#also if you're wondering why i'm posting these out so fast. finals is a great motivator

[fluffypotatey]

and another one bites the dust!

Summary:

"I blame Sesame Street.” David snorted. “I do!” Jenna moved to sit up from the couch, staring determinedly at him as she began her case. David just stared. “I blame Sesame Street, and you wanna know why?” “Why?” David’s cheeks began to hurt but nothing else mattered at the moment. Not when Jenna had her brows furrowed just so, not when her hands flew around with such majestic fluidity, not when her voice reminded David of all of his favorite narrators. ~ Spring semester has come and people are going missing! David is trying to acclimate into this new world that is the supernatural of Beacon Hills, but will he fare better for it?

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

01/26/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Renew As A Crew/Hoist The Ads; Cast & Crew Sightings; Queerties; Twitter Watch parties; Articles; Reasons to keep fighting; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonights Taika;

== Renew As A Crew / Hoist The Ads ==

Tumblr Post / Twitter Post /Instagram Post

Link to vote

==Cast & Crew Sightings==

While the sighting hasn't occurred yet... looks like Vico Ortiz, Nathan Foad, and Con O'Neill will all be attending Galaxy Con in San Jose on August 16-18, 2024 at the San Jose Mcenery Convention Center. Tickets available now. Src: _irene_adler on IG

One thing to note.. Chaos dad has been pretty consistent about reaching out every 3 days-ish lately.. I'm interested to see if tomorrow he shows up again. Just a theory.

== Queerties ==

If you're down, please vote for the Queerties each day! If you want to just vote for OFMD categories, feel free to visit: TV Comedy Best TV Performance Wanna help another Taika/Rhys verse Queertie? Vote for Kaimana for Best Film Performance in Next Goal Wins!

==Twitter Watch Parties==

Sadly, today #PirateOmens came to an end, but our friend @dandeebakes is already fast at work getting other cool Watch parties together! Please send them some love!

=HuntForThePirateHome=

HuntForThePirateHome Watch Party Starts Sunday Jan 28 at 3 PM EST, 12 PT, 8 PM GMT. Hashtags for that event are:

#HuntForThePirateHome

#AdoptOurCrew

#SaveOFMD

Thank you to @blueberreads for catching these trends on twitter during the Pirate Omens watch, definitely kept engagement up.

==LubeAsACrew==

#LubeAsACrew is back on 1/31/24 at 4PM PT, 1PM ET. Next up are S1 Episodes 5, 6, 7.

== How To Help ==

How To Help Save OFMD Task List - US How to Help Save OFMD Task List - Outside US

==Articles==

15 Things We’ll Miss About ‘Our Flag Means Death’

2024’s Canceled Shows, for Your Final Consideration

Relisting The Guardian's article from yesterday because they've opened comments, and it can help with engagement so feel free to comment on it now!

Also, @itsmfgames Has been kind enough to be keeping up a running list of Articles about the campaigns -- so if you have the time and want to go catch up on some articles, please checkout the guide below and visit this google doc for the list! It's been added to the Daily Renewal List for both US and Outside-US, so feel free to check it out there as needed.

== Reasons to Keep Fighting ==

Throwing in some great points from our tumblr folks regarding the cancellation that really helped me feel pumped today.

@celluloidbroomcloset's Our Flag Means Death was cancelled because it’s gay.

@queerly-autistic's break down on why Not All Fan Campaigns Are The Same.

@saltpepperbeard's reasoning for Clinging Onto Hope

@tulipseason's lovely reasons The Show Is Irreplaceable

== Love Notes ==

Alright lovelies. I have so many words to say about how great you all are, how much I love you (and I'm sure you're tired of hearing them), but I went back to work today after 7 days of being sick and now my brain is mush. So instead I'm going to put the text of one of my son's books in here because I think every one of us should feel loved like we were when we were 5.

On The Night You Were Born - By Nancy Tillman On the night you were born, the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you and the night wind whispered, “Life will never be the same.” Because there had never been anyone like you… ever in the world. So enchanted with you were the wind and the rain, that they whispered the sound of your wonderful name. It sailed through the farmland High on the breeze… Over the ocean… And through the trees… Until everyone heard it and everyone knew of the one and only ever you. Not once had there been such eyes, such a nose, such silly, wiggly, wonderful toes. When the polar bears heard, they danced until dawn. From faraway places, the geese flew home. The moon stayed up until morning next day. And none of the ladybugs flew away. So whenever you doubt just how special you are and you wonder who loves you, how much and how far,  Listen for geese honking high in the sky. (They’re singing a song to remember you by.) Or notice the bears asleep at the zoo. (It’s because they’ve been dancing all night for you!) Or drift off to sleep to the sound of the wind. (Listen closely… it’s whispering your name again!) If the moon stays up until morning one day, or a ladybug lands and decides to stay, or a little bird sits at your window awhile, it’s because they’re all hoping to see you smile… For never before in story or rhyme (not even once upon a time) has the world ever known a you, my friend, and it never will, not ever again… Heaven blew every trumpet And played every horn On the wonderful, marvelous Night you were born

== Daily Darby / Tonights Taika ==

The gifs today are courtesy of our lovely @ofmd-ann who blesses us every day with gifs that make me swoon. Darby / Taika

Warning to all you gif makers, I'm gonna be bugging the crap out of you soon for permission to share on these recaps :P -- feel free to say no!

[petitelepus]

I am desperate for pet!Urogi content! Maybe his previous owners gave him up because he's "loud, annoying, and way too affectionate" and they hated it (ridiculous!) But you're his new owner and you totally love his behavior

Summary: You see a post on the internet about an avian Demon being given away and of course, you are excited! You just didn't expect Demon to be so excited also!

Warnings: Slavery, BLOOD, CHICKEN BLOOD BUT STILL, KILLING CHICKEN, NO DETAILS BUT CHICKEN DOES DIE OFFSCREEN

A/N: Slave!AU, Demon Slaves, Urogi, Gender Neutral Reader

Part 1 - Part 2

You sighed as you were done with the day's work. Living outside the city was great, you had your own little house where you lived peacefully, doing your job with the computer so you rarely had to leave the safety of your home and head to the city and you were pretty independent, having chickens and a rooster; so you had a stable source of food also.

But your independence came with a price.

"Company could be nice…" You hummed as you logged into your computer and absent-mindedly started to go through different websites and saw many posts about people with their Demons and such. Seeing them filled you with jealousy and you sighed, wondering why you had to do this to yourself, why did you have to look when you couldn't get anything?

Slaves could be expensive and you weren't exactly rolling in money so buying one was out of the question. It appeared that you could never get a Demon of your own… Or so you thought until you noticed a notification on the internet, about Demons being sold cheap or given away.

You were curious, but also reserved. You had read a post or two about how Demons like these were so-called "damaged goods" and how they could be unstable and even dangerous.

"I shouldn't…" You muttered quietly, "I really shouldn't…"

Yet you still clicked the link anyway.

There were so many different Demons being sold dirt cheap, but they all looked like they were pretty damn hard to handle… But then a notification popped up and a new post was posted. What caught your attention was the headline.

'Giving Away A Rare Avian Demon'

An avian Demon? Like one of those with animalistic looks akin to birds? This caught your interest and you clicked to see the picture of the Demon and sure enough, he had huge brown wings on his back and he had talons instead of hands or feet. He seemed to also have a very wide and excited smile, posing for the picture.

You had always liked birds so getting him felt natural.

You acted before you even realized what you were doing, sending a message to the person giving the Demon away.

'Hello, I would be interested in your avian Demon. Is he still available?'

You held your breath as you waited for a reply and you started to fear that you were too late and that someone else had claimed the Demon, but then you got a reply.

'Yeah, it is'

You grinned ear to ear and messaged back.

'Wonderful, I would love to take him off from your hands.'

'Good, how fast can you come?'

Good question, how fast could you go and fetch the Demon? You glanced out of the window and noted that the sun was starting to set. You had plenty of time, but you were so excited and therefore impatient.

'How about today? Or is it too soon?'

'It's perfect'

The person giving the Demon away sent you an address where you could pick your new slave and you cheered happily. You grabbed your phone, inserted the address into your map app, headed out, jumped into your car, and took off. You couldn't believe your luck! You got yourself a Demon and it cost you nothing!

You arrived at your destination after a half-hour car drive and the sun was almost completely set. You hummed as you looked at the address and the buildings, finally finding the one you were looking for. Without waiting any further, you pressed the doorbell… And the door opened to reveal a woman, around your age.

"Yes?"

"Ah, good evening. I'm here for the Demon?" You smiled a little, "Is this the right address?"

"Oh, you're the one from the forum." The woman nodded, "Yeah, it's in my backyard. Come on in."

"Thank you," You nodded humbly as you stepped into her house and you noted that it was even smaller than your home. You wondered a little if the Demon in question was actually a small one, but another question slipped past your lips, "Why is he in the backyard? Doesn't sun burn him?"

"It's fine, it spends days in the old garden shed." The woman replied and you frowned, "Why not keep him inside?"

"I don't have space for that big stupid thing and I don't want it to make a mess," She replied as she opened the backdoor and you followed her outside, but the heavy-looking chain in the middle of the backyard immediately caught your attention. It was struck into the ground and led to the shed that looked like it could come apart if the wind was strong enough.

"Oi, come out. Someone is here to see you." The woman opened the door and you gasped as the Demon stepped out and you saw him in his glory.

He was huge, wings and all, and muscular… But why was he chained and why did he have a gag in his mouth?

"Why is he chained?"

"So it won't escape."

"And the gag?" You asked as you frowned, "Is he dangerous?"

"No," The woman shook her head, "It just doesn't shut up once it starts talking."

"How does he eat?"

"We give him what leftovers we have each night."

You had read enough to know that wasn't even nearly enough of what a healthy Demon should eat!

"Ah…" You nodded, "So, why are you exactly giving him away?"

"Because it's a headache! I tried selling it, but no one would take it when they saw it and I don't feel like paying for it to be put down."

"So, what, just because he is a little too excited you don't want him anymore?" You almost couldn't believe what you were hearing or how irresponsible this woman was.

"Are you going to complain or take it before we give up and stick it into the sunlight?" She asked and you shook your head, "No no, I'll take him! I can take him with me right now!"

"Good," The woman nodded as she dug out a key from her pocket and unlocked the chain around the slave's ankle. The Demon blinked as he looked at you and the woman grabbed his upper arm and harshly pushed him at you, "There! You can keep the gag. God knows you will need it."

"Thank you," You nodded as you gently grabbed the Demon's yellow wrist and turned to lead him out, but the woman quickly shouted, "No no, not through the house! You will make a mess!"

You turned to look and she rushed past you to open the gate to the front yard where your car was waiting.

"There, now go go!" She almost pushed the two of you out before slamming the gate behind you.

You looked at your new slave who was inspecting you with these deep golden eyes of his and you smiled, "Alright… I'm your new owner, so… Let's get along?"

The Demon looked at you as it nodded and you smiled a little, "Let me see that gag of yours…"

The slave nodded as it bent down so you could look at the bindings around his head and you quickly frowned as you saw that the knot used to tie the gag was too complicated for you to open simply by hand.

"Shit, can you hold on until we get to my place? I have scissors there so I can remove that gag in your mouth."

The Demon nodded and you looked apologetic as you led him to your car… Only to realize that he didn't fit, not with those large wings of his.

"Now what…?" You groaned, feeling yourself grow frustrated… But then your new slave tapped your shoulder and when you turned to look, he pointed at his wings. You blinked, stunned, "Wait, you can actually fly?"

He nodded. You smiled, "That's amazing! Do you think you can follow my car?"

He nodded again and you smiled as you got into your car and took off.

Sure, there was the risk that he might escape, but if that was to happen then there was nothing you could do… But as you drove and looked out of the window, you could see him tailing close behind you. This filled you with joy and hope and you drove back home.

Once back home, you immediately took the Demon inside and to the kitchen where you held everything sharp that you could use to undo that damn gag around his head.

"Hold still, I don't want to hurt you even by accident," You said and the slave nodded as he knelt down so you could reach better… And with a quick snip and snap, the gag fell down from the Demon's mouth.

"There we go!" You smiled as you stepped in front of him and looked at him and he moved and corrected his no doubt aching jaw.

Then, all of a sudden he lurched forward and you yelped, fearing that he was dangerous after all, but instead of shredding you to pieces, he hugged you and smiled and it was both the most genuine and wicked smile you had ever seen.

"Thank you, Master! I hated that thing!" The Demon laughed and wow, he was loud, yet excited!

"You're welcome," You nodded, gently patting his shoulder and the slave grinned as he stepped back, "What a nice Master I got! I-!"

The only thing louder than the Demon was his stomach. You blinked and the Demon clutched his stomach as he laughed, "Ha ha, looks like I'm hungry!"

You believed him if he was only fed some leftovers for who knows how long!

"Oh, of course!" You nodded, "You need food! Do you mind chicken, or…?"

"Or?"

"Can you?" You pointed at his wings and the Demon cackled, "Yeah, I can eat birds! Meat is meat after all!"

"Okay, good," You turned to head to the backyard where your chicken coop was located, "Okay, I just need to kill one and-!"

"Wait!" Urogi raised his hand, "A- Are there living chickens here?"

He sounded stunned and shocked, but why exactly?

"Yeah, I eat and breed them." You tilted your head, "Why?"

"Can-!" You could see him actually drool, "Can I eat one?"

"Of course, I just need to-!"

"No, I mean, can I kill it?" He wiped his drooly chin and you hummed thoughtfully… But you didn't see anything bad at it.

"Okay," You nodded as you crooked your finger, inviting him to join you, "Come and I'll give you one. Just don't let it suffer."

"I won't!" The Demon sounded so eager, almost desperate as he followed you to your wide backyard where the coop full of chickens was located, and, well, things went as you would presume.

After about half an hour, you and the Demon returned inside, the latter one licking his bloody lips and talons, his hunger finally quenched.

"It's a rare treat for us Demons to get something alive to eat!" The Demon cackled before he suddenly hugged you again and nuzzled his nose against the top of your head, "I know I'm going to love my stay with you!"

"Well…" You smiled a little, "I'm happy to have you!"

"Oh, oh!" Your new slave let go of you and looked at you excitedly, his wings flaring behind him, "My name is Urogi! What should I call you, Master?"

The way he asked was almost straight like from the textbook and you frowned a little, not necessarily liking being called Master.

"Well… I think you can call me whatever you want?" You thought out loud and he smiled, immediately coming up with one, "Birdie!"

"Birdie?" You blinked, "Why, because I have birds?"

"And you have me!" He laughed and you blinked as you smiled. This Demon, unlike anyone you had ever known, was filled with such pure joy, like every second alive was a reason to be happy about.

You had a feeling that the two of you would get along very well.

[moonglide]

echoes of wisdom end.

I know I kind of. stopped posting my playthrough. but whatever. I finished the game!!!

-assorted spoilers for faron, lanayru, and final quest.

-bumpkin?? excuse me?? I come from hyrule!!!

-There's a jail. so we're going to jail later.

-why is it raining??? I can't use the power of arson with this

-you're saying the drippitunes cause rain??? time for murder.

-black thorns???

-ohh because the rifts are spiky.

-the jail was super fun to break out of.

-the great spider? gohma?? are all three of these going to be Oot bosses?

-I did all the smoothie recipe quests! I want a better reward.

-ok ok ok ok. So I got a 'spin = knockback' amulet. and if I go to the gerudo desert, I can get an outfit to increase my spin radius. so...

-this is great. I can just spin around super fast and knock back enemies too!

-and also I can use the redead to petrify them and then I knock them off a cliff

-shout out to that deku scrub that joked about caring more for cotton candy than his friend's life.

-why does gohma have a laser eye

-hi farore!!!!

-oh damn. thanks for telling me farore.

-time to get horse.

-I got my horse!

-went in the sanctuary. so that's how you find the lynel. time to hunt.

-no wait I didn't mean it help

-found dampe.

-haha techtite

-haha tocktorok

-ok im done

-mt hebra!

-look at this sleeping yeti. cute. time to move on

-nah I actually didn't realize you could wake him. I only found out after the fact

-condé is such a cutie!!!!!

-his brother is missing???

-his dad is dead?????

-nooo

-he's trying to fix it all himself!!!

-I didn't want to use the cave to get to the peak area so I just used platabooms. if you stack a plataboom on another plataboom while it's still rising the second plataboom will rise higher. also the word plataboom will lose all meaning.

-went back down thru the cave to make sure I didn't miss anything.

-condé!! no!!! that's definitely not your brother!!

-STAMP GUY??? MY IDOL!!! hi!!!!

-he pUSHED you???!?!!? he will die

-fun dungeon. I say that about all of them, but they're all fun.

-scorchill. interesting. hot and cold. fun.

-that was fun.

-hi nayru!!!!

-oh damn. thanks for telling me nayru.

-null?? hi??? what are you doing???

-did you just make an echo of ME?!?!?!?

-AHHHHH TRI GET ME OUT OF HERE

-wright there's an impostor among us.

-gotta explore the part of the map between hebra and Zora. wait I can just go up there using platabooms? no fade to white and then you take me back down? I can just go from one place to the other??? hm. maybe next run I can do gerudo first, then Zora, and then straight to lanayru. I wonder if that'll work.

-ok six orbs. got it.

-HI LYNEL BYE LYNEL!!!

-ok I did it.

-hi deku tree!!!

-oh damn. thanks for telling me deku tree.

-oh god that's the triforce. I think that's the first time we've seen it in its triangle form in this game, other than in the hyrule emblems.

-I'm actually SHAKING.

-oh shit it's going to split because you're not balanced

-oh shit it's NOT going to split because you're an echo of someone who IS balanced

-OH SHIT it WILL split! ha. get a load of this guy.

-OH SHIT SHE'S GOING AFTER LINK!!!!

-im coming for u my boyfriend

-now I'm just imagining a meme where link's signing 'so this is my girlfriend Zelda, and this is Zelda's girlfriend dohna.

-imma make that after I finish posting this

-fightin' echo Zelda. it's fun! I have a redead to petrify everyone, a white wolfos to kill them, and I'm shooting at echo me with a bow.

-I have to give up my sword/shield/bow/bombs to link??? but everything's fully upgraded! except for bombs.

-no going back???? hollup I gotta get some smoothies

-rock salt + milk. really useful.

-ok let's go. fifteen hearts is probably enough.

-why is null all fleshy? gross.

-AHHH LYNEL

-wait that was really easy. hold up. I'm rewinding my save to kill a lynel to get its echo.

-that took like two seconds. I have lynel now! six whole triangles!

-and it's WEAKER THAN THE ECHO LYNEL??? screw this.

-oh I have to solve puzzles with link!

-I sent a monster to link's side to help him fight, and when he finished, he shot the enemies remaining on my side! teamwork!

-hi null!!

-I WAS RIGHT!!! IT IS AN EVIL TRI!!!

-ball and chain troopers are really useful for this.

-my sister wants to play animal crossing. told her I'd take ten minutes max.

-underwater? what if I drown???

-oh there's air bubbles.

-sharks!

-ok back to the arena.

-you're turning into previous bosses? this is just like nightmare in link's awakening!

-had to use my fairy bc of some ganon echoes.

-SIMONE I'M SORRY YOU CAN PLAY ANIMAL CROSSING IN A MINUTE

-triforce!!!

-tri is leaving! sad.

-Idk if I'm a fan of link being able to talk now, but I gotta admit that the music corresponding with the characters's surprise at link's talking was pretty funny.

-robby lueberry. impa. I love you guys.

-simone it's playing the post-boss cutscene. please be patient

-credits roll!

-simone. my sister. the credits are rolling. gimme a minute. I'm sorry for taking so long, but I can't skip this. and I am afraid it won't save if you close the software early.

-yes that means the game is over. yes I still want it to save. please stop trying to take the Nintendo switch out of my hands.

-look the credits are over!

-aw, cat.

-HERE YOU GO, MY SISTER. There's still an hour and ten minutes left of screen-time. yes, I know it was an hour and forty when you gave it to me. yes, that's not very fair. my bad. you can have it all tomorrow.

-what a fun game!!! 10/10.

-fave monsters: ignozol, plataboom, albatrawl, redead, white wolfos, ball and chain trooper.

-fave echoes: water block, level 3 bed.

-deaths: 10. I haven't died once since the last update, and it's been at least eight hours of gameplay.

edit: excuse me??? I was supposed to pull on null's arms with bind and have link chop them off???? i would just have my echoes attack null. god. that boss fight probably took way longer than it needed to.

[fertilize-my-eggs]

Send to the mha omegaverse ch.2

Finding tomura shigaraki ch.1 ch.3 ch.4 A03

A/N: I hope y'all enjoy this chapter!! It's a bit short but I hope y'all enjoy this ☺️ every chapter will be posted on Thursday. 18+ NO minor, antis and ageless blogs interact with my blog thanks you (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠) y/n= your name, l/n= last name

✩｡♡ ࣪ ˖❀ ⑅ *✩｡♡ ࣪ ˖❀ ⑅ *✩｡♡ ࣪ ˖❀ ⑅ *✩｡ ♡ ࣪ ˖❀ ⑅ *

Great just great… not only that I'm in my hero academia but also as an omega. I look at izuku’s feet, I can't make eye contact because of this stupid quirk.

“ So are you an alpha or a beta? ” I ask him as he is still hold his nose, he nervously scratch his neck.

“ y-yeah, I'm an alpha… ” ahh that makes sense, I slowly look at his neck to notice he has a mark… huh? I read some fanfic where alpha doesn't get marks. Does that mean…

“ I don’t have anything to get patches.. ” I sigh heavily, where am I supposed to go in this world? I don't have anything nor a place to stay. This is gonna be a problem.

I put my thumb on my lips as I think, if I don't exist in my world does that mean I'm… dead? No, my family is probably worried about me and wondering where I went. Yeah that could be it.

“ don't worry miss, I got patches for you. ” I see his hand in my view as I grab it from him.

“ uhh this is an odd question but what do I smell like? "Izuku start to blush as he look away.

“ you smell lovely like…. Strawberry cheesecake.. sweet scent." Okay now it makes sense why he is holding his nose, it's because I smell good to him.

I put the patch on my neck as I saw his hand out. “ There's some extra, I gotta get going…” I grab some and put it in my pocket.

As soon as he leaves, we hear loud commotion nearby as we watch the scene unfold.

I looked at Izuku as he was in shock as he screamed out.” THAT’S MY BOYFRIEND!! ” I watch him run straight to the crowd of people as I look straight ahead to realize… Bakugou was covered by the slime villain as I watched izuku run towards it saving his boyfriend? So it's not canon mha in my world where they're enemies but in this universe they're boyfriends. Now it makes sense why izuku has a mark on his neck.

I-… maybe I shouldn't be around, I'll probably affect this world but this doesn't make any sense, I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't be in this universe at all.

I walk away from the crowd feeling like deja vu as I look at myself in the window. It feels odd that I look the same but in an anime style version of myself. 

I blink a few times as I begin to walk away, I pause as I thought to myself.

Maybe I can look for the villains.. Tomura shigaraki in this world, I gotta find him, I can finally have my moments with him and be with my favorite character… well I can't say character anymore since I exist in their world.

But in a city like this, there is no way I can find him as I sighed in defeat.

Well at least I gotta try, I started to look everywhere. In alleyways and to suspicious shady areas. No luck.

I sighed heavily as I sat down on the streets, there was no way I'd be able to find him. I looked up to accidentally make eye contact with a stranger as I felt fear run down my spine as I immediately stood up.

The man smirks wide as he walks towards me.” well well well what a pretty lil omega doing here all by herself? You should come with me, you're mine. ” oh god no, my quirk is affecting him as I begin to run away as fast as possible.

I heard him screaming behind me as I started to panic and feel tears coming out, I've never felt like this. Never been chased by someone and I feel like I could die any minute in this world.

As I ran away forward not knowing where to go as I saw twice?? He ran past me as he started to fight the man who was chasing after me.

I couldn't believe Jin was helping me out, he was not wearing his mask. Maybe this is before he joined the League, I watch them fight each other for a good three minute until the man says.” this is pointless you can have the dumb omega, I’m leaving…” I put my hand on my chest feeling out of breath as I collapsed into the floor, tears running down my cheeks as I held myself as I began to sob.

I hear footsteps coming near as he spoke softly.” hey omega, I saw you getting chased from my window.. are you okay? No she ain’t, should have left her to him. ” I smile hearing him speak, I look at his shoulder a bit.

“ thank you…. I can't make eye contact because of my quirk. ” I see him moving his head to the side in confusion. 

“.... is that how you got chased? ”

“ mhmm.. my quirk is called lovestruck if I look you in the eyes, you'll be like that man. ” I hold myself tight feeling scared for my life.. you would think this world is easy but you get chased by strangers and not to mention you don't know what their true intention will lead if he caught me.

I see his hand in front of me as he said.” lemme help you up, I'm Jin Bubaigawara.. ” I smile softly as I shake his hand.

“ I'm… y/n...   y/n l/n.'' He has a mark on his forehead so did it happen before? It looks a bit fresh but I won't question it as I stand up. Jesus Christ how is he taller than me, he looks like he can easily carry me around with no issues as I started to blush.

Well I'm 5’4 so he gotta be around five something…

“ you can live with me for now, I don't have much… don't be a messy pig. Crap I'm sorry about that I-.. ” I shake my head as I giggle.

“ It's okay, I understand.. is it your quirk that is costing it? "Wait, wouldn't he be confused by me saying that, would he get suspicious of me asking him that.

He turned his head away as he scratched his neck.” yeah my quirk… it's hard to talk about it.”

“  I understand, I won't ask you anything about it if it makes you uncomfortable. ” I pat his shoulder lightly as he smile a bit.

“ thank you y/n. ” I follow behind him as we head to his apartment.

[pinpinneon]

Y'all already giving up on Helldivers 2? Seriously?

(Warning: This post is going to be me ranting about something, and I'm prolly gonna sound pretty worked up during it all. Take what I said with a grain of salt, because I'm just someone with strong opinions.)

So... Helldivers 2's community's reaction to the latest news about linking PSN accounts. Frankly, it's been bothering me that people lost faith so fast.

TL;DR For those of you who don't know is that Sony decided to make it mandatory for players to link their Steam account to a Playstation Network account in order to play the game, with a mandatory login starting from May 30th.

This is absolutely horrible, for a few reasons.

1.) PSN service is particularly notorious for their ability to leak data and get breached by hackers.

It's also particularly invasive, with a face scan being REQUIRED in some countries.

2.) TONS of countries in the world CAN'T make a PSN account at all, meaning that people in those countries will straight up be banned from playing the game entirely if the change goes through.

All in all, not a great situation, and I can understand why people are mad.

What pisses me off however, is how quickly people loses faith in the dev team of the game: Arrowhead.

Clearly, this upcoming change is something forced onto the devs by Sony, with the team most likely not having any say in the matter at all, and yet some people are unfairly targetting the devs with their anger.

Why do I believe that the devs are innocent, you may ask?

Because Arrowhead actually CARES about the game and their playerbase!

They have proven time and time again that they are willing to listen to community feedbacks, and unlike many modern AAA games, Helldivers 2 does NOT actually have any predatory transactions for being a live-service game.

The main battle pass in Helldivers 2?

Not only does it not expire at all, meaning that you're not on a timer to unlock everything-

But it is also FREELY AVAILABLE for all players the moment they start playing the game.

The premium battle passes, like Steeled Veterans and Cutting Edge?

You can earn premium currency for them by just playing the game and unlocking things in the main free battle pass.

You don't have to pay a single dime, nor do you need to grind excessively for them, and you can play the game just fine without unlocking any premium battle passes at all.

The game is by no means a pay 2 win, far from it in fact!

Within less than 2 weeks of buying the game, I'm able to unlock most of the strategems within the game through just playing the game normally, and even without many ship upgrades due to me lacking the samples required for them, I'm able to play through missions on the highest difficulty of the game just fine.

I'm not forced to tediously grind lower difficulties to get all the upgrades before I can tackle the game's hardest missions, and that kind of thing in a video game as popular as Helldivers 2 is a wonderful breath of fresh air.

Finally, the attention to detail in this game is phenomenal.

I don't know the full list of it, not even close, but trust me when I say that the game is full of little details that you'd easily miss if they're not pointed out to you, and whenever you notice them you can't help but feel that the game gets more and more surreal in the sheer amount of passion packed into it.

And all of those things, are why I'm disappointed by how fast the community seem to give up hope in the devs.

Sony actually did a pretty dirty move, if you think about it.

Announcing this news RIGHT BEFORE weekends, so that they can use it as an excuse to not respond to Arrowhead's messages about the shitty account linking policy until Monday, which coincidentally also gives plenty of time for people to fan the flame and shit on Arrowhead for something that they likely had no say in the matter.

As of this message, one of their devs has outright stated this in Helldivers 2's official discord server:

"If a better solution isn't provided for players who are in regions without PSN coverage, I'm assured that we won't be making the requirement mandatory for those players. We're not going to force people to either break Sony TOS or not play the game." - Spitz

Which means that not all hope is lost, and it also only further proves that Arrowhead themselves ain't gonna stand for Sony's policy either. They're likely just as peeved about it as the rest of us, if not more.

Don't lose faith just yet, Helldiver! We WILL win this battle!

...Look, I get that I'm just a random person on the internet.

Heck, I don't even know how many people would care to read this post this far down.

But if you've read this far, you're prolly wondering: "Why do you care so much about this?"

Because the way this whole thing is going on is giving me painful reminders of a part of my past.

Having been verbally abused, treated with double standards and more for OVER A YEAR AND A HALF by the modded terraria community, I know what it's like to be treated unfairly, and for people to abandon you from lack of faith the moment they think you're doing something "wrong" without bothering to get their facts right first.

The situation Arrowhead is going through right now is just plain unfair to them, and people are making it even worse by directing their anger at them rather than the one actually at fault: Sony Interactive Entertainment.

I get that people are not happy, but the way the community is reacting- such as review bombing the game with thousands of negative reviews and making several "call-out" videos on YouTube? That ain't it. That's just gonna fan the flame more and more, y'know? And that's only going to hurt Arrowhead, NOT Sony.

I know this post won't make any real change at all- hell it prolly won't even change the minds of some people, but Helldivers 2 has great potential to be absolutely amazing. I want to see it spread its wings further and further, and I'd hate to see the dev team loses passion for the game from this sudden lack of faith in them.

...Anddd that's all I wanted to rant about. Wow, that's a lot, huh.

Anyways, I just want to voice my opinion out loud, don't mind me- have a good day, y'all <3

5th May Update: Arrowhead actually wants players in countries that are locked out of the game to refund the game while they're looking for a solution, take a look at this post:

Further proof that Arrowhead really does care!

[gamebunny-advance]

More Thoughts About The Pikmin 4 Demo

Spoilers Ahead

So I've played through the demo twice now, the first time hitting the goal as fast as possible, and the second time trying to collect as many things as possible before hitting the goal.

I was able to clear the first area 99%, but I don't know what I was missing. The game implies that I'm missing a treasure, but I'm certain I got every above-ground treasure. However, when I had Oatchi sniff out for it, he took me to an empty lot, so I suspect that completely buried treasure might be back, and they don't show up on radar. Or maybe it's counting the raw materials that I was just a tad too slow to get before the day/demo ended. I might play though the demo one more time to test that theory, but atm I think I've done everything I can possibly do in the demo.

That said, if that was a near full clear for one area, then I wonder how substantial the rest of the game is gonna be. Pikmin 3 as I recall wasn't an enormous game and also wasn't difficult. It's also my least favorite because I got through it so quickly and easily that I don't have any lasting memories of it. I don't need 4 to be an arduous game like 2 was, but if the rest of it is gonna be this breezy, then I'm probably gonna beat it in under a week.

Despite that, I do actually like how short and focused the caves are turning out to be. There are so many great new QoL features in this one that it is gonna make going back to older titles even harder, but I'm worried that it's gonna be over too soon.

I also mostly like how the game plays. I'm not a huge fan of the auto-lock on, because it kinda makes battling a little brainless and frustrating when you're trying to do something that the game doesn't think you should be doing. Other than that, everything else feels pretty good.

I also like most of the new characters. We got a bunch of new funky looking freaks, but so far I like their personalities more than the Pikmin 3 crew. Shepard is my baby. I want to feed her lots of snacks. Besides that, almost all the castaways being from different planets but having the same body plan has my mind wandering about how expansive this universe is. But, more than anything, I hope we finally get a straight answer about why almost everyone seems to crash-land on PNF-404. Speaking of...

There's also the fact that despite my earlier theories, this planet is apparently still PNF-404. While I didn't post about it, I had theorized that perhaps the planet wasn't actually Earth, since none of the information before now ever called this planet PNF-404. I figured that it was a new planet settled by humans given how new all of the (presumably) man-made structures are, but now that I know this game seems to be an alternate take on Pikmin 1's story instead of a direct sequel to 3, it's possible that the "post-apocalyptic" part of the story might have just been dropped entirely. (I guess Nintendo decided that they only needed one series to take place on post-apocalypse Earth).

Then again, I forgot why we all thought PNF-404 was post-apocalyptic in the first place. The presence of human objects with the absence of humans doesn't necessarily imply that they got wiped out, especially considering how so many of the things they left behind like food and battery powered technology were apparently still edible and functional respectively. My new theory is that whoever lives in this house is just on vacation or something, and their house got overrun with pests in the meantime. But, knowing Nintendo, there probably isn't going to be a "real" answer about where the humans are.

[confessionsofabargainbinaddict]

My Favorite Albums of 2023*

*not necessarily from 2023

Last year, I decided that, instead of limiting my "favorite" list to just the past year, I would broaden the scope to include any CD I acquired that year, whether it was released that year or not. Over the past 12 months, I've added 155 CDs to the already over-burdened collection (which may seem like a lot but it's down from 260 last year, so I believe some praise is due). These are my favorite 9, in alphabetical order by album title.

Foo Fighters - But Here We Are

"Times Like These," whether he intended it to be or not, was one of the very few, great post-9/11 songs. And while I might expect that from Springsteen, Grohl didn't immediately spring to mind as a voice of comfort and empathy, so the song's impact may have actually been a bit greater than something akin to "The Rising" (which, don't get me wrong, is an amazing song). And now, a couple decades later, it shouldn't be surprising that a Foo Fighters album dealing with intense and intimate grief would also be stunning, but, like before, I certainly wasn't expecting it and also, like before, I've turned to it a hell of a lot more than I would have thought.

Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want To Turn Into You

You know those albums where you really like a bunch of the songs but not all of them but you also know that, with each repeated listen, you're going to find ways into the songs you didn't like as much on previous listens and come up with reasons why you actually do like those songs and therefore, think the entire album is brilliant? Yeah, this is one of those albums.

billy woods and kenny segal - maps

Let me preface this by saying that I am years late to the billy woods party, so I do not have any way of comparing this to his previous, abundant discography, but if it is at all indicative of the rest of his work, I have some major catching up to do! woods is a top notch lyricist with a clear love of language and the ways in which it can be structured. His metaphors and imagery are complex and layered but never so obtuse that they alienate the listener. And all of this verbal brilliance is nestled comfortably on segal's inviting but never settled production. I'll come back to this one often.

Stevie Wonder - Original Musiquarium I

I'm not normally a fan of "best of" compilations but this one, with the addition of the four unreleased tracks capping each "side," is so well put together and clearly thought through, I'm thrilled to have it as a part of my collection. Plus, it's really hard to ever go wrong with Stevie.

Laura Mvula - Pink Noise

Roughly 5 years ago, I heard "She," and was blown away. I added Sing to the Moon to my discogs want list but never got around to snagging a copy. About 3 years ago, I heard "Got Me" and decided to be a bit more active in trying to acquire a copy of Pink Noise, but I think there were some transatlantic issues because nothing seemed to be remotely affordable. Fast forward to midway through this year, the album miraculously pops up on Amazon for under 10 bucks and a day or two later, I'm finally blessed with these 10 fiercely intelligent yet uncompromisingly catchy pop bangers.

Pool Kids - Pool Kids

It's mathy, it's tappy, it's stupidly technical, but if you strip that all away, at its heart, these are 12 solid pop-punk/emo songs. So while the base effort is already worthwhile, the tremendous musicality turns them into something truly special.

Atmosphere - Sad Clown Bad Fall 10

Okay, so it's only 5 tracks but hear me out. I was introduced to Slug and Ant through their brief stint with Epitaph Records and their, imho, brilliant album, Seven's Travels. Over the years, I've picked up an Atmosphere album here and there, but my takeaways have been lackluster and I started to wonder whether they were just a one-off in my book. And then I found this at a used record store in Seattle, and it not only reignited the flame but made me want to revisit the rest of my collection. That's pretty impressive for only 16 minutes of music.

Triple Fast Action - Triple Fast Action

Triple Fast Action were probably the favorite band your favorite 90's alt-rock band (The Colour and the Shape was, apparently, greatly influenced by Broadcaster) and with only two albums to their name, it was a wonderful surprise to discover this treasure trove of unreleased and rare tracks, most of which were recorded in their rehearsal studio. While not everything is great, there's a general bittersweet air hovering around this 2-disc compilation - they could have been big, but for whatever reason, the stars didn't align. At least we now have so much more music.

Ratboys - The Window

Ratboys aren't reinventing the wheel here. They pull upon most of the major indie rock tropes of the past couple of years (Americana, pop-punk, prog rock...) but even with the genre hopping, the album shifts seamlessly from track to track and always feels authentic. What would we do with a new wheel anyway? Wouldn't you rather just get the top-of-the-line version?

Other assorted 2023 stuff

Favorite Albums NOT acquired in 2023:

Proper. - The Great American Novel

Tigers Jaw - I Don't Care How You Remember Me

Elvis Costello - Brutal Youth

Face to Face - Face to Face

Florence + The Machine - High As Hope

Beauty Pill - The Unsustainable Lifestyle

Favorite Live Bands seen in 2023:

The Verve Pipe (City Winery - 4/23)

Home Is Where (Elsewhere - 7/8)

Four Year Strong (Rocks Off Concert Cruise - 10/15)

The Hold Steady (Brooklyn Bowl - 11/30)

Favorite Movies watched in 2023:

Soft and Quiet

Poor Things

Shotgun Wedding

Pearl

Favorite TV Shows watched in 2023:

Alice in Borderland (Season 1)

The Fall of the House of Usher

The Curse

This is Pop

Channel Zero (Seasons 1 and 2)

Evil (Seasons 1 and 2)

The Last of Us

Favorite Books read in 2023:

Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry

In the Dream House - Carmen Maria Machado

Wraith - Joe Hill and Charles Paul Wilson III

Favorite Podcasts listened to in 2023:

Fearful Symmetry

Love and Radio

Detoxcity

U Springing Springsteen on My Bean?

"Finn and the Bell" episode of Radiolab

"Wake" episode of The Memory Palace

[xxhappy-chickenxx]

Tagged in a writers ask game by the lovely @justanothervariant!! Ty bestie, i love talking abt my fics 😅💕

Rules: Go to your published works on AO3 and list the first and last fics you published there, a fic for a fandom/ship you've only written for once, your favourite fic in the fandom/ship with the most works, the fic you wish more people read, the fic you agonised over the most, the fic that sprang fully-formed from your mind with minimal effort, and a work you are proud of—for whatever reason. <3

First Fic Published: Future, Present, Past, a post-canon canon- divergence (say that 10x fast) VegasPete fic where they've been raising Venice with no knowledge of his family's past. This fic is my baby, and even though there's things I look back on that I'd change (not nearly enough Pete POV!) anyone who's read or commented on it is truly so dear to me. Venice is something that can be so personal 😌

Last Fic Published: Wedding Night 😳 listennnn I've been in my breeding era and it's not changing anytime soon. Summer break = late night horny writing hours, I don't make the rules.

One-Time Only: High and Low is my one and only BigKinn fic and it'll probably stay that way 😅 I love the angst potential, but writing the smut was such a challenge. The whole time, I was like "is this any good??" Luckily it got a lot of wonderful feedback that I'm so grateful for and I really enjoyed writing from Big's perspective!

Favorite VegasPete Fic: Oh my god, this is really hard to choose!! Especially when most of my writing is for them 😅 BUT 3 a.m. is one of my favorite fics that I've written overall, and especially for VegasPete. Writing the nightmare of Vegas dreaming that he kills Pete in the safehouse was so fun and I feel like this fic really solidified my love for angst. Vegas' panic attack and his conversation with Macau are also near and dear to my heart. This is one of the fics that I reread regularly.

Fic I Wish More People Read: Haunted by the Thought of You is a fic that I loved writing and really enjoy, but for whatever reason it just didn't get a lot of traction! I love ghosts and all things spooky, and the concept of Vegas being haunted by Tawan was just so delicious, especially when I dug into Buddhism and ghosts. If you're interested, I highly recommend checking it out 💕

Fic I Agonized Over: Pete Pray Love is my post-canon long fic and I've been struggling to get it finished. I've written, and re-written, and cut chapters, and contemplated giving up; it's been a whole process. I'm determined to stick with it (and am actually working on the final chapter right now) but I'm so grateful to the people who have supported it from the beginning and continue to engage with it!!!

Fully-Formed Fic: The first chapter of Great Expectations came to me in a horny vision; I had no idea it would spawn into a 30k longfic that's changed directions at least twice. Looking back, it could have used a bit of polish (and perhaps some lube), but ultimately it's a horny, angsty good time and I wouldn't have it any other way 😆

Fic I'm Proud Of: Playing for Keeps is so, so dear to me; I was absolutely overwhelmed by the feedback and it reinforced the feeling I had that I'd touched on something really special about love and family while writing it. This fic completely took hold of me - I wrote 10k over the course of 9 days and it occupied all my waking thoughts. The intimacy between Vegas and Pete felt really special; it's some of my favorite smut I've written purely because of how tender it is. There's something about letting someone into your life after years of closing yourself off... *cries* I could literally talk about this fic forever, it's a problem, and this is why it's getting it's own little universe bc their story is demanding to be told!!!

Ty again to Variant for the tag 💖 I'm tagging @saturnskyline, @wisteria-daydreamer, @transwegath, @xhangkyuns and ofc anyone else who wants to participate ✨✨

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 9: Leavetakings

Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers all the way through the whole series. Probably. Sometimes I only go as far as like, book 12? But if you're only on book 2, book 12 is a long ways off. Probably. Sometimes people are very fast readers.

This chapter opens up by completing the Aes Sedai circle: the icon of the Flame of Tar Valon. This is about the goodbye that Siuan officiates and the way she almost takes the arrow meant for Rand.

Some of the Warders glanced at Rand as he walked across the courtyard; a few raised eyebrows when they saw the heron-mark sword, but none spoke.

No one wants to mess with a twenty-year old wearing a sword that says, "I'm good at killing people with swords" because like yeah it's probably stolen valor but also if it's not you're getting the attention of a straight-up psycho.

Ragan waved to him, and Uno nodded, but Masema was not the only one who gave him a cold stare and turned away.

Angry about Rand violating the women's quarters or about Rand and co. being the proximate cause for all the chaos of the last few days?

Rand glanced down at the golden thorns climbing his crimson sleeve and grimaced. Small wonder Mat and Perrin still think I’m putting on airs. On returning to his room he had found everything already packed and sent on. All of the plain coats he had been given were on the packhorses, so the servants said; every coat left in the wardrobe was at least as ornate as the one he wore.

Yeah but fancy coat or no, they're kinda being dicks to Rand here since he's at least trying to apologize. Can't blame them too much though since Moiraine's orders are actively causing Rand to look like a jerk. Thanks Moiraine! Please don't come back into Rand's life until you're willing to be like 33% less manipulative and awful.

“When you can’t win a big victory, sheepherder, learn to settle for the small ones. If you made them think of you as something more than a farm-boy who’ll be easy to handle, then you won a small victory. Now be quiet and listen. I’ve only time for one last lesson, the hardest. Sheathing the Sword.”

Ah, here's Lan as the deliberately toxic mentor, providing advice that... never really pays off! Rand's attempt to an hero in combat doesn't work and he never needs to again before he dies, Lan tries as well but is contractually obligated to be Nynaeve's loving husband for the next few decades, and no one else really obsesses over it. I wonder if Jordan had been able to finish the series if Rand might not have let Moridin sheathe him to finally pay it off as a final contrast between the two: Rand embracing death as a means to ensure life while Moridin pointlessly chases it and never accomplishes anything meaningful as a result.

“But, Mother,” Agelmar was protesting, “you’ve had no time to rest from the journey here. Stay at least a few days more. I promise you a feast tonight such as you could hardly get in Tar Valon.”

I doubt very much that the fortress city at the ass end of nowhere is going to be able to rival Tar Valon's access to feasting. Siuan probably doesn't feast much but if the occasion ever called for it Tar Valon should have spreads for days.

“I heard,” Loial said, “that she was sending someone out today, all the way to Arad Doman. There is word of some sort of trouble on Almoth Plain, and the Amyrlin Seat wants to know exactly what. What I don’t understand is, why now? From what I hear, the rumors of this trouble came from Tar Valon with the Aes Sedai.”

Rand of course freaks out because Fain left the promise that they'd meet again at Toman Head, but since he erased it he doesn't get it either. Both are unaware of the Dark Prophecy which would put a significant amount of fire under Siuan.

“Perhaps so,” Loial mused, “but you humans do so much with your lives. We do nothing but huddle in our stedding. Planting the groves, and even the building, were all done before the Long Exile ended.”

The Exile is pretty recent in Ogier terms, when you think about it. The cultural retreat makes a good deal of sense, especially because every time you might think the Ogiers would have a revolution back to openness, a continent-spanning war broke out. Hopefully they'll come out of their shell once the Last Battle is over and the world is safer, start bringing their own changes to the world.

“Glory to the Builders, Loial Kiseran.”

This is an Old Tongue word meaning "Honorable one" and is very much not a family name because that's not how Ogier naming works (they have patro- and matronymics).

“You ride to find the Horn of Valere,” she said, “and the hope of the world rides with you. The Horn cannot be left in the wrong hands, especially in Darkfriend hands. Those who come to answer its call, will come whoever blows it, and they are bound to the Horn, not to the Light.”

Luckily for humankind, the Horn itself seems bound to the light, hence its inscription that clearly prevents Darkfriends from being able to use it in any useful circumstances.

The watcher was back. The hair stirred on the back of his neck.

Huh, guess it was the Grey Man, let in very early and then failing to do anything for a day and a half for... reasons. Odd choice.

Odder still that it's trying to kill Rand under the circumstances of Ba'alzamon very much not wanting that. Lanfear wouldn't be down with it either. Did a different Forsaken make this call (which ones are even free at this point?), is the Grey Man only trying to injure Rand and just extra shitty at its job, or is it just disobedient?

Last year in the White Tower, with my own guards at every gate and Warders all around me, a man with a knife came within five steps of me. A Whitecloak, no doubt, though I’ve no proof.

NGL this being a Grey Man too wouldn't be very surprising, since it's within the time period Ish was awake and causing trouble and causing any kind of chaos in the White Tower is exactly what he loves to do.

“I wager Illian does not give its Great Hunt of the Horn so rousing a send-off,” she said. “But yours is the true Great Hunt. You are few, so you may travel quickly, yet enough to do what you must. I charge you, Lord Ingtar of House Shinowa, I charge all of you, find the Horn of Valere, and let nothing bar your way.”

Thank goodness Loial is going on this Hunt, so he can write about it all and the gang can eventually get their own part in the gleeman tales. They more than deserve it.

“And Nidao. They had the second watch. They always stayed together, even if they had to trade or do extra duty for it. They were not on guard when it happened, but. . . . They fought at Tarwin’s Gap, a month gone, and saved Lord Agelmar when his horse went down with Trollocs all around him. Now this. Darkfriends.” He drew a deep breath. “Everything is breaking apart.”

Ingtar's beginning to crack under the pressure already. Let's keep an eye on that.

“As you wish, my Lor—ah—Rand. I’m a sniffer, you see. Been one four years this Sunday. I never heard of such a thing before then, but I hear there’s a few others like me. It started slow, catching bad smells where nobody else smelled anything, and it grew. Took a whole year before I realized what it was. I could smell violence, the killing and the hurting. Smell where it happened. Smell the trail of those who did it. Every trail’s different, so there’s no chance of mixing them up. Lord Ingtar heard of it, and took me in his service, to serve the King’s justice.”

Unlike our heroes, who got all their powers when puberty was finishing up, Hurin apparently came into sniffing in comparative old age - he's got "greying hair".

Also note that he's probably named for Tolkien's character, who does not appear in The Lord of the Rings because he's thousands of years dead at that point. Thankfully for our Hurin, his kids are not forced to have an incest baby by Rand's (or anyone else's) magic, nor are there three decades of imprisonment or betrayed cities or anything like that. It's just a cute reference.

There was one in Cairhien once—Brown Ajah, but I swear I thought she was Red before she let me go—she kept me a month trying to find out how I do it. She didn’t like not knowing.

It would be really funny if this had been Verin but I'm pretty sure it's not.

“She was right, then, the Amyrlin Seat,” Ingtar said slowly. “A great and wise woman, who deserves better than me to serve her. Take the trail, Hurin.”

Ingtar's really cracking under the pressure. Half-surprised he doesn't paint "I'M A DARKFRIEND AND I DON'T LIKE IT" on his banner before this is over.

People ran past Bayle Domon in masks and costumes bizarre and fanciful, many showing too much flesh.

Prude! More flesh! More flesh!

Easing the Badger, it was called, though not even Nieda Sidoro, the innkeeper, knew what the name meant; there had always been an inn of the name in Illian.

Is- is it really that hard to figure it out? I feel like Domon's just too prudish to get it and Nieda thinks that if you have to ask you're not old enough.

They were all three nondescript, but there was an air about the speaker that made Domon take him for their leader. They did not appear to be armed; despite their fine clothes, they looked as if they did not need to be. There were hard eyes in those so very ordinary faces.

I always like the bad guys who manage to look like anybody else and yet are still obviously quite dangerous. Fictional worlds need more of them.

“You can coast to Mayene easily enough. Surely, Captain, you would be willing to sail along the shoreline for a thousand gold marks.”

Not even subtle at this point though. I wonder if the various people trying to hire Domon are all independent Darkfriends being directed by Ba'alsy (including the Illianer noblewoman who can't be fully responsible for what we see in this chapter but could be involved) or if they're all different stooges for a singular person.

The First’s city-state was a province of Tear in all but name, and she would no doubt like Illian’s aid. And there were many in Illian who said it was time for another war, that Tear was taking more than a fair share of the trade on the Sea of Storms. A likely net to snare him, if he had not seen three like it in the past month.

Berelain's situation isn't quite as bad as Domon assumes, but yes. It's fun that we're setting up this bit of worldbuilding now when we won't even meet her until the start of book 4.

Like most people who had never been to the Borderlands, Nieda did not believe in Trollocs. He had tried telling her the truth of it; she enjoyed his stories, and thought they were all lies. She did not believe in snow, either.

Illian must have been doing alright in the unnatural winter, then - even if things were colder than usual, they weren't so cold as to make farming impossible. No wonder the Dark One switches tactics next year.

Dangerous coins. One or two might pass, but so many would say to most people exactly what Nieda thought. There were Children of the Light in the city, and although there was no law in Illian against dealing with Aes Sedai, he would never make it to a magistrate if the Whitecloaks heard of this. These men had made sure he would not simply take the gold and stay in Illian.

While I'm sure the Whitecloaks have been doing this off-and-on throughout their whole existence, I get the feeling that Niall's made this a big point for his terrorist cells to get Tar Valon as isolated as it was during Hawkwing's siege. Most people would under normal circumstances take Nieda's approach: Yeah it sucks that it's witch gold, but it's real witch gold and that's better than no gold.

Domon reared to his feet. “Roust the crew, Yarin. Find them and tell them Spray sails as soon as there do be men enough aboard to handle her.” Stuffing the parchment into his coat pocket, he snatched up the bag of gold and pushed his second out the door ahead of him. “Roust them, Yarin, for I’ll leave any man who no makes it, standing on the quay as he is.”

Poor Domon. Bro had no idea what he was getting into buying that seal; much like most Darkfriends assumed their oaths would never trigger in their lifetimes, for most of recent history getting your hands on a seal wouldn't have meant anything at all. But he's been living a constant nightmare since a little before book 1 began and unlike Rand he didn't get a month off.

And of course, things are only gonna go downhill from here.

“Spray do sail now. To sea.” Domon cut off Yarin’s protests about light and tides, and Spray not being built for the open sea.

I expect that while Domon often threatened to leave sailors behind, this is one of the only times he's actually done so.

In thin red wax below the signature were impressed the Rising Sun seal of Cairhien and the Five Stars of House Riatin.

And so even the King of Cairhien is a Darkfriend. Humanity is thoroughly corrupted at this point.

He had heard that Whitebridge had been burned to the ground right after he sailed from there, and there had been rumors of Myrddraal as well as Trollocs. It was that, all of it together, that had first convinced him he was not imagining things, that had had him on guard when that first odd commission was offered, too much money for a simple voyage to Tear, and a thin tale for a reason.

It's great that the thing that convinces Domon that it's all about him was in fact just the thing he was only tangentially connected to. The Wheel is so far ahead of the Darkfriends that it's difficult to see any of them standing a chance no matter how many Turnings pass.

The disk felt hard and smooth in his hand, and not at all valuable except for its age, but he was afraid it was what his pursuers were after. Lightsticks, and ivory carvings, and even bones turned to stone, he had seen other times, other places.

Since the seven Ages don't last anywhere near long enough for fossilization to be a natural process, I wonder what crazy shenanigans go down in age six or seven to make them such a thing going forward.

“The Taraboners and the Domani have always squabbled over Almoth Plain and Toman Head. Even if it has come to blows this time, a careful man can always find trade. West, Yarin.”

Sadly, Domon won't quite be careful enough... It's way more of a war zone than even he expects!

[00katrinka00]

Landcaster Legacy Gen 7 Update #27

Dear Diary, First date with Janie went well, but her mother is making her live with her dad in Mt. Komorebi over break, it feels like Gianna all over again. Also, Lacy's been in the bathroom for who knows how long, and I have no idea why. Maybe she fell in, I should check -Violet

"What's going on in there, Lacy" Violet called into their shared bathroom "Nothing," Lacy yelled back as she hesitantly studied herself in the mirror "I have to get ready for school as well" "C'mon, just do it" Lacy muttered to herself. "You can dye it back once the show is over"

It didn't take long for Lacy to dye her hair. She didn't know how to feel, pink hair just about defined her. She'd had pink hair for a long as she could remember, but opening night was in a few days, and she could live without pink hair for a week.

"Come on Lacy!" Violet called again. "You're going to make both of us late for school." Lacy was silent on the other side of the wall. "LACY!" "We have dress rehearsal today," Lacy finally said. "What does that have to do with hogging the bathroom?" "Want to see my costume?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Violet. "Yes, yes, yes!" "You switched up real fast," Lacy smirked to herself in the mirror after changing into her Luna outfit.

"Ta-da!" Lacy posed outside their bathroom door. "Oh, my watcher!" exclaimed Violet. "You look amazing, so good. Oh, I can't wait to see the play on Friday." "I can't wait to perform in front of an audience again," Lacy admitted. "Wait, what happened to your pink hair?"

"Well," Lacy started to explain before getting cut off by Violet. "Could the watcher not have looked for new CC?" "She didn't feel like it," Lacy told her. "So, we made it work with what she already had installed. It's only for a week and then I'll dye it back."

"Violet, can you come in here for a minute," Mads called right as Violet was headed to school "I'm going to be late, what?" "I was just wondering, since Lacy will be at her dress rehearsal, and Ethan said he'd stay home with Rosie. Would you want to do something together tonight"

"Like what?" "I was thinking we could get our nails done, maybe our hair too, go shopping," Mads told her. "I just want to spend time with you, maybe hear more about your band, and your girlfriend." Violet thought for a moment, "honestly, mom, that sounds like a lot of fun."

Leo met Sofia in the library before school, and he decided to get some extra credit work done while she talked. "And then my Dad said-," Sofia stopped talking abruptly. "Are you listening?" Leo wasn't. "LEO!" Sofia yelled warranting a shushing from the librarian.

"I swear I wasn't trying to ignore you," Leo defended. "It's just, extra credit, valedictorian. I've been slacking in the homework department and need to step up my academic game. I'm about to fall from an A to a B!" "Oh please," Sofia snapped. "You were thinking about Nat."

"Sofia I-" Leo was cut off. "You know what," said Sofia. "I'm so done with being second to Nat here, Leo. I'm breaking up with you."

"Ready to get your hair done?" Jenna, who was the amateur hair and makeup artist, asked Lacy. "Absolutely," Lacy quickly changed into her costume and let Jenna do her thing. She'd forgotten how much she enjoyed sitting in a hair and makeup chair.

"And done!" Jenna exclaimed. "You look great!" "I know," Lacy smirked. "You know," Jenna suggested. "I have a social bunny account where I post hair and makeup looks, one day I hope to do this in Del Sol Valley. If you'd let me, I'd like to practice on you more" "Sure, why not."

"Is she ready yet, Jenna?" Owen asked clearly irritated "Yes, jeez. Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Jenna said before exiting the room "Are we good?" Lacy asked sitting down next to Owen "Why wouldn't we be good?" There was still an edge in Owen's voice.

"The tone of voice you're using doesn't sound like we're good," Lacy pointed out. "I like you, and I want us to stay friends." "You reject me, with a terrible cliche explanation, but you want to remain friends?" Owen asked genuinely confused. "Exactly," Lacy said a little unsure.

"You know what," Owen said deciding to keep things professional. "We should head on stage to start the dress rehearsal." "But-" Lacy started. "Let's go," Owen said, and with that he got up and left the room leaving lacy no choice but to follow.

[agooberscast]

I posted 1,948 times in 2022

That's 42 more posts than 2021!

754 posts created (39%)

1,194 posts reblogged (61%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@agooberscast

@pudgy-planets

@itsjustagoober

@agoobersretreat

@somechubbynerd

I tagged 1,743 of my posts in 2022

Only 11% of my posts had no tags

#ask call - 711 posts

#ask prompt - 553 posts

#silliness - 471 posts

#please specify muse - 462 posts

#someheartlesslady - 377 posts

#the mun speaks - 347 posts

#pretty please? - 319 posts

#nibblesnarf - 292 posts

#somechubbynerd - 286 posts

#ask thread - 268 posts

Longest Tag: 57 characters

#just send them some fun and silly and wholesome-ish stuff

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

((So, I'm sure you're wondering 'Yo, where has Goober been for about a week?'. If not, that's also fine and I'm here to tell you. This past week, as well as the week before, has been some of the busiest times I've had in awhile. It completely caught me off-guard and the change in temperature from moderate/cool to hot/hotter is not helping.

I haven't slept well since the temp change about two-to-three weeks ago and it's catching up to me badly. I think the recovery time for this is also skewed because of it. So, I think I have to make a decision I didn't want to.

I'm going to be going on a small hiatus again. For the moment, I hope it's only until the end of the month. I'll be lurking on my personal blog and my self-insert blog @agoobersretreat , but I will be mostly silent otherwise.

I love you all very much and I appreciate your patience with me in that I need time to recover and you all have proven, time and time again, you're willing to afford me that.

Until next month or so, ciao~!))

23 notes - Posted June 4, 2022

#4

Suddenly, Mallow is hugged by Anne!

"Oh, thank GOD you're back to normal, girl..."

"Oop? Oh, uhh, thank you?" Mallow giggles and squeals, happily hugging Anne back. A nice and cozy soft lady? Why wouldn't she?

"Mmmm, I dunno what you mean or what happened, but I'm glad I'm okay then~!" Awww, those big-little eyes.

24 notes - Posted April 6, 2022

#3

((Gonna be busy for the rest of today and tomorrow, so my plan is to finally get to those asks and replies this weekend while I'm staying inside and avoiding the heat that's suddenly upon us!

Until that day, I will be reblogging this each day or so and also gonna ask for an ask call on @agoobersretreat , as I can usually spit those out pretty fast and also I'm always in the mood for playing myself.

Anywho, you guys have a great rest of the week and I'll see ya then~! Keep an eye out for activity all over soon enough~!))

25 notes - Posted May 10, 2022

#2

Alrighty, I answered a lot of asks today on all my blogs.

Against my better judgement, send me some more to whittle down over the week. I'd appreciate keeping my mind busy, ya know?

Love y'all~!

32 notes - Posted March 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

someheartlesslady

"Depends. Have youuuuu been behaving?"

“Yiiiiiiiiiiisss~! I have been cuz it is...not like me to misbehave~?” Lying through her teeth, of course.

61 notes - Posted January 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[hovershiplogos]

As much as I love this game, I will be the first to say that the driving sections...

ARE GODAWFUL PIECES OF SHIT. GOOD LORD HOW MANY HOURS DID I SPEND ON THEM?? GHOST, YOU NEED TO WEAR YOUR GODDAMN SEATBELT!!

Especially when the arrow is misleading as hell, and Sparks' says 'BEAR RIGHT' 1 sec before the turn so you inevitably spin out trying to make the turn, then spend the next two minutes driving around waiting for him to lift the boom gate!

And this isn't even the worst one!!!

And now, with that complaint out of the way:

Niobe is a hell of a driver if she's able to get the car partially on the wall to drive down this narrow as hell alleyway, and not lose the driver side mirror?! That's pretty sick!

See Ghost, this is why you wear your selt belt! Poor Ghost, he is not having a great night!

And to top it off, the exit is up a ladder and on the roof, poor baby. I love that he's the one to complain about it. Ghost isn't near as above it all as I remember.

And the first agent to turn up in the game. I think this is ...Jackson?? I'm not sure, the new generation look a little similar, and I'm not really familiar with the agents. To top it off, I can't find any indication of who it is online. If you know which agent this is, a heads up would be awesome!

You would think Sparks would've warned them that an agent was right behind the door! Also, how the hell did an agent get up there so damn quickly??

Essentially, this section is a big love letter to Trinity's roof chase from the first film, and yes, if you're not fast enough, the agent will catch up. I stopped to take out a few pursuing cops, and whoop, there he was right behind me!

Okay, once the roof chase is done, which plays out the same between Niobe and Ghost, back to the cutscenes:

Slightly awkward team photo here, Niobe rubbing her jaw from having a door shoved in her face, Ghost nursing his sore ribs from vehicular damage, and Sparks with his tongue out in concentration as he puts things away.

I kinda love that their injuries all carry over in a phantom-pain kinda way. I mean, they don't, but hey, that's what pain killers are for!

Which is what you mean by that, right 'Dr Feelgood'? Right??!!

But nope, we got discs to watch, plot to move forward with, so off we go!

I have no idea what this guy's name is, he's never named, all we know is that he's a lieutenant, and he's Lock's 2iC. That's it. If someone knows this chap's name, again I'd love to know!

This right here is my favourite bit of speculative dialogue! You wanna know why? Thaddeus here gives us a time, and date. So, 18:03, pretty easy, means Final Flight of the Osiris took place in the evening, with this communique starting at 6pm. I'd give them maybe less than an hour until the ship explodes? But anyway, it's the date that I'm interested in. 12-14. No year, because as Morpheus states in the first film, no one really knows, so it doesn't matter too much, but we have month and day. Which is in American formatting because a: this was created/written by Americans, and b: there's only 12 months in a year.

So, the Osiris and it's crew went down swinging at let's say 7pm on the 14th of December. Now, we don't know how many days went by between the ship going missing, and when the post office raid took place, and the sequels took place over 4 - 5 days, maybe?

So, timeline depending, what I'm saying is that you could count the Matrix sequels as holiday movies given this timeline. I'm just saying you could!

Sparks says it best: Holy Shit. Because oh yeah, while the reactions are very understated for the most part in the films, this understated shock is an appropriate reaction to learning that there is a big ass army lurking over the horizon ready to destroy everything you hold dear, your life included.

Sparks, I don't think it's a smart idea to call your boss by his embarrassing nickname to his face. I gotta wonder, who gave him that nickname in the first place. Also, I love that as soon as Niobe hears who's calling, she shooes Sparks away.

While they're both professionals on this call, Lock's little plea to Niobe to be careful does show that he loves her. I feel bad for Lock, I get the feeling that he loves her more than Niobe loves him.

Little bit of exposition dialogue for our sakes, but I think that the other reason Ghost says this is to drive home how bad this is, to recall the whole fleet back home, circling the wagons style. If it's happened before, it's not in his living memory.

Well, now that you've said that Ghost, everything! Meanwhile back in the real world, Sparks got very nervous all of a sudden and he doesn't know why.

I know this is due to technical limitations (probably), and I don't know about you guys, but I have never seen an airport so empty. Even at night, especially for what I imagine would be the main airport for the city, and it would be a big city, right?? This isn't a little airport in NZ that doesn't have flights coming in at all hours, this is a major airport! Am I overthinking this? I'm overthinking this, aren't I? But hey, no fighting anyone for the phones!

Because of course Morpheus' cover would be related to dreams. Also, red orchids symbolise strength, courage, and love. Nothing too special there. Maybe red roses were too on the nose?

This, I think is Ice's cover? Although the voice doesn't sound quite right, so it could be Kali's? For some reason I remember this being Ice, though.

Of course, thanks to Ghost jinxing things earlier, this recall does not go as smoothly as they wanted, now that some other hapless red pill who apparently really loved Kingdom Hearts 2 (yes, I know this came out before then, just let me have this joke okay?) got kidnapped, and his crew came to get him. Which is bad luck for Niobe and Ghost as that makes making all the calls that much harder. Unless Soren's was the last one they called. In which case, all good!

I love this, of course blame the extra security on your other team mate, because she's the only suspicious one here! It's not like you jinxed things or anything!

Also, I love that when Ghost wishes her good luck, her response is that she's due for some.

Anyway, next time, we'll go check in our bags, and go through security in order to pick up Axel from his departing flight. See you next time!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Yes, that's right, it's Enter the Matrix. Because it's criminal that for a blog named for the little ship that could, I've haven't actually done a deep dive on the game itself! So I'm going to fix that!

I'm also going to play through as both Niobe and Ghost, as depending on who you're playing, the missions play out slightly different, and the cutscene dialogue varies as well. Also, not going to do like a  blow by blow kinda thing. Only going to comment on things that caught my  interest, or seem rather amusing to me.  If you want a little more context, I suggest checking out the couple of playthroughs/cut scene compilations on youtube.

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

Also interesting to note is that according to this cutscene, Sparks has been operating on board the Logos for 3 years. Now, a standard US navy tour of duty (and I'm going with Navy rather than Army as Zion's army is referred to as a Navy fleet) is between 2-3 years. Not really going anywhere with this, but it's interesting to note.

Niobe is a 'my way or the highway' kinda person. No wonder it didn't work between her and Morpheus. It's also telling that Ghost has known Niobe for long enough to know that this is what she's like. I wonder if Ghost is the glue in this ship dynamic? As in, he knew Niobe and Sparks separately before they knew each other, if that makes sense?

And it's the little hovership that could, the little lightning bug of the fleet! Those red lights on the ship look like they're the same as the ones on the sentinels. I wonder if a bulb blows or something they scavenge one from a deactivated squiddie as a replacement?

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

Also, as I remarked earlier, the fact that Niobe is willing to risk going in without support , especially given what she says about Thaddeus not using the drops unless he had no choice? And now they're all dead? They definitely need to get that package before the agents do.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

Once again, Niobe is rolling her eyes behind the sunnies. This is what she has to put up with. Also, I would love to think that one time Sparks pranked Ghost by running some program that sent his guns soaring upward.

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

[laskyy]

Hey guys! So today (October 6th) is my bestie's (@newkyumilk) bday! And since it's already the 7th of October (Jiung's bday) in korea I decided to post this imagine as a present for my bestie and as a birthday special to Jiung! I really hope you enjoy this 💖💖💖

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Memories

Tw: Kissing, crying, mentions of trains (let me know if I missed something)

Genre: fluff

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Friends come and go, was what everyone always said and you didn't really believe them until you completely lost touch with your childhood best friend, Jiung.

You and Jiung had met when you were both only 5, your parents were good friends so it was only natural for you two to hang out when they hung out.

Jiung had seen all of your awkward phases, and he stuck with you through all of them, well that is until he moved cities without even telling you and that always made you think if you did something wrong or if he didn't want to hurt you.

That was 3 years ago, now you were a college student and you were very focused on your future, wanting to excell so you could have the life you always wanted.

You were very tired from all of the assignements, but you could finally rest as your college would give students a small two week break, and honestly it was just what you needed to relax.

You and your parents had planned to visit some friends in another city, but you didn't bother asking who they were, you just wanted a little get away.

"Honey, do you have everything packed?" Your mom asked as you went down the stairs of your house into the living room where your parents were waiting.

"Yes, I double checked everything!" You said as you reached the living room and sighed.

"You're gonna love these few days I promise!" Your dad said as opened the door for you and your mom.

"I'm sure I will, I really need to rest! I hope your friends are calm people!" But instead of answering, your parents just stared at each other with knowing smiles as they exited your house and locked the door.

You guys headed for the train station and in your mind was only the thought of how th house was gonna be and who were the friends you were gonna be visiting.

All those thought came to a halt when your mom called you to get on the train as it had already arrived.

You got on the train and let your mind run wild. Train rides brought you a certain nostalgia, because you used to ride the train with your childhood bestriend Jiung all the time.

But well, now that he wasn't here you couldn't hope for it to happen again. And besides that he just left you with no trace.

"Honey, hey, sorry to interrupt your thought, but I just wanted to tell you that we're almost there!" Your dad said as he gave you a small smile.

"Ok dad, thanks for telling me." You answered as you looked out the window and saw a field of flower. More specifically one that reminded you of your childhood with Jiung.

Flashback

You and Jiung were 10 years old and were just playing hide and seek in a field of flowers, somewhere you'd go to after school every friday.

"I'm coming!" Jiung said as he tried to look for you as you were hidden behind a bush. You were hoping he'd take longer finding you but he found you with no time.

"Got you!" He said as he laughed cutely and you looked at him laughing as well. "How are you so good at this?" You asked as you both sat down in the grass.

"I played a lot with my cousin last summer, so you better watch out." He said as he tried to look scary, but you just laughed.

You stood there looking at the field when you spotted a beautiful sunflower. "Look Jiung, how beautiful is that?" "It's very pretty! Wait a little bit!" He said as he stood up and disappeared for a few minutes, and when you were about to look for him he appeared with a flower crown made of sunflower and put it on top of your head. "There, now the flower is wearing flowers!" Jiung said as he giggled and booped your nose.

End of flashback

You were already tearing up at the sweet memory when you mom tapped your shoulder for you to exit the train with your parents.

This place looked oddly familiar, but you couldn't wrap your head around where you've seen it, so you decided to wait until you reached the house you were staying at to try and ask someone.

You arrived at the house and as soon as your parents knocked the door opened revealing a couple around your parents' age who welcomed you sweetly.

"And you must be their Child! You're so pretty!" The lady said as she pulled you in a hug.

"I'm sure you'd love to meet my son! He's around your age! TAEYANG!" She yelled with full force. And Taeyang? You were sure you knew someone named like that, but who?

The boy came down stairs and immediately recognized you as he hugged you and told his and your parents that he was going with you to his room.

"Hey! You remember me right? I'm Taeyang, Jiung's cousin!" So that's why you knew him.

"Oh! I do remember you! How are you? I haven't seen you in so long!" You said as you tried to get the conversation going.

"I'm great! Even better now that I'm seeing you! You've grown!" He said with a smile. You both kept talking for a while until he mention Jiung.

"So you're probably wondering why Jiung hasn't beeb talking to you or why he didn't tell you anything about the reason he was moving right?" He asked as he looked at you with his doe eyes.

"Well, yeah, but he probably wanted to cut me off no?" You asked as if it was obvious.

"Do you really think he'd do that? No, he's not like that, he didn't tell you anything, because he knew he wouldn't be strong enough to not break down when he saw you! It wasn't his best decision, but well it's done right?" He said with a conforting smile.

"I appreciate the information Tae, but why are you telling me all of this?" You asked as you were genuinely curious about this random outburst about his cousin.

"Well, I knew you were coming and I also knew about his situation, so I may or may not have invited him over for you guys to talk." He said so fast that if you weren't so invested in this you wouldn't have caught a word he said.

"You what? I haven't talked to him in over 3 years! Tae it's going to be awkward!" You said sounding desperate.

"Calm down! Everything is going to go well! And he hasn't changed! He's still the same as he was when he lived near you! The only difference is that he lives near me now!" Taeyang said in hopes to comfort you.

A few hours had passed and you heard the doorbell ring.

"Oh my god, Tae it's him!" You said as you nervously paced around the room.

"Calm down things are going to go well I promise! And he's gonna come up stairs. If you need anything shout, I'm going to be in the living room!" Tae said as he exited the room to invite Jiung inside.

You were a nervous wreck, but you were still curious about how Jiung would look now, probably more mature was your guess, and as he entered the room you realized your guess was absolutely right.

"Y/n" Jiung said as he ran in your direction and picked you up in his arms. You were so overwhelmed you started crying and you didn't miss the fact that Jiung also shed a few tears of his own.

"I missed you so much!" Jiung said as he let you down on the floor to look at you.

"I missed you too, but why did you avoid me? Why did you hide everything from me?" Although Taeyang had already given you the answer you still wanted to hear the answer from him.

"I was stupid and I didn't tell you because I knew that if I told you I wouldn't be strong enough to actually move, it would be harder so I thought it would be the best for the both of us, But I was so wrong! I missed you everyday!" He said with glossy eyes.

"Oh Jiung I missed you too!" You said as you teared up again and wrapped you arms around him.

When you guys both calmed down you went to the living room where Taeyang was staying.

"So are you guys ok? Are you friends again? Something more?" Taeyang asked as he said the last part softly so only Jiung would hear.

"Yes we're good now! But Me and Y/n are going for a walk, we'll be back before dinner." Jiung announced as you both went out of the door.

You were just catching up while walking until Jiung stopped at the flower field you'd seen while in the train.

"Wanna know something? I came here everytime I missed you badly, because this flower field really looks like the one next to your house!" Jiung admitted as he mitioned for you to come with him.

"Actually, when I was in train I saw this field through the window and I thought back to us playing hide and seek and that one time you made that flower crown for me." You said shyly as you weren't playing attention to Jiung's actions, but when you saw him again you noticed him walking towards you with a sunflower crown.

"Jiung, that's so cute!" You said as he put it on your head the same way he did when you were kids.

"Now the flower is wearing flowers!" He said just like before as he booped you nose.

"Oh my god, I miss when we were kids!" You said as Jiung sat down next to you.

"Yeah, I also miss living next to you! I was so sad my mom got a promotion, I just wanted to live near you!" He said as he scooted closer to you.

"Maybe in the future we'll be able to live close!" You said as the both of you moved backwards to rest your backs against a tree.

"Yeah maybe!" Jiung said as he gave you a knowing smile.

"Ok, I've been keeping this in for like 5 years so I need to let it out!" Jiung exclaimed.

"Go ahead Ji!" You said calmly.

"I like you, well, that's a lie. I love you in a romantic way. And honestly it's okay if you don't feel the same I just needed to tell you!" Jiung said as he was now blushing furiously and you think you were too.

"I actually love you too Jiung. I have since a few years now. And when you left I was so heartbroken, because I thought I'd never see you again." You confessed while looking straight in his eyes.

"But now I'm here and we could do something about these feelings, that is if you want to of course." He said shyly.

"I'd love to, but we're gonna have to do a long distance relationship." You said sadly.

"And what if I tell you we don't?" He said in a questioning way.

"What do you mean? We live quite far from each other." You said while confusion was written all over your face.

"I'm moving again! My mom found a stable job back in your city! We're gonna be able to meet everyday almost all the time!" He said and as he finished his sentence you threw yourself in his arms.

"Jiung that's literally the best thing you could've told me! I love you so much!" You said as you hugged him tighter and felt him kiss your head gently.

"I love you too, so much, you have no idea." He said as he looked deep in your eyes, grabbed your cheek gently and leaned in to kiss you, but before he could reach your lips he lifted his eyebrows as a way to ask for permission to which you granted by nodding and Jiung then kissed you softly.

You guys broke apart after a few seconds to make eye contact and you smiled sweetly at each other, a smile that showed your feelings for one another completely.

"I love you." You said as you smiled at Jiung.

"I love you too." Jiung said as he smiled and leaned in to kiss you again.

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I hope you guys enjoyed it! Specially my bestie, my first Tumblr friend @newkyumilk! Everyone go wish her a happy birthday! And In Korea it's already Jiung day, so happy birthday to our hardworking Jiung 💖💖💖

Have a great day/afternoon/night! I love you 💖💖💖

[wondereads]

Personal Recommendation (05/23/21)

Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine

Why am I recommending this book?

This one is a trip to my childhood. The Tinkerbell movies were great and all, but the Pixie Hollow books were truly on another level. I loved this whole trilogy when I was younger, and it's the perfect book for 4th-7th graders or a comfort book for older age groups. This was probably the root of my obsession with fairies.

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Plot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

There's a new Arrival in Pixie Hollow, but Prilla is a bit different from the other fairies. Not only does she use phrases like "nice to meet you" and "I'm sorry" rather than the fairy equivalent, but she doesn't know what her talent is. Before Prilla can even begin to start figuring herself out, the Mother Dove's egg, the talisman that keeps all of Neverland young, is broken in a violent hurricane. Prilla is chosen to go on a quest to restore the egg along with water-talent Rani and fast-flying-talent Vidia.

This book has a very classic complete-the-quest sort of plot. It would normally be boring, but it's very fast-paced and the worldbuilding really fleshes it out. The worldbuilding is incredibly thorough; it explains a lot while still keeping a sort of magical, mysterious air to Neverland. There are mentions of the greater wanded fairies and spell-casting fairies, establishing that Never fairies are not the only fairies out there and also plays into the plot of the next book. The explanation of Pixie Hollow's social structure (which is most definitely a communist utopia) is simple enough for younger kids but is still intriguing. For context, these books were specifically written in order to promote the upcoming Tinkerbell movies, so worldbuilding and characters were way more important than the plot.

Despite that, it's actually pretty good. It's a kid's book in the purest sense and still incorporates the struggle to fit in, self-sacrifice, and the importance of belief. The issue of Prilla's talent, which while it may not be as important as restoring the egg, is never forgotten, and it's obvious that there's something going on with her, but if you haven't read the book before there's no way you know what her talent is. The quest itself provides a lot of good situations for character development.

Characters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Ugh, the characters are so good and so easy to get attached to. Prilla, the main character, is a good lens for the audience. Born from a laugh with a bit of Clumsy (or human) attached to it, she has more humanistic mannerisms that make it easy to introduce fairy standards to the readers. She's also absolutely adorable.

I also have to talk about Rani, the true hero of the story. A water-talent fairy, Rani has always wanted to swim, but fairy wings absorb water and cause them to sink. Rani makes one of the biggest sacrifices a Never fairy could make, and then does it again. She really is just a wonderful person that serves as an amazing role model to young girls.

In terms of character development, Tinker Bell and Vidia are the best. Tinker Bell is particularly important because, especially since these books were meant to promote her movies, she needs to be different from the stuck-up, jealous, and downright mean Tinker Bell from Disney's Peter Pan. And she is characterized so well. She's obsessed with her work and isn't the nicest fairy, but Tinker Bell is also shown to be incredibly kind and caring through her scenes with Mother Dove. It also helps explain her behavior in Peter Pan, and it becomes much easier to like her.

Finally, Vidia is such a good character. She's a hero of the story. She goes on the quest with Rani and Prilla. But she is, fundamentally, selfish. She makes decisions that benefit herself, and she's outright rude to most of the characters at some point. As the quest progresses, there are so many good scenes where she comes to realize the consequences of her behavior, most notably the plucking scene. In the end, although she rationalizes it as something to improve her own situation, she makes the selfless choice and ultimately ends up saving the quest.

Also, Vidia and Prilla's relationship is perfect because it is the epitome of grumpy social outcast and the one (1) person they will tolerate.

Writing Style 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I'll just get it out there–Gail Carson Levine is one of my favorite authors, especially when it comes to children's literature. She has an amazing talent for writing intricate fantasy stories that still keep the feel and atmosphere of a fairy tale. In case you weren't aware, she also wrote Ella Enchanted, Fairest, and The Two Princesses of Bamarre, which are all basically the best fairy tale-based fantasy books for children. She is an amazing writer, and this book is no different. Her method of using third-person-limited perspectives and jumping around from narrator to narrator is I think what really keeps that classic fantasy vibe.

Of course, I also have to talk about the masterful illustrations of David Christiana. Yeah, the Tinkerbell movies were great and all, but I would pay good money to see a 2D animated movie in Christiana's style. The fairies are all so ethereal, and the amount of detail is absolutely stunning.

Meaning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, keeping true to the new fairy tale aesthetic it has, has a moral of course. I think that this book is all about the importance of belief. Of course, fairies need Clumsies (humans) to believe in them, or they die, but it's also about the belief that the fairies themselves need in order to overcome their obstacles. Towards the end of the quest, it seems all is lost, and the fairies lose their belief. It is only when Prilla shows them that there is still something to believe in that the problem is truly solved. It is not just about believing in yourself, but also believing in others and the goodness of the world.

Overall 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

This one is a childhood favorite of mine. In my opinion, everyone should give it a go. It's got a classic quest storyline, great characters, and a good meaning. However, it is aimed at last elementary schoolers. Maybe suggest it to your younger cousin. But, if you're ever in the mood for a light-hearted children's book that's really only a children's book because it's short and had illustrations, give this one a shot! I would recommend this book to people who like fairies, fairy tales, and are of the firm belief that there will always be good in the world.

The Author

Gail Carson Levine: Russian-American, 73, also wrote The Princess Tales, Ever, and A Tale of Two Castles

David Christiana: American, 61, also illustrated for A Tooth Fairy's Tale, The First Snow, and Drawer in a Drawer

The Reviewer

My name is Wonderose; I try to post a review every two weeks, and I take recommendations. Check out my about me post for more!

[yannasunflower]

dust to dust | chapter two

chapter one | chapter two

ao3

You don't know what makes you save Kuroo Tetsurou's life. All you know is there is no world to save anymore, but damn if you're just stupid enough to try.

Genre: hurt/comfort/romance/angst Rating: Mature, subject to change (gore, violence) Kuroo x fem!Reader Word count: 3.5k

hey everyone! here's chapter two, as promised. this fic is also cross-posted to AO3, where i'm under the same username. linked above as well! next chapter, action picks up, plot picks up, and we get more Kuroo, promise. enjoy, and as always, please reblog, like, and comment <3

Nobody ever told you how absolutely boring a zombie apocalypse could be.

Your ragtag group of survivors have scavenged what entertainment they can - books and gym equipment, even a few board games. People like Suga and Takeda keep busy with the children, teaching them to read and garden and how to survive if mommy and daddy never come back for them.

You open one lazy eye as a gaggle of them stumble after Suga, hanging on to his every word.

You’re not sure how the two men handle placing a long knife in a child’s chubby hand, fingers barely able to grip it,and showing them how to strike right at a nighstalker’s heart, fast and deep. Their giggles float through the air and the sound is almost dreamlike and if you keep your eyes closed, you can pretend this is a movie and when you open them, the credits will roll and you can go home.

Others tend to the elderly, of which there are only three in your group. You try to keep them comfortable and as far from danger as possible. But your body constantly prickles with the knowledge that they aren’t just vulnerable - they are a vulnerability. A hole in the brick wall you are attempting to build around this little community.

The healthy and fit young people patrol and take rotations on the watchtowers. Teenagers help with the lessons. Takeda had been firm about this. Once a kid turned seventeen, they were allowed to join the patrols, but until then, they stayed sequestered away.

It was almost comical, telling a tall, strong, angry Tobio that he had to mind the children. He towers over you, but he had bent to your will after a brief glaring contest. And then a week later, Shoyo had bounded into everyone’s hearts, including his, and the pair were inseparable.

Kiyoko, for her part, had taken one look at Yachi, shivering at Hinata’s side, and adopted her, sweeping her under a protective wing and keeping her there.

For people like you, who have no “bedside manner” as Kiyoko puts it, there are chores and day to day mini emergencies to keep you busy. Somehow, in the months since the world finally decided to fall apart, you have become mediator and negotiator. It’s an unlikely role; you can see your mother’s arched brow if she was still alive to see you now.

You barely have the patience for grocery shopping.

She would have laughed, elbowing your father, who would have made a valiant attempt at a straight face.

These are useless memories but you allow yourself to indulge for a moment. You have nothing better to do. Lunch is cooking, inventory has been completed, the guard rotation is set for the next two weeks. Ukai had waved you off this morning when you finally managed to corner him, complaining about your ceaseless energy and the “mad glint” in your eye. His words.

“That look means trouble for me,” he had growled, pointing an accusing finger at you. “Go to your cell and get some sleep for the love of anything you find holy.” Without another word, the man had leaned against a wall, put his feet up on his desk, and closed his eyes. A clear dismissal. You tried not to huff but you definitely stomped a little bit on the way out.

You don’t know how to tell him that staying in your cell, with your eyes closed, is inviting the living nightmares. You don’t know how to tell anyone, really, that you are just as haunted as this prison, as Daichi’s eyes.

That the only holy thing left in this world is fear and if you succumb to that, you’ll never move again.

You let a sigh tumble out of you. Forcibly, you shove your thoughts in another direction.

It had been a week since you brought home your latest stray. Kuroo had spent the first three days doing little else but sleep and eat. Daichi has taken to walking him around the Pit every day, explaining the way things work, and Suga showed him his pride and joy just yesterday. Kuroo had been suitably impressed by the garden, if the generous second and third helpings Suga thought he was sneaking to him at dinnertime were anything to go by.

The man has filled out nicely. He looks less skeleton, more human after sleep and hot food. You had peeked in on him in the grey of dawn that morning after Daichi not-so-subtly hinted that Kuroo had been asking about you.

He sleeps curled up on his side, hair falling against his cheek. In another world, you would have taken a picture.

Kiyoko tells you that the men like him, that Tanaka has stopped regarding him with all the wariness of a stray cat, and that she’s pretty sure Yachi has a crush on him.

You open your eyes into a blazing afternoon, unsurprised to see the subject of your thoughts stretching in the courtyard, the weak sunlight rippling over his bare arms. His black hair is messy as ever and you are struck all over again by how tall he is.

Tobio got a new babysitter, you think with no small amount of amusement. The gangly teenager needs someone to keep him in line and frankly, you don’t have the time and Hinata is just as likely to suggest some stupid shit for them to get into as he is.

You are still stretched out like a cat on a bench, letting the sun warm you, half-hoping it will lull you into a nap.

It’s boredom, more than anything, that makes you turn your head toward Kuroo.

“If you’d like to get some exercise, we have equipment. I’m sure Noya can show you,” you call.

Kuroo jumps and swivels to look at you, eyes wide and so, so dark. You look away. Something about him is like staring at the sun; too long, and your eyes burn.

“Didn’t see you there,” he admits easily, sauntering over to your bench. You eye his approach, noting that he really must be feeling a lot better. His movements are more fluid now, lean muscles becoming apparent on his shoulders.

Daichi has blessed every woman, and a few men, in the Pit by finding Kuroo a pair of grey joggers and a muscle tank top for everyday wear.

“I don’t do well with sitting still,” he says, leaning over you. His head casts you in shadow, blotting out the sun. “This is something I think you can understand.”

Up close, you can see that the shadows beneath his eyes are retreating gradually. His smile looks less like a grimace today.

You hum, swinging your legs over the bench and sitting up. Blood rushes from your head and you lean back against your palms. Kuroo lowers himself to sit next to you.

“Daichi forces me to limit my rotations on the guard towers and patrols,” you answer. “When we first found this place and cleaned it out, I was working overtime and made myself sick. Him and Kiyoko have been conspirators against me ever since.”

Your fingers thrum against your thigh as you say this. You feel more than see Kuroo’s eyes on them.

“They love you,” he points out, a little unnecessarily.

You snort.

“Love is expensive nowadays and everyone in the Pit is broke.”

“You love them back even more.”

You glare at him but he is just looking at you, tracing the planes of your face. A frown tugs at your lips.

“How are you feeling?”

Kuroo rolls his shoulders experimentally, stretching his arms above his head.

“Better,” he affirms. “More like myself.”

“A nosy busybody who talks like a grandpa?”

“Exactly.”

He is grinning now and you have to fight to keep yourself from returning the expression.

The bruises on his face are yellow now. You estimate it will only take a couple more weeks of regular meals for his face to fill out and his skin to look youthful again. You don’t bother asking him how long he had been alone, what happened to his family. None of that matters now. The apocalypse is a great equalizer.

“I talked to Takeda and Kiyoko this morning,” you begin, leaning your head back and closing your eyes against the sun. “They agreed to give you another week before putting you on guard rotation.”

“I would appreciate that. I want to earn my keep, however I can.”

A ghost of a smile dances across your lips.

“You’re just bored,” you tease. It’s been a long time since you felt sleepy and loose enough to tease anyone.

“You say that now, but newbies get the shittiest schedule possible,” you warn him, unsure why you’re telling him this. “Be prepared. Once you’re back to top form, we’ll discuss sending you on patrols for medicine and expanding that garden of Suga’s.”

There’s silence but it’s comfortable, easy. You let yourself enjoy it for just a few moments before standing, opening your eyes and offering Kuroo a full smile and your hand.

As he shakes it, looking only a little confused, you wonder how much longer he would have survived on his own in the city.

“Welcome to the Pit,” you say before turning on your heel and walking away.

~~~

Nightmares are as plentiful as soil on Suga’s fingers.

A sliver of moonlight is all that keeps you from sinking into the darkness, skin clammy, chest heaving. Your fingers twist into the sheets. A prayer is whispered that you didn’t scream this time. You can’t bear the thought of Kiyoko running again, feet bare, knife in hand and tears glistening on her cheeks. Her utter, pure relief haunted you for a month.

It would be so easy, you think, to never get up again.

Kiyoko would care for you. Daichi would stop by, every day, and update you. Ukai would read to you, probably, or nap in your cell, unlit cigarette dangling from his lips.

These are the thoughts that force you up, out, stumbling into your worn boots, shrugging a jacket on.

Takeda finds you in the office hours later, hunched over inventory reports in his neat handwriting, hair pulled back. He puts a pot of coffee on and hands you a steaming mug, holding a hand out for the report you’re struggling to understand.

“Winter is coming,” you sigh as you hand it over. He doesn’t ask about the shadows beneath your eyes, doesn’t comment on the fact that it’s barely six-thirty in the morning and you’ve clearly been awake for a number of hours.

A smile quirks at his lips.

“I didn’t know Tanaka managed to get the TV’s up and running,” he jokes. You wave your hand in a vague gesture, taking another sip of the liquid heaven in your hand.

“We need to get winter supplies,” you answer and that sobers him up. He nods, slowly, eyes roving the paper.

“Winter isn’t for over six months,” he reminds you. An eyebrow is raised. A teacher, waiting for an explanation. In moments like these, you see the high school teacher that you’d found barricaded in his office, babbling a stream of students’ names that Daichi had quietly whispered as your group cut them down, reading them off their uniforms.

On Takeda’s worst nights, as you guarded the door to his cell, you’d heard those same names, apologies and nonsensical gibberish streaming from his mouth as he grappled with his dreams and feverish tremors.

You stand, stretching, before stepping in front of a map of the city that Suga had snagged on one of his patrols. It’s huge, taking up an entire wall. Little markers litter the paper, different colors, and you run your finger over the pale blue ones in the northeast corner.

“There’s a limited supply of winter clothes in the city. I don’t want other groups getting to it first - we don’t need that bastard holding it over our heads when we have food and they don’t,” you remind him. Your arms cross behind your back automatically. “With the snows, we’ll need snow boots. The kids need jackets and thermals. We need to completely outfit the prison’s entire water supply system to last through snowstorms. We need hot water before then or half of us are going to be too sick, and the other half will be taking care of them. We need medicine, too.”

You tick off each item on your fingers, pausing to consider if you’ve missed something. You’re probably missing ten somethings and you struggle to see what they are. You need more coffee.

Takeda is twenty-nine, but when you turn to look at him finally, he seems sixty, glasses dangling from his fingers, nose bridge pinched between his knuckles.

He mutters something suspiciously close to a curse under his breath before opening his eyes.

“You’re right,” he admits. “We’re going to need at least seven months to prepare.”

The morning is a whirlwind. You send the youngest children, always the earliest risers, to fetch Daichi and Kiyoko, both much more bright-eyed than they have any right to be. Takeda drags a yawning Ukai into the office moments later and Tanaka slouches after them. Suga pokes his head in to give you a little wave and knowing smirk that everyone else finds nonthreatening before ushering the children to the cafeteria for their breakfast.

You’re positive you’re not imagining the pale pink coating Daichi’s cheeks.

After explaining the situation, everyone sucks in a collective breath.

Tanaka never sits and always faces a door. From his corner of the room, he glowers at the map.

“Well, fuck,” he neatly summarizes. You nod your appreciation for his conciseness.

“We need to get a hold of meat,” Ukai points out. A something you had missed.

You grab a marker and the portable whiteboard Takeda had grabbed a few weeks ago. In neat characters, you begin documenting everything thrown around the table.

“Raising livestock will be another way to keep the little ones busy.”

“We can’t ask people to shower in cold water during winter, that’s cruel.”

“Tanaka, is there any way to get the heating system up and running by then?”

“What about air conditioning? We have to get through the summer to get to winter, and heat is just as likely to kill us.”

“If other groups realize what we’re doing, we could be in trouble.”

A headache is brewing somewhere behind your temples and you bite back a groan. Kiyoko pushes a cool water bottle into your hand and you know she isn’t fooled for one second.

“I think we’re missing someone here,” Kiyoko points out mildly after what feels like an eternity of circular conversation. All eyes turn to her and she’s unruffled, fingers still wrapped around her mug.

“Kuroo could be a huge help to a lot of this,” she continues. “I’m sure he can help Tanaka and Noya with everything on their list, and we need more able-bodied men on the patrols anyway. He can help us with medicine, our food supply, all of it.”

A furtive glance in Tanaka’s direction is not encouraging. He’s glowering, eyes hooded.

“We barely know him,” Tanaka hisses. You have to privately agree.

“We barely know each other,” Ukai shoots back. “We’ve been here, what, three months?”

“He hasn’t even been on a patrol yet and you want him helping us make important decisions that affect everyone, including the kids?”

“That’s unfair, and you know it, Tanaka,” Takeda says patiently, but somehow reproachfully at the same time. “Kuroo has been in no condition to patrol. The man was emaciated.”

Takeda continues, levying everyone at the table with a stern face.

“We all trust each other now because we took the gamble and brought people in and allowed time to prove it. It was always a risk, and it will always be a risk, but we can’t let that stop us. What we’re doing here is more important than just working together to survive.”

It’s a flowery, nice sentiment, to be expected from a literature teacher, and you barely hold back a snort at Ukai’s warning look.

“None of this matters,” you cut in. “Takeda’s right. And so is Kiyoko. He could be a huge help to you specifically, Tanaka, and he’s getting better every day but we have to give him time before he’s physically ready. You saw him when we brought him in – he was skin and bones.”

Tanaka subsides into grumbling acceptance and you take it as a win.

Daichi returns with Kuroo in tow just minutes later, and if Kuroo is at all confused, he doesn’t show it. He folds himself into a chair, all long limbs and wide feet.

The problems are laid out on the table again. You watch as Kuroo absorbs it, eyes narrowed, flicking sometimes to the map on the wall.

“Frankly, I wish we were in an apartment building,” Tanaka reveals after an hour of debating the best way to acquire livestock.

You sigh, rubbing the heel of your hand into your eyes hard enough to see colors. You know it’s not Tanaka’s fault, that he’s saying out loud something you’d privately thought before. That the electrical systems in apartment buildings would be much easier for him to coax into submission.

But you’re tired. Kiyoko is rubbing the old wound on her shoulder again, Ukai’s fingers are tapping a loud rhythm on the table, and Daichi is watching you lose your mind with that same placid smile in place.

“I wish the apocalypse didn’t happen and we all didn’t have nightmares every damn night, but here we are,” you snap. “I wish we were all cozy in furnished apartments right now, too, and I wish we didn’t have to talk about these things.”

You wish the children didn’t have to hold knives, you wish Suga would stop forcing you to eat, you wish you could forget your mother’s laugh, you wish and wish and wish.

Tanaka’s mouth is open and Daichi is sighing, rubbing a hand over his face. Kuroo’s eyes are expressionless and he just looks like he’s waiting, though for what, you can’t even begin to guess.

You find that you don’t have the energy to regret the words, so you barrel on.

“The apartment buildings are stacked with nightstalkers. It would take weeks to clear even one out, and we would lose people. Guaranteed. We lost one person clearing this prison out and that —”

You’re cut off by a strange choking noise in your throat. The memory of Ennoshita is sweet, cloying, poisonous. Takeda looks pale and strained at the mention of it. His last student.

Your voice is pitched low when you manage to blink away traitorous tears. The sound of your chair scraping is loud and grating against your ears as you stand. They all watch you silently. Waiting.

“Ennoshita is buried here,” you say and the surprise on their faces is almost insulting. “So is Ayasaki’s little girl. We have a life here, one we built and fought for. The kids love it here, it’s as safe as it can get, and it’s isolated from the turf wars in the city. You know why we chose this place, you were part of the vote that decided it, Tanaka.”

Deep breath in. Out.

“I know I’m asking for a lot, but it’s necessary, and we’re all up to the task simply because we have to be.”

As far as motivational speeches go, you’re sure this is ranked pretty low. But Daichi straightens and Kuroo’s eyes are gleaming as he stares at you. Kiyoko is almost smiling and you take that into both of your hands and hold on for dear life.

“I have to protect them.”

Everyone in the room opens their mouth at pretty much the same time but Ukai beats them all to the punch with his lazy drawl.

“You’re a moron,” he sneers. “An absolute idiot if you think you’re doing any of this alone. Now run along and get some breakfast before Suga drags you there by your hair.”

~~~

It doesn’t surprise you when Kiyoko finds you later, on the roof, scribbling half-mad ideas into a plain notebook. She always knows where to find you.

“I think you should stay home tomorrow,” she says without preamble. The word home nearly sends you stumbling off the roof.

“Why? Am I dying and I don’t know it?” you ask dryly. The look she levels at you nearly makes your heart stop.

“We agreed to let Kuroo go tomorrow,” she explains, settling into the spot next to you, peering curiously at the notebook in your hand. “But you haven’t been sleeping and we can’t afford to lose you because you’re too tired to stand properly.”

You scowl. Damn the four eyes. Her and Takeda know too much for their own good.

“I’m fine,” you wave a hand dismissively. “I’ll get some rest tonight, promise.”

She let’s the matter go, which is a point for you, but you watch warily as she opens her mouth again.

“Tanaka is looking for you.”

A sigh.

“I should apologize.”

“That’s what he said.”

A laugh, short and barking, escapes you. Kiyoko smiles at the sound.

“We’re all such idiots.”