#i still need to go back and get the changes since they added duty support to 4.x though; nobody let me forget that pls

[eriyu]

The FFXIV script is updated through the end of 5.0!

So far I've got the entirety of MSQ up to the start of the Shadowbringers patch quests, the Crystal Tower raids, the archer and bard quests, seasonal events from the past few months, and the first few snippets of optional dialogue (I'm trying to focus on catching up first, but I couldn't not include Emet-Selch's occasional optional lore drops).

I'm also still tinkering with little layout and feature things as I go — I just added sticky headers so you can tell where you are in the middle of the script. :D

Link below! ⬇

[rileyslibrary]

Ghost shares his New Year’s resolution with you.

A/N: This is an automated message. I’m still on a break. Also, a warning for you: this story does not follow canon. It’s fluff, though.

———————————————————————

You look around as you move through the groups of people, making your way toward the buffet. These New Year’s Eve parties at the military base are something else. It’s not the celebration that fascinates you; it’s the way people, just for the night, ditch their ranks and show another part of them that duty tends to conceal.

Seniors and subordinates talk like equals, and the rigid structure fades into the background, much like the slow jazz music playing from the speakers. Annoying ads occasionally interrupt the rhythm, and you make a mental note to locate the source and plug in your Spotify.

And yes, you’ve seen different aspects of their personality while on missions or in more casual settings. However, when you add alcohol into the mix, pair it with the excitement of the upcoming new year, and factor in the human need for closeness when away from family, everything feels different.

For example, you’d never have thought that Gaz gets an itch that lasts for days whenever he has to wear a Gillie suit or that Price can distinguish between different brands of cigars just by smelling them. ‘They need to have the right humidity level,’ you hear him say as you walk past the group and stand in front of the buffet. You scan the pastry platter, trying to find one that’s intact so you can pop it directly in your mouth since no plates are left. That or you haven’t spotted them yet. You look around, searching for a pile of clean ones, but pause as your eyes land on the training ground perimeter outside.

Approximately six feet-something, broad, a glass in his right hand, balaclava slightly raised, leaning against the fence, gazing up at the sky.

Your appetite for pastries is gone.

Leaving the buffet, you walk towards the door leading outside, but as you slide it open, a teammate grabs your shoulder. She urges you to share with the rest of her group about your time in Norway when you mistook a group of migrating salmon travelling upstream for a raid. You smile in response and promise her you’ll join them shortly, motioning towards the training grounds. She follows your gaze, and once she understands what you’re on about, she releases your shoulder and nods understandingly.

You slide open the door; Ghost looks over his shoulder but not directly at you. He’s not alarmed.

“The salmon story is not that funny,” he remarks in a low voice, wiggling his glass. “You should tell them about that time in Mexico.”

“You mean when I complained to the bartender that there was a worm in the tequila bottle?”

He nods, taking a sip. “Like finding a fly in your soup,” he murmurs, lowering his glass.

“I’m surprised you heard the conversation,” you state. “It’s chaos inside.”

Ghost shrugs and lowers his head. He’s not much of a talker lately—not like he’s a social butterfly on other days—but he’s not very keen on the chaos inside. Not only that, but the recent events have shaken him quite a lot, even though he conceals it well.

You rest your arms on the fence beside him, dangling your wine glass on the edge and look at the stars. He follows your lead and does the same. You lean in closer, and your shoulder touches his. He doesn’t move away—instead, he steadies himself further to support you. When you feel ready and secure, you shift your weight onto him and rest your head on his shoulder.

“I won’t ask you if you’re ok.” You whisper.

“That counts like asking.”

“Yeah,” you reply, “but I didn’t.”

“Good.” He says and takes a sip from his glass.

“Should I change the subject?”

“Should you keep on talking?” He asks back.

“Yes,” you murmur. “Yes, I absolutely should.”

He sighs and shakes his head. “Go on then.”

“So,” you begin, “any New Year resolution for you, Lt.?”

You feel him nod, and you stand upright in shock.

“Why look at you, Lt!” You shout wide-eyed, “I didn’t peg you as the resolution type.”

“What can I say,” he mumbles. “I’m a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside a fucking enigma.”

“Churchill said something like that.” You state proudly.

“Indeed.” He replies. “Minus the ‘fucking’ part.”

“So?” You ask, “What is it?”

He looks at his glass, searching for the right words. “No more casualties.” He finally states.

“Don’t you think that’s a little far-fetched?” You ask, tilting your head to the side. “Considering the nature of our job and such?”

“So was your ‘no more chocolate’ resolution last year.” He replies.

“Hey!” You shout, “At least I tried!”

“That’s what I’m saying,” he rolls his eyes. “I’ll try to keep everyone safe.”

“That’s more like it,” You nod, lifting your glass. “Here’s to trying our best to keep everyone safe.”

He turns to face you. There’s a solemn expression behind those eyes of his. As if he’s determined to make this his life’s goal. He brings his glass closer to yours, and they clink together.

And as you’re about to drink from your shared toast, the door slides open, and a face pops in between.

“Here’s Johnny!” Soap shouts. Although he sports that annoying smug look, the top of his head is wrapped in a fresh white bandage, courtesy of the bullet that grazed him last month.

“I see you’re feeling better, Soap.” You say with a smile. “Would you like to join us?”

“Nah,” he replies. “Captain told me to tell you to come inside; cake’s about to be served.”

You thank him, and he shuts the door behind him. You turn to look at the lieutenant, who is slowly shaking his head.

“Scratch my New Year’s resolution,” Ghost murmurs, looking at the remains of his drink. “For this year, I plan on moving bases so I’d be away from him once and for all.” He states and downs the rest of it.

“You don’t mean that.” You chuckle and slap his arm.

“I don’t,” he admits, “but he made us all lose ten fucking years of our lives.”

“Everything turned alright, Lieutenant.” You say and wrap an arm around his waist. “Now, pull down your balaclava and come inside before you catch a cold.”

He wraps an arm around your shoulder and plants three little kisses at the top of your head before covering the rest of his face with his mask, leading you inside to celebrate the new year.

———————————————————————

[faghubby]

Future

"How did it go?" I asked. As Paul came home.

"Fine" he said quickly heading to the bedroom. I got up and followed him. I came up behind him and hugged him.

"We can talk about it" I assured him. I took the paperwork he was still holding from him. He just let me take it as I read down. I saw he scored a two out of ten. As I read the results. He was deemed not only small but because of his aptitude test he was fitted with the smallest cage.

"Paul this isn't that surprising" I told him hugging him again.

"But" he wimpered. "It means we can never"

"Baby, no it just means we can't have kids" I told him. He seemed a little better but not much. I read the self care page.

"It says you should keep yourself shaved to help prevent discomfort" my eyes lit up. "You're shaved?"

He blushed. I started to unbuckle his belt. I needed to see. He was shy but didn't stop me. I pulled down his pants and found pink underwear. I looked up surprised.

"They said they would help support the cage" he told me. They looked like boys briefs except pink and no slit to pee from. I tried not to laugh as I pulled them down to see the smallest chastity cage. I had seen the cage on the news as they had discussed the different levels but it was smaller then I had imagined. I touched it held him softly.

"Ahhh" he moaned.

"Sorry" I realized it was exciting him and stopped. I pulled his pants back up and left him to sulk at least for now.

The Matriarchal laws had passed. A month ago. All men where required to submit to a psychological and physical exam to gauge their role in society. Woman now controlled the government in great numbers. The congress of 100 members only three where male. And there where no male judges. This with a steep decline in pregnancies led to the passing of a series of laws. Allowing woman to find men that where fertile. But also strong and fit. Generically Alpha. It wasn't just size and strength but also intelligent, creative. There where levels of clarification. ALPHA, OMEGA, JACKS AND BETAS.

Paul had rated a 2 making him a low rated Beta. Always locked especially in public. It also allowed me to find men outside my marriage. The laws also relieved Paul of manly duties. He could not hold certain physical jobs. His right to vote was also limited. Along with home ownership, driving alone at night. Being out alone at night for that matter. I went back to the packet I had been reading when Paul came home. I added his evaluation to the paperwork. The paperwork allowed me to take control of all our assets. It even allowed me to change his name if I wished having him take my maiden name if I wished. There was also releases to allow me to be added to dating list for men that wished to help me cuckold my husband. There was a spot for Paul to sign but it wasn't required for him to sign since he scored under a 4.

I gave Paul a few hours then went to check on him. As I walked in he quickly turned off the TV. I walked over and took the remote and turned it back on. He was watching the new Submissive channel.

I sat down next to him on the bed. It was a educational how to show on pleasing your mistress.

"You didn't want me to see this?" I asked. He was embarrassed. I watched for a few minutes. They where talking about excepting his new role. And how to show her he excepted his role and was not a threat to her lovers. They talked about asking her to wear panties, or even to peg his ass.

"How do you feel about this?" I asked

"Trish I understand that" he tried but stopped. "Are you going to take a lover?"

"I haven't decided. How do you feel about it?" I asked him.

"I don't think I, I don't know?" He mumbled.

"You can't call me Trish in public, I think you should call me Ms Trish even at home so you get used to it" I suggested he almost seemed relieved I wasn't going to demand Mistress or something.

"I like you to sign the release before I send them" I told him as I ran my hand thru his hair. I smiled at the commercials on the tv. Even they where directed towards male submissiveness. As I smiled at a salon offering discount on full body hair removal. I suddenly had him lean forward and removed his shirt.

"Take off your pants" I told him. I stood and did as I said

"Leave your boi panties" I giggled, he frowned. I pulled him into bed.

"Lay still" I told him. I teased his nipples.

"Tell me what you rate on an arousal scale q being don't like and 10 being don't stop. I kissed his neck and nibbled on his ear. He moaned and wiggled trying to stay still.

"6 ohh 8" he moaned. I worked my way down teasing his nipples. Again he moaned and bucked his hips in the air. "8" again he moaned.

I moved down getting 4 on his tummy. But when I cupped his balls his dick was leaking precum from his cage. I licked and put his cage in my mouth then each of his balls one at a time.

"Please unlock me" he moaned

"I don't have the key yet" I told him. He just moaned as I continued to tease his inner thighs. He spread his legs further. So I took it as a invite and licked his asshole. I thought he would explode, I didn't like it but quickly replaced it with my fingers. I grabbed some Vaseline from my makeup table and worked my finger into his ass. Without a word he pulled his legs to his chest. Giving me total access to his ass. I soon had two then three fingers in his ass. I was absolutely amazed how much he loved this. We had never done anal play before. But Paul was in heaven his cage leaking as he moaned. After a few minutes I stopped and got up and washed my hands. When I returned Paul laid there his pink underwear pulled down alittle just as I had left them.

"I don't want to heat another moan or complaint. No more sulking. It is obvious that you are exactly what the doctors determined." I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of my panties.

"Wear these you got yours all dirty" I told him. Then get dressed we are going shopping. He didn't grumble. He didn't say a word just did exactly as I instructed. I drove to one of the nicer department stores. He got out of the car and I had to double step to catch him. I held his hand.

"You will wait for me. I may even decide you will wait till I open your door for you. Is that understood" I stressed.

"Yes, Ms Trish." He replied lowering his head. As soon as we walked in we were greater by a saleswoman.

"Good afternoon" she said to me quickly glancing at Paul. "We have a new department set up right over here, for our new Femine men" she offered.

"Really, perfect just what we came in for" the woman just smiled as I led Paul. The whole section of the store was bathed in pink. I was greeted by a man dressed almost completely in pink as well.

"Good afternoon Madem. My name is Jackie if I can help you with anything please ask." He said.

"Yes we are looking for panties for my husband." I said

"Of course, would you like him to wear any particular style" Jackie asked as he led us to a table. "These have extra room in the front" he started.

"We don't need that" I laughed looking at Paul who was over welmed by all this. "These are more humiliation" he pointed out panties that had sayings like girlie boi or fuck my wife for me. On them.

I saw the cutest little yellow thong.

"OH I like these" I giggled showing Paul.

"He looks to be a size 9" Jackie commented but he can try them on right over there. He then handed me a condom.

"So he doesn't leak in them" Jackie informed me. I just smiled. It was encouraged that I went into the changing room with him. Even a comfy chair for me to sit in was provided.

"Trish" Paul begged as I told him to try them on.

"You want me to play with your ass again?" I wispered in his ear. He stripped and slid on the thong. Pulled and poked checking how they fit having him turn.

"What do you think?" I asked Paul.

"I fell like I got a wedgie" he commented.

"Good" I smiled. I let him get dressed. He carried the thong around the store. I added a few more. Then I saw a tee shirt. Registered 2 is all it said.

"Which color?" I asked Paul their was. A pink, baby blue, and a high visibility yellow in his size.

"Blue?" He said softly. I looked him in the eye.

"How about pink?" I suggested he just nodded and took it from me. There where skirts and dresses. Lots of sizes to feminized your man. I pointed things out and gaged Paul's reactions. As we approached the register there was a long glass case full of sex toys. I stopped and asked to see several dildos the saleswoman was knowledgeable and showed me lots of features. I bought a harness and two dildos along with a wand to hold against the cage. Paul was beet red as we checked out. I held his hand as we walked across the parking lit again. As soon as we got home i had Paul sign the paperwork and sent it in to the new office of submissive men. I took Paul back into the bedroom this time I stripped and laid on the bed.

"Use your tounge make me cum" I told him. Paul did as asked. I felt impowered and gave him instructions he was good at eating pussy. But there was always things he did that did nothing for me. Or things I wish he did more. He listened well. And made me cum twice.

My sister keri stopped by after dinner. I think she was curious how Paul had rated.

"He is a 2" I told her.

"Really" she said excited "what are you going to do? Have ypu scene the sissy school?" She rambled on

"Sissy school?" I stopped her.

"Yes they will teach him to be a housewife for you" she laughed.

"And Brian?" I asked about her husband

"6" she was almost disappointed. As a six nothing changed in there marriage at all.

after Keri left I found Paul he was hiding in the bedroom. Again I caught him watching submissive TV again. I noticed a wet spot thru his jeans.

"Paul, you want all of this don't you?" I asked him. He tried to deny it at first.

"I hate the cage but" he stated

"You love the panties and my fingers in your ass" I stated he nodded. I fucked his ass again this time using one of the dildos we had bought.

Then had him shower and dress in my satin pajamas they fit him tightly and looked like he wore capris.

the next day I signed him up for sissy school but also a sissy spa day. They would remove all his body hair. A mani/pedi. And style his hair.

He spent 5 hours a day at school they taught him how to cook and clean. Also tips on pleasing thier wives. Paul was only 1 of 3. Class 2 in school most where 3 and 4. So he was given special instruction in nail care. Hair style, even make up. And walking in heels. I was given daily updates. I paid for Paul to have permanent body hair removal. Paul excepted his role immediately. I also found it so exciting. Fucking his ass every night for the first two weeks.

Paul started receiving what became called the sissy check from the government every month. That plus receiving a promotion at work after my boss was demoted after being classified as a 4. So unable to be more then a personal assistant. I had taken Paul shopping again this time he wanted to try everything. We left with a whole new wardrobe. He would spend most of his time in a dress or skirt. I laughed. And had more sexy panties then I had.

I went to a cuckold mixer, where I met a Darren a tall black alpha male. He didn't ask he took me to a back room and bent me over. He drove his huge thick 10 inch cock deep in my pussy. He took me used me it was such a release. Paul had never even tried to act like Darren did. He pumped his seed into me. There was so much it ran down my leg as he walked me to my car. He picked me uo to kiss me goodbye. But I wanted more. When he put me down I dropped to my knees and right there in the parking lot I pulled his cock back out and slobbered all over it. I could only take maybe a third of his magnificent cock in my mouth. People walked by but I didn't care. Darren finally came feeding me his cum. I swallowed every drop. Before I left giving him my number.

Paul was still up waiting for me dressed in sexy blue lace lingerie.

"I met someone" I told him. He was aware what type of party I had gone to. "I know you have heard about how sissy clean up" I said. He swallowed hard turning a bit pale. "Would you like to try?" I asked. I laid on the bed and lifted my skirt. Paul looked at my cum soaked panties. I led his head down.

"Try it" I said softly first he kissed me thru the panties then got a little braver. Eventually he pulled my panties off and sucked Darren's cum out of me. I started to teach Paul how to suck cock. By making him suck my strapon before I took his ass. Which now was once a week sometimes twice if he was extra good. I met Darren a few more times. Before he moved on.

It had been months since Paul had been locked. And he had only asked that first day to take it off. I had only used the key a handful of times when I had his body hair removed.

I realized we didn't even get many stares anymore since a femine male was not as rare as one would think. Paul's biggest concern was if I was getting enough attention from real men.

I found Pete thru a dating app. He was very interested in a couple. He loved that I had a cuckold. One night I had him spend the night. And in the morning let Paul suck his cock for him. Paul was able to take all 8 inches down his throat and swallowed all his cum. I was so proud.

Later on I allowed Paul to give Pete a massage. Paul's penis leaked the whole time. I then fucked him with my strapon in front Pete. Paul lecked his sissy juice all over himself. Paul even moved out of our room one day giving his spot in the bed up to Pete for good.

When Pete found out he went to Paul's new room. And bent him over the bed. He fucked Paul with force holding his head down. Paul was so turned on he came twice out of cage. As he thanked Pete.

Pete took control of Paul. Now Pauline. The name change was only the start. Pete ran a tight ship. If Pauline didn't do something or did it not the way Pete liked it done though. Pete would pull down his panties and spank him. Or stand in the corner. Even having him suck his friend Larry's cock when he came over to watch the game.

He also liked Pauline to dress very slutty, or even spend the day in just panties and a bra for the day.

Pete also took a firm hand with me at least in the bedroom. sex was wonderful. When I got pregnant. I don't know who was more excited Paul or Pete. Pauline swore to care for the child. He was always there when I got morning sickness, or needed my feet rubbed. Or sucked Pete's cock when I was to far along or just not in the mood.

When our daughter was born I didn't change more then a dozen diapers and Pete not a single one. Pauline got up in the middle of the night. Aunt Pauline was decided he would be called.

[where-dreamers-go]

"Eragonson" Eragon x Fem!Reader

(A/N: Requested by Anon. Thank you for your cute request of Eragon and Reader having a newborn son. I really hope you like it. Warnings: Minor angst. Fluff. Word Count: 1,143 words)

New life and changes were important. Each moment could lead to a new experience and expanding knowledge.

The tiny new being in Eragon’s life brought in more love.

Time had seemingly gone by faster. Almost dreamlike for the Dragon Rider.

It had almost been a full week since a son was born. Yours and Eragon’s little joy in a world with dragons and magic. A new human still getting used to the sounds of the world around him; among other senses.

For the time being, he hadn’t been carried out of the living area much. He was much too young.

That was fine by Eragon. It was easier to keep an eye on him and you. Yet the Rider was still nervous holding his infant son, especially if he had to walk across the room. A bundle of gurgles so precious and delicate in his arms. He felt the weight of responsibility each day.

What always shook Eragon from his thoughts?

A dirty diaper. Oh, what a blessing and a curse those cloths were for a multitude of reasons.

Eragon Shadeslayer was almost always on diaper duty. It was the least he could do. It didn’t take nearly as long to clean and change the infant as it used to. Practice and learning came hand in hand. He just learned how to hold his breath longer, much to the amusement to both you and Saphira.

It was an action needed and in the end he did not mind; not when his son gave a small smile. He sweared that his heart grew with each one.

“You’re all smelly,” Eragon would tell the smiling infant. “Do you know your little bottom smells? You might need a bath.”

Eragon hoped he was doing all right. He hoped you both were good enough parents. There weren’t any examples nearby to study. But you had each other. He had you.

You, his brave, intelligent, strong, and beautiful partner were recovering. No tasks for you. No straining yourself. There was only taking care of your own needs, your healthy baby boy, and making sure Eragon had encouragement. He and Saphira could handle the rest, including caring for you when needed.

“I’m so proud of you,” said Eragon, half in a daze as he watched you cuddle your infant to your chest.

“You keep saying that.”

“Because it’s true. You’re so strong.” His brown eyes looked to the baby. “He’s strong because of you.”

Your recovery would take time as would the baby’s growth to support his own head. As was life.

With all of the happiness came new fear.

The Dragon Rider and his dragon had become even more protective than prior to the birth of your son. An Eragonson. You were in no condition to fight off any attack if one had managed to get close enough.

What about a ward against sickness? Eragon inquired to Saphira.

There are many in multiple forms. Do you wish to stop them all? It would use too much energy.

Eragon scratched at his hand absentmindedly. You’re right. What about detection? Being able to detect a sickness off of clothing could be helpful. He suggested to which Saphira mulled it over.

It may very well be useful for others as well.

We can check more of what we bring in. He added, satisfied with the idea. Mentally, he grouped it with the few that could be used within reason.

Ignoring the parchment on his desk, Eragon sat back in his chair.

He could have trouble with the stairs when he starts walking, Eragon thought. Would adding—

“Eragon,” you called softly, interrupting them.

You just knew the pair were talking, it was a skill you picked up.

“Yes?” He turned in the seat.

“Can you hold him, please?” You asked and used your chin to gesture to the infant grabbing at your clothes. “I need to go.”

“Oh.”

Moving swiftly, Eragon made his way to the bed near Saphira’s nest. He sat down slowly as to not jostle you and the baby.

Gently passing your son to Eragon, you said, “I’ll be right back. Give your father some love.”

The infant had a strong grasp of your clothes that impressed the Rider as he delicately freed you to leave. A small complaint left the baby.

“It’s me,” Eragon cooed. “I’ve been way over there working.” He cradled his son to his chest.

“Ah.”

“I know. It’s not much fun.” He chuckled to himself.

Holding his son, Eragon recognized the paternal instincts within him. Something still so new and powerful.

With a light touch, he swept the fine hair on the baby’s head to the side.

His son reacted by grabbing for the Rider’s index finger, to which was allowed. All tiny fingers grasping around one of Eragon’s.

The sight took hold of his very being.

This is real, Eragon thought to himself. He’s here.

After many months of waiting and preparing, Eragon was a father. A parent growing a family with you.

My family.

Beside him, Saphira craned her neck to level a large gleaming eye to see the infant.

One day you shall be chasing him through these halls, Saphira spoke warmly in Eragon’s mind.

I want to show him the crops we harvest. He might want to play in them. He smiled at the image.

“Uhhoo.”

“Would you play in the mud after the summer rains?” Eragon asked playfully to the attentive baby who was pointing at Saphira.

I would certainly tear apart a forest for the tiny one.

Let’s hope it never comes to that. Eragon thought back to when he had hurt his hand so many years ago and she had reacted similarly, but much fiercer in the moment.

How time went by in a blink of an eye.

At sounds of soft padding on the floor, Eragon glanced up to see you smiling.

“What?”

“It makes me so very happy to see my family.” You begun walking over. “You’re very handsome between a gorgeous dragon and the cutest baby, you know.”

A long chuckle vibrated through him.

“I was wondering where your laugh went,” you sat down on the bed.

“What do you mean?”

They know, little one.

“Some of the wards you set up before you leave the room are very powerful, Eragon. Some tickle the air.”

“Do they bother you?”

“No.” You kissed his shoulder. “But if you worry so much, you’ll miss out on what’s right in front of you. Who is right in front of you and needing you to be a father.”

Sighing, he looked to his son who was wiggling at the sound of your voice.

Their words are wise. Saphira blinked as she too watched the infant.

I know.

“You’re right.”

“I know.” You smirked and lightly poked your baby’s tummy.

Curious hands reached for you. Just like his father.

~~~

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~~~~~

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[victoria-daydreams]

The Hare and The Tower

Chapter Eight: Wifely Duties

AN: Y'all I went on vacation and I'm not going to lie, this story was the last thing on my mind, but I'm back and on winter break so maybe I'll be able to squeeze out another chapter soon! Again, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who support this fic.

Trigger Warning: age gap, vomiting

Word Count: 2.4k

Taglist: @dogmatic255 @amethystwonders11 @sidechrisporn @helloimlateforeverything @ladysindar @sweetwanderlust05 @newandykes @loveofvernonslife @stitchattacks @dariequeen @kishie8 @girlonfireice @snowymarvel1205

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Summary: A strange illness has stricken Jesmyn with no end in sight, until a visit by the maester changes everything.

Chapter Nine: Most Wondrous News

116 AC, Westeros

The first time it happened, she was peacefully asleep in her shared chambers. There was a chill in the morning air when she awoke from her deep slumber feeling sick. Jesmyn had felt strange since the week had began anew, but this particular day she just felt plainly sick. Groaning softly, she rolled over intending to nestle further into Otto, who she quipped as being her personal hearth. However, those plans changed the moment she shifted in bed, her stomach violently churning in protest to the sudden movement. Jesmyn scrambled out of bed and bolted for the chamber pot. She got up so fast, she accidentally struck her husband with the heel of her foot.

"Jesmyn?"

She fell to her knees, barely making it to the pot when she emptied the contents of her stomach, awkwardly crouched on all fours. She hunched forward, retching a mouthful of bitter, yellow bile. Suddenly, she felt her hair being pulled back and a strong hand rubbing her back. Jesmyn looked up momentarily, her vision was blurred from the water in her eyes, but she recognized Otto’s figure before returning to her puking. He whispered comforting words into her ear, attempting to soothe her as she continued to dry heave long after she stopped vomiting.

When finished, Jesmyn was left leaning over the bowl, gasping for breath. Her hands shook. Her whole body trembling as she took deep, slow breaths through her nose.

"Easy,"

A few minutes passed before she was able to sit up. Using the the corner of her sleeve to wipe her mouth, Jesmyn leaned against her husband who wrapped his arm around her and she looked up at him. A concerned expression dotting his features.

"What’s wrong, my love?" Otto asked, moving his hand to her forehead. “Have you a sickness?” he questioned, pressing his fingers against her skin.

“No, I'm fine Otto. Dinner just didn’t agree with me it seems," she replied hoarsely, swallowing a few times.

With her arms still shaking slightly, Jesmyn pushed herself to her feet, using a nearby counter to steady herself. Briefly, her limbs gave out on her, but Otto instantly caught and steadied her, his arm still around her waist.

"Let’s get you back in bed, and I'll stay—”

"No!” Jesmyn said firmly. “You’re The King’s Hand,” she reminded. “You have duties which you mustn’t abandon because I am unwell,” she stated, shaking her head.

"I woke up to the sounds of my wife retching into a chamber pot. That isn’t something I can ignore,” he insisted, his blue eyes pleading with her to let him help.

Jesmyn, however wasn't going to give in so easily.

“King Viserys needs your guidance, Husband. I'm fine, I told you its something from last nights supper," she reassured, despite the thought a having a day with Otto completely to herself sounded absolutely heavenly.

"Nothing that transpires in the realm is more important to me than your well being," Otto said gently, moving one of his hands to cup her cheek.

The tenderness and concern in his gaze was almost enough to shatter her resolve. Almost.

"There's no reason for you to stay and tend to me, Otto," Jesmyn said, desperately trying to convince him she was well. “I’m alright, truly," she added, taking his hand in hers. "How about this?” she proposed. “If I can hold down breakfast then you tend to your duties as Lord Hand. If I can't, then I promise I shall go back to bed," she promised, searching her husband's eyes as he contemplated the option.

"Fine, I agree, but you must promise me to take care," he stressed, staring reluctantly down at her.

"I promise," she smiled standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.

~~~x~~~

It went on like that for nearly a month and a half, almost every morning she'd feel ill just after waking. Certain smells and tastes made her stomach churn. She would be fine one minute, then the next, she would run straight for the chamber pot. Gods, what the hells was wrong with her? Things that had never sickened her suddenly made her want to hurl. With every occurrence of her temporarily falling ill, she would dismiss it knowing it would soon pass, despite Otto's worried stare.

A new day had dawned in Westeros and the morning sun was high in the sky, bathing the solar of the Tower of the Hand in light. The only sound in the airy space came from silverware dragging against plates and the smooth flow of conversation between Otto and Jesmyn. They were both underdressed, Jesmyn in only a golden night dress and jade green robe which clasped together in the middle. Her hair, loose and tousled from sleep, had been tied in a plait. While Otto, was clothed in a white nightshirt also wearing a green robe.

"Alicent would like your company today," Otto informed, spreading some jam on his toast.

"Does she?" Jesmyn asked, before sipping orange juice from a polished chalice.

"She wishes to make up the time you two lost during your little quarrel,"

"I would hardly call our quarrel 'little'," she said, chuckling slightly.

The juice had barely slid down her throat when Jesmyn began to feel a familiar sensation which had been plaguing her of late. It was starting again. She inhaled deeply, attempting to ignore the sickness in her stomach. Placing her chalice down, she closed her eyes taking a few deep breaths. It wasn't working though, her stomach was pitching and roiling worse than the waves of the sea. Discreetly, she rested a hand on her stomach.

"Jesmyn?" Otto called, his voice snapping from her thoughts. "Are you well?" he asked, sounded concerned.

"Yes…" she answered slowly, her stomach clenching.

Fighting the constant ever present nausea which lurked in her belly since she'd started getting sick, was a slow, uncomfortable ordeal which she wholeheartedly could live without. The back of her throat burned as bile began to well up.

Otto frowned, "You don't appear to be," he countered, placing his utensils down. "Dear," he called, his voice strained. "I can see you're not feeling well. Please let me help you,"

Jesmyn opened her mouth to respond, but the queasy sensation became suddenly too much. Abruptly, she rose out of her chair, the legs harshly scraping against the floor. Feeling the hot bile rush up the back of her throat, she reached the pot just in time to purge her stomach.

"Jesmyn?" Otto called, his footsteps following his alarmed voice.

She felt his hand on her back, while his other, which was well practiced by this point, quickly grabbed her hair and held it away from her face.

He shook his head, "It's no longer up for discussion, you're going to see the maester today," Otto stated firmly, leaving little room to argue.

Which led to Jesmyn’s current predicament. Standing in front of the maester, she patiently waited for him to finish his examination.

“Do you feel any tenderness here my child?" he questioned, lifting her breast.

Jesmyn frowned slightly, feeling confused and uncomfortable as to why a breast examination is needed for a stomach illness. Although, now that she thought about it, her breast have been more tender than usual.

"I do Maester," she answered.

"And sickness, have you had any?"

“Constantly,”

"Any problems with food?"

"Aye, some of it makes me want to empty my stomach,"

The maester nodded along and she shivered as his hands felt her stomach and pelvis, before he told her she could get dressed.

She looked up as he approached her.

"Maester?"

"When was the last time you bled, Lady Hightower?"

"Pardon?" Jesmyn asked, her brows high

Momentarily, she was stunned by the question, but mentally shook free of her stupor. Confidently, Jesmyn was about to answer the week before, but stopped herself when she realized that couldn't be right. Her mind went over the dates and realized it was far longer. She couldn't recall. The last month was a blur. The maester smiled, as if expecting Jesmyn’s silence.

"Well, Lady Hightower, this should be a happy day for you and your husband,” he stated. "Congratulations my lady, you are with child," the maester informed, dipping his head.

"Child?" Jesmyn echoed, the word coming out as soft as a prayer. "Are…are you certain Maester?" she asked, her eyes beginning to water.

"Aye I am, I would say you’re some weeks in, at most. Maybe two months,” he said, packing his things. “Good day, Lady Hightower,” he wished.

~~~x~~~

“How are you feeling, Jesmyn?” Alicent offered her a cup of tea. “Father told me you took ill again this morning and he summoned the maester,” she said.

Sunlight poured through the window of Alicent’s personal chambers. The rays striking Jesmyn on the side of the face as she sat at table for tea. Due to her sickness, Alicent opted for the two of them stay indoors.

“I am fine,” she nodded, smiling weakly and accepting the cup.

“Are you? You don’t look it,” Alicent stated, blowing on her tea. “What was the maester’s diagnosis?” she questioned curiously.

Jesmyn could feel the back of her neck heat up. She was apprehensive about telling her friend she was carrying her father’s child. Alicent already semi knew too much about Jesmyn’s and Otto’s sex life as it was. She didn't know how Alicent would handle the news of becoming a step-sister. Jesmyn began to wonder if she should wait and tell Otto.

“Well?” Alicent said, her looking at her expectantly.

"I…I am with child,” Jesmyn informed, swallowing nervously.

Alicent froze mid sip, her body stiffening like a statue as she blankly stared at her. The only signs of life being her blinking eyes.

“What?”

"I'm pregnant." Jesmyn repeated, her nervousness compounded by Alicent’s reaction.

Alicent placed her porcelain cup down and stood quickly from her chair. Jesmyn’s heart sunk, she figured the news would be too much for her, they had only just rekindled their friendship. She raised from her chair as well, biting the inside of her lip in disappointment. The young Queen’s eyes bore into hers.

“Alicent?” Jesmyn uttered timidly.

In a few, short strides Alicent wrapped her arms around Jesmyn and hugged her tightly, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

“This is wonderful news Jesmyn!” she said happily. “I know you and Father have been for trying for so long!” she added excitedly.

“You're not angry?" Jesmyn asked hopefully.

Alicent pulled back from their embrace, her eyebrow raised.

“Angry? Why in heavens names would I be angry?" she asked in disbelief. “You’re going to be a mother, and I a step-sister!” Alicent said, a jovial laugh bursting from her. “Don’t you see, our bond will only grow stronger now!” she said, sliding her hands down Jesmyn’s arms and grabbing her hands.

“That is a relief,” Jesmyn said, exhaling deeply with a smile.

“How far along are you?” Alicent questioned, placing her palm against Jesmyn’s flat abdomen.

“The maester said two months at least,” she answered.

“Have you told Father?” Alicent asked, lifting her gaze from her stomach.

“No,” Jesmyn said, shaking her head. “He’s in a council meeting, Alicent. It would be foolish to disturb—”

Alicent gasped loudly, “Nonsense!” she exclaimed, shaking her head. “This is momentous, Jesmyn! I cannot believe you’re telling me first,” she said, chuckling with disbelief.

“I plan to tell him over supper,” Jesmyn informed. “I want to make it special and memorable, but I’m not sure how,”

Alicent took her hand in her own again, “Oh please, you must let me be of service,” she begged, a beaming smile on her face. “I want to feel useful outside of being a caretaker and mother,” she added.

“And useful, you shall be,”

~~~x~~~

"Dear me," Jesmyn began, setting her tablecloth down. "I might need to have stitches loosened in my gown, this meal has left me quite full," she joked.

It was later that evening, once again her and Otto sat across from each other in their private dining chambers. Candles were lit, servants were coming and going, carrying wine and food until she dismissed them for the night. Jesmyn took another sip of her wine and then refilled her glass. She held the wine carafe up to Otto and raised her eyebrows, and he lifted his glass.

"I’m amazed your stomach has been agreeable for supper," he said, as Jesmyn got up from her chair. "Did the maester give you something to calm it?" he asked curiously, his eyes following her.

"He did," Jesmyn answered, filling her husband’s glass.

"And?"

"Fortunately, this illness is temporary," she informed, drawing the pitcher back and setting it down.

"Keep it simple," Alicent's voice echoed in her head.

"Good, good," he replied, covering her hand with his. "What remedy did he give you?" Otto asked, stroking his thumb across her knuckles.

"Tis excellent news, Husband,” Jesmyn answered, smiling at him. She took his hand and pressed it against her belly, spreading his fingers out. “I am with child,” she announced, laughing lightly.

He stared at her, shocked for a moment before his face spread into a large smile. His happiness shining in his eyes making Jesmyn’s heart soar with delight.

"You're pregnant?" Otto echoed, a broad grin covering his face.

"I am," Jesmyn confirmed, mirroring his expression.

Otto hopped up from his seat and within a blink of the eye, Jesmyn felt herself being lifted up into the air and spun around in a circle. Warm laughter filled the air and when he put her down again, Otto cupped her face and descended his lips on hers for a kiss. His arm rested on the mid of her back as he pulled her closer to him. A soft moan came from Jesmyn as their lips moved in perfect sync.

Otto withdrew from her lips after a few moments had passed, peppering with kisses all over face. Glancing up to meet his stare, Jesmyn’s cheeks flushed at the intensity of his gaze.

"I’d suspected," he began, his lips against hers as he brought his forehead down on hers. "I recognized the symptoms, but I didn’t dare hope," he continued, his voice shaking with excitement "We're going to have a baby," Otto finished, kissing her happily.

"I will bear you a son who is the spitting image of his father," Jesmyn promised, and her husband’s hands found themselves on her stomach once more.

"There is no need for such promises," Otto said, gently rubbing her abdomen. "For I will love the child if it is either a son or daughter," he whispered softly.

Chapter Ten: Leave it to The Gods

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT ECOMMERCE NEWS (INCLUDING ETSY), LATE JULY 2024

Things have been hectic so this is a long one update - all the Etsy and other ecommerce news from the past month, broken down for your convenience!

Next week could be a big Etsy news week, with the 2nd quarter report being released, and the mature items ban kicking in. I'm also working on analysis of the new Creativity Standards, but we may not have more substantial information on those until Etsy makes another move. Right now the categories are a mess, but that could change.

A reminder that you can receive more timely updates plus exclusive content - including live chats with me on select topics such as Etsy's new Creativity Standards - by supporting my Patreon: patreon.com/CindyLouWho2

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

The European Union is considering making packages valued under 150 euros subject to customs duties when entering the EU. This is widely seen as a way to reduce Shein and Temu orders. 

The Etsy Creativity Standards announced on July 9th have a lot going on; here is my short summary so far. [post by me on Patreon] While I would not worry too much about this just yet, I expect them to be more important in the near future.  Etsy adding "Made by", "Handpicked by" to every listing is currently full of errors, but more disturbingly, even when a seller points out these errors with arguments from the written policy, Etsy Support is sometimes insisting that the designations are correct. For example, original paintings are lumped in with AI designs and digital downloads. [Post by me on LinkedIn] 

Amazon is imposing new rules regarding on-time delivery rates (OTDR); sellers that do not meet the standard of 90% on time delivery will not be able to continue selling. Businesses are exempted if they use the following tools: Shipping Settings Automation, Automated handling time, and Amazon Buy Shipping. Amazon is allowing only 5 days after shipment for products to arrive within the US. You can read the announcement and vigorous forum discussion here, and EcommerceBytes did a summary of the changes and some complaints.

ETSY NEWS 

As Etsy's widespread ban on many adult-themed products is about to take effect on Monday, I considered why Etsy felt the need to take far more drastic steps than Amazon & eBay has in the same markets. [post by me on Tumblr] The upcoming ban started by getting media attention from Mashable, and quickly escalated to the New York Times [not a gift link; soft paywall]. Etsy is still not commenting on why they are doing this. From the NYT article: "Even before the ban, it was getting harder to run his business, Mr. Goldstein said. So, he thought, “Why don’t we just make our own marketplace?” This year, he started the website Spicerack as an independent alternative to Etsy. The online boutique already has about 75 sellers, which are vetted to make sure they’re not “dropshippers” or simultaneously listing products on e-commerce behemoths like AliExpress or Amazon. Mr. Goldstein said that Spicerack is in the process of adding about 100 more sellers, half of whom signed up when the Etsy ban was announced." From the BBC: “In many countries there is pressure on platforms, sometimes backed by new legislation, to do more to prevent under-18s from encountering explicit content, and to remove illegal or "harmful" content from their platforms. Payment processors are also increasingly wary of working with platforms that enable sex based commerce....those concerns could be addressed by more clearly labelling and separating adult product listings..." The Guardian interviewed a few sellers who are affected.

While Etsy previously stated that the new shop set-up fee would be $15 USD, they quietly changed that, to whatever they feel like charging. [post by me on Patreon]

In case you missed it, the new listing form seems to be triggering Etsy Ads campaigns to start without the seller’s knowledge. [post by me on LinkedIn] Since my post, there are still more reports of this happening, and even more. 

I regret to inform you that Etsy’s Search Analytics are going to disappear after August 14 [post by me on LinkedIn], per a banner on the page.

Canadian sellers will have to pay a 1.15% “Regulatory Operating Fee” on all of their sales income (including shipping and gift wrap) starting August 15. This is likely due to a new law taxing large ecommerce platforms 3% of their Canadian income, which came into effect June 28. The tax applies retroactively back to the beginning of 2022, so Etsy is likely overcharging us to cover those earlier amounts. 

Sellers having difficulties with the domestic pricing tool not working correctly may want to try these tips from an Etsy forum thread: Set the domestic price to the global price amount, save, and then go back in and change the domestic price to your preferred amount, then save again. This apparently works for both new and existing listings, but there are 3 drawbacks: 1) it is time-consuming, 2) it needs to be done any time a listing is changed/edited (including renewals), and 3) it doesn’t seem to work for France. (I don’t ship to France so I cannot test the last point.) Remember, if you have a sale go through for the wrong price, contact Etsy and demand to be compensated the difference. 

Still don’t believe that Etsy is serious about shipping on time? See this Reddit thread by a seller who ignored a 30-day warning, so all of their items were removed from search. From this screenshot, it appears their average order value was fairly high, but that doesn’t mean Etsy will tolerate late shipping from shops with cheaper items, so beware. 

Etsy is testing filtering out digital items from search results unless the terms match a digital item search. See Etsy forum threads here and also here. 

A new academic study calls out Etsy and other online marketplaces for allowing illegally-killed bats to be sold on their sites. “We refute any assertion that the online bat trade is ethical. Again, statements that bats were captive-bred are absurd—bat farms are nonexistent—and it would be impossible for suppliers to find bats that have died naturally in the kind of condition and numbers needed to supply an ornamental trade. These bats were hunted.” The New York Times has also now covered this story [soft paywall]. 

The virtual seller education event Etsy Up is scheduled for September 10. You can register here, but there is no program yet. Usually this event has almost nothing worthwhile for experienced shops, and Etsy generally uses it to push their paid services and integrations along with basic info. 

Etsy is looking for sellers to join their Advocacy program and “share your story”. Beware that sometimes Etsy’s “advocacy” is as much for Etsy as for its sellers, so they are looking for stories that fit Etsy’s own goals. 

The Etsy Design Awards have opened; the final date for submissions is August 8. 

Etsy’s second quarter results for 2024 will be released July 31.

ECOMMERCE NEWS (minus social media)

General

Shein and Temu are facing investigations under the EU’s Digital Services Act. “In a press release, the EU said it’s asking Shein and Temu for more information about measures they’ve taken to meet DSA obligations related to what’s known as “Notice and Action” mechanisms, which should allow users to notify the marketplaces of illegal products.It has also requested info related to the design of their online interfaces, which the pan-EU law mandates must not deceive or manipulate users, such as via so-called “dark patterns”.” Temu is also being sued by Arkansas for having an invasive app that is accused of harvesting data without user permissions. “According to the complaint, Temu is allegedly obscuring its unauthorized access to data through misleading terms of use and privacy policies that do not alert users to the full scope of data that the app can potentially collect. That includes not telling users about tracking granular locations for no defined purpose and collecting "even biometric information such as users’ fingerprints."

Amazon

Amazon now has an AI shopping “assistant” on its US app, called Rufus. “Customers can ask questions about products, comparisons and buying considerations. The AI can provide suggestions for specific tasks or projects.” As per usual with AI, “tests show Rufus doesn’t always provide accurate information.” A review from Marketplace Pulse notes that “Amazon’s AI assistant fails to help shoppers find the best product among the millions in the catalog. It transforms broad questions like “What are the best cycling gloves for winter?” into a few links to product searches — the same searches a shopper could have typed themselves. It refuses to make product recommendations, show specific products, or suggest from the thousands of options. It can’t directly answer the question, “What are the cheapest batteries for my TV remote?”

Any sellers who had items removed for being plants or seeds when they actually aren’t should follow the instructions linked to here to get the situation resolved. An Amazon employee warned sellers: “Please do not acknowledge the violations as these will result in the deactivation of your listings.” Affected businesses should instead appeal the flags.  

Amazon is planning a discount drop shipping from China section, widely seen to be competition to Temu and Shein. However, “[i]t is not clear if these shipments will be made using a U.S. trade provision that exempts individual packages worth less than $800 from U.S. customs duties.”

The European Commission has asked Amazon for more information on “recommender systems, ads transparency provisions and risk assessment measures.” 

Only 1% of US Amazon sellers also offer their items outside of North America. “Due to its proximity to the U.S., Canada has more successful sellers from the U.S. than Canada.” If you have a unique product, this could be an opportunity.  Amazon returns are creating huge workloads for UPS stores and other retailers that accept them. “Amazon “makes up about one-tenth of our profits, but it takes up about 90 percent of the working day,” said Jeremy Walker, a store associate who worked at a UPS Store near Dallas that received between 300 and 600 returns per day.”

Depop

After trying it out in the UK, Depop is removing selling fees for the United States, starting July 15. Payment processing fees still apply. “[B]buyers will now be charged a "marketplace fee" of up to 5% plus a fixed amount up to $1.”

An interview with Depop CEO Kruti Patel Goyal reveals they plan “to bring Depop to a bigger and broader audience over time.” 

eBay

eBay is slowly rolling out changes to the Active Listings page. 

eBay sellers can now get cash advance loans through Liberis, the balance of which gets paid as a percentage of the seller's sales. 

New sellers in the UK might see “automated feedback” on some of their orders, to "help [users] buy and sell with confidence". It will say "This seller successfully completed an order", and is removed once the actual buyer leaves feedback. 

Michaels MakerPlace

Abby Glassenberg reviews Michaels’ MakerPlace popups inside their retail stores. Results seem mixed.

Shopify

A few hundred thousand Shopify users may have had their names, addresses and other data put up for sale on July 3 after a breach. Shopify denies it had any security issues and claims the data came from a third-party app. There was a known data breach at Evolve Bank and Trust in June; that institution is a supporting partner for Shopify Balance. It does appear that Shopify is notifying the affected individuals.

Walmart Walmart is adding pre-owned collectibles to its marketplace. “Eligible categories include Toys (Figures, Dolls, Trains, Plushies, Games, LEGO, Funko, Diecast Cars & Hot Wheels); Media & Music (Movies, Vinyl, Music, SteelBooks, Musical Instruments & Entertainment Replicas); Trading Cards; Comic Books & Books; Sports Memorabilia; and Coins.”

All Other Marketplaces

Indiegogo is opening an ecommerce website for items created through crowdfunding campaigns on the platform, called IndieShop. 

Etsy-owned Reverb now has an “outlet” page, where businesses can sell off their overstock, seconds and out-of-date models for 20% off and free shipping. Most products sold through the main portion of Reverb are used, not new, so this competes with regular sellers. 

Not sure if selling on Faire is right for your business? Here’s a handmade-focussed review of the wholesale site.

Payment Processing

Klarna is now available through Adobe Commerce (previously Magento). 

Shipping

USPS rates for labels on most platforms went up July 1, ahead of the previously-announced July 14th increases. Ina Steiner re-posted the numbers from eBay and Pirate Ship. 

USPS released the addresses and other data of logged-in Informed Delivery users to Meta, LinkedIn and Snap. The company claims it didn’t know the data transfer was happening. 

The free USPS Priority medium shipping tubes are no longer being made, but you can still order existing stock. 

Royal Mail’s Tracked 28 & 48 are now available at post offices. 

UPS’s holiday surcharge rates for the US have been released; the lower surcharges start September 29th.

Shippo has new Canada Post rates from now until January, and the Tracked Packet rates to everywhere but the United States are cheaper than Etsy’s (which are based on Level 4 of Solutions for Small Business). Remember that Shippo makes you pay for a higher tier of service if you use over 30 labels per month.

[birinboom]

so hoshina huh 👀 JDJDJDODJDK this sounds so threatening but i am actually dying to know more. what’s the dynamic like? what drew you to him to begin with? im a hungry little girl and im begging for crumbs

EDIT: I might end up changing some of the lore to make everything fit better

Sorry to keep you waiting for your meal! Aaahh I’m still so awkward about it, it took me forever to work up the courage to answer 🫣 You make selfshipping seem so easy, Kendy, I envy you!!

I guess I should give some backstory or some of my answers won’t make much sense…

So basically, I’m a scientist from Scandinavia, specializing in troll (kaiju) biology. I’m selected for a 6 month work exchange program with Izumo Tech, in particular with the science unit at the Tachikawa base. 

The general idea for the work exchange is that the biology of kaiju/troll/cryptid/monster/whatever local name they’re given varies vastly across the world and five the countries with the highest monster emergence decided to do a collaboration between their science divisions in the hopes of sharing knowledge and improving our defenses.

I’ll need one of the fighters from the 3rd Division to perform regular tests on to check their equipment in the hopes of improving it, and Hoshina is selected to assist me solely because he’s the best at English in the 3rd Division. He’s quite happy to be selected since it means he’ll be relieved of a few of his regular duties, and he offers to be the one to pick me up at the airport so we can begin our collaboration on a good note. 

He enjoys my company enough that he takes me sightseeing on his days off, and he quickly becomes my go-to person if I’m having any form of trouble - like the one time I got kicked off the base because I forgot my ID back at the lab and needed someone to vouch for me to get me back in. 

Our friendship soon morphs into more of a situationship, both of us constantly reminding ourselves that I’m only in Japan for 6 months, it CANNOT become anything more. Not that that stops either of us from falling in love.

In the end I end up getting a permanent job offer from Izumo Tech so I’m able to move to Japan and we start officially dating.

So… there you have it. Yeah. OKAY YOU HAD QUESTIONS!

What’s the dynamic like

I’ve been thinking about this one so hard cause I’m not sure what answer you’re looking for here… I guess introvert/extrovert fits since I’m shy and awkward until I feel comfortable and Hoshina is very much the opposite. He’s good at drawing me out of my shell. Though he does like when I’m shy and blushing, it triggers his cute aggression which makes him want to tease me, which in turn only makes me blush more. It’s a bit of a spiral that usually ends with him kissing me silly but I can’t help but love it 🤭

There’s generally a lot of laughter in our relationship. We take care of each other, whether he’s injured or I’m sick, and there’s a lot of mutual trust in that we always want what’s best for each other. Plus brat vs. brat tamer. Hi, I’m the brat 🙋‍♀️

What drew me to him to begin with - in universe

I’ve always been the type of person to latch onto anybody who’s remotely nice to me and Hoshina just happened to be first in that regard. He was a lot more forward in the beginning than I dared to be, to the point where it could get just a little overwhelming at times. Still, it was more attention than I had gotten in a long long while so I never even thought about turning him down. 

Plus his sword skills had me fangirling practically as soon as I found out about them. He enjoyed every minute of it.

Adding to that, we bonded a lot over our mutual love of reading and coffee, and some shared experiences like both of us having shitty families who didn’t support our dreams.

What drew me to him to begin with - IRL

I’ve always been fond of mentor characters, and I’ve recently begun liking characters who are a little bit of an asshole (I blame HSR’s Aventurine for this 😒) 

Hoshina fits very nicely into both categories, though the mentor-side isn’t shown in the anime yet.

I dunno, I love how he goes for a more understated role until his skills are needed and then he goes ALL out. I love how loyal he is to Mina. I love how he’s a little shit. That one scene where he’s on his knees cry-laughing and slapping the floor because Kafka couldn’t get his suit to work, it smacked me in the face and I went ‘oh it’s him. I want him.’ 

Plus his sword skills had me fangirling, that one’s true in every universe  ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

Thank you so so much for sending me this!!! 💖💖💖

[hunted-moth]

Forest Of Dreams PT5: New Friends

Neytiri x FemReader

Wordcount // 3k

Summary // When Jake is caught giving information to Quaritch, it results in them relocating

Warning // Language, seeds of betrayal, smoking, but mostly just fluff

A/N //This is just y/n getting herself familiar with Home Tree and stuff idk it's short btw

Speaking Na’vi

‘Thoughts’

*whispering*

*mini time skip, like a small location change

“She said there's like a spiral in the center of the tree, adding a base support, so if you want to hit it you're gonna need heavy-duty stuff” Jake tried to describe what you told him the best he could “Umm she also said that there was also like base columns, a few in fact and that they build upon it to so its probably more enforced to” he added more to the description

“Hmm, we’ll need accurate scans of it, talk to your sister about getting some” Quaritch stated. these little meeting has been going on for about a week, ever since you got back from your first expedition, it's how Selfridge found out in fact.

Of course, Jake thought it was for the greater good anyway. Didn't affect him at all so why care, plus he could get money out of this, to support him and you when you get back home, he could help with any debts you have and get his legs back as per his, and Quaritch's agreement.

“And that's all I got for you Sir” Jake turned his body to face his superior “That’ll do son, thank you. Take care now tell your sister to stay safe out there” Jake went to back out from the conversation as the meeting went onto a different subject

But throughout this interaction, they didn't see that someone was listening in on them. Before they could notice, they were gone

As Jake was leaving Quaritch stopped him “Oh and Jake, dont be afraid to snoop in her diaries log things, to get as much information as possible, in fact just send them to me” Quaritch placed his hand on his shoulder before letting him go

*

“Umm Grace, I've got some news for you” Grace looked up from her desk “You're not gonna like it though” She looked at him confused “Did someone die?” Max’s face grimaced at the response

“No, but your gonna want him dead,” Grace put her papers down, giving her full attention to Max “I just saw Jake and Quaritch talking, about home tree” If looks could kill Max would be at the crematorium by now “now let's think about this, if we get rid of Jake Y/n might get mad and drop the whole thing and go back to being a normal geologist” ”

Grace seemed to think about it for a second, then sighed “Then what do we do?” she began to light a cigarette from the sudden stress “Let's go off base, take away Jake's direct line to Y/n” She took her first puff

“Well what if they do video calls” she countered “Just take Jake with you where ever you go, you could still use him as a security escort on your expeditions” She took a long drag of her cigarette, before exhaling it “Hmm you make a good point Max, but where should we go is the question” max seemed to think for a moment “what about site 26, dont think it's in use right now”

She nodded her head “Yeah that’ll do, go and fetch the trio, I'm sure Norm will be excited” Grace grinned a little

*

As you and Jake walked into the lab with some clothes packed, you could see some lab techs pack stuff like supplies and food.

“So where are we going,” Jake asked “Getting out of heck out of dodge, not about to let Selfridge and Quaritch micro-manage us” When Grace mentioned Selfriged you looked around out of guilt, as did Jake but you didn't notice it

“There's a mobile link up at site 26 we can work out of, way up in the mountains” She walked away to pack some other thing, Norm popped his head up when he heard the news, you can't blame him though, cause you were excited to.

“The Hallelujah mountains?” he walked over to her “That’s right,” he turned to you both “Are you serious!” you asked Grace with eyes so full of excitement “Yep” it was a simple word but it brought joy to you and Norms little life

Jake looked confused and looked to Norm and you for answers “The legendary floating mountains of pandora, how have you not heard of them?” you rolled your eyes “Tits as he says, floating mountains caused by the UBH-310, unobtanium, natural magnetic forces”

you explained “And guess which profession figured that out, that's right geologist!” you had a stupid smirk on your face while you pointed to your self “You act as if you discovered it” Grace butted in your conversation “Can I not feel a little pride for my profession” you sulked at her comment, it made Jake smirk though enjoying your little act as you all walked away to head out

[LOCATION- FLOATING MOUNTAINS/SITE 26]

The Sampson flew over the Pandora forest, but instead of trying to get down there, Trudy flew you all upwards. Grace, Jake, and Norm's avatars were in the main body while the rest of you were in the cab, Norm next to Trudy this time

“Were getting close” Grace told the three of you “Yeah my instruments are going crazy” she pointed to the dials and stabilizer of the Sampson which were, in fact, going crazy “Yep, we're in the flux vortex now kiddos” You looked out a window to see nothing but clouds “yep, were VFR from now on”

Norm looked at her “whats VFR?” she cracked a smile “means gotta see where your going” Norm looked confused “Can't see anything” “Ain’t that a bitch”, he was right, all you could see were more clouds, thicker and denser than before, they were like a storm cloud

But the more you flew into the clouds, the more you could see the floating mountains. Your mouth was agape, you had seen photos, even videos, but to see it in real life, it's indescribably beautiful.

“Ha, you should see your faces”

In the distance, you could see the site. There were two cabin-like structures that were connected by a bridge. after the Sampson landed you helped Jake get out of the aircraft. “You want me to carry you” you smirked, you thought he would decline the offer due to his pride

“Yeah go ahead,” he said with a smirk on his face, so you lifted him over your shoulder, you stumbled a bit but gained your balanced once again and walked to the cabin with both your bags on your other shoulder. Norm was nice enough to grab his wheelchair and hurried to get in front to ready his chair

While Grace was inside, Norm helped set up Jake's chair, you plopped him in it. He was the first to go through the airlock door, then you, Norm, and finally Trudy. As you all gathered around Grace came back “Welcome to camp”

Trudy put her stuff down before grabbing something from the fridge. You saw some photos on it, you saw Grace and other na’vi children you assumed it was her students, two of which you recognized, the girl who hung around you and-

“Neytiri?” you looked closer at the photos with her in them, “Oh, your girlfriend” You rolled your eyes and grabbed a photo of her and of another girl, they were holding each other like they knew one another deeply.

“Hey Grace, was Neytiri a student of yours right?”, she looked up at you and noticed you and Jake staring at the photos “Yes, she was my brightest student, took to it like breathing” you continuity looking at the photo, “who's this girl?” Grace looked sad for a moment “That's her older sister” You looked up at her “I didn't know she had a sister, where is she?” Grace looked at Jake for a split second, “why don’t you ask her yourself” She walked off to her bed after that, she looked upset

You looked back at the photo one last time before putting it back.

Grace had a bed to herself while you and Trudy shared a bunk, the same case with Jake and Norm.

Grace leads the three of you to the back. “Ok Y/n, you’ll be on the left at the end, unit one or as I like to call it, Beulah, she's the least glitchy. Jake, you’ll be in the one on the right next to her, you'll use it when Norm and I go out for samples, Norm-” She turned her direction to Norm as she explained their pod situation

You turned to Jake, “You know how to work these? Told Neytiri id to be late today, though dont know if she gonna wait this long haha”

[LOCATION- HOMETREE]

You awoke in the hammock again, you looked around to see no one around you, which was expected as it was about midday when your avatar woke up. You ventured down to the base where the other clan members were to find Neytiri.

As you walked you felt a tug on your tail, you looked over to see a girl, the same girl who always came up to you, god you had to learn her name! “Hey kid, ya need something?” you turned around and started walking backward slowly

“No, well yes, I came to give you this dream walker” She gave you what you assumed was an armband. It was very simple, as it was just woven with some leather and beads, but still very pretty “It so you dont look so bland, dream walker”

“Oh wow, you made this”, she looked at you and shrugged her shoulders “Yes, is it bad?” her shoulders were tense “What! no, I love it! It's very pretty!” She smiled up at you. She was about to say something else when she was interrupted by someone “Sälau” you knew that voice and you didn't like that voice

“Hello Tsu’tey, nice bumping into ya” You turned around to face him “It is not nice” he snarled then he noticed the girl “Sälau, where have you been? I’ve been looking for you, you're late for lessons” she looked down and kicked the dirt “sorry Tsu’tey, it's just that Dream walker took so long waking up, and I had something to give her” she argued back at him

you got the low down of the conversation but still couldn't fully grasp it. But you saw Neytiri walking towards you and proceeded to exit and conversation “Ahh Neytiri, just the girl I was looking for” walked towards her with outstretched arms

“Look sorry I was late, we had to do some sky people stuff that involved me being there” you tried to explain your self “It is fine, just try not to be late again” you nodded “So what's on the agenda today”

“Follow me” She waked around Tsu’tey and Sälau back to the spiral. “Bye kid see ya later” You ruffled her hair on your way passed her, she giggled at the contact while Tsu’tey rolled his eyes walking away.

*

You were leaping from branch to branch while going up the spiral to what you assumed was the top of home tree. As you got there you looked down to see the beautiful landscape below you, “*Woah*, hey Neytiri why are-” Instead of finishing your question, your ears tuned in on the rustles in the leaves and different screeches

You looked to Neytiri, seeing her make some calls as the rustling got louder and closer. You could see what looked like wings and tails moving around in the branches. You looked closer when all of a sudden something came flying out

You freaked out and moved back falling on your ass while Neytiri looked calm when the creature landed, it looked towards you, it had a piercing gaze. Its colors were beautiful greens and yellows “Holy hell-” “dont look in her eye, she will become aggressive” It was like she could feel that you were focusing on the banshee

While your eyes were closed, you could hear the banshee chirp at Neytiri, opening your eyes you could see the banshee eat a piece of meat “Ikran is not horse, once Tsaheylu is made” she held her queue to the ikran making Tsaheylu with her “ikran will only fly with one hunter in the whole life” she went around it and mounted her ikran

“Oh so like a pet, it stays with you” You looked up at her from below “Till the end huh?” her ikran let out a mighty screech “Yes, like pet” She gave hers a pet before resuming the lesson “To become taronyu, hunter, you must choose ikran, and he must choose you “alright, when do I choose?”

“When you are ready” she let out a command and she and Ikran dived down into the sky. You watch as they descended, they looked Graceful, almost like a butterfly, just following the wind where ever it took them.

[LOCATION- HOME TREE MEAL]

You and Neytiri sat down for lunch, today was fruit and some meat on a stick. You almost felt guilty eating the meat as it was a Tapirus a cute animal you would see roaming around the village, but damn was it good, it tasted like a pig to you

As you and Neytiri were reviewing what you were learning you felt a tap on your shoulder, you looked to see that girl from before “Can I sit with you two?” her English was a little stiff but still understandable

“Yes, you may sit” Your Na’vi was also stiff and very basic, You moved to make more room for her “Thank you, dream walker” She smiled and sat to your left “I have a name, not Dreamwalker” She looked up “Yes, I too have a name, it's not ‘kid’ ” she looked forward and began to eat her food

You looked to Neytiri, who shrugged her shoulders, you went back to English so you could greet yourself properly “Well, what is it? My name Y/n, Y/n sully” She looked up before answering “My name is Sälau te Voik Erok’ite, it is nice to meet you!” she looked to you to see if she said the introduction right

You smiled down at her, “Well it's nice to meet you Sälau” She smiled back and continued eating. “So how did training with Tsu’tey go Sälau?” she stopped to think “It went fine, we worked on my shooting”, “oh so your training to be a hunter too huh, I bet that's fun”

She looked down, lowering her food a bit “Yes it is fun, but also, umm” she tried to find the word for it “Boring?” she perked up “Yes! Very boring, I’d want to weave more than hunt”, you looked intrigued “you like weaving huh?”

“Yes I like it very much, Grace even taught me the Earth way!” she held up her wrist to show you a bright green and purple woven bracelet “me and my friend having same bracelets, but he has an armband one”

When she said that she seemed to remember something and gasped “YOU NEVER PLAYED WITH US!” you looked at her confused, her yelling seemed to get Neytiris attention as well, “You said you would play with us but you never did! After we eat we play!” you looked to Neytir to see if she was fine with it, she nodded her head

“Sure kid, what do you want to play?” you took the last bite of your meat “I want to play an earth game!” she looked up at you with excitement “Hmm,” you thought “how about hid and seek” “no, I already know that one, I good at it anyway” she waved you off

‘hmm common Y/n! Think what games could you play you berated yourself, till an idea came to your mind, “How about hopscotch? Ever play that?”, she looked at you confused “hop-scoot?” she butcher the word a little bit “Yeah hopscotch, it's a fun game I used to play as a kid”

“Ok, we play hopscotch after lunch when you are done” You looked to see that you were practically done “Well it looks like we're just waiting on you kid” She looked to see she barely touched her food while you were done “What no way” and she started eating faster while practically scarfing it down like a wolf

*

You and Sälau went over to an open area, you grabbed a stick to make the hopscotch grid, then grabbed a small rock, and presented yourself to them

“Ok so, how you play is that you throw this rock into a box” you acted out the instruction, it landing on two “and you go through the entire course however many times the rock lands” You hooped through it, but your foot landed on the line near six

“But if you land on a line or your other foot touches the ground, your out, and the next person has to go” You looked to Neytiri and Sälau to see if they understood “You guys can read numbers right?” you didn't even think to make sure the knew

“We do, just a bit tricky” Neytiri answered, both she and Sälau were Graces' best students “Yes, I loved counting” Sälau shot her hand up, “I want to go first!” she ran to the course, grabbed the rock, and threw it, it landed on three

“Remember, dont let your other foot touch the ground and go through it three times” She nods her head and started to hop, she did well till she got to six on her second run. She leaned her body forward too much and fell over scraping her chin

“Haha, you ok kid?” she popped up “Yes I'm fine!” she grinned, dirt staining her face “But I lost” She looked down with a pout “its ok kid, you'll get it next time,” you looked to Neytiri, “so I guess that means it's your turn”

She looked at you with wide eyes “What? I never agreed to this” you smirked “Oh common, it'll be fun, you not about the wimp out on us now are ya?” you threw your arm around her shoulder, and Sälau pipped up “Yeah Neytiri, join us PLEASE” she grabbed her hand hanging off of it

were you two peer pressuring the chief's daughter, yes, yes you were. But you just wanted to have fun and you could tell she did too. She looked between the two of you, giving her your best puppy dog eyes. “Fine, I will play the sky baby game”, she bent down to grab the rock and threw it, it landed on eight, and you and Sälau high fived in victory, you had to show her how tho

Neytiri only got to five on her third try, and both you and Sälau sighed in her defeat “Is it your turn Y/n?” Sälau looked up at you “Hmm, I guess it is” You took the rock from Neytiri and it landed on 5 this time. You hopped over it, you almost had a slip-up, to which you could hear Sälau pray for your downfall

But sadly her prayers were answered as you fell on your ass, you only got to four rounds before you lost your balance and fell backward, Sälau laughed while pointing at you, and Neytiri held her hand up to hide her amusement. You got off and went to hand the rock to Sälau before you heard yelling in the distance

“Sälau, where were you? We've been looking for you. Why didn't you eat with us? Come it is time for chores” an older male Navi came up to you three and went straight to Sälau “Sorry papa, I was just playing with Neytiri and the dream walker” the man tutted at the girl

“Come, your mother was very saddened you didn't eat with us” he held out his hand for her to grab “Why do you like this dream walker so much?” she shrugged her shoulders with a sad face “I dont know, I think she interesting, and she plays with us, the other older kids just shoo us away” she was playing with her tail at his point as they both walked away, you looked in between the two, you concluded that it was the girl's father by hearing the na’vi word for father

“Why dont you say goodbye to dream walker for today and get started on your chores” You understood the word ‘bye’, you were sad to know she had to leave, you could tell that she didn't like that, but she turned around to face you “I have to go, Y/n, I will see you tomorrow” you looked down at her “yeah, no worries ill play with you tomorrow, maybe you can bring your friends over to play to” she popped her head up and nodded

She turned to her father and took his hand again and off they went, you looked to Neytiri “So, what else are we doing today”

[LOCATION- SITE 26]

Your pod opened, and you were met with darkness and distant snoring you could recognize as Jake. when you walked through to the main common area you could see Grace working “So how was today?” your head looked to her, as you sat down after you got some dinner “Well, I played a game with a village kid I’ve kinda befriended, and Neytiri showed me her banshee. And also some language lessons as usual.”

you “She still swatting at you?” you chuckled a bit “Yeah, my avatar has a small bruise on her thigh” Grace laughed a bit before telling you to do a vlog and get to bed

*

You woke up earlier than normal and saw that Jake was up as well. You walked over to him with confusion on your face

“The hell you doing up so early?” he seemed to flench at your voice “Umm, co-couldn't sleep well last night” he had a quiver to his voice “You alright man? Ya look pale” You leaned over his chair to look at his face, he couldn't look you in the eyes, instead directing them to the window

“Yeah I'm fine, had a nightmare i guess” You looked concerned at those words “About what?” he finally looked you in your eyes “About losing you again, I dont know, just want to know how your doing in the village if you know what i mean” you looked at him with sympathy “no yeah I get a whatcha mean man, you know what I’ll see if I can get you three to visit, that be cool right?” again his eyes went to the window

“Yeah that be nice”

You got up and went to make breakfast so you could make you get there as soon as possible, For some reason feeling more ambitious today.

Next // PT 6 Dear Diary

Previous // PT 4 New Kid in Town

Taglist // @msboucles

// Masterlist //

A/N // man this is short and kinda shit in my opinion lol i dont like this chapter except for the hopscotch scene but overall this is a filler chapter with some important seeds planted. I'm really excited to write the next chapter cause after that Y/n gets her Ikran

Oh also if you want to be added to a tag list let me know I can totally make that happen :D

[wind-becomes-lightning]

gentle hands

Thank you for waiting, @butter--peanut! you waited so long that the we met twice since you sent this! :D And I'm not sure how much you will like what I did but I hope it is alright <3 Also I am a dum dum and posted this accidentally while trying to save it as a draft and so I had to delete it again which is why the ask itself is gone. sorry!

Uchiha Obito / Hatake Kakashi

Hokage! Obito AU

Rated G

2201 words

Ao3 link [x]

for @obito-week: hokage & mission & duty

Obito takes care of a very exhausted Kakashi after he returns from a multi week mission.

Shizune left with what felt like a mountain of paperwork and Obito let his head fall onto the desk in front of him. It was another really late night, later than it reasonably should have been and he wondered not for the first time how Minato-sensei had handled all the workload with a child waiting for him at home when Obito could barely function and didn’t also have parental duties to fulfil.

It was godsent that Shizune was able to help out as much as she did and that she too was free to spend the evenings with her more or less exhausted boss in his office without complaining too much. If she hadn’t been around he probably would have never gotten any sleep anymore.

Not that Obito would have wanted to change really, he was still very happy to have been able to fulfil his dream of Hokage, especially with his student Naruto hot at his heels about the position, no matter how hard it could be from time to time. His former classmates were always ready to help him out and be supportive, especially and most importantly Kakashi of course.

As if he had heard Obito think about him, Kakashi appeared to smoke. Obito’s head shot up to see the other sway from side to side and then fall forward. Obito was quick enough to catch Kakashi before he could hit the ground, he seemed more exhausted than Obito felt, if that was even possible.

“You’re back!” Obito said helped Kakashi stand upright again. “Is everything alright with you?”

Kakashi still had his ANBU mask on, but Obito didn’t need to see the low eyelids hanging over his mismatched eyes to know he could barely keep them open. “Reporting in from my mission,” Kakashi murmured and then added a completely unnecessary, “..Sir.”

“Nonsense, “Obito said and grabbed him tighter. “We are going home. No more mission reporting for today.” He predicted Kakashi’s protest before the other man could make it and wrapped his arms around him to transport him to their apartment with kamui. He had not said goodnight to Shizune but surely she would have guessed that he had finally gone home if she’d returned to his office.

Kakashi’s head leaned against Obito’s shoulder and he almost lost balance when they materialised in the middle of their living room. Obito took the mask off and Kakashi’s eyes below them looked tired and empty. Something surely must have happened while he was on the mission.

With soft force he pushed Kakashi to sit down on the couch and then he slowly snapped open all the buckles on the ANBU vest to get it off of him. They had spent enough years together that Obito knew exactly how to open it and open it fast, so it was no problem that Kakashi was not complying.

There were some wounds, light cuts at the arms and some at Kakashi's neck and back. Obito went over them carefully trying to assess how deep and dangerous they might be. His healing jutsu was not especially good and he cursed himself that he hadn’t waited for Shizune to come back to his office to help him. Shizune could have taken care of these in no time.

Each movement Obito did over one of the cuts drew a groan of pain out of Kakashi’s mouth, but when Obito looked up his eyes were still half closed. He wasn’t sure if his partner was awake or sleep walking, but he was thankful that he had made his way home at least.

“Have you eaten?” Obito asked softly and helped Kakashi out of his sandals.

The other man groaned. That probably meant “no”, Obito concluded. 

He got up and took a bowl of miso soup out of their fridge and warmed it, always looking over his shoulder to make sure Kakashi wasn’t falling asleep. He needed to get his wounds cleaned, eat and take a shower before he could do that. Obito needed to keep him awake until then at least.

Both hadn’t seen each other for about a month at this point. While Obito didn’t like endangering Kakashi with long missions that would take him multiple weeks to finish, Kakashi always insisted on taking on everything that was potentially dangerous. This was probably one of his hang ups that he had retained from their childhood. Though Obito had found his way back, Kakashi had never truly forgiven himself for how Rin died.

Besides, Kakashi knew he was their best operative and that leaving missions to him, no matter how dangerous, meant that they would be perfectly taken care of. Obito knew that too, obviously, no matter how much he had denied it when he was younger. So now that Obito was in charge he had no option but to let Kakashi continue doing long missions like this, despite how his stomach hurt whenever he had to give them to Kakashi.

Obito walked back over and put the miso soup down in front of Kakashi who miraculously was still awake. “Eat,” Obito said softly and when Kakashi didn’t react he took the spoon himself, put one hand in Kakashi's long unkempt silver hair and offered him the soup on a spoon for him to eat. 

“You don’t have to…” Kakashi said, the red on his face giving away how embarrassed he was by the situation. But Obit knew no mercy when it came to making sure his boyfriend took care of himself. So he filled the spoon again and then offered it to Kakashi one more time. Kakashi, probably too tired to argue about it, just ate, mouth closing and opening like he was a machine.

When Obito put the spoon down the last time, Kakashi let his head fall onto his shoulder again. “I need to tell you what happened to finish my mission,” he murmured.

“What you need is sleep,” Obito repeated without missing a beat.

Kakashi nuzzled his head into Obito’s neck and it gave Obito heartburn how cute he looked even though he was so exhausted right now. 

“I don’t think I could relax if I haven’T reported my mission findings to the Hokage,” Kakashi murmured, “That is how you finish a mission after all, don’t you remember that was how they taught us in the academy?”

Obiuto sighed. Yes, that was how a mission was finished, that was what they had learned in their final academy year. But back then nobody had taken into account that the Hokage might be your partner and that the Hokage might be Obito, who was more than content to wait until the next day.

“Fine,” he said, knowing that Kakashi, always the one who strictly wanted to adhere to the rules, would never give in. “Report to your Hokage.”

Kakashi’s eyes opened as if Obito had someone activated a seal inside of him that let him function normally. “Lord Fifth,” he said, “The operation you sent me out to do has been finished successfully.”

Obito raised a brow: “So you eliminated the entire cult?”

“Everyone,” Kakashi said. “I even tracked down the founder who was in hiding. This is the reason I took a week longer than I should have, I also want to apologise for that.”

“Oh shut up”, Obito knocked his head against Kakashi. “So is the danger over?”

Kakashi looked at him. “For now Konoha is definitely safe, there won’t be any more raids on the rice farmers at the border. Suna has expressed thank you for the help because their wind farmers were also affected. And of course,” he grabbed his jacket and took a scroll out, “I have the formula for the resurrection jutsu they tried to use.”

Obito wondered if it was the same one Minato-sensei had received from Orochimaru’s experiments, but he wasn’t going to check it today. He nodded and put the scroll into his own bag, then he looked forward: “Good work, Hound. You are dismissed.”

“Thank you, sir,” Kakashi said and then slumped forward instantly. Obito held him up again, grabbing tightly around the other man’s shoulders.

He had never been in the ANBU himself and he wasn’t close enough to Tenzo-kun to know if this behaviour was normal for an ANBU operative, that they could not relax until they felt like they had successfully finished their mission, but Kakashi definitely was like that. Now that he seemed satisfied with having given his report his whole body seemed like it had lost a big weight.

“Don’t sleep,” Obito said, “You need to wash yourself first.” Kakashi’s eyelids fluttered but he could barely open them. Luckily Obito was a little bulkier and just a little taller than Kakashi so he pushed him up onto his feet again and with very little help from the man himself brought him to the bathroom.

Obito knew he couldn’t just fill the tub and leave Kakashi alone in it, because he couldn’t trust that Kakashi wouldn’t just fall asleep and sink below the surface. So after he had undressed the other man, he undressed himself too. Now naked Obito could see even more bruises on Kakashi’s body and he made a mental note to summon Kakashi tomorrow so he could hear more details about the past mission. 

Kakashi flinched when Obito turned on the shower head over him. “Stay still,” Obito ordered and Kakashi put his head on Obito’s shoulder again. “You should be more careful next time, you know.” Obito made sure to clean out any wound he could find. His healing jutsu might not be good enough to take care of any of these today, but he could at least make sure they wouldn’t get infected to be worse before Shizune or Sakura would have the opportunity to look at them. “You really don’t have to do these long term missions alone or… at all.”

“Hmm,” Kakashi managed to say, which was probably his way of trying to protest without actually having the strength to really do it. Obito ignored it just like he would have ignored it if i had said his usual “I am good at it and you know it too”, retort that Obito had heard too many times. 

The bathtub beeped to indicate that they could now enter if they wanted, but Kakashi was breathing so deeply on Obito’s shoulder that he worried that the other man had already fallen asleep right there, even with water running down all over his head. It was therefore better, he decided, that Kakashi would get to bed as soon as possible. Obito could still take a bath once his partner had slipped away.

“You will have to hold yourself up for a moment so I can get a towel,” Obito said softly and Kakashi opened his eyes just far enough so he could maybe see Obito as a shape in front of him. Still, he leaned back against the wall behind him and let Obito get up to find something so they could both be dried up.

Kakashi would have to sleep naked, Obito decided, not only because he didn’t think that he could force the man into new clothing, but also because he was convinced that the moment Obito had pulled him into the bedroom he would just pass out and not wake up for the next three days. Obito would just make sure the blanket around Kakashi was tight and kept him warm and then worry about clothing in the morning when he himself had had some sleep.

He strung an arm around Kakashi again and this time the other man got up himself. Obito slowly walked him out the bathroom and to the bedroom. Their shared apartment was not very big though as Hokage Obito had been offered better lodgings he had been attached to this place, the very first one Kakashi and he had shared, and declined moving. This seemed like a good choice now because even the usual five steps to the bedroom seemed very long with a heavy man that basically needed to be dragged.

“How did you even make it home in this state, you idiot,” Obito said with a shake of his head when he finally let Kakashi down onto the soft bed sheets. “You can barely even lift a finger.”

Kakashi let him turn him over so he could get the blanket beneath him and watched though low lidded eyes how Obito packed him in to keep him warm. 

“Because I wanted to see you,” Kakashi whispered.

Obito hadn’t expected him to say anything and only half listened, so he turned his head: “What?”

“I needed to get back home, because I wanted to see you,” Kakashi repeated.

“Oh,” Obito felt the blush on his cheeks instantly. “Don’t- don’t get sappy now and sleep, idiot.” But he still leaned forward to give Kakashi a kiss on his wet forehead.

When he stood up straight again he saw that Kakashi was already fast asleep, a peaceful smile on his face. “You’re so stupid, saying things like that,” Obito murmured and sat down next to the bed, his head in his arms so he could keep his eyes on Kakashi’s face.

[jvstheworld]

The Buffy Re-Watch: Season 1 character analysis

Buffy:

The girl smashing the cliché of blondes dying in horror. She's our hero. A 16 year old girl who wants to be normal but has a duty to save the world. At the beginning she is reluctant to be the slayer, and why wouldn't she be? She lost her first watcher, burned down her school's gym, got kicked out of said school, lost friends, parents divorced and had to move towns because so few schools would take her. In one year since she got called to be a slayer her life has drastically changed and not really for the better. So it's understandable that she wouldn't want to return to that. But as soon as she saw Willow, a new potential friend in trouble, she goes into slayer mode. As soon as she accepts her duty, she does it to the best of her abilities. But she also wants normality in her life. If her life was just school and slaying it would probably make her miserable. Cheerleading, dating, school dances are a part of her ideal normal life as a teenager, it's something she needs to stop herself from feeling more like an outcast than she already is. The best episode to illustrate that is 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind' because back in LA she was in Cordelia's position, but in Sunnydale she is seeing it from the other side. She is also disconnected from her friends and new life, because none of this is what she wanted. She still holds on tot he hope that she can be normal.

However, that is sort of destroyed in 'Prophecy Girl'. Overhearing that she is going to die breaks her. She laughs at the absurdity of it and then we see how she truly feels. She is pissed off. At 16 she is told she will die because someone hundreds of years ago foresaw it, so now it must happen. She doesn't want to, of course she doesn't. She wants to live and be normal, but apparently that's over for her now. Despite all of her anger and pain she still goes to face The Master. After talking to Willow, seeing her fear and devastation of losing people she knew, Buffy had to go. she didn't see another choice. Thought things are never that simple. What really stings for Buffy is that is she had stayed away, if she never confronted the Master, she wouldn't have died. the shock and realisation only comes to her moments before she dies, and The Master being the one to tell her makes it all the worse. It is fortunate that Angel ad Xander came to find her when they did, to bring her back and help her kick ass.

Buffy is a loyal, caring, compassionate person. She is a good slayer, especially after only finding out a year before and past tragedies in her life. She will do anything to protect her friends and anyone who needs help. She doesn't get everything right and makes mistakes, but her willingness to try, the support of her friends, and Giles' guidance helps her and makes up for areas where she is lacking. Her relationship with her mum is a positive one, which is something I personally like to see. She has her fears like everyone else, which males her more 3 dimensional, because she isn't some infallible superhero. Her real life problems and fears keeps her grounded and believable, because a character without those is fake and unrelatable to the audience.

As with my post about Angel, I still need to see a real reason as to why she likes him. If you're going to make a romance happen ten give me reasons to want them together besides them both being attractive. That's all I'm saying.

[f1]

Red Bull discovered habits Ricciardo picked up from other cars limitations | 2023 Australian Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo has made some telling changes to his driving style during the four years he spent away from Red Bull, according to team principal Christian Horner. The eight-times grand prix winner has returned to the team he raced for between 2014 and 2018. Ricciardo spent two years at Renault (now Alpine) and two more at McLaren in the interim. His McLaren spell ended in disappointment, as the team cut short his contract by a year due to poor performance. Ricciardo subsequently agreed to return to Red Bull in a test and reserve driver role and has already returned to work in their simulator. The Australian driver is attending his country’s round of the world championship with the team. “It’s great to have him back in blue,” said Horner in today’s FIA press conference at the track. “This is the first grand prix he is attending this year,” Horner continued. “He’s really throwing himself into it, sitting in all the briefings. He’s been working hard in the simulator as well in the UK, doing some race support and some development work on that.” Following the tough circumstances of his departure from McLaren, Horner believes Ricciardo is “getting his mojo back” but said his enthusiasm for the sport has taken a knock. “He lights up a room when he walks in,” said Horner. “His popularity in Formula 1 – even though he’s not driving, he’s still probably the most popular driver here. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free “For us, it’s just positive to have him in the team, contributing to the team, to the drivers, to the engineering team. Hopefully he’ll rediscover his love for the sport.” Sabbatical or retirement? Ricciardo returns to F1 paddock – and questions over his future Red Bull intend for Ricciardo to “do a bit of testing for us later in the year” in the RB19. “We’ll see how that goes for him. But I think it’s a different experience. “It must be very tough for him not being a race driver this weekend but he’s thrown himself in and embracing this new role.” Ricciardo found himself unable to match the performance of team mate Lando Norris during his time at McLaren. Horner said it was clear Ricciardo had tried to adapt his driving to the different cars he had experienced since leaving Red Bull. “When he first turned up after Abu Dhabi – I think the problem is when you drive a car that obviously has its limitation you adapt and you try and adjust to extract the maximum out of that car. And it was clear when he came back that he picked up some habits that we didn’t recognise as the Daniel that had left us two or three years earlier. “But having had time off over Christmas and so on and a chance to reset when he’s come back and got into the 2023 work, he’s hit the ground running.” Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free Ricciardo “likes the feel of the car in the virtual world which seems to correlate well with what we’re seeing in the actual world,” Horner added. “He’s desperate to get a run in the car at some point to validate that. But we’re certainly seeing him getting back to being far more reminiscent of the Daniel that we knew.” While Ricciardo shares reserve duties with two Red Bull junior drivers, Horner believes he’s “about 10 minutes away from being ready” to step in should the team need a replacement for Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez. “He’s in good shape. He’s kept himself fit and well.” Horner jokingly told McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown “we’ve had to feed him up a bit – I don’t know what you guys did to him, but he came back looking a bit skinny. “But he’s looking healthier now. And I think he’s training hard and he’s ready to go, given the chance.” via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

[ivan-o-vich]

"My journey as an amateur photographer"

My journey as an amateur photographer

Hi im vich I just want to tell you how my journey starts as an amateur photographer. During the pandemic (2020) i've always played online games because I cannot go outside since there are viruses spreading across the country. One day my sister bought a camera (dslr) but i do not know how to use one since i'm not very familiar with it. I ask my sister if I can borrow the camera from her, then I explain that I would like to gain some experiences from using this dslr. After that my sister considered my reasons and she lent it to me with no hesitation.

I tried capturing my first shot pointing at my dog and here's the result. 

(Date captured July 21 2020)

I'm so happy that it turned out pretty well, since then I always take photos every time. Tomorrow that day my sister went to shopping along with her friends and she seems not bringing the camera with her and i've come to realize that even now i still do not know how dslr camera works, I only have six hours so i prepared my table, my pen, my notes, and the camera and then I started researching and studying the true essence of a camera from manual to auto, buttons and settings, angles and taking raw pics, body and lenses, and blending the customized settings.

After studying a little bit I tried immediately taking photos of my pets and realized that I've improved a little by using the dslr camera and my knowledge about it.

(Date captured December 18, 2020)

 Later that day my sister got home and took the camera because she's going to a birthday party celebration.

One year later (2021) after not holding or using the dslr camera. I've always thought that if I'm still able to capture some great shots even though one year has passed I'll ask my sister for her permission to borrow her camera and she lent it to me as always. This is my first time taking pictures outdoors so I've prepared my things and am going to a nearby campus. I'm truly mesmerized by using the dslr outdoors because I can take pictures of great sceneries and here's one of the shots i've taken on a campus.

(Date captured October 11, 2021)

Since then I added photography as one of my hobbies changing my algorithms in social media and becoming aware of other native and foreign photographers. Watching some great works of other photographers has become a habit of mine since I can take some ideas from them and apply it to my own style of photography.

Another year has passed (2022) I got a call from our neighbor who wants to recruit me for some kind of travel/networking job and I accepted it. I packed my things and then again I asked my sister if i can borrow and bring along her camera since the camera always piled up and she does not know how to use it properly and i've always wanted to give meaning to that camera from using it and she always agrees. 

When I was at my job I focused on studying the camera since I have plenty of time using it. Months have passed working on my job. We got a call from our support that our next location is some far away city and I'm so excited that I packed my stuff and will be ready for the trip. The next location assigned to us needs a ship transportation so we booked and waited for the ship to come. While we waiting i capture some scenery across the port 

(Date captured May 23, 2022)

And then our ship came. While on the ship some people approached me and asked if i'm a photographer and i replied "yes, an amateur one". After we arrive at our destination we rest for our duty tomorrow. 

We travel and do our job and I've met a lot of people and also a native photographers. They teach me some basics of all kinds of photography and I'm really grateful for that. Sadly I've got no pictures with them but anyways I'm glad I met them. Almost two weeks have passed and we got a call from our support that our job here is done so we can go back to our main staff house and get some days off. But before we came to say goodbye i've taken at least one picture and off to go. 

(Date captured June 3, 2022)

January 2023 is a new year with some great resolutions of mine im participating in contest and note to myself that I can improve my progress little by little and right now I'm still an amateur photographer with 2 years experience of photography and with that I found my interest doing nature photography, animal photography, landscape and portrait photography. Hope that one day I am able to meet some photographers and become a professional photographer and can't wait to tell my parents.

Some link that might help you if you're starting photography

This photographer inspires me to take my own photos.

https://instagram.com/kevertai?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.tiktok.com/@iamjeanblack?_t=8Zaigt6XusM&_r=1

Here's a guide on how to use a dslr camera.

Here's the camera that i used and the complete guide of it.

The lens for the camera that i used.

Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED VR DX AF-S

You can also find some ideas in this link

digitalcameraworld

[raiiryuu]

Been needing to add this to this blog for a while, so I'm gonna try to get the Big Points ready to go so it's at least visible since I've fully switched to calling it 'canon divergent.' Some key points of difference or my view regarding events under the cut, more to be added later!

Laxus and Makarov: Laxus isn't particularly close with any of his remaining blood relatives, for various reasons. He still uses the same name for Makarov as he did as a child mostly out of habit, and usually only when speaking to him directly. There is still a bit of animosity about Ivan's separation from the guild, but it's something that's sort of been marked as an 'agree to disagree' at this point -- there's no saving things now, and arguing further is energy wasted.

Laxus vs Raven Tail in the GMG: This was always kinda strange to me, going back to it after the fact. It makes sense for Ivan to resurface after the Tenrou team did, as he knew no one else knew about Lumen Histoire, but it makes NO sense how he did it, to me. I've been trying to think of a way to make that work, because I do still want Ivan and Laxus to have that conversation. For now, it stays as is, but this is subject to change. I may later have Ivan contacting Laxus separately from the Games to discuss Lumen Histoire and get him doubting. Makarov and Mavis not going into detail on what exactly LH is doesn't help his wariness at all, though as in the manga he doesn't press the issue.

That being said, he doesn't hate Makarov or Ivan. Does he think they both have done things they shouldn't/could have handled things better? Of course. He feels the same way about a lot of the things he's done himself. Is he going to turn his back on his family because of it? Absolutely not. He doesn't have much, if any, contact with Ivan at present, and doesn't necessarily have the highest opinion of him, but things could be far worse. Like with Makarov, he's kinda content to leave things as they are for now. He's got plenty of people to support him that he considers family just the same as his flesh and blood.

The Dragon Issue: the Eclipse Gate shenanigans after the GMG should not have happened the way they did. You spent an entire series hyping up dragon slayer magic to be able to slay dragons, only for it to not matter in the moment? Nah. They were at the very least holding their own, but the gate being closed still got rid of the dragons for good.

Though the Bane/Magic Barrier particles in Laxus's body have been cleared up thanks to the fight with Wahl, the damage they did is still very present, and causes painful episodes and difficulty breathing. The frequency and severity can vary day to day, but it's something he's (grudgingly) working with Porlyusica to treat over time. Sometimes it makes him feel like he's a sickly little kid again, though he'll never bring it up.

During the year timeskip, I'm taking the events of the Raigo Issen spinoff as mostly canon. The Raijinshuu join Blue Pegasus and Laxus very quickly gets fed up by the typical work there, but there are jobs available that are more along the lines of what he's used to. It's during this time that he learns the Red Lightning magic he uses against Wahl Icht. Having it just randomly surface as homage to his great-grandfather always felt a little odd to me, but he had plenty of time to do some research on it prior to this fight.

Laxus carried Makarov to the guild mostly out of a sense of duty, at first, but the longer he had to process he was dead, the worse it felt. He still hasn't sorted his feelings on this out completely, especially with Makarov's return soon after.

Now that I've reread it, the ending. You bet your ass every single one of those dragon slayers got their fair blows in on Acno before he went down.

Regarding dragonification: we never did get clarification on the second-gen slayers' status on this, did we...? As far as this blog is concerned it is still a risk, but one he's keeping quiet about. [The dragon AU I have is about it specifically happening at the point it does, not it happening in general.]

More TBA

[digitalmarketingph]

SEO: Wikipedia Writing and Publication

SEOs and Digital Marketers know that getting a Wikipedia page and backlink is a very juicy digital achievement. The link juice is the primary aim for it, plus the kind of branding/online presence it establishes as well.

WRITING

It's not so easy to get published on Wikipedia. The approving Wiki editors are very strict. Aside from grammar, the content has to be unbiased. It won't get published if it sounds like PR content. Here's an example between PR sounding and objective/unbiased:

PR - "The BlahBlah Company is the best digital agency founded in 2018 by John BlahBlah, a multi-awarded SEO guru with over 2M followers on social media."

Objective / Unbiased - "The BlahBlah Company is a digital agency founded by John BlahBlah in 2018."

Avoid superlatives and other statements that don't have supporting published written articles/links from credible sites (like famous news sites, organizations, etc) for such claims.

CITATIONS

Now that you know the difference between sentence formulations, next would be backup links/resources to support your statement/s.

Like I said, every statement to be written must have a supporting backlink. The screenshot below shows that there are "citation links" as to why such statements were written and approved by Wiki editor/s.

When you go down to the bottom of every Wikipedia article, there's a list of citation links to show proof that the statements in the article are correct/valid.

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE / CMS

Formatting the content such as bold, italic, hyperlinking, and so on is different compared to your standard HTML. There would be a bit of a learning curve for this but they have a guide for formatting. You are allowed to preview your work before submitting/publishing it in their CMS.

THE SANDWICH METHOD

To seem like I was an objective/unbiased contributor in Wiki, I had to mask myself virtually. I didn't sign up using my work email (e.g. jane@blahblahcompany.com) and I used my home/mobile hotspot Internet connection (IP address). Then, the content needed to have a bit of dirt on the article's subject to really be unbiased, but tried to make it short and light.

The sandwich method is writing a paragraph that doesn't shade the subject in the intro and latter parts of the whole article and putting the shade in the middle. That is if such dirt content exists. Adding this truly gives you an objective / unbiased rapport as a Wiki contributor.

MY SAMPLE WORK

I used to work for a famous Southeast Asian E-commerce company back in 2013-2015. Back then, the Lazada Wiki article was published but needed to be updated/edited. Since leaving the company, it underwent many changes so the Wiki article has also gone through many changes too. It used to be separated into different countries (Lazada Philippines, Lazada Malaysia, Lazada Indonesia, etc) but the Wiki editors might have decided to consolidate everything into one link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazada

But the localized version still exists which I wrote: https://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazada_Philippines

It's the exact content of my English version (but now was changed and merged into the currently existing article version). When you check "View History" of a Wiki article, you get to see when it went a change and who made the change.

When you see the very bottom/start of the editing history, that's me with the username "TheSentenceFormulator"

By now, I've forgotten the login details for it since it was just a secondary task for my SEO duties back then. We were busy with ongoing On-Page optimizations and Off-Page optimizations (a growing e-commerce company meant a growing number of category, product, promo, and sale web pages).

When your boss or client wants a juicy backlink like Wikipedia, share this article to them so they know that they need to start investing in having their company being published/recognized elsewhere first.

[chrysolipsist]

Pre-Milkshake Ducking

It's probably better if you find out someone is a shithead before you expose their personality to the rest of the world. I was thinking that there is basically 0% chance anyone will ever pay any attention to anything that I post, should some post I make become viral and people try to guess at my identity and what-not and scrutinize the content of my posts to try to figure out if I am some sort of *-ist, how would the conversation be like with the public?

public: Are you a racist, sexist, homophobe, transphobe, or in other ways bigoted?

me: No.

public: Have you ever abused another person or animal?

me: Absolutely not!

public: Are you fair in your dealings with others? With people over whom you have power?

me: Yes, I do my best.

public: Oh yeah, how about unions? Do you support them? Are you in one?

me: I, uh, am not in one but I support them.

public: yeah, you support them up until you have to make a personal sacrifice, right? Would you be willing to walk off the job if your colleagues needed it? Refuse to do your duties? Even if it meant you'd lose pay?

me: I, um, don't know, that's a very hard question to answer but I'd like to think that I would do the right thing and stand in solidarity with my fellows.

public: Oh, "solidarity" is it? I guess you stand in solidarity with the globalist backers who control those unions, don't you? And want to make sure you get held down with all the other lazy-asses who don't want to hustle a little and make more. You stand up for them because you're lazy, aren't you? You're one of the lazy rats dragging down those better than them, like that analogy about the crabs in the bucket, also let me work in that other one about a frog not noticing that they're boiling if you turn the heat up slow. (((They))) control you, don't you? Admit it!

me: How do you even begin to answer this shit, is my question.

public (100%): Okay let's do this differently. We're adding a rating. Let's change the subject and start with less consequential questions to get at how you are as a human being. How do you hang your toilet paper? Over or under?

me: Over.

public (75%): Okay. What's your opinion about astrology?

me: I don't believe in it myself but I think it's a mostly harmless and fun thing. I mean how many decisions do we make that are purely arbitrary anyway?

public: (68%): Are you more of a dog person or a cat person? No fence-sitting. You have to pick one.

me: I like both, but since you're forcing me, I would have to say cat person because they're less demanding animals.

public: (55%): Let's go back to astrology. Remember when you posted that (ahem) "funny" image but you put "Astronomy" instead of "Astrology"? How stupid are you?

me: Look, I didn't even notice it. It was a stupid mistake. I posted a correct version later.

public: (42%): Oh sure but nobody saw that or cared about it. Look at you, you lamebrain loser. You don't know the difference between astronomy and astrology.

me: Look, it was a stupid mistake like I said. Listen, I'm so hard-wired to not confuse it the other way, like look how stupid you look if you mix it up the other way and say astrology when you mean astronomy? Like, "how's your astrologer brother who runs a planetarium doing these days" is way more embarrassing don't you think?

public (21%): That's what you call COPE, lol, COPE HARDER BITCH

me: Don't use your twenties neologisms on me, I don't know what you're saying.

public (13%): This piece of shit is OLD. He remembers when 9/11 happened, he probably can tell you exactly what he was doing that day and everything. He was alive when the USSR was still around. That's right, he's older than Crystal Pepsi. His balls are probably saggy and he probably smells like piss.

me: None of these statements are wholly untrue.

public (4%): Okay, well that's the end of the process and you are left with a final score of 4%. That's right, your approval rating is 4% of the mainstream of normal people, but since this is the Internet there is a vast number of people who do like you although they're not connected to you but guess what! You don't particularly like them! Ah but that's the whole "principle of maximum irony" thing going on isn't it, maybe you'll post about that sometime, if you haven't already done so! Who knows, someone may even read it!

[thatsonemorbidcorvid]

“I’d still argue that at the end of the day, a mother making time to live a life outside her children is to their benefit as well. Self-sacrifice is necessary to be a parent, but martyrdom is not. We all know people who grew up with a mum who wouldn’t allow herself to have fun, who never had hobbies, or friendships, or seemed to do much outside the house besides work. By making your connections external to your family another one of your priorities, you are modeling the importance of community, social networks, and self identity. You are also showing your daughters that they have many choices available for how to live their life, whether they one day become a parent or not.”

If I'm being honest, being a mother was not something I put at the top of my bucket list in my twenties. While I still don't regretting child-free at 38, it’s not easy to witness almost all of your peers start a family. Even when you're happy that they’re happy — and I am — there is a bittersweetness to it, because you know that you will be seeing them less and less, or not at all.

There is a lot of debate on TikTok right about who is at fault when friendship fades as one person becomes a parent and the other doesn’t. One user, @__barbarah, went viral after Julia Fox responded to one of her videos in which she says: “I've seen a lot of women post: ‘You want to know who your real friends are? Have a baby’," she says. “I'm not a mother, but I don't know what it looks like on the other side. But I am a friend – and you guys change after having a baby. You make us feel like we're no longer relatable… so it's not just one-sided.”

Julia Fox responded by saying it's not their friends that are no longer relatable, but the woman who's just had the baby – because she’s completely overwhelmed caring for her son. And she’s a rich celebrity.

If we can step back and look at it somewhat objectively, it seems like both parties kind of want the same thing: community. They just see the issue completely differently. Mothers want support. Childless people want to remain included in their friend’s lives.

But who is the onus on to maintain the ties that would fulfill everybody’s wants?

Obviously, I have my biases, but before getting to them, I genuinely think that when friends have kids, a period of relaxed standards of reciprocity is necessary; compromise and patience are key. I know how overwhelming it is to keep myself alive, so adding another life to the mix must feel at times like drowning on dry land. It is a childless friend’s duty, in my opinion, to show up and help out, to shoulder the responsibility of making plans that can accommodate the needs of a new parent, and to not take it personally if you don’t hear from them as much for a while.

The issue arises when that grace period ends, because many parents think it never should. It is common to hear parents say, “My kid is my first priority” as a reason for why they no longer reach out, ask questions about their friend’s lives, or take a couple hours off by hiring a babysitter to go to birthdays or big events that don’t center around children. Well, if we were in a monster movie running from a giant insect or something, that would be relevant. Pick up your baby and leave me behind! However, we live in the real world, where caring about someone more than anyone else should not preclude you from taking an interest in the other people who have loved you and supported you throughout your life. Sending a friend a “how are you” text every few months will not take food out of your kid’s mouth.

Since I’ve seen so many of my friends go through this withdrawal from society, I realise some of it is inevitable and even the most well-intentioned person may not have the energy for anything except getting through the day once they have a baby.

You know, fair enough. We can only do what we can do. I’d still argue that at the end of the day, a mother making time to live a life outside her children is to their benefit as well. Self-sacrifice is necessary to be a parent, but martyrdom is not. We all know people who grew up with a mum who wouldn’t allow herself to have fun, who never had hobbies, or friendships, or seemed to do much outside the house besides work. By making your connections external to your family another one of your priorities, you are modeling the importance of community, social networks, and self identity. You are also showing your daughters that they have many choices available for how to live their life, whether they one day become a parent or not.

I know there can be a lot of resentment from mums who feel overworked and underappreciated towards their friends they see out at the club on Insta Stories. To those of you who are boiling over, remember that not everyone who doesn’t have a kid doesn’t want one. Assuming a childless woman is shallow, immature, or doesn’t understand real adulthood is an insult in so many ways, but especially because it may not even be up to her.

In my experience, mums seem to think I’m in a state of arrested development and they’ve moved up to a form of life I’ll never understand. What they don’t get is that I’m also living a life they can’t understand, one that requires walking a far less well-worn road and doing it on my own. I’d be happy to tell them about it if they’d remember to ask. But if I have to have a baby to be seen and regarded as a worthwhile person to spend time with again, that seems very unfair to the baby.

As a childless person, I will always advocate for things that will improve the material life of parents – affordable childcare, better maternity and paternity leave, funding for schools and community centres – because it does matter to me that children are raised to thrive even if I never have one of my own.

I also want my gals pals to have that support so we can get a coffee once in a while. Still, if a friend with a kid doesn’t occasionally extend the invitation my way, I’d rather get coffee on my own. Relationships, like a plant, require tending. Even the most low effort, undemanding cactus of a friendship needs a little water, or it dies.