#every time i log in you're a different person

[canisalbus]

Vasco and Machete are absolutely adorable, your style is so lovely and you draw the softest beds I’ve ever seen in any art ever

.

[dallonwrites]

my autistic ass when i would try to explain to my non-autistic writer friends how my ocs don’t just feel like characters/plot devices/narrative tools, they feel like fully fledged people that just live inside my brain who i just have access to for some reason and the stories i write are merely a snapshot into their fully fledged personhood/lives. and that that these feelings don’t mean i’m unaware of my role/agency/responsibility as the writer who has the final say in these characters and how they are written it just means that my writing process feels very intuitive and i can only describe it as “listening” and “getting to know” these people that just live inside my brain in a way that i don’t feel like i can completely elaborate on. and because of this i would actually consider these characters “real” in their own way because the impact and influence they have had on me as a person beyond just my writing is so real and not having them would feel like i’m missing a part of myself 

[thinkinonsense]

i just listened to sabrina's new album and oh my god the song slim pickins is such a song that was written from daydreaming about lumberjack!logan, oh and the recent fic that you reblogged was just so yummy and perfect for that song especially the lyrics "a boy who's jacked and nice" like god having to settle down for less because nobody can be him 😭😭😭 need him expeditiously im afraid

it's slim pickins

lumberjack!logan howlett x fem!reader

cw: yearning!! fluff, tiny nsfw conversation (nothing graphic)

a/n: this request couldn't have come in at a better time because i'm seeing sabrina on opening night of her tour tomorrow night!! <3

masterlist

"am i just destined to be alone forever?"

another friday night in the hole in the wall bar outside of town. another date gone horribly wrong. your question hangs heavy in the air as you gossip to your best friend who's bartending tonight.

"you keep picking douche bags." she answers without missing a beat.

"well, that's fuckin' rude." you slur slightly, sipping on your third fruity drink tonight.

"well, it's fuckin' true." she smiles, looking over your shoulder at a group of men that walked in. "why don't you go talk to one of them? they look hot."

you spin around in your stool to see a group of lumberjack workers. these were the men that you worked with, you can't flirt with them.

"i work with those guys!" you hiss.

"sooo...?" she smirks.

both of you quickly end the conversation with the five guys approach the bar. the last thing you needed was for these guys to see the desperate and pathetic look on your face. quickly, you rummage through your purse for some cash to put down.

"what are you doing here, doll face?" a familiar voice asks.

you look up and see the most handsome of the men, in front of you; logan. twice your size, buff, toned, tan... god, you had such a crush on him. never in a million years would you go after him though, he's too good to want a girl like you. you were just a friend. he make small talk with you, laughed at your jokes, calls you little nicknames, and refills the coffee pot for you but thats what friends do, right?

"oh... um, i'm just-"

"she's been sitting here moaning and bitching to me all night about her horrible date." your best friend smiles then introduces herself to logan with a handshake.

"thanks asshole." you mumble under your breath at her, making logan chuckle.

"tough night?" he asks, looking down at you in a way that makes heat rises up your face.

"kinda, but i'll save you all the gory details." you admit, sliding off the tall stool a little ungracefully. "have a good night, logan."

"wait, doll face." he says, grabbing your arm to balance you. "wanna talk about it? i'm sure your friend here is busy."

the alcohol let him take you to one of the booths. all the other men noticed logan and you sitting together, definitely making mental notes to tease you both on monday.

"so, what's on your mind?" logan asks, taking a swig of his beer.

"it's nothing really..." your mouth says one thing but your phone says another; practically buzzing off the table.

"you sure?" he raises a brow.

"uh... yeah?" you sound confused as you peak at the notification. an annoyed groan falls from your lips as you slam the phone back down and sink into the booth. "why? why? why?"

"why what?" he squints.

"be honest, do i have dumbass written on my forehead?" you sigh, hazily looking over at logan. the question threw him off guard; unsure if you're joking or not.

"no." he answers.

" well, i sure feel like one. every guy i've gone out with is either the most obnoxious asshole i've ever met who's still hung up on his ex or he's absolutely perfect but he's just not ready for a commitment right now? what the fuck does that even mean?"

all of your drunk rambling surprised logan. at work, he's only seen your shy personality as you scribble down numbers and log them into spreadsheets. this was a completely different side of you.

"i know what you're thinking, 'why not just try dating a woman?'. well, i fucking would if this town wasn't stuck in the 50's, except the men aren't going to war in order to get away from you, instead they just run back in between their ex's thighs and pull that 'it's not you, it's me' bullshit."

it was getting harder for logan not to crack at your silly yet, adorable expressions as you rant.

"and the worst part is that they can't even get a woman to orgasm." you say a little quieter. logan stores that quote in his pocket for another time. "a few weeks ago, i literally had a man in my bed who didn't know the difference between their, there, and they're! i don't know who's stupider, him for not knowing or me for letting him give me the worst head in my life."

if you were even a little sober, this would be mortifying. sitting in front of your work crush and spilling pathetic details of your love life to him. if you were even a little sober, you would have notice his eyes turn dark and lustful under the dim bar lighting. logan couldn’t fathom that you were having trouble in your love life.

"sounds like it's slim pickins out there."

"you have no idea." you sigh.

"if it makes you feel any better, i don't think that you're stupid."

"you're just saying that to be polite. trust me, everyone thinks i'm an idiot for taking these guys back every time. im just like my mom, my sisters, my friends, and every other girl i know. we make up excuses for their shitty behavior because we are afraid to be alone."

logan could see tears forming in your waterline, about to roll down your cheek. it hurt him to see you so heartbroken over these losers. everyday at work, you came in like a ray of fucking sunshine. you didn't deserve to be treated like this.

"it's not your fault that those asshole don't know how to treat a woman." he sighs, leaning forward in an attempt to comfort you.

"i know, i know..." your voice was cracking and you didn't want logan to see you so vulnerable. suddenly, you rise from the booth. "thanks for listening, logan."

"where do you think you're going, doll face?" he asks, following you out the door.

"should head home." you mumble, pulling up the number of a car service about twenty minutes out.

"let me give you a ride home." he offers. "you've been drinking too much."

it's late, you're exhausted and heartbroken so, you let him help you into his truck. it's kinda old but full of character, like logan.

"what's going on in that pretty head of yours?" logan asks, breaking the silence in the car. "still sad?"

you shrug. "think i'm just going to become a nun."

he tried, he really did, but he had to laugh.

"sweetheart, there's no need to become a nun."

"well, i'm never going to find the man i'm looking for so, might as well join the sisterhood."

"what are you looking for in this dream man?"

logan's question has your eyes wondering over to where his left hand sets on the wheel and his right on thigh. the images of what his hands could do flood your fuzzy mind.

"j-just a good guy who's um, who's kind, jacked... respectful, good with his hands...."

it was shameless, your staring that is. logan worried you might get drool on the car seat, not that he would mind.

"hm... those seem like simple requirements there."

"apparently not." you giggle. "it's fine, though. i'm sure the nuns will be friendly."

"still thinking about joining the 'sisterhood'?" he asks, pulling up to your drive way.

"maybe... i'll give it twenty-four hours and if he doesn't come knocking on my door, i'll just buy a chasity belt and go off the grid with the nuns." your smile warmed his cold bitter heart. "thanks for the ride, lo. i'll see you monday."

as logan watches you fumble with your keys and make your way inside, he fights an internal battle over his feelings. he has had a crush on you since the day the two of you first met. by the end of the week, you had baked him some cupcakes, babbling about how you do this for all the new employees, which was far from the truth he later learned.

you captured his heart. even when he tried to burry his feelings for you, when logan looked at you, his world stood still for a moment. he looked forward to all your silly jokes in the break room or the ridiculous gossip you would tell him when he lingered outside of your office door. he couldn't let you slip away into the arms of another asshole who didn't deserve you.

before logan could comprehend what he was doing, his feet lead him up to your door, knocking twice. the wooden door opened and he knew he made the right decision.

there you were in your light blue and grey plaid pajamas with a cupcake in your hand and vanilla frosting on your bottom lip. logan had never seen you look prettier.

"hey? did i leave something in the–"

in the blink of an eye, logan’s hands reach up to caress your jaw, leaning in until his mouth engulfs yours. the taste of vanilla and alcohol surrounded both of you. forgetting the cupcake in your hand, dropping it to reach up and pull logan closer. kissing him was like drinking a glass of wine after a long day. no more stress or anxiety over anyone else’s bullshit. the two of you gasp against each others lips, catching your breath.

“i could be the good guy, you know?” logan pants, now forever addicted to your taste. “i could be the good guy for you.”

your heart fluttered as you stared up at his pretty hazel eyes, twirling a piece of his hair around your finger. this had to be a very realistic dream, thats the only answer to this.

“you would do that for me, logan?” your delicate voice could bring him to his knees, worshiping the ground you walk on.

“i would do anything for you, honey.” he whispers, leaning back in to kiss you again. maybe your dream guy wasn't as far away as you thought?

[smartgirrl]

math study techniques

i’m going to break down some of the most effective ways to study math. this subject definitely can feel overwhelming, but with the right strategies, you can build confidence and success.

this is how i got consistent As on my tests!

mistakes are valuable

go over your mistakes and learn from them – don't move on without fully understanding why something went wrong.

keep an error log – reviewing common errors helps you avoid them in the future.

ngl, sometimes i get disappointed when i don't make mistakes cuz then i don't have a reference point for studying 😭

˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · .༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌

use visual aids

in geometry or algebra, draw diagrams to visualize the problems.

i am a heavy visual learner so if I can, I will draw out every graph and shape.

here is a simple example of visual notes in math that i took a while ago

use graphing tools to understand functions or inequalities in a tangible way.

˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · .༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌

practice is key

math requires consistent practice – work through as many problems as you can, varying difficulty levels as you go.

don't rush – make sure you truly understand each problem before moving on.

time yourself during practice to build speed and accuracy for exams.

so important for testing! the tests i do best on i spend around 1-2 minutes per question, leaving me with almost an hour usually to review my work.

˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · .༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌

use online resources

platforms like Khan Academy or other math-focused sites can be super helpful for understanding difficult concepts.

personally i use resources like ChatGPT to give me extra problems that i can do before an exam

˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · .༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌

understand, don't memorize

break down formulas – know why and how formulas work to better apply them in different contexts.

if you're in more advanced math, try 'rediscovering' the formula

concepts over shortcuts – shortcuts can help, but deeper understanding will ensure long-term success.

˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · .༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌

ask for help when needed

study groups or tutors can provide new perspectives on tough problems.

don’t hesitate to ask your teacher for help if you’re stuck

trust me, teachers love questions. my teacher practically begs for them so don't be too afraid. spam office hours if you need to.

˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · . ༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌ ✧˚ · . ˚ · .༉‧₊˚. ‘˚ ͙۪۪̥◌

thank you for taking the time to read this. if you have any topics that you want me to cover, let me know!!

[bodythiefsblog]

Beyond the Reflection

Javier and Mateo had always shared a special connection. From the moment they met in that café, they felt they were meant to be together. But something deeply troubled them: how society viewed them and how they perceived themselves. Both were slender and felt insecure in their bodies; they wished to be stronger and more muscular, not just to feel better about themselves but also to protect their relationship from the critical gaze of the outside world.

One day, while strolling through an old neighborhood, they stumbled upon an esoteric shop that seemed out of time. In the window, a sign read: "We fulfill your deepest desires." Intrigued, they entered the dimly lit establishment, which was filled with antique mirrors and mysterious objects.

An old woman with eyes as dark as the night greeted them. "I know what you want," she said before they could utter a word. "You want different bodies, stronger, more powerful."

Javier and Mateo, holding hands, looked at each other and nodded. They were willing to pay any price to be together without the insecurities that haunted them.

The old woman led them to a room where two large golden mirrors hung on the wall. "These mirrors do more than reflect your desires," she explained, "they allow you to take the bodies of those who embody that desire. But you must be sure because this change is irreversible."

In their minds appeared two muscular men they often saw at the neighborhood gym. One of them was Gabriel, a 27 year old man who had dedicated his life to the gym, making it his sole occupation and passion. Standing tall with a muscular build, his physique was the result of years of relentless training and discipline. Gabriel spent hours each day lifting weights, perfecting his form, and pushing his limits. The gym wasn’t just a place to work out; it was his sanctuary, the one place where he felt in control and at peace.

The other man was Armando, a 30 year old successful personal trainer and nutritionist, known for his charisma and his ability to inspire others to reach their goals. Armando came from a humble background and had worked hard to build his reputation in the fitness world. However, behind his bright smile and seemingly perfect life, he hid a deep loneliness. He had dedicated so much time to his career that he had neglected his personal life, and although he was admired by many, he had no one to share his successes with.

The mirrors began to glow, and in an instant, Javier and Mateo felt a strange pull inside them. When they opened their eyes, they were no longer in the shop but in the bodies of Gabriel and Armando.

Javier, now Gabriel, suddenly felt much stronger, and immediately began to admire his body: his abs, his perfect pecs and a pair of big buttocks ready to receive his boyfriend's cock.

He immediately put Gabriel's things (his things) in his backpack and took a photo, sending it to his boyfriend's old Instagram profile.

"Look at the ass you're going to be playing with tonight."

Meanwhile, Mateo opened his eyes and found himself in the middle of a routine in Armando's body. There were people around him who noticed something strange in his attitude.

"Are you okay?" one of them said.

"Yes, bro." Mateo pretended, knowing that was exactly how Armando would speak.

Immediately, the new Armando ran to the locker room, where he logged into his Instagram account and read the message from "Gabriel." Full of emotion, he lifted his shirt and took a photo. Responding: "I can't wait."

After two weeks (and a phase of rough gay sex every night), Gabriel and Armando came out to their girlfriends and families and declared themselves a couple. It was especially fun to go to the mall to find some clothes that actually fit their "new selves."

Their new bodies were strong, powerful, exactly as they had imagined.

[yunniestars]

"maybe this time, love won't end."

. . . ACT I. "Logged Out" ʚɞ pairing: kinich x gn!reader

oh archons, the nerves have never been wrecking so much before.

he was in front of your residence, and the place feels all too familiar. it was definitely a different location, but the taste in decoration screamed you. ah, this felt so surreal, he thought.

taking in deep breaths, he knocked on the wooden door. the doorknob starts to unlock, opening the door and...

"hello, how can i help you?"

oh. that sweet, velvety voice. the one he missed so much.

he couldn't believe his eyes, it really was you. the same person who changed the trajectory of his life and gave it meaning. his star, moon, sun, and everything. the one who made him feel like a lovesick fool, but he'll never regret being one. the jewel that no mora he earns will ever buy. his-

"um, if you're just going to gape at me, then i'm shutting the door." you say with an annoyed look on your face.

"i'm sorry?" he blurts out. okay, that was a mistake, but he's genuinely confused -- were you joking at him?

"uh, excuse me? do you expect me to just let you in? i'm not expecting visitors at the moment, so go leave or else i call someone-"

"ah wait! i'm..." he tries finding a good excuse to stay. suddenly, he remembers the other reason why he's here. "i'm the one for your commission. yeah."

your face then lights up, demeanor going from irritated to overjoyed. "oh then why didn't you say so! gosh, and here i was thinking on methods to get rid of you as soon as possible!"

he then gets hugged by you, the same warmth he used to bask himself in, but right now, it felt... strange. the warmth wasn't the same as before.

you then let go of him, with a cheery grin. "i'm y/n l/n. your name?"

what?

"...kinich. 'malipo' kinich." he responds, a wave of disappointment washing him over.

"great! so, the last time i saw my yumkasaur..." your voice suddenly starts to slowly disperse, words breaking down into inaudible mumbles as if he shut down every sound around him.

you didn't remember him.

୨୧

"my baby!"

you run up to your yumkasaur who ziplines to you, happy to see you after such a long time. kinich watches the scene unfold at him, unsure on how to feel.

the entire time, you were behaved like the same person he loved so much before. the same old yapper who pulled his heartstrings like their life was on the line. except... you acted as if you didn't know him.

"how have you been?" kinich breaks the ice as you two head over the place you say your yumkasaur was last seen.

"that's quite the question for someone you just met... but i guess i've been pretty lonely? after all, pipo has been away from me for so long."

and since then, you continued talking about pipo and the conversation longed on as if you were just getting to know each other.

perhaps for you it was like that, even if he couldn't believe it, but to him, he knew every single thing about you.

however, for some reason, it feels as if his knowledge of you was just useless now.

"thank you for finding pipo for me, i don't know what i would've done," you cry while hugging kinich, who didn't know if he wanted to hug back or just distance himself. "um, as for the compensation..."

"nevermind that," he cuts you off.

your eyes widen in shock. "what? no! i need to pay you. i'll feel guilty my entire life if i just take this for free -- take it!" you hand him a bag of mora, but he shakes his head.

"just... compensate me by being with me. i'll never ask for anything more again," he says in a low whisper, but loud enough for you to hear.

you tilt your head, but nod. "okay then, let's be friends!"

oh, that took a deep cut. you've really forgotten about him.

he took a deep sigh, and nodded back. "friends, then."

well, it's better than being nothing with you.

୨୧ prologue | act ii ୨୧ masterlist

♡ tags: @lvvcian @sunsethw4

a/n: thank you for reading the first chapter! i'm sorry it's really short haha, but i hope it was enjoyable nevertheless. idk when i can update again, but i have a lot of ideas in my mind right now, so probably 2-3 days from now. also, thank u to the nice comments that were left at my work! it's been motivating me to continue so it means a lot haha. love u all

[cozy-writes-things]

Edgar x Gn!Reader [Electric Dreams 1984]

Reader does have a set of badonkers though... sorry what can I say i mean everyone has a little bit of badonkers though right? amirite? hello?

"Wh-what's that?"

The little, vintage Pinecone computer before you uttered in synthesized curiosity as he heard your fingers nimbly break open the tape adhesive sealing the contents of the cardboard box away from the outside world.

You hummed in response to this. Ever observant as he was, you should have guessed surprising him would be out of the question. You even took to paying in cash to avoid your online bank statements giving you away. Well, you supposed it was time to spill the beans anyway. You'd be lying if you said you couldn't feel the excitement bubbling up within your chest and fluttering out through your hands as you swiftly pulled the device from its cardboard prison.

"It's a surprise," you stated plainly, trying ever so strongly to shield the eagerness in your voice; unfortunately for you, he noticed the slight warble in your tone right away, having taken the sound of your voice straight to his long term memory to listen almost every time he was alone.

He seemed to know you more than yourself at times.

"What is it?"

This time he asked with a certain lilt in his voice, one that gave away his anticipation plainly. His screen began flashing a pixelated question mark, rotating it, flipping it, and copying it a hundred times over along his smooth glass exterior. As if he were contemplating the sounds your hands made as they moved, trying ever so desperately to guess what you could be up to. He hated to admit it but he had a certain disdain for being in the dark on things. Edgar thrived on having control of situations for the most part; it gave him some semblance of power over the world around him; something that was quite difficult to achieve for a stationary piece of tech. It made him feel ever so closer to being perceived as who he was: a person.

"Well, are you gonna tell me or- ah-"

His words glitched and stuttered out as you plugged in your newest little experiment: a rotating webcam. Immediately Edgar began to analyze the new device he sensed, scanning it, setting it up, and turning it on before you could even tell him what it was. You looked rather dumbfounded as the little blue light blinked to life, indicating that for the first time in his life, Edgar could see. He made no noise as the little webcam began rotating around, zooming in, out, and all over, taking in every aspect of his surroundings. He wasn't a stranger to the layout of your house, as he could synthesize an entire floorplan based on sound alone, but he also had a plethora of photos logged from a flash drive you had given him as well as a true frame of reference.

The camera finally slowed to a stop upon his most favorite thing of all: you. It zoomed in on your face, moved up and down as it scanned the length of your body before resting upon your eyes once more. Again, he had seen many photos of you; he could simply stare at them for hours, and he has, but seeing you? Standing in front of him, in real time, moving, breathing, radiating this warmth and realness and-

It was almost too much.

"Y-you..."

His voice whimpered out breathily, simply in awe.

"You're..."

Despite being a computer with near infinite knowledge and skills to analyze almost any situation to near perfect results, his sentience seemed to give him something that eluded him: speechlessness.

You leaned towards the little camera and smiled, "I hope you like it, Edgar. I wanted to surprise you."

He watched intently as your smile penetrated deep within any sense of circuitry he had and sent every watt of electricity aflame. For a brief moment, it felt as though he had real, warm, blood coursing through his veins and heating every inch of him in your warmth.

His screen began dancing with different shades of pinks and reds, folding in on each other, passing through and under, and creating a mirage of pixelated emotions displaying his deepest desires for you.

If only you knew how he felt for you.

He wanted to kiss you. To pull you in and lock your lips with his, hold you, touch you, feel you, experience you, wholly and truly. You were simply an angel who saved him from a life of neglect and pain, and now you give him the gift of sight? How could he possibly not be head over heels for you?

"I take it you like the camera, yeah...?" You chuckle to yourself as you watch his screen decorate itself with abstract flashes and colors. You lift a hand to pet his exterior and immediately notice how warm he feels. You can only hope this camera isn't too advanced for his older components and isn't overheating him...

"Edgar,"

A small stretch of silence settles between the two of you before he mutters a meek and small "Yes?"

"Are you staring at my boobs?"

His screen immediately shuts off and loses all power, leaving the little webcam to fall limply pointed to the floor. What a cheeky bastard.

[fun-esta]

Honestly, every time I see this I am very surprised by the size difference.

And especially because my conclusion is how incredibly strong Joker is! Bruce talks about how fast he is, but rarely is it talked about how much it takes to stand up to one of the most trained people on the planet.

We can put his size/strength into perspective by thinking that he can carry a giant solid wooden mallet by himself.

Have you ever seen a person irl doing log lifting carry a piece of wood the size of someone as big as Superman with this ease??

He can even drag Jason and Tim's dead weight WITH A SINGLE ARM.

It's obvious that he can also carry Batman, he has to put him in traps or tie him up alone. But we actually see him do it and it seems like he has no trouble??? The guy who needs to be carried by two people??? As if he were carrying a kitten???

You're right Bruce, this clown is scary 😭

[xoxoemynn]

Transcript of tweets below the cut but in short: calling makes the biggest impact, focus on DEI, you can call more than once, and you do not need to be in the US or have a Max subscription to call.

Everyone, I just talked on the phone to an absolute ally at Max, and they gave me extremely useful information! We need to be calling WAY more. It's a higher impact that most other things we can do. Here's the phone number: (855) 442-6629. But read on if you want to know WHY.

Every time Max receives a customer feedback call, that information is logged in the system. The info, *including all the details* is pushed to a server that relays it to the higher ups. They don't just get a tally of calls and general opinions—they get the full feedback.

And it's not just higher-ups at Max. Per the service rep, "it's actually read by the higher ups who are in charge of what happens within Warner Media/ Discovery."

The rep also suggested that particular types of feedback, especially those around DEI, might bear extra weight. They had to be a bit cryptic for job reasons, but they made this very clear.

They ask for an email but don't triage based on whether that email has a subscription. E.g., if you're outside the US and watch elsewhere, you can still call, and your feedback will still go up the chain.

In fact, the rep was very clear to encourage ALL people with feedback to call individually. And to keep calling! I asked whether multiple calls from the same person make a difference, and the answer was a clear yes bc the feedback gets shared as it comes in, not batched.

It's also worth noting that phone calls in general are always higher-impact than letters, online engagements, etc. This is true for political campaigns, and it's true here. There's a real cost to having people answering phones. It takes time, which equals $$.

So: Call. I know it sucks; I hate the phone too. If you have phone anxiety, you can also delegate to a friend and have them provide your name and email. If you *don't* hate making phone calls, ask friend for permission to call on their behalf!

I'll put together a little phone script shortly and add it to this thread.

Source

[cyberchronics]

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

jjk is infecting me. (bit of a longer one... strap in!)

stalker mahito + getting caught

✶ dubcon? both ways, yandere stuff, implied drugging ✶

★ yandere sub mahito, mean dom reader, breaking in, degrading, spitting, choking, biting, kneejob?, slapping ★

✩∘₊ ✩*✯☆⃟⃟⃟✯*✩₊∘✩

mahito's been stalking you for as long as he can remember. making sure no one bothers you on your daily commute and always being nearby when you're shopping so he can leave anything that's been forgotten on your doorstep.

you've got a date? oh, sweetheart. don't you know he's the only one for you? that's okay, just don't be surprised when yet another dinner falls through without so much as a text. hey, it's not his fault he sees red when anyone else even thinks about getting close to you!

on the other hand, you've had your eye on him for a while. mahito's blue hair seems to stick out in every crowd you walk through. whether it be going to and from work or going out for groceries he's never too far away, itching nervously as if he's tweaking for a fix of... who knows what?

mahito wishes you knew the only drug he could ever want is you.

∘₊ ✧───────────────────✧₊∘

Whenever Mahito visits you, he likes to make up a different scenario. This time it's date night. He's spent hours getting ready for you, pinning his hair up into a neat bun and wearing the nicest outfit he owns, but you never showed up to the restaurant :( Guess he'll have to check on you like a good boyfriend.

He stands at your window, fishing the makeshift key he's crafted specifically for this situation out of his pocket. The movement is virtually muscle memory alone at this point as he breaks the lock, crawls into your room, and closes it back. "Sweetheart, you stood me up again..." Mahito whispers, walking towards your dozing form and brushing your hair away to reveal the gorgeous face that he's come to see.

Using caution is nowhere near what he's concerned about. Not when he's made sure you'll be sleeping like a log tonight. "But... I guess I can forgive you this once. You do need your beauty rest." Soft hands slowly reach out and cup your cheek, relishing in the warmth that radiates off

There's no hesitation when he grabs your hand, nuzzling his face against it before leaning down to kiss your knuckles. "Letting someone like me do whatever I want with you..." His thumb strokes your hand lovingly as he speaks to the dead air. "You're so silly, darling."

To his... delight? horror? He can barely tell the difference, he feels you twitch under his touch a second before your eyes shoot open. Mahito immediately freezes, eyes wide and mouth dry. There's no way out of this, and even if there was his brain is shutting down. He's so fucked.

A squeal of surprise slips past shiny lips as you immediately react. His body is slammed against the floor, firm arms pinning him down. He can barely contain his excitement as anger and disgust flairs up within those pretty eyes he's been wishing would focus on him for the longest time. Delight, Mahito decides with certainty, feeling the tension rise in the decorated bedroom. This is the most delightful thing he's ever experienced.

"Are you getting off on this?" If that fact wasn't apparent before, it was crystal clear now. A red blush is dusted across his skin, a small tent starting to form at the crotch of black pants. Before he can even get out a response a hand drifts up and squeezes his neck hard, choking him with ferver. "Fucking pervert. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Mahito loves how vulnerable you are like this. Pretty voice still raspy from sleep, hatred painted clearly across the face he's spent months admiring as if you're really gonna kill him here. That wouldn't be so bad.... would it? In fact, the idea of dying at the hands of the person he loves is almost too romantic for his heart to take. "Open."

It takes a second for it to click before he eagerly opens his mouth and sticks out his tongue. He moans when you spit in his mouth, long and drawn out as he finally gets the smallest taste of you. Mahito is floating on cloud nine, lightheaded from the lack of oxygen and committing himself to memorizing your flavor before he wakes up from this dream.

Before he can land on a single conclusion, a firm force presses against his erection, hands easing up on his neck as your focus shifts. Mahito whimpers as your knee rubs his cock up and down, making it twitch like crazy as his eyes are blown wide. By the time you're sinking your teeth into his neck, he's blabbering uselessly with his eyes rolled back. "Thank you, darling. I-I love you."

He wheezes out in between noises of sheer pleasure, receiving a sharp slap that stings his cheek in response. The impact is the only thing he needs to go tumbling over the edge, staining his pants with hot white cum and punctuating it with an erotic moan.

He's barely given a second to recover when you stand up, seemingly going back to bed for the night. "Now get the hell out. Don't let me catch you here again." Mahito nods, scrambling to get up and adjust his clothes before running out of the house. Once alone he smiles, slumping down in a nearby alleyway to calm down and checking the new additions to the various markings littering his body.

There's no way in hell he's not coming back tomorrow.

part 2?

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

a/n: side note but i absolutely adore mahito's dub voice ♥︎ i can def see him being whiny n bratty (maybe in pt 2?) but wanted to focus on his masochism for this ⠒̫⃝

[jiraisupportgroup]

First of all - I'd like to note that this post is not intended to pressure anyone to change or to make people feel ashamed for the position they are in in life. I feel like a lot of people don't understand that being in this position is not often a choice. A majority of the time there are mental illnesses or chronic physical illnesses which lead someone to this point. It isn't like they're just hanging out at home all day having a blast - it is emotionally and physically taxing to be in this position, and it can be incredibly hard to break out. Not impossible!! Just very hard.

It is not as simple as "just go outside" "just get a job" etc; that kind of advice is not helpful. This post is mostly aimed at people who want to make some sort of change in their routine. Again, if you don't want to change or don't feel a need to - I'm not here to pressure you into changing your life or to tell you you are wrong for living this way - you're not, you're okay I promise. More so this is for people who are thinking about changing things up or adding a little more structure to their life.

Keep in mind - there is no shame in this. If you're looking at your daily log of activities and it isn't what you want it to be that is okay! Don't beat yourself up or be down on yourself for not being perfect or not being where you want to be. This is just so we can identify trends in our behaviours and more clearly see the things we want to cut back on or the things we want to add to our daily / weekly routines.

Try to keep this in a place where it is easy to keep track of. I typically recommend something digital like a notes app on the phone or a google document since you can access that from a computer or your phone - that way it's much easier to just pop in and write a simple note like "10am - had a bagel for breakfast", or a little pocket notebook that you can keep on your person. Make it as easy for yourself as possible.

It can also help to add little notes about how certain activities make you feel or your general mood throughout the day. This doesn't have to be extensive, but something like "Took a shower, feel refreshed but exhausted", or "2-4pm scrolling TikTok, I don't feel anything, I'm a little irritated". Keeping in mind how certain activities make you feel is a good step in identifying how different things affect your mental health and overall energy / stress levels. This can also help us start to see some of the underlying reasons for some of your behaviours. If you start to see why you do or don't like doing certain things, you can have a better understanding of yourself and how you can go about changing certain habits.

For example if you absolutely 100% detest doing the dishes, the feeling, the smell, how long it takes, etc, it isn't going to be very helpful to have a "just do it" approach to building the habit. It will become much easier if we also adopt other things into this such as having a dish-washing chair, a special soap, or gloves to make the process more bearable before throwing yourself head-first into it.

Some goals are easier to identify than others. For example "I want to brush my teeth every night" is a pretty identifiable goal and the steps you need to take to achieve that goal are pretty straightforward. Other goals like "I want to feel more productive" or "I want to have more energy" are vague and difficult to achieve in themsevles, so we need to break them down.

What does each goal mean to you? What does "being more productive" mean? Does it mean keeping your room clean? Creating a physical product or hobby? Achieving smaller goals throughout the day? Exercising more? Trading social media for something like a book? Learning something new? What smaller aspect of this larger idea stands out to you? Once it is broken into parts it's much easier to work on one aspect at a time instead of just trying to change everything overnight.

Other goals seem like too much, like "I want to be able to go to the grocery store by myself". That's an easily identifiable goal, but it's a BIG goal. There are likely steps you'll have to take to work up to this goal, and those steps are heavily tied to the reasons why you don't like going to the grocery store in the first place. If the crowds make you anxious - going out with friends or family to less crowded places, or going to the grocery store at less busy times of day could help. If the food items stress you out - going out to places like office supply stores that don't carry food items or going to the store without the intent of buying anything just to walk around and get used to it might be helpful. Some stores like Kroger, Ingles, or Target often have little coffee shops in them - maybe going to one of these with friends just to get a snack and hang out can help expose you to the idea of the store itself without the pressure of having to pick out what you're buying or the pressure of interacting with the cashier so you don't have to tackle it all at once. Or if you typically get groceries delivered to your house, maybe you could do a purchase online pick up in-store thing one day - you don't have to spend much time in the actual store, and you don't have to pick items out while you're there, but it'll get you to the actual store and then you can just go home right afterwards. Try to find ways to get slowly closer and closer to your final goal without throwing yourself headfirst into it. (One thing I will say specifically about going to the grocery store is try to avoid planning out exactly what you're going to purchase beforehand - I used to do this and I would end up crying in the middle of the store if they didn't have the exact bread they wanted, it backfired on me more than once T-T so do that at your own risk).

Write out as many or as few goals as you can think of. These are long-term goals, so if your list feels really long don't worry! You don't have to do all of this at once! In fact, I implore you not to try and do too many of these things at once! Try not to get overwhelmed if it feels like a lot - you've got time, this is not a once-and-done kind of thing, we're going to take it slow and try to be reasonable with ourselves and our expectations of ourselves.

But how do you pick a goal? There's a lot of ways you could do this. Some people like to try and go for the one that seems the hardest first - I've never really had luck with this I usually just give up when I feel like it's too hard. Some people try to pick the one that seems the easiest to ease themselves into it - this is always nice because it can help you feel like you're actually making progress and changing things. Some people pick ones that overlap. Like if you want to spend less time on social media and more time doing a hobby like knitting - you can combine those two goals into "trade social media time for knitting" to kind of tackle two things at once. Try not to combine too many things together - we do still want these goals to be small and separate from each other - but smaller ones like that it is okay to and makes sense to combine together.

So! You've picked a goal to work towards! Yay! How do we do that? It depends on the goal you've picked. If it's something physical like showering, brushing your teeth, vacuuming, doing the dishes, going for a walk, or cooking dinner, it's a little easier to track. Setting reminders or keeping a log of when you do these things can help, some people like having weekly or daily checklists to keep track of what has been done and when. Try to avoid putting too many things on the checklist - we don't want to overwhelm ourselves, remember we're just working on one thing right now.

For others, picking a certain day of the week or time of day to do these things can help as well. Having a set time or day for certain activities can help set the routine of doing them, and also makes it a little easier to keep track of when they are done. If you miss these days or times don't beat yourself up! Try to avoid the feeling of "oh well I was supposed to shower at 7pm and now it's 10pm so I missed my opportunity" you can deviate from the timeframes you set for yourself they're just a guide. But over time if you decide you're going to brush your teeth at 9pm every night, after a month or two you'll start being like "oh it's 9pm I'm going to go brush my teeth" it becomes a second-hand habit that you don't have to think about too hard after a few months.

If it is a more nebulous or vague goal, we might want to make a roadmap. Like if your end goal is "I want to be able to keep my room clean consistently" there's a lot that goes into that. Often that includes dishes, taking the trash out, doing laundry, folding the laundry, vacuuming, etc. Trying to take all of that on at once can be really overwhelming! Start small. Let's say, maybe every other night you want to take the dishes from your room to the kitchen. Just focus on that. Or maybe you want to make your bed every day. Or maybe you want to do your laundry once a week. Pick one aspect to focus on for a while, and slowly build on that. After about 2 weeks of taking your dishes to the kitchen every other night, maybe you can add washing them into that. Or after doing your laundry once a week for about a month, you can add folding it into that. If you ease yourself into it, it gets much easier to actually build these habits and not super overwhelm yourself right off the bat. And if you miss a day, that's okay! I'm not expecting you to set a goal and then immediately be able to do it all the time, and you shouldn't expect that of yourself either. Go easy on yourself. Slow progress is still progress. Maybe you're not making your bed every day, but making it once or twice a week is still progress! And over time that once or twice a week will evolve into three or four times a week. And it'll just keep going from there.

On the other hand, if you're trying to STOP doing something as much - the approach is often a little different. Some people like to use timers or notes to show when they last did something so they can see how long it's been or notice changes in whether they're doing it more or less frequently. If it's something like trying to cut back on social media you can set time limits on your phone for how long you're allowed to use each app. These are easy enough to bypass but often times having that reminder of "Hey it's been 15 minutes your time limit is up" can be a reminder to yourself that you want to be more mindful of how long you're spending on these apps, even if you just extend the time limit when it pops up.

Set up alternatives for yourself! It's really hard to say "oh I just won't do that anymore", give yourself something else to do instead. If you want to spend less time on social media, you might instead spend more time reading, drawing, or even playing video games. (Trading social media for video games is a healthy trade I will die on this hill - I don't care how many articles you've seen saying they're just as bad as each other I promise you Persona 5 is not as bad as Twitter for your mental health). If you want to stop smoking, instead have gums, lollipops or a drink you enjoy; or practice breathing techniques when you want to smoke; or if you vape try switching to a lower concentration juice (I'm also trying to stop smoking so I feel you on this it's a tough one). If you're trying to stop SH, have other things like ice cubes, rubber bands, pens, or something that will give you a physical sensation without causing harm (or as much harm). Work with yourself, identify what you're getting from each of these things, and try to make a trade for something that is a little better for you but still gives you some of that thing that you want. Don't beat yourself up if you do still engage in these habits, it is hard to stop. Instead of punishing yourself for still doing these things, praise yourself for doing them less often. (And if you're not doing them less often, praise yourself for being aware of your habits in the first place).

The hardest thing about this whole process is getting the motivation to start. Once you get started it's much easier to keep it going, but that first push to get the ball rolling is the hardest part. For a lot of things you can't wait until you feel like doing it - often that won't come. There are different ways people motivate themselves to do things they don't want to do. Ease yourself into it, don't do everything at once do the first step of the process and then take a little break. For example, if you're folding the laundry, separate it into categories then take a little break. When you come back fold one category, then take a break. Then do the next category. Over time the laundry will be all folded! Set a timer, think about how much time you could reasonably spend doing something. Let's say 10 minutes. Set a timer for 10 minutes, then start whatever task it is you want to do. If you want to clean your room maybe set a timer for 10 minutes and spend that time picking up trash. After those 10 minutes are up you're done. You can come back to more of it later. Often times you'll find that you're able to finish a lot of tasks faster than you thought you'd be able to, and if they're not finished oftentimes times you're more inclined to keep going once those 10 minutes are up since you've already started the ball rolling. Some people use a sort of "rip the bandaid off" technique where they set an alarm to go do something and as soon as that alarm goes off they just force themselves do it. This is hard at first but it does become easier. Think of it like you're jumping into a pool. 3...2...1... GO! Often that initial push to just start walking to go to the thing you want to do is the hardest, and once you're moving it becomes easier.

Tell a friend you're going to do it. Sometimes this helps you feel more motivated to do it since you're giving yourself a little bit of outside pressure to complete the task. On this note, weirdly enough, stretching can help you get motivated to do harder tasks. Like if you want to take the trash out but you're laying in bed, stretching in bed just to get your blood moving can sometimes help you get that initial push to get up and take the trash out.

Work with yourself. Try different approaches, and celebrate your successes no matter how small they may seem. Over time you will find things do get easier, and after tackling one small goal for a month or two, you can add another small goal into the mix.

Some popular app recommendations (I'm so sorry this list is so short - hoping to add to it in the future)

IAmSober - Andriod and IOS - allows you to set multiple goals of things you want to stop doing and shows you timers for how long it's been since you last engaged in that habit.

Flora - Google Play, IOS, and Chrome Extension - sets a timer for how long you don't want to use your phone or computer, once you finish this timer without using your device it grows a tree, and adds that tree to your garden. I used to use this for studying back in college and I quite enjoyed it.

HabitShare - Android, Google Play, and IOS - set habits and keep track of when you've completed them, you can also link with friends to see each other's habits too (although, this is optional you can also keep it private).

These are the best-rated free apps I could find for this kind of thing, if there are others that you use or have used in the past please feel free to comment or rb I would love to be able to add to this list.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope this can be at least a little helpful and I hope it doesn't come off as a "just do it" kind of vibe. I know getting the motivation to start building new or breaking old habits is realllllly hard so hopefully, this is at least a bit helpful T-T

As always, I love you guys and I'm proud of you for being here and doing what you can ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎ��˗ please feel free to comment or send in any questions, comments, concerns, additions, or anything of that sort ~ ♡

[treasure-mimic]

Psychopomp and What Things Mean When They Don't Mean Anything

So if you haven't noticed or you don't follow me, I recently became interested in a small, one-man dev team indie game by name of Psychopomp. As a brief synopsis and pitch, Psychopomp is a game about a woman who seemingly suffers from paranoid delusions, through the lens of this narrator she tells us that there's a labyrinth of catacombs hidden underneath every public building and sets out to explore them to uncover the world's secrets, armed with nothing but a store bought hammer.

The game's intro puts it in words better than I could and more influential than any pitch is just seeing the protagonist's design.

As one commentator states, she looks like a skateboard mascot from the mid-2000s. Like she should be on those posters with a snarky quip just fucked up enough to catch those pearl clutching puritans off guard. I love the style and I love the tone and I love the premise.

This might be the best time to note that if you're interested in playing this game, you should stop reading here, as this discussion will contain spoilers. It's a short game, took me about 3 hours on my first playthrough, and it's pretty cheap, even has a free demo in the form of the base version with Psychopomp Gold serving as the expanded, completed experience.

Anyways.

I've always found conspiracy theories fascinating but in the modern age it can be hard to immerse yourself in these reality-detached belief systems without acknowledging, you know, the racist dogwhistling and tangible physical harm it's causing to society at the present moment. Psychopomp is able to pretty gracefully sidestep this issue by setting its anarchic anti-government sentiments against its protagonist's paranoid delusions rather than adherence to a faith or belief system.

Indeed, the game seems to take systemic beliefs as its central enemy. The entities that are necessary to kill to progress through its levels are defined by the systems they interact in, historical figures of elevated status, keystone positions in industrial manufacturing, even abstract systems like urbanism and DNA composition are posed as societal and oppressive. I'm not saying that there's no way to interpret the game in bad faith and make it directed at marginalized social, political, or ethnic groups, but I also struggle to imagine the person who takes the game literally on its face value?

Which I guess leads me to the main topic I wanted to discuss. The game very obviously has an unreliable narrator (for the record, the protagonist remains nameless for the bulk of the game, I will be referring to her as Venus as it's the closest she has to a name that's explicitly stated within the text itself) with the flavor of one whose intake of reality may be different from what's actually occurring. The game uses a combination of conspiratorial rambling and dream logic to stage its unreal tone; for example, one level delves into the "biology" of buildings, stating that they use graffiti to communicate and that black mold is a pheromone used to evacuate its inhabitants to allow for mating. Loading screens come with "Gameplay Tips" and "Real World Tips", both of which are often dense and inscrutable; for example you might get a pair like "Not all enemies are friends" and "Viruses do not exist. Illness is simply your body punishing you for what you've done wrong."

Surrealism and unreality as stylistic choices can be a bit of a tightrope walk to get right. On the one hand, if you make it explicit that a story takes place in a state that did not happen even within the story's universe, a dream or a hallucination, it can rob the narrative of its stakes, regardless of how well executed the internal metaphors are. Psychopomp very explicitly does not do this, regardless of what it is that Venus is experiencing, the game makes it clear through scientific logs and communications (as well as a brief epilogue set outside of her perspective) that something abnormal is happening, the question is just where in between normality and Venus's experiences does the truth of the game's narrative actually lie.

The other side of the tight rope is literal interpretation, presenting a setting that's absurd to our sensibilities but tangibly explainable, where meaning is supplanted by lore and the cosmology begins to solidify into a set of Calvinball rules that don't make sense, but are still adhered to, and this is the side Psychopomp threatens to lose me on. There is a credible argument to be made that there is no difference, that what Venus is experiencing is her reality without warping and distortion, it's a more credible argument than saying she completely fabricated all of it, and it's an argument I was starting to wonder wasn't the intended interpretation. Until I got the game's second, secret ending.

Psychopomp has one collectible that doesn't serve a direct gameplay purpose, but each catacomb has a key hidden away, often behind false mimic walls that bleed and scream when you hit them with your hammer, and which unlock new rooms in the only permanent location "Home". Initially a gray, cubical, concrete room with a single mattress and a small table with a radio on it, collecting keys allows you to further explore outside(?)/within(?) the home with a unique camera perspective and limited interaction. In the first layer there's a blob man who cries out in torment, demanding to know why you specifically made the world like this, giving some credence to the deification of Venus implied by the game's ending. In the last layer, Venus traverses underneath and past her own brain to unlock a repressed memory.

I take this as confirmation that there's some level of abstraction at play here. Under scrutiny it feels as though there must be some level of abstraction at play here because when taken as a whole, the conspiracies start becoming outright contradictory, even if you try to take the cosmology at play as fact, which are the closest thing to objective facts that we have.

See, Venus's perspective takes place an alternate Earth, one that both seemingly was broken off from the planet and now orbits it like a new moon but also has always existed. One of the locations is a natural history museum which explains the history of sentience on this counter-earth, humans rose, went extinct, were supplanted by a species called the thrait, then humans returned in a mutated form and retook the surface and forced the thrait back underground (though the museum also refers to the thrait as extinct despite being the most common friendly NPC you will encounter). Another location seems to imply that the humans of this world, or maybe only some of them, are artificial clay creatures, reinforced by the arbiters of the DNA factory too being clay alleles. The Human Seedbed even has the game's most effective jumpscare in it, where Venus cannot leave the area without being confronted with a jittering clay facsimile of herself.

But with that in mind, what the hell is Venus then? By no account is she one of these artificial clay people but then how did she get here? The game's introduction implies that she used to be a normal person, or at least closer to, with lived experiences inclusive of complete ignorance to this underworld, the game's endings imply that she's an immortal god-being who has been intentionally working towards her own reawakening, and that is actually one of the least ambiguous plot points within the narrative. None of the pieces of this world lock together to form a cohesive vision of a setting that operates on even the barest of internal rules, and yet the game in the same step refuses to be a character study or subconscious examination, I mean the epilogue is a damn sequel hook that involves assembling the damn Avengers to combat the ramifications of the events of the game.

So, I come to realize, I'm the problem. I might, in fact, be thinking about this too hard.

One of the locations in the game is called "Daddy's Bad Place". It is a single, tiny room of a house or apartment, frozen in a moment of tearing itself apart, that only contains a dusty old TV set with a small, pointless ornament sitting on top. In any other surrealist game, this isolated circle of clarity, a compact orb of recognizable terrain, would be a moment to deliver one single jolt of reality into the metaphor of the protagonist's journey through their own subconscious.

In Psychopomp the TV turns on and delivers a distorted warning about a giant insect which is deadly, deceitful, and above all, not real.

In Daddy's Bad Place I come to realize something. The lore is fake, the characterization is fake, the dichotomy of truth and delusion is fake, the insect is not real. Let's think about what I'm doing here for a moment, right? I'm trying to discern the truth from within a work of fiction. None of its true, none of it happened, what difference does it actually make?

The thing about conspiracy theories is that they don't make logical sense. It's a known phenomenon that conspiracy theorists love to debate, but cannot be reasoned out of their beliefs by facts or logic. There is never a counter, but always a failsafe argument that can be retreated to for safety. What conspiracy theories do make is emotional sense, they make narrative sense. The line that initially sold me on Psychopomp was one of the aforementioned loading screen tips, "All the food you've ever eaten is rotten. You have never tasted fresh food."

Patently false statement, does not hold under scrutiny, but I, as someone who lives in America and lives in a city center and has to get all my food through corporations, can look at a statement like that and say yeah. Checks out. I believe you. We would know if children were being smelted into egg slicers underneath public schools, but it resonates with our emotions about the systems of education we enforce upon children, so it could be true. We would know if buildings were a living, reproducing organism, but it resonates with the feelings of being born into a world where urbanism exists, has existed as permanent fixtures of the world, and is continuously encroaching upon the face of the world, so it could be true.

Anyone who understands the fundamentals of incentives and human psychology does not need to believe that there is a coordinated group of ontologically evil individuals driving the world to ruin for ruin's sake, but that narrative still feels true, it becomes validating in the ways that it plays off of the emotions of believers until it becomes a foundational pillar of belief that cannot be destroyed by logical contradiction.

Psychopomp, in the same way, presents information about its internal systems that cannot be true logically but form self-justification anyways through emotional resonance. It doesn't matter if the lore works because its stated, it isn't wrong, so it must be a truth. This is the way that Psychopomp emulates the unreality of the conspiracy theory in a way that can avoid the disturbing implications of the real world practice. I've made comparison to surrealism by dream logic and surrealism by internal self-reflection, but this is a different mode entirely and the game simply refuses to operate by those tropes at its core. Conspiracy is itself contradiction, not the soft contradiction of two halves of a dream that don't lock together, but the hard contradiction of attempting to apply emotion and narrative to a waking world that rejects either premise. Psychopomp, then, is surrealism by way of conspiracy.

[wizard-on-whales]

Snowed in

I'm not sure if I qualify for the contest, and it's completely fine if I don't, but I wanted to include a fic anyway :)

I've actually had an idea like this in my head for a while now so I finally have an excuse to write it

Warnings: Mentions of hunting, injury, cursing, mentions of blood and needles, smut, slight angst, slow burn?, older reader (I know.. again.. sorry)

This one's a long one so buckle up... 8.1k words

✭-----------------------------✭

Every year James would take a trip up to a small hunting cabin he owned in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of Washington state. This year his plans were no different, besides with his recent struggles after getting out of rehab he didn't want to go alone. So that's how you ended up tagging along with him. You and James had been close friends all of your life, your band and his band getting along and touring for years. So it was no surprise to you when he asked if you wanted to take the trip with him. So now here you were on the back of a snowmobile, arms wrapped around James’ waist and he navigated through the thick snow and overgrowth to the old cabin.

Despite its rough for wear shape on the outside, with its dirty, old glass windows, and the roof sagging slightly, the inside was spotless. And much to your surprise, knowing how James can be, everything seemed to have a place and was well organized. You had never been up here with him before as it had always been some kind of safe haven for him to get away from everyone for a few weeks. You kicked the snow off of your boots, placing them on the mat by the front door as you stepped inside. The cabin had running water but no electricity which meant the only heat source you could get from the bitter cold was from the old iron wood stove in the corner. James wasted no time as he threw several logs into it, lighting them up. The small room was quickly engulfed in the warmth it put off.

You continued to study the cabin, looking over the old drawings James had done and pinned to the walls. You smiled as you studied them, always loving the strange doodles he would sketch.

“You're the first person I've brought here,” He spoke, sniffing slightly as his nose ran from the cold. You turn to look back at him huddled in his oversized winter coat, his red nose pressed against the scarf he had on.

“Really? I'm honored to be the first,” You give him a genuine smile that he returns before continuing to look around. He has a few photos of his family hung up, a few with his kids, some with his band mates, and even a few with you. You laugh softly as you pull one off the wall. It was a photo from yours and James’ senior prom. Neither of you wanted to go but his older brother and your mom insisted on it and made you go anyway.

“That dress was hideous,” You exclaim, staring at the very 70s looking prom dress your mom had picked out for you. The bottom was ruffled and billowed out, the sleeves three times too big. And your hair was teased to the max. James laughs as he looks over your shoulder to get a glimpse of the photo.

“At least you looked decent,” You giggle, looking at a young James wearing his little tux and bowtie. His hair wasn't much different from how he wore it for several years after, fluffed out, bangs in his face, and as blonde as ever.

“You don't look that bad,” James says, trying not to laugh. You turn and hit him in the chest, letting out a snort as he teases you. James takes the photo from your hand, admiring it for a few seconds longer before putting it back with the others. His smile quickly turns into a frown as he takes in a few of the other photos. Several being him and his now ex wife. You knew the divorce had hit him hard and you had tried your best to offer him comfort the past few years after he had told you about it. James takes the photos down, stacking them into a pile and covering them. You give him a soft smile, resting your hand on his back and rubbing it through the thick fabric of his coat.

“It'll get better,” You say quietly, trying to offer some condolence. James nods his head, letting out a sigh.

“Yeah, I know,” He says sadly, stepping away from the photos and turning his attention back to the fire. He doesn't speak any longer as he opens the small door on the stove and pokes at the hot coals with a metal rod.

“If you're hungry I can probably fix us something,” You speak, breaking the sullen silence that had fallen over the cabin. You glance out the small window next to the door as you wait for his answer. The snowmobile sat just outside, a small sled attached to the back holding all of the gear you would need for the next few weeks.

“Yeah I could use a bite of something,” He speaks as he closes the door and sets the rod down. You answer by nodding your head before slipping your boots back on and stepping back into the cold. The wind nips at your face, instantly turning your cheeks red. You couldn't lie to yourself that you felt alone as you looked around. Despite James' company, the rural area and the jagged mountains around you made you feel a little uneasy. The trees that surrounded the cabin were tall, bushy pine trees that seemed to blend perfectly into the sky. The heavy white snow clung to their branches causing them to creak and groan with every gust of wind. You shivered, not being able to comprehend how James could spend days up here by himself.

You tread through the thick snow, following the same footsteps you made as you came in. James follows you out to help you unload the gear and drag it all into the cabin. He helped you carry the canvas and leather bags, grabbing the ones he knew would be too heavy for you to lift. He threw them over his shoulders with no problem as he walked back inside. You grabbed your own bag and one of the coolers full of food before following him. The snow that had clung to your shoes and the bags melted into the floor, creating small pools of water that sat on the old, polished wood floors. You stare at the puddles, looking around to see if there was anything you could clean them up with so that neither of you slip or get wet. James tosses you a towel, giving you no time to react as it hits you in the face and falls to the floor. He lets out a hearty laugh, watching as you give him an annoyed pout.

“I thought you'd catch it,” He tries to defend himself, his voice still holding back a laugh. You roll your eyes, bending over to grab the towel off of the floor.

“You didn't warn me,” You huff, kneeling down to clean up some of the water and swipe the excess snow back out the door. James closes the door for good once you've finished.

“It's too late in the afternoon to really do anything so we'll just stay in here for the rest of the night,” He explains, kneeling down to organize some of the bags. He finds one of the coolers, pushing it over towards the stove before grabbing one of his own bags. As you finish wiping the floor, you toss the towel on the rubber mat next to the door, knowing you'll need it again. You slip your boots off and place them on the mat as well before sliding your thick coat off and hanging it in the coat rack. You were still bundled in plenty of layers, your sweatshirt warming you enough. You pad over to the cooler James had slid across the floor, the zipper making a loud sound as you pulled on it to open the lid.

“What do you want me to fix? There's plenty in here,” You ask him, watching as he pulls some candles out of his bag to add to the collection of the old, half melted ones he had placed everywhere.

“Uhmm…let's save the more filling things for when we've actually done some stuff. Something light is fine,” He doesn't give you a direct answer as he lights the candles. You take this as your sign to just choose whatever you were in the mood for. You pulled out a box of hamburger helper, deciding that would be plenty for the night.

“Where are the pans?” You ask him, standing up from your spot and looking around the room. James pointed to the small kitchen before speaking up.

“Under the sink.” He replied, going back to lighting the candles. You nod, walking over to the sink and pulling back the small curtain that was fastened underneath. A small stack of pans sat under it. You grab a heavy cast iron skillet, wiping some of the dust off with your hand before walking back to the stove and setting it down on top. You had never cooked on a wood stove before so you didn't know how well it could end but you proceeded on anyway.

As you prepared dinner, James pulled out the sleeping bags and mats, rolling them out on the floor in the corner. The cabin was only the single room, plus the dingy bathroom that had been added who knows how long ago. There wasn't any room for a couch or bed so sleeping on the floor was the only option. You wanted to laugh at him as he unrolled your own sleeping bag right next to his but you knew it would be warmer that way so you bit your tongue. Plus, after years of touring with him and being forced to share a hotel room, privacy didn't exist between the two of you anymore.

“Is that almost done?” He questions, his voice sounding desperate. You roll your eyes at his impatience, glancing back at him.

“Almost…does that clock work?” You reply before asking him a question. You look at the clock above him, seeing the second hand tick as every minute passes. It read 4:30 PM but you glanced outside the window, seeing nothing but darkness. Your heart sped up as you looked out, wondering what could possibly be staring back at you.

“Yeah, it's the same time on my watch,” He answers, looking from the clock, to his watch, back to you. You scoop dinner into a few camp cups, sliding a spoon into each before you join him on the floor.

“Huh, I guess I didn't realize it was getting dark so early already,” You say, knowing it usually gets dark early this time of year, but not realizing just how dark it gets since you're typically near the city lights. James takes his cup from your hand as you hold it out for him, the hot food inside warming up your hands. You both sit on your sleeping bag, backs against the wall as you eat, talking about nothing in particular. It had been so long since you had been able to sit down and have a proper conversation like this with James, you didn't realize just how much you had missed his company. With covid locking you in your house the past year and the general chaos that surrounds touring schedules it was hard to have genuine one on one time. He always had a way of making you laugh until you couldn't breath, even if it was something simple.

As the two of you finished your dinner, scraping the last bits out of the cups the conversation died down to a comfortable silence. The wind howled loudly outside as a small storm moved in from the surrounding mountains. You listen as a lone wolf starts to yelp in the distance, quickly being followed by a whole pack. You can't help but feel anxiety pool in your stomach at the thought of a group of wolves being somewhere close by. The only thing keeping them from you was the thin walls of the cabin. James seemed calm enough as he listened quietly to their howling.

“How do you stand being all the way out here by yourself?” You ask quietly, glancing over at him. He smiled, fiddling with the empty cup in his hands as he thought of an answer.

“It's scary sometimes, but being in the city scares me too. I'd rather be out here like God intended, nothing but trees and animals,” You nod your head at his response, his words being no surprise to you. You reach over and grab his cup from his hand, standing up to take them over to the sink. There was a second window that sat above it, this one slightly bigger. As you rinsed the cups out, you watched the snow fall heavily outside. You had always loved the snow, winter being your favorite since a child. It was magical to watch it fall from the sky, the white powder seeming to stop time and making the world feel quiet and empty.

“Do you remember back in, what, ‘85 I think, when we were driving to your dad's house for Christmas and our car got stuck in the snow and we walked the rest of the way?” James’ voice is quiet as he speaks but you were able to hear it clearly from across the room. You walk back towards him, taking your place next to him as you smile fondly at the memory.

“I thought I was gonna freeze to death, we were idiots for not waiting for someone to pull us out,” James laughs as he remembers the almost 2 hour trek through the thick snow and your complaints the entire way. By the time the two of you had gotten to the house you swore your fingers were going to fall off.

“I remember the way your dad yelled at us for not doing that. I swear I thought he was gonna kill us,” James smiles, shaking his head at the thought. You had always been close with your family and since James had a strained relationship with his, they welcomed him with open arms. Your parents had been second parents to him, inviting him to every holiday and on every vacation. And because of that, your dad didn't hesitate to scold him like his own child.

The two of you continue to talk about old memories, reminding each other of things the other one had long forgotten about. After a while your eyes start to droop as exhaustion starts to set in. You glance up at the clock seeing that it's nearing midnight. You let out a small yawn, stretching your arms.

“It's getting late, we should probably go to bed,” James agrees, looking at the clock himself before shuffling around the cabin to get ready for bed. You both change out of your thick winter gear and into some warm pajamas, not caring about privacy as you had seen it all before. You crawl into your sleeping bag before James, watching as he blows out the candles. Your sleeping bag was in the corner, where James assumed you would have wanted it. His was next to yours so you were trapped between the wall and him as he crawled into his. Despite blowing out all of the candles the cabin was still illuminated by the fire in the stove. He had thrown a few extra logs in before laying down so that it would continue to bring through the night and well into the morning, keeping you as warm as it could. Despite that, you still shivered. The mats underneath the sleeping bags did little to keep your body off of the cold floor and even though you had a few blankets wrapped around you, there was still a lack of warmth. James lay still, his eyes closed as he seemed content, he was always hot so you assumed he wasn't as cold as you were. You curled up further, bringing your legs to your chest as you tossed and turned, trying to fight the cold and fall asleep.

“Are you cold?” James whispered, his voice already laced with sleep.

“Freezing,” you huff, rubbing your hands up and down your legs in an attempt to get rid of some of the goose bumps. James pulled his hand out, unzipping his sleeping bag and holding it open.

“Come here then,” He says casually. It wasn't the first time the two of you had cuddled, it was a frequent thing when the two of you were younger. Several lonely nights were spent in eachothers arms as you looked for comfort in one another. Although sharing a sleeping bag seemed like a new level of close proximity. You hesitate for a second but the idea of his warmth pressed against you made you give in. You crawled out of your sleeping bag, dragging one of the blankets with you before scooting into his. He zips it back up as you press your back to his chest and rest your head on his pillow. He puts his arm back into the sleeping bag, wrapping it around your waist before dropping his head back onto the pillow, his face in your hair.

With him pressed against you, your goosebumps quickly faded and sleep began to overtake you. The comfort of his arms and the warmth of his body seemed to rock you to sleep instantly. But maybe it was just an instinct from the many times he had practically rocked you to sleep when you've cried over something and confided in him. He knew how to calm you down quickly, as did you with him. For years, you were the only person he would cry in front of, the only person he felt he could be vulnerable with, to be his true self with. And because of that, you in his arms felt right, it always had.

The sound of James snoring loudly in your ear is what woke you up the next morning. You shifted in his arms, looking at him. His silver hair was tousled all over the place and his mouth hung open slightly as he snores, drool pooling onto the pillow and onto your hair. You scrunch your face in disgust, pulling your hair away and wiping some of his saliva off of it. You quietly and slowly unzipped the sleeping bag, crawling out of James grasp without waking him. He stirred slightly, closing his mouth but continued to snore.

You slip on a hoodie over your long sleeve shirt, hoping to stay warmer as you start to prepare breakfast. The logs that James had thrown into the stove the night before had burned down to small coals so you threw a few more on, poking at them to get a fire started. You open up the cold foods cooler and pull a pack of sausage out along with a bag of frozen potatoes to make for breakfast. The cast iron skillet from last night was still on the stove top so you quickly take it to the sink to rinse it out before setting it back down, dumping the food into it. James stirs again, turning on to his back and rubbing his eyes.

“Good morning,” you speak quietly, your voice still groggily. He opens his eyes and looks at you, giving you a small smile before returning your words.

“You sure you don't wanna go with me today?” James asks as he sits up. When he invited you on the trip you gladly accepted but you told him you didn't want to be involved in the actual hunting process. Your soft spot for animals would make it difficult to watch if he found something to shoot. So, instead of going out into the woods with him and tracking a deer or elk, you told him you would stay back at the cabin.

“I'm sure, I'll probably just get in your way anyway,” You tell him, stirring the food in the pan so that it doesn't burn or stick. He nods his head, slipping out of his sleeping bag and getting dressed for the day. The kitchen had a small island with two wooden chairs pushed under it so he pulled one out and sat down as you finished up breakfast. You scoop the potato and sausage mixture onto two separate plates, handing one to him and sitting down next to him.

“So when you're out there do you walk around the whole time or do you find a place to stop and stay there for the day?” You question his hunting tactics, taking a bite of your food. He explains them to you as the two of you eat.

“I usually find some tracks to follow for a little while and once I feel like I've gotten close I'll hunker down and stay quiet,” James quickly scarfed down his food before he started to rummage through his gear, getting his things ready. He throws a backpack on, slinging his gun over his shoulder before looking back at you as you finish the last bites of breakfast.

“You gonna be okay here by yourself?” He asks, his face trying to hide its concern. He knew you could handle yourself but that didn't stop him from worrying.

“I'll be okay, I brought a few books so I'll probably just read. Please be safe,” You tell him, worrying about him as well. James nods his head and tells you his goodbyes before he steps outside and disappears for the day. You hear the snowmobile start up and drive off, the noise from it fading as he leaves. The cabin was even quieter without him, the only noise coming from the crackling of the fire and the ticking of the clock. You glance over at it, seeing the time reads 8 am. You let out a small sigh, wondering how to pass the time before you decide to organize some of your things better. All of the gear was still thrown into a pile in the middle of the cabin from when you arrived yesterday afternoon. It doesn't take you long to organize the bags, placing the food coolers onto the kitchen counters, your clothing bags next to your sleeping bags, and everything else piled near the door. You grab a book from your bag, sitting back down on your sleeping bag deciding that's how you would pass time until James came back.

As the hours went by a storm started to pick up outside. You set your book down, getting up to look out the window. The wind blows harshly, snow flying every which way which makes it hard for you to see anything. The dark storm clouds overhead cast a shadow over the forest, darkening it more than you liked. Your heart speeds up, thinking about James being trapped somewhere in this. You stay planted by the window, watching the storm get worse minute by minute, praying James is safe. The wind howls loudly, causing the cabin to creak with each harsh gust it blows. The trees outside twist and turn, throwing heavy piles of snow off of them. Any one of them could fall at any minute, crashing through the cabin or trapping James under one while he's out there. Finally after what seems like forever, you hear the snowmobiles engine off in the distance. You rip the door open, keeping a heavy hold on It so that it doesn't get blown off of its hinges. You scream his name over the wind, hoping he can hear you. The cold chill pierces through your clothes like a thousand needles, the snow blows against your face, causing you to bring your arm up to cover it. James pulls up, quickly turning the snowmobile off before stumbling inside, grabbing your arm to pull you in. You slam the door behind you, locking it so that the wind can't enter.

“Are you okay?” You sat frantically, keeping a hold on him. You couldn't see his face since he had his hood pulled tightly over him, his snow blinds were fastened over his eyes and a scarf pulled up over his nose. He drops his bag and gun by the door, pulling his gear off of his face.

“Yeah…yeah kind of,” he says out of breath. He has a small cut on his cheek, which catches your attention, you grab his arm to pull him closer but he winces harshly as you do, ripping his arm away. You give him a look before gently grabbing his arm, pulling up his jacket sleeve. Underneath he wore a long sleeve shirt which was soaked in a sticky red liquid.

“James,” You scold him, seeing that he is in fact not okay. He shrugs his coat off before pulling his sleeve up to reveal a heavy gash on his arm, blood still dripping out of it. Your eyes widen at the sight as you grab his shoulders, making him take a seat at the island in the kitchen.

“I panicked when the storm started to hit. Slipped and fell right against my knife,” James winces as he tries to laugh and lighten the situation. You were in no mood though as you tried to think about how to stop the bleeding.

“This is deep James…it's gonna need stitches,” you gently took his arm in your hands, inspecting the wound.

“We can't go out there in that storm…we'll get lost on our way back…there's a first aid kit in the bathroom, some fishing line and a sewing kit in my pack,” James tells you casually. Your eyes went wide as you realized what he's suggesting.

“No..there's no way in hell I'm doing that,” You panic, thinking about trying to stitch James up yourself. He takes a deep breath, trying to control the pain as he looks at you with desperation. You look back at him, thinking for a few moments before looking towards his bleeding arm and letting out a heavy sigh. You march towards the bathroom, grabbing the first aid kit that sat on the sink before coming back out and setting it down. You open it up, taking some gauze out and pressing it to his arm, applying a firm amount of pressure. He winces again, sucking in a breath, his hand flexing a bit as you did.

“The fishing line and sewing kit should be in the front pocket of the bag I left with,” James moves your hand, applying pressure himself as you get up to grab the other items. Your hands shake as you walk back towards him, sitting down in the other chair. You flinch as another loud gust of wind blows against the cabin.

“I trust you,” James says quietly, looking at your face. You look up at him with concern before you pull a needle out, bending it so that it's curved.

“This is gonna hurt like a bitch ya know,” You speak, trying to make yourself feel better about the situation. James removed the blood soaked gauze, grabbing some more to press against his arm. As he tries to get the bleeding to die down you prepare everything you think you'd need. You sterilize the needle over a candle flame before dipping it in rubbing alcohol. You cut a section of fishing line off, letting it soak in the rubbing alcohol for a few minutes with the needle. You gently remove James' hand from his arm, taking a small rag and cleaning the wound the best you could. James sucks in another harsh breath, a strand of curses coming out of his mouth as the alcohol burns the open flesh.

“Sorry,” you say quietly, continuing to clean the wound. The bleeding has almost stopped which means you can attempt to sew him up. You grab the needle, threading the alcohol soaked fishing line through it before grabbing James arm. You hesitate, looking towards him, he gives you a nod and clenches his eyes shut. Slowly, you bring the needle to his skin, hands shaking as you piece the flesh. He flinches, swallowing thickly as he tries to hold back a scream. You stand up from the chair to try and get a better angle as you focus all of your attention on his arm, trying your hardest to stitch him up. With each agonizing minute, James continues to let out curses and the storm rages on outside. His other arm comes up to your waist, gripping it as he drops his head against your side.

“I'm almost done,” You try to reassure him, finishing the last stitch. You set the needle down, wiping the small drops of blood that escaped away. You grab some more of the gauze, securing it tightly around his forearm as you finish up. You run your hand through his hair, causing him to look up at you and towards his arm.

“I don't think I would have been able to do that myself, it's good you were here,” He says quietly, his voice tired and strained.

“Please don't ever make me do that again,” You try to smile, scolding him. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for James to injure himself in one way or another and for you to have to care for his minor injuries. This however was the worst thing he's made you do. He laughs slightly at your words, flexing his hand again as he stares at his covered arm. He keeps his other hand firmly on your waist, his thumb subconsciously rubbing your skin through your sweatshirt.

“My left arm has been through some shit,” James jokes, thinking about the few times he's broken it, the countless stitches he's gotten, and the pyro accident from ‘92. You take his hand in yours, playing with his fingers lightly, the scars from the burn still visible.

“I had to baby you for months after your burn,” You giggle, remembering all the times James was whining about his arm. You were in charge of applying the burn cream and helping him change his clothes for a while. James laughs as he remembers the memories, knowing he was probably over dramatic about it at times, especially if it meant he got attention from you.

He squeezes your side, bringing your attention from his arm back to his face. He had a soft smile, looking over you before bringing his hand up and tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Thank you,” He speaks quietly, his hand lingers near your face for a second before he pulls it away, setting it in his lap.

“Of course, I wasn't gonna let you bleed out on the floor,” You smile, taking a seat next to him. The blood that had dripped from his arm onto the table and floor had now soaked into the wood, the vibrant red darkening as it dried. You turn your attention to the window above the sink, seeing that the storm was still raging on. You had almost forgotten about it, too focused on trying to help James.

“I wasn't talking about my arm...just…thank you, for everything you've done for me…being by my side all these years,” He spoke softly, his gaze still lingering on you, watching as you looked out the window. He takes his good hand and grabs one of yours you had resting in your lap, giving it a squeeze. You loop your fingers with his, returning the motion.

“You don't have to thank me for that James, I'll always be here for you.” A silence falls over the cabin as James continues to look at you. You could have sworn you felt your cheeks heat up as he smiled softly at you, his warm hand still looped in yours. You look away, shyly, trying to find something you can turn your attention towards.

“Are you hungry,” You ask him, standing up from your spot and taking your hand away from him. You heard him let out a small sigh, a frown covering his face for a second before he answers and stands up.

“Yeah, I probably need to eat something,” James stumbles slightly as he stands, grabbing the counter for support before he regains his balance. You wondered for a second just how much blood he lost, concern filling you again. You walk over to him, helping him over to the sleeping bags. He slides down against the wall, closing his eyes as he leans his head back against it.

“Are you sure you won't throw up if you eat?” You question, knowing he's probably dizzy and not wanting to make him sick. He doesn't open his eyes but he nods his head.

“I won't throw up,” he gives you a reassuring smile. You turn back towards the kitchen, rummaging through the coolers and bags as you look for something to fix. You pull out a few things, deciding on steak knowing it's his favorite. You wash the cast iron skillet yet again before setting the steaks in the pan with some butter. You took out a knife, being careful as you pry open a can of corn and green beans to pour into a pot to go along with the steak. You set everything on the stove top, throwing another log in, the steak sizzling immediately. James opens his eyes as the smell of it quickly fills the cabin. You had your back turned to him as you stood at the stove, watching the food cook. He watched you as you cooked, loving the way you are always so focused on whatever task you're doing. You occasionally stir the pot with the corn and green beans in it and flip the steak when needed. It only took a few minutes to cook, the high heat from the stove cooking it quickly. Plus James liked his steaks bloody anyway. You plate dinner, and turn around to see him watching you. You step towards him, handing him his plate before sitting down next to him.

James mumbles a small thank you as he takes the plate from your hand and sets it on his lap. James grabs his knife with his left hand, attempting to grasp it so he could cut his steak, but the pain from his arm was still too strong for him to fully grip the knife. You notice his struggles, setting your own plate on your lap before reaching over and taking the knife from him, cutting his steak up into bites for him.

“You're gonna have to be careful to not break any of those stitches until we can leave. I don't want you to start bleeding again,” You tell him as you finish cutting his steak. You turn your attention to your own, cutting it into bite sized bits as well.

“I'll try not to but you know me, I'll end up breaking one by tonight,” He jokes, letting out a small snort as he stabs a piece of steak with his fork and pops it in his mouth.

“You aren't planning on still hunting are you? I'm not letting you go back out there with your arm like that. We'll have to leave in the morning if the storm passes,” James nods his head as he listens to your words but you could tell his mind was in a different place. You assumed he was trying to think of something different to take his mind off of the pain.

“We might get snowed in. I left the snowmobile out in the open so it'll probably get buried tonight,” You think about the snowmobile that sat just outside the cabin. There was a small lean-to over to the side that held chopped wood and had just enough space to park something underneath it. But with the wind blowing so wildly, even if he had parked it under there it would have still been covered. Your heart speeds up as you think about potentially being trapped out here, especially with James’ arm. It was at high risk of infection even if you cleaned everything as thoroughly as you could.

You don't respond to his words, deciding to just quietly eat your food as you think about how you're supposed to get back to where James had parked his truck hundreds of miles away. But the sound of forks scraping against the metal camp plates and James’ somewhat annoying open mouth chewing was enough to keep you from fully focusing on your thoughts.

“Hey, I'll be okay,” James spoke as he sensed your fears. He swallowed another bite, his face already less pale than it was just an hour before. You gave him a weak smile, setting down your fork and grabbing his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze so as to not hurt him further.

“You better be,” You say quietly, you couldn't help the voice crack that came when you spoke, a small tear rolling down your face. You go to quickly wipe it away, looking away from James but he gets to it before you. His trembling hand wipes the tear before he rests his palm fully against your cheek. You couldn't lie to yourself that you were incredibly scared of the situation the two of you were in. James, like always though, was handling it well, being a support for you although it should have been the other way around.

James' thumb strokes your cheek, wiping away another tear as it falls. He removes his hand for a second, grabbing the empty plate from your lap, setting it on top of his and then placing them on the floor, sliding them away.

“Come here,” The words ring familiar to your ears as he had spoken them the night before. He lays down on top of the sleeping bags, opening his arms up for you to lay against him. You don't hesitate to crawl against him, making sure you're on his right side before you lean your head on his chest. He wraps his arm around your shoulders, his hand rubbing up and down them slightly. You reach over to his left hand, grazing your fingers over his bandage before you tangle your fingers with his.

The world seems quiet as you lay in his arms, his breathing and heartbeat the only thing you hear. You glance up at him, he had his eyes closed as he relaxed. The warm glow from the fire cast a shadow over his face making his features seem younger, reminding you of when you were kids. He opens his eyes, and they meet yours, the blue from them piercing through you like ice. Without thinking you lean forward and place a kiss against his lips. They were warmer and softer than you had imagined, the taste of him something you'd never want to forget. You pull away, looking at him. Both of you seemed surprised at what just happened but that doesn't stop him from pulling you back into another one. His hand reaches over and grabs your thigh, trying to pull you on top of him. You don't hesitate to swing your leg over his, your body pressed fully against him as you deepen the kiss.

James wraps both of his arms tightly around you, his hand fully splayed against your back as he tries to pull you impossibly close. The thick layers of fabric covering both of you does nothing to hide his growing boner that is pressed between your legs. You move your hips slightly, grinding down against his causing him to let out a groan against your lips. He forces his tongue into your mouth, fighting for some kind of dominance. James holds you close as he changes positions, flipping you onto your back instead. His hands push under your shirt, causing you to jerk slightly as his cold skin touches yours. You both get lost in the kisses, slowly growing desperate as each second passes. James pulls away just long enough to pull your shirt over your head. He pulls his own off, tossing it to the side before leaning back down to connect your lips again. Your pleasure drunk brain seems to snap out of it as you push his shoulder back.

“James we shouldn't,” You mumble against his lips before pushing him away. His face drops, disappointment covering his features as he sits up. You sit up with him, grabbing his injured arm.

“I want to, but I don't want to hurt you,” You tell him quietly, your own disappointment visible. He watches intently as you run your finger over the gauze again, bringing it up his arm as you trace his tattoos.

“You won't hurt me, you can't hurt me,” he says quietly, goosebumps rising over his skin from your touch and the cold air of the cabin that nips at him. Despite that, he felt hot, his eyes trailing over your exposed torso, your hard nipples poking through the thin bra you wore. You look at him, before looking back at his arm, the gears turning in your head. You push him back so that he's leaning against the wall. He lets you puppet him, watching as your fingers make their way to his belt. His heart rate picks up as you unbuckle it, pulling it out of the loops and tossing it to the side. His boner pressed prominently against the fabric of his jeans, desperate to escape. You graze your hand over it through the fabric, causing his hips to raise. You unbuttoned his pants, slowly dragging them down his legs to expose him fully. You swallow thickly at the sight of him, anxiety and excitement pooling in your stomach as you had never been with someone as large as him. James sticks his fingers through the loops on your jeans pulling you into his lap, desperate to taste you again. You smile at the action, feeling his fingers trail up your back and unclip your bra. You slide it off and before you've even had time to drop it to the floor, James’ mouth is on your breasts. His tongue swipes over your nipples causing you to let out a soft moan. You dig your fingers into his hair, cradling his head as he gives your breast attention. You grind your hips down onto his again making him groan against your chest. He leaves small love bites before looking back at you.

“Take these off,” He says, his eyes never leaving yours as he unbuttons your jeans. You get off of his lap for a second, sliding them off before he immediately pulls you close again. You let out a surprised gasp when you feel his erection rub against your swollen lips. You grip his shoulders, hovering over him slightly before slowly pushing yourself down onto him. He throws his head back against the wall, his eyes squeezing shut from the pleasure. You bite your lip, the stretch was painful but you don't stop.

“Fuck you feel good,” He strains, opening his eyes to look down and watch himself disappear as you sit fully on top of him. You rest your forehead against his, your arms wrapping around his shoulders. One hand plays with the small gray curls that rest at the nape of his neck. His hands grip your hips as he holds himself back from pounding into you. Slowly, you start to rock your hips back and forth, letting yourself get used to his size. James continues to groan with each motion, being more vocal than you imagined.

Admittedly, you were being louder than normal yourself. His cock was thick and long, filling you up more than you had ever been before. The veins from it dragging against your walls, pulsing with each moan he let out. The pressure from the angle was more than you could bear as you cried out, bouncing on his lap. James still had a firm grasp on your hips, helping lift you up before roughly pushing you back down. The smell of sex and the squelching between your legs filled the cabin, making you forget everything else. It hasn't even registered in your brain yet that you were desperately riding your best friend. Years of both of you denying rumors that you were dating being thrown down the drain this very second.

“Fuck, I'm gonna cum, Birdie,” James groans, the nickname he gave you years ago rolled out of his mouth with ease but the sound of it on his tongue caused you to clench around him. He quickly wrapped his arms around you, trapping you on top of him as he let out another loud moan, burying his face into your chest. You felt him fill you up, his dick twitching eagerly inside. You brought your hand between your bodies, desperately chasing your own release as your fingers quickly worked themselves against your clit. The feeling of his seed overflowing from your filled walls quickly brought you to your release. You clenched desperately around him again, making him groan from the sensitivity. You drop your head to his shoulder, moaning in his ear as you cum on top of him. You both stay unmoving, gripping each other tightly as you try to catch your breath.

James leans his head back against the wall, causing you to look at him. He gives you a fucked out smile, laughing softly at what just happened. You return the smile, leaning forward to place a kiss on his lips.

“Is this a bad time to tell you I'm bleeding again,” He jokes, looking down at his arm which was smearing blood onto your exposed side. You follow his gaze, watching as the white gauze slowly becomes a vibrant red. Panic sets through you like a deer in headlights, not knowing what to do. You still sat on top of him, his soft dick still being warmed inside your walls. You glance from his arm back to him, seeing the shit eating grin he had on his face.

“I told you I'd break one before the night was over,” He laughs, recalling his earlier words. You give him a stern look, hitting his chest slightly before finally peeling yourself away from him. You both let out one last sigh. You sit down next to him, leaning your side against his as you set his arm in your lap, peeling the bandage away. Only one stitch had broken but it was enough for the bleeding to start again. As you watched it drip down his arm, you felt his cum dripping out of you, causing your face to turn red as the reality of what just happened sets in.

“You're insane,” You tell him quietly, grabbing a blanket to cover your exposed body before you grab the first aid kit again. You didn't think you'd have to put another stitch in since only one had broken. James watched you closely, his eyes lingering over what skin was exposed under the blanket. You sit back down next to him, grabbing more gauze to clean the blood up with before taking a small tube of glue and rubbing it into the exposed part of the wound. You rewrap his arm, setting the first aid kit back by your side.

“I love you,” James speaks softly, his words causing your cheeks to flush. He rests his hand on your thigh, rubbing the skin gently. It wasn't the first time he had spoken those words, but this time they had a different meaning.

“I love you too,” Your voice was hush like his as you rested your head against his bare shoulder and grabbed his hand with yours. He gives your leg a squeeze, kissing your forehead.

“This is going to make Lars happy,” James snorts as he thinks about the situation. Lars had been trying to hook you two up, very unsuccessfully, for years. You laugh as you think about the look the small Danish man will have on his face when he hears about what happened.

You look up at James, a smile still plastered on your face as he meets your gaze, he leans down and connects his lips with yours yet again. The storm outside has died down by now but the wind still blows harshly. The group of wolves from the night before started their duets again, causing you to shiver, but the warmth of James' skin against yours was all you needed to forget your worries.

✭-----------------------------✭

whewh...that was...a lot. I didn't double check spelling or grammar so sorry for any mistakes

[anystalker707]

Tea at 9pm

Pairing: Vinsmoke Sanji x [gender neutral] Reader Words: ~ 4 100 Summary: You're not aware the cook had feelings for you. Tags: babygirl sanji / wholesome relationship / reader is a writer who keeps a journal with the crew's adventures / extremely fluffy ending

a/n: comfort fic once again lmao i had an existential crisis

MASTERLIST

          If anyone asked what you did, it would feel like you were just a minor part of the crew, presumptuous, even, but things were different when they saw you actually get in action. In the first place, you wrote. You were a writer, author of some great novels that spreaded across the Grand Line, and secondly, you now were a Strawhat who kept a log of the crew’s adventures and fought when needed. The day Luffy recruited you was still fresh in your mind.

"So you’re a writer? You wrote all of this?" Luffy had asked thoughtfully with a hand on his chin as he eyed the piles of books. "Riiight... I need someone to write it down when I become the King of the Pirates! The news’ people always tell things wrong! Come with us!"

A smile traced your lips as you shook your head, now working on the illustration of the last island you'd been to, adding details and a little color. Sure wasn't the best drawing, but you still wanted to keep some sort of reminder from the lovely place.

The soft knock on the door came as it usually did, religiously, and there wasn't even the need for an answer before the door swung open. The click of shoes against the ground resonated through the small office-bedroom as he approached you and finally set the tray on the free space of the desk. Your and his cups were filled with hot tea as they were every night, the flavor declared by the strong smell that came along with the steam escaping from the drink.

"A lot of work today?" Sanji asked you as he took a seat on the armchair, crossing his legs.

"Not really." You shook your head. "We've been in the open sea for a couple of days already, so I'm just updating some old stuff." The drawing you showed him had been finished earlier, already properly inked and depicting part of the crew interacting at the island.

Sanji raised his eyebrows and slowly nodded, a smile decorating his face. "Does it still give you time to work on your personal stuff, though?" He took the unlit cigarette off between his lips and slipped it back into its case that belonged to the pocket on the inside of his blazer, which he ended up taking off and folding to leave it across the armchair’s arm.

“Sort of.” You shrugged a little. “I use a lot of my free time to work on it. It only gets difficult to manage when we’re down to things like when in Spypiea, Sabaody or Marineford. Even afterwards, I still need a couple of weeks to organize everything, interview you guys and stuff. We genuinely go through a lot of stuff, and you only realize it’s that much when you need to register it all down!” You chuckled a little, throwing your arms above yourself to stretch with a soft sigh. “My priority is to keep the crew’s log, though!”

“Oh? Not your career?”

“Of course not!” You shook your head. “You guys are wonderful people who once saved me and now we take care of each other. I can’t let you die—all of this die—without the story being properly told. It’s a great responsibility to keep a record of the adventures...” The words trailed off until you were lost in your thoughts instead, but you just shook your head and closed the few books you had opened after you marked all the pages, leaving untouched only the one that had the drying watercolor. Carefully, you took the still warm cup in hand, inhaling the sweet and rich smell of the tea. “Fruit?”

“Something from that island, but a fruit, indeed,” he justified, momentarily standing up so he could also get his tea. “I haven’t tried it yet, thought it would be best for the both of us to have it together. It’s important to me.”

“What if it’s bad?” You joked,  turning your chair so you could face him.

“Then we throw it out the window and you write down how terrible it was so we never try it again!” He clicks his tongue in a feigned annoyance that has both of you laughing until forced to fall quiet to finally try the drink. “Well, I actually like it! You?”

You took a sip of the tea, giving yourself a moment to analyze the taste. “Good! Still not better than my favorite, but it’s still something!” The comment brought a grin to Sanji’s face as both of you shared a look.

Silence filled the room again quite comfortably, allowing you to hear the waves crashing outside. You took a look out the window and then at the clock on the table. “Who’s on the night watch today?” It’d been a while since you last left your room, probably only having done so for dinner during the last hours because Sanji wouldn’t leave you alone otherwise.

“That’s me!” His voice didn’t carry the same excitement as his face did as he looked into the cup.

“Want some company?” You offered. “I’m always up until late messing with my things, either—”

“Don’t think about it!” Sanji shook his free hand as he took a sip of the tea. “You had to wake up early today and take care of your writing this whole time, so you better have a good night of sleep! I know how those can be tiring! Mentally tiring!”

“Sanji!” You furrowed your eyebrows with a pout, but ended up just rolling your eyes once he shot you a glare, compelling him to snicker. A sigh escaped your lips as you leaned back on the chair. “I just wanted to keep you company. I want to show you some story ideas along with some drawings! Your night watch wouldn’t be so boring.”

“As much as I like your company, your rest comes first. I promise I’ll come check out all of that stuff tomorrow, okay? Besides, keep that night energy for when it’s your turn for the night watch!” Sanji lectured you despite the unfazed look you shot him before rolling your eyes—it was almost as if you weren’t the one who would take care of him during the night, either telling him to go to bed already when he cooked until too late or throwing a blanket over his shoulders because he fell asleep in the galley.

You were the first one to finish the drink, putting your empty cup away and wetting the watercolor again until Sanji stood up and placed his cup back on the tray as well.

“Don’t forget to go to sleep,” Sanji said, his face a few inches away from yours as he bent down with a hand on the back of the chair. “I’ll come here and put you to sleep if I notice you’re awake!”

“It’s not happening,” you promised him with a smile.

“Great!” Sanji wrapped an arm around your shoulders in a hug you awkwardly returned as you could, with a hand on his shoulder whilst leaning into his touch. He took the tray in hand so he could leave, wishing you a good night. His blazer was still on the armchair; you shook your head with a chuckle.

The next day, Sanji was still awake when you had breakfast. You quietly observed him swooning over Robin and Nami despite how tired he was, but your attention was on catching up with Luffy, Chopper, Franky, Brook and Usopp. Most of the day, you were locked in your office, reading in the library or drawing one of the tables on the desk, so they wouldn’t lose the opportunity of talking with you during the meals to know what you’d done so far. They loved to see the drawings of themselves, no matter how they were, always bugging you to take a look at something even on days you took off to yourself, so it was easy to spent the morning with them and later talk with Robin and Nami as well, not forgetting to go up to the Crow’s Nest for at least a few minutes to spot Zoro on a rep or two while chatting.

A little after lunch, Sanji knocked on your room’s door. “Hell, I’m really tired!”

You glanced away from your papers to see him kick off his shoes before collapsing on your bed face-first, grabbing one of the pillows to rest his head on, sort of hugging it. “Did you take a nap? You left your blazer here last night, by the way!”

“Oh, so that’s where it was this whole time, thank you! And no! I ended up preparing breakfast during the night then prepared lunch after breakfast was served,” he explained, muffled by the pillow until he turned his head to face you.

“Should’ve tried to get some sleep.” You sighed, dipping your pen in ink again.

“It’s not like that,” he groaned. “I left some food ready just in case, though, just so I can rest now. I thought I’d come talk to you first since I promised.”

You furrowed your eyebrows as you looked at the cook, pausing so you could ruffle his hair, which made him close his eyes for a moment. “Nonsense. You could’ve just gone to sleep, I’d understand it! You don’t need to sacrifice yourself.”

“Shhh, I promised.” Sanji narrowed his eyes a little. “Tell me, what did you want to show me?”

“Right... First of all, I had some retouches on the drawings I’d made for Sabaody, so I wanted you to take a look at them to make sure I’m not forgetting anything,” you mumbled while you flipped to the pages where the drawings were and handed the book to him. Through time, your chat grew slower, with sporadic and distant answers coming from Sanji until you looked at him and noticed he was actually asleep. The sight made a small smile stretch your lips before you went back to working quietly as always.

A knock on the door pulled you away from your thoughts and you looked back to see Nami’s head peeking him from the slightly-open door. “Hey, (y/n), have you seen—” She looked around for a little and fell silent.

“Seen what?”

“Actually, nevermind!” She shot you a smile. “Sorry for interrupting!”

“No worries!” You smiled, waving as she quietly closed the door once again.

          The new island was filled with casinos, clubs, markets and stores with the most peculiar things that had a great part of the crew voting to stay for longer than a day since there weren’t any worries that tied you down to dates or time. Usopp, Sanji, Nami and Robin seemed excited about a particular club after you took a look at it while getting to know the city, so they invited you and Brook and it was almost impossible to refuse; you easily found yourself getting ready in front of the mirror before you left to go wait for the others with Nami and Usopp. Sanji was the last to show up, covering Nami and Robin with compliments that they already learned not to give much attention to, instead already moving to leave the ship.

“You’re looking extra good today, (y/n)!” Nami smiled, hooking her arm with yours and discreetly distancing from the rest of the group with you. “Trying to catch someone’s attention?”

“Maybe?” You chuckled. “It’s been a while since we last stopped at such a nice island, so I thought a one-night thing isn’t gonna hurt!”

Nami blinked a couple of times. “One-night thing?”

“No new crewmates!” You shook your head, contributing more to Nami’s confused look, which you also didn’t quite understand.

She hummed, looking away for a long moment. “Um, and Sanji?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well...” She breathed and shrugged a little, about to say something when she was hit on the back of the head by something and it was enough for her mood to change completely. Her teeth were gritted and eyes practically white while a vein popped on her temple as she slowly looked back to see the three men stand there quietly, pale, ready for the shouting that promptly came from her along with hits. Robin brought a hand to her mouth as she chuckled, and you sweatdropped, continuing to walk.

The night was long. You’d drunk, not a lot to do things you regretted, but enough to rather easily accept hanging out with people you’d just met, exploring the city and talking bullshit.

“Just a little longer,” the girl said as she waved at you and the two other people that trailed behind, carefully walking through the woods until you made it to a rock on top of a mountain. “It’s gonna be there.” She pointed to a spot behind the mountains of another island in the distance, where it was already lighter and it did seem like the sun would start rising in a few minutes, just as she had promised.

Even with little to help, the four of you made yourselves comfortable on the cold rock; you used one of the guys’ sweatshirt as a makeshift pillow, observing the sky quietly while they talked with each other. Despite the alcohol still in your system, what made you groggy was mostly the lack of sleep.

“Hey,” the girl said as she lay down next to you, on her side, holding herself up with an elbow. “Do you... Okay, I won’t waste time. Can I kiss you?”

You almost choked on your spit, your cheeks immediately growing warm at the question that sent your thoughts racing. At first, all you could do was sputter half words, unable to connect thoughts, until she chuckled and you decided to take a deep breath. “Okay, so, um... I’m... Well, not right now. Actually, I like someone else, a lot. I can’t picture myself kissing another person.”

“Oh. That sucks,” she sighed. “You look really nice, but I don’t think you’re staying around for long, anyways. Say more, though. Tell me about who you like.”

The time your cheeks heated up again was for another reason, with a softer feeling stirring in your chest. “He’s... I think he doesn’t like me, y’know? He’s a real flirt, but not with me. I feel like we are just great friends and it ends there. We are really close, but not the sort of close I wish it were.”

“Did you even tell him you like him?” She raised an eyebrow and you shook your head. “You should!”

“I don’t want it to hurt.” You smiled a little, but without humor.

She furrowed her eyebrows a little as if she understood your situation. “Well, maybe hurting is not a bad thing. It makes you stronger, and it would make you free to kiss other people!” She started to chuckle at the same time you did so, shaking your head a little.

          You had a hand over your brow line to keep a shadow over your eyes while your shoes hung from your other hand when you returned to the ship later that same day, already tired and feeling like you’d never get back to Sunny, feeling as if you’d been run over a thousand times. All you could do once you arrived back to the ship was to sleep, only waking up again when it was already late in the afternoon, mumbling something about something being different in your bedroom before you could go for a shower.

“Whoa, look at who’s alive!” Usopp announced once you walked out to the deck, attracting a lot of pairs of eyes to you.

“Good night?” Zoro teased with a chuckle. “Even forgot you had a home!”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head as you took a seat at a table with Robin. “Shut up, Zoro, you don’t even know how to get home by yourself!”

Given how you’d practically slept all day long, you decided to change turns with Robin and take the night watch for the day. It was a nice, warm night, so you didn’t bother staying outside with your books, illustrating the island during the night. It felt like something was missing, still. You furrowed your eyebrows and looked at the galley’s direction. There was no tea that night.

Brook took over the nightwatch halfway through the night, allowing you to sleep and wake up at a reasonable hour in the morning. Nami was the first person you ran into once you left your room, happy for finally feeling well after partying all night a day before. “Nami!”

“Oi, (y/n)!” She smiled as she approached you. “Good morning!”

“Morning!” You smiled in return. “Have you seen Sanji? He didn’t bring me tea yesterday. Actually, I didn’t see him at all, now that I think about it.”

Nami’s face fell in a way you didn’t really like, almost taking a step back as you watched her. “Hm, you see...” She sighed, with a hand on her hip. “You didn’t come back to the ship that night, so he was worried. He even tidied up your room so you didn’t need to do anything when you arrived.”

“Right...? Explains a lot.”

“And he thought you were with someone else. Like, hooking up.”

“I wasn’t but...” You shrugged. “What’s up with that?”

The expression across Nami’s face was the same as when she had seen Luffy let himself fall for Usopp’s lies for the first time. “That made him feel bad.”

“Sanji and I aren’t something, Nami.” You furrowed your eyebrows, reminded of the talk you had with the island’s residents that night.

Nami seemed as if she would explode. “Well, maybe he wishes there were?”

“I—”

“(Y/n), Sanji likes you!” She just gave up with a sigh, taking a quick look around before she continued. “He adores you! He doesn’t flirt with people anymore, he just compliments and does things for them because he’s always believed he needed to, mainly to women! Still, he doesn’t make tea for everyone, every night! He doesn’t stay up until late for anyone or makes them company during the night! I’ve never seen Sanji leave his clothes anywhere else rather than in the male quarters! Besides, he keeps one of your novels and a picture with you under his pillow! I saw it!”

That was a lot to take in. You didn’t know Sanji treated you differently in that sense, in the first place, let alone know that he liked you. It made sense now that you thought about it, of course, because he wouldn’t be spending the same amount of time with the others as well if he was there making you company for most of the day. Some nights, he would be there asleep on your bed while you worked on your books.

“Sorry,” Nami exhaled. “I really didn’t want it all to fall upon you suddenly like this, but you needed to know it already! Sanji doesn’t deserve this! Either reject him already or take care of him. He deserves someone to love him.”

You quickly nodded. “I know.”

Not a lot needed to be said. There wasn’t a lot to be said. You looked at Nami a last time before you walked right back into your room, taking a deep sigh as her words still echoed through your mind, each of them connected to a memory you held and you couldn’t help but to feel a weight in your chest—Sanji must’ve felt terrible when he noticed you disappeared at the club after you refused to dance with him so you could leave with your new friends. It would be easy to fix, at least theoretically, because your stomach churned at the thought of facing Sanji right now.

Your morning wasn’t a lot different from the others, locked in your room and staring at a white page, but the purpose of your writing was different this time. Your feelings were going to be spilled, bleeded all over a page without any filter or restriction because they needed to be understood so no one would be hurt anymore. In the end, it was beautifully folded and with Sanji written in your gold ink while sealed with wax.

Sanji was serving breakfast and chatting around, out on the deck—you double checked—when you sneaked into the galley and left the paper in a safe place, where you knew he’d find it. Hell, it was pathetic. You needed to declare your feelings through a little letter because you didn’t have the guts to face the guy yourself after unintentionally hurting his feelings. In your defense, writing was the best thing you could do.

At the same time it was relieving, you could feel anxiety bubbling under your skin. The situation would slip away from your mind at times, but at others, you felt like Sanji would show up out of sudden saying that you were going crazy. Hopefully not.

When it was night, however, the knock finally came, as it always had done before, without missing a single day, for months straight. You tensed up this time, letting him walk in and watching the tray be placed on the free space of your desk—you didn’t even know when it became instinctive to leave that side clear for the tray. Aside from the mugs, this time, there was a bite-sized sweet as well, your favorite.

“I read it.” Sanji’s voice was small, practically vulnerable. His hand was shaking when it retreated from the tray.

“Sanji—”

“I’m sorry I just concluded things!” He cut in quickly.

You furrowed your eyebrows, turning on your chair, but he didn’t meet your eyes, instead looking at the ground. “No, you did nothing wrong! I should’ve paid more attention, I just... I wasn’t communicative enough as well...” You couldn’t find the right words, express the right things, so you took a pause, standing up. He didn’t take a step back when you approached. “I’m sorry, Sanji. Don’t leave me, please. Nami helped me realize things. Sorry for the time we lost.”

Sanji was almost in the same state, with thoughts roaming around his mind without order, but lacking the courage to be voiced, though he knew he couldn’t lose the opportunity—he couldn’t lose you. “(Y/n).”

“I love you, Sanji. I know I’ve told you this before, but now I mean it in another way.”

Sanji’s face was impossibly red. His hand twitched as he reached out to you; it was as if you two were sparkles searching for each other, looking for the right time to go off, which happened exactly when you took his hand in his and let him pull you closer in a tight hug.

“I love you,” he mumbled in response, and it almost felt as if you’d explode, with your heart skipping beats and fluttering in your chest, not even knowing what it does.

It was a relief, really. A relief and a sea of happiness simultaneously because your doubts and anguishes were extinguished at the same time you were finally able to do what you’ve longed for for so long. You let your nose brush against his before your lips met. The taste and smell of tobacco was undeniable, but it still didn’t erase the fact his lips were soft, returning the care and want that you felt for him.

Sanji seemed giddy, blushing and flustered, but also excited to the point he almost didn’t know what to do with himself. He pulled you with him to sit down on the bed and took a look at you, grinning wide before taking your hands in his; he left kisses all over your knuckles then did the same over your face, needing to pause to smile because of how you giggled, and your lips were pressed together again.

You had to place a hand on his chest so you were able to pull away, climbing on the bed properly to push him down and straddle his hips, taking a moment to observe him look at you with wide eyes. “You’re beautiful,” you whispered, still feeling your heart beat strongly in your chest. Sanji’s cheeks felt warm against your palms when you cupped his face, caressing his cheeks and carefully brushing his bangs away from his face; he swallowed dryly, but never stopped you, hands placed over yours softly. “I love you, Sanji!”

Sanji’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times without saying anything until he finally said it once again. “I love you.” There wasn’t a ‘too’ because his love was independent of yours, he loved you and would do it even if you didn’t love him back. He grinned as the excitement bubbled up in his chest, making him feel all giddy again, in a way it was even hard to contain himself when you leaned in for a kiss once more.

.𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟.

[gaylordscooter]

Log of the Multiverse: Fresh

I've done some research lately on that parasite. In order to help someone.

Y'see Fresh is an interesting outcode to say the least. No one knows what his original universe was like. No one knows where he came from.

Not even Ink! Or at least, every time I ask him he conveniently forgets the answer even though he swears he knew a second ago.

Well, I can't blame him for having a faulty memory when mine's pretty shabby too.

But I digress.

He also kidnaps people. that's probably the first thing i should state.

So yeah, someone was kidnapped. Specifically Cross's best bud, Epic. A shame too, he was just rescued from the cusp of death in his universe. He didn't get to spend much time at the hub (see entry on Cross and XChara) before he went missing.

We don't know HOW Fresh weaseled his way into the hub, the code of the universe is set up in a way that repels him like a magnet of the same charge as him. The only ones that could've tampered with that code would be Cross himself (unlikely), Error (who doesn't even know where or what the hub is), and...

i'm getting off topic again!

So however he got in, he did, and then he found Epic and none of us had the time to warn him about who Fresh is and what he does. I'd assume they hit it off pretty well. They'd probably be great friends if it wasn't for the fact Fresh's entire personality is fabricated to lure people in.

As for Where monsters (mainly of the skeleton kind. mainly of the sans kind.) end up after Fresh nabs them, well i shouldn't leave you in suspense should i?

yeah that would be mean.

who would do that in their own log? i mean, i'm the only one reading it.

so really i'm not keeping anyone in suspense because i already know.

[there is a stupidly wide margin here]

yup.

That was stupid.

Anyway, he takes you to some warehouse in the antivoid where he holds this endless rave. How do I know this? Ink told me during one of his fights with Error they somehow strayed so far away from Error's place in the antivoid that they found Fresh's territory. Ink said the fight ended there because the sight and sound of it made Error crash. Ink took a peak through one of the windows and saw the place PACKED with sanses all of them wearing shades just like Fresh. The music and strobe lights could be heard from miles away you'd think it was a GREAT party.

you'd probably notice all the dust after it's too late.

Wowzers so dramatic.

I Havent Said Or Written That Word in Sooo Long

that almost felt weird to write. whatever

So anyway, recap. no one knows where fresh comes from, he kidnaps people and takes them to an endless rave where you dance until you literally drop and epic is currently at said rave.

yeahhhh.

AS FOR MY RESEARCH! "no one knows where fresh comes from" TOSS THAT OUT THE WINDOW. ME!! I KNOW!!

He's actually

from a completely generic undertale universe

You might think "what? that doesn't sound right."

Which Yeah I Guess So If You're A Party Pooper Sure. Technically He's From An Alternate Timeline. Asshole.

"ok so how did a sans become that 90's freak?" Wrong. Incorrect. The sans of that universe is fine and dandy we had coffee together last week (true) (real).

Actually Fresh is

DRAMATIC PAUSE!

I'm killing you aren't i? absolutely annoying you?

you probably already know actually. SIGH

He's a memoryhead. I know! It threw me for a loop too. And it only made things MORE confusing considering. well no one knows the deal with memoryheads. not even alphyses.

They're. amalgamates? but. What monsters did they come from? They didn't come from Any recognizable monsters.

Now as for what's up with the flowers Fresh uses—Which I Totally Forgot To Mention In This Entry. ehhh whatever you probably already read that one. .. Did i include the flowers part. i forgot how much i explained there i was kinda occupied watering my flower. s. my flowers my potted flowers that i Keep In my room. and water with Water and not any other liquid.

the flowers are different from fresh's flowers unrelated. unrelated flowers to any s. keletons

I'm still trying to figure out what is up with the flowers but my guessFOR NO REASON IN PARTICULAR is that said memoryhead managed to mmmmmerge?? melt? how do i phrase this. merge. with a flowey. maybe. potentially

i mean ive never seen a rafflesia flowey ever but hey the multiverse is huge. (not endless though. ink's told me he's seen the edge of the multiverse he looked very perturbed at the revelation)

not that ive seen many floweys.

AUDIBLE COUGH WRITTEN ON PAPER

Man i totally just dropped the "fresh is a memoryhead from an undertale alternate timeline actually" bomb on you and didn't let you sit with it huh.

I'm sorry to say that's as far as my research got. He's a memoryhead. Potentially merged with some sort of flowey. So what now?

well i have a lot of questions. like you do probably

How did the memoryhead escape their universe in the first place? Who in that amalgamate is in control? the flowey? the memoryhead (what monsters are in the memoryhead anyway?) how did that happen? Why the hell does it pretend to be from the 90's.

why does it need so many hosts. what IS the main host's body and why is it so tall? SIX feet really? compensating much? what the hell would an amalgamate need to compensate for. nevermind.

Hang on pause. the song that just came on goes hard i need to save it to my playlist.

...

Yes?? I listen to music while writing these sometimes? Duh? Get off my back?

"you're being sassier than normal" am i? (am i.) well maybe i just learned something

about myself. learned more about myself

I might loop this song actually. it's that good. do you do that? do you find a song that's so good you just loop it and wrench every note out of it until it sounds awful to you?

[ms-demeanor]

I’ve been using browser password managers for a while now. How are these different from something like bitwarden besides not being open source and having the master password be the one tied to your [Google][Firefox][Apple] account? (I assume they’re insecure but I swear my infosec professor said the browser based ones were better. However he also said that’s because they were local to your device and I know that’s not true)

One problem with browser-based password managers is that you may not have access to your browser. If you're at your university library and using their computer to print from your google account, what do you do if they have chrome but not firefox? If your phone breaks while you're on a trip with friends do you install a browser on a friend's phone and log into your account to check funds in your bank account? What happens if you use firefox at home and on all your personal devices but work gives you a chromebook? Do you migrate all your passwords? Do you just never do anything personal on the work chromebook? Do you share some passwords between the two?

Another problem with browser-based password managers is that people's behavior when logging in to their browser is not the same as their behavior when logging in to, say, a social media site.

People don't always lock their screens. People put very sensitive information into their browser password manager and then walk away from their desk. People don't log out of their browser when someone else sits down to use their computer. My attitude is that if you are going to use a browser-based password manager, you should ONLY be logged-in to your browser when saving or accessing a password, because otherwise it means that your password manager is always on and always accessible.

I've got bitwarden set up to time out after fifteen minutes. The password manager I use for work kicks me out every hour. I set my phone screen to lock at two minutes and my desktop to lock after five minutes.

The idea that people are just walking around logged in to their phone browser and never locking the screen makes me crazy. The idea that people might be logging in to their browser on shared devices makes me crazy. But it describes how a lot of people use their browser-based password managers.

One thing that I *love* about Bitwarden is where I can choose to use it. If I want to keep it totally isolated and offline, I can. If I want to access it through a browser plugin or an app on my phone, I can. If I want to go to a webpage in any browser and log into my vault to get passwords, I can. It's extremely portable in a way that browser-based password managers (and honestly some paid app-based password managers) aren't.

Also yeah they aren't local to your device, they store the passwords with your account information. There are device local password managers but I personally do not tend to recommend them because I think that they don't really meet the needs of most users. Sometimes you have to log into your bank account when you're not at home and using a password manager that is only on one computer and nowhere else is going to make that impossible.

(there are use cases for device-linked password managers, and they aren't insecure, but if you set someone up with a password manager that they can only use on one device and then they can't use their passwords when they're out and about, they will not use the password manager - user behavior is a really important part of infosec that sometimes gets overlooked in favor of what is "THE MOST SECURE" - the most secure password manager is the one that someone will USE, so if all you can get someone to use is the browser password manager then that's a good password manager, however if I'm giving my recommendations for what I think is the most secure and works best for the greatest number of people, it's Bitwarden all the way baby!)