#being a grouch

[darklyhandsome]

I hate spring/summer. Too many bugs. Weather too warm. Too much noise. Like, people feel this inherent need to be loud in nice weather. There's the noise of garden tools, music being played loud in cars driving by, people eating out in their gardens laughing loudly, and kids screaming as they play out (why kids need to scream when playing is beyond me, I was never a screamer). Not sure if I'm just a miserable old bag or just a massive introvert who likes my cold, quiet, autumn/winter months.

[kyndaris]

He Only Had Himself to Blame

The number 8 is meant to be fortuitous in the realm of Chinese superstition. Unfortunately, suitor number 8 was anything but. And given that this was my first date after returning from a trip overseas, I had been secretly hoping for some excitement and adventure. Alas, the only excitement I ever got on the date was the sudden downpour that met me as I clambered out of the car and rushed to the station, which was then followed by a fast-flowing river of water that I had wade past to arrive at our meeting spot. Suffice it to say, by the time I arrived, my shoes and socks were completely soaked. A distraction that would prove to take up much of my thoughts as you, dear readers, will see.

But while the above paragraph paints a date of disastrous proportions from the very beginning, it was still very much an exaggeration of the events. I mean, yes, I did have squelchy shoes and wet socks but it wasn’t the worst situation I’ve been in.

I met number 8, who I shall henceforth name Mr Cellophane to keep up with the Chicago theme (but also because I found him rather bland), just outside a dessert cake store at Darling Square. While he was polite, even messaging me beforehand if he could shout me a coffee (which, I’ll have you know, I turned down because you never know how others might interpret an act of kindness), I couldn’t help but judge his outward appearance. True, he wasn’t as badly dressed as some of the others I’ve met but what is with men and the fact that they think they can get away with an unbuttoned collar shirt and baggy pants that need a good ironing?

That aside, Mr Cellophane had chosen a table outside where any errant wind could have us soon soaked to the skin! After arriving at the store and turning the corner, I spotted him seated at a small table. As well as an empty table inside through the glass. Given the downpour I had just endured, I suggested that we sit inside rather than risk getting wet if the wind decided to change direction. 

There are days when the rain falls almost laterally! And a roof over one’s head does nothing if there are no walls to also deflect those pellets of water!

Mr Cellophane was amenable enough to the change and we found ourselves safely ensconced inside the cafe within seconds. 

As he had never visited the store before, he was the first to choose a cake. When he had returned to the table, he was sporting a small slice of red velvet and cherry cake. Then it was my turn to pick and choose a delightful treat to accompany some relaxing small talk. I chose a light sponge cake with strawberry and pistachios.

Once I had paid for it and my hot chocolate, I joined Mr Cellophane back at the table we had claimed. Throughout it all, I learned he had a sister and mother. His father, while alive, was out of the family picture. The reason he gave was a little vague but it was clear that his father had done a bad thing.

And then we moved on to work, games and a few of his hobbies. He did occasionally ask me a few questions but it was Mr Cellophane that mostly dominated the conversation. Probably, he wanted to fill in any awkward silences. He was very nervous throughout the whole affair if the visible shaking was any indication. But because of that, I felt like I could never really get a word in edgewise. He would just steamroll through everything, from the fact that he LARPs with BattleCry (yes, I’ve hard about it. At one point, I was even tempted to join) to the fact that he went hiking with a few friends).

Did I ever raise the fact that I went travelling recently? Nope. Why? Well, he never asked and I never did get the opportunity to do so. He was just so busy talking about his life - which, can be my fault. I do encourage them to keep talking - that I merely sat there eating my cake and finishing off my drink before he even got half-way through his own.

Yet despite the fact that he was in his own world, nattering on about the things that he liked and his current situation, I couldn’t help but find him utterly dull. His was a life that was almost like any other. There wasn’t anything special to write home about. Just another face in a sea of thousands.

Not a great place to be in.

So, when we finally vacated our spots, mostly to let a group of three sit down and actually enjoy the kurtosh they had ordered, we meandered towards the train station. Of course, he told me that it was a lovely date and he thought we had a connection and that I was wonderful and beautiful.

Why do men fixate on appearance? Please tell me more about my stunning personality and/ or whatever else you might have found engaging. Oh, that’s right, you didn’t get to hear me nerd out about my writing or whatever else because you simply dominated the conversation and allowed me the occasional one-liner zingers that got you chortling!

If I sound somewhat irked, it’s because I’m starting to wonder if I should be dating men at all. 

To be perfectly honest, I think a part of me would prefer to date women. Of course, it can’t just be any woman. They’d have to be a ball of sunshine to my snarky grump. The Enid to my Wednesday. But once they get past that outer layer of bah humbug! they’d find that I can be just as kooky and mischievous and kind-hearted as any chaos gremlin. I mean, staying at home is great but it’s also great to enjoy some fun in the sun and maybe boogie where nobody is watching.

And I did get to enjoy some of that when I was on my overseas trip. It’s a shame that the woman was married and probably wasn’t into other women, though. 

Still, friendship is always an avenue that I’m keen to explore. And it’s always good to expand one’s horizons, I find, and trying new things instead of doubling down on only the familiar. 

And yet, despite all my misgivings with Mr Cellophane, I tried to go for a second date. After all, I was very much distracted by my wet shoes and socks (I think I mentioned it about three or four times). So, we made tentative plans to do so. But during the week til Easter, as we were occasionally texting (and I had to look after my grandmother because my mother had gone on a cruise), I was a little lacklustre in my responses. Didn’t help, of course, that the topics he chose to talk about were very...unexciting. 

To be fair, some of the blame could be laid at my feet as I didn’t try my hardest to be as engaging as possible. But paired with going out, looking out my grandmother and feeling honestly drained from the work week I had, could you blame a girl? 

So, of course, Mr Cellophane became much more hesitant about the whole thing and sought out my opinion before he pulled the plug. Seeing that he was pulling away and not wanting to lead him on with false promises (but still willing to give it a second go just in case), I let him decide and wished him a Happy Easter.

He unmatched me soon after.

Which somewhat bothered me. After all, I was the one that wasn’t attracted to him. That right ought to have gone to me!

Regardless, we shall see how well my dating goes from here on out. Unfortunately, I don’t see it going very well. Most of these dating excursions have me thinking with my head rather than letting my heart decide. And almost always, I find something lacking in a potential partner.

Still, one must persist! For the time being.

At the very least, I’m meeting new people and getting to understand new perspectives. So, that’s a win!

Probably...

Maybe...

Kinda...

Maybe after a year, I’ll pack it all up and just go back to my fictional boyfriends and/ or girlfriends. Why? Well, I’m an independent person who don’t need another individual to define who they are! And I love myself for being the unique combination of chaos gremlin and sarcastic homebody grouch that I am.

[singingcicadas]

idw Ratchet is someone who follows orders and respects authority. He might follow his conscience in spur-of-the-moment decisions that allows him the leeway/initiative to act on his own (e.g. setting up clinic on Dead End, breaking cover to save Verity and Hunter, going to look for Drift, voting against Rodimus in mtmte) but he's never openly defied the orders of an acting leader. Regardless if he doesn't agree with said order and thinks it's stupid. Or wrong.

Even when Ratchet thinks Rodimus' treatment of Drift is unfair, he never speaks up against Rodimus during the actual issue of the exile verdict. He only offers Drift silent support by helping him up on the way out, because Rodimus is the captain and you don't argue with the captain. Yes he thinks Rodimus is a crap captain and acts condesending towards him all the time but when it comes to rank and orders there's no ambiguity.

Voting against Rodimus in the crisis act is a legitimate expression of disapproval, made anonymously in private. He doesn't care about Rodimus knowing his vote, but in public it stays anonymous. He does tell Rodimus off about what he did to Drift, but again, he makes sure it's a private one-on-one appointment. He also doesn't make Rodimus formally revoke Drift's exile or sanction his search, he resigns his position as CMO and quietly leaves to look for Drift himself as a personal commitment.

Common stereotype of what Ratchet is not:

Medic ethics and commitment to patients comes first, factions be damned. I don't care if he's a Decepticon, he's my patient.

No he's not actually like that? When Megatron's in custody he's all lets dissect him awwwww why can't we dissect him why does mass murderers still get rights that's so stupid can't I just torture him a little?

Like he spent the whole war patching up Decepticon-inflicted wounds and witnessing Decepticon-inflicted deaths. He's not a saint. He has as much good reason to hate Megatron and his faction as any other Autobot.

In fact he was pretty eager to ask Optimus about what he's going to decide as Megatron's punishment after he heard about Optimus frying Megatron on the voltage harness.

Optimus has his heart on clemency. Ratchet's the one hoping for execution or something equally nasty. Even though their opinions doesn't line up, Ratchet's still 100% supportive of Optimus' decision.

He repairs Megatron only because of Bumblebee's orders, and makes his unwillingness known.

Later in mtmte Ratchet does save Megatron's life of his own volition and repairs him again, but that's after he's lived with Megatron on the same ship for six months (again something that he considers to be a colossally bad idea but is forced to live with because of orders) and got to know him as a person. Not because of bleeding heart syndrome.

Also Ratchet's not just a grouch all the time. He can be blunt but also knows when to be respectful as appropriate to the occasion. He reprimands Wheeljack for being disrespectful to Bumblebee because leaders should be treated like leaders.

The guy's been CMO since Nominus Prime, essentially the highest-ranking of his profession on the planet; you can't get to that type of position and hold it through consecutive leaders for millions of years without considerable interpersonal skills and knowledge of social protocol.

Prowl does have Ratchet on his little blacklist but the stuff on there really just refers to Ratchet saving Verity and Hunter back in Infilitration. I read it as more of a testament to Prowl's pettiness than Ratchet actually being a problem.

[hungry-hobbits-art]

big big big fan of this meme

[tuttle-did-it]

Let me tell you why Oscar's reply is great. He recognises his strengths and weaknesses, understand what he can and cannot give, sets boundaries, and offers a solution that suits both him and Elmo.

[nukacourier]

Noticing a lot of people seem to try to fight the mischaracterization of Arcade where people see him as being some soft emotional baby boy who needs protected...by doing the complete opposite and pretending he's a total asshole who doesn't like anyone and never experiences joy or whimsy and will call you stupid for having fun

Like. Yeah it annoys me too that people infantilize him but I don't think stripping away core parts of his character by making him act straight up awful to other people is gonna help fix that

[skyloftian-nutcase]

For the writing game: drop :) ❤️🫂

A drop of water was all it took to finally set Legend off.

"Who the hell left the sink running?" he yelled, shooting up from his favorite spot on the floor, leaving the sweet embrace of his heating pad, and storming into the kitchen.

Warriors stared at him. "You good?"

"Not if you're wasting all my water," Legend snapped.

"Ah yes, the water drop of infinite amounts," Warriors drawled. "It actually is infamous, you know, and will raise your utility bill by eight hundred ruppees."

"Did I hear ruppees?" Ravio asked, poking his head into the kitchen.

Legend's palm met his roommate's face as he shoved him back out. "Why are you messing with stuff in here?"

"I was going to wash your dishes," Warriors offered, an analytical look crossing his face. "What's wrong, Ledge?"

The travel nurse immediately felt the fight drain out of him, and he sighed tiredly. "It was a long weekend."

Warriors hummed. "I heard. You wanna--"

"No."

"Okay. Well, go lay back down. I'll wash the dishes."

"You came here to--"

"Sky invited me to hang out with him here. He hasn't shown up yet, so I'm doing the dishes. Shut up and lay down."

Legend glared, ready to argue again, but didn't have the energy, so he rolled his eyes and went back to his faithful heating pad. He paused at the doorway, though, not bothering to turn back, but still mumbling a hesitant but sincere, "Thanks."

[risto-licious]

🌊 the ocean and the stars 🌟 (oc risto, sea beast & magician. grouchy and evil, but possibly (absolutely) soft on the inside)

[borealopelta]

can't srop thinking about how shit erasmus is if you're going to western europe from an eastern european country.... the cost of living is crazy high but they're sending you out there to live in a western economy on eastern amounts of money you don't get the "high salary that makes sense with the high prices" bonus. girl no wonder i'm struggling

[peppermintquartz]

It's so annoying. I like one (1) buddie art post and I get a bunch of tommy-bashing posts in my For You page. I love Tommy Kinard. I like good art. What is the problem with hardcore Buddie shippers that they just have to poison the well.

[softness-and-shattering]

"This book is about a youbg lady avoiding marriage to a guy she doesnt like by dressing up as a guy and going to london and making guy friends and getting into duels! Now she yhinks shes found her father, how to reveal her true identity, and make the boy shes fallen for her see her as a real lady"

TELL A TRANS STORY YOU COWARDS YOURE 95% THERE ALREADY.

[thegeminisage]

perpetual chicken and egg question are you not writing fanfiction because you're depressed or are you depressed because you're not writing fanfiction. write fanfiction and find out today

[your-fave-is-being-blended]

Can you blend oscar the grouch from sesame street?

Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street is being blended!!

You cannot save him.

[hagbrigade]

The scariest movie in the world to me is still crawl 2019 they deserved an Oscar for that imo because i have never in my life experienced such fear except in a haunted house in 2012 where i was so terrified i almost choked out my friend from gripping the back of her shirt too hard (i was hiding bc i was so scared and it took her out of the experience 🥲) anyway that movie should be on a list with all the other things that the horror freaks love. it does not belong on the normal monster movie lists. it belongs somewhere on a horror movie iceberg in one of those moving tunnels that icebergs have in them.

i told my sibling this several years ago and they watched the movie on their phone in 480p on 5x speed and then declared it “not scary”. well guess what it was scary to me 🤷🏿

[pink-octopede64]

when 2 of my all time favorite sesame street characters are complete opposites

[ll-underestimated-ll]

You know what - I have a final thing to say adjacent to the earlier topic and it is this,

-Please, if you will, imagine me pulling out a chair and sitting on it backwards as I speak with you-

If an activity brings joy to your night without jeopardizing the masquerade or causing significant harm to others then it can be worth spending a little vitae on. Just as a mortal might buy themselves lunch instead of bringing something from home as a Little Treat - you can spend a little vitae and time on engaging with intimacies. Even better if you're not even having to rouse blood. Wonderful. Have fun.

While you're in a position where you have the time in the night for such pursuits that bring joy to you- you should make the most of it.

Good luck. Have fun out there. Go get 'em.