#logged into in 3 years because I used it once for one specific thing then abandoned it

[kiefbowl]

i made a string of really dumb financial decisions and now im in debt that might take me years to pay off, do you have any words of wisdom for me queen. like that feels bad. how do i even save up. imagine flushing a pile of money down the toilet thats what this debt it

I know how that feels, believe me. A lot of people do. I'm feeling the pain of my 9 month school loans, and credit cards I had already paid off back "on" again (one in particular is pretty high...whooooops).

Don't lose your cool, I have a couple of flexible suggestions that you take, use, and modify to your specifics:

Tithe yourself - if your job does direct deposit (which most do!), you can direct deposit your money into multiple accounts. Get it set up so your paycheck goes 90% into your checking account, 10% into your savings account so that you're not even thinking about it. You might feel the squeeze for a little bit but you'll acclimate to that "missing" 10% sooner than you think.

Ask for a raise - if you're working, ask for a raise. If you're new, or maybe not that "great", or they're penny-pinchers, or you're just nervous to ask, don't even worry about it. Ask for 3% - this is low, and most jobs will give it to you just for the convenience of getting you to stop bothering them about it (if they can't afford 3%, run run run). For context, if you make $10 an hour, a 3% raise only gives you $12.00 more each week. It's really not much, but not nothing! If you're NOT worried about asking a raise, go all in! Ask for 10%, maybe even 15%. Flex some negotiation skills. Maybe you'll walkaway with 7%, but every penny counts.

Get yourself on auto payments [at the smallest amounts you can] - if you've got credit cards, log in right now and get yourself on auto payments for the smallest amount. If you've got student loans, do the same thing. If you've got utility bills, get them on auto pay. These things take 3 minutes to set up, and there are phone numbers to call if you can't figure it out. These companies WANT you to do this, they will help you get it done.

Work off the smallest amount you owe first [aggressively] - Let's say you have a $60 parking ticket, a credit card you owe $400 on, and three student loans that are currently at $6,000 & $7,000 & $10,000. Forget the student loans right now, you've got them on autopay for the smallest amount you can get away with. First, pay off that $60 parking ticket with your next pay check before it becomes a $200 ticket and a court appearance. Now you can focus on the paying off the $400 aggressively. Your minimum payments will still go off, but every time you get a paycheck, long on and pay an additional amount to the credit card (something you can manage and will also feel good to your brain - $50 feels good when you're thinking of your debit in hundreds for example). Once you've got that paid off, now you can aggressively pay off your $6,000. Don't worry about the other two. Just focus on the smallest amount you owe. Each paycheck, payoff a chunk of your smallest debt. It'll get exciting after awhile, like yes I get paid I can make that credit card even smaller. Gamify it, whatever.

Stop worrying about how long it will all take - Only worry about the smallest amount of debt you owe and how (reasonably) fast you can get that paid off. That $400 credit card, if you can spare $100 each pay check - that's only 4 paychecks. That's not too long, right? That's the way to think of time and debt: how much can you spare each paycheck to pay off your lowest debt.

Ask for help - do not punish yourself by lying to your parents and friends. Tell your friends you can't do fancy dinners because you are paying off debt and can't afford it. Real friends will bring over a pizza to hang with you. Your parents might be willing to send you a check without you asking for it. Don't feel guilty about monetary gifts, just take it. Go to a bank and talk about their consolidation options. Bring a third party so you aren't dazzled by sales pitches. Consolidation loans aren't objectively good or bad, they can be a life saver if they have the right terms that work for you. Don't think it's over your head! Ask as many questions until you understand all your options.

Buy smart, stop suffering - this really should be like 4 different bullet points, but I'm going to be as concise as possible: you'll never get out of debt if you spend your money without purpose, and you'll never get out under the yoke of anxiety that you fucked up if you just squirrel your money away in fear. A lot of people will give you advice that you need to put yourself on a tight, punishing budget. Maybe, but I think those are doomed to fail for most people. And now you feel twice as bad. Don't do that to yourself. Learning the value of $10 is important. So it learning the value of $100, or $1,000. And the best way to learn is to practice buying and using your money - there's a cheap $1,000 and an expensive $10, and you have to learn how much value you are getting out of these amounts for these purchases. If you punish yourself all week, and then allow yourself a "little treat" on Sunday - that doesn't feel worthwhile to me. Those little treats will grow every day. Soon you're stopping at Starbucks every day for "just $10" and your Sunday treat has become a weekly blow out brunch with friends and then week to week you're scrounging to eat Top Ramen and lamenting your dreams are dying. Instead, save money by spending money on things worthwhile that make you budget for them. Go sign up for those yoga classes you want, go sign up for those guitar lessons you want, go sign up for those art lessons you want, whatever it is. Whatever brings value to your life. Your $70 a week yoga membership can now be valued against your $70 week at Starbucks, and as your pockets pinch one hopes you'll choose the yoga over the Starbucks because one hopes that the yoga is serving you better. Or maybe yoga is ass and you want to spend it on Starbucks, at least now you know. Though I recommend your local coffee shop, as Starbucks is a union busting piece of shit corporation :)

[thesharktanksdriver]

DETERMINATION QUESTIONS!⁽⁠⁽⁠◝⁠(⁠ ⁠•⁠௰⁠•⁠ ⁠)⁠◜⁠⁾⁠⁾

1) how does doffy feel about Reader? I mean in the sense of does doffy feel indebted or in some way attached to reader ? Because I feel like he's so complex that it could be taken in many ways his feelings (⁠•⁠‿⁠•⁠)

2) could Reader be killed forever if they were stabbed or just kinda killed with an sea Stone weapon ? Or is it even possible for reader to ever die in any way (other than losing determination)

3) doffy is a know figure in the sl@ve trade , so how does he feel about the fact reader was or is sometimes a slave ? :⁠'⁠(

Love the work!!!! (English is my first language so sorry if it's strangely spelled:⁠-⁠P) Sincerely AN ᕦ⁠(⁠ò⁠_⁠ó⁠ˇ⁠)⁠ᕤ

Hi!!!!!!!! Thank you for the questions for my favourite fashion disaster war criminal (lol) also don’t worry about ur English! I can read it just fine 👍

(Warning for themes of possession, obsession, slavery and doffy as a whole.)

1) Doffy’s feelings towards y/n specifically his attachment is definitely due to both a sense of gratitude/indebtment along with a sense of possession. They were his and rosinante’s only friend growing up despite the fact they were also hated by association. They’re held dear to him for their part in trying to make what should’ve been a shitty childhood at least a little better. But the real interesting part is when they die for him and his brother. They decided his life was more than their own which kinda empowers his superiority complex and attachment issues because they were his friend that was suppose to stay by his side no matter what. His friend, his.

As Doffy gets older this sentiment is reinforced more especially as he makes his “family”. It doesn’t feel complete without them. No one can compare to them, what they did for him, died for his safety. They’re his friend, he didn’t give them permission to die and leave him to go someplace else, their place is at his side like a good friend should be.

Doffy’s perception of them from when he was young to when he’s older is heavily corrupted even at the beginning. When he was younger they were still “his” friend, but back then it was more due to not wanting to loose them just as he lost the life of luxury he once had. They were his only luxury left and he wanted to keep that close. But as he got older that sentiment had time to fester and for him to become more attached to the idea of them rather than y/n themself.

He doesn’t care what y/n wants or thinks, he just wants them at his side again so he can cling to what he thinks is one of the only things that can make him happy.

(Boy that explanation was long lol, but I love going in depth on characters like him)

2) I’d say with sea stone weapons it moreso has the capacity to make y/n’a regeneration a lot slower. Simply being stabbed by a sea stone weapon would make the wait time for them to reappear much slower and leave a permanent scar on their body. I’m trapped in a room of sea stone though for an extended period of time it could potentially kill them or at least weaken them to a point where it would take years for them to appear again

3)for awhile now Doffy’s knew and had suspicions that y/n didn’t properly die but when it is confirmed for him he does a log of digging. And let’s just say he isn’t happy. Him finding out that for a while they were a slave really infuriates him, not at the cruel dehumanizing system he actively participates in but rather that it’s them who went through being treated like less than dirt and it wasn’t him who had found them first. The person who took rocks meant to hit him and his brother once more being put through torment.

But as fucked as it is to say he’s uses this to his advantage. He makes requests for traders to find them, gives their description and waits for any news back. He doesn’t care if he literally gets “his friend” back by participating in the system that hurt them and traumatized them. He just sees it as a means to an end to get back what was his in the first place that was stolen by others. He’ll pull and strings he needs both physically and metaphorically if it means getting them back.

He doesn’t beat around the bush with this either. He asks other warlords or pirates to look for someone of their description and promises a giant price. He doesn’t care how much he has to pay for them, “his” friend is priceless to him anyways.

he watches some of his fellow warlords squirm when he makes this offer. Jinbe, Mihawk, even crocodile. What interests him most is Boa’s reaction though. Watches the disgust in her eyes along with fear and a deep sadness.

He pokes at her and gets yelled at in return but he knows he’s found a weak spot.

[macgyvermedical]

Hi! I saw your post about the NCCC. Can you tell me a little bit more about what it was like? And maybe some certifications or skils I might want to have before applying that would help me be a shoe in? In a year or two I'd like to leave where I am and travel, and then maybe settle down somewhere else after, and this seems like a good way to go about that and simultaneously chase my interests and find things I enjoy. Basically- I've got time to build skills before I want to apply, and I think it'd be a great fit for me, so I'm just curious about any and all information that would help me be more informed and prepared.

What it's like: (note that I served in 2018, so some of this may be outdated information)

Once you're accepted, they place you at one of 4 campuses throughout the USA. You get a duffel bag mailed to you (anything you bring with you has to fit in this duffel) and a plane or train ticket emailed to you. You have to take that plane or train to the campus, because they pick you up in a bus or van from the airport or station.

Once you get to campus, you go through "in-processing" where you get your uniforms, gear, and PPE, get assigned a room and/or bunk, and meet your instructors for training. If you're a Corps Member, you are also assigned a team and meet your Team Leader at this time (though some campuses do this later in training).

Training lasts about 2 months for Team Leaders and about 1 month for Corps Members. You are with the same cohort (called a "Class") for your whole service term, including training. Training includes how to get along as a team, physical training to ensure you're physically capable of the work demanded of you, and specific training on things like how to drive the van, how to use certain tools and PPE, and how to do any tasks associated with your particular role on the team.

Towards the end of training you go on a 1-2 day mini project, where you go through all the motions of a real project (called a "spike"), except that it's really near by campus and it's pretty much for practice.

Then you go on your first real spike. Depending on where it is and what time of year it is, you might live in a tent, in a dorm, in a half-built house, or any remotely suitable housing supplied by the hosting organization. We lived in a conference room once, and once in an old nursing home wing that wasn't being used.

Food is handled by giving a lump sum of money on a card to the team, and you have to figure out grocery shopping and cooking as a team. This is a challenge, but one that usually works out.

For transportation, the team has one 15-passenger van. Gas is paid for by NCCC. If you have a project that requires a lot of tools, you may have a pickup truck too, but this is rare, and you're not allowed to use it for anything other than project reasons. You keep a log of every time you use the van or truck, for any reason, and there is a 25-mile radius from housing that you're allowed to go.

Spikes are between 3-8 weeks long and you do 4-7 of them during a service term. In between you have "transition" where you go back to campus, debrief from your previous project, brief and train for your next project, and catch up with everyone else. At the end of the service term, you have a final debrief, have a life after americorps meeting, learn job skills like writing a resume, etc... and get your plane ticket home.

What you should do to get prepared:

You don't need certifications. If you need to know something for a project they will train you. If you want something I'd say get First Aid or Wilderness First Aid. Getting a little job experience and a lot of volunteer experience will help you a lot more.

[corazondebeskar-reads]

well it's love, make it hurt - chapter seven

well it’s love, make it hurt series

seven: you say who I am is quite enough

series masterlist | prev chapter | next chapter

dom!Din Djarin x sub!f!reader

Word Count: 6.6k

Summary: Boundaries get blurred when following a trail for a big-ticket bounty leads to a nightclub catering to clients of a specific taste. AKA you and Mando go to a sex club (but for work.)

Warnings: BDSM, bdsm club, bdsm scene, dom! Din Djarin and sub!reader, established relationship, minor original characters, bondage, p in v unprotected sex, orgasm denial, use of a vibrator, nipple clamps, bounty hunting, soft!dom Din Djarin, aftercare

Originally written for Kinktober Day 12 - Orgasm Denial, inspired by @absurdthirst’s wonderful prompt list,

also on ao3

3 ABY - Winter

“There,” Mando says, “Wait, go back.” He takes the datapad from you and scrolls back up, pointing out a location ping from the target’s log. “I know that place.”

The bounty, Olin Vanda, was former ISB who had made a lot of enemies in his time terrorizing the citizens of Morlana One. Without any recent location data to work with and most of the ISB scattered or underground, you were stuck digging for clues.

“What is it?” you say, pulling the map’s edges to get closer to the grid.

“It’s a nightclub in the leisure district.”

“He sure was a frequent visitor.” Vanda’s records show him at the club once a week or so over his three-year stint on planet. “I thought we decided Morlana was a dead end.”

“We thought there wouldn’t be anyone with anything of value to tell us. But I know someone there.”

“Oh, were you also a frequent visitor at a nightclub in the leisure district?” You tease, but he looks away for a moment, thumb rubbing against the side of his fidgety fingers while the other twitched where it rested on his knee.

“Oh, shit, you were.”

He heaves a world-weary sigh, shoulders slumping, and looks up at the ceiling. “Yes.”

“What do you do at a nightclub? Do you dance?” You grin ear to ear, poking him in the side.

He groans, gloved hands covering his visor. “It’s not that kind of club.”

“There are other types of nightclubs? Oh, kriff, are you saying—”

“Yes. It’s a sex club. I went to a sex club.” He has his arms crossed now, looking at you with his helmet tilted slightly forward. Waiting for you to say something stupid.

But you flush and shut your mouth.

“Nothing smart to say?”

You shake your head.

“Go on. Ask me.”

“It’s fine, that’s, um. That’s your business.”

“You’ll have to know before we get there, anyway.” He kicks back, legs crossed at the ankle, and leans against the wall with his arms behind his head.

You don’t dare speak, and after he gives you a moment to interrupt, he focuses on you, wanting to see how you react to his story.

“I ran with a group for a while when I was younger. Rougher types. I was a different man, then. Angrier. They liked to blow off steam in a lot of ways, most of which I couldn’t or wouldn’t participate.” He dips his helmet briefly.

“They’d give me a lot of shit over it, so I started going when they went to these clubs. It was something I could do, that I wanted to do. But Axis was different. It caters to a certain kind of clientele. With particular tastes.”

He looks down for a moment, and you gasp softly. “Oh,” you brush a hand over your collar. “That’s—”

“Yes. That’s where I learned about all the little games you let me play, sweetheart. They all thought it was a fun laugh. Some of it hot, but a lot of it just a big joke. But I kept going back. After a few times on my own, one of the Madames who runs—or ran, I guess I don’t know—started to show me things. Back then, I thought she pitied me for being clueless. Now, I think she was more worried that I was dangerous.”

“Because you’re Mandalorian?”

“No, because I was a headstrong, large being with a clear rage issue. There are so many ways things can go wrong like that. I guess she wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to hurt anyone.”

It was your turn to tilt your head a little, examining him under the new information you had greedily absorbed. “I can’t imagine you being capable.”

“You didn’t know me then. Anyway, I wouldn’t have. The whole idea of abusing your sub was too baffling to me—the beauty of it is in the symbiosis. The give and take.”

You smirk. “You are very good at both.”

He lowers an arm to reach for you, pulling you across the crate to sit beside him as soon as you scooch near enough. “Thank you, cyar’ika,” he murmurs, arm wrapping around your shoulder.

You lean against him, tucked into the warm gap where his arm and side are free of beskar.

“So we’re going to see if she still works there?”

“I was close with a few of the workers. Couple of the professionals, bartenders, other management. I used to help out a little with the troublemakers. If someone was crossing a line.”

You shake your head. “Knew it. You were a softie even then.”

“Oh, I’m a softie?”

“Very much so.”

“That's what those bruises on your ass mean to you?”

You nudge him with your shoulder, laughing. “Kind of. I mean, I did ask for it. All I ever have to do is ask nicely.”

“Hmm.” He taps his foot, and you suddenly don’t like the way he fell deep in thought. “I’ll remember that.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh is right, sweetheart. But we have a job to do.”

You land on Morlana One two days later. You pace in the cockpit, with nothing to do but wait for evening.

Mando was in the hull, working on modifiers for one of his pistols. Or, he was trying, but the possibility you would wear a hole in the floor and fall through was distracting.

“Come down here,” he calls, setting his tools to the side.

You clamber down the ladder, jumping off halfway. “What?”

“Sit,” he points at the stack of crates where your old bedroll still lives.

You hop up and cross your legs. He watches as your right knee bounces and your eyes cast around the hull, head swiveling like a convor.

“You’re nervous.”

You stop moving entirely, his scrutiny a wedge in your gears. “Why would I be nervous about recon? There’s not even going to be a fight today.”

“Hmm.” He's not so sure. But the fight he anticipates is a little more internal, and he wagers a bet you were struggling with the same thing.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you ask. Your knee slips back into motion.

“Like what.” he says flatly.

“Oh, ha ha. Yes, it’s funny, see, because you have a helmet, and no one knows what you’re thinking, but you can see everyone else’s feelings and—”

“Hey. Take a breath.” He stands and walks to sit next to you.

You sigh. “You’re so calm about this.”

“No reason to be anything else,” he shrugs.

Easy for him to say. You had both agreed this had to go a certain way. If no one there remembered him, he was an armed bounty hunter walking into a club of people who would not want to be recognized.

People who would probably be more comfortable if they saw him on the same level.

So you had agreed, yes, to “pose” as his sub. You would wear his collar. You would dress and act the part.

You were used to playing stupid or flirting with marks, but you still held the power in those situations. You had the advantage. This time, you would have no way to influence the outcome. Unarmed, and weak.

“We don’t have to do this,” he says, reaching to hold your hand. He's not geared up yet, and the warm strength of his grasp helps a little.

“I’ll be fine, it’s just weird.” Even the outfit felt weird. It was yours; you had worn it for a hundred ops—it fit in perfectly on Cantonica. Granted, it wasn’t a lot of clothing, but you usually felt good in it. Strong.

Right now, you just feel exposed. The nylon shorts areshort, with straps not unlike a holster down one thigh. The shirt is cut short, too, with thick bands that crisscross your shoulders. It has a soft linen cloak attached, with a generous hood and a split panel that runs about mid-calf down your back.

The design was meant to help you conceal weapons. Actual holsters blend into the strappy patterns, and the cloak helps conceal firearms. Not that you’ll be taking any, this time.

You shift on the bench, tugging at the hemline of your shorts.

“It is a little weird,” he agrees. “There’s going to be people fucking and tying each other up, and I’m supposed to keep my hands off you?”

You huff a laugh that doesn’t reach your eyes. “I don’t want this to change how you see me as a partner.”

“Cyar’ika, if anything, I know better than anyone how absolutely terrifying you can be.”

“Shut up,” you mumble, but smile.

On your walk to the district, though, it becomes apparent that he is not as calm as he wanted to be.

“You probably shouldn’t make eye contact with anyone,” he says as you turn a corner. He had been dropping these little fun suggestions the whole way.

“Okay,” you had agreed to each. Don’t talk to anyone who doesn’t talk to you first. Sit still and listen. Look to him before agreeing to anything you’re asked. And on and on.

“Will they kick us out if I forget any of this?”

“No, just. There’s a certain expectation for experienced guests. And we don’t want anyone to think you aren’t experienced. Or that I’m not. Draws attention from the wrong people.”

You consider this quietly until you're steps away from the club. “Mando,” you grab his arm to stop him. “If these are expectations, do you—are you—”

“Do I wish you did all of those things?”

You nod, rubbing your arm and focusing on the neon reflecting off the puddles.

“No. If I wished you would behave a certain way, I’d tell you. Like now, when you’re not looking at me.”

You look up at him immediately, feeling very foolish for worrying about it in the first place. He hasn’t been shy about correcting your behavior or coaching you on the way he likes things done.

He puts his hands on your shoulders. “Everything you do for me is perfect. And this is going to be fine.”

You can only nod, nausea eating away at your nerve.

He shows something to the Devaronian at the door, who steps aside to let you both through. Mando guides you by the hand so you can keep your eyes down.

It's so hard. The club is noisy, claustrophobic despite its sprawling footprint, with red velvet and leather and the smell of polish and sweat. You don’t dare look closer.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see the blur of bodies. People sitting and chatting, sipping at drinks. Someone dancing on a small stage. Someone with a cock down their throat, kneeling before someone else in tall leather boots.

Mando stops by the bar and leans over, talking quietly to the Twi’lek mixing drinks. She nods and ducks through a curtain behind the counter, and Mando leads you over to an open sofa. He settles, but you waver. Should you sit next to him? Should you kneel on the floor?

He makes the decision for you, tugging you into his lap so you're straddling his thighs, allowing you to hide your face in his cowl, or—as he probably intended—lean your ear down near the helmet to hear him.

“Doing okay?” he murmurs, and you nod into his shoulder. “You can hide this time,” he says, a hand settling on your lower back.

You take a few deep breaths, willing your body into holding a loose, relaxed position. Like you're comfortable here. Like you do this all the time.

He scoops the tails of your cloak to the side, tucked up and out of the way, but unfortunately, also showing off how high the shorts ride up on your thighs. Before you can fuss, though, he solves the problem by wrapping his other hand around your ass.

He lounges, idly watching the activities. He nudges you and points at a couple in the corner nearby. An older man is tied securely to a post, arms above his head and ankles bound to brackets in the floor so his legs are spread wide. His partner works him over with a short whip. They are both clearly enjoying themselves.

You promptly bury your face back in his shoulder, and he chuckles. “Too much? Or would you let me try it?”

Your hips give a very small jerk forward, catching on the seam of his pants before you get control of yourself. “Um.”

But whatever you were about to say is cut off when a stranger approaches. “I have to tell you, I didn’t quite believe Nia when she said you were looking for me.”

“Anissa,” he says, reaching his arm away from your back to accept a sideways hug from the woman. “It’s been a long time.”

“It’s been a damn decade, Mando. Too busy to visit me?” She pauses, seeming to notice you for the first time. “Well, certainly a little busy.”

He nudges you, dipping his head to let you know it was okay to look. It was harder than you would ever admit to pull yourself away from him. You hadn’t felt this unmoored in a situation in decades.

“This is my girl,” he says, warm pride in the undercurrent of his soothing voice. “Cyar’ika, I’d like you to meet my good friend, Madame Anissa.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Madame,” you say softly, inclining your head. My girl. Your brain trips over the echo of his voice, and you forget what comes next. Should you shake her hand? Was it okay for you to have addressed her directly?

“It is very nice to meet you,” she says, extending her own hand to save you the trouble. You shake it, and she clasps your hand gently between both of hers. Her hands are soft and dark, with short nails painted bright blue. She's tall and very beautiful, older, with some white in her curls, and laugh lines deep in her face. Her eyes, though. Pretty as they are, what holds your gaze was the inherent kindness behind them.

When she lets go, you take a quick look around, which is when you notice the woman kneeling patiently at her feet. She's looking at you already, not hesitant about where her eyes linger, though she does not look at Mando.

She looks tense, almost defensive. Her shoulders are taut and her spine straight, hands clasped in her lap. Not defensive, you realize. Postured. A practiced pose. When you look up at her face, she smiles.

You smile back, somehow, despite the constant beat of run run run in your chest.

“So, Mando, business or pleasure?” Anissa asks with the rise of a carefully groomed eyebrow.

“Both, unfortunately,” he says.

You look at him, a little perplexed at the honesty in his tone. He strokes gloved fingers up and down your spine, and you hold your tongue.

“Business first, shall we? Why don’t we let the girls go to the lounge while we talk?”

“She can stay,” Mando says immediately. “She knows my business.”

“I wouldn’t want Mara to be left alone,” Anissa says. Her meaning us clear, and so Mando looks to you.

“The lounge is just over there, and it’s for subs only,” he says. “You stay with Mara.”

“Yes, sir,” you say, rising from his lap. It makes you jittery to call him that in public. While working.

Mara stands and offers you her hand. Not usually one to be tactile with a stranger, you take it anyway and let her lead the way.

She punches in a code at the door’s panel, and it slides to the side to reveal a small parlor in shades of blue. The walls are pale, and there is a soft, lush carpet in navy. An archway leads to a dressing room of sorts, with tables and lighted mirrors and cushioned stools. Mara points out the door to the refresher inside.

“So we don’t have to share with the doms,” she says. “Y’know.”

You nod, trying to get your bearings. It's like being two people at once. Bounty Hunter you takes in every detail, noting the faces of each being, and registering the single exit and entry point. But the Other you, the new one who never had to talk to anyone but Mando, is overwhelmed.

She leads you over to a corner where a small kitchenette is set up and offers you a drink or snack. You accept a bottle of water but, as good as they look, pass on the iced cookies. You aren’t sure of the integrity of your lunch with the way your nerves refuse to settle, so something sweet feels like an invitation for disaster.

When you were seated on a plush sofa, legs tucked underneath you and twisting the lid on and off the water, she sets a hand on your knee.

“Do you need help?” she asks, voice soft. leaning forward so her long, red hair fell over where her arm reached for you.

“What?”

“Just, you know. Are you safe? We can help you if you aren’t.” Her dark eyes are wide and genuine.

Warm relief washes through you. “Oh! Yes, I promise. He looks scary, but he’s very kind.”

“And you’re allowed to say no?” Mara asks, still very serious.

“Yes. And we have a… a safeword?” You aren’t sure if the term he used was universal.

She sighs and smiles. “If that changes, you let me know, okay?”

You agree easily, though you doubt you’ll ever be here again.

She pulls out a small datapad and stands. “Wait here, I’ll be right back. Madame wants a drink,” she says, with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

Mando pauses mid-sentence when Mara ducks in to slip a pink cocktail to her Madame. He waits until she's gone back toward the lounge.

“I take it I passed the test.”

Madame Anissa laughs, setting the drink down since there is no need for the pretense. “It has been ten years,” she says.

“I’m glad you did it,” he agrees.

“She seems like a sweet girl,” Anissa muses, “if maybe inexperienced.”

“I thought you wanted to talk business first?”

“You haven’t changed at all, have you? Good.” She claps her hands together and rests them on her knees. “What do you need?”

Mara returns to find you talking to a man, a younger Twi’lek named Ari, whose light green skin is barely visible through his extensive tattoos.

“So you don’t know what he looks like?” he was asking you.

You shake your head. “I don’t know what his face looks like. Except, I don’t know. I do?”

“You peeked?” Mara asks as she takes her seat back beside you.

“No! No, I just mean. The helmet is the only face I’ll ever know, right? So, I don’t know. I don’t really think about the other one.” Except when he was between your legs, hot mouth making you see stars.

“You’re not curious at all?” Ari asks.

“I didn’t say that. But it’s not important.” You shrug. “That’s just him, to me.”

They let you change the subject and chat a little about their own lives, who they are outside of their relationships. The whole time, though, your stomach churns. You don’t belong here, it seemed to say. These are good people.

And something horrible aches inside you. You like them. You want to stay here on this little couch and talk and laugh. They're nice and so comfortable with themselves, even in this weird tiny room where you all exist between two halves of yourselves.

Another life hangs in the air. A bad habit of yours, to conjure what you can’t have. A life where Mando brings you here all the time, to be together outside of the Crest. Where you’d lay your head in Ari’s lap and listen to him gossip about the will-they-won’t-they customers or Nia’s affair with the doorman. Where Mara would let you braid her hair, and you could swap secrets and laugh at jokes only the two of you understood.

A life with Mando in it for a long, long time.

You're saved from them asking why you had gone quiet, saved from your childish desires, when Mara’s datapad chirps.

“They want us to come back out now. Or, I’m guessing, your Mandalorian is getting lonely,” she teases.

More like he had completed his mission and was ready to move on, you think.

But instead of standing to leave when you find him, he gestures for you to sit back down on his lap. Mara helps herself to Madame Anissa’s lap, earning a swat for being cheeky, but no other scolding.

“Mando,” Anissa drawls. “Is she wearing a collar?”

His grip tightens, his fingers digging into your waist a little. “Yes.”

You hold very still, breathing shallow, trying to parse his reaction.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” Anissa shakes her head. “Maybe you have changed.”

“I like to think so,” he says quietly.

You stare at the edge of the sofa just over his shoulder. Afraid if you move, draw his attention by hiding your face, that you’d be caught listening. Not that they really could expect you not to, you reason.

“Cyar’ika,” Mando says.

“Yes, sir?”

He's quiet, this conversation just for you. “Madame Anissa offered us a room, if you’d like. A private room, I mean. For a couple hours, or for the night. We could get going in the morning.”

The air is thick and cloying, catching in your throat. He wants to stay here? He didn’t want to get on the trail, sleep through the journey?

“We don’t have to,” he rushes to assure you.

You bite your lip. Your gut says yes, please, let me have you like this for a little bit longer. “If you’d like,” you test.

He quirks his head, and you raise your eyebrows before you realize your mistake. He was asking your opinion and expected you to give it.

“I’d like that, I mean,” you confess, looking right into his visor.

“Is that a yes, then?” Anissa asks, not at all ashamed for eavesdropping.

“Yes, please,” Mando tells her.

She stands, Mara scrambling off her lap in time to avoid falling.

Mando makes to follow her, but Mara grabs your hand before you can go with him.

“I meant it,” she says. “You come find me if you need anything.” She stares unwaveringly into your eyes.

“I will,” you say, squeezing her hand. “I won’t need to, though.”

She squeezes back and lets you go.

The room is intimidating. It wasn’t meant to be, draped in shades of green and brown. But in addition to the huge bed is an assortment of furniture and accessories unlike you had ever seen. Not that it was hard to guess what they were for.

When Anissa leaves, door clicking into place behind her, it's the most awkward you’d felt with Mando in nearly a year. He, of course, didn’t miss a thing.

“We can just sleep,” he says, tugging your hand to sit beside him on the edge of the bed.

You shake your head and sink to kneel in front of him, leaning your head against his leg.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he says, tugging his gloves off and cupping your cheek. “You’ve been on the edge all day, haven’t you?”

You nod against his palm, eyes slipping closed. The floor is warm, unusually so, like there was a heating system beneath. The planks were practical for a room that probably saw a lot of fluids, but not uncomfortable.

“So if you don’t want to sleep…” he says, running a thumb over your bottom lip.

You look up at him, something warm in your gaze. “Let me guess,” you say, pressing a soft kiss to his digit. “You want to try something.”

He laughs, and the last of the uneasiness leaves you in a soft sigh.

“I do. But not with any of that,” he gestures to what you could only describe as sex furniture. “Not tonight, anyway. Just something simple. Easy.”

“That sounds nice,” you agree. Your limbs are heavy, and you're starting to come down from the adrenaline rush from all the new and intimidating stimuli from the day.

“Climb up here, cyar’ika, and get comfortable.”

You obey. The mattress is thick and covered with a dense layer of blankets. Enough pillows to fill the Crest are piled against the headboard. You sink into it, face first, and sigh.

“Goodnight,” you tell Mando.

He gives your ass a light smack. “Too late for that, sweetheart.”

You groan dramatically, flopping over onto your back and throwing an arm over your face. “You’re so cruel to me.”

“Oh? I thought I was a big softie?”

Your eyes shoot open. “Uh oh.”

“Told you I’d remember that, cyar’ika.” He had procured soft cuffs from somewhere, and is already in the process of wrapping them around your ankles and securing them to the bed, which you realize then has little u-shaped brackets all over the supports.

“Whoa, that’s kind of neat,” you say, sitting up on your elbows to get a better look.

He pushes you back to the bed, shaking his head, and makes quick work of your wrists.

You tug gently, a sharp rush of arousal and a heavy warmth spreading when nothing budges. You lift your head to watch as he carefully removes his armor, setting each piece aside on the long padded table across the room. It also has brackets down the sides, you notice, and looks like it could be raised and lowered at multiple points. Your mouth goes dry thinking about finding yourself atop it.

“This is such a pretty outfit, cyar’ika. Did you like everyone seeing you like this?” He runs his hand over your bare midriff, teasing up the bottom of your shirt.

“I’ve worn this before.”

“Not with me, you haven’t. I’d remember.” His fingers wander just under your breasts before he withdraws his hand, smoothing back down across your stomach. “It’s practically underwear, sweetheart. Does it make you feel pretty?”

“I guess,” you mumble. He's treading into uncomfortable waters, and he knows it.

“It should. You look so strong and soft. Makes me wish I could taste you.”

You whine, his hand trailing over your shorts. The thin, stretchy fabric was great for being on the move, but it does nothing to dampen sensation.

“Sorry, sweetheart, not tonight. I shouldn’t tease.” The tips of his fingers trace the seam of your cunt, and you buck up toward him. He draws his hand back immediately and grins as the realization spreads across your face.

“Figured out what game I want to play tonight?”

“Fuck.”

“What’s the matter? Are you worried I’m going to be mean?”

“Uh-huh,” you whine as he resumed his caresses, hardly more than a breeze.

“I thought you said I’m soft? That all you have to do is ask nicely?” He scrapes a fingernail across your shorts, and you jerk your hips again, whimpering and straining against the cuffs as he draws back.

“I haven’t even gotten started, and you’re already this desperate.”

You burn at the taunt, biting your tongue to keep from whining again. You force yourself to take a deep breath, closing your eyes and trying to center yourself. You could play his game.

He doesn’t like that, apparently, reaching up to flick a nail where your shirt pulls over your hard nipple. It startles a yelp out of you, turning the wrath of your glare to him.

“I wonder which of us will tire out first,” he muses, tweaking it with a quick pinch before rolling his palm over your other nipple.

You. It would be you. You know it, he knows it. But you set your jaw and steel yourself to take whatever he gives you.

Though you hadn’t counted on the cabinet of toys. When he walks away from the bed, you sigh and take a moment to gather your wits.

His saunter on the way back should have warned you. He holds up a hand, three foreign items clutched within. “Know what these are?”

You shake your head.

“You will.” He sets them down on the mattress in your line of sight. “But not yet.”

The two small clamps aren’t hard to figure out, and a shiver runs over you. It goes straight to your cunt, where you're sure you've soaked through.

The wet patch doesn’t escape his notice, either, and he resumes brushing his hand over you with incredible gentleness.

A scream is building in your chest, a ferocious thing. You focus on breathing again and not trying to figure out what the little capsule is for.

He takes his time teasing you through your clothes before finally lifting your shirt over your breasts. While he had intended to resume the same impossibly soft touch, he can’t resist giving your tits a few firm slaps, watching them bounce and reaping the reward of your breathy little moans.

Having had his fun, he switches back to barely touching you. His cock is painfully hard, but easy to ignore as he watches your face screw up in delicious agony. You’d taken the bait and were refusing to beg.

Good. It’ll be so much more satisfying when you break down and plead with him.

By the time he begins to apply gentle pressure, you're starting to lose your battle. Your chest heaves with the effort, desperate cries falling from your lips. You writhe against the bonds, trying to shake his hand away.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart? You need something?”

You let out a sob, flinching away from him and wrestling with your conviction.

So he presses his thumb down firmly against your clit. You jerk, unable to get far enough away.

“Please,” you cry, voice breaking. “Please, please, please.”

“What was that?”

“Please,” another breathless sob. “Please, can I cum, sir? Please?”

“You are good at asking nicely,” he muses, rubbing a soft circle against your clit. “But no.”

“What?” your head snaps up, tears welling.

“Not yet, cyar’ika.” He removes his hand and watches as your hips twitch to chase him.

“You’re sweating, sweetheart. Let’s give you a break and get you out of those clothes.” He unclipps the cuffs and brings you a bottle of water. You gulp half of it down, glaring at him.

“Alright, up. Strip.”

You don’t budge from where you sit on the edge of the bed, holding the water to your chest.

He tilts the helmet. “You’re mad I said no, so you’re going to be disobedient? That seem like a wise choice?”

“No,” you grumble but don’t move.

He can see the fight you're having as you chew on your lip, scowling at the floor. You take another drink of water and stand, reaffixing your glare on his visor.

He waits, one hand on a hip. “Watch yourself, sweetheart.”

You set the water bottle on the nightstand, fingers flexing near the hem of your shirt.

“Take it off—”

“Or you will?” You roll your eyes. But you realize your mistake the minute the words slip out. “Oh, kriff. I'm sorry.” You scramble to pull your clothes off.

He lets you frantically fumble, watching as you even fold your clothes and set them neatly on the nightstand.

You go to kneel in front of him and apologize, but he cuts you off.

“Back on the bed.”

When you're in place, he moves to strap you back down. Your lip trembles, and he knows it's killing you not to beg forgiveness. He strokes your cheek.

“Done pouting?”

“Yes, sir, I—”

“Quiet,” he says, not unkindly. “I knew this would be hard for you. I do spoil you. You get through the rest of this without the attitude, and I’ll consider it forgiven.”

You nod, lips pursed.

“You can beg. But you’ll accept my answers.”

“Yes, sir,” you whisper.

Satisfied, he moves to better access your cunt. He runs a hand over your trembling thigh and finally parts you with one finger, not quite dipping inside. Your groan wracks your whole body, your hole clenching at nothing as his finger traces the outside.

After a while (and you had no concept of the passage of time, it could have been years), he abruptly shoves two fingers in to the knuckle.

You scream. It sensd a rush through his body, his cock twitching where it still lay beneath his clothes.

“No, no, no, please,” you cry as he begins to pull his fingers out, only to break into a moan when he shoves them back in.

“Doing okay? Do you need a break?”

“No, please don’t stop, fuck,” you gasp.

He slides his thumb up to rub against your clit, smirking at the way you wail and struggle against the cuffs.

It wasn’t enough. He needs you to break again. He flicks his thumbnail against your swollen bud, and you fall apart.

“Please, please, please,” you're full-out sobbing, now. “Please, can I cum, Sir?”

He pinches your clit harshly. “No.”

You scream, thrash, and fight to keep control of yourself. He lets go, letting you back away from the edge. His goal isn’t to make you disobey, but simply to toy with you until he's had his fill.

“Time for something a little different, cyar’ika,” he says, standing up to walk around to the side where he had left the toys.

Your head snaps to the side, and your cries stopped abruptly, fear curling in your gut.

“I really think you’re going to like these,” he says, showing you the little clips in his hand. “Hold still.”

You suck in a breath and hold your body tight, eyes squeezed shut.

“Look at you, pretty girl. You’re being so good for me.” He holds your left breast in one hand and brings the clamp to it, easing the pressure off to let it slowly close. The moan reverberates through your body, and when the accompanying shudder shakes the clamp, it gets even louder.

“How’s that feel? Is it too tight?” He’s fairly sure you’re fine, from your reaction, but it would be remiss not to check.

You groan. “S’good, fuck.”

“Ready for the other one?”

“Oh, fuck,” you sob, nodding.

He takes his time, now that you know what to expect, and drags the tip of the clamp around your nipple first just to watch you squirm. After he eases it on, he gives you a firm slap on the side of your breast.

It's fucking ethereal, the way your back arches and the desperate way you cry for permission to cum.

“Still no, cyare, sorry.”

You have the sense of mind still to stare at him incredulously. “Sorry?!”

He laughs. “You’re right. I’m not sorry.” And he hits you again. The way your whole body shakes with the effort to be good has him moaning and stroking his cock through his pants. “Osik, I might just cum from this.”

It doesn't have the reaction he wanted this time. Instead, you still and looked at him, eyes wide and lip trembling. “You’re not going to fuck me?” you whisper.

He rubs his hand over your side, letting the soothing motion distract you from your throbbing cunt. “Depends,” he lies. “You going to keep being good for me?”

“Please, I will, I’ll be good, I’ll do anything, please.”

He knows you're about to break. Harder than you ever have before, he expects. “I know you will, cyar’ika. I’ve got one more, can you take one more challenge?”

You try to choke back the sobs wracking your body, nodding.

He hesitates. “It’s not going to be easy.” He sits, for a moment, watching. Waiting to see if you calm down. When your sobs subside, and you're breathing easier, he stands up and retrieves the water, pressing it to your lips.

Once you've had a few sips, you blink your wet lashes open and look at him. “I can, I swear. I want to. I can take it.”

“Okay,” he says, standing up, and he shows you the little cylinder.

“I’m going to fuck you now,” he says. “And I’m going to turn this on and hold it against your clit until you can’t stand it anymore.” He twists the base, and the vibrator jumps to life. He holds it against your side for a moment so you know what to expect. “Or we can stop, and I’ll still fuck you, and we can go to sleep.”

You don't hesitate. “I can take it,” you insist.

He had intended to fuck you after you begged from the vibrator, but it seems unwise. So he climbs onto the bed between your spread legs before unclipping your ankles.

You don't even notice, too distracted by the smooth way he pushes into you.

“You’re fucking soaked,” he groans.

“No shit,” you moan. “Someone’s been torturing me for hours.”

He pulls back and began fucking into you, too wound up to take it slow. Plus, he knows when he turns the vibrator on, you are going to fall apart in just minutes. “Hmm, that doesn’t sound like me. I’m a softie.”

“Shut up,” you groan, words punching out of you as his cock batters into you. “I take it back.”

“Oh good,” he says. “Then I can do this now.”

He pauses his movements, to your disappointment, but your whine is cut off when he pushes the vibrator right up to your clit and turns it on.

He meant to keep fucking into you, but you clamp down so tight he thinks his cock might snap. You scream silently until he tugs the clamps off, and it cracks into a wail.

“Cum, cyar’ika,” he says, grinding his hips to reach into you, to carve out a place for himself in you, and you fall apart.

He joins you, holding your legs tight against him so he won’t slip out, and as soon as your cries turn sharp, he pulls the vibrator away, turning it off and tossing it to the ground. You keep your legs wrapped around him and don’t let up, so he doesn’t try to pull out just yet. He lets his cock stay warm within you as you twitch through the aftershocks.

The sheets are soaked, your cunt leaking as he softened. He runs his hands over your hips and stomach, crooning praises.

Finally, your legs fall limp to his sides, and he slides carefully out, wincing at how swollen you are. You're still twitching, but also very clearly falling asleep. Fuck it, he thinks, and leaves the mess. Carefully, he releases your wrists from the cuffs, red marks dug in where you had struggled. He lays your arms carefully down and then climbs in next to you.

You nestle up to his chest, and he wraps himself around you, stroking your hair. “You’re right, cyar’ika,” he whispers as you drift off. “You make me soft.”

*title from "New Again" by Taking Back Sunday.

[eris-snow]

9. 𝐏𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐧: 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐭

Tags: bakugoux fem!reader, juxtaposition, angst,fluff

Revelations uncovered and questions unanswered. Sometimes, when you move two steps forward, you move 3 steps back.

Country to popular belief, Katsuki has done many stupid things before.

He once created an entire backstory to back up one of his egotistical lies. What’s stupider is that everyone believed him. Another time, he’d played the knife finger game and gotten his first scar on his index finger. And then, there was Deku, which was just a huge bombshell of bad decisions all ending with a ‘you fucked up’ at the end.

But sitting in a hero dropout’s house in a crusty living room was not what he expected character growth would do to him.

Just saying.

“How did you find the log?” Saito asks, shifting the packet of Doritos out of the way to make space on the beanbag. Katsuki and you sit stiffly on the couch, as if held at gunpoint.

The apartment was poorly decorated, and not exactly the cleanest, but Saito’s down-to-earth character and overall demeanour was enough to smooth the edge Katsuki was on.

“I found a yellow thread. Led me to the back of the library.”

You frown at him. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“You didn’t ask.”

Not rising to the bait, you reply. “Found it on my first day. I tried to show it to people, but they’d just forget. I placed it back where I found it and gave up after a month.”

Saito glances between the both of you, before nodding in understanding. He turns to Katsuki, “So you’re the Savior,” and then turns to you. “And you’re the Target.”

“Yeah, thanks Captain Obvious.” Katsuki mumbles. You nudge him, and he gives you a scalding glare, but he bites back the rest of his statement.

“Can you help us? Tell us about you and…your friend?” Your tone is neutral, but there’s hope behind it. You’re so close.

Saito looks directly at you both, and Katsuki can almost see a hint of Aizawa in him. Tired, worn out by life, and beaten down.

For as tall as the man is, he sure likes to make himself look small.

“I can tell you what happened. But speaking from experience, the phenomenon must be broken by you two alone. I can’t help you with that.” Inhaling deeply, Saito closes his eyes. “The cause of your invisibility is not based solely on a Quirk; this is far greater than that. It’s a phenomenon. The science experiment on Quirks those decades ago was like wood to the flame, and when it went wrong, everything did.”

Saito shrugs. “Kenji and I dubbed the phenomenon Reset, ‘cause of how far back it put our friendship. Hurts to think that I didn’t…” He trails off, before starting again. “We spent a year picking for clues, and that log has all our research in it.”

“Were there more pairs?” you ask. “Like us?”

“Allegedly,” Saito replies. “But Reset doesn’t happen just for the sake of it, kid. It chooses; it’s specific. I tried tracking down most of the pairs—wasn’t helpful. Most were dead.”

He let that statement hang there for a while; just to let it soak up the silence it left behind.

“We talked about what would happen after we got out of this mess. Kenji told me he wanted to start an agency together, and I agreed. We hit off the moment we stepped foot into that class.” Saito’s expression is fond. “We were like brothers. Sure, we didn’t go through a war, but we were close. That smart alec was always smarter than me, faster than me—he would have made a fine hero.”

Katsuki and you suck in a breath in unison.

Time to rip off the band-aid. Katsuki closes his eyes.

“So he’s dead.”

There’s a beat of silence.

“He faded away.”

Well, he might as well have compressed the room with a piston, because now the tension is really thick.

“I was on track to debut right after graduation. There was an internship and heroes—they still wanted me. But after that? After watching my friend fade in front of me like that?” The man shakes his head and pulls his hair. His voice fights to keep steady. “If I couldn’t even save my best friend, what kind of hero would I make?”

Katsuki has heard those words before. It’s the same words he repeats to himself every day, 24/7, like a broken recorder.

No wonder this guy dropped out.

Your face is fighting to keep expressionless, so when your eyes start to water, you wipe them away.

Katsuki had to be strong on the battlefield. He has to be strong now, even if it’s on a couch in a pigsty.

Strong not for himself, but for you.

With slowed breaths, Saito looks up at the both of you and swallows. His eyes are rimmed red. “ There was an article I found about the experiment the day Kenji faded away, but it looks like he got to it sooner.” the man’s eyes are hollow.

“It was on the guy’s Quirk used for the experiment: Undetected. The person who wielded the Quirk was able to make people invisible, but at the price of taking away his senses, bit by bit. It starts with your eyesight, and when you’re fully blind, it starts to take away your hearing, and so on. Can you imagine being cut off from the world like that? It’s horrifying.”

What a curse of a Quirk.

Bile rises to his throat, and Katsuki forces himself to stay on task. “So can we fix this? Or are we fucked?”

Saito smiles sadly. It looks as if he went through the entire cycle of grief and he was at the last stage: acceptance. “Even though it might seem random, Reset happens for a reason. You must see the unseen and find what has been lost. Do that, and you will break the phenomenon.”

You look close to tears. “Please don’t play word games with us now—”

“The breaking of the phenomenon is different for every pair. Tailored by the strings of Fate herself, customised and thoughtfully crafted. What I was going to do with Kenji isn’t going to work for the both of you.” With a shake of his head, he continues. “The faster you do it, the better. How long have you known each other?”

You’re wrecking yourself inside out, so Katsuki scoots a little closer and answers for you (even if he was dreading the reply). “3 and a half months.”

Saito’s lengthy frame curls into itself even more as the man lets out a depressing sigh. “The day of the science experiment was November 16th. I met Kenji again on the same day, 15 years back. Guess what day he faded.”

Saito doesn’t wait for an answer that doesn’t come.

Fate has a cruel way of tying her strings.

“It was exactly one year later.”

Katsuki sucks in a breath, and beside him, you completely broke.

The day he pulled that curtain and locked eyes with you…

Katsuki funnels through his thoughts and grasps for the date.

November 16th.

The world must have stopped turning.

With a crooked, shattered look, Saito cracks his last statement. “Your days are numbered. Use them wisely, kid.”

—

Katsuki finds the last unwashed mug in Saito’s cabinet and digs out the coffee powder from behind capaciously placed condiments. If he’s going to get through this rationally, then coffee is a much-needed requirement.

There’s a creak in the floorboards, which makes Katsuki’s eyes snap to the doorway to meet cobalt blue.

Saito lets himself into his own kitchen. “You look like a startled cat.”

There’s no reply.

Flicking the tap on, running water gushes out of the tap as the lean man grabs a sponge. Katsuki pours boiling water into his cup, and watches it simmer.

“Where’s L/n?”

“On the balcony.”

Katsuki whips his head to Saito, teeth bared, eyes flashing.

“I told you to watch her—!”

“And I told you she needs to be alone.”

Annoyance creeps up his spine at that remark.

“You don’t know L/n,” Katsuki says, and there’s venom infused into it.

Saito doesn’t respond immediately, choosing his words wisely. “I’m not here to argue with you.”

Katsuki’s glare is sharp as he tears a hand through his hair. Irritated with himself, he rips his eyes away from the hero dropout.

You’re going to die.

The thought repeats, and his blood is cold.

You’re going to die.

“How do I save her?” Katsuki says, voice low, dumping the coffee powder into his boiling water. “See the unseen? Find what has been lost? There are two parts of this wannabe Shakespeare, and we have nowhere to start.”

Blue eyes flicker to red, and all the sounds left is the sound of the fan in the living room.

“I don’t know,” Saito admits.

Katsuki’s fingers curl into fists as a wave of helplessness, uncertainty, and anger courses through his veins. He’s frustrated and so, so tired of running around in circles.

When one solution presents itself, another problem lands right on his lap with vague words strung out by a toddler who thought he was smart. You’re not a means of passing time anymore.

You’re important to him.

And he doesn't want to see that horrified, let-down expression on your face ever again.

“Kenji was my first friend, ever.” Saito’s voice is thick, like he’s trying to push back a wave of tears. “And when he finally told me about his situation, all my memories came back to me. I felt horrible for forgetting somebody like him,” Saito shrugs. “We may not be related by blood, but we were brothers. And I failed him by being too late.”

Katsuki’s coffee sits untouched, as heavy silence hangs between the both of them.

“We had to go back to the tree we used to sleep under in the nearby forest. I’m sure you know it. The one the government cornered off.”

Katsuki brushes aside the memory of Deku’s outstretched hand and the sound of running water.

Focus. He needs to focus.

”There was something we lost there.” Saito continues. “To break the phenomenon, we had to find Kenji’s watch.”

The words pluck the air as Katsuki blinks.

“To break the phenomenon,” he repeats slowly. “You had to find a watch.”

Saito looks at him dead in the eye. He’s not joking. “Yes.”

See the unseen, find what has been lost.

With a scoff, he utters frustratedly. “What kind of significance can a watch hold—”

He stops short when he sees the sorrow deepen in the man’s eyes.

“You have no idea.”

Whatever importance that watch held, it was evident even after more than a decade’s worth of grieving, it was still tearing him up inside. And by the looks of it, it was a story that Katsuki did not want to be told.

“Oh, and one more thing.” Saito turns off the tap and returns the last plate to the dish rack. “That yellow thread you mentioned? It’s a guide, so follow it.” Katsuki gets a bitter smile, and a pat on the shoulder.

“Mine was blue, but that isn’t the point. It led me too.”

—

Your fingers are numb on the cold railing of the balcony.

The temperature is rising, albeit still being cold, but you don’t exactly care for your body’s shivering or the sting in your chest.

You wish you could numb your brain, too.

Light footsteps shuffle against the concrete, and in the next second, you find Katsuki standing next to you, red eyes focused on an invisible point off in the distance.

He doesn’t say anything, and you don’t either.

He does, however, lean in closer to you, warmth radiating from his body.

Wordlessly, you do the same.

You were going to die in less than a year.

If Katsuki could move boulders, defy the odds and save the world, Katsuki could break a stupid phenomenon.

You know he can, and you know he will because as much as he likes to deny it, he has a good heart.

Suddenly, you really want a hug right now.

A glance at Katsuki is all it takes, and with a slight nod, he lets you in.

It feels almost too sinful to be in the embrace of the one you used to love, that it rekindles your feelings with a spark. You extinguish it and squash your hope.

Priorities.

Survival first, feelings later.

[jazlynriddle]

Welcome to your life - Pt 3:

It's My Own Design Ch 1:

Summary:

Ominis fought to control his expression, to keep his hands from trembling. Five years. Five years since he'd seen his parents, and this. This was the reason they'd given him the honour of their time? This was the reason they'd sought him out at Hogwarts?

The bitterness welling up within him was thick enough to gag on.

New year, new allies, new responsibilities, new avenues of revenue, and new aspects of their own Ancient Magic to explore. As the Keeper and their partners enter their last year at Hogwarts, it remains to be seen if the new school year will bring with it new problems or adversaries, but they are confident in the strength of their relationship with Sebastian and Ominis. The three of them would endure, no matter what befell them.

And if they were wrong?

What a joke, they would suffer no alternative.

Warnings: Sebastian x MC x Ominis! Drug Addiction! Spoilers! Slow-burn corruption! Dark content! Fucked up 1800s orphanages! MC has no love for Anne or Solomon! Dubious happy ending (it's happy for MC, Seb and Ominis at least).

You can also read on AO3! (chapter specific warnings below)

Notes:

Whoo! Part Three here we go! This prologuey chapter is a, pretty short but hopefully good, opening into the third major arc, and our kids’ last year at Hogwarts! Part One and Two were mostly character building and establishing dynamics. This part Three, is where I'll begin setting up more plot-heavy things for the intense fourth and final major arc. That last arc is gonna be crazy =D (Also, first smut scene is Chapter 4 and it's rather BDSM flavoured)

I will, however, be changing my upload schedule to once every two weeks, because as much as I love writing this, once a week is starting to chafe, especially since I've been writing longer and longer chapters x’)

I've literally been spending every free moment writing, and I miss actually playing games, I haven't even had time to play Tears of the Kingdom despite having it since it launched- TvT

Plus, my beta and beloved boyfriend has been running himself ragged trying to keep up with my pace and I feel really bad about that, so I wanna give him more breathing room-

So, the next upload will be the same day, same time, every second Sat noon PST, just like, skipping one weekend upload. Basically alternating my upload day, hope you don't mind! ><

Now, without further ado, let the curtains rise on our Third Act!

A soft pop echoed through the Elves’ Quarters, as Tibsy appeared in the doorway, just a few metres away from the small wooden desk that Tynx was seated at, logging the resources spent for the day in his report journal.

“Tibsy, how's Master's guests?” Tynx greeted without turning around as the young elf made her way through the room's lower floor, dwarfed by the two large trays of empty cutlery in her arms.

Her small shoes tapped softly against the brown brick floor of the lower half of the room, shuffling past the ladder that led up to the upper portion where their small beds were placed, with curtains that they could draw around the beds for a semblance of privacy. She carefully weaved her way through the space between two small, comfortable beige armchairs and a quaint wooden tea-table, past two cabinets placed against the wall, also made from wood, as well as Tynx's desk, and into the elves’ small sized kitchen.

She then bypassed the short cast iron wood stove, that was placed against the wall and used for cooking as well as warming, along with a long stone counter in the middle of the room that was used both for preparing ingredients as well as serving as their dining table. Before passing another three wood cabinets, one containing kitchen tools, another for storing seasonings, herbs, and spices, and the third for raw ingredients, as well as several wooden barrels of grains and such.

Finally, she stopped by the sink and set down the two trays in the sink with a sigh.

“Tibsy is seeing Brown-hair still coughing blood.” Tibsy replied after a moment, snapping her fingers, and making the soapy sponge begin scrubbing the dirty dishes. “But he is eating the foods Tibsy is bringing him.”

“That's good, Sir Ominis did say he'd continue coughing for a while because he isn't healing the boy regularly.” Tynx nodded absently, rifling through his desk drawer, and withdrawing a sheet of parchment.

He'd been recording the boy's recovery progress over the last month, for the Master's partner, and he quickly jotted down Tibsy's report as she shuffled over to his desk.

“What is it, Tibsy?” Tynx asked after a moment, seeing her shift nervously as she stood silently beside him. “Did one of them try to hurt you again?”

“...no, Tibsy is-” She wrung her hands anxiously. “Tibsy is... being not sure how to feel.”

Tynx set down his quill and turned to sit sideways in his chair, facing her. “About what?”

“Master's guests... lady guest was hurt a lot, and Tibsy knows Black-hair's fingers was being cut for trying to hurt Tibsy... but..." Tibsy trailed off, pausing for a few moments, before continuing. “Is it really okay for Master to be hurting peoples?”

Tynx sighed, now that he thought about it, he supposed it should have been expected. Tibsy's old master was a kindly old lady, she wasn't used to seeing injured humans.

“Tibsy.” Tynx began, raising his hands. “My old master cut off three of my fingers with his carving knife. One for leaving a crease in his shirt, another because his tea was too hot and the third for giving his daughter food while he was punishing her.”

Tynx lowered his hands to his lap solemnly. “Our master is not a nice person, but they are nice to us, they take care of us, and they defend us. They don't hurt us, and they don't make us hurt others. Anything else Master does is not for us to judge.”

Tibsy stared at the gaps between his remaining fingers with wide eyes for a few moments, before nodding silently.

“If it helps, I think these people are Master's guests because they all hurt Master before.” Tynx added and Tibsy's eyes widened. “I don't know if it will always be like that, but we should just be glad it's not us in there.”

“Our master gave us an actual space in their home to live in, rather than something temporary, like an expansion charmed barrel. They gave us the money and freedom to design and decorate our living space to our size and comfort, even before building their own.” Tynx smiled wryly and Tibsy's eyes skimmed over their warm and comfortable home.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Our life here is good, better than with most masters, try to focus on that.”

“...okay.” Tibsy nodded firmly.

Tynx smiled, relieved that she understood, it would hurt if their Master killed her for doing something stupid like trying to free a guest. Their Master was a good master, but not a nice or kind person and he knew from their eyes that they wouldn't hesitate to execute their servants for disloyalty or betrayal.

“Good.” Tynx glanced at the clock on his desk. “Now, you should probably go feed Master's snakes, we'll need to welcome them back from school in a few hours.”

“Oh, yes! Tibsy will go catch small fishys for snakeys!” Tibsy's expression brightened and Tynx nodded approvingly as she bounced to the side, grabbed a bucket from under the sink and popped away.

The young elf did seem to like the job of caring for their Master's pets. Perhaps he'd take over duties directly involving the Master's guests to make things easier for her. Tynx thought to himself as he returned to writing his report, he would need to finish logging everything before their master returned to Feldcroft in the evening.

At least he could report that the foundations were ready to be built upon as they'd hoped. Anything that kept their Master happy and satisfied with them was good.

“Gotcha!” Tibsy exclaimed, snapping her fingers, and levitating a small flopping fish from the clear lake water.

With a swish of her fingers, the fish floated through the air, and was dropped into her water filled bucket. Or, at least that was supposed to happen, but as the fish flailed and thrashed violently, its tail hit the rim of the bucket and the fish propelled itself to the side, landing on the floor outside the bucket instead.

“Oh no, fishy! You're supposed to go into the bucket!” Tibsy shuffled over quickly, trying to scoop the fish from the floor with her hands.

The fish, however, was having none of that, and struggled relentlessly to flop to freedom. Tibsy pursued the slippery thing for a few minutes, grabbing for it repeatedly, until finally she managed to catch the small fish securely in her hands.

“There!” Tibsy gave an exasperated sigh, eyeing the fish critically. “Why'd fishy have to struggle so much?”

As she heard her own words, Tibsy paused. Of course, because the fishy didn't want to die. She stared at the thrashing fish. After all, she was about to feed it to Master's pets. The weight of her own actions, the weekly chore that she hadn't put much thought into before, was suddenly feeling uncomfortable in her hands.

“But... if fishy doesn’t die, Master's snakeys will die.” Tibsy bit her lip, thinking of the cute two-headed snake that she had been taking care of for the last few months.

The funny way they wiggled around and the greeting hisses they'd give her when she visited them in her free time. Sir Ominis was very nice and helped her talk with them a few times and she thought the twins were really sweet, she couldn't imagine making them starve for a fish she didn't know.

If Tibsy could speak with this fishy, maybe Tibsy might choose the fishy over the snakeys.

But that wasn't the case now, was it?

It was the snakes that she cared about more. And so, she would sacrifice the fish for the snakes, consigning the fish to a painful death.

Tibsy dropped the fish into the bucket solemnly. Such a simple yet heavy action, now that she was thinking about it.

As Tibsy collected the bucket and apparated back to the castle's greenhouses, she wondered if her master faced similar decisions.

She wondered if their guests were fishes.

“Welcome home, Master.”

Tibsy followed Tynx's bow, as the Keeper and their partners entered the Feldcroft cottage.

“Tynx, Tibsy.” The Master's voice was even as always, their expression stoic as ever, and Tibsy found herself scrutinising their face as she and Tynx straightened from their bow. “Your report?”

Tibsy stood silently behind Tynx as he began to give his usual report, watching the Keeper curiously, while their partners began to unpack their luggage. The Keeper's expression didn't change as Tynx spoke, summarising the elves’ progress with the castle and the condition of their guests, before handing the Keeper several pages from his journal, which they tucked away in their pocket.

“The two of you can begin preparations for building the castle. Sebastian and I will join you tomorrow to begin work on it if the weather is favourable.” The Keeper instructed, before surprising Tibsy with a small smile. “Well done, both of you.”

“Thank you, Master.” Tynx replied smoothly, bowing once again and Tibsy hastened to follow.

“T- thank yous, Master!” She squeaked, dropping into a bow as well, the Master's words making her feel warm inside.

She was a little surprised that the Keeper had praised her as well, considering that they normally spent more time instructing and discussing with Tynx, since Tynx was more capable, and did all the planning while she just did her best to follow instructions and not break something again. It did mean that she sometimes felt a little lost though.

“Oh, and Tynx, about the bulbs, how much did we get for those?" The Keeper's attention quickly returned to him.

Tynx checked his notes for a moment before replying. “Just enough to cover the cost of the list of tools you specified. The owner of Slug and Jigger's Apothecary paid a total of..."

“Tibsy.” She blinked as the master's blind partner approached her from the side.

“Yes, Sir Ominis?” Tibsy asked, turning to him at attention.

Ominis gave her a kind smile. “I wanted to ask how the girls are doing.”

“Oh, Sir Ominis’ snakeys are doing good! Tibsy fed them a small fishy before coming to greet masters!” She nodded eagerly. “Snakeys have a little bump of food inside now!”

“Thank you, Tibsy.” Ominis smiled, and Tibsy was surprised when he reached a hand forward and petted her softly on the head. “For taking care of them for us.”

His hand was big, warm, and gentle, and Tibsy felt that warmth inside again. Tynx was right, life was good here, with masters that were nice to her and made her feel happy.

All she had to do was follow instructions.

Notes:

The elves in Hogwarts apparently live in barrels with expansion charms on them, I think it's kinda cool and also kinda oof. House elves are apparently preserved food. I feel like Tynx who was disposable with his last master, would value having a real physical space that says “hey, I don't plan on getting rid of you in a disposable expanded garbage bag”.

I also wanted to touch on how, despite me pushing for the whole “hey, Ominis, if you want to change something and have the power to, but tell yourself that you're helpless so you don’t feel guilty for not taking the risk, that's just being wilfully ignorant. I understand that you were genuinely helpless when younger so it's very very understandable to have this issue but you gotta at least try, now that you're not helpless and alone anymore”, which he has been doing, even in the original game, going after Sebastian in the catacombs, even though he gave up halfway, and I love him for trying even though it was hard.

Despite that stance, I also think that, if a person is (or was) genuinely helpless and powerless to change something, if they can’t escape their circumstances, they shouldn't feel shame or guilt, they should just focus on being as happy as possible, recovering and coping.

I hate victim blaming and often people underestimate the sheer amount of strength required to cling to some semblance of sanity under abuse. Victims of abuse are victims because of that strength. Sick freaks target these strong people because the fuckers know these victims won't break under their fist.

So, in Tibsy's situation, where she physically cannot disobey orders due to binding magic, where she can potentially be killed for disloyalty, I believe that she should not feel bad for what the Keeper is doing.

[qoldenskies]

Yes yes yes I love ask games :3

14, 21, and 76? (for CL specifically on the last one!!)

14. how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

i am a verrrryyyy sensitive person who's had a fair share of panic attacks (my record was uhhh three in a row in one school day! i think i was in seventh grade? but it was once a day for pretty much my whole sophmore year it was NASTY, especially because i had fits that could last hourrsss) so i really claw deep into my own experiences when i write guilt and spiraling thoughts, it's not really cathartic or triggering for me but it helps me get into their brains a little!! although i HAVE cracked at couple of scenes, never into tears but sometimes i find myself holding my breath or feeling a pit in my stomach. i was actually hyperventilating a little when i wrote cw ch11 it was craaaazy

really i think the thing ive tried to emphasize the most was to go out of my way not to make it... detached, i guess? its a limited third person pov so im thinking in the way they see the world, how things go in and out of focus, etc etc. it can fuck with the prose but i think punchy simplicity works well especially when it comes to scenes with despair/fear (i think of that one line "He was feverish and delirious. He was scared and alone. It was so dark." in CL because goddd he's just a kidddddd.,,,,,)

idk im mostly eyeballing like everything i dont have any concrete advice

21. Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

oh for sure at some point, maybe!! although i go at an extremely fast pace and my mind is always racing, and when i used to try to collaborate with my friends with ocs and stuff i always got. frustrated always having to consult them, so i would end up in my own little bubble and i always felt like such an asshole :( im worried i would end up doing something like that if i did, although i dont think i had problems doing it back in like 2019 so maybe? fanfic might be different, especially since its a lot more linear

its an appealing idea for sureeee, especially if i have a lot of synergy with the other person and i dont feel awkward presenting ideas LOL

76. Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of [Fanfic Name]?

ive gotten some ideas that i thought up AFTERWARDS, but when it comes to CL as i was writing it hmmm yeah i actually cut a couple of things because i put it out a little precooked,, originally i thought i was gonna release it on halloween!!

it was mostly in regards to the early stuff, little scenes that i thought would round out the pacing that i cut because i couldnt find any inspiration for them, but when it comes to the nasty abuse i will say: i was originally planning to show the beatdown in the hallway, and i wanted to rewrite the family meeting to make it worse. i've ACTUALLY been cornered like that by my family before (for uh. asking for therapy of all things, it's in the Traumatic Experience log, but its been years and they've all apologized and changed dw), although not to that extent, so i felt like i couldve made it longer. just make it crueler and crueler and crueler. and then i thought about it and was like Ehhhh raph wouldn't allow that he's not that far gone yet LOL. dude i was originally going to make them tear into EVERYTHING i could possibly think up. down to his little verbal quirks and the way he stands (and that's less from MY personal experience and more the way that i've seen people ONLINE shit talk others, especially neurodivergent lolcows. it was a very good source of inspiration). it was very close to getting nasstyyyyy.

OH and i wanted donnie to stay with april a little longer but it didnt turn out that way, i got her into the story like i wanted so success (and his absence gave them space to plan the murder attempt)

[yellowplumfruit]

I was recently looking for your "autistic Baxter" post because I was thinking about it and would like to add to it if that's okay~! Some are more minor/less universal than others but still. :3

Him only ever wearing specific types of clothes (silk/formalwear) could be a texture sensitivity for him where he only prefers very specific textures/fabrics (lowkey also picture Baxter fidgeting with his buttons when he was younger).

I think you already brought it up in a reblog BUT black & white is his hyperfixation!! Him seeing the initials of his name as "black & white" is even like a pattern to him and us autistics like patterns.

Perfectionism. His dyed hair could also be seen as a version of it because something being not quite black when black is one of his favorite colors and so he sets about changing it is very autistic of him tbh.

He infodumps and tends to talk in paragraphs even from simple questions.

Difficulty interacting with people (he tells the MC at least once that he has trouble connecting with others because of how forward he is and how it puts people off, so he likely can't even control it well).

Adding to the above, zero impulse control lol. Just reacts/blurts things out easily (like when he flirts with Cove and only catches himself after it's too late, and all his overly impulsive reactions to the MC in Step 4). Wants to date MC after that one day (depending on moment order) in Sightseeing, insists that he MUST cross the log in Mountain and is already doing so before the MC can react, blurting out a reminder of his morning screw-up in Drinks without a single thought in his self-deprecating head, and immediately offering to bake a whole groom's cake by himself in Step 4.

Repetition™. The man loves his phrases ("in for a penny, in for a pound") and words ("hallelujah") and also loves repeating them. Probably picked them up from some TV show he liked lol.

Interacting with people outside of his age group (playing with the ten year olds in N&F when he's thirteen and then getting along better with "an older set" as he grows up, which he talks about in Drinks).

First Person Focus, which is basically the entire reason behind the conflict in his DLC. He's completely in his own head and projecting his insecurities onto others because he sees them himself. He struggles to understand the concept of the MC wanting to stay in contact at the end of Step 3 because he already has it in him that he has no value and so "clearly" everyone else would feel the same way. The only matters he can fully address/analyze emotionally are when they're farther outside of himself and more detached (such as when he deals with arguing married couples).

putting this ask lovingly in my pocket for safekeeping thank u so much

[lunaslogs]

Polyamory In The Sims 4?!

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I have been a Sims lover since I was a wee child but specifically, the Sims 4. I've been playing it for YEARS and just recently downloaded my first mod which just so happens to be a Sims 4 essential. If you play the Sims 4, you know I'm talking about the MC Command Center.

BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT I AM HERE TO TALK ABOUT TODAY!! About a month ago, I discovered a mod that would allow polyamorous relationships in the Sims since the base game (at least up until now) didn't allow that.

HOWEVER, with the announcement and NEW TRAILER of the newest pack, "Lovestruck" coming out on JULY 25TH, THAT SEEMS TO BE CHANGING! I even have a screenshot from the OFFICIAL ARTICLE!

"It's just a game, it's not even that serious" Yes. I am aware it is just a game. However, it's also a very popular game that many people (including myself) still play to this day despite it being almost 10 years old. It's a game made by a VERY BIG game company (Electronic Arts or EA for short) that knows what makes or breaks a game (as we've seen with EA's Star Wars Battlefront 2.)

Hopefully, this will start opening some eyes and get us all one step closer to normalizing and defeating the stigma against polyamory. Maybe I'm thinking too much about it. Maybe it will be different when the pack actually comes out.

But aside from that incredible step, there are definitely other things in this pack that I am looking forward to. WE HAVE A CANON DATING APP NOW!! SimDa, I love you and you've done your due diligence. BUT THE WAY THE SIMS 4 COMMUNITY HAS BEEN ASKING FOR A DATING APP FROM THIS DAMN COMPANY FOR SO LONG AND WE FINALLY GET IT?!

However, I am probably going to give it a while before I actually get the pack (after release of course) because there is this whole thing with bugs and patches that happens when the packs first come out and the game just doesn't run right. I want to give the pack a chance in its entirety so I'll probably let people complain first and wait for the bugs to fix to really give it a shot.

BUT AHHHHH, I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT THESE NEW POSSIBILITIES! Definitely going to be sending this short essay to my partners later so AD, if you've made it this far in my little yap session, I love you both so much and once I get this pack, I'm so making us in the Sims <3

This is Luna, logging off!

[charkie-ee]

💚💛❤️ Third Life Series in 2024 (happy 3 years of third life!!) 💚💛❤️

“We’re on a quest for Pizza. I- *zooms in* PIZZA.”

once again, spoilers if you haven’t watched 3rd life smp!!

EPISODE 2: WELCOME TO SANDLAND

. Scar and Skizz are the only yellows on the server as of the start of episode 2

. Grian and Scar’s plan for getting valuables in the series was to steel other peoples items, and then put them in Pizza’s chest to sell back to them.

. The first visitors of Monopoly Mountain (aka Sandland in this episode) are Tango and Martyn!

. Scar gives out his first reputation points to Cleo for their enchanted chestplate! (oh god here we go)

. ‘Grian, get the bucket’ is a very common thing you’ll hear Scar say in this episode. This is the lava bucket Grian uses to threaten visitors of the sand biome, though he is not very successful.

. Scott does not respect the torches that layout Sandland, and steals some sand. Grian does a terrible job of preventing this.

. Scar gives reputation points to Tango for his enchanted leggings! (terrible mistake on his part)

. Grian, “get the bucket”s Joel, which is not very effective.

. Scar gives reputation points to Joel for his diamond sword! Grian is not happy about this.

. Grian tries to convince Etho not to give Scar his shoes, but is unsuccessful.

. Scar gives 10 reputation points to Etho for his enchanted boots! (that are deducted later)

. The magic act Soli-beans-major-littlewood-FANTASTICO! comes to show Grian and Scar a magic trick! (etho is also there) Unfortunately, this magic trick is making a dark oak tree appear! (from the forest mentioned in the last note) Goodbye to that monopoly.

This utter loss gives us, in my opinion, one of the best clips in the entire series;

(NEVERMIND TUMBLR ONLY LETS ME ADD ONE VIDEO PER POST WTF. anyway its the one where the ‘magic’ group leaves and Scar says ‘i’m going to murder them’)

. BigB visits! And I’m going to say something now, because not enough people realize this. Grian always has a different tone with BigB throughout these series. He’s much more soft with him, and does everything to benefit him until they turn red. Take a took at this clip below:

this clip is kind of self explanatory? in a way. for instance Grian talks about desperately needing food, and a few second later, gives BigB a portion of his porkchops despite not knowing if BigB’s has enough food. Keep this in mind when watching Double Life. specifically when Grian tries to ditch Scar to hang out with BigB. They’ve always had that kind of bond since the start of the series.

people who haven’t watched double life, you can scroll past that :-D (i guess its too late now but. ahem. moving on)

. BigB gives Grian the idea to put pressure plates all around their base to scare off unwanted visitors.

. Scar finally calls the Sandland base ‘Monopoly Mountain’ (he said it! he said the thing!)

. BigB drops a diamond for Scar, and before he can try to barter with him anymore, BigB flees with the help of Grian’s cobwebs to slow Scar down.

. BigB gets 50 reputation points for a diamond!

. Grian crashes, and Bdubs dies while he’s logged out

. Grian timelapses building the Desert Tower on Monopoly Mountain! (in the process he also accidentally builds his face on the base lmao)

Also one quick thing— apparently Pizza was presumed dead by other players earlier in the episode. Grian does not film or explain this at all, except at the very end where he says Skizz informed them that Pizza was alive. (theres something about this llama and not getting enough screen time smh. i don’t know where it came from and i don’t know how it died, but its there)

.💚💛❤️.

did i forget anything? reply, or put it into the tags if theres information I missed!!

I will be doing more posts like this for all of the episodes of Grian’s pov. that being said, if i miss something that was said/a scene in a different pov, i will not include that in this post.

thank you for reading and have an excellent day!

.💚💛❤️.

[luvclimber]

☆Introduction☆

About me:

1: Hello there! Welcome to my blog! You can call me by my username or Climber, but my real name is Alana but I will mostly feel comfortable going by my username! My pronouns are He/Him but I’m actually a female but I feel oddly comfortable with those pronouns than She/Her pronouns! I’m also Cupioromantic and lithromantic! I’m also a multifandom, multishipper, rareshipper, crossshipper as well!

2: I am a self-taught artist! I have had many moments in my life where I felt about giving up on art, but I have soon to realize that I started to get better at art the longer I continued to try and practice on my own and make more art! I was a little hesitant on showing my art work to the public internet community since I thought people would make fun of it! But I saw that people started to like my art work that I post and so that gave me more confidence to post more of my art work and improve!

3: There are specific stuff that I post on my blog, things such as DemJay, Law of talos, Endzone, Burning Avalon, Witches dimension! I will sometimes post some slightly suggestive stuff but I will mainly post normal and fluff art of my favorite characters! But I may take a week off here and there every once in a while but I promise to post daily every week!

My top 4 kins:

Random facts:

1: I have actually been through many sexuality from the start of a very young age! I desperately tried to look for the right sexuality that fit me! I went from thinking I was a lesbian, straight, bisexual, asexual, pansexual, aromatic, quoisexual, to finally finding the right one that fit me! Cupioromantic and lithromantic!

2: I was a Lankybox fan for a long period of time until they started to post some stuff that I didn’t really find entertaining anymore? I guess that’s how you can put it? I mainly started to watch TikTok and other YouTubes more often now. I actually had a Lankybox TikTok account which one was Gacha and one was edits of them! But I did end up deleting them and changing my account entirely. I did have one other Gacha account on TikTok that I was famous on but sadly I got logged out.

3: I have a YouTube channel that my father used for my garden, the channel and videos are still up, actually! But of course I won’t give you the name of the YouTube channel because I find them cringe and the videos were so long ago-

4: Whenever someone new follows or likes my post I just take a look at their account and see what type of stuff they post! So I kinda stalk your account for a little while!

Interact if:

People who are in the DemJay, Law of talos, Endzone, Burning Avalon, Witches dimension fandom! I love meeting people who have the same interest as me!

Climber fans or kins! I actually have been a fan of Climber since 3 years ago! Also I don’t want people to think I’m saying I’m his number one fan since I find it cringe to say I’m his number one fan. I just really love Climber and could relate with him-

Artists and small artists! I love seeing people’s different styles in their drawings and the fact they put work into it! Like I said, I’m a self-taught artists and worked to get to find the art style I like!

Do not interact:

Problematic people! I really feel uncomfortable with people who are problematic follow me. If you are associated with a problematic person and just make them as an exception for their problematic acts, just because they’re cool in some way or your friend or anything like that, please do not interact with my account. Things like proshippers, pedophiles, loilcon lovers, darkshippers, racist people, homophobic’s, anything like that. And please do tell me if I did or said anything problematic by accident! If you still continue to interact with my blog and ignore my boundaries you will immediately get a HARD block!

People who are firm believers about being a hater. If you’re going to simply going to go on my account and hate for no reason, you will get a HARD block! All of us are just trying to have fun!

[turtle-to-dragon]

a return to goal-setting and logging and blogging

I figured it's time to start using this space more like I did before. A lot has happened in my life since I last posted personal stuff; I've changed my profession, moved back to my hometown, returned to my first and most beloved martial arts school, started Chinese sword training, had a few pleasant encounters with HEMA practicioners, started teaching kung fu again...

I haven't trained as consistently as I'd have liked, and I had some months where I didn't exercise or move or do much of anything, at all. Fortunately, that's behind me now, and I'm back at a state of mind where I feel comfortable setting martial arts related goals again.

Now I know it's important to keep it as specific and measurable and actionable as possible, and I *also* know that it's probably important to not plan too much at once... but ehhhh. I'll just try to be kind to myself and keep the daily actions small and short enough to not overwhelm myself. At the same time I know I need consistency and a plan to achieve those things.

My goals;

(re)learn the Sword Hand Form, so I can perform it fluidly, with intent, in a way that I would be able to teach it to others, by September.

optimize the Leopard Form, so that I can perform it fluidly, with intent and appropriate depth and the character of the animal, by mid August.

get good at deep stances so I can maintain them comfortably for a minute (horse stance, reversed bow stance, empty stance) on each side.

get better with the leopard kick (which is a sneaky one, pretending to go all straight and then at the very last moment turning inward or outward)

get better with the leopard strikes (the circular in the straight, the straight in the circular, as my teacher said)

learn the 3 Principles Sword Form (san cai jian) so that I can perform it correctly, with intent, with body-sword-movement, with a partner, by December.

establish a sword training routine so that it becomes part of my daily life. start with maybe ten minutes a day, keep a checklist with drills to practice nearby, and re-evaluate after two weeks if this actually helps with anything.

pain-free, strong right shoulder, so I can go through 2 x 1.5 hours of sword training or regular kung fu training per week, or so I can get into push-up position, or hold a focus mitt against serious punches and kicks without pain... By stability and mobility exercises on every second day (alternating with leg work)

pain-free, stable left ankle, so I can go through 2 x 1.5 hours of kung fu training on mats per week, including jumping and standing on one leg without falling over or being in pain for days... by stability and mobility exercises on every second day (alternating with shoulder stuff)

improve endurance so I can sprint up one or two flights of stairs without feeling like I might die. I'll probably start with a C25K training program again, and training with stairs would probably help as well. What doesn't help is that I abhor starting this kind of training because it feels so miserable. (That's probably me wanting too much, too soon...)

Yeah. Like I said.. maybe a bit much, but I'll try and figure it out.

.oO(goals for July and beyond...)

Other things, apart from the goals:

On Friday my new sword will be delivered, yay! Getting the shipping notification today made my Monday significantly better. More swords for everyone!

Looking forward to a HEMA introductory workshop on longsword in less than three weeks, with a kung fu sister and two other good friends <3

very much enjoying having a very motivated kung fu sister that matches me in thirst for knowledge and enthusiasm for this art.

My first kung fu teacher and my mom both said that they would like to be present during my next kung fu exam. I don't know yet when that will be, but I feel honored that they want to be there. And it feels kinda fitting, since they were both present at my very first training at this school, 22 years ago. ^_^

After tidying up my room, I now have (hopefully) enough space in my bedroom/living room to practice sword techniques. (Looking at you, ceiling lamp... Stay where you are!)

Okay, that's it for now. Off to actually train now :D

[thursdayinspace]

twenty questions for fanfic writers

I was tagged by the amazing @oohnotvery, thank you!! <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

10, but I orphaned my old account several years ago when I left fandom for a bit. I don't know how many I had back then, over 100 for sure.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

37.724

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The X-Files. There's most likely going to be some Star Trek in there eventually, and I ventured into other realms in the past, but right now, exclusively The X-Files.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

under construction (Torchwood)

wild side (The X-Files)

in conclusion (The X-Files)

the ghost circle (Torchwood)

the physics of being alive (Torchwood)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes. If I ever forget, I'm sorry! I love every comment and it's important to me to say thank you.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

held safely in the dark (Torchwood). It's not even all that angsty by that fandom's standards, I suppose.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Good question. I rarely ever write unhappy endings. Fanfic is my happy place. But I think the one I most enjoyed writing because there was NO angst at all was in conclusion (The X-Files).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Ohhhh my god one time in a different fandom on my old AO3, somebody left a scathing, vitriolic comment on one of my fics, but obviously meant to do it anonymously -- only they forgot to log out first. By the time I read it they had deleted their entire account. That made the whole thing actually funny in context.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, I do. What kind? Hmm. Mostly pretty plain and boring. It's all about the feeeeeelings.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I used to. Back in the good old livejournal days I loved a good crossover. I wrote a Stargate Atlantis/Firefly crossover once, that might have been the craziest.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I'm...not sure? I think so? But that would have been like 15 years ago, I'm not sure anymore whether that actually happened or not.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes!! And it's so much fun. I've had a few co-writers over the years. Once life is less crazy, I might be tempted to give it another shot.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Mulder and Scully. There's a reason my tag for them is "the ship of all time."

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

None, currently. ...I'm. Hold on. That can't be true. But I truly can't think of a single one. I can't remember the last time that happened. This doesn't happen. But no, not one.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. Because it's fun, and through years and years of practice. One of my first betas drilled "show, don't tell" into my head to the point where I feel it's permanently tattooed onto the backs of my eyelids and I see it every time I blink when I'm writing. And in my very specific case, that meant learning to make people use their words. BUT it has helped me getting rid of unnecessary exposition, which at the same time made me get a lot of practice with dialogue instead. (Let's ignore the fact that I literally just posted a fic that has almost no dialogue at all...)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action. I can't do it, I'm sorry. Whose hand goes where when? Does this guy need three arms to do what I just told him to? Wait, you were just over there, how did you get here suddenly? Anyone who can write action scenes has powerful magic and I envy you and please teach me.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'm bilingual, so I could do that, I suppose? The need for it has never come up. Sounds fun though.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Stargate Atlantis!! I still miss that fandom. Ahh the livejournal nostalgia is strong tonight...

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

It's usually always the last one I posted, but I'm gonna say in conclusion. I'm very fond of that one.

Tagging...I don't know who has done this and who hasn't! @mr-iskender if you want to?

[yuukei-yikes]

Okay okay okay I have a very specific itch to hear about Mekakushi Dan sensory needs and bc you're the first person I can think of who has drawn them stimming I thought your askbox was the perfect place to launch myself. If you have thoughts here pls feed me. Bonus points for Takane's sensory needs + challenges before becoming a computer program and post str bc I do think her needs would be different than they were before?? I think not having a body for 2 years would do that to you

HI ok i dont have a lot of headcanons in general its mostly haruka and takane and mostly takane. i think haruka is the one ive drawn stimming the most Like i just think that guy would flap his little hands around yknow.

so im sorry i dont have hcs for the whole mekadan. IF UR INTERESTED IN A PARTICULAR MEKADAN GUY u can ask me and I'll come up with something >:3 it just feels overwhelming to think of it all at once. and also u said takane and you know damn well im abt to talk for 1 million hours

ok. takane❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ sorry this isn't sensory needs but girl.. takanes Gamer Secret being found out... idk man it's like. this bitch had been MASKING‼️‼️‼️

even in hs days i think takane feels weird about Touching with her hands. she doesn't have the cartoonishly large sleeves she has as ene, but i think she pulls down her sleeves over her hands like in this specific manga panel i indeed have in speed dial

i wish it appeared more often bc its a cute shoutout to ene later on and also WOOO THIS BITCH HAS SENSORY ISSUES!!! i made a comic abt it once but haruka designing actor with the bigass sleeves because he observed that takane pulls down her sleeves. *bite bite bite bite bite* also this panel has always been a fave of mine bc of autism creature takane and also bc the desk is like. at haruka's chest and he looks like he's sitting on the ground

i also think its very funny to imagine takane kicking ass in games while holding the controller with her sleeves over it and everyone's like ?????girl what. ofc she probably has specific textures she hates and all that, takane doesnt feel weird about touching as a whole.

in several instances of yuukei yesterday haruka and takane casually touch each other and while thats obviously cuz they're close friends, a lot of close friends dont act that way or arent comfortable with touch yknow!! in fact takanes the one to start most physical interactions with him. i could be crazy enough to go and check but im gonna trust my memory. and bc i love art where ene is jumping on shintaro and stuff i like to think takane is Actually touchy with ppl she trusts. also she doesnt register personal space sometimes, and ends up standing too close without noticing until someone points it out. i guess this is a bit contrary to a typical takane interpretation (UR STANDING TOO CLOSE DUMBASS🙄🙄🙄🙄 tsundere moment) but i think it's a fun spin to it. i think kenjirou is the one to most point it out like Girl step BACK ur all in my zone and she's like UGH WHATEVER and haruka also notices but never rly says anything. he probably loves it lol haruka's so overdue physical connection he loves that takane doesn't mind touching him or being close to him. also since they have a big height difference its not like she's all up on his face. i think takane starts letting go more once her ene secret's out and stops caring so much but it sorta comes back when ayano and shintaro join the group. i think shintaro especially would point out UGH WHY ARE YOU STANDING SO CLOSE TO ME or even question why she's so close to haruka or ayano. haruka and ayano are all like NOOO DONT WORRY I DONT MIND but takanes already mortified and is more self aware

another one. takane with her big old headphones. yeah yeah uses them disconnected to get haruka's attention Whatever she also uses them bc she prefers hearing stuff muffled instead of hearing it directly 👍 when she gets overwhelmed she puts those things on with the music to the max and just logs out for a min

OH also this is a canon one😼😼😼 her leg bouncy thing. shintaro points it out in the seventh novel that takane is bouncing her leg and says it's a nervous habit he never noticed on her but TO ME. SHE DOES THAT❤️ takane has huge leg bouncer energy i bet she makes the whole table shake and everyone asks her to quit it and she says Damn ok sorry and stops it for a total of 50 seconds before starting again

anyways in summary hs takane is like. tends not to notice personal space, hates touching stuff with her hands, likes having control over what or how she hears, and has a tough time staying still. POST STR... its all to the max. takane is overly aware of everything. all 5 senses are as much of a nightmare as they are a relief and it's all mixed together!!!!

ok her sensory needs that she already had pre ene are still there but completely amped up, except the personal space one. now everyone is always too close and literally just opening her eyes (HEH!! OPENING EYES!!!!) is super overwhelming bc WHOA EVERYTHING IS SO CLOSE AND HUGE AND HD. i could imagine comparing it to like, wearing contacts for the first time for any fellow glasses wearing people. like u know this, youve seen all this. but suddenly youre watching it differently without a frame around ur eyes and it just feels weird. for takane the frame was a screen instead of the glasses yknow. and to her its A LOT

i think post str takane keeps using her powers and having meltdowns because on top of all the existentialism she has to deal with being alive and everything, suddenly She Cannot Control Anything And It Is A Nightmare. she can't handle the lack of control she has over her needs and body temperature. just feeling hungry or sweating after walking for a little in summer makes her upset. bc she gets her body back during summer so GOOD LUCK WITH THAT GIRL. the clothes she wears feel all insane and irritated and nauseous!!! awful!!! even showers feel strange bc AUGGHHH so much is touching her at once!!! she also hates eating soooo yeah also a thing. i think she's always been a picky eater but post str its like she will only eat like 2 things or something

ON THE OTHER HAND.... it suddenly goes on the opposite end. like for a few days she's nightmare overstim city and then she's SUPER understim and COMPLETELYYYYY over eager about having a body and horribly indulges in like. overeating and running around <- overeating (especially when u usually avoid eating), awful for ur tummy. running a lot when u have chronic pains, also awful for ur pains later. sooo nothing she wont pay the price for later. it needs to get pointed out to her she needs to find a balance and cant have all or nothing (by haruka probably)

the personal space thing comes back here like she gets So touchy and needs hug or death. i think she can be all happy hugging haruka and all of a sudden pushes him away and is like WHOA I NEED TO GET OUT OF MY BODY RIGHT NOW MAYBE RIP MY SKIN OFF TOO MAYBE so it's rly like a light switch all of a sudden she can get overwhelmed with it and revert. like jumping back and forth between seeking and avoiding sensation.

i drew this once but haruka with his arms inside of takane's sleeves LOLLL i think skin to skin rly helps her when she's feeling like she needs sensation. a big part of the sudden overindulgence is OUGH IM REAL!!!! bc like i said takane isnt just dealing with having a body again she's dealing with having her Life again. being alive again. and she LOVES being alive. and the avoidance of all these sensations sometimes piles up and ends on the opposite like I NEED TO EAT💥💥💥I NEED TO SCREAM💥💥💥💥I NEED TO RUN AND HUG AND KISS AND DANCE AND SWIM💥💥💥 yknow. so yeah haruka helps her a lot with it when she needs touching and hugging 🙏🙏🙏 cuz he also wont get offended if she's suddenly like Ok get away from me before i explode🙏

also post str takane To Me also has mobility issues like haruka does bc all her muscles are atrophied from yknow Not moving for 2 years so it's like, even more that she has to deal with. physical therapy is incredibly invasive to her too so it's extra difficult. i think haruka and her do it together and that's why haruka is so on top of what's going on with her, he's the closest and sees her whenever she's the most vulnerable. also their situations are So similar they cant help just gravitating to each other for support. i also think haruka's the one to always point out to her when she's overindulging like Hey i love that ur rly enjoying that bigmac but i can already see you wanting to rip out ur organs later tonight so maybe dont eat a third one.

anyways ermmm takane's biggest challenge is Stop resorting to opening eyes whenever it gets too bad. like i also got sensory issues and assuming whoever is reading also does imagine having the option to just Jump out of ur body when its feeling Awful. ofc ur gonna take it when ur feeling like that. but it doesn't help takane to do it. while it helps her to calm down, it's not good in the long run. she actively wants a PHYSICAL life and work on all this. takane never wanted to die and is super motivated to get better but it's not quick or easy!!! eventually she finds a good balance i think. she's still a rly touchy person who hates grabbing her phone directly without the sleeves in the middle and will only eat like 3 things❤️ but also a hug lover❤️

[downwithpeople]

system shock remake

game was good, first and foremost.

it looks stellar. it's a proper immersive sim. the environments look great and are full of all kinds of goodies for you to pick up and subsequently vaporise into a scrap cube. my first encounter with this kind of game was bioshock, of course, but it's incredible how bleak the situation at citadel station has become. there were people still trying to get by in rapture (including the splicers!) but in citadel shodan is grinding up the last pockets of free humans by the time you wake up. the audio logs tell the same story again and again: once upon a time, someone was dying alone. it feels almost pointless to weigh in on system shock's story or theming because it's such a classic. you know shodan, you love shodan, everyone does.

i said that the game was clunky in a way that felt good and i'll stand by that for the most part. when you can fight on your terms combat settles into a fun rhythm of finding cover, shooting cyborg, ducking behind cover. you are not always fighting on your terms and sometimes you get bumrushed by a gorilla tiger. unfortunately part of the clunkiness is moving slow as shit in a way that does make things tense but only because of your rank clumsiness rather than any of the other things the game can do to amp up tension.

the boss fights blow. you fight diego twice and the cortex reaver three times. the solution to both enemies is the same: berserk patch, stamina patch, reaction patch if you're feeling nasty, run up and hit 3-4 times with the laser rapier. it doesn't feel very climactic.

the chronic lack of storage is frustrating. the cargo elevator has a piddling lack of space ensuring that you have to just dump the guns you pick up on the ground then go back to that specific floor if you want to play around with them again. it's not exciting, it's not dramatic, it doesn't build tension. it just means that i'm never gonna use the grenade launcher because it takes up space. the cargo elevator should have just been the size of your inventory, who gives a shit. resident evil did this for years then did it again for the remakes.

i have no idea if the set up for the endgame was in the original or not but jesus christ i hate it. the game takes a swan dive around the time you're poking around on the executive floor and you have to do all the groves. i felt like i was soft-locked on my first run because i didn't have enough batteries to do beta, so i started a new game and let me tell you, the groves don't become more fun on the second run. when it was revealed that i had to go to every single node room and copy down the stinking numbers i nearly uninstalled. what a chore. what a hassle!

cyberspace was fun the first few levels then became tedious every successive level, especially the one that would make my game crash (as i was playing a pirated copy that didn't have the patch). if i do another playthrough i'm just turning that shit off. the puzzles were fine.

in general i think i would have preferred more humanoid enemies rather than robots and more of them like the mantis that got up close and personal instead of hanging back looking for angles.

this was, of course, something that would change in system shock 2, so if and when nightdive gets that out it's gonna be a day 1 for me.

[tokidokitokyo]

2023年1月31日

Welcome to my first study log update of the year! The year is still fresh and I'm happy to report that my motivation is still high. I find that making these study logs to track my progress I can maintain my motivation throughout the year, even during times where life and work get really busy and I think I won't have as much time for study. So, let's start this off!

今年の初勉強記録へようこそ！新年はまだ新鮮のに勉強のモチベーションはまだ高くて頑張っています。この勉強記録を作るのは勉強のモチベーションの一つになります。一年中に書くと、モチベーションが下がったり、忙しくなったりするときでもやる気が出ます。それで、今から1月の記録を始めます！

My 2023 Goals Progress

I laid out some broad goals for my Japanese study in my 2023 Japanese Language Goals post. This is my first report on the progress I've made on these goals during the month of January!

1. Read one page a day of 日本の歴史366 (にほんのれきし366) everyday in 2023.

Since it's only a page to read, and the subject is history, I make time to read the page (and look up the vocabulary I don't know ^^) every day.

2. Finish 日本語総まとめ N3 (にほんごそうまとめ N3) workbooks.

The JLPT N3 workbooks I am using are a bit more involved, so I can't do the work daily, but when I do have the time (about once a week or so) I sit down and go through the Vocabulary, Kanji, Grammar, and Listening workbooks all at once.

3. Review and learn the first 6 levels of the 常用漢字 (じょうようかんじ), specifically the 教育漢字 (きょういくかんじ) up to grade 6.

Lately, I have been focusing more on new kanji rather than kanji review of the 常用漢字, but in February I will return my focus to the grade 2 kanji I was reviewing previously.

4. Read at least one book every two months.

I think I might have taken on too much in January, as I have been trying to finish up a book I started in December, then I picked up a new book and a new manga in the beginning of this year. I am going through the new book page-by-page and recording any words or I don't know, which is taking up a lot of time. I doubt I will finish it this month, but once I am done with it I think I will have learned a lot of new vocabulary.

5. Improve my speaking and writing by finding a tutor.

I have put this goal on hold because of work, but when things calm down in April I plan to search for a tutor and make a weekly tutoring schedule. I plan to use italki because it is the most popular platform.

6. Study Japanese for at least 10 minutes a day.

This goal has been a habit of mine since the beginning of 2022, and I am glad to see that I have been keeping up with it so far in 2023. I have a basic tracker set up in Notion, and this inspires me to do something every day so that I have something to record. I've also picked up a heat map tracker from No zero days in 2023 langblr challenge which provides another visual method for tracking my daily study.

These methods help me to be very mindful with my studying, which is what 2023 is all about for me!

January Study Log

Reading - I have started off strong with reading, although I've probably taken on more reading material than I have time for. Books I am currently reading:

コンビニ人間 - finishing from December (22% done)

満月珈琲店の星詠み - started Jan. 1st (15% done)

花野井くんと恋の病 (manga) - started Jan. 1st (30% done)

Vocabulary & Kanji - A lot of my vocab & kanji comes from my reading and making a vocab/kanji list from the 満月珈琲店 book I'm reading, but I also try to do vocabulary & kanji flash cards on a daily basis.

Vocabulary & Kanji flash cards (renshuu.org)

言葉で遊ぼう (Japanese wordle)

Listening - Primarily conversational listening with family and friends, or TV/movies, but with some 総まとめ workbook listening sprinkled in. I'd like to do some focused JLPT listening practice soon!

Grammar - Grammar videos are one of the best ways for me to study since they are about 15 minutes each and I take hand-written notes. This month I finished up the Nihongo no Mori JLPT N3 grammar videos!

日本語の森 N3

Going Forward in February

I would like to build upon the momentum I created this month, and while I'd like to continue with the routine I have right now, I would like to add in a few other things to try to mix things up and keep studying interesting.

Continue with the six primary goals I made at the beginning of 2023

Try focusing on a different skill category each month (January has been focused primarily on Reading - I'd like to focus on Listening in February)

Try out a new app - I've downloaded a few different apps that I would like to try out in some detail

Refocus my kanji study on 常用漢字

I hope your language learning journey in 2023 is everything you want it to be! Best of luck everyone ^.^

皆さん、2023年の勉強を努力しましょうね！とても生産的な一年になりますように ^.^