#this is the third time i have told someone (close friend who is a system) about the things i do

[evil-starsh1ne]

yo brain who are we again

[empress-simps]

Tulips & Moony

Pairing: Remus Lupin x Fem! Reader CW: Sirius and Remus' banter and language (around 700 words) Summary: Remus tries to crochet you a tulip. Note: Hi darlings! I hope you like this mini fic; I love to crochet so why not make a fic out of it, right? Also, my uni's third term is about to end so I'll have more time to finish my WIPs! Hope you enjoy!

Remus loves knitted things— he considers the “unfashionable” grandpa sweaters that Sirius always complains about to be his prized possessions, not forgetting to mention how he’s got every neutral and earthy tones of cardigans arranged neatly in his trunk.

Yes, Remus is an avid fan of those things, but he doesn't really express any interest in making them from scratch.

So, imagine Sirius' surprise walking in on Remus who’s red in the face as he fumbles with a ball of yarn.

“Now Moony, when did you suddenly become a grandma?” Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow at the poor bloke who’s struggling looping a yarn.

“Since he learned Y/n loves to crochet.” James quipped from his bed, eating a chocolate frog that he most likely stole from Remus’ stash who was too busy to notice.

“He’s been at it for a good hm… three hours or so?” Peter shrugs, working on his charms essay in the corner of the room and trying to block out the strings of curses Remus grumbles out every now and then.

“Can you all be quiet? I’m trying to concentrate, you sods.” The werewolf grumbled, furrowing his brows and sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth in concentration. The sight was quite amusing. James lets out a laugh, getting off his bed. “Alright then, I’m getting quite tired watching you fail miserably,” Remus grunted, “Yeah, go bother someone else.”

Sirius plopped next to Remus, looking closely at his creation. “That’s a nice square you got there, Moony.” He hummed, nodding in approval at the wonky shape.

“It’s a bloody circle, you git.”

Sirius didn’t even try to stifle his laugh, “What are you trying to make anyway?”

“A tulip.”

“Doesn’t look like one though.”

“Thanks Pads, really. You’re such a great friend.” Remus rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping from his tone as he repeats a certain stitch a couple of times. “Geez Moony, that’s alright now.”

“No, it’s not, the stitch looks weird and much looser than the others,” Remus complained.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, “You call that a stitch? Doesn’t look like it.”

"Yeah, the next time you'll see Poppy is because of the stitches you're gonna get because of me-"

Safe to say they both were kicked out to the common room by a very annoyed Wormtail.

It took about a week full of wonky, weirdly shaped tulips, and sleepless nights for Remus to successfully make a single red tulip.

Remus gripped the wrapped tulip tightly, the familiar feeling of nervousness eating up his system seeing you with your friend hanging out in the corner of the common room. He was pulled out of his thoughts by James showing him lightly.

“Look, now’s your chance, Moony.”

Sure enough, your friend left you on one of the couches to go Godric knows where, Remus didn’t really care that much if he’s honest. He even silently thanked your friend as his feet lead him to where you’re sitting. “Oh, Remus!” You looked up to see his tall frame, standing quickly as you could and offering him a smile. “Hi.” He grinned nervously before stretching his arm out that’s holding the crocheted Tulip to you, albeit a bit awkwardly but you on the other hand, find it endearing. “Erm… Is it for me?” You asked, chuckling nervously. “Ah, yeah! I made it, I heard you like to crochet so…” He trails off, scratching the back of his neck as blush dusted his cheeks. He saw how your eyes lit up, and your smile widening as you gently took it from his hand. “Woah…” You let out a soft gasp, examining the flower carefully. “Since when did you learn how to crochet?” “Just last week,” “Just last week?! Remus, you are gifted. I couldn’t even make something remotely similar when I was a month in crocheting.” You told him, hugging it close to your cheeks. “Thank you, Remus.” You smiled shyly, going on your tippy toes to place a kiss on his cheek before waving shyly to him and heading off to girls’ dormitory, leaving Remus who was still trying to process what just happened.

“Another one? I’ve already told you leather is much better!” Sirius threw his hands up in the air, entering their room to see Remus smiling to himself as he wore the cardigan you crocheted for him. “I wouldn’t say that if I were you, Pads.” Peter looked up from his and James’ game of exploding snap. “Why? It’s not fashionable!” “It’s made by Y/N, you wanker. Now shut your mouth before I hex you out of this room.”

[emmy-dekarios-bg3]

Heart of the Weave - A Baldur’s Gate Fanfiction - Part 2

Chapter 3

We leave their house and head back to the tower so I can get ready for our little outing tonight. I know we’re going out, but luckily the surprise wasn’t ruined by where we’re going, though it matters none to me. I just enjoy the company of my handsome wizard husband.

“Do you ever wonder what life would be like if you never rescued me from that rune?” Gale questions as we embrace the quiet scenery during our walk home. “Or…if we went our separate ways?” Fuck. I can’t imagine, nor do I want to.

“What do you mean?”

“If you never rescued me… I’d be dead. If you never talked me out of using the orb… I’d be dead then, too. I don’t know. I often wonder what made you want to save me, even in the beginning.” I smile as I hold his hand, Jenevelle asleep on my chest as I hold her with my free arm. “Just a thought rummaging through my brain.”

“Well, I couldn’t just leave you there. Besides, the moment I pulled you out and our eyes met… I just knew, right then and there. I don’t know what life would look like if circumstances were different, nor do I want to find out.” I hear a slight chuckle as he squeezes my hand, as if he never wants to let me go.

“I love you so much. I would have saved you too if the roles were reversed. I have no doubt about that in my mind.”

We make it back to the tower and I begin to get ready for our night. As I finish getting dressed, I notice a new glow as I stare at myself in the mirror. My skin is not only the clearest it’s ever been, but there’s an unusual shine within me I never caught before. Is this part of being immortal, or is this just the beauty I’m finally finding within myself? A version of me that’s so full of life and self-love. I smile at my reflection as I slide into my slim-tight emerald romper, which I haven’t worn since my first actual date with Gale after defeating the elder brain.

I strut confidently down the stairway to the living room, only to hear Karlach talking with Gale. She’s spewing some unusual nonsense, and it takes me a few moments to realize she’s actually talking to him about a dream she had last night. Random of course, but I wouldn’t expect less from Karlach.

“Sorry Gale, I was really pumped to tell someone about my dream that wasn’t Wyll. I told him once – okay, twice – already, and I’m almost sure he doesn’t want to hear it a third time. Oh, Emmy! You look beautiful!”

“Well, your in-depth and very vivid dream about having wings and wandering the endless pink skies while brutally slaying your enemies sounds like it would make for a fine play one day, I’m sure of it,” Gale mentions. “As long as they leave out the part where you fornicate with a demon. Anyway, Jenevelle should be good to go. Maybe a bottle before the moon ascends into the sky, but she just woke up from a nap and I just got her changed.”

“Awh, hell yeah! Come here, little Dekarios. And Emmy, I hope to the Gods above that you have a wonderful night.” I hug her for a moment, thankful to have her as such a supportive best friend who wants nothing but the best for me. Of course, I reciprocate.

I wonder where Gale plans on taking me; it sounds like a place I’ve never been to before. He looks at me passionately with his hand out in front of him, gesturing to me to take it. I place my hand within his, smiling as we step out the door and close it behind us. I inhale the pleasing scent of the ocean waters, and it hits differently under the night sky.

“Say, have you ever enjoyed the pleasures of fine dining on a rather large boat?” Gale asks as we continue to walk the paveway through town.

“No, actually. Why do you ask?” He smiles and spontaneously halts me by placing his hand on my shoulder and pulling me in for an intense and powerful kiss that has me shaking in my shoes, and internally I’m begging for more.

“Sorry… I had to get that out of my system. I just love you so much.”

We continue our walk, though I’m curious why he never answered my question, and I notice a large ship in the distance not too far from us, which luminates brighter than the moon itself.

“Whoa…” I murmur, observing the ship. I’ve had a couple opportunities in my lifetime to be on a large boat, but due to my fear of krakens, I’ve avoided them. After my intense adventure, I’ve learned to not fear those wretched creatures.

“Whoa indeed. It sure is astronomical in size, much larger than I anticipated. That’s where we’ll be eating dinner, maybe a dance or two, if you’d fancy that.”

“But…how can we afford this? With all the gold we need to save for countless amount of diapers for Jenevelle –” He places his finger over my lips gently, not realizing that’s a kink of mine.

“Don’t you worry. Financially, we’re alright, I promise. Besides, I asked my mother ideas for your birthday. She asked my very kind and, well, wealthy uncle if we could reserve it for the evening. We don’t have to sail the seas. We can just enjoy each other’s company and indulge in this exquisite evening. I want to make you feel so special.”

“You already do. You’ve always made me feel special beyond measure.”

“I appreciate that. I really do. I just felt that you deserve a night out, but something unique you’ll forever remember.” My face lights up as I try not to cry, realizing I truly did marry the most incredible man.

“I love you so damn much,” I murmur, my voice cracking just a little from fighting tears. He can tell.

“And I love you.”

Gale leads me up to the boat where we are seated outside underneath the twinkling stars and the glowing aura of the torches around us. The gentle sounds of the waves make me feel at ease, relaxing my brain like a very delicate lullaby. The waiter brings us our menus, and for some reason he reminds me of someone I knew before.

“Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Dekarios. What a pleasure!” the giddy young man says enthusiastically. He is a rather tall wood-elf with scruffy brown hair and vibrant forest-green eyes.

“Hello again Jamus. It’s nice to see you again,” Gale chimes in with a friendly tone and smile.

“Could I get you two lovely people a glass of wine?” Gale and I exchange glances and we both nod in agreement. “My pleasure then. I’ll be back shortly.” Jamus hurries off into the kitchen energetically, and I can’t help but wonder who he reminds me of. Not just his looks but his entertaining personality.

“Why does he look so familiar?”

“Ah, I figured you’d catch on. He’s the brother of Jasik, the druid in Baldur’s Gate that helped you discover you were pregnant.”

“That makes a lot of sense actually.” I notice the moonlight hanging above the ocean, staring at its own reflection in the waters. It feels so nice to be somewhere so quiet; a place that exposes the true beauty of the night. It’s times like these I can truly appreciate being alive.

“You know… We’ve come so far these last couple of years,” Gale mentions, keeping intimate eye contact with me. I blush and bite my lower lip, not realizing I probably look goofy as hell.

“I didn’t think I’d meet the love of my life by pulling a stranger out of a rock, but here we are,” I add, chuckling. My cheeks are still warm from blushing. I smile amorously at him, falling deeper in love with him every moment.

“Well, I fell in love with you at the first glance. I knew you wouldn’t be like Mystra. I knew you were something much better. Much deeper. Much more loving.”

Jamus prances up to us and brings us our wine, placing our glasses on the table. I get vibes from him that’s nervous about something, but I didn’t want to say a word.

“Do you two need a moment?” Gale and I basically order a buffet of delicious food, though I imagine we’ll be here awhile before it arrives. “Wonderful. Your food will be here in… Well, roughly thirty minutes. Feel free to request a song from the pianist and make sure to call for me if you need anything else.” I nod and smile at the kind man.

“Thank you.” As the man walks off once more, Gale leans in close to my ear.

“That fellow is getting a hefty tip for sure.”

A soft beautiful melody plays from the pianist’s fingers on the instrument, a tune so breathtaking I can’t seem to focus on anything else. It brings back happy memories – from my childhood to the day I married Gale, and of course the day our newborn baby was placed in my arms for the first time. I look at Gale as I reminisce, smiling and probably looking ridiculous as I dissociate for a moment.

“Slow dance with me?” I ask him. His face lights up as he stands up, reaching out for my hand.

“Of course, my love.” We walk to the open area of the boat, feeling the warm breeze of the air as it moves peacefully from the ocean waves. He places both of his hands on my waist as I wrap my arms around his neck.

“We’ll be on this Earth together forever. I hope you’ll still love me a thousand years from now,” I mutter in his ear as we sway slowly to the music. He presses his lips on my forehead for a moment.

“I will never stop loving you, Emmy. I will only leave if that’s what you beg of me, but I plan on being by your side until this world disintegrates into ash…if that were to ever happen. You, the mother of my child, my beautiful wife… I love you.”

{part 2 will speed up starting next chapter I promise! Check out my AO3 👇🏻}

[tobiasdrake]

I am not okay.

Alright. One last ride. How do we do this?

Information that the Elder Mist probably could have just given us himself. Garl got it from a vision that Elder Mist's spring gave him. But if Elder Mist told us, then there wouldn't be a reason for Garl to use Borrowed Time.

The prophecy isn't for achieving the goal. It's for us. It's using him as a superfluous exposition vessel so that we can have one last ride with our bestie. T-T

Of course, Serai still has portals galore and we just established that she can use them to cross the globe; Between that and the Torment portal, there doesn't seem to be much limiting her in terms of size, distance, or duration. But we'll ignore that.

Maybe it's personal. For a whatever she is, asking to use her portal could be like asking someone to take their pants off. It might be a more intimate request than it seems. Who knows?

What, again? We were already so far behind on figuring this shit out that the Oracle of Tides made fun of us for it.

*sigh* We really are the remedial course of legendary super-warriors, aren't we?

Yeah, the Sky Bridge or Sky Shrine or something. I found it while I was faffing about but there wasn't anything to do there. If up is where we need to go, then that seems like our best ticket to the sky.

Is there a bridge? Is there a lever on the other side that can send over a bridge? Because one of us can portal and hit the lever, if there is. Or one of us can turn into a huge bird and hit the lever. Either way, we have options to send individual members of the group across; We's just lacking a way to get the whole group over there.

My prophecy did say I can make paths across water. That's been bugging me, since all I did was take a swing at Fleshy, then turn into a glow-ball and fly. Both satisfying experiences but neither really counts as "making paths across water".

But maybe this is my time.

The Versus community is going to lose their fucking minds.

Well, actually, they've probably already calc'd me at Solar System level via a disingenuous estimate of me moving the moon around, as if I were doing that with my bare hands.

Point is, I'm really cool and we should all shower me with praise. That's the point. I am ready to accept your praise.

Yes. Yeees. Feed the ego.

That is definitely a teleporter. We must be getting close because you don't enter the Kingdom of Zeal until the last third of the game.

I wonder what keeps these chunks of earth aloft. Is it the spiral pattern? I bet it's the spiral pattern. There's probably some kind of... inherent mysticism in....

That's stupid. I'll just ask Teaks when I get a chance.

In any case, I guess we're here to get somebody's permission to cross the Sea of Stars. Let's get to work.

I did, yes. I'm not 100% sure that Luana reincarnated into me but I'm willing to create that as dogma. Or, like, maybe I'm a timeline variant of her. I don't know, but I am eager to get that rumor started.

Also, you are way too huge. Could you. Like. Be less huge? These platforms must be tiny for a person of your size. Y'all must have incredible nimbleness to be comfortable walking around on these tiny little stepping stones.

Like mountain goats.

This inn is like a closet for you. How do you people live like this?

You have a Wheels table. How do you even see the dials? Your ridiculous size is so incongruent to the layout of your city! How did this happen!?

Alright, team. Here's the plan:

Garl's in charge. He's making the plans. I've got nothing. I barely even know what we're doing here.

The important thing is that we stay on-task so that Garl's enchantment doesn't wear off. But also that we take our sweet time carrying out our task so that we can maximize the amount of time we have left with our dear friend.

Think of this like a contract assignment with an hourly wage. As long as we're working on the job, we keep getting paid until the moment it's done. But there's no clear deadline for when that has to be, so sandbag it.

[roadtogracelandx45]

Undercover| 1| One Chicago

masterlist coming soon

@prettyinpayne

Summary: Libby, Adam, Kevin and later Antonio have to go undercover with a crime family that had close ties to the Sanfino, the crime family that Libby’s deceased husband had been involved in and her twin brother Jamie had a hand in taking down. Set before the next volume of Thin Blue Line. 

Rated M For Mature

Word count: 

**** 

One 

“Alright listen up everyone!” Hank Voight said coming out of his office and looking at his team that was scattered around the bullpen talking lowly with each other as they worked on paperwork.  

“We have a major problem. The Sanfino Crime family has hit Chicago and hit us hard.” 

“Sanfino?” Libby Reagan asked pushing her chair away from her desk. 

Hank nodded his head and looked at her. 

“I know them. Michael was involved with them, he all but sold me to Noble.”

 “He did what?” Adam Ruzek asked looking at his friend who nodded her head, “he needed a date, and who better else than the wife of his friend and the daughter of the police commissioner? They thought if they had me under their control then it would be easier not to get in trouble.” 

Her husband Jay Halstead shook his head angrily, he had heard all about this when they first got together and it upset him. 

Her dead husband had taken advantage of her and even though she was a cop she was powerless to do anything.  

“But did it stop?” Alvin asked curiously, she only ever told stories about cases that her brothers or grandfather worked but none of hers.  It was like she wanted to hide it and hide everything that happened with Michael. 

“No. Most of them got locked up and the two grandkids fled New York.” She answered as she stood up and tapped her fingers against her thighs, “The one associate of Noble’s almost killed my twin.” 

“What else do you know about Noble?”

 “He is a druggie, he would do anything for his next hit.”  Libby said as she pulled open the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out a notebook and handed it to Hank, “I kept information, that I could remember. I kept the notebook, Riker, my partner kept it with his files.” 

“Tell them why.”

 “I came into work on a Monday morning and someone had gone through my desk. It was Michael. After his first stint in jail, he became more paranoid, jealous, and angry. You name it he was. He didn’t like me working the night shift or working with Riker.” 

“How many stents did he do?” 

“3. The third one is when he got killed.” Libby answered leaning against Jay’s desk, his fingers catching hers and squeezing them.

 “I was at my dad’s house for Sunday dinner and I get this call from the warden telling me that Michael was stabbed and I needed to get down to the hospital. The perks of having the police commissioner as a father we got there at the same time he did. They pronounced him dead after they wheeled him by me.” Libby said using her thumb to move her engagement ring back and forth.

“My family was expecting me to lose control and start crying but I didn’t, I think I was more relieved than anything after everything that he did to me and put me through it was finally over.” 

“Did you lose control?” Adam asked. 

“Yeah, I finally did after the funeral when my bitch mother-in-law tried to tell me because I started divorce proceedings before Michael was killed that I wasn’t entitled to the life insurance or anything. I flipped.” 

“Antonio you remember when Danny was here and he pushed the table into Peter?” Jay asked as he leaned back in his chair. He had been there when that happened and was right there with Danny pulling her away from Marion.  Though they were all just tempted to let the fight go on. Let Libby get out of her system. 

“Yeah.” He remembered it all too clearly, he would have done the same thing that the oldest Reagan had done when he found out that Libby had walked into a trap and was almost killed. 

“She did that from what Will told me.” 

“I threw a drink in her face too. Lucky for her that my brothers were there and pulled me away. I would have started throwing punches.” Libby said. 

Carlie Rhodes looked up at Mrs. Halstead and laughed, “And she has a mean left hook.” 

“Yes, yes I do.” the former New York Detective said folding her arms under her chest, “So what do you want us to do Sarge?”  

Hank looked thoughtful before putting his hands on his hips, “Do you still have contacts within the family?”

 Libby nodded her head slowly, “Yeah Bianca, Noble’s sister texts me all the time, she just moved from New Hampshire.” 

“Good, reach out to her. Ruzek, Atwater, I want you two with her.” Hank ordered. “Got it, boss,” Adam answered as Libby went over to her desk and pulled her iPhone out of her desk, and turned it on. 

This was her old phone and number that she only used from time to time. 

It was a reminder of her former life, the life where she was Mrs. O’Malley, the wife of a prominent lawyer who gave her everything and lived a life that on the outside looked happy. But on the inside, it wasn’t.

 Michael was controlling, abusive and angry, and Libby who was taught how to defend herself and trust cops her entire life became sad withdrawn, and not even trusting her family who was cops.

 She was scared that if she got back into this lifestyle she was going to go back to that. She couldn’t do that not now that she had Jay. 

She couldn’t. She wouldn’t.  

** 

Seeing that Libby was engrossed in her mission of texting Bianca, Jay went over to where Adam and Kevin were at

. “Keep an eye on her.” He said, keeping his voice low so only the two men going undercover with her could hear. 

“Course man.” Kevin said glancing over at Libby and then back at Jay, “Was it really that bad?” 

“Worse. Ask Carlie or Will they will tell you. Being with Michael wasn’t good for her. She drank heavily, lost a ton of weight, and almost got kicked off of the force.” Jay answered, “I am worried that she will lose control if she gets into deep.” 

“We won’t let that happen.” Adam said, “We got her back.”  The former Army Ranger nodded his head before going over to his wife and leaning against her desk. 

“You okay?” “I will be okay. Kev and Ruze won’t let anything happen to me. I have too much to lose this time around.” She said softly offering him a smile.

  He returned the smile before looking at the screen of the phone that lit up. “Looks like you are to meet Bianca soon.”  “Then we should get ready. It will take me a while to go into Mrs. O’Malley again.” 

[42flower]

WHAT'S UP DANGER

#42FLOWER. — an independent, selective, sideblog for MILES MORALES of EARTH 1610, as told by the spiderverse movies. depicted by NOX. cross-over & oc friendly. read rules below before interacting. no password required. follows exclusively from @novaragno.

DISCLAIMER: if you don't love me at my oc, you don't deserve me at my canon. mun is of age, muse is a minor. therefore, there will be no smut on this blog. any sexual content will be restricted to dumb teenager jokes. keep fl*werpunk and fl*werfang away from me.

✧  o1. asks & threads.

If you want to make a plotted thread, y'all just need to hit me up ! Be it on my DMs or Discord ( that I only give to close mutuals ), if you send something I should answer it pretty fast. And if you want to continue a thread based on an ask, there is no problem with that, no need to ask !

✧  o2. roleplay memes.

I do reblog karma here ! This means that I would prefer that you reblog a meme on my blog from the source ! I do not like the notification clogging it does ! I am BEGGING you to reblog both memes and musing posts FROM THE SOURCE. It’s such a pet peeve of mine.

Since many people tend to do that, I have decided that after 3 times someone reblogs a meme from me ( instead of the source )  without sending any, I will softblock said person. This rule does not apply if the source of the meme is broken.

✧  o3. language & grammar.

English is my third language, so be ready, there might be some spelling errors and mistakes, heck, there might be some on this page only ! You might find some posts in italian or french.

✧  o4. godmodding.

is of course non-authorized. Killing my muse without so much of a warning and us plotting beforehand will make me automatically drop the thread. METAGAMING unless warned or talked about before is also non-authorized.

✧  o5. art & credits.

The art used on this blog ( icons & graphics ) will come from official art, screenshots, and concept art. in the cases fanart is used, all artists will be credited properly. if an artist wishes their art to be removed from their blog, i will do so immediately.

✧  o6. crossover & ocs.

Both are great ! Usually if you have an about page, you’re already halfway good to go. For crossovers, I have to know the universe your muse is from / you gotta have a verse I can work with, as for OCs, I love OCs to bits and I’ve been an advocate for ocs since 2016.

✧  o7. shipping & nsfw.

I am more than okay with shipping, if of course we’re both on the same page about it. One-sided crushes can happen, both from your character and mine, but if the feelings are unrequited I will not push you for a relationship nor should you expect yourself to do the same towards me.

NSFW will happen only in the form of violence and dark themes. For specific triggers, please shoot me a message.

✧  o8. Battle threads.

For any pokémon battle thread, I will be using the PWT battle system. Please give these a good read, and understand that I demand communication during these types of threads. For rolling the dices, we will be using roll dices with friends. Levels of Felicity's team may be adjusted depending on the timeline of events, or simply to make the battles more fair if there is too much of a level disparency. We can also use Showdown.

✧  o9. Blacklist & triggers.

I have very little squeaks, however I understand that others do. If you need anything tagged, tell me so ! I will not interact with T.he A.mazing D.igital C.ircus, other Glitch Production works, as well as any Vizpop Production muses. If you are a multimuse or have a verse that connects to those, please have a tag I can block.

✧  1o. AI art & other stipulations.

I WILL BLOCK YOU IF I SEE YOU USING AI-GENERATED ART. if you are unaware of the problems ai-generated material causes for the art industry, be it illustrators, writers or animators, i implore you to educate yourself on the matter. as someone who would like to enter the industry one day, THIS IS A DEAL BRAKER TO ME. i understand the curiousity and wanting to do it recreationaly, however, BE AWARE that those do cause harm too and feed the machine.

PLEASE TAG YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH MAE // FOXTAIL // SERA // GORE AND PAPAYA // AXOLOLT // GLORY. Their presence is pretty triggering for me. Thank you ! Their URL is enough. I WILL ALSO NOT INTERACT WITH PROSHIPPERS. if we're friends & i find out you're a weirdo, i don't care how long we've been friends, IT'S ON SIGHT AND I WILL NOT BE COVERING YOUR ASS EITHER. i'm a recovering survivor of grooming and abuse and i do not wish to be exposed to that kind of content nor people who actively get off it, and that is my right.

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR LACK OF COMMUNICATION. as a roleplay partner and friend, i try to be as communicative as possible, and i believe that enjoyable interactions, be it ic or ooc, reside on all parties communicating their needs and wants. IF YOU FAIL TO DO YOUR PART, THAT IS NOT MY FAULT. don't be wishy washy about it, i take things at face value; give me CLEAR STATEMENTS.

[donnerpartyofone]

Various Social Situations, Which After Writing Them Down I Realize All Involve Money

My dear hairdresser friend is always very intense about how much she loves me and misses me and wants to hang out, but I think I've seen her for a non-hair reason maybe two or three times in ten years. I do not believe she's hustling me, I think she is genuinely very busy and stressed out and VERY easily discombobulated, and she always has some romantic drama going on that takes up most of her non-work energy. Even when I make a hair appointment with her it's always a crap shoot whether she's actually going to keep it. So, it's hard for me to reciprocate her emotional messages when what always happens is that I say "We can hang out any time you want, just let me know!", and then I never hear from her again unless I make a hair appointment. When I started running out of money recently and told her I can't get haircuts for a while but we can still spend time together, I could see she was totally panicking. She just can't figure out how else to interact with almost anyone she isn't dating or related to.

I am always struggling to make plans with one of my few close friends who I don't need a plane or a train to visit. I adore him but we both have kind of complicated lives and I only wind up seeing him a few times a year. He's a single dad and works like a dog, and I always have some idiotic health thing (mental or otherwise). He's also having a really hard time finding room in his life to write and record music, which is basically the life support system for his heart and mind, so that's bad. Sometimes we fantasize about coming up with some sort of joint effort to connect us, like opening a little venue or movie theater, but I don't think either of us has the right head for business. I think both of us feel like huge flakes at this point, but at least the feeling appears to be mutual and no one is mad.

I've had a few friends who are hardcore careerists. None of them really like to admit this about themselves; they're all artists of some kind and certainly not cutthroat business types, but for various psychological reasons they're only really reachable through work. One of them was an old-old friend who formed a little writing group with me, and as soon as the writing was done I basically never heard from him again. That was a big part of how I found out that, despite all his emotional language toward me, we weren't as close as I thought. Another one is struggling to reformat her life since a few of her loved ones became terminally ill, and she's scared she's wasting her whole life on work alone. A third one is someone with whom I have collaborated on a life-changing creative project, and I'm so grateful for that, but I always have this suspicion that even though we both say we have this profound and irreplaceable connection, well, maybe I wouldn't know it was there if it weren't for the work. Whenever he calls me to catch up, it's squeezed between appointments of some kind. His social life seems to be totally made up of big group activities--games and shows and stuff--and I think it's because he would never find time to connect to anyone intimately 1-1. That's pretty much the opposite of me. He's in treatment for being a workaholic now so obviously he thinks this state of affairs is not good, but sometimes I feel like being a dick and asking him if he's REALLY sorry he's like this, or if he just feels like he SHOULD BE sorry.

[maeleelee]

𝐿𝑒𝓉'𝓈 𝑔𝑜 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒

This will be a story following the life of Wooyoung and his sister Y/N. They're the next King and Queen of Utopia. They don't want anyone knowing though, so they go to college and hid the fact that they're royal from everyone but their two best friends Mae and Cassi. Everyone finds out about them being royal after a new article comes out saying Y/N getting married. She doesn't want to marry this man she's been arrange to because she's in love with her brother's best friend, Yeosang. Who gonna get the happy ending?

warning: cussing, blood, violence, someone gets stabbed, drinking, screaming,

You were giggling away with the girls at the bar you all decided to pop into. Mae was getting married in a few days and you demanded to take her out for girls night. Cassi didn’t let her decide, just drugged her out anyways. Elena showed up a little later than everyone for Kingdom reasons. 

You had all been drinking, just celebrating the occasion and the fact that the King finally took his head out of his ass. You had let Yeosang know which bar you were at just in case anything happened. 

“This is crazy. I never thought you’d actually be able to do this together. I figured he’d find someone who didn’t have to be so,” Mae paused, “so me.” She sighed. 

“Oh Mae baby. He’s been in love with you for a very long time. Like since we were teens and you were still in training. He’d come home all giddy, smiling like a fool. You make him so happy. He knew he was going to marry you back then. Told me all the time. ‘I’m going to marry her one day. You just wait and see.’ Looks like I waited, and now I get to see.” You giggled as Mae smiled at you. 

“Thank you.” Mae mumbled to you. 

“Why, hello there. Crazy seeing you here.” You looked up and sighed, covering your face with your hands.

“Can you not? We’re celebrating. Go away.” Elena glared at the man. 

“Oh come on. I just wanna say hello to my future wife.” He smirked. Mae watched closely. He was a little too close to her liking. Cassi was on edge too. Kayla was holding your hand under the table. This was going to end in chaos. 

“Darling. No hello?” His hand landed on your shoulder and Mae stood up. Cassi touched the back of her leg, as a comfort feeling.

“You do not touch the Princess. Off. Now.” Mae spat at him. 

“Oh come on now, we’ll be married soon and we’ll all be the best of friends. Right darling?” He looked down at you. Kayla squeezed your hand to let you know she was there. 

“I said get off of her. Now.” Mae was about to pounce. They all knew that. The alcohol in her system was not helping the situation. 

“Call the boys. Now.” Elena told Cassi. Cassi nodded and grabbed her phone out. She went to dial Wooyoung’s number when her phone was snatched out of her hand. 

“No need for that. We’re all just having a conversation.” He laughed, placing her phone on the table. Cassi looked at Mae. Mae looked at her. Thankfully she left her knife on the band on her thigh. She grabbed it and waited for her attack. 

“I’ll tell you one last time. Everyone has heard me tell you to get off her twice now. This is the third time and if you aren’t off her the second I say it, I’m going to hurt you. Now. Get off my Princess.” Mae glared, gripping the knife. He put his hand on the table, keeping the other one on your shoulder. He leaned into the table, closer to Mae. 

“Take your best shot.” He smirked. 

Mae didn’t hesitate. She clocked him in the nose with her palm and then sent the knife through his hand. While this happened, Cassi had grabbed her phone and called Wooyoung. 

~

Wooyoung was talking to the guys trying to figure out a way to break the contact his sister was in when his phone went off. He saw Cassi’s name on the screen and raised an eyebrow. He answered the phone and put it to his ear. He heard Mae, telling someone to get off his sister. She sounded pissed. He put it on speaker and stood up, grabbing his jacket. 

“You need to get here now.” They all heard a scream and a shriek. “Mae just stabbed the Prince, who’s supposed to marry y/n, in the hand.” Cassi said. All six of them were out the door in seconds. They got into the suv and Wooyoung drove them there quickly. Cassi stayed on the phone with them, letting them know what was going on. Blood was apparently everywhere and the dude was stuck to the table. 

They pulled in and ran inside. Mae was standing there, staring at the man. Cassi was holding y/n, Kayla and Elena were trying to calm the situation down as much as possible. Mae crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the man. 

“I told you if you didn’t get off my Princess, I’d hurt you. This is the consequence of your actions.” Wooyoung touched Mae’s arm lightly. 

“Baby. Hey. Come down from protection mode.” He whispered. He could feel her relaxing under his hand. “There you go. Come back down to Earth for me. She’s okay. Cassi has her. Our baby’s okay.” She looked at him, tears in her eyes, but she wouldn’t let them fall. Not right now at least. “Come on. Let’s get home, yeah?” She nodded and looked back at the Prince. She grabbed the knife and ripped it out of the Prince’s hand. She grabbed a napkin and wiped the blood off onto it. She grabbed the Prince’s hand and poured the wine on it and wrapped the napkin around it. She turned to Wooyoung and he nodded. She ripped off his sleeve and pulled it apart and wrapped it around the hand. As tight as she could. 

She let him go. She looked at him and glared. “Break the contract.” 

“Yes. I will.” He nodded and looked at Wooyoung. 

“Your bitch is fucking crazy dude.” Wooyoung smirked. 

“I’d say welcome to the family but we just recorded you saying you’d break the contract. Now get gone before we report you for sexual harassment.” Hongjoong laughed, pointing to Yeosang’s phone. 

“Good luck in life. Karma will be back for you. Hopefully not in the form of Mae. Karma and her are great friends.” You told the man as you walked to Yeosang. He pulled you close to him and pressed his lips to your temple. 

“Let’s go home.”

Masterlist Royals / friends <- || ->

Taglist: @life-is-glorious @mxnsxngie @spilled-coffee-cup

[bradsmindbrain]

you're the captain of the Russallis ship at this point

maybe Jack is talking about someone he befriended recently (I'm thinking maybe one of the Moon Knight bois but it can be anyone really) and Ted is a liiiittle jealous

Triptych

Summary: A few weeks after meeting Steven Grant, Ted worries about the closeness between him and Jack.

TW: None

Ted watched from the kitchen as Jack laughed at some horrendous joke Steven had told him, making Ted roll his eyes as he prepared some snacks for the three of them. It had been a few months since the two of them had met Steven, well, more accurately, met the system Steven was part of. Jack had met Steven a few weeks ago in London after going to hunt a particularly nasty vampire there, and the two had really hit it off. Hell, Steven had even helped Jack take down that bastard. He heard that Jack was initially confused, seeing as he thought he encountered Steven months before, at least until Steven had informed him that he had DID.

He was the second member of that particular system they had met, the first… well, as helpful as Jake Lockley was during that mess a few months ago, Ted found his presence to be disconcerting. Sure, he was conversational and nice, but the sheer brutality and cold efficiency he displayed when fighting those hunters made Ted feel a bit unnerved. But that was a story for another time. The third, Marc, was nice enough, a bit rough around the edges, but otherwise a nice guy.

Jack had told him that they were some kind of an Avatar for Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon and vengeance or something like that. He supposed it made sense, given that Elsa had told him that Jake was good at “helping others get even” when she had initially introduced Jake to him.

Steven, well Steven reminded Ted of a dog, enthusiastic, wide-eyed, and dare he say it, adorable. He was probably the one Ted liked the most out of the three, and arguably the one closest with Jack. He remembered when Jack first introduced Steven to him, Steven letting out a scream like a little girl before Jack calmed him down, it was funny. That being said, there was a part of him that didn’t like that closeness. He was supposed to be the only one who could make Jack laugh that hard, he was supposed to be the one who helped Jack in sticky situations. He was jealous of Steven in some ways, he knew that Jack loved him, but the closeness he had with him, it made Ted worry. 

That stupid grin and wide eyes he had, the sheer enthusiasm that he had when talking about something he found interesting, Ted could see Jack found it cute. And truthfully, he feared it a little bit. He knew Jack had no interest in women, and the closeness he had with Steven was worrying. He didn’t want to be alone again, didn’t want Jack to leave him.

He shook his head, he was being ridiculous. Steven was just a friend, and Jack was allowed to have a life outside of him. He wasn’t even sure Steven was interested in men, seeing as Marc had a wife that Steven himself was also rather attached to. Steven wasn’t going to be taking Jack from him, and it was stupid to think he was. 

“So what’s up with you and Ted anyway?” He heard Steven question, his ridiculously British accent making him snicker.

He heard Jack reply almost immediately, “Ted? He’s mi amor, my partner. I’ve gone through hell to help him when he needs it.”

“And how often does that happen?” Steven asked.

Jack chuckled, “More than I care to admit. I don’t mind though.”

“It’s nice having someone like that,” Steven responded.

“Yeah, someone who you’d do anything for, it’s the most wonderful thing,” Jack audibly smiled.

Ted’s expression softened as he finished getting the food ready, there was nothing to worry about, nothing at all. He tuned out Steven as he started talking about how it reminded him of Isis and Osiris or something. He wasn’t all that interested in Egyptian myths, but he knew Steven had a special interest in them, and Jack at least showed a bit of fascination with them.

He placed the bags he was using away, grabbing two bowls full of jerky for him and Jack, and a bowl of dried fruit slices for Steven. He entered back into the living room, making Steven jump up from the recliner he was sitting on just as he was about to talk about how Set killed Osiris. “Gods, I’ll never get used to him pop up,” Steven said, a light chuckle in his voice.

Jack laughed, “Trust me, he’s just a big Teddy Bear.”

He handed Steven the dried fruits before bending down to give the Jerky to Jack, the lycanthrope kissing the side of his head as he did so, “Gracias, Teddy Bear.”

Ted gave an affectionate trill as he sat down on the floor with his own bowl, and if he had a mouth the way most people did, he would’ve smiled seeing how enraptured and interested Jack was in the conversation between him and Steven. It was always nice seeing his boyfriend happy, and he deserved to be happy after making a new friend who didn’t judge him for what he was. Ted brought a piece of jerky up to the bottom of his head, placing it in his mouth, he didn’t need to worry about Steven, or anyone else for that matter, Jack loved him, he always would.

[cursedthing]

So. when were you almost kidnapped by the fae?

ALRIGHT SO

The first time I was around 8! There's a pretty dark forest (which is surrounded by ANOTHER, miniature forest with a different wood type) near the old elementary school I used to go to and even before going to this school I was always drawn to it, not just the "oh I'm very curious and want to explore as it is normal for children my age to do so" but more like "this forest is actually Calling to me and whenever I'm near it I have the strongest urge to go there". I never went there because I knew that you're not supposed to go somewhere alone but one day I was hanging out with two of my friends and we didn't know what to play. Naturally since we were near the forest I said that we could go there which my friends reluctantly agreed to after me saying that a few times.

We went there and hopped over the creek that separated The Dark Forest from the miniature light one, it was all fine and dandy with the forest practically pulling me in and the two of my friends incredibly confused (as I never suggested things like this before, I may have been a hyperactive child but I would always be contained to specific spots).

As soon as I stepped foot into that forest it was like the illusion finally broke and felt intense dread and sense that somethings Wrong and as if something that isn't human nor animal was watching us. I imidietly told the friends that "hey! We should turn back now! Like we really should!", they didn't listen and I had to pretty much beg them to get out as fast as they could, they only followed after I jumped back to the lighter side of the creek.

The second time is related to this forest, again.

It was when I was around 11, with same friends and their siblings. It was winter and it finally snowed enough for us to go sliding down steep slopes, which with our luck was next to The Dark forest. We were warned that we shouldn't get too close to it as some foxes were spotted a few weeks back. So we created a sort of buddy system so that we slide in pairs so that no one finds themselves alone near the forest.

We were just having fun until one of the friends younger sisters who I was paired with told me that she felt as if something was watching us and that it wasn't any of our friends. I told her that I believed her as I too had the same feeling. We told the others and tried to stay even closer than before. We theorized that it was the fox watching, which it could have been! But then again that feeling of watched was near identical to the feeling of being watched the first time the fae tried to take me away.

Later we found out that there's a graveyard near by. Fun times!

Third time, surprisingly NOT next to that forest. I was around 13. My extended family and I went hiking to see an old church in the middle of a forest, as a family does.

At some point two of the cousins and I got separated from others. And the memory gets a bit blurry here but I know that for some reason I knew which trails and forest signs to follow. The cousins and I ended up next to bunch of tiny waterfalls and we ended up screaming so that the others could find us echolocation style.

FOURTH TIME! Once again, in a forest (ha ha there's a pattern, awesome-), in the mountains. We were once again hiking. Pretty sure it was the same year actually!

We were getting back from the top peak and gling to where we left the cars. Others stopped to rest a bit on the side of the trail. I Also wanted to rest a bit but for some reason I kept going, as if someone else was controlling my legs. Not long walking turned into a sort of run? You know how deer run? Yea something like that. My mind was completely empty and I felt the urge to just sing but I didn't since I knew in the back of my mind that people would hear me. Luckly I ran into my dad and brother and I finally stopped. A few minutes my bro slipped into a mud patch and dad was helping him get up. Whatever was making me run before came back, awesome, cool, don't run in forests kids ESPECIALLY not near A CLIFF thats dangerous. When dad noticed that I was Gone he called after me and if he didn't I would have gotten completely lost as I went on an entirely separate path that led deeper I to the forest. I came back and reunited with the others safely.

The trail was pretty nice the top incredibly cold so take warm clothes with you. The fae stealing bit was weird so I would rate that whole experience a 7/10.

And that's all the times the fae (???) attempted to take me away! :D

[tuxedo-lef]

Share the fabinelli abo brain rot bestie! I'm like two seconds away from staging up all night to write fabinelli football x dancer au. You were right in thinking like soccer and the scene you wrote was so good. Also the closed proximity thing, them hooking up in a closet....interesting idea that could definitelyyyy work 😉

Yay!! I’m cheering you on and hope you get (or got, depending on when you read this) lots of writing done 🥳💗 I can’t wait to read whatever you have in store for the football x dancer au

As for the fabinelli ABO au that’s been occupying my brain for the past days 🚬😮‍💨 (i’m kidding - i don’t even smoke lol)…

It’s set in a “traditional” abo setting. it’s kind of nsfw. i would expand this into more than 5k words at least.

In Porto, Fábio learns that amicable scenting, cuddles, and any other forms of physical affection are transactional. The first night he spent away with the team, he was sharing a room with Diogo. Fábio was beaming from happiness as his same-aged friend scented him and held him close while they were watching a reality show on his laptop. His skin no longer itched from needing to feel an alpha’s touch and his nervous system was finally calming down.

The second night, Diogo had told Fábio that he wanted him to suck him off once they got back to their room. He had made sure to do so right in front of the coach while they were eating dinner. Fábio had blushed and had hit Diogo on the arm telling him to stop joking. Instead, the coach had looked at Fábio with a serious air and stated that Fábio could not only take from his alpha teammates. An omega had to give back as well.

Fábio befriends Gabi when he arrives at Arsenal like a child picks his best friend in kindergarten. Gabi makes him laugh the most. Gabi likes the same things as him. Gabi also wears an inhibitor patch on his neck like Fábio learned to do a few months into his professional career.

Fábio doesn’t know if it’s the multiple lifts in the early morning or the way practices pass by two times faster if he can exchange looks of inside jokes with Gabi while Arteta goes on and on about another flamboyant analogy for teamwork. Gabi and him are sharing the same wavelength, it seems like nothing could come between them.

Fábio thinks he latches onto Gabi more than the team itself. ‘It’s a problem’ is what he’s told by Edu at his third evaluation, four months into joining the club.

The first season flashes by and Fábio still finds it difficult to bond with some of the players on the team. His lack of consistent playtime makes him feel like an outsider - someone who’ll be traded out to another team in a few seasons anyway.

But he’s there long enough to witness and experience a cultural shift at Arsenal.

“Scent patches are a bad look for the team. Makes the media and the fans wonder if some of our players are mistreated because of their secondary genders,” the head of Arsenal’s HR department was speaking monotonously like they were announcing a new training on cybersecurity.

“We’re requesting that all players and staff on the team stop wearing inhibitor patches starting next week. Disclosure of your secondary gender is mandatory and failure to do so will be noticed and met with strict discipline. Of course, any form of discrimination based on secondary genders will be dealt with immediately.”

For the first time, Gabi and Fábio don’t seem to be drifting on the same wavelength. Gabi is snorting after whispering something in Magalhaes’ ear, trying to contain his laughter. Fábio can barely feel his limbs. His head is floating and pulling him back to a darker past. For the first time in a while, Fábio leaves London Colney on his own without waiting for Gabi.

Fábio decides not to wait until next week and to rip the bandaid off. Apparently, so did Gabi. When his best friend parked his car in front of his apartment, Fábio opened the door and smiled as though he wasn’t revealing his worst fear to the person who mattered most to him. His attempt was pointless because the poignant scent of fresh citrus hit Fábio like a slap in the face.

—————

Basically Fábio is all hesitant to push things further than friendship with Gabi because he has trust issues with alphas and things are different now that he knows Gabi is an alpha. Gabi gets it all wrong because he only starts to make moves on Fábio once their scent patches are off.

Gabi asks Fábio for more (than just friendly cuddling) after a night out with the team. It scares Fábio away and they only rekindle once Gabi accepts that they’ll do this at whatever pace Fábio is comfortable with.

It’s August 2024 and Fábio learns that he’s going to be sent on a loan back to Porto. He’s afraid of going back. He’s afraid of losing Gabi. Fábio doesn’t want to lie to himself anymore, so he confesses to Gabi and tells him “I love you” when they’re about to have one of their friendly sleepovers.

Gabi is mad (more at Arteta/Edu than Fábio) because of the loan. He’s also hurt that Fábio is only willing to commit when he’s about to leave. He tells Fábio that he doesn’t want to give “them” a try if it’s long distance because it wouldn’t be a fair shot. It comes out more harsh than honest. When Gabi asks Fábio if he needs to borrow a shirt to sleep, Fábio tells him he’s not willing to stay the night anymore and basically flees the scene.

Things are very cold between them after. Fábio leaves London and no one is there to wish him goodbye at the airport except his agent.

Queue lots of angsty Fábio who misses Gabi in Porto but who also realizes that Arsenal to him is only Gabi because no one else from the team has tried to reach out to him since he left. Fábio isolates himself a lot. He starts wearing his scent patches again. They work but they make everything feel dull around him.

I don’t have an ending yet, but it would have to be good because I can’t deal with sad endings 😅 Also Fábio does matter to the team (at least some of them) but he kind of convinces himself that he doesn’t… he’s in a bad place mentally in this one 😔

[detective-noire-in-ff14]

Shadows of Kugane

It felt icy in the office. It was the kind of day that a hot drink was desired, but after two unfinished mugs lined the desk, there was little chance the Miqo was going for a third. He shivered slightly, perhaps prompted by intuition to the soft thud of the elevator as it fixed itself to his floor, followed by a hollow knock at the door. “Come in, it's open.” As she entered, the slender figure looked behind her before locking her sapphire gaze on the man. Her gaze was not the only striking attribute; lips lined with a plum gloss that caught the dim light. Her ivory skin warmed against the fire, and her auburn hair framed her features. She was high-born, but all he could think was, why is she here?

D’rynn shook himself free from the stupor. “I don’t get many visitors. Please take a seat,” he said as he stood. Once she sat, he followed suit, bringing out a pen and a piece of paper. The Woman explained the situation, “I didn’t know who else to go to. Our mutual friend said that if he didn’t meet me in three days, I would be in danger and needed to find you.” The Raen chewed on her bottom lip. “It was four days before I could book passage to the Mists; the doorman pointed me to you here, which would make six days since he had gone missing.” D’rynn paused her, “Who went missing?”

Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, “I promised I wouldn’t cry, that not a tear would be wasted until I knew he was… was…” D’rynn interjected, “Let’s start with something easier; who are you... Miss?” The lady returned to her learned form before answering curtly, “Saiko of the Ruby Sea.” The Miqo was deliberately slow in an attempt to draw her into providing more information but had closed herself up like a fan. 

D’rynn pulled a navigation pad from the desk. “Where did you start from?” Saiko replied quickly, “Kugane, the market district. I talked briefly with Hancock.” she was interrupted by the man, “Hancock sent you? Then it is troubling. I've never known him to need outside help.” she nodded, “Just so. He said he needed an outside pair of eyes—someone who could walk in both shadow and light.” D’rynn scratched his chin. “I imagine they sent you with a fee for my services. My contracts are upfront cost and supplies with compensation upon completion.” She glanced at the designer purse in her hands clutched to her breast. He didn’t notice how she was dressed provocatively, within a sultry black and red dress that clung firmly around every curve. His mind focused on the paperwork he had to get drawn up. “How long have you been traveling? You said six days in total?” She nodded slower this time. Standing with a pose to benefit her feminine features. “I was told you men only want one thing from a lady.”

D’rynn chuffed, “Let's get this over with lady. What do you get in the purse? Because we both know you would sooner kill me than share a bed.” She pouted, “Now, why must you be like that? I have no reason to threaten my hero at the moment. Besides, how would I get out of here alive?” The Catte smirked, “So you noticed the security system, but I’m not letting you off the hook; empty the purse on the desk and keep your hands out. I would hate to explain to the janitor why there is a mess.” Saiko dumped the contents, revealing a petite revolver with one shot. D’rynn could tell a potent poison was laced on the slug—no need to disguise the smell when it is coming from a barrel. The raen gave a playful, innocent look, “Oops? How did that get in there.” Her smile turned coy. “Are you going to punish me?” She said with nearly a moan.

D’rynn shook his head, “Why is this gun here if not for me? Who did you expect…” He snapped his fingers together, “You were hoping he would be here already. You gave him plenty of time.” He rotated around the desk, revealing his revolver angled from his hip towards Saiko. She smiled with a sway of her hips, hands wrapping her body, “Is that a gun in your hand, or are you just happy to see me?” D’rynn gave a dry smile. “You would have charmed him, he was always a sucker for a lady in black, but I got perfection waiting for me at home.” He raised the gun, “How about you tell me what is going on?” She pouted again, “You are dull, all talk and no play.” She sat back down and crossed her legs. “Everything I said was true, but I doubt I need to tell you that the best lies are.” He tilted his head, “Now that we have the basics out of the way, Why do you want Kouske?” Her gaze puzzled, “How did you know it was him?” D’rynn sat, putting his feet on the desk, his pistol leaning against his knee. “Because Miss Saiko, he is the only one that would want to sleep with a viper.”

“You know, Mister Lutar, you are a sharp catte. A credit to the race, but let us not pretend you can keep me here. I could go to the Medbay and get an absolute scandal saying any number of things, and the law would require you to prove your innocence. Meanwhile, I can go and keep looking for our friend and make my quick money.” She penned with her index finger at the desk. “Or you come with me and find him. I’ll pay you the usual finders fee.” D’rynn leaned back into his chair, his eyes catching the plushy fox at the base. “I want the money upfront. You leave here without a noise, and I’ll meet you at the crystal.” Saiko placed a finger on her credits strewn across the desk. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

D’rynn picked up the plushy and ran his fingers across the head, “I have got me a real mess.” He placed the precious toy on his desk. “Trouble comes in pairs; the best I can hope for is that home, and all who make it will be there when I get back.”

[msclaritea]

OpenAI boss Sam Altman wants $7tn. For all our sakes, pray he doesn’t get it | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian

Once upon a time, nobody outside tech circles had heard of Sam Altman. But then his company, OpenAI, launched ChatGPT, and suddenly he was everywhere – touring the world, giving interviews to gushing journalists, granting audiences to awestruck politicians etc. Whiplash-thin, with a charmingly wide-eyed baby face, he instantly became the acceptable face of digital capitalism.

Then the OpenAI board abruptly fired him, apparently on the grounds that he had not been, er, entirely candid with them.

When Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO (who had invested $13bn in OpenAI), heard about it, though, he was mightily pissed off. And in no time all, Altman was unsacked and reinstated in the OpenAI driving seat. And the world was transfixed by the drama of it all. Which only goes to show that appearances can be deceptive.

If the world had read Tad Friend’s profile of Altman, which appeared in the New Yorker in 2016, it might have been less overawed.

“I have narrow interests in technology,” he told Friend. “I have no patience for things I’m not interested in: parties, most people. When someone examines a photo and says, ‘Oh, he’s feeling this and this and this,’ all these subtle emotions, I look on with alien intrigue.” Altman’s great strengths, concluded Friend, “are clarity of thought and an intuitive grasp of complex systems. His great weakness is his utter lack of interest in ineffective people, which unfortunately includes most of us. I found his assiduousness alarming at first, then gradually endearing.”

Two recent events suggest that it might be time to dial down the “endearing” bit. The first was the revelation that OpenAI was rowing back on its previous aversion to “military and warfare” use of its technology. The second was the announcement that Altman was wooing the United Arab Emirates for up to $7tn (£5.6tn) for the business of chips and AI. To put Altman’s aspirations in context, the sum he’s seeking to raise is just under a third of US GDP and pretty close to its £6.3tn federal budget for 2022. And, on a historical note, it’s $3tn more than the $4tn (adjusted for inflation) that the US spent on the second world war.

His aspiration seems crazy. And yet the Silicon Valley crowd think he’s a genius. So what’s going on?

So what would $7tn get you? Well, as the Register helpfully points out, it’s enough cash “to gobble up Nvidia, TSMC, Broadcom, ASML, Samsung, AMD, Intel, Qualcomm, and every other chipmaker, designer, intellectual property holder, and equipment vendor of consequence in their entirety – and still have trillions left over”. But Altman doesn’t just aim to become the John D Rockefeller of our times – owning everything. He wants to make things – specifically the GPUs (graphics processing units) that machine-learning systems require. That means building semiconductor fabrication units (fabs). These cost about $20bn each and take four or more years to commission and become productive. They also require very highly skilled staff – which the US semiconductor industry is short of by about 70,000.

In addition, these plants are huge consumers of water, in a world that is rapidly running short of it. But Altman would have enough dosh to build 350 of the monsters. I could go on, but you get the message. This aspiration seems crazy. And yet the Silicon Valley crowd thinks he’s a genius. So what’s going on?

The answer is that most of them belong to the church of technocracy, of which Altman is a charismatic member. Devout members of this sect believe that the world is terminally screwed-up, and that the only way to fix it is with tech. They are ecstatic about AI because finally a technology has arrived that apparently could fix everything – economic growth, healthcare, productivity, education, even the climate crisis. Strangely, though, warfare seems to be missing from the list.

The only difficulty is that this magical technology needs unconscionable quantities of data and computational power. Our future, apparently, depends on infinite amounts of what the industry now calls “compute”, and Altman is lauded because only he has had the courage to say out loud how much of it is needed in order to save civilisation.

He is deeply conscious of the responsibility he carries.

“Democracy only works in a growing economy,” he told Friend in 2016. “Without a return to economic growth, the democratic experiment will fail.” If it does, though, Altman will be ready. In a discussion about aggressive AI and nations fighting with nuclear weapons over scarce resources, he said: “I try not to think about it too much. But I have guns, gold, potassium iodide, antibiotics, batteries, water, gas masks from the Israel Defense Forces, and a big patch of land in Big Sur I can fly to.”

Nice to know that that $7tn will be in safe hands."

What I’ve been reading

Tech groupthink

Adrienne LaFrance has written a terrific essay in the Atlantic on the underpinning techno-authoritarian ideology of Silicon Valley.

[inkforged]

Heartbreak is inevitable, but is it necessary?

Today we got some heartbreaking news. After trying for 10 years to have children and starting the adoption process two years ago, my sister and brother-in-law excitedly announced this Christmas that they would be adopting three siblings. Twin 10 year old girls and a 7 year old little boy. The situation is complicated but we learned today that there is a possibility that the adoption will fall through.

This will be the third time that my sister and her husband were fully prepared to bring children home and the rug was pulled out from underneath them days before it was meant to happen. I don't understand why this keeps happening to them.

"Mom" has a week to relinquish her rights willingly before the kids are put into the foster care system and they are lost to us forever.

Last time, it was a night before they were meant to bring two brothers home and DFCS made a clerical error and basically told them oops our bad, but now you can't have them.

My sister won't recover from this if it falls through. Of course we will all be devastated, but she won't make it. I'm scared if this doesn't happen she will harm herself or disappear so far into herself that she will shut the rest of the world out for good.

I am angry and confused and praying that no matter what, those kids who are desperately wanted, prayed for, and already so loved make it to my sister and brother in law. My 19 month old nephew is already saying their names. We already went to IKEA and bought and assembled all of their furniture. We have told our close friends and family and everyone is ecstatic to have these three in our lives.

I'm angry at God for putting them through this again. How many times do these people who desperately want to be parents have to go through this horrendous heartbreak before they finally get their kids? Why would he allow them go through this again? I can't understand it.

I want to contact the mother and yell at her

I want to yell at the aunt for involving DFCS

I want to scream that this isn't fair to someone.

I want to protect those kids from their mother who cares nothing for them.

But I can't, I can only vent to a void.

[af0922]

27

Today I am 27. I’ve heard that 27 is often one of the toughest years and is notoriously when celebrities overdose or otherwise pass away. If 26 didn’t kill me, I don’t think anything will.

26 was the hardest year of my life, and brought me so much growth. 26 brought me recovery, therapy, new (and damaged) relationships, and a growing and beautiful family. Today I have so much to be grateful for. I don’t write/ journal often, but when I do I am left feeling lighter, appreciative, and at ease- so I’m writing today as I reflect.

258 days ago it was January 7, 2023 and I found out I was pregnant with Farabee #2. What a blessing this was, and yet I found myself horrified. At this point I was 8 months into an eating disorder that left me purging my meals twice daily as well as abusing weight loss medication. This medication while prescribed by a doctor (who didn’t know I had an ED), left me severely anemic and with a struggling liver, and the thought of supporting my failing body and another human life was overwhelming. I am lucky enough to have a husband who loves me unconditionally and when I told him I needed help, he stepped in like Superman and helped take things off my plate so I could focus on recovery. I knew I needed to be better for my growing children. I quickly found comfort in confiding in my psychiatrist who linked me with a therapist as well as a nutrition therapist and I have a really amazing team helping me take care of myself. I haven’t purged in 258 days, since the day I found out I was pregnant and I can now appreciate food and am teaching my daughters to nourish their bodies in a safe way. I am so incredibly thankful.

My pregnancy was HARD. I was struggling daily in my recovery, and found myself with debilitating headaches come second trimester that were only occasionally aided with medication. I spent nearly every day fighting to get out of bed, go to work, and take care of my wild and rambunctious toddler. Still being unsure of my own feelings towards the pregnancy, I kept it pretty secret only telling my family and close friends until I was into my third trimester. We were thrilled at 14 weeks when we found out we had another daughter coming, but my feelings were still muted and I was enjoying keeping the news of a new baby to myself and my little family. On 9/7 I went into labor naturally (and if you do the math that’s a whole two days before I delivered) and embraced the pain and difficulty of the labor, I even enjoyed it a little. It felt as if the pain of the year was finally crashing down and nearing an end. And I was right. I delivered Helena on 9/9 with a rough and turbulent c section. My spinal block wouldn’t take, which resulted in a painful and many attempted epidural. She was stuck in my pelvis requiring a vacuum suction to remove her, and when she arrived she was swollen and bruised from her evacuation. Helena was sent to the NICU immediately and had a 3 night stay there while they removed fluid from her lungs and nourished her with an IV. This was not the experience I had envisioned for us. No golden hour. No immediate nursing (or much nursing at all), and instead I was left in my post op recovery room alone while I awaited news and photos from my husband who was down in the nicu. I split time for those first three days from my own hospital room and her nicu room, feeling my mental health decline each day that I had to spend time away from my children. My hormones were confused and so was I. Feeling the pull to be with my newborn, but being afraid to touch her while she was on machines and hooked up to IVs. I was so lucky to have a support system that kept someone with me just about every second of the day, but even then it was painful. Finally on day 4 when we were released to go home I felt like we were in the clear and I was excited to be home to bond with my baby.

I required an additional four days in the hospital after Nate took me back to the ER at 1:00 AM the morning after we were sent home. I woke up with a crackle in my chest, just like I did with Josephine back in 2021, but this time I caught it much sooner. I was diagnosed with postpartum preeclampsia again, and thought more stubborn to resolve this time, we cleared the fluid from my lungs and heart and got my blood pressure under control. More pain as I had to be away from Josie, but now I am home and feeling so good. I am so incredibly thankful.

In the midst of the chaos of my 26 year, I have so much to be grateful for! I have two beautiful daughters that give me purpose, light, love, and laughter. I love nothing more in this life than being their mom. I have a rock solid marriage and a husband that I love more and more each day. Watching him with our children makes me feel whole and our family is everything to both of us. I have found solace in the nonspecific religion of Paganism, still finding my niche but confident that polytheism is where I belong. We have been celebrating pagan holidays as a family this year and it feels like home. I am excited to raise my girls praising and sacrificing to the gods. I have found independence. Some of my closest relationships have been strained this year, and within it I have found myself. I am setting boundaries, making myself a priority, and finding confidence in my own decisions for the first time. Again, I am so incredibly thankful.

26 hurt me. 26 blessed me. And today I am manifesting 27 will be good to me and my girls.

[anightskiss]

The Purifying Flame Of The Fallen Angel.

Friday, 14th

- Diary Entry Written By Dre.

You put your hands out, but you ain’t got your hand out, I’ve been writing all these rhymes with my head down but my head high. Wondering if I’m a dead soldier, or a knighthood within the dwindle of the nights sky, I can’t lie. It seems as if I’m more in tuned with reality when I’m high, that’s why at times I feel like I’m in a war with my own third eye. Knowing I’m destined for greatness, but my destiny at times, feels pre-determined. Sometimes, I see my friends, but wonder to myself if they’ll ever see me, walking in a house with all smiles, but my heart and soul sometimes lays naked and afraid, within the revenue of my past life. The succession of my battle wounds are officially wept clean, as I crucify myself and my friends with honesty. I’ve been laying on my own cross, ever since I’ve come to living in America, so many hands out but who’s hand really out? I can’t even talk to people without them asking for something. The record :”Real Friends” becomes more close to the truth everyday, because I feel like I’m alone sometimes. Just like you. I cradle with my demons because they open my eyes & reveal the truth, painfully. But that’s what I need. Painful truth. What has honesty really gotten me ever since I’ve been in America? Nothing but sorry’s, but no “How can I help you.” That’s why I’m cross faded with the lights out. My wings have flown close to the sun, and it still does, but the other side of them chipped wings lay clairvoyance.

But now I’m in a bus ride, rolling to the studio, just to break more confessions, feelings that I hold within the palindrome of existence. I just left the big homie Izayah at the cribbo, but we got ourselves a beautiful Latina security guard that just checked in today.. so I’m manifesting that he’ll break those cheeks while we break through these beats haha. Today was beautiful, truly was. My father just reached out and sent some money and told me not to worry about things alone no more, but sometimes my pride and my ego knock me out.

This day started really interesting, begun by watching training day for an hour and oh my god, I feel like Denzel’s character. And when I ask myself why, it’s because I’m tired of being the nice guy with a cape, the super hero all the time, because everyone told me that in LA, you have to look both ways before you trust someone, and seeing a character willingly break the dynamics of the justice system is so freeing and rewarding. Because, in life we have to fight and be warriors. We can’t let our past define our future. My homie ARRI said to me that I should never let money control me, not going to lie, he is right.. the asshole is alright haha! But since this is a diary entry, I can just be honest.. right? Well, in other news, I finally told Sierra how I feel about her, finally. And I told her that if she feels uncomfortable about starring in my movie after knowing that the film is about her, she should tell me now, because if I’m being honest, I need to finish this chapter of my life story. I can’t keep wanting someone who doesn’t want me, that’s not healthy.. and I think it’s time for some better life choices Dre.