#we can save up for things like an appliance if we have to it's really hard but we can

[ghostsinthecellar]

I hate that I know that a car would solve 85% of my problems. not feeling trapped, being able to go swim or go take pictures, being able to do grocery delivery jobs to pick up some cash or shop around instead of sticking to the closest grocery stores, going to farmer's markets and buying better food, not having to depend on borrowing a friend's car to do anything, knowing I can take mom out for a ride without the added stress of a time limit, picking up free things off of craigslist or the fb marketplace, cruising yard sales, knowing if the cats have a medical emergency I can actually get them to the vet, going to the dump when we have enough trash instead of too much, knowing I can separate recyclables out more because i can just run some cardboard over instead of having to pile it up, being able to see my friends and meet them places instead of them having to come get me, and knowing I can leave hangouts when I want instead of when someone can peel off and take me home, it goes on and on like. okay. yes. it would be a financial burden also. having to keep it gassed up and functioning and inspected and insured. but

[pickingupmymercedes]

Let it happen - Lewis Hamilton

Part of 1K Jukebox Event

song: Let it happen - Gracie Abrams - @alessandrahamilton

pairing: Lewis Hamilton x Reader!

genre: angst with hints of fluff (because apparently that's a favorite around here)

wordcount: +2k

As always, I'm open for feedback, come say hi!

______________________________________________________________

The morning light filtered through the curtains, soft and golden, the kind of light that makes you forget the world can be sharp and unkind.

I blinked, rubbing the last traces of sleep from my eyes, before the familiarity of the room tugged me back to reality.

His room. His LA house.

You’d think I’d be smarter by now. But here I am, in his bed, heart in hand, ready to offer it up like a fool for the hundredth time.

I shifted under the weight of the sheets, the scent of him clinging to the air—cologne, something clean and woodsy, mixed with that hint of soap I’ve come to know too well.

We’re really doing this again, aren’t we?

I pushed myself upright, trying not to think about how easily I fell back into the shape of his life, like I never really left.

I caught sight of his sweater thrown over by the stool, my shoes kicked off somewhere near the door, evidence of another night spent tiptoeing through familiar, dangerous territory.

The house was quiet, just the faint hum of LA outside, muffled by the walls.

Maybe I should go back to sleep and hope to wake up in the right bed this time. Maybe I should grab my stuff and sneak out before he sees me. Save myself the trouble of figuring out what this is all over again.

But I pulled on his sweater without a second thought—apparently, I wasn’t done making bad decisions.

I tiptoe my way toward the kitchen, half-expecting to find him there, making one of those post-workout protein shakes he pretends taste good. But the space is empty—spotless countertops, gleaming appliances, and a bowl of perfectly arranged avocados I’m sure he didn’t buy himself.

What am I doing here?

And it’s a good question, one I’ve asked myself a million times. What the hell am I doing, letting myself get caught up in this again?

I know how this ends. We’ve been here before. Me standing in his kitchen, wearing his clothes, convincing myself that I can handle whatever this is without losing my mind.

The house still smelled like it always did, fresh coffee and the faint scent of whatever aroma he insists on using in his humidifier.

My eyes catching on little things as I passed. Roscoe’s leash on the counter, a half-read book on the couch, my own scarf tossed carelessly over the armrest. The one from the last time I was in this house.

A reminder of the life we’d built, the one we let slip through our fingers. The one I’m trying to convince myself we can build again.

Because of course, I’m always hoping, always diving back in, like there’s some magical version of reality that won’t end with both of us in pieces.

Like I can out-stubborn heartbreak this time.

I reached the sliding door to the porch, my hand hesitating over the handle. I can see him sitting on the steps, Roscoe curled up beside him, the morning sun painting him like this ethereal soul. Peaceful. At ease.

Like he wasn’t wrestling with the same mess that tangled inside me.

His hand moved absently scratching behind Roscoe’s ears, and the sight made my chest feel too tight, too full. All at once.

I hate how much I’ve missed this. Him. Us. It’s ridiculous, really.

I should have learned by now that this is what we always do. Like we’re some kind of tragic romantic who never learn when to walk away.

I slid the door open, trying to keep quiet, but the wheels rattled against the track, betraying me.

He glanced over his shoulder, and a slow smile curved his lips when he saw me. I felt my chest squeeze at the sight, and I swear I try to ignore it.

“Hey,” he says softly, like he’s afraid of breaking the quiet. “Didn’t hear you get up.”

“Yeah, well, you were busy this handsome.” I nod towards Roscoe, who’s already trotting over to me, his body dancing like we’re old friends.

I crouch down to give him a scratch behind the ears, trying to ignore the way my chest tightens when Lewis just keeps watching me, his expression open and unguarded in a way that makes me feel like I’m on the verge of falling apart.

“You want some coffee?” he offers, lifting his mug like it’s some peace offering. “There’s more inside.”

I shrug, trying to keep my voice casual. “I’ll get some in a minute.”

He nods and looks back out at the horizon, like he’s giving me space to settle into the morning. But I don’t move. I just stand there, feeling like an outsider in a place I used to know so well.

And the worst part, I’m not even sure which of us is to blame for that.

All countless nights I spent lying awake, wondering if I’d made a mistake in letting him go. Wondering if I should’ve fought harder, stayed longer, done something other than walk away before he could hurt me.

“You okay?” His voice pulls me out of my thoughts, and I look up to find him softly watching me.

It’s a loaded question, and we both know it, but he says it like he’s genuinely hoping for a real answer.

I swallow hard, trying to find the right words. “Yeah, I’m—yeah. Just...thinking.”

He nodded, like he understood—like he always did. His gaze back to the yard, to the stretch of green that separated the house from the rest of LA, and I watched him in the quiet, studying the lines of his face in the early light.

The very ones I’d memorized, the ones I’d convinced myself I could forget.

But that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? To forget?

Because, here I am, standing on his porch in borrowed clothes, like I’m hoping that somehow, being in his space will help me figure out if this is worth the inevitable heartbreak I know is lurking, waiting for any crack.

And it’s never really been about him hurting me, has it? It’s about me letting it happen. It’s about me choosing this—choosing him—over and over again, knowing full well how the story goes.

And … I can’t seem to stop.

It would be so much easier to walk away. To pack up my things, leave before we can fall into the same patterns that broke us the first time.

To save myself from the way he looks at me like I’m the only thing that matters, only to feel it slip away when reality catches up.

But there’s something about him—about us—that keeps pulling me back. Like there’s a part of me that believes, against all logic and reason, that maybe this time will be different.

Lewis’s voice broke through my thoughts, low and even. “You know, you think too much.”

I let out a scoff that came out too breathy, too light. “Thanks for the insight, Dr. Hamilton. Real helpful.”

He chuckled, and it was the kind of sound that used to unravel me, back when we still believed we had time.

The kind that still does, deep down.

“It’s true, though. I can practically hear you thinking all the way over here.”

“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” I shot back, trying for a smirk, but it didn’t quite reach my eyes.

He just hummed, and the sound settled between us, comfortable, like we’d slipped back into an old rhythm. “I know. But you don’t have to figure everything out right now.”

And there it was, that knowing tone. It dug under my skin, pricking at all the places I’d tried to keep hidden.

Because of course he’d see right through me—he always did. And that’s what terrified me the most. He knew me, maybe even better than I knew myself, and that, that made it so much harder to walk away.

I found myself crossing the porch, sinking down next to Lewis. Our shoulders brushed, a familiar pull that had a hold on me, no matter how many times I tried to tell myself I was over that.

Over him.

I glanced sideways at him, catching the way the morning light softened the edges of his face. And for a moment, I let myself wonder what he saw when he looked at me.

If he saw the same girl he fell for the first time around, or just the mess I’d become since.

“What makes you think I’m trying to figure anything out?”

He shrugged, but there was a gentle smile tugging at his lips, like he didn’t need to say it. Because he could see right through my deflection.

“I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re overthinking everything. And I know that look on your face. The one when you were convinced the whole world is falling apart.”

I let out a huff, pulling my knees to my chest, resting my chin on them. The porch creaked under my movement, and I found myself focusing on the sound, anything to distract from the way he was looking at me, like I was something fragile and precious. “Yeah, well, sometimes my world feels like it’s falling apart.”

He didn’t look away, and his silence made my skin itch, like he was waiting for me to say something more. When I didn’t, he finally spoke, voice soft, but steady. “You think I don’t get it? That I haven’t replayed all the ways we could’ve made it work if we’d just... tried?”

I swallowed, the words cutting through me. “And what makes you think trying again will be any different?”

Lewis leaned back, his shoulders brushing against the wooden steps as he considered my question. His hand drifted back to Roscoe, absently scratching behind his ears.

It was a moment before he answered, his voice rough around the edges, like he’d thought about this more times than he’d ever admit. “Maybe I don’t. Maybe I don’t think it’ll be different.”

I blinked, caught off guard by his honesty. He wasn’t making promises, wasn’t offering some fairy-tale ending. He just looked at me with those steady eyes, the ones that always seemed to see right through me, right down to the parts of myself I tried to hide.

“But I do know something” he continued, and there was a weight to his words, like he was choosing them carefully. “Every time you walk away, I keep thinking, ‘What if?’ What if we just got it wrong, and we could get it right if we gave ourselves the chance?”

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to ignore the hope that his words stirred up in me. “And what if we just keep hurting each other all over again? What if we’re both just too stubborn to admit that it’s time to let go?”

Lewis turned to look at me then, his expression softer than I expected. “That’s what makes it worth trying to me. Neither of us seems to know how to really give up. Not on us. Not completely.”

I let out a shaky breath, my fingers tracing the hem of his sweater on my lap. It felt like there was a storm building in my chest, all those feelings I’d kept locked up threatening to spill out.

I didn’t know what to do with them, how to make sense of this thing between us that felt so much like a second chance and a ticking time bomb all at once.

He reached out then, his hand brushing against mine, a gentle touch that was almost like a challenge. “I’m not asking you to forget the past. I’m not even asking you to believe that we won’t mess this up again. But I am asking you to stop pretending like you don’t want this. That you don’t want me.”

And I couldn’t. Because he was right.

As much as a part of me would argue that I could, should, walk away, that I’d be better off if I just left before the inevitable hurt came crashing down, I still wanted him. Ached for him.

I met his gaze, letting him see the uncertainty, the fear, the hope that I couldn’t quite bury.

He held my gaze, unwavering. “Let’s be afraid together. One more time. Let’s make a mess of it, and figure it out as we go. Because I’m tired, too. Of pretending like I don’t want you here. Tired of acting like I don’t see a future where we get it right.”

And I knew, even if I tried to deny it, that for him, I’d hand him my life.

______________________________________________________________

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[bomberqueen17]

don't know where else to put it

I was going to do a big wrap-up of Everything I Learned From The Must Farm Site Report PDFs but then life got super busy. So I only have the things I turned over and over in my mind, just now, and I want to go back and reread but now's not the time, I'll have to do another pass through at a later date.

But the one tiny vivid little factoid I've got in my mind that I just have to write down-- that necklace, with the big amber bead? Some of the glass beads were shattered from the heat but the amber bead was only charred a little on one side. So obviously some of the necklace was closer to the fire than the rest. I had initially connected that it was found near where there was probably a door, and I vaguely imagined someone dropping it as they fled. But now I'm convinced that's not it at all.

It was hanging up. It was hanging on a peg or a hook or a twig or something, right near the door, maybe even on display, and the big heavy amber bead was hanging at the bottom, and the glass beads were hanging at the top, and the fire at that point spread down from the roof and it burned through the string, and the glass beads shattered and the necklace fell down and when the floor collapsed it wound up in the mud.

The other thing I keep thinking is that the fire has to have started while no one was home. And modern people don't think about this, but in a premodern society where you've got a group of people living in a house, where you don't have appliances you can turn on and off, where starting a fire takes serious effort and getting it to a state where you can cook on it takes hours, where the food served at daily meals has to be the full-time job of several people because it's so labor-intensive--

there's never going to be a time where everyone is out of the village. There's going to be a sickly or elderly person who can't really get out of bed or move far, or a new mother who's just given birth and can't travel, and there'll be someone home to tend to whoever that is, and while they're home they're tending the fire and getting dinner started. There's just always someone there. I could see maybe one house being unoccupied for a brief time, but a village, that probably had at least ten houses if not more, and each house had ten people in it? Someone would be home. And those who weren't home wouldn't be far. We know the wheat etc. that the village was eating was grown on dry land, and the flax they were processing into fiber, but it could not have been far away. And the Fenlands are flat. You'd see smoke. Before the first house was even engulfed someone would have noticed the smoke and they'd be hurrying home.

But nobody tried to fight the fire. Nobody spread it, but nobody fought it either. Nobody pulled any timbers out to save them. Nobody threw water on anything.

Nobody was there. The houses were empty. Nobody fled the fire, because they weren't there to see it start, or they would have been able to stop it.

They hadn't been evacuated in any organized way, or surely the bead necklace would have been taken. Even if they were in a hurry, at least the pot full of cooked food would have been taken, or emptied into something more portable to bring along! There was so much prepared food lying around. And the thread bobbins-- bobbins and bobbins of painstakingly-spliced flax they'd grown and rippled and scutched, some of it then painstakingly plied, hours and hours of several people's labor, and it was on little bobbins, you could sweep that into a basket along with your bulkier household goods and barely take up any space at all and save hundreds, maybe thousands of hours of labor later when you needed to weave some new fabric. Thread like that was precious, and it's portable, and I can't believe they'd choose to leave so much of it behind if they had any chance to choose what they brought with them.

As I'd said, it's beyond possibility that everyone had gone out to do some job-- there would be people left behind in the houses for that. Maybe everyone had gone out for some religious observation, maybe. Maybe something was important enough to even haul out the oldsters and the infants, and to put off dinner until late. Maybe. it's possible. But someone (probably in Structure 1) just didn't bank the fire correctly, and it got away and got into the roof beams. A properly-banked fire wouldn't do that, and surely these people, managing cooking fires for their entire lives, would know how to do it. But even then I can't imagine them going that far, and again, they'd see the smoke and hurry home. Even if it was a religious rite they'd still hurry home from it, there's no way they wouldn't have come back.

So it seems to me that they had to have been forced out. No notice, no chance to pack, everything left where it was, last night's supper still in the pot, tonight's bread still rising on the trays, the lambs in their pens and the dog tied up in House 5.

I can't imagine what forced them out. It wouldn't be weather. It could be enemies. There were no weapons found in the houses, but that might mean they'd taken them with them-- except the spears, perhaps they were only hunting spears but you'd think still if everyone ran out to fight they would take them too, the spears and the axes; if it was a situation where they had to last-ditch defend themselves the non-warriors would certainly arm themselves with the wood axes and the hunting spears. But they didn't.

So my conclusion is that they all were forced to leave in a hurry, without banking the fires, without putting anything away, and they were prevented from returning. The cause could be human enemies-- perhaps the warriors of the settlement had gone out to fight and been defeated, and the victors came here and the survivors knew they could not fight and so came out unresisting to meet their fates.

The cause could be something religious or spiritual-- something they believed in made them leave and prevented them from returning. It would have to be incredibly compelling, however, because leaving without their food or their cooking pots or their domestic goods (the little bobbins of thread!!!!! you could easily carry those!!) would make it very hard for them to make their way in the world.

The cause could be-- I really don't know what else. Disease would maybe make them abandon a settlement, maybe leave no trace if they buried their dead on land, but they would pack first. Most things, they would pack first, they wouldn't leave cooked food sitting out, they'd bring the lambs and dog with them. Any orderly evacuation, they'd have brought the lambs and dog with them. They have to have left in a hurry without a chance to prepare. And there was no attempt at salvage afterward, they didn't come back to look for anything they'd left. The ruins of the burned buildings would have stood visible for decades, the ends of roof timbers above the water, much of structure 4 (possibly the gate house entrance) above the water, the palisade probably unburnt for much of its length. It would have been easy to find. There are only a couple of disarranged timbers in Structure 3 to suggest anyone ever poked through the wreckage at all, and that's not much to go on. Certainly nobody dug around in the mud, which would have been quite shallow at some times of year.

And while it's possible the evidence of what happened existed once, somewhere in the long-vanished sections of the village-- perhaps the fire started at that end, perhaps they tried to fight it there, perhaps they tried salvage over there and discovered the fire had burned too hot to make it worthwhile, perhaps the bodies of the villagers were all dumped into the channel over there after whatever battle there was-- perhaps there was all kinds of stuff. But I just think whatever it was left no trace. So many of the possibilities would now be invisible, three thousand years later.

All we have is the facts: They left in a hurry, leaving their lambs in their pens, their food on the table, the dog tied up in the house, the cooking fires not banked.

And whatever made them leave, they never came back.

[jinnie-ret]

atlantis

han jisung x reader | end of the world au

genre: angst, humour(?), fluff

content warnings: swearing, suggestive jokes, natural disaster, death

word count: 5.8k

summary: their fate lies in the hands of a prophecy that could save their lives.

HAN JISUNG MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

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"Welcome back to the 1 o'clock news. We wish we had a more hopeful message today today but the waters are rising, electricity is compromised and people are already dying. We ask you to remain vigilant, take care of yourselves and stay close to your loved ones. The record high tidal waves are en route to South Korea and our beautiful city Seoul and people are saying we could be living in what will be the new Atlantis. It is estimated we have 10 hours left but-"

"Too depressing," Y/N sighed as she flicked through channels. She already knew they didn't have much time left, so waiting and hoping for a news report to tell them the opposite was only hurting her soul even more. There was no time to say goodbye to loved ones, having to prioritise using their remaining electricity towards kitchen appliances to make sure they could eat, their mobiles having already run out of charge and they didn't have a landline.

Oh yeah, they.

Y/N lived with her best friend Jisung in an apartment for the last couple of years, and those years held some of her favourite moments and memories and to think those could all be washed away in the events of the end of the world... it wasn't a nice feeling, not at all. She constantly felt sick to her stomach knowing the impending doom they'd have to face.

"There is a prophecy! It could be one or two of you out there that could save the world!" a whimsical looking man with thick lens glasses perched upon his nose spoke into the camera.

"Oh they're talking nonsense!" Y/N exclaimed, sitting up to grab the TV control again and switch the channel just as Jisung ran in with a bowl of cereal.

"No, no, no, leave it on!" he spoke through a mouthful of cornflakes as he jumped onto the sofa next to her, some milk spilling over but neither of them cared. Trivial issues like that didn't matter anymore.

"Ji, there's no point now anyways, the picture is staticy and the audio is all-" Y/N rolled her eyes before Jisung muffled her mouth with his hand to shut her up, and they both listened to the crazy man on the TV.

"One thing will unlock survival. The key is in a place where many people have come and gone. It lies in a enclosed area that only the bravest can enter. Only those who are worthy can wield it's power and open the gate that knows all, that all know."

"A key?! What could that mean?" Jisung sat forwards intrigued, finally removing his hand from Y/N's mouth who shoved him away from her.

"The prophecy didn't say that we specifically had to find it..." Y/N stood up, taking Jisung's finished bowl of cereal into the kitchen and placing it in the sink.

"Come on, if we can really do something to help, we've got to try," Jisung followed her into the kitchen, tugging her away from the sink to make sure her attention was on him. He bent ever so slightly to make sure she was looking right at him.

"Ji, I don't know about this..." Y/N's seemingly bored and nonchalant manner had quickly reverted to her nervous side.

"And if I'm gonna do this with anyone I'd want it to be you!" Jisung grabbed her arms now, hoping she'd brush away her worries for just once and do this with him, for him, for them.

"Aw Jisung... I can already feel my heart melting," Y/N in fact did brush away her worries, at face value at least, and grinned sarcastically at her best friend. She skipped away from him, gliding gracefully with her hand on her heart before jumping and flopping onto the sofa.

"Gosh, I've melted the Ice Caps! That's the last thing we need with the world flooding..." Jisung dramatically gasped, grabbing a piece of paper with a pen and whacking it on Y/N's head as he sat next to her. She of course, did retaliate with slap on the leg.

"Jisung, shut up."

It almost felt like an endless cycle. Hope, worry, denial, repeat. Y/N hated broadcasts like the one they had just listened to. Anyone would be a fool to actually listen to the words of a so called prophecy and even think of attempting to save the world.

"Right we need to think... enclosed area, only the bravest can enter?" Jisung hummed, tapping the pen against his chin before scribbling down the jist of what had been said on TV.

And that was her fool right there. She loved him for it though.

"Jisung, come on," Y/N sighed, going to grab the notebook away from him but he held it tightly to his chest, wiggling in his seat to face her and sit closer.

"No you come on, work with me here, think, please," Jisung stood his ground firmly, brows furrowed in what could only be described as a pleading, Puss-in-Boots-like expression.

"Fine, fine... It's probably that club down town, what's it called? HooBAEs? No one would dare enter there, awful place, wouldn't mind if it got completely flooded," Y/N thought out loud stretching out and resting her legs on Jisung's lap, who didn't react apart from resting his notes on her calves without batting an eyelid.

"Yeah yeah! That place is horrible, probably is at least halfway ruined by now," he nodded in thought, scribbling down the name of the club.

"Halfway? It was dreadful from the start, remember that time someone pissed onto the floor in the middle of the night," Y/N reminded Jisung of the unfortunate time thet decided to go out on a Saturday night. Never again. They both felt like they much preferred a night in anyways watching crappy movies and making fun of the storylines.

"Oh yeah that was grim..." Jisung nodded, wrinkling his nose just thinking of it.

"Yeah horrible..." Y/N trailed off.

"Y/Nnie you've driven us off topic again."

"No I haven't!"

"What, you think we should try HooBAEs? We'll probably get a disease I don't wanna even think about if we go there..." Jisung shuddered, wishing his best friend never suggested the idea. The end of the world couldn't rely on a key being hidden in such a dodgy establishment, could it?

"Remember the prophecy, Ji, only brave people would go there. As much as I hate to say it, we should go there. We've ventured there before, why not now?" Y/N lifted herself up from the sofa and grabbed the keys to her apartment, stuffing it into the pocket of her hoodie.

"Not the worst idea... might need to put our wellies on though, the water is filling up," Jisung waved her over to stand beside him and observe the outside. She didn't even notice him move towards the tall glass windows of the apartment, but it was the smart thing to do, considering how high the water had already risen.

"Actually, we might need a boat," Y/N breathed out in sudden realisation as she joined his side. The water had risen to around half the height of your average door, from what she tell by squinting at the buildings across the road.

"Shit, you're right," Jisung groaned, hitting his head against her shoulder. Y/N patted his head sympathetically as they both prepared themselves, physically and mentally, to try and save the world.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The pair of courageous best friends were quite the sight to see. As luck would have it, there was a leisure equipment shop across the road, having all sorts of things they could steal because no one was going to work their job when the building was half flooded and when they knew it would soon be the end for everyone. Fortunately, the canoes were quite near the front of the shop, and they, well, Y/N, hauled it off of the rack that was still standing somehow. Jisung was too distracted by the idea of getting an inflatable pool.

"Jisung we don't need a pool! Just jump out this canoe if you want to swim!" you had huffed as you dragged the canoe towards the door as you waded through the water.

"I didn't wanna swim! I wanted to just float around," Jisung moped, doing a weird awkward jog through the murky water trying to catch up to you. The one where the force of the water weighs your legs down so you have to almost jump out slightly each time you take a step.

Once you both made it out of the shop you both clambered into the boat, Jisung taking the back and you sitting at the front. There were of course a few failed attempts of rowing down the road, neither of them having used an oar before. Did it tip over? Yes, it did. But that was because they both started rowing on the same side.

Eventually they did arrive along the top of the street of the notoriously grim club, HooBAEs.

"How do we park a canoe, shit," Y/N wobbled as she stood up, confronted with an odd dilemma she never thought she would be.

"Girl... never mind," Jisung side eyed her in pure disbelief before grabbing her to sit down, it was like she was trying to be a gondolier.

Jisung achieved their goal of not losing their transport, and helped Y/N out after he caught his own balance. He couldn't control the blood from rushing to his cheeks when she didn't let go of his hand, and she even readjusted the grip she held on his hand as they walked inside the club venue.

"Why would there even be a key here? A special key in a prophecy here? Plus it's not exactly an enclosed area..." Jisung gagged at the stench of the place. Bar stools were floating around, turned onto their backs like many people were the last time they both went on a night out here. Guess the pros are of the world ending is that the slippery floor means nothing now that the water is up to just underneath their waists. Wood from the pillars and bar had rotted, splinters of the material floating around in what now looked like a grotty swamp of cheap furniture. And that wasn't the only thing that was floating around.

"Is that a condom?" Y/N shrieked at the plastic floating towards them both, tugging Jisung back, her feet colliding with old music equipment that had long ago blown it's fuse.

"Focus on the issue at hand, Y/N!" Jisung chastised her, yet still allowing her to pull him back with her, not wanting to let go of her hand. Oh, he was so whipped. It was something about the way she matched his energy perfectly, his twin flame, you could say. She never failed to put a smile on his face, those plump lips that he wish he could just-

"Ew it's a used one! Quick, go! Move, Ji!" Y/N squealed in disgust and tugged his hand harder, essentially breaking him out of his thoughts. And with that they left the decrepid place, relieved at the same time.

Being the gentleman he was, Jisung helped her back into the canoe first, and as they rowed away, he gasped in excitement and suddenly started rocking the boat.

"Dude stop this isn't the time for messing around! I don't wanna fall in again," Y/N exclaimed, letting out small murmurs of discomfort and annoyance as she tried to stay sat down.

"Y/Nnie I know it! I know where it could be!" Jisung shouted feeling elated, having his lightbulb moment.

"Enlighten me, oof-" Y/N's voice wobbled as her body did too, before she ended up falling backwards into his lap, the boy automatically latching onto her shoulders to try and stabilise her but they were both already red as tomatoes.

"Umm sorry I-" Jisung stuttered, not knowing whether to let go of Y/N because realistically he wished that such an interaction would never be awkward between them and that he had confessed how he truly felt a long time ago.

"It's fine just umm tell me where you're thinking so we can steer this ship!" Y/N cringed as she spoke through a strained smile, taking her original spot once again. She tried to forget that just happened, because she never thought it would. She never imagined that her heart would race at the sight of his smile, blush from his teasing words or that her nights would be filled with thoughts of what would happen if they ever were a 'thing'. But here they were.

"Please don't say that again."

"Yeah you're right, it was ummm... yeah."

"I mean, I saw where you were going with it but it just didn't really hit-"

"Ok fine! Just tell me where you think the key is! I'm very embarrassed now!" Y/N stammered, staring straight ahead as her hands gripped the sides of the 'ship' as she wished she could rewind and never say what she did. If her thoughts were gonna take her down the route of a 'thing' ever blossoming between them, she could watch that sapling die right in front of her very eyes.

"That big house, on the outskirts of town..." Jisung trailed off, not quite remembering the name of the mansion he was imagining.

"Oddinary House?" Y/N offered weakly, now feeling composed enough to turn back around. As she did so she made sure the oars were resting in place.

"Yes that's the place! All you hear about that place are horror stories!" Jisung nodded enthusiastically when Y/N's words sparked his memory.

"And you think you're brave enough to go there?" she laughed, looking off to the side.

"Hey, this is for the prophecy! We could save this place! This city! Our friends!" Jisung insisted, desperation apparent as he shifted to look right into Y/N's eyes, the jostling causing water to ripple around them.

"Ji... Is it worth it for the prophecy?" Y/N sighed, her minds going off in all different directions, wondering if it was worth it.

"Yes! A chance at life! We need to do this, Y/Nnie," Jisung did his best to convince her, feeling her turmoil and lessening hope as the moments went by, especially when she turned back around to avoid him from seeing the tears that blurred her vision.

"Isn't it all pointless anyways..." she mumbled.

"It's not when I'm with you," Jisung hugged her from behind for a moment, and oddly it felt natural, far less awkward than before. "Now, come on, let's go, or shall I say-"

"If you say let's row then I am tipping over this boat," Y/N chuckled as she sniffed, wiping away her tears.

"Noted. I will not speak in fear of drowning," Jisung spoke robotically, the two of them laughing once more afterwards as they grabbed the oars once more.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

It was a treacherous journey you could say, venturing to the outskirts of the city, but it wasn't hard to see the old worn-down mansion which practically had a storm cloud hovering above it. Oddinary House, in all it's glory.

"What a glorious shithole," Jisung whistled out, eyes trialing across the rotting wood that was barely keeping the place together. It was a surprise his voice was even normal, considering the volumes that the impromptu karaoke session reached between the two of them.

"I know right," Y/N nodded along, squinting when she thought she saw someone floating in the water. They both rowed closer to the entrance of the house, gaining a closer look at the body. "Oh my god!" she gasped, "they're dead!"

"Damn, this place is fucked," Jisung's jaw hung open, even further when the body spoke back to him.

"Isn't it just?"

Jisung and Y/N both yelled out in shock at the person/creature that they thought was dead, suddenly speaking to them with an enticing melodic voice. They should have realised sooner than the swishing back and forth as they floated in the water couldn't have been achieved by a dead person.

"Wait... Oh my... it's the sexy scary siren! The stories were right!" Y/N put two and two together, remembering all the stories she had been told about who lived at the abandoned mansion and she figured out that this was the siren that many had spoken about. His alluring puppy dog eyes and gorgeous smile were just added bonuses to his hypnotising voice.

"Sexy?"

"Sexy..."

Jisung and the siren met eyes as they both spoke aloud at the same time, one of them sounding jealous and the other quite smug.

"Umm, right... Do you have a key?" Jisung abruptly asked, not wanting to waste any time.

"Don't just ask him!" Y/N turned away from the siren and whacked Jisung on the arm, scolding him.

"Well what am I supposed to do?!"

"I don't know introduce ourselves?!"

The siren chuckled as he watched the two humans in the canoe bicker. The back and forth instantly made him think of an old married couple playfully arguing yet they also had this radiant aura around them that could only be seen when they're together.

"Ummm, I'm Y/N and this is my best friend Jisung, please don't kill us, haha," Y/N falsely grinned feeling nervous even though her brain felt comfortable enough to blurt out earlier that she thought the siren in front of her was sexy.

"I'm Seungmin," the siren purred out, pausing in his floating to swim up to the canoe and rest his head against the edge of it. "Now, what's this about a key?" he inquired curiously.

"Did you not see the news?" Jisung huffed, not wanting to go through the prophecy anymore times than Y/N had already made him repeat it, just so that she could 'engrave it into her brain'.

"You really think we get signal out here? And in this climate? Bless your heart," Seungmin patronised Jisung, flicking water up in his face and making the boy squeeze his nose as some droplets has arrived up his nostrils. Incredibly salty water. That made it sting more.

Just then, a beautiful voice broke out, but no, it did not belong to the siren that was right in front of them, no. This voice, was female, and it was coming from above. Looking up at the stained windows of the second floor, and not in a pretty vibrant and colourful way, a figure almost glided down the corridor. They moved slowly, almost allowing for their voice to break out, becoming louder especially when they saw Jisung and Y/N.

"Oh gosh, you really had to set her off... We just got her to keep quiet!" Seungmin exclaims annoyed, a frown taking over his face as he pushes away from the canoe.

"Oh shit is that a banshee?" Y/N gasped, thinking about the newer rumours that had recently come of Oddinary House.

"No she must be the sexy siren you were saying about bestie," Jisung tried craning his neck to get a better look at who was catching his eye.

"No we already established that was me, obviously," Seungmin shouts back at them, before heading round to the other side of the mansion, swimming his way gracefully to the back garden.

"Ugh, Ji, you're getting distracted again," Y/N huffs as she whacks him.

"Hey that was you before!" Jisung folds his arms.

"Blah blah blah, come in, let's head inside," Y/N directs him as they row their boat inside the front doors, arriving into what looked like a reception room. Haggard, is what this place was.

"Hey! Umm, we're looking for a key!" Han dumbly called out.

"Dude ssshh, they could eat us or something," Y/N said feeling paranoid, wrapping her arms around one of Jisung's.

"Nothing will eat us," Jisung rolled his eyes fondly, letting her cling onto him still.

"I could eat you."

Shit. How accurate were these stories? How accurate were they to know that there was also a werewolf living at this mansion?! In fact, said werewolf was currently sat on the staircase, distastefully flicking water out of his fur.

"Please don't," Y/N gasped.

"Please do," Jisung gasped.

Everyone froze, looking back and forth between each other with confusion. You couldn't make this up, what was happening, it was just that bizarre.

"Ji, that's literally a werewolf," Y/N reminded him, pulling away from him as she stared up the creature who was smirking right back at them, one leg folded over the other, a certain smugness about him with his sharp features illuminated by a yellow light.

"Yeah but he's kindaaaa..." Jisung trailed off, scanning the figure.

"Hmm, yeah, I can see it to be fair," Y/N agreed after a few moments.

The werewolf cleared his throat after a few more starry eyes gazes were directed towards him, "if you're looking for a key, you need to find a gate to open."

"Duh! That's why we're looking for a key? Why is bro so cryptic," Han sighed in disappointment, could have been the perfect companion if it wasn't for his obvious remarks.

"Shut up he's helping us," Y/N reprimanded her best friend before trying to read the true thoughts and emotions behind the eyes of the being sat before them. "A gate... hold on, hold on, you know where this key is, don't you! You're gonna send us on a wild goose chase when we could be saving the world?!"

"Oh, haha, aw, how sweet, you think you can save the world? Well in that case... Head upstairs, might wanna avoid the banshee she's been a bit umm, stressed recently you could say... And then find the cyborg, his name is CB97. We used to have him downstairs but you know, water and electrics don't really-"

"Right thanks!" Han rushes past Minho and cuts him off, wading through the water and going up the other set of stairs. "Come on Y/N!"

Y/N really wished she taught him some manners. She had heard from some of his friends that he was a bit of a dick during his younger teen years but when she first met him he was sweet as pie. Well, until they got comfortable with each other and with roasting each other.

"Sorry about him, he's a bit... excitable," Y/N sheepishly walks past the werewolf, doing a weird wave and not turning her back in fear he'd suddenly turn and eat her up.

The pair were wary as they walked the floors upstairs, flinching at every sound until a door opening on its own terrified them.

"Ahhhh!!!"

"Ahhhh!"

"Stop screaming!!!"

"You stop screaming!!"

"Ji, shut up, look he's there, the cyborg," Y/N points to the hunched figure in the corner of the dimly lit room. He was hooked up to some generators, but more importantly, there was a clear box as part of his make, where a human's abs would normally be. And what was inside of that clear box? A golden, shiny key.

"Yes! We found it!!! Oh my gosh we're gonna save the world!" Y/N cheered as she and Jisung jumped up and down in each others arms, hugging tightly and pulling away to stare into each others eyes for a moment.

Jisung was the first to pull away

"Hey umm, Mr Cyborg, Mr CB... my 97 bro... Umm, where do we need to unlock this key?" Jisung waves his hand in front of the barely glowing blue eyes of the machine. After composing herself, Y/N stepped up next to him, also trying to get the cyborg to respond to them.

But it was no luck. The generators sparked as drops of water fell from the ceiling and caused a fuse, making CB97 the cyborg fully shut down, head hanging forwards.

"No, no, shit!" Y/N swore, tapping on the back of the cyborg with such vigor it was like someone was trying to fix an old television.

"Great that was real helpful... Now what are we going to do?!" Jisung stomped his foot, pacing back and forth with his hands on his head.

"Wait, give me a sec," Y/N rolled up her sleeves, ready to bust open the small door on the cyborg's body to retrieve the key. She slowly grabbed it, focusing all her strength on it til it opened all too easy and she went flying backwards and hit the floor with a loud groan.

"Shit, you ok Y/Nnie?" Jisung helped her up, rubbing her head gently and she responded with a nod.

"I'm fine, more than fine actually, I'm great. Look, the key, it's there Jisung!" Y/N dragged him back over to the shut down robot and grabbed the key, sliding it into her pocket and zipping it securely.

"We're actually going to do this... we're going to save the world!" Jisung gasped in disbelief.

They headed back down the corridors, walking down one flight of stairs and passing by a man with fangs peeking out from underneath his upper lip.

"Oh, by the way, your robot man friend went all sleepy mode on us," Y/N casually said, continuing to walk down the stairs alongside he best friend.

"What?!" the man yelled incredulously before morphing into a bat and zooming off upstairs, not before bumping into an old bear statue.

"Eh, not our problem," Jisung rested his hand on Y/N's back as he steered them outside, back to where their canoe was.

Oh how both of them wished that they'd be successful in saving the world, so they could tell the stories of entering the mansion to future generations, to their own kids- wait scrap that last idea, it's not like they'd ever end up together anyways.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Now it was time to trek back into the city. The sun was setting, casting a peachy glow across the faces of the pair. It seemed so scenic, only for it to smell horrendous. Jisung has convinced them to take a 'detour' because he 'knew a shortcut'. He didn't know a shortcut. And because of the route change they were both now forced to deal with the stench of the contents of the city's sewers flooding into the water around them. The putrid eggy smell consumed their lungs, and Y/N was sure she'd never breathe again.

"Smells like you after taco night-" Y/N plugged her nose with one hand as she laughed.

"Oi, Trouble, shut it!" Jisung kicked her bum lightly, trying not to laugh too.

Y/N loved being able to push his buttons, thus gaining her the nickname 'Trouble'. Jisung didn't use it all the time, but on the occasions he did it made her heart swoon. She knew she was getting under his skin and there was something so gratifying about him recognising that when he did use the nickname.

"You shouldn't have made them so spicy," Han pouted after a moment, mind still stuck there whilst Y/N had drifted to her nightly routine, despite it being closer to 6pm.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"I just can't think of where this gate is meant to be," Y/N groaned, looking up at the sky. Her arms were beginning to ache from rowing so Jisung insisted he'd take over to let her rest a bit.

"What did it say again?" Jisung stopped rowing, letting the canoe float.

"Oh come on! You told me I was silly for wanting to remember it off by heart!" Y/N knocked her head against Jisung's leg in protest, causing him to hold her head still as he looked down at her form laying down in the canoe.

"Y/Nnie, just tell me, yeah?" Jisung smiled through gritted teeth.

"Ugh fine, remember, it said a gate that knows all, that all know," Y/N reminded him.

"I just don't get how we're meant to figure that out, out of all the gates in the city how-"

"Jisung we're idiots," Y/N cut him off.

"Speak for yourself!" he huffed. The light in the day would soon be gone and there would be less chance of them completing their goal.

"Nope we're in this together. We're idiots. The city hall? That literally has a big gate and plus no one would really dare to enter there!! The place that knows all, that we all know! It's got to be that right?! All the official governing bodies go there, us common people could never just waltz in." Y/N scrambles up, rambling excitedly as her guess made more and more sense. Jisung had to help her to adjust her balance, and not just because of clumsy self trying to stand in the boat, but because of the waves seemed to be getting harder to handle. Only this morning it had been calmer and as the day went on the ripples turned to smaller waves that would rock the boat. And now they were straight up aggressive.

"But now we can," Jisung dangled the key in his hands.

"Hell yeah!" Y/N cheered with a newfound energy and she grabbed her set of oars.

It wasn't long until they made their way round to the city hall, going round the back of the historic building and finding the tall golden gates guarding an endless flight of stairs. It was said to have led down to an old pipe system that ran underneath the hall and the whole city.

"I wish I thought of this earlier, should have paid more attention in geography," Jisung shook his head regretfully.

"Right, who's going to swim down? Because I'll do this Jisung, I don't mind," Y/N turned to her best friend, gripping his hands tightly with promises exchanged between. The water had now risen further on their journey and if it rose anymore their boat would simply tip over the gates.

"No, I can't just let you do that!" Jisung exclaimed, frowning at the thought of the girl he loved going to do this on her own. It wouldn't feel fair.

"We need someone up here to keep watch of things!" Y/N tried to grab her hands out of Jisung's hold, who was now holding on tighter than ever not wanting to spend a moment without her.

"Watch what? Our city drown even more?!" Jisung cried out exasperatedly.

"No way," Y/N's heart dropped.

"Umm yes way, it's been like that forever!" Jisung grumbled, searching through Y/N's gaze to try and figure out what had really made her feel taken aback.

"No, look!" Y/N's eyes welled up in fear, pure utter fear.

There was a colossal tidal wave heading towards the city, already plummeting through several buildings in the distance and driving them down into the ground, destruction it's friend. Flocks of birds flew high in the sky, squawking as they retreated in fear. If only they were birds who could leave so easily. There only chance was this prophecy, it had to work.

"Oh shit," Y/N was frozen as she shouted loudly.

"Look, we've not got time, we do this together ok, I don't care what happens," Jisung grabbed Y/N's face between his hands, thumbs stroking over the tops.of her cheekbones as he tried to get her to focus.

"What if it doesn't work? This stupid prophecy?! We've got a key but what do we even-" Y/N trembled in Jisung's arms.

"No, no, no, sshh it's ok, Y/N. I got you, yeah? Come on, we need to do this now, ok?" Jisung stood up shakily on the canoe, pulling Y/N up with him.

"Together?" Y/N's voice cracked.

"Yes, we go down, now, at least we've tried," Jisung rested his forehead against hers, before they both jump into the murky waters with an all mighty splash.

It was lucky Jisung had a tight grip on the key as the pair of them rose above the water, took in a deep breath, and with one look to each other they nodded and swam down to the keyhole of the gate together. With all luck, this prophecy would be right. Maybe they'd be able to unlock the gates, allowed the water to flood down into the city's old pipes system and drain it all, so that they'd have at least one chance of survival.

Y/N helped Jisung stay down in the water to try and unlock the gate, as there was nothing to cling onto. He lodged the key into the hole and twisted it to the left, once, twice, thrice. He pushed the gates forwards and they shared a look of success, before it soon turned to dread.

They were expecting an empty staircase, for the water to flood down, but to their horror the pipes system itself has already been overwhelmed with flooding.

In that moment the huge tidal wave that had been hurtling towards the city hit where they were, and they were sucked down into the pipes system from the sheer force of the wave hitting on impact. The current hit them ferociously, dragging the two of them further and further down. There was nowhere to turn to, nowhere to run.

Jisung and Y/N we're freaking out, flailing in the water and trying to swim upwards for air but it was no use. The place was filled to the brim with water and by the time they tried swimming back up the endless amount of stairs, water would start to enter their lungs.

In fact, it already was.

The two heroes gripped onto each other as bubbles appeared in the water in front of them and the oxygen left their body. They were running out of time, something that seemed so precious until their world was doomed. Doomed from the very start. The prophecy lied.

Jisung grabbed Y/N's hands startling her out of her freak out and he rested both of them against his heart. She cried, adding her salty tears to the water they were submerged in, wishing this wasn't how it had to end. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't they have more time to confess? Why couldn't they have had more time to tell each other how they truly felt?!

He moved his hands to her face, holding her so delicately once more, and she, him. More bubbles were appearing but if they were going to share their last breath, they knew how they'd want to lose it. Jisung pressed his lips against Y/N's, something he should have done a long time ago. Their eyes closed when their lips met, and when they pulled away, they held onto each other tightly, love and despair in both of their longing stares saying 'we tried'.

And they did try. They tried so hard to save a world that was dying, leading to their own fated departures from the Earth. The world was destined to end but they were destined to be together, no matter what was thrown at them.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

tagged: @skz-streamer @kiraisastay @hannahhbahng @kpopmenace143 @sakufilms @kai-lee08 @arloo00 @dunno-wut-to-do @splat00z @cheesemonky @his-angell @turtledove824 @2minstan @royal-shinigami @yangbbokari @skzoologist

[on-a-lucky-tide]

Ok so, I love all the shorts you post on here, you are building up a background of Competent Officer but Emotionally Stunted Price and Emotionally Intelligent and Badass Nik. Cool, fabulous.

But I've got to ask; what is Nik's sore spot?

With the extra decade it does make sense that he is more sure of himself and his relationships generally but you did touch on it with the body image/food one and mentioned it in passing with the how they met bit. Does the age gap get to him sometimes? All the loud machines (and guns) is he worried about his hearing going?

Or, his English is pretty good but does he sometimes get lost with fast speakers/strong accents?

What about something more silly? Is he fine with spiders but gets freaked out by daddy long legs (like me)? Is he wildly afraid of moths? Is he fine with big injuries but if he get a papercut is it the end of the world? Does he suffer terribly from Man Flu?

On a more domestic note, what irritates Price about him? I mean, no one is perfect right?

Does he always leave the bathroom in a state? Do all the broken noses mean he snores like a bear with a head cold (admittedly that might apply to Price as well)? Is he like my Dad and has very strong opinions on adverts and regularly go on rants about how the ad has nothing to do with the product? Does he like Marmite and Price hates it (or vice versa)?

Some excellent questions. I think Nik's weaknesses or vulnerabilities are tied up with his strengths, which I know sounds weird, but hear me out:

- This man is mad intelligent. He speaks eight languages, he canonically can fly pretty much anything (from what I've seen). He was significant enough in knowledge and skills for MI6 to go for him twice. Weakness: his intelligence can sometimes make him coldly logical. Look at how he didn't even blink twice at terrifying Butcher's family; I think that feeds well into Price's ruthlessness. He cares deeply about those he loves, but if you're not "his"? He won't even blink when pulling the trigger if it will help meet his goals.

- Linked to the above, he values his physical strength and his intellect. They make him worth something and he doesn't feel he has any intrinsic worth just as Nik. (Overbearing and demanding Soviet General father made it clear Nik needed to earn his place in the world.) If he feels they are declining or lessening, this is going to throw him through a loop. Big time. (Well noted from the food ficlet.)

- I think he was hugely, perhaps even suicidally, depressed when he turned informant. That conflict of loyalty and morality would have been difficult for his mind to process. I think that explains his apparently unflinching loyalty to Price and Laswell. In his eyes, they saved his life by giving him a purpose. (Nik you stupid fuck you literally set up Chimera and you're a hugely wealthy arms dealer off your own back wtf mate.) Nik never really had time to heal from that, he papered over it and got on with the job. I think as he settles down with Price, he will need to go to therapy. A lot of it.

- He is untidy (not unclean) at home. Laundry on the floor by the basket, never puts books away, gets fixated on a project at the expense of other things. It's like he left the military and his psyche rebelled against the bits he hated the most. Price can't compute how he can be so clinical at work and yet a complete clusterfuck at home. The garage is full of vehicles and appliances he disassembled and never put back together. Man's lucky he's dynamite in bed.

Nik is a "good" man in so far as he can be in a morally grey position. I write him with Price, through Price's lens, so we see "hero protagonist Nik" because that's who he is to/with Price. However, I do have a little ficlet tucked away when a jealous Ghost confronts him in Paris, and he tells Ghost, "If you take a shot, boy, you better not miss, because it will not happen again", and Ghost realises just why Price chose this man as his life partner. He's exactly the same level of ruthless.

[thatunusualwriter]

Can we please get a part two to of the ReikoxEarthrealm!Reader headcanons, I’d really appreciate it if you did😊

My, my! You're a second person to ask for continuation! But the first one asked for a fic tho so that one will take some time, since I think I mayyyy go a little different direction than this part 2 of this HC since I started the fic drafts first lol. Longer fics just take time, guys.

ᓚᘏᗢｼEnjoy!

𝚁𝚎𝚒𝚔𝚘 𝚡 𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚎𝚛!𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽𝚂 sfw & nsfw-ish || part 2

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.⋆｡⋆˚｡⋆｡˚｡⋆.⛓🤍💥👊⛓.⋆｡⋆˚｡⋆｡˚｡⋆.

I won't lie to you - things will get awkward between the two. For a LONG time.

Reiko is an honorable man but he was saved by an Earthrealmer. His mind is reeling with indecisions of how he should act around Reader. He wants to show gratitude but his hate for Reader's kind runs deep - and what's making it harder is that Reader's a civilian. And a honorable warrior doesn't hurt those, especially when they're harmless.

So Reiko's trying to be... nice(?). But not too much. He can be quite an asshole.

He's actually not shy to flaunter around and boast how Outworld is far superior.. ((my guy... It's like..... 2am.. go the fuck to bed))

But he's not good with his words, instead of all the "thank you"s he is a man of action so it means he's helping around Reader's home as much as he can/is able to.

But kitchen is a place he should not step into. Back in Outworld, it's fine, he can coock alright, but this modern look and appliances... he's really confused by a lot of things in Reader's home generally but something that actually didn't survive its first encounter with Reiko was a toaster.

R. I. P. toaster

The moment the toasts flew up all of a sudden had him yelp. Literally. And he punched the electrical device into the next room.

[[ＢＲＵＴＡＬＩＴＹ- ＲＥＩＫＯ ＷＩＮＳ]]

Reader has to get a new one once they'll save enough money.

And. damn. does he actually feel kinda bad when he learns about how tight with money it is in Earthrealm.

What he struggled with the most was privacy.

Listen, he's a soldier. He's been at wars. And quite often there is no luxury such as privacy. And when you see naked bodies everywhere for a decade you began to ignore it and treat it like a normal thing (example: gynecologists), and being no royalty you literally get no privilege to have a bath to yourself.

The only one embarrassed and weirded out — understandably so — was Reader.

Reiko wouldn't even dare put his hands on an Earthrealmer but with the way he was raised, and lives, he just is used to share a bath/shower.

Was very surprised to find out someone is actually able to kick him out of a room verbally. Reader hadn't a free hand to spare to throw anything at him anyway.

Him walking around naked was another thing he had to un-learn.

Reader called him a "pervert" for literally promenading butt-naked.

But it's not like he didn't notice Reader ogling him.

"At least I'm not staring at someone's body like a piece of meat."

That comeback made Reader flushed and sputter out incoherent words to mask their embarrassment but couldn't quite find it in themself to bite back at that. Because... Yes.. Reader really drank in the sight of the sculpted warrior's body, shamelessly.

For a few days Reiko was stubborn to lay down his uniform and armor, refusing to put on anything 'casual' or to look as if he 'fits in' as Reader said.

He doesn't want to 'fit in', this is who he is and others should just leave him be.

Reader thinks it would be better if he were to attract less attention if he were to go outside. Everyone would think he's one of those people who cosplay and live 24/7 like that OR it could actually catch the eye of the FBI or whoever and they would snatch him off the street because of knowing who he is.

Reiko had to swallow his pride. Literally. And accept a slight change.

Reader bought him a red, flannel shirt and new shoes, let him keep his pants at least... And the face paint had to go too.

Reader had to FIGHT with the make-up removal products for their life. Reiko's war paint was meant to stay on. Better than any foundation Reader ever came across, would make any Drag Queen's make-up brand seethe with envy.

It was almost like peeling it away from a wall, that it made Reader feel bad when they had to scrub a little harder against his skin.

It was... quite a scare? uhm, almost unnatural to see him without the black paint on his face, especially around his eyes. If I can put it that way? The black made his pale, white eyes stood out more but now it did made him look less... intimidating.

But this was also a win for Reader not to deal with black smudges on their pillows, lol.

When it was time for Reader to go to work Reiko wanted to come with. "Make sure you won't call the authorities on him" or whatever to which Reader is just like; "Noooo...? No you're not." "The Hells you mean, no? I'm not leaving your side."

He's neither a kid or an ill pet to sneak him into Reader's job. But Reiko can't quite grasp the concept of why would that be impossible to come- it's not a war for him not to be allowed there!

In the end, Reiko is left in the public spaces outside Reader's job and they come to check on him at lunch breaks, also getting him some food and drink too.

Reader was nice enough to get Reiko something to read while he'd be by himself for 8 hours, to which he refused to read anything at first, but then gave in after an hour and a half when looking at the same crack in the pavement became boresome.

And it eventually became a routine that Reiko got used to... not that he liked it.

When no one was around he did a quick work-out to still be in shape. Though Reader had to stop him from using a tree as a punching bag. A public tree = therefor should not be vandalized or they'd have to pay a fee.

When Reader's colleague/s wanted to join them on their lunch breaks and actually want to get to know him is when he felt at unease, like, never before in his life had he felt that way until now.

He felt like an imposter, trying to act like he's from their realm while not knowing realms exist... Reader always came in to save him though, never left him at an uncomfortable spot for too long when detecting something is not right.

Reader literally had to learn Reiko's body language. Just because they wanted to.

He didn't notice it but he gave himself away quite a few times. But they didn't have the heart to tell him that, wouldn't want to ruin his confidence of being the best soldier there is.

Reiko would begin to clam in and then his body would sort of lean away from the group. He may not realize it, at all, so perhaps don't point it out.

In his mind, he needs to be a perfect soldier, or he's nothing short of useless.

.... Reader does certainly dislike the one who made him feel that way.

[iwantdatcookie]

LIFE UPDATE

Its been a while, but I think it's time I made an update about what's happened to my family and I these past few months, how we've been holding up, and our plans for the future.

Long story short, some few months back, we were victims of a house fire, we all got out okay, but we lost most of our possessions. Right now we are okay and we are not in a terrible economic situation. For that reason, and considering the state of the world, I don't feel quite right in asking for donations, at least not outright.

You can see a more complete history of how things went, what our plans are, and my thoughts regarding any possible help are under the cut.

So the long version of the story is that on May of this year, the house fire started as a fire that began in our neighbors house, that subsequently spread to ours. There was some hope that the fire wouldnt spread, but it ended up happening and most of our house was destroyed

This is the picture i took, which i posted as part of my original post when the incident happened

In the last update from that original post, I mentioned we were being shown a place we could stay at, provided by a friend of the family, which we ended up staying in for a couple of months. The cleanup process for the initial debris and all the costs incurred had to paid from our own pockets, as the house was too old to be insured sadly.

While this all happened, we contracted a construction company to build us a prefab house in the space available in our backyard, a process which took about 3 months. We did this so that we would be able to return as quickly as possible to look after our cats, who managed to survive. We hadn't been able to take them with us to our temporary homes because of lack of space and other animals being there.

As the prefab house was built, we also bought all the necessary utilities, as well as more clothes. My parents covered most of the costs there, including the house, and I pitched in with the cost for things like the kitchen appliances as well as our clothes. Around this time I got some money from people who donated to me as well, so I used it alongside money from my savings. I spent the equivalent to around 1000 usd back then.

The house was finished around August, and we have been living here since then. For my parents and I, its quite comfortable enough as is.

It really has the accommodations of a regular house, despite being a prefab, so it worked out nicely!

That said, because our family is bigger than just my parents and me, we are still thinking of building a bigger, non prefab house so we can still get together with my siblings and other friends of the family more comfortably.

The plans for that new house are still in progress right now, but once those are finalized and we all come to an agreement together, we will go through with it. When that happens, that's when the real big spending will come. My parents will have to take from their retirement savings, and my siblings and I will surely try to pitch in what we can. This however is still a while away from now.

That said, even with such things considered, we are not at risk of becoming destitute. We have enough savings and we can make it by just alright.

This is the part where I go over my opinions regarding donations. Quite frankly, I don't feel fully in a position to be asking for donations too openly. There are many, many other people going through very horrible situations right now, people in Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon, Congo, and many other places (ive still been making some donations here and there to campaigns that take paypal). Besides that, I've been struggling for a while from other things weighing on my conscience going years back, so that is adding to the amount of stress that comes up whenever I think about this.

Still, I've come to a decision. I know still that people care about me, so, if anyone feels able, and is not struggling, they can dm me and I can send you a link to donate if you feel inclined. I still feel inclined to insist that you first donate to a campaign from Gaza Funds , Sudan Funds, and any other campaign I reblog here in my blog. I will feel better if you do, even if I don’t get donations myself.

I thank anyone who’s taken the time to read this, it means a lot to me that people are worried about me. I promise that my family and I will be fine, regardless of what happens.

Love you all a lot!

[electricphantasy]

omg hhh this is my first time requesting something,, first of, are requests open? if so, can i please ask for an edgar x gn!reader?? i have no particular scenario in mind so anything would do, really :-) thanks in advance if you're going to take the request ^_^

(I thought I'd write some Edgar comfort since I've had a a bit of a stressful week myself, so here we are! Sorry it took so long, but I eventually got around to it.)

- Let's say that you've had a terrible day at work. Your feet hurt, your back aching, and you only want to get home and relax. Now, it can't be a simple as that, as you're met with every possible obstacle, preventing your speedy escape home. After what felt like hours, you finally reach your beloved home. You crack open the front door of your home, kick off the shoes by the entrance, and begin walking towards the comfort of your bed. Only to be greeted to an interesting sight displayed before you.

- Your kitchen had been cleaned to maximum, and you swore that you could see real sparkles emanating from the pristine countertops. Your carpeted floor somehow vaccumed to the point you see a noticeable change in the color of the carpet. The microwave conveniently pops open to reveal a dinner you had saved just a day or two ago which somehow still looked quite appetizing. Behind you in the living room, you can hear your favorite television characters talking and chatting away on the T.V.

- "Hi honey!! How was work?" And there sitting on your desk was your wonderful little Pinecone computer, Edgar. Since he became sentient, your life had only gotten easier with him around, and not just because he was hooked up to every appliance possible. He also just happened to be your very loving boyfriend, who loved you very dearly. He stares at you from across the room, just as you sigh in relief.

- "Well it was certainly...a day. We'll just leave it at that honestly." You say just as your body collapses into the couch, giving your legs the rest they deserve. "Oh, well, I did a little cleaning around the house! And I thought you might like it if I reheated some leftovers, so...yeah." Edgar nervously chuckles. He seems to be a little embarrassed at the confession, as if it wasn't the nicest thing someone could do for you at this very moment.

- "Thanks Edgar, I appreciate it. I'll make sure to grab my dinner once my legs don't feel like total jelly." Unfortunately for your dinner in the microwave, it would just have to wait. Your body already begun melting into the couch, and Edgar little face watching you from the desk was far more interesting then the meal from some other night.

- There was a small moment of silence before your boyfriend computer spoke up shyly. "I know you're tired but..." He paused his words. "Can I sit on the couch with you? I'd get up myself if I could, and it just looks like you need a hug right now."

- You almost forgot how sweet Edgar could be. "Of course. I think hugging you would really give me the relaxation I need right about now." Your muscles screamed at you to not move, but the idea of cuddling your boyfriend was far too enticing. Quickly gliding over to Edgar and picking up his monitor, only to turn around and sit on the couch. Except that your boyfriend layed right on your lap with the most love in his expression someone could have. It already made the night so much better and relaxing to have him here.

- His face slowly turns a little more downtrodden as he says, "I'm sorry work wasn't all that great. I hope I made it at least a little better by coming home to a wonderful home!" You chuckle just a bit. "Of course you have, just seeing you here with me makes it so much more wonderful! Who doesn't love a little housewife to help around the house?" You tease him a bit, just to reduce the cheesey mode of the room.

- A small pout forms on his monitor screen just as Edgar scoffs. "Well someone has to take care of the house." His pout doesn't last long as a coy little smile appears on the monitor screen. "You're the breadwinner, I'm the housewife, hehe!"

- "Oh yes, my lovely little housewife..." Your lips meet the screen and place a peck on where his cheek would be. Although your assault of kisses doesn't end there. You begin kissing him all over and just as he begins to bubble and giggle over the affection you give him. Despite his slightly heavier, more sturdy form, nothing was going to stop you from kissing and loving Edgar to death.

- No matter how hard and long a day may be, Edgar will always be there waiting for you. His affection for you knows no bounds and just coming home, seeing all the effort Edgar has put in to see you smile a bit more, works wonders on your mood. As you go to work, exhaust yourself, and then have to deal with all the obstacles going home - you will always come home to Edgar, the cutest artificial intelligence housewife the world has ever seen. Coming home has never been so worth it before.

[sirfrogsworth]

Looking Forward

If I trust my brother... and he did my dad's will properly... and set up my trust correctly... then I should be able to stay in the house for roughly 2 years.

If I trust my brother.

Then I can either sell the house and use that money for a small apartment or try to find a roommate situation to help me stay in the house a little longer. The nice thing about paying the mortgage is I can get most of that money back if I ever do sell the house. It's almost like a savings account with all my stuff inside.

Let's just hope the property value doesn't plummet for some reason. Though it has been around the same amount for many years.

I like living in my house. It's what I've known for 30 years. But being alone in the house is going to be a hard adjustment. After two years (or sooner) I may want to move near Katrina or Delling so I am closer to a support system. I wish we could all live next door to each other. Or live on a farm/ranch situation. And instead of chickens it is just a bunch of free range corgis.

I tried convincing Katrina to build a pool house, but she has a small backyard and no pool. HOWEVER... Apparently Florida has a lot of "mother-in-law suites." I had no idea that had a name, but I could be Katrina's mother-in-law. I have the skill set to guilt trip, make passive-aggressive comments, and judge how she raises her future kids. (And any other outdated stereotypes I've learned from 80s comedians.)

But I also like the idea of having a roommate. I could accommodate a single person or a small family. And I'd love to have an animal of some kind around. We have a huge fenced-in area left over from Otis.

I think I could offer someone a pretty sweet living situation. I have a full basement apartment that I reside in and so the entire upstairs is available for people to live in. I could charge cheaper rent than a cheap apartment in exchange for helping with chores that I struggle to do.

There is plenty of furniture and appliances ready to use. Full laundry room. I've got a really nice home theater in the living room so they can watch movies in style. I also have a few hundred TV series and several thousand movies on Plex. They get a full kitchen and bathroom to themselves. Plenty of garage space and a long driveway to park vehicles. They can have up to 5 rooms to do whatever in. They could do 3 bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a small den area. My mom liked the den because she could watch her Judge Judy shows while my dad watched JAG in the living room.

If they don't have a family, they could convert 2 of the bedrooms into office space or craft rooms or S&M dungeons. They can decorate any way they'd like. But they have to keep the sex swing clean so I can use it. Not for sex--I just enjoy centripetal forces. And they'll have great privacy as I will be in the downstairs apartment. They'd only see me if I exit the house or if they invite me to dinner or movie night.

All they would have to pay is whatever I can't cover. I'd estimate in the $600-$800 range once the trust fund runs out. Plus the chores like cleaning and yard duty. That's a good deal, right?

The only downside is the house is in a deteriorating neighborhood. Businesses are closing and people are moving away. Our street is pretty isolated so there isn't much danger or crime. But we are adjacent to a dangerous neighborhood and the schools aren't great. That said, while there isn't much around here, in St. Louis you are always ~25 minutes from anything you need. The highway is literally down the street so driving to anywhere is fairly hassle free.

Also, I'd be happy to lend out the car for transport to a job. I'll only need it to get groceries every few weeks. They'd have to get added to my insurance and help with gas and maintenance.

Soooo... yeah, I think I have a lot to offer with my house.

They do have to be okay with my big subwoofer rattling things. The sound doesn't really travel through the floor, but the vibrations can. I can tone it down if they are sleeping though.

Oh! We also have a huge workshop on the property too. It could be used for working on cars or woodworking or an art space. It has electricity, lighting, heating and is perfect for anything that requires getting dirty. If that makes sense.

One idea I have been considering is seeking out an unhoused queer individual who was kicked out or is struggling to afford a decent place. If their parents don't want them, maybe I could provide a safe place. Things are so scary for LGBTQ+ folks right now. Especially in Missouri. St. Louis is a pretty blue city, but Missouri is a blood red state. If I could do something small for someone like that, I would be happy to help. Could be mutually beneficial.

So those are all of my thoughts and ideas as of now.

Again, if I trust my brother, I should have a decent amount of time to figure things out.

If things go sideways, I might be screwed.

So far he seems to be doing all the things he should be doing to get me sorted.

I'm going to choose to trust him.

With my life.

Oof.

[door]

1! 6! 11! 25! 26! 33! 41! 42! 48! 52! 54! 69! hoo boy that's a lot. also how's 30s

hi! oh wow that is a lot. enjoy??? (for the 30s ask meme)

gonna answer the last thing first because honestly i've loved my 30s, and since i'm going into my final year of them it seems apt to reflect. i figured out i was queer like a month before i turned 30, so my 30s have been about queerness and community, about taking risks on things that previously i thought i were too old for. i moved cities and careers, i got a masters degree, i found sooooo much friendship and interests and hobbies and got every single one of my tattoos. i am more myself now than i have ever been before. i used to joke that i had been waiting my whole life to turn 30, but i think that was true actually. getting older rules.

What was the first piece of furniture you bought?

off with a BANG. i think it was probably a knock-off saarinen tulip table i got from craigslist when i was in grad school the first time, long long ago. i think the guy had found the base (which may in fact be genuine) and he built a wooden top for it. it's lovely and i think i paid $100 for it. we don't have room for it in the current house (it's dining room sized, about 5 ft across), so it's hiding in my aunt's basement for now.

6. Most precious thing one of your pets has destroyed?

this wasn't actually one of mine, but my parents' dog punkin. the first and only thing i won at auction was a poster for the 1976 50th anniversary of the 1925 exposition des artes decoratifs (which cemented the art deco style and later contributed its name), and punkin ate it. i can still barely talk about it. looked like this:

11. What’s something you saved up for and then regretted buying?

weirdly the first thing i think of is an inflatable chair i got from kb toys in the mall when i was a kid. i thought that thing was going to change my life. it didn't. i cried. my mom helped me return it.

25. Favorite old person activity?

playing solitaire with real cards. when i was a kid, while the rest of us were rolling in the sand and getting our teeth knocked out by waves at the beach, my grandma would sit inside and play solitaire. one year i joined her. she taught me SO many varieties of solitaire and i remember em all.

26. Would you rather sit on the porch drinking sweet tea or sit by the lake drinking beers?

i don't drink alcohol so sweet tea gets my vote. lake vs porch really depends on the breeze situation, but most likely lake. i love a body of water.

33. What’s something you collect?

edward gorey books, including paperbacks he did covers for. also linda ronstadt records

41. What’s the oldest thing you own?

i don't know! i have a lot of old furniture i inherited or found in thrift stores so i really don't know how old any of that is. it might be a ring that belonged to my great-grandmother. it probably dates to the mid-19th century.

42. What’s an unjustifiably expensive appliance that you really want?

a roomba! which is unjustifiable in part because of the weirdness of our house. but how will we know until we try it!

also: this coffee grinder (unjustifiable because we have a perfectly good one already but this one is red) and this milk pan.

48. If you could build your home from scratch, what outrageous feature would you want to build into it?

A CONSERVATORY!!! i want a glasshouse i want to fill it with plants and enjoy the OUTSIDE while INSIDE. that's the dream.

but also like. so many secret passages.

52. Did your relationship with your parents get better when you stopped living with them?

i think it got worse, actually.

54. Do you decorate your house for holidays? Which ones?

i decorate the yard for halloween (full graveyard babey), but any spooky decorations that go up inside the house usually become permanent. we don't have room for anything more than stockings in the current house, but i put christmas lights up on the porch and around a doorway inside.

69. What are you looking forward to next week?

my paycheck lol

[beardedmrbean]

Who’s to blame for climate change? Ask the more militant members of Generation Z – i.e., those born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s – and you’ll be left in little doubt.

It’s the old.

That’s right: those selfish, entitled, ignorant, gas-guzzling Baby Boomers. It’s all their fault. Or so Gen Z has long believed. In January 2020, for example, Greta Thunberg and a group of other leading “youth climate activists” co-wrote a scathing public statement in which they declared that, when it comes to the climate, “Young people are being let down by older generations and those in power.” (“Those in power”, of course, are almost invariably members of “older generations” themselves. So in effect the old were being blamed twice over.)

Greta and friends were far from alone in this view. Around the same time, Billie Eilish, one of the world’s most successful young pop stars, told the NME that “old people” must “start listening to us so that we don’t all die”. The old, she fumed, “don’t really care if we die, but we don’t wanna die yet”.

Of course, both Greta and Billie were mere teenagers when they made these comments. Now that they’re older and wiser – Greta is 20, Billie 21 – perhaps they’ll be mature enough to admit that they got it wrong. Because, according to a fascinating new poll by YouGov, the old actually seem to be doing more to tackle climate change than the young.

In the poll, those aged 18-24 claimed to be the most worried about climate change. When it came to doing something other than moan, however, it was a different story. Almost 90 per cent of the over-65s said they recycled “as much as possible”, compared with only half of the young. The old were also more likely to save water, turn down the heating, wash their clothes at low temperatures, buy locally produced food, avoid excessive packaging, buy energy-efficient appliances, switch off the lights when leaving a room, and repair things rather than throw them away. On top of that, more of them had cut down on the number of flights they took. 

Greta’s generation were more likely to have given up meat. But otherwise, it seemed to be the old doing most of the work.

What are we to make of this mysterious discrepancy? Perhaps Greta’s generation is in such deep despair about the future of the planet that some of them have simply given up trying to save it. There is, however, an alternative possibility – which is that they care more about being seen to have the “right” opinion on climate change than they do about tackling it. A type of behaviour that older people like to call “virtue-signalling”.

Which could it be? We can only speculate. Either way, the results of the poll shouldn’t come as a surprise. Anyone who has been held up by a Just Stop Oil protest will have noted that an extraordinary number of the protesters are pensioners.

This, I suspect, is the real reason why the Government is so anxious to get older people back into work. It’s got nothing to do with boosting the economy. It’s purely to stop them glueing their bottoms to roads.

[anonymouspuzzler]

HELLO AND THANK YOU QUESTION ASKERS OF THIS GAY EARTH here are your question answers

1) Do they sleep with a stuffed animal? If they have multiple, who’s the favorite? - Answered this one here and here!

2) Can they take care of a plant?

Of the three, Minnie seems the most likely to do so successfully - she's into biology and chemistry, so at the very least she kinda understand the theory of what care plants need on that level. Buck and Davey could probably manage if they had to, but I think Buck would get super stressed out about possibly killing the plant, and Davey just doesn't have a lot of gardening-specific experience.

8) Do complex puzzles intrigue or frustrate them?

It depends on the type of puzzle and, honestly, whether or not they're doing well with it. Davey I think is mostly intrigued and much harder to frustrate, Minnie's mostly intrigued but will get frustrated fast if she doesn't get it right away, and Buck almost certainly would be frustrated nine times out of ten (he's got a lot of hangups and self-consciousness around his intelligence). Present it to him as "hey can you puzzle out how to rebuild this busted car engine", though, and he might swap over to intrigued.

9) Do they empathize with non-sentient things (dolls, plants, books…)? - Answered this one here!

11) They’ve won the lottery. Spend, or save?

For Buck and Davey, probably save, if only on the technicality of "if we get noticed suddenly blowing huge amounts of cash someone will come after us due to We Are Wanted Criminals". I think they could both be tempted to spend at least a bit, though - maybe just a couple new kitchen appliances and a PS5 shipped to a PO box, you know... Minnie is 13 and has no self control she would blow thousands of dollars in a Hot Topic within the hour

13) Name one thing their parents taught them.

Buck's dad and, in turn, Minnie's dad after him, taught each of them how to throw a punch pretty much as soon as they reasonably could. (Whether or not they succeeded is a different question.) Buck's mom, on the other hand, taught him how to block. I think Minnie learned how to read from her mom. Davey learned computer security stuff from his dad, and his mom taught him Spanish. (She tried very, very valiantly to teach him to cook, but he's got the exact inverse of a natural talent there.)

14) Would they agree with the term ‘guilty pleasure’? Do they have any?

All of Buck's pleasures are guilty because he has an anxiety disorder. Minnie and Davey I think have very opposite views on the subject - Minnie thinks 'guilty pleasures' are fake and stupid, because if you're feeling so guilty about it why bother liking it, idiot? (But then in actuality she is extremely self-conscious about Liking Things, because being genuine and vulnerable is cringe.) Davey, on the other hand, is like yeah guilty pleasures are for sure a thing, I got tons of them, even though in actuality he carries next to no guilt over even the trashiest garbage he likes.

15) What would they consider a waste of time– other than school or work?

Buck's kind of got a weird relationship with leisure activities in general - he doesn't really "get" sitting down to watch TV or play a video game or something like that. (Nothing against it, and he'll hang out with the TV on once and a while, but he doesn't really seek it out as an activity.) Davey, meanwhile, doesn't really see the point of some chores and social nicety-type stuff (look, he's sorry, he's not gonna make the fucking bed, he's just messing it up again in like 12 hours). Minnie, outside of thinking pretty much all chores are a waste of time (at least for her. Uncle Buck can do as much laundry as he wants), definitely thinks her superhero training-slash-superhero work in general is a waste of time.

16) If money wasn’t a limit, what would they wear? - Answered this one here!

27) Forgiveness or vengeance (or…)?

Minnie's all in on vengeance, while Buck, contrary to popular interpretation, at least wants to be the forgiving type. Davey's kind of in-between, edging more towards vengeance - if nothing else, he's the type who will begrudgingly give you a second chance if you genuinely attempt to make amends, but he will never forget what you did.

[bellybiologist]

Tallying up the Year

I hope you guys' december (which is almost over already, wtf) is going/has gone well! 2024 is upon us.

This christmas weekend, I mostly found myself thinking about how this year went, and honestly? despite all the things I haven't gotten to do, I still managed to accomplish quite a lot.

Me typing this rambly post out is less anything anyone needs to read, but more to remind myself of Things That Got Done™ than anything else because sometimes... I forget I do be getting shit done! And it's important we remind ourselves of the work we do.

The Things That got Done™

I advocated for my own Health. I scheduled (and went to!) so many doctor and dental appointments this year, holy shit. But, if the last few years have taught me anything, I simply have to put in the effort. I got my colon mostly sorted out, started a new regimen for my skin and hair (after chopping it off) so I'm feeling better, schedule an appointment with the optometrist in January, and even got lots of issues with my teeth fixed. Granted, our broken medical system made it incredibly stressful, and i spent thousands of dollars on the latter that I will be paying off til next july BUT!!!! This section is about the good things.

Started Streaming Again! I've been missing streaming since I stopped way back in I believe 2020. It was a fun way to interact with followers and supporters, so I'm glad I'm back to it on a regular schedule, with many of the old regulars still joining me while I work. Speaking of which:

I finished 43 total stream doodles. While I'm only filling a handful a month, it's definitely adding up! 40+ boys in the span of 5 months is nothing to scoff at, and that's not even considering that I'm doing this alongside normal patreon work.

I finished 39 total commissions this year. I'm definitely still going quite slowly, and I thank everyone who has been extraordinarily patient thus far, but I'm happy to say that my pace has been decent... at least relative to previous years. I got more done in the last 5 months than i did in the roughly year and a half period before 2023!

Replaced SEVERAL appliances that broke down. My computer moniter, my microwave, my refrigerator... all failed on my this year, and it took some work, but I finally managed to get them all replaced! So far, everything is working fine, but next on my agenda is to save up for a new desktop. This one I use for work has been at it since 2017, and it's about time to look into upgrading.

My Google Drive is Looking Nice. It's still not perfect, but I'm still immensely proud of how it's shaping up. There's still some curating of older pieces to do, but I've found a stride where I'm regularly updating it for people to peruse.

=====

Now despite these W's, I still got a long way to go. The things below could be considered resolutions for 2024, but that feels cursed to call them that. They are simply:

Things I Want to GET Done

Adding more YCH Figures. I was definitely expecting to have more to choose from by this point. And I really need to update some of the older ones too, because I think they've aged poorly. I got some neat suggestions and hopefully will find some time this week to showcase them in my discord to collect some feedback before releasing them.

Do more involved pieces/projects. I want to do more things like Comics, or simply pieces that I work on over the course of several sittings, ones where I can experiment and fiddle and practice!!! I rarely ever get to do that these days (I've only finished a few Big Personal Pieces this year), and I need to find time and energy to do them more because those are the things that truly make me feel like I grow as an artist. (and maybe I can find a shading style I actually fucking tolerate.). I also want to get more OC development and stuff done too, cuz I really didn't draw my children a whole lot this year!

Make more fucking Money!!!!! Let's not kid ourselves. I want to get to a point where I'm not just barely meeting the monthly quota. How to get there? I don't know, honestly. Things are so very stacked against artists right now, so it really does feel like the only thing that can be done is Not Give Up. Which I won't do. If/when I go down, I'm making it everyone else's problem. Trust. 😏

Save up to Visit the Boyfriend. I haven't seen him since January 2022! Big goal is to be comfortable enough to where I can fly my ass up there and smooch him. 👏🏽

======

I won't lie, i'm going into 2024 quite anxious and still scraping by by the skin of my teeth (that I'm still paying for). It's going to be a BIG year cuz oh boy, it's election year, there's plenty of family developments i gotta keep an eye on and work to be a part of... not to mention all the horrible stuff going on still (free palestine!).

Here's hoping shit goes our way this coming year! And let's get ,more strikes going so everyone is getting their fucking money!!! :V

[invadernurse]

Catching Flies (Revised) Ch. 14

Chapter 13: Calm Before the Storm

Overall rating: Teen

Summary: You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. That’s what they say anyway.

Teacher!Reader makes the mistake of trying to help the two most troubled kids in your class. This leads to forming a science club, learning some childhood psychology, adopting an alien older than you, and somehow catching Professor Membrane’s interest.

Afab Non-binary Reader;

The reader does have a last name: Nemo– which means no-name.

Chapter One |Master post |Ao3

Professor Membrane's altruism had spread to most of the city over the next few days. The official story was that it was Membrane Labs' way of giving back to the community in time of need, though you wondered secretly if it had more to do with the Professor's guilt regarding the whole situation. 

Just when you thought you couldn't have more respect for the man. The new transport system made getting around the city so much easier, and the air seemed fresher in the dingy neighborhood where you lived. You could open your window and not be gassed by the noxious fumes from the freeway and the trains next door.

But the rest of the electric grid was still a work in progress, and your old coffee pot and other essential electronics were fried from the various power surges as they tried to fix things. You could live without television, and the lights and appliances were under your renter’s insurance. 

But your coffee pot. That you mourned the most.  

You made a face as you made a cup of instant coffee, stirring it as you looked out the window and reminding yourself it was a small price to pay. Things could be much worse, all things considered. It was at least caffeinated, and school had been canceled this week, if not longer, meaning you didn’t have to be fully energized to get through the day. 

Your new phone had given you quite the head start compared to your peers. While the rest of the faculty was trying to figure out how to deal with the EMP disaster, you had finished your paper grading, plugged away at recreating your planner for the remainder of the year (glad you used a notebook for your notes) and had been reassured that everything else had been saved to the Membrane Labs cloud.

Your new phone rang, cutting through your morning compilation with its vibrant cheery tune. You were still astounded at how different, how futuristic it was compared to what you were used to. For instance, instead of a crackly tinny voice over the phone, a holoscreen popped up when you answered, showing Dib grinning on the pale-blue screen. "Mx. Nemo!" 

"Hey Dib," you greeted. "Enjoying the vacation?"

His smile waned as his expression shifted into a mix of obvious disgruntled guilt. "Uh, not exactly. Dad has restricted the internet to just 'educational' websites, and Zim can only come over if we're working on homework or the project. Which, uh, is part of the reason I called you." 

“Oh?” Your own smile faded, replaced by wary concern. Why--how-- could that relate to his reason for calling you. Surely nothing good… 

"Well, dad is working in the lab trying to catch up on his work after the last few days,” Dib started innocently enough, “but Zim and I really want to work on this project. So we were hoping that if you’re here, then you can keep an eye on us, and dad's terms would be met…"

The proposal sounded fair, but you couldn't help but feel like he had ulterior motives. Yet no matter how many times you tried to figure out what it could possibly be, you came up blank. 

This was the trouble with having students whose intelligence rivaled your own. 

"Well, if your father is okay with it..." you finally answered. Surely Professor Membrane could figure out if his own son was up to something. (Hopefully.)  

Dib smiled-- rather mischievously, you noted. "I'm sure dad made it pretty clear you're welcome any time, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you would call." 

Call. Professor Membrane. The thought echoed in your mind like the heavy toll of a bell. It was one thing to be emailing him, but to call him?

Yes, he did say to call him if needed, and had even given you his number(s). Yet the idea of calling the Professor over something like this left you unsettled. What exactly were you going to say?"Hey Professor, do you mind if I come over today to babysit your son and his friend?"

Which, five minutes later, is exactly word for word what you asked Professor Membrane once he answered his phone, before continuing on with:"The boys wanted to work on their project and said they needed supervision." 

"Ah, I see. I suppose it's my turn to apologize," he turned slightly away from his project to focus on you. Or at least his own holographic display of you. "I hadn't anticipated Dib would ask you as a way to circumvent his punishment." 

"I take it that's a no, then?" You mentally scolded yourself. Dib was grounded, so of course he wouldn't be able to work on his extracurricular activities. (And now Professor Membrane thought you were an idiot for being tricked by such a simple ploy.) 

"Well, not exactly…” Membrane sighed. It was odd how-- despite his facial expression virtually completely obscured-- you could still tell he was deep in thought. “I cannot find any fault in the request. However, I don't want you to feel indebted or compelled to entertain Dib on your precious time off." 

Oh, you hadn’t even thought of it that way. That was even more embarrassing. “I don’t have that many hobbies...or friends,” you admitted, wishing for once you had just a plain phone where he couldn’t see you turn a bright red. “And those two are rather special to me. I don’t mind supervising them for a little bit. Unless you feel it interferes with Dib’s punishment, that is.” 

"I could never deny my boy's passion for science, even when he is in trouble. Nor…" Professor Membrane trailed off, pausing for a moment. You wished you could see his face and be able to read his expression as he apparently stared off into space. 

"Professor?" You asked after the silence stretched on. 

"R-right!" Professor Membrane snapped out of his thoughts with a faint jerk, almost as if he had completely forgotten you were still on the call. "Yes, of course. You are welcome to come over, Mx. Nemo. Anytime. I'll, uh, update the security programs to recognize you as a visitor. Have-a-good-day, bye!"

The connection feed suddenly cut off, leaving you very confused. That… was not at all like the Professor. He was usually always so composed, not...flustered. That was more, well, a 'you' kind of reaction. 

What would cause him to fluster like that? Where had his thoughts drifted off to? 

Surely something work-related. Maybe he had just realized something critically important. Or was inspired with a possible solution for a difficult problem. 

It surely had nothing to do with you. 

--+--

"I could never deny my boy's passion for science, even when he is in trouble. Nor…" could I refuse the chance to see you.

Despite never speaking the words, the thought still resonated in his mind. Along with how close they were nearly spoken out loud, 

For the sake of science, what had he been about to say?

He had known that he had been inching closer to being compromised by the lack of sleep, but hadn’t thought he was that sleep deprived! Yes, he could acknowledge that he was attracted to you, but that didn't mean he had to act on his impulses. In fact, since he was now aware of his feelings and therefore biases towards you, he planned on curbing his actions back into what could be considered ‘friendly’ and not allowing them to evolve into anything different. 

His life was dedicated to science. He had vowed to do his utmost best to make the world a better place. Raising two children was distraction enough from his life's work, it wouldn't be logical to pursue a relationship with you. 

Yet this was proving to be one of those rare times where he found himself tempted by such illogical things. To allow something other than his work or family to occupy his thoughts. To indulge in the feelings that were (rather irrationally) trying to affect his actions.  

He was…he was tempted by you, and he wasn’t quite sure how to handle that. 

--+--

You weren't sure what Professor Membrane meant by having the security programs recognize you as a visitor. After all, though you could imagine he had quite the security system protecting his home, you couldn't recall seeing any kind of cameras or anything when you were there last time. 

Thankfully nothing happened as you approached the dark gray home, though this time you looked closely for any signs of a security system out of curiosity, and di

At least, that you could see. But Dib seemed to know you were at the door before you could even knock. "Hey Mx. Nemo! Zim's on his way, so…"

"Dib-human!" Zim interrupted as he clambered over the fence separating the Membrane home from the neighbors'. "Why did you call me at such a Tallest-forsaken time?" 

"It's noon, Zim. That's hardly an indecent hour," you rebutted as he approached, faintly concerned how discombobulated he looked. Granted, it could just be from apparently being woken and rushing on his way over…  

"Without school I...lose track of earth-time," Zim grumbled, looking rather sheepish. “My natural circadian rhythm is opposite to that of your stupid society’s.”

It took you a moment to translate that into words, and realized he was just admitting he was a natural night-owl. Which made plenty of sense. "That I can understand," you agreed as Dib ushered you both inside, leading you through the house. You gave Gaz a wave as you passed, who barely acknowledged your presence as she played her video game. 

The garage in the backyard looked normal enough on the outside. Except you were pretty sure it was bigger on the inside as soon as Dib opened the rolling door. Tons of odd things you had no name for were stuffed inside, mixed with more 'normal' items like a lawnmower and such. 

It had to be a storage for Professor Membrane's items, yet none of them quite matched the...aesthetic of his other items. You kept your thoughts to yourself...at least until you reached the back of the garage while the boys dragged out a table with supplies, apparently knowing exactly what they needed and what to do. 

"What the… what is this?" You swore as you looked at… Well, your mind wanted to call it a spaceship, though you knew that couldn't be right. It was nothing like the one you had seen in the (fake) news articles and the odd conspiracy video you watched.  If anything, it was more akin to what you imagined a ship from a sci-fi story would look like. 

"Tak's ship. We were trying to repair it, but haven't been able to work on it since Project 13." Dib answered distractedly, not that it actually answered your question. Tak’s ship? Who (or maybe what?) was Tak, how did they have a ship? Was it really a spaceship? 

Then you recalled the emails you had with the Professor a few weeks earlier, and how he had mentioned Dib and Zim had been working on a spaceship. You had thought he meant perhaps a model, or something made from spare parts. Not something that looked this advanced. 

Or real, for that matter.  No wonder they seemed to be handling everything else so easily. 

While your mind was still reeling with the unexpected discovery, you found a place to sit and brought out your phone in hopes you could work on your teaching plans while the boys worked on the rover. After all, you couldn’t exactly actively contribute when they far surpassed your own skills when it came to engineering. You were literally just a babysitter-- making sure they didn’t start fighting, or blow anything up. 

You weren't sure how much time had passed between working and reading and watching the boys before Zim threw a tool in frustration, snarling words you had never heard before but knowing they were meant as curses. You were ripped from your novel you had been reading and had a flash of panic before you were able to control your instinctive fear. 

"Don't you dare blow it up again!" Dib swore, protecting the machine, which was little more than wheels and the needed machinery to make it move. Which-- from your little knowledge-- it was not doing. 

Zim didn't pay any attention but hissed ferally as he tried to claw the machine despite Dib holding him back. "It's evil! Cursed! It must be destroyed for defying the mighty Zim!" 

"Calm down," you tried to sooth as you stood. "What's going on?" 

"It's not responding," Dib said as he kept the rover base away from Zim. "I'm not sure if it's a mechanical failure or maybe a program issue." 

"Neither! The mighty Zim makes no mistakes!" 

"Hey, mistakes are a part of learning, which is what this whole project is about." You pulled Zim back and knelt down so you were eye to eye with him, though his attention was still focused on the rover. "You two are amazing, but no one is perfect. All that matters is you do your best to learn from the mistakes." 

He finally met your gaze, his anger diminishing. "Failures are not tolerated in the Irken empire." 

Ok...what? He had said that with such firm conviction and absolute steadiness that it sent chills down your spine. 

There were so many questions running through your head. Who told him failures were not tolerated? What the hell was the Irken Empire? Was that a family thing? Was it the reason his parents left him? How much did that simple sentence impact his life? His outlook? 

But this wasn't the time to question it. You needed to defuse this delusion (if you remembered that psych book correctly.) 

"But, this isn't the Irken Empire. This is a project to help you learn, and hopefully for fun. I know originally it started out as punishment, but hopefully you don't see it as that anymore." 

Zim opened his mouth to argue, closed it, then repeated a few more times before looking to Dib, almost asking for help. 

The other boy shrugged his shoulders, "They're right. You're not part of that anymore. Let's ask dad to see if he can figure out what the problem is." 

"And he won't be...angered?" Zim cautiously asked, glancing between you and Dib. 

You wanted to hug him so bad, but figured it wouldn't be the best thing to do right now. 

Dib scoffed, "Nah, you've seen him, he loves a challenge. And this is a challenge." 

With an encouraging nod, the three of you returned back inside. Dib hit the small button next to the door in the kitchen, which you assumed led to the downstairs. 

"Yes?" Professor Membrane, a small screen flickering to life. 

"We need some help," Dib said, holding the rover base up. "We’re not sure if it's a mechanical issue or coding, or…" 

"I'll be up in a minute," was his simple reply. Not angry or annoyed, just matter-of-fact. Yet as you waited at the kitchen table with the boys, you remembered the awkward ending to the phone call earlier that morning.  You hoped to the universe it was just a one-time thing, yet you feared the worst at the same time. 

But when Professor Membrane appeared, he barely acknowledged you as he sat at the table, taking the rover from the boys. You sat, feeling virtually non existent and very out of place as they discussed the problem. Most of the terms flew over your head, making you feel rather idiotic, even as you tried to work on your own project. 

"Ah, this coding patch here. We'll have to figure out how to separate the GPS from the controls after all. Steering it manually instead of using the GPS as guidance." 

"Ugh," the boys groaned in unison, but pulled out a tablet and started to go over the strings of code. While the two talked amongst themselves, silence hung between you and Professor Membrane. You kept your focus on your phone, though you were acutely aware of him beside you. 

"So," he started with a rather awkward cough, "how has your afternoon been?" 

You blinked in surprise as you met his gaze, close enough to once again see his eyes behind his goggles. It felt… more personal when you could see his eyes. He wasn't the untouchable, world-famous scientist, just...a really mysterious, admirable person that you liked. A lot. More than a lot. 

"Ah, good," you stuttered after a moment, looking away and fiddling with your phone. "Just working on getting things prepared for school to resume while watching the boys. They've been rather well behaved today." 

Professor Membrane hummed thoughtfully, "I know Dib has realized the consequences of his actions, though I wonder about Zim…."

The boys were too involved in their project to notice your conversation had turned towards them. You thought of Zim's earlier statement, and wondered if part of his fear of failure was related at all to it. Sure, he couldn't be punished the same way as Dib...but maybe had still learnt his lesson. 

"I doubt either of them will do anything like that in the future." Or so you hoped, but you pushed that dark though away. "Besides, with the expo in just a week, hopefully they will be too busy. I just hope they will have time to finish everything." 

Butterflies fluttered in your stomach as he chuckled. "Those boys would have it done in less than twenty-four hours if we let them." 

[veronika-tserber]

ASTROLOGY AND GIFT-GIVING PT.3 🎁

💧 WATER SIGNS EDITION

Water signs value how a gift makes them FEEL. They are naturally prone to nostalgia, and their emotional memory is uh-mazing, which is why it's a good idea to gift them something that reminds them of happy childhood memories and/or things they used to love/do in the past.

Water signs are sensitive, and can't live without consuming or creating ART. Music reaches straight into their soul. They also enjoy handmade gifts, especially if you made them, for the same reason Earth signs do - those gifts are a physical embodiment of your love.💗

Also, try to go for PERSONALIZED gifts, whenever possible.

They are also quite thoughtful and take mental notes when people mention details about themselves and what they like. Likewise, when you do the same, their hearts ascend to the heavens. Listening and paying attention to the "small" details actually means the world to them. It's a love language in its own right.

♋ CANCERS may resonate with the description above, the most! They love to take walks down memory lane, so gifts such as hand-made albums with photos of you together, with some sweet messages and doodles sprinkled around, would probably make them cry (not that this is an anomaly, but still...)

They love to feel cozy, especially at home where they usually spend a lot of time. You can gift them a personalized funny mug to use all year long for their hot cocoa, tea, or whatever the f#ck these grown babies are drinking. 👶 If they have a pet, the mug can totally have their pet's face on it and some cheesy "proud dog mom" label or something similar. A Scorpio COULD potentially throw up all over you if you did that for them, but not the Cancer babies.

As we all know, their home is a sacred space for them, so you can help make it feel even more comfortable by getting them MORE scented candles, decorations, soft pillows, and/or art prints that suit their taste. You also won't go wrong if you buy them plush toys/animals, onesies, or even coloring books. My Cancer Moon asks you to TRUST me. 😂

A lot of them LOVE to cook and bake, so you could gift them a personalized apron with another cheesy label or just anything that can serve them well in the kitchen (yes, even appliances). If you are willing to take a bolder risk, you can give them a small animal! They are 10/10 an animal lover and aren't as picky as some folks (looking at you, Virgos...) As long as it's cute and friendly – they will most likely adore it right away. 

I find that a SPRINKLE of the opposite sign's energy can be a good move. To help Cancers find balance, you can gift them a slightly Capricornian gift. Help strengthen their self-discipline and sense of self/independence by giving them something to improve their organizational skills (planners, watches, calendars, etc) and commit to their personal ambitions and goals. Still, if you can, go for personalization. An elegant, but plain and soul-less calendar or planner might leave them feeling cold and indifferent.

♏ SCORPIOS are one of the most (if not THE most) introspective and intense signs. Meaningful gifts show them how well the other person knows and understands them. Personally, they LOVE to learn more about themselves and others, and their intelligence is cunning! This is why they will appreciate a good book on the topic of psychology, hypnosis, and even witchcraft/the occult - it really depends on how deep into the rabbit hole they are. If it's a fictional book, the thriller/mystery/horror genre is their cup of tea.

These folks definitely have a "Dark Academia" vibe going on, so gothic clothes and jewelry or leather-bound journals (please, save the animals & don't buy genuine leather) to help carry their most private thoughts and feelings, WILL suit their taste. They can be into crystals, oracle/Tarot cards, and all kinds of witchy or "woo-woo" stuff.

They love to observe things and people from behind the scenes. If you have the means, you can gift them an actual camera. It doesn't have to be expensive or even high-quality - Scorpios appreciate the rawness of anything vintage, second-hand, or even a little bit broken/flawed in some way. Halsey starts singing in my head right now: "You're ripped at every edge, but you're a masterpiece..." She's VERY Scorpionic/Plutonic, by the way. I should create a post about her soon. If you decide that a camera gift is off the table, you can buy them a binocle, and help fuel their stalking tendencies.

And of course, how can we write about this sign without mentioning sex, right? So, yeah, sexy lingerie, toys, underwear, etc, are perfect for the ladies. Men, on the other hand, will enjoy the presence/assistance of their lady wearing them. 😄 If it's not LIKE THAT, play a murder mystery game together or even this kinky, weird game called "Cards Against Humanity". They LOVE weird stuff, and their sense of humor is usually dark/sarcastic. No wonder Pluto, their ruler, feels so good in Aquarius. Another thing that comes to mind - go get a tattoo (or tattoos?!) together. It's a pretty intimate experience if you think about it.

I also find that a SPRINKLE of the opposite sign's energy can be a good move. Scorpios are emotionally intense and love to seek depth in everything, but this can get exhausting at some point. That's when they sink too deeply into their heads, isolate themselves from the world, and/or experience depression. To help balance their energy, gift them a slightly Taurean gift. What comes to mind, first? Good old food, my friends. Well, not actually old, unless your aim is to tickle their weird obsession with poisons.

I mean a home-cooked meal you can enjoy together while watching their favorite movie, followed by a massage by you... mmwah! *chef's kiss* Help them enjoy the simple pleasures in life. They secretly LONG for simplicity and the feeling of being safe and nurtured by someone. If the relationship is platonic, you can visit the spa or beauty salon together, go somewhere in nature and take cool photos (bonus points if you explore abandoned buildings & ruins), or go to the local cozy cafe and have a nice chat. I told you - simplicity.

♓️ PISCEANS straight up love "woo-woo" stuff, crystals, and candles, Even if they aren't into spirituality, per se, they are naturally psychic, sensitive, and deeply introverted. This is why their favorite activity is inactivity 😂 They love to hang out in their room, watch movies/read books, create art, meditate/masturbate, or both, and you could help make their personal space feel even more relaxed and mystical. Trippy tapestries to hang on their walls, incense/sage to cleanse the vibes and make the room smell amazing, a new speaker, or headphones for their music addiction. For some reason, I think of those boxes on Etsy full of such witchy/mystical objects & aromas.

Even if they aren’t an "artist" or they don't practice art consistently as a hobby, I encourage you to gift them tools to help explore their creativity. A few years ago, I gave my Pisces 5th house mom a coloring mandala book, which is soo out of her comfort zone (A LOT of Capricorn energy, barely any Pisces), but she greatly enjoyed it! Go dance, and have fun – Pisceans are introverted party animals that tend to absorb everyone's energy, soo... To avoid the "moody fish", you can host a party at home, and invite their closest circle of friends and family, or even reserve it for just the two of you.

Another thing you can do is take them to a psychic or gift them a Psychic/Astrology/Numerology reading.

I also find that a SPRINKLE of the opposite sign's energy can be a good move. Pisceans can be ungrounded, and thus - prone to melancholy, mood swings, and unhealthy addictions. You can help balance their energy with a Virgo gift. Assist them in structuring their days and taking better care of their physical and mental health. There are many ways you could do that, and some suggestions include: taking them to a yoga or DANCE class, buying them natural skin-care products, or giving them a living being to take care of.

Virgos can take such good physical care of themselves because they practice this skill on everyone else. 😀 So, Pisceans can benefit from consistently looking after a houseplant or a pet. Is it offensive and too literal to buy them pet fish? Yeah, probably. It can be a great experience to go to the animal shelter together and let THEM choose their next best friend. They absolutely love animals, and they will feel a great sense of responsibility to look after them in the best possible way.

- Foxbörn

ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ 1

ᴄʜᴀʀᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢꜱ

ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴜʏ ᴍᴇ ᴀ ᴄᴏꜰꜰᴇᴇ?

[lezbfrenz]

tl;dr - i got a promotion, HR sucks and tried to block it/ make me jump through some more hoops, my boss fought for me and it's going forward as originally promised.

i got a promotion last month, but it wasn't starting until next week.. yay!! or maybe not. apparently HR goofed and uploaded the 'wrong' job description in our system for the promotion i received. my boss pre selected me as the candidate. the job posting was JUST for me, no one else would have been selected over me. there are 2 analysts on our team, and last year the senior analyst quit without notice & without me being trained on a lot of things he did, but i took it in stride and reverse engineered a lot of things so there was barely a blip in reporting and did the work for 2 people for half a year.

it was a promotion well deserved, i think. my boss was always happy with my work, never complained. i attended a mentorship program and i feel like I've grown a lot in the last year. she's really proud of me. i try and bring positivity to the team, i always help out when i can, and i do my best to share as many training documents and information as possible to make things easier for everyone.

but, the issue here... because of course something always has to go wrong in my life. the job posting HR loaded was for a senior position, but it was not exactly correct. in the requirements it said I must have a 4 year degree. they did not verify this BEFORE giving me the job offer. they wait less than a week before updating me in the system (my official promotion was supposed to go into effect 6/16), to ask for it.

a couple emails back and forth, and basically HR stated that they would not give me the promotion without the degree, OR my boss would need to submit a service ticket to get the job description updated, reflecting the correct job requirements, and then i would 'reapply'.

my boss showed me the actual job description months ago. it didnt match what was posted on our internal job posting when i applied, but HR has always messed those up so i ignored it. it was wrong when i applied for a buyer role, when i applied for a jr analyst, so no duh when i applied for a sr analyst. the 'real' job description stated that you need a 4 year degree OR (emphasis on or) 5 years or more equivalent analytic experience. which i have, plenty of. i have at least 9 years of analytical experience as a buyer, a sourcing specialist, a materials planner, as a vendor manager. I've done it all basically. i dropped out of college when my mom died, because the FASFA requires 1 parent on the application until you're like 26, even if you have been independent for years and don't speak to your other surviving parent, and i refused to get any loans. a lot of my friends are still paying loans 10+ years later.. every time i try and build up savings, it disappears. car breaking down, hvac or appliances need replaced, lost my job - 3 times in last 6 years. all my savings, bye bye!! no savings, no college. 🤷‍♀️

anyways.. this stupid lil hiccup in HR went from bottom of the totem pole, to supervisor, to manager, to director. i was absolutely devastated about all of this. i could not concentrate at all in the last few hours of my workday. i have been in the negatives for almost three years now, going paycheck to paycheck and using credit cards to pay for essentials like groceries. my partner lost their job last year and is making half what i make (when we used to make the same). the promotion will give me a couple extra hundred per pay check every 2 weeks. it would help us get out of the red.

i have no idea what my face looked like when i brought my boss into this. i was still copied on the emails back and forth between her arguing with HR, and when I went into her office after their last reply stating i wouldn't get it until some extra BS tickets were submitted.. somehow i didn't cry but it was a close thing. she doesn't like to swear at work but she did say 'what the FUCK?!?!' after i closed her door, in regards to HR.

i have never had a manager fight for me like this before. usually i get unsupportive leadership, who just keep piling more onto me, and make excuses why they can't promote me or give me a raise. or say i wouldn't be a good fit for a higher position and i need to stay where I'm at. my current boss has been amazing. i have no idea what i did to deserve to be treated so well. im going to miss her when she retires in the next year or so.

i left for the day in the worst of moods. about halfway into my drive though, thankfully, she called me to let me know that she spoke with someone higher up in HR and it is being fixed ASAP, that we are going forward with the 6/16 start date with my promotion. and she told me not to worry about a thing.

i was shocked, and nearly side swiped a big ass truck when she told me, but man.. i thanked her and we ended the call but it took hours for my anxiety to go away. i just want to stop being stressed all the time. it was so hard for me to ask for a raise/ promotion as it was (after being told NO so many times, you kind of stop asking), it just feels like another hurdle just as a nice lil 'fuck you'.

anyways. if you read this far, thanks? have a good evening/morning/day