#not 100% sure what yet but it's something

[co-opmode]

I learned this just over a year ago because I started work as a billing clerk at a nonprofit medical facility and we gotta be SUPER upfront about the cost of every individual service, and if we find out later that we accidentally gave the patient an incorrect estimate, we write that shit off immediately - i really wish I knew about the No Surprises Act before this because i got hit with several $1k-$2k medical bills for my decrepit-ass body that I was never warned about, and it took me forever to pay them off.

Its also important to note that the No Surprises Act makes Balance Billing illegal. If you're unsure what that is, I'll explain, and I'll capitalize any word that has a very specific legal meaning. An hour-long one-on-one behavioral therapy session is often coded on your insurance claim as 90837, and we will use this for our example.

Medical Facilities (hospitals, dentists, your therapists office, etc) have to have the same Billed Amount for a given service, and that amount is determined by their contract with the Payor (your insurance company). So if the Medical Facility is contracted with multiple different Payors (like Premera, Medicaid, or Molina), they have to Bill based on whichever Payor asks for the most money. So, for example, if Premera decides 90837 costs $180 for that Facility, but Molina only says it costs $100, then your Medical Facility has to Bill $180 to all Payors, including Molina. However, theres something called the Allowed Amount, which is what takes into account each individual Payor decided to charge. So While the Billed Amount, and the Allowed Amount for Premera might both be $180 for 90837, Molina in this scenario would have a Billed Amount of $180, but an Allowed Amount of $100. so when Molina gets your insurance claim, they send an Adjustment of $80 to the Medical Facility, which means that when determining how much the facility will be paid, the service will be considered to be worth $100 INSTEAD of $180.

In this scenario, if you have a Copay of $30 (or if you have a Co-insurance of 30%), you would pay $30, Molina would pay $70 and your remaining Balance would be $0, because the Allowed Amount of $100 has now been fully paid. If you havent met your Deductible yet, Molina can say you need to pay 100% Co-insurance, and this would mean you pay the full $100 Allowed Amount and Molina doesn't pay anything.

Balance Billing is when the Medical Facility tries to get any amount of that Adjusted $80, or any additional amount beyond your Copay or Co-insurance. It should also be noted that even if your Copay is $120, and the Allowed Amount is $100, you would only pay $100.

So when you get a medical bill, you make damn sure you see a Billed Amount, AND the Adjustment subtracted from it, and THEN you find out what you owe based on your Copay or Co-insurance.

They make this complicated ON PURPOSE so that you're confused and just go along with it. So please ask me any questions you still have 💕

I’m seeing a bunch of posts that make me think most USAmericans don’t know about The No Surprises Act.

It was passed in 2021 (thank you Biden) and essentially states that if you don’t have insurance or your insurance doesn’t cover a service you need (or want) you are entitled to a Good Faith Estimate of the cost of care. (If your insurance does cover the service, you should be able to estimate the cost of care based on your deductible and co-pay.)

As a healthcare provider who does not accept any insurance, I am very careful to not violate The No Surprises Act. Why? Because for every penny more than $400 that the Good Faith Estimate was “off” (or if it wasn’t provided), you are entitled to a refund for that amount.

Y’all. Ask for a Good Faith Estimate. Get it in writing. Compare it to what you are paying. If you are not provided an estimate or if it’s wrong by more than $400, demand a refund.

[venmondiese]

ONE MISSING POINT

-ˋˏ| summary: Failing the class just for one point, and you ask Michael Gavey his help to pass the exam. Tutoring isn't his strenght, neither is yours.

✧ | Pairing: Michael Gavey x reader

✧ | word count: 2.8k

✧ | Warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI, public masturbation (m receiving), humilliation, Michael is a virgin and he doesn't last long.

It was practically a tradition that Mr. Bynes posted the results of the class in the (most important) headboard in the whole university, and people practically crowded around the single paper sheet searching for their grades and to see if they were at risk of failing the course entirely. If so, they had to do the mandatory exam which was by no means friendly. 

He isn’t as worried as people around him, trying to make his way in the crowd to see the paper. He had to awkwardly pass through some people crying over it before he could see the paper. 

He approved it all. He expected it, of course, since he always participated and was one of the few who understood something the professor said. Sure, he didn’t have straight 100%, but nothing lower than 80%, which was really good upon seeing some people had more than one 0. 

It was a relief, but again, expected. He shrugs and goes on with his life as he walks away, thinking of going to his dorm and annotating his grades to later on calculate his final average score. 

“Michael! Michael Gavey” a voice calls him, as he sets his feet on the grass. He turns around, seeing you walking closer to him, as quickly as you could. 

“Ehm… yes” he says, awkwardly, looking at you. 

You shared calculus and some other classes, and you were good. Not bright, exceptional or anything, but good. And you were so much better at other things, more social and bold things he doesn’t dare to do. 

“Hi… how did you do?” You ask, slightly out of breath as you try to be polite. 

“Ehm… fine, I guess” he doesn’t get why you talk to him now.

“You passed?” You ask tentatively. “I… I saw your grades, and it was awesome, really impressive…” You hesitate before adding “I am sorry, I know… it’s weird, but… You were like one of the few people who actually passed.”

Michael shrugs. as he nods. “I guess so.”

“And you see…” You say taking his arm to interlock it with hers, as you and your friends did when walking together. It was so womanly, he felt weird. Or maybe everyone did it and he didn’t know…? “I had good grades, I did well in that essay that everyone hated… But I had one test in which I got 40%, because I transferred badly one of the gross numbers, and before you ask, I did calculate it… But since I transferred it wrong, the final value was wrong”

“Ah…” he says, not sure what to say “That sucks”

It didn’t suck. To him, it was like a stupid mistake easily avoidable. 

“Well, I was one point away from pass the course, and I explained this to the professor but… didn’t listen, you know him, he said that one point is missing, so I have to give the exam, and I need like 20%, but still..., and now I desperately come to you to beg you to please help me and tutor me” she says, as she turns to look at him. 

He blinks. He didn’t do tutorings on his free time. He did them for extra money, for credits or whatever reason. 

“Please Mikey!” You say, grabbing his hands. “Please please please, I only needed one more point to pass the class, I know about the subject, and it was a silly mistake. You don't even have to teach me from zero, only... go over the things we studied and that... please!”

He isn’t willing to do this. He doesn’t want to do this, yet he is weak. After all, he is a man. And he isn’t blind, you are pretty. Like out-of-his-league pretty. And you are prettier closer.

“Fine…”

You lean to kiss his cheek with a smile, and you nod. “It’s a date then. Tomorrow in the library? Could it be at four?”

He blinks a few times, trying to process the whole thing. He was supposed to finish the semester quickly, and… now he is caught up trying to teach you so you don’t fail a course, all because his mind betrays him. 

So, he tries to do the whole ordeal as smoothly and quickly as possible. He doesn’t want to do this but whatever. At least you are not dumb on the matter, you know something. He has heard some of the answers you give in the classes, and they weren’t as bad as one would hope. 

He’s sitting at one of the study desks, right beside a large shelf, and the library was with a few other students, concentrated in their own thing. He brought his notes with him, even if it was illegible. He tries not to be impatient, as he checks the clock on his wrist. 

“Sorry for being late, I– I got caught in something and…” You say, and you were breathing a bit heavily. 

“No big deal…” he stutters, as his gaze darts down to your blouse. Logically, since summer was getting closer and closer, you wouldn’t be wearing a sweater, but he didn’t expect… Well, he didn’t know what he expected. 

Why was he being so weak around you?

“Sit, I have my notes to show you…” He says, and so you take a seat by his side as you curiously lean to check his notes. Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, he was very neat in his handwriting, even if they looked like the handwriting of someone in the 1700s.

You are not such a bad learner, and he was rather enjoying teaching you after some time. You actually heard him, as he explained in depth how to have the correct answer for all, as he tries to address everything.  You asked good questions, and pointed at the mistakes he had given you, to see if you could identify them in an exercise. 

As close as you were, Michael could smell how your perfume was nice. It smelled sweet, but not so much that he would like to throw up. Besides, everytime you stared at him, he could feel a bit uneasy, since he got a bit nervous. Your gaze was deep, and he didn’t know what it meant. 

Clearing his throat, he writes a new problem for you to solve. He had done a lot when studying, so he copied one of his. He hopes that focusing on the study will help him to distract himself from the weird feelings around you. 

“Here, try this one” he says, handing the notebook to you. It is complex, but doable. 

He manages to explain really well, as he gets into the theme and all. You do the work, and slide it over for him to check it. 

“You have a girlfriend, Mikey?” You ask softly. 

He looks at you, before turning back to check the answer. “Eh… no” he mutters, trying not to be ashamed. 

You were actually great, you are very tidy when unfolding the exercise and actually took in his advice, he can see it. Yet, you make the same mistake, you took the gross value as the final one. 

He made a circle, and he was ready to explain. 

“He-Oh” he gasps, feeling your hand on his thigh. He was frozen. 

Maybe it fell onto it. Maybe it was by mistake, it was surely by mistake, there was no way it was intentional. And surely it was a mistake how you caressed his inner thigh so… slowly. 

“Oh, did I get it wrong?” You ask, looking at him as if you didn’t have your hand at his thigh.  

He felt his head doing a short circuit, as if trying to understand what this meant. Was he imagining things? He surely must be. 

“Y-Yes, here… here you took the gross value…” he mutters pathetically, he was confused, he didn’t know what was happening. He wasn’t complaining, at all, but what does that mean?

What did it mean that you had your hand on his thigh? Surely, it was something… reasonable. 

“I’ll re-do it” you say, taking the notebook. And you didn’t take your hand away. 

He was frozen. This can't be happening. He's supposed to be helping you with your studies, not... not whatever this is. And yet, his body is betraying him, his skin tingling under your touch, his pants beginning to feel uncomfortably tight. 

He grips on the edge of the table, looking at the ceiling of the library. Suddenly, he is very aware of his surroundings, looking around as if everyone knew that your hand was sliding up as you did the exercise. Women surely can multitask…

“Eh, well, now… we can use the formula… you-you know it” he says, his throat feeling dry as he tries not to whimper. 

“Yeah, yeah. Like the rosary.” You say with a confident nod.

“Yeah… so, what’s the next step?” He prompts you, as your hand is higher and higher, and he is starting to lose his mind. 

“Replace the values, a… with this, and b…” your hand brushes higher and he lets out a little whimper, thinking you were about to stroke his cock… yet it doesn’t happen. It’s a pathetic sound he emits, and he gets red after it. “With this…”

He sees you replace the values, rewriting the formula, ready to be used.

“Right?” You ask, with one of your sweet smiles as if you didn’t know what was happening. 

“Eh, yeah… yeah, that…” he says, trying not to sound that pleased, even if he starts to feel the arousal pool on his stomach.

He starts to feel himself straining against his pants. It was painfully arousing, and he tried to play it cool. He didn’t want for you to notice, as you caressed his inner thigh.

“I… I need a break” he says suddenly, looking at you. 

You look at him a bit pouty even, as he grips on the edge of the seat trying to breathe in and breathe out. “But I am learning” you say to him “I really am”

You were driving him insane. He didn’t even know if he should address the elephant in the room. Maybe he’ll say something about it, and you’ll stop, be disgusted and leave. 

But he tries to keep inside his whimpers, since the library was the worst place ever to do this. Everyone quiet and it’s open for anyone to see. 

“I think… I..” He hesitates, falling to being able to finish a sentence. He moans softly, feeling your hand brush against his notorious erection, and he can’t bear it anymore. “Ah, please…” 

Michael was blushing, embarrassed of it all as he tries not to move his hips to follow the touch of your hand, since it isn’t where he really needs. How could he be so weak? His cock wasn’t even being touched now, but he felt so dizzy already. Maybe it was because, okay, he had never been with anyone else, but it was… embarrassingly little time to be so… needy. 

When he feels your hand on the tent of his pants, he whimpers, the sound too loud and filthy that his left hand goes instantly to his mouth, covering it to mute himself before he does another embarrassing thing that gives them away. 

“Y-You.. You have to stop” Michael murmurs, the words muffled against his palm as he looks at you, glasses sliding through his nose slightly. He was so flustered, he looked cute. 

“Why?” You ask in a pout, not wanting to. 

“I can’t– I need…” He tries to say, to make a coherent thought as your hand moves to follow the shape of his erection. It sends shivers on his spine and he practically melts on the seat as his eyes are rolled back in pleasure. How could it feel so good? “I… I… We can’t…”

He seems so confused with his own thoughts. “We can…” You murmur, looking around as nobody was actually watching them. “If you really want me to stop… I’ll stop”

Michael doesn’t want you to stop. He really didn’t. But he didn’t want to get caught, it would be embarrassing. 

“We are in public” he says, his eyes searching yours. 

“Yes, I know” you say, not stopping the strokes on his cock above his clothes “But look at how much you like it” 

He’s already made a small, wet patch at the front of his pants. Oh, god, he thinks. He looked away, it felt embarrassing, his face feeling hotter as embarrassment creeped into his gut alongside pleasure. 

He liked it, but he was trembling with a mixture of emotions, and he didn’t know what to think. He was so close too…

“Please…” He begs senselessly, he doesn’t even know why he is begging. “I don’t wanna make a mess…”

Your hand touches him with the clothes in between, but the fabric of his light brown pants was thin, and it felt almost delicious. He would hump your hand if you two weren’t in a library. 

“You are making a mess…” You coax him softly, as he tenses his shoulder and falls slightly against yours, as his body was trembling with arousal. 

“I don’t wanna stain my pants” He murmurs embarrassed, in a little voice as he feels his balls tighten up as your hand insists on the head of his cock, stroking it through the fabric.

“It’s hot” you murmur back to him, and your hand is on the wet patch “And when you cum, I’ll feel it here”

He can’t form a proper sentence as he feels you hand caressing his dick, he felt the wetness on the tip of his cock, and even if it was so unlike him, he found himself so aroused. He is on the verge of cumming on his pants, just from the touch of a woman. Damn, you aren’t even touching his cock directly. 

He felt like a teen, needy and so hormonal. He wasn’t like this fromages ago, and he finds himself leaning on you, his forehead against your shoulder as he whimpers softly, his hips searching your touch as he is close. 

The thought of cumming in his pants, making a mess was both humiliating and arousing, as his body tense with each stroke. “I can't… i… I'm going to…” 

His hand goes to cover his own mouth as he reaches his peak, a strangled moan coming from his throat and his hand muffles the whimpers he lets out. He can feel his cock spurting cum into his underwear and trousers. He doesn’t want to call attention, but he cums so hard, his body basically slumps back in his seat as he feels his balls tighten with each rope of cum that his cock leaks. 

You are awfully quiet afterwards, moving your hand away as you clean it and he tries to gain his breath, feeling dizzy already and so pleased. He wants to hide his face in shame, and the other wants to beg you to do it again. 

“I’m sorry” he murmurs.

“Don’t be” you whisper back to him, looking at his wet spot on his crotch. “To me, it was amazing. You definitely made one of my fantasies come true”

He blushes, he feels very self conscious all of the sudden, and he makes sure no one in the library paid attention to them and what they were doing. He moves slightly as if trying to cover up the wet patch on his jeans. 

“You enjoyed it?” You ask him, not pushing him too hard.

“Yeah…” He admits, slightly embarrassed but also very much pleased. 

You look at the forgotten notebooks, and then to him, as he accommodates on the seat and moves his hair slightly as if that would make him go unnoticed by everyone else.

“If it is worth anything, your tutoring did help me tons” you say, taking your notebooks together to save them in your pack. 

He is glad that he could help. Maybe this was your way of repaying? He couldn’t know or decipher it. He takes his things and saves them up in his bag as well. He wanted to go to his dorm and take a shower, and put on pajamas and think about this. 

“I’m not great with words…” He starts, his tone hesitant but trying to overcome it. “But… Thank you. I really… Hm. It was cool”

You smirk, nodding slightly as you appreciate his words. 

“A bit riské” you tease him playfully.

“Yeah…” he chuckles softly, scratching the back of his neck. “I am a mess”

As he adjust the glasses on his nose, you hum, “Well, nobody really cares but you and me”

“I can’t believe we did… that… in here…” He mumbles, dumb founded. “And I was… so… I completely lost it…”

“Do girls usually make you… lose it?” you ask in a whisper. “Or do you last longer, and I happen to have magical hands?”

He blushes to the blunt question, looking anywhere but to your face as he avoids answering. “Well, um…” he doesn’t want to admit his lack of any experiences with girls “Girls don’t…. touch me like that” he says in a whisper. “So I can’t say…”

You didn’t judge, looking at him, and you nodded.

“Well, next time we’ll see”

Next time. He looks at you with eyes slightly wide, as he tries not to stutter his words. “Next time?”

“Obviously” You say smiling to him. “If I pass the exam, we are doing it without the pants” You say smugly “And… more”

He was so lucky you missed one point to pass the course. 

[sarushka-01]

hi. I exist and came to serve more fluff with pretty hsr men (this time it’s our one and only silly gambler dude, aven ♡)

gn reader as always here!

Waking up everyday to the sight of your lover cuddling into you is probably the best thing that has ever happened to you. The warm light shining down onto you two through the curtains, the quiet morning with no sound of alarm ringing.

You blink once, twice, to wake your eyes up. When your vision finally stops being blurry from your sleep, you register something - a bunch of messy blond locks stuffed into your face. It smells nice and it’s fluffy, sure, but it really tickles your cheeks. You try to wriggle out of this weird position you’re in, only to be yanked back into your place by a hand

“Good morning…?” you whisper, somehow unsure if the one next to you is awake (as if what just happened wasn’t the proof).

“No” Aventurine mumbles and leans into your touch more, as if you were about to disappear into thin air. You chuckle quietly at this and prop yourself up on your free arm to kiss his cheek. You notice how a faint smile creeps its way onto his lips, yet his eyes are still closed - as if trying to fool you into believing that he’s asleep (you both know he’s now 100% awake).

“Wake up, sun’s already up” you try again and earn a quiet groan from the man. He shifts under the duvet, his golden hair disappearing and reappearing moments later. This time he’s facing you, eyes squinted to let in as little light as possible. You smile; his eyes are one of your favourite things to look at, and to see him in a situation like that is a sight to behold.

“That doesn’t mean we need to as well, does it?” Before you can answer, he adds “besides, it’s comfy in here. And you can’t argue, it is rare for us to be able to wake up like this, together. You could reward me on my day off and let me sleep longer, [name].”

For a moment, you’re not sure what answer to come up with - after all, he is right. Situations like these don’t happen often and you should savour them as much as you can. But not when it’s… wait, what system time exactly is it?

Before you manage to even turn around to check, Aventurine cups your cheek at stares at you with so much intensity behind those pretty eyes of his, as if his life depended on it. (Quite funny how it’s just another morning; nothing less, nothing more.)

“Don’t. Just, focus on me right now. You’re not in a rush, so why the hurry?” Something in his voice stops you in your tracks, and for a split second you’re just staring at him with wide eyes. He chuckles at that expression, bringing you closer to him and kissing your forehead. You melt into that warmth, suddenly hyperaware of your surroundings, of the sun’s rays you don’t really want to accept yet, of the comfortable position you found yourself in, of the softness of Aventurine’s lips, and most importantly, of Aventurine himself.

You sigh, half in defeat, half in relief, as you slide one of your hands underneath the silky fabric of his shirt and placing it on his bare back, cold fingers meeting warm skin. He shivers just slightly, but doesn’t push you away. Instead, he leans in closer, chin resting atop your head.

You move in a little, until your lips are mere inches away from his neck and your breath’s tickling him. You place a kiss on that burn mark, the commodity code that stings, yet the blonde sighs at that feeling, as if content.

“You smell nice” you manage to whisper into his skin before drifting back to the dreamland, this time in your lover’s gentle embrace.

[zanarkandfayth]

I'm just answering these because I want to, and skipping the ones that wouldn't be relevant or I don't feel like answering lmao

01. How many fics have you worked on since January? Hmm, five? I finished the Noct & Gladio one, I've been working on the rewrite of the aftermath one, I started the one inspired by @quartzguts fic Lost Signal (go fucking read this if you haven't), I did some more backstory for the college au, and I edited the secret one.

02. What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? I've been trying to do a sliiiightly closer POV than before. I think it came out nicely enough in the Noct & Gladio fic. Definitely a challenge for me though.

05. What ships captured your heart? Ignoct still has my heart forever and always, but I've definitely had a growing fondness for Gladnoct. More platonic than romantic but I don't mind the romantic.

07. Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year? I mean I guess the Noct & Gladio fic is the first time I've written a fic centered on the two of them. I thought about writing a fic for Sword AF, and for Breath of the Wild, but I didn't. I'm unlikely to for either fandom, tbh. Too many for ffxv to focus on.

08. What fic meant the most to you to write? Aftermath fic, even though I'm not finished with it. I've been basically writing it since 2019 and it's the most in-depth fic I've ever written and I've put so much fucking work into it and it's over 600K I'm super proud of it even if it's slowly killing me and the fandom will be 100% dead by the time I'm done.

09. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on? college au, my self-indulgent beloved. I have no idea if I'll ever successfully write you, but I love you nonetheless.

10. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing? lmao I only finished the Noct & Gladio one so I guess that by default.

11. What fic was the most difficult to write? the one inspired by Lost Signal. I have it all plotted out and I'm excited to write it but fuuuuck when I tried back in the summer it was not cooperating. and then writer's block just came knocking in general. I've got one finished chapter and I low-key hate it so I'm trying to ease back into things with working on my rewrite of aftermath fic before I attempt this fic again.

12. What fic was the easiest to write? I mean the Noct & Gladio one was pretty easy to write once I kicked my own ass and stopped procrastinating on the battle scene lol.

14. What were your go-to writing songs? I like to listen to a lot of EDM stuff. Especially Industrial but other stuff too. KMFDM, Assemblage 23, Lost Signal, Neuroticfish, Rotersand, Seabound, Lionhearts, Covenant, Wolfsheim, Acretongue, Michael FK... I also listened to Linkin Park and the Ori and the Blind Forest soundtrack.

15. What was the hardest fic to title? only two fics got titled this year... the secret one I ain't sharing lmao and the Noct & Gladio one, which was actually hard to title. Ameliorate. It fits but I kinda hate it ngl. I couldn't think of anything better. I still can't. It's whatever.

16. What's your favorite title of the year? the secret one. I'm so mean for it but as soon as I was done editing I knew I HAD to make that the title. I'm sorry my beloved blorbo. it was just too perfect lmao. one of my mutuals knows what I'm talking about XD it's all good.

21. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story? my ass in 2019: I already wrote a lot of Noct dissociating in Under Grey Skies, I don't need to do it in aftermath fic. my ass in 2024: huh, Noct doesn't dissociate enough in this fic. soooo I guess now that's gonna be a thing. it has very much changed the story, several scenes have been changed/added for it and I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with it yet but that's why I'm writing without posting for now. wasn't expecting to do it but we'll see what happens.

22. What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand? no to by hand, I only sometimes do that for notes/plotting. I use scrivener <3333 I bit the bullet at the start of this year and used the money I had left from selling my car/after buying a freezer to upgrade to scrivener 3 and though I miss some things from scrivener 1, I mostly like it. I've gotten a lot more into the organisational features and it's been a godsend for making the rewrite of aftermath manageable.

25. How did you recharge between fics? Killed myself 100%ing breath of the wild. including all 900 fucking korok seeds. and then started playing tears of the kingdom with the intention of 100%ing that too but fuck me upgrading the armour was such a fucking slog even with duping diamonds for rupees and I still don't even have all of the sets collected and the koroks are more annoying this time and hhhhhhh I went back to fic to recharge from that fucking game.

28. If this were an awards show, who would you thank? @ivorydice for letting me endlessly ramble about my fics and helping me with plotting some of them. @quartzguts for writing an amazing fic that has inspired me with one of my own that I will write and finish eventually hrgh. @smallest-turtle for also letting me ramble that one time and for stabbing me in the heart with painful headcanons that made me think more about my own. literally anyone who's read my fics regardless of whether they've left kudos or comments or bookmarked them. anyone who talks to me. anyone who likes my venting as support. all my mutuals for being my mutuals even if we've never had a single interaction.

29. What's left on your to-do list for 2024? to just keep pecking away at the rewrite of aftermath fic. by the end of today I should have 38 of 62 chapters rewritten... send help T^T

30. What would you like to write next year? I just wanna finish aftermath fic for the love of god. pls. also the fic inspired by Lost Signal, and I'd like to maaaaaaaybe (big maybe) write a companion fic to the Noct & Gladio fic, showing Ignis & Prompto's hunt, but I don't actually have any ideas for it rn. so we'll see.

A slightly revised version of last year's questions! Two ways to play: Reblog and have your followers send you numbers, or answer the whole list!

How many fics have you worked on since January?

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.)

How many fandoms did you write for this year?

What ships captured your heart?

What characters captured your heart?

Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

What fic meant the most to you to write?

What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

What fic was the most difficult to write?

What fic was the easiest to write?

What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year?

What were your go-to writing songs?

What was the hardest fic to title?

What's your favorite title of the year?

Share your favorite opening line

Share your favorite ending line

Share your favorite piece of dialogue

Share your funniest line

What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand?

If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

How did you recharge between fics?

Did you create fanworks other than fic?

How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!)

If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

What's left on your to-do list for 2024?

What would you like to write next year?

[kurishiri]

𓍢ִ໋🦢 Darius Vogel —bond level 9 story—: Love tactics

꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ @ notice ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱ this translation may not be 100% accurate or contain creative liberties due to characterization or narrative flow purposes. if you enjoy, please consider reblogging, but don't repost these or claim these as your own!

— you can view the recording (with en subs) here, but below the cut is the transcript.

Darius: Fooound you. …I was looking for you. Were you trying to run away, by any chance? Of course that could never be the case, isn’t that right.

Darius: Good children get a reward, and the bad ones a punishment… I’m sure you’re aware of this too, no?

ೀ OPTION #1: “Don’t treat me like a pet.”

Darius: But pets are like animals that humans like to dote on, right? Then isn’t that something to rejoice over?

ೀ OPTION #2: “I wasn’t running…”

Darius: And yet you’re in a place like this? Hehe, I like that about you, you know. How you can’t lie your way through anything.

ೀ OPTION #3: “Why do you care about me?”

Darius: Because I like you. …Aww, you don’t believe me, don’t you. Hehe, what a face.

Darius: Come on now, let’s head back. …You haven’t realized you’re surrounded by some bad people, have you?

Darius: But you don’t need to be scared, because I will protect you. Isn’t that such an honor? That said——

Darius: Since I protected you, that would make you my possession, yes? …Hehe, however will I use you, I wonder?

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masterlist🪽 ╱ ko-fi ☕️ ╱ comms 🤍

@injudescoat @caxsthetic ‪‪❤︎‬ ダリウス

[mg-dango]

GUYS HELP ME WITH THIS THEORY

spoiler warnings for chapter 7:

One thing I noticed a lot are the symbolic details this issue in particular has.

First, everyone probably knows this already, but usually the TF2 comics take as a reference classic comic covers, “Ring of fire” references Spiderman for example, “Old wounds” reference Watchmen, “The naked and the dead” references Crisis on infinite Earths, and this one, while I’m not 100% sure, I think it references Batman year one, where we all see the classic picture of Bruce Wayne contemplating his now dead parents and all that yadda yadda.

Before I proceed, pay attention to this

Now read it again but check out the different scenarios of the covers

“MY GRANDFATHER, EBENEZER MANN. SHIPPING MAGNATE. YOUNGEST OF FIVE SONS. EVERY BROTHER IN THE GROUND BY THE TIME HE BOUGHT HIS FIRST FLEET.”

“MY FATHER, EZEKIEL MANN. RAILROAD TYCOON. MIDDLE CHILD. A HOUSE FIRE CLAIMED HIS THREE SISTERS.”

But especially the last one:

“ZEPHENIAH MANN. ME. MUNITIONS MAGNATE. ONLY SON, SADLY.”

Now, This is my first hypothesis but I don’t believe that last one part, about him being an only son. I also think there are symbolisms and details on the last cover, we see drawings and sketches or prototypes or patents or whatever about guns and weapons all over the floor, and 3 hats which could mean there were 3 siblings but one (Zepheniah) killed the others, and I think the last one cover are the actual admin’s parents and the other 3 are her ancestors… Probably (I don’t know how to say it in English sorry). I also think something about her having 3 fake identities could mean something but I’m not sure yet (Elizabeth, Helen, Emily).

My hypothesis is this, even though the admin couldn’t remember why she wanted revenge towards Zepheniah and achieving said goal by watching the legacy of his family slowly crumble by making the siblings fight each other for eternity and then forcing him to watch it... I think the admin is the daughter or some family member of one of the hypothetical Zepheniah’s siblings that he murdered because of “instincts” like he said, like it’s a family tradition that one sibling must kill the others to steal their achievements and continue the Mann legacy (I feel like the statue of the thinker made by Rodin and Zepheniah replacing its head with his could be a metaphor of that)

ALSO, ANOTHER THING THAT BACKS MH HYPOTHESIS:

If the admin had no correlation AT ALL with the Mann family, then how did she know about the australium even when she was a child? (note: she probably didn't know what Australium could do, calling it "Fools gold" until Gray Mann told her about the power it actually had and then she had the motivation to continue her revenge, however this doesn’t mean that she wasn’t in contact with the Australium before)

And one last detail and symbolism

The roses that grow up in the grave could symbolize Zepheniah and in general, Mann’s legacy. By cutting the roses and putting the mere stems on his grave, could mean that she is cutting this “legacy” or rather “dooming” to become nothing at the end of it by making the brothers fight and all the gravel wars stuff, not letting one brother succeed over the other unlike the past generations.

Hm, there are more things on my mind but first I want to re-think it better and if everything makes sense. I’m open to suggestions, corrections and or even a better wording of my theory. This is all rushed to which I apologize. 😔

[omori-cottage]

Warnings : brief mention of alcohol and bl00d.

Info : fluff, headcannons of the best boy <3. I crave more Blade content, hoyoverse please let him go out of the rare reruns jail :')

Blade as your boyfriend would… pay for everything! He has money, the Stellaron Hunters are getting paid well and he doesn’t spend much on himself so he has some savings, and what’s a better way to use them up than on you? No matter if you are shopping, eating in a restaurant or just getting something silly, he will pay and you won’t even have to ask, then he will act like it's nothing.

“Ooh Blade look at that plushie! Isn’t it so cute?”

“Mhm.. it has its charm.”

“This will be 100 credits, cash or card?” The cashier spoke at the check out.

“Card.”

“You don’t have to, I got the money!”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing.”

Blade as your boyfriend would… like subtle affection. Hand holding or loving gazes, sometimes even in public. In private, the affection was still mostly slow progressing, he needed time and a lot of trust to really get deep into a relationship and feel safe enough to be so vulnerable with someone. In the comfort of your bed, you might sometimes enjoy cuddling or light kisses on certain, calm nights. If you initiate affection first, he usually won’t decline, unless it’s a bolder move in public (especially in front of the other Hunters.. he wouldn’t hear the end of it from Kafka.).

Blade as your boyfriend would… let you play with his hair! His hair is so soft and long, even if he almost never seems to be taking care of it. Often you find yourself petting or running your hand through it whenever you guys relax together. The hair is lacious, smooth and pleasant to touch, pretty to look at as well with its deep blue colour and faint yet still visible red tips, it smells of cheap shampoo and hints of blood but you don’t dare thinking whos it was. Though he might sometimes give you a look, he never says anything and perhaps it was your imagination but you swear you sometimes see him almost lift his head closer to your hand.

Blade as your boyfriend would… enjoy wine tastings/tea drinking with you. It might seem strange from such a feared man, but it was a peaceful activity that the both of you would be able to enjoy. He had a tea set and he sometimes bought different teas or wine from planets he visits while on missions and each time he makes sure to taste them with you. It’s quiet usually, but the good kind of quiet, one that makes you warm and relax rather than feel uncomfortable. And when talking does happen, the conversation is loose, normal daily talk rather than worry or stressful topics about work. Such a peaceful activity reminds him of the good old times of High-cloud Quintet and their meetings.

[thatgirlwithasquid]

ooo okay this looks fun (and i am procrastinating like a bitch rn so...)

Hm, I'm not sure. Maybe The Naming of Hobbits by @andhumanslovedstories? It was one of the first fics I read when I got into using AO3 and I remember it giving me a good giggle. I really should go back and reread it. It must've been years since I've read it by now... And yet I still think of it fondly as 'that funny The Hobbit fic' so it clearly left a very good impression :)

So many. So many make me cry. I've reread Time Falls Away by @not-close-to-straight like three times I think? And each time the line 'I don't know this part of the story' has me UGLY SOBBING. Love it. Absolutely an amazing read. I still haven't worked my way up to the third fic in the series cause the emotions are still too strong rn, but I am very excited for whenever I finally do! I also gotta mention All Is Fair In Love by @stranger-awakening cause OH MY GOD nothing has ever hurt me like this fic hurt me. The pain. It just kept getting worse. It was so good but I needed frequent breaks when reading cause the emotions were So Much. I'm also just realising I never kudosed that fic and OMG I AM SO SORRY. I was too caught up in the throes of agony, I apologise!!

My comfort fic is definitely Petey and Wade discuss the proper way to go about vigilantism (and maybe they fall in love too) by @isadancurtisproduction. I have read that fic at least once a year since I first came across it. I love it so much, it's insane. It may even be my all time favourite fanfic

I am gonna have to say Rapture by mia_ugly on AO3. I read it out of morbid curiosity and I have not been the same since. This is the fic that introduced me to this type of time travel fics, where the time travel muddies the relationships and makes everything angsty and confusing and secretive. It is my FAVOURITE kind of angst and I have read multiple other fics with the same trope since. I adore them <3

Oh, 100% @sheena-is-a-punk-rocker. Since I read all your quinnflag fics and loved them so much I started on my own quinnflag wip. Started off thinking 'how would they have gotten together before The Suicide Squad?' like they are in your The Suicide Squad but Rick and Harley are already dating series (which is such a fun read and deserves all the love!!) and my wip has become its own thing from there :)

Lol I'm not the best authority for this since I do not read much fic for either of my main fandoms (sorry Stranger Things and The World of Mr Plant!) but I definitely think @kittyphoenix12-xx's work deserves so much more love. I need to read more of your fics, babes, cause the ones I have read are SO good. I TREASURE that cunningway fic you gifted to me, and getting to beta a couple of your works was such an honour. I especially loved the stars look down and know, cause it's so so sweet!!!

Good question... Commenting, I guess. That's the obvious answer. And I really need to work on it myself (and I'm trying!!) but we could always do with more commenting. Authors love seeing it so we need to do our part more (which is why I'm tagging the authors in this despite being a bit nervous about that lol, cause you guys deserve hearing how wonderful I think your fics are :) )

I really don't know. I don't like telling people not to do things cause I think that's just rude. Fanfic is for fun, and if you like doing something that someone else thinks there's too much of then fuck them! Have fun with it cause that's all that matters. I see people complaining about certain things from time to time and just think 'well... you could just... not?' Maybe that's what I wish there was less of in fandom: people feeling the need to make a fuss when they don't like something, cause most of the time when I see it it's over the most non-problem things.

Alternative Fic Recs

Fic recs are a great way to introduce people to stories you love. But instead of a list, you could try this format instead? I've tried it before and I really liked it, as it made me think about the fics I've read differently.

This isn't a tag game or an ask game. You can copy, repost, reblog, share and edit this at will if you're looking to do a fic rec :)

The fic that's made you laugh the most?

What's a fic that makes you cry?

Your fave comfort, silly fic?

The fic that made you try a genre or a trope you wouldn't normally read.

An author that's inspired your own fic writing (if you're an author), or your TBR list (if you're a reader).

Your fave "underdog" fics/authors in your fandom(s). Those that you feel are underappreciated and deserve some love.

What's one thing you wish writers/readers/the fandom did more of when it comes to fanfiction?

What's one thing you wish writers/readers/the fandom did less of when it comes to fanfiction?

[sh4wty18]

or what?

pairing: jake x reader.

summary: you and jake have never liked each other. the thought of even being near him pisses you off. your entire dynamic shifts one night while attending his halloween party and accidentally wear the same costume.

cw: 18+ MDNI, NSFW, sex, teasing/banter, mean!jake & mean!reader, language, drinking/being tipsy

word count: 2.7k + proofread

a/n: i wrote this around halloween and it’s been in my notes app ever since. lowercase is intentional. first smut fic, kinda nervy 🫣

TW: I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT YOU CONSUME ONLINE. THIS STORY IS 100% FICTIONAL FOR FUN ONLY. NOTHING HERE IS ACCURATE TO REAL LIFE, NOR AM I CLAIMING IT TO BE. MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!

you walked into jake, johnnie, and carrington’s halloween party dressed as jigsaw. you’d worked hard on this costume and had been waiting to wear it out all week. your best friend, carrington, had been excited to see it too. when you got into the kitchen and hugged carrington hello, he couldn’t stop himself from giving you a cheeky grin. “you look awesome!”

“what is it?” you ask, immediately catching on to his suspicious smile.

he giggled, “nothing… just, who wore it best?” he points across the room to where jake stands, also wearing a jigsaw costume. what the fuck. you think.

“car, did you know he was also wearing this?” you ask, slightly annoyed.

“no! y/n, i swear, he didn’t tell me what he was wearing until today. i didn’t wanna tell you because i knew you were super excited to wear it and it was so last minute.” he smiles again, “but hey, maybe you can get more pointless flirting and banter in?”

you elbow him roughly and he cries out dramatically in faux-pain. “ooowwwww!”

“carrington, that wasn’t funny,” you roll your eyes, but cant hide the small smile creeping onto your lips. you’d never liked jake. for some reason, ever since carrington had moved in with jake and johnnie, you’d gotten on really well with johnnie, but never jake. youd just never gotten along. you always found him to be loud and obnoxious. carrington was too, but he was your best friend and you were used to it. jake was just annoying. but… he was also super hot. you were attracted to him, of course you were. he was fucking sexy. you didn’t like him, but you did want him. carrington could tell of course.

and you supposed he was right, partially. sometimes it did feel like you two were flirting every time you had a stupid argument over something one of you said, eager to prove the other wrong. you were constantly bickering. even their fans could tell you two didn’t get along. it was no secret. you were friends with tara, and she’d tried to get both of you to talk it out, insisting that you’d actually quite like each other once you got to know one another, but you both refused. too stubborn and petty to make amends. he was immature, and dramatic, and rude. it was impossible for you to be around him for more than five minutes without getting pissed off. yet at the same time, when you were in a room with him, he’d always catch your eye. you’d catch yourself stealing glances at him from across the kitchen table or couch, and oftentimes you’d catch him looking at you as well. he was just so pretty. you could look at him all day. and you’d be lying if you said your arguments didn’t turn you on. maybe tbat was part of the reason why you did it. you really had no reason to hate him. he wasn’t a bad person. he was actually quite a nice person. to everyone but you. oh well. it was too late to make up now, you both had your hearts set on constant vague annoyance and mild hatred for one another.

you stomp over to wear jake stands, sipping a drink and talking with a few people you don’t recognize. “what the hell, jake?!”

he looks you up and down and a shit-eating grin forms on his face. “well well well. look who’s here. and decided to copy me, too? not surprised.”

“oh i am NOT copying you-“

“you sure about that? because i’m pretty sure you’re the one wearing the same costume as me at a party i’m hosting, not the other way around,” he smirks.

“and you think i’d waste my time purposely copying your costume? real mature, jake.” you roll your eyes. the people he was talking to have slowly made their way go the other side of the room, watching from a distance.

“i mean, you want me so bad, i bet you would. don’t be embarrassed sweetheart, i’d wanna fuck me too.” he placed a hand on your shoulder and gave you one last once over before walking away. you could’ve sworn he bit his lip as he did.

fuck, he looked so good. shit. it was undeniable, you wanted him. so. fucking. badly.

the rest of the party was pretty fun. you mostly stuck with carrington and his friend group, and stayed as far from jake as possible. you kept shooting each other glances from across the living room, and it was obvious he had something to say to you, but wasn’t approaching.

you got pretty drunk, singing and dancing with your friends until the early hours of the morning. you tiredly made your way upstairs to one of the guest rooms where carrington had assigned you to stay for the night. you walked into the bathroom to wash the jigsaw makeup off your face and heard a knock at the bedroom door.

assuming it was carrington, you dried your face quickly and went to open the door. a slightly tipsy looking jake stood on the other side of the threshold.

you scoff, “what do you want?”

he walks into your room without asking, and closes the door behind him. he’s still in his costume, although now his makeup is washed off and he’s no longer wearing his suit jacket. his button down is disheveled and unbuttoned, and the bowtie hangs around his neck. your eyes trail down his chest and back up to his eyes, in which he still wears the red contacts. even in this state, he looks fucking incredible.

he gives you a quick laugh, “like what you see, baby?”

hearing him call you baby makes your stomach flip.

“i-“ you stutter, “no, i just- what are you doing in here?”

he laughs again, “you cant even deny it!”

“deny what?” you ask with annoyance, even though you know exactly why he’s saying that.

“don’t play dumb with me, y/n. you’re a smart girl. i know you are.”

“okay, i want you. is that what you want to hear? you’re so fucking annoying and obnoxious and insufferable to be around, but every time we’re together i want to fuck you. is that what you wanted to hear?” you step closer to him until your face is only a few inches from his. but you don’t dare touch him.

“fuck,” jake whispers. “you don’t know how long i’ve been waiting to hear that.”

he throws himself at you, wrapping one arm tightly around the back of your neck and the other around your waist, pushing you up against the wall behind you. he pulls you into the messiest make out you’ve ever had. it was as if he was trying to consume you. all of you. and nothing was enough. his lips engulfed yours for what felt like hours, but what was really only a few minutes. and when he got bored of that he moved on to your neck, kissing and biting and sucking wherever his mouth landed as you groaned into his ear.

“you looked so fucking hot tonight,” he whispers low in your ear before returning to work on your neck, marking as much of you as he could.

“so did you,” you mumble.

jake stops, “what was that?” he asks.

“you heard me,” you say with a tinge of annoyance.

“say it again.” jake tells you.

you raise your eyebrow, “no.”

he backs away from you in surprise at your refusal, and you walk away from the wall and over to your overnight bag. slowly, you pull the costume off your body. piece by piece. inch by inch. taunting him. you can feel his eyes burning into you. the hunger emanating from him.

“what, a girl’s never said no to your games before?” you ask, still not facing him. you’re naked now though, and you can still feel his eyes on you.

“it-its not a game. i just wanted to hear you say it again. never had you compliment me before. it’s a halloween miracle.” he says, trying his best to keep his cool and not ravage you right now.

you turn around and slowly walk back over to him. he stares at you, eyeing every curve of your soft skin. when you reach him, you wrap your arms around the back of his neck, pulling his face to yours until your lips graze together. “i said you looked hot too. now are you gonna fuck me or what?”

you connect your lips again and he takes you back just as desperately as before. one of his hands grips your ass cheek and the other slides between your legs. “this okay?” he asks quickly.

“yes,” you let out, your voice barely above a whisper.

you shudder at his touch, clenching around nothing, needing him. he massages your clit, his other hand moving from your ass to your thigh to pull your leg up, allowing your skin to spread for him.

“fuck,” you whisper.

“am i makin’ you feel good, baby?” he asks with a smug grin.

you roll your eyes through the blinding pleasure, “fuck you,” you spit out.

he laughs, stopping his motion on your clit and sliding two fingers inside of you with no warning. “fuck, you’re so ready for me. barely even had to try to get these in. think you can take my cock yet?”

you feel yourself clench around his fingers as he pumps them in and out roughly.

“just shut up and take your clothes off, webber.” you mumble breathlessly, and he removes his fingers, sucking any remnants of you off of them before ripping his costume off, leaving him with only the red contacts. you cant lie, he looks even hotter like this. fuck, you couldn’t believe how good he looked. and you were finally getting to fuck him. yeah, maybe it was only because you were both still a little tipsy, but you weren’t that tipsy. you were still well aware of what you were doing. so maybe it was really just because the tension was finally too much. the rubber band had finally snapped.

you place two hands on his chest and push him backwards until he falls back onto the bed. then you climb on top of him, straddling his thighs. you spit into your hand and use it to lubricate his cock. he was already hard, and you gawk at how big he is. you watch as he leans forward on his elbows to get a better view of you jerking him off. your strokes are long and slow, and you make sure to brush the pad of your thumb over his tip with each one. his head rolls back and he moans, and you could’ve came just from watching him.

he sits up and grabs your hips with both hands, pulling you forwards so you’re on your knees. you adjust his cock below you and sink down onto him, bottoming out nearly immediately. it hurts a little at first, you weren’t used to fucking someone of this size, but you loved it. you could feel yourself getting addicted to him with each passing second. he laid back again, but kept his hands gripping your ass cheeks. he rolls your hips forward, guiding you through the motion. “c’mon, baby, you can do it. you can take it, i know you can,” he says sweetly.

“i think this is the nicest you’ve ever been to me,” you joke, trying to keep your voice level, but it’s hard when all you want to do is moan in pleasure.

“yeah… well… don’t get too used to it. you’re still a bitch. just because we’re finally fucking doesn’t change that,” he says, half jokingly, but he’s also struggling to speak through his pants.

“finally fucking? so you’re saying you’ve always wanted me too?” you ask with a smirk, continuing to grind yourself into him. he lifts your hips a little now, yanking you down harder onto his cock each time. you press his chest further into the bed, leaning down to kiss his neck and jaw.

“fuck off,” he whispers in response to your questions.

“you’re such an asshole,” you scoff. he takes one hand off your ass and grabs your chin, pulling your face down to sloppily kiss your lips again.

“i wanna hit from the back? that okay, baby?” he whispers against your mouth.

of course it was okay. you wanted him in every way possible. you nod and climb off his lap, the feeling of emptiness taking over. you needed him back inside of you immediately. he flips you over as if you weigh nothing, positioning you on your knees in front of him. your head is buried in the pillows, and he yanks your ass up with one hand. you can hear him stroking himself a few times, before sliding his cock back inside of you effortlessly. you’re honestly shocked at how well you can take him, like your body was meant for him. his thrusts are rough and deep. all that can be heard in the room are the sounds of skin on skin, his husky groans, and your higher pitched moans as he works your body.

“c’mere,” jake grunts, grabbing you by the neck with one hand and wrapping the other hand around your stomach, pulling you upwards until you’re sitting up on your knees. his thrusts don’t let up, and you’re amazed by his strength. “wanna see your face when i make you come.”

you cant manage to get a word out, all you can do is ramble. “fuck, jake, fuck.”

“come for me,” he whispers against your shoulder, kissing it as you come undone on top of him.

“fucking christ, you’re so hot. where d’you want me?” he asks, his thrusts growing sloppier by the second.

“inside,” you say, feeling another orgasm rapidly approaching.

“you sure?” jake asks, clearly struggling to hold back.

“yes, fuck, jake i’m on the pill just come inside me,” you moan.

he lets out a loud groan, and you feel his dick twitch. the thought of his come inside of you pushed you to the edge again and you screamed in pleasure. his thrusts quickened as he realized you were coming for the second time, and only when you’d ridden out your high did he pull out of you.

you both collapse onto the bed, and stare up at the ceiling breathlessly.

“holy fucking shit, that was so good,” jake said, and you could hear the grin in his voice. “if i’d have known you’d be that good, i would’ve fucked you sooner.”

you scoff, “shut up,” you say with an eye roll. “you’re still insufferable.”

“we can never let them know this happened,” jake says.

“agreed,” you turn and outstretch your hand for him to shake on it.

he laughs and shakes his head, “fucking nerd. only you would want to shake on a deal after i made you come twice.”

you feel your face flush with embarrassment, “shut the fuck up,” you groan.

“never. you’re never gonna live this down. you love my cock so much you came twice! yeah, y/n, good luck acting like you hate me now.” he turns and smiles at you, a real smile. but he still takes your hand, shaking it aggressively. ��there. you happy?”

“yes,” you smile sheepishly at him. “i don’t hate you, you know,”you whisper.

“i know,” he says. “i don’t hate you, either. but pretending i did was so fucking hot.”

“we can keep up the bickering. i still think you’re annoying as fuck.” you say with a laugh. “but maybe now instead of perpetually arguing, we can just fuck when it gets bad… or when it’s not bad. whenever we want.”

he smiles and presses a quick kiss to your lips, “i could live with that.” he stands and puts his boxers back on, before making his way to the bedroom door. “night,” he says.

“g’night.”

hope u enjoyed lmk what u think😣 tags for @liseytopia & @audr3yyyyy bc they convinced me to post it :3

pics from pinterest, divider from @/saradika-graphics

[muninnhuginn]

Mun!!! :0 I wanted to ask if you watched the new Link Click op and if so, what are your thoughts on it? And also for season 3 in general if you have any expectations for it

Hi! I've seen it, yes. Managed to watch before work, but not had the chance to properly sit down and digest it all before now. Going to put my thoughts on it all below.

Some things to keep in mind: I've watched the opening and I've skimmed the Tumblr tag a few times since then, but I've not gone deep dive or anything. So if I say something that's been said loads already that's probably because I've not seen everyone else saying it yet. The other thing is that I may comment on the lyrics of the song, but not in relation to potential foreshadowing, given bai sha jaws have been pretty clear they're not really privy to any more info than we are as the audience.

With that out of the way, let's go.

We start with the focus on the camera, which transitions to the basketball court. The use of the feather to carry the transition is one of those "which could mean nothing" details, because the use of feathers is pretty prominent in some of the official art pieces.

Next, Cheng Xiaoshi takes Lu Guang's hand and pulls his past self onto the court. The implications of this are pretty obvious (the 'current' Lu Guang is left unsaturated as his past and Cheng Xiaoshi are held in soft light; Lu Guang doesn't feel like he belongs in this treasured past), but I like the extra little aspect of the basketball pitch being the setting because it means the fencing acts as prison framing. And the prison framing is perfect for the line "trapped in a rewind".

Lonely road, long shadow, it's the heat of the summer and he's small against the backdrop of the street. Stick a pin in this one because we'll return to it later.

And over to fake London and its red doubledeckers. Xia Fei looking out when something (someone?) catches his attention. We're then shown Lu Guang in front of one of Xia Fei's posters, but my instinct is that what Xia Fei is looking at/for is unrelated. Anyway, Lu Guang still desaturated, still not fitting in.

Heh. No comment. (Although, tangent time! I've not been able to pause fast enough to catch the 'afternoon tea' sign but I feel the need to point out something after skimming past some posts that have mentioned it. 'Afternoon tea' isn't a drink. It's more a meal? An event? Say, sometime between lunchtime and dinnertime (I won't confuse things further by referring to the latter as teatime here) it'd be a get together where people would have scones and hot drinks and cake, etc. It's honestly low-key posh so it's far from a daily thing for most people, but it's the sort of thing you'd do for an extended family get together.)

Onto Liu Xiao reading some more Shakespeare. My Shakespeare knowledge is limited to Othello and Romeo and Juliet so... I'll leave this one to other people.

More Lu Guang being out of place.

Someone having tea (the drink) followed by a cipher I'm pretty sure people have already cracked:

Then onto this character:

Not gonna speculate too heavily at this point, but I know people are guessing she's either related to Xia Fei or *is* Xia Fei, given the shared eye and hair colour. I lean towards the former being more likely given the whole thing on the bus where Xia Fei's attention was seemingly caught by something/someone outside. Also, flower in the forefront, not 100% sure here but looks a bit like a yellow daffodil. Possibly a bit out of season for them if this is summer, but we don't care about that. We care about the meaning of a daffodil which is rebirth/new beginnings/all that jazz.

And back again to Lu Guang, who immediately reminds me of something I thought was cool earlier but forgot to mention. Lu Guang is entirely desaturated in this opening, yes, aside from the use of red. Is it original? No. Is it effective? Yes.

Puddle of blood and we meet again, dear white feather:

(The puddle of blood is actually completely still until the feather hits it, at which point *everything* in the scene lifts up).

And we're into full colour (light pouring in from the window) as we see photos (memories) fly around:

And these scenes focus on both Qiao Ling and Cheng Xiaoshi. First, them interacting with each other, then with the unseen narrator (presumably Lu Guang). They both brighten his world.

Lyrics of "there will be a fire when it all unfolds". Liking the 'unfolds' maybe callback there to op 1 Vortex and also the snow/ash/fire thing reminds me... so, like I said, not gonna use the lyrics themselves as foreshadowing, but the backdrop in the next section is fair game and there's a pretty clear fire there. I know it doesn't *have* to be a literal fire, but it was pretty striking so I think it's more likely than not there'll be some fire in Yingdu itself?

Flash through Lu Guang against different backgrounds. Won't spam them all, but we start with the photo studio transition through various Yingdu related backdrops then the clock backdrop (which ofc takes my mind straight back to Madoka) and back to the studio (this time ft. gun in gloved hand (possibly same gloved hand as the teacup earlier - possibly possibly vein, idc to speculate too hard on that point) and finally! We're back to the start of the opening and the basketball court. The whole scene is now washed out and Lu Guang matches it as he wipes his tears, before Cheng Xiaoshi grabs his arm and the colour floods back in.

(Also tangent again but "we fought the tides" as another lyrical callback to the season two ending, nice nice)

And speaking of returning to earlier in the opening, here's the road again:

All three of them running forwards as we pan up to the light in the sky.

And those are my thoughts. There's a lot I skimmed over either because it doesn't much interest me or because I'm pretty sure others'll have written essays already but yeah. Solid opening. Time to jettison my hopes before they get too high.

In terms of the second question, I've not been counting Yingdu as season three in my head, but I'm still genuinely unsure whether it "officially" counts or not. That said, my thoughts on a season three after Yingdu are so murky that I'm going to treat your question as though Yingdu is season three because then I can actually provide some kind of answer.

Basically, I've been thinking of Yingdu as something adjacent to Madoka episode eight - there to provide extra context but technically extraneous to the overall series. This is partly because of the different production layout behind the scenes, with a different studio and directing setup than the 'main' series. I'm basically expecting this arc to help raise the emotional stakes on Lu Guang's side of the situation without actually providing a resolution to the overarching plot.

[kradogsrats]

thinking today about the Celestial elf blindfolds and "[the stars] donned their masks/ they turned their backs/ and left Elarion to die"

[paperboy-pb]

🔴 SMALL UPDATE REGARDING THIS! Keep reading for a sec, will ya?

Sorry to flood our pages with an even longer post. I'll try to be quick!

Just correcting some SLIGHT misinformation, but even then, I need help verifying something & Google isn't giving me the answer I need. Autism Speaks, apparently, actually DID release an apology for I Am Autism. I see a lot of people saying they didn't, but it does exist now if you do some digging.

It's... ehh? It could be a lot worse. They mostly take accountability. But they also semi-excuse it as saying they have a "deeper understanding of Autism now"; implying/admitting that they, as an ORGANIZATION, did not have a deep understanding of Autism as a condition even after 4 years of operation...?

They also claim that they are working with Autistic employees, again? And it's been a while since any have publicly walked out on them. But it's not clear how many are on board exactly. Which, in a way, is fair, as no one really has to disclose their disability to an employer or the public for any reason. But do with that information what you will. Just know that working in tandem with the community you aim to serve is vital, and that other Autistics have bailed on them for justified reasons even in the 2010s; I'm kind of surprised they don't have a PUBLIC team of Autistic people specifically employed to overlook everything. That's what I would do if I led this.

Don't get anxious now, though. I'm not warming up to Autism Speaks anytime soon, and these further facts are why.

1: This ad was NEVER "a product of its time," as it was considered offensive even upon release. That's literally why it was pulled & swept under the rug in the first place a few weeks later. Even for 2009, it was deplorable! This isn't comparable to, say, animated cartoons being racist in the 1900s, especially seeing as Autism Speaks were the professionals here. The people with researchers "educating" & spreading awareness for the public. I'll always shit on Disney, but at least it WASN'T their literal *job* to help a minority group back then, now was it? Autism Speaks, though? That's their whole purpose.

2: (See above.) IMDB says that it was was never meant to be distributed publicly. Which I find shady given that

I 100% saw the beginning part of this ad as a small child. Because, upon seeing it re-uploaded to YouTube again at 13 (early 2017,) I recognized the visuals immediately. While it WAS actually shown in my state (NYC,) my family had no business attending the event mentioned. So it couldn't have been there. If it *didn't* air on TV, then I likely saw it floating around on YouTube. Thankfully, I didn't actually retain any of the statements that were made and forgot most of it. But if I (a VERY young Autistic elementary schooler at the time) could've accessed it, I'm sure other children did, too.

Disability Scoop claimed in TWO articles written shortly after it debuted (2009) that it was on Autism Speaks' YouTube channel. Meaning that it WAS, indeed, publicly distributed, IE: uploaded by the company. It's also cited as having been on their website.

And now, 3: Again, I've paid close attention to Autism Speaks as a brand since 2017, even when Sia first mentioned her movie (which released in 2021; yeah, I learned about that back then, I was DEEP in the rabbit hole.) And yet I've never seen this apology. You'd think they'd push it more to the forefront if they took it so seriously, no? Especially they've been getting heat for I Am Autism SINCE 2009.

Something tells me this wasn't posted until AFTER 2020. OVER A DECADE OF TIME. There's no date on this article & I cannot find one. But can somebody PLEASE let me know if they can verify and/or find out when this apology was published? While it's better late than never, there is NO REASON it should've taken that long other than damage control now that the Autistic community has risen up.

Any help is appreciated. Please let me know what you find.

The fact that I even need to say this astounds me.

I understand times change, but 2005-12 was not the fucking dark ages. Let alone some other offenses they've gathered up past that. People knew better. It wasn't okay then OR now. If Autism Speaks was SO dedicated to providing resources, maybe they should've focused their material more on that than fear-mongering. Or at least owned up to it with their whole chest w/ an apology & promise to be better. But you know. Corporate's gonna corporate. 😐

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 3 - San Fransokyo

[m1d-45]

renewed

summary: many things have changed in aether's life since he met you...

word count: 2.7k

-> warnings: n/a

-> gn reader (you/yours) + aether as traveller!

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay || @cupandtea24 || @genshin-impacts-me || @chaoticfivesworld || @raaawwwr || @ryuryuryuyurboat || @undrxtxd || @rainswept || @wanderersqt || @rozz-eokkk

< masterlist >

aether isn’t quite human. at least not entirely, not anymore.

it could be argued that even prior to coming to teyvat, he and his sister weren’t entirely human. they were nearly always stronger than the native life wherever they traveled, never lingering long enough for an accurate portrait to be drawn. between their glittering wings and the razor sharp swords at their hips, it could be easily argued that from the perspective of the people they visited they could be called angels.

a few wrote legends about them. the gilded warriors with shimmering swords that blinded as they slashed, so in step with each other that it was as if they were one being. the saviors, the adventurers, the peaceful giants, twin faces atop four wings apiece. lumine always managed to sneak away a copy of these legends, and they privately laughed over the artwork at their camp that night.

“we don’t look that intimidating, do we?”

“i’m fairly certain-… hang on, is that a tail?”

“that’s supposed to my hair, i think.”

“no no, look. it connects lower, here.”

“…by the stars-”

they didn’t see themselves that way, though. they were simply twins, defined by the other in every sense. never apart for long, always stood side by side, trading swords before a dangerous fight as a promise to return them.

‘draw me with courage.’

‘wield me with valor.’

lumine and aether and aether and lumine. they never fussed about the order, so long as they were together. call them whatever you’d like, insults or praise or a simple, tired request to leave, as long as it was both of them. they were all they had left. the other half of their life. to try and pry apart the seam would only result in bleeding hearts, limbs tangling together to at least die by the other’s side. even ‘twin’ was too simple a word to fit the entirety of their lives into. ‘twin’ implied a degree of separation, an impossible gap between them where wind would blow and the world would dig into, pushing them away like waves in a boat’s wake. ‘twin��� was too shallow a word, to bitter, too small to encompass everything they felt.

such fervent devotion could never be considered ‘human,’ for no human would ever live long enough to know the fear that came with knowing everything that swelled would eventually fall. no human would clutch so desperately to the twin pillars in their life—would ever consider basing their world upon two things. they’d call it foolish, even, for what would you do if one collapsed?

aether never liked that question. he didn’t like it when he and lumine first heard it, he didn’t like it when he and lumine heard it a second time, he didn’t like it anytime he and lumine heard it after that. he didn’t like it now, her sword slipping from his hands as he reached, his fingers barely brushing hers.

the unknown god laughed, and he barely had time to feel rage before the world closed in on him and his memory faded away.

aether and lumine. lumine and aether. she was always insistent upon his safety, but just this once he wished she wasn’t. living in whatever stasis she was in within that cube would certainly hurt less than this, bile rising in his throat at his failure.

somewhere in his mind, he knew that it logically wasn’t his fault. he remembered the layer of warmth that had surrounded him mid-battle, saw the reflection of understanding in lumine’s eyes. it wasn’t technically his fault, he didn’t ask to be saved, ignoring that it was his own actions that led to his god’s blessing. perhaps if he wasn’t so strict about the time of his prayer he wouldn’t have to be alone on this beach, though there was no way to find out. the sand stretched on either side, and though it wasn’t infinite, he had not left the immediate area around where he’d first woken up. to move was to move on, to leave, to accept that his world had shattered into a thousand little fragments and to give up on picking them off the floor. he couldn’t leave. to leave was to surrender to this new fate. to leave was to forget about his sister, to forget about his self, to forget about the half of his life he never imagined he could lose.

family and faith. to lose his gods favor was a threat he could live with, as there would only be himself to blame. but his sister?

if he hadn’t fished up paimon, he’s not certain he would have eaten the fish that came up instead.

she was bright, bubbly, at least after coughing up an impossible amount of seawater. she thanked him profusely while wringing out her hair, insisting on helping him in return because “it’s only fair!” as if he wasn’t three times her weight (save her magic) and and ten times as strong.

and he let her. he’s not sure why, but he did. he watched her fumble to catch crabs, ending up covered in sand, and managed a weak smile. it was for her, he told himself, spearing three with a sword that wasn’t his, helping her arrange driftwood into a measly campfire. he hardly felt hungry despite being on the beach for what had to be a few months in local time, but she was so insistent that he have some.. it was for her benefit. he just had to get her somewhere safe, then… then…

“so, where are you from?”

aether looked up from his barely-touched meal, meeting her eyes. they were so wide and earnest, too trusting for someone that just met him.

not that he had any ill intentions. no, lumine would always joke that the day he was willingly rude to another would be the day the sky turned red—something that had been the case on one of the planets they’d visited, much to her delight.

aether turned back to the fire, pushing aside the memory. “another planet.” his voice was hoarse and his throat scratched with salt from attempting to drink the seawater earlier, which was not as potable as he’d hoped. “i flew here with my sister.”

“you have a sister?” paimon looked around, though they both knew she wouldn’t find anything. “where is she?”

aether swallowed salt and bile, taking another bite of his crab just to stall. “how about we talk in the morning?”

she let the topic drop.

he didn’t sleep that night, lending her his scarf as a pillow and keeping watch. she didn’t wake when the moon erased the shadows in the sand, or when the sun first crested the sea, or when the sky fully lightened to a pale blue, birdsong filling the air. one of the remnants from the fire found its way into his hand, reaching out to gently shake her awake. her eyes were heavy and she covered her mouth as she yawned, aether looking away before his own could water.

he drew nothing in the sand as she asked her questions—who are you, where’d you come from, who are you missing, what happened to her, why didn’t you do anything?—sketching out mountains and seas he wiped away as soon as they took form. he spoke for much longer than he meant to, his words pulled out as if they were tied to some invisible string.

when was the last time he was alone for this long?

paimon listened intently, brows drawn and frowning deeply, watching as he carved twin—twin, separated by time and space—stars into the sand. “so… what you’re trying to say is that you fell here… from another world? but when you wanted to leave, to go on to the next world, your path was blocked by some unknown god?”

wow, he wanted to snark, i didn’t know there was an echo out here! but the chance never came. magic gripped him by the throat and his eyes went wide in panic, his mouth shaping words he didn’t choose to say by force. he didn’t want to say what someone else told him to. he didn’t know what was going on. he was being pulled at some ghost’s whims, walking stiffly across the sand. it did not skid from beneath his feet, nor pull his balance one way or another. it was solid as stone, leading him up the beach without warning, without knowledge of why or when it would stop.

when was the last time he was this helpless?

(lumine.)

he stumbled across the shore on uncoordinated limbs, fighting fruitlessly. ahead, slime bubbled up from where the sand met the sea, but the ghost did not stop. mist coagulated into a pale blue blob with hazy spots for eyes, and only then was he allowed to stop. paimon yelped and ducked behind him, a familiar weight sinking into his hand. the slime had barely the chance to turn and see him, jerking up as if surprised, when his arm slashed forward.

a sword. not his sword, not lumine’s sword, but a sword, pulled from nowhere, the dull blade hacking at the blob of its own will until the sludge dispersed and sunk back into the sand. a soft mist lingered above the sand, but he was pulled forward without care or remorse. he didn’t even know if it would have hurt him.

weight hit him between the shoulders, cold spreading over his skin and absorbing into his skin. energy buzzed beside his ear, his earring humming with neither outlet nor conduit. were he anyone else, he would have been afraid, but he recognized the buzz. all at once, he understood. all at once, the weak puppetry was vindicated, his muscles relaxing and letting it happen. your energy sank into him, and he let himself stop worrying.

if you were here, he’d be okay. if you were here, you could fix this.

if you were here, he could find his sister, and everything would be okay again.

aether was not human. not entirely, not anymore, and he knew the people of mondstat could tell. you had stayed to guide his body for a week, alternating between helping the knights with dvalin and exploring the plains of mondstat. he was weak and your grip was frail, his attacks uncoordinated and clumsy, but you were there. you understood. the cavalry captain gave him a long stare as they exited his domain, a mix of curiosity and disbelief swirling in his one eye.

when you finally left, you did so in the middle of mondstat square. a physical weight lifted from his shoulders, the anemo he’d absorbed turning from calm and controlled to pushing at the edges of his form, trying to make him give. the anemo archon approached, soothing the wind with a wave of his hand, pulling him along for a drink and a chat. his knees did not want to bend without your command, his mind fraying a bit from continued exposure.

“how interesting, that you’re still standing after a week without rest,” the bartender remarked, the glass in his hands obviously an excuse to keep them above the bar. “what’s your name, outlander?”

he did not think of his own name. no, when he went to answer, he thought of the name you had given him, the one you whispered as you sheltered him from the unknown god’s wrath. it was not his, but it was yours, and wasn’t that what he was asking for?

it took too long for him to answer. red eyes narrowed but eventually chalked it up to exhaustion, giving him directions he couldn’t hear. the captain led him to a room in the back, but he didn’t sleep that night, sitting at the window and searching for the thin sliver of stars.

he didn’t need to eat anymore. he could, certainly, and it tasted fine enough, but he didn’t exactly need to. he’d thought it odd, at first, that barbatos was healed strictly by the wind, but he understood now. he spent his free time sitting under vanessa’s tree, half-asleep as he waited for your return.

you were his source of energy, of will. you knew answers to problems he’d have given up on, and if you didn’t then you tried and tried and tried again until you got it right. you were the power that purified dvalin’s tears, you swept the wind to fix the holy lyre, you cleared the seals around decarabian’s tower. he was a medium, and he was happy with that. your presence waxed and waned, the lapses without you seeming to pass by in a blink.

a few of the knights worried for him, but he knew your vessels understood. none held as much of your power as him, none were as reliant on you, but they understood. they excused his oddities with a kind smile, paimon always at his side to make sure he didn’t waste away the day simply sitting in one spot. prior to coming to teyvat, the concept of elemental sight was something he was only vaguely familiar with. a few planets had some talented witches that could feel the flow of energy through the ground and grass, who could watch the mist in the air and predict the weather. he’d never experienced it himself before. now, the world lit up as his eyes took on a teal sheen, your power mixing with the anemo within him to grant him insight. the world was so vibrant, even the most mundane sights capturing his attention. how could he not stare? if he had it his way he’d always view your creations like this.. but whenever paimon snapped him out of it he’d come out of it with a headache, not to mention his staring tended to be off-putting to those around.

a lot of his new behaviors were. when within your control, he moved stiffly, with repetitive motions forecast well in advance. you chose what he said, when and how he moved, you controlled the very flow of elements through his body. it was harder and harder to think for himself without you there and though paimon handled most of the conversation, there was only so much she could say.

“who are you looking for?” lumine. his sister. himself. the knowledge was there but his throat was closed, unwilling to move without your order.

“thank you for your help.” you’re welcome. don’t worry about it. it was nothing. all he could manage was a stiff nod, eyes flicking to the sky, counting the days until your return. he’d gotten a good grasp of your routine by now.

“who are you?” yours. a traveller. lumine’s. he could not blame those they ran across for their suspicion, even though he wanted to. could they not feel the remains of your presence lingering around him?

they had to go to the rite of decension soon. liyue was holding off, though, waiting for your arrival. they’d never dare to make you miss it, so aether felt no hurry to leave. he laid in the middle of windrise, staring up at the stars. he used to sit atop the knights’ headquarters, but it took too long for the lights of the city to turn out and he liked picking out the various constellations.

his was up there, somewhere. he didn’t have a vision like your other vessels, but he could feel it. it was written right beside your decision to save him and not lumine, alongside your actions in mondstat and everything you’d do in liyue. fate, you’d called it, well-acquainted and intertwined.

aether fell asleep on wet grass among cold wind. he did not get sick, nor was he attacked or otherwise hurt. why would he have been, anyway? your blood was in his veins; he had nothing at all to fear.

[heartcircus]

okay, so . the IOUs zam owes from last season:

initially, they were offered to reddoons, squiddo, 4c, and spep in exchange for their blessings/curses in the "a deal with the princezam" stream and the "deals deals deals!" stream. around this time, zam supposedly gave these same offers, while off stream, to pangi, jaron, and terrain as well.

woogie was then later offered 1 IOU when zam first revealed that he was playing on pangi's account, requesting that he didn't tell anyone about it. after that, the only other deal made that i could find was to leo for his login info on the final day.

out of all of those deals, only 5 accepted and actually completed their end of the deal. those being red, pangi, woogie, spep, and leo. red and spep's offers were bumped from 1 IOU to 3 during negotiations. however due to spep betraying during the big pb&j vs. playersTM fight, spep’s was lowered back down to 1. pangi's was done off stream but purely based on context i assume it's only 1 IOU? (or they traded login info ? idk it's one of the two).

during the finale, zam also mentioned that he offered 2 more IOUs to red if he logged on immediately to curse jumper with glowing (1:23:27 in "the finale day" roshambo vod (may 25th)) . yea .

so, from what i can gather: zam owes reddoons something between 3-5 IOUs, spep 1, pangi 1, woogie 1, and leo 1.

[ppeachybees]

UNFINISHED COMIC !! from … last year. i started a fic for this a while back too, but couldn’t figure out where to go with it. here’s just some good ol Kageyama Parents Comforting Their Child content for now