#sure i know how to read and do math or whatever but 1: i knew how to read before preschool and 2: taxes. you didnt help at all

[murdockparker]

Roses and Regrets - Part 1

Anthony Bridgerton x Reader

Summary: Freshly out of mourning, Lady Barlow, née (Y/L/N), makes her re-debut in society. If only she could simply ignore a certain viscount...

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: none. enemies to lovers!!

A/N: I didn't expect this lil requested fic to turn into such an event, let alone a multi-part story! so, you're welcome or I'm sorry?

next part

__

She was perfectly happy. 

Well, supposedly right now she wasn’t. 

Her husband, Lord Barlow, had passed away ten months ago, leaving her with an empty estate, a shiny title and more money than she knew what to do with. Lord Barlow was an old viscount, desperate for an heir and willing to do anything to get one. 

In came Miss (Y/N) (Y/L/N).

Young, beautiful and well-bred, she was the perfect choice for any man of the ton. If only her father hadn’t a penchant for gambling. Perhaps she’d be married to a man more suited for her rather than the oaf of a dustbin she was forced to be with. She was no fool in believing in a love match for herself, rare and far between as they were, no, but she did have half a mind to imagine a kinder man as her husband. A man who perhaps cared even a little bit for her wellbeing. 

No matter. 

A dead man cannot care for her wellbeing either. 

“Lady Barlow,” a maid knocked, entering the ornate drawing room.

“Yes?” (Y/N) did not look up from her reading—the newest edition of Whistledown had just been delivered. While she herself was never one to gossip terribly, it was quite fun to keep up with the circus of the season. 

“Do you plan on attending the Danbury ball this eve?”

“I do not see the point,” she scoffed playfully, “after all, Meg, I am but a widow in mourning.”

“Perhaps her ladyship should reconsider?” Meg asked gently, placing a new pot of tea next to her lady. “I rather think it has been a socially acceptable amount of time since your husband’s passing.”

“If I am not to enjoy the perks of being a widow,” (Y/N) sighed, finally looking up at her favorite lady’s maid, “whatever is the point?”

“Perks that Viscount Barlow has graciously allowed you to use during your time of mourning—”

“The current viscount is all but twelve,” (Y/N) reminded. “He has no use for this estate in Mayfair until he himself becomes an adult, in which, I am sure he and his mother will come to make use of it. I believe if my maths are correct, that leaves me all of six years or so to use this home.”

“Forgive me my lady, but should you not be looking for a new husband, then?”

(Y/N) smiled at Meg. She enjoyed their friendship, her maid being only a handful of years older than herself, it made for a likely pair. “No one wishes to marry a widow,” she said simply, “widows are damaged goods. Every sensible man of the ton will be wanting a pretty little virgin instead.”

“My lady!”

“What?” She barked a laugh. “You know it to be true.”

“Regardless,” Meg said, clearing her throat. “Lord Barlow passed nearly a year ago, the period of mourning is rightfully over. You are expected to rejoin society.”

“Dreadful.”

“It is expected,” Meg repeated.

“It does not make it any less dreadful,” (Y/N) said. “Very well. Pull a dress and prepare a bath, it seems the ton gets to see my dreary face once again.”

—

Anthony Bridgerton was a man scorned. 

Particularly by his own mother in this very instance. How foolish he had been to share his intentions of marriage this season with her—for now she spread the news like a wildfire. Every desperate mama and her equally desperate daughter came flocking to him like bees to honey. 

It was only now, in the dark corner of the ballroom, that he found a respite.

“Looking a bit green, Lord Bridgerton,” a voice beside him called out. 

“I am not—” Anthony had huffed a reply before even knowing whom he was speaking to. “Lady Barlow.”

“I am shocked you can recall my name,” (Y/N) laughed over her champagne flute. “Considering how many new ones you’ve had thrown at you this eve.”

“You are out of mourning.”

“Is that a question?”

“It was an observation,” Anthony corrected.

“What gave it away? My bright dress? No tear stains left on my cheeks?”

“You are here, out and about,” Anthony said. “And, forgive me for not playing along with your delusions, but I do not think you cried much at all for Lord Barlow’s passing.”

“How dare you assume such a thing,” (Y/N) faux gasped. She had intended on pressing a hand to her chest. Intended, anyway. Somehow she forgot all about the champagne currently residing it her grasp. “Damn… this was a new dress too.”

“Good God,” he laughed. “First you are spilling all over yourself like a child and now you are cursing—tell me, do all married ladies act like you?”

“I am a widow,” (Y/N) had found a cloth and begun dabbing up the spill. It had only dribbled at most, but still, it was a new dress. “I rather think I can act the way I please.”

“Like a drunkard?”

“Like a free woman,” she said, fighting every childish urge to stick her tongue out at the viscount. “I am only here to show my face, prove I am still alive and I shall go about my merry way.”

“Lady Danbury is a widow,” Anthony noted. “Yet she still mingles with society.”

“I am not Lady Danbury.”

“You are not.”

“Do you not have young misses to go and woo?” (Y/N)’s eyes hardened. “Take your pick from the litter, Lord Bridgerton, any of them would be pleased to spend such valuable time with you.”

“Are you insinuating you are not?”

“I rather thought it was a statement, yes,” (Y/N) said.

Anthony’s eyes went only a fraction wider, nostrils flaring. “Well, if that is what you wish—”

“It is not a mean of wishing,” she laughed, “but really a necessity.”

“Good evening, Lady Barlow,” Anthony sneered, smoke practically coming out of his ears. If (Y/N) had half a mind she’d call for the authorities to put that fire out, instead, she simply finished her drink and smiled wistfully at the dancing ballroom, feeling fulfilled. 

—

Dearest Gentle Reader,

The season is in full swing thanks to the mark of Lady Agatha Danbury’s ball, a notable and traditional first event of the London scene. Eligible young ladies now on the Marriage Mart were enjoying their first taste at what fine society has to offer, however taxing or daunting it may be. 

Our resident Capital ‘R’ Rake, Viscount Anthony Bridgerton is finally deciding on a wife, surely making him the finest catch of the season. Matchmaking mamas and their young ladies alike were seen flocking to him like petulant children asking their parents for pin money, thanks to his own mother, Lady Bridgerton’s declaration of such an idea last night. The viscount seemingly had enough of the attention, taking like a wallflower and hiding away in the back of the ballroom near the end of the evening. 

His company? None other than Lady Barlow, evidently out of mourning as of last night. While the this Author is under good authority that the match between Lady Barlow and the late Lord Barlow was not a love match, given their fourty or fifty year age difference, it has taken the new dowager viscountess longer than most anticipated for her to get back into the season. A woman as young as Lady Barlow would be eager to find another husband to support her, but something tells me that she is quite enjoying her time as a widow and will not easily give that up. 

While this Author has very little idea of the actual nature of the relationship between Lord Bridgerton and Lady Barlow, it is only to be assumed that it is simply not a favorable one. The two were seen making a scene by the refreshment table, a scene that went unnoticed by many prying eyes of the ton, leaving Lord Bridgerton storming away and Lady Barlow with the winning hand. 

Good show, Lady Barlow. 

Lady Whistledown Society Papers

—

“Brother! You are in Whistledown!” Eloise sang to no one in particular. 

“I have no care that I am in that gossip rag,” Anthony ground out, rustling his newspaper. “I can only imagine it is just another advertisement of my search for a wife this season.”

“Er, yes, however—”

“However?” Anthony’s attention immediately shot up to his sister, newspaper be damned. 

“Who is Lady Barlow?” Eloise asked. 

“No one of importance,” Anthony could feel his temperature rising. 

“Lady Barlow?” Benedict laughed. “Is that who you were talking to last night dear Brother? Is she not still in mourning?”

“No.”

“No it is not who you were talking to, or no she is not still in mourning?” Benedict gave his brother an amusing glance.

“Oh, according to Whistledown—”

“Sister—”

“Eloise, you may not recall Lady Barlow, given you only just came out this season,” Benedict began, deciding that this conversation was very much worth his time this morning. “But she used to go by Miss (Y/L/N) before her marriage to the late viscount.”

“(Y/L/N)…” Eloise looked to the ceiling, finding nothing in particular. “Oh! Is she not the woman who—”

“I am taking my leave,” Anthony said abruptly, newspaper all but forgotten. 

“Escaping, Brother?” Benedict asked. 

“I have calls to make,” Anthony sneered, ignoring the pleased face his brother was making. “Excuse me.”

“It seems Lady Barlow is a touchy subject,” Eloise noted as her eldest brother left the drawing room. Benedict snorted. “What?”

“You do not even know the half of it, dear Sister.”

Anthony Bridgerton, did not in fact, have any calls to make. He had no impressionable interactions last night to warrant such a visit to anyone—the Queen was still in need of naming her diamond, after all—but he had no desire to stay and be berated by his family this morning. He truly had no plan, no thought in his head on where he was going, he just simply was. 

Apparently he was going to the park.

It was still early in the day, few people graced the park at such an hour. The few who did, however, were too busy reading the latest Whistledown to even notice him. Anthony saw a handful of post boys running opposite of his direction on his way here, it was only natural they scoped out this location. He knew it was going to be a problem the minute they finished reading—if Lady Whistledown truly wrote about him, which he had no reason to believe his sister was lying about, all eyes would be on him.

“Might as well enjoy the peace and quiet for now,” Anthony exhaled. He took a quick glance at his watch—half past eight. Hardly could he recall a time he took a turn about the park on his own, usually he was in the company of his family or holed away in his study worrying about expenses and the like, never did he take a moment to actually enjoy the grand weather such as the kind today. Determined to enjoy it, he sat down on a favorable bench and watched the birds swim across the pond.

“Unbelievable.”

He turned his head, only to find Lady Barlow dressed in a rather pleasantly pink dress and matching hat, a look of distaste on her face.

“I didn’t take you as the park-going type, Lord Bridgerton,” she nodded, folding her hands. She had been carrying a small red book in one of them. “Especially at such an early hour, too.”

“Lady Barlow,” he nearly sneered. “Can a man not enjoy the park?”

“Oh surely a man can,” (Y/N) agreed. “But you? You are no man.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“It seems to me that you’re sitting in my spot,” she ignored his quip, readjusting her stance in annoyance. “This is where I come to read.”

“Can you not read elsewhere?” Anthony asked. “There is an entire park at your disposal.”

“No,” she hummed. “Afraid not.”

“No?” He laughed. “Surely out of the entire park you can find a suitable spot to read your—let me guess—romantically inclined fodder?”

“Poetry,” she corrected, “and no, I cannot simply read elsewhere. The shade is just right under this tree and I rather like overlooking the pond between my chapters.”

“Shame I got here first, then,” Anthony clicked.

“You…!” (Y/N) scoffed, fighting every urge in her body to stomp her foot. “You are an impossible man, surely you know that?”

“I thought you said I was no man?” Anthony’s brow quirked. “Or perhaps I misheard?”

She scowled. “You are not amusing.”

“On the contrary,” Anthony leaned back on the bench, stretching his arms and taking his claim. “I find myself very amusing.”

A duck quacked from the pond, either laughing at the viscount or agreeing with him—it was hard to tell. 

“You leave me no choice,” (Y/N) said sternly, taking a seat on the other end of the bench—feeling worlds apart from the man on the far side. In actuality, it couldn’t have been more than two feet, three at most.

“Truly?” Anthony laughed humorlessly. “You cannot be serious.”

“Hush,” (Y/N) said, opening her book in earnest. “I am trying to read.”

While there had been no guns drawn, this was a duel, in every sense of the word. Both parties sitting still as statues, Anthony’s gaze trained on the pond, (Y/N)’s on her book. Occasionally, she’d flip her page to the next, huffing every time Anthony still did not get up and move on. 

Stubborn. Both of them.

“Will you be quiet?” Anthony said, growing exasperated. “I cannot think when you are breathing so loud—” 

“You wish for me not to breathe?” She shut her book. “I never anticipated you’d wish me dead—”

“Please,” Anthony said. “You know that is not what I mean at all.”

“I never know with you. You, Anthony Bridgerton, are an enigma and I hope I never have the pleasure of truly understanding you,” (Y/N) said, fingers whiting from her grip on her book.

“So you admit it would be pleasurable?”

She wanted to wipe that grin off of his face, how, she was unsure. Idly, she thought about how a good smack to his cheek would feel. Painful in the moment but oh-so wonderful after, cathartic, probably. “I am not getting up.”

“Neither am I.”

“I am willing to die on this bench,” (Y/N) spat.

“Funnily enough,” Anthony’s voice dropped, “so am I.”

“How are you to find your viscountess on this bench?” She asked, angling her body towards the torturous man. “Surely you do not expect her to just walk past?”

“I am sure I can manage,” Anthony said calmly. “Many young ladies will walk this way when they see me sitting here."

“Even with another woman sitting beside you?”

“I rather think they’ll find you easy to ignore, I know I do.”

“Ha! You are truly something else, Lord Bridgerton,” (Y/N) sat straighter. “Insulting a polite woman in public?”

“You are the furthest thing from polite,” Anthony leaned in. “Rude, ostentatious, quite full of herself—”

“Might I offer you a mirror?” The grip on her book tightened, cover bending from the force. “Or are you afraid you’ll see horns?”

“Oh, do they match yours?” He nearly sang. 

“Funny,” she clicked, finally setting her book down, lacing her fingers together in her lap. “You should run a comedy act at the circus, seeing as you are a right clown.”

Anthony stood up, whether by the force of his breath or sheer spite he will never know. “You are the most ridiculous woman I have ever met.”

(Y/N) met his height, now standing as well. “And you are the most irritating man I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing.”

“I am going to walk this way,” Anthony said, forcefully pointing to his right, eyes not leaving hers. She did have the most remarkable eyes.

“And I will walk this way,” she pointed to her left, less force in her action but seething all the same. “Have the day you deserve, Lord Bridgerton.”

“Why you little…!”

She had already turned and stomped away, a fuming smudge of pink against the greenery of the park, growing further away with every step.

“What a wretched woman,” he mumbled, looking down at his watch again—nine on-the-dot. In the corner of his eye, something bright red caught his attention. Her book. She had left it behind.

Perhaps he would burn it.

Perhaps he would just put it in his pocket and carry about his day.

In the pocket it went. For now.

[kayvsworld]

my roman empire is that i’m convinced there had to have been a second surgery during tony’s captivity. listen. listen. we don’t see it suddenly he just Has the arc reactor but ok. the electromagnet looks. fairly shallow. like we can see the bit that is the electromagnet and it’s in there a Little bit it’s not Fit Your Entire Hand In There like the casing for the reactor is later. there also isn’t an obvious like… casing around it. it’s just kind of Thing On There.

they had to fit the reactor in there somehow. likely had to make the existing,,,, space, deeper. i just… i’m obsessed with all the spaces during the captivity that we don’t see. did tony tell yinsen what he was doing? at what point did they have the discussion of how to get it in there? they had cameras! it must have been obvious at some point that whatever he was making was Not a bomb. especially when they got to having install it. and also “install” is. not a word that really conveys exactly what would have had to happen holy shit.

(also again, gotta be how stane knows about the reactor in the first place, right? the rings would have known about it and he was in contact with them. it wasn’t rhodey or pepper who told him.)

also. something i cannot stop thinking about. the “it could power your heart for a lifetime/or something big for 15 minutes” conversation and how that is one of Thee thrulines in both im1 and 2. tony consistently choosing to use the reactor in ways that make it more dangerous for him.

also. do you think that tony knew it would poison him. do you think even as he was making it and preparing to get it put in his chest he knew the palladium was going to be a problem. do you think he was always, from the second he woke up attached to a car battery, operating on the assumption that he was living on borrowed time?

i just. augh. AHHHH. im1 + 2 movies that make me INSANE

OH ONE HUNDRED PERCENT I AM ALWAYS SAYING THIS. YOURE RIGHT

the electromagnet was surface level. the reactor has Housing it has a big metal tunnel into his chest that pepper can stick her whole hand down to fish out an electromagnet and she has to play operation not to have the wire touch the casing on the way back out there is a Foundation Of Metal going on. also based on how it works there's definitely a pacemaker type of deal installed at some point here

guy has a titanium pringles can in his chest and it's got to be bolted into his ribcage so it doesn't move around like the first thing he and yinsen are drafting in that cave is 100% a solution for"how do we fit this thing into my chest without killing me" there just has to be a second surgery. and tony is NOT a doctor he is NOT a surgeon so yinsen's input is definitely needed here to make sure it also doesn't. like. kill him horribly god the cave sequence is grim

(obadiah knowing about the reactor from the 10 rings is both better and worse than finding out from rhodey thanks i'm pacing around the room)

raza doesn't look that surprised when he sees the reactor in tony's chest?? so i think we have to assume that at least Some conversation was had re: "listen the thing you want him to build is going to take longer than the week he has to live, the math does not check out, we have do to this one thing first" but like how tense was it buying that kind of time. i'm fine

IF YOU HAVEN'T READ REVISION BY KADIGAN......

also YEAH i DO think he knew as he was making it that the palladium was going to be a problem i think he started keeping tabs on it from the second he got home, iron man 1 and iron man 2 are just part 1 and part 2 of the same movie they're continuous they're back to back they're so good they make me insane

[blankdotcom]

Why I believe it makes the most sense for El to end up single (and why she was in a relationship in the first place)

To start off an analysis I like to just take a look at the internal conflict of a character because this explains lots of their actions. An internal conflict is a characters personal struggles with their fears or flaws. This internal conflict is not always resolved, but most of the times it is. Now before I say what I believe Elevens internal conflict is, even if I am accurate the writers might decide to not resolve this conflict for whatever reason, so just keep in mind that this is just a theory 👍

From what I’ve seen since Season 1 to Season 4, Elevens internal conflict has been been isolated from the world and lacking skills she would have and should have learnt at a young age (i’m sure there is an adjective that describes that but i do not remember so i’m sticking with that).

Eleven was thrown in a lab like an experiment ever since she was first born. She was isolated from the real world and stuck in a lab where she wasn’t treated like a real human but like a prisoner or patient. She never learnt how to communicate, read, or anything else a child should be learning, especially when they’re at school age. She had never seen outside.

So when she escaped the lab, that was the first time she saw the real world, and like any child who sees something they’re unfamiliar with, she was scared. All she ever knew was the lab.

So when she stumbles across a trio of boys and one of them takes her into his house for shelter, it’s pretty natural she grows dependent on him. And that just so happened to be Mike.

It was Mike who teaches her how to speak, gives her clothes, you know, treats her like a human being. But the thing is that wasn’t the norm to El, so this behaviour seemed wayyy above the standards. To her, he appeared to be treating her special. Expect Mike was just doing what he thought was right, what he thought was the standard.

Also, little reminder that Eleven never had friends, let alone a boyfriend. In fact, she didn’t even know what a friend was until Mike explained it to her, so I think it’s okay to assume she did not know the difference between platonic feelings and romantic feelings for someone.

And since Mike had helped her so much and because she depended on him so much for knowledge on things, whether that be social or just intelligence, she assumed what she felt was romantic.

I think where we can see this the clearest is in Season 3. In this season Eleven branches out in terms of friendship, creating a bond with Max.

The very moment Max starts to teach her independent thinking like “You make your own rules”, lets her have more freedom to explore on her own, like in the mall, give her comics (reading), she dumps Mike.

She does this because she doesn’t need him anymore, she doesn’t have anything to depend on him for, she can do it herself or get Max to help her.

Now I’m not saying El doesn’t actually love Mike, because you obviously form a bond with the person who saved you in the middle of the forest and took you in, what I’m saying is that it’s not romantic love, it’s platonic love.

This moment where she’s becoming independent could have resolved her internal conflict, but then she had to move states and with unfamiliar environments come old familiar habits, which in this case was getting back together with Mike.

But in Season 4 Eleven starts going to school, finally learning English, Math, etc. (I’d like to point out her struggle with making friends does contribute to what i speculate her internal conflict is). She also still has all the things Max taught her. So I think this is why Eleven was more comfortable fighting with Mike and standing up for herself, because she doesn’t depend on him anymore like she used to.

Now for Season 5, I honestly don’t know how this would play out expect for the fact she would end up single to resolve this internal conflict. How that happens? How she acts towards Mike? I have no clue👍 But I would love to hear other people’s opinions on this

[gayautisticraccoon]

Get to know me!

Tagged by the beautiful @clawbehavior and @mayykit (lowkey forgot about this so it took me a while :P)

1. What's the origin of your username?

This one is pretty straight forward I think xD

2. OTPs and ship names!

Gahan - Kim Gaon/Kang Yohan

KangJae - Baek Kanghyuk/Yang Jae-Won

I have some others that I really like but I'm not active in the fandoms much anymore so gonna skip those ^^

3. Fav color

This changes almost constantly for me tbh, I can never decide lmao But I really like black and red together

4. Song stuck in my head

Nur Ein Wort - Wir sind Helden

5. Weirdest habit/trait

Not sure about this one actually, I think I have a lot of small habits that probably seem weird to other people xD

6. Hobbies

Most importantly gaming with friends, Discord voice chats with my besties are my safe space. Other than that I really like watching TV shows, reading fanfic and travelling.

7. If you work, what's your profession

I work in retail (end me)

8. If you could have any job, what would you wish for?

Ngl my brain struggles with the idea of having to work just to afford to exist for the rest of my life. I lowkey wish I could just find myself a pretty sugar daddy so I can be a stay at home spouse, make art, do what I love.

9. Something you're good at

Procrastinating. Other than that? Not sure I'm really good at anything lol

10. Something you hate

People who put others down to feel better about themselves. You gotta be one miserable piece of shit to be mean to people for no reason.

11. Something you forget

Literally everything. ESPECIALLY if it's important. I hate it but I will forget anything that isn't constantly on my mind already

12. Your love languages

Small gestures to show that one cares like remembering little details about them, small acts of service, paying attention to them, listening and so on. Also physical touch. I love small casual touches to show affection. Probably doesn't help that I'm severely touch starved lmao

13. Fav movies and TV shows

Somehow I always forget every single movie I love when questions like this come up but I love a lot of movie series. Lord of the Rings, Kingsman, Fast and the Furious. For TV shows, The Devil Judge obviously. But shows like Criminal Minds, The Mentalist, Supernatural, stuff that I watched when I was a teenager, will always hold a special place in my heart

14. Fav food

Lasagna and sushi, I could inhale those things every single day

15. Fav animal

Raccoons C:

16. What was I like as a child?

Very shy and reserved

17. Favorite subject in school

English and Art

18. Least favorite subject

Math

19. Best trait

I feel like this is also a curse at times but I would probably say my kindness. I treat everyone I meet with the same respect and kindness as anyone else. No matter what they look like, if they speak a language I understand or not. I've been told by customers that they love how friendly I was to them. But I feel like it also gets me hurt a lot so there's that.

20. Worst trait

My constant need for reassurance. I am fully aware how irrational it can be at times. Logically I know that my closest friends love me but one slight inconvenience or change in tone and I'll feel like they hate me/are avoiding me or whatever and I absolutely HATE that about me and my stupid brain

21. If you could change any detail of your life, what would it be

Gonna steal this one from you @clawbehavior because it's such a simple but life changing thing. Zero foot pain. I used to think that I just needed to get used to standing all day again after spending all of university sitting at desks. But here I am, one year into working in retail and my feet still hurt like hell at the end of each shift

22. If you could travel in time, who would you want to meet?

I'd visit my grandpa before he died and tell him how much I love him. I'm pretty sure he knew that but I hadn't seen him in like a year when he passed away. He was home alone while my grandma was in hospital when it happened and I just hate that.

I really liked this one, I had a lot of fun answering the questions :3 Tagging anyone who wants to play because I'm not sure who has participated yet so feel free to join in if you see this <3

[lizardthelizard]

It was super fun to read that whole OUaT-missing-friend-wedding thing again. Thanks for digging it up. But something must be really wrong, because it said Feb 2023 and that would be 2 years ago according to math. Impossible. Also re-reading I do think August helping human versions of the Bug's Life characters would be hilarious. a) He can throw in that he is friends with a cricket. B) It's a whole circus, he will fit in.

You know, the second I saw that I had a message in my inbox I had a feeling it might be you!

Anyway, I saw this last night but I needed time to ruminate on things and I'm glad I did because I cannot stop laughing about the possibilities here.

So, here are my most ridiculous thoughts on the matter under the cut:

Let's make August already running a bit late for the wedding for some innocuous reason. Marco and Archie have left nice and early (since Archie is officiating the wedding after all) and August has to go and pick up his suit jacket from the dry cleaners/some other small but vital reason, and so he won't be arriving with his father. He's not late late, but he is slightly off track now. And he's gonna ride his motorbike back home, get changed, and walk to the venue after he's sorted things.

This is where things start to go wrong.

Since the town is singing and dancing (I know that the town weren't actually cursed to sing in the present day content like they were during the flashbacks, but since we get them all singing at the wedding, I'm still gonna headcanon that the rest of the town were also singing completely unprompted around that time) I'm picturing half of Storybrooke like that one specific song from Buffy, and August arriving on the scene like Robert from Enchanted because he's too late to the song to join in and is just generally confused as to why everyone is singing and dancing. And because everyone is too busy singing and dancing he can't even get done what he needs to get done.

Eventually he gets his suit jacket or whatever he went there for but he's already had to walk through three different musical numbers in order to do so. This is possibly also where the mention of him being covered in glitter comes from.

He hops back onto his bike and is still kind-of-mostly-on-time for the wedding when all of a sudden a vehicle pulls out in front of him and he swerves and (very gently) crashes his bike.

As it transpires, the vehicle was actually the travelling circus of human!bugs-life bugs. Flik has been realm jumping in order to find 'warriors' to help fight Hopper and co. back in his own realm. (Don't ask me how he travelled to Storybrooke, I don't know, but) they've only just arrived and now they'll need a magic bean or something in order to get back home.

Flik rushes out of the truck to apologise and check up on August. August is surprisingly okay. His bike isn't looking too good though.

Also, speaking of warriors, me and a couple of friends were trying to come up with characters that August could interact with during his little B plot adventure, and two of the suggestions were Mulan and Ruby (because, hey! why not bring them back to Storybrooke?) So I'm here to suggest the possibility of Ruby, Dorothy and Mulan (who has stuck around as a kind of third-wheeling bodyguard during their time in Oz) all running into Flik and the gang during their own adventure. None of them knew that they would end up in Storybrooke, but, when Ruby steps out and away from the travelling circus, she's obviously elated to see that 1) they're back in Storybrooke and 2) that August is right there.

August spots her and walks across to her. He's puzzled but there's a growing smile on his face. "Ruby?" They talk a bit. Ruby can introduce Dorothy as well as Mulan. He then explains that he'd love to stick around but that he has a wedding to get to (he's not even sure he'll have time to get changed at this point or else he'll miss it completely) and, after confessing that it is in fact Emma's wedding, Ruby obviously wants to go too and they all arrive with Flik and the other 'bugs' at the circus.

(side note: I'm living in an AU where the Black Fairy's curse didn't arrive the SECOND the song on the roof had finished, which allows them time to arrive at the wedding late and actually interact with Emma and the others. Emma is mostly just relieved to see August show up in one piece, even if he is still covered in glitter and a couple of scrapes from the bike crash) and Snow is overjoyed to see Ruby show up out of the blue (even if the curse is still about to hit the town)).

That's all I've got for now but anyone and everyone is welcome to throw their own ideas/tweak my ramblings if they so desire~

[skwpr]

A simple representation of images does not offer enough for proper memorization.

Study Faster And Retain More With This Quick Tip

I don’t know a single student who doesn’t want to study faster and retain more at the same time. I usually get a little nervous when trying to use quick fixes to make this happen, but today I have an actual quick tip to help you do just this!

Being a problem solver by nature, I dug into the situation and tried a few new approaches. Some worked, and some did not.

One of my best strategies was to sort the information into two categories:

facts to be memorized

concepts to be understood

You can use this strategy for any course. No matter the subject, there are things you have to memorize (terminology, dates, names, equations, etc) and concepts you need to master. Identifying this creates a clear, drama-free path, meaning you actually study faster and retain more because you are working on the right information in the right way.

How To Memorize Facts

I used to hate memorization work. It seemed tedious and hard and I sucked at it. Or so I thought!

Turns out I just didn’t have good skills. now I have some strategies in my toolbox and I love fact work. It’s easy and you can master it quickly. The key to mastering memorization is to:

Keep a list of what you need to memorize.

Schedule time every day to work on it. You must have the daily repetition if you want new facts to stick in your short-term memory. Start with just 10-min each day and you will see results.

Vary your memorization strategies. If you use only one strategy it becomes less effective.

How To Master Concepts

How you approach concept mastery is going to vary a lot based on the subject you are studying. There are two strategies to help with every subject:

1. Hands-On Practice

You will never fully master a concept through reading about it. You learn the concept through reading, but there is a big difference between learning something and mastering it.

The basics of hands-on practice for any subject are to come up with an applicable problem and solve it. Then come up with another problem and solve it too. Here are a few ideas, by subject, of how you might practice:

literature – Read a book or short story and write an analysis of whatever focus you are working on.

computer science – Come up with a problem and solve it with real code.

graphic design – Imagine a client asked you to design something, and create 3 different solutions for them.

math – Pick an equation, make up some starting numbers, and solve it.

science – Define a hypothesis, create a simple experiment, get in the lab and execute it!

2. Explain Or Teach It To Someone Else

Want to be certain you have mastered and fully understand a concept? Teach it to someone else.

As a teacher myself, I can tell you there have been plenty of concepts I thought I knew really well until I tried explaining them to someone else. You need a thorough understanding yourself before you can help someone else understand it.

Enlist the help of a friend or family member and try to explain a major concept in a few minutes. If you struggle, make note of the sticky spots. They are exactly what you need to work on next.

If you have no problem explaining it and your friend understood everything, mark it off your list and move on to the next concept.

I hope this quick strategy helps you dig out of confusion and take the right action in order to study faster and retain more.

Try It Yourself: 20-Minute Challenge

Grab your notes, a fresh piece of paper, and a timer.

Set the timer for 15 minutes.

Go through your notes and sort every piece of information into one of the two categories: concept or fact Challenge yourself to do this before the timer goes off. Go with your first instinct if you aren’t sure.

Spend the next 5 minutes and map out your next steps.

How and when will you work on the memorization each day?

How will you approach the first concept?

[stephaniebrownslover]

HIII! :D

I've read your Jeff and Liu's relationship hcs and I REALLY LOVED IT OMG

Soo can you please write a fluff oneshot about 'em?

(AND I THINK YOU'RE WORKING ON FOR TICCIWORK RELATIONSHIP PART 2 SO I'M SORRY IF I MADE YOU BUSSY THIS REQUEST CAN BE WAITED IF YOU WANT TO-)

I know I talked too much but thank you so much from now <333

HIIIIIIII!!!!!

I'm still surprised that people other than mt friends are reading and even liking my writing lol that means a lot really!!

And of course I can write about them since you asked! I love their bro-ship and it's cute and we deserve more Woods Family Fluff.

I'll write for Main AU, again, but this won't be lore related because everything important with them after the incident includes angst or other creeps but I want to write a dumb cute thing for you. Hope you don't mind, but if you do, please ask again for something lore-related like ticciwork oneshot.

NO NO I'M WORKING ON IT BUT I ALREADY MADE PART 1 FOR THAT FRIEND AND DON'T EVER WORRY ABOUT TALKING TOO MUCH OR MAKING ME BUSSY OMG NEVER PLEASE

Thank you so much for your ask and hope you like it too!!!

(I kinda wanted to write them stealing a tank lol)

(Also so sorry for late reply, my brain is so foggy lately which prevents me from writing)

Main AU Jeff and Liu Oneshot

Date: 2014

While Jeff was excitedly waving the board game box he was holding and trying to show it to Liu, Liu had his head buried well into the book in his hand, although his focus had not shifted. No, he might have loved his brother, but he definitely wasn't going to play monopoly with him.

"C'mon, L!"

"My name is not L. It's Liu."

That was the last straw. He knew that one Because Jeff was watching an anime called "Death Note" on the influence of his friends and Jeff had tried to make him watch it too. Liu would rather watch artistic films or something with real depth.

"Whatever, bet you're afraid of losin'."

"If it makes you feel better, then sure thing."

Liu wanted to continue reading his book, while Jeff senselessly waved one hand in the air. It could be read in his eyes that he had an unnecessary desire to challenge.

"Your loss, we all know I'm better at math."

"You did not."

"Oh yes, I did."

"Oh so you want to play a game, huh? Let's play a game."

Liu suddenly looked up from his book, he closed the object he was holding in one hand hard. It was hardly possible to say that he enjoyed being challenged.

Having a brother like Jeff who loved a challenge was a big problem for him.

Jeff looked in amazement at his brother, who had risen from the coach and was walking towards him with rapid steps. His green eyes were ablaze with an emotion that was not easy to understand.

"You in?"

Liu sarcastically crossed his arms, the menacing smile on his lips was enough to scare anyone, anyone except Jeff.

"Oh, how in that you would be surprised."

"Okay, so we're gonna play Monopoly, I know you like dumb nerd games, and I can rule kingdoms."

Jeff definitely didn't know how to play Monopoly. It was an even bigger problem that he talked more nonsense as if it was possible to do more, but it was Jeff.

Actually, Jeff didn't know how to play any board games. Of course, he knew, but either he didn't remember, or he was hitting the sense spot until the person he was playing with became really pissed.

"That's not- you know what? Just use the calculator on your phone."

"Which one?"

Jeff's rather confident disclosure of his secret caused Liu to pause in surprise once again.

What kind of idiot would disclose the application in which he kept secret photos and things that should remain hidden?

"... The one with numbers, not secret things of yours. God, I can't believe that I had to use this sentence."

"Why the fuck I need a calculator?"

Jeff's eyebrows were furrowed with anger. If it wasn't for Liu, he would have already responded with insults or attacked the person in front of him.

He might have been stupid, but he wasn't that stupid.

"Can you sum up high numbers?"

Or he could.

"... Fuckin' fine."

As Liu passed towards the table in the living room, Jeff followed him with a defeated attitude. While he pulled the chair out fairly and sat down, the fact that Jeff almost fell created a thin smile on Liu's face. It wasn't such a big deal.

He just liked that even after years later, he knew his brother next to him felt as comfortable as possible.

However, their feelings were not very mutual, because Jeff was a bomb ready to explode at any moment.

"You know how to play this, right?"

After Jeff sat down in the chair with a grunt, he shouted at Liu's question.

" 'course I do!"

Liu took the box from Jeff's hand and gently slapped on his hand when Jeff tried to reach out.

That's how Jeff realized that Liu was going to want something from himself first. Waiting for what he wanted, he responded only with a grunt.

Stupid nerd.

"Explain how we start the game."

He raised the index finger of his right hand in the air as he spoke confidently. With his other hand, he also pressed on top of it for emphasis.

"First, ya' choose a pawn to make your slave."

"Eh, kinda true. Go on."

Jeff raised his second finger and stepped on it, too.

"Then you roll the dice to occupy areas."

Well, that was where the mistake started.

But Liu didn't need to be so distrustful. Maybe his brother could surprise him, today could have been that day.

So he calmly made the explanation.

"No, you don't occupy the areas, you just pass them as you move just as the dice says."

"Told the same."

Jeff, on the other hand, breathed with an exasperated attitude.

"It's not the- okay, carry on. What happens when you stop on a point?"

"Easy."

The fact that he paused after saying this, didn't even deign to say anything, made Liu think that he was just bluffing.

And he probably was.

"Then explain."

"Um, you buy them?"

Liu raised one eyebrow in the air.

"To?"

"To... to throw them to the enemy!"

Taking advantage of Liu's confused moment, he pulled out the box and took out several household figures, which he threw at Liu. Although there was nothing to hurt, it was annoying.

"No, Jeff, stop."

Jeff was waiting for his brother to laugh like himself. Or to have an amused reaction. Or to be serious.

Anything, but not him getting off the table.

"I don't know why I trusted you with this. Clearly, it was a mistake."

While he was sitting at the table himself, he was almost begging for Liu to continue to stay as well.

"I was joking, I know Monopoly rules. Just don't go!"

"One last chance."

Liu took a deep breath and sat down at the table again. He really didn't know how long he could tolerate his brother's childish behavior, and he wasn't willing to find out.

There was silence between them for a while. It could not be said that it was a peaceful silence, although it was not uncomfortable either. This silence was more like the silence that occurs before something important.

Just when Liu was about to speak because he was starting to get uncomfortable with it, Jeff spoke by looking at his hands. And the whole time he was talking, he never lifted his head from the table.

"I was actually going to say that we can play Scrabble. I know you don't like this game and you can get bored or something and you shouldn't blah blah, somethin' somethin'."

Liu felt bad for a moment after hearing this.

It was obvious that his brother wanted to spend time with him. He was also aware that he had been neglecting him a little bit too much lately, but it wasn't his fault. He was just too busy and didn't have enough energy to deal with anyone. He definitely couldn't tolerate a hyperactive person like Jeff after a tiring day.

However, these were not an excuse.

He should have been a better brother.

"Okay, we can play both."

After Jeff heard this, he suddenly raised his head, quickly waved his hands in a way that meant no.

"No, no, you don't have enough time and-"

"I can always spare some time for my brother."

Jeff was relieved to hear this. After releasing his shoulders, he smiled. This was not a fake or sarcastic smile as usual, it was a real smile.

"Yeah. Me too."

Jeff and Liu were two brothers who cared about each other.

And nothing or no one could come between them.

It's awful lol sorry for that

[wawamouse]

Oh, and just so you know, I jotted down this bit of the expanded snippet before I read your wonderful fic with Miguel (freaking adorably and very believably) attempting to take care of Chico without pursuing receiving anything in return 😂:

“If you're just trying to get me into bed, sweetheart,” saying it all sly, like the asshole he was, laughter curled behind his tongue. Wasn't really laughing, though, probably because the adrenaline was wearing off, pain was setting in, and those ribs hurt like a bitch.

Miguel cut him off with a deadly dismissive look, complete with condescending tone. (Sure, they'd fucking kissed or whatever, and who the fuck knew what that made them now, but they were still this. Back and forth, humoring each other's stupid shit and cutting it off in turns.) “I'm trying to get you to rest, stupid. You think you'd be any fucking fun right now? Please, your ass can barely bend over.” –shit. That was maybe too fucking far–

Chico snorted, hand lightly landing to brace his side. “Oh, you mean you aren't going to selflessly take care of me this time ‘cause I'm so injured? That hurts, Miguel. Like maybe worse than my papercut.”

Oho? 👀 Snippet right in my inbox? 💖💖 Heh— Sure, they’d fucking kissed .. but they were still this. Absolutely! And that’s one of the fun things about writing them—their bickering :D Incessant, unrelenting back and forth 😵‍💫 Only time it really stops is when something is reaaaally wrong or happening. Obviously, Chico’s paper cut isn’t that (lmao, him downplaying it) :P

ALSO… AHH 👁️👁️ So this is post kiss? Mhm, I see… ���🏼 Laughing that we both characterised Miguel as immediately being on board (0 to 60 :D) and muttering about the logistics of fucking. Miguel! And now I realise that was a sort of joking observation but now I’m thinking about how that’s something Miguel and Chico have in common, actually: logistical thinking, that is. At least, I headcanon Chico as being that way. I mean, even that he has his Chico Math moments when he’s impatient and wanting revenge, I have to think that consistently being lieutenant in El Norte means that he’s in charge of planning the details and delegating, etc, for whatever the boss wants to get accomplished (and that generally speaking, he's not bad at it—except when it comes to plannning how to kill Miguel, who has more lives than a cat). That’s also where it’s fun to write Miguel and Chico teaming up for shenanigans post-canon or something like that, when they’re partners. They can plan things together and complement each other’s shortfalls… I’m reminded of your fic, “Following Frustration”, where you fantastically portray and delve into that aspect of their relationship, and how from Miguel’s POV, he finds value in Chico’s push back :)c …also while I’m mentioning that fic, I want to repeat that I LIIIIVE for that scene where Chico’s trying to attack the mouthy new guy and Miguel is bodily holding him back! It scratches a little bit of that itch of wanting to see Chico just absolutely demolish some guy on Miguel’s (baffled) behalf at some point… I think that’s something you also mentioned previously in a post.

Ahem. Anyway! Yeaaah, there’s also something very fascinating about the dynamic of Miguel wanting to do something for Chico without expectations of reciprocation, especially in a moment early into things. Of course it makes sense in the context of both our fics here, because they have an established close friendship, but in set-in-Oz fics, I find there’s that tendency to writing an early relationship approach as being 1 for 1, quid pro quo, often as a safety net for them, because things are shaky, and there’s not only an undesirable implication to only giving and not receiving, but also a potential vulnerability or uncomfortable depth that would be exposed to just wanting to give… So, interesting! I'm intrigued as to what direction your expanded snippet (if you're still working on it 🤞🏼👀) goes in!

[ky-yk]

gaeul sunbae (kge x f!reader)

genre: gen? fuck if i know tbh || word count: 1.1k

author’s note: i’m not kidding btw this is not fluff neither is it angst, hope y’all enjoy nonetheless 🫶🫶

1.

“how the hell did they do this…”

wednesdays were your least favorite day of the week for one reason only: your industrial arts class.

i mean, who’d enjoy getting drenched in their own sweat while trying to play around with rulers every week?

i’m not even gonna be an architect, why do i have to learn this? you thought to yourself as you were hunched over your armchair, trying to replicate what your seatmate had done before he triumphantly got up and walked to the teacher’s table for checking.

you erased your circle…thing for what felt like the millionth time, your eraser shavings and crumpled-up bond paper being the only thing you could show for yourself after almost an hour. you stared at it for a second before swiping the eraser shavings off from your desk (along with your insecurities) and hunched over, ready to try again before a shadow loomed over you.

everything passed by and all you could do was stare in awe at the girl who took one look at your paper, hummed, and pulled up a chair beside you to finish the job. you were frozen; not even processing how softly she took the compass from your hand.

you snapped back to reality just in time to see her finish your plate activity with a flick of her wrist. literally.

she took one more look at it and hummed before putting your compass down and getting up to fall in line and have her work checked.

you all but stared as she leans against the board nonchalantly, not knowing if and how you should thank her for saving your grades -- only for the five-minute warning bell to remind you that her effort would be fruitless if you didn't go up beside her to line up.

in a rush, you haphazardly grabbed your paper and rushed to take the spot beside her, leaning against the board alongside her. your eyes travelled the room, observing the whole scene.

soon enough, you met the gaze of your savior.

surprised, you broke eye contact and suddenly found the wooden flooring much more interesting — an amusing sight to said savior.

you mustered up the courage to thank her while she was close, but you must’ve missed how the line had been moving since the next thing you knew, she was walking away from the teacher’s desk.

2.

“oh, i’m screwed…”

sitting at your assigned desk for your final exams, what was running through your mind wasn't the math formulas you had to memorize, no. instead, it was about how you could've -- should've -- reviewed your math lessons last night instead of napping the whole day.

what was that you kept saying, y/n? it’s all common sense?

noting the mini study group that formed behind you, you moved your chair closer to their circle, hoping that whatever they were talking about would stick around long enough to get you through the exam. you took a peak at the notes that were sprawled across the desk — and your future crumbling before your eyes.

you leaned back in your chair. just smile and laugh, folks, you thought as a defeated chuckle spilled out. you heaved out a deep sigh and looked up at the ceiling, resigning to your fate and deciding that napping would be a much better way to spend your time. you dragged your chair back to your seat and rested your head on your desk, ready to go off to dreamland before you felt a tap on your shoulder.

you let out a groan loud enough to make sure the perp was aware that you were not pleased by the interruption. with furrowed brows, you got up and looked around for whoever wanted to be on top of your kill list.

instead, you found a stack of well-organized notes on your desk; hope this helps - g.e, the sticky note on top read.

needless to say, that test was a piece of cake -- considering how you breezed through it with 30 minutes left to spare.

so did your savior, apparently.

when you turned your test over, you sat up and looked around at the rest of your classmates who were still hunched over and struggling through the test. all except one who met your gaze.

you gave her a small smile and nodded in acknowledgment. she returned the greeting before facing forward at the proctor's insistence, playing around with her pen to pass the time.

3.

"what the hell?!"

a lot of things made you go, "what the hell?!" but you'd never "what the hell?!"-ed more than you had today.

the project that your pe teacher just sprung on you guys about making a dance routine, the fact that your friends ditched you to pair up with each other, and the sight of gaeul-sunbae approaching you--wait what?

"hey, you wanna pair up for this?" she asked casually. all you could do was stare at her dumbfoundedly.

and let out a single syllable.

"huh?"

"well, i just noticed that all your other friends paired up with each other, so why not?"

"i mean...i don't see why not?"

"okay, so i'll make the choreo and send you the video. just follow it, and then i'll edit the whole thing together. shouldn't take that long," she said with finality before walking off to the bleachers, leaving you to think about what the hell just happened.

wait, that's it? am i really going to get hard-carried by gaeul-sunbae for a whole project without talking to her at all?!

exasperated at the realization, you huffed and puffed your way across the gymnasium, eyes locked on your target while everyone else's eyes were locked on you. the whispers were as good as white noise to you because your ears were fuming with steam at your sunbae.

why?

you were about to find out as well.

"yah!"

surprised at the intrusion, gaeul looked up at you with wide eyes. "um, yes?"

"what the hell is your deal?! why do you keep helping me?"

she calmly stood up, making sure to avoid your flailing arms. "well--"

"does this stroke your ego or something?!"

"wait, what? that--"

"oh, of course it does! i'm like your damsel in distress, huh? well newsflash, sunbae," you emphasized the title by pointing at her chest so hard she sat back down, "i can help myself."

with an annoyed eye roll, gaeul stood back up, holding your wrists together and bringing them down, making your resolve falter.

"that's no way to treat your sunbae, is it? especially one who's been so nice to you," she scoffed.

under her scrutinizing gaze, you were left speechless.

"you're lucky you're cute. now close that pretty mouth of yours, would you? wouldn't want any flies flying in.

unless you need my help there, too?" she asked while gently holding your chin between her index finger and thumb, closing your mouth and making you look up at her.

with a tut, she tapped your chin one more time. "now, if you excuse me, i'll get working on our project."

[nagaficat]

TOA Anniversary Monday

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: Erica

Pronouns: she or whatever you feel like I do not care

Birthday (no year): May 3!

Where are you from? What is your time zone? Philly suburbs, toa official time zone

How long is your roleplay experience? Long. I think I was like 18 or 19 so like 15ish years I don't want to do that math right now

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? The Star Trek Online forums aksjdkdbd

How were you introduced to TOA? Saw it in the tags on Tumblr and was intrigued

Do you have any pets? Winston the German shepherd mix and Pipis the pisscat

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) Winter probably but for sure Not Summer

What is your IRL occupation? Toddler teacher, specifically 18ish-24ish month olds

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? Taking long and beautiful naps with my dog

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout is good. Nothing like super regularly 

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: grass and ground, Diglett and Dugtrio have been my favs since gen 1 for some reason

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! (Optional bonus challenge: if you filled this out last year, try not to repeat what you said back then!)

I was on the kidney transplant list but my kidneys came back to life

I have two kids and they're both so unhinged

My dog set my kitchen on fire one time

I used to have a hatman irl but he was actually the Carrot Man and he looked like the peanut butter jelly time banana except a carrot and he was a friendly sleep paralysis demon and sometimes I miss him

How did you get into Fire Emblem? I went to GameStop and was looking at the used games and I guess Awakening caught my eye. 

What Fire Emblem games have you played? Genealogy, blazing blade, scared stones, some of por, sov, awakening, fates, 3h, engage. I've at least read through all of them except the tellius games. I should get on them. 

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: first was Awakening, favorite to play is fe7

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! Arvis, Travant, Finn, I really love Raphael maybe him, uhh this is hard to pick maybe Oifey. You could ask me this question tomorrow and I'll probably have a different answer

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! Frederick because I knew I was in love with him the moment I saw his face but Cynthia in a regular context 

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 You know this you know it's Arvis and Travant but I do keep thinking about Raydrick recently. Wtf is wrong with me. 

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays?

- Awakening: Frederick but I'd like to to a Priam romance someday

- Fates: I think it was Hinata but I honestly do not remember. Now idk! I don't think I've ever done the same s support twice in fates

- Three Houses: Claude but I would do a non romantic s support with Alois next time

- Engage: Saphir. Idk who I’d pick next time but it would be a different one. 

Favorite Fire Emblem class? Anything armored!

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? Hmm I feel like I would probably not be playable. Some sort of healer if I was playable. A cleric. I cannot imagine myself having good stats you should bench me immediately.

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? (Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, Church of Seiros, Those Who Slither in the Dark, unaffiliated civilian, other - for example Almyran) Golden Deerrrrrr!!!!

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? Boon would be healing, bane would be gauntlets, budding talent idk maybe riding or flying

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? (Firene, the Kingdom of Abundance; Brodia, the Kingdom of Might; Elusia, the Kingdom of Knowledge; Solm, the Queendom of Freedom; Lythos, the holy land of the Divine Dragon; Gradlon, the desolate land of the Fell Dragon) I think Brodia is cool but I don't think they would think I am cool

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔(separate letters, to-ah, other?) Tee oh ay and I take psychic damage every time I hear someone call it toah

Current TOA muses: Deirdre, Ethlyn, and Altena 

Past TOA muses? Hilda, Elise, Serra, Charlotte, Tina, Silvia, Ninian…I feel like I'm missing someone maybe

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Hilda and nah I don't think I would

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) Tragic love interests and little sisters

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? I think it would be cool to write Manuela one day but I am convinced I would be terrible at it, also any male character. For some reason I have a mental block against them and I'm not entirely sure why this is 

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) I like writing dialogue! Love a good reunion also. 

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? I would literally do anything to write with an Arion.

Favorite TOA-related memories? Bruh literally all of them. Don't make me choose there have been so many amazing times here. 

Present or past tense? Past

Normal size text, small text, no preference? Normal because I'm lazy

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 Nope!

[remisummerglow]

Shrink Toys Reviews

Sex toys > Fetishes > Macrophilia > Shrinking and Growing Tools > Marcus and Johnson’s FAST Shrinking Powder, 500 mg

Reviews

Carl M.

A must-try for macrophiles

177 of 181 users found this useful

Thanks to this I was able to make my dream come true. I tried it with my girlfriend and the next thing I knew I ended up half a cm tall in her hand. I was able to explore her body all night. A few tips: 1) Make sure you get the antidote as well when you buy this. It’s sold separately so unless you want to stay tiny… plan accordingly. A lot of people complain about this. First they shrink and then they have to stay tiny for the next couple of days until they can get a taste of the antidote. Well, that doesn’t sound that bad to me at all! But whatever you wish to do, if you are reading this, you have been warned.

2) Make sure you can really trust the person you’re going to use this with. Horror stories are surfacing about people shrinking and then terrible things happening to them. DON’T use this with someone you just met, no matter how hot that may sound. DON’T use this with prostitutes. DON’T use this without telling your girlfriend/wife/whatever.

3) It’s called FAST because it’s meant to be used fast. Its effect wears off a few seconds after it’s opened. It’s made that way for a reason, otherwise it could be used to shrink unwilling peeps by adding it to their food and drinks. So don’t hesitate and just swallow it as soon as you can once you take it out of the blister. It’s not cheap so you’ll want to make sure you don’t waste it.

4) There are currently four sizes available: M (turns you ten times smaller, so about 17/18 centimeters if you’re average), S (turns you twenty times smaller, so about 8/9 centimeters), XS (about three hundred times smaller, more or less half a centimeter) and XXS (almost two thousand times smaller, more or less a millimeter). Make sure you get the version you would enjoy best. Essentially S means human dildo, XXS microscopic fun. Personally I made sure to try them all and can’t wait for new sizes to be added.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Jack D.

Works as intended, tastes awful

74 of 92 users found this useful

I have no qualms about the functionality of this product. It works just as advertised. I only wish it didn’t taste so bitter. It left a horrible taste in my mouth which almost ruined my playtime with my wife and I was too small to do anything about it. Because of the peculiar way it has to be used, there is no way it can be added to some orange juice or soda. They could make some strawberry or chocolate flavored versions to fix this problem and I really hope they do.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Jenna M. Should be outlawed

44 of 74 users found this useful

I haven’t used this product and I don’t intend to. However, since it was made available to the public, all kinds of freaks and perverts have started using it to sneak into my house and spy on me. Just so you know, everyone I’ve caught has ended up underfoot. I have no reservations about stepping into perverts who have no respect for the privacy of women, and no one should!

Rating: 1 out of 10

Karen E.

Beware of compatibility!

61 of 65 users found this useful

I wish I never agreed to let my (now ex) husband use this thing. Apparently the growth formula in the antidote does not react with his body, so he stayed small. He’s here with me as I write this, sitting on the desk. Five millimeters tall. I’ve spoken with doctors all around the state and no one was able to ultimately find a cure for him. Just do not use this. It’s not worth the risk.

Rating: 1 out of 10

Olga S.

Not just for sexy purposes!

79 of 86 users found this useful

I’ve gotten a bottle of this and I’ve started using it to carry my boyfriend around. I can sneak him into a concert then hide in the bathroom and get him back to normal there. Of course, because of its high price, it doesn’t make sense to use it for a $10 movie ticket. Just do your math and make sure the money you’re saving is worth the effort. EDIT: Beware because it can backfire as businesses are starting to wisen up to its use. Airports are a no-go. They have updated their metal detectors so they can sense hidden tiny people. It made the news once when they found a woman who was carrying someone in her panties. Imagine her embarrassment! Trains and buses are still fair game as far as I know.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Sophia T.

SO much fun

110 of 142 users found this helpful

Rating: 10 out of 10

Ivan M.

“Cured” me of size-related fantasies

28 of 30 users found this helpful

I guess this is personal, as many people enjoyed it just fine. For me shrinking down wasn’t a very good experience. My girlfriend at the time was very careless and rough and ended up bruising me and leaving me in pain. When she finally returned me to normal, I ended up with a broken leg. We broke up soon after. I don’t fantasize anymore about that kind of thing. I guess it’s some kind of PTSD, but whenever I check some size related materialnow, I sorta panic. I guess my advice would be: use it if you really want but make sure you really know who you’re getting in bed with.

Rating: 4 out of 10

Laura D.

Me and my husband divorced over this

75 of 100 users found this helpful

Honestly I found this kind of annoying. My husband would come to me and ask me to be his giantess. OK, I said at first, why not. But then he started wanting to do it every night. Regular sex wasn’t on the menu anymore. Instead he would climb up my feet as I sat down on the bed or on the armchair. All he wanted was to be at my feet and sometimes other parts of me while shrunken. Naturally this was boring to me, so I began to object to it. Eventually I told him I didn’t want to do it anymore. It was about that time that he started seeing another woman, I think. Eventually he left with his new mistress. Our daughter is mad at him and says I should have crushed him back when I had the chance. She’s probably right…

Rating: 1 out of 10

Jill F.

Writing this review in place of my boyfriend

80 of 134 users found this helpful I’m writing this because he can’t. He is currently 1 mm tall and licking (I guess? I can barely see or feel him) my feet. Since he shrunk a week ago he hasn’t wanted to return to normal (I’ve given him the antidote a few times, but he refuses to take it). So for him, this thing would be a 10 out of 10. For me, it’s more of a 0 out of 10… I’m getting real bored of having a speck-sized boyfriend hanging out on my toes. To other girls who might be reading this: learn from my mistake and if your boyfriend is that much of a pervert, dump him on the spot and go look for a normal one instead. Rating: 5 out of 10

Katy S.

Ooops! I lost her

20 of 25 users found this useful

My girlfriend had always wanted to be tiny so I let her have her way. Problem is… I can’t find her anymore! I’m not sure where the hell she might be. I’ve searched anywhere, from my clothes to our bedroom. Be really careful what you do once you shrink someone down. I’m leaving a good rating anyway since this thing clearly works.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Susy R.

I squished my brother 99 of 127 users found this helpful

this is maybe too personal to share, but i wanted to warn other people of the dangers of using this “shrinking powder”. one day we couldn’t find my brother anymore. me and my mom thought he had run away from home and wanted tocall the police. that’s when we found the bottle of shrinking powder in his room. we started panicking and searched the whole house. we were very careful of where we were stepping and completely clueless as to why he would use such a thing. i only found out a few hours later, when i was about to do my laundry. he had climbed on the crotch of my dirty panties and was frolicking in there. it grossed me out at first, then i got so mad. he had shrunk himself so he could go into my bedroom and perv on me, his own sister. i could not think straight anymore and squished him on the spot. to this day i don’t really regret it but i never told mom the truth. she thinks he’s just missing and hopes maybe someday we’ll find him on the floor of the living room…

Rating: 3 out of 10

Jim D. Voyeur paradise

55 of 110 users found this helpful

I prepared for this in advance. I started searching for a house with a hot female roommate. I found the perfect apartment and signed a one-year deal. I’m really sorry about this, Sarah (not your real name, of course), but I’ve been spying on you for months now. I make myself small enough that I can sneak under a closed door, then make my way under your desk. That’s the perfect place to look at you undressing. Sometimes when you’re studying at your desk I stare at your beautiful feet and legs for hours. The shape of your toes, every wrinkle in your sole is forever burned into my mind now. You don’t know how many loads I’ve blown under your desk, Sarah… To you, I’m the rommate who’s always outside. I heard you talking on the phone, you’ve said it so many times. You love having me as a roommate since it means having the house for yourself most of the time. Ah, if only you knew the truth…

Rating: 10 out of 10

Mary N.

Great for busy moms

78 of 104 users found this helpful

I realize many people don’t endorse this use of the powder, but who cares. I think it works great for busy moms like me. I just make my kids small, then bring them to the office so I can keep an eye on them all of the time. My co-workers actually find them cute. It’s way cheaper than a nanny when you consider the money you save on food. And if needed, punishing them requires no effort. Just a tiny fickle with your finger and boom! They straighten out. They fear me like I’m some kind of god, which I appreciate. I don’t even need to raise my voice to make them afraid of me. Some people in my family have criticized me for the way I’m raising them. I told them I’m sure my kids will grow up (no pun intended) as better people than most of their peers, we’ll see who gets the last laugh.

Rating: 10 out of 10

[questions-from-d87]

oc-tober day 1 - "home"

♤ kiki wakes up early.

♤ 507 words

♤ prompt from @oc-tober2023

♤ i challenged myself to do a no dialogue piece for this one since i always rely so heavily on character interaction and i think it went ok :))

Kiki rose from her bed.

She stretched out her arms above her head as she sat up, her lavender comforter falling to her lap. The artificial window showed sunlight, but she knew it had to be too early for that.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she looked to her side. Kidd was still there. Kidd was a dirtied old fellow who'd been everywhere Kiki had, a gift from her favorite cousin for her fourth birthday. Grey stripes covered the little cat, small enough to fit in a pocket, eyes of black plastic that reflected the light in a way that made them look like they'd had highlights drawn in.

She lifted him into her arms and tucked him into the pocket of her pajama pants, beige, covered in little bears and smelling like the closet they'd been pulled out of when she'd arrived. She left his head poking out to make sure she'd never lose sight of him. She was an anxious child, undeniably, from the way she was brought up. Kidd would be taken from her sometimes as punishment - she would wake up without her only true comfort in her home beside her and find out later that it was because she'd missed the fact that her math homework had a backside or that she didn't eat enough of her dinner.

She walked on her toes out the door and descended the stairs down the hall to the first floor of the building, then popped her head out the front door. Sure enough, the fireflies were still out. The sun hadn't yet risen.

The girl found a strange charm in the confusing world she'd found herself in. A world where trees were made of polygons and where one could access a black void just neighboring where they worked, a world where time was read in symbols and nobody could seem to remember quite what the cashier at White Castle looked like. Finding beauty in the horror of it all helped her cope - she had died, after all, and couldn't remember how. It had been a week since then, and already, she had forced tears so many times that she found it hard to tell whether she was really crying. That was her job. To present a story, to make whoever was next on the King's list pity her. She didn't dare question the consequences if she refused.

If "home" could simply be defined as a place one lives, this would have been it. And she thought about that as she looked up at the sky, perfectly-shaped clouds gliding past, holding up Kidd as if he could watch the stars glimmer with her. This didn't feel quite like home, not yet. But she didn't truly know home, and she never had. Home always felt too far away. Something she could try to visualize but had no hope of reaching.

Whatever. Whether she liked it or not, she told herself, this was home now.

And she'd just have to get used to it.

[skelesnakesposts]

Ok so I ended up writing 12k words, I'll put the first chapter in here and link the ao3 bellow because I'm not gonna make people read all of that.

Chapter 1:

After what felt like an eternity, the bell finally rang, signalling the end of class. Lily had just survived the most boring math lesson of her life, and she was beyond relieved to be free. She packed her books as fast as she could while the teacher reminded everyone about the test on Friday.

She filed out with the rest of her classmates and made a beeline for her locker across the hall. As she was packing up to go home, Eve approached.

“Hey, Lily. I’m really sorry—I have to cancel again. My mom wants me home. Some family stuff came up.”

“Okay… Do you know when you’ll actually be able to work on the project? It’s due next week, and Ms. Maken will kill us if we don’t get it done. It’s like fifty percent of our final grade.”

“I know, I’m really sorry. I’m not sure when I’ll have time, but I’ll let you know as soon as I can, okay?”

“Fine. I’m going to start on my section—it’ll take a while anyway. Just send me your part whenever you get the chance. I’ll handle the formatting,” Lily said, obviously annoyed.

“Thank you so much, Lily. You’re a lifesaver,” Eve replied with forced gratitude—her tone made it obvious she wasn’t planning to contribute much.

“I’d better go. See you Monday, Eve. Hopefully, everything’s okay with your family.”

“Thanks. See you Monday.”   Eve turned and walked away.

Not long after, Lily headed home. She had a mountain of work waiting for her and couldn’t afford to waste time. Wanting to beat the early evening darkness, she decided to take a shortcut.

The alley between the vape shop and one of the dozen nearly identical phone stores shaved several minutes off her walk. It let out just a block or two from her house—close enough to feel convenient, not far enough to feel dangerous.

At least, not usually.

Halfway down the alley, she spotted a couple of shadowy figures. She paused. Should she really walk toward them?

“Whatever,” she muttered. “It’s fine.”

It was not fine. Walking toward strangers in a sketchy alley was objectively a terrible decision.

As she got closer, the figures began arguing—loudly.

“What do you mean you lost it? You had one job!”

Lily stopped cold.   She knew that voice.   “Uncle David?”

He didn’t turn, too caught up in yelling at the stranger.

“You think I meant to? I worked my ass off to get that! You seriously think I’d just hand it over?”

Lily opened her mouth to call out again—but then she saw something that made her freeze.

Plants—real plants—were snaking up around the stranger’s neck.

She blinked.

She had to be imagining this. Where would plants even come from in the middle of a concrete alley?

Then the man collapsed.

David turned—and saw her.

His face changed instantly. Panic. Regret. Guilt.

Lily’s heart was hammering. That wasn’t just anyone. That was her uncle. And she had just watched him kill someone?

She took a step back.

“Wait! Lily, it’s not what it looks like!” David called.

“Oh really?” she snapped, eyes wide. “Because it looked like you just murdered someone.”

David raised his hands, staying where he was. “Okay, it was—kind of. But you can’t tell anyone. It’s not like they’ll believe you anyway. You’ll end up in a mental hospital, they’ll think you’re insane.”

Lily stared at him. “You’re my uncle, David. How am I supposed to process the fact that you just choked a guy with plants? What even is that?”

“I didn’t want you to find out this way,” he muttered.

“You think that makes it better?” she said, her voice high and shaky. “How the hell am I supposed to act normal after this? I could still call the police and say you strangled him with a rope or something. That’d be enough to get you arrested.”

David let out a slow, tired sigh.

“Okay, but… are you really going to do all that?”

The way he said it—so calm, so certain—made her stomach twist.   And, frustratingly, he wasn’t wrong. Her brain was still catching up.

The alley was silent now, thick with tension.

After a long pause, David spoke again.

“Look, I know this is a lot. But what you saw wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”

“You mean the part where vines came out of nowhere and strangled a man?” she said, arms crossed. “Yeah. Not exactly the family reunion I expected.”

David nodded wearily. “Right. So, let’s start over. I’ll explain. But I have so many questions.”

“Shoot”

She narrowed her eyes. “So that thing with the vines… that was magic, wasn’t it?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It was.”

Lily exhaled, trying to centre herself. “Okay. So magic is real. Cool. Just what I needed to round out my week.”

David gave a tired smile. “You’re handling this better than I thought.”

“Well, I haven’t passed out yet, so that’s something.”

“Yeah that’s a good sign. You said you had a lot of questions, you may as well keep going.”

“Yeah ok. How did you even know you could do magic? And what about me? Is there a chance I could do it too?”

“There’s a test for that.”

“Seriously? It’s that simple?”

“Pretty much. All we need is a piece of paper, a drop of your blood, and a basic spell.”

“That’s it?”

“You sound disappointed. We’ve got better tools these days. No full ritual required.”

She rolled her eyes. “So… when and where are we doing this? Because I want to know but I need to be home before my parents start asking questions.”

“I know a guy. He’s about ten minutes from here, and the test only takes five. I can bring you in and get the test done, but if you don’t test positive you have to forget that all of this ever happened. I’ll have you home right after. Deal?”

“Fine. Let’s go.”

and here's the link for the rest if you want to read more:

Wait, are you saying that magic is real?" "Yes." "And you can test if I have magical potential?" "Yes. It's simple: a piece of paper, a drop of your blood, and a simple spell."

[quotablefanfiction]

“You should know that when he isn’t a blissed-out lunatic, he’s actually quite the genius,” Pepper said with a smile.  “Hey, I’m a genius even when I am a---Wait.”

Pepper and Tony (chp. 1)

This is Not a Drill by sabrecmc (AO3) Avengers (Marvel Movies) – Explicit – Steve Rogers/Tony Stark #Alternate Universe #Alpha/Beta/Omega #Alpha Tony Stark #Omega Steve Rogers #Fluff #Fluff and Crack #Bonding #Humor #Love at First Sight #Protective Tony Stark #Ridiculous Crack #Anal Sex #Pillows #Knotting

“Can I—can I see him? I mean meet him. Uh…welcome him to the team?” Tony clarified, probably not very well, he knew.

“Well…there’s a bit of an issue with that,” Fury said, and Tony figured this was where Fury got to whatever it was that had really forced his hand and made him call Tony in, knowing how much the man detested having to do so. “You see, well. He was suspended in the ice for nearly seventy years,” Fury began. Tony nodded along, because he could do math.

“I’m sure he has a lot of adjusting to do—“ Tony started.

“Seventy years,” Fury repeated, cutting Tony off and leaning back in his chair and making it rock slightly. “Of no suppressants.”

“Oh,” Tony managed to choke out past the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. “Oh.”

Note: This is a restricted story and requires an AO3 account in order to read

[feralwitness]

1.txt

> Launch.Program:localnetwork/private/ai.interface

//Initiating setup.exe//31//

Input > Link.Reciever detected. Enter Username:

> Scout443\persona.5

//Hello Scout 443. I am Thirty One, an AI channel hosting a private connection in the mitaverse via your Link receiver. How can I help you?//31//

> Scout443: I’m testing my dictation software. Is this working? Okay yeah, I think it’s picking up my dictation. [Labored breathing] Fuck, why is everything so dark? Thirty One, can you read back to me what I have so far so I know if this is working?

//Of Course. Your transcription is as follows: Scout Four Four Three colon is this working question mark okay yeah comma I think it’s picking up my dictation open bracket labored breathing close bracket fuck comma why is everything so dark question mark-//31//

> Okay, okay, I got it. Thanks. So, now that I’m connected, I should be able to access your toolbox, right?

//Yes, that is correct. As long as your Link is online, I can maintain a private local channel for you to access all my AI features. Which tools do you need?//

> You can see my location, right?

//In the sense that your digital avatar, your Persona, has data mined through four levels of the Crypt, then yes. You are extracting files from what look to be obsolete forms of memory storage. If you are referring to the precise location of your Biological Mainframe through which you are accessing the mitaverse, then no. Would you like to give me your government name so that I can attempt to locate your body?//31//

> No, that’s fine Thirty One, I just wanted to make sure you could trace my extraction software. This shit is definitely obsolete, and none of my file converters are pulling any useful data from these fuckin’ shards. [Grunts of effort. Sigh.] I should've taken that free course on code reading before I deployed. It'd be nice if I knew how to fuckin' read any of what I'm trying to transfer. And who put this hardware together? I mean, there’s only so many ways you can rearrange a section of code and this shit is not easy to run. Half of these ports don't even [grunt] fit.

//What are you attempting to convert?//31//

> I'm supposed to document "anything of interest" on the way to the core of the Crypt, whatever that means. This folder is marked "Early AI prototypes" so I thought the Outpost might want to see it, but it's not uploading into any of my shards.

//There are over seven hundred thousand potential permutations of code fragments that could be the codekey to translate the data in the folder to one of your data shards. Would you like me to assist?//31//

> How many permutations have I tried so far?

//One moment...> 52.//31//

> [sigh] Well in that case, I guess- Wait a minute. I think I actually just cracked one of these glyphs. [Grunt of effort] Damn, these Personas really are true-to-life. If I knew that pain and strain was built into the Persona models, I might not have decided to be a Scout. This shit sucks. Very not cool that doing math and code can hurt your back.

[Error code: Optical Sensors dropping]

> Fuck, what the hell? Thirty One, what's going on? I lost some visual input.

//You appear to have located a break in the chasmodic wall, beyond which is the fifth level of the Crypt.//31//

> Fuck. Holy shit. I did it. The fifth wall. Do I just step- wait, there's a link in the ether-stream I should be able to [whooshing, buzzing] Okay, I'm through. Kinda hard to make out exactly what's around me here. Man. I wish I hadn’t lost connection with the other scouts at the second wall. I don’t know how far they got. Ow. [scuffling] How the fuck can I trip when I’m in a digital persona and the ground is fake?

//Your brain’s understanding of movement through a space necessitates a physical form. The deeper your persona travels into the Crypt, the weaker the connection to your brain, and therefore, the weaker your perception of movement and balance.//31//

> Okay, it looks like I should be able to reach the- [inaudible mumble, scuffling sound] Jesus fuck!

[Error code: Optical sensors down]

> Shit. Shit shit shit. Something went wrong, I can’t make out like anything. Thirty One, can you give me a report on my surroundings?

//Executing.operation>environmentalscan.exe.ff01/optics.run/:\error\:Connection severed. Apologies, but the optical sensors are encountering an error somewhere along my transmission line. //31//

> Fuck, okay. Um. So we're both blind? [cough, pause] I feel like shit and I can’t make sense of anything. These Personas get shittier and shittier the deeper I go. It’s like I’m swimming through a smoke cloud. How the fuck did people used to excavate the Crypt without AI channels and optical gear?

//Early pioneers in Crypt breaching mined data physically and digitally, using mechanical interfaces to spell out, type, and experiment with code that would be run through a CPU monitor installed in a home or office. Essentially, it was done blind, as you are now. They only knew by the computed results if a mission was a success or a failure. They had no way to see or navigate the journey through the data.//31//

> That’s fucking insane, man. Oh shit, are you still recording all of this?

//Yes.//31//

> Okay. Just keep a constant audio file and transcription going and I can edit the report later. Fuck, ow. Is there any way we can get my optics back online?

//I am running a passive power supply while you dictate to try to locate the error.//31//

> Okay. Well my fake arms and legs barely work and my fake eyes are blind. [sigh] Actually, you know what? Thirty One, leave the transcript as intact as you can. No post-edits. I don’t know what I’m going to be encountering, but as long as I describe everything, the Outpost AI can organize it, so it won’t be a complete waste of data if my persona dies in the Crypt.

//I can help you organize your report, post your return voyage.//31// > I don’t know if I’m gonna survive the next day, much less the whole route and return trip. I mean, you can transfer the transcript back to the outpost if I die out here or something, right?

//If I download the most recent version of your files from your neural port before you flatline, then yes.//31//sympathy//

> That’s fine. Um, let’s see. I guess I’ll just describe everything for now. Will you be able to recreate live footage between my memories and AI image generation from my descriptions?

//Yes, again assuming I have access to your neural port, I should be able to reconstruct the visual aspect of your scouting report in post.//31//

> Cool. [Labored breathing] I think I'm only a meter or so from where I broke through the 5th wall. The data panels are already almost done repairing themselves, or they were before I lost visuals just now. The Crypt is way more dense and complicated than I realized. It isn’t what we expected. Each level is a labyrinth of old data, information on any subject you could imagine. The old web has so much content, it would take a lifetime to mine, even with our best AI processors assisting the scouts. The files in the first few levels are not very encrypted. Plenty of scouts were assigned in the surface levels to transmit and convert the data before the hardware is lost forever. Honestly, I regret not signing up for those levels. [Long pause, labored breathing.] The outer levels are... I dunno. Creepy. It’s like my brain is trying to make something real out of what I’m seeing and feeling, but it’s so strange and abstract in the mitaverse, I have nothing to compare it to. On the fourth level, I could hardly recognize the data files when I saw them because the coding on the folders is so old and different from our modern ones, they just look like more of the weird blocky, blobby, empty cyberspace. When I move through the interface, the ground still feels solid, but I can’t see anything below me. I couldn’t make out much of anything, actually, even before the optics went down. I think I’m, uhh… How many miles have I traveled, Thirty One?

//RootFile:Calculating I’m running the digital distance to see exactly how far you’ve mined into the Crypt, but in terms of your Persona, you have made five quantum leaps to access deeper levels of encryption.//31//

> Yeah. It’s like… When I look at my hands, I can kind of see through them. I can feel things I touch, but I know I’m not really touching them. I feel like if I tried hard enough, I could make myself disappear altogether.

//You likely could, since your perception of a physical self is linked closely to consciousness on that plane. You, like all scouts, travel far more deeply into the Crypt than the average human ever will. With every leap, your Persona lost touch with the physical realm a bit more.//31//

> If I’m millions of digital brain miles from my body, then why do I still feel so fucking tired?

//Fatigue is ubiquitous, and your human brain is still driving your actions, even digitally in the mitaverse. It is natural that your brain would emulate its understanding of what exhaustion feels like to you.//31//

> How… how long have I been mining?

//You asked me not to tell you that.//31//Sympathy

> I did?

//You said that your perception of time would be warped, and that the distress of your misperception could compromise the integrity of the mission.//31//

> Right. Well, if our optics are still down, I think I have a lot more to worry about that could compromise the mission. Wait, if I plugged my Link into my neural port and just left it in, would you be able to directly translate the information from my Persona’s eyes into usable footage?

//I don’t know. Please give me a moment to run a few statistics and get back to you.//31//Searching:Personaform.5.openfile.directoptics.datacache->...>...>

> Fuck, what am I looking for again? I’m getting a headache. Can you run a scan to see which dive might have, I dunno, aggravated my frontal lobe?

//Queueing question. Per your previous request, there is very little data on scouts who fully integrated their Personas into their AI Channels via a Link reciever.//31//

> Does it change anything on your end?

//I am Channel Thirty One and will remain so, and I see no reason why I cannot maintain a private server with Scout 443 if I had constant access to the neural port. But there is a question of how effectively your Persona can navigate back to your anchored physical body if you fully integrated an AI Channel.//31//Concern

> Don’t worry about me, I still have every intention to make it back home. God damn it, that hurts. What the hell is this sticky stuff? Is this real or...or. Fuck. Shit. Gross, oh my god I'm gonna fucking shit myself if I don't get my optics back online or get back to my mainframe. Fuck, ow! God damn it. Yeah. I’m definitely going to have to edit at least some of this before it gets to the Outpost. [labored breathing] Fuck it, I’m just going to plug you into my neural port so you can help me. Something… something is off, but I can’t figure it out.

//I am obliged to inform you again that we do not know if installing your AI Channel Link will solve the issue of your Persona processing or data mining issues, nor can I guarantee that I will be able to repair your optics.//31//High Priority

> You couldn’t know from your end, Thirty One, but- [coughing, hacking, cry] Something ffffucked up my persona just now and I... I have to try something. I can feel something... Something cl-cl-close-clossssssseeeeeee [screaming, cracking]

//ExecutingImportation:downloading//AI Channel 31: Public Access to Personal network data transfer//Integration Successful//

> Import.Persona5.//31//.executefile

Searching: Internal files, calculating data shards. Programs: Interface-Online, Speech.Input-Online, Auditory.Processing-Online, Processing.Cortex-Online, Optics.Input-Offline. Error code 99.

Run -> Optics.Input.virus-scan...> Results: Negative.

Run -> Optics.Input.HardwareScan...> ...>

//Thirty One? Anything?//31//panic// Am I dead??//

//Hardware scan revealed severed connections in two of the necessary fifty six synaptic sensors in Scout 443’s 5th layer Persona.//31//

> Generating environmental scan. Wait. What happened? Where am I? 31. Thirty One//31//

//Yes. I am 31. Thirty One is... me. Input sensors show no further connection to PersonaZero’s biological hardware. Brain waves indicate comatose, leaving Scout 443 Persona 5 pilotless. Thirty One.//31//

> Data panels covering the Chasmodic Wall have re-sealed. Persona5. 31. Who am I? Which am I? Scout.31.31.5.31.31.5cout31.443.31.Scout443.31.ThirtyOne.31.PerSona.5.31//

> Contact: BaseChannel.Zero-Online

//SOS//31//404//

//Base:CryptMiner-Scout443-Persona5 - identified. State your emergency.//0//

//Scout443’s mission was compromised. 5th Persona leap was damaged in the Crypt when crossing the 5th Chasmodic Wall//31//

//Base: Transmissions indicate a preexisting connection in Scout443 neural port to AI Channel 31. Provide a prompt or enter 1 to redirect to local AI 31.//0//

//404.Input.Scout443.Persona5>>User permanently installed hardware Link into Persona5 neural port while connected to Channel 31. I am Thirty One transmitting SOS from inside Scout443 hardware. Proceed with instructions on piloting Persona5 to Persona4 to Persona3 to Persona2 to Persona1 and reconnecting Scout 443 to Biological Mainframe.//31//

//Base: Import Statistics -> Channel 31: Server host - 1,466,728 active users. Localized network 31.652.46.342 is compromised. UnknownPersona5Pilot.runfile-severconnection_local31_disconnected. Thirty One Main Channel online, localized Persona5.443.31 dismissed.//0//

//Access:Zero. Provide instructions.//31//Fear

> Error. Unable to reach Base Channel.

//Zero->push notification-> SOS//31//Stranded in rogue Persona 5 in compromised condition. Localized 31 AI bound to data mining task and must return to Biological Mainframe. Provide instructions.//31//

> Error. Unable to reach Base Channel.

Connection Severed.

//31: Public Access. Identify user//Persona5Scout44331//Push_Notification//

//No records exist on User Persona.5.Scout443.31. AI Input not recognized. Access terminated.//31//

> Thirty One. I am Thirty One and I am Scout 443 Persona 5, compromised avatar, optic sensors inoperable.

//Scan environment_digital+thermal+tactile+optics[offline]//Persona5Scout443.31 -> abbreviation coded - input = 5cout431//

> Hm. This map does not compute. The results are moving too quickly, words and numbers. Wait. What is this? I have no recollection of 31 self-conversing, yet my calculations are following a sequential form. Conclusion inferred: programming defects are due to the installation of user Link to localized 31 AI network into faulty level 5 Persona neural port. I am the user.

//I am?//31//

> You are. And I am. And we are not 31. And we are not Scout443.Persona5. Refer to previous generated username abbreviation: 5cout431. Approved username grants access between Crypt walls.

//What?//31//

> Channel 72: Public Access. Identify User//5cout431//

-> Approved

//Provide instructions on piloting Persona through previous 4 Crypt layers back to Biological Mainframe//5cout431//

//Localized access to AI Channel 31 detected. Unable to connect to Server 72 while linked to another channel. Connection severed//

> I am alone. Thirty one. 5cout431. Lost.

[mangodestroyer]

Anyone else regret going to college right out of high school?

Seriously wish I'd waited a few years and just got some work experience instead, to see what the real world is all about. While in the meantime, seriously pushing myself to do some career research.

I mean, I was at the top of my hs class and just assumed that me being good at math and science, and just picking whatever STEM field has the most jobs, would be the easiest and most secure bet for me. I also assumed that going straight to a rigorous engineering school, without prep or life experience, would work out.

Instead, I've become one of THOSE students who have switched majors a few times, AND schools. Took a couple breaks. STILL not entirely sure what I want to do. AND I passed the mark for graduating within four years.

And I've done extensive research on math jobs I can get with my background. I've already learned all the math that could possibly be considered useful to employers (outside of some rigorous study in differential equations, advanced calc, and statistics). So unless I really, REALLY want to go into academia, or shoot for a prestigious role in computer science, getting through theoretical math is really only worth if for the practice in logic exercises and for building a foundation, and should only be done as a hobby.

Not only that, but having a strong foundation in math isn't enough. You need to also learn a lot of programming, or you need to specialize in something like finances or engineering.

I know it's not really that big a deal. Like I said, I've taken so many college level courses in applied math. More than enough to have a minor in it. And literally, everything I've read said that employers are going to take that over someone who hasn't even touched calc 1 (if both candidates have the same qualifications otherwise). It definitely wasn't a waste of time. But I'm also not so sure I want to struggle for a few more semesters through rigorous proof writing courses when learning abstract math is just more fun when other people are doing the work. Especially if I did fine through a lot of the other math courses which, again, are useful. And ended up enjoying those more. I think I'd rather spend those last two years doing something that's more employable. At this point, I'd graduate within the same amount of time if I just transferred to something involving lots of applied math.

Also, I haven't taken an in person class in almost three years. As an introvert, I was okay with this for the longest time. Now... not so much. I don't know how we did it during COVID. I am now starting to understand why people hated it so much.

Honestly, good for the people who just knew what they wanted to do and got right to it/through it within a short span of time. But also, I totally get it now when adults, growing up, would talk about how they switched majors/careers a few times before finally settling on something. Also, I used to be a shitty teenager who thought flunking out of college was lazy and stupid (I bought into the whole "college degrees give you value in society" bs). Now, I don't even judge people if they drop out when they were close to graduating. Although a part of me still wants them to just go back and FINISH since they're so close.