#but this is not the time or place for a rant on gene activation and expression

[duchessvultjag]

what if jude just straight up can't have kids because thats not a farfetched side effect of poisoning yourself every day for months and then being stabbed in the abdomen

[thethunderwolf]

Personal rant below.

So, I quit my job.

I’m in a fortunate position, I have some savings, and the ability to go on JSA/UC to get some income, that my retired parents can also help with provisionally while I look for another job in a new career.

It’s risky. But it was a choice between:

1) possibly staying in a role that was actively killing me due to the stress

2) probably being fired and taking a devastating hit to my self confidence and resume

3) leaving on my own terms, reclaiming some control, and keeping my head high

I chose three. I was a software engineer who hadn’t progressed from a junior role in 3 years of service at the company, and the cracks were starting to show. The stress of it, coupled with a myriad of things irl, actually made me so ill we think it triggered the genes that have caused my hyperthyroidism. Stress hormones are a funny thing, my mother in law tells me, and they can switch on certain genes that can never be switched off.

Six months ago I was placed on a Performance Improvement Plan at work — a PIP — which is universally accepted as a company saying “we’re going to get rid of you, we’re just laying the groundwork so you can’t sue us when we fire you”. For six months, I worked myself into the ground, trying to be better, to improve. Every two weeks, I had a check in. I was doing it. I was working better. Improving. Succeeding.

Then, in the very last two weeks of the PIP, the delicate card tower balancing my work stress, my sickness, and my anxiety around Palestine collapsed. I made stupid mistakes, wasn’t sleeping, behaved erratically, was psychologically triggered for most of it and ended up in my final PIP check-in with the worst update.

I knew then I couldn’t do this.

Monday night I couldn’t sleep. I got a couple hours and when I woke, my thyroid was aching. The immense stress was taking a physical toll on my body and for the first time I truly understood how the stress and the hyperthyroidism were linked.

After much thought I decided to resign on Tuesday. I’ve never felt better. Tuesday night I slept better than I have done in months.

I want to move into HR. I love working with people, and I have a passion for worker’s rights. It’s my desire to enter the HR workspace on the side of the employee, to twist as many company rules as possible to ensure my coworkers are safe. I have key knowledge of working in high pressure corporate environments, in tight knit teams of people who struggle socially. I’ve always been able to get people talking.

In my resignation meeting with my manager I told him I understood software engineers: “Sometimes code makes more sense than people, right?”

He laughed, and agreed. In that way I understood him, I think, better than he’s been understood before by an employee. By the by, he was a terrible manager. Brilliant, smart, with heaps of knowledge — but absolutely terrible with people.

That isn’t to say my experience with software isn’t valuable. I’ve got six years of experience with agile working, as well as a deeper knowledge of how technology works than most. How systems work. How people interact with systems. These are extremely valuable skills in a world increasingly ruled by code. No code is without bias. Most code is old, and badly optimised, or designed in a way to make the writer seem impossibly smart… but really just makes future engineers scratch their heads and say “what the fuck is wrong with you?”

I’m excited for the future. Excited to work in a field I’m genuinely passionate about. I have plans to build a career in diversity, equity and inclusion. To bring the voices of people who have no voices to the forefront. People with ADHD and autism and anxiety. To make the workplace more accessible and safe for people with disabilities. More focus on working from home. More focus on making sure managers understand that no, you can’t evaluate everyone on the same level: someone with ADHD or autism or depression isn’t going to perform the same as someone who doesn’t have it.

I have ADHD, dyslexia, and depression. I have hyperthyroidism. These things held me back in the software engineering space. But they gave me valuable insights into how I can make those spaces more accessible.

For the first time in my life, I don’t feel like I’m running away.

So here’s to the future.

[levbolton]

Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu / The summer Hikaru died theory

So, i was talking with @michigasuki about this whole ordeal about the Christiany in a small Kansai village. We know Christianity is not a big thing overall in Japan, so why exactly are there Christians in such a place as we’ve seen that man wearing a crucifix at the summer festival

And then in chapter 14.2 we learn that there are in fact quite a few churches active in the area. And on top of that, they’re active because historically they were even more active.

@michigasuki said that the homophobic beliefs started to spread to japan accompanied by the christian religion (i’m not sure, but there aren’t really any homophobic beliefs in shinto, right?)

So, this starts the rant. First this character: Mokmok Len proved themselves very consistent with the details. The way he draws the eyes, and, the very little easily to miss detail of the tooth. That person is most likely the Indoh ancestor. But then, the hair is hidden. It looks like a woman (bcs of the headscarf), is it really a woman? If you zoom in can you really say if that is facial hair, or grim. Are those hatches scracthen or cheekbones? If they are cheekbones they look quite masculine.

And then, the head they’re holding. Just like the Indoh ancestor, their gender identity can’t be determined just because of the long hair. Men can have long hair. And in old Japan it was quite the normalcy for men to have a top knot (I’m not sure, but warriors - samurais - wore their hair long). And you see, there must be a reason why Mokmok chose to put so much accent on the hair. And who else is constantly scolded about hair? Yoshiki. There isn’t one character whose hair is ever discussed as Yoshiki’s.

And then, it was already mentioned Yoshiki’s mother is from Tokyo, thus Yoshiki’s ancestors in that vilage are from his father, the male side.

Now, do you understand where I’m going with these? To put it in short, my theory about what started the ‘Brain Snatcher’ aka ‘Hikaru’ aka that spirit, is that: the Indoh and Yoshiki’s ancestors were two males in love, just like Yoshiki and Hikaru (notice the lack of ‘’). But, because they were living in a time where Christianity was really strong in their region, it was not accepted for two men to be together. Maybe really shameful for a warrior (i’m not sure), thus ending up with the warrior’s beheading and the other one forced to live a “normal” life. Now, because of this sudden death, the warrior’s soul’s yearning because he didn’t get to live with his loved one (this doesn’t sound that right idk if they have souls this in shinto) gets materialised into the ‘Brain snatcher’.

From yearning, it turns into loneliness (‘Hikaru’ said those things are “lonely”).

Also, about my reason for that Indoh ancestor to be a male, please look at Hikaru’s dad. He also has a crooked tooth. And the placement of the cheekbones is almost the same as the ancostor’s hatching. (Damn the genes are strong in that family, if anything is right in this post, it’s that Hikaru’s ancestor did something that created the Brain Snatcher)

Now, why do i say it’s Yoshiki’s ancestor the other one? Mainly for a mirroring kind of writing style. Two boys that are in love as once their ancestors were (i’m sure you know what i talk about). And then, I tried to understand this through the information i learned by reading manga with Shinto elements, so obviously i must be spewing some nonsense here and there. Or maybe i’m wrong about this one bcs that would mean he isn’t Yoshiki’s direct ancestor as that would mean Yoshiki shouldn’t exist if it were the case (aka the warrior died without kids)

Something that i used to understand this is Hiraeth, so yeah if you didn’t read it (go read it) i’ll have some major spoilers from there below (only the part below, after that you can continue reading)

From Hiraeth i learned that kami aren’t goor or bad, they’re kami and do as they please. I also learned that a human can be “traded” to cross their humanly bareer (well there’s quite the mix, it’s like Kamisama Hajimemashita where nanami is a human but becomes a deity). And i also learned that kami can become bad spirits if they’re not cleansed. At the end of the story it is revealed that the imortal character and the genderqueer amnesia kami were in fact soulmates from ancient times. And despite the kami forgetting about it, as people forgot their name, the kami still lived with this lacking and yearning feeling that something was missing.

This is why, i think that the ‘brain snatcher’ still carries that loneliness with them. And thus it hunts every Indoh’s love interest out of jealousy that they got the chance to live with their love. But at the same time, the spirit loves the Inodh so he doesn’t hurt them (here it’s the paradox because Hikaru’s dad died, and then the brain snatcher took possession of Hikaru’s body, @michigasuki said that maybe it was jealousy bcs Hakiru looked at a feminine shaped tree, thus jealousy, idk there must be a reason for that tree, we proved that Mokmok pays attention to details so i doubt that any of the panels in this story are completely random)

And one more detail is the head amulet that was in Hikaru’s bag (we’ve seen that once he slipped, he lost the bag and thus the protection that amulet gave them)

(By kegels i’m sure it means yokais)

This is obviously just a theory based on the first 14 chapters available, i doubt we have all the information to understand the back story or guess the ending, no matter how much attention we pay to the smallest details on the page.

Also, have you seen the shoes post? Or the hair one? Definitely interesting details put there to point out at something that will be very obvious later in the story.

Tbh the more opinions, the better, this is a complex work so i doubt two people can crack the code that easily

[mouthymercx0x0]

RANT: Krakoa

So, if you don't know if you guys know this but, Krakoa is giant island for mutants in marvel. Literally there safe haven they get in later storylines.

What I am salty about is I watch short about a Deadpool comic where. Wade goes to this island a little UPSET because he wasn't invite to have place there.

(HE IS MAN MADE MUTANT. HE GOT HIS MUTANT GENE FROM LOGAN.)

When he shows up. LOGAN AND SOME OF X-MEN try to force him to leave and don't even let him talk. So he goes full Karen and demands to see who in charge.

He meets with Emma Frost and he demands a cure for his CANCER and a places to live. (Which yeah maybe he shouldn't be demanding those things but, he is Mutant and GENERALLY WANTS SOME FUCKING HELP). Emma Frost says in cold and bitchy way: "NO, you'd run this place into ground in a week. Leave." Deadpool PISSED off calls them jerks and assholes and says he gonna make his own island.

He picks a flower from the island and LOGAN STABS HIM FOR NOT LEAVING.

Then Rogue tries to take pity on him and he likes: "NAH I DON'T NEED YA PITY." And finally leaves.

I AM UPSET ABOUT THIS.

YES WADE HAS DONE SOME BAD SHIT. I AM NOT SAYING HE HAS NOT. HE IS CHAOTIC AND SOMETIMES BRING CHAOS WITH THEM.

BUT, THEY LET MAGNETO AND JUGGERNAT LIVE ON KRAKOA. PEOPLE WHO ACTIVELY TRIED TO KILL THEM A NUMBER OF TIMES AND YOU TELL ME YOU PEOPLE CAN'T FUCKING HELP WADE A LITTLE AND KEEP HIM IN CHECK?

THAT IS SOME BULLSHIT.

[financialsmatter]

Saturday Rant…NFL Hypocrisy

Welcome to the first official Saturday Rant of 2023.   And if this is any indication of what to expect in 2023, we’ll simply say, “this one is a doozy.” Initially we thought about calling this rant “Vaxxidental Deaths.” But by now we all know how the NFL hierarchy is a bunch of major league hypocrites.   READ: Shame on You NFL  September 14, 2020   And last Monday Night’s Football game – with Damar Hamlin dropping dead on the field…only to be miraculously brought back to life (Thank God) – illustrated their hypocrisy.     Having said that, we’re going to turn this week’s rant over to a familiar friend of Financial$Matter by the name of Scoob Martin. Take it away Scooby. First of all, I want to thank God for the miraculous raising from the dead that took place on Monday Night Football. And many thanks to the first responders involved.   But as far as the NFL is concerned I hope they get sued for mandating the gene therapy shot. And adding insult to possible death, last year the Buffalo Bills required proof of vaccination to enter the stadium. So, I wonder how many people they’ve killed with their policy for die hard (no pun intended) fans?   What we saw on Monday Night shows that not only is the Emperor Butt-naked but also has syphilis…and you can now see the sores. And the problem is that the little kid who would normally point it out is at the library being sized up by drag queens.   OF COURSE, IT’S THE F***ING VAX!   And as hundreds of soccer players in Europe have found out the hard way, cardiovascular activity accelerates the clotting process. It’s time to understand that viruses are the biggest hoax of the criminal medical industry. And all the “so-called” vaccines are bio poisons to create huge profits and control the population. But it doesn’t stop there.   Vaxxidental Deaths and NFL Hypocrisy   These Vaxxidental deaths are being spun so that “Science” suggests how football is experiencing a symptom of “Climate Change.” As a result, you can expect that we’ll hear how problems – like more heart attacks/cardiovascular symptoms and increasing cancer cases – are due to the sudden and devastating effects of climate change.   They’re also saying that conspiracy theorists might believe it’s all due to the Covid vax.   But since the majority of people have been vaccinated, association does equate causation. So, it’s obviously climate change (sarc).       Ironically (or NOT…as you say, James) the same blind faith in the media that made people hate Trump, is the same blind faith that made them take an untested “8 month to market” poison vaccine. Think about this. If you were vaxxed, there is no way in the world you would want to admit that you fell for something as criminal and poisonous as this stuff.   So, like Mark Twain said, “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they’ve been fooled.”   One more thing.   The Big Pharma companies put in their vax a substance known as graphene hydroxide. I won’t list the reasons here why I believe they did it. But if it gets in a blood vessel it scratches up the inside and causes…wait for it…clotting. And it does NOT degrade inside the body. So, in a sense every vaxx is a game of Russian roulette with several bullets in the chamber instead of only one. And as far as the NFL is concerned, I believe football took a bad turn with its embrace of BLM. And it’s been downhill ever since. *****************************************   Wow! Just Wow, Scoob. Thanks again, Scooby for your eye opening and tin-foil style rant. We share similar viewpoints. As always, if you – our Dear Readers – have a rant you’d like to share then please send it to us. You never know whose life will be affected by it. And if you want to see some NSFW rants then go (HERE).   Remember:  We’re Not Just About Finance. But we use finance to give you hope. ********************************* Invest with confidence. Sincerely, James Vincent The Reverend of Finance Copyright © 2022 It's Not Just About Finance, LLC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Read the full article

[nekropsii]

I return again! No takes come to mind for me to share in return that wouldn’t involve just sending the entire post in question, so… This will just be a lightning round of things I’ve received and responses to them!! Putting it under a cut because there’s a lot of text here.

Content Warning: Long. More Haterism, too.

Oh, wow, this sucks. I love how this totally skips over the Trolls’ abject confusion over the concept of Family, the fact that Troll/Troll Familial Relationships were considered novel due to being Beyond the Quadrants (Signless & Dolorosa are the biggest example of this), and the fact that we get Quadrants explained to us thoroughly and Moiraillegience is called “Pale ROMANCE”. Hahaha. This is pure, unfiltered illiteracy.

NAH... THIS IS DIABOLICAL. You CANNOT be diagnosing an ACTIVE CHILD PREDATOR with P-OCD!! That is SO not right!! That is NOT how that works!! That is EXPLICITLY not what that means!!

This is so egregiously mask off it's almost funny... You kinda have to laugh, because otherwise you'll cry. Who's gonna break it to them that Bi Men are MLM? Because "MLM" is a blanket term. It doesn't mean "Strictly Homosexual" - it's "Men Loving Men", not "Men Loving ONLY Men". If you're a man who loves men, then it doesn't matter if you're sex repulsed, or romance repulsed, or if you also like women, or computers, or if you yourself are a girl sometimes or whatever the fuck. you're included. It's a fucking blanket term. Attempting to exclude Bi people from "MLM" or "WLW" makes you look like a tool and a fool. LMFAO.

I was about to go off on a whole rant about how every damn label in "LGBTQIA+" is a blanket term, and how attempting to draw hard lines between who can and cannot use whatever label makes you kind of a cop, but that's not really the place for this, so... Just know it was there. Feel the specter of it.

Putting these two together because they seem to be about the same damn post. Man, the Homestuck fandom just really loves to victim blame, it seems. It is not a child's duty to fix up the act of their parents. It is the parents' job to not be abusive. I really hope the implication that Rose is the cause of Mom's Alcoholism is a fault of the simplification and not an actual fucking point they made. If so, then... Jesus Christ. Do people still think Bro was actually employing any irony in his actions? That man was dead serious. It's so explicit that Dave was calling Bro's horseshit "Ironic" as a Self Defense Mechanism, because he wasn't safe enough or ready to unpack the trauma he was going through yet. It is so explicit. And yet... And yet.

Man, they don't even get periods. I know "Genetic Material" is kind of vague, and implies they can use almost anything, but Trolls literally do not get periods, I'm pretty sure.

They are bugs, and they do not sexually reproduce in mammalian way. Why the hell would they be free-bleeding into a bucket to reproduce when the presence of that bleeding inherently implies that they can just, like, fuck a guy and get pregnant that way? Realistically, what would be the point of going through all these hoops of filling an entire, like, 3 gallon bucket full of bodily fluids with your partner, giving it to some big scary executioner dude who might kill you, and that big scary executioner dude then carting it off to some giant fucked up bug creature and shoveling it into her somehow, if Trolls could just conceive on their own?

Like, yeah, "Genetic Material" can be anything from the body that has genes in it. This is most bodily fluids. You could puke in that bucket. You could pee into it. You could slice your arm open and bleed into it. You could spit into it a lot, which people have already tried in real life. So, like... Why period blood specifically, when this species objectively would not menstruate? Why period blood specifically, when that would take A LOT of time? It doesn't just all come out at once like a shotgun blast. It's not like you can just turn a spigot and it'll all come flowing out in the span of 5 minutes. What?

Look, let's be realistic, I think we all know "Genetic Material" mostly just meant a whole lot of cum. That's how 99% of people took it. Get with the program.

?? Where are they getting their information, at the Lies Store? What comic did they read??

You literally do not have to make up lies to say Cronus sucks. There's already so much there. What were they muddying the waters like that for??

Hilarious to call Tavros "The Worst Character in Homestuck" when Cronus exists. And how the hell is she a chaser? BOOO.

UPDATE: It has come to my attention that the "Tavros is a Chaser" take was a joke made in response to Transmisogynistic Harassment via some very bigoted Tavros Fans. I have a post on it here. Give it a read!

No, trust me, it does. You had to be there. It was a very long post doing a, um... "Deep Analysis" of Eridan's character.

I hate to get so personal here, but it was terribly written. It was long, yes - impressively so - but "long" doesn't necessarily mean "good". It was full of such groundbreaking takes as "Eridan was the least Hemoloyal Highblood", "It's not bigoted to say slurs", "Eridan wasn't actually Genocidal", and "Eridan/EriKar is the most Thematically Relevant, Narratively Important Character/Relationship in the entire comic, and the only reason this isn't actually true is because Hussie sabotaged the comic and made it bad on purpose. The original plan for the comic - which I know for a fact somehow - revived Eridan and gave him a Redemption Arc and the only reason Hussie's ever said they hate Eridan is because they're playing coy and saving face. Source? Trust Me Bro."

There were incorrect citations, missing citations, a lot of very deeply conspiratorial thinking and very far reaches, there was a deliberate misquote in there to help bolster their point that had the page cited so you could SEE the misquote with your own eyes, and in this deep, thorough analysis of Eridan's entire character and how it relates to the comic, they, um... Threw out... Most of the later comic as being noncanonical for the aforementioned reasons of apparent "deliberate sabotage" despite there being Eridan appearances well past the point they set, and literally never once acknowledged the most important thing Eridan ever did. You know. Destroying the Matriorb. In a deep, thorough character analysis on Eridan and his plot relevance... They never once brought up the Matriorb. Not only was that him literally committing a Genocide, the thing the essay insists he'd never actually do, but it's an event in the comic that has one of the most clear, most thoroughly explored consequences. The destruction of the Matriorb was tragedy of fantastic fucking magnitude, and it's never even mentioned! How!! They never bring up the Matriorb in an essay directly concerned with Eridan's narrative and thematic relevance!! They don't even really bring up his age as a defending point for him! How!!!!!

Not good. Honestly, it all just seemed like mad cope. We're all prone to mad cope at times, but, like... This is crazy. The blatant disregard for text, and reality, and how bigotry operates, and tone, and time, and also the literal fucking Matriorb, I cannot stress enough how much the literal Matriorb didn't get mentioned even once... Man. What...

I am not linking the post, because that just feels like... Really bad form. I don't want this person to get harassed or anything, I don't even really want them to see all this, which is why I'm not fuckin' @'ing them or hitting up their DMs or anything, I'm just saying that I really do not agree with their takes and that the essay was super poorly constructed. It was kinda nuclear levels bad. Sorry not sorry.

Mituna doesn't have any memory loss. Like, point blank. We are never shown or told anything that could even point to the direction of Mituna suffering memory loss. The most there is is him not remembering if he's God Tiered, which, like... Doesn't really count for anything, to me at least. We've seen how the Dream Bubbles work, and how long they've been there, and the fact that none of them have had literally any use for their God Tier powers in the Bubbles. And the fact that Hussie likely just didn't know whether or not to confirm if he was God Tiered. Which, fair - it doesn't add much to his character either way, now, does it? He canonically remembers the Great Act of Heroism, for example, which everyone claims he doesn't even though we're told he does up front. He just struggles with communication.

If you believe Cronus to any extent, you will be killed by the stomping hooves of one million horses. Because the theory that Cronus and Mituna were "buddies" comes from Cronus saying that to Mituna, like, in the middle of assaulting him, to try to manipulate him. Because he does that. He's an abuser. Trying to minimize assault and harassment by pushing the idea that you're friends, or lovers, or spouses, or family, or whatever is a completely normal, very common abuse tactic. That's called manipulation. We see him transparently manipulating people on screen more than once. He even does it to Meenah! And it works!!

I love how this ignores the fact that Nepeta is very obviously the one who is the most in charge in that relationship. Yeah, the beginnings of it was kinda rocky and definitely more unhealthy, but that felt like Hussie ironing out what Moirallegience really meant and looked like to me. When their relationship was more solidified, Nepeta was the one who was reeling Equius in, not the other way around. She absolutely DID NOT lack autonomy.

What are the worst takes y'all have seen. I'm curious.

If I post 'em, I can anonymize them for you.

[domain-of-sentience]

this is just a stupid 3 AM rant about senti’s place in honkai ignore me

like why is she even here. in every appearance since her debut she has either been an obstacle to fuhua or comic relief in an event, the latter of which generally didn’t bug me until some character compares her to a child for the fucking nth time as if it’s her single defining trait. despite senti’s differing perspective on fuhua’s frankly terrible life, fuhua spent much of the time trying to diffuse senti’s identity crisis rather than confront her past (which she only did during the sushang fight (which was the perfect opportunity to put hos back into the fray considering she’d relish beating up otto and sushang but nah!!))

her purpose surely wasn’t to give fuhua a meaningful power-up! the thing about senti is that she is a lot more self-aware and tactful than you’d think, she admitted she realized she was a herrscher from the get-go but she didn’t want to accept it. after her defeat, she allowed fuhua to keep her core to sustain her a bit longer, which was quite generous of her! and then after fuhua takes her power away, this apparently pissed her SO much that she shuts off her core, to the detriment of both parties. are the writers really this hellbent on portraying her as some stupid kid throwing a tantrum?

some of you may say, “oh she’s there so that fuhua realizes that herrschers aren’t innately bad!” as if bronya and welt didn’t exist, also she definitely would personally learn this fact during the HoF arc, so...

idk i’m clearly growing impatient from her utter irrelevancy of the past 14 months. at this point i’m just waiting for her to show up in APHO so instead of people thinking of her as a stupid baby with zero agency she’ll instead be some battle-hardened 8 year old who’s preparing for middle school!!! xd

i’m praying that fuhua activates her honkai genes during HoC arc or whatever, which forces the hos core to wake up and only the power of sentience could save her from madness (then they make up and kiss and my 2 year torment finally ends) but i should keep my expectations low to the ground lol

[mythiccheroacademia]

Attitude

A/N: Lord knows I got a nasty attitude when I get in my feelings. I swear I’m working on it 😭 Anyways, when my past entanglments used to (respectfully) put me in my place, it had me feelings some things 🥴 so I’m translating that into headcanons. Hopefully this will get me out of my little writer’s block. Hope y’all enjoy ❤️

Warnings: cursing, implied sexual activity

Todoroki Natsuo:

natsuo is generally an easy-going person so it takes a lot to get him riled up 

when you get an attitude, it doesnt really bother him bc he can understand where you’re coming from

but dont get too disrespectful bc he’ll remind you who you’re talking to

like when you do poorly on an exam and it just ruins your mood

you don’t feel like talking to anybody so you ignore his text when he asks you to meet up for lunch 

he’ll assume you didnt see it or youre napping 

but then he spots you on campus and goes to hug you 

he notices you’re stiff in his arms but doesnt think much of it 

“did you see my text?” he asks 

“yea, sorry. i forgot to respond.”

that makes him give you a side eye bc that’s what you usually say to people when you just didnt want to answer their text 

“it’s okay if you had other things to do. you just had to tell me—“

“i said i forgot, okay? sorry!”

his head kind jerks back in surprise but he drops it

he’s a todoroki, so instead of giving you space, the dense™️ gene activates and he’s all up in your business 

even though he’s only being a good bf and trying to cheer you up, you’re annoyed af 

texts you throughout the rest of your day about how you’re doing even though you respond with two word sentences

shows up to your dorm and you only let him in bc you feel bad

and he brought food

but now you’re regretting it bc he’s just yip yapping away and his cheery attitude is pissing you off 

fed up, natuso finally confronts you after you snap at him one too many times

“what’s with the attitude, y/n”

“i don’t have one” (okay miss girl)

“well you’ve been acting like you have one all day”

you smacked your teeth and got up “i don’t care natsuo. if you think i do then you can just—“

“y/n”

natsuo barks your name in a way that makes you turn your head

he grabs your arm and firmly tugs you back on the couch so you’re face to face with his frown 

“now i dont know who you’re mad at, but i know it ain’t me. so you can either sit here and have a conversation with me like an adult or i can leave bc i don’t need the attitude”

you: 😮

you keep up an annoyed faaçade but inside youre melting  

who knew natsuo could be so assertive? 

like damn, okay daddy

you apologize and telling him what’s got you so sour 

once you seem relaxed, he goes back to his usual self and y’all end up cuddling until his hands start roaming your body 

next thing you know, youre making great use of the couch 

needless to say, you were back to your normal self the next morning LMAO

Shigaraki Tomura:

shigaraki is not the one 

he might have his moments, but ever since he grew into his role, he expects everyone else to do the same 

he lets his friends and loved ones get away with a lot of shit so he doesnt think it’s hard to give him some respect

and usually, it isn’t

but ever since he woke up, he’s been practically ignoring you

you got one kiss and a “missed you” and he kept it pushing

like bitch, wtf?

you know you were being selfish and petty but you went three whole months without dick your man and for him to pretty much ignore you bc he was “busy with his responsibilities” was making you feel some type of way

king of the underworld or not, you weren’t gonna take this laying down 

for the next few days you were ms/r. petty 😌 

every time he tried to greet you, you’d just nod your head and keep walking 

he’d try to kiss you and you’d turn your head so his lips would land on your cheek instead

if you came back late, he’d ask you where you were, just to try and make conversation, and you’d just say “out”

shiggy is confused atp and it’s pissing him off

he didnt have the time to ask you about it before it got bad

there’s a meeting with the higher-ups, talking about the next game plan and you walk in about five min late bc you were held up with a previous responsibility

shigaraki happily regards you

“y/n, good. we wanted to wait for you before we started.”

“oh that’s suprising. didn’t think you’d notice my absense. sorry for the hold up,” you bite before sitting down with a huff

everyone: 😦

you: 🙃

shigaraki: 🤨

the people in the room are sweating bc now that shigaraki was thicc™️ and highkey indestructible, he was actually really scary now

even though you were his respected s/o, no one knew how he’d react 

surpringly, he ignores your attitude and starts the meeting; so everyone forgets about it

the meeting goes on and whiles someone else is talking, you notice your bf shuffle his chair closer to yours 

you give him a side eye “what do you--”

shigaraki grabs the side of your neck in a firm grip and pushes your ear against his lips

“i don’t know what’s up with you, but watch it, sweetheart” he whispers before he goes back to listening like nothing happened

you: well call me scared and horny!

when the meeting ends, it’s just the two of you and he eventually figures out why you’re being like this

he gives you a smirk and calls you a spoiled brat before laying you across the table and apologizing to you in the best way he knows how   

Dabi: 

lmaooo funny how you think this man gives a fuck

you’re really beefin with yourself bc he don’t got enough energy to deal with the pettiness 

if you act way out of line though, don’t put it beneath him to retaliate

you give him nice, he’ll treat you sweeter 

but you give him bitch, he’ll give you bitch back tenfold

it’s the same for you

you’re just as jelaous and stuborn as he is

you’re perfect for each other but still a lil toxic in a good way 💀   

one time, you dragged him to go grocery shopping with you (he really hates how much he likes you lmao) 

whiles you were a ways away getting something, a woman came up to him and started flirting with him

*spidey senses activated*

you watch from afar, expecting him to immediately turn her down but he “plays nice” and you can see him gobble up the attention

it’s not until she asks for his number that he points to you and she genuinely apologizes before taking her leave

dabi acts all surprised when you throw a soup can in the cart and stalk off 

“you good bro?” he asks

“i’m great and i’m not your bro” you say, but there’s a clear attitude in your voice 

you couldnt even hide it on your face

he’s mad confused, but dabi doesn’t push it bc he doesn’t time for all that

“okay, be mad by yourself lol”

you weren’t even that mad but now since he wants to be funny, it’s game over 

“and you go fuck your other bitches”

he literally turns into that nick canon meme

dabi’s head is spinning 

bc wtf are you even talking about, my guy?

“yooo, i dont know who you talking to but i know it’s not me”

“who tf else is here, dumbass?”

now you got him heated and he’s this close to just walking up out the store 

but he thinks youre hot when you’re being crazy so he stays

he grabs your wrist to stop you “you’re doing a lot”

you snatch it out his hand, “and you didn’t do enough when that woman came up to you and started putting moves on you!”

ahh, so that’s why you’re angry

dabi’s anger fades and now he’s chuckling

“oh so you think this is funny? i’m not gonna stand here and be disrepsted by no man looking like a fucking burnt piece of charcoal--”

he pulls you into his arms and smothers your rant in a kiss that makes you see stars 

you’re lucky the aisle is empty bc you spend the next ten seconds with his tongue down your throat 

when he pulls back, he smirks at your speechlessness 

“well this burnt piece of charcoal is your man. no one else’s. and don’t forget it, doll-face”

he smacks your ass and walks away leaving you nearly skipping behind him

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

Random thoughts about s5-s6

(before the promptathon starts, because afterwards ain’t nobody got time for Riverdale!)

This is a rant. It’s long. So so so long. I’ll probably regret not cutting half of it tomorrow. You will most certainly regret that I didn’t cut half of it today. Here we go anyway! Because sometimes one needs to vent in an inelegant way.

S5 characters grievances

(and by ‘characters’, I mean, of course, Jughead and Betty)

Betty Cooper. Listen, the girl has raging ptsd and a chronic case of Darkness™/Serial Killer Genes™ aka the writers’ only way of making the girl-next-door “complex”. I get it. I sympathise. BUT. When you make this her only character trait throughout the season (her only meaningful exchange has been with Jughead in 5x16) and then you run out of time and postpone resolving what’s supposedly her A plot (i.e. the TBK killer – the reason of her behaviour), it gets pretty tiring. Single-mindedness, isolation and a situation (trauma) that wasn’t supposed to matter in the first place (trauma never mattered in s1-4 nor will it matter in s6) does not make for a compelling story. Let me be clear: I don’t hate Betty, I don’t think she’s deranged, it’s just that her s5 storyline is exhausting.

Jughead Jones. To be fair, Jughead’s Mothman plot was the one I enjoyed the most in s5 until he fell into a hole (insert Teen Wolf joke here): the Rat King stuff was absolutely bananas and I loved it but it was also kind of a let-down.

The fact that he’s still the underdog and that he was the only character aware of his trauma and actively trying to deal with it, makes him a very sympathetic character for sure. BUT. As if making him an addict and a college drop-out (nothing wrong with not going to college – it was just ooc for Jughead) was not enough, the writers had to go and defecate all over his two most distinct characteristics: Jughead is a conscientious objector and a writer. Or, rather, he was before the time jump, because s5 Jughead can say “Go, Bulldogs!” unironically with no problem. As for being a writer … apparently, he’s a successful author for the span of 2 episodes (5x4-5x5) but then not only is he not allowed by the writers to attend his own effing book launch party (what the hell?!), he’s also presented for the rest of the season as someone who cannot even write without being under the influence (although, he’s shown typing on his computer almost in every episode, which is -narratively speaking- baffling). I’m not talking about his writer’s block. I’m talking about the fact that he’s shown not once but twice, as unable to finish a novel unless consuming maple mushrooms. Sure, Hemingway drank himself stupid but that is not the story Riverdale tells. And then Jughead-I-have-a-hard-on-for-justice-and-I’ve-had-my-story-stolen-while-in-Stonewall-Jones attempts to pass someone else’s manuscript for his own. A likely story! During what was his only (and completely unexpected) relapse into drinking no less. (I’m not saying the sole purpose of the relapse was that scene. But I’m also saying exactly that). Also: WHERE THE FUCK IS HIS MANUSCRIPT AND WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE IN RIVERDALE THAT CARES?! Once again, let me be clear: I don’t hate Jughead: I don’t think he’s a loser or a failure, it’s just that his s5 story line enrages me.

S6 trailer, how do I not love thee, let me count the ways.

It’s a 1 min-long trailer consisting of bursts of scenes lasting 1 to 3 secs, so there’s obviously no context, plus, there are at least 224 more minutes of storytelling we don’t see. Nevertheless, the following is what the cw thought would get me invested enough to watch. Boy, they couldn’t have been more wrong!

Things that will happen in s6:

1. HBIC Cheryl and her River Vixens. I mean, cult leader witch Cheryl and her synchronized female minions. [Whatever.]

2. Veronica and La Bonne Nuit 2.0 once again dealing with the devil, only this time he’s not a metaphorical one (Hiram) but Satan himself.  [Seen that, done that. Thrice, to be precise.]

3. Kevin. [Lord, give me strength.]

4. 2 seconds of Tabitha smashing a wall in her Pop’s uniform and a bit more time of Toni assisting Cheryl. I can only surmise that these secondary characters will continue their journey as secondary characters. [Excitement!] [Not.]

5. Sabrina Spellman. [Not amused.]

6. A musical number. [Facepalm.]

7. Jughead Jones, one half of the reason I watch this show, as the narrator. [Groundbreaking! Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he’ll have his plot but it would have been infinitely more intriguing -at least to me- to hint at one during the trailer.]

8. Betty saying she wants nothing more than to have Archie’s baby. [It’s not just that I’m a bughead shipper, it’s that b*rchie is my notp. I don’t care about Archie. I’m not interested in his storylines, his uncle or his baby. I started watching Riverdale for 3 reasons: 1. Jughead’s promo pics that screamed insolent!sidecick who would either be insufferable (affectionate) or insufferable (derogative), 2. the fact that the actress who played my favourite Archie comics character (Betty) could actually act (not a given in teen tv shows), 3. that scene at Pop’s in 1x2 that promised me not Bughead exactly (I thought at the time that they would drag this out for ever Dawson-style) but at least an alternative to any plot Archie would have.]

9. Betty saying she want’s nothing more than to have Archie’s baby. [Once more with feeling but this time for Betty. As in: I do not care about pregnant Betty. Not with Archie. Not with Jughead. I’m not interested explicitly in a Bughead proposal, wedding or baby during the show -unless it’s the last episode and Bughead are breaking into the sheriff’s house with a baby in a sling, because @darknessaroundus wrote this in a fic and it has become a head canon ever since. Sleuthing Bughead, on the other hand? Investigative loving Bughead? Oh yes, please!]

(Yes, I understand there will be no babies, still the trailer thought the idea of one would be enticing).

Total of fucks given: 0/9

Thoughts on s6a

Theorising is a very perilous endeavor where Riverdale is concerned, as logic means nothing to the writers and canon can be rewritten at any time.

Though I’d be absolutely delighted if the au-that-isn’t-but-actually-is started in 5x17 (explosion at the mines), I think that 5x19 (Hiram’s bomb) is a “tidier” place plot-wise, as:

- it allows for Hiram’s departure

- it allows for the resolution of Chad’s plot and the Mothman’s plot (that were shown to have happened after the mine explosion – although, one can argue that these might have happened independently, because, you know, Riverdale)

- it allows for the town’s reincorporation

- it allows for not having to deal with establishing a career path for Jughead and Betty in the new season (which was obviously what the conversation with Waldo / the FBI graduation party was all about. You know, to have time to explore more b***s*** freely).

- it allows for 5x18 (at least, if I had been planning a musical since the beginning of the season, I’d be sad to sacrifice it as not real)

- it provides the opportunity for not one but two double-takes: one in 6x5 (“you thought b*rchie, veggie and jabitha were real couples? No! 6a didn’t happen!”) and then one more after the hiatus, in 6x6 (“lol! b*rchie, veggie and jabitha were real after all because 5x18-5x19 did happen!), which fits with these writers’ obnoxious m.o.

S6a being a The-Married-Life-With-Archie-inspired dream, seems more plausible than Cheryl unleashing a curse, as the latter would imply that the supernatural does exist in Riverdale and that Cheryl is part of it (and should continue to be part of it in 6b, which seems improbable). But also, because, from a logical point of view (although those don’t hold much water with Riverdale) Cheryl didn’t curse anyone: she recited someone else’s curse that -if real- was already in action. Abigail didn’t curse just Archibald, Jedediah and Beatrice but their descendants as well, thus rendering Cheryl evoking any curse redundant.

Bugvarchie can still happen of course, at least judging by where s5 was headed before 5x18, but as someone who thinks the journey is more important than the destination, I’m not interested enough to watch s6. At least, not with what we have been told so far. Maybe that’ll change as the episodes air. We’ll see.

[It goes without saying that all of the above are personal opinions/preferences. To each their own.}

[amindofstone]

Match up, No. 9

@starlightbydaybright hat gefragt:

Hello! Saw you were taking match-ups and I was wondering if I could request one. Only done one before for another fandom, and I was wondering who I’d align with for One Piece ^^

I'm an INFP and generally an introvert, finding it difficult to express myself when I'm around people I'm unfamiliar with or just not close to. I can be both quiet and shy; quiet when I have no interest in making good impression on that person (a stranger I'll see once and never again) and shy when I'm genuinely trying to make myself acceptable to them. But, I do trust easily, so it's not hard to get close enough with me that I'll open up about almost everything, so long as they understand have my boundaries (that'll shift depending on how close). I'm also very affectionate with people I'm close with, particularly through physical touch, since I've been pretty touch starved. If you're close friends with me, you can find me constantly looking for a hug, but I can respect boundaries since not everyone enjoys contact.

The situation would be a bit different romance wise, since I’d revert a bit back to my introverted side, but also very affection-seeking at the same time. I say affection seeking as in I’d crave time and activities spent together with them, but I’d be afraid to ask/initiate, at least during the early beginnings of the relationship. I’d be constantly seeking affirmation of their love, and since I’ve never been in a relationship before (but desperately wanted one), they’d be constantly receiving my love too ❤️

While being an introvert in reality, I find it much easier to speak with confidence online. as I actually have time to contemplate what I can say. It's when I'm either with close friends or on the internet, that I can go on passionate endless rants or show my passive aggressive side. I'm usually pacifist, but if something irks me enough, I can and will pitch in snide/sarcastic remark or two, or if it's more serious; I will write out whole sophisticated and well worded paragraph that'd sound all polite with a hidden snarky tone.

I'm pretty much a hopeless romantic, so there's lot of couple things I want to try when I find someone. Back hugs, bridal carry, tickle fights, you name it. While I do enjoy these displays of affection (comes with the happy kind of embarrassment aka. I feel embarrassed that others sees it but I’m happy because I know they’re not doing it out of maliciousness and because they truly love me), small gestures are appreciated too; a gentle squeeze of the hand, a passing smile, etc.

As for hobbies, I enjoy reading, writing, (occasionally) drawing, but most of all; probably singing. I enjoy a wide variety of songs, depending on what mood I'm in, but I particularly like songs about love. Looking for someone to sing the duet love songs with me, doesn't matter how good or bad they are at singing. They can be tone deaf for all I care, it's the thought that matters 😊

I'm very emotionally sensitive, and can both laugh and cry easily. A random stranger online wished me good day? I'll be in good mood for awhile. Watched a 'mildly' sad movie? (Extra emphasis on mildly) I better have new box of tissue on the side just in case. It'd be nice to have someone that can either comfort me or at least tolerate my emotions, so I wouldn't be irking them 😞

I don't really have a type when looking for significant other but being an INFP does make the romance thing complicated. It'd be nice to have someone that's far along on the extroverted side (just not happy go lucky and can be serious) since, despite being introverted, I like to experience new things. I'm just too afraid to try alone and prefer it if someone else recommends it first. Someone to prompt me and nudge me to do something, but won’t take it too far if I really looked uncomfortable. (I’m also a procrastinator so they gotta find out the right ratio between pushing vs. taking it too far 😅) In relationship, I'd value trust and loyalty the most, since both are important in keeping the healthy relationship. If both sides could equally trust and be trusted, then there wouldn't be place for insecurity or fear. This ties in with another part of me being an INFP; I want a relationship that lasts forever. While it's weird to decide how long lasting the love will be early in the relationship, I don't think I can fully commit myself to someone, knowing that it'll end (through the other side falling out of love with me, finding interest in someone else, etc.) (natural causes like death are fine, even though I will still be sad 🥲)

As for appearance, I’m a 5”4 female with slightly wavy black hair that reach nearly to my waist. I don’t think I’m particularly short, but then again, every anime character seems to be straight up giants XD (Man, I was born with the wrong genes) I’m overall very plain, with black hair, brown eyes, but I’ve always been told I had pretty long eyelashes and big bright eyes. Average weight for my height, and flat chested :’)

As for the preference for gender, I’m mainly attracted to guys. I had some (very few) crushes on a small selection of female anime characters, but that were very rare, like 3, compared to my (insert large number) male crushes

Thank you in advance and sorry for how long this is 😔

P.s. I feel like I need to emphasize I’m still an introvert, since the personality I described is only limited to my very small friend group

a/n:

Hey there? How are you doing? Thank you so much for requesting. First off I should be apologizing for making you wait so long. I hope you´re not mad at me but lately there is a lot happening in my life. In my private life but also in my college life. But let´s put that aside and get to your request.

I have to thank you for the detailed info about you because that helped me to choose a match up for you so much. Like I instantly could think of someone. Not only did it help me to match you up with someone but also to come up with a plot. So I came up with this little imagine/hedcanon… I really don´t know what to call my work for the imaginies so I go with work. XD Anyways I really don´t know what to do at this point. Your request and your personality gave me such a good idea for a plot that I tried my best to keep it short because I decided to turn this request and my ideas and thoughts that are flying around in my mind to an actual FANFICTION! AHHHHHHHH. I can´t stop thinking about it. The idea sounds so damn good in my head that it makes me smile like an idiot right now! Uff I can´t wait to find time writing it down. AHAHH, but I fear that I already gave aways so much with this!!!! *pouts Doesn´t matter I´ll do it anyways. AHHHHHHHHHHH Thank you so damn much for requesting!

Anyways! Back to my work now. If there is anything that bothers you or you simply hate please make sure to tell me so I can change it and give you whatever you´d like. Other than that happy reading my dear!

Match up rules can be found HERE.

Warning(s): Maybe grammatical or spelling mistakes since English is my third language and I´m still improving in every aspect (Please have mercy on that.)

!!! Please do not steal my idea or work. Credit me if this is shared or published in any other platform or any other way. Please respect me as the writer and my work. Picture is not mine. Credits to: I sadly don't know. Please tell me of you know so I can give credits. Thank you in advance. !!!

· I decided to pair you up with KILLER

· Like am I the only person that thinks that he is not getting the screen time and appreciation he deserves? Because that is the damn case! ODA GIVE THIS MAN THE LOVE AND APPRECIATION HE DESERVES. And while we´re at it I wouldn´t mind if I would get a bit more of Eustass Kid too… Thank you in advance. <3

· But that’s not the point. Please dear requesting beautiful human being give this man and me, your hopelessly dreamy author a chance. Thank you, I really appreciate. <3

· aNyWaYssssS.

+

· “y/n? Are you still awake?”, asked the blond man softly. “No worries I won´t make you carry me to bed again.”, you said with a giggle. You couldn´t see his face but you knew that he was smiling. “I don´t mind that you know? I like having you close to me without having to fear to see you hid under the blanket for who knows how long.”, you rolled you eyes and hit his arms. “That only happened because that idiot captain of yours annoyed the hell out of me. That was embarrassing Killer.”, you slowly put one leg over the railing and then the next one. Making sure you don´t fall down the ship. “What happened? Didn´t you drag me out our cabin to watch the stars?”, asked the muscular man who held you close to him while making sure you didn´t fell. “I did but now I´d like to look at something different. Something even more beautiful. Something that gives me warmth and happiness. Something that keeps me alive and always makes sure I am doing fine.”, talking to the blond pirate while sitting at the railing was one of the rare moments you were close to an eye level with him. “You mean my mask?”, asked the man with a tiled head that got you to roll your eyes and hit his chest. “Great you destroyed the sweet moment. I hate you. Make a step back so I can get down. I want to go back to bed and drown in regret of dating you.”, you tried to push him away but he was obviously stronger and threw you over his shoulder. “Of course you hate me. That was also the exact same thing you were moaning a while ago. Let´s go back to bed nerd.”

· As sweet and loving your relationship was now with the pirate it also started like that. Wanna know how? Alright let me get comfortable in my bed and get started. Story TIIMMMEEEE!!!

· An island well known for their universities and scientist. An island full of top ranked doctors.

· Physics, chemistry, biology, astrology was well thaught in the schools of the island. An island well known around the world. An island ruled by a powerful devil fruit user.

· An island in which every civilian had a talent in another field. And you? You sadly had an impressive talent for languages.

· Why sadly you wonder? Well the amount of times you had to run for your dear life because some pirates could come and kidnap you and make you read the poneglyphs is immense.

· Once even the infamous Red haired Shanks came and asked you with the hope to have someone who could read them. But sadly you couldn´t. You told him that you were done with pirates coming for you or your best friends. You regretted learning all of that and hated yourself for that. Shanks and Beckman to whom your were talking to really felt bad for you and claimed the island as their territory after they had a chat with ruler and made a deal.

· That was that saved you and your friends for years and made you happy. You were thankful to the red hair pirates and always treated them with meals and drinks when they came visiting the island. You were happy for 5 years. 5 years until these stupid reckless pirates came.

· And now? Now you hated yourself all over again

· You knew that not every pirate was like the red hair pirates. Nice and respectful. They didn´t kill innocent people and destroyed civilizations only to get some gold and diamonds. But these? These were horrible. Cold and cruel.

· “Someone make this btch talk otherwise I´ll do it by cutting her into pieces only stropping when IT actually starts to answer my god damn questions!”, screamed a tall and guy with red hair.

· You were scared. Tied on a mast on their ship, you feared for your life. Screaming for help was not an option since you were already on the sea since a while now.

· The man that was yelling at you none stop was now holding a blond man with a mask at his collar and growling at him. The man might have a mask on but you somehow had the feeling that he was talking to the man with the red fur coat. “Clear the deck! NOW!!”; yelled the man before he left inside the ship. Slowly every man on deck was leaving you alone. You wanted to ask them were or why the left but you knew that they wouldn´t give you an answer. You were a prisoner. A captive. A pathetic human they took on board. With the last pirate leaving you behind, a door that was located behind the mast you were tied on closed while the need to cry grew inside of you. How long am I here by now? One hour? Two or three? Was anyone missing me back at home? Were they already looking for me? Thoughts that occupied your mind were blurring your vision. You were looking right in front of you but also not. Your eyes were wide open but your vision was back at home. Home were you belonged.

· “Hey. Hey can you hear me? Hey you alright, woman? Hello?”, a man was squatting in front of you and waving with his hands in front of your face. You were deeply lost in your thoughts that you neither heard him coming nor saw him sitting right in front of you.

· But the moment he touched you tight you screamed and got back to reality. “Please don´t touch me. Please don´t hurt me. Please I beg you. Please.”, fear was written all over your face. You saw yourself death with a huge puddle of your blood. “Alright I won´t touch you. It´s just that I´ve been sitting in front of you for 5 minutes now and the only thing you did was breath and say no. Anyways here is something to drink. You´ve been her for four hours now. Half of the time unconscious and the other one either basically mute or in a trance.”, the guy in front of you was the same one who got the mad man to leave and clear the deck. It made you wonder who he was that he had such a power but you didn´t dare to ask. “Here I hold it for you and you drink.”, the glass was put on your lips and you drank. You didn´t knew how thirsty you were until your lungs were wetted by the water. Finished drinking he put a blanket over your legs since the position your were in didn´t allow you to cover yourself properly. And the fact that you were wearing a dress wasn´t helping at all.

· “Alright. You had something to drink I got you a blanket now tell me are you able to talk to me and answer my questions?”, you nodded. “Good. Now listen to me. There is this language that is called Krisanasy. As far as I know there is a tiny amount of people who are able to speak that and you are one of these. Am I right?”, you nodded. “How well are you in it?”, you gulped and looked at the man with the mask “I know the most important basics. I remember basic grammar rules and a good amount of vocabulary but I´m not that good in it. I didn´t worked with anything that included this language since years now.”, the masked man nodded and fully sat down now. “Would you be able to get back in it if you had some books and scripts to work with?”, slowly you understood where this was supposed to lead. You knew that if you said yes they would keep you as their prisoner and make your work for them. And if they had everything they would kill you because there would be no more use for you. But if you said no now and refused to talk to him he would probably also kill you. You were in a dilemma. You didn´t wanted to die but also didn´t wanted to die after you helped them. They were criminals. Feared and hated by the government and any human around the world. You looked down on your lap and let your head fall forward so your long black hair covered your face. “Hey I asked you something. Would you be able to do that?”, his voice was deep and rough but in the same time soft and gentle. That irritated you. it make you realize that him being nice to you now was just a way to get under your skin and make you do whatever they wanted. And then they simply would kill you in the most brutal and cruel way. “Hey, woman. Are you listening?”, you felt helpless. “I don´t want to die. Please let me go. Please. I beg you. Please.”, tears were streaming down you cheeks you couldn´t hold back anymore. He came closer and lifted you face. “Listen here you are a smart woman. Stop crying for fcks sake. If I would be you I would have made these pirates work for me. Use your damn brain and stop crying. Do you really think anyone in here would kill you? Heck no! They need your help. They need your brain because all of them are basically stupid. Like damn I need you to answer all of my questions before my captain with anger issues comes and beats the sht out of me. Now answer me woman. Are you able to get back in it if we got you some scripts to work on?”, you nodded while more tears streamed down you cheeks. You felt pathetic. You felt worthless and used. Helping them would turn you into a criminal too and ruin everything you worked on. Everything the emperor did for you and the island would be wasted. “See wasn’t that hard to answer.”

· The questioning went on for a while you didn´t know for how long but you knew that a long time passed since the sun stared to set. “Alright. Now I give you two options. One, stay here. Tied up on the mast no matter what kind of weather we face. Two you swear to obey me no matter what kind of order I give you and you will be able to sleep on a bed. You will get food and tomorrow you will start working on the scripts we give you. You choose.”, with your head hung lowly you said number two and instantly got released from the chains and handcuffs. He helped you stand up and covered you in the blanket before he led you into his cabin. “Wait here. Sit there and don´t do anything stupid as long as I´m not here. If you do anything stupid I won´t be able to help you. Got it?”, he didn´t even wait until you answered or gave any reaction he simply left and closed the door after him. So you waited while sitting with a lowly hung head. Minutes passed and he came back. “Your clothes are dirty. The bathroom is empty so you can take a bath or shower. Anything you want but I´ll be in the room with you. Because of one I have to make sure no one is coming in and secondly to watch over you and make sure you don´t do anything stupid. Got it. Fine. Take this towel and these clothes. We don´t have any female crewmates so you have to be wearing with my clothes until we dock on another island and you get to buy clothes.”

· The man with the mask took care of you for the rest of the day. He took you to shower and gave you fresh clothes. You had dinner with him alone in the kitchen when no one was around and got back to sleep. And no matter what you did he made sure to keep a respectful distance towards you. Whenever he had to come closer or touch you to take care of your wounds he would warn you. The day kept going like that. Nothing else was said about the following days and the thing they wanted you for. Only necessary things were said that were needed at the moment. And you only gave short replays or only answered with a head movement.

· Slowly the day passed by and the night took over with the moon putting the world alight. You were back in his cabin with him sitting on an armchair and you lying in bed sleeping with one hand tied up on the bed.

[wolfiafuntime]

A rant/theory about MK and his family

Okay, so I've recently joined the LMK fandom, and after binge-watching the first two seasons on a shady website (bc I completely forgot I had Amazon), I have just one question:

Why does MK have his powers? Better yet, HOW does MK has his powers? And, while we're at it, where the heck are his parents, and WHY does he live above Pigsy's Noodles?? Does Pigsy live above Pigsy's Noodles??? I remember from one of the episodes that he had been working at Pigsy's for two years, and I remember from another episode that he's got a long-butt name, and that's why he goes by MK in the first place. I also took a quick look at his wiki page to find out more about him, but only found that he was a teenager, which is when I realized that MK literally never goes to school.

How old is MK? Who are his parents? I know this fandom isn't very inquisitive, but we've gotta start asking some questions at some point, people. But, at the same time, I don't want you to anyone any questions. Because if people start asking questions, the flow of the show might be disturbed. I mean, there's ten-episode seasons (all of which last about ten minutes), and two forty-minute specials. And I know that's not a lot of time to hint at families, but seriously, why haven't we gotten SOMETHING about MK's family???

Now, I don't want to disturb this fandom (at least too much, since I'm gonna post this rant, anyway), but I think I have an answer to the horrible question that I alone brought upon myself... And now have presented to you. Here it is:

MK is Monkey King's descendant. I wanna say that MK is Sun Wukong's son, but that doesn't make sense. Because Sun Wukong doesn't seem like the type of person (monkey?) to just be absent from his kid's life. And (I have no idea how to word this next part without making our dear Monkey King seem creepy) he doesn't seem like the type of person to not stalk his ex-lover. However, he does seem like the type of person/monkey to eventually stop interacting with his descendants... But he'll still stalk him, because he wants to make sure his family is safe.

Now, Wukong having kids brings a few questions with it. And conveniently, I have answers.

New Question 1: When did Sun Wukong have kids?

Answer 1: When he trapped the Demon Bull King under that mountain. I mean, it only makes sense, seeing as he disappeared immediately after. And why else would such a mischievous man suddenly disappear, other than the fact that he had a kid?

New Question 2: Why isn't Sun Wukong's kid alive? DBK's kid is!

Answer 2: Well, after watching the first episode of OSP's JTTW summary series, I learned that Wukong created a lot of havoc in the Celestial Realm. So, I imagine that once they learned that Wukong was having a kid, they panicked and did something to stilt the Monkey King's kid's powers, which made the kid, and the kid's kids, mortal and powerless. I imagine that the Monkey King eventually figured out that something was up when his kid(s) got basically NONE of his genes or powers, made a visit to some Gods to figure out what the heck was up, and discovered what they did. He got understandably mad about it, and made such a stink that the Gods agreed to give his kid(s) their rightful powers, but it was too late to give them their rightful genes. However, they (somehow) managed to convince him that a bunch of kids with nearly unimaginable power would be dangerous, so they all agreed that the powers would only activate once they touched Sun Wukong's staff-- which they couldn't, because it was sealing away DBK.

New Question 3: Why wasn't Sun Wukong in MK's life until the (first) special?

Answer: He stopped interacting with his descendants after his wife and children died, having fallen into an understandable depression because of it. He did manage to eventually climb out of it, which is when he made a movie franchise, and maybe a few games. He also started keeping an eye on his golden staff, secretly hoping that he would one day meet one of his descendants. A few years after this started, the Demon Bull Family went to free their father, and MK showed up. The Monkey King felt a familiarly powerful air coming from him, and realized that MK was one of his descendants. He might've found this out using his true sight, but I have doubts about that, seeing as MK would've found out the same way. However, it should be noted that I don't completely know how their shared true sight ability works - I know that in JTTW, it automatically reveals all disguised demons. But in LMK, it seems to reveal anything that's currently being searched for. So, if Wukong wanted to know if MK was his descendant, he could. But, seeing as MK never had any reason to search for his ancestors, he wouldn't be able to find out if Wukong was one in the first place.

Totally-A-New-Question 4: What happened to MK's parents?

Answer: Still no clue.

And with that, this has been a rant/theory about MK and his family.

[piracytheorist]

Get to Know Me

There are various things about me that I mention vaguely in ranting posts, that I know some of my followers don’t know. So I’m writing some stuff here, for people who want to know me better! 😉

I’m PiracyTheorist, for personal reasons I don’t share my real name or selfies publicly here. You can call me Nette.

Current fandoms circulating around here:

- Colin O’Donoghue (sporadic but massive posting whenever he graces us with new content)

- Resident Evil Village (there will be horror and graphic content, as well as spoilers for the game and its DLC Shadows of Rose) (tag will mostly be “Resident Evil” and/or “re talk”)

- Spy x Family (I’m up to date with the anime but I don’t read the manga, so please no manga spoilers)

- Digimon Adventure (20 years after watching it as a kid I went back to it and what do you know I still love everything about my very first blorbo, Yamato Ishida, so I’m going off about it here as well) (tag is “Digimon”)

- Our Flag Means Death (occasional posting), and some other random stuff I’m into.

Personal stuff:

I’m 28, I was born in a small town in Greece. I lived on an island for six years, where I studied music teaching. I now work part-time, as a kinda daycare teacher (I don’t know what the equivalent of what we have here for other countries is, but it’s basically spending time with some kids and guiding them through various activities, including music ones and stuff), and I finally live on my own. I don’t get paid much, and I only rent a small studio, but I’m managing my own finances.

I was only near the sea for those six years, but I still miss being able to simply go for a walk and look at the sea. I live in a landlocked city, the nearest beach is about an hour of driving away (for Greek standards, that’s a lot, tbh) but I don’t have a license, so it’s not that easy to visit the seaside 😅.

I’m a white cis woman, an asexual, I’m probably also aromantic but I’m not sure. Due to not being interested in romantic/sexual relationships however, I don’t spend a lot of time wondering about that. I just go with the flow.

I support all genders and sexualities and ways people choose to live their own lives.

I am a certified cat person™. I have one of my own (though she lives in my parents’ house and I only see her when I visit):

I find dogs cute as well, but I prefer cats for myself.

I have three older siblings, and lots of older first cousins - I’m one of the youngest in my extended family.

I was born with a cardiomyopathy. I’m on mild medication (by which I mean no side effects and no problems if I miss one dose) and I have some standard medical tests once or twice a year. I cannot do heavy exercise or push any limits (which, due to not being able to exercise my whole life, are low considering my young age). I am able to be independent though I'm eligible for some disability benefits. And yes, that means I’m in a high-risk group for any disease, not just covid or the flu.

I don’t want to have children. I like working with them as a music educator, but I don’t think I’d ever have the patience to actually be a good parent for life. Plus I have a ton of crappy genes, first and foremost of my own disease, so why spread them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I attend therapy sessions. Sometimes I talk here about my sessions, or about things I want to say in them. I tag those posts as “nette therapy” so you can filter that if you want.

I love travelling. Thanks to being a part of several choirs while studying, I’ve visited various places in Europe, and I hope to be able to visit more.

I try to tag everything, including triggers, so if there’s something you need me to tag (within reason, don’t bring fandom drama into my inbox please), don’t hesitate to ask me. I shitpost from time to time, so prepare for some silliness here and there.

I enjoy whump, that is, seeing fictional characters (mostly male - for me mostly ones played by the aforementioned Colin O’Donoghue) in pain or any kind of peril. I tag everything about that as “whump”. I understand triggers and squicks so tagged or not, if that makes you in any way uncomfortable, you can unfollow me. I appreciate people following my blog but I rarely if ever check my followers list.

Sometimes I write fanfics, though my main contributions to fandoms are gifsets and silly memes, occasionally. Killian Jones from the TV show Once Upon a Time is my biggest love, so content about him may appear here sometimes. My fanfics can be found on Tumblr [link] or on AO3 [link]. My gifsets can be found here [link].

I do not tolerate hate that’s aimed at innocent people - and that goes from hate for race, gender, sexuality etc. to hate for what fictional character each other likes. If what the other person is doing is in no negative way affecting someone else, I will not tolerate hate on my blog about them. I used be a person who judged others for what fictional characters/ships they liked, and I know now how miserable I was to act that way, and I’m trying to move on and become better.

That’s it for now :D Welcome to my blog!

[concussed-to-pieces]

The Mettle Of A Man; Part Eleven

Fandom: Fallout (4)

Pairing: Eventual Paladin Danse/Female Sole Survivor

Rating: Holy shit M.

AN: Enjoy!

Part One: ArcJet

Part Two: The Prydwen

Part Three: Orders

Part Four: Finding Brandis

Part Five: Weston Water And Oberland

Part Six: Meeting Preston And Matthew

Part Seven: Radstag And Radstorm

Part Eight: The Return To Sanctuary Hills

Part Nine: Domestic Ruminations

Part Ten: Institutionalized

[!TRIGGER WARNING!: This installment contains brief mentions of pregnancy (relating to bodily changes and a C-section) and a graphic depiction of an emotional/nervous breakdown. Stay safe!]

Two weeks and three days. 

  Danse wasn't exactly certain of what to do. It had taken his squadron nearly three weeks to track down Cutler, so three weeks had become his hard limit almost unconsciously. The paladin had never been overly good at resting on his laurels, but it wasn't like he could single-handedly lay siege to the damn Institute for a retrieval mission.

  Returning to the Prydwen without his charge might prove divisive , regardless of how many technical documents Codsworth had procured from the cul-de-sac's abodes. 

  Speaking of Codsworth…

  "Aw, cheer up man." Sturges comforted the robot, who (unless Danse was imagining it) was hovering a bit lower today. "I bet she'll be back any second now!"

  "Mister Sturges, as much as I appreciate your optimistic outlook," the robot sniffed dramatically. "I'm afraid that you cannot begin to understand the sadness I feel. I believed for two hundred years that I had lost Miss Vega, and to have lost her once again is...well, it is unbearable , Mister Sturges."

  Danse grimaced. Did he actually feel bad for a robot? He was, at the very least, sympathizing with it. What the hell was his world coming to?

  Knight Vega certainly kept some interesting company. Aside from the seemingly permanent presence of the elderly Mama Murphy, Sturges, Codsworth, and the married couple of Jun and Marcy Long, numerous colorful individuals had drifted through the settlement over the course of the weeks.

  First there was Cait, a woman with hair red enough to put Proctor Ingram's to shame. She blew into town, provisioner in tow, speaking with a thick, caustic brogue and toting a sawed-off shotgun. "I owe Backhand my life." She said shortly when Danse enquired as to what her business was with Vega. "She got me off the chems, so now I keep her goddamn caravans free from pests."

  She only stayed for a night, but she insisted that Danse join her for a sparring match. He wasn't afraid to admit that she put him through the ringer , his whole body sore the following morning.

  "Tell Handy Cait sends her love!" The woman had called before she departed, giving him a small smile. Danse had ruefully promised to do so, trying not to visibly wince as he waved farewell.

  One Robert MacCready followed shortly thereafter, who had acted like Danse being there would raze the town to the ground on nothing but principle. "I dealt with you ass--er, you jerks in the Capital Wasteland." The lithe man scowled up at Danse, pushing the bill of his hat back. He had a sniper rifle slung around his body with a barrel that was almost as long as he was tall, bearing an ornate, quick-slide scope.

  "I assume you are used to the charity of former Elder Lyons. The eastern chapter is no longer so benevolent, civilian." Danse growled, pricked by MacCready's blatant disdain for the Brotherhood.

  He could tell MacCready wasn't a bad sort, just overly suspicious and prickly. After serving with Knight Rhys for so long, Danse was almost tempted to tell the younger man that he would need to try harder to keep people away from him.

  "Backhand saved my kid." Robert admitted one night after he had been drinking by the fire with Sturges. "She...She helped me get the medicine I needed. Helped cure my little boy." 

  Danse knew he shouldn't be surprised that someone who seemed as young as MacCready had managed to procreate. But as he watched the other man toy idly with a tiny, battered tin soldier that he had pulled from his pocket, Danse felt that perhaps...perhaps Robert had the right to be a bit suspicious and prickly.

  The next visitor was a petite, dark-haired woman named Curie who had an incredibly strange accent. She was of the medical persuasion and curious about everything . Danse was a little taken aback by how blunt some of her inquiries were, but he did his best to humor her. 

  She seemed harmless enough, even if she was hellbent on learning the inner machinations of his entire existence. She asked everything in such a clinical manner, Danse didn't even have the presence of mind to be uncomfortable or embarrassed. 

  That is, until she asked whether he was sexually active and " when was zee last time you stimulated yourself, Monsieur Danse? " Then he clammed right up, loathing that he could feel his face going hot as he remembered exactly when the last time he had stimulated himself was.

  "I will not be answering any more of your questions about my personal matters, civilian." The paladin informed her curtly, caught off-guard by her plaintive cry of dismay at his refusal. 

  "But Monsieur Danse, I must learn zee secret of your overgrown size! You are so very tall and muscular compared to your contemporaries, my research could result in a breakthrough for your whole species! If you are a genetic throwback, zis could mean-" Sturges finally came to his rescue, ushering the wailing doctor away and shooting Danse a wink that made the paladin huff out an irritated grunt.

  Genetic throwback . Dogmeat was a genetic throwback. Danse just...maybe he had good genes. Both of his parents must have possessed more robust constitutions. That was the clear answer. 

  An elaborately-dressed ghoul had marched down the main road like he owned the joint a few days after Curie had come and gone, only stopping when he realized there was a fully-armored paladin aiming a laser rifle at him. "Whoa! Easy crewcut, you'll harsh my mellow." He exclaimed, taking off his tricorn hat and fanning himself with it. "The name's John Hancock," he continued with a showy little bow. "I'm lookin' for General Vega. She around?"

  "Knight Vega is indisposed at the moment, but you're welcome to leave a message, ghoul." Danse gritted out, oddly keen on attempting civility.

  Hancock whistled and Dogmeat came running over, immediately flopping onto his back for a belly rub. "Ah, there he is. My favorite of the general's mutts. Sorry, you say somethin'?" The ghoul asked lazily, the pitch-black void of his eyes boring pointedly into Danse's. 

  The paladin threw his hands up in the air after a moment and stormed off. God damn it, Vega, you could have warned me that you kept such diverse company! he ranted inwardly.

  The visitor that had nearly sent him into a conniption was an old synth, its skin ragged and tattered enough to show its inner workings. Sturges chatted away with the damn thing (and its traveling companion, a self-styled reporter apparently named Piper Wright) and Danse just floundered . Backhand made friends with synths?

  Ticking mentally over everyone else he had met during his stay at Sanctuary, Danse reluctantly admitted that yes, Backhand would absolutely make friends with synths. Perhaps he should have come to terms with that before everything that had occurred, but now here he was, fully kitted and watching this synth narrowly. 

  "Come on over and introduce yourself, big fella'. No need to glare from afar." The synth commented wryly. "From what I understand we're all on the same team."

  "If it's all the same to you, synth , I'll keep my distance." Danse could tolerate a lot of things. Ghouls, specifically. He had met numerous in his travels and while it was unsettling to converse with them, he knew they weren't all diseased, mindless shamblers despite what the Brotherhood had beaten into him. But synths …

  They were the embodiment of mankind's arrogance. Monstrous, uncanny, a mockery of bodily functions. They made Danse's skin crawl.

  Piper huffed indignantly, rolling her eyes and pointing a finger at Danse as she remarked loudly to Sturges, "I wasn't aware that Blue had rechristened this place Bigotry Hills."

  The synth inclined its head in the meantime, somehow giving off an air of mechanical resignation. "Alright, I'll go first I suppose, since you've forgotten your manners. Name's Nick Valentine. I'm a detective operating out of Diamond City."

  Nick Valentine . Danse's mouth became a desert. This , this was the detective Vega sang the praises of when it came to tracking down the man who had stolen her son? "Knight Vega failed to mention that you were a synth." He muttered.

  "She probably figured it wasn't relevant. After all, the Institute left me at the curb with another man's memories in my head. Miss Vega did me a good turn after I helped her out with that Kellogg fella'." The synth shrugged. "Let an old bot put a few more ghosts to rest." He dusted off the raggedy fedora he wore, those unnerving golden eyes focused on Danse. "I caught wind that something might have gone a little sour with her infiltration, so Piper and I thought we'd drop by and see if we could offer any sort of assistance."

  "And can you?" Danse asked, concern and suspicion making his tone even sharper as he glanced at the woman. Piper stuck her tongue out at him, to his chagrin.

  The synth looked regretful for a second and Danse pondered that its face could even convey such a complex emotion. "Probably not, but at least now I know I'm not the only one worrying about our doll Vega." It remarked shrewdly. 

  Danse blushed guiltily, dropping his gaze from that calculating stare. It felt like the synth could see every damn thing he had ever done wrong in his life and Danse loathed the idea of this machine being able to help where he couldn't. "I'll be watching you, synth ," he blustered. "If you step out of line-"

  The synth actually interrupted him, waving a spindly, metallic hand. "You'll what, melt me into slag? I'd be careful, I might do something nefarious like trap you in an intelligent conversation."

  …

  Danse's sleep schedule had never been anything even bordering on concrete, but now the worry kept him up more than the nightmares. A thousand scenarios ran through his mind, each one worse than the last. His fatalistic tendencies would be the death of him one of these days, and wouldn't that be a poetic end. Death by apoplexy, his heart just exploding under the stress of his own imagination.

  No one commented when he ended up abandoning that soft mattress in the front room of Vega's house in favor of planting his bedroll on the floor at the foot of her bed. He spent long hours there every night, disassembling his gun, cleaning it thoroughly and checking over his mods. 

  When he inevitably gave up on sleep, he would patrol the perimeter. Jun joined him fairly often, the soft spoken man having taken it upon himself to manage the security around the settlement.

  "At first, I think Backhand just wanted me to have something to do." Jun mentioned out of the blue one evening, his haggard expression illuminated in the faint light of the moon. "So she told me to uh, walk the property line. Marcy didn't know what to do with me. Hell, she didn't even know what to do with herself . Losing Kyle was…" the man swallowed hard. "Well, the general understood, on account of her own little one. She knew I needed to be kept busy, especially after that close call in Concord. I'm just glad Marcy didn't give up on me." He admitted.

  "Why would she have given up on you?" Danse asked, a bit confused that this conversation was even occurring. He didn't do this sort of thing. "Whatever transpired with your child wasn't your fault." He had never asked for the specifics and Jun hadn't volunteered them.

  Jun shrugged. "Being married is...full of ups and downs. And sometimes the downs are really, really hard. Too hard. It's terrible, seeing the person you love turn into some kind of...angry husk because of grief and you're grieving too, and you know you can't fix it because-" the man's eyes welled up, his voice hitching. "-b-because you're not strong enough."

  Danse's breath caught in his lungs because oh God , that had been him after Cutler. Frustrated, hollow, newly promoted and warming Arthur's bed out of duty as he tried to privately grieve the man he had lost.

  It had been Haylen and Rhys who pried him from his depressive, wrathful tendencies. Brandis had suggested that Danse consider sponsoring his own initiates, and recommended him two candidates. The young woman, barely into adulthood, so full of life and eager to learn, and Rhys had been angry like him. 

  More followed after those two, but they had been his first. He sponsored Dawes, Brach, Keane, Worwick...squire or initiate to aspirant, aspirant to scribe or knight. All the while keeping them at arm's length, reluctant to open himself up again to the suffering that had wreaked its havoc upon him after the loss of Cutler.

  Learning about Paladin Krieg's passing during the assault on Adams Air Force Base was a blade twisting in his back. Danse had felt like his entire body was on fire, raw with agony once more as everything he had tried so hard to keep under control collapsed beneath him. He emerged from that particular rubble stoic and grim, and it was shortly after that incident that Recon Squadron Artemis went dark in the Commonwealth. 

  Brandis was sent to die and you know it! That evening in the barracks had been one of the hardest in his entire military career. Danse had known he was lying, lying to every single man, woman and child in that room that he would pass along any information he learned about Paladin Brandis.

  But what else could he do?

  "You can't fix everything and every one, Mr. Long." The paladin murmured finally. "You'll only burn yourself out with the effort. All you can do is let time do its work."

  "Oh, I know." The other man said calmly, having clearly mastered himself while Danse mulled over his response. "Marcy and I had a long talk about...our son, and even though it still hurts to talk about him, I know someday it won't." He smiled at Danse. "Thanks for listening, Mr. Paladin. I can see why the general likes you."

  Danse may or may not have tucked that precious information away, deep down in his heart.

  ...

  Backhand had no idea how many days had passed since she had departed. The Commonwealth was relatively quiet all around the settlement as she took a few steadying breaths after relaying back, bent nearly double with her hands on her knees. Overhead in the night sky, the moon beamed weakly between the thick clouds.

  Staggering down the steps that were still attached to the bare foundation, a wave of exhaustion threatened to cripple her. Away from the artificial lighting and brilliant whiteness of the Institute, she abruptly felt like she hadn't slept in weeks. How long had she been awake for?

  Bed , Vega decided with a nod. Bed before anything else . With slow, trudging footsteps, the young woman made her way to the house where she had lived before the bombs fell. Whatever time it was, it was obviously late. There wasn't a light on across the whole settlement, and she was incredibly grateful that she would be afforded a few moments of reprieve before she was plied with questions.

  Backhand closed the front door behind her, doing her best to be quiet. Danse must be asleep. Either that or he had returned to the Prydwen. Vega was a little startled at how distraught that made her feel, like she had lost somehow. 

  She stifled a yawn as she jiggled the sticky doorknob to her room and, too impatient to ease the door open, she put her shoulder to it.

  The door flew open and she immediately found herself on the business end of a very familiar laser rifle. Vega couldn't help her shriek of surprise and in her haste to retreat, she toppled into the hall and landed hard on her back. "Wait, wait! " She pleaded, throwing up her hands in surrender. "Don't shoot, Danse!"

  The paladin just stared down at her for a moment, his brow slowly unfurrowing in recognition as he lowered his gun. "Elizabeth?" He asked, his voice rasping hoarsely.

  "Y-Yeah. Hi." Backhand replied, her voice shaky. "It's me." Danse extended his hand, easily pulling her upright off the ground. She half-fell against his body, the large man accepting the weight without a word. "Why are you sleeping in here?" Backhand blurted out the first question she could think of, noticing the disturbed bedroll on the floor at the foot of her bed. 

  "I assumed that should you return, you would most likely head to your room first." The paladin answered quickly, too quickly for it to be the truth.

  Backhand raised an eyebrow. "And the armed greeting?"

  "A reflex."

  Vega's hands curled into fists on his chest, taking handfuls of his shirt between her fingers. I missed you , she wanted to say, I missed you so much . "How long was I gone for?" She asked instead.

  "Seventeen days." Danse replied in a no-nonsense manner. "It appears your infiltration of the Institute was a success." He was watching her closely. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Knight."

  Vega wanted to kiss him, not missing the warmth of relief in his eyes despite his neutral tone. She hurriedly peeled herself off of his chest, awkwardly clearing her throat and casting her brain around for an excuse to leave. "I'm...I need to shower." She lied, grimacing. "I was going to go right to bed, but…"

  "Take your time. I'll remove my personal effects and return to my quarters." The paladin intoned stiffly.

  Backhand grabbed a random assortment of clothing from atop her rickety dresser and fled to the bathroom without another word. 

  She slid down the door once she had shut it firmly, closing her eyes and hanging her head. What the hell were you expecting, Vega? she chastised herself, starting to unlace her boots. Some kind of fairytale reunion where he sweeps you up into his arms and professes his undying love? And we ride into the sunset? Backhand scoffed, bringing her fist down on the side of the salvaged water heater to get it to function.

  Vega stared down at her body as she showered, feeling oddly like a spectator. The faint scar at the bottom of her stomach mocked her, taunting her with the memory of the hospital room, the swaddled Shaun being pressed into her arms…

  This was all so wrong. 

  She pushed the heels of her palms into her eyes hard enough to blind her for a moment, fending off the tears that threatened to close her throat. The scar was placed low enough on her body that the waistband of her underwear concealed it. She didn't have to think about it too often. Usually she avoided looking at it while she bathed, the surgical leftover making complex feelings of grief and resentment war inside her.

  Her fingers drew over the faded scar, then rose to brush the stretch marks that striped over her belly from where her body had changed to accommodate Shaun's growing form. And still her eyes were dry.

  Backhand emerged from the lukewarm shower and simply sat on the side of the tub, watching the water slowly swirl down the drain. She thought of the Institute, where clean water was just a faucet turn away. Free of parasites and radiation, bearing a faint reek of chlorine that had clung to her hair and skin after bathing.

  Her brow furrowed and she toweled herself off briskly, donning the clothing she had grabbed at random. The shirt was too big, unfamiliar, and she realized with a sharp pang of a strange emotion that it must be one of Danse's. Had he done her laundry while she was gone?

  The young woman hung her towel up to dry, scooped all her dirty clothes off the floor and padded back across the hall to her room. 

  Danse, true to his word, had removed his bedroll and pack from the room, leaving no trace of his previous occupancy. Vega dropped her ball of clothes in the corner and sank down on the edge of her mattress, putting her head into her hands. 

  I believe you will do great things for the Institute.

  Her fingers dug into her hair, raking through it in a nervous gesture. She didn't want to do great things. She had never wanted to do great things. All she had wanted was a family.

  A child, a husband, a modest house in a quiet neighborhood…

  The bombs had taken so much from everyone else, did she even have the right to mourn the life she wished she had? It seemed so selfish, so...petty.

  Shaun's crib sat empty by the door like always, but now its vacancy mocked her. Had she ever truly believed she would find her son? Or had she been lying to herself the whole time, trying to convince herself that she could have been a good mother and that it wasn't all her fault Shaun had been taken. Rage bathed her in a comforting blanket of numbness and Backhand clenched her fists, rising from the bed. 

  With a stilted, furious cry of, " fuck you! " she heaved the empty crib against the wall.

  It was a simple enough task to snap the rungs in it, blowing through them one after the other. Next the flimsy headboard, torn from the sides with a shriek of abused screws. Backhand broke it over her knee, pitching the pieces off to land somewhere as the crib teetered on two legs. She grabbed those last two legs, picked the remains of the crib up, and smashed it against the floor with all her might. 

  It exploded in a cloud of chipped blue pieces, effectively destroyed. Backhand screamed in frustrated anguish, sinking to her knees and wrapping her arms around herself. She hadn't even noticed she was crying, but the tears were hot enough to burn on her cheeks.

  She felt running footsteps vibrate through the floor, but she didn't so much as raise her head. 

  Danse, Danse , those brown eyes so warm and concerned, knelt in front of her. " Easy , Knight." He soothed. Backhand sobbed hysterically, her whole body shaking with each inhale. "Elizabeth." Danse said her name calmly, quietly, his arms falling open.

  The woman flung herself into his embrace, gripping his back tightly. Danse held her close, like she was small and fragile and needed to be protected, one hand on the back of her head stroking her still-damp hair. Vega just went limp, weeping pitifully into his shirt.

  "By Jove…" Codsworth breathed from the door. "Oh mum, I'm so sorry." She felt a metal pincer rest gingerly on her shoulder and Backhand knocked her forehead against Danse's clavicle when she turned her face to look at Codsworth. "You should have told us, mum. Whatever it is, it's all too much to carry alone." The robot scolded her kindly. "I helped you raise the little tyke, if you recall. We will always have those fond memories, you and I."

  "It hurts." Backhand said thickly. "It h-hurts so much. I just wanted him back."

  "I'm sorry, Elizabeth." Danse murmured, words laden with sorrow. And he didn't even know what had happened yet!

  "I don't want anyone else to be sorry. I-I want to take every one of that smug f- fuck's toys and break them. If he wasn't already on his way out, I would-" Backhand dissolved into seething, nonsensical muttering. "There's good people in the Institute." She said finally. "People who wanted to help. People who need to get out."

  "And the Brotherhood will do everything we can to save them." Danse promised solemnly, taking her hands in his own and making a sympathetic noise in the back of his throat as he examined the battered skin. "Christ Vega, you're full of splinters."

  "I just...I don't know, I shouldn't have done that." Backhand mumbled, feeling idiotic for letting herself get so out of control.

  "Not to worry, mum!" Codsworth cheerily clicked his pincers. "I'll have you squared away in a jiffy!"

  Danse didn't let her go as Codsworth painstakingly worked over her abused hands to remove every last sliver. The paladin even assisted when the robot asked, holding her skin taut or flattening her palm out on his own to keep her steady so Codsworth could get a better grip.

  Piper appeared in the doorway in the midst of the procedure, wearing a raggedy robe and carrying a steaming mug. "And there's our gal." The reporter said softly. "Heya' Blue."

  "H-Hey Piper." Backhand sniffled. 

  The other woman tipped her head. "Nicky's on his way. You want tea or coffee?" 

  "Coffee, please. Please." Backhand begged, feeling Danse's hold on her tighten slightly. She was sitting in his lap still, his arms around her while Codsworth worked. She hated herself for enjoying the comfort his proximity provided, hated herself for being too weak to deal with this on her own. 

  As if he could sense her thoughts, the paladin settled her back more firmly against his chest.

  …

  She was back. She had come back. Harried and haggard but alive . Danse could feel the tension radiating from her and he wanted to kick himself for greeting her with a weapon at the door. His brain hadn't even registered that it might be her , he had awoken from his uneasy half-doze to someone breaching the door and his body reacted.

  Danse wanted to question her. He wanted to grip her to his chest and never let her out of his sight again. He wanted to berate her for being gone for so long. He wanted to lay her down on her bed and--

  He shoved that thought away. She was obviously exhausted and worn from whatever it was that she had gone through. Now was absolutely not the time to voice the pesky, budding emotions that warred in his chest.

  He could sense the impending explosion hanging heavy in the air like the changing pressure of an approaching storm, but he hadn't expected the rupture to happen so soon. Vega was barely out of the shower when he heard the first crash , her yell of " fuck you! ". 

  Danse wrestled momentarily with himself, his hands clenching in the fabric of his sleeping bag. Expressing anger could be therapeutic in it's own right, and her getting everything out now might be miles healthier than bottling it all up until she imploded.

  But her sobbing cries effectively wiped his plan of inaction. She sounded like she was in agony and Danse didn't even remember tearing the door open. One second he was in his own room and then the next he was on his knees in front of her, " easy , Knight," his voice gone soft and tender in a manner wholly uncharacteristic of the usually stoic man.

  He couldn't help saying her name, her first name, even though he felt wrong for doing so. But she pitched forward into his embrace just like Haylen had, weeping as though her heart was fit to break. And all Danse could do, all anyone could have done, he assured himself, was hold her close.

  She had no care for the safety and wellbeing of her hands, he realized wryly as he checked them over for broken bones. This was the second time patching up her poor fingers, the first time feeling like a distant memory. Her shredding her knuckles to ribbons on the manual release of his suit, her complete disregard for her own comfort…

  Danse didn't move, even when the synth arrived on Piper's heels. Everyone crowded into the room and he knew he ought to feel self-conscious, but now Vega was the one refusing to release him . So there he sat on the floor with her secure in his arms, listening to the entire sordid tale as Codsworth quietly tidied up the mess that had been Shaun's crib. 

  The Institute was real , and it wound for miles underneath the Commonwealth. They had access to safe food and pure drinking water, all made possible by unimaginable technology. Her son wasn't dead or even a child, but instead old and frail. The years had stretched on longer than anyone could have anticipated between his removal from the Vault and Vega's own awakening. 

  The advances that made the generation three synths possible had been brought about by utilizing infant Shaun's pre-war DNA, and he was known as Father to all the synths. But he wasn't a father at all, at least not one that anybody would want to have.

  "Synths are like lower class citizens to these scientists. Expendable. Seen and not heard." Backhand explained, and Nick muttered something uncharitable under his breath. "They're not people, they're tools. Shit, Shaun even listed them off like that, he called the coursers hammers ." Vega spat. "But they think . They dream. Hell, they grieve even though they don't know that's what they're doing."

  She spoke of the courser mourning the loss of his friend, forced to grieve without understanding the feelings he suffered through and Danse was somehow full of sympathy for a damn killing machine. It must just be Vega's compassionate nature transferring to him. There was no way he could actually believe anything like that was even possible.

  Spinal recalibration .

  Danse wasn't sure why , but he felt a blunt stab of pain at the nape of his neck when she explained the procedure. It was probably psychosomatic, he reasoned. The process sounded gruesome.

  Nick flipped back and forth through his notepad, scratching at the side of his head with his pencil. "I'll need some time to look all of this over, sweetheart." He said to Backhand, glancing at Piper. "And you need time to recover," he continued in a gently-chiding tone. "You seem half-dead, doll."

  Danse realized with a barely-hidden start that he had begun to refer to the synth as Nick in his mind. What was happening to him? Had he been away from the Brotherhood for so long that he was going soft? Was his moral integrity being compromised?

  Or was he just coming to terms with something that he couldn't bring himself to label yet? 

  Backhand nodded, tugging the paladin out of his reverie. "I really want to sleep." She mumbled. She must have been truly exhausted, because in spite of downing the mug of coffee Piper had procured for her, she was slumped in Danse's arms. 

  Piper patted Vega's knee, giving Danse a stern glare. The paladin wanted to laugh at her attempt to intimidate him. "You get some rest, Blue. Nicky and I will do our best to compile what you've given us." She assured her.

  After the duo from Diamond City had left, Codsworth made a noise like he was clearing his throat. "I'm just so glad you're back, mum." He said, his words weirdly heartfelt for coming from a machine.

  Vega reached out and caught one of Codsworth's arms before the bot could leave, the young woman smiling wearily up at the Mister Handy. "I'm glad to be back, Codsworth." 

  Danse managed to usher her into her bed just as the sun was rising, but she grabbed his hand when he turned to depart. "Wait." Backhand whispered, her eyelids drooping. "Please...please stay? I don't want to be alone, Danse." A lone tear wound its way down her cheek. "Please don't leave me alone." 

  Danse planted himself in the chair beside the bed, laying his laser rifle across his knees. "I'm not going anywhere, Knight Vega." He promised her solemnly, taking a greedy, selfish moment to push the hair back from her face. "Sleep."

Part Twelve

[soup-fish]

Someone was stupid on Instagram so y'all are gonna hear me rant

THIS IS THE FUCKER'S STORY AND I COULDN'T FIND THAT ONE POST THAT SUMS UP WHY THE IDIOT IS WRONG SO I MADE MY OWN RANT

Back when being left handed was socially and physically punished, a very small percentage of people were reported as left handed. Once they stopped getting punished and forced to be right handed, guess what? The percentage of left handed people went up.

Woah! What a concept!

"Before boats, we didn't have all these newfangled landmasses! Obviously the boats are the cause of new continents and islands!" Do you see how dumb that is? The discovery and diagnosis of mental disorders isn't a byproduct of "humanity's vices". They're a progression towards a happier human race. We keep discovering things and discovering HOW TO TREAT AND FIX THESE THINGS. WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST PEOPLE FINDING WAYS TO HELP THEMSELVES BE HAPPIER?

Back in my parent's day, there were so many cases of "oh so and so had a daughter or a son who committed suicide one day out of nowhere!". Because they Didn't diagnose and resources Weren't avaliable. Mental illnesses have always been here, they just weren't treated.

Oh, and as for suicide and mental crisis rates climbing up? That's not actually due to pornography or fast food or Marijuana or whatever. It's due to having access to all the world's information at all times and being able to actively see what's going on in the world. It's not a pretty place for the most part. Our economy is in decline for the majority of the population. Most people can't even be sure of a future where they can own a home or afford to start a family. Maybe you don't get affected because you can live off of your parent's money for the rest of your life, but you have no right to stand on an unearned pedestal and preach about "humanity's flaws in character" or whatever.

You obviously have no fucking clue how mental illnesses even work, thinking that FUCKING SODA affects ADHD or anxiety. Which, by the fucking way, are affected primarily by genetics. Anxiety is induced by a gene that activates due to environmental factors ADHD is caused by a dopamine deficit that is, oh wait, mostly geneticly caused again. I'm not gonna get anxiety if I watch pornhub once. I'm gonna get it if I have a family history of having it prevalent in my bloodline and then undergo stressful or traumatic situations. Your line of logic has the factual structure of a wet saltine.

So yeah. No more bullshit indeed.

[himbowelsh]

What would early mornings / late nights with the guys of BoB consist of? 💫

Richard Winters: He doesn’t make a habit out of staying up late, and doesn’t do it for fun...  but it happens more than he’s proud of. Sometimes, he’s got so much work to do that he just sets down to do it, and gets lost in the monotony. Next thing he knows, it’s past midnight, and he has to wander to bed in an overworked daze, already regretting how he’ll feel the next morning. Dick’s ideal bedtime is around 10pm, and he likes to be up by 7am. He’s very good at waking up early  ---  he doesn’t even need an alarm, he just wakes up early on his own. Dick is the sort of morning person who’s dressed, had breakfast, and already started his daily routine before the rest of the house is even awake.

Lewis Nixon: His late nights are early mornings. Nix is such a night owl that it’s frankly obscene; his bedtime is somewhere around 2am if he’s lucky. It’s not like he wants to be up that late, but it’s extra hours in the day; he’s at his most productive from 6pm - midnight, and anything after that’s just bonus time. No, liquor doesn’t need to be involved, though some of his parties have been known to stretch until dawn. He’s just...  awake. As for mornings, well  ---  most people know better than to need anything from him before noon. His usual wake-up time is around 10am o’clock, which suits him just fine, but apparently the rest of the world likes to start before that. Nix isn’t a fan. Early morning hours are offensive, and he strongly believes people shouldn’t exist before 8am. Good luck getting him out of bed. 

Carwood Lipton: He really enjoys waking up early. Something about the tranquility of early mornings, when the world is just waking up, appeals to him. Lip will always try to be out of bed around dawn, or a little while afterwards. He likes to have his cup of coffee while sitting by the window, watching nature slowly stir awake. (He also kind of enjoys being up before anyone else in the house; as a teen, he and his mother both used to be early risers, and this was a Quiet Time ritual they shared.) As a result, he tends not to stay up late. Lip can rarely be found awake past...  hmm, eleven, and if he is it’s usually because his friends coaxed him out and now he has to keep them out of trouble. He’d much rather be in bed.

Ron Speirs: Ron’s a bit of an insomniac, and an early riser by habit. He’s got some...  weird primal survival instinct that doesn’t let him sleep for long. It wakes him up between each sleep cycle, every hour or two. While he’s careful not to disturb anyone else, sometimes he can’t get back to sleep. He might start his day at 4am, not by choice, but because his brain is just too active. He has the same problem getting to sleep  ---   sometimes he lies awake for hours, just trying to pass out but not able to. Some nights, he goes without sleep altogether, and is able to function fine the next day with the help of some strict caffeine...  but when he finally allows himself to crash, away from prying eyes, he’ll feel worn out and exhausted. Those long stretches without sleep are the only times he’s able to get a full 9-10 hours, uninterrupted, because he’s just so worn out.

Harry Welsh: He... has a sleep schedule. Like a functioning human being. When he’s not out with the boys, Harry goes to bed at a perfectly reasonable time  ---  sure, he prefers to stay up a little, but he’s out like a light by 11pm. When he’s got a reason to stay up, though  ---  dear god, he’s the energizer bunny. Harry can stay awake for frighteningly long periods of time, fueled by nothing but booze and his own stubbornness. His record is 38 hours, after which he passed out for a full day. He’s wild on a night out. Late nights with Harry tend to end in minor injuries and/or felonies. Getting up in the morning is another story. He is not a “rise with the sun” sort of person  ---  the sun can bug off, he isn’t getting out of bed. Requires at least three alarms and two cups of coffee before he's fit for polite company in the mornings. 

Buck Compton: He doesn’t do late nights   ---  even when out with the boys, Buck is one of the first to head home, after a healthy few hours of partying. The latest he’ll stay up to is midnight, and he’ll go on a whole rant about why staying up later is unhealthy...   but it also can’t be healthy to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn, but guess who’s always out there? 5am, and he’s got the blender on, a health-smoothie in his goofy athletic thermos, and he’s going for a run. It’s Saturday, Buck; it’s raining, Buck; you’ve got a broken arm, Buck; nope, he’s gotta go.  (This is both his way of staying healthy and an excuse to wake up in the morning without coffee, because Buck and caffeine have a torrid, obsessive relationship.)

Eugene Roe: There’s really no way to tell how much sleep Gene actually gets. No one knows. His coworkers don’t know, friends don’t know, roommates don’t know...  the only real clue are the dark circles under his eyes, but honestly he might just have those naturally. Gene’s not likely to stay out late partying with the boys, but he will stay up ‘til all hours pouring through medical textbooks; when he finally passes out, facedown on the book, he’s in for six hours of uninterrupted rest. He needs at least six hours, though he can function fine on four; on three, he might maul someone, and on two, he’s a danger to himself and others. This has all been learned through experience. Early Morning Gene is not pleased to be awake, not sure exactly why he’s awake, but is going through the motions anyways. He’s performed tourniquets half-asleep before. He’s driven places with no memory of how he got there. Bottom line, he needs more sleep than he gets.

Bill Guarnere: Bill’s the sort of person who can be up at 6am without a complaint, dragging himself through his morning routine in the fifteen-or-so minutes it takes for him to wake up. He showers, he has his coffee, he grabs something to eat on the way out the door  ---  he’s fine. Little does anyone know, he was out partying until 2am last night, and passed out as soon as he got home. Bill’s got the constitution of a terminator. Yeah, he enjoys sleep, but does he really need it? When not with his buddies, he’ll go to bed at a very reasonable hour, and wake up early by choice; but Bill Guarnere never likes to do anything the boring way.

Babe Heffron: Babe has the bad habit of staying up late, just...  wasting his time. He’s not even out partying or anything, but he gets caught up reading something super interesting, playing video games, or falling down wikipedia rabbit holes. Next thing he knows, it’s 3am, he’s got to be at work at 9, and he’s regretting....  hmm, just about every life choice up to this point. He’s not actually bad at waking up early, just very stubborn about it. He doesn’t want to leave bed. He’ll roll out and just stumble around like a zombie for a few minutes, hair a mess of bedhead, mindlessly going through his morning routine. (He’s walked into walls before; he tumbled down the stairs once, and just lay there at the bottom because he didn’t have the energy to get up. Bill genuinely thought he was dead.) Until someone puts a cup of coffee or three in front of him, he can’t seriously be called “awake”.

Joe Toye: He’s awake, but he ain’t happy about it.  Joe is neither a morning person nor a night person. He exists in some weird grey area where he can function reasonably well at either time, but midday is really his peak of productivity. It’s all downhill once you pass 10pm. Unless he’s got energetic buddies to keep him awake  (Luz has a talent for never letting him get any sleep), all Joe really wants to do it go to bed. Sometimes he’ll stay up late on his own, just drinking and thinking  ---  those are not fun late nights  ---  but most of the time, big boy needs his beauty sleep. He’s very strict about his own wake-up time, because he personally hates sleeping in. He’s an early riser by choice. Give him a cup of coffee, let him get his morning workout in, and he’s fine.

George Luz: One of those people who gets weird anytime after 2am. Like, fun, but weird  ---  he gets really wired and giddy, like he’s tapped into some emergency store of energy and is now just buzzing with it. Luz will do anything in the middle of the night. Let’s go to the McDonalds drive thru! Let’s wander around the 24-hour grocery store! Let’s see if we can find bigfoot in the woods! He never stays up late unless he’s with other guys, and other guys fuel him. If George is up too late, trouble is guaranteed to follow. By contrast, he’s very much not a morning person  ---  he’ll be dragged out of bed bitching and groaning, shaking himself awake every few minutes while reminding himself why the hell he’s up at this hour anyways. Again, he’s better at waking up when there’s another person around. Left to his own devices, he might just pass out at the kitchen table, cup of coffee cooling in front of him.

Joseph Liebgott: Honestly, he doesn’t need that much sleep. Lieb can operate on a solid four hours a night without faltering  ---   he tends to stay up late and wake up early, which really isn’t healthy, but works for him.  On late nights, sometimes his mind is too active, and he just has to get out. He used to have a habit of nighttime walks; when that nearly got him mugged one time too many, he started driving around instead. If he’s not home at 2am, chances are he’s out driving with no particular destination in mind. Early mornings, he usually needs to be at work, because he’s a busy man  ---   but he always finds time to prepare a quick breakfast and brew some really good coffee before leaving.

David Webster: Sleep schedule is shot to hell and back. Does he have one? Who even knows? He’s not a morning person, that’s for sure  ---  when the sun filtering through his window wakes him up, he’ll curse like it can hear him, and stay in bed as long as his conscience allows. If he wants to be on his boat, however, Web will be out of the house before dawn...  or, if he’s got something he’s really itching to write, he can occasionally be found at 6am, wired on four cups of coffee, typing away. Hopefully he woke up that early. There have been nights where he hasn’t slept at all, off on midnight writing benders that stretch until dawn. When Web’s writing, he loses track of time. He can often be found at 4am, slumped over his desk, face smushed against his arm and drool running onto his papers, an exhausted mess who needs to be pulled away from work and led to bed.

Donald Malarkey: He’s all about the late nights. Don has no problem staying out with his friends ‘til all hours; he’s convinced he’s a better gambler after midnight  (no, he’s not)  and everything just seems so much more fun in the early morning hours! He tends to get really giddy and trigger-happy past 2am, and will do any dumb stunt anybody suggests to him. Once he woke up on his neighbor’s roof, just because a friend bet he couldn’t climb up there; he could, but passed out before he could figure out a way down. As for early mornings...  he doesn’t trust them. He dislikes them strongly. Whether he was up late the night before or not, his body does not want to wake up before 9am. He’ll hug his pillow and burrow in the covers like a groundhog, giving anybody who tries to wake him a hell of a time.

Skip Muck: He tries to stay up late, but honestly, Skip’s just not made for it. Anything after 1am, and he’s crashing hard. He’ll fall asleep sitting up, cheek smushed against his hand; when someone pokes him, he’ll startle back awake and get a second wind, but leave him alone for a minute and he’s crashing again. The only thing that keeps him up is moving. When Skip finally gets to bed on a late night, he’ll crash. 100% guaranteed to sleep in the next morning, straight through any alarms. He’s a lot better at early mornings, only because all his extracurriculars in high school trained him to get up early. If he can help it, he’d rather not, but if he has to...  it’s the same tactic. Just keep moving, and he won’t fall asleep.

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Happy Birthday @missnnobodius!

Happy Birthday @missnnobodius aka Georgia aka the Warrior Princess aka Art Queen of my heart! Just like your drawings, you get better and better every year. It's been a wild ride and your este rants and headcanons always brighten my day as well as your artwork which simultaneously hurts me and melts my heart. Your reverse AU is genius and I can't wait to see whatever else comes from you. Like new story perhaps 😁😁 Anyway, I'm so blessed to have gotten to meet you and fangirl and speculate on esteparents and quote musicals with you, and I only hope that this upcoming year is filled with sucess, prosperity and happiness as you deserve.

So something that I don't think I've done before, but I humbly hope you will enjoy. Estenaomi ship meme hcs!

Who steals the other’s food? Esteban does because he sometimes has an insatiable sweet tooth. Naomi usually lets him because it allows her ample reason to retaliate by stealing his food too.

Who shamelessly cheats at games? Neither. They take it much too seriously to cheat. Though occasionally Naomi screws with Esteban if she thinks he needs to be taken down a peg.

Who accidentally pulls the door instead of pushing? Esteban, like the flustered dork he is when he gets distracted by Naomi.

Who starts the tickle fights? Naomi mainly because she adores the unmanly giggle which she finds adorable despite his best efforts not to.

Who starts the pillow fights? Esteban does. In the rare reversal when Naomi is in mega-workaholic work mode and needs to be distracted for the sake of her sanity.

Who comes up with cheesy pick up lines? Esteban does. He has the Flores family pun gene after all. His are usually more sea-related for his favorite sea captain. Naomi can’t help but find it endearing.

Who plays with the other’s hair? Naomi does.Especially with his floppy upswoop before it returns to normal.

Who arranges the bookshelf in alphabetical order? Esteban does. Everything has its proper place. Naomi eventually picks up his habit.

Who licks the spoon when they are baking? Esteban, again, he has the sweet tooth.

Who massages the other? They take turns. Like if Naomi has a particularly hard knot in her back, which Esteban obliges because he is a gentleman and softie who always jumps on the chance to make her feel better. She usually falls asleep after his massages. Naomi does the same though hers is a bit less skilled and Esteban often forgoes continuing it to more amorous activities.

Who buys candles for dinner even if there isn’t a special occasion? Esteban does because everything in their relationship is like a milestone to him.

Who is the most affectionate? Both in their own way. Naomi is mre like high fives and nose boops and pulling him onto the dance floor. More enthusiastic, can come across as platonic. But it is special between them. Just like how their banter doesn't really contain vitriol. Esteban is more traditional with hand holding and cuddling since he missed physical affection so much.

Who is most likely to carry the other? Esteban carries Naomi usually bridal style even though she can do things herself thank you very much. But she likes the attention.

Favorite physical feature of their partner? Naomi loves Esteban’s eyes. She loves how expressive he is. His fierceness, his strength, his softness, his playful eye roll etc. They’re all there. And the special tender look he has just for her. She melts. Esteban likes Naomi’s arms. Like her they are strong, safe, protecting, can handle anything. Not to mention her hands are good at massages. 

Who initiates kisses? Naomi.

Who kisses harder? Naomi, she really puts a lot of pent up emotion into her kiss, it takes Esteban's breath away.

Who worries the most? Esteban worries about things like his own guilt that he is not good enough, that he doesn't deserve it etc. As confident as he is, he fears he will sabotage it somehow.

Who reaches for the other’s hand first? Esteban  

Who starts food fights? Naomi. Sometimes the urge to throw food at Esteban when he is being arrogant and condescending is too much.  

Who wakes up first? Naomi does since she is used to waking up early to start loading up the docks.

Who wants to stay in bed? Esteban. He needs his beauty sleep. And his siesta sleep.  

Who gets the other to dance? Both do. Esteban loves having her in his arms as they waltz in the ballroom. And Naomi also likes to dip him to the ground which never fails to awe him. 

Who cooks more? Naomi. She's used to sharing cooking duties with her parents while at sea. While Esteban is sort of used to waking up and the food is prepared. Who whispers inappropriate things at inappropriate times? Esteban. The flores genes strike again. Once he feels more comfortable in their relationship and that he is not going to lose her love for whatever reason, he relishes the chance to make Naomi blush with either a thinly-veiled innuendo or an intense wicked gaze from across the room. 

Big spoon/little spoon? Naomi is the big and Esteban is the little because of the aforementioned missing physical affection. But the switch whenever Naomi needs the cuddles.