#what matters is whether you like it and whether it works good for your device and that's it

[vamplvs]

notes: avengers tower era of marvel fandom is so BACK!! anyways, left that movie feeling crazy, so here's this :) i wrote it in one single sitting immediately after getting home so be gentle with me

bob watched you as you wiped down the bar top. it was methodical—a spray of some kind of cleaning solution, a scrub from the cloth, and onto the next section until you were satisfied.

the night before, alexei had held what he called a "bonding night" for the team (with his tracksuit on, and all). you had even offered to mix the drinks! in reality, it was walker and yelena threatening each other, bucky rolling his eyes over his whiskey, and ava disappearing the moment the fighting had begun.

bob was... well, he was trying. he wasn't part of the team, really. he was just there, quiet and present, waiting for his turn in the immensely confusing card game alexei insisted on teaching them. the night ended with many spilled drinks over the bar top, and you and bob staying behind.

well, alexei too, but he was busy mourning the deck of cards that was now soaked in tequila.

you laughed with him about all kinds of things. you asked him about his past, about how void worked, about what the memory loss was like. it was refreshing talking to someone unafraid of him—whether that be of his powers or of hurting him.

yelena was so careful around him, and alexei was certainly still haunted by the girl bob had apparently vanished (he still didn't remember it, but when alexei recalled it to him, he nearly threw up). the team treated him like glass or a loose canon, but with you things were different.

so now, he watched you clean up—something he offered to do, but you wouldn't let him. you had said something about needing to get out your anger, so he just left you to it and watched quietly from his perch on the couch at the opposite end of the room.

he tried not to stare—he wasn't trying to creep on you. the thought alone made him wince. he just... he thought you looked good. the way your arm worked against the counter, the focus in your eye and the twitch of your mouth when a spot was particularly tough-

"just talk to them," bucky said, quietly enough that you wouldn't hear, from his armchair in the corner of the living room with a lovingly worn copy of the great gatsby in his hands.

bob flushed, "huh?"

"it won't kill you," bucky was still focused on the novel in his hands, "matter of fact, it might be in your best interest."

before bob had the chance to ask what bucky meant, you called bucky over to help dispose of the trash. grumbling, he walked over, mumbling something about "this damn metal arm" under his breath.

you wandered off with bucky, laughing about something or another, and bob was left to his own devices.

left to think about your laugh and the ways your eyes crinkled. left to think about the intensity you looked at him with. left to think about your hands on that damn counter and on his arm and-

maybe bucky was right.

[hattersrabbit]

FAMILIARITY

absolute trinity x reader | sfw

CW! gn! reader, slight angst, character x reader romantically involved, multiverse shenanigans, drabbles, spoilers for absolute comics

Summary! Absolute Trinity meeting their s/o from the mainstream universe

BATMAN

"Bruce..."

His name was soft off your lips. The heat was hot on her skin as you looked up at the tank of a mine in front of you. The Batman from your home was less big, actually a lot.

"You know me...?" His voice felt hostile. Albeit it wasn't your Bruce it was him. He was big and still handsome. "You’re different from where I know you." You smiled at him.

He was still confused it seemed.

"You can take off your mask, Bruce." You asked hesitantly.

"How can I trust you?" His lips morphed into a scowl.

You faltered but you raised your head, “I’m not sure what’ll make you trust me, but I do know your parents would be very proud of you. I know that, and my version of you knows that. Even if he doubts it.”

Bruce stared at you blankly. His giant hand raised to bull down his cowl to reveal a very young man with still some wonder in those eyes. Short black hair and baggy eyes.

You stepped forward and cradling his face between you hands. Bruce didn’t know why but he allowed you himself to lean down for you.

“You’ve been working hard.” You smiled quite sadly, “Things never change do they.” You said it like it was a fact instead of question.

He titled his head with narrowing eyes. “The other you is rich, but also just as sad. He works so hard and is always blaming himself. Doing everything to make sure Gotham thrives. Things never change.”

He nodded. His blue eyes blanking as they stared at you. Only seeing love in those eyes of yours. No matter what he’s done, or perhaps violent, whether it was him or the other him you’d love him.

“He treats you good?”

“Always. He cares too much, so much it’ll kill him if he’d ever to lose me or anyone else he cares about.” You reassured.

Bruce found himself thinking that when he met his world’s you he’d protect you too. If this was you and your original then he’d protect you too.

Yeah, he couldn’t lose anyone else otherwise he’d lose it too.

WONDER WOMAN

“Woah you’re so tall and pretty!” You giggled when looking up at the woman with flowing dark hair, blue eyes, and red tattoos.

Diana, but not your Diana. Someone who belonged to the darkness, but good. She was intimidating but she was warm like the sun. Just like your Diana.

“Why thank you.” It was her, definitely. “You’re not from here. You came through with magic. May I ask how that happened?” She mused with a tiny laugh as you got a look at her prosthetic arm.

“A man named Savage made a device that sent people to different universes. It broke in the fight and I got sucked in.”

You played with the parts of your hero costume as you stared up at her tall stature. “My Diana, she tried to save me but couldn’t reach me.” You thought of your Wonder Women.

Just as beautiful and dressed in blue,yellow, red, and white. Flowing black hair and her blue eyes. She looked like a goddess and looked like light.

“My Diana? Another version of me, good [ ]?”

“Yes, my Diana is a lot less dressed in darkness and born in Paradise Island, a land full of women called Amazons.” You noted how she froze when she heard you speak.

You wavered over her expression. “You aren’t from Themyscira. From Hell maybe?”

“How did you figure it?” Diana’s brows were up to her forehead as you giggled. “You’re whole getup kinda screams hell. But you’re still my Diana. I can see that.”

Diana hadn’t met you in her reality. She hoped you existed here, and was just as kind as you.

A smile that made you shine like the sun. A sun that Diana only experienced when she arrived her on Earth.

“I see. Well I’m glad your perception isn't me being evil.” She summed up. Her arms bulking as she crossed her arms. Your eyes glittered in excitement as she did so.

“Of course, because no matter how my Diana looks I’ll always love her.” The heat from your cheeks were loud. Diana couldn’t deny the flush of her cheeks.

Truly you were the birth of the Gods. A treasure she would protect; in every universe and any version of you.

SUPERMAN

Clark, or Kal-El floating in the air with blue eyes that were haunting. He didn’t give off that golden retriever aura like you were so used to.

He wasn’t all that huge, and this Superman was lean yet fit. Those eyes weren’t all that calming but haunting. Bright gold was shining off of his suit. Long hair and fair amount of stubble on his chin and jaw.

He was distant.

So unlike your Kal-El. In fact there was no Clark Kent. Simply the his Kyrptonian identity.

If was it was there then it was nonexistent.

Suddenly you felt a red cape surround you. Kal-El coming down and wrapping it around you. Your clothes were ripped. How you got here, but all you knew is that a machine by Gorilla Grodd broke and here you were.

That last memory being Clark being too late in saving you. Tears flowing from his eyes as you escaped into a blue light, and here you were.

“Kal-El…”. You shakily spoke.

“You know me?” He spoke. His voice still as he stared at you blankly. His mind twisting in gears. “Yes, but not mine. I can see that. I’m not from here.” You looked around to see the torn down buildings.

“You’re so much different from my Kal-El. My Superman is much more smiley, but I can see there’s goodness in you.” You looked hopeful into your eyes.

“This world is ugly. Some of these humans are ugly.”

His words made you still. Kal-El looked at you when he felt you falter. Shock in your eyes. That expression fatally fell to a sad smile.

“This world has been cruel to you.” Your hand drifted to his face. He didn’t know why but he allowed himself to melt into your touch. “But you still want to help. Humans are horrible but still fighting will make a difference.”

His expression seemed somewhere else. Like he was hearing someone else’s voice. Blue eyes flickering everywhere for anyone around you two. They came back to you and looking your eyes, locking eyeballs.

A hopeful look in them, “In your world, is it good?”

“Yes, and evil. But we do our best because even the tiniest effort can make the difference, Kal-El.” You gave him a smile. Cupping his face to which he melted.

A loud explosion was heard from elsewhere. Immediately you found yourself in his chest. His suit feeling different, and not made out of cloth like your Superman.

Kal-El made up his mind. Until you could return back to your universe he would protect you. Your world needed your goodness, and so did his other version.

After all it was true. Even if his suit said otherwise. Because maybe a world can be saved from themselves.

Just one step at a time.

[gojossocks]

We can't be friends

Gojo x Reader Summary: You decided to erase Gojo from your memory.

“Who is Gojo Satoru to you?”  

You shift uncomfortably in your seat, before giving the doctor a tight-lipped smile. “W-we were together for 6 years.” 

He’s no one important really, just the love of your life. 

There has been an on-going trend all over the world— technology has upgraded enough that you can erase someone entirely out of your memory, as if they’ve never existed. If they do, it wasn’t like how you knew them. 

You weren’t sure what dragged you in this clinic with all of the most important things that remind you of him. Maybe it was the way he ignored you like the plague, the way the familiarity in his eyes disappeared just earlier last week when he spoke to you so freely like you’ve never been together. It was clear that he got his memory of you erased after that incident. You were just another colleague. Perhaps, the pain in your heart is too much to handle. 

You don’t remember the way to the clinic that much. It was a surprise you even got there in one piece considering you were sobbing the whole way there. So even if you aren’t entirely sure whether you’re ready to let go of Satoru, you signed the consent form anyway. 

If he’s got you erased completely from your life, then what’s the point of living in hell remembering him? You didn’t want to mourn for someone alive and well. 

You never really understood why he left because everything was just working out between the two of you. Satoru provided you with no explanation and packed up his things to leave you behind to your own devices. You almost wanted to back out when you started reminiscing vividly of everything you once shared with him. 

You remembered falling in love with him, how it feels like the first day of spring, how his kisses taste like daylight. How he squeezes your hand three times before you part ways for a mission.  How he holds you like you’re the only thing that matters in his world. How it was always you and him against the world, him making you laugh while you tended to his wounds. He would tell you that everything would be okay because he has you and only you. 

The bad outweighed the good that you had forgotten that loving him and being loved with him is something that you never wanted to forget, even if your relationship with him crashed and burned. You don’t want him to be a stranger you can’t recognize anymore.

But it had already been done and everything faded into nothingness as you try to grasp with whatever you have left of him.

-.- 

You have been working with Gojo for quite some time now, maybe about six years. But you’ve never directly initiated conversations with him outside work. He’s the only one you don’t know much about in Jujutsu High. Today is no different as you’re waiting with him in the clinic for your mutual friend Shoko. 

“That’s a beautiful necklace you have there.” He acknowledges you for the first time since you got there. Even if you’re just a few meters away, he doesn’t talk to you. You find that a little bit weird because everyone tells you that he’s obnoxious and loud. Somehow with you, he’s always quiet. 

You didn’t remember much of how you got the necklace. You figured that the reason why Gojo’s asking about it is because it matches the color of his eyes. There was a hazy memory though— you were crying, telling a doctor to ‘let me keep it, please. Just this one.’ but you didn’t think much of it. Maybe it was all a dream. 

You responded with a laugh before toying with the pendant of the necklace. “Yeah, It was a gift to me.” 

“Oh?” He looked at you through his glasses, his intense gaze making you feel a little nervous. “Mind telling me who?” 

“I forgot.” You replied,  slowly relaxing in your seat while looking around at Shoko’s clinic. He nodded at you, a small smile adorning his lips and he didn’t say anything more. 

You missed the way his eyes linger on you for a moment before putting back his blindfold on or the apologetic look that Shoko gave him before he leaves. 

“So, who’s Gojo Satoru to you?” 

“He’s the strongest of course.” 

But to him, you’re still his everything—because he didn’t really remove you from his memory. Maybe if he was braver, you’d remember him. 

a/ n: part 2? :0

[unifybullseye]

Shuake & Komahina and their similar important dynamics

Someone on strawpage on twitter asked "I saw a hot take on my TL that AkeShu fans make-up their dynamic and has little actual canon basis and I need to know your thoughts" and I thought the best way to say that I disagree with that wholeheartedly was compare shuake to kmhn LOL so here that is. I wanted to post it here too cause it's more easily consumable.

Shuake and komahina plays out is in very similar story beats. they both follow the same baseline which is the matter of understanding each other. while of course different, it follows -> nice charming guy front -> something happens to reveal the facade and the way they interact with the protagonist changes -> the big ending to it all.

The thing that stays consistent no matter what goro/nagito does is that the protagonist wants to understand them and cares about them as a person despite everything they know. Both protagonists experience betrayal with the other.

These characters are character foils to the protag, which pretty much automatically puts their story and motivations relying on the protagonist to progress their story. their stories are built off of one another and are a fundamental importance to both characters and the plot. From this, their dynamic is easily obtained through the player, and their relationship becomes a major part of the story and the protagonist's motivations.

I mean, the whole first plot twist in persona 5 wouldn't be possible without knowing what we did about Akechi's and Ren's relationship. A lot of plot is driven off of Akechi's viewing of Ren and how their justice collides. The player also retains the information on both of these ships in similar ways. That being, optional justice confidant and optional free time in DR. Confidant rank ups + Free time is like the #1 way to get to know the character better but it's up for the player to decide. getting a "canon basis" for them both can change based on the experience you have in the game.

But there is a fundamental layer of what they are despite doing them or not because once again, the story would not progress without their relationship.

I also want to say that "filling in the blanks" is a literary device and not a failure of writing. Whether it is a book or a show or what have it, good things will make the audience fill in the blanks, aka, infer what's happening or what the story is telling you not directly. Like we can infer that Ren thinks about Akechi in the time between 11/20 and third sem more than we are shown, due to his actions in third sem and his thoughts after the engine room. we can infer that Hajime thought about Nagito more than shown due to how he acts in the last trial.

so it is less "making up" their dynamic and more so just thinking about them in a way the story actually is giving us in a "show don't tell" way.

another similarity is that both of the pairs interactions are just a smaller part of the 100 hour games (despite them overlooming the narrative entirely) due to the fact it's a video game, fandoms of both have their "top tier" quotes, sort of say, lol. Quotes that are a few dialogues here and there but reveal a lot. It's simply just a different media consumption and how shipping works.

TLDR no I don't think its fair to say they have little canon basis/everything is made up when the protag/antag role of the ships is a huge part of the narrative/their interactions reveal a lot in general/we can infer things from the story based on the way the characters act. they are IMPORTANT!

[physalian]

What No one Tells You about Writing Fantasy, #2!

I did this list about 7 annoyances about fantasy, but I write in this genre for a reason! Fantasy knows no bounds, it can encompass all other genres within it. You can write a fantastical murder mystery, fantasy horror, fantasy romance, political drama, slice-of-life, comedy, whatever you’d like!

Whether it’s urban or high fantasy, supernatural or scientific, here’s seven great benefits of writing in this genre:

1. No modern means of communication

Unless you’re writing a world with phones or phone-adjacent devices. Phones and instant communication seriously inhibits the plausibility of dramatic irony and tension when you have to keep coming up with reasons to keep your characters from calling or texting each other everything they know. It’s exhausting, I tell you, and such a relief when phones aren’t a factor.

With that said, without phones, you have complete freedom to design your own magical channels of supernatural FaceTime, as weird and zany as you want. But without instant connections? Your character who knew too much can’t pass on the intel before they die. Your hero team can’t call for backup in their darkest hour. Otherwise easily preventable tragedies and deadly miscommunications are now very real.

2. The Monster Allegory

Fantasy and sci-fi tend to overlap more than they’re set apart, and in that overlap sits the monster allegory. Everything from werewolves to vampires to witches, reapers, demons, angels, goblins, trolls, wraiths, fairies, mermaids, ghosts, to Eldritch horrors and your classic Hollywood cast of mummies, creatures from the black lagoon, and Frankenstein.

Most of the time, the monsters aren’t just monsters, they represent a monstrous aspect of society the author wants to challenge and caricaturize in a fun and entertaining way. Or, the monsters are the good guys and the humans are the real terrors. Or, you’ve got two kinds of monsters to allegory two human sides. Sometimes they represent metaphorical demons, like vampires often representing addiction and werewolves repressed identities.

What all of this boils down to is the hyperbolic nature of science fantasy that allows you to go over-the-top with your metaphor and allegory in a way that a book grounded in reality just can’t.

3. Magic Systems!

Do you love world building? Do you love filling pages upon pages with your cool and unique set of superpowers you want your characters to have? Do you dream about your fight scenes and dramatic slow-mo shots?

Then Fantasy is for you!

There are zero limits to how you want to define your magic system. You can go classic with the familiar archetypes of elemental magic, wizards, sorcerers, and witches. Or you can step off the beaten path and design a whole new funky system of power sets. Best part? Your readers will have an awesome time imagining themselves with those powers, and debating endlessly about how it works.

4. Real-World Politics, who?

Amazon’s Rings of Power was twice-doomed when they only got the rights to adapt the appendices of The Silmarillion and when they decided to inject current political problems into a timeless story written purposefully to be divorced from those politics. You *can* write about human politics, but in fantasy, you don’t have to. You *can* interpret Lord of the Rings to be an allegory about the World Wars, but no matter how hard you argue, it wasn’t written with that intent.

Which means: Even if your story is set in the reality-adjacent fantasy version of 1543, you are free from the following: Racism, homophobia, sexism, religious bigotry, mental health bigotry, gender norms, anti-feminism, toxic masculinity, and more. “But that’s how it was-”

Nope. This is fantasy. You built this world, you decided to keep in the discrimination. Or… You can fill your fantasy world with a rainbow of gays, POCs in power, women in power, men unafraid to be compassionate and caring, a religion that doesn’t foster hate and division, the list goes on. You. Are. Free.

5. Nothing is too “unrealistic”

Both that you will always have people whining about how X would never happen so write the book you want to read, but also because fantasy is fake. Fairies aren’t real. Mermaids aren’t real. There are no rules for how they must be written and that’s how we have so much variety with so much room for interpretation by so many creators. Twilight made how much money writing about vampires that sparkle like diamonds in sunlight and crack like marble?

This is fantasy, it’s supposed to be unrealistic. Yes, your plot should make sense, but don’t be afraid to get weird. Write at least some of your story dependant on those fantasy elements. Write a story that can’t just be told in the real world minus the spectacle. Don’t be afraid to be sincerely fantastical and weird. People love weird. People love loving weird.

6. You are in complete control

But you do still need to research, unfortunately. Unless this is urban fantasy that depends at least a little on the human world, yours is completely your own to govern like a god tweezing weeds from their garden. You get to design your own geography and weather patterns and seasons. Your own countries and kingdoms and politicians. Your epic pre-canon fantasy war and the stakes that it was fought over. Your species, races, and ethnicities.

It’s a shame that a movie like Avatar (2009) set out to be this wholly unique take on aliens with music completely divorced from earthly bonds, new languages and a visually and culturally distinct alien species… and ended up a largely generic blue Pocahontas in space. It forgot that it was fantasy and didn’t go weird enough. They have horses, monkeys, wolves, rhinos, and deer just re-skinned with some extra limbs and colors. It’s pretty but it’s so, so shallow.

It could have become a cult classic like many a positively *weird* 80s off-beat fantasies, and now it just… exists. It makes a whole lot of money but its impact on the cultural zeitgeist is negligible. I’m the only person I know that can name every major character in the movie, and I’m no Avatar obsessor. They had complete creative control, and this is what they did with it. Don’t be Avatar. Take your creative freedom and run.

7. Even if it has been done before, do it again

You can say this about any genre, particularly romance, but fantasy and sci-fi, by the gatekeep-y nature of their fans, can be a lot less forgiving when it comes to claims of “unoriginality”. No one hates Star Wars more than Star Wars fans. Fans of these genres can get… concerningly attached to their favorite stories (mostly because the people who like them had only their fictional heroes to protect them from very real bullies).

But Game of Thrones exists because the author likes Lord of the Rings and went “yes, but what if it was an R-rated parade of misery?” Dungeons and Dragons exists because people wanted to roleplay in an LotR-esque world. Legolas and Gimli single-handedly defined what a badass elf and dwarf looks like in high fantasy. And people still gobble up media ripping shamelessly, or even good-naturedly, from this one story.

So on my other list, I argued that the sum of your parts is still original, even if the components aren’t. On this list, I implore you this: It’s not stealing or appropriating to write another Legolas if you love Legolas. Everyone loves Legolas. How many generic buff action heroes do we have and love? How many Hallmark romances tread the same predictable path? Who gives a damn if it’s unoriginal? Just make it entertaining and have something fresh to say in the end (or don’t, that’s fine too), and people will read it.

And when people say “Oh, you mean like Legolas”, take it as a compliment, not an insult. Yes, exactly like Legolas. Here’s my new elf because I adore this other book, now watch him go on a new adventure that I wrote for him.

[siswritesyanderes]

Hii! Would you ever consider writing a yandere snowjanus x reader fic or imagine?

-🐣

Oh boy, I love it.

Imagining they both noticed you at around the same time, separately.

This could be in the Capitol or in District 12; the difference does matter, as far as power dynamic and the tactics available to them and frankly their hairstyles, but for the sake of this post we'll say it could be either one. If necessary, maybe I'll make a separate post for what they're like specifically in the Capitol or specifically in the Districts. (Actually, whether you're a Capitol citizen or a District citizen is also a means of variation, so really there are four different combinations, unless we treat Sejanus' kind of District-born Capitol citizen status as a separate category, in which case five; being District-born Capitol would only matter in the Capitol setting, not the District. Does any of that make sense?)

They both fall for you, but Coriolanus is better at hiding it behind a formal, personable mask. He observes that Sejanus likes you, and if it were anyone else he would feel annoyed and possibly threatened, but he feels pretty in control of Sejanus, so he actually nudges him closer.

His thought is, if he can get Sejanus to do all the work of courting you, he can pretty much slide in there effortlessly once that's done. Let Sejanus clear the way, ward off suitors, prove his loyalty and affection. (Meanwhile, Coriolanus can focus on his University work, his mentorship with Dr. Gaul, whatever other ladder-climbing he's got going on.)

If Sejanus manages to actually win your affections, Coriolanus can use Sejanus' affection for him to add himself to the relationship.

If Sejanus can't win your affections, then at least he got rid of the other suitors. Coryo can take it upon himself to be charming and win you over, and then he can graciously allow Sejanus access to you as well. He does actually like Sejanus and enjoy the idea of charitably sharing someone like you with him; he just will always see himself as the de facto highest-ranking and most important member of the polycule.

The way this looks, in practice, is: Sejanus admires you from afar and feels a passive envy towards any other romantic entities in your life. Coriolanus urges him to act on these feelings, needles the productive insecurities and soothes the unproductive ones. Sejanus trusts Coriolanus when he says that certain people in your life are taking advantage of you or hurting you in some way, believes him when he says that getting rid of them is the right thing to do.

So, Sejanus does things that, left to his own devices, he might only have fantasized about.

It's Sejanus' money and shooting skills backed by Coriolanus' rationalizations and manipulations.

Inside, Sejanus knows that what he's doing is wrong, but Coriolanus is good at making sure the worst of him is rewarded with praise, attention, and you.

With you, Coriolanus is smooth and flattering. He has all the social graces and charming repartee down to a science, if not an art. He is observant, accommodating, and just generally great to be with.

Sejanus is less polished, more endearingly stuck in his head. He's a smart, witty guy, but around you he gets really shy and earnestly wholesome in a way his years in the Capitol have not encouraged. He's been bullied, and he's learned not to be too vulnerable with people, but he finds himself saying really heartfelt stuff to you, and that makes him feel even more helpless than knowing how many crimes he's done to get here.

Coriolanus loves the degree of control over Sejanus promised by the fact that he's the only one who knows about the crimes Sejanus has committed. Like I said, he genuinely likes Sejanus. It feels good to know Sejanus is in so deep and can't turn back. He's going to want to have the same kind of leverage on you, whether it's secrets, financial power, or whatever else. He needs to make sure you need him.

Being with them is nice. They're cute, they're pleasant, they make you laugh.

Sejanus is one of the few people you can talk to about not liking the Hunger Games who will explicitly agree. Coriolanus just sits silently during these conversations, rolls his eyes fondly at both of you, and reminds you not to say any of that in public.

The fact that Coriolanus basically is a Gamemaker now is something that Sejanus weirdly tolerates. You're not sure how the guy who threw a chair in anger, back at the Academy, has resigned himself to just sighing about the inhumanity of it all while sharing a loveseat with his Gamemaker boyfriend. Maybe his time as a Peacekeeper tamed him somehow.

He's comfortable. You're also comfortable. It's weird.

This isn't a kidnapping scenario; you're just in a relationship with the two of them, and as long as you don't try to break up or withdraw in any way, it's all smooth as satin.

If you start going against the grain, though, you're going to find out how many hooks Coriolanus has already put in place. You'll start to see the strings on everything in your life, including Sejanus.

You want to take a trip with your family instead of staying in town to attend a formal event with Coryo and Sejanus? All of a sudden some private statement you made in the past about disliking the Games has been flagged as treasonous, and you're not allowed to travel until the matter is resolved. (If you go to the event with them, the issue swiftly goes away. He explains that he had Dr. Gaul pardon you.)

You want to take a break from staying over with them every other evening, because someone in your family is sick or injured? Suddenly, the hospital can no longer care for your relative for an affordable price, because the Plinths' donations have mysteriously stopped and treatment prices have skyrocketed. Coriolanus is glad to personally pay for them to be cared for.

The more you push, the more stuff will fall apart. If the first little intimidation tactics work as intended, you won't have to see the full extent of the trap.

Coriolanus gives you a jabberjay in a birdcage, as a gift, and uses it to spy on you. He might place Sejanus in charge of obtaining information from the jabberjay, because Coryo loooooves to keep his hands clean.

(Let me know if you liked it!)

[mariacallous]

The email arrived unexpectedly last week :

We will finish what remains of the project contract, but then we are ending doing business with Americans and American business. I know it’s not your fault, but your president just started a war. We still love the American people but good luck.

And that, as they say, is that.

There goes 20% of my cash flow.

It’s my first time being boycotted — my first time canceled.

I’m a voice-over actor. I provide the intelligent, trustworthy and engaging voice you hear narrating a TV commercial, a medical device explainer or a YouTube mini-documentary. I’m the voice on those annoying requisite training webinars you likely arrow-through quickly. I’m the aural comfort and security that helps relay information or nudges you toward trusting a brand or message.

But the trust in “that American sound�� has been shattered. My client — an international organization that interacts with countries on every continent — no longer wants money going to American individuals or industry, and no longer wants an American-sounding voice to be associated with its hope-filled endeavors.

This isn’t a Ukrainian client. This isn’t some retaliatory Chinese, Iranian or North Korean company’s move. The company isn’t based in the European Union. Instead, it’s friendly Canadians, who are justifiably and patriotically uniting against our now-enemy nation led by a mad king.

And this is how our former allies are reacting. I can’t wait to see the actions from nations that have always hated us.

When the email arrived, I wanted to protest the decision — to upload proof of my entire-adult-life voting record or share links to my vast writings on LGBTQ issues and left-leaning initiatives.

Look! See! I’m just as pissed off as you are! We’re on the same side! I agree with you!

But it doesn’t matter. Everyone in the United States is guilty by association. The world has lost patience with us, even if we didn’t vote for Donald Trump. We are lumped together — whether we actually support the bad guys or we’re just lost causes suffering under them — and there will be economic consequences for all of us.

Rejection is part of any creative person’s life. We’re prepared for the “we’re taking a change in direction” speech. New CEOs, creative directors or VPs come in and tinker with existing contractor relationships. Decision-makers are replaced by new blood. It’s part of the gig, and I’ve endured such losses over the years.

But this email — this loss — stung. Any freelancer will tell you that when you succeed in finding that elusive client — the one who respects boundaries, appreciates your work without micromanaging or requesting changes, and then (gasp!) always pays you on time — you want to hold onto them for dear life.

Things were going so well.

Now this precious gift of a dependable income stream vanished, thanks to Trump’s ridiculous tariffs and “let’s make Canada the 51st state” trash talk. It’s a devastating blow while I’m already worrying about more and more companies using AI to write their scripts, edit their videos and even narrate the damn video, too.

Still, when the initial shock and hurt of losing this contract wore off, I had to tip my hat to those Canadians. I get it. I don’t blame them. Enough is enough. Someone has to have the balls to take a stand. And I have great respect for my Canadian friends and colleagues.

At least my former employer had the integrity to tell me the truth. He could’ve said my work wasn’t meeting their standards, claimed they wanted a new sound, or blamed it on budgetary tweaks. He could’ve just ghosted me.

Instead he wanted me to hear — and thought it was important for me to know — that our fearless leader’s words and actions will have consequences.

So, I’m being boycotted… by friendly Canadians.

I guess I’ll go commiserate with the former U.S. government employees who’ve also been tossed aside with violent, willy-nilly abandon. I have an inkling we’re going to be hearing similar accounts from average and not-so-average Americans feeling the pinch in the coming months, as the more forward-looking nations wash their hands of us (and our nonsense) and make harsh retaliatory and defensive moves.

The most daunting questions remain. With so many bridges burned — when all of our former allies have turned away from us and stepped forward as new global powers led by reliable and mature leaders — what will happen to the citizens of this country and this American experiment?

Blue state or red state, we’re all in the same bucket. We’re the bad guys to everyone — and anyone on the right side of history doesn’t come to save the bad guys. It will be up to us to save ourselves. But can democracy win in the face of so many actively rooting for it to fail?

I don’t know.

But I will keep fighting by using my voice and my writing, because what else can I do?

Brush up on my military contractor sound, since that’s where we’re headed? Or just adopt a British accent and acquire a new mailing address?

Right now I’m in mourning — over all of it.

[baby-tini]

Yandere ADA!Dazai alphabet plase? You don't have too do them all, just D, A, Z and I

TW- Physical Abuse, Psychological Abuse, Stockholm Syndrome, Manipulation, Controlling Behavior, Victim Blaming, Threat With A Gun, Love-Bombing, Talk Of Murder, Isolation, Implied Murder, Implied Torture

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get? Dazai is very intense when it comes to affection, he's very clingy and you are very rarely away from him, but even when you aren't with him, he'll call and text you a lot, constantly checking up on you and he would even bug your phone with a tracking device or at the very least, he'll hack it too find you. But he does really well with playing it off as if he's being playful or that he's just concerned for you, afterall, he's a detective, he knows the uglies of the world.

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling? He's willing too get messy, very messy and he's more then willing too kill for you. But what he's willing too do and what he can do is very different, especially while he's in the agency. He won't kill if he can't get away with it. But also, he doesn't need too kill, especially with his level of intelligence, if there's someone that he doesn't like that's flirting with you, he'll just frame them for a crime. Because who's the police gonna believe? A detective in the ADA, someone who's helped them with cases before, or a suspected criminal who all the evidence points back to?

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them? ADA!Dazai wouldn't abduct you, simply because he can't. Mainly because of his job, especially if you also work for the agency and you go missing, the agency are going too look for you and Dazai knows this. So, he would mostly stick to isolation and not letting you go out too much, or, he'll make up excuses as too why you can't go somewhere or hang-out with someone, which will then cause you too lose all of your family and friends. I do think he would mock you, but only when you're pissing him off, he'll talk about how you have no friends, no family and he'll even threaten too leave you, when you go against him, because then you'll have absolutely nothing and he knows that.

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will? He would. Absolutely he would, because what you want doesn't really matter to him. Now, I don't think ADA!Dazai would go as far as too noncon you, but I do think he would give you forced affection. Whether you want too be touched in an affectionate way or not, doesn't matter to him, if he's in the mood too just lay and cuddle with you, you're going too lay and cuddle. So, basically, you have no say in pretty much anything, ever. If he wants something, he's going too have it, it doesn't matter if he has too force it.

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling? Not much honestly, even if he is obsessed with you, he still keeps his secrets. He doesn't want you too ever feel comfortable enough too make you think that you can exploit him in anyway. Now, sure, he'll have his vulnerable moments, he is still human after all, but he's really good at playing it off as if it was a joke and he wasn't very serious.

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back? He'd be quite amused actually, he'd find your whole show quite the entertainment. But also in perfect Dazai fashion, he'd make you feel like you're doing too much, as if you're getting so worked up for no reason. If you ever did get so angry to the point where you attempt too get physical with him though, he wouldn't be so amused.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape? Yes and no. Yes simply because that's who he is, he likes too play mind games with literally everyone and he takes an immense amount of pleasure in fucking with peoples head. But also no because he does have a genuine interest in you, whatever that may be and he doesn't want you too think that he doesn't care for you at all. As for escaping, there's no real escaping simply because he's not holding you hostage but he does hate when he doesn't know where you are, so no, he doesn't.

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them? The worst experience you ever had with Dazai is when you tried too break up with him. It was when the two of you had a really bad argument, and again, he was trying too minimize the situation and that pissed you off even more and the words just came out. That's when you saw his eyes just go dark and become empty as he stepped towards you, the air noticeably becoming thicker as he stared you down. You found out just why Dazai was a torture specialist in the mafia that night.

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling? Dazai just wants too be happy and not constantly worry about you leaving or getting hurt, his ideal future would just be you being with him. He wants a happy life, he doesn't want too constantly dwell on the negatives of his life; if it's with you, he doesn't mind what kind of future.

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope? Jealousy isn't really a big thing for Dazai, he's a very confident person. Now, playfully he'll act jealous and become all clingy if your attention is directed at someone else. But, if he were too become genuinely jealous, well then... things would get very ugly as he stares the person down, his eyes lacking all emotion as he pulls you away with him. If he's angry enough though, you might just see a news story about them, reporting his mysterious death.

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling? He's very loving with you, very touchy and sweet overall. You guys look ideal out in public, it's just behind closed doors when things can get a little ugly. He does have a reputation out in public so he makes sure too keep himself in check when there are people around, but when you get home, he does a complete 180, especially if you were, in his words, misbehaving in public. But, besides that, he's a pretty good boyfriend.

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling? Love-bombing. He's very affectionate, very quickly, never leaving you alone, at all. He's constantly showering you in compliments and giving you gifts, telling you about how you're the first woman he's ever felt this way about, which is true, but he said that the first week of being with you. How the love of his life and he quickly engulfs your life and he gets you too move in with him very soon after being with him, everything happens so fast that it's overwhelming for you, but again, he makes everything feel like it's natural and that's he's just so in love with you that you don't really question him.

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else? Yes, they are extremely different. Dazai is very two-faced and puts up a lot of facades. When you met him, he was so sweet and loving and intelligent.. but then his true colors came to the surface and things turned ugly. He started too become controlling and very psychologically abusive. But, that's just how he is in general, he's a manipulator and a very good one at that.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling? You're already in a constant punishment with how much he keeps you isolated, but, he doesn't punish you very often, surprisingly. Simply because anytime you're pissy with him, he won't take you very seriously and he'd much rather cuddle with you then dish out punishments, he's lazy. But when he does, they're very calculated and impactful, he's more focused on breaking you down mentally then actually putting his hands on you, but he'll still spank your ass or give your hair a nice harsh little tug when he needs too.

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling? A lot, if not all of them. He becomes quite the controlling boyfriend, he's always asking you where you are and who you're with. He checks your phone constantly, you have no privacy whatsoever, he is in control of your whole life. He tells you what you can and can't where, he talks for you, he orders food for you, he'll bathe you. You will have sense of independence in this relationship, he doesn't even let toy think for yourself, anytime you have an idea he'll shut you down and tell you what he thinks you should do instead.

Patience: How patient are they with their darling? Dazai is a very patient person and it takes a lot for him too actually get to the point of being genuinely pissed off. He can tell when you're purposely trying too piss him off, he knows what you're doing. Sometimes he'll playfully feed into it and pretend too be upset, but again, he can tell what you're doing so he won't feed into all the time.

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on? First off, there is no leaving or escaping him, there's no where that you could go and him not find you. He is quite literally a detective, his whole job is finding people, you are no different, he will find you. If you do die though, it would break him quite a bit and he'd drink even more then he already does. It would actually frequent his suicide attempts and they wouldn't be like something like, jumping in the river, no, he'd desperately want too die and be with you.

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go? Again, he wouldn't abduct you, he can't. Now, if he over did it with his little mind games and you were genuinely mentally exhausted, he may feel guilt and comfort you. But, usually he doesn't feel guilt because he sees it as something that needs too be done. Letting you go though? No. He would not, he doesn't care about how much you beg and plead for him too let you just be by yourself, and let you go out. Because it's not gonna happen.

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)? Loss really. Dazai has lost a lot of people in his life and he's tired of it. So if he has too become a little controlling too keep you safe, so be it. He only wants too keep you safe and he doesn't care what he has too do in order for that too happen. You'll understand one day that he's doing all of this for you.

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves? It depends on the reason why you're doing all that, because you'll get a couple different reactions from Dazai. If you're crying because of a punishment, he'll just shrug you off, and tell you that's what you get for misbehaving. If you're screaming because you're frustrated with him because he never listens to you or lets you do things for yourself, he will minimize the problem and make you feel like you're acting over-dramatic. Isolating yourself though, that will not work, if you for example, lock yourself in a room, that's not gonna do anything for you, because he can pick locks and he's quite skilled at it.

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere? Sort of, since we're talking about ADA!Dazai, he won't kidnap you. Mainly because he can't, because of his job, especially if you also work for the agency and you go missing, the agency are going too look for you and Dazai knows this. So, he would mostly stick to isolation and not letting you go out too much or he'll make up excuses as too why you can't go somewhere or hang-out with someone.

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape? None really. I would say physically, but even then, Dazai can fight, he was in the mafia. No his martial arts aren't as good as that of someone like Chuuyas, but he can still take care of himself in a physical fight. Also, baby he has a gun, and he's shown time and time again that not only does he know how too use said gun but also that he's not afraid too use it. Mentally though, there's no winning there obviously. He is far too intelligent too be thrown off by some meaningless little comment.

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling? Yes, he would. I do think he would mainly be psychologically abusive instead of physically abusive. Now I say mainly because, I do think he would still hit you, but Dazais whole thing is mind games, plus people can't see psychological scars like they can with physical scars. Also psychological trauma lasts longer then physical trauma, because scars and bruises will heal. Being psychologically broken down will be much harder too bounce back from, and Dazai understands that.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over? Too win you over, he's pulling out all of the stops, cranking up his charm by tenfold. He'll take you to all these cute places and get you little gifts too charm you. Worshipping you though? If Dazai is in deep enough, he'd see you as like a landline of sorts, and would make sure that you're safe. Probably not to the point where you're a reason for him living, but to the point where he actually starts too enjoy life, because he gets too be with you.

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap? Pretty long actually, like I said, he's a very patient man and he can wait. It's a pretty slow thing, especially with all the love-bombing that he uses. He knows you won't just automatically cling to him and go out with him, so he's willing too work for it, but even he can get impatient, especially if you reject him. He will snap and he will become very confrontational, to the point you become scared of him and are only with him out of fear.

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling? Not really, and also not fully, it would be more like him getting rid of things that he doesn't like about your behavior because he would find no pleasure in you being a broken shell of your former self. He'd actually find it quite boring in all honesty. If it was something like you constantly challenging him, which would piss him off, he'd correct that behavior. But he wouldn't break you completely because there's a reason that he likes you and once that reason goes away he'd get bored.

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 164 (Ash's Life in San Myshuno)

Ash's life with the Landgraabs in San Myshuno was a big change of pace from Brindleton Bay. Everywhere he went with his family, people tended to call him sir. He'd thank them in his childlike voice that hadn't yet broken and wonder why so few just called him Ash, but living at the penthouse was a lot like a permanent weekend.

He could spend more time on the computer at the Landgraabs' than at home (not least because his mother was almost always working away at building her video game in the Bay), he could swim whenever he wanted, and he could play with "Bridgette's dog" Sansa.

He secretly believed Sansa liked him best, because he's the one who insisted Miko add Buttercups to her Simstacart deliveries, but every one of the Landgraabs was happy he was there. They even let him call home to talk to Heather and Conrad whenever he liked.

He wasn't a big fan of his new school in the city. He'd been placed a year ahead because of his aptitude scores, and the older kids didn't like the small, rich kid clearly so much smarter than the rest of them. He didn't do himself many favours, socially, when he confronted a bully who pelted him with crumpled up paper from the back of the classroom.

The teacher sided with Ash. If he hadn't shared a classroom with his good friend Pearl Richards, he wouldn't have a single friend at school in the city. And even though Pearl was with him the day he was kidnapped, his Nan often let her come over so they could do homework together after school.

He wasn't unhappy with his father's family. But if anyone asked whether he'd rather be back in Brindleton Bay, where things were familiar and Gord would rest his head on his knees instead of Sansa, who tried to bite his ankles, he would have said yes. He was pretty sure that's why no one had asked him.

No one talked about the custody case around him - not his father, not his mother. Not anyone. But he knew he mattered a lot to everyone. He would soon spend a weekend at home in the Bay for Lavender's fifth birthday, so he went about his days getting used to his new normal.

On the day of Bridgette's birthday, Miko returned home from a successful gig, excited to share how a producer in the crowd wanted to hire her to write commercial jingles. That the producer worked for Landgraab Entertainment didn't seem like an important detail as she shared her news - not at home with Landgraabs, who were all used to buying the lion's share of their opportunities, anyway.

The family cheered while Bridgette blew out her candles, aging up into a five-year-old fashionista! She was becoming more and more like a Landgraab with each passing day, but she was still friendly and good-natured like her mother.

The family sat down in front of the TV to enjoy their cake - though Malcolm dug into a bowl of franks and beans, instead. "The better to fart-attack you all!" he said with an evil laugh as he tooted.

"Gross! Dad!" the kids groaned, but they couldn't stay mad while they forked down coconut cake Miko threw together from a box of pre-mixed dry ingredients.

Ash overheard Nancy and Geoffrey talking about his engineering work. "The Sues think their lawyer swooped in and secured the patent for the device," Nancy grumbled. "They think he's the one behind Lilix LLC. How's the team coming with the new prototype?"

"Biometrics isn't easy, but we've got a good team at Landgraab Engineering. They'll figure it out before too long. It'll get around the patent, too. Don't worry, Nance."

"What are you talking about?" Ash wondered. "Are you talking about the time travel device."

Nancy smiled. "Not your time travel device. A biometric one, to better control what kind of people might use the technology you invented."

To Ash, this sounded like a good idea, considering how he'd been taken through time by criminals with a faulty device. While he was living full time with the Landgraabs, he had no way of knowing Felix and Lilith's time thief, Robin Banks, had an unauthorized biometric wristboard from the future. All he knew of Felix and Lilith's trip through time was they'd made it back safely, but they were still chasing the slippery time thief.

(Heather and Conrad are trying to adhere to the judge's desire they avoid things like time travel and ghosts, so when they talk to Ash, they don't talk about where Felix and Lilith went or what they might have told them about the trip.)

"Isn't it better if no one uses time travel?" Ash wondered innocently.

"Of course it is," explained Geoffrey with a smile. "This stuff is a long way off, and by then a whole lot of laws and rules will be in place to help manage this. It probably won't even be completed before I retire, but once something's been invented, it can't be ignored. Landgraab Corp. has the best available resources to ensure it's managed properly."

Feeling comforted by this seeming sense of responsibility, Ash finished his cake and carried his plate to the kitchen. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 2.1 Summary

Gen 1 Start | Gen 1 Summary

NOTE: I use Maplebell's More Traits and fashionista is one of them. I am CAS lazy, but of all sims to randomly get this trait, it had to be Nancy Landgraab's granddaughter! Perfect. But, I need some help trying to define her sense of style, because I have none, so tomorrow I've got a lookbook and a little poll for help with Bridgette's fashion sense!

And with Bridgette aging up, that means Lavender's birthday is also very soon! This week, in fact!!

[ppssession]

Pre-Graduation Project

Vika, a student in the Engine and Invention major, will graduate in a few weeks. Students in the faculty must submit their invented projects to their teachers to receive the final score that will determine whether they graduate or not.

But this is the fourth time that Mr. Biya, his professor in his department, has rejected his work. Now he doesn't have enough time to think or do anything, so he said to Mr. Biya in despair.

Vika: Professor, this is the fourth time you have rejected my work. If you continue to be stubborn like this, I will not be able to graduate.

Professor Biya: Yes, I know, but your work is too bad for me to pass.

Vika: What should I do when you've rejected my work four times already? I need better advice than I've ever received.

Professor Biya thought for a moment before looking up and considering it before speaking. “Then can you continue my old project? I did it when I was young, but I never used it. It would be nice if someone could take over this project until it was finished.”

Vika agreed immediately. He didn't have time to think because the deadline for the project was approaching. If he didn't agree, he might not be able to graduate.

Professor Biya: Good. Then you can meet me here on Saturday evening.

Vika: Okay, see you later, teacher.

As Vika walked out, Professor Biya's face showed an evil smile.

On Saturday evening, Vika came to see Professor Biya after finishing his gym session. When he saw Professor Biya, he greeted him in a friendly manner.

Professor Biya didn't care much. He ordered Vika to follow him to his house to bring the invention to further develop. Even though Vika was a little curious about what this project was, he kept his curiosity and followed him.

When he got home, he found a chair that was just the right size for a man with wires covering the back of the chair. Vika asked him with curiosity.

What is it? Professor Boya quickly answered, it is a special massage chair. Those wires are wires that send electric currents through the muscles to relax them, so it is more than just a vibrating massage chair. It can also help reduce fatigue after exercise and restore muscle tone.

Vika: That's good. I'll develop it further. When Vika was about to take the massage chair, the teacher stopped him.

Teacher Biya: Wait a minute.

Vika was startled in confusion.

Professor Biya: The machine hasn't been turned on for a while. I want to test it before you take it. Can you help me test if it still works? Since you just finished exercising, Professor Biya asked thoughtfully.

Vika confidently replied: Sure, teacher. It's just a small matter. After she finished speaking, Vika immediately sat down on the massage chair.

When Vika sat down, Master Biya started plugging in the massage chair. Before he could turn it on, Master Biya put a strange device on Vika's head. Vika asked curiously, is it necessary?

Professor Biya quickly replied that it was not necessary, but for the completeness of the massage, I recommend wearing it so that it can effectively massage your head. When that was done, Vika did not object and allowed Professor Biya to wear the strange device on his head.

When the machine started it wobbled back and forth. At first Vika could hardly feel how the chair was relaxing, but soon he felt strangely comfortable.

The sensation of the massage was like a dozen hands expertly pressing on various points on his body. It was extremely effective. Not only that, he felt a slight lightness, making him feel sleepy. His muscles were greatly relaxed. It was so comfortable that Vika couldn't stand it. Suddenly, his consciousness gradually faded and he slowly fell asleep. The image in front of Master Biya was this.

This evil face of Master Biya was revealed when Vika fell asleep. He walked over and took out a strange device that was the same as Vika's and put it on himself.

When it was finished, Master Biya sat down on the sofa. Then Master Biya's body shook, his eyes rolled back, and Biya's voice moaned at the same time as Vika's body started to tremble as well.

Master Biya's body gradually lost consciousness. On the contrary, Vika's sleeping body violently twitched and groaned in her throat. The muffled sound was mixed with the sound of the massage chair. When the last moan escaped her throat, Vika's eyes widened before an evil smile followed.

Vika's body rose up. He removed the strange device from his head and rubbed his face with his hands. "Yes, this is what I want to be young, haha."

Vika's body rose up. He removed the strange device from his head and rubbed his face with his hands. "Yes, this is what I want to be young, haha."

Vika didn't know that the massage chair she was using could be used to enter the body of the person who used special electric currents. The original self would gradually decrease in level to accommodate the new self to replace it. When you fall asleep, it is like the new self is ready to replace it.

Okay, now I'm Vika. Although it's a pity that I have to lose my position as a teacher, it's worth it to exchange for this kind of youth.

Biya in Vika's body walked out as if nothing had happened. He walked to the gym where Vika usually played. Even though someone asked what Vika was doing back because he had only been out for a few hours, Biya in Vika's body was able to answer clearly and confidently that he had finished his business.

Then Bia tried using Vika's body for 2 hours of exercise. He really liked this body. Who wouldn't like a strong body that's different from our old body? Haha. After finishing exercising, Vika, who was soaking wet, went into the bathroom to clean herself up.

The naked Vika noticed the impressive penis of the new body. He did not miss the chance to test its manhood. He started to massage and grind it with his hands. It did not take long for it to become erect and fight against him.

Soon Vika's hand started to speed up, the new Vika chased after his climax, soon hot semen gushed out of his penis, when the aftershock occurred, Vika breathed heavily, slowly losing energy from the fun activity with herself, it must be like this.

The following week

Biya in Vika's body received news that his old body was found dead. Luckily, before moving into Vika's body, Biya had already filled in the final project score, so he had no problem. On graduation day, Biya in Vika's body had a lot of fun today. "It was definitely a good idea to choose this body, haha."

Okay, that's it. It was just a request from me a few weeks ago. Hopefully he's not mad at me. LOL. See you next time. Oh yeah, someone asked me if I could write about Jake Andrich. I'll answer him in this post. Sure, but I don't know when. LOL. See you next time. Bye.

[fandom-lover2]

Sacrifices - Pt 3

Word Count - 3549

Part Two

Part Four

My stomach did a flip, the nausea from the head bonk and blood running down my face worsened by the effects of the groundbridge.

The others carried their charges through the bridge, Smokescreen cradling me close to his chestplates as we exited the portal at a walk.

“The children?” Ratchet exclaimed once he caught sight of us. “What happened?”

The bots moved to place our cylinders onto the catwalk, each releasing the tops and reaching in to pull us out.

Once Smokey had placed he down, Jack was by my side in a moment, taking my face into his hands and turning it so he could see my forehead better. “We need to get you to my mom.” he murmured.

I pushed him away, getting blood on his shirt, my hands dripping with my life force. “I’ll be fine.”

I looked over to Optimus, the last one through the bridge. He was watching me, waiting for me to break. Whether that was emotional or physical, or both, only time would tell. For now, my vision was only a little blurry and the headache manageable.

“Somebody say something.” Ratchet pleaded. No one had the guts or the heart to spill the beans yet.

Bulkhead took one for the team. “Optimus destroyed the Omega Lock.”

“What?” It was barely a whisper, but given his size, we all heard the medic. “You did-”

“What was necessary.” Optimus took over. “There was no time for another prolonged battle. Not with Earth in imminent danger.”

“So you destroyed the only device in any universe capable of restoring our home?” Ratchet sounded wrecked. He staggered back a few steps, catching himself on his consol behind him. “Optimus, we needed that.”

Hearing his voice shiver brought tears to my eyes. Yeah, he was grumpy and mean, but he had been through hell. And he did not deserve this.

“You weren’t there Doc.” Smokescreen jumped in to defend. “And it’s not your place to second guess a battle field decision.”

Ouch, even in the heat of the moment that was a low blow. And completely uncalled for. Ratchet had every right to question what happened. It was his home world. And never mind that, he was still a member of the team. The most important member, I would argue. He kept everyone running, kept the base running. Even if he wasn’t there, his opinion mattered.

“It most certainly is!” the medic took a step forward, murder in his optics, and I briefly thought he would attack the younger bot. Instead, he looked Smokescreen up and down like he was less than nothing and took a step back again.

The other bots formed a semi-circle around Ratchet, and the other human kids decided to step closer. I was happy to stay where I was, but Jack nudged me along.

“There had to be another way!” Ratchet insisted, sounded closer and closer to losing it.

“It wasn’t that simple Ratchet.” Jack spoke up, and for good measure I made some space between us in case the old medic did decide to swing.

“Megatron was using the Omega Lock to attack the Earth.” Raf added.

“Optimus saved our planet.” Miko chimed in.

“What about our planet?!” Ratchet exploded.

I glanced to Optimus, mentally judging if he’d make it to protect us in time if the Doc did lunge. He wouldn’t.

Thankfully, Ratchet found standing alone to be too difficult and moved to the other side of his work station, needing to use a servo to support himself.

“All of our struggles and energon spilled and countless sacrifices, for nothing!”

“Right decision or wrong, what’s done is done.” Arcee spoke up, ever the realist. And for once I was grateful for the cold hearted truth. “We have another problem on this world. The ‘Cons just changed the rules when the put the humans into play.”

I looked to Optimus, and he was still watching me.

Judge me all you want, I was on Ratchet’s side. Cybertron should have been saved. Not because it deserved it more than Earth, or because I felt like Earth was boomed no matter what happened in this intergalactic war. Cybertron should have been saved because I knew how hard every bot in this room had fought to try save their home, and seeing Ratchet falling apart was worse than any pain losing Earth would entail.

Yes, my parents and all my family would die. Everything would die, every flower and bee and dog and tree, but so would I. I would die with it all and be at peace. Instead, I now had to watch my friend, someone who I knew deep down cared for me and I him, watch him spiral.

I couldn’t imagine all he had seen, what he had lost, all the lifeless eyes he had to look into and empty promises he’d had to make. He was supposed to be home, not stranded on this pile of rock. He deserved it.

Optimus deserved it. He didn’t show it, but he had been hopeful. He had been desperate. He was willing to do all it took to get his home back, for his people. And now, he had let them down. He had to look into the optics of his oldest friend and tell him his home was gone, for good. He had to look at his team, each still so willing to follow him, and know his decision alone had cost them their home. And all because of us.

I knew Optimus too well, knew his outburst weeks ago had been his way of protecting himself, of trying to protect me. This sacrifice, his home world, he shouldn’t have made it. His world should have come first. No human would have chosen another planet over Earth. But he did, and now we would all pay the price.

I jumped, having missed the incoming call tone and only hearing Agent Fowler growl out his usual “Prime!” Did this guy ever take a freaking chill pill? And why was his timing always so shit.

“The Pentagon is preparing to go Def-Con One. I need to know what we’re dealing with?”

We all moved closer to the monitors, me stumbling a little as my vision blacked out for a moment.

“To what do you refer, Agent Fowler?” Optimus asked for all our sakes.

“Maybe you should step outside and see for yourself.”

Well that was a very ominous and unhelpful answer. Judging from the headphones and background from the video feed, he was in his chopper and probably on his way here anyway. Why didn’t he just tell us?

“Ratchet, watch the children.” Optimus ordered, not looking away from the screens.

Well if that wasn’t the worst punishment to give the medic right now, I didn’t know what was. That was a nasty decision, benching Ratchet after already keeping him out of what happened back on Cybertron. And it wasn’t like we were who the old bot wanted to see right now.

Ratchet didn’t say a word, his silence an answer as the Autobots followed Optimus into the base so they could use the huge lift to get to the roof of the base.

Once they had disappeared from view, Jack turned to me. “We really need to look at that.”

In too much pain to fight him, I let Jack guide me to a seat and waited as he pulled out the first aid kit.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Ratchet watching us, his concern poorly masked despite his rage.

“Optimus made the right decision.” Raf spoke up softly, he and Miko seated near us and huddled together. No doubt they were replaying what they’d seen of Cybertron over and over in their minds. Going to another planet could be a lot to take in.

“No he didn’t.” Jack froze, the alcohol soaked gauze hovering inches from the cut in my forehead. I made sure to keep my eyes down, not making eye contact with anyone.

Apparently I pissed Jack off enough, cause he just scoffed and dropped the first aid stuff down, storming a few steps away. Guess I was saving myself.

Bending, I picked up the wet gauze and pushed it against where I thought the cut was. I guessed right, because it felt like my face was on fire and I cursed, but kept the disinfectant firmly against my skin.

“Are you serious right now?” Jack demanded, spinning to me with smoke coming out his ears.

“You had your chance to say what you felt, now it’s mine.” I shot back, pulling the gauze away and finding it red. I began to repair another wad and poured some of the rubbing alcohol on it.

“Earth! The Earth! The one you live on! The one my mom lives on, your mom lives on! You’re saying Optimus should have just let it be destroyed?”

“You were willing to die to let Optimus use the keys to restore Cybertron, now you change your mind?” I answered, keeping my tone loose. I wondered if I was going to go into shock from blood loss soon, or if there’d be some kind of concussion effects coming in soon.

“That’s different!” Jack screeched. “That was my life, and Miko and Raf’s, against the entire world.”

“It was their entire world!” I finally snapped, standing and spinning to face him, the cotton ball dropping from my hand.

I pointed, no particular direction intended. “It was them, their world, millions of good and innocent lives. Humans had our chance, and we fucked this planet over. And are doing nothing to try change that. So yeah, I think Cybertron deserved a second chance. Optimus deserved a second chance.”

Jack and I stared one another down, both too stubborn to back down. Which was honestly stupid because there wasn’t even a valid fight to be had here. Arcee was right, what was done was done. Whether we agreed on what Optimus should or shouldn’t have done didn’t matter. It was over.

“Y/n.” Ratchet called, sounding a lot softer than I expected him to. I glanced over my shoulder to the medic, and found he had reached over and was holding up the first aid kit.

He was right. Fighting this fight was pointless, not when there was so much worse happening outside.

Walking over to him, I reached into the bag rested on his servo and dug in for more supplies. With his gentle guidance, I managed to clean and cover my wound. It would do, for now. Until we could figure out where to go from here.

I had just secured the last stripe of tape when the entire base shook. I almost fell over, barely catching myself on the railing. Ratchet reached out, wrapping a servo around me to help balance me.

“Is that an Earthquake?” Raf asked, having landed on his butt.

I looked over, thankful to find the others were ok.

The base shook again, and then there was the sound of explosions and blaster fire. The base shook again, dust and loose pebbles from the stone ceiling raining down.

“What is going on?” Miko asked, clinging to Jack.

Finally, after about another minute of shakes and explosions, the other bots finally returned.

“What is going on up there?” Ratchet asked.

“The Decepticons have invaded Jasper.” Optimus revealed.

It felt like someone knocked the air from my lungs. What? Decepticons, here? So much for all my big talk. I was concerned about my family and wanted to high tail it out of base and protect them.

“Fowler’s thinking he can hold them off.” Bulkhead added, like I had time to give a shit about that old weirdo.

My mom was in danger. My cat was in danger! I needed to bring them here, safe from the Decepticons.

And what the hell was the agent thinking? One helicopter from the Vietnam war wasn’t going to hold off the entire Decepticon army. Hell, he hadn’t even been able to hold off against Starscream.

“Well, nice knowing him.” Miko deadpanned.

“Prime!” The agent spoke through the base’s speakers. Oh, so he wasn’t dead yet. “Reinforcements just arrived.”

“Agent Fowler,” Optimus started, sounding alarmed and looking about ready to head back out to the fight. All to save more humans. “your military cannot prevail against the-”

“You didn’t think I was going to let Team Prime all the fun, did ya?” reinforcements interrupted through the radio.

I couldn’t stop the smile that broke across my face when I placed the voice, looking to Miko and then Bulkhead.

“It’s Jacky.” Bulk laughed.

“Wheeljack? But how did you-”

“Picked up a strange energy surge.” The wrecker interrupted the Doc, his faceplates appearing on the screen as he opened a video stream to the base. “Hope you don’t mind the company.”

Ratchet actually smiled. “No. It’s just that after everything, well…”

“We’re still on the same team Doc. Always will be.”

Now I really wanted to know what happened during their solo mission for such a change between them to occur.

“Will he be ok up there by himself?” I asked, glancing up to the bases roof.

“Jacky’s been through worse.” Bulkhead reassured, but I didn’t miss the hesitation in his voice.

I glanced back to the bots, but found one missing. Optimus had walked away from the group, his back to us as he faced the wall. He only got like this when he had a plan, a plan he knew no one would like.

“Ratchet,” he began, and every else turned to look at him. “prepare to bridge everyone out of here.”

“What?” my blood ran cold.

“We’re abandoning the base?” Ratchet questioned.

“The base is lost.” Optimus began, talking quickly as he turned to us. “Wheeljack and Agent Fowler can only buy us time to escape. Bumblebee, Rafael, you will depart first.”

Wait, what the hell. “Optimus, can we just talk about this?”

“You’re splitting us up?” Raf spoke over me.

“Shouldn’t we stick together?”

“All for one and one for all.” Jack and Miko added respectively.

“We must disperse to avoid capture until we can regroup and launch a counter attack.” Optimus answered. “Survival is our only priority now.”

Ok, what he was saying made sense, but abandon the base? This place had become more of a home to me than my real home over the past year. We couldn’t just walk away from it. Everything they had was here. Energon supplies, Ratchet’s medical equipment, our couch. This was home. 

Miko’s drawing pad on the table, Raf’s video games, my textbooks, Jack’s sleeping bag he kept meaning to take home. Our lives were in this hollowed mountain, our memories. We couldn’t just… I couldn’t just… they couldn’t just walk away.

“Optimus,” I tried, but there were no words to say. He was right. There was no other choice.

I turned to Jack. There were always such few times when neither of us had been there to protect our younger human friends. Now, they would be alone. With their guardians, but alone. How would they survive? They were too young to be alone, too young look after themselves.

Do we disobey Optimus, or do we let them go?

Neither of us liked option two, but option one was the safest, in the short term.

“Take some food and cash.” I spoke, and Jack and I moved in unison. Grabbing their assigned backpacks, I checked they were still stocked with emergency snacks and water, and that the miniature first aid kits were still inside. Pulling out my wallet from my own backpack, I divided all the cash I had between the two, while Jack added a blanket to each. When they were ready, I watched as Raf and Miko secured them to their backs.

“I’m scared.” Raf whispered as I knelt before him, adding his laptop to his backpack.

I smiled, forced as I fought tears. “We’re gonna be ok. Bee’s got your back. Just stick close to him and do as he says, and we’ll all see each other soon.”

I crushed him in a hug, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Then, he hugged Miko and Jack and raced down the stairs, Bumblebee transforming and opening his door for the kid.

The rest of us descended the stairs, watching as the yellow scout raced through the bridge Ratchet had opened.  

Ratch changed the co-ordinates and nodded to Bulk, the green muscle transforming.

“Time to go.” Jack told Miko, wrapping her in a hug.

“I don’t want to go.” she confessed, holding on tightly, reaching out a hand for me to join the hug.

“We’ll all be together soon. Just do me a favor and listen to Bulkhead.” I pleaded.

She agreed, and jumped up into his cab.

More rocks dislodged from the ceiling, raining down in larger chunks now. “We haven’t much time.” Optimus warned.

Arcee transformed, and with a final fist pump, Jack slipped on his backpack and helmet, climbing onto Arcee.

“Catch you on the flip side.”

Miko and Bulkhead rolled through, and after confirmation of the location change, Arcee and Jack went next.

I shouldered my own backpack, watching as Smokescreen saluted Optimus before he transformed and went through the bridge.

Now, it was just Optimus, Ratchet and I.

Ratchet began rerouting the bridge again, while Optimus took a few steps towards the portal. Another quake shook the base and I reached over to hold onto him for support.

Optimus silently knelt down, offering a hand for me to climb onto. Then he rose to his height once again, looking down at me.

I wondered where Ratchet would send us. Somewhere on the continental US obviously. Maybe northern California? It would need to be somewhere a big rig like him could blend in. Maine has a lot of logging. Or Indiana.

“What about you?” Ratchet asked, turning to face us.

My heart jumped in my chest. What did he mean ‘what about Optimus’?

All three of us were going through that damn Bridge, now!

I looked up at Optimus, and my heart dropped. He was now staring straight at the portal.

“Optimus?”

“I will ensure that the Decepticons cannot follow.”

“No.” I felt my chest tighten, my eyes stinging. I saw Ratchet silently gasp beside me, but I kept my gaze on my guardian. “Optimus, no.”

Ratchet seemed to accept his response, beginning to walk towards us.

“Optimus, you can’t.”

Wordlessly, without so much as a glance down at me, Optimus handed me over to Ratchet, who held me firmly around my stomach, his other hand coming up as a shield beneath me.

“Let me go.” I struggled against Ratchet, but he did not stop his approach to the Bridge.

“No! Let! Me! Go!” I slammed my fists against Ratchet’s servo, wiggling with all I had.

Ratchet tightened his grip so it hurt, but I still fought.

“Don’t do this! Optimus!”

Ratchet kept me from seeing his red and blue form, pulling me closer to his chassis when he stopped at the portal.

Yes! He was going to fight Optimus, make him change his mind.

“I… never imagined it would end like this.”

And then he continued to the swirling mass of energy.

“No!” Tears streamed down my face, my throat burned as I screamed.

And just before we entered the portal, I heard a quiet, “Goodbye, Little Star.” and then we were swallowed by the green.

Ratchet held me tightly as he walked through, gait unwavering as he headed to the other end. When we emerged, Ratchet placed me down rather quickly, and I took off as fast as I could towards the remaining portal.

If I could just-

The portal closed just as I would have made it.

“Radio him!” I ordered, turning to Ratchet.

The medic sat heavily onto the ground, servos coming up to cradle his helm.

“Ratchet, call him!”

“He’s dead!” he roared back, face plates twisted into rage as he stared back at me.

No. No I could feel it, in my bones, in soul, Optimus was not dead. He couldn’t be.

“He’s… dead.” Ratchet repeated, softer this time, more emotion. He dropped his helm with a sigh, turning away from me before transforming into the ambulance.

“No.” I tried to sound sure, but it was so broken. “Ratchet please.” He remained silent, still. “Ratchet!” I screamed, dropping to my knees.

“No.” I tried to reassure myself. He wasn’t dead, Optimus wasn’t dead.

More tears gathered and fell as I wrapped my arms around myself, my nails digging into my skin.

Optimus couldn’t be dead. There was still so much we needed to do, to talk about. I needed to tell him I forgave him for what he said. I needed to tell him I didn’t hate him. That even if I meant nothing to him, I still needed him to know I don’t hate him. That no matter how hard he tried to push me away, I still cared about him so much. I needed to-

And then, like a wet cloth to the face, I realized I would never see his face again, hear his voice. I would never see Optimus Prime again.

The birds in the tree scattered at the unhuman sound that left me.

Commission Information

Tags: @nyan-toaster

[rinixo]

variables

Tech/Reader | 1.5k | Rated E | smut, afab!reader, oral sex, Tech pov (mainly), Tech internal thoughts, slight possessive!Tech

He had never been one for flowery words, but as he closed his eyes he realized he understood now what the poets meant about devouring one another.

a/n: originally started out as a follow-up to auxilium, but ended up just being better as a stand-alone.

read on ao3

Tech’s sat on your floor, surrounded by communicator parts. He had offered to repair it for you when you mentioned it was malfunctioning. You had agreed, knowing that even if you said it was fine, you'd find it missing one day and returned, good as new, the next.

He comes over to your place more often, now. The first few times you had hovered anxiously, unsure of if you should find some way to entertain him, worried that you were boring him.

"I enjoy being in your company," Tech had stated matter-of-factly, halting your nervous fussing. Since then, you’d relaxed, going about your own activities while he worked on various projects.

He had built you some clever devices, intended to make your life easier. A tea kettle that would ping to your wrist comm, letting you know when it was at the perfect brewing temperature. A sensor on your door that actually worked, so you didn’t have to risk opening it up just to find some drunk passed out on your step.

Tech struggled to give voice to his feelings. He sometimes lacked the nuance that came easily to others regarding certain topics. It was easier for him to simply do. Every time he soldered a wire or tightened a bolt, it was a little testament to his affection towards you.

The sound of the bathroom door caught his attention. He watched as you emerged, toweling your damp hair, dressed only in underwear, content to let the rest of your body air dry.

He appreciated that you felt comfortable enough to share some of your quirks around him. In fact, Tech appreciated many of the small habits he observed in you - this one included, and not just because you were bare. Sometimes, he found himself musing about them while waiting for data to compile or during hyperspace journeys.

The way you flip your tools in your hands idly. There was a callus on one of your fingers, from the friction, and he could sometimes feel it when you touched him in certain sensitive places.

The lines between your eyes, when you frown. The subtle asymmetry of your brows, one rising higher than the other.

He likes that you don’t roll your eyes when he rambles, sitting through many impromptu lectures in good grace. The way that you’ll remember where he last left off, ask genuine questions, and invite him to continue.

He appreciated how he could sense when you wanted him to kiss you: your eyes darting to his lips, hands tensing and relaxing.

He cherished the tremble of your skin under his touch, whether his palm was spread over your abdomen or between your shoulder blades.

You sat on the edge of your bed, towel draped over your arm, looking humorously at the parts spread out on the ground.

“You’re going through a lot of trouble for me,” you joke. “I’d still like you even if you didn’t fix everything I own.”

“It’s no trouble,” Tech replies softly. Your knee is next to his head, droplets of water evaporating into the dry air. He can see the goose prickles on your skin.

A soft smile on your lips. “Don’t you have to go soon?”

Tech hums thoughtfully. His squamates were becoming suspicious of his increased absences. It was Echo who had approached the topic most directly, weeks ago on a long hyperspace transit back to Ord Mantell.

Tech didn’t know exactly why it bothered him or why he felt somewhat possessive over the knowledge. Over you. He had kept his tone neutral in response, hoping Echo would get the hint that it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about. The former ARC trooper didn’t look convinced but had dropped the subject.

It didn’t stop him from paying you a visit the very next day, however. And the day after that. And most days since then.

“Yes,” Tech decides. “But I want to be here.” Placing his hands on your knees, he pushes himself up and over you. You eye him, leaning back to keep his face in view.

He slots himself over your body, pressing his nose just above your belly button. Your skin, still slightly damp, smells wonderful.

“Tech," you mewl halfheartedly. “I just washed…”

He trails his nose down to the apex of your thighs. “You can wash again,” he breathes, kissing the fabric of your panties over your mound.

You must realize it’s a lost cause because you lean back with a sigh and throw an arm over your tired eyes.

He kisses you through the fabric, suckling softly, The fabric grows wetter between his tongue and your slick. He can see the color of your skin through the translucency, swollen and waiting for him. But he has the time, and the patience, and the desire to make this last.

Pulling the fabric to the side, he flicks his tongue over your clit, making you squirm. Your thighs twitch, and he knows you want to prop them up. He obliges you in this way, letting one of them lift over his shoulder. The other he pats, enjoying the plush way they mold under his hand.

More than one previous lover had made remarks about ‘using his mouth for other things’, insinuating that his clever tongue could be used for more than wit. It had never really sat well with him before, the suggestion that he was too much, too talkative, that his mouth would be more useful to them elsewhere.

Tech didn’t feel that way about you. He could spend hours between your legs, memorizing you through touch and taste alone. He took great offense at leaving any job half-done, and this was no exception. He wasn’t satisfied until you were satisfied, and even then he would be so hyper-focused at times that it wasn’t until you’d pry him away with shaking hands that he’d realize you were moments away from passing out from pleasured exhaustion.

Tech moves the hand on your thigh down to ease two long fingers into you. Glancing up, he can see those lines between your brows, eyes screwed shut. He feels you tense and then relax, caught between adjusting to the new sensation and giving in to the continued assault from his mouth.

He’s careful, delicate almost. His tongue curls around your clit, his teeth just barely creating pressure. You pulse with it and he releases, wanting to draw this out further. He likes when you’re desperate for it, writhing and rambling nonsense. It won’t be until you’ve begged, pleaded, bargained that he’ll let you come. Tech likes to be awash in your praise - it makes his cock throb to hear how good he does it, how good he makes you feel.

It’s more than just physical pleasure, too. Tech supposes he could have stopped himself from falling in love with you. Love was powerful and dangerous. It wasn’t predictable and defied attempts at pathology. It required one to give up control and give in to vulnerability. It wasn’t logical, and it wasn’t something he had ever prioritized before. Lust was much simpler in comparison.

You threw unknown variables into the carefully charted graph of his mind, his perception of who he was, and his place in the galaxy.

It was overwhelming, at times. Something that would need to be parsed out eventually, tallied, and taken inventory of. But for now, he channeled it into attending to your body, focusing solely not on what he thought but on what he could feel, on the lust coursing through him.

The shadows on the wall change and the dimmed lights click on before Tech’s finished with you, pulling back to see you panting. This was some of his best work so far, he thinks, wiping his chin absently. His cock, pressing against his blacks, is achingly hard. He lets it pulse as he watches you, enjoying the edging sensation. He’ll let you decide, once you’ve gathered yourself, if you’d like to go any further. And if you decide that you’re tapped out, that’s all right - just as much as he likes to feel your mouth on him or be buried in your cunt, he likes to sit back and have you watch him stroke himself until he’s coming hard over his hands or spraying over your stomach.

You’ll attempt to apologize later, but he’ll quiet you with his lips. Why should you apologize, when you’ve given him as much as you have? When he desires you so intensely? When you sate the monstrous appetite he didn’t know he possessed? He’d have to find the time, the courage, to figure out what it all meant. What he wanted, what you wanted, and what - realistically - was possible.

But now was not that time, he knows, as you push yourself up and pull him closer. Tech holds your head as your trembling hands pull down his blacks, breath leaving him shakily through his nose as you take him into your mouth.

He had never been one for flowery words, but as he closed his eyes he realized he understood now what the poets meant about devouring one another.

[echojulietfoxtrot]

Okay, everyone's had a few days to be sad. But the world didn't end, so there is stuff to be done. Mid terms are in 2 years.

This post isn't going to tell you anything other people haven't done better or in more detail, and I'm not even American, so what the fuck are you listening to me for, but I think it might be useful to somebody as a place to start, and I think it's useful to keep in mind that none of us are helpless - no matter how much it might benefit somebody else to let you think so.

I'll add to it as and when I can.

NOW

Check your ballot. Tell everyone you know to check on their ballots. Spread the word to everyone you can possibly tell to check their ballots. The Presidential election is absolutely not going to be reversed, but local races and initiatives can be decided by twenty, a dozen, two votes. The window's closing on this by now, so check into this immediately if you haven't already. And if there is any possibility for a recount where it might achieve something, make noise for one.

You would be absolutely amazed how much harm can be spared and how much good can be done at the Parks & Rec level, no matter what's happening up top. Do not waste the chance to make friction for bad guys later on, or lay down some tools for the good guys in advance.

Then, if you have a Dem Senator, call their office and urge them to confirm all Biden's judicial nominees now, right now, ASAP. Here's a rough call script.

Btw mid terms are in two years.

NEXT

Spend the next two months -

Buying a little extra boring ass shelf stable food and water on your grocery runs, and build up as much food security as you can. You're probably not gonna need it, but it's good to have, even only as a hedge against inflation or unreliable weather/disaster relief responses.

Stock up on medication you might need if you can. Organize whatever procedures you might need done if you can, including contraceptive measures. And find a reason to need a Morning After Pill or two in the next few weeks, somebody you care about might be real glad you did.

Consider making any big ticket purchases that will be affected by proposed tariffs (electronics etc), or any... slightly less conventional things you want to buy, now - but otherwise it would be a good time to lay some money aside if you can.

Get in the habit of paying for things in cash, and limiting how much information on your habits are out there. Stash a little cash somewhere, for if you want to buy something less visibly in future, too.

Do your homework about your digital footprint. Accounts, posts, doxxable clues, data, behavioral info, browsers, wifi links, cookies, consumer history, always-on "Smart" speakers and devices, think about all of it. Your phone is telling everyone where you are at all times whether the Location stuff is on or not - get in the habit of leaving it at home, so that suddenly not having it is not, in itself, a sign of anything. Your fitness wearables are mapping your entire lifestyle - it is effectively recording where you work, what time you finish, what routes you take, what stores you go to, where your friends live, where you go for recreation, where your family lives and what your relationship is like with them (where's your fitbit at Thanksgiving, Christmas etc?). Don't use fingerprint or facial recognition for anything, ever, if you can help it - apart from cataloguing your biometrics, it is much easier for a third party, police included, to use these to access your stuff than a password. It probably goes without saying, do not digitally document your menstrual cycle in any way.

Figure out what channels you can use in future to retain access to as much as possible if someone decides you shouldn't have it, or wants to know if you look for it. VPNs are a starting point, but not the end point. Do your homework on this now, before you need to know it.

Look into securing documentation that might be of use in future, this includes property, legal stuff like Power of Attorney, passports etc. (Though that doesn't necessarily mean carrying it at all times to everything, just sayin'.)

What's your ACA status? Are you currently availing of absolutely everything you're currently entitled to? If not, work on it. Government resources are always harder to take away from you once you're getting them than to deny you outright.

If there's any gay shit you like or want preserved, it would be a good time to buy/download/back it up. This includes movies, fics, books. It would also be a good time to seek out and subscribe to independent and non-digital gay media, zines, etc, and get to know your in-person scenes. You might be surprised how much stuff still exists and happens in ways that are invisible to the internet, gay and otherwise.

Don't forget that mid terms are in 2 years.

THEN

The mid terms are in 2 years.

Mid terms are 2 years away. Which means the campaigns for them start in a year, which means the work for them starts now.

All else aside, Democrat flips elsewhere in the government structure at that point would make it way, way harder for them to keep smashing everything, and there is work that you can do towards making that happen. For better and sometimes worse, the American political system is a very big and very awkward machine, and King Dipshit and his cronies cannot wave a magic wand to get their way everywhere all the time as a result. Look into your immediate local political scene, and figure out what you can do for it.

You might be getting sick of everyone talking about "building community". What this usually means in practice is firstly, seeking out local or neighboring orgs and groups that are doing what you want done, and joining them; or else, starting them yourself.

That might sound daunting, but it's not hard to start an interest group, just very annoying early on. You'll have to do a lot more printing than you might expect. You're going to have to deal with some deeply irritating people who are, nonetheless, very good at getting good shit done, and you're going to have to learn that's a You problem to deal with.

I'm involved in a couple of local groups in my country and it is WILD how much even one person can get done purely because nobody else gives enough of a shit about boring small potatoes stuff to notice or oppose it. That can be a blessing and a curse, so make it the first one.

Apart from this stuff being generally good, it will stop you losing your fucking mind. No, you're not going to community garden your way out of this one, sure, but that community garden might stop you letting the bullshit beat you into the ground before you can do something more important down the line. And it might introduce you to the girl who knows somebody with the thing that can do the shit you need around then too; it might teach you a lot of practical and psychological stuff you'll be glad of sometime.

It might even teach you how to get much more important things done in your local political infrastructure, who is on your side, who isn't, how to get the best from either - some of the most valuable shit I've learned about my little universe was picked up in the course of volunteering for a haunted house.

I am as guilty as everyone else as looking at the outlook and saying fuck it, bad guys won, but that is legitimately irrational no matter where you live. They never win, not outside of stories, because real life doesn't end like a story does. There is stuff to be done to make life more bearable than it would be otherwise, more bearable until it's possible to make it even better. There is so much stuff to get doing, instead of just feeling bad.

[despairparfait]

📂ㅤAS AN OLDER BROTHER?ㅤ. . .ㅤriddle x sibling!reader ★

synopsis. what, perchance, would heartslabyul's riddle rosehearts be like as an older brother? my personal not very in-depth analysis.

i. Stated in the absolute nicest way possible, I feel as though Riddle's younger sibling would have experienced the very brunt of his pre-overblot behaviour. The strictness; the over-studying; the routines; they have lived through just as much as the Heartslabyul dorm members, but probably twice as bad.

Though, what makes you, said Rosehearts sibling, different from the Night Raven College students? You have never been subjected to the ghastly collar treatment. Why is that? Alongside whatever lessons and such are put in place by your mother, Riddle's routines are personally tailored for the very purpose that you will attend Night Raven College alongside him one day. Thus, you know the rules.

So when you began your studies as a first year, just as Riddle was entering his second, you found yourself the most burdened student in the Heartslabyul dorm with your elder brother constantly on your back. Yet your dorm mates viewed you as the most studious, the one to turn to if not to Vice Trey Clover — and just as much as both you and they wished that you were able to negotiate Riddle out of more lenient sentences, you were unable to. But you could do your very best in helping everybody avoid them, by letting them know of their rule-breaking in advance to Riddle noticing.

(Not that any of your warnings would have ever stopped a particular Trappola, no matter if you yanked that chestnut tart from his hands and stomped on it.)

ii. After fourth period, back to the dorm and cram in an hour's worth of studying as Riddle has his afternoon tea. Then, assist in preparing for the unbirthday party. Once finished assigned tasks, studying until the party's start. You regularly find your schedule filled to the brim on the daily, handwritten and placed on your desk personally by your generous older brother by the time you even awaken. On one hand, it's agitating. On the other, you know that it's just a way that has been drilled into his head by your mother, that good grades and an ace magical ability is what is expected of those coming from your golden lineage. (Thanks to this schedule that he keeps you to religiously, you are placed top of the class for the first years. Rendering the Rosehearts name to be dominating the academic boards for two different years.)

iii. However, he will not just leave you to your own devices for this schedule. He will regularly check in on you as you are studying, inquiring as to what it is that you are working on at the time. As much as it is to snoop and ensure you're not slacking off, it is also a way to ask whether there is anything that you are currently struggling with. He will not even acknowledge the rift he causes in his own schedule as he merely sits opposite you to help you with something that you are finding difficult.

iv. If there is anything at all regarding you that annoys him, it's your budding friendship with Ace. Maybe at first it was a subtle fear that his troublemaking ways will become a bad influence on you, but then that annoyance grew as the ginger continued to pull you away from your studies time and time again. At the beginning, you were extremely hesitant to follow him as he grabbed your hand and pulled you away from your desk, calling you boring. But as this continued, you began to hide the fact you were even disappearing, which irked Riddle to no end. He would unapologetically storm the dorm in order to find where you two were hiding, intending to off Trappola of his head the very second he sees him. Yet why couldn't Riddle notice the irony which was his hatred of this friendship, and how he was projecting his own friendship with Trey and Chen'ya onto you two?

v. During the events leading up to Riddle's overblot, I see both Ace and Deuce working their little socks off as they attempt to get you on their side of the rebellion. But the fact your brother is practically your shadow whilst in the dorm, it was impossible for them to get you alone long enough to complain about him. Especially considering you'd find Riddle sitting with you as you study increasingly often to bat Ace and his truancy away.

vi. Yet, your dorm life did tend to get increasingly better after Riddle overblotted. Him coming to terms with who he is and what he has gone through, recognising his tyrannic ways and accepting that he can be better. To some degree, he saw you as the poster child of how miserable his influence has made the dorm. Noticing and regretting the fact that he has treated you just as harshly as his mother did to him, becoming the very person that caused him to be as he is. Although his vow to be more lenient with the rules was a substantial change for most Heartslabyul students, you were definitely the one that experienced the most change after he came to his senses.

vii. You immediately noticed the fact that you wouldn't find a lengthy schedule on your desk anymore when you woke up. His handwritten notes were no longer a daily thing, instead, becoming almost termly and coinciding with your timetabled lessons. It became less of a minute-by-minute routine, and more of a general sheet of paper to look at before the day to see what classes you have, and what dorm events are planned. Although there would still be jotted timeslots for studying, they'd be a lot less like in-negotiable demands, and more friendly reminders that Thursday morning at 10:15am, you don't have any lessons so you could probably get some homework done.

viii. His random visits while you're studying, or just generally doing whatever as you have a lot more time and freedom on your hands now, become a lot less frequent and imposing. Yet when he does appear, you notice how the way he approaches you is a lot different from before. Rather than what you're studying, he would ask how you're doing. Not academically, but mentally. He would begin to show genuine concern about your wellbeing, taking into account the stress of school, which was not something he batted an eyelash about before.

ix. Deep, probably late-night conversations leading to that winter break planning the discussions you two are going to have with your mother when you return home for the holidays. Despite it being a difficult subject to discuss, it proves to become an extremely helpful icebreaker between you two. Acknowledging the source of your respective traumas, and coming up with a plan in order to settle everything once and for all. Which would probably take a whole lot of effort, and even more time, but if you two can discuss that of all things, then you'd probably be able to discuss absolutely anything.

x. Pre-overblot Riddle would probably burst a blood vessel at even the thought of you wasting your time and effort on boys. But he'd likely mature quite a bit afterwards when it comes to the subject, with some guidance and (some good, some bad) advice from Trey and Cater. Sure, he'd have his own personal preferences for brother-in-law. He wouldn't want you to date any really bad influences, but he supposes he cannot really stop you from doing what you want. Just don't expect to make it public that you're dating Floyd and not have Riddle banging your door down with the reddest face you've ever seen.

(Just please, please, please don't let it be Ace. He already sees enough of him as it is.)

[popodoki]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/56460817/chapters/173345290

SFW bday ficlet for @heerotheshiro xoxo

prompt was 'an unexpected gift'. It is pure schmoop ~

Thomas nearly jumps out of his skin at the sudden sound, and comes even closer to biting through the lip he’s been worrying between his teeth. Who cared whether the top two or three buttons were left undone if he’d gotten blood on his crisp white shirt. He ignores how his lip throbs and turns into a mad dive for his phone on the bedsheets where it lies, playing the song he specifically set for when Edwin calls.  

His thumb quickly taps on the green icon to receive, sliding over to tap on the speaker and after a short greeting of “well hey there,” falling from his grin he neatly tosses the phone back to the bed. Keeping his head cocked towards his phone for a reply, his hands move to adjust the collar of his shirt, and his eyes flick back to the mirror to judge how well his trousers hug his backside. Two buttons undone, then, he decides. For now. 

Edwin’s icon flashes on the phone on the bed, and a timer neatly displays the call has started and is now at 0:32 seconds. But the voice coming from the device isn’t Edwin’s. Thomas, puzzled, slowly turns fully back to his bed. Sounding almost muffled, the voice he now recognizes as Niko, one of Edwin’s best friends, has obviously been talking for longer than half a minute. By the time Thomas takes a few hesitant steps closer, and wills his ears to focus harder on the noise and voice on the other end of the line that seems to come from far away, he can catch what is obviously a conversation between multiple people. He reasons with a soft chuckle that he’s really probably not supposed to be privy to this, and his hand moves on autopilot to press a finger to the red icon. 

Seconds later, his hand falls slowly back to his side, and Thomas sits on the bed next to his phone.  

Edwin’s icon flashes on the phone, the timer reads 1:24. 

Thomas listens to the conversation between Edwin and his friends. 

“- still say you should go with blue,” Niko adds to the ongoing debate, followed by Charles and Crystal both sighing and groaning in equal measure how the choice was between red and what Crystal claims to be a very stylish mustard yellow. Edwin’s voice then rings out, so faint Thomas must bend his head forward till he’s close to touching the phone. The awkward position of looming over his bed is worth it to hear his lover muttering faintly, petulantly that at this point he’d wear any colour as long as it wouldn’t make him late for his date, thanks. 

Thomas's shoulders shift in silent laughter at the clear sound of Charles blowing a raspberry in response. His smile slowly turns wry as he listens to Edwin’s best friend continue with a friendly ribbing. “Don’t think he even cares,” Charles offers, “way he fawns over you, you could show up in vomit green and he’d still compliment you.”   

“Profusely.” Crystal adds, deadpan.  

“As well he should Eds, you’re a catch.” Charles continues. “Though I might have a word with him in the future and tell him to tone it down a notch. Or two. He can’t have you walking back in here with a full bouquet of flowers or such every damn time, mate. He’s got to know he’s setting standards.”  

“Imagine.” Crystal adds, deadpan.  

Over the overlapping teasing between Crystal and Charles, Thomas can hear Niko’s voice clearer than any other, confirming his theory that she’s sitting close if not right next to Edwin’s phone.  

“I think it’s really sweet. He’s really helped with your confidence.” Niko states so matter of factly,  Thomas can picture her kind accompanying smile so clearly it almost feels like it’s aimed at him directly. His finger hovers over the red phone icon for a few seconds, before retreating to his lap again as warmth creeps down his cheeks, settling behind his ribs. 

“He’s setting a standard for making you happy, Edwin. That’s good enough for me.” Crystal states with finality. Her words are closely followed and echoed by Charles, who does add at the end that they’ve got to have a proper meeting next time. The trio of friends laugh together, with Thomas joining them in silence, as Edwin snippily replies that they can discuss that some other time, when he’s not running late for his date, thanks. 

Thomas can just about hear the smile in Edwin’s voice, and for a second when he’s sure Edwin directs it around the room full of people he likes, he trusts, he loves, Thomas imagines he could be standing there among them, someday. 

Shaking his head with a gentle huff of breath, Thomas finally decides to end the call. As his finger nears the screen by an inch, he hears a sudden rustle that indicates Edwin’s phone is being picked up. Suffused with sudden panic, Thomas hurries to end the call on his end as Niko’s voice rings out a final time. 

“Don’t forget your phone Edwin!” She calls out cheerily.  

Before Thomas’s finger makes contact with his phone screen, the phone call is ended. 

Later, with his hands filled with a grand bouquet of tulips, Edwin casually mentions to Thomas that his friends would like to meet him someday. Hooking his arm around the back of Edwin’s mustard yellow sweater to guide him as they stroll down the street, Thomas assures him that he’d love to. 

 “They sound like great people.” He offers while Edwin buries his nose in the delicate flowers to smell them. 

[ayaisokay]

The Kids Aren't Alright

* ~ I'm sorry for making this ~ *

Doomers & Fatalism

Regardless of your age, you need a reason to move forward. You need hope. Yet, it's hard to find hope for teens and young adults.

Not a year goes by without an update on the planet's decline (at our hand), wealth is only feeling more unstable and unequally distributed, a pandemic destroyed any hope of sociability for some, and social media does more harm than good when it "connects" people.

There's no true community, nothing to take pride in, there's hardly motivation for ambition or wealth. Hell, we grow up being told we'll be a generation of renters, because it's a statistical improbability than any of us will EVER afford a home without working 3 jobs into our grave.

I can't speak for America, but I know my government haven't made any real effort to prevent renter's from taking that news and slowly inflating rent costs each month.

I'm a part of the generation that is thought to deal with the broadest range of mental health concerns; however, I'm also part of the generation that's most likely to be told to "deal with it," or "grow up," by the people perpetuating our suffering, or the peers that fell victim to toxic hustle culture— enabling the shitty circumstances.

When you start adulthood with so many problems that directly impact your life, most of which come at no fault of your own, you'd hope for help in addressing those matters, but it never comes.

We're told we're lazy, we don't try hard enough, and we've got it easy (which is a demonstrable lie). How is it any surprise we became hopeless doomers? At some point you just get the idea that we were destined to fail.

Threats of War

Now we're told to be ready for World War 3 and I'm struggling to understand why. What values am I defending? Why should I die for a country that doesn't care about me?

Sure, Ukraine and Palestine are in shitty situations, but saying that doesn't require me to do anything. Though they demonstrate something: the government will risk our lives for money, and turn a blind eye to genocide if it suits them.

All that matters is that we're made to feel like our interests align. They don't represent us. They represent themselves.

Don't get me wrong, I don't support either conflict, and I sympathise with the aforementioned nations; however, I am not willing to die for them— I don't think you are. So is it even fair for us to bother complaining? It's not like diplomacy has done a thing so far.

Whether we're roped into a war or not, it doesn't feel like we'd have a choice.

Hobbies and Corporations

Normally I'd propose finding an outlet for everything. I'm not sure that's ideal anymore. Commonplace hobbies like gaming, sports, martial arts, reading, and art, they require 3 things: time, motivation, and effort.

Thanks to hustle culture, holding 3 jobs, running a drop shipping business, and abandoning any meaningful social life is considered just enough and reasonable. That doesn't leave time for personal hobbies, entertainment, or time to actually live. A life like that is no life at all. You're an animal operating on the exclusive goal of survival. You're alive, but you're not living.

Among those of us too physically or mentally scarred to work like our peers, we compassionately took to pen and paper, or software and devices, writing stories, drawing and animating worlds, or making music.

I fear that pocket of joy is getting smaller. AI image generation has already impacted artists, AI voice recreations are already being used in place of some voice actors, and we've all seen the AI voice covers for songs— claiming "you don't need to learn to sing." It didn't take long for me to see "generative AI" being proposed as a source for track samples and stems in music production.

Considering such things, it's hard to motivate yourself to put your work out there. You struggle to justify spending time creating anything, and you're probably not ready to put the effort into producing enough algorithm optimised works per day. After all, no one will see it. No one cares.

That's how it feels.

Social Media

Maybe we still have digital spaces? Really. Are cespools like Twitter spaces you can enjoy? Even Tumblr is quite detached, with small accounts struggling to get so much as a couple likes— nevermind a reblog, and god forbid you get a comment or DM.

That's minor though, it's the relationships that bother me. The ability to lock someone out of your life, within 5 seconds, for the slightest of perceived infractions. You're sensitive and a snowflake if you need boundaries, and you're "rude" and "mean" when you're pushed too far for not establishing them.

You can join a fandom or community and run into those issues, but do you really need more trouble? Ive hung around with furries since I was 13 or 14. It wasn't a furry that SA'd me, and I've never been groomed. But as a child online, I was labelled as a dog fucking groomer (at 15), because I was in a furry community discord server. I don't like to think about how that made the young adult owner of the server feel.

Social media is good for "satirical trolls," who take pleasure in hurting as many people as they can, and then claiming it's OK because they're joking, and you should've known. Is it really worth the effort for anyone else? You know, us "normal people," not bogged down by million strong fanbases, actively managing parasocial relationships and morally questionable stalking.

Closing Statements

I'm not entirely sure why I wrote this post. I guess I'm just another girl crying on the internet when I should save it for the therapy I can't actually afford.

I want to be hopeful, to feel like there's something attainable to desire, or even just things to look forward to. It's been a long time since I woke up and felt there was a good reason to be awake or even alive.

Thanks,

- The Girl That Doesn't Exist