#since they’re literally the exact same anyways

[charmwasjess]

If Lucasfilm hires you to develop a project what do you pitch?

(Happy Thanksgiving btw 🦃)

Forgive me o’ Geode, friend and sender of fun asks, but the pitch would be me asking to use the restroom and then sneaking out through an open window.

I know! I know! What a boring answer! That sounds so cynical and unfun! Jess LOVES Star Wars content!! So why is she crying?!

Problem is, I think I would want to pitch The Acolyte. 

Of course, I disagree with Leslye Headland’s take on the Jedi Order completely. But I can’t say I didn’t have fun with that show, or that I wouldn’t have tried to do the exact same thing she did with some meaningful differences: get a Jedi-centric story away from the Skywalker Saga, explore weird places, make it dark and edgy and sexy, diverse leads, LGTBQIA+ characters treated like real characters, big tasty lightsaber fights. And it would get cancelled just like The Acolyte did, as none of the things I wanted to fix about the show were the reasons for its failure. 

I don’t think it’s just Star Wars, by the way. It is ROUGH out there for creative people working on projects, big or small. The industry is changing in ways that are still being realized as stories change to franchises which change to corporate properties managing streaming conglomerates. I imagine it will get a great deal worse before it gets better as companies start to cheap out on AI. I’ve talked to Netflix producers, friends who write for Marvel projects, and closer to home, my partner just realized the creative dream of a lifetime: the book he’s worked on for seven years got published by THE publisher in his scene. It’s a success! His fans are fantastic! The reviews are great! He’s sold so many copies so quickly that he would qualify for NYT bestsellers criteria if they listed his genre. His experience with the process was like pulling fucking teeth. He was unsupported with the book on every level by his publishers, fought for every good decision, and the whole process was exhausting and demoralizing.  

I can’t imagine how quickly the dream turns into a nightmare for someone taking on a Lucasfilm project, getting the chance to tell a story they’re deeply passionate about, and then it fails utterly for reasons entirely outside of their control.  

Anyway, without invoking Apollo’s red ball, I do want to talk about a Dooku: Jedi Lost adaptation for a second. Because of course, imagining well done cinematic scenes of certain favorite moments in that book - the Tirra ‘taka or Sifo-Dyas’s sandstorm while Dooku’s blue blade is just cutting down foes left and right - make my nips so hard they just break off and go flying around the room, smashing up the furniture. It’s impossible not to dream “well, what if they just did it really well?” 

But here’s where I think it falls apart. Regardless of how you view the platonic or romantic nature of Sifo-Dyas and Dooku's relationship, a good half the book is two male characters having intimate, affirming conversations about their feelings. Can you imagine a Star Wars property where the male leads look at each other and say lines like “you’re here. With me.” or the whole “I’m in.” “I”m in” exchange as their ship literally falls burning from the sky? Disney would probably turn it into a lightsaber fight, and yeah, I’d reblog the shit out of those gifs, but I think it would erase something core that I love in the narrative that is perfectly captured in the medium it’s in right now. Something tender and understated and rare.

....And even if they captured that aspect perfectly, part of the “fandom” that hadn’t seen a Star Wars film since May 2005 would bleat “woke” and complain that their wife left them because someone (me) ruined Count Dooku.

[omgeto]

the link of ur masterlist and rules are same :/

oh dear 🙀 you have been bewitched have you and wanted to see my master lists but instead saw my rules that has a proceed to masterlist link right at the end, I apologise

[educatedsimps]

— "ctrl+C, ctrl+V" sakusa kiyoomi

≪ back to fics masterlist

sakusa kiyoomi x f!reader

a/n: saw a fanart of chibi sakusa and this came to mind so i just had to write this out to get it out of my head 🫠 sorry if my writing's not perfect i wrote this in like an hour HAHAHDHDJSJSHD

cw: FLUFF, parenting au, atsumu being annoying

wc: 586

Kiyoomi had always expressed how much he wanted your kids to have your features - from your hair, your eyes, your smile, your laugh, he wanted them to inherit everything about you. He essentially wanted his kids to be mini clones of you, the person he loved and admired the most in the world.

However, when your first child was born, it was pretty clear that she'd take after her father. Immediately, you noticed birth marks at almost the exact same spot as her father, and as she grew older, her hair started to curl at the ends just like her father's. Unsurprisingly, they had similar personalities too. She was probably the most educated six year old when it came to personal and public hygiene.

And when Reina's little brother was born, you swore they could be twins. That is, if you ignored the eight year age gap between them. Akimitsu, like his sister, took after Kiyoomi. He had the same dark curly hair and sharp eyes as his father, but one difference between him and his sister was that he had a much more outgoing personality. Even at six months old, he was already smiling, laughing, pointing and waving at everyone he passes by.

Today was no different. Strapped to his father's chest, Akimitsu was excitedly pointing towards his older sister practising volleyball in front of him and babbling incoherently. Next to him, the one and only Miya Atsumu was seated on the bench watching his twin boys practice their volleyball skills with Reina. You watched as your husband fished out a pack of tissues and wiped away the drool on his baby's chin.

"Dude, what's up with your sets today? Even Reina can't spike your shit sets and she's a better spiker than me!" Ryūjin exclaimed, pointing accusingly at his brother.

"Shut yer trap, Ryū! Yer just jealous 'cause my sets are still better than yours!" Ryōta retorted. Turning to his friend, he apologised, "Sorry, Reina, I'll work on my sets."

Reina scrunched her face in slight annoyance but acknowledged her friend.

"Y'know, Omi-kun, yer daughter somehow looks even more like you when she does that," Atsumu chortled.

Confused, Kiyoomi looked up at the blonde setter. "Does what?"

"THAT!" Atsumu screeched, pointing at Kiyoomi's face, which was, of course, scrunched up like his daughter's. Kiyoomi hurriedly covered his son's ears at the sheer volume of Atsumu's outburst.

"Will ya keep it down? My kid's gonna go deaf at this rate," Kiyoomi huffed, glaring at Atsumu. The latter sheepishly apologised.

"But for real though, your kids are basically your clones," Atsumu continued, "Guess ya don't have to worry about 'em not bein' yours, right?"

That earned him a hard slap on the back of his head by both you and Kiyoomi.

"THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Atsumu cried, rubbing the back of his head to relieve the pain.

"Excuse me, sir, what are you insinuating?" You spouted, glaring at him. For all the years you had known him — since high school, to be exact —Atsumu had never failed to come up with the most insensitive lines.

"I'm just sayin'! It's cute that yer kids look so much like you!" Atsumu sulked.

"No shit they're mine, baka," Kiyoomi grumbled, the annoyed scrunch once again making an appearance on his face.

Hearing a fit of giggles, you all turned to Akimitsu who was pointing at Atsumu with a gummy smile on his face.

"Ba...Baka!"

The six month old happily clapped and cheered as Atsumu was left dumbfounded.

a/n: sakusa’s children would 100% inherit his curly hair YOU CANNOT CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE like it’s literally so cute. they’d have the same scrunched face when they’re annoyed AND IT'S FREAKING ADORABLE anyway i titled this one ctrl C ctrl V for obvious reasons HAHA

© educatedsimps 2024. do not repost, copy, translate or plagiarise any work from this blog on tumblr or any other platforms. if you do, the simps will hunt you down. likes and reblogs are appreciated!

[bilboyagathechickenfootedhobbit]

The whole public sex discourse is insane. But what goes beyond insane into heart-dropping, what the fuck where did we go wrong territory is this attitude of ‘who cares if kids see? They’ll be having sex one day eventually.’ Like???? Yeah, most likely they will. My six year old kid will one day drive an automobile. Does that mean I should just give him the keys this morning and let him drive himself to school? I mean, he’s going to drive EVENTUALLY, right? By that same token, I should also just give him a tumbler of whiskey and let him take a drag off a cigarette; I mean, he’ll probably try these things one day ANYWAY, may as well be today, right? And since he’s going to learn what sex is, why not invite one of his little friends over and show them how to fuck one another?

Oh wait, does that make you uncomfortable now? The idea of two six year olds being encouraged to have sexual intercourse? DOES THAT SEEM WEIRD??? Why?? I mean, they’re going to do it one day anyway, WHY NOT NOW??? Why NOT get your six year old wasted and zooted and teach them how to properly fuck?? Does that make you feel weird? What are you? Some lame-o virgin who doesn’t know how to party? Weak sauce. See, I happen to be a super cool edge-lord sex god who has had ALL THE SEX and therefore don’t care if anyone sees anyone having sex. Since I, the ultimate Sex Lord, have definitely already had sex it is now appropriate for every single human on earth, regardless of age or anything, to witness anyone else having sex. I mean, I’M okay with it, so therefore everyone else has to be okay with it.

I cannot believe that at the exact same time on this hell site, we have a post going around threatening to kill adults for listening to TikTok’s on full volume in public and a post going around saying everyone is SUPES COOL with people just fucking wherever they feel like in public. So this site is more offended by auditory disruption than literal sex crimes being perpetrated against them.

Make it make sense.

[avelera]

Ugh, popped on Twitter to geek out about the Wheel of Time S2 and immediately find a bunch of WoT dudebro fans complaining that a 15 book series of 800+ pages each isn’t getting the exact word for word adaption that exists inside their heads when they read the books. And let me remind you all, these books were my life, my first fandom, and basically my personality pretty much from when I first read them in 1999 until Robert Jordan died (alas, I read to the end but Brandon Sanderson never quite captured the magic of RJ’s writing for me again, even if I think he did the best job anyone possibly could.)

So let me just say from a place of deep respect and obsession with these books that any hate for the show based on it not being a page for page adaptation is patently insane. Much of Wheel of Time relies on the strengths of prose which are untranslatable to a visual medium. Stuff like how magic (or the One Power) feels to cast makes up a huge proportion of the book. You can externally portray a feeling, sure, but there are still limits.

They forget that Book 1 was written to be standalone and has a ton of inconsistencies with later books that need to be shored up. That means logistical changes which cause necessary alterations almost all of which have actually been massive improvements in my mind. For all my love of Wheel of Time, its pacing is atrocious and I think even RJ would agree that if he could go back with the whole story in mind and edit it to be more streamlined, he absolutely would have. The show HAS to do that or we’d still be in the goddamn Two Rivers with the book pacing.

Centering the first season on the White Tower and Moiraine’s POV makes sense. The book relied on Moiraine being a Gandalf figure that gave information away at the pace of reader reveals, in tiny drips meant to tantalize a slow-paced book’s reader. That would be immensely frustrating for a tv show viewer of a story set in a sprawling fantasy world that needs tons of explanation and world building up front to have any idea what’s going on. Focusing on Moiraine, who has the answers, instead of sticking to the ignorance of the kids isn’t just a good choice it’s very nearly the only choice you can make. The White Tower is one of the most complex and interesting parts of that world. Centering it and introducing it earlier was an incredibly wise choice.

Other smaller choices make sense too if people thought about it for two seconds. Aging up the kids makes sense. They’re teens in the books and it would be incredibly awkward on screen. But once you age them up, it makes sense that at least ONE of them has been married before. Perrin makes SENSE to have been married if he left Two Rivers later. He’s a responsible guy with a good trade and a level head on his shoulders. He’s sweet and caring and mature. Of course he got married, he’s from a small farming community in a medieval-esque world with shorter life expectancies. Furthermore, I love Perrin to death but his obsessive fear of hurting Faile later is frankly ungrounded in anything that isn’t benign misogyny on some level. It doesn’t update and translate well on its own. Giving him Laila, giving him the manner of Laila’s death grounds his later attitudes towards Faile so well I literally gasped when I put it all together.

Other changes like in S2 having Min and Mat meet the way they do in Tar Valon was genius. It matters more that Mat and Min have rapport than that they meet in the same circumstances as the book (and Mat wouldn’t even remember that meeting anyway lol). The rapport set up and the way it showed Mat’s genius and con artistry was brilliant. Showing these characters LIKE each other was incredibly engaging and endearing which is so important because the adaptation has to be enjoyable to non book readers too, especially since the 15, 800+ page books of meandering pacing are pretty much impenetrable to new readers. Book readers simply can’t make up the majority of the audience, there’s not enough of them to sustain a show with any kind of budget which WOT requires. Thus, it needs to be an enjoyable show in its own right, not just a meandering exact adaptation ffs.

I can literally point to any show change and say it was either logical, practical, thematic, or simply genius. Wheel of Time desperately needs an edit to be accessible to modern audiences. What an adaptation prioritizes is always a risk that’s going to be run for a fan of the original material but so far I’ve been wildly impressed by every choice made in how logical or thoughtful and most of all loving it was to the actual important emotions and themes of the book. Any complainers are seriously missing the point of what an adaptation even is.

[xxbottlecapx]

Platonic stobin, steddie, and ronance headcanons 

Robin and Steve are so codependent that it honestly unnerves the rest of the party. 

Like Steve will wait outside the bathroom door if Robin is going to the restroom. Most of the time he’ll literally just go inside the restroom with her and sit on the floor. They have absolutely no regard for each others personal space. 

They shower together. Not once do they think it’s weird. If Robin walks in on Steve changing she’ll have no reaction. 

They sleep in the same bed. They change in the same room. They share clothes. When they go shopping for outfits they both try the outfit on to make sure it fits both of them. 

If they can’t spend the night with each-other they will call eachother and fall asleep on the phone because they’ll both genuinely cry themselves to sleep otherwise. They will share everything. They share milkshakes, they share toothbrushes sometimes (Dustin finds out and tells them it’s disgusting. They don’t care.) 

someone on Tiktok said something about Robin and Steve sharing chewing gum and yes, they would absolutely do that, and then they wonder why people think they’re dating. 

If Robin has to leave Steve for long periods of time she’ll leave her cologne at his house because it comforts him. They cuddle religiously. They will seriously share anything.

 If they don’t get a set number of hugs in a day from each other they’ll both be in terrible moods. Sometimes Eddie or Nancy will find them hugging in the middle of one of the family video isles. Why? Just because. They stick to each other like koalas. 

They’ll share a plate when they eat, share utensils. 

Eddie and Nancy eventually only go on double dates because if they try to plan alone time with their partners their partners will accidentally ruin it by bringing the other along. 

When they have sleepovers together, Eddie and Nancy will get kicked out of bed. Until they’re able to buy a bed that fits all four of them, they just let Steve and Robin take one bed and Nancy and Eddie take the other. 

Steve and Robin are actively planning their wedding together. Nancy and Eddie find it hilarious that they don’t understand why people think they’re dating. They try to explain that people don’t just marry their best friends but Steve and Robin think they’re being stupid. 

Eventually Nancy and Eddie decide they’ll probably get married to each other as well, since it’s not like they legally can marry their real partners anyways. And even if it were legal, Eddie and Nancy are almost certain Robin and Steve would still just marry each other. 

Robin and Steve have engagement rings. Robin has the more “masculine” ring and Steve has the more “feminine” one. They show off their rings with upmost pride. Robin will call Steve her fiancé. He is absolutely okay with it. They call eachother every pet name under the sun. Steve will absolutely sometimes refer to Robin as “love of my life” 

once Jonathan asks Nancy if she’s jealous and she laughs at him. Looking from afar, she totally should be, but she’s not, and eddie is in the same boat as her. 

One time eddie and Nancy try to separate robin and Steve when they’re sleeping. It doesn’t go well. 

If you think Steve and Robin sober are clingy, Robin and Steve drunk/high are complete menaces. It’s like they actually hide how in synch they are, and when they’re drunk they stop hiding. They will literally act like they have a hive mind. Like their brains are connected. They’ll have entire conversations where they say the exact same thing at the exact same time, finish each other’s sentences to an uncanny degree, el actually tries to figure out if they also have powers because it genuinely doesn’t seem real. 

Sometimes robin will shove herself into one of Steve’s shirts while he is wearing it. They just. Share shirts sometimes. You know that “our get along shirt” meme? Yes but they actively choose and enjoy it. 

Steve and Robin will coordinate their outfits so they’re always matching. 

Robin knows Steve’s social security number. She helps him fill out paperwork at the doctors. 

When Nancy originally tried to ask Robin on a date, she got too nervous to respond so Steve ended up scheduling the date for her, to Nancy’s absolute delight (she found it hilarious) 

Steve will tell Robin in-depth details about his and eddie’s sex life. She will do the exact same thing about her and Nancy. There are no secrets. 

No. Secrets. 

Robin helps Steve shave is legs because he didn’t know how at first and it just kinda becomes a thing they do. 

One time, Robin has to go away to visit her grandparents in Italy and Steve is such a mess that he has to stay at Eddie’s place. He spends the majority of the week trying to talk to Robin on the phone whenever he has the chance and he’s absolutely miserable when he’s not. It’s honestly kind of heartbreaking to watch.  Robin is miserable about it too. 

When they finally get to see each other again Robin completely forgets to say hi to Nancy too and just slams into Steve and refuses to let go for hours. 

Sometimes robin and Steve forget they are not the same person and they’ll call Eddie and Nancy “our boyfriend” or “our girlfriend” eventually Eddie and Nancy call each other girlfriend and boyfriend. Not because they actually like each other that way but because they spend enough time together by proxy for them to get away with it. 

Eddie and Nancy become really close friends simply because their partners rarely let them be alone. The entire party is still convinced they’re dating, even when Robin and Steve come out and tell them that they’re dating Eddie and Nancy.

[steveharrington]

Have we seen Steve interacting with authority figures? I feel like we must have at some point but I can't think of any... which is maybe why I struggle to imagine what Steve and Hopper/Joyce sharing a scene might look like. I guess there's that scene with Barb's parents?

we HAVENT ‼️ hardly anyways! off the top of my head i’m fairly sure that the only adults we’ve seen steve interact with (and i define interacting by him talking to them directly or vice versa) are barb’s parents like you said, the guys he walked up to cleaning the theater marquee, and the russian general. genuinely cannot think of anyone else. isn’t that so upsetting

i wouldn’t call barb’s parents or the movie marquee guys authority figures per se, but i do think you could kinda categorize ozerov that way. at the very least, he has massive power over steve (literally has him tied up and drugged). i think it’s notable that of these instances where steve is sharing a scene with an adult, he is consistently doing some sort of repentance. cleaning up the marquee, visiting barb’s parents after she died in his backyard, and being beaten for finding the operation (which served as a larger message to steve that once again reminds him he was an Evil Little Boy). we’ve never seen steve interact with an adult to receive comfort or protection—it’s always the opposite, actually. uncomfortable at the very least, literally being tortured at the most.

i think a very underrated moment is steve threatening ozerov by saying that hopper is going to save them. i think it’s sooooo genuinely deeply sad, actually! he so confidently thought hopper (and other adults ie the us calvary) were going to come save him and robin, when actually no one even knew they were down there. if dustin and erica hadn’t saved them, literally no one would have!!!! the same protection that hopper and joyce provide the other kids/teens don’t really extend to steve and robin, which makes sense logically since they’re kinda on the outskirts. they are not their children or close friends of their children. but i think that line is so meaningful and sad because it kinda implies that steve thinks of himself as falling under that umbrella of protection, but he doesn’t :(

that’s not to say that i think hopper is canonically like “fuck steve harrington i don’t care about that kid”, but the writing in st thus far hasn’t really been dynamic enough to give us glimpses into the various ways that All these kids/teens/adults are inherently tied together after going through category 5 monster moments every half a year together. i really hope season 5 remedies that (it sounds and looks like they might?) by giving us these rare interactions between characters who have almost been killed by the exact same Creature several times but have somehow never talked. i also want so badly for someone to acknowledge that steve becomes the de facto adult when joyce and hopper aren’t around (i know mom steve jokes got annoying but they stemmed from his behavior clearly modeling that of a Parent with the kids) and maybe give us insight into how steve views himself….does he feel like an adult? would he view hopper as an authority figure, or would he almost see him as a peer and equal considering they both end up being the meat shields when it comes to fighting people and monsters? i need to know…..

i do think we’ll get at least a crumb of steve and hopper in s5, at least because david harbour and joe keery have both talked about wanting to share scenes and it would be so mean of the writers to just be like no sorry we don’t have time for a 2 second interaction in this 10 hour season LOL but we shall see <3

[growup-thatbeautiful]

Pretty Girl | 3. been on my mind

1. pretty girl | 2. lover, you should’ve come over | 3. been on my mind | 4. last goodbye | 5. hold my hand

Warnings: explicit language

——————————————————————————

Instagram

liked by y/n.username, roo_bradshaw, thereal_javy, and 980,828 more

hangman.jake i’m their cool uncle

view 67,892 comments

delilah.seresin they only have one uncle

-> jake.seresin unrelated

bob.bob.floyd i find that hard to believe

jakeysgirl he loves his family so much awwww

thereal_javy true

thereal_javy only because i’m not blood related though

tasha.trace if by cool you mean lame then yes

-> hangman.jake ouch

y/nislife i need to know if y/n was there

-> y/nfanpage fr me too

r_paybackfinch aw cute

-> r_paybackfinch ^ them not you

y/n.username best uncle ever

-> halo_cal_bass he paid you to say that didn’t he

-> halo_cal_bass i know you’re scheming

penny_benny A lovely family!

-> hangman.jake thank you for commenting nicely

-> y/n.username hey :(

-> hangman.jake you too <3

-> y/n.username mhm

-> y/n.username you’re on thin ice buddy

——————————————————————————

Messages

roo: if there’s nothing to tell then what is this

*roo sent a screenshot*

tash: literally </3

roo: flirting in instagram comments is not a joke

you: guys

you: you’re acting like you didn’t do the exact same thing

tash: i-

tash: how could you use that against me?

tash: when i’ve been so supportive

you: 🙃

roo: where’s hangman

you: he’s reading all these messages over my shoulder

tash: hi bagman

you: he says hi :)

jakey: that is not what i said

you: i may have changed the words a little

jakey: you changed everything

you: i like positivity

tash: anyway

tash: now that bagman decided to join us

tash: spill

roo: what she said

jakey: whatever are you talking about

you: i know nothing

tash: LIARS

roo: unacceptable answer

roo: …

tash: i know you’re sitting there talking about this

tash: you’re not smooth

roo: just tell us

jakey: since when are you so fucking nosy rooster

roo: when you started keeping secrets

you: jake and i

tash: FINALLY

you: are telling you that

roo: this better fucking be real

jakey: 🖕

you: we’re together

you: good teamwork jake

you: way to keep the vibe

jakey: anytime baby

tash: ew stop

you: this is what you wanted??

roo: no go back

roo: i thought about it and i don’t like it

you: impossible.

——————————————————————————

Instagram

y/n.username added to their story

——————————————————————————

Messages

you: how would you feel if i told you i could come to san diego again

tash: i would feel honored

you: i might have a short job there

tash: now?

you: yeah they had a cancellation and called me to fill in

you: and that way i can fly with jake instead of alone to ny

tash: smart

tash: when do you leave?

you: …30 minutes

tash: GIRL

tash: text me when you’re getting on the plane

tash: and when you land

you: got it

——————————————————————————

Instagram

liked by thereal_javy, y/n.fan, hangmanswife, and 394,1039 more

enews Are we dreaming? I hope not!

Model Y/n Y/L/N and Jake “Hangman” Seresin were seen together in the San Diego Airport. According to sources, they’ve been spending the past few weeks in each other’s company, as shown by their recent, frequent social media posts together.

Most know Seresin to be part of the self-titled “Maverick’s” group, made up of Pete Mitchell, Bradley Bradshaw, Natasha Trace, and more. Y/n, Trace’s long-term friend, and Jake met years ago, but have remained just friends for that time. Could things have finally changed? We say yes!

view 87,920 comments

y/nfanpage no way

y/nfanpage this better be true

ellieslip bro not her going through guys like that 🫰

phoenixislife i liked her with davey better tbh

jakeysgirl wait they’re actually so cute

models.page i thought she lived in new york?? why is she always in san diego 😭

-> bobby_pins she goes there because her friends are there and because of jake apparently

y/n.fan not javy liking this 😭 he knows something we don’t

——————————————————————————

Messages

you: they’re onto us

jakey: i’m going to need some more information than that sweetheart

jakey: who’s onto us? what are they onto?

you: you’re a dick

jakey: yeah, and?

you: the media is figuring things out

you: connecting the dots

jakey: we haven’t exactly been subtle

you: i mean technically i’ve been soft launching a bf

you: so i can announce you

jakey: wtf

jakey: is this a legal thing?

jakey: do i need to do this?

you: how do you not know what this is

you: it’s like a teaser

you: for a relationship

you: and no it’s definitely not legally required

jakey: but why

you: for funzies

jakey: strange

jakey: so do you want to post first?

you: i would like to, pls?

jakey: of course, baby

——————————————————————————

Instagram

liked by tasha.trace, halo_cal_bass, hangman.jake, and 1,007,357 more

y/n.username my ☀️, 🌙, and ⭐️

view 98,382 comments

thereal_javy they told me first

thereal_javy i’m their favorite

-> tasha.trace debatable

roo_bradshaw FINALLY

roo_bradsahw i’m so bad at keeping secrets this is a relief

-> y/n.username glad we could help you out bud

jakeyswife yet another boy for her to ruin…

amelia.a.benjamin HA I KNEW IT

penny.benny Called it! Someone’s gotta keep Jake in line 😉

y/n.fan OMG ITS HAPPENING

y/n.fan FRIENDS TO LOVERS FR

bob.bob.floyd “nothings going on bobby” LIARS

bob.bob.floyd you will be hearing from my lawyer about this

-> picsofmodels real

halo_cal_bass i think you added pictures of jake instead of pictures of me…

-> y/n.username you’re right, what a silly mistake

hangman.jake now i can call you sweetheart in public without you glaring!

-> y/n.username maybe…

-> tasha.trace nothing ever stopped you before

hangjake damn she’s gonna run out of guys to date

r_paybackfinch how did this even happen

r_paybackfinch the world is upside down cause i could have sworn you told us nothing was going on…

r_paybackfinch JK HAPPY FOR YOUUU

——————————————————————————

Messages

jakey: do you have plans tonight?

you: no

you: i should finish the shoot around 2 though

jakey: okay

jakey: i have tickets to an event that i wasn’t planning on going to

you: okay?

you: is this you inviting me or?

jakey: do you want to go?

jakey: it could be our first public couple thing

jakey: we can be infuriatingly cute the whole time

you: yes please

jakey: consider it done

——————————————————————————

liked by tasha.trace, bob.bob.floyd, thereal_javy, and 789,031 more

hangman.jake had the absolute best night with my lovely girl

view 56,394 comments

tasha.trace she’s really my girl but okay

tasha.trace need more pics of the yellow dress immediately

-> y/n.username of course babe

fanforhangman mom and dad fr

y/n.username hi babyyy

y/n.username he means me guys 😁

roo_bradshaw shame we couldn’t go and do a double date

-> y/n.username we missed you and tash :((

thereal_javy good night, bud!

thereal_javy go to sleep it’s 3 am

-> hangman.jake ok

y/ndaily he looks so good in that second pic

-> seresin.hubby he really does

-> picsy/n it’s the y/n effect

penny.benny All the love for my favorite couple!

-> amelia.a.benjamin mom ew

amelia.a.benjamin looks like fun! invite me next time

-> y/n.username you’re 12

-> amelia.a.benjamin 16

halo_cal_bass my fav girl and my second fav cowboy

-> hangman.jake i don’t know how to react to that

delilah.seresin you better have bought her those shoes

-> hangman.jake ….i will now

——————————————————————————

you: darling

you: lovely

you: <33

jakey: sweetheart

you: can you open my melatonin bottle pls

jakey: …

jakey: i feel used

you: simply don’t

you: i need helppp

jakey: it’s a child proof bottle

jakey: are you a child?

you: people have different strengths and weaknesses

you: do you want me to be more sleep deprived than i already am??

jakey: no

jakey: if you’re sleep deprived i want to be the reason why

you: so you’ll help?

jakey: yes

——————————————————————————

Instagram

y/n.username added to their story

——————————————————————————

Messages

tash: i tried to call jake but he didn’t answer

tash: i wanted to warn you

you: jake’s at the gym, what’s up?

you: it must be bad if you willingly almost talked to jake

tash: first off he’s not that bad, you know i can’t help making fun of him

tash: he makes it too easy

you: i know <3

tash: second off

tash: dave did an interview with vouge

tash: and it’s pretty bad

you: shit

you: bad bad?

tash: yeah

tash: idk how much of it is true

you: things got pretty fucked up

you: so it could be true

tash: fuck.

you: fuck.

——————————————————————————

A/n who’s dave? why is that so bad? do i have a plan? find all of this out and more in the next part lol

taglist lovelies: @rosiahills22 @fangirlvibez @djs8891

[imeanitplsmorenamifics]

IT'S HERE! WELCOME TO THE NAMI FIC THAT EVERYONE (literally just me) HAS BEEN WAITING FOR. I am being straight up when I say that writing this was: 87% vibing to Chappell Roan and singing along. And 13% actually writing. You can find my Flower Asks here, Hozier Asks here, and my Taylor Swift Asks here. You can find my masterlist here and my rules here. I also have a taglist now and you can find that here! And you can request here! Characters: Nami, Fem!Reader, Sanji (mentioned), Zoro, Straw Hats (mentioned) Pairings: Nami x Fem!Reader, Nami x Sanji (one-sided) TW: Comphet. There may be more but that's all I can think of. Tell me if there's more!

Good Luck, Babe!

.·:·.✧ ✦✧.·:·.

There was one kind of relationship that killed people to be in. The will they, won’t they one where they don’t want to admit their feelings but know what they feel. It was one of the relationships you never wanted to be in and was annoying to see in the media. Why can’t the two just be together? Why all this back and forth? Just have them get together already and be done with it. It wasn’t that hard, right? Wrong. You were so wrong. So horrendously wrong that it was laughable. Because you, my dear girl, are in that exact situation.

You have been aware that you liked girls for a while. It was hard to admit at first but when you finally embraced it, everything seemed to fall into place. You didn’t beat yourself up for falling behind in love anymore. You didn’t wonder why it was so hard to be like everybody else and have that guy that they’re always showing you in books. You realized that you were comparing yourself in a way that you were never going to win. Anyway, you like girls. You knew that. You were great.

What was horrible about it was when the girl you liked was going through exactly what you went through before you realized. You were in love with Nami of the Straw Hat Pirates. The two of you met when Nami had tried to break into the military base in Shells Town to take the map of the Grand Line. Ever since then, you knew exactly what you felt toward her. You liked her. And eventually, that like turned into love.

You’re not too sure when it happened. Maybe it happened after everything with Arlong. You probably were in love with her much longer than that. But something about the events put everything into perspective for you. After you came to the realization, you did everything you could to show your affection toward the girl. You were ecstatic when she returned your affections as well.

There was only one problem. While you would outwardly tell people how much you felt toward the girl, she wouldn’t. Other people in the crew, mainly Zoro surprisingly, would ask you if you were in love with Nami. You would tell them, “With your whole heart.” You would think that Nami would reply the same with the way she acted toward you. When someone asked her, what did she say?

“Of course not. She’s just my best friend.” Cue the sound of your heart shattering.

It made you feel stupid. You were putting so much of yourself into a situation that was seemingly never going to work out for you. It was rigged from the beginning. And the person doing the rigging was exactly the person you wanted to be with. But if you asked Nami, she would say that nothing of the sort was happening. The way you treated each other was nothing more than the way friends would treat each other. It was enough to make you scoff.

There was one situation that stuck out with you the most. You were docked at a new island. You’d been docked there for a few hours but had yet to go out yourself. You were excited to take in the sights and see what all they had. While you were getting ready, a certain woman with orange hair walked into your room with a grin on her face, “Hey,” You gave her a smile and greeted her back. “You wanna go eat at this restaurant Luffy found? The others already ate so it would just be the two of us.”

The feeling of your heart racing came over you. You could feel your face heat up slightly, “Oh, really? Just the two of us?”

“Yeah, kind of like a date.” She stated casually. If only she knew the weight her words held in your mind. You were ecstatic at the thought of going out with only Nami. Maybe you could try and see where things would end.

You put on your best clothes. You put thought into what you wore and chose what perfume you would wear carefully. When you met up with Nami outside the ship, you could tell that she dressed up for the occasion as well. You smiled at each other before walking to the restaurant. You don’t know when it happened, but somehow, the two of you ended up walking hand in hand.

It didn’t take long to get there. The restaurant wasn’t too far from the docks. The two of you made yourself comfortable when you found a table You talked about whatever and anyone watching the scene couldn’t help but smile at the lightheartedness feel of the sight. A waitress walked up to your table with her own smile.

With a pen and pad in her hand, she greeted the both of you, “Well, don’t you two look pretty! Are you here for a date?”

Before you could even answer, Nami replied, “Oh, no, we’re just friends.” The smile fell off your face for a moment. Anyone watching the scene could see exactly how you felt for a fraction of a second. Not wanting to cause a scene though, you sucked it up.

“Yeah. Just friends,” You cast a glance at Nami. She was ignoring your look, focusing on the menu instead. You pursed your lips and went to look at what the place had to offer.

The awkwardness was very apparent. Everything after that felt a little strained between the two of you. That one moment had single-handedly ruined whatever moment you were having. You practically ate in silence. Only nodding and humming in response to whatever Nami had to say. You weren’t doing it to spite her. You were just hurt by the situation. You thought… Well, you guessed it didn’t matter now.

That was what you tried to tell yourself at least. When you finally left the restaurant, moments similar to the one in the restaurant swirled around in your head. You eventually came to a full stop before you could even get as far as five feet from the building. Nami noticed that you weren’t following her and stopped as well.

She turned to face you. There was confusion on her face, “What’s up?”

Honestly, you probably should say nothing. You should probably say that everything is fine and act like nothing happened. But you were so consumed by all the negative feelings that you couldn’t be silent anymore, “What are we doing, Nami?” The girl looked even more confused. You crossed your arms, “Come on. You know what I mean. What are we,” You motioned to the two of you, “Doing?”

“What do you mean?” Nami inquired.

A huff escaped you. You placed a hand on your forehead to keep your incoming headache at bay. You removed the hand and made eye contact with her, “We keep doing this back-and-forth thing. I show that I genuinely like you with words and actions. You reciprocate. You show that you may like me and then the moment someone mentions something about it, you immediately shut it down. Why? What’s so wrong about being with me?”

For a moment, there was a flash of panic on Nami’s face. Almost like she realized she let her expression slip, she morphed the expression into a blank one, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. There’s been no romantic feelings between us. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression but I don’t feel that way toward you.”

You couldn’t believe that she was trying to play dumb right now. If she had been honest with you, maybe you would’ve reacted better. Since she chose to lie, you didn’t really give yourself time to think of a better response than what you gave, “You have been giving me signs that you like me, Nami. Everything you do towards me has a hidden meaning behind it, and that face you’re making says everything,” Nami shifted slightly. It was clear that she was becoming uncomfortable. “What? Do you not want to admit it because you don’t want to like me?”

“Look, you’re obviously just reading the signals wrong. We’re just friends.” Nami tried to say.

Your eyes widened when you realized what it was, “Nami, do you not want to admit that you like girls?” There was silence. That was all the confirmation you needed. All the anger you felt previously faded away. You tried to be more understanding. You were in her situation at one point too. “There’s nothing wrong with liking girls. It doesn’t make you weird, it’s not something horrible. You’re not going to get in trouble for-”

“Stop,” Nami’s voice was stern. You immediately stopped talking. Looking into her eyes, you saw anger. But there was something else there. It was fear. “I don’t like you. I have never liked you. We are just friends. Get that through your head. I don’t like you and I don’t like girls. I like guys and I am very comfortable in my own sexuality.” Now that was something you doubted. You had never seen Nami show any interest in a man whatsoever. The only time was when she wanted to get something out of them. That’s why she let Sanji hang around her so much. He was head over heels in love with her and she could get whatever she wanted out of him.

Those were her final words. She continued to make her way to the Going Merry. Leaving you standing there, taking in all the stares of the people who had witnessed the situation. You shifted anxiously. You didn’t know what to do. You didn’t want to go back to the Going Merry with Nami like she was now. You didn’t want to stick around here because of how everyone was staring at you. You just walked off in a direction and hoped for the best.

Things were a bit rocky after that. It took a while before things went back to normal. You tried to keep your feelings at bay, trying not to show how much you cared for her since she was clearly not ready to admit that she liked you back. Even though she kept acting like she liked you still. Either way, you certainly weren’t going to force her to like you. It was ultimately her choice. You had nothing to do with it. No matter how much it hurt, you would respect her decision.

There was one thing you noticed after that conversation though. Nami went out of her way to show more attraction to men. She indulged Sanji more than usual. When the crew went out to a bar, she let men buy her drinks and would let them stick around, flirting with her. It always made you sick to your stomach to see it. That’s why you were standing in the corner of the bar, nursing a drink in your hand as you couldn’t take your eyes off Nami flirting with some random guy.

You took a deep breath and gulped down whatever was left in your drink. You barely registered the sound of someone sitting beside you in the booth. You only realized they were there when they spoke up, “Now that’s the look of a sad drunk.” It was Zoro. You barely even glanced over at him.

“I’m not drunk.”

“So you admit you’re sad?”

“… I didn’t say that,” You looked over at him to see that he was giving you an unbelieving look. He wasn’t going to push you to talk with him about it though. That’s not his style. He just drank down the better he had previously ordered. He didn’t have to do much to get you to talk. The alcohol and his quietness had broken you down, “I just don’t get it. She acts like she likes me back but doesn’t want to say she does when asked. I tell her that there’s nothing wrong with liking me or liking girls and then she forces herself to tolerate any man that comes in her direction. I just..,” You could feel yourself tearing up. “Why can’t it be me? Am I that bad?”

There was a moment of silence. Love was not Zoro’s forte, anyone could tell you that. He could tell you how to take down an opponent in seconds but you ask him a question about love? He would look at you like you’re stupid. Still, he tried his best, “It’s all her. There’s nothing you can do about it besides suck it up.” To anyone else, it would’ve sounded harsh. Over the time you’d spent together, you knew that this was his way of showing that he cared.

You grinned tearfully, “Thanks, Zoro,” He shrugged. You turned back to Nami to see that she was glancing at you. You felt like everything in the room froze. You sucked in a deep breath and stood up, “I think I’ve had enough drinks for tonight. I’m going back to the boat.”

“Don’t fall into the water,” He only said that because you were swaying slightly from the amount of drinks you had. You only waved him off, heading out of the bar and in the direction of the boat.

What you didn’t know was that you had someone following you. The only way you knew was when you heard a familiar voice call out to you, “Hey, are you okay?” You could tell it was Nami.

If you had been slightly more sober, you would’ve acted appropriately. You were not sober in the least. “Why would you care? I thought you didn’t like me like that.”

A sigh escaped Nami, “Are you still upset about that? That was months ago.”

“Yes, I’m still upset!” You swerved around to look at her. You had tears in your eyes and hurt was shown all over your face. “I have a right to be upset! I put my all into what I thought was something between us. You act like you feel the same. Then you pull the rug out from under me every time. Leaving me standing there feeling like a fucking idiot!”

“Listen, I’m sorry that you’re hurt,” Nami started. You scoffed at this, visibility rolling your eyes. “I didn’t mean to lead you on… I just don’t feel that way towards you.”

There was a moment of silence. You would think you were thinking about the correct thing to say. You weren’t. You were just trying to process the utter bullshit she was spewing at you. “No, you listen, Nami,” Nami was taken aback by your assertive tone. “I know that you feel some type of way about me. What it is, I honestly don’t know anymore because of how much you’ve deluded yourself into ignoring how you really feel.”

“Deluding myself?” Nami was starting to get upset now. “Why would I even do that? Be serious!”

“I am!” You exclaimed. “I have never been more serious than right now. You don’t feel comfortable about the fact that you like another girl so you are trying to force yourself to like whatever guy comes your way. I am done acting like you don’t know what you’re doing. Whatever you want to do is on you but the way you’re living right now is no way to live,” You sucked in a deep breath. You could feel the anger rising inside you. “I am done waiting for you to realize that you feel something toward me. You can go and be with whatever guy that throws themselves at you. Just know that one day, you’ll wake up and look back on everything we could’ve had, and I know that you’ll be beating yourself up over it. You’ll be laying in bed next to a man you forced yourself to be with, remembering this exact moment where I say this. I fucking told you so.” You walked away. You were done. You couldn’t do it anymore.

And you were right. Months and months in the future, Nami got together with Sanji. On the outside, the two were seemingly happy. They were together after the continuous pining from Sanji and the resistance of Nami. You were a bit bitter about it at first but forced yourself to move on. You wanted to be with someone who wouldn’t be ashamed to say they loved you and Nami wasn’t going to do that. She could do whatever she wanted.

Unfortunately, her decision led her to lie in bed beside a man she didn’t love. She could recall only one moment as she stared at the ceiling with tears in her eyes.

“I fucking told you so.”

.·:·.✧ ✦✧.·:·.

Taglist: @3v37773

If this felt personal, it was 😂. Hashtag been Nami before ✌️.

[themushroomprince03]

Trying to figure out the exact species of the JATGP bugs (and also cool bug facts!)

(Warning: pictures of bugs)

I’m gonna start with ya boi:

Mr. Grasshopper:

First of all, I love him and I wanna be him

Grasshoppers are the only herbivores of the 6 bugs. Uh. Yeah.

Grasshoppers have camouflage! And they can fly just a little bit, but their strong hind legs do most of the work.

Since Mr. Grasshopper is green and British I’m going to infer that he is a Omocestus viridulus, AKA the common green grasshopper

Literally the same guy.

The common green grasshopper is from Britain, and, like the name suggests, common. Very common, in fact. I think they’re like the second most common grasshopper in Britain (most common one isn’t green)

Mrs. Ladybug!

She’s so sweet msmfjrjgjggjjgfjf

FIRST OF ALL, IN BRITAIN LADYBUGS ARE CALLED “LADYBIRDS”

WHICH IS STUPID BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT FUCKING BIRDS

In related news, ladybugs are actually a type of beetle. Sorry for ruining your life.

Ladybugs eat aphids and scale insects (little tiny insects idk) and also pollen and nectar. Not peaches though.

Anyways considering the fact that she is red and has black spots, I’m gonna say she’s probably a Coccinella septempunctata AKA the Seven-Spotted Ladybug. They are just THE ladybugs of all time.

Very cool. Also easy asf. These ladybugs can play dead when threatened and also they are real pretty.

Mr. Centipede:

Silly billy he’s always been my favourite especially in the book he has a goofy little smile

Centipedes are venomous and carnivores. They eat anything they can overpower with their venom. Centipedes are nocturnal, because they dry out VERY easily in the daytime. They usually either don’t have eyes or have shit eyesight. They also have no ears. They “hear” by sensing vibrations in the ground.

This one was a little bit difficult because centipedes don’t vary all that much, but I’m thinking Lithobius forficatus, AKA the garden/brown/stone centipede.

They have many names. They are also very common, especially in North America and the UK. Garden centipedes are born with 7 pairs of legs, and grow legs throughout their life, maxing out at 15 pairs of legs (they always have an odd number of leg pairs) They live under rocks, and if someone lifts those rocks, these centipedes are in luck, because they’re also very good at running. I THINK they have eyes, but if they do, their eyes can only discern light from dark.

Stone centipedes mostly eat flies, springtails, and, uh. Earthworms. But us JATGP Musical fans knew that

Mrs. Spider:

Y’all know spiders I will not explain them. Also I’m scared of spiders so I will NOT show many pictures of them *shudder*

Mrs. Spider could be literally any spider in France. The only spider that’s black with white stripes like this is a zebra spider (Salticus scenicus) and they don’t actually look like her that much. But they’re cute as fuck❤️

I wish I could show you a picture but mobile Tumblr has a maximum of 10 photos per post, but they’re really cute and fluffy.

Anyways, I feel like she’s more likely to be a Steatoda grossa, AKA Cupboard Spider, but they look more scary so I’m not gonna show photos.

But only the males are black and white.

Fuck uhh

Okayy she’s possibly an Araneus nordmanni, AKA Nordmann’s Orbweaver. They’re really scary and I wanna cry but I’ll try to describe them. Black with brown legs, weird white pattern, giant ass. These spiders do exist in France, but they are very rare. (Not just in France, but in general.) They are VERY GOOD at climbing and tend to build webs high on trees (like in a dead peach tree. Maybe with their mate.) They eat insects like gnats, flies, and wasps. Good for them. I’m still terrified.

Also female Araneus nordmanni are apparently the dominant party in the relationship so…

…yeah she’s definitely a Nordman’s Weaver.

(Edit: user @my-favorites-suffer said she looks like she could be a species of wolf spider!)

Mr. Earthworm:

OH THANK GOD I CAN STOP LOOKING AT SPIDERS AND LOOK AT THESE CUTIE PIE WORMS!!!!

Earthworms are boneless, muscleless, eyeless silly billies. They’re also hermaphrodites (male AND female at the same time) and they can regenerate parts of their bodies (not always so please don’t go around cutting worms in half) They eat fruit, fungi, and anything decaying.

So, I don’t remember the whole movie or the book, but in the musical, Earthworm speaks Spanish sometimes, and his song is vaguely Latin-esque (our director gave him a mariachi jacket for Plump & Juicy. It might not actually be Latin-esque that’s just what I’ve been told if it isn’t then oopsies) so I always thought he was from like Central America, maybe Mexico?

How did a worm get from Mexico to Britain? Guess what: Most earthworms in Mexico are invasive and from other places! Which means it could happen the other way around, but also it means that doesn’t narrow down what species of worm Earthworm is! Fuck!

He’s probably supposed to be a Lumbricus terrestris (The common European Earthworm.)

They are the most common worms. Everywhere. But other than species and location, nothing connects this earthworm to THE Earthworm.

So I propose a much funnier idea: That he is some species of Amynthas.

There isn’t enough info about the Amynthas for me to figure out exactly which species of Amynthas he probably is, but look it has a smooth white clitellum like Earthworm!!

So there are 3 reasons why I feel like Earthworm is an Amynthas. 1. Appearance. 2. They are part of the family Megascolecidae, which are the largest family of earthworms (They do say he is a big worm, although that’s probably because he’s literally human-sized)

And 3. These worms are also called Jumping worms. Because they. Uh.

They jump. When they are scared. It’s REALLY funny.

Most Amynthas are from Asia, but somehow a bunch ended up in Mexico. And now I guess one ended up in Britain. And then New York. Invasive species behaviour. (Actually a lot of the JATGP insects are invasive)

Take your pick of worm!

(Also Glowworm is a Lampyris noctiluca, AKA common glow-worm. If you even care. Nobody cares abt Glowworm. How dare you. And James is probably a human boy.)

And that is all thanks guys heart emoji

[swordblade]

One of the biggest issues I have with the hetalia fandom and shipping culture in general is y’all will bash and spam hate on Swissliech, reasoning cause “They’re siblings!! She calls him big brother it’s incest!!” Knowing they’re not actually siblings nor are they related in any way shape or form, but that not the issue.

The same people who will hate on lichtenstein x Switzerland for those very reasons will ship Spamano, usuk, and Dennor even tho they’re THE SAME EXACT THING.

England raised America since he was a little kid and they see each other as brothers, it’s one the the most popular ships in the fandom

Both Italy’s refer to Spain as big brother and Spain raised Romano since he was a little kid, it’s one of the most popular ships in the fandom

Norway regularly calls Denmark his brother and they literally grew up together and denmark raised Iceland and literally said “We’re all like brothers anyway!”

THEY ARE BROTHERS. Yet it’s one of the most popular ships in the fandom

Only difference between swissliech and these other ships is that Switzerland never raised her nor did they grow up together. He found her by chance when she was struggling and at deaths door and she chose to refer to him as big brother out of respect.

If you’re gonna hate one ship for a certain dynamic have the same energy for the others with the same dynamic but just mlm. Hypocrisy.

[musicalmoritz]

Idk if you were around during the pitchfork Tsukasa days where even having an au where Tsukasa didn’t get possessed by the entity and therefore was just a normal chaotic piece of shit (so first year him since we know in first year, he was literally just a little asshole) was branded to get you like, immediately persecuted. People made call out threads just cause you shipped Tsukasa with someone his age and told other people they deserved to be in a mental hospital or told to kys because they thought Tsukasa had nuance and when the possession theory was TRUE? People still badgered and hurt others to the point that some people are like, terrified of even admitting they like Tsukasa 😭. I remember being driven away from people my age in the fandom and getting dragged into shit circles because the fandom was like “you ship Tsukasa? You’re an abuse apologist!”

I was not around for those days, I’ve only been in the fandom for about a year but omg that sounds rough😭 I can relate tho, before I got into TBHK I was hyperfixated on Fruits Basket- specifically Shigure, Akito, and their relationship, and let me tell you…oof it was a struggle. Luckily I was able to stay in my own little fandom corner with other Akigure lovers but I had to block ppl every time I looked up edits for them on TikTok. I’m also a Hisoka fan so there’s that

Tbh it bothers me how fandoms moralize liking certain characters. I watched a video essay a few months ago on the Dahmer Netflix series and how people romanticize serial killers, and someone in the comments brought up The Joker as a comparison. Now I’ll be honest, The Joker is one of my least favorite characters ever, but he’s still a fictional character. The fact that it would even cross someone’s mind to put him in the same category as a real life rapist, cannibal, and murder, is genuinely so disturbing to me. This might sound dramatic but I was kinda messed up abt it for a while, it made me realize that this line of thinking with fiction can severely alter people’s empathy

Anyways, I’m sorry you had to deal with that. Fandoms are not very rational when it comes to these subjects and they’re very subject to groupthink. You hear the exact same argument reused to explain why Tsukasa shouldn’t be shipped because most of those people aren’t coming up with that opinion on their own, they’re copying what others have said. That’s why I headcanon him as aroace, I can’t picture him liking anyone romantically but I didn’t want to align myself with the rest of the fandom by saying he would automatically be a domestic abuser no matter who he’s with

He’s also a really cool character and tbh I feel like people are missing out by hating him on sight. So many fans seem baffled at the thought of anyone having positive feelings towards him. He’s not crazy high on my character ranking but I still love him dearly, I’m happy so many people have been asking about him today because it gives me a chance to defend my son (well, not defend his actions but yk, defend him from the fandom police)

[gacha-incels]

Any thoughts on Wuthering Waves?

People constantly glaze it and claim it's better than Genshin but recently it's gone into harem stuff.

people hype that game up as better than Genshin because the skimpy dressed female characters tits bounce when they breathe lol. I’m just exaggerating but whenever I see someone saying this it’s the same person saying the fanservice in Genshin is “dead” and they’re all “wearing burqas” which is insane, not to mention offensive of course, that game isn’t like FGO or Snowbreak tier but they have ugly skimpy gacha girl outfits. like come on. but I’ve seen this sentiment down to the exact language used by different people in a lot of places, gachagaming, wuwa & other popular gacha subreddits, instagram comments, YouTube comments, twitter. Enough & with enough frequency to make me consider that as a factor. personally I find the art direction bland and when I tried playing it I wished the fighting didn’t feel so floaty, but they obviously have extremely talented animators working on it, so I can see if you liked that type of combat it would be fun to play and a spectacle to watch. but I think the combat itself is more comparable to HI3 than Genshin. Anyway for real there’s QoL factors and aspects of it being a newly created game that will be better than Genshin, the models & NPCs having more detail, playstyle, the more realistic looking world etc, that people will also like a lot more. i think since the rumored (or confirmed now?) rewrite it was always going to lean hard on the “harem stuff.” they seem to pivot hard and change things majorly based on their main audience (Chinese male) reaction. this isn’t unusual for gacha of course but the extent that they change their own story and content kind of gave me pause when I read about it. like they released a male character on launch but literally cut his banner short for the sexy female character. if you watch the original CBT those girls the MC first meets are extremely wary of him, even pulling a gun on him. It wasn’t anything great but it created some interesting tension for the start of the game. the CN reaction was so extremely negative to this that it was completely changed to all the girls being polite and impressed with your skills. Now every female character is completely obsessed with the MC to an extreme degree, everything in their life actually happened because pre-amnesia MC was a super powerful leader, 10 close ups of the girl’s v-tuber face, 20 of her tits, etc, that’s usually how the character quests go. I saw CN fans have been extremely angry and complaining that Genshin’s MC is just a “camera” watching the story unfold before them, I guess this is WuWa’s answer to that lol. If you want to experience this watch someone play through that character Shorekeeper’s story. imo you could tell the direction this game would go just based on how they designed the female MC compared to the male MC. if this is the audience they want to keep and retain, we’ll see what happens in the coming years 🤔 I didn’t play PGR that much or follow their news so I’m not as familiar with what Kuro’s marketing and publishing style is

[electrozeistyking]

I am so incredibly curious about N and Uzi before…. N had to kill her…

What was life like as a married drone couple? How did they do their wedding? How awkward was the conversation about having a kid?

I’m also curious about V in this AU, what are her thoughts on all that’s going on… N killing Uzi, N having a kid, N being fricken’ depressed… She was a broken individual in the canon, is she still just as broken here? Has she healed from all that the solver’s but her through?

sorry for the many questions, but as an obsessive individual you have crafted the perfect thing for me to obsess over and i am dying for more content lol.

p.s. are there more fics to come? Ik ya only have the one prologue rn, are more chapters on their way?

Hey, no need to apologize for being curious! I quite like the amount of questions! Tells me you're interested in the AU, y'know? Anyway, let me dig up some old notes!

These aren't the full notes, though. A lot was cut, especially if they involved spoilers and/or if they made this go on for too long.

Everything was as fine as it could possibly be on this frozen, toxic exoplanet. Hell, this stretch of fine-ness went on long enough that one of them decided to propose to the other.

And by one of them, I mean Uzi. 

This is based on some observations (aka the hand holding thing in Episode 6), but N was a major fucking dork when V asked him if he was thinking about proposing to Uzi — y’know, saying things like “I don’t know if I should” and “maybe she doesn’t want to go that far” and “maybe we’re fine as is?”

Then meanwhile Uzi’s been drawing up plans on how the hell she’s going to propose to this tall ass robot.

In the end, she kinda threw it all to the wind and decided to do so with no big events or plans or anything. She kinda panicked, though, so she said “Do you wanna marry me?” instead of “Will you marry me?”

N nearly short-circuited trying to say yes. He was kind of having a “Oh my goodness, this is happening????” moment and a “OH SHE DOES WANT TO GO THAT FAR” moment at the exact same time, so something may have literally sparked.

[...] there was a funny period of time where the duo kept very suddenly realizing they’re married, like it didn’t actually sink in until that moment. 

In fact, N exclaimed “oh my goodness” and leaned against something every time it occurred to him.

Unfortunately, the good fluffy times couldn’t last forever. 

You see, one way or another, our beloved robotic dorks somehow found themselves on the topic of having a kid. The conversation itself was fine, if slightly awkward at first (what with N being unsure he’d be good at parenting, anyway). However, just as they reached the peak of “hey, would they be more disassembler or more worker” jokes, Uzi started coughing. 

Which is not normal for any kind of drone. Unless they accidentally swallow something wrong, or if the air’s a bit too thick for whatever reason, drones don’t cough for seemingly no reason. And yet, despite how odd it was, both of them tried to brush it off.

In a brilliant moment of jumping to conclusions (even if they’re the right ones), Uzi realized that The Solver was trying to take over her body.

In a panic, N tried to help any way he could, but felt like he was doing nothing in the process. Uzi just kept getting worse, and every time they landed up empty-handed, the thought he was failing her stung even more. 

V tried to help as well, out of fear over what that thing would do if It took over (and because she did think of Uzi as a friend, even if she’d never admit it to her face).

When The Solver started hijacking her body during one such search to find a way to stop It, Uzi realized it was all over for her. 

Whatever this thing was — whatever It wanted — wasn’t good. And so, in a moment of desperation and panic, she came up with a plan to destroy It. Hopefully, if everything worked in their favour, It’d be gone once and for all.

Of course, its success banked on N’s cooperation. Since V split off from the duo this time, he was the only disassembly drone who could possibly carry it out. Predictably, he tried to decline at first, seeing as the plan was to kill Uzi and destroy her core.

However, when Uzi explained that this was the only way to get rid of this fucking thing, N reluctantly agreed. Despite being incredibly painful, he brought out his laser gun (which is what I think it is, shut up) and the couple had one last heartfelt goodbye.

But then, just as N went to shoot her, the laser turned an awful shade red he’s never seen before and started malfunctioning — something that’s supposed to rarely ever happen. N panicked, calling out Uzi’s name... right before the weapon exploded.

V felt the vibrations of the explosion from where she stood and immediately rushed to N and Uzi’s location. She assumed that something went wrong, but what she saw was not what she expected.

Uzi was dead. 

There was a Fatal Error message on her visor, as clear as day. She was in multiple pieces, with a hole in her chest right where her core was supposed to be — having most likely imploded, thanks in part to The AbsoluteSolver’s weirdness.

While N was alive, his body was in rough shape. He’d been split in two due to the blast, and his chest had been cracked wide open. Judging from how dark smoke billowed from where one of his hands should’ve been, something had gone completely wrong. 

But how? There was a very small chance their weapons could malfunction, and yet... what the fuck happened?

V chose not to dwell on it too long. N’s body wasn’t regenerating on its own fast enough for some reason, and he was losing a shit ton of oil at an alarming rate. 

Fuelled by pure adrenaline, V somehow managed to carry both of N’s halves and all of Uzi’s pieces back to the Outpost.

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

*hold gun cutely* Your turn to share headcannons for us to stea- take inspiration from

I find this so funny because there was a period of time where I only posted HCs… and it’s so weird bc damn I don’t do that anymore huh

A lot of my HCs have obviously changed in the 2/3 years I’ve been posting for this fandom, so…

Ahem.

If you ever want any SPECIFIC HCs, do ask, like I’m genuinely happy to offer any info you want. Anyways

DIVINE WARRIORS, because mfers keep talking about them.

TW, for like, sacrifices, and attempted child-murder/sacrifice... and child-on-mother cannibalism... if it counts as cannibalism when the child is a god.

They’re all gods or god-adjacent. Everyone talks about how they are making them not all gods, but fuck that man I find this fun.

They all reach their godhood in different ways, though. and godhood is something that is... complicated. fluid, even.

i'm just gonna talk about Shad (Judgement, in LR) and Irene, tho, bc otherwise this post would be mega fucking long. and i'm pretty sure i have a Kul'Zak ask anyways.

Y'know how people say 'the world is your oyster'? Well, the world is shad's egg. literally. He's the Draconic God of Death, and his entity was created in the belly (centre) of the earth, in heat and warmth and magma. He clawed his way out of the world, and this lore is mentioned in the prologue of LR, but his emergence from the core of the earth caused the earth to bunch up, and created mountains and valleys, and ravines. similarly to dropping a pebble into water, his emergence caused literal ripples. which is why most mountains and such are kind of in a radial pattern outwards from the 'belly of the world', which is just a huge fuck-off ravine. That said, not all mountains, because it's been thousands/millions of years since his emergence, and things do change. He was created as a god, before anyone knew what gods were. He was not the first being to exist, Early humans were around to witness his birth, but he is by far one of the most ancient. Hence why his followers call him 'the Ancient'.

Irene was born a god, though she was birthed by human parents. It's a whole situation, really, very lengthy. More about her mother than it really is about Irene. But she was born during the emergence. Her head crowned as Shad's emerged from the earth, and when he had fully freed himself and laid upon the cool ground, Irene was put into her mother's arms. Her and Shad are perfectly the same age, born at the same exact moment, to balance each other out. It's unclear which one sparked the creation of the other, but it doesn't matter. Both were born bloody and screaming, made to match. Irene was, however, not born looking human. She was a creature from day one. And she was ugly asf too bc like, she's feathered in her creature form, and have you ever seen fresh baby birds? Them mfers ugly. So, reasonably, her parents' people went 'aa' and decided to sacrifice her to the juvenile god of death bc they have volcanoes now, they can do that. However, Irene's mother was fiercely over-protective of her, and instead hid her in the woods to keep her out of the grasps of those wishing to harm her. She meant to go back and get her, so that she could find somewhere safe for her, but Irene's mother kind of got caesar'd (happy ides of march for two days ago), for trying to keep the fucked up little thing she birthed. Her body was dumped into the forest, and Irene ended up finding it and going 'oh a snack'. so... that's fun. However, as is how blood magic works, when one of magic consumes the heart of another, they consume their entirety. It was how Irene claimed a human form, by eating a human heart, and whilst it wasn't particularly an instantaneous transformation, it also lead to her becoming a mother. If not for eating her own mother's heart, she never would've had the maternal traits that ending up characterising her for most of her existence.

half of the irene stuff wasn't even info on how she became a god lmao, just 'oh she was born that way... also she ate her mother lmao'

[messrmoonyy]

It’s the apocalypse, sweetheart

Tess Servopoulos x fem!reader

Prompt- I did accidentally delete the original prompt but it was along the lines of ‘ reader is Bills niece and has raised her since she was little. When Tess and Joel visit her and Tess are a little flirty and they end up sharing a kiss ‘

A/N- let me first say. I literally re wrote this ENTIRE thing at 3am this morning. Idk what writing god possessed me. But. Here it is. And yk 2010 Tess was truly a blessing and I will take any and all opportunities to write about her. I love these more creative prompts. If anyone has seen Orange is the new black Bill and reader are totally giving Frieda and her dad vibes in this cause that’s what I was watching when I wrote the first half lmao

Warnings- I don’t think there’s any. I can’t even put my usual ‘Tess’ warning cause 2010 Tess is a soft baby lmaoo.

Word count- 8k ( I’m so sorry )

Masterlist

Reblogs and comments are always appreciated &lt;3

You sat in silence, eyes on the screens in front of you, your fingers drumming nervously against your leg. Officers had been in town all day, pulling people from their homes and loading them up onto trucks. They’d been lurking in town since yesterday morning, after putting up the notice that the town would be placed under mandatory evacuation with 24 hours notice. Fencing the town off and pushing evacuation notices through everyone’s door. 

You and your uncle, Bill, had been tucked away in the bunker for the last 3 days anyway. Ever since you’d watch the news on outbreak day, watched as the world had gone to shit over night. 

But thankfully for you, Bill had basically been preparing for something like the current situation his entire life. He’d seemed almost excited by the entire thing at first, finally able to give a big ‘fuck you’ to everyone that had called him stupid for preparing. 

Though mind controlling fungus hadn’t exactly been on his doomsday checklist, he was prepared all the same. And therefore, so were you. Your entire life has practically lead up that exact moment. 

Instead of sending you to the dance class in the town hall as a child, he’d taught you how to assemble a gun in the fastest way possible. Instead of buying you a nail kit for your birthday, he’d gifted you a knife. You’d thought it was pretty awesome, the girls in your math class hadn’t. But fuck them. You could see some of them clambering onto the trucks, crying and holding onto their mothers. 

Dance practice wasn’t looking so practical now was it. 

The sound of footsteps above you halted your fingers, muffled talking of the officers trying to clear the house. Bill turned to you with his finger to his lips and you nodded. You weren’t stupid. The officers walked around, calling out for anyone home until you heard a faint ‘ all clear sir! ‘ through the floorboards. And a smile tugged at your lips. 

“ not today you new world order jack boot fucks “ Bill muttered reloading his gun as way of punctuating his sentence. You turned back to the cameras, watching as they loaded up the last trucks after deeming the house empty. Deeming the town empty. 

“ what fuckin idiots “ Bill exhaled sharply though his nose beside you, some half attempt at a laugh. You watched the cameras as the trucks left town “ where do you think they’re taking them? “ Bill shrugged, pushing buttons on the keyboard to switch which cameras were showing on the screens. 

“ closest city is Boston. But I doubt they’ve managed to lock it down yet. There’s more further out, smaller. Probably already full “ you nodded understanding what it meant for them. 

What was it that you’d overheard an officer say?

Dead people can’t get infected. 

You watched the trucks on the screen, all filing out of town in a trail. Like some fucked up snake weaving through the streets and out through the gates. 

Bill flicked through the cameras once more before standing up, nodding towards your gas mask. 

“ let’s go make sure it’s clear. Mask on.  If there’s any left they might have tear gas. And grab your gun “ you pulled your mask on, letting Bill pull at it to make sure it was secure before he headed for the exit back upstairs. You picked up your gun, double checking it was loaded before following him. 

He’d given it to you on your last birthday. After spending your whole childhood teaching you how to use them, assemble them. He’d decided you deserved one of your own ‘ just in case ‘, something a little more exciting than a knife. 

 “ I’ll take the front. You take the back “ you nodded, shaking the nerves out of your hands and taking a deep breath “ I prepared you for this. Don’t look so damn nervous “ 

He went up first and you followed close behind, gun up and ready to shoot at any fuck wit of an officer that might still be lingering. You headed for the back of the house, movements careful and precise as you checked over the kitchen and the back rooms before stepping out  onto the back porch. You scanned the bushes at the end of the garden for any sign someone might be there, before deeming it empty. 

You almost wanted to laugh. You loved your uncle and his quirky ways and plans. But a tiny part of you had always thought that maybe he was just insanely paranoid. But he clearly knew exactly what he was doing. 

You made your way back through the house, finding Bill on the front path pulling off his mask. You stood next to him and did the same. Listening. 

The town was silent. The wind in the trees and the sound of birds all that could be heard. And you did let yourself laugh then, tucking your gun into the holster strapped to your leg and folding your arms across your chest. 

“ looks like we did it kid “ 

“ hell fuckin yeah “

“ they’re here! Bill!? Come on! “ you were startled awake from where you’d been napping on the couch, by Frank charging through the house and clapping his hands to grab your attention “ come on honey! You too! Up! And straighten those cushions back up again. I just picked them up on the outer perimeter cameras, they’ll be here any minute. Come on!” You squinted at him through your post nap haze, brain attempting to register what the fuck he was even talking about. 

Frank had too much energy on a regular day, but today he seemed ten times more hyped up. You didn’t know how someone could be so cheerful in such circumstances. He’d even had a smile on his face when you and Bill had found him, bottom of the pit outside the fence. Though you guessed if you’d have been in his position, you’d have been happy too. Of all the places to end up, Lincoln was the safest. 

You hadn’t trusted him entirely at first. But Bill had. You’d never seen him like that. Like some lovesick little puppy and you’d spent the night sulking out on the porch, ready to go in and shoot him in the face if you needed to. 

Of course, you hadn’t. 

“ were they armed? “ Bill appeared from where he’d been hiding in the kitchen for the majority of the day, somehow being convinced by Frank to cook a fancy ass meal for everyone. You smelt what you thought was chicken, your stomach growled in response “ just the two of them? “ 

“ just the two of them! And of course they’re armed, what you want them to walk all this way with no guns? Jesus Christ Bill “ your sleepy brain finally woke itself up enough to remember what was going on. 

Frank had made… friends. You’d over heard him chatting away to some woman on the radio one night, had then let it slip to your uncle. And now they were coming to fucking visit. Bill had gone ape shit when he’d first found out. But Frank had his ways, he knew how to wiggle into the tiny little soft spot in Bills heart. No matter how deep. Deep. Deep. Down it was. 

“ Honey. Will you please get up, sort your hair you look like you’ve been yanked through a hedge “ you scoffed at that but ran your fingers through your hair anyway “ make an effort would you. Both of you. This is good. Seriously we need some friends… especially you two “ Bills face matched your own, as it so often did, a frown and a look that simply said ‘ are you fucking with me right now? ‘

“ we don’t need friends “ Frank simply waved a hand of dismissal at Bill and walked over to you, nudging you with his arm 

“ you’ll like Tess I think. She sounds really nice. And she’s not much older than you “

“ you make me sound like a little kid that’s going on a play date to the park  “ you said with a sigh. 

“ this is good. Friends. We need friends you need friends “ you scoffed at that and Frank just rolled his eyes “ only talking to your uncle and me is not healthy “

“ in case you hadn’t noticed, we’re not exactly surrounded by options to talk. Oh shall I go sit outside the fence and chat to an infected? Frank, I think theres worst things to worry about than my social life, and lack there of “ 

“ you. Are just like your uncle Jesus Christ “ Frank said mostly to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes for a moment “ come on. They’ll be at the gate any minute. Time to make friends. Whether you like it or not “ part of you did think that maybe. Just maybe. It would be nice to talk to someone that wasn’t your uncle or Frank. Especially another woman. You’d spent 7 years in the safety of the compound now, 3 of which had included Frank. Some new faces would be nice. But also. The world you lived in… there were no friends to be had anymore. No one you could trust. 

In your- and Bills- eyes, this could all only end badly. 

You and Bill were far too alike for your own good, that’s what Frank always said. But you had been with him practically your whole life, he was more of a dad to you than you real dad was. And yeah, maybe his forms of raising a child hadn’t been exactly… traditional. But you had a pretty good feeling that you were faring much better than the girls who had been at parties whilst you were being taught what to do if the world ever went to shit. 

Which is exactly what had happened. 

In fact you’d watched most of them get carted away on outbreak day. Whilst you and Bill had sat silently in the bunker and watched, listened to them searching the house above you to make sure they left no one behind. Stupid fucks. 

You and Bill had only needed each other. You hadn’t had friends then. And you didn’t really want them now. But you decided to humour Frank at least. 

So as you finally dragged yourself away from the couch, you grabbed the gun you’d left on the coffee table when you’d gone to sleep. Slipping it back into the holster on your leg and checking your pocket for your knife. Just to be safe. 

Bill clearly had the same ideas as you had, as when you found him waiting for you at the front door he too had a gun strapped to his leg. It almost made you laugh at just how similar you both were. 

“ c’mon kid. Let’s get this over and done with “ he grumbled and headed outside to where Frank was practically bouncing on the spot with excitement. Though he did drop his smile for a disappointed frown when he saw you two stroll down the porch steps sporting guns. 

“ really? “ you simply shrugged and joined him in the road, arms folded over your chest. Frank went to walk towards the gate at the end of the street but Bill swung an arm out to stop him. 

“ no. We wait here “

“ they’re not gonna sho- you know what fine. Here is fine. Let’s wait here! “ he said with a slightly forced sense of joy. 

You tried to think slightly positive, if just for Franks sake. Trying to conjure up an image of who these people could be. You knew they were from the Boston QZ. That it was a man and a woman. And that was about it. 

You were slightly surprised they’d even made it out this far, you didn’t know much about quarantine zones but you did know they were controlled by FEDRA. You wondered how they’d managed to get out, as far as you knew the only one and outs of a zone were for things like ration shipments or deliveries. Not visiting some strangers you found on a radio. You’d only had a small sampling of FEDRA yourself, the day they had come to clear the town. 

Promises to the residents of taking them to a QZ. Taking them to safety. That staying in their homes would be dangerous. 

They’d have faired much better if they had stayed. 

You could still remember the day you and Bill had secured the outer perimeters of town, past the fences and gates. The shallow grave and the people left to rot. You could still remember the smell if you thought about it hard enough. Could still see the faces of people you had once walked by on the street, brought eggs from in the shop, lived across the street from.  FEDRA had promised them safety and had done the complete opposite. 

No wonder people wanted to leave the QZ. 

“ there! I see them- you disabled the traps right? “ you gave a snort of a laugh in an attempt to conceal it, the thought that they might just blow up before they even reached the gate tickling you. And clearly Bill too, his lips twitching with a small smile “ I hate you both “ 

“ we’re well aware “ you all waited where you were as Joel punched in the temporary code Frank had given him over the radio, the static buzz sounding as it swung open. Frank was done waiting clearly, hurrying off towards them with a huge grin on his face. 

“ that gun loaded? “ Bill asked in a low voice as you followed a few steps behind Frank. 

“ obviously “ 

“ anything else on you? “

“ knife in my pocket “ 

“ that’s my girl “ as you drew closer and finally got a good look at your guests, you were mildly taken aback. You didn’t really know what you’d expected. Maybe some gnarled, scary and dirty pair of people. All you knew about QZs came from Frank and from what you knew they weren’t exactly great. But these people didn’t fit the thoughts. 

The man had a stony face to rival Bills, dark hair and a slightly scruffy beard. But you weren’t interested in looking at him. But her? Her you were interested in looking at. 

Maybe it was simply 7 years of having nothing but the posters of Kate Bush, Avril lavigne and Beyoncé on your walls to look at in terms of women, finally laying eyes on a real, non fungal looking, very much alive, woman again. She made you clam up for a moment, cheeks flushing and rational thoughts escaping you. 

She was beautiful. There was no point trying to deny it when it was so plainly obvious. You didn’t know what you had expected. But it certainly wasn’t… her. 

Maybe Frank had been right after all, you did need someone new to talk to. Because clearly your lack of human interaction over the years had rendered you absolutely useless in the face of new people. 

“ it’s so amazing to finally meet you! “ you and Bill both hung back as Frank enveloped Tess into a hug then held his hand out for Joel to shake. You both must have looked a picture as Frank turned around mouthing ‘ smile! ‘ at the two of you. You threw him your best ‘ go fuck yourself ‘ smile and he sighed “ Tess, Joel. This is Bill. This is y/n. They’re not exactly huggers “ 

Joel held his hand out and Bill reluctantly took it, shaking it for a time far too short to be welcoming. But he was trying you supposed, for Franks sake. He took Tess’ hand next and then she turned to you. Your eyes flickered over to Frank who gave you a small nod and you looked back to Tess, taking her hand. In the way that Bills hand shake had been a second too short, yours was a second too long. 

You attempted to ignore the blush on your cheeks and took Joel’s hand too. 

“ you hungry? Bill is a wonderful cook. He’s prepared dinner for us all, do you like chicken? “

“ oh I’m starved “ Tess said with a smile, following after Frank as he gestured for them to follow him up to the house. You and Bill hung back again, arms folded over your chest as you watched Frank talking animatedly to Tess and Joel as he walked up the street. 

“ you weren’t subtle “ Bill said in that almost light tone that only you- and maybe now Frank - could pull out of him “ blush a little harder next time I don’t think she noticed “ 

“ oh shut the fuck up I didn’t blush “ 

“ sure “

“ you’re in no position to talk to me about being subtle mr wine-and-dine-the-stranger-in-the-pit “ he grumbled something you didn’t quite catch and huffed 

“ go change the gate code to what we discussed. I’m gonna finish the food “ you watched him head up the road, craning your neck to see Frank had Joel and Tess sat down in the garden already. 

“ I didn’t blush. Fuckin asshole “ you muttered to yourself as you went about resetting the code on the gate. Of course that was complete bullshit. You knew you’d blushed like hell but you had hoped it hadn’t been noticeable. And if Bill had seen it. Tess clearly had. You wanted to slam your head against the gate and erase the whole thing from your memory. Is that why she’d smiled at you? Was she making fun of you? 

Once the gate was reset you took a slow walk back up, trying to shake your embarrassment on the way. And create a plan to just completely avoid any and all eye contact and conversation with Tess until she left, seeing as you had social skills of a newborn baby apparently. 

A solid plan. 

As you pushed through the front gate Bill was placing down plates on the table, frown still etched on his face, placing them down a little too roughly so that a few peas nearly went rolling off the plate. 

“ there she is! Just in time “ Frank said with his usual beaming smile, patting the empty chair next to him that would place you between him and Joel. And opposite Tess. Of course. 

You took your knife from your pocket as you sat down and made a point of flicking the blade up, placing it beside you. Much alike the way Bill had his gun placed next to his fork. 

“ I’m sorry about these two “ Frank sighed as everyone tucked in, Bills eyes trained inquisitively on Joel as he cut his carrots without even looking at them “ could you not?”

“ it’s okay. I’m the same “ Joel said in what you could almost make out as some attempt at a joke. 

“ oh? You’re a paranoid schizophrenic too? “

“ I’m not schizophrenic “ Bill mumbled, eyes still glaring at Joel as he chewed on a chunk of his chicken. Tess turned her attention over to you, eyes narrowing a little in curiosity to find you already watching her. 

“ and you? “ she asked, tilting her head to the side inquisitively. The eye contact almost felt like a challenge, and you held it as you sipped at your water. 

“ I’m not paranoid. Or schizophrenic. I’m practical. You’re complete fucking strangers in a world where everyone is trying to fuck everyone else over. You can’t blame me, or him, for being a little on edge “ the look that grew on her face surprised you a little, a look that was almost… impressed by what you’d said. 

“ that’s smart. That’s really smart “ your plan to withhold eye contact and conversation had failed ridiculously fast “ but look. I just want to say, guns and knife aside. Which I get by the way “ she said with a pointed look in your direction “ even if we don’t end up working together on anything, I’m happy we had this. A nice meal with civilised people? I needed this” she sounded genuinely sincere as she spoke. It made you wonder what the QZ was like again. How life differed there. 

Of course it was different but… how different. How tough. How lucky were you really to be out there with just Bill and Frank. No officers telling you what to do, controlling where you went, rationing your food. 

You all ate in silence for a few moments, your eyes flickering between Joel and Tess as she sighed around a mouthful of food. 

“ what’s food like in the QZ? “ you asked, your curious brain getting ahead of your mouth. 

“ not like this “

“ shit “ they both said at the same time and it made a smile pull at your lips. 

“ I can’t remember the last time I had a vegetable that actually crunched “ she said with another blissful sigh, her eyes closing for a second. You looked away before you did something stupid like blush again “ and ate something with actual flavour “

“ we have mostly dried or dehydrated foods. Makes it last longer. Especially if it’s travellin cross country between QZs “ Joel added “ any of the good stuff gets snatched up by the FEDRA officers first. If you’re lucky you’ll get a 20 year old can of beans or somethin “ 

“ you know much about FEDRA? “ Tess asked, glancing around the table but eyes ultimately landing back on you as she sipped at her wine. 

You and Bill both scoffed at that. 

“ yeah. We know about ‘em “ 

“ couple days after outbreak day they cleared town. Told people they were gonna be safe. Going to a zone. You know what they did? Took them up the hill, and shot them all in the back of the head. Safe my fuckin ass “ you mumbled, taking another bite. 

“ yeah. We saw the grave. Heard about that kinda thing but… not pretty “ Joel said with a shake of his head “ how’d you get away? “

“ he’s been prepping for this thing for years “ Frank said with a laugh and nudged Bills arm “ you’re looking at two real life preppers. I thought they were just made up for tv shows! Turns out they’re not “ 

“ survivalist not a prepper “ Bill grumbled. 

“ like there’s any difference “ 

Conversation fell quiet again as everyone finished their food, Frank got Tess talking again once everyone was almost finished and you watched intently. Eyes locked on her as she spoke, not really even listening to her. Just watching. She looked ethereal in the late afternoon sun, her skin almost golden in the light. You weren’t exactly spoilt for choice these days when it came to getting to look at beautiful women, so you took all the chance you could get. 

She caught you watching her once or twice, eyes flickering to meet yours, but you were far past caring if she saw you now. You’d embarrassed yourself enough to last a life time. So you might as well own it. 

She didn’t seem to mind. In fact her face seemed to soften every time she looked over and found you were still watching her, almost as if she liked it. She didn’t come across as someone that constantly craved attention, constantly wanted people watching her and admiring her. So maybe she liked it because no one else was looking at her like that. 

It made your eyes drift briefly over to Joel. They were together… right? You’d just assumed. But if they were surely he looked at her. Admired her. So why would she seem so flattered by your looks?

“ youll be staying next door, with y/n. It’s the only other house In town that’s fixed up, the spare rooms in our place have been taken over by Bill and his hoarding. She has the whole place to herself, plenty of room for you both “ your eyes darted over to Frank, tuning back into conversation as he readily offered them your place to stay without even asking you. He hadn’t told you about that. And some warning would’ve been nice about your new house guests. 

And being stuck in the same building as Tess for the night was as terrifying as it was appealing. Having her just across the hall? You were barely surviving sitting outside with her. If she was in your house you’d have to talk to her. And not just wistfully stare at her from across the table. 

“ I- what? “ 

“ thank you “ she said with a smile at Frank and then you.

“ why don’t you go show Tess around? “ Frank suggested and kicked you lightly under the table, a knowing look thrown in your direction. You scowled at him and he simply raised an eyebrow. God you hated him sometimes. 

“ yeah. Sure “ you said, still scowling at him and his stupid fucking smile as you stood up from the table “ this way “ you didn’t wait for her, heading out of the garden gate and rounding to your own. You heard her footsteps behind you as you climbed the porch steps, pushing open the door and turning around “ after you “ she gave you another smile and a nod of thanks as she stepped inside. 

“ whole house just for you? “ she asked as you closed the front door behind you. You hadn’t done all that much to it since you’d moved in. Frank had insisted you decorated a bit. He’d taken you around the old furniture store and made you swap a few of the things out, and you’d moved the stuff from your old room at Bills over. So it was a little more… you. 

“ yeah. Figured I needed some space to myself as I got older so. We fixed this up. Moved in like a year after Frank got here. Gives them more privacy too “ she nodded, poking her head into the lounge and glancing around. 

“ can I see upstairs? “ you nodded and followed a few steps behind as she went up. It felt weird to have someone in your space. Even Bill and Frank didnt go in too often. 

She stopped at the top of the stairs and you pointed towards the spare bedroom

“ you can stay in there “ she headed in and looked around, hands on her hips. 

“ wasn’t expecting this “ she walked over to the vanity, trailing her hand across the various trinkets that littered it and sending a small cloud of dust particles into the air, catching in the sun leaking through the curtains like glitter. You’d picked over the stuff in there years ago, taking the stuff you liked and leaving the rest. You hadn’t liked the family that had lived there before. So you actually quite enjoyed stealing their stuff “ you don’t strike me as a 1970s chic type of girl “ 

“ I don’t use this room “ you shrugged “ it’s how they left it. Minus a few things I liked “ she looked over to you with a smile at that, she picked up a bottle of perfume. It had gone yellow in its bottle from age and sunlight

“ not a fan of the perfume? “

“ she was like 50 something and always smelt like moth balls. I doubt it smelt any good then, never mind now “ she scoffed and placed it back down. 

She moved over to the bed, pushing her hands down on the mattress and soothing her hands over the blankets. 

“ almost forgot what a nice bed felt like. One we have in the QZ is thin as fuck “ 

“ most of the stuff here’s pretty nice. Most families in town were well off. The dicks that lived here were too, lucky for you. Smelt like moth balls but had a shit ton of cash “ she laughed a little and shrugged 

“ Lucky me “ 

“ you can take anything you want out of here. I don’t need it. It’s mostly old lady shit but. Go for it “ she placed a hand on her chest and gave you an over dramatic look

“ wow. Just wow. Thank you. I’ve always wanted a girl to give me free reign at ‘ old ladies r us ‘. Some moth ball perfume? Man. You’re really spoiling me sweetheart “ 

Your breath hitched a little at the pet name. She’d been joking but it still made your cheeks prickle, made a funny feeling blossom in your chest. 

If she noticed she didn’t say anything, simply averted her eyes to look around the room again. 

You headed over to the en-suite then, clearing your throat lightly to try and appear as normal as possible. She turned to face you as you opened the door so she could look inside. 

“ uhm. Bathroom. All the pipes and plumbing and shit works so you know. Use the facilities as much as you want to “ her eyes practically sparkled as you spoke and she walked into the room and over to the sink, turning on the hot tap and sighing as the water ran over her fingers. 

“ hot fuckin water “ she said softly, mostly to herself it seemed “ in the QZ you get two types of water. Freezing or slightly less freezing. If it’s the summer and the suns been on the pipes you might get lucky and actually get lukewarm. Rationed too it shuts off after a few minutes “ 

You couldn’t imagine that. You loved being clean and warm, loved long showers that left the bathroom steamy or baths that you stayed in until the water was cold and your fingers pruned. 

You really were starting to realise just how lucky you were in Lincoln. You’d probably be dead if you had gone to a QZ. You didn’t take orders well. And you liked your home comforts. 

“ you can take a shower. If you want. I can get you some new clothes and there’s a bunch of soaps “ you said scratching your head a little nervously wondering if that would come off the wrong way, like you were insinuating she needed to shower. Which you weren’t. Of course. She seemed to spot the internal panic plastered on your face and smiled warmly at you 

“ Now? Cause that’d be fuckin awesome “ you gave a small nod and shoved your hands into the pockets of your jeans. 

“ sure. And don’t worry. It’s not gonna shut off. Hot water might run out if you’re in there too long but give it a few minutes and it’ll heat up again “ she turned to face you with a genuine look of gratefulness in her eyes. 

“ thank you. Really “ she took your hand and gave it a light squeeze. She did exactly what you had done when she arrived. She held it a little longer than she should of, her eyes soft as she held your gaze. You couldn’t figure out the exact colour of her eyes in the late afternoon light coming through the frosted glass of the window. If they were blue or more green. 

You wanted to know. You wanted to see them in the bright morning sunlight. In the moonlight. In the winter sun. The summer sun. 

You wished you’d paid more attention outside. 

“ I’ll leave you to it then “ you said after a moment “ I’ll go get you some clothes, I’ll leave them on the bed for you “ she gave you a small nod and you stepped away, closing the door behind you. 

Maybe you understood Bill more now on the day Frank had turned up. How incredibly strong a sense of longing could actually be for someone you didn’t really even know. How overwhelming it could suddenly feel. 

You took a breath and closed your eyes for a moment. Before heading out of the room. 

As you went into the storage closet at the top of the stairs to look for some decent clothes for her, you realised you hadn’t left her a towel. You hurried through into your own bathroom and grabbed one from the cupboard. It was probably nicer than one that had been boxed up for months on end. So you took it back through. 

You knocked on the bathroom door, not hearing the water running yet and hoping you’d caught her before she got in. 

“ Tess? I. I have a towel. Forgot to give you one “ the door opened a moment later and all words escaped you, mouth hanging open slightly and closing again like some kind of fish. She was stood there in her underwear, that same gentle smile on her face as if it were truly the most normal thing possible. That it was an everyday occurrence for you to see her stood there like that. You knew your cheeks were flaming and you cleared your throat slightly, avoiding looking at her at all and staring at the floor instead “ t- towel “ 

She took it from your hands and you chanced a glance up at her face to see her smile, eyes narrowed slightly in question. Could she see how flustered you were? Could she tell? 

“ thanks. You okay? “ you turned on your heel and left the room before you could embarrass yourself further, not even giving her an answer. 

“ fuckin idiot “ you muttered to yourself as you went back to the boxes of clothes and sighed. Had your lack of human interaction affected you that much? That one interaction with another had turned you into a silly stumbling mess of a girl. This wasn’t you. You were strong. Brave. 

It made you think of Bill again. How he had all but melted on the spot after half a day with Frank in the house. 

You were almost a mirrors image. 

One meal. Letting him shower. Letting him stay. 

You leant your elbows on one of the boxes, cradling your face in the your hands with a sigh. You had made fun of him then and still did. Yet now? Maybe you got it. Maybe you were more like him than you’d ever allowed yourself to accept or see. You had pushed down that deep, aching, yearning in your chest for so long just like he had. 

Yearning and longing for… someone else. Someone that looked you the way people did in those stupid romance movies. But also saw you for what you were. Brave. Strong. Capable. Accepted it and nurtured it, protected but wanted to be protected right back. You had wanted it all along. But had suppressed it. Forced it down in favour of focussing on things you deemed more practical. 

Exactly like Bill. And it had taken a whole fucking apocalypse to see it. With him. And you. Some stranger leaving a QZ. In your case though, that stranger was going back again. But she’d be back. You hoped. 

You gave another sigh before looking though the boxes of clothes, looking for something that looked relatively decent for her. You plucked out a few options and too them back through into her room. 

You could hear the shower running, a small stream of steam seeping under the door. She must’ve had the water as hot as she could stand. You placed the clothes down on the bed and tried not to think about the image of her behind the door. You wanted to know what she looked like, feel how soft her skin felt under the hot water, look and touch and map out every detail. See the way the water droplets caught on her eyelashes,  trace patterns in freckles. 

You left the room, suddenly feeling too hot. As if it were you under the stream of scalding water and not her. 

You busied yourself with finding out some clothes for Joel too. You wondered what he was talking about with Bill and Frank outside. 

Were they talking about Tess? Discussing relationships and telling stupid stories of how Bill met Frank and how Joel met Tess? 

It made your chest hurt. And made you realise that maybe you weren’t in the same situation as Bill after all. Frank had been alone. Tess wasn’t. Tess had a… Joel. Whatever he was to her. And there you were getting flustered over her in the shower. Idiot. 

You loitered by the storage closet for a while. A pile of clothes for Joel in your hands but not entirely sure what to do. You didn’t know if she was done yet. She hadn’t come out. If you listened carefully you couldn’t hear the water anymore. And you couldn’t stay on the landing all night. 

So you headed over to the door again, knocking lightly. There was some shuffling for a moment and then the door opened and you clammed up again. It’s not like she’d looked… dirty before. But now she just looked. Clean. Her hair was wet and tied up on her head, her skin that shiny glowy pink that came from a hot shower. The clothes fit her well. And a waft of the coconut body wash she’d clearly used drifted into your nose. You used the same stuff yet it didn’t feel as dizzying on you as it did on her.

“ sorry. I was just- you okay? “ 

“ I’m good. Thanks for the clothes “ she said and walked back into the room, sitting down on the bed with a content sigh “ I haven’t felt this clean in so long “ you stepped into the room, closing the door softly behind you “ you don’t realise how good you’ve got it here “

“ I’m starting to realise “ you said softly, dropping the clothes for Joel onto the vanity and moving to sit beside her. She seemed almost wistful. Looking around the room and hand tracing the embroidery on the blanket absentmindedly. 

“ how’d you end up here? With Bill and Frank? Frank was never really clear about it on the radio “ 

“ Bill is my uncle. My mom died when I was little and my dad was about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. Thought a bottle of vodka was more important than a tin of baby milk. Bills the only other family I had, before my mom died she asked Bill to take care of me. He didn’t exactly want a kid but. I don’t know, he loved my mom. So. Here I am “ 

You didn’t like talking about your past much. You’d avoided it as much as possible before the outbreak, you hated the looks of pity you always got. You didn’t want pity. You couldn’t do anything with pity. 

But Tess didn’t give you that look. Instead she smiled. 

“ should’ve known you were related to Bill. You both frown the same “ you scoffed at that, but you knew it was true “ he’s been preparing you for this shit you whole life then? “ 

“ not this exactly. But something. Don’t poke fun at it. If it wasn’t for his smart thinking you wouldn’t have just had a hot shower “ it came out a little more snappy than you meant to and she raised her hands in mock surrender 

“ I didn’t mean anything by- “

“ sorry. Sorry “ you sighed. You ran a hand over your face before standing up and deciding to just get out before you embarrassed yourself further “ I’ll leave you to it. I found some clothes out for Joel I’ll take them next door and- “

“ no no “ she reached out and grabbed your hand “ stay? I wanna talk to you more. It’s nice to talk to someone other than Joel “ you hesitated for a moment before sitting back down. 

“ you don’t like talking to Joel? “ she shrugged and flopped backwards onto the mattress, throwing an arm over her eyes

“ his brother was the more talkative one. But he’s gone. He wants to save the world. Joined the fireflies “ 

“ like the bug? Is this some kind of metaphor or- “ Tess laughed at your clear confusion. An actual laugh. Not like the small little chuckles you’d heard once or twice in the day. You liked it. Liked the way it made her eyes crinkle and her nose scrunch. 

“ are you being serious? I can’t tell “ you rolled your eyes with a huff, not exactly fond of her making fun of you “ okay. Serious “ she pulled at your arm until you lay down next to her and she smiled at you “ there’s a group. Trying to make things how they used to be. No FEDRA laws. They’re fancy terrorists basically “ 

“ and Joel’s brother joined them? “ Tess propped her self up on her elbow and turned to look at you. 

“ Joel said he’s… ‘ a joiner ‘. He wants to change to world “ a lot of people wanted to change the world. And a lot of people failed at it “ it’s a shame. He was nice. Joel… he has his moments but. He’s not much of a talker “ 

“ And you are? “ 

“ maybe “ you were hyper aware suddenly at how close you were, lying there beside her and looking up at her. 

Her eyes were green. 

The setting sun outside was shining across her face and you could finally see them better. Green. 

“ I don’t know if I’m much of a talker “ it came out far quieter than you’d meant it to, but she didn’t seem surprised by it. 

“ i gathered that from the way you were just staring over dinner and not actually joining in the conversation “ your cheeks were aflame, your eyes blowing wide in a mild sense of horror. Of course you’d known she’d seen you watching her. But to have it confirmed out loud  wasnt exactly what you were expecting. You went to sit up and escape the situation as fast as possible but she grabbed your arm again to keep you down “ hey. Don’t… you keep doing that. Runnin off “

It was instinct to run. 

She didn’t let go of you even when it was clear you weren’t going anywhere, her hand sliding up from your wrist to your bicep and squeezing softly. 

“ im sorry- “

“ don’t be. It’s nice “ her voice was quiet now. Soft. It made butterflies erupt in your stomach “ you’re also really not subtle with it. When I arrived. Over dinner. When you gave me my towel. Now” you hadn’t even realised you’d been staring that time. But you had. Examining the green of her eyes again. 

“ I’m. Sure I’m not the only one “ you have Joel for that 

She shrugged again her hand moving from where it been burning into your arm, up to tuck some of your hair back behind your ear. 

“ only one worth looking back at though” her fingers grazed across your jaw, lightly over your lips before coming to rest on your cheek “ stop acting like you have to be tough all the time. Even your uncle seems to have let down his guard if he let in Frank “ You didn’t know what to say to that. How she seemed to have sussed you out incredibly fast, seen through your facade “ so let me in too “ 

You hadn’t expected her to kiss you. So it took you a moment to process it when she did, closing the small gap in between you and capturing your lips in hers. 

But as soon as you accepted what was happening, you pulled away and sat up, your brain screaming at you for how wrong it was. Joel was only downstairs and you were there kissing his girlfriend? 

“ no. We. I- can’t- Joel “ you said it a little broken but she got the point, her brow furrowing and her hand on your shoulder. 

“ Joel? What’s Joel got to do with- oh “ her eyebrows shot up and she let out a little laugh again. The same kind as the one from earlier, the nose scrunching, eye crinkling kind “ you think? Me and Joel? “ you folded your arms across your chest, a scowl forming on your face as you realised she was laughing at you again.  

“ what was I supposed to think? “

“ look. Me and Joel… it’s not like that. At all. I promise you “ she reached out for your hands, turning to face a little more  “ don’t give me that look. You look so much like Bill when you scowl it’s off putting “ you couldn’t help the way your lips twitched as you tried to suppress a smile at that. Frank often said the same thing. That you and Bill both had the same pissed off face. The same everything face. 

“ you could’ve told me that earlier “

“ what? You think casually slipping into conversation that me and Joel aren’t fucking is just easy? “ you huffed, the scowl still etched into your face “ hey! It’s so lovely to meet you. I’m Tess and this is Joel who’s not my boyfriend. Oh chicken you say? Awesome I’m starving! “ she said with sarcasm dripping from her words “ I thought. I thought I was being as obvious as you were. Clearly not “

You thought you’d have noticed. You had been staring at her all day. But you hadn’t. Too consumed with admiring her rather than paying full attention 

“ would’ve stopped me ruining our kiss if you’d just said something“ you grumbled and she sighed, sliding a hand back up to cup your cheek again. 

“ yeah well that’s the thing about kisses, you don’t just have to do it once. You can redo it. Over. And over “ she pulled you in closer as she spoke, her nose brushing against yours “ and this time, please don’t think about Joel. Knowing you’re kissing me and thinking about him is a real fuckin turnoff“ 

“ shut up oh my god “ she did just that, pulling you back in again. It was better than the first, of course, it lasted longer than a few seconds for a start. And you didn’t have a voice in your head telling you how wrong it was. 

You revelled in it. Letting her pull you closer until you were practically sat in her lap, fists twisting into the material on her shirt too scared to actually… touch her. She wasn’t afraid though . Her fingers were laced into the hair at the nape of your neck, the other hand holding your face to guide you at the pace she wanted. 

It was a little clumsy. You weren’t exactly open to opportunities for practice when it came to kissing, well… anyone. But she didn’t seem to mind. Your heart was pounding so loudly in your ears you were afraid you’d go deaf, your skin prickling with goosebumps. So starved of touch for so long that you didn’t even know how to fully react. 

But the way she inched her fingers just under the collar of your shirt, told you she was probably as touch starved as you were. 

When her tongue brushed against your bottom lip you wasted no time in letting her in. The whimper that escaped your throat was slightly involuntary, and at any other time you thought you might have been embarrassed by it. But you were far too preoccupied with her to care. The fingers splayed across your cheek burning into your skin, guiding you and keeping you grounded. You were running out of air but you couldn’t find a single part of you that even cared. 

You didn’t want it to stop. But the world, as it so often did, had other ideas. 

“ y/n? Tess? “ you startled as Franks voice sounded from downstairs, his footsteps growing nearer as he climbed the stairs. You practically dived away from her, hurriedly trying to soothe your hair and look somewhat normal. She didn’t look even remotely concerned, falling back against the mattress again with a smug smile stretching across her face “ hello? “

“ in- in here! “ you called, clearing your throat mid sentenced as it cracked with your nerves. 

Franks head popped around the door, his usual goofy grin in place. 

“ you two doing okay? You’ve been up here a while “ his eyes flashed between Tess and you and his smile took on new light, quirking an eyebrow at you “ honey? You’re all red. Doing okay? “ the little shit

“ I’m fine “ you said with a glare that only made him smile more. 

“ well the alpha male energy out there is becoming unbearable. Come save me? “

“ is Joel in one of his moods again? “ Tess finally spoke, getting up and smoothing her hands over her shirt “ I’ll come save you. Let’s go “ she gestured for Frank to lead the way and headed for the door, grabbing your hand as she passed and pulled you along “ you too sweetheart. Looks like you’ve got a new member to the grumpy club “ 

“ I’m not grumpy “ you muttered under your breath. She simply scoffed and headed back outside, hand still laced with yours.