#from now on i'm gonna try to update at least once a week

[racke7]

My internet has been investigated by a professional.

There might be something weird with the big cables (to quote the guy: the "inner-pair" and "outer-pair" of the eight-cables are of different lengths, but by all accounts still work just fine), but my own equipment has at least passed (no extra-fine for crying wolf for me).

The weird stability-thing continues to be weird. And current test is for them to switch my internet-provider (internet-provider has a use-contract with the cable-operators, who are the ones investigating) over the weekend. See if the problem is on that end.

It's possible that this is the case (at which point I guess I'll try to switch permanently), or that it's that weird cable-length resulting in the problem (which is... a whole different can of worms).

[serahlink]

‼️‼️Help a Homeless Artist & His Family (please read!)‼️‼️

(Reblogs are greatly appreciated!!)

Hi all, it's Link again. I hate to be asking for help yet again but unfortunately, we're gonna be shifting back to square one again. According to the shelter, we're coming up on the end of our stay and they've taken my father and myself off of the paid volunteer position, so we're left without any sources of income and virtually nowhere to go. I'm trying to talk with my counselor for other options and help but as of right now, we have no other option except to go back to a motel. We have a limited time, I'm assuming under a week due to how vague the wording was, so I'm hoping to get enough for a least a couple days so we have somewhere to possibly lay our heads after everything is said and done. Until something else comes through or we can find another shelter, depending on what happens.

So, I'm opening my commissions once again. I mainly draw fantasy type portraits/scenes surrounding Dragon Age, Baldurs Gate, Dungeons and Dragons, but I also draw different ocs from other fandoms or original stories, to furries and any kind of characters you can think of! :) the only things I don't draw at the moment is heavy gore, s/xual nudity and anything really taboo or pro ship. If you are unsure about a commission request though, feel free to ask and I'll confirm! :))

My turnaround time depending how things go can be 2-4 weeks for smaller commissions and 1-2 months for larger ones, but I'll try to update as frequently as possible! If you want an immediate update, feel free to pm me and I'll get to you as soon as I can! :D As far as contacting me goes, please do so through tumblr pms! It's the easiest way for me to get it! And for the payment, one thing to note is that I will not because I can not do refunds. Since our situation is going back to being in a motel where we need all the funds possible to cover the room, I won't have the means to pay you back. I can change a piece to your liking, even redo it if need be, but refunds are impossible for me to do at the moment so please consider that before commissioning me. Thank you! :)

Donations are also accepted! I have a p/ypal and c/shapp that can be donated to for our situation, feel free to pm me and I'll send it right over! :))

Now that all of that's out of the way, my commission prices and examples will be below. Thank you so much to all of you, new and old, for always being here for my family and for supporting by commissioning, sharing, etc. we wouldn't have come this far without you all :") thank you!!

~Prices~

Sketch (price depending on type of sketch) - base price of 15$

Sketch page - 15$ per sketch

Headshot - 40$ (+10$ if shaded)

Bust - 50$ (+10$ if shaded)

Expression Sheet (minimum of 3 heads per sheet, 10$+ per extra head) - 60$ (10$+ if shaded)

Half body - 70$ (+15$ if shaded)

Full body - 90$ (+15$ if shaded)

Couples Commission (a commission that includes two people) - 140$ (+15$ if shaded)

Group commissions (commission that includes more than two people, price dependant on the details) - 60 base price(one character, unshaded; each extra character is +75% to the original price) (40$+ if shaded) 

Paintings (price depending on the details) - 150$+

[lololololchips]

Kim Mingyu || in which love lingers…

synopsis: in which love lingers even after their relationship reaches its end. Mingyu discover that his enduring love and care for his ex will always remain, even if she has now found happiness in a new relationship…

genre: one shot smau, fake texts, fluff, angst, non!idol, lovers to strangers (?)

warnings: fem reader, cursing, mention of alcohol/being intoxicated

a/n: hiiiii i am very happy and excited to announce that this is my first collab!!! soooo allow me to introduce the amazing, talented, and great person that completed this smau @spamgyu !!!!! ces completely ruined me with her opinion on ex!mingyu to the point that it made me want to do an smau on the topic so here it is:)) the amazing writing portion that she did is towards the end so make sure not to skip over it and read it!!! also go show her support on all her great work, she’s gonna make u suffer and cry BUT HEY THATS OKAY🙈🙈 once again i’m truly so happy to have worked with ces so ENJOY WHAT WE PUT TOGETHER HEHE<333

Taking the final bite of his shave ice, Mingyu couldn't help but let out a pitiful chuckle as the cold treat made contact with his tongue - he had gone mad.

He had always wanted to visit the tropical island, looking forward to crossing off all the sights he had on his four year old list in his notes app.

Only difference was, it wasn't meant to just be him completing this list.

You were supposed to be there.

You were the one that had come up and done research for all the places he had paid a visit to.

From the small surf town up north to the local eateries, Mingyu couldn't quite find himself to enjoy the experience fully - knowing that there was something missing.

You.

It had been three years since the two of you had separated, both coming to terms with the end and moving on with your lives. It had been months since he had even thought of you - as a romantic partner, at least.

What was meant to be a birthday trip had turned to somewhat of a trip to tie up all the loose ends he never did seem to get to - nor was he aware had been undone.

This place was supposed to be for you two.

Mingyu knew it was stupid; relating every activity he had been doing back to you instead of fully enjoying the trip.

He was supposed to have moved on; and he has!

But why did his stomach feel like it was constantly sinking? Why did his heart feel as empty as it did the first day he had experienced a life without you?

With each picture he snapped, he found himself mumbling how much you would have loved the place.

It was everything you two had dreamed of, maybe even more.

You always did like the ocean - remembering the first time the two of you had spent at the beach together.

He could remember the smile on your face that day, almost as if it was just a week ago.

He could remember the sweet smell of coconut shampoo that lingered in your hair, wafting into his nose as the wind blew.

He could remember the sunkissed glow on your cheeks as the sun beat down on the two of you.

Would it have been the same if you had made it to the Hawaii trip with him?

Would you still have been using the same shampoo?

Would you still allow him to playfully drag you into the water - pretending as if you didn't want to wet your hair in the cold ocean water?

Probably not.

Time has passed, there was no way you were the same person - just as he wasn't that same foolish boy that he was when he was wrapped around your fingers.

You were most likely using a different shampoo now.

And you probably would have jumped into the ocean first.

He wanted to text you; send you all the images he took, update you that Matsumoto Shave Ice was as delicious as you imagined it be, tell you all about what he had been up to.

You probably wouldn't even care - at least, not like you did before.

You would simply reply casually, just like your other mutual friends.

Letting out a sigh, Mingyu tossed out the now empty cup - shaking his head to try and shake away the thoughts of you.

"I'm a fucking idiot." He scoffed, rereading the word vomit that he had spilled to you just a few minutes ago over text.

You two had been cordial, friends even - and now, that could possibly go down the drain.

All because of this stupid thing called nostalgia.

He had allowed for the emotional tie that the island had to overpower his coherent thoughts - typing all that he had felt the duration of his trip into the messaging app.

Mingyu knew he had to get it out, he had to let you know - he felt as though his chest would burst if he didn't. He had done so well holding back for the past few days, simply talking to you in his head.

But he heard it, someone had played the song the two of you had jokingly dedicated to each other after the break-up - and almost as if his younger self had possessed his body, he opened the messaging app and went on to spill all that his brain had been bothering him with.

His younger self missed you; gravely.

But not the you that was now, no - he didn't know who she is.

She is a stranger.

She may look familiar, having the same features that had once had him so weak in the knees - but she no longer felt like the home he once resided in.

He no longer knew the address to this home, nor does he think it has it's light on for him anymore.

Even if his kept the porch light on; just in case you needed to seek shelter in the darkest of nights.

It will always be on.

[lrgoescrazy]

anyone wanna do OC art trades?? (closed for now, will update when open again)

i got some time (no guarantee for how long it'll take but it'll prob be a week or less) since no one (on reddit or artfight at least jk but not really) can draw asian characters ima try my luck with puma guy since he's... well it depends on the person race isn't real anyways

refs are the images in this post, DM or comment with some refs and basic info of your character (can be long or short, but I just wanna know like the vibe of the character)

you do NOT have to draw all the details (I have super complex OCs feel free to simplify) or follow exact palettes and stuff just don't change it too much

dont really have that many rules for what you do I'm fine with pretty much anything I just love any art I receive (even the lewd art lmaoo ppl are simps for my other OC yilin, straight up got art of her in a bikini once and honestly the only thing stopping even that from being removed is artfight rules)

also i prefer less cartoony OCs (i mean... look at my art style its kinda hard to draw a stick figure in a realistic way since the more simplified a design is obv the less info you can get from it) but it doesn't have to be as realistic as mine just know I'm gonna end up matching the simplicity/style of the OC since I don't wanna just make stuff up, I like to stick to designs closely

i gotta DRAW my brain is making meee and i don't have any good ideas rn

photoshopped tf out of my old drawing of him you can tell the pixels get cut off/blurred I'm too lazy to redo it

btw check out my previous art pieces with the tag art trade on them for an example of what you'll get

[daintyyfawnn]

Update (Its done)

I dont know what happened.

Yesterday we were emailing eachother conversating just fine, all of a sudden he emailed me and said "From now on, I'm keeping all future conversations school related" I thought he was joking around cuz we mess like that. This morning I walked into his class talking and he said "I wasnt joking about not talking to you anymore". I got so confused and asked why and kept pushing, he said "It just gets to a point where its tedious and annoying to continue and it crosses a line. I knew itd cross a line and we'd have to stop eventually, that point is now" I was so confused but I knew what he meant, but i kept pushing for more and he said "Its easy to figure it out", I left his classroom but came back and tried to talk but he was being so cold and distant I got up to leave, before I left I said "What happened, Mr. H?" he said "Im sick of this place, Remi (He said my real name, Remis an alias), I just wanna cruise through this month and after that..." and he kept his mouth open and trailed off like he was gonna say smth but changed his mind, I said "That doesnt explain what happened", he said "I dont wanna get into trouble or have to put up with anything", I said again "Doesnt explain it" he said "Its self explanatory" and I just walked out.

Im so confused, I dont know what happened. Im just completely lost on it

Its weird because this guy never breaks a routine, EVER, and part of that is he never wears the same outfit more than once a week. Yesterday, we were talking about his outfits, and I mentioned one of his best outfits is the white button up with blue jeans, hes already WORN THAT THIS WEEK so he would never usually wear it again. TODAY HE IS WEARING IT AGAIN. ALSO yesterday I said I like guys who wear glasses, he wears glasses, but he has not worn them at ALL this week, at all. TODAY HE IS WEARING HIS GLASSES!!!

I dont understand that part paired with the random cut off. I know he didnt get into trouble, cuz I wouldve heard by now, so Im just confused what couldve possibly happened. AND the trail off confused me, was he trying to say something could happen after graduation? Cuz I know hes quitting after this school year at the least, is something between us going to happen after? I dont know, Im so confused and hurt, as understandable as it is I just wish it never happened. This feels like a horrible and really strange breakup and I just dont wanna be here or deal with it. I probably wont be active on here any longer unless something new happens. ILY guys and ik this blog is niche and not many people interact but thank you to the ones who have and enjoyed me writing my silly little stories about me and him.

[dragonsgirl572]

serious post.

I've been thinking about this for a while, probably since October of last year. If you've known me since I first started roleplaying, you'll know that I've been roleplaying since the beginning of 2023, and I love it. I love the memories and friends that I made while I was here. But, somewhere along the way, you start from updating multiple times a day, to once a day, to once every other day, to once a week, and suddenly, this thing you used to love started becoming a burden.

Honestly, this has been going on with a bunch of stuff in my life, not just roleplaying. Choir, writing, schoolwork, heck, even hanging out with my friends.

I'm not quitting, I don't think I could ever fully stop roleplaying, but I'm going to be making some drastic changes on most of my blogs as well as taking a(nother) long break. I do have a few ongoing threads, so while I'm on break, I'll try to update those.

Anyway, on to the changes!

@loki-laufeychild

My first RP account ever created, so I have an emotional attachment to this one. No complaints on my end, though, so nothing will change for this.

@picky-piggy

Already reset this account before, and I'm not gonna reset it so soon. Maybe, if others want it, I could add Corrupted Picky back as co-host.

@the-corrupted-toys

Again, reset this before, not gonna reset it so soon. I may add Rich in, and more characters as the chapters are released.

And now, we get to the complicated ones...

@prime-and-megatron

Okay, so, I'm probably going to reset this, but I'm going to keep Chase as Prowl and Jazz's kid. Breakdown's going to go, Ratchet too maybe. I'm going to rewatch the show (including Season 3 which is my least favorite because of the quality) so I can get the characters right.

@ask-tfone-optimus

This account was my favorite out of all of them, but I got waaaay too carried away with this. Projected way too hard on this man lmao. This account most likely may get a reset as well, but I have to figure out what to do with the kids. I'll talk to @/ask-tfone-megatron's Mod about that later.

@bayverse-megatron

This one I'm probably going to delete. I don't use this at all so I have no point in keeping him.

@the-rescue-bots

I'm going to delete this account and repurpose it for the other 4 Rescue Bots (High Tide, Quickshadow, Blurr, and Salvage). This is a definite.

@tfp-orion-and-megatronus

I may turn this into Optimus and Megatron right after the War starts, so it won't be them together, but it'll still be them.

What does resetting entail?

I delete every post, change the banner and the PFP, and basically start fresh. I may even change the name of the account.

Thank you everyone who's been with me for this long, and I hope you'll join me again.

[ghoulfuckersincorporated]

State of the Union, April 2025

Happy spring, y'all!

I've been putting a lot of focus on asks for a while now, as was my working plan from my January SOTU. I've put a pile of them out lately, but I still have a fair few to complete. My current plan is to continue to work through submissions while slightly shifting towards specific long-form projects that have had my focus lately.

I won't be starting any new long-form pieces for the time being (of course, I'm always open to new ideas nonetheless, if you guys feel inspired and have no one else to share them with). However, I will be putting more of my concentration towards finishing up those that're currently in-progress, as well as getting out follow-up chapters for a couple of extant works (namely Duplicity). If I post a little less frequently here over the coming few weeks, it's not because I'm feeling uninspired or because I'm not writing.

Though I may not always be able to play for long stretches of time, I will also be continuing with my playthrough of Fallout 3. I'm enjoying it, and many of you seem to have a lot of nostalgia for the game.

All of the master posts have been updated once more. From here on out, I'm gonna try my best to make doing so a monthly habit. I've created a separate master post for Fallout 76 content, as well as one for the "ranking" type questions, as they're increasingly popular and that 100 in-line link limit haunts me.

And, finally: I'm thinking about commissioning someone to design a few themed headers/text embellishments/flourishes, whatever you call them (graphic design is NOT my passion), for use on the blog. I'd kicked the idea around last year and now I'd like to pretty things up as a bit of a treat to myself, since I broke 1,000 followers around February. However, I don't have a super strong vision for what I'd like; mostly, I want to stick with the radioactive green/safety orange color scheme and incorporate some ghoul-associated icons like Rad-X bottles, Radaway bags. Whatever. I'd need someone who can pull more specific ideas out of the bedrock/can help me settle on a look. Naturally, I'd pay.

I know things are stressful and hard right now for pretty much everyone, but chin up, folks! At the very least, you'll still have a source of unhinged ranting and ghoulfucker porn. An appropriate amount of escapism does the soul good.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

[genericpuff]

Life updates!

Got my new driver's license with my updated legal name change which allowed me to change my name on my bank account and Paypal. Had to call Paypal support because my birthday was wrong on my account which caused an automatic rejection of my name change request (as it didn't match with the birthday on my ID), I can only assume it was younger me skirting by the age requirements at the time so I could make that Deviantart commission money LMAO (more shockingly, the Paypal support guy was really nice and we had a good laugh about it). Thankfully the fix was quick and easy :>

Only thing I'm waiting on now is my new provincial health card so that I can FINALLY book a bloodwork appointment. Once we're over that one hurdle, it's (hopefully) HRT time! <3

-------------

Psuwis is doing much better! He was on a round of various medications for a week to treat his jaundice / liver problems, and in between medications we got him eating as much as we could, swapping out foods and trying new things until we figured out what would stick. Unfortunately he has already gone back to being his picky self, but he's put on weight again and his jaundice has finally cleared. I'm incredibly relieved, and thankful to the vets at the urgent care clinic who were so good with him. I'm hoping this means we're still stuck with him for a few more years, as much as he drives me crazy with his antics he's still my boy and the fear of losing him really put into perspective how much of a positive impact he's had on my life and how much I need to appreciate him being here in whatever limited time he has. I love owning pets, but man, it's hard during those times when you're reminded that you're gonna outlive them 😭

Even now as I'm typing this, I can tell he just went to the bathroom because I can smell the stench of his frigging POOP emanating from his butthole five feet away. But dammit, he can stink all he wants, because at least that means he's still here <3

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I've started playing Red Dead Redemption 2. Or rather, I had started playing it a while ago, but stopped shortly after the opening tutorial of the game. Since then, I've switched primarily to PC for most of my gaming outside of Nintendo Switch games. So I recently bought it again while it was on sale for practically dirt cheap, and finally took another crack at it.

I'm not sure why I stopped playing it the first time around, going into the PC versions I had vague memories of dropping it as soon as the opening section was over and I had access to the camp. All I could feel vaguely in hindsight was a sort of confused boredom and reluctance to try and get back into it. But I'm glad I gave it another shot, because honestly... I have no clue why past me struggled to get a sense of it, I love the first RDR (I've beaten it multiple times, easily one of my favorite games from the PS3 era) and RDR2 isn't exactly that much of a departure from it as far as gameplay philosophy goes.

Now that I'm actually progressing through it, I'm having a great time! The writing is as clever and hilarious as its predecessor, and the attention to detail in the worldbuilding is phenomenal. It's so silly but what I really appreciate most are just those little mundane moments of going into a grocery store, picking up a tin of hair gel or a stick of butter, and just... looking at it. Like damn, they really invested a lot of time and care into ensuring that I could interact with just about every item in this game and get some trivia out of it.

The game runs exactly how it should, if not leagues better than it did on the PS4. It still has the usual Rockstar bugginess, but unlike Bethesda's brand of jank, Rockstar bugs are just MSG, they provide that extra lil' kick of indescribable flavor. They're never game-breaking, always hilarious.

Assuming the game's performance won't be affected by it, I'd love to stream it sometime. Maybe get my husband on the mic with me as co-host. After all, as much as these games are primarily sold as single-player story-driven experiences, they really are at their best when you have someone to experience it with. I can't express to you how much I wish we had been streaming during the bar scene with Lenny. Truly an iconic moment I wish I could forget just to re-experience it all over again LMAO

-----------

The other day I got an ask inquiring about Kore's planner. I hadn't really thought much of it at the time, probably because I'm so used to Rekindled being an obviously non-profit project, but someone pointed out to me that I could theoretically make the planner as a digital notebook.

And boy howdy, did my ADHD run with that, because I spent like 3 hours after this making exactly that! Here's a little preview!

Obviously it's been buffed up a bit compared to the original, but I really wanted to build upon its brief original appearance and make it feel like a genuine notebook that someone like Kore would own, with little dedicated tabs and sections for different things. As a baseline, I'll be formatting this for PDF so that it can be imported into most major drawing software - including Clip Studio and Procreate - however I'm also gonna be fiddling around with the Goodnotes app (which I used to use a lot of myself) and seeing if I can make a Goodnotes compatible template with hyperlinks and other clickable parts.

Overall I've had a lot of fun making this, it took a lot of initial work in designing the base look and feel of it, but now it's coming together pretty smoothly! I'm hoping to have it ready in the next few days <3 Once it is, I'll be selling it as a digital download on my new Ko-Fi page! :> So if that's something you're interested in, give that page a bookmark/follow and check back in a bit! It'll be fairly inexpensive, within the $5-$8 range depending on how much gets included (i.e. if I can provide the Goodnotes template or not).

------------

January was an extremely hectic and chaotic month. It brought about a lot of unfortunate circumstances that were difficult to weather through. Despite this, I'm doing what I can to hold onto my hope that it'll all work out, that there are still opportunities for joy and progress, and that even the worst things that have come to pass will still pass. It's hard, but it's worth it.

[nd-morrigan]

I'm Doing A Thing, Part II - Pattern and Planning (The Coat)

Here's my first big update of the Arcadian Knight Design!!

I spent a lot of the last few weeks between work stuff digging through my pattern boxes and fabric scraps to see what I had on hand already. Unfortunately, I don't really use a lot of green fabric (surprising since its one of my favorite colors) so that means I'm going to need to buy some fabric. On the design, I did write a fabric option but I usually don't settle on the fabric until I have a couple of swatches on hand. I also wanted to find a good gold trim or fabric so I was gonna need some samples.

Always buy swatches before you buy fabric, friends. Don't make the mistakes I've made.

Anyway here are all the swatches I collected while searching.

And here are the fabrics and the pattern I've settled on. (Still looking for a good lining fabric and I'll definitely be modifying the pattern a bit.)

Basically, I decided to go with what my initial design has written down. Despite spending thirty dollars on swatches, I'm still glad I took the time to really test out what kind of fabric I wanted to use. It's hot as hell in New England right now, and staying cool is going to always be the optimal goal. (As cool as one can be when wrapped in layers of EVA Foam and fabric.)

When it came to the pattern, I kinda knew what I wanted to use going in. I'll be modifying the Simplicity pattern above.

Basically I'll be using the majority of that pattern (i.e the bodice, skirt, hood) and then instead of the straight sleeves, I will be using the sleeves from this pattern. Works out because that way I can comfortably wear the bracers without the fabric bunching.

So far, I'm just waiting for the fabric to arrive. Once it does, I'll prep it (wash it and stuff) and then commence with the cutting and sewing! I'm not doing this in any particular order but I'm trying to make sure I at least keep up with each step. Excited to start really putting things together. Boston FanExpo is August 8 through 10, which means I have a full month to do this...

Wish me luck lol.

[bloodanddiscoballs]

hello please have this crow playing with a tiny red berry I saw the other day so you can experience another positive thing today:)

aww!!!!! that's so cute omg ( ノ´ω`) I love corvids they're so curious it's absolutely adorable♡♡♡

thank you so much my dear friend (*^3(*^o^*) it means a lot you have no idea. I am hoping that my Friday will be more productive and kinder to me than what yesterday was.

Medical Update:

The hospital and I both reached out to my pain management guy starting Tuesday afternoon (after 6 days of not hearing from him even though he knew I was in hospital). We needed him to be aware of the changes the hospital has made to my pain medications so that he could then change my prescription and write for me once I am discharged from the hospital. The hospital had sent over the faxed documents Wednesday morning once we discussed being discharged Thursday.

After many calls and texts through the patient portal, my hospital doctor FINALLY gets a nurse practitioner on the phone at 3pm Thursday, who then acts as a middle man. This entire time, no one on our end has actually gotten to speak to my doctor, and he refuses to take the time to actually speak to the hospital (again! he knows I'm here due to my crippling chronic pain). He agrees to change the immediate release pain medication to match what they have me on here in the hospital, but he doesn't like the change they've made to my extended release pain medication. While I understand that, instead of then talking to my hospital doctor, he decides to just change me to fentanyl patches instead of the extended release pill I'm on. I can not do fentanyl patches because even on the lowest dose, I end up with Serotonin Syndrome. A fact that is in my medical chart, by the way.

So the hospital tells me all this and then says I should call and try to resolve this as they can't play telephone. It is 3:30pm when I call and get the nurse practitioner on the line, and I explain that the change he made isn't gonna work. I ask if my pain management doctor would be willing to do a lower does of the extended or just keep me on what he has for that one. The nurse practitioner tells me she's gonna go ask. She comes back on the line in a minute and tells me "Sorry he's just left for the day. You'll need to call back on Monday." I'm obviously confused and ask if they can please get ahold of him so that we can fix this because AGAIN: I'm in the fucking hospital. She tells me there is no possible way to contact him after hours and he doesn't work Fridays anymore so I have to wait until Monday morning. But they did "send out the changes made" (no they didn't btw because I get a notification from their system when they send over medications)

So now I'm screwed. Unless those medications get sent over in the morning, I absolutely can not leave the hospital until Monday at the earliest. And even if they DO send those medications over, I will only have the immediate release pain medication to actually use. My hospital doctor told me he would come by in the morning today with the nurse who has been helping me this whole time so that we can discuss the plan of action. If the pain management doctor sends over those meds, there is a possibility that the doctor here at the hospital will at least write me a short prescription for the extended release pain medication that will get me through until my appointment with Pain Management on Wednesday the 2nd (this coming week/the earliest they could fot me in) but if he cannot write me for that long then I need to stay in the hospital over the weekend and we will reconvene after I'm able to contact my pain management doctor.

All of this was so stressful, which just made my pain flare up more today. Unfortunately, there were a ton of issues getting my pain medications on time here today, so I ended up back at crying levels of pain. Thankfully, my night nurse has worked with me to get me back under control, but it's taken her entire shift to do so.

I'm upset. This is costing so much, and it all could have been completely avoided if my pain management doctor had just been willing to do his job in the first place. But to have him continuously show just how much he doesn't give a fuck is so mind blowing to me cause like... Fine if you don't want to do a good job when it's just him and I, I can understand that. It wouldn't be the first time. But MOST doctors don't like to look back in front of their colleagues/other people in the medical profession, especially to those who work in such a highly regulated and documented place like a hospital (and even more particularly, the hospital that I'm currently at that has a known reputation for being suuuuuper anal about everything) So I'm just blown away. On the positive side, now the professionals that I'm being seen by here understand just what I've been working with for the last 6 months or so because my pain management doctor didn't always used to be like this. But this is how he is now. And it is completely unacceptable.

[affluent-havoc]

Sooooo... I'm back. Prob still gonna be a bit slow to post still, regarding art. What matters though that the whole hand situation is much better! Still best to be careful regardless. At least I can be more confident with doing menial tasks. For sure tho, I WILL draw something on the 5th at least! That I know for certain. Or at least I'll try to Best I don't make this an absolute certainty for my own sanity I WILL try tho, pitiful doodle or not In due time, I'll figure out the full meaning with hinesight One other thing I wish to say is this. I am planning on making a second blog. Dunno if I'll announce it or not. It'll mostly be for my non-danganronpa stuff Hell, I'll just be blunt I'm drifting away from danganronpa stuff a bit Will prob still draw it now and again Lets just say that I've had all three danganronpa games in front of me Yet a game I just stared about a week ago I am almost done with Am very much in it's thralldom And I have accepted that thralldom Hell, I'm almost done with it Will finish it today Will play it again immediately after I finish my first playthrough Will play it once again after that playthrough too Also, cus of this game is why I want to make the second blog This current one is a bit more open to the youths I mean, this is primarily a danganronpa art blog It's a given But the stuff I'm deep into right now just doesn't FIT here And that's saying something! This is the same blog I've posted random DBZ art on This blog has a fraction of the disjointed mechanics of my mind Whenever I DO stuff on that secondary blog soon will have to see Will try to ensure that this main blog doesn't die before August After that, I'm unsure Think this is long enough of an update now When art comes, you'll all be sure to know d(-_☆)

[lonely-coconut]

Blinkie.World progress update!

(Tldr at the end)

Heyo, I’m here with an update on how my site is going! For one, I made a change as to how I’m adding the blinkies. I had this old minimalist style, then I made a new dropdown menu style for multiple links and stuff. I said before that this won’t be ready on day one. I was going to just focus on getting 300 of each color before release, but I realized that’ll be less efficient overall. That’s because I was adding blinkies in the minimalist style now, and then I was going to go back and redo them all with the new drop-down style later. Problem is, I’m adding blinkies in the old style when I could just code them into the new style right now! What’s the point in coding them this way if I’m just gonna go back and redo it later? But if I made new blinkies have the new style, but the old ones still with the old, then only some will have lots of information/links and it’ll be confusing to navigate. So, I figured instead of adding a bunch of new blinkies in the old style (just giving myself more work for the future) I’m going back and making all of them into the new style now! Of course this is time consuming, but it’s more efficient in the grander scheme of things.

Also, since I’m doing that, I’m not coding in any new blinkies for now so I can keep focused on making sure the ones I have are ready to go. I’m still downloading them to my computer though. Gotta take dibs before they vanish lol

That is to say, it’s very likely that it won’t be ready by July 1st. I just want to say that now so you guys don’t get too excited about a release date that probably isn’t going to happen. I do still want to get it up as soon as possible, because I’m really excited about it, but this is a whole thing. I mean, this has been a whole thing since the get-go. What I’m trying to say is, I’m only a lad, and I can’t burn my self out on something that’s supposed to be fun. (I don’t mean that it’s becoming unfun for me right now, btw. It’s not. I’m just saying I want to make sure it stays something that’s fun and not become like some kind of job or responsibility. Prevention is the best medicine, after all.) So anyway, I might not complete it by July, and I’m not gonna start tweaking in order to force that to happen. Art fight is about to happen as well, which is both a good incentive to want to share blinkies, and a huge distraction from doing so. Ugh, ref sheets…

Another thing is my plan for site updates when it's launched! It'll go up with the blinkies that are coded in now, and I'll keep adding them for the foreseeable future! Aside from the ones on my site, I have thousands in my queue, and tons of bookmarks for even more to download! I’ll be able to add new ones consistently for a long time. I’m thinking I will make a site update page, showcasing the new blinkies as they're added once a week! I used to add 10 blinkies every day, and it wasn’t even that hard. I have no doubt I could code in at least one new blinkie every week!

Last thing I’ll mention is that if any of you were wanting to visit the site specifically for art fight, you’re always welcome to ask me for any of the ones in the screenshots! I literally have them all downloaded with their credit links. Getting them takes two seconds, so don’t feel bad about it if you really want one! I promise you it’s no inconvenience at all. I'm posting new screenshots after this post, so you'll be able to see every blinkie that's currently there! It both has more since last time, and I'm also showing color pages that I didn't before.

TLDR:

One- I used to code blinkies one way, but I figured out a better way to do it, so I am going back and changing all of them to the new style. Doing this slows down progress right now, but saves time in the long run.

Two- My site most likely won't be done by July 1st as I predicted, because it'll be impossible to make that deadline without putting an unhealthy amount of pressure on myself.

Three- Every week on the site I will add new blinkies.

Four- Reminder that asking for a blinkie from one of my screenshots is completely fine and very easy to fetch on my end.

Posting screenshots next!

[jakesimfromstatefarm]

[sneak peek] The MatchMatic 3000 || Jake Sim

update: this fic's been posted!! click here to read!

a/n: helloooo this is a lil peek into what i've been working on for a bit now! i'm hoping to get this out by next week? (cross ur fingers with me) anywaysss i've been having so much fun writing this and just indulging in a fun, crack, writing style! this is gonna be a brief sneak peek, so let me know if anyone else wants another snippet :D

genre: fluff, comedy, college!au, matchmaking!au, just very fun & random humor (simply good vibes all around!), & of course pining puppy dog simp jake ;)

short summary: the one where jake’s best friend turns into a self-proclaimed “Campus Cupid” with a matchmaking algorithm, and jake’s ready to bribe, beg, and possibly sell his soul to make sure he gets paired with you. because heaven forbid he just talks to you like a normal guy in love. nope, jake’s plan A is “hack the system,” and plan B? well, there is no plan B—he’s fully committed to this delulu life.

Subject: [SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENT]

Hello there awesome students & fellow single-tons,  

Have you ever looked around campus and thought, ‘Wow, everyone here is either taken, weird, or impossible to talk to?’ Well, I’m here to save you from the deep trenches of singleness with...*drumroll please* 

THE MATCHMATIC 3000  –– the university's very own matchmaking algorithm that's here to pair you with your perfect second half!  

How does it work you ask? Simple. 

Download the app from the link in this email (no, it's not a scam or an elaborate hoax, I promise).  

Enter your name and student ID (for verification purposes only – no catfishing allowed!)  

Answer a bunch of super fun questions that might make you question your life choices but will definitely help MatchMatic 3000 find your perfect match! 

Once you’re done, the app will work its algorithmic magic to pair you with someone who’s probably just as confused about life as you are but is at least willing to share similar pizza toppings with you. 

Why are we doing this, you ask? Because who doesn’t love a good matchmaking fiasco? It’s like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks, except instead of pasta, it’s your love life. And hey, if it doesn’t work out, at least you’ll have some hilarious stories to tell your future therapist!

(Please don't bill me for your therapy bill. I'm broke.)  

It’s scientifically engineered, which means it’s flawless. Trust me, I’m very smart. Sign up now, and may your love life finally flourish. If it doesn’t, well, you can’t say I didn’t try.  

Sincerely, your friendly campus cupid, 

Lee Heeseung <3 

*Disclaimer: The university, nor I, takes no responsibility for any romantic entanglements, awkward encounters, or sudden realizations that you might be better off single. Please use the MatchMatic 3000 responsibly.* 

[fablesrose]

Season 3

Ch 19 - The Jailhouse Job

Series Rewrite Masterlist 

Pairing: Eliot Spencer x Ford!Reader

Description: Nate is now in jail for the stunt he pulled last season saving the team. Despite this, he still finds a job in taking down his warden.

Words: 7.7k

A/n: Hey guys, sorry this took so long. This summer has been busier and more stressful than I had anticipated with work, trying to figure out my physical health, and a number of other factors in regards to my future. Unfortunately I am still under a lot of stress, so I'm unsure how regular updates will be, but I'm hoping to post once or twice a month for now. I've been so touched by the support coming through and the desire for this series to continue and I am so thankful for all of you, I hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stared at my laptop sitting on the coffee table in my living room. Over the past month that Nate has been in jail awaiting trial, I have been contemplating what my next steps should be. When I started working with the team full time, I had temporarily shut down my socials and suspended my website for freelancing. Still, I had a somewhat regular stream of repeat clients asking if I had any project openings. Thus far I had simply told them that no, I didn’t have any openings and possibly even pointing them to possible alternative freelancers that I had worked with previously and thought they did a good job. 

Did I take it back up again? Was this last job with the mayor and Nate going to jail the sign that I needed that this was the time to walk away? If it was, could I really follow through? Or was I so deep into this already, in too deep with the team, too deep into crime, in too deep for Eliot, that I wouldn’t be able to get out until the whole world fell apart?

And so, I just started at my laptop. At my emails, sitting in my inbox. They might as well have been collecting dust. I sat, thinking about everything and nothing at all. 

I wasn’t sure how long I had been there when a knock came to my door. 

“It’s open,” I called, remembering that I hadn’t locked the door when Sophie came and went earlier today to check on me. 

I didn’t move from my spot, staring at my laptop. It felt as if my eyes were glued to the spot, that pulling my gaze away would be painful, or at least physically difficult. 

“Hey, sweetheart.” The deep voice floated to my ears, one that I wouldn’t forget. It somehow pulled my eyes from where they were nailed in front of me towards the door where Eliot stepped through carefully. 

“Hey,” I said softly in reply. 

“How’re you holding up?” He stepped around the furniture till he found a chair he liked near where I was sitting. 

I sighed, “Okay. Those first two weeks I was so stressed that I don’t remember much, to be completely honest. Now I’m just tired and trying to figure out what to do next.”

He tilted his head a fraction, “Like what? What to cook for dinner in the next day or two or…”

I huffed, “More like what to do with my life.”

Eliot’s brow furrowed in confusion, “What do you mean? You’re gonna stay with us right? Help us break Nate out of prison?”

My lips curled into a small, but sad, smile, “Do you guys even still want me around when Nate’s not here?”

He scoffed, “Are you kidding? Of course we do. Didn’t you hear Nate on that boat? We’re family. To be honest sweetheart, I think we all like you better anyway.”

My smile cracked into a wider one, “Really?”

“Really.”

We just sat looking at each other for a few moments before my eyes dropped to my hands for a moment, “So, uh, where you just popping by to check on me or…”

He coughed, “Uh, actually I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, uh, remember the job we did in LA? With the two David statues?”

I raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Where I met you and helped with my first job? That happened well over a year ago? Yeah, what about it?”

He agreed that we were thinking of the same event and stuttered over his words a bit, trying to figure out how to articulate what he wanted. Eventually he said, “I just… I wanted to let you know that I’m glad I met you and inadvertently pulled you into the job.”

This conversation felt like it was getting deeper and more heartfelt with every exchange, and I wasn’t sure if I liked it. It was nice, in an uncomfortable kind of way and I knew he meant well, but I couldn’t stop myself from lightening the mood a bit with a more awkward angle. “You mean that you’re glad Maggie brought me along on your date?”

 Blush rose across his face and scrunched in what seemed like disappointment, “It was Nate’s idea. For the record, I would have rather taken you out on a date, but Maggie had the museum access.”

That stopped me in my tracks and it was my turn for blush to spread across my face and surely my neck and ears. I wasn’t sure what to reply, so I didn’t even try. 

Eliot seemed to register what he said, and quickly changed the subject, “Besides that, we kind of came up with a plan to break Nate out. Sophie is heading to the jail and is going to tell him. Do you wanna come over and listen in?”

I could still feel my heart racing, but this was a good excuse to get out and escape the hypnotizing gaze of my laptop. And if it got Nate out of prison and the team back to rockin’ and rollin’? Then it was a double or even triple win in my book. 

We crossed the hall to Nate’s apartment where the team has continued to meet up and use as their - our? - headquarters. I had been unsure of how I felt being in there with Nate being in jail so I hadn’t come over very often. Hardison did make another upgrade to the room with a tall desk facing the screens placed behind the couch wide enough to fit all of us. 

When we walked in Sophie had begun explaining the plan to break Nate out. Hardison was somehow channeling the conversation through the speakers like a phone call so everyone could hear and had the security footage on the screen so we could watch. Sophie and Nate were separated by some sort of plexiglass as they chatted from the prison phone booths. I had gone a couple of times to visit him so I was somewhat familiar with the room. It all seemed performative, the glass walls for some sort of privacy, the plastic phones to talk through even though you could still hear through the glass. All for the illusion of separation.

From what I gathered of the plan, we would have to break him out directly after his hearing at the courthouse. Eliot would take out any FBI agents and guards on the outside. Parker would be waiting in the elevator shaft to do the actual breaking out of the cuffs and his guards. The rest of us are on distraction and misdirection duty until we can all load up and drive away. 

“No,” Nate said when he heard it. 

“No!?” Sophie replied. 

“Uh… no,” he repeated. 

“What do you mean no?”

“It’s a horrible plan. None of it times out, and there’s no way you can get to the car that fast,” Nate explained. 

“Ah, but you’d have to admit, it’d be a lot more dramatically satisfying if I’m the one driving the getaway car.”

I shrugged in partial agreement to the both of them. The way Sophie explained the plan was for her to meet Nate right when he came out of his courtroom, putting her behind him in getting out of the building. Nate was right, where it would be impossible for her to be driving the car to pick them up (the way she described it), but she was right that it would bring a full circle moment to the operation.

“You know they record these calls,” Nate whispered, as if it would help. Sophie raised a cellphone at him that was plugged into the wall next to the prison phone she was talking to him through.

“I created a carrier signal for our conversation,” Hardison explained, “But I’m dumping another conversation onto the prison recording system.”

“Spanish soap opera?” Eliot asked as he passed a beer to Hardison and my drink of choice to me. 

“Oh yeah, check it out man. Look, it turns out Pepe’s twin brother Peppi is actually Guadalupe’s baby’s daddy.” Hardison explained the plot he was transmitting to the recording system. 

“You seriously keep up with that?” I asked. I could vaguely hear it in the background of his systems. 

Hardison shrugged at me. 

“Is this thing two way?” I asked him. 

“It can be, you wanna say hi?”

I casually nodded. Once he gave me the go ahead I said, “Hi Nate.”

He startled a bit on the camera feed when he heard my voice, “Hey Birdie.” He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “You didn’t have a hand in that plan, did you? Because I would expect better from you.”

Sophie looked a little offended in the camera feed. 

I laughed, “No, I haven’t had any involvement in anything until just now.”

“What have you been doing the past couple of weeks, then?”

I rolled my eyes, “having an existential crisis over what to do with my life. Do I go back to boring normalness or risk following your footsteps and landing in prison with you? Any advice? How’s the food? And the beds?” I said the last half sarcastically, but the first statement was very much true and I tried not to show it. At least, not too much. 

Nate chose not to answer me verbally, but I watched as he twisted around in his chair until he found the camera pointed at him and Sophie and gave it a pointed glare. 

“Hey,” I said flippantly, “you chose this. Don’t kill me for asking.”

Behind me, Parker walked in with a large duffle. 

“He don’t want to do it,” Eliot told her. 

“Aw, but I love jumping down elevators,” she reacted. 

“I know,” Hardison validated. 

“This is my special elevator rig he got me for Christmas,” Parker said as he put down the large bag. 

“Alright, look, Nate, you took the fall for us,” Eliot began. 

“After you lied to us!” Hardison cut in, “He’s a liar.”

“You took the fall for us.” Eliot continued, “You went to jail so we wouldn’t have to. We get that, so we’re square. But now, you’ve got to let us get you out of prison.”

“But if we’re gonna do that…” Parker added. 

“And not all of us are convinced that we should,” Hardison also added which earned an raised eyebrow from me. 

“Then we have to hit you at your next hearing,” Parker finished her thought. “That prison’s escape-proof.”

“Okay, you know what? Fine, Nate,” Hardison said. “We’re still out here, we’re doing the job. We help people nobody else helps. That’s important. You want to stay around and miss out just because you gotta figure out your guilty conscience, that’s your loss.”

Nate began to respond with his nervous ‘I’m explaining’ laugh when Hardison turn

“Guys, no.” Nate said firmly. He then spoke slowly, as if spelling it out for us, “I committed a crime, I got caught, now I’m going to serve my time.”

“Boo,” I said as I took a sip of my drink. “Can’t we live by the spirit of the law, not the letter?”

“And what law would make this okay?” Eliot asked skeptically.

I shrugged, “I don’t know, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?”

“That sounds right,” Parker said, somewhat helpfully. 

“Nate,” Sophie said pointedly. “What kind of world would it be if everyone who committed a silly little crime went to prison, huh? Complete madness!”

Those of us in the office shared a baffled look. While I was being somewhat contrary, it was clear that Sophie actually believed what she said. And I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. 

“Did you get the kielbasa?” Sophie asked. 

Nate nodded and held up a packaged sausage with a bow on it, “yeah.”

“There’s an earbud inside,” she explained with a dramatic wink that I could see through the fuzzy camera. 

“Now listen to me,” Nate doubled down, “in no way, shape, or form are you going to break me out of this prison. Understood?”ed his screens and programs off, cutting off the call.

“What a burn,” I said to the quiet room. 

Eliot approached me, “Sorry about bringing you over here, that wasn’t how I thought that was gonna go.”

I shrugged, “I’ll admit, it stings a little, but that’s not your fault. You can never tell what Nate’s gonna do. Besides, you didn’t bring me very far and I got a drink out of it.” I raised my drink and Eliot tapped his beer against it. 

“To whatever future you choose,” he said spontaneously. 

“To whatever the future may bring,” I replied. 

I stayed around and chatted for a little while, but eventually retreated to my own apartment. There were enough emotions for today. 

A couple of days later Hardison invited me across the hall to help assemble or create a helicopter-esc gadget. The small talk didn’t last long and we slipped into a comfortable silence, the contraption alternating between us as we fiddled with pieces and screws. 

“Were you serious, the other day?” Hardison finally asked, breaking the silence. 

“About what?” I replied somewhat distractedly as I struggled to thread a screw correctly. 

“About figuring out what you wanted to do now that Nate’s behind bars.”

“Oh.” I paused before answering, “I mean, kinda.” I kept my eyes on the pieces and focused on putting them together even though I could feel Hardison’s eyes on me. “I kind of wondered if him getting arrested was the universe’s way of telling me that this was the end of the line for me and this life. That the opportunity and path had reached a dead end and it was time to go back to where I belonged, with a quote on quote ‘normal’ life.” I could tell Hardison wanted to say something, but I continued before he had the chance. “But, I’ve mostly decided that I’ll stick around for as long as y’all let me, wherever it leaves me.”

“Y’all? Really? I think you’ve been spending too much time with Eliot,” Hardison teased at my unconscious choice of words. 

I finally looked up at him, “Slip of the tongue from when I’ve said it ironically. I don’t know if I ever remember hearing Eliot say it.”

Hardison shrugged, “He’s some sort of southern, I’m sure he says it.” There was a lull between us before he continued, “But regardless, I’m glad you’ve decided to stick around.”

I smiled at him in appreciation when I heard Nate’s voice come out of his computer that was sitting next to us on the counter. 

“Oh, no. Mnh–mnh,” Hardison replied immediately. “No, we extended our hand of forgiveness, and you slapped it away. Now go away.”

“Please, please, I just want you to check the records of inmate Billy Epping. Fast.”

It sounded like there was someone near him as a distant voice said, “Who are you talking to?!”

Hardison rolled his eyes and started typing on his laptop before pulling something up. “Whoa… Okay, uh, William Epping’s conviction was for transporting liquor across state lines, but his sentence was way longer than anyone’s received for that crime since, like, the Pilgrims, man.”

“That’s suspicious,” I commented. 

“That’s weird,” Hardison continued, “Your warden was consulted on the sentencing.”

“That’s really suspicious,” I amended.

“It’s hinky,” Hardison agreed. 

Nate then turned to who I assumed was Billy and assured him that we would check it out. He then apologized and there were some panicked sounds coming through his comm that wasn’t from Nate. 

“Uh, Hardison, Y/n, why don’t you guys gather the team and get me a background check on the warden.”

“You stabbed me!” The other voice called. 

“Oh, come on, just a little,” Nate minimized. 

“Was that necessary, Nate?” I asked. 

“Yes,” he responded without elaborating. 

“Nate, did you find us a client in prison?” Hardison teased. 

“Yes, we are going to help Billy Epping, and maybe take down a warden at the same time,” Nate said matter-of-factly. 

Billy exasperatedly demanded who Nate was talking to and eventually came to the conclusion that he was going to pass out. 

Hardison turned to me and muted us on the comm network, “What was that about signs of the universe?”

“I’m not sure what this sign is telling me other than that Nate, my uncle and the person who raised me, is insane. Which I already knew and am still figuring out how that reflects on me.”

“Fair.”

We gathered the team and started preparations to do some recon. Hardison did the background check on the warden, Adam Worth, and drew up some credentials for Eliot to go into the prison as a doctor. He would be there to keep Billy safe and give information to Nate. Parker and Sophie (she had told us her real name at this point, but wanted to be petty and not tell Nate, so it was easier to just call her Sophie) were going to be working the courthouse and judge, getting information on Billy and their relationship with Mr. Worth. 

Hardison and I dressed up a bit to meet with Mr. Worth on the pretense of business. 

“How I got started?” Mr. Worth repeated Hardison as he poured us some drinks, “Well, hedge funds, actually. And then a little bit of international finance. But then ten years ago, I hit on this – National prison properties. Get the government out of the justice business.” Everything that came out of his mouth sounded like a political slogan. This man seemed to be born a politician, and from what Hardison found on the background check, it seemed to run in his family. His grandfather, father, and brother were all in pretty powerful political positions, but the Mr. Worth that stood in front of us couldn’t seem to get elected in his campaigns. 

When asked for our names, we introduced ourselves with the best English accents we could muster and maintain for this whole meeting. 

“Brilliant,” Hardison remarked, “Corporate-run prisons, five facilities, thousands of inmates, it’s tremendous.”

“Indeed, it’s a marvel,” I added with a smile despite the fact that my thoughts and feelings on the matter were quite contrary. 

Mr. Worth led us over to his sitting area of his office, Hardison came behind me as he took a step to Mr. Worth’s computer and planted a bug into his system. 

“The U.S. has the fastest growing prison population in the world,” Mr. Worth explained. “Well, it’s like the real estate boom,” he laughed, “except of course, the problem with real estate, you eventually run out of land. You never run out of people to put in prison.”

“Hmm, we haven’t had much success in the private prison concept in England,” Hardison said. “Our investment firm has large real estate holdings for construction of facilities.”

“You see, any yahoo can lay some concrete and throw up some razor wire,” Worth countered. “The profit comes from proper management. For example, the big money for us is in prison labor.”

Hardison pulled out his phone to ensure that his bug was accessing the system, but this had him a bit distracted. 

“Really?” I asked, pulling the attention to me and to keep the conversation going. 

“Yes. Goods and services made by prisoners in America – two billion dollars a year. One out of every five office chairs and desks, made in America, made by convicts. And those jobs are not going to the Chinese,” he laughed and raised his glass in a cheers. 

Around this time Eliot arrived at the prison infirmary and handed over his credentials. Before we left, Eliot was agitated.

“What’s up?” I had asked him.

“We tried to break him out, but now we’ve got to do this job. We shouldn’t just be at his beckon call after he ran a con on us,” he said through slightly gritted teeth. 

“Well, when you see him, don’t rough him up too badly,” I commented, not denying his feelings. I was a bit peeved too, and I knew Eliot wouldn’t do something rash, I said it in a teasing way to try and lighten his mood. 

He looked at me for a hard moment before he sighed, his shoulders dropping, “Fine, I won’t do anything.”

“I never said that,” I corrected, that teasing lilt still in my voice, “You can still scare him a little bit.”

His expression was a bit skeptical, but intrigued. 

“Please? For me?”

His face broke into a smile, “Okay, I think I can do that, sweetheart.”

And he did once he and Nate were alone after he was introduced to Billy and assured he would be safe. 

It sounded like they popped into a dental office to talk and with some rustling and clinking of buckles, it sounded like Eliot was physically strapping Nate in. 

“Restraints,” Eliot said. “They’re in the infirmary manual.” 

Then the sound of a dental drill came through the comms. 

“That’s – uh – for the guards, right?” Nate asked with a bit of a nervous laugh. 

“Do you know what I usually do, Nate, to the people that run a con on their own team?” Eliot asked seriously with a pause. “That almost get people killed, ‘cause they’re out of control?”

“Are we okay, Eliot?” Nate asked, that tone of nervous challenge shifting in his voice. 

I smiled to myself behind my glass. Eliot knew what he was doing when it came to scaring people, even when trying to be subtle. 

As an answer, Eliot turned the drill off and started relaying the information that we knew on Worth. He told him about his family’s political dynasty and his failure to get elected himself which led to him going the business route. 

“Okay, first, we have to figure out how to nail the warden on whatever scam he’s running here,” Nate said. “Second, we’ve got to get Billy out of here in case things go bad.”

“Told ya, this place is escape-proof,” Eliot countered. “Twenty-first century prison, fewer guards, more tech. Infrared cameras, motion sensors, lockdown doors.”

“Okay, does Parker have any ideas?”

“She’s working with… Sophie.”

“What was that?”

“Sophie told us her real name. I’m not allowed to say it in front of you.”

“Seriously?”

“Her and Parker, they’re running the judge.”

At the courthouse, they were able to find a bunch of files of inmates and evidence of a safety deposit box. Hardison and I wrapped things up with Worth to go do some research and discuss what they found. 

It turns out that the judge who sentenced Billy opened up a safety deposit box around the same time that he started sending civilians down for hard time. Four other judges seemed to do the same. 

“I mean, there are hundreds of cases here,” Sophie said once she, Parker, Hardison, and I got back from our respective assignments. “And these are just the ones we found.”

“Records I pulled off of Worth’s computer show that each time an inmate checks in at Rockford, their judge gets an email. Now, it looks coded. I’m thinking, Cayman Islands bank account?” Hardison speculated. 

“Hardison,” Nate said through comms, “private prisons have a contract with the state just like any company that provides a service. Now, do they have to maintain a head count?”

“Yeah, Rockford can’t drop below 70% occupancy. If they do, they lose their state funding. No state money, and they close. They came very close two years ago,” I answered.

“Hmm, so private prisons are like the hotel business. They live and die by occupancy, headcount. Now, Worth wasn’t gonna lose $100 million in profit just ‘cause he didn’t have enough hard-cases to fill the prison, so he puts a few judges on the arm to send him non-violent offenders, easy prisoners to supervise.”

“But why these people?” Parker asked. 

“Because they’re citizens,” Eliot said as he walked in from the neighboring room. “‘Cause they’re honest, middle class citizens. These are the people, they don’t wanna cause any trouble. They can’t afford a lawyer, so if some judge sends them away, well, yes sir. They were taught to trust the courts.”

“They believe in the system,” I added, summing it up. 

“So, Nate, whatcha got?” Sophie asked. 

“Well, Worth makes money sending innocent people to prison.” Nate answered, “I have just the thing.”

To put it simply, Nate did have just the thing for Mr. Worth: make all of his ambitions come true and get him elected United States Senator. 

Sophie got Worth on the hook for the election by posing as the current senator’s campaign coordinator, vying for reelection. Parker posed for pictures that got photoshopped to make it look like the current senator was having an affair. A scandal that could lose him his job. Hardison and I put together a campaign ad for Worth that Sophie also showed him and caught him hook, line, and sinker. 

“Now, I’ve got to give it to you Nate,” Hardison said once Sophie got back. “Nobody can read a mark quite like you.”

“Oh, come on,” Nate replied, “he tried to run twice and failed. That had to have been eating at him. Now find me a way out of this place.”

“Oh, now he wants to get out,” I said sarcastically with the intent to tease, but Nate chose not to comment. 

There was a pause before Eliot started speaking from inside the prison infirmary, “Billy showed me where he found the first dead gang member. Blind spot – no cameras.”

“Nice coincidence,” Nate acknowledged. 

“Yeah, and Hardison checked the incident reports, all of them happened in camera blind spots – places convicts wouldn’t know existed.”

“Guards,” Nate concluded simply. 

“They killed him, accident, whatever. They let Billy here find him, wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Can we use the blind spots?” Nate asked. “I really want a back door out of this place.”

“No, Nate, I can’t access those cameras from here,” Hardison said. “They’re dumb, they run straight to the server.”

“Yeah, and they could have upgraded the motion sensors and the infrareds since these plans,” Parker added. “You’re gonna have to map it out. Old-school.”

Nate and Eliot proceeded to map out the prison, finding every security camera, motion sensor, lock bolt, and heat sensor in the prison. Eliot marked it on his phone and Nate dictated it to us back at the office so we could map it both on a digital blueprint and a physical map taped to our clear erase board. 

Once they had finished the rounds in finding everything Hardison said, “Nate, if you could see this, you would not be encouraged”

“Yeah, I see it,” Nate said a bit distractedly, telling me that he had it mapped out somehow and somewhere and he was looking at our predicament at that very moment. “I hope Sophie has more luck with the warden.”

“Who’s Sophie?” Parker asked.

“You remember, we’re not supposed to use her real name with, uh…” Hardison answered. 

“Right, Nate hasn’t earned it yet.” Parker then started repeating Sophie over and over again in different pitches and tempos as if to remind herself. 

It got to a point where I knew Nate must have been losing his mind and I was getting a bit irritated myself, so I took it upon myself to cut her off, asking her to show me the ranges of the security equipment we just mapped out to see if there were even slivers of blind spots. I already had an idea that there were very few if any, but it distracted Parker from saying Sophie over and over and helped me get a better idea of what we were working with. She happily redirected and started rattling off information at me and pointing at the map with Hardison piping up occasionally about a specific tech thing here or there. 

Eventually Eliot came back and we started analyzing the digital blueprint we made of the security measures, trying to figure out how to get Nate an escape route. 

“Alright, we cut that wire,” Eliot said, pointing at the screen. 

“No, no.” Hardison said, “Look, once a lockdown is called, all these sensors go hot and all those door bolts drop into place.”

“I got it!” Parker said as she sat up from where she was lying down on the table desk. “The furnace room.” She then stood up and walked to the front of the room to face the rest of us who were extremely skeptical. “There’s no sensors because it’s too hot. They crawl straight down along the heating pipes until they reach the sewage system. Ha ha!”

“Now Parker, it’s a hundred and fifty degrees in there,” Nate pointed out through comms. 

She paused before answering happily, “The average human can withstand that for 27 seconds.”

The boys rolled their eyes and turned away from her. 

“Could they make that crawl in 27 seconds Parker?” I asked, trying to point out the problem.

She hummed and hawed for a couple of moments but before she answered, Sophie walked in. 

 “Worth is on the hook,” she said as she joined us in the living room, “But, with $250,000 of ours as a buy in.” She was referring to getting Worth to transfer a quarter million into a ‘campaign fund’ account, it seems he wanted us to match it. 

“Ouch,” Nate commented flippantly. 

“Oh, did I say ours? I meant, what’s left of your life savings. Yeah, we took it out of your account.” 

I winced, but still had an amused smile since Sophie was trying to rub it in, but we had to use Nate’s money to make Worth look even more incriminating. 

“Any luck here?” Sophie asked us, all of us answering in the negative, except for Nate.

“Yeah, yeah, got it,” he answered, convinced he was right. “B corridor, through to the kitchen, into the freezer, into the freezer air exchange, into the machine tunnels, which will lead me to the roof, or the parking lot.”

“You gotta beat the lockdown door to the corridor,” Hardison reminded him. “There’s a thousand pounds of pressure on that bolt.”

“There’s motion sensors in the kitchen,” Eliot said. 

“And infrared in the machine corridor,” Parker added. 

“All to get to the roof or the parking lot where you’ll be trapped and probably brutally gunned down,” Sophie pointed out. “Got a way out of that?”

“I’m working on it,” he replied, not as confidently, but still determined. 

“Okay, you do that, I’m sure we have all the time in the world,” I responded a bit distractedly as I analyzed the blueprint in front of me, not seeing a possible way out, but there had to be one. There had to be. 

Sophie and I were brainstorming with Nate on how to bypass the security measures and get out safely. We eventually got it mostly figured out with Nate taking the route he dictated. For the first door, he would need a wedge to keep it from latching. I proposed a folded up newspaper if he could get his hands on one. Parker said that if Nate could fog up the kitchen enough, he could bypass the motion sensors in the kitchen. If Nate could disguise his heat signature with materials in the freezer, he could get by that obstacle too. As for being trapped afterwards, we needed a distraction on the roof so Nate could get through the parking lot and into Worth’s car. He was the only one who could conceivably leave the prison in a lockdown. 

Eliot, Hardison, and Parker went back to the prison to lay down some ground work and prepare for the escape. Hardison brought some clothes to switch with Worth’s drycleaning for Nate to change into afterwards. He was also going to tip Worth off that Sophie might be crooked. Eliot was there as physical backup and protection. Parker was going to be flying a remote controlled helicopter for the rooftop distraction. 

I stayed behind with Sophie to make sure everything ran smoothly.

What we weren’t expecting was when Hardison was going to tip off Worth about Sophie, he got an urgent call that pulled him away from their meeting. Hardison checked Worth’s computer to find that all of the security cameras had been turned off, faking a system reboot.

“Eliot, get ready. They’re coming for Billy,” Nate said when Hardison told him what was going on. After a few moments of what sounded like Nate making preparations, he said, “Parker, please tell me you’re at Hardison’s new van.”

“Yeah, it’s really nice,” she answered nonchalantly. 

“Did you bring it?” he asked, referring to the remote helicopter. 

“Wait, are we doing that now?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna break out right now.”

I looked at Sophie. This was certainly unexpected, but hopefully we had prepared enough for it to pass. 

“Sophie, y/n, I need you to help guide me through it.”

“We’re on the count,” Sophie immediately replied. 

“Nate, when they call ‘lockdown’ every door in the prison seals tight,” I reminded him. 

“Right, on it,” he answered. 

There were a lot of thumps over the comms telling me that Eliot was keeping the guards at bay. I had to take a deep swallow when I heard him demand a guard look at him before he knocked him out. 

“A little sloppy,” Nate told him when he arrived. 

“New glasses,” Eliot explained. 

Eliot was wearing glasses when I met him, though I didn’t know his name was Eliot or that he was the world’s best retrieval specialist at the time. Whenever his glasses are mentioned, my mind seems to slip back to then. How he brought me champagne, complimented me, listened to me. How warm his hands were when they brushed against mine. How I’ve come to learn that they are always that warm. And how gentle they can be when they held my fingers when he said goodbye with a slight bow. How as he stood back up the lights of the party glinted off his silver frames and made his eyes sparkle.

I had always wondered if they were real, but mostly assumed they were fake. Him using new glasses as a reason for him being sloppy made me think that they actually were prescription. I should ask him about that. 

Nate grabbed Billy and they made a dash to the doors while ‘Lockdown’ got called over the intercom along with an alarm and a countdown. Billy lamented that they weren’t going to make it before the door closed and it sounded like he was right. 

After a moment, I heard a door open and Nate say, “Newspaper folded eight times can hold a ton of weight.”

I smiled to myself as it sounded like he took my suggestion. 

Sophie’s phone began to ring. She looked at it and tossed it to me, “It’s Worth calling the bank, stall him please.

I instantly answered the phone, thickening my voice to have a more pronounced Boston accent along with my customer service voice, “First Boston Independent Bank. How can I help you?”

“This is Adam Worth. I want to close an account. Move money out of it right now,” he said, somewhat out of breath and anxious. 

“And what account is it?”

“$250,000, the Worth campaign fund.”

“I’m sorry, sir, for a transfer that large, we require an in-person request to verify identity.”

He sighed and immediately hung up. 

“Well, that should stall him. He’s heading to the bank now,” I told the group even though I’m sure they heard already. 

Nate and Billy got to the kitchen where they separated, Billy going further into the prison, and Nate starting his route out of it. 

“Nate, the motion sensor,” Sophie reminded him.

“Steam’s filling up now,” he answered. I started gently chewing the tip of my thumb when he told us that he beat the motion sensor.

I sighed and released a bit of tension, but he wasn’t out of the woods yet. I could tell Sophie was feeling the same as I was as she continually told herself to breathe. 

Soon enough he told us that he made it through the maze of security measures and made it to the parking lot where he was home free in Worth’s car, who was on his way to the bank. 

Sophie and I let out a breath of relief. Now all that was left was to send some helpful anonymous tips to the State police, specifically, the newly promoted Detective Captain Bonanno, who was on the mend. 

With Hardison switching Worth’s dry cleaning with some of Nate’s clothes, making them fit better than anything Worth owned for himself, it made Worth look like even more of an accomplice of his escape when Nate exited Worth’s car at the bank. Nate made sure to catch himself clearly on a security camera. Worth took all of the money out of the campaign account, including the $250,000 of Nate’s money, making it look like a bribe. It seemed like the judges that Worth had on his payroll would also be on the receiving end of an investigation since the police found a list of them in Worth’s car. 

Now that that was out of the way, we all had to exit the city. Quickly. Hardison was getting flights and I had most of my essentials gathered so that we could all head to the airport as soon as Nate walked in the door. I had prepared to be a fugitive when we took down the mayor, but now it was actually happening with Nate escaping from prison. I had stepped across the hall to my own apartment to grab a couple more things. Just when I was zipping up my bag, I heard Nate open up his door across the hall. I exited my apartment just as the door closed behind him. 

I crossed the hall and was about to open the door again when there was a very distinctive click of a gun, right behind my ear.

“Don’t move,” a voice said behind me. Based on my experience with Sophie, I should have been able to guess the accent, but I was a bit too preoccupied to really think about it. 

I turned my head slightly to see that there were five men standing behind me. I wasn’t sure where they came from to get behind me so fast, but they were all armed and pointed their firearms at me and the door in front of me.

I did what he said and didn’t move. I knew that the rest of the team was going to be opening the door any second, so I willed myself not to cry. I took a deep swallow, but could feel my eyes start to sting. There was always something when it came to this team, wasn’t there. 

I could hear Hardison through the door mentioning rendezvousing in Paris when the door swung open to reveal the team. He immediately paused and the moment I made eye contact with Eliot, he took a forceful step towards me, ready to fight. Nate stopped him, grabbing his arm, but Eliot still tugged a bit before halting. They both gave me reassuring looks with a fire behind their eyes when a woman walking down Nate’s stairs pulled everyone’s attention to her. The thought crossed my mind wondering how she got up there when there has always been at least one of us in the apartment. These guys seemed to move like ghosts. 

“Buono sera, signor Ford,” she said, definitely Italian. 

Nate stared her down, but his body language seemed relaxed considering there were still several guns pointed at the back of my head and through me to the rest of the team. 

“Why don’t you have your boys here put their guns down and we’ll head downstairs to talk?” He phrased it as a question, but his tone made it sound like there was no room for argument. This was still a bit confusing to me as it seemed she had all of the leverage here, again, since I had several guns right behind me. 

Luckily, she nodded. The men lowered their guns and I quickly walked through the door. The Italian woman gracefully followed Nate as he exited the apartment past me and walked down the stairs, closing the door behind them, keeping her goons in the hallway. I let out a shuttered breath, and Sophie comfortingly stroked my shoulder and arm. My bag slipped through my fingers and fell to the floor with a thump that startled me as I had forgotten I was even holding it.

It seemed to snap the rest of them out of it as well. Eliot stepped up to me, hands gently on both of my arms and looked me over, making sure I was okay. I just nodded at him to say that I was. Hardison and Parker were discussing who they were, why they were here, and where they came from. 

“They came out of nowhere,” I said a bit distantly. “I blinked and they were behind me.”

“Highly trained,” Eliot said. “But you’re okay, you did good. You didn’t lose your head.”

“If you say so,” I let out another deep breath that made me feel a lot better. I walked over to a chair and flopped myself on it. “So, guess we aren’t going to Paris?”

Hardison looked at me, “Probably not anymore.”

“We have to figure out what that woman wants first,” Sophie said, sitting more gracefully in one of the chairs than I did. 

Parker started spitting out theories which Hardison seemed to encourage with a couple of his own. The rest of us just sat in silence, knowing that this was more of a waiting game to see what Nate came back with. 

It didn’t take long before Nate came back into the apartment, a full glass in his hand. We all sat around the table, anxiously waiting for what was in store for us. Nate didn’t leave us waiting as he told us who exactly the Italian wanted us to target. 

“Are you out of your mind?” Sophie exclaimed. “Nobody touches Damien Moreau!”

“Nate, Moreau finances the Sicilians, the Russian mafia, the Colombian cartels,” Hardison rattled off. 

“Yeah, he moves money for the North Koreans,” Eliot added, “stolen artifacts for Iraq, nuclear materials for Iran.”

“Moreau is the big bad,” Hardison emphasized. “He is the central bank for international crime.”

Parker was flipping through the files that the Italian had given to Nate and just barely spoke up, “Nate, these files are CIA, FBI, Mossad, Japanese security.”

I peeked over her shoulder to see that she was correct, these files came from every major government and security agency. I didn’t know who this guy was, but I could tell that we were in a real deep shit from both sides it seemed. Two parties, both very powerful and very connected.

“So… who is this woman?” Sophie asked.

Nate told us that while she confirmed she wasn’t police, she didn’t expand much into who she was. He also added that she gave us a six month timeline. 

“She wants to hire us to go after Moreau? Absolutely not,” Sophie said, the others quickly following with similar sentiments. 

It got to the point where the one sided argument started to get out of control so Nate had to stop them. 

“Guys! Just wait a second. This is not a job.” He then proceeded to tell us that if we did it, we would be free of Nate’s… legal troubles, in so many words. If we failed, on the other hand, Nate would be imprisoned in an absolutely horrible way and the rest of the team would be killed. Nate wouldn’t even repeat what she said they would do to me. 

“She’s blackmailing us?” I asked, both parts in disbelief and resignation.

Nate stuttered, trying to find a way to deny it, but eventually just agreed that yes, she was blackmailing us. 

“Sucks to be on the wrong side of that, finally,” Parker said. 

“You don’t have to say ‘finally’ as if it was inevitable, Parker,” I said with a sigh. 

“Right now, they have the leverage, so what we have to do is we have to get it back,” Nate tried to say reassuringly. 

I could tell I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t quite convinced.

“We can’t go straight at a guy like Moreau,” Eliot said. “They’ll vaporize us.”

“Right, so what we do, is we do like we’ve always done in the past: we do jobs that help people. Only this time, some of them are gonna lead us right to Moreau.”

“Okay,” Hardison said, but he didn’t sound skeptical, it almost sounded like he was on board. “I mean, I do have a pretty big client list waiting for us to check out.” Yup he was on board. Hardison pointed at Parker and she gave a shy smile that said that she was in too. “Oh, we back in business,” Hardison said with a smile. 

Nate nodded and tapped an uneven rhythm on the table to somewhat signal that there was nothing else to discuss. 

We all stood, walking away from the heavy conversation.

I eyed the glass of whiskey that Nate had been holding this whole time, made eye contact with Nate and then Sophie before deciding that I was going to make the choice to not worry about it. It wasn’t my problem. 

“Well, I’m gonna head to bed and dream about the horrible life of servitude and death that I’m going to experience if we don’t pull this off in the next six months. Hope you all sleep better than me, and I will see you in the morning!” I called with faux  cheerfulness as I walked out of Nate’s apartment to cross the hall to my own. I snatched my bag that I had dropped when I was released from the line of fire and dragged it to my apartment where I left it in a similar position, not wanting to deal with it at the moment. 

I really just wanted to sleep. 

A/n: Reblogs and comments are welcome and encouraged! Thank you for reading!

Tags: @instantdinosaurtidalwave @kniselle @technikerin23 @kiwikitty13 @plasticbottleholder @mushycore @who-actually-cares-anymore 

[fatuismooches]

SMOOOOCHES!!! hello sweetheart!! ໒꒰ྀིᵔ ᵕ ᵔ ꒱ྀི১

I hope you’ve been well since the last time I came on here!! (little update on my test results: everything came back clean except a few things came back indecisive but nothing to worry about! Chronic illness doesn’t seem to be getting any worse as of right now.) but asides from that here’s a little drabble as I was re-reading a few of my earlier drabbles from last year!

We know fragile!reader despises examinations and having to endure the painful injections every few weeks when Dottore batches up a new medicine. However, what if it backfires completely? Causing fragile!reader to be in an even weaker condition, barely able to move and clinging onto Dottore as tightly as they can. Perhaps running a fever, feeling miserable as they feel as if though their whole body is being pricked by thousands of needles as they shake from their fever. Dottore would try his best to not let his emotions show, but deep down he’s panicking and trying to figure out how he can cancel out the current “medicine” running through their body. To say Dottore feels guilt is an understatement, he knows that any medicine that they take can easily backfire quickly, but he never would’ve thought the symptoms would be so severe. :( once their condition stabilizes I like to think Dottore keeps them close for at least a few days, just to make sure everything is fine. Even if it means they’ll be all clingy to him, he’d rather they be safe and alive rather than induced in a coma once again.

A bit of fluff: I like to think Zandy definitely also tries to cheer you up after the whole ordeal. He’s not sure why you weren’t visiting or reading books to him anymore, other than that “you were busy with Dottore”, is what you had told him. But even the little baby knows you look more weaker (even if it’s been a few days, your condition had still worsened anyways). So perhaps he tries to draw you adorable silly drawings, and also show you his “safe” experiments. (Lest he get a scolding from Zandik or the clones again…)

‘m giving you so many chu chus n cuddles like always smooches hehe gonna make your cheeks all rosy pinky! <33 I hope you have a lovely day n spend it with a smile like always!

-from your dear boo boo bear 🎐 anon! ౨ৎ

HELLO MY DEAR 🎐 ANON!! Ahh I'm so glad your results were okay! I'm so happy for you and for getting through all of this! *hugs you* And I LOVE this brainrot! ❤️ I've always brainrotted about this idea hehe because angst of Dottore failing... teehee.

Dottore, being the skilled scholar he is, never fails to concoct new medications and treatments for you in hopes of creating something that sticks, along with the actual cure. These meds always go through a few rounds of testing, on his experiments of course (as you said before) but sometimes there is only so little that can be done. After all, your body is very different from the average person's. So, there have been times when the things he's given you didn't agree with your body very well, but they were never anything drastic. However, that was until this instance.

Dottore is a confident man. He's smart, he plans ten steps ahead, and things always go exactly as he orchestrated or predicted them to. So that's why he expected nothing different to be with this batch, maybe you'd have a few minor side effects that he'd note and so on, but he expected you to be fine, to then whine about how all of this was so much work, and he'd only hum at your complains to which you'd pout at. In the beginning, you seemed fine. Looked fine, your vitals were fine. But in a matter of minutes, when you got off the operating table, all of that changed, as dizziness and blurriness.

You tried to wave off Dottore's concern, observing your worsened state immediately, but your resistance was futile as your knees buckled, though your husband caught you before you could fall. Your skin was on fire, sapping away your strength as you couldn't even bring your hand up to stop your hacking and coughing. You try to speak but everything hurts far too much for you to muster your words, and you can barely process the muffled voices, footsteps against the floor, and hands running over your body (he must have called a few segments in too.) You pass out soon after, unable to see the blank look on Dottore's face, how his hands don't shake, how he is unfaltering and flawless in his steady work to counteract what he put in his body. Unable to see what only you can see - what he's really feeling underneath everything.

You don't wake up until a few days later, to which Dottore spent trying to figure out where he went wrong constructing this medication. If only he had been more careful, if he had run more tests, perhaps this may not have happened. Perhaps he wouldn't be the cause of your even weaker state. But even when you wake up, you just smile at him, assuring him that you're okay. You'd never blame him. Even though this was all this fault. He despises it sometimes, how you're so kind and forgiving. It's a weakness.

Sure, Dottore has a lot of work to be done, and having you around so much serves as a distraction to his work... but he'll let it slide. Just for a bit. At least it is a reminder to him that you're not permanently sleeping again.

Zandy, despite being left out of the loop many times, mostly due to your insistence that he not be burdened with your own troubles, can still sense something is wrong after a while. Yes, he's a child, but he's a rather smart one. And a very attentive one when it comes to his favorite person, you. He can see how much time you spend for "check-ups" with the segments and Prime now, far more than what it used to be... how you always look exhausted but force yourself to perk up and smile around him, assuring him you'll play with him "next time", even though numerous "next times" have passed. Zandy doesn't know the exact details, but that's okay, he can see what you're going through. So obviously he's going to try and make you smile! In the time he's not with you, he spends it doing all the things you like to do too. Drawing you two together of course, in a happy little house in Sumeru where the two of you play outside together all day with no worries! Maybe he even tried baking by himself to surprise you with something yummy (quickly stopped by a segment before he hurt himself or perhaps blew up the lab.) Maybe the child should take up sewing... maybe he can sew a little Puffttore squish ball for you! Oh, but you always told him to stay away from needles... well, it's okay if you don't find out until after the fact, right?

[marvelsdc22]

Depression Spikes

Intro: Well, lookie here, I actually got halfway through, I'm gonna try and post these once a week, this season is gonna have around 12 chapters, anyways, hope y'all enjoy~

Summary: When life and stress gets to you, you make a decision, whether it was a good decision or not is a different story.

You sat in your shared bedroom, staring at the wall in front of you, hoping… no, praying that the past few weeks were all just some nightmare and that you’d wake up tomorrow and everything would be fine, your best friend wouldn’t be locked away in a high security hospital, your dad wouldn’t of died in front of you, and you wouldn’t be holed up in your room, a new prosthetic on your arm and in pain, blocking everyone out including Lena who had been nothing but a doting girlfriend in your time of need, you just wanted this all to be some horrible dream, you wanted to wake up from it.

You felt bad that you weren’t speaking to Lena, doing your best to avoid her and everyone else that you possibly could, your depression had become even worse as time went on and you knew it would get worse the longer you pushed the people that loved you away but you couldn’t help but feel that maybe everyone would be better if you weren’t around, life would be easier if that was the case wouldn’t it?

After a few hours of staring, you heard the door open as Lena crept in, she had been trying everyday to get you to speak to her or at the very least acknowledge her presence “I brought you some lunch from the diner… It’s your favorite” she said, going and setting it down on the nightstand you were close to before setting her things down and kneeling down in front of you “I was thinking that we could go for a walk today, some fresh air would do you some good” she said, looking at you and wanting to reach out to you but she also didn’t want to scare you.

Seeing you like this broke a piece of her heart, she hated seeing you this way and she was running out of ways that she could try to break you from this trance that you had gotten yourself into “Come on, we can hit that ice cream shop that you love” she suggested, cautiously reaching out and resting it on your leg, feeling some relief when you finally met her gaze, the two of you locking gazes before you felt tears building in your eyes.

When Lena saw the tears, she immediately engulfed you in a hug, letting out a breath of relief when she felt you slowly wrap your arm around her and holding you tighter, whispering ‘I love you’ and ‘I got you’ in your ear as you finally let yourself sob, all of the feelings that you’d been holding in for the past few weeks finally coming out as you shook in Lena’s hold “I’m sorry” you croaked out in between sobs, wishing you could’ve been better.

Lena slowly pulled back and cupped your face gently “Honey, you have nothing to be sorry for… These past few weeks have been insane, no one would know how to process what all you’ve been through, just know that I’m here for you and I’m not going anywhere” she assured, squeezing your arms before gently wiping the remaining tears off your face “Lets get some food in you and we’ll go on that walk I promised” she suggested, handing you the bag of food before stepping away to grab you a change of clothes.

xxxx

Later on that night as Lena was making dinner, you were on the phone with your mom, her ecstatic to hear your voice again, Lena called her every other day and would update her on how you were doing but nothing compared to actually hearing it from you “I’m sorry we haven’t been able to talk much… It’s been hard for me to adjust” you apologized, looking at the prosthetic that was hanging at your side, you still not fully used to it “I understand, dear… It’s rough not having your father around anymore, I keep thinking that he’ll come walking through the front door, acting like a goofball” your mother said, giving a sad smile as she looked at her now empty living room.

After talking with your mother for a bit, Lena called saying that dinner was ready, telling your mother you loved her and would talk to her tomorrow before you headed into the kitchen, not feeling overly hungry but you knew you had to eat something to regain the energy and weight you had lost during your trance period “Thanks Lena” you said, offering her a small smile as she handed you a plate “Of course, I hope you enjoy it” Lena smiled, turning to fill up her plate when she heard you set yours down before grabbing her wrist.

Once she looked at you, you shook your head and gave her wrist a small squeeze “No, I mean thank you for being here for me… I know I didn’t do anything to deserve it, I was pushing you away but you stayed with me anyways and I will never be able to tell you how much I appreciate what you have done for me” you said, biting your lip as you looked down at your feet, unable to hold her gaze anymore since you felt immense guilt for treating her the way you did.

You looked up when you felt her finger gently lift your gaze, gently running her thumb along your bottom lip, pulling it free from the confines of your teeth “You were hurting, yes I was hurting too but you were hurting more, I will always stick with you, we’ve been through so much for me to just give up on this when you’re in the worst pain imaginable, I love you and I will tell you that everyday until my last breath if I have to” she said softly, looking into your eyes that were now burning with tears once more, the two of you leaning in and sharing a soft kiss, this was a work in progress and both of you were determined to walk through this thing called life together.

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