully, one day, we’ll see them work on duets together

- I absolutely LOVE that Spock was the first to start singing. And Iove how the characters just reacted “wtf is happening”. And I love Pike’s reactions so much

- I love how La’an just marches to the bridge, Kirk slowly coming after her - probably thinking wow she really wants to get away from me fast - and then she starts singing and he’s all surprised Pikachu face lmao

this opening musical number is so funny. I love it so much

- no but really, Spock/Uhura scenes are so good

- so grateful for that Una/Kirk scene and conversation and a DUET!

- Wesley really studied Shatner, he even moves like him 

- I love Christina Chong’s song~

- I love the Sam and Kirk scene so much, but also Kirk just calling Uhura “Nyota” to mess with Sam is so funny

- I’m repeating myself but I just LOVE the scene between Pike and Batel lmao Pike just getting down on his knees sdhsjfhjshjfhsdj And we now know she’s called Marie~

- I’m so happy they gave me Kirk and La’an working together and still kind of mirroring their dynamic from Tomorrow3, but since Kirk isn’t the captain, he’s more apologetic (but not really). But he just wants to spend time with La’an (I’m probably gonna talk about this later in another post, but I think that because he has feelings for La’an - which he might not have actually been aware of until later - he just feels good around her and he sees working with her as working with anyone else - and she isn’t a scientist, she’s a tactician like him - but because he does have those feelings and feels really comfortable with her, sometimes the lines get blurry. But tbh it’s similar to the hot dog period and Kirk wasn’t flirting with her back then either)

- when Una sings about secrets and how they can keep you up at night and cut like a knife and it’s showing M’Benga and Chapel 👀

and then “a road to a ruin” and cut to Spock

- “We make a good pair. We should team up more often.” 🥺

- “Jim.” <3 (I kinda like that she was the first one - except for Sam - to use it, since everyone is like “James”. And ofc Pike in the finale but different timeline)

- of course, Kirk should see that La’an doesn’t treat him as a “friend” (he’s not stupid) and shouldn’t encourage her, but again, because I don’t think he’s in love with Carol, he’s forgetting himself because he feels the connection between himself and La’an, and he wants to enjoy the short time they have together. It’s not like they can meet that often. And lbr he’s not actually doing or saying anything inappropriate, but he isn’t innocent either (as in “he’s just like this, it’s all friendly, means nothing, he’s just misunderstood because ‘society’”. It’s not because he later says he “feels the connection”, so his actions are influenced by that connection and “i felt like i knew you”) - he is in a relationship, even if he thinks it’s a complicated one.

- is the Klingon captain played by Hemmer’s actor?

- Uhura and Spock just going to Chapel, and Spock making her feel things in order to make her sing. Cool guys. You brought this on yourself, Spock.

- when Jim messed up, it was when he asked La’an “Am I anything like the other me?” (his voice all changed). Well, I mean he was definitely caught in the moment and didn’t really think in that moment, and it backfired because when La’an told him that she liked how he looked at her, that he really saw her, he realized the gravity of the situation and what he was doing.

I think the dialogue was a bit awkward, since they needed to give us info, but I don’t think Kirk needed to tell La’an “I think you’d like Carol. She’s a lot like you.” - even though I guess it was meant as “I know you loved the other me, but I think you’d be happy with the choice I made here.” (even though I have feelings for you too^^)

(in any case I don’t think Kirk is in love with Carol, as I mentioned before. She’s important to him, she’s going to have his child, but he isn’t in love with her. That was always my impression from TWOK, and SNW just made that reading also possible. Maybe later seasons will invalidate it idk but for now, I’m going with this, because if I write a fic, I’m gonna go with it too. Now I wonder if I ever mentioned Carol in my mckirk fics, or if I only alluded to Janet hmmm Janet was always the one who broke Kirk’s heart for me; Carol and Areel were never serious relationships in my head.)

also in any case don’t @ me about how Kirk was disrespectful towards both Carol and La’an. I know that. Kirk’s an asshole. Yes, I like him anyway.

- people get obsessed with Spock telling Kirk “let me help” so I hope they also get obsessed with Uhura telling Spock “let me help” :P

- does the Enterprise only have 200 members? How???? It’s 430 in TOS....

- I love how Jim is like “points at Sam” while singing “we work better all together” (also he just casually seats at La’an’s console..... I know you’re a phaser officer or whatever, but it’s not your ship)

- I’ll also take the smile Kirk and La’an shared during the final number as “no hard feelings; we can still work together because we make a good team” (since s3 is far in the future anyway) 

- Spock really loves being the crew of the Enterprise. His running forward and joining the dance 🥺

- I also like they chose to put Kirk next to La’an when they’re all connected. It probably means nothing, but I do not care lol (I’m kinda sad they didn’t show the right side when they were all hugging and shaking hands, because I’d like to see if Kirk and La’an ignored each other like Spock and Chapel or not) [Also Pike and Una hugged in the blurred background and they didn’t show that either :/]

- Spock and his blood wine lol

[the-firebird69]

A jaguar seeks help from humans to save her cub #shorts

Donald Trump is a threat to me all the time and to my husband he posted against him I wanna hear the results he should be under arrest.

Hera

we do see it and there are implications.  andthey are big.  he is under scrutiny now and ahs the world watching. and a good time for teh post. and our son abused a lot.  The fact that he said I was an inventor here in extraordinary and others like me are oppressed suppressed held down but I sort of have to but this guy is a menace to my life well I really thought their attention is on the other end of the spectrum and it's doing you with her a lot of good. And she's looking at like you got us to help her and you did but he's looking at it like she's got new people my people to help me and he's saying it and she did it and she does it a lot he says it's gotta be her and it's true he's stuck down there shivering and not feeling good she helped write it and a lot of us know that we were commending her so now she needs help and she's wanted it all day so what we say is we're on it doing the job but they're saying stupid things to her she got help and it helped a lot and it said where is he is doing the job she's popping in she got excited and said we can hear him and see him and we did it and out of them came a bunch of stuff a lot of people see it is getting better this routine might repeat itself we have to be ready for it will be other clans going through this and we need to know and we need to know what will happen and what to do I don't know schwarzenegger is going through it right now they grab him and they harm him pretty good other clans finally get up to it and and they figure out that he's a role model and they're all suffering and they beat them down very very badly and they keep them down. Then the **** start calling foreigners and they get killed a lot and we mean the ****. And they're a scourge but boy the Macs are worse.

----+ Right now there is a fleet of ships It is the fast ship saucer fleet and it is somewhat combined they have a lot of really fast designs that go fast in space we got there they we got there they were about 3.1 trillion ships OK we've been calling it trillion it's really a billion and they keep having us do that the other fleets were 2 billion for the Star Wars fleet 3 billion for the star Blazers and this fleet is 3.1 billion the the Battlestar Galactica Fleet was 4 billion and that is just a way too many ships but that's how many ships there are you think on Earth there's probably three 100,000 trillion no it's 300 trillion automobiles so four billion spaceships and some of them are half a lot of them are half mile isn't really that many half miles a little bit bigger than the biggest ship our son was seeing on the ocean it's not really that big. However this fleet is now at 1.5 billion yeah we'll probably work down to million OK that's a lot of spaceships it's a lot of ocean vessels and ridiculous you'd see them everywhere so just imagine millions instead of billion and Dr Evil is making fun of them and he should it's a crap **** thing to do and boy these people are crappy but Dr Evil has his drawbacks. Right now they started out at about 3.5 million which is a hefty number it is a lot of ships and then they work their way down to 1.5 million and they are going to experience a lot of loss in a moment they are on board the ships right now yelling and screaming for revenge screaming out stuff getting on the radio which reaches Earth screaming at people threatening Earth threatening Venus and Titan and the fleet and they're screaming it into the radio. We hear some responses slow down so we can get what to do to you. That's Daniel. You're saying because I'm getting mad that's Michael too and he also said I can't understand what you're saying. Donald Trump said get out of the ships so I can take them back over whoever you are no he's the one ordering this nonsense and he doesn't think it's nonsense even though they're gonna be gone and no fleet will be there it's very strange he's kind of a massive loser yeah that's what he is so instead of doing anything he's sitting there saying all such a weird **** that's what's happening here so also they're saying bizarre things about our son and daughter that we care not to repe that we care not to repeat and there's threatening us sending out misses and they started to signal us they do it all the time several ships started to try and write a threat with lasers and they were stopped and yeah some gets rid of them using that but boy what a pain so we heard this for the past hour Check something 100 56 but everyone is in time around the room is down at the house what do you think about that do you have a survivor the empire you're gonna check I don't see anything but it's checking it was I don't like it it's checking up on me it says it keeps on changing keep playing with my business that's bothering you in a far we can talk about the future do you need to stop doing it internet if you're out if I'm correct I know it speaking about it it's not because yes they are it does so you want to get smoke away but when you talk to people I'm very well after you kind of excited and I'll cancel it too I don't know I don't know we'll give you money cause you're mentally **** I don't like what they're what they're doing something to sit on it except for their friend I don't believe it's really creepy found it really has their own way of seeing it fairly community and it's different that was astounding in Westerville what's important during the Lucene War what's founded like I couldn't believe it I said that is too big so you I suppose some part of the country just a stellar importance and you're from Concord and then of course is where they start the recognition effort over here it's a very very close and they're not going there i'm not going there so he knows who and he gets it it starts bringing him out so the ships are out there cutting hair off and they're like screaming faces index asinine stuff real **** and we're lasting them the blasted for the past 10 minutes that have screen entered we need you to help me with beyond her so tell me you're there not threatening here and Mercedes you don't find anything so we have it but she's going to what are they saying so we're talking about that little tag that's out of the statement so she wants to get a result of you too I only hear it but I gotta make sure that I do my duty she knows OK man that is good morning soon enough I'll be right back i'll be right back where I started you there I'll be there i'll be there i'll be there so the screaming is yelling at you all day taking your time taking our time screwing up that's enough they're playing strewn around people losing their stuff joyously streaming yelling I hear you one day you're going to hear decent math one piece it says you're the biggest **** on Earth and I'm coming up when you found out about Newport you know Tommy Anthony pushed off probably out of Florida not too long after because he's going to engage them and you're going to see them going on a little bit and he was oh man you'll be trapped with nothing then he says this it's a **** There is some gobbledygook above now but basically the ships are down to one point five trillion ok billion alright million and it is million that's ridiculous they're huge their ships are heavily fortified they're special and they have decent shields but they're running low on energy. They're screaming and yelling they know about it they're trying to break free and they can't. Tons of them are in fear and we're giving them instructions on how to abandon ship and they won't and they will kill any of theirs that leave so we see ponds leaving the whole time and they do escape most of them are captured lots of them wander in space for awhile then they die of course and here's how it is these people like very poor and they're very mean but usually they can recover from even this kind of thing and it's awful go the fleet is now trying to heat up and they are trying to heat up the rest of their fleet the other half we're gearing up to cut them to ribbons before they can fire right now 10% is engaged and it looks like 20% in the next minute and they will be out fairly soon. And she'll be fine. We have people here that are yours and we'll keep you up to date and she says she wants him there. And we we do see that and she wants to be aggressive now he's saying to be aggressive for these people these are ships that Harrah and I designed a lot of them and we did Olympus and we want them back their hours so we should be pushy and angry the same with the stone ships those are our designs or our ships and we're gonna start getting this tons of nuada and Ariana showed up to talk to him and wondered why and he said these are our designs we're gonna recover them and they're moving on it and they're starting to get it back all of it I've never had so much joy in my heart after hearing him say it.

Thor Freya

and dont go you duunce ahhaa h no you know i print due to running out of tpe area and yes i see.  so go ahead now

Hera

Zues

Olympus

[sabrgirl]

Hello! I'm so enjoying your newsletters lately 🤍

Do you have advice for reverts participating in Ramadan who do not have many friends or family who are Muslim? No one in my family knows that I have reverted, and I know very few Muslims in my life. I understand that many Ramadan practices are personal and done in solace, but I feel sad that I have no one to celebrate Eid with. How can I make this Ramadan special for myself?

salam :) oh, jazakallah that makes me so happy! ♡

this is a very valid and normal feeling, even for people who are born muslim, so you’re definitely not alone in how you feel.

for making ramadan special alone:

try and set daily goals that you want to work on every day during ramadan. do you want to finish the Qur’an from start to finish and have a set amount of pages to read per day? do you want to do a specific amount of dhikr each day? giving yourself something to work towards can help you enjoy your own company while you work on yourself alone

decorate your room !! fairy lights, moon and star stickers etc. there are lots of ramadan decor ideas you can search for on pinterest, that’s definitely my go-to. decorating your home or room can make you feel happier in your own company, spending time there by yourself in worship as it’s nice to look at and be in

Allah says, when talking about ramadan, “The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was sent down as a guidance for mankind with clear proofs of guidance and discrimination. Therefore, whosoever of you is present at home in this month, let him fast therein. But whoso is sick or is on a journey, shall fast the same number of other days. Allah desires to give you facility and He desires not hardship for you, and that you may complete the number, and that you may exalt Allah for His having guided you and that you may be grateful. And when My servants ask you about Me, say: ‘I am near. I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays to Me. So they should hearken to Me and believe in Me, that they may follow the right way.” (2:186-187). the fact that He says ‘I am near’ right after talking about ramadan and fasting shows that you won’t be alone, He is telling you that He is close even when you feel lonely. try and find comfort in that and spend time with Him during ramadan. really try and feel His presence there with you. sit on your prayer mat after you pray to do some dhikr — or, remain seated and do anything else too! sometimes, when I’ve finished praying, I like to bring my laptop and do some work while I’m still sitting on my prayer mat to feel like I’m still in the company of Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ. talk to Him too, out loud or in your heart, and really make Him your Friend. i can guarantee that this will definitely make you feel less alone and feel happier that you’re in the company of Allah. when you recite Qur’an out loud too, the angels come down and listen. so when you do read Qur’an throughout ramadan, know that there are many angels in the room with you!

there are also lots of muslim discord groups that you can join and talk to other fellow muslims - i’m sure many are in the same boat as you and you can make lots of virtual friendships there as well Insha’Allah.

is there a mosque or an islamic centre near you? you can also visit there and, maybe—you never know!— after seeing familiar faces every day, you might end up making friends!

if anything, i’ll be doing my ramadan challenge and you can do it with me too if you’d like :) that way we’ll be doing the same things together ♡

as for celebrating Eid alone:

spending time by yourself that day can still be really fun. what do you like doing? going for a walk? going shopping? what are your favourite movies? make a whole list of things you’re going to do on the day— a whole packed itinerary of things you love. maybe you’ll wake up and pray and go to the mosque? then you’ll go to a cafe or get some brunch or buy some boba and treat yourself. then maybe you’ll come home and cook some lovely food or order your favourite takeout and light some candles, watch your favourite movie, put on a face mask. something like that! you can still make it a fun day out for yourself and treat yourself.

although you don’t have many muslim friends, if you have other non-muslim friends, you could perhaps still enjoy with them? i almost wasn’t able to go home to my family (as I live on campus at university) this year so, i know my muslim friends are going to be busy with their families, but my other friends who are christian saw that I was sad that I was going to be alone for eid and told me they’d celebrate it with me and dress up, try and cook asian food for me hahah and watch a movie with me. now, alhamdulillah, i am able to go home to my family for eid Insha’Allah but my point is, if you have other close friends who aren’t muslim and they know how much it means to you, perhaps tell them that you’d really like to spend the day with them so that you feel less alone on the day

overall, the main thing i’d say is to enjoy being in the company of Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ and really feel His presence, and also to set goals that you can work on during ramadan and feel comfortable in your own company as well. either way, it will boost your spirituality. I pray that you feel happy throughout ramadan rather than lonely and that your struggles bring you closer to Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ and His Mercy, Ameen. if you need any further tips, do send me another ask!! ♡

[2-lines-and-a-circle]

Tamaki Suoh, he’s an almond.

Disclaimer: Most of the post has spoilers and is mainly based on the anime. 

Link to where it all started: 2 Lines & A Circle : Flavors of love: chocolate edition So I was... (tumblr.com)

As I have previously mentioned in the description of team almond, Tamaki is undoubtedly a member of team almond. He is the very base of what makes someone an almond. While I dive deep into his making of an almond, please keep in mind I will use the anime for my references instead of the manga. Now that we have that out of the way let’s go!

Team almond details: 2 Lines & A Circle : Flavor of Love: Team Almond In-depth Description (tumblr.com)

Let’s start from the outward appearance of Tamaki, since it plays an important role. Whatever you see from the outside is typically what you get on the inside. For Tamaki, we see how he has this princely gentleman look, which is undoubtedly a part of him. One of Tamaki’s first moments are of him actually trying to teach Haruhi the gentlemen ways of the pinky.

In contrast to Kyoya, we see a much softer look to our princely host, this creates a more approachable look that draws people. Having a friendly atmosphere is a striking note that he belongs with team almond. Similar to him is Tetsurō Kuroo who also shares a more approachable look to their character design. The two typically have a smile on their face that is an honest representation of how they’re feeling. On top of that, we see the two are constantly surrounded by people. An almond is almost never left on their own voluntarily, Tamaki is no exception.

At Tamaki’s very core he is someone who feeds off of helping others and being surrounded by those close to him. It’s no lie that he values quality time more than anything too. All in all this adds to his qualities of being on team almond, but that isn’t exactly all there is to it.

Team almond is the representation that the more you grow to know someone the more you grow you see of them. At the same time, you’re not leaving them behind, rather you’re voluntarily seeking out more of them. Which is similar to when you eat a chocolate bar with almonds. The more you bite through the more almonds you come across, but you’re not stopping yourself. Applying this ideology to Tamaki and we’ll see how he matches the mold.

From the start of the anime, we form the idea that Tamaki is a fool who is too kind and enjoys the fun of life. Yet, the show continues one we see that just isn't all there is to him as a character. For instance, when he meets Shiro, Tamaki doesn’t hesitate to take him under his wing to be a host. In fact, after learning his reason for trying to be a host, Tamaki then sprints full speed ahead. Or during the newspaper episode Tamaki never doesn’t back down in helping them despite their bad intentions being increasingly obvious. Despite all this one might ask what Tamaki gets in return for helping others. Well, the answer is nothing, see Tamaki feels the happiest when he is helping others. Another way to think about it is an instinct for him to always extend a handout to those in need.

Leadership is a strong characteristic of those who belong in team almond. Many members of this team are those who lead instead of follow. As a leader they aspire to accomplish a simpler goal than something overly complicated. Something like sharing happiness or getting number one are such examples. The other detail about Tamaki’s leadership is how natural it is. He is someone who takes action to make things happen the most, even if some of his ideas are planted by Kyoya. This is seen as he is fast to start the club with ideas of who to get as well as how fast he shuts the club down. There’s also no struggle in status or position with someone from team almond as a leader.

Besides all of these qualities there are plenty more I could list on and on, but that's for another time. In the end, Tamaki has the complete list of traits that make up team almond. This doesn't set him apart from his teammates either as he shares those qualities with them. Still, it goes to show how at his core Tamaki wouldn’t belong in any other team besides team almond.

[ntshfiqwrites]

The start of my BMDP journey

Finally putting this space to good use.

Bismillah.

So a week ago, I received a phone call from an unknown number. Naturally, the introvert in me froze and I rejected the call. Turns out, it was an executive from the Bone Marrow Donor Programme.

Apparently, in 2013, I signed up to be a donor under the programme and I remember providing a sample of my cheek swab so that they can create a database of donors.

Fast forward to 2023, and I am a match for a patient who needs a stem cell transplant. If I am deemed healthy, I could proceed with the donation and help save a life.

Sounds good, right?

To be honest, when I received the news that I could be a viable donor for patient X, my first reaction was fear. I immediately thought about whether I could say no. You may be thinking, why would I react in such a way, especially since I volunteered to be a donor?

When I signed up for the programme, I did so 10 years ago, when I was a bright-eyed girl who wanted to do good. However, I think it’s quite reasonable to expect that feelings can change over time. The thought of the medical procedure I had to go through (even though I wasn’t fully informed of what it entails) naturally scared me.

Not only that, I also remember the rep who talked to me told me that they needed to build a database of donors, and should I be a potential match with a patient, I still have the option to say no. I also remember him/her saying that the probability of being matched with someone is quite low. All these gave me the assurance I needed back then to sign up.

When I got the message that I could be a potential donor, it took me a while to process the information, and naturally there was a lot of fear about what I have to go through. My mum, a natural worrier, fuelled my fears. My sister and husband, however, felt that this was a great opportunity for me to do something good. Absolutely, there is no doubt about that. 

To quell my fears, I did my research. I read the information booklet that I was provided, along with a video clip that they provided; an interview with a donor. The interview in particular helped to ease my fears. I also had a virtual meeting with my donor executive who explained the process that I had to go through. I was able to surface any concerns I had, and fortunately, my executive was able to address my concerns.

Eventually, I agreed to proceed. I could not deal with the thought that my fears would prevent someone from having a longer life. I had to muster the courage and do it!

After having the time to process my emotions, I’m feeling quite excited to go through the process. The entire journey will take a few months, which really helps in managing my fears about the entire process, haha.

Thus far, I’ve done the blood draw for the blood test. The donor executive will contact me in 1 to 6 months’ time, depending on the patient’s readiness for treatment and also the results of my blood test and health checkup. We’ll see how it goes from there.

I thought of documenting my journey as this is an experience that not everyone gets to go through. And who knows what I might discover about myself from this?

Till then, I’m wishing for the best, and I hope everything will move along smoothly according to plan. More updates soon!

[tastydregs]

The Age of AI Hacking Is Closer Than You Think

How realistic is a future of AI hacking?

Its feasibility depends on the specific system being modeled and hacked. For an AI to even begin optimizing a solution, let alone develop a completely novel one, all of the rules of the environment must be formalized in a way the computer can understand. Goals—​known in AI as objective functions—​need to be established. The AI needs some sort of feedback on how well it is doing so that it can improve its performance.

Sometimes this is a trivial matter. For a game like Go, it’s easy. The rules, objective, and feedback—​did you win or lose?—are all precisely specified, and there’s nothing outside of those things to muddy the waters. The GPT-​3 AI can write coherent essays because its “world” is just text. This is why most of the current examples of goal and reward hacking come from simulated environments. Those are artificial and constrained, with all of the rules specified to the AI.

What matters is the amount of ambiguity in a system. We can imagine feeding the world’s tax laws into an AI, because the tax code consists of formulas that determine the amount of tax owed. There is even a programming language, Catala, that is optimized to encode law. Even so, all law contains some ambiguity. That ambiguity is difficult to translate into code, so an AI will have trouble dealing with it. AI notwithstanding, there will be full employment for tax lawyers for the foreseeable future.

Most human systems are even more ambiguous. It’s hard to imagine an AI coming up with a real-​world sports hack like curving a hockey stick. An AI would have to understand not just the rules of the game but also human physiology, the aerodynamics of the stick and the puck, and so on. It’s not impossible, but it would be a lot more difficult than coming up with a novel Go move.

This latent ambiguity in complex societal systems offers a near-​term security defense against AI hacking. We won’t have AI-​generated sports hacks until androids actually play those sports, or until a generalized AI is developed that is capable of understanding the world broadly in all its intersecting dimensions. A similar challenge exists with casino game hacks or hacks of the legislative process. (Could an AI independently discover gerrymandering?) It will be a long time before AIs are capable of modeling and simulating the ways that people work, individually and in groups, before they are as capable as humans are of devising novel ways to hack legislative processes.

But while a world filled with AI hackers is still a science-​fiction problem, it’s not a stupid science-​fiction problem. Advances in AI are coming fast and furious, and jumps in capability are erratic and discontinuous. Things we thought were hard turned out to be easy, and things we think should be easy turn out to be hard. When I was a college student in the early 1980s, we were taught that the game of Go would never be mastered by a computer because of its enormous complexity: not the rules, but the number of possible moves. Today, AIs are Go grandmasters.

So while AI may primarily be tomorrow’s problem, we’re seeing precursors of it today. We need to start thinking about enforceable, understandable, and ethical solutions, because if we can expect anything with AI, it’s that we’ll need those solutions sooner than we might expect.