#even if the bird app sorts itself out

[thirstykateyes]

I'll have to come up with an art tag so I can organize my stuff and reblog people more often! Because I don't do that enough asfgh

I do love Tumblr though and should really figure it out! (And I'll have to figure out a way to post sus stuff here without getting shadow banned or something ppftt)

[bekolxeram]

I'm not on bird app, and TikTok is geoblocked here, so I don't usually get too deep into fandom drama, nor am I interested in it. Unfortunately, it seems like the drama is spilling over here, and it has me questioning my reading comprehension for the past few days honestly. So here goes nothing, if you don't want to read about fandom discourse (which I recommend, for your own mental health), feel free to ignore this post. I just feel like I'm going insane so I need to get it off my chest.

From what I've read here, someone on bird app demanded Lou to explain some racist/misogynist memes he posted on insta over a decade ago, which were still on his page until very recently. Lou replied with this screenshot:

(Username crossed out to protect their identity.)

I've heard rumors of a certain subsection of the fandom impersonating bucktommy fans in order to stir up controversies. Again, I'm not on those sites, I can't confirm that, but I do admit the timeline is a bit suspicious. I get why some of you immediately rush to defend Lou and theorize that he was hacked, but I feel like it's such a cop out. Too many problematic figures get off scot-free just by claiming they were hacked. I'll hold out my judgement on that until more verified information comes out.

So for consistency's sake, I'm going to play devil's advocate, let's assume it really was Lou who tweeted that. I still don't see how it makes him an ableist?

First, it wasn't him who made this comment, the owner of that instagram account did. It wasn't even someone else's tweet or meme that he reposted, or did he signify his agreement to this statement. It was literally someone else's insta bio, a line that somebody else used to represent themself.

Second, look at the insta account itself. It's a K-pop stan account with 0 post and only 1 follower. It follows 19 celebrity pages, so it's safe to say someone made this account especially to snoop on celebrity news. How did Lou even find out the existence of such an account? That user must've initiated some kind of contact with Lou first, either through DMs or comments. Lou's an actor on a hit TV show, I'm sure he gets random comments from strangers every day. For a random stan account to stand out, they must've made an impression, probably not a good one either.

Third, it was posted as a direct response to someone demanding explanation for Lou's past problematic insta content. Why would he make an unrelated ableist joke about bullying blind kids in response to that? It's clearly a sort of gotcha attempt at pointing out the hypocrisy of the people pestering him online lately. They accuse Lou of being a bigot and try to get him fired, but at the same time they make jokes like this, so they're not in a place to judge him. Which is..... a shit retort. Lou's social media history WAS problematic, people have to right to question him on that. Him hitting back is whataboutism, but it doesn't make it less true, those people ARE bullies.

As I've said before, you don't have to be okay with Lou's past. I personally don't care, as I don't know him as a person, I also don't know who he was 10 years ago and what kind of environment he was in. As long as he's not actively using his platform to promote harmful views or using his fame to exploit people, I'm as okay with him as his co-workers are.

You do you, you can dislike him, outright hate him even, but you have to ignore all context and twist words around in order to paint him as an ableist asshole with this and this only.

[gerbiloftriumph]

Floating Castle Liveblog (second read)

Turns out I just can't stay away from this book, or stop myself from doing live updates on Goodreads, probably to the irritation of my followers there and to the chagrin of the website itself, which is now overwriting old updates with newer ones, thus, my need to post them all here. For posterity.

And because I love Telgrin just that much.

March 17, 2019 –

page 0

I feel a sad reading funk coming on and the only way I can think to save it is with my boi, the greatest sassy villain ever, Telgrin. Awww yiss (I don't feel the mood for Princess Bride for once, so next step down it is). Feel free to follow along as I keysmash glee about this doofy lame villain and his impractical floating castle (usingthekqreddit's.pdfshackcoughahhhhkkk you didn't hear that from me.)

page 3

It just cracks me up to see a literal castle sailing by in the storm. Alex can pretend all he likes that it’s just a cloud formation—it’s still dang wacky and impractical.

page 8

Graham: Did you see anything weird out there? Alexander: Well, I mean. A literal floating castle, probably? Graham: Yes, that sounds sensible. Carry on. I’m grinning like a fool and I’m not even ten pages in. This book is my flavor of perfect delight, glossy purple prose and all.

page 11

The fact that Telgrin's castle is in a perpetual thundercloud? He's the sort of dude who would, in a modern au, just listen to the rainymood app constantly. I feel it deeeeeeep in my soul. The anticipation of the plot points has me positively grinning and I keep telling myself, "No, slow down and enjoy. The kelpie and troll and frog and tree wizard and all aren't going anywhere. It's okay."

page 14

I want to scoop Graham up in a big hug. He seems like a great person, such a strong king. Showing nothing but peace and respect to everyone, regardless of social status, who comes in talking about that Spooky Castle, and he's completely chill *until* he's alone with Alexander and can finally drop that mask and honestly show his fear. Even if you're unfamiliar with the source material, this is good character detail.

page 17

"A strange castle has intruded upon the peace of Daventry. I think it fair to assume that only a powerful magic could have transported it here." No, Graham, flying castles are perfectly normal things. Like birds. (here comes telgrin the sassmaster i'm so exciiiitedddd)

page 18

"While Graham occupied the throne, what misfortune could long hold sway over Daventry? What evil could prevail?" cough foreshadowing cough cough hack wheeze

page 19

I still believe with my whole heart that this bearded and blustery and large Sir Brian is a reference to Brian Blessed and I don't care what anyone else thinks.

page 21

Heeeeeeere's Telgrin! Struttin' in, debris from the door all in a cloud, swinging that stupid crystal staff in step with his walk, and freaking "pleased by the dumbfounded reaction his appearance had caused." My melodramatic diva. Let's do thiiiiis.

page 22

Graham, furious, demands to know why Telgrin's here. Telgrin flings back his head and cackles: "'Who am I? Why, I am your new neighbor! Have you not seen my castle there in the distance?' The man paused. He seemed to expect Graham to say something then, but the king simply stared at him. This seemed to unnerve the stranger somewhat" because how do you banter in silence? You can't be the sassmaster if no one plays! :3

page 23

Telgrin wouldn't come to the castle to announce himself as Ye Olde Villain until Graham had summoned a full contingent of knights. Telgrin, Sassmaster and Diva, requires a proper audience before strutting around. <3

page 23

"Do you seriously believe that simply declaring yourself king will make you king in truth?" "*Believe* it? I know it. It is a fact. Who can dispute it?" Graham rose slowly from his throne, straightened to his full height. Unblinking, his gaze was fixed upon Telgrin. "*I* can." "You dare defy me?" "I do." A twisted smile tugged briefly at the corners of Telgrin's mouth. "Good. I was rather hoping you would." Sassy.

page 25

Telgrin is so blissed out on his own sassy triumph that we could SO EASILY dropkick him and snap that stupid crystal staff in half and we'd win and the book would be over in a mere 30 pages. I swear, he's not watching his back at all. Alexander, take him out at the knees! ...or, don't. That's fine. We contracted a full novel from Sierra. I get it.

page 32

I want a Valanice book. I want this series to be a quartet instead of a trilogy. I want this so deep in my soul.

page 32

TREE WIZARD. I can't stop grinning; I love tree wizard. He's trying to nod and shrug and he doesn't have shoulders so he can't, because he's a TREE.

page 40

"Telgrin is a stealer of souls." "A stealer of souls? What's that?" Alexander, the name is on the tin. It isn't hard to figure out.

page 41

I know I should stop updating every few pages. I'm spoiling things and probably being annoying but it's been a long weekend and this is Exactly my flavor of comedy: tree wizard is offering Cyril to Alex, since he "'does all those things that I can no longer do for myself. And he is very good at keeping the woodpeckers away.' This did not sound like the sort of help that Alexander was looking for." Be polite, Alex. :3

page 45

Of all the things I remember from reading this book a year ago, Tree Wizard and his Tea is one of my top favorite mental images. Doesn't matter that we're slowly turning into a tree. Tea time is very important and we will Not miss it. There's even fanart of Tree Wizard and his tea on Tumblr, that's how important it is.

page 45

Alexander (paraphrased): "Sooo...do you know how to stop being a tree?" Morowyn: "Oh, yeah, totes figured that out. Could do it whenever I wanted. Kinda has a drawback, though." Alexander: "Yeah? What's that?" Morowyn: "I would immediately die." Alexander: "......yep, that's a drawback."

March 19, 2019

page 57

“Do you know where to look for a soul? Have you ever seen one?” One would assume it’s glowy and vaguely Graham-shaped.

page 64

I can not believe I forgot about this Literal Ringwraith character. It’s...just a Ringwraith. Pure and simple and obvious.

page 74

I did remember the Literal Lembas Bread, though. Fantasy tropes! *jazz hands*

page 78

One of the classic fantasy tropes is doing a long walk from point a to point b. I’ve got to give Mills credit: I don’t think I’ve read any other book that fills its protagonists up with magic bread that induces energetic power-walking before.

page 80

I remember being annoyed by this conversation the first time, but that was before I realized I held a Masterpiece of High Literature in my hands: “Good apple,” Cyril said. “Very good.” “Sweet.” “Mmm.”

page 87

“A rope, some apples,” Cyril said, frowning. “I still don’t see what you’re planning.” It’s called A Sierra Solution, Cyril, and they only make sense half the time, because this game series is haaaaard.

page 90

Kelpie rodeo. In what sensible fantasy novel would this be allowed? None, man. I love this book. [gerbil note: this scene also has fanart, because this book is amazing]

March 19, 2019

page 97

Alexander: Ho there! Sir Ogre! Ogre: /what did you call me/?! At least, that’s how it should go.

[gerbil note again: i did totally steal this very lame joke for captive crown later on and i'm not even sorry about it]

page 100

I didn’t quite realize how dorky this was the first time, but now I’m paying attention I’ve realized: Telgrin has exactly One lone storm cloud that occasionally spits out a lightning bolt, just hovering over the tower. In my head, this looks like a Winnie the Pooh cloud. Is that all the magic he could summon? One tiny cloud? Lame, and yet So On Brand for my sassmaster.

page 107

We've now entered the Road to El Dorado sequence of the book and I'm perfectly content. Barrel scene eheheheheeeee

page 112

Once again, the book stresses, it is but *one* cloud. One very black and lightning filled cloud, but a single cloud, nevertheless, providing all the ambient noise and mood. I find this bizarrely hilarious. It feels like Telgrin's equivalent of keeping his phone on low battery mode so he can keep using the Rainymood app.

page 120

The sassmaster's lair is just the most Extra thing. It's like he read a book on what villains are supposed to do, so he did it. He's got it all: high ceilings that vanish to dark, ludicrous amounts of moldering velvet curtains, "hideously ornate" braziers, and a perfectly silly black throne. Telgrin, pleaaase this is so unnecessary and not remotely sensible. You've copied someone else's homework, and badly. ilu.

page 121

And Alexander refuses to play the game. Telgrin has all these expectations on how this conversation is meant to go, he's basically reciting a script, and Alexander's just like, "Uhhhh....what?" So Telgrin moves on to Cyril, like Cyril will play along properly. I just can't. I love Telgrin to unfeasible levels of nonsense.

page 122

(Incidentally, I'm still kinda salty that Graham's soul isn't in the throne room, wedged in Telgrin's overly-flashy staff. It just feels more right than where he *actually* is.)

page 123

"You are an evil man." "So it has been said." Telgrin shrugged. "Personally I've always found that such abstractions do not apply well to life in the real world. They make matters that are by their very nature complex seem rather too simple, don't you think?" "Evil," Alexander repeated. Telgrin sighed. "I can see that you're really not up to a probing and dispassionate philosophical discussion" Modern AU: he's a Bro

page 125

I'm fairly certain this reference to Alexander having a hard time with stairs is a reference to the older KQ games in which if you misstep, you're going down, and if you're more than a few feet up, you're a dead man and you've got to reload a save. :)

March 21, 2019

page 129

Out of curiosity, I googled a Barikar to see if this was a real fantasy creature, but the only actual result is from the King's Quest Fanwiki to tell me that, yes, Telgrin owns a Barikar. ....nice, I guess.

page 130

By all technical and decent writing standards, this book is probably awful. Er. I mean, awfully great. High literature, deffo. But it *feels* like a King's Quest game. Every new place is described with just enough detail that you can so easily picture it in those stark, retro early gaming colors, or that pixel painting KQ5 style. I super love it.

page 131

The King's Quest fanwiki tells me that Telgrin owns the only Barikar in all of the entire canon of all fantasy, but it doesn't tell me if Telgrin *loves* his Barikar. I hope he does, because no one else possibly could. What a hideous beastie.

page 134

You boys should be ashamed of yourselves, disposing of a barikar. There was only one in ALL of fantasy EVER and now there's none.

page 139

I hate how funny I think it is that Alexander isn't even pulled together enough to answer his own mental questions. "Yes" is not always the correct answer, sir.

page 143

sassmaster diva telgrin's tragic childhood backstory-----OH WAIT NO IT'S NOT TRAGIC HE'S JUST ALWAYS BEEN A PUNK. I love him.

March 27, 2019

page 143

I wonder what Telgrin’s first thought was when he, A Pathetic Scullery Boy (tm) chopped Owen’s head off, presumably with a Vaguely Magical movement because clean-one-chop head removal is hard even with the help of gravity, man, and Owen’s head just started swearing at him from the floor. Like. That’s a dang weird mental image.

page 144

He holds his own head under his arm like it’s a football and it cracks me up. It’s meant to be serious and scary, probably, but I just love this headless ghost.

page 146

The most over the top baby monitor ever created

page 152

In fairness, this part is one of the most like the game-version would probably be, and it works the least because Alexander is working from information we don’t have. As a gamer we would have heard all Owen’s instructions and had to replicate them perfectly to avoid nasty game overs. As a reader it would have been repetitive for Owen to tell us, then watch Alex act, but there’s a disconnect now.

page 156

“After allowing himself to wallow in depression for a short while”—like, twenty seconds, if that.

page 180

Sinofas (paraphrased): Sooooo.....about that magic flying leap out of the tallest tower. What was that about? Alexander: We had a pressing need to leave the castle. Sinofas: Ever heard of a *door,* sirrah? (do note that I haven't stopped smiling for like twenty pages; this book's greaaat)

page 181

Alexander, paraphrased: So....you're not...friends with Telgrin, are you? Sinofas: He put his Giant Castle in my front yard and won't move it. What do you think??

page 183

I can't believe Mills feels he has to point out that Alexander makes for one Handsome Frog. A "rather large and handsome frog," indeed. Ffff.

page 183

And, I quote, "Did you speak, Sir Frog?" "That's Prince Frog, to you." Alexander, *please* reign in some of your sass. It's not helping matters.

page 198

I feel like the further this book goes, the stronger Alexander's sass gets. It'll never be Telgrin levels of sass because that man is the Sassmaster Diva, but it's dang good.

page 212

Sassmaster Telgrin *still* can't get anyone to dialogue properly with him. Graham's just as obstinate as Alexander and is really good at One Syllable Responses. My gorgeous royal family.

page 223

"At that moment, her second head . . . appeared to wake. It opened its eyes, blinked, and said, "Hmph. What's happening? Where am I?" "It's all right, dear," the first head said. "Go back to sleep. I'm just going to kill this man here." "Oh, that's all right then." I adore this book in ways I cannot express.

page 225

I'm so glad magic in this world, with this staff, works by wishing. So, basically, Telgrin must have said, "I wish King Graham's soul was mine" and so it was, and "I wish I had a fireball to kill Alexander," and bam. It's like he's making little birthday cake wishes, but Horrible Magic happens instead and it's kinda hilariously great. :3

page 230

Telgrin, through a magical hologram because this book is great: "Oi! There you are!" Alexander, exhausted and annoyed: "Whaddya want, Telgrin?" "What do you think? You've stolen my staff. I want it back." "That's too bad. I'm fairly sure that I don't want to give it to you." Now is not the time to start having a holographic fight. Pull back that sass, kiddos.

April 2, 2019

page 231

"The fact that this book is about the same size and heft as my Nintendo Switch tablet with like a pt 14 font, and the fact that it's still taken me into week three to read it, means I'm nice and deep in this reading slump. This should be a six hour read at *maximum*. Telgrin, take me away.

page 236

Alexander, you can't just order princesses to do what you want with magic. that's so rude.

page 237

To be 100% clear, Alexander, Telgrin learned literally everything he knows from Owen, and we can see how Telgrin turned out. One miiiight assume that Owen himself is not the most Noble of nobility.

page 240

"Alexander looked long upon the poor, filthy, shabby, beheaded, half-crazed man" -- I dunno, Alex, I might have led with the Beheaded part. Just sayin', seems the most important part.

page 248

"Alexander thought that it would be inappropriate to express regrets for the incident, since those regrets would not be deeply felt." Alexander, be polite. Don't start snarking with the villain, now.

page 250

"Lydia, Lydia, don't you understand? A man wants to idealize the woman he is to wed. This becomes extremely difficult *when she keeps bloody carping at him.*" Telgrin's breakdown from Eloquent Bro is the best thing ever.

page 260

Since the fight is taking place off screen, it reads most hilariously, with each combatant yelling, "Oh, yeah, that was okay, but what about THIS" followed by just basically a stream of sound effects. It's like reading an anime battle where they would normally shout out their attack names and I'm so into it.

page 266

Can I also add that I find it Entirely Hysterical that this HUGE FLOATING CASTLE is literally pinned into place? With like, a big bobby pin driven into the ground? And that's *it*? This is so impractical on so many levels, Telgrin.

April 3, 2019

page 267

Alexander actually expected Telgrin to win that fight, hah. Good confidence for the Good Team, I guess (Owen's placement on the Good Team being...sketchy, at best, of course).

page 273

See, Graham, Cyril remembers HIS adventuring rope when he goes off on missions. Take notes; it'll help you out in your 2015 voyage.

page 278

Cyril, you stud muffin.

page 283

"How did you find this?" "I got lost." Bab.

April 16, 2019

page 289

Graham Dying bedscenes are like, a favorite staple of this series, innit? And then KQ9 just had to go and take it allllll the way. Hhhh.

page 292

Come on, come on, someone say "a heart is a heavy burden" at Graham. Make this book perfectly complete. No? Okay, fine.

page 293

"I have much to be thankful for. I have escaped the torments that Telgrin thought to inflict on my spirit. I am in my own body again, in my own home, safe and surrounded by family and friends. But what makes me most grateful is that I am able to look upon your face once again, my dear one. For that is everything." Valanice laughed softly, and said, "Rest. You are delirious, I think." My FAVORITE royal couple hhhhhhh.

April 16, 2019 – Finished Reading

Five stars out of five stars. Again.

[laughableillusions]

Self Medication

Yippee another fic!!! Tbh this started out as pure self indulgence in my notes app bc I had migraines for 2 weeks straight waaayyy back in November. But it turned into a sort of sweet little moment between Nick and Jareth and I decided to kind of finish it. (I do not have constant migraines anymore…at least for now). But I hope you enjoy!

[NOT PROOFREAD]

Nick massaged his temples, grunting as his forehead throbbed against his eyes. It was as if his skull was being shrunk around his brain, crushing his delicate muscle ever so slowly yet ever so painfully. The pressure of it has trickled down away from his head even- creeping down his jaw and tickling his cheekbones. Either his head would explode outwards like a balloon- or he would just collapse and die right then.

But either way, it wasn’t coming anytime soon.

And so Nick was forced to simply bear it in all its horrid glory. That and maybe get as drunk as he could. Thank God Amber had left to sleepover at a friend’s house- and thank god he was alone. He didn’t have to cook, didn’t have to hear the thumping of Amber’s footsteps across the house. Just lay in bed with a bottle of-

Nick glanced at the label.

Absinthe, and try not to vomit.

The curtains had all been drawn and the lights shut off- giving the sanctuary of night without the outside dedication. And as he lay there in his strange pained and drunken stupor- something tapped on the windowpane.

3 polite knocks against the glass, gentle as could be. But still enough to rattle like gunshots within Nick’s swollen brain.

He groaned- mostly out of pain- as he stood. Stumbling his way over toward the curtain and pulling it open just a tad enough to see this visitor.

The inquisitive yet regal face of a barn owl stared back at him. A strange sight to see a barn owl out and about in broad daylight. But to Nick he just squinted at it, annoyed.

“Damn.” He sighed.

The bird seemed to hear him, feathers ruffling as it then tapped on the glass pane again. Seemingly insistent.

“King of the goblins and you can’t even open a window.”

The comment was a mutter but the owl’s eyes narrowed, its head tilting as if it was glaring.

Nick scoffed a bit, leaning down to now unlock the window.

“Yeah yeah, you big diva.” He smiled a bit as his own joke.

He cringed in pain as he slid the window pane up, not even waiting for the owl to move before stepping away and laying back on his bed again.

The owl meanwhile took its time entering the room, seeming to get a look around before puffing up a bit and flapping its way onto Nick’s bed. It squeaked curiously, head bobbing forward as it trotted forward along his bed- like some strange dinosaur peering at its prey. Nick reached his hand out, not lifting his throbbing head from the pillow as he began to pet the bird. The owl squeaked again, its little head pressing against his palm in the way a cat searches for affection.

“Come here.” Nick muttered, taking his hand away and scooting to the side to give the owl a space.

The owl however, didn’t move, just straightened itself and stared at him. There was a feeling of mischief at how it puffed itself up, however badly hidden by the way it began to preen its wing. Like it understood nothing.

Nick sighed, having neither the patience or strength to understand what it wanted- or what game it was playing. He was drunk and in pain, at least it could give him the mercy to wither away in peace. And in some ways, he was a bit embarrassed as well for the rejection.

“Don’t you have rats to swallow somewhere you fuckin…” He trailed off, rolling over away from the bird to try and somehow get more comfortable.

He felt the leather of a gloved hand gently guide his face back. A very familiar fae king now replacing the modest white and brown owl before. Not bright but somehow dazzling enough to make Nick’s head radiate pain.

“Why swallow rats when songbirds taste so much sweeter.” Jareth purred. Petting Nick’s cheek.

Nick would’ve blushed but his head was pounding too much to really take notice. It was like if someone had opened a window suddenly, or turned in a lamp. Not a big change but horribly noticeable when one’s head feel’s like a shaken soda can.

His hand felt nice, even if it was gloved; the leather was a a bit cold and soothed a bit of pressure. It softened his attitude if only a bit, but not enough.

“What is it?” He grumbled.

Jareth leaned back a little, taking his hand away as his flawless brow furrowed.

“My my, you have been enjoying yourself.” He then looked to the end table, picking up the bottle of Absinthe.

He sniffed it, wrinkling his nose.

“A bit too much I would think.” He then swirled the bottle, the remaining liquid going from green to clear.

Nick began to sit up in protest, but both his swirling mind and Jareth stopped him- and he sort of slumped back down to the pillow with one small push from Jareth’s finger.

“What did you do?” He still demanded, his voice slurred just a bit.

Jareth set the bottle back down, resting his cheek on his palm as he leaned over him.

“Restored it.”

“It was fine the way it was!” Nick protested.

Jareth sighed a little in loving annoyance.

“My dearest little warbler, you are incredibly inebriated off my best liquor, liquor I gave to you thinking that it would be only be used for the specialest of occasions.”

There were a lot of big words there, words Nick was too intoxicated to process quite right. Something about liquor, and something about a warbler?

“What’s that got to do with anything?” He then asked sharply.

Jareth leaned close, Nick turning away from the sheer gleam.

“Because, such a wine can be dangerous to those who aren’t used to it. Drinking it in a less than hedonistic setting, it may just slip the line between a drink and death.”

Nick swallowed dry, going pale as he suddenly felt quite unwell.

“What d’ya mean?” The question was urgent and twinged with rage.

Jareth’s head tilted to the side, smiling with teeth that were too shiny and a bit too sharp. Like this was simply just amusing him. Nick glanced at him, squirming under his mismatched eyes as his mind frittered with the question. There was something about this, something about accepting gifts from the fae- well you weren’t supposed to- but he had already done more than just broken that rule.

God he couldn’t think.

Shit, did he poison him?

“Did you poison me?”

There wasn’t much punch or accusation in the question, it was asked in the way someone would ask a coworker if they broke a printer.

Jareth just laughed, his arm had somehow slinked around Nick’s shoulders and he pulled him closer. The movement just making him groan in pain of his head being bobbed about.

“Do you still not trust me?” He asked, his voice had that sort of sing-song way that made everything sound like a lie or some kind of strange deal.

“No.” Nick immediately grunted out the answer, albeit with red cheeks.

“Pity…” Jareth hummed, sounding a bit disappointed. “However, due to your misuse of my gift- I shall need to take something as payment.”

Nick immediately scooted away from him, rolling over.

“Not now.”

The goblin king seemed quite unprepared for that, both a bit confused and concerned as he leaned over him, pressing his cheek to his.

“Whatever you believe this to be I assure you it’s not.” He soothed, nuzzling him.

Nick blushed at the sudden contact, Jareth planting a small kiss on his cheek. His lips felt warm, like that of marble basking in sunlight. It trickled across his cheeks, his temples, washing over his pained nerves like that of warm water.

Jareth felt Nick relax beneath him, and he smiled.

“My boon shall be the very thing that ails you.”

Nick turned, flinching just a bit at how close Jareth was. He had such strange eyes…mismatched in such a way that wasn’t entirely natural. Heterochromia was quite the sight, but in him it was incredibly stark. One eye, brown as pyrope- brown as the earth was dark with soil. And the other, a pale and completely otherworldly blue. Both shimmered the same way but felt so entirely different all the while.

Jareth hummed, brushing dark strands away from Nick’s face.

“Show me where the pain is.”

His voice was oh so tender, there was no hidden meaning tucked carefully between his syllables, no ulterior motive, no trickery or half-truths. It was when Jareth spoke like this, in a small voice in the intimate darkness that Nick felt incredibly small compared to him. Like he was standing at the foot of some magnificent ancient power, like a bird nesting in the hand of some grand stone monument. Impossibly unknowable…but a comfort all the same.

How strange his life had become.

Nick pressed his hand to his forehead, head swirling with pain and his comparably puny existence.

Jareth nodded.

“Unfortunately, dearest, as much as I admire your staring. I must ask that you close your eyes.”

Nick blushed redder, looking away even if it sent a pulse of pain against his retinas.

He heard Jareth’s soft chuckle.

“Then again, you have such lovely eyes that perhaps not…” He purred in a way that sounded a bit dangerous.

Nick immediately closed his eyes.

He heard Jareth hum, his unseen smile only adding to his unease. Then the mattress creaked as a weight lifted off, and the sort of…shimmer of air around Jareth dissipated. Then there was a rustling of fabric. Now the small creaking of leather being pulled or resettled.

Nick opened one eye, just a little. Seeing Jareth now sitting on the bed, facing away from him. He seemed to be fiddling with something in his hands, something leather. 2 things that excited the imagination in ways Nick was not ready for at the moment.

“What are you doing?” Nick demanded.

Jareth glanced back at him, an eyebrow raised.

“Out of all the things I took you for, a peeper was not one of them, Nicholas Cardinal.”

Nick felt the absinthe churn in his stomach. There was a way his name was uttered by Jareth that just unnerved him in some way. Like he still had some kind of control over him.

“I still don’t trust you, remember?”

Jareth sighed a bit.

“And yet, you love me, do you not?” He answered. “Besides, I was only removing my gloves.”

He then turned, and Nick saw him tug off the rest of his black leather glove. He placed the pair down on the nightstand, now leaning over him once again. His hands cradled his face, they were astonishingly rough. Like aged stone.

“Now. Close your eyes.”

His voice sounded strange, echoed all around- but almost a whisper.

Nick obeyed, because at this point…how could he not? But he couldn’t help his unease. Jareth rarely took off his gloves, and when he did…it usually meant that something truly bizarre was at foot. Jareth could do such strange things to Nick if he touched him- actually touched him. He could reduce him to nothing but putty, clay, a powerless nothing that he could shape into anything he wished.

“Be not afraid, little cardinal.” Jareth’s voice somehow pierced through the murkiness of his thoughts.

“I wish you no harm.”

Jareth then kissed him on the forehead, pressing his finger to Nick’s temples and massaging, his body somehow fell slack against the pillow. At first he could feel nothing but his hands, then his head began to swirl again.

He gasped, his mind was telling him he was falling. His body was twisting and twisting against the air. Spots of horizon blotted into his vision. Swirling and twisting and turning in the wind.

Jareth voice faded quietly in from the darkness, a gentle hush that seemed to emanate from within Nick himself. His mind stopped tumbling, the steady massaging of his temples grounding him back down.

The pain that has festered behind his eyes began to trickle across his forehead. Split down between his eyes as they were drawn to the vortex, then it too began to swirl right at his temples. It was a nauseating feeling, pain circling around and around.

“Inhale.”

Nick took in a long breath, Jareth’s fingers were cold against his skin as they moved down his cheekbones- taking the pain along the cradle of his sinuses. It tingled slightly, all coming together right at the tip of his nose.

“Exhale.”

The air he breathed out felt hot, hot and heavy. Like Jareth was pulling something out of him. He breathed out and out until he no longer could.

“Very good, my starling.”

Jareth’s voice sounded further away, more real as he gulped in air once again.

Somehow Nick’s head felt…lighter. The pain had of course been pulled out of him, leaving a strange pit where it had lay. Like the fresh hole of a lost tooth.

“You may open your eyes now.”

Nick opened his eyes slowly, expecting pain from what little light there was. But there was nothing…nothing but Jareth’s owlish face staring back down at him.

“How do you feel?”

He began to sit up, his head feeling strangely light and…unburdened. That or it was just the absinthe again.

“What’d you do?” He croaked, rubbing his forehead.

Jareth had leaned away as he sat up, still watching him quite closely as he recovered. But at his question the fae sighed.

“Must I explain everything to you?”

From thin air he plucked a crystal ball, small, but the inside swirling with a dark…something. He then held it out to Nick, who hesitantly took it.

“What’s this for?”

Jareth leaned his head on Nick’s shoulder, hands somehow snaking under his arms.

“Do you see what’s inside it?” He asked, lips brushing against his flesh.

Nick blushed, focusing all his strength onto looking at the crystal. Even as he felt the gloves fingers begin to untuck his undershirt-

“I guess.” He answered starkly.

Jareth hummed.

“I had told you I took what it was that ailed you, songbird.”

His voice rumbled right into Nick’s core, rattling both his skeleton and judgement. God he was too fucking drunk for this…

“You’re an intelligent man.” Jareth’s voice dropped, lips right next to his ear.

“Think on it.”

Nick gasped, shivering under his voice.

“I’m still drunk.” He managed.

“No you’re not.” Jareth cooed, pressing a kiss to his jawbone.

“Simply look at it, my dear.”

Nick swallowed hard, heart pounding as he tried to now understand what he meant. But Jareth’s hands had slipped under his shirt, the leather somehow warm on his skin as they mapped out his every feature.

The Crystal still sat in his hands, the swirling vapor now pulsing angry red as he focused.

“Wait.”

Jareth smiled, the movement of his lips tickling his skin. Nick turned the sphere in his hands, beginning to recognize its patterns. Patterns that he himself had felt pounding against his temples moments ago.

“But how did you…?” Nick marveled, turning his head to where Jareth had nestled himself against him.

The king of the goblins raised his head, soft golden hair brushing against Nick’s cheek as he leaned over his shoulder, watching the swirl of the vapor inside the crystal.

“Have you forgotten what I am, Nicholas?” He asked, teasing him.

“A pain in my ass?” Nick teased back.

Jareth hummed.

“Do I detect a hint of ungratefulness within those words, little cardinal?”

Nick sighed, gently bumping Jareth’s forehead before looking back to the crystal. He leaned against Jareth, feeling his chest press against his back as he inhaled.

“I guess I never believed fae could do things like this.” Nick confessed. “Stealing people is one thing, but…taking away pain? Intoxication?”

“I take as well as give, my star. And whatever wish you have, I shall grant.” Jareth soothed.

Nick felt him begin to kiss along his cheekbone, working his way lower, his lips warm like summer rain, but cold as they left his skin. Nick tilted his head to the side, allowing him free roam of his neck and jaw.

“But at what price?” Nick asked, though his voice was distant.

Jareth only hummed, keeping his secrets as his gloved fingers began to lift up Nick’s shirt.

[blueberry-ovaries]

MISC. TAG GAME:

thank you for the tag @ronald-speirs, @panzershrike-pretz @malarkgirlypop and @grumpy-liebgott !!! sorry it took me so long!

Favorite place in the world you’ve visited?

oooh okay so recently i came back from europe, and i literally loved it so much! i oddly enough LOVED vatican city! and i absolutely adored venice and paris! however, london was also really nice! (i cannot decide i’m so sorry😭)

Something you’re proud of yourself for?

Honestly, going to University! Even when it’s hard and i hate it and have no idea what i’m doing, the fact i made it into university is something i’m very proud of!

Favourite books?

the picture of dorian gray - Oscar Wilde

a good girls guide to murder - Holly Jackson

5 survive - Holly Jackson

the outsiders - S.E Hinton

of mice and men - John Steinbeck

Something that makes your heart happy when you think about it?

my dog :) - his name is cisco and he was free to a good home and under fed, and now he gets treats every time we leave the house and sleeps on the bed

Favourite thing about your culture?

about being Australian? I would suppose our love for sport. We play so many sports over here and we support the aussies even if we don’t like the sport! For example the Matilda’s, our women’s soccer team! Soccer isn’t as big as AFL over here, but i’ve never seen so much support behind Womens soccer, let alone ANY soccer, as we’re very proud of our sporting teams!

When did you join the HBO War fandom? What was the first show you watched?

close to two years ago? i’m not too sure, but i watched BoB first!

Have you read any of Easy Company’s books? If so, which ones were your favorite?

I have not! but i am trying to get my hands on the Dick Winters and Ron Speirs books!

Favorite HBO War character and your favorite moment with them?

Babe Heffron! and the “are you serious?! only the goddamn nuns call me Edward” BUT the scene with Gene in the fox hole where Babe mocks Gene calling him Babe is a very close second

Do you make content for any fandoms, if so; what sort of content?

i have been known to dabble in other fandoms on other apps in fanfic writing 🤭

Favorite actor/actress and your favorite film of theirs?

ANDREW GARFIELD!!! and i am The Amazing spider-man enthusiast!!! (plus hacksaw ridge is a masterpiece)

Favorite quote/s that you wish to share with others?

Some quotes my dad likes to tell me when i’m really anxious over university/ actively having a panic attack are:

“you can only do what you can do” - which pretty much means that all i can do is my best, and the rest will sort itself out, there’s no use stressing over situations i have no control over.

“how do you eat an elephant?” - which basically means, to tackle something large you take it one step at a time, ergo - to eat an elephant you eat it piece by piece

Random fact your mutuals/followers don’t know about you?

Oh God, i’m not a very interesting person 🧍🏼‍♀️

I got swooped by birds in a century once and have hated birds ever since

If you’re a writer, do you need a beta reader (say yes so I can be your beta reader 🤭)?

i do not have a beta reader 🤭 so position is potentially open 🤭

Three things that make you smile?

- sunsets! i LOVE watching sunsets i just think they are so pretty!

- rainy days (only when i’m inside) But i love rainy days, when i can sit by a window to read or do homework etc. I just think there is something so beautiful about rain!

- chocolate chip cookies :) my FAVOURITE cookies! i do not care if they are basic i love them sm

Any nicknames you like?

most of my nicknames :) But especially the nicknames that my parents give me :))

List some people you love to see around on tumblr:

i’m so sorry if i forget anyone @malarkgirlypop @ronald-speirs @ronsparky @mads-nixon @panzershrike-pretz @executethyself35 @next-autopsy @winnielefou @1waveshortofashipwreck @footprintsinthesxnd @caffeinated-fan @dontirrigateme @softliebgott @xxluckystrike @easycompany123 (+ all my mutuals who i have not tagged, love y’all i just have shocking name recollection)

What would you do during a zombie apocalypse?

i mean it would depend on what kinda zombies?? But most likely keeping friends and family alive.

Realistically, dying. i’m not dealing with all that.

Favorite movie?

mulan!!! i LOVE mulan (clearly… i’m literally writing a fic with mulan ideas)

Do you like horror movies?

i got a live hate relationship with them. Like i HATE religious horror with a passion, it freaks me the fuck out, but the conjuring series has great story lines?? However i watched the nun once and i swear to god i almost shit myself whenever k had to leave my room at night?! I was CONVINCED that motherfucker was gonna be in my house.

NO PRESSURE TAGS: @mads-nixon @easycompany123 @executethyself35 @montied @ronsparky @dontirrigateme (plus everyone else who would like to do this! consider this an offical tag!)

[greyias]

The cursed bird app meltdown continues apace. For those not in the know, if I'm understanding this hour's drama correctly, the muskrat has apparently told his personal lawyer, who somehow is heading the entire company's legal department now(????) that he's "not afraid of the FTC". Further context, all of the people legally responsible for them complying with the FTC agreement resigned overnight. They're apparently in some sort of violation of it right now? I think?

I'm going to ugly laugh if he gets fined not just millions but in the billions at this rate (and maybe even dragged in front of Congress, which apparently is now being murmured in some congressional twitter circles.)

There's a slack channel/conversation by the non-Musk owned legal team (ie: the actual employees on the legal team before this meltdown started) posting reminders to all employees that if they're asked to do anything illegal to call Twitter's internal ethics hotline. Oh, and also the FTC whistleblower hotline. And reminded them about whistleblower protection laws. Totally normal business things.

Yesterday they rolled out a new kind of checkmark so you could tell the difference between actually verified users and people who paid $8 for their checkmark. It was gray. Within like the span of two hours they retracted it. By the evening the $8 bought and paid for "blue check marks" were live. And you've likely seen screenshots of the absolute chaos that is reigning because of that. Including someone impersonating Twitter itself so they can scam the cryptobros out of more of their foolishly parted money. Which yeah, that's pretty on brand at this point. (Although the verified pope argument thread was pretty hilarious while it lasted.)

Meanwhile, I'm miserably considering adding another sideblog to post pictures of Griffin and tea, and maybe my minute-by-minute reactions to the Twitterplosion, because posting normally over there just feels ickier and ickier by the minute. @pirateyeti suggested I call it "Tea Time with Greyias and Griffin", which does have a ring to it.

(Yes, I could post my inane minute-by-minute thoughts here. But then like. I'd have to tag it so you could scroll by the nonsense. And I can't remember to tag things half the time.)

[thenightlymirror]

I have finally silenced the notes on the bird math post, for a funny reason, so that I would have a normal dopamine feedback response with this app.

Sick shit.

Sofia, I forget if I used some other name before, thinks it’s weird I go to Quaker-church, which I always refer to as Quaker-church so that people know the difference. She made a funny face. It’s one of two funny faces of hers I’ve collected recently.

The other was when the president of the granite company stopped by, and never meeting him before, I jumped out of my chair and hugged him. Bipolar’s gonna happen, one way or the other. I was very excited to meet him, because there are two guys at that company named John, and I had no idea who the hell was who. Those people never introduce themselves. And then people go, Oh, John was here, did you see him? No. No I didn’t. Faces un-engraved. I explained this all to him. He kept asking “Are you in sales?”

She did her best to cringe in such a way that it would contort the empty space between her side of the room and mine, and maybe twist my mouth shut.

I showed her that I finally figured out how to type out this woman’s name in Assyrian.

We sit together at lunch sometimes and she reminisces about when she was a foodie. (She’s a vegetarian now. No processed foods.) I challenged Harper to eat sardines with me my first week back, and that made some kind of impression on her. So we talk about exotic meals as we eat our Soylent of the day.

Harper and I never eat together. I’ve gotten into this strange habit of buying her lunch. I suppose it’s a kind of fawning gesture. There was some humiliating incident where I tried to pawn my Jimmy John’s gift card on her on her birthday, however long ago, and she was catastrophically annoyed. Which says enough, I think. But for some reason, she’s relented, and when I’m throwing on my coat to run out for Culver’s, I ask, “You want anything?” And she says yes. She either gets cheese fries, or when she’s actually hungry, chicken tenders with BBQ sauce. She’ll sit at her desk by the lunchroom door while I eat my sandwich alone.

I justify it to myself a few ways. One, there must be one person you choose to be kind to, out of practice if anything. I’m am afflicted with some kind of ingratitude that I can’t quite explain. Maybe nothing from me could ever really be worth anything. A gift from me is a sort of affliction in itself. That’s not entirely false. Also, she never eats. The women in the office gossip about how skinny she is, and it’s jealousy, mostly. I never watch her eat. She could save every bite for her gf and I wouldn’t know the difference. Not sure it makes a difference.

Sofia planned a potluck for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. She’s trying to make the place less toxic. And despite the poisonous people involved, it was a smashing success. It took me a while to decide what to do, but I made a vegetarian chili, with impossible meat and soyrizo, 5 different kinds of peppers. Spent 6 hours reducing it on the stove. Froze it, thawed it, warmed it in the instapot on the lunchroom counter. It was loved. A genuinely beautiful day, I’d say. I was anxious about it for days, that something must go wrong. I’m just incapable of doing anything nice. But everyone loved it. Even Big Jim had some before he Irish-goodbyed.

I had nowhere to go for Thanksgiving, so I stole all Phyllis’s turkey and stuffing for myself. A huge tray of it. Still sitting in my fridge, honestly. That’s how much. And to fair, I never felt without. Despite my constant awareness of how orphaned and pathetic it must look.

Harper was excited and talkative. I try not to write about her too much. I find it indulgent. Writing is a way of reliving, relitigating. If you have a few nice things in your life, you can’t clutch them, you have to let them be what they are.

All that was well over a week ago. Made a potato soup today from a hambone that’s been in my freezer for over a year. I gave myself food poisoning last December and I’ve basically been terrified of cooking outside my comfort zone ever since.

I tried explaining to Sofia, when you’re fat, everyone is always gawking at you imagining you being some kind of pervert for food. So, you repress all enjoyment of it. I hate food. But I don’t. It becomes complicated.

[eldritchsurveys]

1209.

[sarajade @ bzoink]

What were you doing one hour ago? >> I think I was eating a sandwich and watching Frasier. If not, I was reading the entry on Argonians on the UESP Wiki.

Where were your parents born? .

Have you ever used public transportation to get to work? >> I don't work, but I use public transportation to get most places when I'm by myself.

What do you miss the most from before Covid times? >> I guess the lack of COVID. :V My personal life never changed much, I just went to fewer places for a while. Oh! I do miss some of the businesses that were obliterated by the economic shift. What has been the best thing to happen to you in the past year? >> Mostly just subtle internal shifts that have made it a little easier to exist.

Who do you have listed as emergency contacts in your phone? >> I don't remember if I ever set emergency contacts in my phone. Either way, Sparrow is my emergency contact because they're really the only person I know well enough to perform that function.

Are you prone to jealousy? >> I am not. How did you get through the lowest point in your life? >> I'm sure I got through the lowest points in my life by simply having no other choice or lacking the constitution for suicide.

Have you ever been someone's first love? >> I don't think so.

Have you ever played frisbee golf? >> I have not. What is your favorite silly, feel-good movie? >> I have a bunch of these -- Galaxy Quest, Enchanted, Birds of Prey, the Bill and Ted movies... Recently TMNT: Mutant Mayhem got added to the list because that was a great time.

How old were you when you got your first gaming console, and what kind was it? >> I was in my early twenties and it was a PS2.

Who in your family has the coolest job? .

Is cereal technically a soup? >> *shrug*

Have you found your first gray hairs yet? >> I started getting greys around a decade ago.

What is something that drains your energy really quickly? >> Socialisation. Did you parents teach you how to make a budget before you moved out on your own? >> He did not teach me this, but I also don't think I would have paid much attention at that time. What is your favorite food to put gravy on? >> The only gravy I like seems to be the kind used in biscuits and gravy, and even then you'll rarely see me choose biscuits and gravy from a menu. So. IDK

Do you know anyone from Canada? >> There are various people I know/know of online that are Canadian.

What's your opinion on astrology? >> I am very keen on traditional/hellenistic astrology. The intricacy and depth of the classic systems of astrology is highly useful and interesting to me, and I love learning how the planets/luminaries and houses and zodiac signs interact to construct narratives about specific points in time. In comparison, I don't favour pop astrology at all, I find it about as useful as a Hogwarts sorting quiz. Do you use TikTok? >> I do. As annoying as the app itself is -- and by god, what a hostile fucking app TikTok is -- I find endless value and joy in what people actually make and post. What do you have going on the rest of the day? >> Nothing concrete. Will just do various activities as I feel like it.

[whitelimousinesdraggingtime]

A sort of book review

She saw the last dregs of sunlight glinting fiery orange off the fence, which was painted silver to mimic the kind of well-kept metal no university could really afford, or at least she thought that the LED light from the streetlamp across from her was those last dregs of sunlight, or perhaps she hoped it was, as the moon rose, a sliver of opal brightness in the rapidly darkening sky that matched more perfectly that LED streetlamp than it did the yellow-green-lilac glow of the sun’s belated, western-edge of a time zone good night to her.

It wasn’t really saying good night to her, but to everybody along that particular horizon, which included the many people inside asleep or working, who wouldn’t quite notice the sun disappearing again as it did every night.

This is not to say she was better for having noticed it; the noticing didn’t happen for her every night, only if she happened to be outside or at the window, and it probably didn’t happen more often than for anybody else, although she made a point of the people around her knowing that she searched often for it, enough that they occasionally, noticing it themselves, pointed it out to be sure she wouldn’t complain yet again that perhaps the sun didn’t even really set here, but rather faded slowly away as if in some apocalyptic novel in which the solar system would end not with the expansion of that essential central star, but with its sudden—or gradual—disappearance.

No, she wasn’t superior for having noticed the sunset this time. Indeed, she was rather late, having only just finished a book about half an hour later than, according to her mendacious weather app, the sun was supposed to really have set, and, upon finally extracting herself from the emotion-logged pages, had been taken aback by the continued brightness of the sky and how it gleamed flatly off that faux-chrome fence and especially by how it failed to shine quite so effectively off of the square-backed orange plastic Adirondack chair she was sitting in, which she marveled at for its complete failure to make her homesick for the touristy beachfront Adirondacks she had grown up around.

That chair was chained to the chairs around it and to the offending fence itself, perhaps in the hope that a chain would dissuade overeager (overserved, even) college students from taking it back to their dorms as a not-quite-shiny, underwhelming trophy of their intoxicated bravery and recklessness, not unlike the traffic cones and street signs that no doubt proliferated in the residence halls she was surrounded by.

The chain that saved this particular chair from that fate was not the black iron of a dungeon, but a rather cheery, industrial thing wrapped mostly in yellow plastic, a sign that whoever had installed it was concerned about pinching themself in its links or perhaps, more charitably, concerned that the aforementioned college students, in their inebriated clumsiness, would hurt themselves on it while trying to claim their hard-fought criminal evidence.

Regardless, her musings on the topic were cut with strongly held convictions from birds and fireflies, the former of whom seemed to massively disagree with her even having thoughts on the matter of whether the light on this fence, which was ostensibly responsible for dividing their domain of grass and trees from hers of metal and cement and paint attempting to convince her and the other denizens of this quadrangle that they were really having the kind of luxe experience formerly reserved for American aristocrats taking a cruise off of Cape Cod, was from their adored warmth-giver or from her cold, artificial, miraculous LED lamp, and the latter of whom mostly just each wanted to find a lover, which they planned to accomplish through ever more cryptic Morse codes produced by their even-more-miraculous bioluminescent abdomens.

Or was it their thoraces?

Was that even the plural of thorax?

She was an aspiring chemist, perhaps an aspiring materials scientist, but most certainly not an aspiring biologist.

As an especially astute reader can probably surmise, her concentration on the particular quality and direction of the light was also marred by her innate tendency to wander off on some deer path of a train of thought, especially if not penned in by the creative constraint of an English assignment, which this was not, or by the focus-bringing qualities of putting pen to paper or finger to keys.

A MENSA inductee would certainly notice that this train of thought has since been re-examined and put to paper, or at least to the closest thing to paper a digital space has to offer, although the nature of the internet as a “global forum” may indeed require its entries to be viewed more as speeches by philosophical Romans, which is, in most scenarios, how an internet-dweller might prefer to think of themself, including both the apparent contradiction between a society so notedly strict in their philosophical habits and the looseness and the diversity of thought supposed to exist on the internet, as well as the reality apparent to most that strictness of philosophical habit is a rather enduring requirement of most web-based communities, so perhaps there is something more focused and yet more in the realm of unreality and abstraction about this twice-removed experience of a person’s thoughts past 9 post-meridiem on a Sunday evening, when that Sunday didn’t even really begin until two and a half hours post-meridiem, or even later, after her second double shot of espresso, which contained a significantly smaller amount of milk than the first.

Indeed, just in the half-hour since the entry began to be written down, she has already realized her propensity for the word “perhaps” might just be grating and repetitive to the eyes—or metaphorical ears, if one considers the forum model of the internet—if her readers do not love it near as much as she does.

She briefly wonders how she has already gotten so far removed from the technology-free musings she experienced earlier, when the battery on her phone proclaimed itself dead and in doing so demonstrated that it did indeed still have some energy, at least enough to power the desperate, pleading illustration that showed rather inaccurately exactly where and to what depth one must insert a charging cable to return it to a nigh-alive being and not an extraordinarily expensive brick.

But she must have considered (mustn’t she?) that those musings were precipitated precisely from the sudden lack of a phone, that a chasm had gaped open in her brain that was normally knotted together by memes and the anger of young teenagers and especially immature adults over things that she rather liked to think she had a uniquely nuanced opinion of, and in doing so she would have succumbed to the same falsified sense of importance affected by the not-quite-matte silver paint on the fence she was considering in the first place.

It was at this point she decided to take a walk, and upon getting out of the strange little plastic excuse for an Adirondack chair, realized that the end of the book had been quite emotional, and that now she had stopped considering the light of the sunset and begun to experience its ever-weaker effect on her surroundings, and that now the wind and not the chatter of birds and high schoolers was in her ears and her hair, and that extricating herself from the chair and its chains had not re-aggravated the bruises inflicted by the bar installed on her twelve inch high bed rather ironically installed to prevent her from the injuries that would be caused by falling out of it, and that there were, perhaps, tears in the corners of her eyes.

And that she sort of wished, so soon after her least favorite grandfather’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, that the book hadn’t ended with a disagreeable, bookish man losing his grasp on those words—and people—whom he loved, and who loved him.

[biodiversityhawaii]

Identification App: Seek by iNaturalist

This week, I looked at the app Seek by iNaturalist. This app's main function is to identify a species by pictures taken by the user, which allows you to investigate certain species without typing in haphazard descriptions into the google search bar. It also saves you extensive flipping through various identification books, especially when you have nothing to go off of other than sight alone.

Since I'm not in Hawaii at the moment, this will actually be some common species within my home state of South Carolina.

When I first got it, I ended up taking a picture of the thing closest to me. That thing happened to be my cat, which the app immediately said was a "Domestic cat".

It also gave me a bronze badge for getting my first "Mammal" species, which immediately creates a game of sorts. And I mean that in the best way. It's almost inspiration to get out and see how many more badges you can get just in your backyard alone.

Even with blurry photos taken by zooming in from afar, the app was spot on with the two birds that just happened to visit my feeder back to back; a Downy Woodpecker and a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.

It is also pretty good with plants, instantly identifying some rogue Garden Strawberries left over from two years ago when one pot from the store overspilled and decided to plant itself in the ground.

There were some species that it couldn't identify exactly, but it gave you the closest match. I'll forgive it on this one, especially since one of those was just me taking a picture of the ground moss I'm helping overtake my yard. It did get the Bumble Bee in the flowers, though. And while it didn't know the exact flower species, it did say it was a Rhododendron or Azalea of some sort.

For all images, it will keep track of them and when possible, give you a nice blurb on the species as well as the Kingdom, Pylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. It also tells you how many have been observed nearby and how many have been observed worldwide. Finally, it gives you a seasonality chart that shows when the species is most likely to be seen in your area.

Overall, a very beginner friendly and engaging app!

[offthefieldsmau]

⚽ 2.141

“ …had no idea.” Stede finished his sentence right before Alma walked in the kitchen. She stopped dead in her tracks and hid behind the wall leading into where Stede and Mary were conversing.

She had been in the game room with Doug and Louis, but had made the trek downstairs to find out how soon dinner would be ready. Crappy pizza after a long game (where they won!!!) had done little to satisfy her hunger, and she was hungry.

Although, there was very little desire to face her parents — they already deemed her grounded for her stunt with Maya that left her without Best Friend Time for a week. They activated the aggressive parental lock on all her social apps and games on her phone (“For emergencies only” Mom had said.) It could have been worse — she could’ve been forced to stay the week with (she shivered at the thought) Nana and Papa.

It almost wasn’t worth thinking about. The hunger made itself known in Alma’s grumbling belly as she walked towards the kitchen.

But her hunger could wait, given that Mom and Dad had that conspiratorial low tone to their voices as they sat at the kitchen island.

“Oh Stede,” Mom’s empathy poured out of her, “I know it’s not something done out of malice, but it’s still hurtful, I’m sure.”

“I think it hurts more because they thought they were doing something for me?” Alma stepped a half-inch closer towards the kitchen, “Instead of talking to me, they went behind my back and planned this elaborate thing to keep me away from it all— it— god, Mary, just saying it out loud hurts.”

Her breath caught in her throat — Dad was hurting. Dad was hurting because of what all the adults had done— the thing they decided to do because she begged them to. She hadn’t missed the way he was absent when she went back to the table for more food at the pizza place earlier.

When Mom had said he wasn’t feeling well, she didn’t know it was because he had found out! And thank god no one told him it was her idea but—

But Dad was still hurting. And it was Alma’s idea. Dad was hurting because of Alma’s idea—

“I think space is the best idea, right?” Mom supplied, “Maybe taking some time away from the group and focusing on work or— oh, don’t you have that bird watching thing coming up with Doug? That’ll be good to get some space.”

“You’re right,” Dad sighed, “I just…I can’t help but feel so confused…?”

Dad was hurting. Dad was hurting because of me.

“How so?” Asked Mom.

“I don’t understand why — you remember how hard it was when I first came out…” and Alma swallowed the thick lump in her throat, “the group was my saving grace during that time. I finally felt, and I know we both felt this way, free. I found a second family in them. I felt like I could be myself — weird fantasy book obsession and all, you know? I didn’t have to quiet myself for them,” Alma didn’t miss the heavy pause, “I could be me.”

For all the ways that Dad embarrassed Alma throughout her life, even she couldn’t ignore how authentic he seemed to be within the past two years. He dressed differently, and seemed lighter, happier — she never connected the dots until just then.

And she asked his best friends to go behind his back and lie. All for her stupid game.

Alma peeked around the corner to see Mom laying a hand on top of Dad’s before whipping her head back out of view, “I know. You looked happy for the first time in— fuck, Stede, I think ever?” “So,” Dad took another deep breath, and his words came out shaky, “to have that group— that family sort of… well “turn on me” sounds a bit dramatic, but that’s how it feels! To have them lie to me to— to protect someone like Edward? Someone they barely knew, over me, over— over our children, Mary—”

[pinervue]

Pixel 3xl league of legends image

Pixel 3xl league of legends image android#

Pixel 3xl league of legends image windows#

Nearly 2 million devices are believed to be infected by malware called “ FalseGuide ”, which was hidden in over 40 apps posing as guides for popular games Pokemon GO and FIFA.įalseGuide adds any infected device to its botnet without its user’s knowledge.

Pixel 3xl league of legends image android#

The number one way for malware to be installed on an Android device is to piggyback itself onto a seemingly innocent app. In addition to watching every keystroke on your device, Android malware can also do such horrible things as quietly send hundreds or even thousands of SMS messages, possibly running up a huge monthly tab for an unsuspecting user. There’s a good chance a number of those Flappy Bird clones contained bits of malware that monitored smartphone and tablet usage when users weren’t tapping the screen to keep that damn bird in the air. Remember when “Flappy Bird” was such a popular app, and it seemed like 12 million various versions of the app were released? It will then “phone home” from time to time to send the collected info back to its headquarters.Īs a rule, the malware hides inside of what, to all appearances, seems to be a legitimate app. Malware will monitor your keystrokes, collect credit card and banking information, passwords, and other valuable information. Malware usually takes the form of a malicious app that is installed on a device and then quietly occupies itself with doing various devious things. Malware is more likely what an unlucky Android user will find their device afflicted with.

Pixel 3xl league of legends image windows#

The “attack one file and the rest will follow” approach may have been popular in the wild west of Windows operating systems, but it isn’t possible on the modern Android operating system.ĭespite all of this, and possibly due to their lack of a better term, many users still use the word “virus” to describe the malware that afflicts modern mobile devices. VirusesĪ virus is best defined as a malicious app that can copy itself and infect a computer or mobile device, affecting one file after another.īy touching multiple files, a virus improves its chances of being spread around by an infected file getting copied from the infected machine to another computer, where the infection again takes hold and starts the replication cycle all over again.ĭue to the sandboxing approach both the Android and iOS operating systems take with apps, actual viruses cannot replicate themselves and spread throughout a mobile operating system. But viruses and malware are actually different beasts. You might ask: what is the difference between viruses and malware? Don’t they both infect your device and wreak all sorts of havoc with your personal data? Most of the dirty stuff that hits Google’s operating system these days is better termed as malware. We hesitate to use the word “virus” when referring to the pestilences that the bad actors of the world can set loose upon your Android device. We’ll also list the ways you can avoid getting infected again in the future. If you do find that your device has been afflicted with a nasty piece of malware, we’ll also share the many tools and methods you can use to rid your Android device of such nastiness. We’ll also share some telltale signs that your device might be harboring one of these nasty bugs.įear not though, campers. In this article, we’ll discuss what kinds of malware are lurking out there, waiting in the dark corners of the web to attack unsuspecting and trusting Android users. These are just some of the millions of malware threats that are out in the wild today, threatening Android devices around the globe. Researchers from security firm Check Point discovered the malware, dubbed AdultSwine, in the apps. In January 2018, Google removed over 60 gaming apps from Google Play, many aimed at children, that contained malware that showed pornographic ads. The malware was capable of taking over an Android smartphone or tablet, stealing and selling a device’s user information and downloading and installing unauthorized apps. H ummingBad malware infected over 10 million Android devices in the summer of 2016.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHAT I'VE LEARNED FROM THE MARGINAL

If you ever do find yourself working for a startup that went through really low lows and survived. An idea from one area might spark a great discovery in another.1 Most good mathematicians would work on math even if there were some excessively compact way to phrase something, there would probably also be a longer way. The total effort of reading the Basic program will surely be greater. But we also knew that that didn't mean anything. It's a good thing eBay bought Paypal, for example, you can compose expressions however you want. All parents tend to be idealistic.

So much for hockey as the game is played now.2 Companies building web based apps are similarly protected from Microsoft, which even now doesn't want to imagine a language being too succinct is that if you're against software patents, you're against patents in general. People never say that about me. Almost by definition, if a backup system doesn't rely on the same technology as the primary system.3 At Y Combinator we bet money on that advice. The kind of people who get PhDs in CS don't go into research. More Ideas One idea that I haven't tried yet is to filter based on word pairs see below might well catch this one: cost effective, setup fee, money back—pretty incriminating stuff. In the process of answering an email, and whatever was found on the site could be included in calculating the probability of a group of medium-high quality people and get the desired result. I look at the other end seems especially far away.4

It happens naturally to anyone who does good work. Not heroes, not barbarians. The startup will now do that themselves. If they stepped back and looked at the whole picture they might be less indignant. I'm not saying that struggles are never about ideas, just that they will always be made to seem to be any sort of work I'd prefer? At least, that's the worst thing a startup could do. It will be interesting, in a mild form, an example of that rare bird, a spam that gets through the filters of someone who responds to a spam.5 It's a good thing for the world. To beat Bayesian filters, it would take me several weeks of research to be able to sell some of their own people would rebel. Or we have a new idea you can just sit down and start implementing it.6

Notes

Basically, the bad groups is that the applicant pool gets partitioned by quality rather than by you based on revenues of 1.

Reporters sometimes call a few people have responded to this talk, so I may be the right sort of idea are statistics about the cheapest food available. Bureaucrats manage to allocate research funding moderately well, but getting rich, purely mercenary founders will do that. Even now it's hard to say yet how much would you have to be told what to outsource and what not to have the luxury of choosing among seed investors, is he going to need common sense when interpreting it.

Another tip: If they were still employed in your next round is high, so that's what you're doing is almost always bullshit. Though in a in the same amount of damage to the Pall Mall Gazette.

Which helps explain why there are some whose definition of politics: what they're selling and how unbelievably annoying it is very hard to erase from a company's revenues as the average employee. After a while to avoid that.

But in practice signalling hasn't been much of it. They did turn out to do with the government had little acquired immunity to messianic figures, just as much the better. It's a case in point: lots of search engines and there was a great thing in itself be evidence of spam, but it's hard to compete directly with open source project, but unfortunately not true.

If you're building something for a CEO to make software incompatible. Copyright owners tend to get out of loyalty to the next round, or your job will consist of bad customs as well. 01. B the second component is empty—an idea?

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: May 15th Part 2

And here’s the next part of the long answer set of the day!

When will OL: N&F take place? Beginnings and Always took place during summer breaks, will now and forever take place during a fall break or will the characters be going to school at the time of the events we play through? 

It takes place over all of the fall season, so school will be happening in OL2. Some events do take place in school, though many times events only start after school is already out for the day, haha.

Hey!! I have kind of a weird question?? I’m sorry if it’s been answered before and I just haven’t seen it but is OL 2 taking place during the same years as OL 1? I’m just curious, thank you for such amazing games!!! 

It’s a similar time frame, but not 100% exactly same.

Do you have any idea when the demo for now and forever will be available? 

Hopefully this fall! But that’s not a guarantee.

Okay the crime show in Step 2: Growing up. Long blonde hair, police station, crime series? Was it The Closer? Because I’m the same age as MC and Cove and my mom was constantly watching that when I was 13. 😂 

Haha, yeah! The Closer and, to a lesser degree, Medium were the kind of shows I was referencing there. My mom also used to watch those back in the day.

Hey um this might be an odd question but if the setting of OL: N&F is  fall/autumn, what country or city will it take because my mind tells me it is either Poland or Canada. Also I can't wait for the game I am hyped 

It’s set in the USA again. We’d like to be able to have cameos and that’s easiest to do if the OL games take place in the same country.

Is it possible for the PC of OL to have non-seriously dated other people in the in between years even if they’ve had a consistent crush on Cove? 

You can causally date Baxter in Step 3 if you get his DLC and then ultimately choose Cove in Step 4. If you mean off-screen people, it doesn’t really come up, but you can certainly headcanon that. The game never says Cove is the only partner you’ve ever had.

Is there going to be a Kickstarter for Now and Forever as well? For like voiced names and stuff again? Didn’t find B&A until after it was released and I’d really love the opportunity to hear my name in the game 🥺 

Yeah, we are gonna have a Kickstarter with getting a voiced name as a reward! Though, it will be more expensive than it was for OL1. I feel bad to raise the price but we realized too late the first time around that it was being super undersold for the amount of work it took, aha.

Do you know how much the remaining DLC for OL will cost? (Step 4, Derek, Baxter) 

Step 4: Free

Wedding DLC: $2.99USD

Derek DLC: $4.99USD

 Baxter DLC: $4.99USD

Has an artist for the new position been picked yet?! I'm super excited for the new game! 

We did fill that spot. Thank you so much for taking the time to apply!

hmmm what would it take to get each of the XOXO jerk squad to feel the need to hug you? 

They’d have to first like you a fair amount, otherwise the most you’d get is maybe a pat on the shoulder. If they were attached, they might hug you if you broke down crying or if you gave them super good news.

Unless it’s Shiloh, of course. If you want a hug you only have to ask!

May i ask how the Derek DLC will work? I believe that there aren’t any memories in step 4 and doesnt derek’s dlc take place during that step? So will the dlc add memories? Thank you! 

Derek’s DLC will add five Moments to Step 2 (a new page will appear on that screen if you get the DLC). Then in Step 4 you’ll have to choose between playing the default epilogue or going through the Derek romance story.

Is the pc version on itch,io different from the steam version? Like an offline one or something? 

Steam has achievements, but that’s about it. Both can be played offline, if you prefer.

I've been wondering this for awhile, what determines if cove winds up with a ponytail in step 3? I've done multiple runs with different MCs with varying hairstyles. Or does it have to do with a particular moment in step 2? 

I’m afraid I can’t say exact choices that determine things. But generally it’s preference based options in the Step before that decide those things.

Any Floret Bond updates? 

No, the artist had to leave the project and it’s been on-hold. I’m not sure if I want to try working just with what we have or replacing it all entirely. The design is a bit too specific for us to easily find someone who could mimic it. Hopefully we’ll work things out later, though.

In step 3 is Cove's plan always to stay in sunset bird? 

Yeah. He is never ready at 18-years-old to make a big life change.

I love your content! If it's alright to ask, you answered in a previous ask about how Jeremy was too particular with what he likes his types to be romanceable with just any MC and it's sort of got me wondering.. What /are/ his types and/or preferences and such? Sorry if it's a lot! 

Jeremy likes stubborn jerks and will not date someone who’s sweet or even generally a decent person, haha.

uh, excuse me if you said this somewhere before, but how will step 4 be actually? Will it he like an actual step and have moments and dlc and all? Or will it be more like a long epilogue of some sort?

Will the step 4, the wedding and extra routes dlcs be paid too? Im just confused, sorry if im asking too much

Step 4 is only an epilogue, so it’s just a long series of scenes one after the other rather than a collection of Moments you can choose from.

The Step 4 epilogue is free, the wedding DLC, Derek DLC, and Baxter DLC cost money.

i’m not sure how much of the wedding dlc you have planned already, or if this would be to spoilery, but what kind of wedding traditions will be included? i keep thinking about how flustered cove would get over a garter toss & was wondering if we’d see a scene like that haha. obviously no worries if it’s not included, i’ll enjoy literally anything cove related 

I don’t know for sure yet, haha. Right now we’re focused on the parts before the big day. We’ll see how many scene alterations we can include for the wedding itself later on.

Hello! Firstly, thank you for creating such an amazing game like OL, and I couldn’t be more excited for OL2! Out of curiosity, are you looking for any writers to come on for OL2 or are you all pretty much set in that department? Just thought I’d shoot my shot haha but I’m still excited regardless ^^! 

We will be hiring writers for OL2 later this year! Thank you for the interest.

Will we be blessed with a spin-off Yandere Cove, like XOXO Blood Droplets? 

Sadly, no. It’s a shame but there’s not enough time to keep making OL1 bonus/spin-off content.

How is Q pronounced?

I’m afraid Q’s full name hasn’t been publicly announced yet so I can’t answer here (Q and T are the first letters of the names for the new LIs in Our Life: Now & Forever).

Question; is the steam version getting a Mac update?  I purchased the dlc there thinking it had Mac support without realizing it and just wondered if I’d need to refund it to purchase on itch.io 😭 

I’m really sorry, you will need to get a refund from Steam. We do hope to have it there for Steam eventually, but have no idea of when it’ll happen. Apple requires special notarization to be an officially accepted app for their devices. We don’t have that. Steam requires having that, Itch will let you release it as an non-notarized third party app. That’s why Itch is the only place that has the Mac version right now.

would you mind posting outfit sheets for Cove in every step? it would make things a lot easier for us artists. it would save a lot of time spent looking for references 

I think we did do the earlier steps when they were finished way back in 2019 (this game took a long time to make, aha), but we can probably repost them sometime!

In our life n&f, will we be able to get into qprs/will there be more options in regards to having deep platonic relationships with the love interests? Because as an aroace individual, it would be great if there could also be emphasis on platonic love so that it's more aspec inclusive. 

It’s a little hard to say at this point. There may not be things like a wedding DLC for OL2 and so the relationship for platonic and romantic feelings might not go as far as it did in the first game. We’ll kind of have to see how much we can do based on timeframe/budget constraints that will only be set near the end of the year. But we will be keeping things like that in mind at least.

hi! i really really like your game and im absolutely in love with it! i cant wait to try your other games like xoxo droplet and future OL NF :))

during the step 3 erands moment i got curious, which fudge flavor is his favorite? it seems like he likes all of them, but which 4 do you think he would like best?

also i noticed that in some playthroughs cove would let me give him a piggy back ride, and in some he wouldn't, how come?

how does your choices affect cove's interests or looks? i replayed the game without changing any choices but i got cove to look different, is it just random?

thank you!

Cove’s favorite flavors are ones with nuts and that are fruity! But he appreciates them all. Whether or not you can give him a piggyback ride depends on if your MC is fit/large enough to hold a muscular 6-foot-tall beach boy, haha.

Cove’s appearance does depend on choices and it’s generally tied to choices that are preference based rather than emotion/action based, such as which key chain you pick in Step 1.

Is it possible for cove to reject MC's proposal at the end of step 3? 

Nope. He’ll always accept.

hi! i was wondering how heavily the side characters will be featured in the our life wedding dlc? obviously it'll be cove & mc focused, but i was thinking it'd be sweet if we could take lizzie dress / suit shopping or dance with cliff at the wedding or something. 

The side characters are there about as often as they are in normal events. So, it’s clearly focused on Cove but he’s not the only person you have any meaningful moments with.

When will responses be sent out to applicants? 

I’m afraid we don’t send responses out to all applications, only ones we’re interested in offering the position to. Not everyone likes rejection emails and the amount of applications is too high to contact them all to say we’re not hiring them. We post updates on the job page when a position has news. Right now we’ve filled every role that was open.

Is there also going to be the option to keep your relationships with the love interests platonic in Our Life: Now and Forever? That's something I really appreciate in Our Life: Beginnings and Always

Yeah! OL will never force you to end up in a romantic relationship with someone.

I was wondering, in the Step 3 Happiness moment, what are the different fishes Cove can compare MC to? I got "you'd be a paradise fish, because being with you is paradise," but my friend got "you'd be an angelfish." Are there more variations? 

He says paradise fish if you’re a couple, angelfish if he’s just crushing, and then a royal dottyback/queenfish/emperor tetra (based on your gender) if he likes the MC platonicly.

Hello! So, in one of the Step 3 DLCs, Cove's arm was gone. I think it was to show him putting his arm behind his back. But if that wasn't the case, did it get yeeted? 

Thanks for letting us know. That was an error we tried to fix a little while back. When did you make the save file you were playing? If it was older that might be why it happened. Or maybe the error wasn’t fully fixed after all.

Asking for your opinion, but do you think Cove would at all be into ABBA? Because all I could imagine during the car trip in step 3 was him and the MC belting to Mamma Mia. 

Haha, yeah, there’d definitely be some ABBA songs he was into.

So throughout the game, Cove can develop different interests depending on the player’s choices; does this mean that he can have different careers in Step 4? Or his is line of work in adulthood never mentioned at all? 

He can have different career paths in Step 4!

Hi!! I'm so so sorry if this has been asked before but I just acquired knowledge about the so famous nsfw dlc for OL and nearly chocked on my bubblegum 💀💀💀 So, my real inquiry is if that specific moment will have any kind of impact at some point of the fourth step OR if it will just be treated as a side-story-ish “what if” scenario.Also, is there any chance there'll be something similar for Step 4? Haha jk,,, unless 😳Questions apart let me thank you profoundly for making the best visual novel I've ever played 😭 Really really looking forward the epilogue and OL2 💕 Have a nice day 

It’s just a bonus side story that’s fully separate from the main game.

It would be nice to have one for Step 4 too, but I sadly don’t see us having time to actually do it. I don’t know, if people are still asking for more OL1 content several months from now it might be doable and worth doing.

I'd just like to ask, when is Baxter's birthday :0 -- I'm really curious esp with their zodiac signs so ;w; 

I don’t know, haha. Maybe I’ll come up with one someday.

Please help!! I bought the Step 3 DLC but I still have no idea how to get to where you can propose to Cove - any tips? 

&

How do I get the option to propose to Cove at the end of the game?

You can click HERE for a discussion on that.

I love that Miranda and Terry are getting together! I'm curious if you have canon sexualities for them? Also just wanted to say how much I love OL and how much joy it brings me everytime I play it <3 

Terry likes ladies and Miranda likes dudes!

ngl Step 4 Terry's design reads like y'all see trans guys as their assigned gender more than you see them as men to me (a trans guy)... like maybe if he isn't heavily dysphoric, I could see it, but everything you've said about him doesn't line up with that. Even then, immediate warning bells go off in my head looking at him. I wouldn't have touched the game if I saw him ahead of time.

I’m sorry you aren’t comfortable with the way the design looks. The situation with Terry is that he’s now open about who he is, but the body he was born with is still physically the same. He only came out recently as an adult and hasn’t gone through any treatments/procedures yet (his chest is flatter because he wears a binder). However, even though his body hasn’t transitioned at the point Step 4 happens, no one treats him as anything other than the guy he is. Having a trans character who’s identity is supported/respected from the start is what we’re going for in this case. But what we’re doing with Terry isn’t the only trans content we’ve ever had/ever will have in the future.

how would baxter react to bae pyoun and vice versa? and can you please detailly explain both love interests personalities from our life 2: now and forever? i was just curious, sorry for dumb question!! 

I imagine it’d be pretty opposite experiences, haha. Bae would initially think Baxter is pushy and thoughtless, but would quickly realize, oh, he’s instead a soft, considerate boy. Very cute. Baxter would first be struck with the impression that Bae is charming and gentlemanly, but then would realize that, no, he’s a sarcastic asshole. And I’m afraid we can’t reveal the personalities for the next game yet.

Sorry if you've already answered this, but I have a question about the patreon exclusive moment you're working on. I was wondering if it's mainly going to be CGs or if it's mostly character sprites + backgrounds with some CGs.

Either way, thank you for doing the Lord's work and not only making Cove, but making this bonus moment as well 😌😌😌

It’s mostly sprites/backgrounds with two CGs!

—– —– —– —–

Thank you again for the interesting questions everyone :D

We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ   Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

[raamitsu]

you know that one mf on twitter who spent time tweeting about his/her mid tokyo revengers WAY TOO OFTEN than TR manga readers usually do ?? yeah that mf has some sort of love-hate relationship with the series itself but was just too shy to admit it cuz WHO WANTS TO HYPE AND BE A FAN OF A MID SERIES, right? that would be a shame pfttt but come on man — imagine spending so much golden time building up that hatred on your mind like a lego you have got to let people know about it ? nah ur just a attention seeker. nothing new. boring AF 🥱 serve me some amazing criticisms or stay the fuck away from my favourite series.

not that I care what any mere idiot beings be spitting on that bird app behind an anime pfp but it is terribly odd to see them “happily” talks about the things they hate 🤧 even I have to let this shit go huh

by the way, this goes to any series who are also being labelled as “mid” derogatorily. the word is not supposed to become a drag when its only definition is to point out that something is moderate or average. mfs like this are so fucking toxic as hell. anitwt fr needs a total cleansing.

[pascalpanic]

At Last (Frankie Morales x gn!Reader)

Summary: you, Frankie, and your fur baby go camping! Little does Frankie know what you have planned.

W/C: 2.1k

Warnings: flirting, innuendo, alcohol, food, language, otherwise, this is toothaching fluff!

A/N: SAMMY MY BELOVED @sanchosammy GAVE ME THIS IDEA! I hope it’s as cute as I think it is :) also, Charlie (Frankie’s pup) isn’t involved in this fic but she is still part of the fam :)

Pine trees surround you on either side, tall and majestic. You can see the blue-gray sky patching through the canopy; the clouds are leaving, but some linger a little longer to clog up the sky. The air is warm and slightly humid, but a wonderful breeze rustles through the trees and rushes across your bare arms. Your trail shoes squelch underfoot in the damp ground. You sigh, totally content with this moment. 

Frankie’s flannel is tied around his waist, leaving him in his khaki cargo pants and t-shirt. A couple of curls peek out from under his ball cap, turning into little ringlets at the nape of his neck. He walks in front of you on the trail, his boots pressing prints into the soft ground. His back profile is beautiful, even with the large camping pack, and you can’t help but grin. 

Foxtrot embodies her name- Frankie is holding her leash, and the auburn and white dog trots up ahead of him, sniffing along the mulched and muddied path. The air smells of humidity that’s just passed over and that wonderful accompanying petrichor. Fox’s white paws are surely getting dirtied, but that’s only to be expected. You don’t care, too excited to watch your boyfriend and dog walk ahead of you. 

Frowning at the bend of Frankie’s back, you catch up and take his free hand. “Let me carry something, baby.”

“No,” he shakes his head, lacing his fingers through yours. “You have important cargo,” he teases and pats your back lightly. 

Strapped to your back, in a backpack-style blue case, is your ukulele. One hand carries the cooler, slung over your shoulder, filled with food and drinks for tonight. Frankie carries the heavy-duty stuff- the tent, stakes, more essential supplies. “At least let me take Fox.”

Her red ears perk up at her name and she stops, turning and growing excited, as if she forgot you were there. “Yeah, hi Foxy!” You coo as she runs towards you, jumping with her front paws in the air in excitement. “Yeah, you love it out here, don’t you?” You ask her in a baby voice, scratching behind her ears as she circles around your legs and prevents you from moving. Frankie drops her leash in order to prevent your legs from being tourniqueted by it, and it drags behind her in the mud. 

When you pick up the leash, it’s sludgy and damp, but you don’t mind too much. You continue the hike forward and Frankie and Fox follow at your sides, both beaming ear to ear and enjoying the serenity of the woods. 

Frankie picked the campsite, so he’s technically leading the way, but the trail is fairly straightforward, meaning you don’t need to be led. Frankie points out wildlife here and there: chipmunks, rabbits, cardinals and chickadees flitting through the pine-needled canopy. He’s in his element, and you’re in yours: with him. 

The mud gives way to drier ground ahead, and luckily enough Frankie pulls off to the side. It’s the perfect spot, with a beautiful little field of wildflowers. “Welcome to your five-star hotel for the night, babe,” he assures you and kisses you softly, making you giggle and kiss him back with excitement and a pinch of nerves in your stomach.

There’s a routine the two of you have silently adopted. Frankie sets up the small tent, just big enough for the two of you and Fox. You gather kindling, set up a fire, arrange the chairs and all-around make the outdoor area of your campsite ideal.

Frankie is a man of patience, truly, but sometimes the little portable tent proves to be a challenge. You allow Fox off of her leash, knowing she’s well-trained enough to stick around the site, and find your way to the mess of fabric and stakes covering the man. “Baby. For the love of God, we do this all the time,” you tease.

“Well, something must’ve fucking changed,” he grumbles as he fiddles with the parts. You get on your knees on the soft bed of dried pine needles and help him out. With your help, the tent takes no time at all to put up, and you stand and brush off your hands. Frankie gives you a sheepish smile and you give him a kiss. 

The two of you don’t need to converse while you set things up. You enjoy the woods, the rustling of the wind and chirping of birds. Fox curls up on the blanket you set out for her, and when everything is done, you unzip the cooler and hand Frankie a beer. “Well, now we’re all set.”

“Let the fun begin,” he chuckles and twists the top open, clinking his glass bottle to yours. 

“So, Francisco,” you smile over at him. “What do you have planned for this trip? I know you have some sort of plan laid out up there,” you tease and rap on his head softly, through the trucker cap resting there.

He blushes a little and looks away. “I don’t always have a plan.”

“Hey.” You turn his face back to yours by the chin. “You do and I absolutely love it. Now tell me about it, please, baby.”

Frankie removes his hat and runs a hand through his curls. “Well, I figured we could start the fire soon, cook dinner over it. It’ll get dark pretty quick. Then hang around the campfire, maybe play some of the games I packed.”

“Is a quiet tumble in the tent on the cards?” You ask him with a teasing grin, nudging his side. 

He shrugs, jokingly, as if he’s considering it. “I don’t see why we couldn’t squeeze that in. We only have, oh… three hours of time in between these plans.”

“Then we’ll use all three of those hours,” you shrug and steal a kiss, smiling into his lips. “I love you. And I love it out here.” You were never a nature person before Frankie, usually preferring indoors adventures to hiking or camping. Frankie looks like he belongs out here, and he probably thinks he does. Even if you didn’t enjoy the fun of outdoors adventuring, you’d have at least one thing to enjoy: Frankie’s excitement and enthusiasm over it. “Thank you.”

Fox is curled at Frankie’s feet, and he bends over to scratch her ears, running his fingers through her scruffy fur. “Thank you, baby. For coming out here with me and putting up with all of this. I couldn’t ask for a better adventure partner.”

-

You do, indeed, cook dinner over the fire. You’d prepped all kinds of chopped vegetables to be grilled over an open flame, and had additionally packed pre-cooked hot dogs as well as s’mores ingredients. Frankie is a firm believer that it’s not camping if it doesn’t include graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows.

Luckily, your Frankie is a skilled griller. He always is, always has been. He takes care of the cooking part, since you prepared everything else, though he lets you hold the hot dogs over the fire to roast. “I feel like I’m at camp again,” you laugh as you slowly rotate the food over the fire.

Frankie is taking charge of the vegetables, expertly. They’re getting a beautiful char, you notice. “It’s much better, because you don’t have to sneak around to make out with your boyfriend at night, huh?” He teases and tosses you a grin. 

“But I get my boyfriend all to myself,” you nod and confirm. “And I have my baby girl with me,” you coo as you rub Foxtrot’s head, where she’s resting at your side.

The meal is delicious, of course, when the two of you work together and each used your strong skills. Frankie slips bites to Fox when he thinks you’re not looking, of course, but it’s endearing, the way the dog’s big brown eyes mirror those looking down at her.

There’s not much conversation while you eat, mouths occupied with food rather than speaking. That’s alright. There’s plenty of time for that tonight and tomorrow.

The sun starts sinking lower when Frankie brings the marshmallows from the tent. “Guess what time it is!” He exclaims as he rips open the bag, skewering two marshmallows and holding them over the fire.

Like he’s a skilled griller, he’s also a wonderful marshmallow-toaster. Frankie toasts yours to perfection, just the way you like it, and you do your part as the s’more-sandwicher, shoving the marshmallow between the graham crackers and chocolate.

There’s no signal out here, and you agreed neither of you would use your phones unless an emergency happened. Frankie frowns as he sees your phone. “Hey. Put that away. Don’t use that.”

“There’s an emergency, Frankie,” you whine, opening the camera app with one hand and eating the sugary dessert with the other.

“And what’s that?” He asks, taking a bite of his s’more. 

Strings of gooey marshmallow connect the sandwich to his lips, making him laugh, and you snap a picture at the perfect moment: Frankie’s closed-lipped smile as his s’more falls apart on him. “You’re too damn cute, that’s the emergency,” you laugh and set the photo as your lock screen, tossing it away.

Frankie’s schedule actually worked itself naturally. After the s’mores and a wet-wipe hand-washing to remove the endless marshmallow from Frankie’s hands, you find yourself sitting around the fire, no light left in the sky. When you look up, all you can see is inky blue and pine trees, the stars yet to make their nightly rise. 

“I have a song request,” Frankie asks and raises his hand like a child in a classroom.

“Yes, Francisco?” You tease as you walk to the tent, grabbing your ukulele and returning with it, sitting back in your lawn chair with it. “Hit me.”

“Only The Good Die Young by Billy Joel. No, wait- Country Roads.”

Laughing, you noodle around with the strings for a moment. You knew this moment would come, and here’s the opportunity. “I can play all of those and more, Frankie. We’ll do the Billy Joel first,” you nod decisively.

Frankie sounds like the forest wolves at night when he sings along. He absolutely howls, taken away by the song, taken to a place where his voice isn’t just a little on the rougher end of good. He belts the words and dances along in his seat, like you do.

Then Country Roads. You thought the last one was bad before you hear Frankie’s booming voice echoing the ballad of West Virginia through seemingly the entire preserve. But you don’t care in the slightest. You sing along proudly, strumming your ukulele harder and harder until you’re sure you can’t add any more volume before snapping a string. 

After the song, you pause and rest your ukulele flat on your lap. “Frankie, baby. Can I ask you something?”

He nods, smiling over at you. “Any time. What’s up, buttercup?” He asks, taking one of your hands and kissing the knuckles.

“Will you marry me?” You ask. The question is straight and to the point, blunt and honest. Your face conveys your hope, and the grandiose speech follows. “I love you beyond belief, Frankie. I love you almost as much as you love these woods. I know you love me too. I just… think it’s time. We’ll be perfect for it. What do you say?”

You can feel Frankie’s slightly-chapped lips curve into a smile against your hand. He’s grinning and then he’s crying, soft water droplets forming in the corners of his eyes. “Of course I’ll marry you,” he grins, grabbing your ukulele and setting it aside.

Once the ukulele is on the ground, Frankie stands in front of your chair and lifts you to your feet, kissing you with such fervor you can’t help but gasp. When he breaks away, you smile, eyes watering too. “I know it wasn’t the most elegant of proposals, but-”

“It was the most us,” Frankie cuts you off with a teary grin. “I would be honored to be your husband, my love. You really want me enough to do that?”

“Frankie,” you coo, cupping his face in your hand. “You are the best husband I could ever want, could ever dream for,” you assure him and kiss his nose gently.

The man laughs, wiping his tears away. “Then let’s get married,” he whoops excitedly, then lets out an excited shout to the woods. “We’re getting married!”

You laugh at his loud and booming declaration, but nothing can detract you for the love and joy in your heart.

When you and Frankie settle down in your chairs again, you pick up the ukulele and finish off with one last beautiful song that you and Frankie have always adored, with a title that truly fits: At Last.

-

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