#journal number tree

[journal-number-tree]

HELLO INTERNET! I finally got this thing working. I am Dipper Pines. I have been stuck in an alternate reality with another version of me who is also not from here.

Here's a picture of us!

He claims his name is Dipshit. Seems fake but I'll call him that for now.

I'm going to use this as a record of our time stuck here. Hopefully that'll be sooner rather than later.

I also opened the weird inbox thingy so feel free to send in... email? Not sure what you guys can send but send it!

This is Dipper Pines, signing off

[thinkinonsense]

Touchཐིཋྀ

origins!logan howlett x fem!reader x black widow!natasha romanoff

cw: mdni!! oral (f+f), strap-on sex, fingering, squirting, doggy style, p in v, angst, some fluff, angsttt, dom!nat & dom!logan x sub!reader

masterlist

after a life of running and living in fear of an impending doom, you and logan had finally managed to build a peaceful life together. deep in the woods sat a wooden cabin where the two of you spent most of your days.

during the week, logan worked down at the lumberyard while you taught ballet to a group of young girls downtown. your boyfriend didn't know much of your past, just that you were tested on and abused back in russia. he never pressured you to talk about the past, his wasn't any better either.

buried in the back of your closet hid a box of belongings from russia. there weren't many things you valued from that time there but you did manage to take some photos of the girls you were friends with, a few journal, and an old pager given to you by someone you no longer knew. her face was everywhere but she never bothered to reach out again after escaping the red room.

"i'll see you later, honey." logan whispered as he kissed your cheek then left the bedroom.

half asleep still, you mumble a goodbye before your head hit the pillow again for the next couple of hours. you didn't have a class today but instead planned on going to town and getting groceries for the week.

it's a little after one when you finally jump in the shower, listing all the things you needed to buy and what you wanted to make for dinner. while picking out an outfit, you hear a faint vibration. logan kept your toys under the bed so, you knew that wasn't where the noise was coming from.

it could be?

inside the box, you can see the familiar number flash. hesitantly, you walk over to the phone and dial. pacing back and forth on the wooden floor, waiting for an answer.

"эй, принцесса."

hey, princess

you knew that voice like the back of your hand but you still couldn't believe it.

"natalia." your accent came out thick and heavy. she should've expected you to be upset still.

it's been everywhere. the news of the sokovia accords and the freeing of the winter soldier. you were keeping up with the news but not too closely. it was irritating watching natasha get to play super hero with the likes of iron man and captain america when you knew the truth.

"can we talk? i need a favor." she sounded desperate.

"i don't think that's a good idea." you sigh, unable to come up with a good excuse.

"c'mon, for old times sake?"

you hesitate. of course you missed her, how could you not? despite the red room being the worst time of your life, natalia was the daylight that kept you going.

"you don't even know where i am."

"look out your kitchen window."

pulling back the curtain, there she stood on your porch. long red hair just like you remembered, a small suite case next to her and a pair of black sunglasses covering her eyes. you hang up the phone and grab a kitchen knife from the counter; moving closer to the door.

"how did you find me?" you squint, feeling somewhere between anger and impressed.

"an old friend owed me a favor." she shrugs. "i didn't picture you as a living among the trees type of girl. you know, it quite dangerous to live alone in the woods."

"i can take care of myself" you remind her before adding, "and i don't live alone."

natasha's face falls a little. if you didn't know her as well as you did, you never would've been able to tell. she had a million questions but wasn't sure if she wanted the answers.

"what was the favor you needed?" you ask, trying to change the subject.

"i need a place to lay low for a bit."

was it horrible that you had to remind yourself that you are with logan now? now you love logan more than anything but you would be lying if you said natasha didn't hold a special place in your heart still.

"no games, nat." you put on your best poker face, knowing she could see right through you.

"even though i do miss playing with you," her lips linger closely to yours. sharing the same air. "i promise, no games."

"good. there's a guest room inside."

the two of you enter the house again and you show her the extra room. it's not very decorated, simply and neat. natasha didn't mind, she was just thankful you hadn't tried to fight her once you saw her again.

"so, who's the lucky lady that managed to tie you down?" nat chuckles to herself as she unpacks her things.

"his name is logan." you answer nervously.

why were you nervous? you didn't owe her anything, especially after the way she left you.

natasha felt the knife in her chest twist at the news. not only had you moved on but you were sickly in love. maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

a car door slams shut, snapping both of you back into reality.

"i'll be back. there's towels under the sink if you want to take a shower." you linger in the door way, waiting for her to turn and catch a glimpse of you before you leave.

"thanks, принцесса."

she doesn't even look up at you.

⭒˚‧ ︵‿⭒ཐིཋྀ ཐིཋྀ⭒‿︵ ‧˚⭒

logan could smell trouble miles away. the blood soaked in her jacket. the faint smell of her sweat and your cherry perfume. he assumed you were in trouble, maybe someone broke in or lured you out of the house to attack you. within seconds, he was back in his truck to check up on you.

"hey, honey." you smile, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss.

"hey... are you... are you alright?" he struggled to get out in between kisses.

"mhm, i was thinking we could go for a drive." you were talking too fast, trying to distract him from whatever was inside.

"what's going on, sweetheart?" one of his brows arched, waiting for the truth.

both of you climb into the truck but logan never starts the car. instead he listens to the rapid beating of your heart.

"there's something—someone, from my past that's inside. she needed a place to lay low for a little bit."

logan could tell by your lack of eye contact that there was something you were still hiding something about this friend of yours.

"I won't be upset." he saying lovingly, reaching for your hand.

"when i was in the red room, i worked closely with a woman that i also was in a relationship with at the time."

logan wasn't sure why you were nervous to tell him this? he knew you liked women as well and he wasn't threatened by it. sure, is it a bit odd that your ex was coming here to hide out? defintely but logan of all people should know what it's like to be in need of somewhere to hide out.

"it was more than just physical. she meant a lot to me until..." you debated on telling him more but still on the fence.

"until?" he tests the waters.

"dreykov sent me to budapest. she never looked for me." on the verge of tears, you bite down on your tongue. "it killed me because not only did she leave me but she abandoned all the other girls that were stuck in the red room."

logan pulls you into his chest, stroking your hair gently, letting you know that it's okay to cry. your brain didn't get the memo because nothing came out.

"you don't have to let her stay here if it's too much for you." he reminds you.

"i know. i'm just not sure if i can handle her leaving again."

"must've really loved her, huh, princess?"

you nod softly into his chest.

"i don't mind if she stays but if you don't want her too, that's fine too." he says. "just want you to be happy."

in times like these, it hits you just how lucky you are to be with someone like logan. someone so understanding and loving. he knew the pain you went through all those years ago and how deep the connection with the woman inside must be. you can't survive that level of abuse without something keeping you going. for you, that something was natasha.

⭒˚‧ ︵‿⭒ཐིཋྀ ཐིཋྀ⭒‿︵ ‧˚⭒

inside the house, natasha watched you and logan out in the car. slightly intimidated by your boyfriends stature and entirely jealous of his arms wrapped around you. she had to remind herself that you were practically a stranger to her now. so much has changed over the years and neither of you were the same girls from the red room anymore.

when she saw the two of you exiting the car, she rushed back into the guest room. in the tiny hallway, she noticed the picture frames on the wall. there's a photo of a group of young ballerinas and yourself. natasha wonders if that's how you keep yourself connected to your past life.

next to your picture is your boyfriend -whatever his name was- and some of his friends outside of a fancy looking school. natasha tried to pay little attention to it on her way back to the room.

ten minutes pass before there's a soft knock on the door.

"come in." natasha calls out, turning off the television.

from behind the door, you appear with a plate and a glass in your hands. the smile on her lips, drops the moment she sees him at your tail.

"thought you might be hungry." you explain, handing her the sandwich you made for her

"isn't that sweet of you to think of me," she teases, watching the way your cheeks flush with color at her words.

logan leans against the door frame while you sit on the bed with natasha. he watched as you completely bewitched the red headed woman in front of you. she was practically hanging onto every word you said. he couldn't blame her though, you have the same effect on him.

"you must be 'lucky logan' ?"natasha cocks her head at the man behind you.

"guess so." he smirks, admiring the doe eyes you give him.

"hm, and you're okay with me staying here?" she asks.

"that's not up to me." logan shrugs.

natasha's green eyes shift over to your face, waiting for you to say something.

"i want you here, nat." you admit.

her heart flutters in her chest. she knew she didn't deserve a second chance and would leave if you asked her too but god, was she grateful that you still wanted her to be here.

"i don't deserve you, принцесса." she says softly, finding it hard to mask her feelings anymore.

"shhh..." you tell her. "just get some rest."

natasha actually listens to you, finishing her sandwich and crawling under the soft comforter. you reach for the empty plate and she stops you before you could walk away; placing a soft kiss on the inside of your palm. the tiny gasp that left your mouth didn't sneak past either of them in the room. once she let you go, you and logan exit the room and go into your own shared bedroom.

logan watched you pace back and forth, wiping her kiss mark off on your blue jeans. it pulled at his heart strings to see you so torn by natasha's presence. tears fall down your face like rain.

"don't cry, sweetheart." logan says, wrapping his arms around you.

"i'm s-sorry, lo..." you apologize, upset at yourself for still harvesting these feelings towards natasha.

"for what?" he asks, lifting up your chin to look at him.

"i love you so much." you blurt out, too afraid to say what you really wanted to.

"i know. i love you too." he smiles, bending down to give you a quick kiss then adding, "and i know you love her too."

"it's not–"

"it's okay." he assures you. "i'm not upset."

"you aren't?" you question, prepared for him to storm out and want nothing to do with you ever again.

"no."

without thinking, you completely collapse into his arms, so thankful for the man in front of you.

"i don't deserve you, logan." you whisper, kissing him gently.

"don't say that." he says sternly. "i'm just trying to give you everything you want in life."

⭒˚‧ ︵‿⭒ཐིཋྀ ཐིཋྀ⭒‿︵ ‧˚⭒

hours later, natasha woke up. she could smell faint tobacco from somewhere in the house. it was enough to get her out of bed to see where it was coming from. in the living room, she found logan on the couch watching a western and smoking a cigar with his boots up on the coffee table. he didn't have to turn around to know that nat was there.

"she went to the grocery store to get something for dinner." he says nonchalantly answering the question in your head.

natasha hummed in response, keeping a distance from logan in case he decides to do something rash like fight her.

"you can sit down, you know?" he chuckles, blowing the smoke from his mouth. "i'm not gonna attack you or anything."

"i wouldn't blame you if you did." she remarks, picking the single chair in the living room to sit down at.

"the only way i would do that is if you decide to hurt her again." he states frankly, eyes glued to the television screen.

"i suppose that's fair; but i don't plan on it."

"good. she's practically a damn saint."

natasha smiles a little at his words.

"yeah, she is." she says. “i wish i hadn’t left her the way that i did but there wasn’t much choice in the matter.”

“why did you leave her there?”

“dreykov found out about us. he threatened to have her sold off somewhere to someone who would probably kill her or worse.” natasha’s voice was tiny for once. painfully reminding her of the past she tried to burry. “thought i made it easier by leaving. she doesn’t know it but i did try to go back for her. twice actually. once by myself and another time with my friend, clint. the first time, she didn’t recognize me. the second time, he ordered her to kill me. barely made it out alive."

logan remembered how after a couple of months dating, you opened up about your memory issues. constantly feeling like you were missing a piece of the puzzle that was your life from all the experiments. it’s one of the things that helped you two connect with each other.

“i’ve seen her kill with her bare hands. seen her tied to tables with needles injected into her until she was blue in the face and spitting up blood. she was one of his favorite’s. used to wake up to her screaming from the nightmares.”

“she still gets them sometimes.” logan mutters.

nastasha nods, wiping a tear away quickly.

“do you think she will ever forgive me?”

“i think so.”

“do you think i deserve it?”

“probably not,” he said honestly with a shrug. “but that’s not up to me.”

natasha appreciated his candor at least.

“she’s back.” logan said before she could even hear the car approaching.

logan got up to help you bring in the bags. once both of you are inside, you spot nat sitting in the living room awake.

"hey, whatcha doin’ awake already?” you ask.

"i haven’t been awake long.” she answers, getting up and joining you in the kitchen.

“i’m making pasta, hope that’s alright with you?”

“of course. want some help?”

you instruct her to boil the noodles while you prepare the sauce. the two of you stand close next to each other as nat watches over your shoulder.

"have you heard from yelena lately?" you ask, making small talk.

"no." nat's voice came out a whisper. "have you?"

"mhm." you hum, stirring the sauce. "she called a month ago, asked what i knew about these red vitals she was given."

"vitals?"

"yeah, i told her my memory isn't as good as it used to be."

natasha reaches over and lightly touches your ponytail, twirling the ends around her fingers to help ease you. that’s how she used to calm you down as teenagers, by playing with your hair. deep down you knew you shouldn’t look at her, not this close anyways. nat could smell your cherry perfume, over powering her senses. her plump lips tempted you, sending an ache down to your lower region. she watches you intensely, waiting for you to make a move and wanting you more than ever.

unbeknownst to either of you, logan knew what was going on. he could smell the need forming in your underwear, could practically hear natasha’s dirty thoughts about you. most boyfriends would feel threatened by this but logan was different. he worshipped the ground you walked on and he always valued your happiness. why would he deny you of the love you deserved?

"i-i'm gonna go grab some wine from the cellar." you stutter, leaving her there alone.

nat nods, walking back into the living room to breathe.

"you can kiss her, if she wants you too." logan says aloud, tapping off the end of his cigar on the ashtray next to him.

"you aren't just saying that so then you would have an excuse to try and kill me, are you?" she squints.

"she won't make the first move. too afraid that she'll hurt me." he replied, ignoring natasha's comment.

"you wouldn't care?" she questions.

"no."

"what if i wanted to do more than kiss her?"

"its up to her."

logan watches natasha's eyes cloud with lust at the thought. how could he fault her? you were the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen in all 200+ years of his life. plus he would be lying in he said that he wouldn't find it hot to see you and natasha going at it.

"hey, is red okay?" you ask, holding a bottle up as you rounded the corner.

both logan and nat looked at you with these hungry looking eyes like you were their prey. logan's nostrils flare a little at the sweet scent.

"r-reds fine." nat stutters, her throat was dry at the thought of being back in between your thighs.

"cool, i'll get the glasses."

as you turn to leave, logan calls after you, "can you bring me a beer, sweetheart?"

"of course" you nod, obediently.

when you return, the three of you sit and watch the western playing for a few minutes until logan huffs loudly, sick of this tension and neither of you two doing anything about it.

"are you two gonna kiss 'n make up already, or what?" logan teases.

natasha and you find each others blown out gaze. both of you needed this. needing closure.

"fuck it." natasha mumbles to herself, getting up and coming over to you.

the redhead straddles you on the couch, caressing your jaw in her delicate palm. you nod your head, letting her know that you wanted this as much as she did. from her first taste of you, she knew it would be impossible to pull away.

⭒˚‧ ︵‿⭒ཐིཋྀ ཐིཋྀ⭒‿︵ ‧˚⭒

nat chases your plump kiss bitten red lips, backing you up until your legs hit the edge of the bed. your hands are up her shirt and under her bra, squeezing the soft flesh of her tits. rubbing your thumb over the blooming bud and listening to her pretty moans against your lips. she lays you down and strips herself of her clothes. you rush to do the same, wiggling out of your jeans.

behind nat, you see logan walk in with his beer in his hand and take a seat across from you in the corner. knowing that he's watching sent shivers down your spine. it wasn't until natasha grabbed your chin and squished your cheeks together that you realized you had been staring at logan.

"it's not his turn, it's mine." she taunts.

you nod your head and babble out an apology. she removes her grip on you only to lay down in between your thighs. a sight that you missed dearly.

"natty, please don't tease." you whine, arching at the soft kisses she trails inside of your thighs and hip bones, avoiding where you needed her most.

she smiles at the fact that your already shaking with anticipation. surprisingly, she looks over at logan.

"keep her legs spread for me, would ya'?" she asks.

he nods, already hard in his blue jeans. logan joins you two on the bed, sitting behind you and letting you rest comfortable against his chest. he places your legs over his to keep you open for natasha. she groans, sucking a dark plum bruise on your hipbone. meanwhile, logan's leaving similar marks on your neck and along your shoulder.

"please." you whine, wiggling your hips in her face. both natasha and logan can smell your arousal in the air. it's intoxicating.

"patients, baby." she scolds before licking a fat stripe over your clothed cunt.

"w-wanna feel you nat."

without hesitation, natasha tears the lacy material from your body and spreads you open. it's been years since she had last seen you in this position. she needs a moment to capture your angelic imagine.

"there's my girl." nat says, talking to your cunt. completely ignoring you and logan like you two aren't even in the room.

"isn't she a fuckin sight?" logan finally speaks up.

right as you open your mouth to beg her to do something, anything, she leaning in again to lick from your entrance up to your button.

"missed this pussy, принцесса..." nat says sloppily into your folds. "so wet for me."

"uh-uh." you moan, throwing your head back.

logan turns your chin to capture your lips, letting you moan freely into his mouth while his hands come up to massage your tits. fingers pinching and rolling the stiff buds in his palms.

natasha spends a while making out with your cunt; taking her time to savor the honey that pours from inside of you. she pulls back for a second to spit on your mound, letting it drip down before inserting her middle and ring finger. hers weren't nearly as thick as logan's but they are longer and still feel perfect in their own way. she watches how you and logan move together while she pumps in and out of you. for once, she didn't feel jealous of logan for having you. instead it made her heart swell to know that someone else loves you just as much as she does.

despite all the pleasure you felt, selfishly you wanted more. your right hand moves to intertwine itself into nat's red locks, pulling her head back to where you needed her most. her tongue swirled circles over your swollen bud, teasing it playfully. her fingers move faster inside of you as she grinds her clothed cunt against the mattress, moaning against your folds.

"ya' feel good, sweetheart?" logan asks, placing a soft kiss on your hairline.

"sooo good, lo." you purr, gazing up at him with doe eyes.

his low chuckle makes you clench down had on natasha's fingers. all that can be heard in the room are low moans and wet squelching noises. nat kitten licks your button until you reach your first high of the night.

too caught in euphoria to control your legs wrapping around her neck, squeezing her head with your thighs. your loud moans were barely audible to her at this moment. the red head could die happily right here, right now.

carefully, she pulls off of you.

"you did so good for me, принцесса." she praises, stroking your thighs.

as soon as natasha sits up, you reach out and kiss her, tasting yourself on her plump maroon lips. she melts into the kiss making it easy for you to flip her over on her back. logan gets up again, unbuckling his belt as he watches the two of you grind on each other in messy, uncoordinated movements.

"wish you could fuck me like old times, nat." you mumble, kissing her chest and leaving little love bites behind.

"i-i could..." she hesitates.

already ahead of her, logan's rummaging through her backpack and hold up a familiar contraption.

"lookin' for this, red?" he smirks, tossing the strap-on onto the bed next to her.

the last time nat wanted either of you two think is that she just dropped by to fuck you and leave but what can she say? she's prepared for anything.

"is this alright with you, pretty girl?" she asks you in between lightly nibbling on your pulse point while you grind your cunt against the soft skin of her abs.

natasha pulls back to look at you. her hand cradles your jaw, waiting for your answer.

"i need it natty." you nod. "need you inside of me."

those words make her blue eyes turn a stormy dark grey. in a rush, she puts it on and lets you line yourself up to the silicone. despite all the time apart, the two of you fell back into a seamless rhythm together. one of her hands rests on your hip, helping you move up and down while the other paws at your chest, rolling the stiff bud.

"uh-fuck." you whine, throwing your head back when she angles her hips up with a sharp snap.

"that's the spot, huh?" she smirks, watching your pretty face scrunch up as you try and focus.

weakly, you nod your head and babble something incoherent to both hers and logan's ears. it's not the same feeling that logan gives you obviously but the way natasha's fucking up into you makes you feel just as good.

logan makes his way over to you, palming his boxer covered cock as he leans down to make out with you. willingly, giving in as his tongue explores your mouth messily with a hand in your hair. natasha uses this to her advantage, bringing her thumb up to your clit and circle it slowly in contrast to the jolts of her hips hitting yours. logan swallows every little moan that spills from your plump lips.

" 'm so close, natty." you whimper, tears in your waterline as logan's sucks on your pulse point.

"is that so, baby?" she mocks with a light roll of her hips.

"d-don't stop, please." you beg, bouncing faster to chase your high.

natasha and logan were both wishing that they could feel you clenching around them instead of the silicone.

logan's big rough hands help you bounce in rhythm as soon as he sees your movements slow down.

"c'mon, princess." logan groans in your ear. "we wanna see you fall apart for us."

"cum for us, sweet girl." natasha purrs, sitting up to suck on your tit and picking up speed with her thumb.

that's all it takes for you to release on top of nat, hips shaking violently while you leaked all over her lap. eyes screwed shut, stars coming into vision as you try to calm yourself down again. it just felt so good to feel the contrasts between her and logan when they fuck you.

carefully, logan picks you up off of natasha's strap. she takes it off and throws it aside, watching logan help you recover.

"don't ya' think natasha deserves something too for how good she's made you feel, princess?" logan asks you.

"mhm." you nod, crawling in between her legs. "wanna thank you properly, natty."

natasha thinks she might cum just from looking at your big doe eyes in between her thighs. you play flat on your stomach, kissing the plush soft skin. her hips wiggle impatiently in your face. the sweet smell of her arousal reminded you of all the other intimate moments the two of you have shared. within seconds, you're ripping off her lacy black panties and tossing them somewhere to the side of the bed.

"so fuckin' pretty 'n so wet." you mumble to yourself as you pull her fold apart, watching her slick drip from her entrance. "is this all for me?"

"o-only for you, baby." she says with a shaky breath.

you lean forward licking a strip from her entrance to her button. your hands wrap under her thighs and pull her tight against your face, letting her use you however she wanted. natasha grinds down on your tongue, moaning when your nose occasionally bumping her clit. she taste sweeter than any other times you've buried your tongue inside of her.

"love how good your tongue feels, baby." she moans, brushing your hair out of your face.

mind fully focused on nat that you don't even register logan shifting around behind you, running his tip up and down your pussy. lightly slapping your clit before thrusting inside of you. his cock stretches you deliciously, making you moan against natasha's cunt. her fingers pulls a bit at your hair from the vibrations. it's always a struggle to get him to fit inside of you.

"tightest pussy in the fuckin' world, i swear." he mumbles to himself, watching you swallow him whole.

logan's thrusts start to increase as he paws at the flesh of your ass. his tip kisses your cervix repeatedly, making it hard for you to keep your mouth around nat. your forehead pressed against her thigh while you try to concentrate, licking your fingers and inserting them into natasha's tight warm cunt.

"fuck!" nat moans, clenching around your two fingers as they reach that spongey spot deep inside of her. "faster, принцесса. wanna cum for you."

her dirty words sent you into a frenzy. using all of your strength left to make her gush. the noises were so lewd it made your head spin. her back arches and soft moans fall from her lips as she tugs on your hair. like a faucet, she's leaking all over your hand, your face, and down on yours and logan's shared sheets.

behind you, logan is too busy trying not to cum inside of you too soon. he's gripping your hips so hard you know that there will be bruising left behind. every now and then you can hear him grunting and smack the fat of your ass, watching as it bounces back at him. the pleasure builds in your tummy. logan's hand snakes under you to rub at your clit.

"f-faster, lo." you whimper, lifting your mouth off of natasha for a second.

"i gotcha, princess." he groans, doing so.

within seconds, you release all over him. the string of moans vibrate against nat's core, overstimulating her until she cums again, soaking your face entirely. logan doesn't last much longer either. he paints your walls white and keeps you stuffed with his cum, only pulling out when it starts to sting a little.

the three of you are quiet for a moment, needing time to recover. who would've thought that two russia assassins and a mutant would need time to recover from anything, let alone sex.

logan's the first to move, going to bring towels and some water. you rest your head on natasha's stomach, she runs her nails against your scalp the same way she would when you woke up from nightmares. a tear rolls down your cheek, thinking about her running away again.

"what's wrong, принцесса?" she whispers, hearing you soft cry.

"just dreading you leaving again." you mutter, afraid to look up at her.

"hey, i'll be here as long as you want me here." she says, lifting your chin up.

"tasha, someone needs to save those girls. dreykov won't stop until someone comes after him."

there's a long pause of silence before she says anything again. her eyes glued to the ceiling, trying not to cry.

"you know, i used to picture a simple life for the two of us. something similar to this actually, minus the grumpy looking man in the kitchen. i wanted to give you a piece of normalcy but i kept running away, afraid i was the one putting you in harms way." she sighs shakily. "i shouldn't have ran. i should've come back. there's so much i couldn't give you but i see that logan can do that for you."

"look, i love logan more than anything but why can't we make it work too?" your question makes both natasha and logan pause, as he returns into the bedroom.

natasha looks up at logan, ready for him to finally yell and kick her out. especially now that she's coming between the two of you. instead he's looking over at you with a spark of love in his gaze.

"i don't think logan would appreciate sharing you full time." she says, avoiding your wide eyed stare.

"i just want my girl to be happy." he responds, lighting another cigar. "think she would be happier with both of us, red."

the time has never been right for you and natasha but who says it needs to be? she's finally back in your life again and you can't risk letting her go again.

"we will help you track down yelena and fight with you to free those girls from the redroom but i want you here with us, natty. please don't go again."

she finally looks down at you and her heart melts. how would she be able to leave you again? not after today. this is where her heart lied, here with you.

"of course, i'll stay принцесса."

[transfaguette]

so interesting to me the ppl that treat hbombs plagiarism video like a content cop style takedown of people they don’t like, especially with the illuminautii segment. but like, its more akin to investigative journalism. I feel like its missing the forest for the trees. Fillip, iiluminautii, the internet historian, are just examples of plagiarists, what plagiarism on youtube looks like, the financial and personal motives behind it, etc. There are so many people who do what iilluminautii does its not even funny, any number of channels he could have talked about. The real point of the video is James, whose plagiarism of queer writers was so extensive it NEEDED to be talked about, and it NEEDED all the evidence to leave no room for rebuttal. He wasn’t just finding skeletons in the closet of someone he didn’t like, he was attempting to educate, to right James’ wrongs, to have a real, tangible impact on the people he stole from.

[xoxochb]

⋆·˚ ༘ * kiss it better?

warnings: intense ass kissing pairing: percy jackson x fem! reader a/n: I thought of this idea in the middle of the night if it’s stupid I’m sorry 😕

out of all the times you’d chew gum you’ve never been so idiotic that you’ve bitten your lip. think about it: you’re chewing gum in your mouth but you bite your lip? you’ve got absolutely no clue how it happened but before you knew it your lip was pooling crimson liquid. you throw your book to the side and touch your lip, pulling your finger back to see the blood, you pout

“that’s a real shiner you got there” a familiar voice says. percy jackson. aka your number one least favorite human being

you met him when he arrived at camp, almost instantly a rivalry started. a continuous need to be better than the other. what you hated most was how percy wouldn’t leave you alone. you’re trying to sit in silence? you want alone time? you want to complete a simple task? you want to sleep? nope, too bad. because percy jackson prevented you from doing anything

your siblings said it’s because he liked you, just too afraid to show it so he disguised it with hate and tormenting. you, however, did not agree with this. you didn’t think percy felt anything for you besides loathing and absolute hatred. yet a part of you couldn’t help but think maybe your siblings had been right. when you think about it, why else would percy spend all this time with you?

“what’re you doing here?” you snap

he shrugs. “bored”

you squint your eyes at him as he sits beside you, leaning back against the tree. “well go be bored somewhere else”

“I think I’m gonna stay here, it’s comfortable”

“then I’m leaving. I need to clean my lip anyways” you begin to stand up but percy grabs your wrist, pulling you back down

“what the hell are you doing?”

percy places one hand on your cheek and runs his thumb over the bite, red staining his finger. your face flushes the same color at the close proximity. for a moment you give into his touch, just a second. but realization takes over and you pull back, slapping his hand

“don’t touch me, weirdo”

you try to get up a second time, pulled down yet again but this time percy’s lips connect with yours. you might have wanted to stay like that, might. but you pull back

“what do you think you’re doing?”

percy’s eyes land on your cut lip. “I’m going to kiss it better”

“what!? since when is it okay for you to kiss a girl without permission?”

“since I know the girl secretly likes me”

you gasp. “I do not!”

“try telling that to your journal”

“oh my gods, you creep! why were you reading my journal?”

“I didn’t read it! your sister told me!”

“that little-”

percy places his lips back on yours. this time you give in to it. you so wish you didn’t like this. and you so wish you didn’t love percy jackson. but most of all you so wish he’ll never pull away. between the excruciating pain radiating from your cut and percy’s cold hands under your shirt you think you might die. your head lightens, the only thing you can see with closed eyelids are bright stars. could you be ascending to elysium?

his lips trail down your neck, you’re hands curl into his camp shirt, taking a fistful you pull roughly, percy laughs. “if you want my shirt off so bad you can ask”

“I don’t-” your cut off by percy’s teeth softly digging into your skin. you let out a sound mixed between a gasp and a moan, and he connects your lips back again with a smirk

you take this chance to take his bottom lip between your teeth, biting down until you taste the familiar sensation of blood

“now we’re matching”

[voidofthevoidmv]

TAKING SHIFTS- A classic Stanley Pines adopts the shapeshifter AU-> Little info dump

Basic gist of it is that post portal accident, Stanley is trying his damndest to get his brother back by fixing the portal- Which logically requires that Stanley get all the journals so that he actually has a full blueprint to look at.

However, in his search for any of the journals, he discovers some kind of top secret tree bunker- Classic Ford antics. He investigates the bunker, only to find some kind of kid monster, who is under the impression that Stan is his own brother and tries to kill him. The only thing that convinces the creature that Stan is NOT Ford, is the fact that Stan has a mullet and his brother does not. Would you be surprised to discover that the mullet would play a deeper role in things than at first glance? Not me, but I think it’s very funny anyways.

The monster kid is revealed to be some kind of alien shapeshifter thing, and upon realizing that Stanley is some kind of Ford doppleganger, the shapeshifter suddenly becomes the most clingy kid ever, following Stan around throughout the bunker like a lost duckling. Stanley tries to be chill about it, but the memories of being attacked are still pretty fresh in his brain.

After a bit the two will leave the bunker, yadda yadda yadda dialogue, and Stanley will be concerned to find that this kid hasn’t had the best upbringing in the world so far- If the limited English and big eyed staring at the sky was anything to go by. While Stan has half a mind to leave this monster kid to the wild, he apparently has these weird issues with abandonment. Something about seeing himself in the little monster kid. So he takes him back to the shack, helping the shapeshifter pick a name that isn’t a weird number. They eventually land on Simon, which is a play on Simon Says, because of course any name idea Stanley has it just HAS to be a pun.

And of course, taking in this shapeshifter will trigger changes to the timeline that will affect how things will go from here on out. A lot of wholesome, father kid bonding and found family stuff.

Other unmentioned information and idea snippets:

-The journals are found much sooner than in canon, which means Ford is brought back sooner than in canon. Journal 2 is found first, due to the fact that Stanley has Simon (Shifty) enrolled in elementary school, which just so happens to be were one of the journals are hidden. Simon finds it and recognizes it- And Stan is so proud. Meanwhile, later on journal 3 is found by Soos in a situation similar to canon, but like- Soosified.

-Stanley is constantly wracked with guilt as time goes on, because he will hear about of make a realization about the poor treatment of Simon by Ford and his assistant in the past- All while Stanley is still actively working to bring him back. Simon doesn’t know that it’s FORD that Stan is trying to bring back, which will only result in some betrayal later on when Ford inevitably returns.

-Simon, Tate, and Soos act almost as siblings, due to circumstances that bring them together at different points in time. Tate is Simon’s best friend, a friendship which had blossomed when Emma-May showed up to the Pines cabin door, demanding that she see her ex husband and that she has some WORDS to say to the homewrecking scientist who ruined everything. Stanley had never been more confused about anything- But while Stanley is trying his best to save the situation, Tate and Simon hit it off quickly despite the broken language barrier. Meanwhile, Soos come in later when both Simon and Stan are a bit older. Stan and Soos’s relationship is similar to how it played out in canon, but Simon gets really jealous. May or may not try to kill Soos because of it- But it’s ok cuz once Soos’s natural charm infects Simon, the big brother little brother dynamic is born.

-Simon practically idolizes Stan, and makes it a point to have his human form reflect that. He has a mullet, and it reminds him that Stan is Stan- Even after Stan cuts the mullet off so he could be a bit more business appropriate. Simon also has little freckles cuz he saw the little baby Boyish Dan and just immediately was like- Oh I want those too-

-The shapeshifter will also have his own little book of “forms” he could take. He has photos and information of various creatures, things, and people- I want you to envision how this book looks and is treated like a Pokémon card collection binder. The shapeshifter may get into photography. By the time the little twins Dipper and Mable show up, it’s not the journals that they find- But Simon’s shifting scrapbook. Which is how they find themselves getting involved in the spooky stuff in the first place.

-Because of Simon and Fords earlier arrival, the younger Pines twins adventures in Gravity Falls are a tad bit tweaked. Simon is a very powerful shapeshifter who is plenty protective of his little niblings- The Mcguckets are somewhat healthy with the whole divorced situation, and Bill is not an issue alongside Gideon… Everything else is free game though. Pretty silly.

- The way that Fiddleford is introduced to the duo is that at some point, Stan gets his memories of Simon wiped causing severe emotional distress- And it’s lowkey kinda heartbreaking. (The blind eye sees Simon shifting in front of Stan and assumes the worst.) Once Stan gets his memories back, it’s the beginning of a warpath. (And also the end of Fiddlefords crazy cultist arc- Which is good for Tate who really likes hanging around his bestie.)

-Hijinks WILL ensue, especially after Ford comes back. Probably some other tidbits I’m missing, but that’s a problem for another day- If this interest you folks anyways- Lemmy know if this is interesting or anything and feel free to ask questions. I haven’t thought so much as to how Bill gets defeated earlier and everything- But if anyone has any cool ideas I’d be open to it. Unsure if I’ll ever get to writing this one 😂

[red-doll-face]

Teasing Arthur isn’t that hard to do.

Low - High Honor Arthur Morgan x fem. Reader hcs :

:High Honor Arthur Morgan:

Accidentally teasing Arthur is quite easy to do. Being sweet and nice to him sometimes has the opposite effect with him. He might feel like you just pity him like you do Swanson or something. He thinks you’re a sweet girl and it’s in your nature to be kind.

It’s when you sort of accidentally stumble into him and he has to grab your hips to steady you and he’s red up to his ears talking about ‘excuse me miss’.

The second you make eye contact with him, looking up. Soft eyes and apples of your cheeks looking so plush, he can’t handle it and rushes off.

He thinks about that encounter for like… weeks.

Then you accidentally touch his hand while getting coffee in the morning light. He has never seen a girl so beautiful, can't find the words to say, just looking at your face and your hair carefully braided away for the night. His awkward fumbling makes him shrink away.

You smile at him and it's like he's frozen until Grimshaw nudges him out of the way.

The journal entries about you are so lovey dovey.

He's literally writing about all of these things, thinking what it would be like if you liked him. Everytime you catch him writing in his journal, he snaps it shut and asks what you need help with.

Arthur is just a bit too mean to himself when he writes about how you probably think he's too ugly. Trying to put some sense into himself doesn't seem to work; all of it knocks out when you greet him after a long day out. He’s back to imagining the both of you finding somewhere secluded to talk, away from camp where he can maybe kiss you behind a tree.

Grown ass man and his fantasies are this innocent. 🥹

God forbid you tease him with something more tangible. He brings you an item you've been asking all the more adventurous people to go and get for you and he's the only one who's agreed so far.

The kiss on the cheek you give him for completing the task makes him ask you if you need anything everyday for 2 weeks straight.

:Low Honor Arthur Morgan:

Completely the opposite. All of the girls treat him like crap because he's such an asshole all of the time. He's used to being sneered at by Karen and getting wary looks from Tilly and Mary-Beth.

If you're still sweet to him after all of his grumbling, his heavy handed flirting, and the copious warnings you get from all of the girls, anything you do is just luring him in, thinking you're doing it on purpose, whether it's true or not.

You're the only one of the girls who's brave enough to give him his laundry. The girls look on like you've just approached a bear.

At first he thinks you're playing some game with him but when you are consistent, he transitions into nods and tipping of his hat. Then he’s trying to corner you, hoping to hear you talk more, maybe give him a peek down the neckline of the more modest dress you wear.

Grimaces when Grimshaw smacks him on the back of the head for bothering you and distracting you from your chores.

When he works all day, doing back to back chores, forgetting to eat and you bring him a bowl of stew, he may not show it but he's already mentally referring to you as his woman.

You're used to hearing his spurs click somewhere near you when you greet him. He spends more time with you than anyone else, a drawled out pet name has you smiling just a bit.

Now he can't keep his eyes off of you, drawing you in his journal, trying to picture you posing nude for him. You say his name and he's half hard; you could be doing any number of innocent activities and he has some detail to focus on that drags his mind to the gutter.

His fantasies are so much more explicit from the get go. He's zero to a hundred, imagining you in his bed, ogling you when you bend over, torturing himself by thinking about what it would sound like if you moaned his name while he was balls deep in you. He might feel some shame but mostly he just likes thinking of you too much.

If you kiss him on the cheek after he saves you from nearly being knocked over by a runaway horse, he’s actually gonna turn his head so you have to kiss him on his lips. He only regrets you pulled away, bashfully gasping up at him before he could push it even more.

It’s actually so nice to get back into writing again 🥺 especially writing for Arthur bc I didn’t when the game came out 😭

[probablyasocialecologist]

The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s had a cascading effect that benefited the entire ecosystem, a new study finds. The finding shows how the return or loss of apex predators can affect every part of the food web. By the 1920s, gray wolves (Canis lupus) were no longer present in Yellowstone National Park and cougar (Puma concolor) populations were very low, as a result of government initiatives to control large predator populations. Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis) thrived without these predators, which in turn decimated some plant populations. The loss of some trees and shrubs then threatened beaver populations. This sequence of events is known as a trophic cascade — when the actions of top predators indirectly affect other species further down the food web, ultimately affecting the entire ecosystem.

[...]

The new study, published Jan. 14 in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation, used 20 years' worth of data, collected from 2001 to 2020, regarding willow shrubs (Salix) along streams in Yellowstone. The researchers looked at willow crown volume — the total space occupied by a shrubs' branches, stems and leaves. Measuring crown volume enabled the researchers to calculate the shrubs' overall biomass: the amount of organic material available at the plant level of the food web, and the energy that will be passed on through the food web when animals eat these plants. "Yellowstone's northern range is the perfect natural laboratory for studying these changes. It is one of the few places in the world where we can observe what happens when an apex predator guild, including wolves and cougars, is restored after a long absence," study first author William Ripple, an ecologist at Oregon State University, told Live Science in an email. "The lessons we learn here can apply to other ecosystems globally." The analysis found a 1,500% increase in willow crown volume along streams over the study period, demonstrating a major recovery of these shrubs. The study links this significant willow shrub recovery to a reduction in elk browsing, probably influenced by the return of predators to the region, which enabled willows to grow back in some areas. "One of the most striking results was just how strong the trophic cascade has been," Ripple said. "A 1,500% increase in willow crown volume is a big number. It is one of the strongest trophic cascade effects reported in the scientific literature."

25 February 2025

[heliotropepajamas-books]

Fanbinding: Searching Ceremonies Series by KouriArashi

Binds #26-30

The Searching Ceremonies by KouriArashi ( @gingersnapwolves )

Date Completed: 06/08/2025

Size: 5 Folios.  589,985 words.

There are several series on my to-bind list and I had no idea how to approach a project like that.  So in my time-honored tradition I just decided to dive in and see what happened along the way.  The Searching Ceremonies were a nice middle ground in the number of stories/volumes so it became my guinea pig.

I ended up with five flatback volumes bound with mystery Amazon bookcloth, some scrapbook paper I’ve had in my stash for about 15 years, and shiny blue HTV from the Dollar Tree, and I’m pleased as punch with the results.

Typesetting was the most challenging part of the process but also the most visually uninteresting.  I went with a very no-frills look with Times New Roman as the body text and Bodoni for the titles and headers.  If you ever try something like this in a word processor like LibreOffice Writer I would recommend getting all your settings exactly right with the first story, then save a copy and use that to copy/paste the second story in for volume two.  At that point it should just need a few tweaks to get both typesets looking alike.  Do not decide in the middle of formatting the fourth story that you actually don’t like the border you put around the titles and chapter headings, and then have to go back and remove them and fix the spacing on four books.  Ask me how I found this out…

(The borders weren’t too bad, but they gave the whole thing a 1950s academic journal vibe, which wasn’t the look I was going for.)

[padawan-snack-packer]

[Giving friendship bracelets, Jedi Edition]

✨Note: This is just for fun, pure chaos, and maximum love for all our Jedi faves! These headcanons are soft, silly, and based on vibes, not strict canon—consider this an intergalactic arts-and-crafts hour where feelings are allowed and glitter is the sixth form of lightsaber combat. 💫 Please imagine these with love and an alarming number of beads!

🌈 OBI-WAN KENOBI You present it to him like, “Master Kenobi, I made you something.” He smiles politely. “How thoughtful.” He opens it and freezes. It’s pale blue, copper, and gold—very tasteful—and the beads spell “KENOBI-WAN KENOBI.” He exhales slowly. “You… added the hyphen.” You nod, very proud. He stares at it for a full minute and finally says, “Well, I suppose that’s—charming.” Wears it under his glove. Touches it when he’s stressed. If anyone asks, he just goes: “It was… a diplomatic gift.”

🌈 ANAKIN SKYWALKER He is SO SUSPICIOUS. “Is it cursed? Does it track me? Is it laced with humility??” You just hand him a black, gold, and red bracelet that says “ANNIE” with a heart. He short-circuits. “Who told you that nickname??” You shrug. “The Force.” He’s flustered, loudly says he’ll never wear it… But Obi-Wan later catches him putting it on in the mirror and whispering: “Annie’s got style.” Starts making bracelets back. They’re terrible. They say “BADASS” and “HOT JEDI.”

🌈 AHSOKA TANO She cries. Fully. No warning. “Wait—this is for me??” You hand her a bracelet that’s orange, white, and blue, and has little star and leaf charms. It says “SNIPS 💫” in glitter letters. She gasps, tackles you into a hug, and immediately makes you three bracelets back. Later: “I made one for Rex too. And one for R7. And one for that cool loth-cat I saw once.”

🌈 PLO KOON “Padawan. This is a… delight.” You made him one in burnt orange and cream, with a bead that looks like his goggles. It says “SPACE DAD.” He holds it very delicately like it’s an ancient artifact. He will not wear it—he suspends it from the dash of his starfighter like an air freshener. Every youngling in the Temple wants to make him one now. He has a whole tree of bracelets hanging from his quarters.

🌈 YODA You were scared to give it to him, but did it anyway. It’s forest green and says “LIL GUY 🐸.” He takes it. Stares. Nods solemnly. “Great power this holds. Mm.” You’re not sure if he understood or if he’s just trolling. He’s wearing it in full public view the next day like it’s a medal. Younglings follow him like he’s a friendship bracelet deity now.

🌈 MACE WINDU You expected to get Force yeeted. You made him one in purple and black with bold blocky letters: “BAD MF.” He looks at it. Then looks at you. Then puts it in his pocket and goes: “No one sees this.” A week later you catch him meditating with it wrapped around his saber hilt. If you say anything, he will deny it to his grave.

🌈 BARRISS OFFEE You give her a calming indigo and silver one with a tiny crystal bead and “BALANCE” spelled in runes. She nods respectfully. “I will meditate with this.” You later find her in the library just holding it. Has deep thoughts about friendship. Also probably journals about you like “this being is unironically healing.”

🌈 LUMINARA UNDULI You give her one with earthy greens and a bead shaped like a tree. It says “SPACE MOM.” She chuckles. “You’re incorrigible.” Wears it tucked neatly into her robes, only letting it peek out when she’s with other Jedi who also got one. Forms a secret Jedi Bracelet Society. Initiation requires a craft night.

🌈 KIT FISTO “COOL!!” You hand it over—sea green, black, with lil sparkly beads that say “BIG SMILE ENERGY.” He fist bumps you, then immediately makes you a necklace of shells. Everyone’s like “Kit, is that regulation?” Kit: “Regulation of good vibes, young one.” Doesn’t take it off even during battles. Claims it makes his lightsaber stronger (??)

🌈 SHAAK TI You approach carefully, unsure if this elegant, powerful Togruta would be into little string crafts. You: “So I… uh. Made you something.” She tilts her head. You offer a crimson, silver, and white bracelet with spiraled beads and one that looks like a lil tiara. It says “✨SOVEREIGN VIBES✨” She chuckles, low and warm. “I will treasure this.” Wears it proudly on her upper arm like a royal armband. Will absolutely deflect blaster bolts with the power of love and embroidery floss. Whispers “Thank you, little one,” like you gifted her a kyber crystal.

🌈 AAYLA SECURA You hand her a bracelet in azure and bronze, with tiny flower beads and the words “💙 COOLER THAN U 💙.” She smirks, turns it over in her hand, and says: “You get me.” Wears it immediately. Flashes it at Anakin like “see, I have friends.” 100% joins Kit Fisto’s chaotic arts and crafts night. Makes you a matching one that says “CHAOTIC PADAWAN ENERGY.” Teaches you secret Twi’lek bead symbolism. You now speak bracelet code. You’re bonded forever.

🌈 DEPPA BILLABA You go soft on this one. It’s calm green and light yellow, with little pearl accents. It just says “HOPE.” She holds it gently, like it’s made of light. “Thank you. This means more than you know.” Caleb Dume sees it and immediately asks you for one too. You make him a tiny baby-sized one that says “NOT A MENACE” (he is a menace). Depa wears hers on tough missions and says it gives her strength. Caleb chews on his. This is fine.

🌈 JOCOSTA NU You nervously approach. “Master Nu, I uh—made you a bracelet. Don’t ban me from the Archives.” It’s aged gold and dusty blue, with tiny book charms and a single bead that says “SHHH.” She raises an eyebrow… then laughs softly. “You are ridiculous. Thank you.” Immediately reorganizes the banned Holocron section with it on her wrist. Also makes you a Library ID with “CRAFT MASTER” as your Jedi title.

🌈 LUMINARA UNDULI (part 2 because she deserves it and I love her) You give her a new one. Forest green, matte black, and a golden sun bead in the center. It just says “💚💀💚” She raises a brow. “What… does this mean?” You: “Balance. Inner peace. Also you’re cool as hell.” She hums and nods. “Acceptable.” Meditates with it daily. Accidentally starts a new Temple aesthetic called “morbid peace.” Younglings love it.

🌈 TERA SINUBE You hand him a soft pastel blue and silver bracelet that says “COOL OLD GUY.” He beams. “It’s been a long time since someone made me something like this.” Tells every youngling who’ll listen. Wears it on his cane. Claims it improves his balance. (It does not. But he believes it and that's what matters, besties.)

🌈 BONUS ROUND – YOUNGLINGS You hand out mini bracelets like Oprah and they LOSE THEIR MINDS. One says “TINY CHAOS.” Another “FUTURE MENACE.” One simply reads: “💥💥💥” They trade them like Pokémon cards. You walk into the Temple like: “My impact is felt. My glitter reign is eternal.”

Conclusion: You have personally created a new Jedi Order custom: Bracelet Offering Ceremonies. The High Council is confused but too emotionally stunted to stop you. Yoda’s got ten. Ahsoka’s wrist is full. Obi-Wan pretends not to care but has them in chronological display order. The Temple is glittery now. Kit Fisto hosts craft night. Mace Windu has a friendship charm on his saber. The galaxy is healing 💖

You have won. The Force is strong with your rainbow chaos 💫

PS: I'll have the Clones Edition for this asap!! Lemme know if you want others versions as well or if you have headcanons or requests!

[transmutationisms]

Any tips for reading academic/dense texts? I’m out of practice and without the guide of a professor to patiently explain every single thing it’s pretty hard getting back into it. Got any advice for improving one’s reading/comprehension abilities? I was reading Gramsci the other day and gave up. So we are talking pretty dire straits.

read a few book reviews or a secondary essay that summarises the text's arguments and significance. these readings are not definitive and you may very well end up disagreeing with them, but knowing what someone else made of the work can help you know what you're looking for when you read it yourself

read the introduction and conclusion first, then tackle the body chapters. this is similar to the above strategy in that it can clue you in to the main arguments and significance of the text before you delve into specific details and arguments. it helps keep you oriented if you know generally where a chapter is going and why. where applicable, you can also read the intro and conclusion to each chapter before reading the middle bits

academic texts are context-bound just like any other writing. if a book is baffling you, it can be clarifying to ask questions like: whom is this trying to respond to? why is the author setting these particular parameters of debate? what arguments or events is the author building on, answering, or taking for granted a reader's awareness of? you don't have to become an expert in every author, their political context, or their intellectual influences, but it often helps to pick up the broad strokes

keep a running lexicon of any specific jargon, vocabulary, or neologisms the author introduces. get into the habit of 'translating' sentences, at least in your head, by replacing all such terms with their definitions when necessary. sometimes you might even find it helpful to draw up some kind of diagram showing how terms relate to one another, like a taxonomical tree or other scheme

don't be afraid to skip around. if a chapter or section is particularly dense, baffling, or irritating, it might make more sense if you come back to it later, after reading other bits of the argument. academic non-fiction follows varying organisational schemata, and often chapters and sections stand on their own (& may even have been written as separate pieces, for instance intended for journal publication)

annotate (i like underlining and scribbling in the margins) and take notes (i like to remind myself what page number i can find a specific topic on) as necessary. the goal is not to disrupt your reading flow, but to give the future you the ability to look back and quickly identify what you thought was important or interesting in a text

[everparanoid]

Headcanon: University student! Alhaitham

University student! Alhaitham x gn! reader

tags: fluff - word count: 1.9k

The Unrequited Academic Rival

Alhaitham, as a student, is a blunt, nonchalant overachiever. He hands in his essays the week after the questions drop and nearly always receives a first. He comes to lectures to consolidate the notes that he has already taken. He is the definition of working smarter, not harder. He refuses to tutor people as it would be a waste of his time. The last person who asked for his help was met with the most intricately worded insult, which was so soul-destroying that they dropped out of the university. Frankly, it is safe to say that Alhaitham is the antithesis of you. As a result, you don’t get along at all.

The first time you met Alhaitham, you found him cool and attractive. You had walked into the class to see him already seated, leaning back in his chair, with his legs crossed over the other and the book for that week in hand. You sat across from him, and opened your book, feeling the intimidation radiating off him. That feeling eventually faded when more people filtered into the seminar room and filled the silence with idle chitchat. You tried to remain quiet so as not to overrule the class with your incessant ideas when your professor asked a question about the set text. You, ever the overachiever, answered the posed question since it seemed no one else wanted to. Only for Alhaitham, who had been staring at his book with disinterest up until this point, to interject and counter your argument completely. You, upset and disgruntled, countered his counterargument and the bad blood started there.

Alhaitham seems out of reach to you and your peers. When Alhaitham is put in a study group together with you, the rest of your group refuses to communicate because they are terrified of the two of you and your very explicit distaste for each other—well, more so your very explicit distaste for him. Despite this, Alhaitham does not harbour the same feelings back. Alhaitham doesn’t treat you much differently from the others he has the displeasure of interacting with, the only thing that separates you is he puts a bit more effort into making your life as miserable as possible without doing much at all. Truly, Alhaitham only challenges you because he believes in your abilities and is intrigued with how far he can push you.

Alhaitham doesn’t give out his phone number easily nor does he use social media. Instead, he prefers to contact people via email, as it is easier and impersonal, and it separates university from private life. Your emails back and forth are as passive-aggressive and heated as your conversations in real life. It gets to the point where you both decide somewhere along the lines to aggressively email each other with your personal emails. You hadn’t thought anything of it, rather annoyed to be using your personal email to troll a troll. But for Alhaitham the concept of emailing you separately from everyone else like he does Kaveh, was different. It quickly turned from trolling each other, to asking questions about the module, to discussing mundane things like a shared journal between the two of you.

‘Alhaitham, (Please see attached) Saw that grumpy campus cat stuck in the trees this morning when Wriothesley was trying to help it down and thought of you. Worst, your worst nightmare.’ ‘Dear my worst nightmare, I’m flattered by the comparison to the grumpy campus cat. I must admit, there’s something appealing about the solitude of a good tree perch. Next time, I might just join the cat up there. Best, Your favourite tree-dweller. p.s. The library has got the latest novel by the author we were discussing, I thought you’d like to know.’

Alhaitham often and enthusiastically turns down all forms of leadership, wanting to stay as a simple student. He works part-time in the library as a librarian, but he doesn’t shush anyone making noise—not that people tend to when he is on shift, they mostly whisper and stare. He simply took it because it was a simple job, and he could earn ‘easy’ money doing absolutely nothing. This you found out against your will from Kaveh in one of his ‘Alhaitham is a shit housemate’ rants.

To your chagrin, he inexplicably has friends—each one, in your opinion, superior to him. Alhaitham is often seen strolling with his noise-cancelling headphones, seemingly oblivious to the world, while Kaveh (your mutual friend), Tighnari, and Cyno trail behind him, their words disappearing into the void. It irks you that Alhaitham’s presence seems to permeate every corner of your existence.

The campus bar, the usual venue for the TCG society’s socials, has become a battleground of sorts. Kaveh, the society’s vice-president, cunningly appointed Alhaitham as the treasurer. This means that every Wednesday, when you’re working your shift behind the bar, Alhaitham’s there too, smirking at you from behind his seventh glass. His arrogance is palpable, and you despise him for it. You’re certain he deliberately chooses the chair facing you, relishing the opportunity to bore into your soul whilst he thinks up the next email to pollute your inbox with.

Alhaitham is a frequent visitor to the campus gym, its convenience and proximity to his accommodation make it an ideal choice. Unfortunately for you, your residence is uncomfortably close to the gym, providing you with unwanted glimpses of Alhaitham’s comings and goings. Each sighting reveals him in varying stages of undress, each more tantalizing than the last. It’s infuriating that your academic adversary is also infuriatingly attractive. Alhaitham’s gym visits serve a dual purpose: they’re a means of maintaining his mental health, and they also provide him with amusement at your expense, as he’s noticed your scowls from your window.

Despite his aloofness and brutal rationality, Alhaitham is fiercely protective of the peculiar dynamic between you two. When Childe, the resident actual bad boy, tries to intervene in your ongoing feud, teaming up with him to undermine your argument, Alhaitham retaliates with a scathing insult. It’s so harsh that it prompts the professor to call an early break. Unfazed, Childe turns his attention to you, making yet another futile attempt at flirting. Ignoring him, you ask Alhaitham to step outside with you. He complies reluctantly, closing his book and following you out, aware of the curious classmates trying to eavesdrop. He is genuinely taken aback, though he hides it well, when you confront him directly for not allowing you to defend yourself.

Alhaitham is the type who doesn’t take it seriously when you start to actively ignore him. He thinks that you are just being immature and that it’s none of his business because he doesn’t care. However, he notices how you stop responding to him when he counters your points in class. He notices how you don’t respond to his random miscellaneous emails. He notices how you acknowledge Childe in the coming weeks. He notices that on Wednesdays, when the TCG society hosts events in the campus bar, you are no longer on shift. He notices how you seem to be studying with Kaveh, his housemate, late at night in the library when he is not on shift, something he overhears you saying to someone in class. He notices how your curtains are shut when he passes your window after and before a gym session. He doesn’t realise when it began to bother him, but when it does… it does.

Alhaitham is the type who doesn’t have a strict routine, but at least has one that is strict enough that people know when to avoid him on campus. So, when Alhaitham starts to go to the campus bar at random times during the week, it freaks out faculty and students. Alhaitham only starts to do this to test the theory that you are ignoring him. To which, he proves true when he finds you grinning and serving Childe, who looks too comfortable standing off to the side of where you are serving, watching you like you’re his latest conquest. Alhaitham places his laptop down on a spare table and joins the queue after a moment of lurking. When he reaches the front and orders a drink, your smile drops, and you make his drink coolly without the joyous energy you had for everyone else. Thus, continuing to prove his hypothesis correct. At first, Alhaitham is fine with it. He doesn’t care that you ignore him, but then he overhears you accept a date with Childe after class one day when he is leaving the classroom, and the thought of you, who he knew was disinterested in Childe, accepting the offer of a date, bothers something inside him. Even though he knows you’ll never date Childe.

Despite the palpable shift in your dynamic, Alhaitham conceals his disquiet, accepting the fleeting moments of attention you afford him during your forced collaborations on group projects. He persists in engaging you in class debates, a futile attempt to prove that nothing has changed, even when it’s Childe who responds instead of you. He feigns absorption in his book when he overhears Childe’s flirtatious overtures during seminar breaks. Yet, despite his outward nonchalance, his isolation intensifies until even you can’t ignore the change in Alhaitham.

The tension reaches a boiling point when Alhaitham intrudes on your study session with Kaveh in the library, much to your bewilderment and annoyance.

“What is he doing here?” you hiss at Kaveh, who dismissively gestures towards Alhaitham.

“I’ve had enough of walking on eggshells around both of you and your unresolved emotions. It’s time to behave like adults and move on, or express your concerns to each other directly, right here and now.” Kaveh retorts, mindful of the library’s quietude. You glance around the sparsely populated space and spot Wriothesley, the bad boy president of the boxing society, and his partner engrossed in their own world. You refocus your glare on Kaveh and Alhaitham.

“You’re acting as if we ever liked each other,” you counter.

Kaveh gives you a pointed look. “You do. Obviously.”

 “No, we don’t. Right, Alhaitham?” you turn to Alhaitham, expecting him to concur.

He sits with his arms crossed, the tips of his ears red.

“Told you,” Kaveh says triumphantly, jabbing his pen into the table. He rises, gathers the architecture books he’s been referencing, and prepares to depart. But not before he points aggressively between the two of you and says: “Sort this out before I get back.”

He exits before you can flip him off.

You turn to Alhaitham, perplexed. “You don’t like me, right?” you question.

“I never said I didn’t,” he replies calmly.

Despite the new budding romance between you two, you steadfastly refuse to go on a date with Alhaitham until your final exam results are released. Alhaitham, ever the enigma and your unrequited academic rival, continues to challenge you in class. His aversion to public displays of affection, both verbal and physical, keeps your newfound status discreet. You find yourself engaging in these intellectual duels with renewed vigor. The constant tension doesn’t escape your professors, who seem to have grown accustomed to your ongoing rivalry, likening it more to an old bickering married couple rather than enemies. When your final grades for the class are released, Alhaitham is quick to email you with a location and a table reservation for your date before you even have the chance to check your results. When you do, as everyone expects, both of you land on top.

masterlist

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[maleyanderecafe]

Hi!! Hope you're having a wonderful day/night!!

I was going through your recommendation list and since I didn't see it, I'd like to recommend Reanimated heart vn to you!! It's my number one most beloved VN and it's extremely well written!! It's also partially voice acted and has a really cool character journal and inventory system!! And one of the LI Vincenzo is also a yandere!!

I feel like you may like it!!

Phew you were right this is a really well made game. It took me a bit to play it because despite it only really going over the prologue/first chapter (or from what I heard, half of it) there's a ton of content within it (that and while I was playing it, there was an update, so there's that as well.) Since there's not a guide currently and I'm kind of useless without a guide, I did my best to see as much of the content as possible. Vincenzo definitely shows signs of being a yandere (along with Black) though since this is just a prologue, not too much has gone on yet. This game has pretty extensive worldbuilding as well and can get pretty gory at times, thus the r18 rating. You can find more information @doubledeadstudio.

This game is pretty lengthy and you can actually pursue three love interests (Crux, Black and Vincenzo). Since Vincenzo is the main topic of this ask, I'll be focusing my time on him, though I'll still mention things from Black's route as well. The blog also mentions that Crux might be one as well, though at least currently in the game I don't really see too many signs of it, but I can theorize near the end.

The story starts out with Moss/Player (default name, though Moss sounds better so I'm going to just use Moss) trying to escape as the world devolves into violence and chaos, riots everywhere. While leaving, they are hit by a car, but instead of actually dying, they instead get isekaied to another world with a green sky and a giant tree in the center (like yggsdril) before being jumpscared by a guy with a lot of teeth looming over them. They are eventually caught by two guys after attempting to run away, Black, the one who jumpscared Moss and is now a zombie and Crux, the mage who brought him there. Crux explains whats going on to a confused Moss and Black. Basically, Crux and Black were friends in the original world. Black died from trying to save a girl from getting shot and the Crux from the original world had set up a spell in advanced to get him revived. However, Moss ended up interfering by accident, leading to the two of them being transferred to this world with no way out and for Black to essentially become a zombie. Crux as a mage is able to be aware of his other selves in other worlds, which is why he knows about all of this, though now that they're both stuck here, they have to find places to live. Crux sets up Black in a recently deceased person's house and Moss with a friend named Greta, whose mother had just recently died. Upon going to Greta's place, we learn a little big more about the world that they have transported to: magic is something that everyone has (which is given by the giant tree), there are magical creatures here, people who come here from other worlds are called outsiders and that apparently Moss does have some sort of powers (this is more implied though). We also learn about Greta herself, as she sells weed to pay for rent (which later can become Moss's part time job), she and her mother had a close relationship (thus the reason that she wanted someone to be in the house, as it was too lonely to bare without her) and that she's generally fairly somber in nature, though takes care of Moss fairly well by providing meals and other things. After setting up, Moss heads to sleep.

The next day, Black asks to meet up with Moss downtown and upon meeting up with him, we learn that Black seems to not really eat normal food anymore nor really sleep or have a heartbeat, though he seems to have a great craving for humans (as a zombie would) and decides that eating the guy who ran Moss over is a good idea. The two end up tracking the guy into an abandoned factory. However, upon getting there we find that someone else has already gotten to him first, and quite literally, as someone is already killing and ripping this man apart into flesh and other pieces. We are met by Vincenzo, the killer and Black ends up eating the remains of the person. After going back and sleeping, the next day Crux basically gets Moss to get a job and start pulling their weight by running deliveries for Greta. Crux ends up driving them to many places to run their deliveries and chatting about what happened the day before. With this we learn a couple of things about Vincenzo: that he's a well known serial killer that has a lot of copycats, that even when killed he is able to somehow revive and continue killing people and that there's a lot of people who fangirl/find him hot. After this you can choose the route that you'll be going for.

So we'll be going for Vincenzo's route first. Moss gets curious about the fact that Vincenzo can regenerate and thus goes back to the abandoned factory to check it out. However, before even getting there and reaching downtown, they are caught by Vincenzo and brought to the factory after passing out. Upon waking up, Moss is bound to a chair with Vincenzo lying his head on their lap. He seems to have taken an interest in Moss seeing that they seem to have basically materialized out of nowhere and pretty much claims them as his. He recounts how similar the two were, that he too was captured by a military general and bound into the dark for years, eventually falling in love and killing him. After questioning him and his intentions with Black (he best responds to obedient answers and betraying Black, it seems) and eventually Moss is forced to be his toy (or killed otherwise) through a ring created by magic that binds the two together.

After heading out and hanging out with Greta more (or going to your bedroom), you are brought by Crux the next day to join a volunteer/rebellion group where we meet Asha, a person we actually delivered to previously. Hana, the leader of the organization introduces everyone to the Evergreen Volunteer Organization where they house people who are homeless, help out in soup kitchen and pick litter off the streets. Crux and Black immediately start asking a bunch of questions including pointing out the lack of members in the group, and why they aren't doing more to actually oppose the government wrongdoings (mostly because people are terrified of Vincenzo which has killed off a lot of their members), which really makes Hana think until a lady named Brandi comes out to basically kick Hana while she's down even more before Hana ultimately kicks her out. After watching Crux and Black bicker, Moss goes to comfort Hana, though Hana agrees that the questioning did help her realize that she has backpedaled in what their organization originally stood for and how far they've fallen and how she's changed since first starting the organization. Upon going back, Moss can either pass out or talk to Vincenzo about what they had done for the day. We can then go and talk with the various characters and run deliveries for Greta. Talking to Vincenzo, we can learn about his mutations and his living quarters (the mutation seems to be caused by a "deal" made with a powerful abomination so that he can have powers but also so the abomination can sort of puppet his body around.

Upon returning back, Greta asks Moss to help her get rid of a Mutie problem, basically a type of pest that is common there and is currently wrecking havoc on her lawn. She asks moss to go to the market to get something that can get rid of the mutie, and sends Moss on their way after giving them some money. After going through a strange ritual to get there, Moss encounters one of the shopkeepers, Missy and buys some things, most importantly a comic book about muties. Upon leaving, Moss runs into Crux who seems to have also wanted the comic as well. Seeing as the information is accurate, Crux proposes a trade where he'll get rid of the mutie in exchange for the comic book. Upon returning to Greta's house, we learn that muties are sort of spirits that have some sort of unfinished business, and after Crux pulls out some magical garments to allow the mutie to pass on, Moss gives him the comic book. Afterwards, Vincenzo tells Moss to meet him downtown (and ignoring this leads to something weird crawling inside of them at night). Upon meeting up with Vincenzo for this date, bringing moss to a table with a naked women tied up and basically tells Moss that they can do anything with her. You can then decide to try to let her go, rape her or kill her (Vincenzo responds best to killing her in a vicious way, which is pretty much what I did immediately because of course I did). Whether you are able to save this lady, kill her or otherwise defile her, the date eventually ends. The next day, Moss returns to the volunteer organization after seeing an email pretty much going full attack and petitioning a new law that had just came out by getting signatures. As a result, Black and Moss go out to get signatures from various places eventually finding two bodies at a construction site. After this, Moss gets a choice of where to work at, either at the same bar as Black, as a magical apprentice with Crux or continuing delivering for Grete.

After that you have freetime to visit people and buy things. We learn from Vincenzo that the two bodies are in fact not his killings but rather killings from a copycat killer, that he dated Crux before and that he has the ability to leave this world if he wants to. The next day you are presented with the opportunity to go to the protesting that Hana has organized or to skip it and end up helping Black with something. Either way, the next day, Moss heads downtown after Vincenzo summons them again, this time however, appearing as a woman. And here you can tell her your preferences for either form. Vincenzo remarks that Black has been arrested (whether you know that or not is based on the previous choice) and that Vincenzo wants to get revenge on the person who tried to impersonate her killings. After tracking down this Irving Dunham, Vincenzo gets you to become a distraction to get him out and so they can kidnap him. Vincenzo kidnapped him basically to see if there was any potential in him, though after he admits to killing his family, he ends up dying/bleeding by her hands. In the end, Vincenzo gives basically an upgraded ring to help Moss in case something happens to them.

Black's route mostly goes around the sudden transformation of being a zombie and his sense of morality as well as Moss visiting him while he's getting a tattoo. I won't go as detailed into it since other than him being overprotective over Moss (mostly because he feels guilty that he was the reason that Moss came here in the first place), we don't see to much of the yandere side of him (and the ask is more on Vincenzo rather than Black, I just thought I'd also mention him since at least stated on the tumblr page, he might also qualify as a yandere).

So yeah, anyways, this game is really well made. With just the game system alone there's an inventory and journal section and I love the way the UI is done (since I'm a sucker for cool UI in games) as the entire UI system is more reminiscent of a scrapbook. The world itself is also very cool too, with it's green skies and magic, definitely portrays a certain mood along with its themes of injustice, society, punk/rebel type of culture and others. Seriously, this world is genuinely very interesting and a lot of thought and effort was put into it. The characters too are all pretty fun to interact with, Crux is sly at times but still pretty caring, Black is more direct but has a soft side, Vincenzo has a genuine creepy feeling to him to contrast with his more charming personality, Asha has a very chill vibe, while Greta is more somber (for some reason she kind of reminds me of Elliot Reed) and then my favorite girl Hana is not only cute but commanding. I think its really nice that despite the fact that we're introduced to so many characters that they are all unique in a way that I can remember. There's a ton of concepts that get explored as well, from morality to mortality, to religion, and societal issues. It is very wild to me that this game isn't more popular than it is currently.

Considering this is just the prologue/first chapter, we don't really know the extent to how Vincenzo will evolve as a character and as a yandere. We see already that he had tendencies given his previous partners and the guard that imprisoned him, killing him out of love and we see that he has a sense of possessiveness to him, especially when Moss is claimed by him. He seems to enjoy violence over everything considering that he is a serial killer and likes obedience overall, as well as worry when Moss isn't around which is why he equips them with the ring near the end. As a yandere, I can see him more as a violent type and one that when when he grows an attachment is the type to either kill them (out of an overwhelming love, as we see with the guard) or to possibly become his partner in crime (for lack of a better word). I do see him having an obsession with the player given that at least in this route, Moss is thrown into more dire situations where they can be violent or otherwise evil and we can kind of see that corruption already taking place as the game goes on, even in just the prologue. Technically speaking I guess it wouldn't be so much as a strictly male yandere, but rather a genderfluid one since Vincenzo can be a girl, but I mean, you do in the end get to choose so given the option I'll just consider it a "male" yandere. But yeah, I see Vincenzo as a combination of a lot of types, more manipulative to a certain degree, violent for sure, unpredictable and always testing the player. Having this kind of serial killer yandere that can't be killed as well as having to experience the gore of such things in the game is pretty terrifying. Aside from that he also kidnaps and stalks people (including the player).

Black on the other hand is more overprotective if anything and we can already see that in the game so far. In a lot of places, he's worried about the player and will often defend them in many places, case in point: meeting Vincenzo for the first time. Much of his route is his struggles with his new zombie form, having not only having to eat humans to sustain himself but also to prevent himself from attacking Moss, even asking them to chain him up in the room. He always seems a bit ashamed in a sense to eat humans in front of the player and is always wanting to help. In a sense, Black is very similar to a guard dog, though at the moment it seems mostly out of guilt for dragging Moss into the world rather than having any romantic feelings for them. I think if there are any endings in the future that are yanderelike, it would probably be due to an overprotective action such as killing one of Moss's friends that might be a danger to them.

Crux is a little harder to decipher, but we do see more of his tender side in his route. While he is sly and manipulative, often stalking, hacking and reading through other people (such as Black's) history, we also see that he is very protective over his family. Crux is the type of guy who seems very does whatever he wants and goes with the flow, though he's clearly harboring another secret given that he seems to recognize Moss, but won't admit to it. Hard to say though since while Crux does take an interest in Moss during his route and we do have the option to kiss him, I just don't know enough right now to know if he's a yandere. Kind of an interesting thing to see in the future though!

Overall, really well made game/demo. I really like the atmosphere and the level of polish this game has and the characters are all fantastic. It'll be cool to see how the love interest in this story develop and hopefully show more of their yandere side as it goes.

[sara-the-wizard]

7 Day Camp Stay. Day: 2

day 2 is now here!

This day went better. Except the small worry in an unfamiliar place.

(Reminder, Donnie is me.)

Hope you enjoy day 2! under the cut!

7 Day Camp Stay

Day: 2

Donnie woke up in a panic. For a moment he thought his brothers had left him. He looked outside the tent and found them all getting ready for the day. Donnie sighed with a bit of relief. Guess it was just a dream. The wind was still going strong. When he sat up he was greeted with a tent fwapping his head. He crawled out of the tent and went over to the picnic table. He found some peanut butter and jelly and made himself a quick sandwich.

Now that Donnie had some energy. He decided to do some of the dishes that were left over from the other night. He filled a bucket with water and soap and started scrubbing away. Mikey came over and helped rins and dry the dishes. They sung together, singing musical numbers. Donnie tried his best to remember the lyrics so that Mikey could easily sing along. But he found it more difficult without the melody in the background.

Once he was done with the dishes, it was already lunch time. Turkey sandwiches, again. Did Mikey really not plan for any other lunch meals?

The day was rather slow. Nothing was really planned. No hike, no fishing, no playing around with a ball, nothing. Everyone seamed to be doing their own thing. Donnie hid back in his tent and dug out a book to read. It was called 'The Wingfeather Saga'. He didn't get very far though. He got about one or two chapters in till he was too annoyed by the constant wind nocking the tent over. He laid down and his head hit something rather hard compared to a pillow. He turned to find out what it was.

It was a sketch book and a pen with a purple ribbon around it. A gift? But it wasn't his birthday, or anywhere near it! He looked over and saw that there was another present with a blue ribbon on Leo's pillow. Donnie untide the purple ribbon. When he opened the sketchbook a note fell out.

'To Donnie. I got you guys some sketch books and pens! I was thinking you could use them to journal about your camping week! (Or anything else.) Love, Mikey.'

Donnie took a look at the front cover and it had a pink flamingo on it with a sloth riding on top. It made him chuckle. He spent some time fiddling around with the pen and sketch book for a while.

Soon, dinner was being made. Donnie ran off to the bathroom again. When he came back out from the restrooms, it was already getting dark. The trees shook in the breeze, making a flickering sound in waves. The wild dogs started barking again. He felt like it would be silly to run back to the camp. He knew those dogs where miles away! But he didn't want to walk either. That took so long! Man if only he had a scooter or something, that would work!

But soon enough, he came around the bend as the campsite came into view. It looked like Mikey got the fire burning good! Donnie was always surprised how easy it was for Mikey to start a fire. He heard Mikey singing something and clapping his hands to the beat.

"Go tell it on the mountain! Over the hills and everywhere! Go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born!"

"I never thought of that one being a campfire song."

Donnie said as he approached the triplet.

"It's got a good rithem to it! I don't see why not!"

Mikey cheerfully smiled. He leaned over and stirred the chicken in the large pot. He then added some corn and beans. Pouring in some broth instantly made it a soup! They each sat around the fire and ate a bowl of it. All except Leo.

"Leo, why aren't you eating?"

"I'm not hunger yet, that's all!"

Leo got up from his chair.

"I think I'll take a quick shower at the shower house!"

Leo said as he grabbed his bag of clothes. Donnie watched as Leo started his very short hike of 2 blocks down the road. Which felt so much longer to Donnie when the sun had set. After they were done with their food, they set the dishes aside. Everyone else was getting ready for bed. Donnie threw a few sticks into the fire to keep the food warm.

Time had passed from 9:00 to 10:15. Leo still had not returned. Donnie couldn't help but worry a bit. He had heard the wild dogs barking very loudly about an hour ago. Donnie checked the soup to find all the water had boiled out. He sat back down and threw a few more sticks on the fire. He tapped his foot, waiting for Leo to come back.

Suddenly, a rustling sound was heard coming down the turn. Donnie assumed it was Leo, but part of him thought otherwise. He tensed up slightly, waiting to see what would come around the bend. And to his assumption, it was Leo. Coming down the road with a towel around his neck. Donnie let his shoulders loosen. Leo had on a pair of black shorts and a blue long sleeve shirt with the brightest yellow crocks you'v ever seen! Donnie wasn't sure about Leo's fashion sense, but he let it slide.

"Hey, Tello! What are you still doing up?"

"Waiting for you."

"... You didn't have to. You could have gone to bed already."

"I was keeping your food warm."

Donnie lifted the lid to show the evaporated soup. Leo cringed a little. What once was soup, was now as dry as a desert in comparison. Donnie started scooping it out into a bowl but he didn't hand it to Leo that way. He walked over to the picnic table and added a little water to it.

"Here, it has become soup again."

Donnie said as he held it out towards Leo.

Leo took the bowl and peaked inside. That looked better, more like soup with liquid and all that jaz.

"Thanks for keeping it warm."

Leo smiled. Donnie nodded in return. Leo took a few sips of the soup, then drew his eyes onto Donnie.

"Is your stomach feeling better from yesterday?"

"...How did you know about that?"

"My stomach wasn't feeling so great either. I was also sure it wasn't my stomach I was feeling."

Donnie blinked a couple times. "Twin-stinct" is what Leo called it. It was a ridiculous idea, that they could feel each other's pain or whatever. But if that wasn't true, then how did Leo know that he felt sick the other night? Donnie just sighed and drew his attention onto the fire.

"Yeah, it's better now."

"Good."

Leo finished his soup and ran off into the tent. Donnie had gone to the bathrooms one more time to brush his teeth. When he came back, Leo was already asleep. Donnie narrowed his eyes. Leo had his legs flopped all over Donnie's side of the tent. He picked Leo's legs up and shoved them over. Leo mumbled something that sounded like, "dfelbubelbludfedmbedfold-" Actually, never mind, It sounded like nothing. Donnie got into his sleeping bag and zipped it up over his head.

'5 more nights to go.'

Donnie thought to himself. He put his phone on silent and went to sleep.

________

Yay! That was day 2! It was a good day by my standers.

I hope you enjoyed it!

Lord bless you! ❤️

Last x Next

[historicalbookimages]

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences. Edinburgh [etc.]: Published for the proprietor [etc.], 1835-1840. Original source Image description: Illustration from the 1835-1840 Edinburgh Journal of Natural History depicting eight colorful Regulus kinglets perched on and around delicate tree branches. Each bird displays distinct markings, including red, yellow, green, black, and white plumage. The detailed foreground branches feature fine leaves and a small flower. In the background, a faint landscape sketch shows two small human figures near water with distant hills. The image includes a numbered key identifying the different kinglet species and their genders, emphasizing scientific classification. The precise colors and natural postures highlight early ornithological study.

[luis-michael6160]

☕ Afternoon Experiment No. 34 or why you shouldn't mix Tim Drake, coffee and marijuana, EP: 1

[story collection] <-more stories here

next episode

Wayne Manor was a battlefield without explosions, without screams.

Worse.

It was coffee hour number thirty-four. Of the afternoon.

“Has anyone seen the new coffee machine?” Dick asked as he entered the kitchen.

“Tim integrated it into his backpack along with a solar panel and an IV drip,” Jason replied from the floor, surrounded by notes and Post-its. He was wearing sunglasses indoors. Not for fashion. Out of despair.

“Is he still awake?” Damian growled from atop the counter, where he was allegedly meditating but in reality was making sure Tim didn’t start levitating again.

Steph popped her head through the doorframe.

“Confirmed. He officially hit forty-five days without sleep. He wrote it in his ‘Perma-Hyperlucidity Journal’. Says he reached Level Eight of Multidimensional Awareness.”

Dick sighed.

We have to do something. Before he figures out how to time travel with liquid caffeine.

“Are you sure about this?” Dick asked, eyeing the tiny ziplock bag on the table.

“Got a better idea?” Jason raised an eyebrow. “We tried puzzles. We locked him in a room with no Wi-Fi. He blew it up. Literally. The room.”

Damian crossed his arms.

“I oppose this method. Not because I care about Drake, but because marijuana has proven effects on reflex deterioration. What if he gets even dumber? He’s already on the edge of functionality.”

“He’s not going to smoke it,” Steph clarified, arriving with a tray. “Brownies. Just a bit. A microdose. For a normal human.”

“What’s a microdose for someone who hasn’t slept in six weeks and whose blood is basically espresso?” Cass asked from the corner.

Silencio.

"Ups", dijo Steph.

Tim entered like a shadow with eyes opened too far.

“Hi guys! I hacked the NSA and found a mathematical pattern in how dust collects under the couch! I’m going to use it to prevent crime. Also wrote a novel about it. Painted the map.”

“Brownie, bro,” Jason offered, wearing the fakest smile in his arsenal.

Tim looked at it. Sniffed. Ate it.

Five minutes. Ten. Twenty.

“Is it supposed to—?” Damian began.

Then Tim slowly stood up. So slowly they thought he’d gone into hibernation mode.

“Guys... I think I’m seeing the flow of ideas. Like, literally. Threads. Cosmic threads.”

“Oh no,” Dick muttered.

“I’M INSIDE THE CODE!” Tim yelled, ripping off his shirt. “THE UNIVERSE IS A PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE! AND I’M THE DEBUG!”

He jumped out the window.

They were on the third floor.

Nobody moved.

Jason turned to Steph.

“How much did you give him?”

“I... don’t know. I measured it with an ice cream scoop. It had little cartoon faces on it.”

Damian was already calling Alfred.

“We’ve got a ‘Red Dragon Protocol’. Repeat: Red Dragon. Tim’s merged with the metaverse. May now believe he’s a router.”

Cass sighed.

“Next time, we just tranq him.”

Dick nodded, watching Tim climb a tree, screaming at the wind that he was the cloud.

“Yeah. Definitely. Tranquilizer. Or we ship him to a Tibetan monastery. One with zero signal.”

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[probablyasocialecologist]

The theory – promoted by experts including the Pulitzer prize-winning author Jared Diamond – suggests islanders chopped down palm trees at an unsustainable rate to create gardens, harvest fuel and move statues, which brought on disaster. As a result, the population encountered by Europeans in the 18th century was a shadow of what it had once been. However, a new study has added to a growing body of evidence offering a very different view. “Our study confirms that the island couldn’t have supported more than a few thousand people,” said Dr Dylan Davis, a co-author of the work from Columbia University. “As such, contrary to the ecocide narrative, the population present at European arrival wasn’t the remnants of Rapa Nui society, but was likely the society at its peak, living at the levels that were sustainable on the island.” Writing in the journal Science Advances, Davis and colleagues reported how they harnessed high-resolution shortwave infrared and near-infrared satellite imagery and machine learning to identify archaeological sites of rock gardening – a practice employed by the inhabitants of Easter Island to grow crops, including sweet potatoes. The results suggest only 0.76 km2 of land was used in this way – far below previous estimates which, the team said, misidentified features such natural lava flows. As a result, Davis and colleagues have suggested that rock gardening alone could only have supported about 3,900 people at most, a long way off previous estimates of up to 17,000. Indeed, the average figure is just 2,000 people, although this could be increased to up to 4,000 people if other foods, for example from fishing or foraging, are considered. “One of the major arguments for an ‘ecocide’ was that the populations must have been very large in order to build all of the moai statues,” said Davis. “However, archaeological evidence does not support a large population and studies of the moai themselves suggest that a small population could have built and moved them. It just required cooperation.”

21 June 2024

"Easter Island was not a case of self-inflicted ‘ecocide’, as Jared Diamond has contended in Collapse (2005). Instead, the locals of Rapa Nui lived sustainably until the 19th century, when they were devastated by colonialism and disease. By 1877, they numbered just 111." -- Luke Kemp