#but anything outside of class not so much

[sirswooshnoodles]

My grandma, mom and sister are very scared of spiders. I used to just as scared as them.

For some reason I decided to write my hs communications class speech on why people are afraid of spiders. Finding out that less than 1% of all spider species are medically significant did wonders for my relationship with them.

Now I love spiders. Learning about them, and telling myself constantly that they are friends worked. I still am scared of getting bit; because it will hurt and I’m a wimp, but I also catch spiders barehanded pretty often. I get sad that they will never understand how much I love them. That I don’t want to hurt them. That I think they’re pretty and cute and so darn cool. I love spiders! But I’m also still scared of them.

Bees and especially wasps are critters I love from a distance. My fear of getting stung is probably out of proportion, but it doesn’t stop me from petting bees sometimes, so I think where I’m at is fine. Yeah you read that right! I pet bees!! They’re super soft. You gotta be really really gentle and delicate in your touch. If you do it right, like gently bumping them ever so lightly, they don’t even seem to notice! It’s always nerve wracking but fun too. Never have they ever gotten aggressive over it in my experience.

Oh, and for the love of anything and everything, do not put up sticky traps outside. Don’t.

Been working in pest control for 3 months now and i can confidently say that nobody on earth seems to understand that sometimes You Will See A Bugs and that’s Normal if you live literally anywhere with oxygen

[valalice]

۶ৎ dating older gf! caitlyn kiramman and having to endure the drastic ways the two of you text. cw. age gap (two consenting adults, about a 10 year age gap). reader is a college student. slightly suggestive. a somewhat modern au?

when you first started dating caitlyn you found it endearing and rather cute at how proper she texts you. always making sure to start her sentences when a capital letter and having correct punctuation. going out of her way to correct your speach : "Remember to capitalize I's, darling." // "There should've been a comma between there." // "So many exclamation marks, my baby must be really excited."

she also became rather familiar with all of your quick abbreviations, but not without questioning them : "What does PMO mean?" // "At this point, I know that one!" // "ABT means about?" // "I know BRB. Do you really think I'm that old?"

no matter at what stage you and caitlyn are at she will always keep sending you those chivalrous texts that makes your heart flutter when you read them. they started during the early stages of dating and they just happened to stick : "Good morning, Baby. Just made it to the office, already counting down the hours until we meet up for lunch." // "I hope your classes haven't been too draining today. Remember to eat and stay hydrated!" // "I miss you, pretty girl. Would you mind if I stopped by for a moment to see you?" // "You just continue to take my breath away."

older gf! caitlyn loves to spoil you by randomly sending you money, screenshots of purchases she got for you, or secret gifts that pop up in front of your door. she doesn't think twice when she sends you money or spends money on you, it's so casual for her to care for you in this way. but, it was, and still is an adjustment to openly accept the large quantities of money she's sending into your bank account : "Don't worry about it, darling. You deserve it with all your hard work." // "Got you a little gift. X" // "Spoil yourself for me while I'm away on this conference." // "Look outside your door." // "I have your rent covered for this month, love." // "Treat you and your friends to a dinner."

you love to see how you're rubbing off on her in the way she text. she isn't adapting all of your short abbreviations for words and sayings, but she had adapted the use of you "Adorable emoji faces." as caitlyn calls them, even though you try to tell her they aren't even emojis : "Going to be picking you up in a couple of hours. Can't wait to spend the weekend with you. :D" // "But you could also do homework at my place. ;)" // "The office loved those brownies you baked! You're such a sweetheart. <3" // "Work? >:( I told you I'd take care of you. No need for you to worry your pretty little head about anything."

and when you try to send her suggestive text and decide risky on her phone, on her internet, older gf! caitlyn is quick to put you in your place : "Don't start something you can't finish." // "You're being a little minx today, aren't you?" // "Mhm. You're too cute when you're needy." // "Where'd my good girl go, and why has she been replaced with a brat instead?" // "A please could get you a long way."

. . . as much as you tease older gf! caitlyn on being "so old" and "texting like an old lady" you find all her efforts at keeping up with you (and even correcting you) heartwarming.

[cosmicalily]

"written by the aces" - a mini series by @cosmicalily. view series masterlist, and outline here

8. "younger" | yang jeongin x fem!reader

It all will work out, you're not gonna feel this way, not forever, and you'll lie awake in tears til the morning, you're not gonna know everything when you're 14, you don't even know at 25, and that's alright

author's note: there's just something about childhood sweetheart to best friends to lovers yang jeongin that gets me freaky (in a wholesome way trust). also this is like an entire love story seperated into chunks of the important bits bc otherwise it would be a full series (which i'm actually considering writing based on this fic would you guys fw that?)

warnings: implied sex (no actual smut, you nasties)

Yang Jeongin was the boy at kindergarten who played with the kids in the year below. He liked looking after people, especially people who couldn’t manage to do certain things on their own. He’d teach them everything he knew and play their games with them, hold their hands as they walked around the playground and smile and wave to them when they were in their separate classrooms.

Yang Jeongin became the boy who was friends with the older kids in school, namely the group of boys in third grade, consisting of Jisung, Seungmin, Felix and Hyunjin. He preferred sitting with them at lunch to sitting with people in his own grade, and frequently sat by himself in his year level. He didn’t mind not having any best friends in his own second grade class; people still talked to him, and he had friends, but none he could talk to deeply in class, or offer snacks to.

When you moved into town during the summer, you were unsure of how you’d make friends. Your parents encouraged you to go outside and meet the other kids in the neighbourhood, but you much preferred to sit inside and colour in while the kids kicked soccer balls along the quiet streets.

One day, there was a knock at the door. Your parents were out, and had told you to go next door if you needed anything. You reluctantly opened the door, to find a boy with dimpled cheeks and fox-like eyes staring at you. You’d seen him before, playing soccer, wrestling, running around with a group of older looking boys. However, you hadn’t seen him or the group of boys recently.

“I saw them bringing a trampoline into your backyard when you moved. Can I play on it with you?”

You nodded without realising, feeling a strange amount of warmth towards him.

He smiled widely, his eyes forming into crescents. “I’ve always wanted a trampoline. Are they fun?”

“I guess so. It’s probably more fun when you have someone else to play with,” you replied, opening the back door for him.

“Don’t you have siblings or friends to play with?” he asked.

“No. I don’t have any siblings, and I don’t want any since they seem annoying, but I want a pet dog. And I don’t really have any friends here. My best friend lives where I used to live,” you explained as you climbed up the ladder to the trampoline.

He nodded thoughtfully. “Siblings are annoying. I have a dog, and he’s very cute but a bit slobbery. And friends can also be annoying. Han Jisung stole my ball once and he still won’t give it back.”

“Who’s Han Jisung?”

“The boy with puffy cheeks. He looks like a squirrel, but he doesn’t like it when we call him that.”

He experimentally let himself fall onto the trampoline, squealing when he was propelled back up. “This is so much fun!”

You smiled. “I don’t like jumping on it by myself, but it's more fun with another person.”

“We should be trampoline buddies,” he announced, sticking a finger up. “I can knock at your door and say a special word, maybe I’ll say bounce, and then we can go on the trampoline together.”

“We should also be dog buddies,” you added. “I can knock at your door and say puppy, and then I can come in and we can play with your dog.”

“Yes!” he beamed, grabbing hold of your hand suddenly. “And we should do this forever, even if I don’t have a dog and you don’t have a trampoline when we’re older.”

“Are you trying to ask to be friends?” you giggled.

“Not just friends. I think we should be special friends. Best friends,” he explained.

“Well, best friends know each other's names. I’m Puppy Queen Y/N,” you introduced yourself, doing a little twirl.

“I’m Trampoline Best Boy Jeongin,” he decided, doing a big jump as if to prove a point and landing in an uncoordinated pile. You snorted with laughter and then squealed as he pulled you down by your leg beside him.

“Are you going to school here, too?” he asked, suddenly very seriously.

“I’m in second grade,” you replied.

He smiled, wider than you’d seen before.

“We should go somewhere,” Jeongin said suddenly as you rode your bikes home from Jisung’s house.

“It’s too hot,” you whined, tugging at the back of your shirt, which was stuck to your back with sweat. Even though the end of summer was nearing, the days were still long and the weather didn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

“That’s my point. What if we went to the beach?” 

You side eyed him. “The beach is an hour’s drive. We can’t get our parents to take us, they’ll be working till late.”

Jeongin wouldn’t give up easily; he never did. “You’re so boring and logical. You never want to do anything fun,” he whined playfully, knowing it would frustrate you.

“I’m not boring, Yang Jeongin, you’re just a dreamer,” you retaliated, tossing a braid over your shoulder. You suddenly thought of something, your eyes sparkling. “We should sneak into the school’s pool.”

“Isn’t it closed, since we’re on summer break?”

“Now who’s being boring? We can climb through the gates easily enough, and I’m sure there will be a window or something we can climb through. We’ll hide our bikes and backpacks in this bush here and sneak inside. It’ll be fun, and the water’s going to be so nice,” you sighed wistfully.

Jeongin pressed on the brakes and shifted his bicycle, shoving it behind the shrub you’d pointed out. “Let’s go then.”

“Really?” you unbuckled your helmet and pushed your bike beside his.

“Yeah,” he smiled, grabbing hold of your hand and leading you towards the school grounds.

You laid on your bed, bodies half-covered by rumpled sheets and pillows strewn across the mattress. 

The window was open, and a warm breeze blew through the curtains. Your bedroom was hot, despite the fan being on full blast, and you felt as if you were going to melt into a puddle.

Jeongin laid beside you, your leg on top of his. His bare torso was warm against your shoulder and had a glowy sheen to it, and you suddenly felt very aware of your body in its pale blue underwear and loose white t-shirt. You definitely hadn’t been this aware of yourself five minutes ago. You didn’t know how or why you’d let yourself go, not like this, not this fast.

Jeongin rolled over to look at you. He opened his mouth to say something.

“Don’t say it,” you whispered, staring at him. “It’ll make it all more real.”

Jeongin took a deep breath and nodded.

You stayed where you were, bodies entangled, the heat of a summer afternoon and the glow of the midday sun filling the room.

Yang Jeongin glanced out the window, noticing you waiting by his car. He sprinted downstairs and grabbed his keys, running to his car and flinging open the door, letting you in before jumping in himself.

You were both nineteen now. Your parents were going to move houses again, to be closer to the university they wanted you to attend.

You were leaving tomorrow.

Well, you weren’t anymore.

A room booked in a motel four hours away, money saved up for the past year, and a duffle bag with only your favourite belongings was all you’d prepared. You didn’t know what would happen next. All you knew was that you trusted Jeongin with your life, which was exactly what you were doing.

You drove along an empty road, his hand in yours, listening to a playlist you’d made together on your phone.

“Pull over,” you said suddenly, breathing deeply as you looked out the front windscreen.

Jeongin turned his head to you. “What? We’ve only been driving for twenty minutes. What if they catc-”

“I said, pull the fucking car over, Yang Jeongin,” you repeated, louder, looking him straight in the eyes now.

He did as he was told and pulled the car. He turned to face you. “What is it?”

You unbuckled your seatbelt and hauled yourself across the console, settling yourself on his lap, forehead against his.

“I want you to say what I didn’t let you say two years ago. What I was too scared to hear you say,” you whispered.

Jeongin’s eyes widened, and he took a deep breath, then cupped your face and crashed your lips against his. You let yourself let go, reciprocating and pulling yourself closer to him. He suddenly pulled away, eyes sparkling.

“I love you, Puppy Queen Y/N.”

“I love you so fucking much, Trampoline Best Boy.”

[wcnderlnds]

looks like a tragedy now | draco malfoy

Summary: You and Draco had been together for over a year when an argument sent things into a downward spiral. Neither of you will talk to each other and when you do it only seems to make things worse. Warnings: N/A Word Count: 1.3k Authors Note: this is another repost from my old account. wrote in 2020 and the first ever draco fic i wrote so it’s not amazing but it holds a special place in my heart <3

“You could always just go over and talk to him,” Hermione suggested as she followed your line of sight which of course led her gaze to land on the one and only Draco Malfoy. At her words, you sighed heavily and shook your head. It took you another few seconds before you finally pulled your eyes away from him to look down at your plate of food. Not a single bite had been taken, too nauseous to even think about eating.

“He doesn’t want to talk to me, Hermione. I’m not sure I want to talk to him either,” you shrugged your shoulders, using your fork to push the uneaten food around on your plate.

“What even happened?” Harry had now decided to chime in. Ron was too busy stuffing his face with food to be too bothered to ask questions but he was still listening.

“I don’t want to talk about it. I’m going to the common room,” you said rather abruptly as you got to your feet.

“You haven’t eaten anything,” Harry noticed.

“Not hungry.”

And, with that you headed out of the Great Hall and towards the comfort of the Gryffindor common room. You really appreciated the concern of your friends but right now you didn’t want to even talk about what had gone on between you and Draco. It was a sensitive topic — one that you didn’t think you could talk about yet without bursting into tears. So, for now, you were going to sit in front of the fire, read a book and attempt to get your thoughts away from a certain Slytherin.

You and Draco had been together for over a year now. It had all started in fourth year when you’d been paired together in Charms for an assignment. At first, you didn’t talk much but then one day conversation started flowing when you questioned him about Quidditch. Conversations then turned into two friends hanging out outside of Charms then that turned into both parties seemingly getting a crush on each other then one day Draco had had enough of dancing around and asked you out at the start of fifth year. The rest was history. Since then you’d been together, it had been perfect until Draco started acting secretive and you let jealousy take over on your end. This had led to a big, big argument. Now, two days later you weren’t talking to each other, your relationship was up in the air and you had no idea what to do. Sure, you could easily have marched over to him and demanded to talk but some pretty hurtful things had been said and the last thing you wanted was to have another shouting match. It was safer to stay away from each other right now as much as it killed you. Little did you know it was killing him just as much.

“Cheer up, (Y/N). You better off without ferret face anyway,” Ron patted you on the shoulder. It had been a week now since you and Draco had spoken. You’d made no effort to talk to him and he’d made no effort to talk to you. In fact, you’d been actively trying to avoid each other.

“Yeah,” was all you said. You knew your friends didn’t like Draco. He wasn’t much a fan of them anyway so you didn’t really expect them to understand why you were miserable. You had to give them credit, though, they really were trying to make you feel better but it wasn’t helping. As the days passed by you felt more and more miserable. You missed him. You missed him so damn much. Maybe if the two of you weren’t so stubborn you’d have fixed this already.

You threw your bag down onto the ground, sliding into your seat at your usual table in Charms. This had been the class you’d been dreading all week. This was the class that you sat next to Draco in. You rested your head on your hand playing around with the sleeve of your sweater with the other. Suddenly, you heard a chair scraping across the floor and books being thrown on the table. He was here. He was next to you. You knew by the smell of his cologne. The smell you loved so much. Usually, he’d greet you with a warm ‘hello darling’ and not hearing those all too familiar words broke your heart. All you wanted to do was throw your arms around him and say sorry but you couldn’t. You wouldn’t. You were far too stubborn to give in. Besides, you deserved an apology too. You hadn’t bothered looking at him yet, solely focused on the thread of your sweater.

“Can you move your bag? It’s in my way,” Draco drawled without even looking at you. It seemed he was doing his best to avoid looking in your direction.

“Okay.” You picked the bag up, putting it at your other side and bravely took a look at him. “Draco...”

“Class is about to start,” he cut you off sharply. As he did, he took a quick glance at you. Eyes meeting eyes for the first time in a week. He looked sad. He looked as sad as you felt. But, this was Draco Malfoy and there was no way he’d ever show his emotions properly so he looked forward, shaking his head as if you’d annoyed him. In reality, he was putting on a show. He didn’t want you to know how much he was hurting.

Class finished and you couldn’t have been more thankful. It had been torture having to be so close to Draco and not talking to him. You both could have easily said something to each other but neither of you wanted to. Well, you did but neither of you wanted to be the first to start the conversation. As people rushed out of class, you found yourself running up to Draco, grabbing his wrist to stop him in his tracks. Swiftly, he turned around to look at you, yanking his arm away from your touch.

“What? I have places to be,” he said cooly. “Or do you just want to accuse me of stupid things again? Did I look at someone? Am I having an affair? I mean, I did look at Flitwick a few times. I suppose that means I’m in love with him, right?”

“Shut up. Just shut up,” you burst out, tears brimming your eyes. “You have no right to speak to me like that. If you weren’t so secretive and hid things from me then I wouldn’t have to be paranoid all the time. You blew off plans with me every single time we planned something, Draco. What am I supposed to think?”

“Maybe trust me and have a little faith in me. How about that, huh? But, no. Couldn’t do that, could you?” Draco sneered. You could tell he was getting annoyed all over again and so were you. Both of you knew how to get on each other's nerves. As much as you missed each other, this was something that couldn’t be solved that easily.

“It’s so annoying how nothing is ever your fault. It’s always mine. I’m tired. I wanted to apologise but you’re being a typical Slytherin and giving me that attitude. I thought you’d changed. Thought maybe you could have an adult conversation with me but I was wrong.” Using the sleeve you’d been playing with earlier, you wiped at your eyes to make sure you weren’t crying yet. The last thing you wanted was for him to see you cry.

“Whatever. Are you done?”

“Are you done, Draco?”

That took him back a little bit. He knew exactly what you meant but couldn’t bring himself to give a straight answer. “Maybe.”

That was the last thing he said before he walked away from you leaving you with a whole new sense of heartbreak. Was this the beginning of the end?

[ramblingautisticman]

Something I've been thinking about I should probably go around and ask some people.

If you were in the Marvel universe and had a mutation. What would it be?

I mean, technically I'm pretty sure I have a mutation anyway because I'm ginger, though that really isn't that cool of a mutation in the Marvel universe when you have people with laser eyes and claws in their hands.

In the Marvel universe though, as much as I'd love to have something epic like fire powers or telekinesis, I honestly believe I'd have something that is kind of random but helpful in ways others wouldn't think off.

Something akin to being able to make everything silent in a certain area?

Now, your probably thinking "that's so random, why?", well my dear friend(s), because how amazing would that be for an autistic person who can't handle outside world noises??

I mean, sure, I could use it to confuse enemies, make them unable to communicate their next moves, help the X-Men sneak into battle, but I could also help people when they are having a panic attack, make sure little kids or animals don't get scared at loud noises, and make sure I don't get overstimulated in public places.

I would 100% make everyone learn sign language or finger spelling so everyone can communicate in the bubble, and also because it's a really handy skill anyway? And there has to be at least one deaf person at the school anyway, so imma imagine they are teaching that as a class already.

Can you imagine how good making a bubble that shuts out the outside world be with a whole ass mansion filled with PTSD riddled people who have nightmares? How much better it would be when the kids are getting rowdy or there is a fight? I would be sat there in silence just enjoying my day.

Plus, it isn't something I think alot of other people would think to have as a power? It wouldn't help me fight better, it wouldn't help me heal faster or be faster or anything like that, but I think it would be a strangley helpful ability to have.

I also like the idea of how interacting with certain people would be.

Like, Scott, Jean, Ororo and Charles all huddling into this tiny ass bubble I can make everytime Wade comes over. And yeah, I'm purposely making the bubble small because I would 100% hate that they don't like Wade's crazy stories.

Also, can I just say, Wade and Logan are definitely the uncles of the mansion, right? Like, all the kids are huddling around them when they show up, listens to Wade talk about random shit and does whatever Logan tells them too.

Logan is getting overwhelmed with noises because he can hear basically fucking everything? Boom! I'm making him a lil bubble for him while he sits and calms down.

A few of the kids are scared of the fireworks for 4th of July? Some of the adults too? Easy, I'll make a huge bubble made so everyone gets to enjoy the night!

[crazylittlejester]

honestly so jealous of everyone in your modern au cause god I want a support system like that.

How did sky and wars and twi meet the other links in this AU?

They all have AMAZING support systems and a lot of people who care about em, they’re very lucky aldkkd

(sorry for any spelling or grammar errors)

- Time is Twilight’s dad (uncle who adopted him when Twi was one, so he’s the only dad he’s ever known), and Wars and Sky met him and Malon the first time they went over to Twi’s house. If they hung out at one of their houses while they were in high school it was ALWAYS Twi’s because Wars didn’t want his friends around his mother and Sky felt bad asking his adoptive parents

- Sky Twi and Wars all met in a math class freshman year of high school :)

- Sky met Legend because they’ve been coworkers for YEARS at this point at the same little coffee shop. Twilight knows him because Hyrule and Legend shared a dorm and when he went over there to study there was Legend. Hyrule and Legend now share an apartment EXACTLY one floor below Sky, Twi, and Wars, which is very unfortunate for Legend because he moved out of the dorms because he was previously next to Wars and Sky and was very tired of Wars. Legend and Wars OFFICIALLY met the first time Sky invited him over to the apartment after work to eat, but Legend knew who Wars was because of skating because he saw videos of him and then ran into him in college and decided he was obnoxious and that he hated him. Wars got a bad impression of Legend because Legend immediately marked him off as an annoying idiot and was snappy with him, and they didn’t actually become friends until Sky introduced them to each other officially

- Hyrule met Twi first because they took a class together in college, they’re both in the same science building on campus a lot. Sky met him through Legend one time because Legend left something in his dorm and Hyrule dropped it off for him at work. Hyrule met Wars when Twi invited him over to the apartment to study one time. He met Legend in high school because they were paired together for a history assignment

- Wild and Wars have known each other since they were like 5 and 7 because of skating, and THEY weren’t ever like. cruel to each other, but their coaches kinda pitted them against each other, and Wild started to SERIOUSLY resent Wars once they hit like 13/14 and 15/16 because he was CONSTANTLY getting compared to Wars and literally couldn’t get out of his shadow. He kinda grew up being told he just wasn’t going to be able to beat Wars at anything ever and that made him really really frustrated and he pushed himself extremely hard to get better than him. Once Wars aged out of junior competitions Wild put EVERYTHING into training because with Wars gone he thought he’d actually have a chance, but he ended up falling at worlds and absolutely destroyed his hip, and it was so bad he had to retire because he was scared he was just never going to be able to skate again. He’s recovered enough that he can do simple jumps and run outside on pavement and move around decently okay on his good days. Wars was one of the first people who came to visit him when he was recovering and Wild hadn’t thought Wars actually cared about him that much so that meant a lot to him. They are each other’s CLOSEST friend, Wild was there for Wars when HE retired, and he’s the only one who understands how upset Wars gets when he misses skating. Wars skates regularly still (just messing around and going through old routines or choreographing new ones) and sometimes he’ll bring Wild with him. Wild is the one who films all his tiktoks alskkdk

Wild TECHNICALLY met Twilight and Sky because they’d come to several of Wars’s skating events and Wars had introduced him to them, but he REALLY met them later. He met Twi because after he retired from skating and couldn’t move around well he got super into photography and Twilight works at a zoo of sorts taking care of the penguins, and Wild had gotten visibly upset that he in his wheelchair was unable to see the penguins clearly and get a good shot and Twi was like “this is fucking stupid this poor kid just wants to see the goddamn penguins-” so he let him get closer than Wild was technically ALLOWED to get (not in the enclosure or anywhere really near them, but a back hallway with a full glass wall so he’s not blocked by concrete), just so he could get a good shot of them just the one time. Now that he can walk around again (sometimes with a cane) he will try to convince Twi to let him get closer again and Twi’s like “you know I literally cannot-”

Wild tormented Poor Sky for- months- Sky and Legend work at a coffee shop together and Wild would come in every day and ask for ice water in a mug. And every day Sky, with his eye literally twitching, would be like “are- we have bottled water thats cold- are you sure you don’t want a to go cup???” and Wild would ask again for the mug, and technically there’s nothing WRONG with that but it stresses Sky out SO bad that sometimes he comes home and just screams about it. Imagine his absolute horror when there was a knock on the apartment door and he opened it to find Wild, who was apparently Wars’s old friend he was inviting over. Twi also had a stroke, because how did the penguin kid find out where he lived??? but Sky was LITERALLY on the floor

- Wind and Four are cousins, they were raised sort of together by their grandparents? Wind’s grandma (his dad’s mom) and Four’s grandpa (his mom’s dad) are not married (if that makes sense??) but they are good friends and tried to let the boys hang out with each other as much as they could. Wars used to babysit for Wind and Four and Wild went to high school together, so Four got dragged into the friend group through Wild

They’ve all interacted with each other, Wind tags along because his ADHD ass is sometimes too much for his grandma and he’s 16 so Four is sort of in charge of him, and he knows Wars liked the kid so he’ll bring Wind along. The AU MAINLY focuses on Wars, Twi, and Sky (with Wild, Time, and Legend being the most frequent of the others who pop up) but they’re all friends for the most part (except for Time, since he’s in his mid forties and doesn’t spend much time with the others. He knows all their names since they’re his kid’s friends, and he sees them at events or whenever Twi has a holiday party at his apartment, but he’s the one who hangs out with the group the least)

[gaysparkler]

Fair Quiet, have I found thee here

Title from Andrew Marvell's "The Garden" Read on AO3 Spoilers for the choice directly following "A Warden's Best Friend" under the cut!

Rook was pacing. Emmrich could hear them go from room to room withing the Lighthouse – and no doubt in the courtyard, though there was no way he could be certain. There had been an air of disquiet around them, and that, Emmrich could say with certainty, was due to the number of difficult decisions they had been forced to make. As a Watcher, Emmrich knew how sheltering the Grand Necropolis could be. The “choice” boiled down to which classes to take, which role to ascend to, which tasks to do for the day, what to eat for each meal.

Not which city should be saved, and which should burn. Not thrusted with the fate of the world in their hands.

Emmrich wondered if he could even handle it half as well as Rook had, though part of him wondered how much was hidden away from them all. From him, despite his and Rook’s not-so surprising closeness.

Perhaps, then, it was not surprising to see Rook push past the doors to the laboratory, their dark circles remarkably worse than usual. The door closing behind them was heavy and loud in the previous quiet of his reading. They stood in the middle of the laboratory and fidgeted with their glove in silence, mouth twisted in a frown. The sound of Emmrich’s book closing seemed to make Rook remember why they were here.

“Could I help you with anything, Emmrich?” They spoke again before Emmrich could answer. “Please, I just—I need…something normal. Something real.”

In the dim light of the room, Emmrich could see tears pearling in Rook’s eyes. He carefully set his book aside before standing and gently approaching them, as if the wrong move would send them running.

“It’s not much,” he said as he extended a tentative hand towards Rook, “but there are some bones that could use some sorting.”

Rook let go of their glove to grasp Emmrich’s hand, and nodded. A tear slipped. Emmrich watched it slide down their cheek, leaving a trail of kohl in its wake. Before he could think, he raised his other hand to Rook’s face and caught the tear with his thumb.

“I—” he stammered, “please forgive me—”

But Rook only closed their eyes and leaned into his touch, wisps of jet-black hair falling across their features, weightlessly. Emmrich heard them take a slow breath in, and out.

“I can handle some sorting,” they finally said, keeping their eyes closed. “I wouldn’t be worth much as a Watcher if I couldn’t.”

“Now, now. None of that.” He tapped Rook’s cheekbone with his thumb before slowly sliding his hand away from their face so he could fetch the adorned box containing the unidentified bones he had brought with him from the Necropolis. He carefully placed it on his examination table, and gently tipped it over so the bones would spill, without rolling too far, on the marble. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rook worrying at their bottom lip. The weight of the world, on such delicate shoulders…

“Right,” he said, cheerfully. “We’re all set!”

Manfred, on the second floor, gave an excited hiss. And that was what Rook needed to crack the smallest of smiles. They made their way to the table, on Emmrich’s opposite side, and the moment they started their work, the tension in their face and body disappeared. Something normal, usual. Something that did not generate an impossible amount of doubt, guilt, and hypothetical similes.

“Thank you,” Rook whispered without looking at him, their voice rough with tears.

“You are most welcome, my dear,” he replied as he watched their fingers deftly and carefully handling each individual bone, and already beginning to separate them in neat categories. In that moment, Emmrich wished he could have seen Rook fully in their environment, in the Necropolis. To see them fully immersed in their work, how their necromantic talents manifested outside of combat, know them as they are—pressures of apocalypse removed. But would that truly be the person in front of him now?

Emmrich finally reached forward, his fingers brushing against Rook’s, and joined them in their meticulous sorting.

-

Their work finished and laid out in precise reconstructions (partial, in some cases) on Emmrich’s slab before them, Rook finally looked up at him, and to his heartbreak, fear remained in their eyes. Emmrich laid his hand on one of few cleared areas of the table, his palm up and inviting.

“Rook?” he softly called. Their hand found his.

“Pénthos,” they said almost in a whisper. “My name.”

An old Nevarran word, before the trade tongue was favoured.

Mourning.

Their dark eyes, sunken in purple deep as bruises, said everything he needed to know.

Do not let this be forgotten. I beg you.

“Pénthos,” Emmrich repeated, inclining his head towards them. “You look tired. You should sleep.”

They scoffed. “Everyone’s been telling me that.”

“Then that should provide you with enough evidence to lend it credibility.”

“I know that,” Rook—Pénthos sighed, “I know…that I should sleep. I just—I can’t.”

And just like that, the tension that Emmrich worked (not so) hard to dispel returned to their body. Pénthos began fidgeting with their gloves again and picking at their lip—and it broke his heart. He wished so dearly there was something, anything he could do to help once more and then—

Manfred appeared behind them, holding a tray of freshly brewed tea.

“Well,” Emmrich said, “may I invite you to stay for tea?”

Pénthos smiled again, the brightest thing he had seen all day (save maybe for Manfred’s jewelled eyes, but he would tell neither—not yet, anyway) and replied, “I would love to.”

“I have heard that resting with good company can almost be as beneficial as a night’s sleep.”

Pénthos chuckled. “Did you, now?”

“I have, of course, my sources!” Emmrich pointed to a specific section of the many bookshelves lining the walls, somewhere on the second floor. Pénthos’ smile turned into a full laugh, and the lines of tension slipped away, even if just for a moment.

[folkdevilism]

Hard agree on what you said about DH1's success and the gameplay being the main thing that made it a hit. I do like DH1's story, for what it's worth, but you can definitely tell that it was mechanics and gameplay first and foremost, with the narrative following the gameplay, but it worked.

Second hard agree on DH2 Emily basically being "female Corvo." I previously touched on the topic in a different response here, but the bulk of Emily and Corvo's lines in DH2 largely felt flat and interchangeable, but with only slight modifications to align with the chosen player character.

I'm also really glad to see there are other people who hated the fact Delilah was brought back for the sequel, because she felt like such a fucking pompous one-dimensional cartoon villain throughout the entirety of the story, and the sob-story background lore and class themes didn't really change that. I saw another post that essentially described her as "swaggering, puppy-kicking evil," and that's basically how I felt about her as a whole in DH2. It might have worked for Burrows in the first game, but Delilah in DH2 felt like one of the most obnoxiously one-dimensional characters in the entire cast, imo.

I differ somewhat in that I actually liked Jindosh and the Outsider, and I still find the Outsider fascinating in his own right, but I think his appearance in DOTO was probably my least favorite incarnation of him. Yes, in DOTO he's still cryptic and randomly appears to grant the protag supernatural powers and make comments on the player's choices, but with the removal of the chaos system, the gameplay as a whole felt a lot more hollow. I feel like the Outsider works best as a character when he's acting as a cryptic spectator to the player. I think he still works fine when you interact with him directly in short bursts (like on the island in the Void) because it's still mainly him commenting on the game's events and the choices you'll be faced with without forcing anything on to you, but also felt like the scene where he grabs Billie and presses the supernatural arm on to her to be really jarring and out of pocket, and it felt like such a far cry from how we've seen him act in general.

I also agree that Billie was a good choice for DOTO as a protagonist to end the Kaldwin arc, but she still suffers because so much of DOTO feels half-baked compared to the prior games.

>i want a new cast. we can see them, visit them & maybe ally with them, but i never want to CANONICALLY play as corvo or emily again. Maybe Billie bc she's just fucking based as shit idk sue me.

If they ever got around to making a DH3, I'd rather it take place in an entirely new setting and with new characters as well. I could also roll with DH3 if it took place in a new universe with similar game mechanics, but functioned as more of a spiritual successor to Dishonored instead of a formal sequel in the same world/timeline. Like you said, revisiting Emily and Corvo as bonus content or NG+ content would be fine and cool to do for funsies, but as much as I enjoy those characters, I also feel like they wrote themselves into a corner and they've already done everything they could possibly do with the Kaldwin storyline at this point, imo.

I'll always have a soft spot for Dishonored 2, but I still occasionally wonder what kind of game we could have gotten if it had been allowed to focus solely on Emily instead of trying to accommodate two playable main characters.

[studyblrintraining]

does anyone have advice for focusing on other stuff when a hyperfixation hits? cos that’s been kind of a problem for me these past few months :’)

and it’s really annoying cos i study spanish & portuguese largely bc language learning is a special interest of mine, i was literally hyperfixated on spanish for months last year before starting uni (v helpful for my A level exams in it!) so i’m used to having that passion and focus directed towards the language areas of my studies not away from them

[canisalbus]

When Machete became a cardinal, did his parents ever recognize him?

Machete's home village was on the other side of Italy (and separated by the sea no less) and it was small, relatively rural and remote. It's very unlikely many news about Holy See's happenings made their way there. I don't think his parents had any reason to expect to ever hear about him again, he seemed to be somewhat of a lost cause when they dropped him off.

[icewindandboringhorror]

It's always interesting to hear about people's weird/unexpected "alternate life paths". Like, something that you could have done with your life, a job you almost took, a school you almost went to, etc - that was still actually realistic enough that it could have happened, but NOW it seems to not suit your current personality.

Like for example, I currently hate advertising (how manipulative it is, brands trying to be 'relatable', social media amplifying it to an obnoxious extreme, etc.) so much that even seeing a little ad before a youtube video is grating to even witness, but there was a point in time where I was genuinely seriously considering going into marketing/making commercials as a career lol. Or like, I have a relative who was very inclined to be a pastor when they were younger, even though today they're a super strong atheist, etc. etc.

[rosesradio]

genuinely don’t think i’ll do anything but the bare minimum for the rest of the year…

[marimeeko]

Small dream that the supposed popularity poll movie about the most popular character(bakugou)was coming out and there was a literal trailer

I think it was after UA and after Bakugou starts professional work. Pretty sure he was working with Jeanist maybe as a sidekick. Or maybe he's about to debut as an independent hero so the world is watching him, so to speak.

The villain looked like a literal shape-shifting type, and had taken to shifting specifically as Bakugou(Dynamight), and causing trouble.

So now Bakugou has to deal with someone who is trying to tear down his status, who's committing crimes in his name, and has to reclaim his image, maybe?

I think, bc 1, there can be no Katsuki Bakugou arc without Izuku, 2, I would like to see Izuku do some cool things while he is Quirkless, and 3, Izuku would take SPECIAL offense to someone imitating/slandering/framing Katsuki and his image, Izuku would become involved in this somehow.

If it's Pre-support suit, he could be kind of an undercover or spy to help Katsuki fight back, get info, and catch the villain...if it's after that 8 yr reveal of the support suit... well, we could see him back in full action. Even his debut.

I'm thinking of this super cool shot of him grinning as he shifts into the suit, ready to go.

(Though I gotta say I like the idea of him not having the suit yet and doing some cool stuff anyway, using more of his brains than powers!!)

[hellcatchvalley]

the way that if any bh member died now it wouldnt even be a "oh no im gonna miss them :(" feeling but more so a "man they didnt even really get a chance to finish anything" feeling is.

[badolmen]

I can fix him*

*bad writing, underutilized gameplay mechanics, characters with unfulfilled potential, funded by bootlickers

[transmasccofee]

rereading saiki k and am on the catgun arc and I am a little confused about something. Bc. So initially I thought Kuusuke was the one who told Tori (in Kusuos body) to strip as a way to humiliate him, but now I’m rereading it and it kind of seems like Kuusuke had no idea he was going to do that. And now I’m like. Like what was the vibe there then.