#hour of code 2018

[eyes-of-nine]

he lived, he served cunt, he got put in a psych ward and probably some other shit but I've been too busy looking at all the domestic fluff to figure out the lore

[red-n-ded]

Another Charbee Prompt Ramble

I was sad again so here's another prompt

Basically a rewrite of the Rear Axle episode and most definitely inspired by the fact that Hailee Steinfield makes music.

Bee and Charlie were sparkbonded before TF Prime. It was on accident and on a whim since the two immediately never saw each other again after the bond. When Team Bee arrives on Earth, Bee believed she already died of old age unaware that the spark bond stops humans from aging.

For the entirety of Prime and RiD, Charlie was stuck at 30-years old.

Charlie thinks that Bee is still on Cybertron and lived out different lives since he left. She was a military assassin, a NASCAR racer, a ballet dancer, an actor, a writer, and Olympic Diver and Archer.

Currently she’s CHARLOTTE, a pop star who’s performing with Rear Axle to debut their latest song they made together. Russell is a huge fan of her and willingly goes. Bee thinks that CHARLOTTE could be related to Charlie but doesn't want to give himself hope.

When he is accidentally on stage, Bee is starstruck by Rear Axle then Charlie goes on stage and the two immediately recognize each other and dance with each other on the stage, happy to be reunited after so long.

The two stayed in touch while Charlie was on tour, Bee insisting her to stay away until the all the escaped Decepticons were captured. After the Autobot High Council was formed and Team Bee decide to stay on Earth, Charlie stops making up new lives and returned to Bee's side to renew their vows.

inspired by @youkaiyume Married RiD au

sorry it was short

[hobicakess]

PLAYING DANGEROUS | (one)

summary: It's been almost three years since Jack in the box was caught, and no one could make him talk. No one knew his story, and what drove him to become the monster he was today. That is until you're assigned your first story. What makes you so lucky?

rating: 18+ (I'm not your mother you're in control of what you consume)

pairings: Journalist!Reader x Criminal!JungHoseok x CEO!Kim Namjoon x Detective!MinYoongi.

warnings: warnings: no thoroughly edited, EW Ai , character death (nothing to cry about), black/plus sized coded reader, talks of murder, talks of torture, corporate evilness, violence, Mc reads hobi to filth, yandere characters, possessive/obsessive behavior, short hair namjoon (yes that's a warning), one maknae introduction, maknae helping cause chaos, cigarettes, Yoonie is an angry kitty this chapter, bratty mc, mc is kinda a bitch (a bad one at that), unhinged serial killer hobi (joker vibes tbh) , yoongi hates his job, namjoon loves his job (he gets to piss you off everyday) SMUT— nothing too crazy , choking, sub mc , missionary, mating press , man handling (yummy)

a/n: HEYYY omg this took me so long to write and it's just a little over 2k words... LMAO I suck i know, but we're getting there I pinkie promise. I really hope you all enjoy this and constructive criticism is welcome!!

TAGLIST: @sumzysworld @bbgniecyy @paramedicnerd004 @heartsbr0ken @grltwin @superbbananananana @secfir @darkuni63 @thisladysperspective @p34rluv @secfir @sarcastic-cookie @coffeedepressionsoup @ot7nem @italiekim @cynicalbitch666 @jalexd @whenthebeatdrop-beatdrop

2 MONTHS BEFORE JACKS ESCAPE

Kim multimedia station.

The place of business was always busy and there was never not anything to be done, Endless reports and stories in need of being written, the podcast teams always chattering about the hottest topics.

KMMs was a journalist's dream — your dream.

You were a known face around the company both online and in person. A pretty foreigner who was damn good at her job and that made you favored by the late CEO Kim. You were always hand picked by him to attend press conferences in his favor. He treated you kindly, allowing you into a large world of business pulling strings to get you the best stories helping you— a once broke freshly graduated English major climbing up in the world of reporting.

It's only been three months since CEO Kim passed away and the company was changing fast. You were grateful that you weren't a part of the many that were fired and replaced by new faces and AI, and you were now noticing how low the viewers were on podcasts, social media and blogs.

KMM was dying out very slowly and that meant you might go away with it. You were dedicated to your work, and the company that helped you become the person you were today.

And you were willing to do anything to not be forgotten.

Sleeping was not on the agenda right now.

A quick double tap to a cell phone showed an awfully bright screen reading 4:40 am. You had been lying in your bed mind racing while staring at your wall for the past hour and a half.

Jack in the box.

Rolling out the tangled bedsheets and arms you pull on a large T-shirt that'd been discarded a long with the other items of clothing on the floor shuffling towards the desk in the corner of your room. Laptop already open from your previous research when you pull out a pack of cigarettes from your drawer before plunging deep into the web. Your mouse clicks every site as your pen moved furiously taking in all the information you can about said serial killer.

“On May 14th, 2018 Serial Killer Jack In The Box was finally caught after a murdering spree in Seoul. The killings of ordinary outgoing individuals taken with a quick swipe of a knife and a long torture method.”

"Before his kills Jack likes to taunt his victim. He ironically sends them a Jack in the box to let them know they're next. The next few days said victim lives in constant fear, looking over their shoulder, leading the mostly known outgoing victim to slowly isolate themselves from loved ones in fear of them being hurt, eventually this leads to insomnia and in some cases hallucinations and histera. Then Jack disappears for a while making them think they're finally okay and he's gone until he wasn't."

The scoff that left your lips echoed through the quiet room, breathing out the nicotine smoke from your Cancer stick.

So Jack was an antisocial loser and took out his lack of social skills on people who could.

"No one knows of Jack's real identity. Police have reported that the man has lived many lives and has owned many faces for the past 11 years. Reporters have tried their hardest for the past 4 years to get a one on one interview with the man but unfortunately he refuses to talk only resorting to violence."

A reporter says he went for a handshake and left with two missing fingers.

Another says he watched the man bang his head on the wall hard enough to bleed when he asked the murderer's real name.

A broken arm??

“Fuck” you huff flicking the ash at the butt of your cigarette. You stare at the mugshot photos supplied at the end of the article. Dark wide eyes, shaggy black hair falling over his forehead, the piercings sticking from the bridge of his nose eyebrow and top lip.

The look definitely screams psycho but…. he was kinda hot. It took everything in you not to go and click the endless fanfiction that you stumbled upon.

A pair of warm lips press onto your shoulder causing you to jump. Turning to look over your shoulder at the shirtless sight of Kim Namjoon.

“We have to be up in four hours, baby, come back to bed.”

You hum into his embrace with a pout stubbing out the cigarette into the pink ashtray beside your computer. “Did you know Jack went through eight lawyers? Until one day he randomly called Kim Seokjin. That high profile guy from the law firm we're partnered with? they must know each other”

Though Namjoons attention was not on the words that were leaving your mouth. Hands wander all over your body while placing kisses on your neck, and cheeks.

“He literally bit the finger of the last reporter clean off. Like do you know how much force you have to put into that? I think he reads too much gothic liter—”

Cutting you off with a quick grab of your jaw turning your head to connect his plump lips to own. Pulling away with a cheeky dimpled smirk, “I’m not sure how I feel about you talking about another man.”

“Well you shouldn't feel any type of way because you aren't MY man.”

You squeal when you're lifted up from your chair and throw over a broad shoulder. He huffs when he throws you onto the memory foam comforter, your (his) shirt lifting up your thighs exposing your bare cunt. Immediately his big body was hovering over you as he slightly pressed his body weight onto you.

“Get off you dick” pushing and smacking his tan shoulders but that did nothing for you at this moment. “Well I'm trying to put it in you.”

He bullies your legs up over his shoulders as he taps his hard piece against the wetness between your thighs. “If something happens to me during this case I swear” choking on your words as he slowly but surely presses his thick head into your cunt.

“Fuck — may the man himself strike me down.”

Hand reaching to grip your throat smashing your lips together. Luckily your mind left the thoughts of the serial killer , the only thing on your mind right now was Namjoon and his ridiculously large cockm

It wasn't weird for you to obsess over your assignments to the point where it was all you thought about. Everyone does that.

Though this one you couldn't seem to finesse your way out of. Without the help of the late Kim you'd have to pull your own strings to get what you wanted and now that Namjoon was in charge he loved making your life harder.

“Y/n.”

Your head snaps up from your laptop hand stalling from moving on your notepad face to face with gorgeously pale Detective Min Yoongi.

“Yoonie” you smile, motioning for him to sit in front of you. He looked different from when you last saw him all the months ago, more tired and cat- like you guessed it was from the heavy responsibilities that came with the position as Chief of Seouls police department

“Did you just call to look at me?”

“Sorry it's just been . . a while” you push the large Iced Americano towards him as a peace offering. He gladly accepted it with an amused raise of an eyebrow, “You know I just wait for your call.”

“The phone works both ways” you internally wince , you sounded like an estranged father talking to his child.

“What do you want?” A frown spread across your face and lips, shutting your laptop. “I can't call an old friend for a friendly coffee date.”

You waited for his answer as he took his time generously drinking from his plastic cup. With a smack of his lips he sat the cup down leaning back with his arms crossed over his chest.

“You only call me ‘Yoonie’ when you want something” eyes scanning over the scatter of papers and notes taking up your side of the table.

“This must be serious”

Hands going to clasp under your chin you sigh, cutting the bullshit. “Three years ago you were the lead investigator on the Jack in the box case which brought you from rookie detective to Chief of police.”

“I was wondering if you could help old friend out tell me what you know about-”

“No.” He cuts you off with little to no thought.

“No? Why not? This isn't our first rodeo Min”

There were plenty of times Yoongi helped you with stories without a second thought. He'd give you case files, witnesses, and anything you needed but why not now?

“Anybody but him”

You scoffed at him, irritation rising in your body. “I need this story not anyone else.”

“Well I can't help you, princess.”

“That's bullshit!” Your voice raises causing a couple people around you to turn their attention towards the two of you. He stood up, chair scraping the floor, slamming a few dollars on the table. “Call me if you need anything else.”

Turning on his heel he leaves you sitting there in your slowly growing rage. You quickly hopped from your seat chasing after him, managing to catch up with his long strides. “Yoongi slow down dammit”

He twirls around grabbing onto you by your arm, “Who gave you this story.

“Namjoon he-” you whine as his grip tightens on your arm as his eyes slit. The angry red scar on his face makes his angry stare look even more intimidating. “You don't understand how dangerous Jack is. Just because he's behind bars doesn't mean he won't have people on the outside that will whack you for being a nosy reporter.”

He softens his hold, lifting his hand to rub your cold cheek. “If something happens to you. . .” He shakes his head letting you go.

“Sit this one out Y/N I don't want to see you in our precinct mortuary.” with that he walks away disappearing into the crowd.

You sniff doing the walk of shame back to the Café sitting back in your seat with your head in your hands

Detective Min Yoongi.

“Excuse me Ma’am” the blonde barista came over holding a box of blueberry doughnuts which happened to be your favorite. “It's on the house.. everyone saw your fight with your boyfriend, manager said this might help cheer you up.”

“Oh! Thank you but he wasn't my boyfriend, just a work colleague.” You tried to defend yourself but the sympathy in his eyes only grew so you accepted the treat with another thank you. “What is your name? I've never seen you here before.”

A soft brightens his pretty face, eyes scrunching slightly adding to the prettiness of his face. “Park Jimin, Ma’am.”

MEANWHILE

The buzz of the electrically wired door opening didn't alert the man that stayed deep in the corner of his cell. “Long time no see.”

“Why now?” the visitor asks, “After all this time you choose now.”

He giggled, the haunting sound bouncing off the walls. “Did you bring what I asked for”

The visitor threw the pictures and the box of cigarettes into the cell. “Answer my question.”

“It's been three longgg years.” He finally answered, moving from his corner to pick up the photos. “Tell me is she this gorgeous in person?”

“Just for her?”

“And I need to stretch my legs” he laughs louder this time the high pitched sound echoed even through the thick steel door that kept him locked in tight.

Jack was ready to play more games

©hobicakesss , please don't repost or steal my work. don't be a loser

[slytherinn-xo]

Swim Tryouts at 7:30- Danielle Van De Donk

Danielle Van De Donk X USWNT Player! Lyon Player! Reader

Synopsis: When Daan has football at 7:00 and swimming practice at 7:30, while at the world cup.

851 words

Being a US player that plays outside of the US is rare, like extremely rare, but being the only one to have never played in the NWSL, now that's rare. 

I was born in the USA, raised in Memphis Tennessee, but when I was 14, I moved away to Germany as that's my father's home country. When I spent the next three years before I started off my career in the German Women's top League.

I've played for four leagues, now, starting off my career in the German League with Bayern Munich in 2017 for just one season. Getting to play with the greats over there, learning so much from Frido, Sara Dabritz, Jill Roord, Leupolz, and Leah Galton.

Before I signed with Arsenal in 2018, for the next three seasons, until 2021. Where we won the WSL title once, in my first season.

Which was where I met Daan, I fell in love to say the least. But she was already in love, with Beth Mead, so I watched on from the side lines, like I was waiting to be subbed on now.

But she was my best friend, it was her, me, Viv and Jill when she finally came and joined us. The Dutchies and the American.

But they were my family.  

And then I moved to play for Barcelona for just one season after they won the Champions League in 2021 til 2022. Before I moved, and I got the chance to be with the girl I was in love with. 

Daan. 

So I joined in 2022, which was where we reconnected, and to say we both fell in love was the truth. We've been dating now for 10 months, and we do hide it, but we don't at the same time. 

We're private people but not a secret.

So facing here now in the group stages of the Women's World Cup, it was hard. 

But with less than 3 minutes to go of extra time was on the clock, and I turned back after the whistle was blown. 

I just saw an orange shirt on the floor. "Who is it?" I asked Lindsay, my Lyon teammate, as I couldn't read from that far away. Well that and I'm dyslexic and can barely read myself.  

"Daan." She muttered before I ran over to my girlfriend. I couldn't hide all of this, I was scared, my girlfriend is on the floor not bloody well moving. 

"Schatje." I told Daan standing by her as she was led on the floor not moving, crouching by her as I had my hand on her shoulder. 

"Poepie." Daan muttered back to me. 

"Not that name." I told her with a smile, that was one good sign she could still understand me and knew who we were around her. 

When the Dutch medics made their way over to Daan you saw the first showings of blood slowly coming out of her hair, but you had no idea how much there would be under there. 

I wasn't given a choice but to move away from her as the Dutch staff moved me out of their way, pushing me back away from my girlfriend. 

"No, stay!" Daan told me as she locked eyes with me, trying to reach her hands out to grasp onto me. 

"I'm right here." I told her as I kept eyes with her. 

I watched as they placed some gauze over her wound, before just placing a swimming cap over it. 

I laughed at her. 

"Not a word!" Daan told me, pointing that finger at me, wagging it at my face. 

"You look like you've got swimming practice in half an hour." I told her with a smile. 

"Oh shut up." Daan told me as she stood up. 

"Make me!" I told her walking away from her backwards as she was escorted of the pitch before she could return to play. 

~~

"Are you two doing okay, it looked rough on the pitch?" The interviewer switched to English seeing me walk up to Daan, and I stood a bit behind my small gal. 

"The best players are always the most competitive." I told the interviewer as I interrupted Daan's interview. 

"Best friends?" The interviewer asked us both, as my arm was around Daan's shoulders but Daan's was holding onto my waist. 

"The best." Daan answered like clockwork for us, squeezing my waist twice, doing our code, for when we wish we could say our feelings. 

"Go get that checked out properly." I told Daan raising one eyebrow up at her, as she nodded, looking deep into my eyes. 

"I will, ik houd van je." Daan told me, trying to politely kick me out of the interview. 

"Ik houd van je." I told her back quickly kissing her before walking off to Lindsay who was gasping at my actions, before I froze. 

"You didn't mean to do that?" Daan asked me. 

"No I didn't!" I said shaking my head, before running back to kiss Daan one last time before running away back to Lindsay as we were both bright red in the face now. 

[staylovesmiley]

Collision— Chapter 4

ᯓᡣ𐭩Pairing; Stray Kids x afab!reader

ᯓᡣ𐭩 ᯓᡣ𐭩Summary; You’ve known him for years but you never would have guessed the charming guy you’ve been online gaming with has been an idol this whole time. (masterlist here)

ᯓᡣ𐭩 ᯓᡣ𐭩ᯓᡣ𐭩Warnings; implied afab reader (only they/them pronouns used for reader), mild angst?, pls I haven’t written fanfics since 2018 patience and kindness is appreciated

By the time you both arrived at the dorms, the rest of 3racha was returning from the studio.

When they saw how red and puffy your face was from your tears, the events of the early morning hours causing exhaustion to settle in your eyes ten fold. “Oh my god Star are you okay?” Jisung asked with wide eyes as he dropped his bag by the couch and made his way over to you, Changbin on his heels. You nodded weakly as the rapper placed his hands on your shoulders while looking you over. “Their apartment flooded.” Chan said as he carried your duffle into his room. “They are gonna crash here until it gets fixed so be on your best behavior.” He said, pointing a finger at the two men causing Changbin to practically howl in protest that he was always on his best behavior. You sniffled, giggling lightly as his outburst. “You can stay as long as you need to….let me know if there is anything I can do to help, yeah?” Jisung gave a warm smile, rubbing your arms gently to comfort you before bidding a goodnight and retiring to his room. You spoke softly as you wished him sweet dreams, Chan returning to guide you into his room. “You can stay in here tonight until we can work out a better arrangement.” Nodding, you looked around before meeting his eyes. “Thank you again for this….I didn’t know who to call-“ the oldest gave a reassuring look before patting the top of your head. “You did the right thing calling me. Now get some sleep, yeah? I’m gonna go crash in Bin’s room.” You were going to protest but found yourself too tired to argue, allowing him to tuck you into his bed before you quickly fell into a heavy slumber weighed down by the exhaustion all of the stress and crying had caused.

Once Felix had woken up, news of your arrival at the dorms had traveled fast as Jisung had told Minho who told Hyunjin who then blabbed to Felix and Jeongin when they had met up for breakfast at a cafe near by. Hurt, confusion, and concern all flashed across the younger aussie’s face at the news that something had happened that caused you to crash in the 3racha dorm so suddenly. Minho hadn’t mentioned to Hyunjin why it was you were staying there and so their imaginations ran wild with the possibilities. Felix felt himself growing a bit jealous the more he thought of how you had gone to Chan when you could have called him. He would have dropped everything and came to help you, you should have known. His two breakfast dates bid him farewell, deciding to do some shopping after their meal leaving the blonde to his own devices has his mind spiraled.

He wasn’t sure why he was feeling this way, it was just Chan and you and himself were only friends. His feelings for you were strictly platonic, weren’t they? He sat at the table alone in the cafe for some time, wondering why you hadn’t reached out to him yet to tell him what had happened. Against his better judgment, he returned home but instead of going to his own dorm he found himself entering the key code to the 3racha abode coming face to face with a shirtless Bangchan sitting at the dining table eating a bowl of cereal. “Sup Lix! I didn’t know you’d be coming-“ The younger huffed, dismissing the older man’s words while looking around for you. “Where are they? Where is Star?” Chan’s brow furrowed in confusion, sighing as he remembered he lived with two of the most gossiping members in their group. “In my room, still sleeping. They really wore themself out last night-“ “WHAT?!” Felix shrieked, eyes wide as suddenly the shirtless appearance of his mate didn’t seem as innocent and common place. “Geez, Lixie not like that…what do you take me for?!” He rolled his eyes, standing to approach the younger cautiously. “Is everything okay?” The blonde shook his head, looking down at the ground as embarrassment from his outburst flooded over him. “No- yes? I don’t know- why didn’t they call me?” Chan nodded, understanding now. “Are you upset they called me instead?” The younger Aussie nodded softly, not able to look him in the eyes. Chan immediately enveloped him in his arms, rubbing soothing circles on his lower back. “Hey, it’s okay. It happens, a little jealousy is normal. We are only human-“ Felix scoffed, rolling his eyes a bit. “I wouldn’t say I’m jealous…I just don’t get why they’d call you when I’ve known them longer-“ Chan pulled back, tilting the others chin up so he would meet his eyes. “Hey, I said it’s okay. I get it- but we need to talk about it, yeah? It’s clearly been bothering you.” Had it been bothering him? All of the teasing and flirting they would do with you to fluster you. He didn’t think it did, until now as he thought harder on it. But then he remembered how you would flush the most adorable shades of pink just at catching his eyes on you, no words necessary, and it didn’t feel as upsetting knowing that he could get such a reaction from you with less effort. Though hearing you had went to someone else in your time of need that wasn’t him, it made him feel like maybe you didn’t trust him to take care of you. He saw the things stay would write about him being soft, delicate, submissive- maybe you thought he couldn’t protect you like Chan could and that hurt him.

Felix sighed and rested his forehead against Chan’s. “Maybe I was a little jealous they called you instead….I don’t know why-“

Chris looked at him incredulously. “Lix, babe…you’re joking, right?” The blonde pulled back to meet his eyes with confusion. “You like Star, sunshine….you are seriously still like this even with everything we all went through?” Felix groaned, burying his face in the crook of the older’s neck “god don’t remind me- I was so stupid and clueless back then.” Chan laughed, shaking his head. “Seems like you still are, Lix. Why don’t you go see if our guest is ready to wake up, yeah? I’m sure seeing you will cheer them up.” It dawned on him that he still had no clue what had happened, and he got the feeling Chan was wanting him to find out from you and not himself. “O-Okay….” He stammered out, worried as to what could have happened. Bangchan pressed a gentle kiss to his temple before pushing him in the direction of his room where you remained soft asleep even after his earlier outburst.

The sight of you curled up in the middle of Chan’s bed, face hidden under your arm as you let out soft little snores caused his chest to clench tightly. He figured the older must be onto something as the butterflies erupted there moments later when he sat carefully on the edge of the mattress and rubbed between your shoulder blades gently until your began to stir, blinking away the sleep as you looked up at him with a pout. “F’lix?” You mumbled, still groggy from your slumber. He chuckled, pushing the hair out of your face as he beamed down at you. “Yeah, I heard Chan brought you here last night….what- um…what happened? Are you okay?” As the events from the early hours returned to you, you felt your lower lip begin to tremble. Before the tears could fall, the blonde was pulling you to his chest, smoothing down your wild bedhead as he whispered as to not startle you. “Hey hey it’s okay….you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to I’m just worried about you..”

Once you had calmed down, you nuzzled your face into his neck causing him to blush a deep crimson and kiss the top of your head. “I woke up and my whole apartment was flooded-“ you spoke softly, hesitantly as you held onto your friend for comfort. Sighed in relief that you weren’t hurt, and that it was something fixable, he relaxed visibly against you. “Chan told me to stay here until it’s fixed but- Lix I can’t impose on you guys like that it’s too much.” You looked up at him, eyes wide and behind them your brain worked overtime to try and come up with a solution. “Yeah you’re right, you shouldn’t stay here.” He said, nodding in agreement. “W-What?” You asked, looking up at him worried as you felt your fears of being a burden to them were being confirmed. “You should stay with me instead. My bed is bigger and I live with the better cook.” He teased, poking your sides until you were squirming around with fits of laughter. “Okay okay OKAY- Lix cut it out I can’t breathe!” You squealed, hitting lightly at his chest to get him to back off. As his attacks died down, along with both of your laughter he could help but stare down at the position he had you in.

There you were, splayed out under him and breathing heavily from the intense tickle fight. He himself was practically sitting on your lap, taking in the way your chest rose and fell rapidly and becoming transfixed by the motion. “Um- Felix? Hello, earth to Felix!” You said, it now being your turn to poke at his side until he snapped out of the trance you had put him in. “S-Sorry, lost in thought. Let’s go get you something to eat, yeah?” And with that he was standing up and pulling you with him so fast you felt the blood rushing to your head much too fast. “Woah slow down, comrade you’re gonna make me faint-“

Your words caused him to freeze, successfully making you run into him where he had been pulled up and behind him. “Oh- sorry just have a lot of energy today I guess….” You giggled, shaking your head at him before reaching up to ruffle his hair. “It’s okay Lix just take it easy, yeah? I lost a lot of fluids last night from crying my eyes out.” You hummed, patting his cheek before making your way to the kitchen where a still shirtless Chan was sat scrolling on his beloved laptop.

You stopped dead in your tracks, taking in the sight with wide eyes. “Oh, morning sleepy head.” He beamed, looking up from his work to great you. “Morning….um- thanks again for everything last night, I really appreciate it.” Seeing Felix coming out of the room to join them, Chan shrugged and sent a wink your way. “Any of us would have, it’s what we do.” You felt arms circle around your middle from behind, giggling at how endearing you found the blonde’s clinginess. “Want to go grab something to eat then check on your apartment to talk to the front desk?” He questioned, looking down at you where you tilted your head back to meet his eyes. “That sounds good, yeah….I think I’d feel a lot better having you there for emotional support.” This caused the freckled man to blush and beam with pride, feeling much better than earlier with those words alone. “Alright then let’s get going! Do you wanna change first or-“ looking down at your pajama clad appearance you bit your lip and nodded, rushing back to Chan’s room to change quickly into whatever it was you had managed to shove in your bag in your distraught state before rejoining the men in the common area of the apartment to head over to your complex with Felix in tow.

“I’m sorry h-how long?” You stared at the maintenance man with complete disbelief, jaw practically to the floor while Felix stood behind you running his warm hands up and down your arms in a comforting motion. His actions helped ground you, holding you in reality as the worker’s words sunk in. “Three months, roughly. There was a lot of water damage no one could have prevented once the leak sprung, along with waiting for the parts to repair the cause of the damage.” You whined, turning around to bury your face in your friends neck, your fists balled up against his chest. “This sucks! What am I gonna do-“ Felix had to fight back the grin threatening to spread across his lips as the idea of you living with him for three whole months. “It’s gonna be okay, you are more than welcome to bunk with me until everything is settled, yeah?” You nodded, sniffling a bit as you trying not to cry yet again as you felt the voice in the back of your mind nagging at you that you were going to become a burden to your friends. “O-Okay…can I go in and get my things I’ll need?” The maintenance manager nodded and stepped aside to allow you into the apartment.

They had already cleared away the pools of water though the floor seemed to squish audibly with each step. Felix helped you pack away your things in the suitcase you had arrived with originally, batting your hands away as you attempted to take it from him when you both went to leave. The only thing he would let you carry was your backpack and even that took you giving him the best set of puppy eyes you could manage causing him to cave and drop the bag from his shoulder and pass it over to you.

Once back at the cuties dorm you set your bags up in the corner of his room while he was out explaining to the others the situation to save you the stress of bringing up the stress again. You were beyond grateful for him, taking a deep and shaky breath before making your way out into the living room where the four men lounged on their phones. You plopped down in the seat beside Felix and curled into his side.

After about an hour of the lot of you scrolling absentmindedly, occasionally showing something to the group or an individual you thought they might like you all heard someone’s stomach growl with hunger. “I think it’s time for lunch- should we order in?” The next few minutes was spent going back and forth over what to eat and where to order it from. Once everything was settled there was a groan of annoyance coming from the oldest in the room as he attempted to place the order. “It says they aren’t doing delivery at this time- someone is going to have to go pick it up because we are not about to go through all of that again to find something different.” You shrugged, speaking up. “I can go get it.” The men ignored you, immediately starting an intense battle of rock, paper, scissors. Felix lost, falling to his knees dramatically as Minho let out a maniacal laugh. “You spend way too much time with Hyunjin-“ Seungmin sighed, shaking his head as he got back on his phone. “Wait- the restaurant is too far to walk so someone is going to have to drive me there!” The Aussie exclaimed, jumping up from where he had crumpled on the floor in defeat. “Okay rock paper scissors for who has to drive Lix to go pick up the food!” You looked at them with confusion, shaking your head. “Wait if one of you has to drive there why does Felix still have to go in and get it?” Jeongin rolled his eyes playfully and a determined look fell upon his face as they began their little rematch. “Cause he already lost, duh. Rules are rules but he can’t drive.” You laughed at that logic, watching as Leeknow lost and he too fell to the ground in defeat with the drama level of a telenovela.

You and the maknaes bid Felix and Minho goodbye as they went to go get you all lunch, settling back in your spots though you were left pouting at the loss of your cuddle buddy. “So you’ve started taking your Korean classes already?” Seungmin spoke up, closing his phone as he set it on the coffee table in front of him. “Um, yeah I did.” You hadn’t had much interactions with the two youngest members outside of hanging out in larger groups so you felt a bit nervous, also setting your phone down to not come off as being rude and not giving them your attention. “Are you liking it so far?” Jeongin asked, scooting closer to you from his side of the couch. “Yeah! Right now it’s a lot of going over the basics I learned a while ago so nothing’s too hard yet but I’m sure it will get a bit more challenging as classes progress.” The two looked at each other before turning back to you. “You already know some Korean?” Seungmin tilted his head to the side curiously, causing you to hold back a giggle as he really lived up to his puppy nickname like this. “Yeah! When I was in highschool one of my close friends lived with her korean grandparents who didn’t speak much english. I was over there a lot, especially during the summers, and so over time I picked up a little bit and even asked Danbi, my friend, to teach me some so that I could communicate better with them out of respect.” Jeongin smiled and nudged your shoulder. “That’s so sweet of you. I’m sure they appreciated it. How come you don’t speak Korean to us at all?” The maknae gave you a pout, resting his chin on your shoulder as he looked up at you. “Well I uh- I’m just worried my pronunciation isn’t very good?” You shrugged, looking away bashfully. “It’s been a long time since I had any practice with it….Danbi and I sort of drifted apart after graduation and so I had no reason to continue to speak it.” Seungmin got up and moved to sit on the other side of you, sandwiching you between Vocalracha successfully. “We can help, you know. Practice with us.” You blushed a soft shade of pink and looked down at your lap. “I-I don’t know what if it’s really bad?” The puppy pouted at you, taking your hand in his causing you to look up at him. “Are you afraid we’ll make fun of you?” He asked, a look of hurt on his face. “No! I mean- I doubt you would it’s just so embarrassing if I get it wrong in front of you…” the two members shared a look over your head before leaning into each side of you. “Getting things wrong is just part of the process of learning, Star…no need to get embarrassed.” Jeongin said, leaning down to meet your gaze.

“We embarrass ourselves all the time have you seen any of the content we put out to the world?” Seungmin spoke with a laugh, softly nudging your shoulder. You turned to look between the two of them as you realized just how close they were sitting. “Okay I’ll go get my workbook then-“ you stood suddenly, the speed in which you moved from where they were both leaning against you causing the two to fall into each other. You giggled an apology before running off to grab what you would need.

“They really are to cute for their own good, Hyung.” Jeongin said with a sigh, shaking his head. “Tell me about it…” the second youngest groaned, burying his face in his hands before the two perked up hearing your footsteps returning. “I got it!” They both flashed you warm smiles before making room once more for you between them.

The rest of the day passed by rather uneventfully, the two youngest members helped you with your work for Korean class until Felix and Minho arrived back with the food. You all went your separate ways after eating, with you and Felix ending up in his room as you sat on his bed on your lap top and him at his desk. The both of you gamed until Leeknow had to come pry you away for dinner. You ended the night tucked safely in the Aussie dancer’s embrace, your back pressed to his chest as you both drifted off to sleep. Skinship came so easily with the two of you, you know for yourself it was due to years of being touch starved. Your family was never very affectionate with you, and you lacked a physical connection with friends since your highschool days leading you to spend most of your time alone or at work. You were comforted in the way both you and Felix both seemed to share touch as a love language, seemingly always being in some form of contact when around each other which did not help the teasing the other members gave him when you weren’t around.

You woke up rather early the next morning, Felix still dead asleep as you slipped out of bed. The air was a bit too chilly for your liking, quickly finding the oversized hoodie Felix had discarded on the floor before slipping it on, you were sure he wouldn’t mind. You made your way out into the kitchen, having been given the tour and explained that you were more than welcome to help yourself to anything that didn’t have a name written on it which was mostly just snacks the others had bought for themselves since most of the groceries were bought collectively as a group to make meals together. You figured a way to say thanks for everything they had done to help you could make them breakfast that morning. You quickly got to work, pulling the hood up and over your head as the dorm was still much too cold and your felt any body heat you held escaping rapidly through any part of exposed skin. Clothed in your baggy sweat pants and Felix’s even baggier hoodie you washed your hands and got started chopping vegetables to mix into omelets, and a simple pancake batter with what ingredients you found in the small kitchen. Mentally you told yourself you were thankful you were staying in the dorm where they are more than just chicken breast as you were sure the pantry and refrigerator were stocked with less variety next door. While you sautéed your veggies, you felt someone approaching from behind and before you could turn to see who it was you heard a voice with a deep rasp from sleep call out a “Morning, jagiya. You’re up early for once-“ before you felt a sharp slap land on your ass causing you to yelp in surprise with eyes as wide as saucers. Upon hearing the much too high pitched response, the perpetrator jumped back as you turned around to face them. “Star oh my god I did not know that was you I am so sorry-“ Minho stood with a horrified expression as he panicked, body tense. You both stood there for what felt like eternity, blinking at each other as neither of you made a move not knowing what to do or say. “You know- seeing it’s you I’m not as shocked but even with all the teasing I don’t think even you’d be as bold to do that with me yet-“ you giggled, attempting to calm him down and show you held no hard feelings as well as to try and dispel the awkward tension that had filled the space. This seemed to work as Minho chuckled, body visibly relaxing as he shook his head and moved to stand beside you. “Can I help you with anything? Whatever you’re making smells delicious.” You shook your head and bump your hip against his. “You can go sit down and relax. I’ve got this, yeah?” The older starred down at you before shrugging and going to the corner where they kept the coffee pot. “I’m gonna make coffee. Want any?” Making a face you shook your head. “No thank you, not a fan of hot drinks.” He raised an eyebrow at you before nodding and pulling his phone out of the pocket of his sweats. “Okay then what do you want? I’ll order delivery from the cafe around the corner. The kids will definitely need some caffeine since we go back to work today and have a lot of dance practice to catch up with.” You thought for a moment before telling him your order while continuing to cook for them. Somehow he managed to get you to agree to letting him help you cook the pancakes (it’s because you burnt one side of the first three you made because the “wait till you see holes then you know that side is done” trick only works for the first side and he took pity on you) and you fell into a relaxed silence before the other three residents of the dorm woke up to the smells of your cooking.

After breakfast you were dragged along to JYPE and sat on one of the black sofas against the back wall, unsure of why exactly they wanted you to tag along and when you had questioned it Minho just made a teasing remark about you being their mascot, with a wink stating you were the one who said you were back when you had first arrived that day they started helping you find a place to live.

You watched, entranced as they danced. Your eyes moved rapidly from one member to the next as they never ceased to amaze you with their talent. When they finally stopped to take a break they all practically collapsed to the floor in exhaustion and you took that as your cue to grab some water bottles and beg passing them out. “Thanks Star, best mascot we’ve ever had.” Minho teased with a cheese grin on his face. You rolled your eyes and pushed on your shoulder lightly, turning to move to the next member when you felt a light slap to your ass from the man much like that morning only more gentle. Everyone’s eyes widened but you only froze for a second before laughing and turning to stick your tongue out at the older who laughed in return. The other members looked amongst each other with differing levels of shock and panic and when you made your way to hand Felix his bottle instead he reached up and pulled you into his lap, clinging to you possessively as he glared at Minho who only laughed harder at the younger’s attempt to look threatening. “Hyung I cannot believe you did that- your butt hunting has gone too far!” Felix exclaimed as he continued to glare while holding you closer and practically wrapping all four limbs around you protectively. “Ya! You’re acting more offended than they are!” He laughed, pointing at the Aussie as he rolled on the floor with his amusement. “I don’t mind, Lix it’s just goofing around you guys do it all the time-“ you said softly, turned to try and meet his eyes. Felix looked between the rest of the members knowingly before clearing his throat a bit. “Star, really I don’t think it was so appropriate….are you sure you’re okay?” You shrugged before looking over at Minho, not catching the looks the others had at you interpreting their constant groping of each other as friendly playful gestures. “I mean I definitively was startled this morning. But that was way harder than-“ “What happened this morning?!” They almost all shrieked at once, all eyes falling on either you or Minho. “I’m my defense I was still half asleep and they were wearing Felix’s hoodie.” He held both hands up, looking at everyone with a smug expression. “You did not.” Chan said, looking at him with disbelief. “Guys seriously it’s fine i think Min is right you guys are more offended than I am about this.” You didn’t seem to get it, and they all sighed as they decided it was probably best to drop it since you seemed to not understand. They all soon got back up to continue practicing, you making your way back to your place on the couch to watch.

Their reactions seemed to weigh on you though, your brain working to understand it all as both Leeknow’s words that morning, his actions, and the other’s reactions, as well as back to that first time you stayed over when Leeknow had whispered to you those intimate details about your dear friend and his tendency to be a bit to noisy in the bedroom, it started to click. Oh- oh? Were you reading into things too deeply or was your previous assumptions not reading into them enough and dismissing their words and actions too easily. You paid attention as the day went on, catching how Chan’s hand lingered on Seungmin’s waist a bit longer than necessary as he moved past him, how Hyunjin draped himself over Han as they took a break to listen to Leeknow explain a move Jeongin was struggling with to him. How at any and every given moment Felix had his hands somewhere on Changbin’s muscular build, whether it be to massage the flesh there or to simply hold onto him, and the looks each of them shared with each other were making you blush from how intimate it all felt. Suddenly, feeling like you should give them all some privacy like these moments were too loving and too personal to be shared with you, you excused yourself to go down the hall to get a drink from the vending machines to allow yourself to process your sudden realization about their true (or seemingly so) relationships with one another.

author’s note: HAPPY PRIDE MONTH EVERYONE ૮꒰˶ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ˶꒱ა˖⁺‧₊˚ I wanna go ahead and say I am not assuming any of the boys sexual orientations here this is just fiction and how I’m choosing to write them to for the narrative of my own story not having to do with reality at all as far as we know. Idols don’t owe us the knowledge of their identities nor does anyone let’s remember that this pride (and always) and respect each other….that being said I hope you like boys kissing boys cause in this polycule everyone loves everyone sharing is caring ໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა

taglist (if the user is pink that means I was unable to tag you); @softkisshyunjin @coastinglove @palindrome969 @amara-mars @whiteghostt @ihrtlix @queen-in-the-shadows @soaplickerrr

[queenlua]

ok, this Kevin Woo guy is the most fantastic chad i've heard of in a while:

The journalist who exposed Lambda School wasn't a journalist by trade. Vincent Woo was a successful entrepreneur best known for CoderPad, a collaborative coding website used extensively in programming job interviews. After he sold CoderPad for millions of dollars, he focused on the public interest, such as housing activism.

Woo's work on CoderPad gave him expert insight into the programming job market, and in 2019, Austen's outrageous hiring numbers set off red flags. Whenever pressed for more details on his outrageous claims, Austen said a full report was coming soon, but six months would pass without any updates.

Woo obtained an investment memo Lambda School sent out to Y Combinator titled, "Human Capital: The Last Unoptimized Asset Class." In it, they disclose, “We’re at roughly 50% placement for cohorts that are 6 months graduated,” contradicting the very front page of their website.

Where did the 86% on their homepage come from? In 2018, Lambda School submitted a single report about 72 graduates to CIRR. CIRR is an organization formed by the boot camp industry following the boot camp crackdown of the 2010s, to cleanup their image. Bootcamps are supposed to submit their hiring stats every six months, in one standard format, to prevent underhanded boot camps from fudging the numbers. In two years, Lambda School had produced nothing beyond that single, small report.

Woo reached out to Sabrina Baez, Lambda School's former Director of Career Readiness. Baez oversaw job placement in those early days, and Austen had reprimanded her for low hiring rates. She told Woo that probably only 50% to 60% of graduates found jobs.

Finally, Woo obtained private communications with investors revealing the quiet deals with hedge funds. This flew in the face of their marketing's, "We don’t get paid until you do," and Austen's now-deleted tweet, “We never, ever get paid upfront for ISAs.”

With all the damning evidence, the story was ready. Most reporters would now email their subjects for comment, but Woo elevated the story to performance art. He asked Austen for a recorded interview, without revealing its nature. Austen, lulled into a false sense of security by tech press puff pieces, agreed. What followed was the most riveting hour of tech journalism I've ever heard.

Austen: "Our goal right now, is that if a student is endorsed, call it graduation, that we place 80% within 120 days."

Woo: "Why did you tell investors 50?"

Austen: "What… I don't know… what communication you're referring to."

The interview went downhill from there, as Austen scrambled to invent excuses.

#rekt

bonus: check out this dude's hilariously understated linkedin:

(also, the whole article's worth a read. i'd been following the Lambda School saga for a while but there's a bunch of new fuckery here that even i didn't know about. smh)

[satinekryzeweek]

It's super exciting to see a character focus week that isn't ship centric or doesn't feel unwelcoming to smaller, usually queen ships, or alternative headcanons that don't fit Canon or main stream fanon.

(If you know you know)

Satine has grown on me entirely because of friends though I'm still learning all the related lore.

The Mandalorian women like Satine, Ursa, Bo, the Armorer and Sabine are some of favorite characters so I'd love to see more about her. (Are there any Satine or even Bo books? Comics? Anything?!)

I wish everyone luck and hope to see more Satine content in Jan!

Hi Revan,

We're happy to see Satine love growing!

The good and bad news regarding Satine Kryze: there isn't much canon content for her out there. It's sad because we would all love to know more about her character, but at the same time, minimal backstory means there is a lot of room for everyone to develop their own complex fanon lore.

To help everyone prepare for Satine Kryze Week, we've put together a collection of official Star Wars content and fan made resources that feature her! The list is quite long, so we've put it under the cut to spare everyone's dash.

OFFICAL PUBLICATIONS (CANON & LEGENDS)

1. The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy (2024) Contains data entries for almost every character featured in Star Wars. This book will be released on November 19.

2. Star Wars: Timelines (2023) Briefly discusses the Mandalorian Civil Wars, the events of Master & Apprentice, and the Siege of Mandalore.

3. The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia (2021) Features multiple pages of Satine and Bo-Katan Kryze.

4. Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy (2021) Details multiple battles and wars involving the Mandalore system, including those that occurred during Satine's life.

5. The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark (2020) Two short stories briefly mention Satine Kryze. Dark Vengeance: The True Story of Darth Maul and His Revenge Against the Jedi Known as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Kenobi's Shadow.

6. Master & Apprentice (2019) A novel that covers Obi-Wan's time as a padawan under Qui-Gon Jinn, with mentions to their shared time on Mandalore with Satine.

7. Rise of the Separatists (2019) Era sourcebook for Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars roleplaying game system, covering the first half of the Clone Wars.

8. Collapse of the Republic (2019) Era sourcebook for Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars roleplaying game system, covering the second half of the Clone Wars.

9. Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy (2018) Art of Satine on her throne is included, and a new version comes out April 2025.

10. Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy (2016) Includes art related to the Neutral Systems and Mandalore.

11. Star Wars: Galactic Atlas (2016) Multiple pages dedicated to Mandalore's history.

12. Darth Maul - Son of Dathomir 3 (2014) Comic that covers Maul's time on Mandalore, brief references to Satine.

13. The Bounty Hunter Code (2013) Contains the Death Watch Manifesto at the end, which includes Legends/Expanded Universe Mandalorian lore.

FAN MADE RESOURCES

1. @fox-trot They have done an incredible job archiving the best bits of published Mandalorian lore from across all SW media! We highly recommend her mandalorian tag.

2. @supertaliart They put together an amazing guide on Mandalorian language and culture! If you're a visual learner, it's perfect for you.

3. @ranahan This account has poured hours of love and time into compiling every piece of information they can on Mando'a. Check out their masterlist for a complete breakdown on the language.

Thank you for making it to the end of this list! It's far from complete or comprehensive, but we hope it helps. If anyone else has resources they'd like to share or books they would recommend, feel free to share in the comments below 💙

Can't wait for the event (January 27-31 2025) to celebrate Satine with all of you! For anyone who missed it, check out our Rules and About for more information too 🌸 We'll be sharing older fandom works featuring Satine leading up to to the week using #pre event showcase as well!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Bad King Richard got rich by exploiting workers at King’s Faire

Next Tuesday (Oct 31) at 10hPT, the Internet Archive is livestreaming my presentation on my recent book, The Internet Con.

King Richard's Faire is the largest renfaire in New England, and its owner, Dick Shapiro, extracts a reported $400k/day – a sum that is only possible thanks to systematic and likely illegal worker misclassification, which lets him pay performers sub-minimum wages and deny them benefits:

https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/172267v/kings_faire_inc_aim%C3%A9e_bonnie_shapiro_nets_over/

Many of the performers at KRF are absolutely unpaid – these are the "villagers" – who mill about looking picturesque in exchange for free admission. They even have to buy their own turkey legs.

When the faire is rained out, all workers – "volunteers" and paid workers – are sent home without any compensation. Attendees are also sent home with rain-checks, many of which go unused (there's no refunds in the land of King Richard).

Staff work from 8am to 730pm and are paid a day-rate that works out to $6/hour. After heavy weather events, staff are ordered to show up early to do cleanup, but are not paid for their time. Staff don't get health benefits – instead, local community groups like the Elks put on fundraisers to cover the health-care costs of the performers.

Now, King Richard's worker mistreatment is not an outlier in the medieval reenactment industry. Think of how the knights at Medieval Times – who put on nightly, potentially lethal performances to generate profit for their employer – unionized in the face of exploitative labor relations. To add insult to injury, Medieval Times sued the union, arguing that its name – "Medieval Times Performers United" – was a trademark infringement:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/medieval-times-sues-union-trademark_n_63485fa5e4b0b7f89f54546b

This trademark wheeze is the latest desperate tactic to be deployed by the ruling class in the face of a surging labor movement with broad public support. Starbucks – one of the world's most notorious unionbusters – is doing the same thing to its union, Starbucks Workers United:

https://seattle.eater.com/23923490/starbucks-workers-united-union-lawsuits-copyright-trademark-israel-hamas-palestine-social-media

These moves are wildly out of step with the current of public opinion, which has swung hard for union rights in a manner not seen in generations. The outpourings of public support for striking entertainment industry workers were handwaved away as exceptions driven by the public's love of actors and writers. But that doesn't explain the strong, ongoing support for the UAW in their strike against all of the Big Three automakers:

https://pro.morningconsult.com/instant-intel/uaw-strike-public-opinion-october-2023

Bosses have always tried to smash worker power by dividing workers – by race, gender, or "skill" – but workers are workers and solidarity is the source of worker power. That's why the whole labor movement backed Equity Stripper NoHo, the first strippers' union in a generation:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/14/prop-22-never-again/#norms-code-laws-markets

Creative workers are part of a class of workers who suffer from "vocational awe," the sense that because your job is satisfying and/or worthy, you don't deserve to get paid for it:

https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

(Think of joke about the father who finds his runaway son at the circus shoveling elephant shit: "Son, come home!" "What, and quit show-business?")

Creative workers have long been encouraged to see themselves as "independent businesspeople" – LLCs with MFAs – and this mind-zap is augmented with our bosses' repeated insistence that the unions are for big burly blue-collar workers, not ethereal dreamers and pencil-pushers. Our bosses tell this story because it discourages us from forming unions and demanding fair pay and good working conditions (obviously).

Think of J Edward Keyes, the cartoon villain who serves as editorial director of Bandcamp. When the workers Keyes managed formed the Bandcamp United union, Keyes called them "white-collar tech workers…appropriating the language of the legitimately oppressed," adding "Fuuuuuck Bandcamp United":

https://www.404media.co/bandcamp-editorial-director-fuuuuuck-bandcamp-united/

Keyes's contempt notwithstanding, it's clear why Bandcamp workers need a union – after the company was flipped twice in rapid succession, its new owners, Epic Games and Songtradr, fired all its unionized workers. Keyes responded to coverage of this mass firing by calling the Pitchfork reporters who wrote about it "absloute amateur journalists."

The attempt to divide-and-rule "knowledge workers" from "industrial workers" is a transparent bid to shatter solidarity and make it easier to abuse and exploit all workers. Thankfully, workers are wise to that gambit, and understand that when all kinds of workers struggle together, they win.

Take the UAW strikes: for many years, the UAW was an objectively bad union, ruled over by a dirty-tricking clique who sold out the membership. It's normal to blame workers for bad leaders, but the UAW old guard had rigged union elections, making sure that they would stay in charge. It's not workers that like corrupt unions – it's bosses.

Before the UAW could fight back against their bosses, they had to fight back their bosses' minions in the upper ranks of their own union. That's where the the Harvard Grad Students' Union comes in. After years of worsening exploitation and working conditions, the Harvard Grad Students organized under the UAW, then joined forces with reformers in the union to oust the corrupt leadership.

During the leadership struggle, Harvard Grad Students helped their comrades from the auto-sector master the union's baroque constitution, so when the old guard tried to prevent motions from reaching the floor, the grad students were able to cite chapter and verse back at them. In the end, grad students and auto-workers together won the victory that paved the way for the strikes:

https://theintercept.com/2023/04/07/deconstructed-union-dhl-teamsters-uaw/

A strong, unified labor movement is necessary if America is to save itself from inequality, racism, the climate emergency – the whole polycrisis. The idea that creative workers aren't workers is bullshit – and so is the lie that all workers are uncreative. The "Worker As Futurist" project recruits Amazon drivers and warehouse writers to write science fiction about a future without Amazon:

https://jacobin.com/2023/09/amazon-workers-sci-fi-writing-bezos-imagination-speculative-future

They call this a "belief that rank-and-file workers, whose bodies and minds are exploited by capital, might have access to some knowledge about capitalism that is beyond even the most brilliant theorist or analyst of capitalism."

All workers can and should tell their own story. Doing so isn't just a way to change the narrative – it's also a way to change policy. The new merger guidelines from the FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division explicitly incorporate labor-market effects into antitrust policy. As Brian Callaci and Sandeep Vaheesan write for The Sling, the testimony of workers and unions can help produce the evidentiary basis for blocking the mergers that lead to monopolies:

https://www.thesling.org/workers-are-an-untapped-resource-for-antitrust-enforcers/

The rising labor movement is a force for profound change in every part of our economy and politics. Workers can be our knights in shining armor.

https://www.thesling.org/workers-are-an-untapped-resource-for-antitrust-enforcers/

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/25/huzzah/#bad-king-richard

[olderthannetfic]

Can anyone explain this to me?

Is there a waiting period to get an ao3 account? I remember when I made mine back in 2018-ish, and I don’t remember having to wait or anything. I see people sometimes talking about an invite code, and I’m just thinking “Why do you need an invite code? Just make an account?”

I don’t usually pay attention to what’s happening to ao3. I know there’s an issues with bot comments right now, and that guest comments are disabled for the time being.

Did something change in the last five years, or am I just remembering things wrong?

--

AO3 has always required invites. You pop your e-mail in the queue and you get sent one.

At most times, the queue has taken a day or two—maybe like 6 hours if you happened to hit it right before the day changed over or something.

Right after the FFN purge in 2012, it jumped to like 6 months (though they then increased the pace and I don't think anyone actually waited that long in the end). Lately, it's been around 10 days.

You can also get an invite from a current user if they happen to have codes, but most people just use the queue.

[endiness]

Debunking misinformation about Netflix's The Witcher (Part 6)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7]

"Henry Cavill is the only one out of the cast and crew that knows anything about the source material and cares about it."

Joey Batey has read the books more times than Henry Cavill has. (3 times as of 2023 vs once in 2018.)

Henry Cavill himself has basically admitted that he wouldn't want to go up against Joey when it comes to knowledge of the books and both Freya Allan and Kim Bodnia have praised Joey for how knowledgeable he is and that he could "give Henry a run for his money."

Henry Cavill also hadn't even read the books and had likely only ever really played TW3 (and not even the DLC for it) when he first met with Lauren and, given that he thought that the books were based off the games, it's likely that he never bothered to google or wiki or research the franchise in any way (despite proclaiming himself to be a lore buff) as surely he would've found out that the games were actually based off the books if he had (or, y'know, if he had just been paying attention to the game credits as the books are the first thing in the credits.) Yet despite all of that, he's said this:

"I didn't even have the need to prepare myself for the role. Because I breathe, I live this universe every day. I already got numerous opportunities to think about this character while I was playing the games. My preparation was already made before the casting started!"

Meanwhile Therica Wilson-Read had played the games, she set out to read the books as soon as she had the opportunity to audition, she goes back and reads bits of the books if not the full series before each season, and she even goes on the wiki and watches youtube videos to refresh herself on the universe.

Therica's book collection (with color coded notes!), btw:

Mecia Simson also jumped straight into the books and read them all as soon as she was cast and will go on the wiki to research things.

Cassie Clare on her preparation as Philippa.

Btw, Joey had less than 24 hours to prepare for his audition and in that time he memorized 2-3 scenes, wrote an entire song, and showed up in costume to audition.

Therica is also so knowledgeable about the books and the franchise that MyAnna Buring will go to her for advice on her character and understanding what's happening when she needs things explained to her.

Mahesh Jadu also went to Joey for advice on his character when he was first cast because Joey's known to be so knowledgeable about the books.

Joey's also the one who's gotten book scenes and characters written into the show, btw.

Freya talking about getting things from the books into the show, too:

Anya talking about book moments she's a fan of:

Also Anya making a book reference to BoF:

Joey making a book reference to what a diary by Jaskier would look like:

Lauren's talked about her hiring process for the writers which obviously includes having read the books.

Tomek Baginski, who worked on all three games btw, has talked about growing up with the books as a teenager in Poland.

There's loads more examples than this, but this argument is quite obviously complete and utter bullshit anyway and I don't really want to look up every little example proving that, so. I'll just let the post end on this note:

[totowlff]

chapter forty-five — a little reason

➝ the turn of the events make elisabeth realize she needs to give something for her father to fight

➝ word count: 2,7k

➝ warnings: health issues and hospitals

➝ author’s note: happy birthday to elisabeth!

JULY, 2018

It all started with a cough.

Every now and then it would interrupt conversations and make humorous comments about cigarettes and smoke surface, only to be countered with acidity. It didn't take long for it to become part of the garage's ambient sound, along with the pneumatic pistols and engineers' codes, as well as the way he announced his arrival in the spaces, accompanied by a loud throat clearing.

Then came the slightly labored breathing, as if he had been running all the time, which wasn't far from the truth. He was unable to walk at a normal pace, even when his daughter asked him to wait since she was wearing heels.

However, it was Marlene's call, the morning after the German Grand Prix, that made Elisabeth jump out of bed, feeling her heart sink inside her chest.

— What are you saying, mom? — she questioned, part of her begging that what she thought she had heard was a lie.

— It's your father, Elschen — Marlene replied, her nasal voice confirming that she had cried before making that call — He coughed up blood tonight...

— What? Blood? Coughing up blood? — Elisabeth asked, as she sat on the bed.

— When I went to see him in the bathroom, there was blood in the sink and he was choking, Elschen. He just couldn't breathe...

— Mom, where are you? Where? — Elisabeth questioned, her feet leading her to the closet to get something to wear, everything seeming like a big blur because of the tears that accumulated in her eyes.

— We're in the hospital — her mother said before her voice broke. After a heavy sigh, she continued — At the AKH.

— Do my brothers already know? — she asked, grabbing a pair of jeans and a white shirt.

— Yes, I sent them messages. Lukas and Mathias will see if they can leave Ibiza later.

— Okay, I'll leave in a little, I'll be there in half an hour.

When the call ended, Elisabeth was shaking and her cheeks were wet. It was as if the world had stopped spinning in those few minutes, fear gnawing at her chest like acid. That couldn't happen, it simply couldn't, not at that moment, without him knowing that he would be a grandfather again.

— Liesl? — Toto asked from somewhere behind her — Was that your mother on the phone? Did something happen to Niki?

Turning to him, the team principal soon realized that something was wrong.

— He's in the hospital — Elisabeth stammered, drying her face.

He pursed his lips for a few seconds, before running a hand through her messy curls. The look they exchanged was enough for him to understand the gravity of the situation.

— Dress yourself, I’ll take you there — he said, before turning around and going to the bathroom.

Within minutes, the two were already in the car, traveling through the streets of Vienna in the direction of Alsergrund, where the AKH was located. The tension was palpable in the silence that hung between them. Staring at the movement on the sidewalks, Elisabeth could only think about what her father was like at that moment. Would he be conscious or completely unconscious, with a tube stuck down his throat?

It reminded her of her mother talking about the fluid aspiration sessions they did at the hospital right after Niki's accident. Even though doctors said it was not recommended to do the procedure so many times in a row, he insisted, saying that it would help him recover more than waiting for his body to do the work on its own. Niki had already suffered so much in hospitals that the idea of seeing him return was agonizing, not to say desperate, for Elisabeth.

— Liesl — Toto murmured, placing a hand on her leg — Is everything okay?

— Yes, I’m just — she hesitated, placing her hand over his — Worried.

— Did your mother give any details about how he is?

— No, she just asked me to go to the hospital — Elisabeth said, before remaining silent for long seconds — What if he's really sick? What if he's dying?

— Your father isn't dying, Elisabeth — the team principal said, emphatically — He just had a setback, that happens.

—Toto, coughing up blood is not a setback.

— Setback or not, doesn't matter at this moment — he replied — What matters is that you need to stay calm, not just for yourself, right?

Looking at her own abdomen, Elisabeth took a deep breath, pursing her lips. The baby definitely didn't deserve all that load of tension, even though it was the only thing she was capable of feeling at that moment.

After going around the AKH complex, Toto found a space near the hospital entrance, parking the silver Mercedes with caution. As soon as he turned off the vehicle, Elisabeth unfastened her seat belt and opened the door, placing her bag on her shoulder and walking towards the front door.

The automatic doors opened and she headed towards the reception, where a woman was typing something on the computer, her expression not very interested.

— Hi, I would like to see a patient.

— Name? — she asked, without looking up from the screen.

— Oh, it's Andreas. Andreas Nikolaus Lauda.

The woman made a few clicks and typed something on the keyboard.

— Relative?

— I'm his daughter.

— And I'm his son-in-law — someone said behind her. Looking over her shoulder, Elisabeth saw that Toto had arrived, still a little out of breath.

— The patient was admitted to the emergency room and is currently being treated — the woman said, without any emotion in her voice.

— Can I see him?

— Visiting hours are from three in the afternoon — the employee replied, without looking at her. Suddenly, Elisabeth felt her throat tighten, the anguish of not being able to see her father for so long making her eyes fill with tears.

— My mother is inside, she asked me to come — she stammered.

— I am not authorized to allow visitors to enter outside visiting hours.

— But…

— Sorry, these are the hospital rules and…

Toto stepped forward, interrupting the woman.

— Look, my fiancée is pregnant, her father was admitted coughing blood and the only thing we want is to have access to her mother and the doctors who are taking care of my father-in-law — he said, in a serious tone — If you don't want to have problems with barring Niki Lauda's daughter from seeing her father, I suggest you let us in.

The woman looked at Toto in surprise.

— Sir, I…

— Will I need to talk to your boss about this?

Pursing her lips, the employee picked up the phone and dialed in some numbers. After a quick conversation, she went back to typing on the computer, printing two labels with the word 'visitor' written in bold letters.

— The emergency department is right ahead, it's marked with a sign — the woman said, holding out her fingers with the stickers towards them.

— Thank you very much — Toto said dryly, taking the stickers.

As she put her identification on her blouse, Elisabeth couldn't shake the horrible feeling that had come over her the moment the hospital employee denied them entry into the emergency room. It was as if all the fear she had managed to keep bottled up inside her was released at once, causing her hands to feel cold and her lower lip to tremble.

Following the signs that hung from the ceiling, she was already imagining the worst-case scenario when her eyes caught a woman with her hair tied in a somewhat familiar way sitting with her back to her.

— Mom? — she said, causing Marlene to turn her face back. Upon realizing that it was her daughter who was there, she jumped up, going over to her and hugging her tightly.

— Elschen — her mother stammered, as the tears finally ran down Elisabeth's face — I'm glad you're here, so glad...

— What happened?

— Your father — Marlene began, her voice becoming too choked to continue for a few seconds. After taking a deep breath, she managed to speak — He has a serious problem with his lungs.

— But, how? He was fine, mom, he was at the race with us...

— It seems that his lungs were already weakened and the cold he caught made everything worse. The doctor said something about bleeding, but I didn't really understand, I was so nervous. He was out of breath, Elschen, completely out of breath...

The description of the moments before her father was hospitalized made Elisabeth's stomach turn. She couldn't imagine the despair Marlene had felt when she saw Niki feeling bad, much less when she received the news that he was in fact sick. It must have been like reliving everything that had happened at the Nürburgring, but with the added factor that she was the one who needed to save him.

Drying her face, Elisabeth allowed Toto to greet Marlene and question her about Niki's health. Upon realizing that she didn't have a lot of information, he decided to go after the doctor in charge of Niki’s treatment, while the two sat in the waiting room, hand in hand, facing the agony of waiting for more news from Niki.

— Mom? — Elisabeth murmured.

— Yeah?

— Do you think my father will…

— No — Marlene interrupted her sharply — You're not going to finish that sentence, Elisabeth.

— But…

— I've seen your father in a worse situation than this. I saw your father completely burned, his skin swollen and blistered. I saw him ask for a priest and tell him to fuck off when he heard the man praying over his bed — she said, seriously — Your father is strong, Elisabeth.

She lowered her head, sniffling. It wasn't the time to think the worst, but she couldn't help it, especially when she thought that maybe he would never meet the granddaughter he had dreamed of so much. When she felt her mother's free hand wipe a tear from her cheek, Elisabeth raised her head.

— Don't worry, darling — Marlene said, caressing her face — He's going to come out of this even stronger.

She limited herself to a smile, as she saw Toto walking towards them with a serious expression on his face. As soon as he sat down, she questioned him about Niki's situation, as well as when they could see him.

— You know that Niki's lungs are not very strong due to the smoke he breathed in at the Nürburgring. And because of this, the flu he caught in recent weeks evolved into inflammation in his lungs and airways. That's why he was short of breath and coughing so much — the team leader explained.

— When are we going to see him? — Elisabeth asked.

— When he is stabilized — Toto replied, brushing a strand of hair away from her face — But doctor Idzko is very optimistic, he said that cases like this, no matter how delicate they are, are simple to solve.

Nodding, she just hoped the doctor was right.

A few hours had already passed when a man with white hair and thin-rimmed glasses approached Elisabeth, who was alone in the waiting room, as Marlene was in the bathroom and Toto was in the hospital cafeteria, looking for something to eat.

— Miss Lauda?

— Yes, it's me — she replied immediately, jumping up.

— I'm doctor Christian Hengstenberg, head of internal medicine at the hospital and responsible for the team taking care of Mr. Lauda.

— Did something happen? Is my father okay?

— No, I mean, beyond the obvious, no — the doctor said, smiling — Mr. Lauda is responding well to our interventions in these first hours, which is good news.

That was a relief for Elisabeth, who put her hand to her chest as she let out a heavy sigh.

— Is he breathing better?

— Yes, with assistance, of course, but he is stabilized.

— Can I see him?

The man hesitated for a few seconds.

— Well, I believe we can make an exception for you, but, due to immunosuppression therapy, we will need to take some precautions. Can you come with me?

Elisabeth waved, following the doctor through the hospital corridors with her heart pounding in her chest. After putting on a mask and washing her hands, she was finally led to the door of her father's room.

— A moment, please — Doctor Hengstenberg said, before putting on his mask and opening the door — Mr. Lauda, there is someone here to see you.

She walked in slowly, finding Niki lying on the bed, a catheter in his nose to provide oxygen and an IV access in his arm with medicine slowly dripping out. Without the red cap on his head, Elisabeth's father looked like a different person, much more fragile and delicate with the scars exposed on his head.

— Mauslein — Niki murmured hoarsely. That word was enough to make her eyes fill with tears, while the doctor said he would give them space to talk.

— Hi, dad — Elisabeth replied, approaching the edge of the bed. She wanted to hug him, kiss him, scold him for scaring her. However, she simply took his hand, caressing her skin with her thumb — How are you?

— For a half-dead man? Pretty good.

She giggled.

— Mom said you felt bad last night.

— Yeah, I coughed a little.

— Coughed up blood, I mean.

—That's just a detail...

— It's not a detail, so much so that you're here — Elisabeth countered.

Her father just gave a small smile.

— You know I've been through worse, right? — he asked softly.

— Yeah, I know, dad.

— Then, don't worry. This is a vacation in comparison to those 42 days.

— But that's precisely why you should be more careful — she said, looking at their joined hands — We still have so much to live, dad.

Niki squeezed her fingers lightly.

— And we will, Mauslein. Don't think I forgot I have to take you to Toto next month.

Elisabeth smiled beneath her mask.

— So, about that… It won't be next month anymore.

— What do you mean by that? — Niki questioned, the beeping of the machine that monitored his heartbeat becoming more frequent — Did he break up with you? Or was it you who ended it all? If Toto did anything to you, Mauslein, I swear I will...

— Dad, please, Toto didn't do anything — she said, trying to calm him down — Actually he did, but it's nothing like what you're thinking.

He blinked, confused.

— But…

— When I said that we still have a lot to live, I wasn't just talking about the two of us — Elisabeth whispered, bringing Niki's hand to her belly. As he pressed the skin lightly, he felt the firm spot under Elisabeth's shirt and raised his blue eyes to hers.

— Are you serious? — her father stammered, looking shocked — You mean you two finally decided to give me a granddaughter?

Elisabeth nodded, the words catching in the lump that had formed in her throat. However, it was not the time to cry, not when there was nothing but joy on Niki's face, as she stared at her belly in an enchanted way.

— We still don't know if it's a girl — she finally managed to say.

— Too soon to know? Or is she not cooperating?

She laughed.

— We decided that we will only find out on the day the baby is born.

— Why?

— Because we don't want you to be upset if it's not what you want.

Niki gave her daughter a loving smile.

— I won't be upset — he explained — I'll just be even happier if it's a girl, but what matters is that I'm going to be a grandfather again and...

Her father's voice broke, partly because of the hoarseness and partly because of the emotion that had finally overflowed in his eyes, the tears shyly running down her face. And seeing Niki so moved by the new addition to the family made her sob, tears wetting her mask.

However, there was no sadness. Just happiness.

That moment ended up being interrupted by doctor Hengstenberg, who stated that he needed to take her back to the waiting room to allow Marlene to enter. Looking at her father, Elisabeth ran a loving hand across his forehead, feeling the texture of the scars beneath her fingers.

— You know we can't keep Mrs. Lauda waiting, right?

— Indeed, we can't — Niki smiled at her daughter — Take care of my granddaughter, okay?

— I'll take care of it — she replied, laughing — Any messages for Toto?

— Tell him I'll keep an eye on everything and that I'll be in touch. Oh, and it's better for him to have made a girl, otherwise I'm going to rip his balls off.

— You can't rip his balls off, how will he be able to try to make a girl again if it’s a boy?

Niki was thoughtful.

— Yeah, you're right. But I'll give them at least one kick.

— No, you won't.

— Let's see if I won’t, Mauslein.

[goqmir]

blyo is the oldest name i have and comes from when i signed up for the then-eminent super smash brothers melee matchmaking site smashladder.com with the username BlueYoshi, which was also the character i played, in 2018. i of course was in denial about being transgender so i had very few friends and none to hang out with outside of school, so i started hanging out on smashladder's melee chat room and matchmaking for melee like 8 hours a day, where eventually the people there shortened BlueYoshi to blyo. i began transitioning more than a year later, so blyo is the oldest name i use. the yoshi fursona is actually a more recent thing, and came directly from playing melee yoshi for like 5 years previously

trinkit was originally the username i happened to sign up for bloons tower defence 6 with, because "trinket" was taken. i thought it would be a cute change of pace. my bestie thought it was really cute so i kept using it. its the main tag i use now, and blyo is largely relegated to being used within the melee/pm community. trinkit is also definitely my pooltoy-coded name :3

goqmir isnt really a name but it is an iconic way people refer to me and the username on my most popular accounts. it comes from a dnd campaign i ran for my friends in which a group of soldiers from the bad guy colonizer city-state attacked my party's cart for supplies, and were fought off. one soldier ran into the woods, and was tracked by the party's rogue to the enemy encampment. the soldier attacked the rogue and was tied up and dragged back to the road and the party's camp, where he was interrogated for why his group attacked the party. it was during this interrogation that my friend said "can we make him a twink" and the twink soldier bit began, where he was clearly really horny about being tied up and interrogated. eventually, they let him go free when they got enough out of him, allowing him to go back to the enemy soldiers while the party travelled to the nearby town to finish their quest and get the town guard to help them clear out the enemy encampment. when the party came back to the enemy base they brought a fleet of city-state soldiers to clear out the enemy's base (which was a whole dungeon i planned out for the party to go through alone :P) and when they were all arrested the party noticed the twink and told the city guards that they were keeping him. the twink was brought to the cart, where they asked his name, to which he replied he wanted to forget his old name, especially since it would now be on a wanted poster by the bad guy kingdom for desertion. he had them make up a name instead, which they rolled for using 26 sided dice, 5 players with one die per player, to make GOQMR. and so goqmir the party twink was born, and they made him pull their cart while they dommed him

[ryuichirou]

what fandoms were you in long before twisted wonderland? I mean like over 10 years ago.

Anon, thank you for this question because it made us sit down and actually look through the albums of my old art and write a list LOL We thought it’d take like 30 minutes tops + 10 minutes to write all of this down, but it took 2+ hours yikes… So sorry, no other replies today :(

And made us realise just how much we revisit certain fandoms 🤦‍♂️ I guess we’re loyal!

Some of them were just very brief phases when we watched/rewatched something, I drew like 5 sketches for this thing and we moved on after about a week. But it was still prominent enough for us to feel like “Oh right, Ryu was drawing (this) back then”. Damn, 2013-2016 were insane, we were jumping around so much… When did these people have time to watch and draw so much shit??

Since this blog is very old, you can find some of my very old shitty fanart for a lot of those here. In all honesty, I really want to draw fanart on some of the more obscure and old ones again… if you have questions about any of this, feel free to ask!

2007: W.I.T.C.H., Oban Star Racers, Naruto lol my very young years

2008: Petshop of Horrors, Yami no Matsuei, Gravitation

2009: Hetalia, Vocaloid

2010: Vocaloid, Terra e…, Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Hetalia

2011: Terra e, Kaze to Ki no Uta, Sound Horizon, Hetalia, Magi (mostly Judal), Kuroshitsuji (a little bit)

2012: Homestuck, Prince of Tennis, Sengoku Basara, Sound Horizon, DC (Batman + Robin, mostly Tim Drake), Thor, Danny Phantom, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, ATLA, Adventure time, D. Gray-Man

2013: Ed Edd n Eddy, Sound Horizon, Penumbra Overture, Lucius, Thor, Hetalia, Dan Vs, Hannibal, Shingeki no Kyojin, Death Note, Bakuman, Neon Genesis Evangelion, South Park, Durarara, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Litchi Hikari Club, Hellsing Ultimate, Yami no Matsuei, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Game of Thrones, Hannibal, the Simpsons

2014: Kuroko no Basket, Hadaka Shitsuji, Hoozuki no Reitetsu, Gravitation, Shingeki no Kyojin, Tytania, Panty&Stocking, Soul Eater, Bleach, Kill la Kill, Hellsing Ultimate, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood,  Ace Attorney (trilogy + Apollo Justice), Priapus (by Mentaiko/Itto lol I drew him a lot), Togainu no Chi, Outlast, Daria, Scooby Doo, Haikyuu, DMMD, Katekyō Hitman Reborn, Tokyo Ghoul, Free, Kuroshitsuji, Psycho-Pass, Yowamushi Pedal (HUGE!!!!!), D. Gray-man, One-Punch Man

2015: Metalocalypse, ATLOK, Gravity Falls, Guns n’ Roses (yeah the band), Hannibal, Steven Universe, View Askewniverse, the Addams family, Ace Attorney Dual Destinies, DMMD, Life is Strange, Over the Garden Wall, Rick & Morty, South Park, Miraculous Ladybug, Undertale, Watchmen

2016: Supernatural, Peanuts, Osomatsu-san, Outlast, Until Dawn, BioShock Infinite, Code Geass, LoTR, Game of Thrones, Hetalia, House MD, Zootopia, Shingeki no Kyojin, D. Gray-man, Hellsing Ultimate, LA Noir, Percy Jackson books, South Park

2017: American Horror Story, Danganronpa, Neon Genesis Evangelion, ATLA, Homestuck, Yuri on Ice (super briefly), Outlast 2, D. Gray-man, DMMD, Hetalia, Gravitation, Monster, Dream Daddy, Junji Ito, Boku no Hero Academia, Osomatsu-san, South Park, Hannibal

2018: Voltron, Danganronpa, Devilman (Crybaby and classic), Homestuck, Berserk, Gravitation, Bungo Stray Dogs (briefly), Gintama, Hellsing Ultimate, Hetalia, BTS, Priapus (he came back), LoTR, Togainu no Chi, Sweet Pool, Detroit Become Human

2019: Tanya Grotter books, Hannibal, Homestuck, D.Gray-man, Hunter x Hunter, Danganronpa, Durarara, ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept., Soul Eater, ATLA, Witcher 3, Shingeki no Kyojin

2020: Shingeki no Kyojin, briefly Uncharted 4 and BioShock Infinite

2021: Shingeki no Kyojin, ATLA, Sk8, Jujutsu Kaisen, Squid Game

2022: The Great Ace Attorney, Sadistic Beauty, Hades, Mirai Nikki (suddenly), Akira, Encanto, the Gray House (the House In Which, it’s a book),  Cowboy Beebop, Fight Club, It (2017), Stranger Things, LoTR, Uncharted, Hetalia, Frozen (more like Hans/Anna lol), Kuroshitsuji, Twisted Wonderland

2023-2024: Mostly Twisted Wonderland, but we also posted some Scott Pilgrim stuff at the very beginning of this year.

I guess this is it. Woah…

[ghostofvalorie]

That Essay

@forsaire tagged me and now I MUST provide! You opened Pandora's box on this one.

To adhere to the rules I will first provide FOUR and ONLY FOUR of my fictional crushes! And to make it easier on us all I've narrowed it down to games only, so here we go!

I'm starting off from the very beginning of my journey into crushing on non-existent people, and people who have read my tags before might know this one already!

Malik Al Sayf from Assassins Creed 1 - 2007

A man whom you've wrong by being arrogant and then spends the next few hours of the game being yelled at by him, and rightfully so. Not only do you cost him his arm and place as an assassin in the brotherhood, but his younger brother as well.

Eventually Altaïr stops begin a prick and apologizes and Malik, bless his heart forgives him.

Still... not me rolling into Jerusalem hoping, wishing, to get yelled at because Malik's Voice Actor goes HARD <3 I love him and his 7 whole polygons! NEXT!!

Keeping it somewhat chronological:

The Arishok from Dragon Age 2 - 2011

He beeg. He got horns. He is technically an antagonist in the game but he has a moral code that makes sense to him that he is willing to kill and die for. Qunari famously live their lives incredibly black and white so to him he is in the right, even if we disagree.

But he just got a wholeass vibe, and he'll say nice things such as

"I have a growing lack of disgust for you" and I mean, with that voice... say no more sir. *takes shirt off*

NR 3: Adam Jensen from Deus Ex - 2011-2016

My cyborg husband <3

Ex-swat turned security guy, then interpool agent (depends on which game you are playing)

He's just an incredibly good guy, the sweetest person on the block. Ofc it depends on how you play and what choices you make, but MY Adam is a sweeheart that will go out of his way to help people.

And my boi got sass, he'll be snarky to literally anyone, his boss, the cops, criminals you name it.

He's also secretly a little funny. <3

Nr 4: Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2 - 2018

I mean first off, he do a little *mlem* when he drinks coffee... Do i even need to say more?

Arthur is just such a perfect sad boy. Raised to believe his only worth lies in killing people when in reality he is incredibly competent, sharp and caring. Again depends on how you play the game, but my Arthur is the goodest boi in the west.

Now that was four, oh but look, somehow completely unrelated to all this, some other honorable mentions seems to have ended up after the cut, how silly of me!

And @xintothewoodswegox, show us what you got!

Beast from Beauty and the Beast - 2017

No further comment, your honor, if you've seen the movie you should know.

Kaidan Alenko from Mass Effect - 2012

How can we not love the powerful nerdass space magician! He's caring, he is cute, he is Canadian and schrodinger's person of color!

He also glow blue, what else can you possible want? I for sure do NOT kick my feet and twirl my hair anytime he wants to talk to me.

Eris Goddess of Chaos from Sinbad - 2003

I MEAN LOOK AT HER?!?!?!? Again an antagonist, but she is sexy about it.

Helga Sinclair from Atlantis - 2001

I'm-I i mean, I don't even have words. Every time I SEE Helga my brain flat-lines I can't help it.

THAT GIF THO???

Majima Goro from the Like a Dragon series of games

No comment, because if i start i will NEVER stop, he's story is too good.

Simon 'Ghost' Riley from Call of Duty MWII - 2022

I could literally put ALL the characters from that game in this list. ALL OF THEM, but to keep this somewhat short I've chosen ONE and i've chosen Ghost, the most tragic man alive.

Kar'niss from Baldur's Gate 3 - 2023

Another TRAGIC boi, missunderstood and abused </3 I could take care of him. LET ME TAKE CARE OF HIM LARIAN

Jonathan Reid from Vampyr - 2018

You didn't think I'd squeeze in a vampire this late, did you?

I wasn't overly impressed by Jonathan from the start, BUT, he is FASCINATING if you play him as a bloodthirsty villain willing to murder everyone for power! I'm here for bad-boy Reid!

Lastly, for now:

Corvo Attano from Dishonored - 2012

Also an incredibly tragic man, who's fate you hold in your hands with your actions!

He's just hot, he's a dilf, he can succumb to grief and violence or rise above it to save not only his daughter but an entire empire from destruction.

I'm not sure i've y'all have noticed the pattern yet but let me spell it out for you:

PEOPLE THAT CAN ABSOLUTELY DESTROY ME! Look at them all! So STRONG! So POWERFUL! Fuck, mess me up fam!

And the beauty lies in that they never would. Or I mean Eris might... but I'm in a firm belief that the others would never harm someone they care about and ain't that just the purest thing you've ever heard.

Now this was only the highlights of my fictional crushes, I've kept most of the absolute freaks out for now. Maybe I'll do an updated list later where werewolves and Cthulhu makes the cut, we'll see. Now I know HP Lovecraft wasn't a very cool dude to say the least, but you expect me to be normal about the big tentacle monster? REALLY?

Lower your expectations.

[lonelycowgirls]

Harry and Stellaween

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stellaflorals LEAK OF STELLA'S HARRYWEEN COSTUME via dolly_malonex

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itslucyy she's jessica rabbit!!!!

starrylove his very own bunny 🐰❤️

novalove13 Stella's first Harryween?!

frankie_oliver11 boring 🙄🙄🙄

harrysgirl she's so beautiful tho guys 😭😭

↳starrylove brb throwing myself off a bridge

harryflorals 🌼

sideboobrry she kinda ate

yasfullman harry going feral somewhere rn

larry4life wouldn't a real couple match? 🤔

stellerrrr god bless @dolly_malonex

↳lauraloo21 she stays feeding us 😩

31 October 2022

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harryflorals THE BACK OF HARRY'S SHIRT SAYS 'HARRYWEEN'! via fernsrrylou

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harrytheone this picture will be studied one day

florence_oliver_ HARRY LAMBERT I TAKE EVERYTHING BAD IVE SAID AB YOU

starrylove stella gets this man every night

↳just.nia SHES GETTING THAT DICK EVERY NIGHT SHES GETTING THAT DICK EVERY NIGHT SHES GET-

tbslamber just saw stella walking to the tech box!1!!

tbslamber she looks amazing

↳larrysinlove FAKE

↳corinne_styles how can it be fake its been like 10 years 🤣🤣

andreaashley wonder if the gf likes the black hair

31 October 2022

Liked by katyjonessss, harryking21, and others

harryflorals "You've come as... Jessica Rabbit? Yes? Yes! I got it! That's proving to be a very popular costume this evening." HARRY POINTING OUT A FANS COSTUME AT HARRYWEEN via babyhoneymonique

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starrylove stella punching the air somewhere 🤣

↳larrylove that's what you get for having no creativity or originality

heatherbrown he was so cheeky with Stella tonight! When he said this he kept glancing towards the tech box and winking

↳charliebennett our king of subtlety

↳harrystella18 he just loves to wind her up and I love it

giovanna_rodriguez stella was so drunk tonight we could hear her singing from the tech box behind us!

harrytheone whoever wore the same thing as his gf won tbh

trinawong but who wore it better @harrystyles?!!

31 October 2022

Liked by starrylove, stellamalone and others

harry_update More of Harry on stage for Harryween last night! via pia321234

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rina_gee Stella liked!!

court_xo Stella liking this is so me coded

stellerrrr if only Stella's account wasn't private 🫠

rowanelizabeth Stella screenshotted this for sure

tbslamber he is beyond hot

itslucyy I mean how am I supposed to go on with my day after seeing this

dee_rizxx stella liked omg omg she's creeping on fan accounts????

1 November 2022

Liked by annetwist, gemmastyles and others

stellamallone Throwback to Halloween 2018 because I'm missing my spooky soulmate @dolly_mallonex

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dolly_mallonex miss you my girlie! Harryween is calling my name! 🦇

annetwist gorgeous girls ❤️

harrystyles was this grim's party?

↳stellamalone nah, corden's

↳harrystyles ohhhh yeah

hannahparker this lewk stell 😍

↳stellamalone miss you Hannah! 🫶 we must catch up soon

↳hannahparker absolutely

1 November 2022

Liked by stellamallone, niallhoran, mitchrowland and others

scottysakamoto "Harry, you actually have Halloween weekend off for once, we're going to a haunted house. Whether you like it or not."

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niallhoran ten quid that chair will end up in your house mate

dolly_mallonex Don't lie to yourself, H! We all had so much fun, good to have you back on the dark side ❤️

benselleymusic on the beers Stell, good girl! 💪

↳harrystyles you don't have to carry her home

↳stellamalone two pint Stell is OUT OUT 😘

roxannedrake come through leather trousers 👏🏿 miss your arse @stellamallone

↳stellamalone I'm coming Manny soon babes, we need a reunion asap 🫶

28 October 2023

Liked by harrystyles, dolly_mallonex and others

stellamallone no Harryween but we're still gonna party 🎃

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hannahparker yesss

Angel_212 killerrrrr, missing my night shift gyal

↳stellamalone back in less that 48 hours 🙃

dolly_mallonex the dark bride 🕷️😍

annetwist Have fun tonight you lot. Be safe ❤️

harrystyles Out with the sole breadwinner. Drinks on you x

31 October 2023

~~~

Happy Halloween. Only short but hope you love.

For more from this universe, click here.

Nel xo

[tumkaafiho]

"In the early morning hours of May 15, the cargo vessel Borkum stopped off the Spanish coast, lingering in the waters a short distance from Cartagena. At the port, protesters waved Palestinian flags and called on authorities to inspect the ship based on suspicions that it carried weapons bound for Israel.

Leftist members of the European Parliament sent a letter to Spanish President Pedro Sánchez requesting that the ship be prevented from docking. “Allowing a ship loaded with weapons destined for Israel is to allow the transit of arms to a country currently under investigation for genocide against the Palestinian people,” the group of nine MEPs warned.

Before the Spanish government could take a stand, the Borkum cancelled its planned stopover and continued to the Slovenian port of Koper. “We were right,” Inigo Errejon, the spokesperson for the hard-left Sumar party wrote on X, arguing that the Borkum’s decision to skip Cartagena confirmed the suspicions.

But missed in the debate over whether the ship ought to be allowed to dock in Spain were the unlikely origins of the Borkum’s cargo.

According to documents seen by Al Jazeera, the ship contained explosives loaded in India and was en route to Israel’s port of Ashdod, some 30km (18 miles) from the Gaza Strip. Marine tracking sites show it departed Chennai in southeast India on April 2 and circumnavigated Africa to avoid transiting through the Red Sea, where Yemen’s Houthis have been attacking vessels in reprisal for Israel’s war.

The identification codes specified in the documentation, obtained unofficially by the Solidarity Network Against the Palestinian Occupation (RESCOP), suggest the Borkum contained 20 tonnes of rocket engines, 12.5 tonnes of rockets with explosive charges, 1,500kg (3,300 pounds) of explosive substances and 740kg (1,630 pounds) of charges and propellants for cannons.

A paragraph on confidentiality specified that all employees, consultants or other relevant parties were mandated that “under no circumstances” were they to name IMI Systems or Israel. IMI Systems, a defence firm, was bought by Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, in 2018."