#which is alarmingly not threatening

[painsandconfusion]

oh for the ask game since anon's off now i'll just do it off anon: phobia whumper is my favorite because of all the unique whumping ideas :)

He's so smug in my head right now XD

[kitkatscabinet]

Always been you

Pairing: Simon "Ghost" Riley x f! childhood friend reader

Summary: From the moment you first smiled at him as children Simon knew it would always be you.

Word count: 2k

Warnings: some nsfw content so minors keep scrolling

It starts like this, he’s 9 years old feet listlessly guiding himself to the rundown park desperate to be somewhere, anywhere that wasn’t the oppressive confines of home. The weather, as was typical of Manchester, wasn’t exactly cooperating. A dreary grey drizzle that served to keep most of the general populace indoors. Few parents were willing to stand outside and supervise their rowdy children. 

That’s not to say the area was completely devoid of activity and for a while Simon was content to sit idly on the swing set and people watch. Trying desperately to ignore the clench in his chest and the sting of tears in the corner of his eyes as he watched the loving interactions between child and parent. Bitterness and wanting in equal parts threatened to consume him. 

A voice from the side quickly pulls him from the harrowing thoughts, though he quickly thinks maybe they’d be easier to deal with. It’s a boy, around his age, maybe a little older and he’s boring like Simon’s deeply offended him. 

“Get off the swing, I want a turn.” The demand leaves Simon more than a little flabbergasted. Apparently, he takes too long to not follow the sudden command as the boy's face twists in even more displeasure. 

“I said, move!” He’s taller, and maybe it's because Simon had already been scared by Tommy that morning but he freezes. 

Or maybe it’s just because he’s pathetic, his father’s voice whispers traitorously in his mind. 

Thankfully, the thought doesn’t get to stick around for long as a new voice enters the fray. “Hey! Fuck off!” Both boys whirl around with wide eyes at the newcomer, neither sure how to respond to the loudly swearing girl. However, when the boy responds with what Simon assumes to be your name it becomes clear that you already know each other. 

“I don’t have to listen a girl.” That proves to be exactly the wrong thing to say, Righteous indignation lights up your face and before Simon can even blink the would-be bully is on the ground, clutching his nose with a cry. You’d punched him, hard enough that Simon could see the blood spilling out from over the crying boy’s hands and down his chin. Not wanting to suffer the same fate, Simon had let you pull on his hand, keeping it in a deceptively strong grip as you marched the two of them away. When you make it far enough from the crime scene you turn to him with a toothy grin, introducing yourself and promptly claiming the title of his new best friend. 

It’s not quite love at first sight, but years down the line Simon will recognise it as something close. 

The fourth time you meet at the park, not even two weeks from the initial greeting, you ask after his parents. It wasn’t unusual that Simon didn’t talk much, content to listen to you chatter away but you must have noticed something different in that instance of silence. You were alarmingly perceptive like that when it came to him, your eyes feeling as if they were staring directly into his soul, seeing all the shattered hurt he tried to hide. Nodding to yourself you grabbed his hand, an occurrence that he hadn’t quite gotten used to yet - your gentle touch, and tugged him along. You walk him all the way to your house, open the door with an excited bang and march straight up to your parents. 

“This is my best friend, Simon, he’s gonna sleep over tonight!” Your parents are rightfully not amused but their protests quickly die down. He has no idea what convinced them in the end, but from then on he’d somehow become a permanent fixture in your home. Dinners became a regular thing which often became sleepovers as you attempted to keep him out of the house that had caused him so much fear and pain. It was about as subtle as a brick to the face but Simon never complained, especially if it meant you’d pull him into your bed as often as possible to sleep. 

He hadn’t minded the first two ‘boyfriends’, they had been nothing serious, silly childhood infatuations. Because at the end of the day, it was always him that you returned to. Crawling through his window late at night and pouting that you couldn’t sleep without your favourite pillow, because somehow, despite his protests you always wrestled him into being the little spoon. 

No, it isn’t until he’s 17 and more than aware of how painfully in love with you he is that the boyfriends finally become a problem. Simon wasn’t a violent person, didn’t want to be, not like his father was. But as he holds you in his arms after you’d climbed through the window in tears, cuddling up to him under the blanket covering his bed that he swears for the first time in his life he could kill somebody. He offers too, you simply laugh and tell him he’s the best friend you could ever have. You think he’s joking, Simon’s not entirely sure he is. 

You’re his first kiss, something that had only occurred at your aghast knowledge that he’d never kissed anyone at all. He’s not sure why you’re surprised, you’re the only person he ever lets near him let alone touch him. It’s simultaneously the best and worst moment of his life because now he actually knows what it feels like to kiss you. Knows that nobody will ever live up to you. 

It’s then he realises that you’re his first everything really, first friend, first crush, first and only love. 

He reads some of your smutty books, the ones you giggle at, a secret he’ll take to the grave, just to learn what you like. It comes about after a drunken confession on your part, liquor loosening your lips just a tad too much as you detail how much your last boyfriend sucked in bed. It’s a mistake, because now every time he looks at you he can’t help but imagine the way you’d taste. How you’d sound begging so prettily for him. 

His decision to join the military was not made lightly, you’d gotten accepted into some fancy university and it’s then Simon starts to realise just how much his entire life has started to revolve around you. As much as he wants to follow, he knows that life isn’t for him, and he knows how much you want him to flourish in whatever path he chooses. 

Training isn’t easy, but it’s far from the hardest thing he’d ever done. That title was reserved for telling you about his chosen career path. 

“Promise me you’ll always come back home to me” you demand, parting just slightly from your hug to look into his eyes. Simon knows he shouldn’t, after all there’s never any guarantee that he will, but as has been the case since you were both 12 he can’t bare to say no to you. 

“I promise love” it’s barely a whisper but you still hear it, your fingers clutching at the back of his shirt starting to shake a little. 

He wants to kiss you, he always does, but standing before him now, eyes glassy from the tears you’re trying to hold back, Simon swears you’ve never looked more ethereal. As much as he wants to lean down and finally taste your lips he doesn’t, it wouldn’t be fair. Not to you or to him, so instead he presses a soft kiss to your hairline, keeping you held tightly against him. 

You send him more care packages than he can count, photos, letters and little trinkets he kept tucked safely away in his bunk or on his person when he could get away with it. He gets teased for it but Simon couldn’t give less of a fuck about their poorly hidden jealousy, not when you cared for him so deeply. Not when he gets to fall asleep with your words in his head and faint scent rubbing off on him. 

He’d thought that perhaps the distance would do him some good, would finally douse the blazing flames of his love for you. He really should have known better because as the day's drone on you start to consume his every thought both waking and asleep. His life becomes a series of training and missions that only serve as a way to pass the time until he gets to see you again. Because no matter how much blood stains his hands he knows you’ll always be there to wash it away. He’s aware how selfish it is, to place the brunt of his longing and emotional baggage that only continues to grow in your careful hands, but Simon’s never claimed to be a good man. 

Some of the darkness slips out one night, after his brother's wedding, after the revelry had died down and it was just the two of you lying on the grass and looking up at the stars at your insistence. He’ll forever blame it on the alcohol, descriptions of the violence he’d tried so desperately to keep from you pouring from his lips in confession. He can’t bear to look at you, heart roaring in his ears as he waits for the moment you’ll run, the moment you’ll finally realise what a monster he is. That moment never comes, instead, you ensnare him in your protective grip, hands cradling him far more softly than he deserves. It’s that moment that finally cements the fact that you’re never leaving in his mind. You’re never leaving so it’s up to him to pull away before he tarnishes your light, but Simon is weak and so he stays. 

It happens after his third tour, the one where he’d had too close a call, the one he’d thought for a few moments he wasn’t coming home from. In those moments he’d thought of you, of your smile and god he regretted. He regretted never telling you how he felt. 

It feels like he’s barely off the plane, eyes searching desperately for you before he hears the shout of his name. He spins just in time for you to launch yourself at his chest, gripping desperately onto him. You’ve always tried to keep your affection for him private, knowing he wasn’t entirely comfortable with people staring. Neither of you cared in that moment though and Simon’s already dropped his bags, engulfing you in a near-crushing grip. 

It’s an eternity before you pull away, but it’s still too soon. He briefly glimpses the tears in your eyes before he leans down and kisses you. Something in the back of his mind is screaming at him, but he doesn’t really care to listen. At first, you don’t respond and Simon finally panics as the consequences of his actions set in. You don’t give him the chance to run away though, hands grasping his face and keeping him in place. 

When you pull away you don’t say anything, simply taking his hand in yours and tugging him out to your car. The drive to your apartment is silent, but not uncomfortable. It isn’t until you’ve pulled him into your bed, in a mirror image of your younger years that you finally break the silence. 

“I never thought you felt the same.” The same? The implications of your words seared into the forefront of his mind. 

“Silly girl, why would I ever even look at somebody else when you exist?” You let out an adorably embarrassed squawk at his words, lightly hitting him on the chest as you bury your burning face against his neck.“It’s always been you” he murmurs, the confession settling over you like a wave. 

For a split second, he fears your relapse into silence means he’d pushed too far too fast. Years of pining bubbling up and over the surface at the slightest bit of reciprocation. You’re quick to shut down his internal spiral with another earth-shattering kiss, pulling away and resting your chin on his chest. 

“Yeah, you’ve always been it for me too Si. From the moment I pulled you from that swing." It's a little embarrassing, how fast his heart races at the confession. Tears build in the corners of his eyes as he finally, finally lets himself fully succumb to your love. You're quick to wipe them away though, because you would always take care of your Simon.

[sanemistar]

Hi! Would you write a one shot with Obanai x wife!reader but he sees her sparing with Sanemi and gets the wrong idea? He’s been watching them for a while, he thinks there’s something going on but he’s not sure (there’s not) but he finally snaps when Sanemi ends up on top of her (innocently) whilst sparring and she’s laughing so he confronts both of them. Turns out she was just talking with Sanemi so much to get closer to him because she knows how much obanai respects him. Flufff at the end pls and thank yoooou

one and only | obanai iguro

pairing: obanai x wife!reader

genre: fluff

wc: 1.2k+

warnings: heavy fluff lol, slightly suggestive at some part if you squint your eyes really hard but dw nothing too crazy

a/n: thank you for requesting <3 i had a lot of fun writing jealous obanai and i hope u enjoy it too !!

it was no secret to everyone in the demon slayer corps that obanai was overly jealous and overprotective of you, especially after your marriage. when it came down to you, his wife, he lost all his rationality, everyone knew that he was crazy over you from the moment you stepped foot into the corps. he’d hardly allow you to be near any other male, and would threaten them to stay away from you, he'd put a hand around your waist almost all the time, showing them that you had already been taken by him. you two had been married for quite a while, and his jealousy never really bothered you, actually, you felt happy whenever he expressed it.

the only exception to his jealousy was none other than the wind hashira, his best friend, sanemi, whom he trusted the most out of all the male hashiras. obanai introduced you to him on your wedding day and the two of you had become good friends ever since, although he didn't seem that friendly at first due to his angry face and harsh demeanor. you’d occasionally enjoy having small conversations with him here and there, most of them were about your husband, though. since he didn't talk much about himself, and you wanted to know more about him in hopes of getting even closer to him. you were fully aware of how much obanai respected him, so sanemi was your go to person.

obanai took notice of you spending more time with sanemi than he thought you would, and he noticed that you were always laughing and giggling around him more than you should, which wasn’t really to his liking. your beautiful smile should be reserved to him only, he knew that neither of you would never cross any lines, yet he had a slight suspension that there was something going on between the two of you. however, he kept his mouth shut and left things the way they were.

that was, until one day sanemi saw asked if you could spar with him for practice purposes, to which you agreed. he was getting ready for a long mission, so he wanted to be sure he was fully prepared to fight, and you were happy to help. you told your husband about it, and he felt hesitant at first. knowing how sanemi could be rough and harsh when it came to sparring with strong opponents no matter their gender, but eventually he agreed. it was going to be just a normal sparring session between two strong hashiras, nothing to worry about, or so he thought.

it was when he saw sanemi right on top of you, cornering your small body with his big arms. your faces and bodies were so alarmingly close, and you were giggling beneath him. the unpleasant sight made obanai’s stomach turn upside down as he was seething in sheer anger. that was his breaking point. he couldn’t take it anymore, he finally reached his limit. all the negative thoughts furiously raced inside his head, why were you laughing like that around sanemi and not him, what if you got tired of him, what if you no longer loved him and were planning to leave. his mind was going crazy.

the serpent hashira couldn't stand still and watch the two of you in this position any longer, so he automatically rushed to where you both were and had pushed sanemi on the soft grass before he grabbed your hand and pulled you back up with one swift move.

“care to explain what happened here? and how you two ended up like that?” obanai confronted both of you, his tone was firm and demanding for answers as his gaze on both you and sanemi fell sharp, so sharp that it made your heart clench painfully, your heart was beating so fast you felt as if it was about to jump out of your ribcage, and words stuck in your throat as if they were forming a big lump that kept you from talking. you were used to his jealousy by now, but this time was different.

on the other hand, sanemi felt a little frantic. he never wanted obanai to get the wrong idea when all you two had been doing was just friendly sparring and it was all an accident on his part, so he quickly began explaining what happened in detail to your angry husband.

"we were sparrin' as usual when i lost my balance and fell on top of y/n. i'm tellin' the truth, i swear!" obanai knew sanemi was never one to lie, but he still couldn't help get rid of that irritating feeling in his chest. he turned his gaze from sanemi and solely focused it on you, waiting to hear your side of the story. you took a deep breath and began to explain.

"yes, what shinazugawa-kun was true. we were just sparring. nothing more, nothing less." you confirmed sanemi's statement, and you felt him begin to cool off a little as the tense look on his face became more relaxed, but a part of you felt like that wasn't the end of it.

"and what about all the laughing and talking with shinazugawa, hm? what the hell do you talk about that makes you spend so much time with him?" you had a feeling obanai was going to bring this topic up eventually. in fact, you were surprised he managed to stay quiet about it for that long. you wanted to clear the tension in the air, so you decided to mess around with him a little.

"hmm.. we do talk about a very interesting person, who happens to also be my husband.” you playfully teased the serpent hashira with a silly grin spread across your face as you placed a hand around his arm.

"what the heck? you really thought there was somethin' going on between me and your wife? dude, she's head over heels for you." you couldn't help but blush upon hearing sanemi's announcement out loud, as it came very unexpectedly.

you weren't the only one blushing though, obanai was also blushing and it was so obvious that you could see it underneath his mask. he hated to admit, but he was so jealous of sanemi at that very particular moment, but thankfully that turned out to be just a misunderstanding.

you were very happy that the issue was solved quickly and began to giggle loudly, the sound of your laughter rang in the serpent hashira's ears like a sweet melody. making him entirely forget about his anger from earlier, he smiled softly while admiring your beautiful face.

"i love you, obanai-kun." you softly whispered in his ears, and now the top of his ears were burning red thanks to your sudden love confession.

"i love you too, my dear." obanai replied and took your hand, placing gentle kisses onto it. you felt your heart melting the moment his lips met your skin, it was as if you were falling for him all over again. the two of you were all lovey-dovey with each other, almost completely forgetting that sanemi was still standing there.

"go get a room, yeah?" sanemi suggested sarcastically which had earned him a smack from obanai before he disappeared from your line of sight, leaving you and your husband all alone.

"you heard shinazugawa, shall we go home and pick up from where we left?" his words took you by surprise and now you were completely flustered, but no objections were heard from you. you could never say no to some quality time with your husband. obanai grabbed your hand and the two of you walked away, heading back to his estate.

your husband's jealousy was strong and fierce, but you wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, he was the one and only one for you.

[wholoveseggs]

The sled bet

{Masterlist}

~Five days of Fluffmas~

You decide to go sledding with Klaus and Kol and things get out of control very quickly.

1k words - No warnings, no smut! just pure fluff.

Your fingers were numb, your cheeks red, sweating heavily underneath your winter jacket. You gripped the ropes of your sled, your heart beating in your chest as you looked down the alarmingly steep hill. Everything seemed frozen in time, only the fogginess of your own breath appeared to be moving in the light of the hazy winter sun. The adrenaline and nerves within your system threatened to poison you.

"Don't worry, if you crack your skull open, I'll heal you," Klaus teased, a stupid shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

You flipped him off, pressing your heels into the snow. This was either going to go horribly, or wonderfully... or not at all. A sled race had seemed like a really, really good idea a few minutes ago, but now... you weren't so sure.

"Who's up for a little wager?" Kol asked, sliding his feet on the ground and rocking his sled from side to side so he could shuffle down a few inches of the slope.

"What do you have in mind?" Klaus asked, an amused expression on his face, mirroring his younger brother's actions.

"Whoever gets to the bottom first gets to take y/n out on a date," the youngest Mikaelson declared.

You scoffed, looking between the two of them. "And what if I win? Do I take myself out?"

"Then I won't tell Elijah about all the naughty dreams you've been having about him," Kol replied teasingly, an impish smirk on his face.

You looked away quickly, not letting him see the red rising to your cheeks as you muttered, "I don't have naughty dreams about him."

But Kol wasn't lying; you had, multiple times.

"Sure," Klaus teased, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, fuck off, both of you!" You cried, throwing a handful of snow at the hybrid. "This is so unfair; both of you have the advantage of being immortal, and now there is blackmail involved," you pointed out.

Kol smirked, shrugging his shoulders. "All is fair in love and war, my dear."

You rolled your eyes. "If I don't die today, I'm going to kill both of you," you grumbled.

"Ready..." Klaus started, gripping the rope of the sled.

"Set..." Kol continued, a smug expression on his face.

"Go!" Klaus cried, kicking off with his feet and shooting down the hill at an alarming speed.

"Son of a bitch," you cried, pushing yourself down the slope, the wind rushing against your face and stinging your skin. You could see the back of Klaus's sled in front of you, and Kol was coming up on your other side.

You pushed yourself, trying to pick up as much speed as you could, and suddenly, you felt yourself lifting into the air. "Ahh!" You screamed as your sled launched off a ramp.

The wind rushed around you, gleeful laughter falling from your lips as you flew through the air. That was before you landed, crashing onto the hard-packed snow, which had turned into ice after days of below-freezing temperatures. You went skidding, the sled flipping over, and you were launched onto the ground.

The wind was knocked out of you, and the world went spinning as you tumbled down the remainder of the slope.

"Y/n!"

You groaned, opening your eyes, the sky and the trees spinning above you, before everything came to a stop, and the world righted itself.

"Are you okay?"

You let out a soft laugh, feeling a bit delirious.

"That was awesome," you giggled.

"Yeah, the tumble at the end was a nice touch," Kol chuckled.

"I won," you said, a dazed smile on your face.

"No, I won," Klaus said, shaking his head.

You groaned, closing your eyes and holding a hand to your forehead. "I think I'm bleeding," you sighed.

"You are absolutely bleeding," Klaus said softly, kneeling down and taking a look at the cut on your forehead.

"I'll get her back to the house; you get the sleds," Klaus told his younger brother, scooping you up.

"Please don't tell Elijah about my dreams," you whined, feeling the effects of the pain finally setting in.

"But you lost, darling," Kol chuckled, picking up the discarded sleds and following behind you and his older brother.

"So did you!" You shot back.

Klaus chuckled. "You should know better than to make a bet with Kol; he always wins."

"What are you going to do on your date, Klaus?" Kol teased, a smug grin on his face.

"Shut up," you groaned.

"It's okay, love," Klaus whispered. "We'll call it a draw."

You sighed, leaning your head against his shoulder. "Thanks," you replied, grateful that Klaus was going to spare you the humiliation.

"What's going on?" Elijah asked, rushing outside to greet the three of you, seeing you bleeding in Klaus’ arms.

"It's okay, she'll live," Klaus said.

"I hit my head," you explained, feeling slightly delirious.

"What were you doing?" Elijah asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sled racing," you said, laughing a little, as the image came back to you.

Elijah sighed, taking you from Klaus's arms. "You're lucky she didn't break her neck," he scolded, looking down at you.

"I won," you grinned, a smug expression on your face.

"What'd you win?" Elijah asked, raising his eyebrows as he carried you inside.

"It's a secret," you smiled, your cheeks flushing a little.

Elijah looked back at his brothers, giving them a questioning look before taking you inside.

"You shouldn't compete with those two; it never ends well," Elijah stated, sitting you on the bathroom counter.

You nodded. "Yeah," you sighed. "It was a bit of a blackmail situation," you shrugged, biting the inside of your cheek.

Elijah looked back at you, grabbing a first aid kit and setting it down next to you. "What was the blackmail about?" He asked.

You looked down, chewing your lip. "Uh... nothing," you said. "I mean, it wasn't anything bad; they were just teasing me," you muttered, looking back up at him.

"They were teasing you," Elijah repeated, an eyebrow raised.

You nodded, giving him a soft smile.

"And what did they tease you about?" He asked, pulling out some gauze.

You groaned, shaking your head. "It's nothing," you replied.

"You don't want to tell me," Elijah said, pressing a cloth to your forehead.

You shook your head. "Not particularly," you said, your cheeks red.

Elijah let out a small laugh, shaking his head as he put some disinfectant on the cloth and pressed it to your forehead.

You winced, biting down on your cheek and squeezing your eyes shut.

"Sorry," Elijah apologized, looking down at you, a tender look in his eyes.

You looked back at him, a smile on your face. "It's okay, this is way better than having to go on a date with Klaus," you joked.

Elijah raised his eyebrows, tilting his head. "I thought you had a soft spot for him," he said, a playful look in his eyes.

"Not him, no," you said, your cheeks heating up.

Elijah gave you a smile, one that made your heart beat a little faster, and your cheeks flush a little redder.

"So if not him, then who?" He asked, putting a bandaid on your forehead.

"Well, um..."

"Hey, are you guys done?" Kol asked, sticking his head into the bathroom.

Elijah sighed, closing the first aid kit and stepping away. "Yeah, she's fine," he said, leaving the bathroom.

You frowned, your heart dropping a little as you hopped off the counter.

"Oh, and y/n," Elijah started, poking his head back into the bathroom.

You looked up, an expectant look in your eyes.

"I dream about you sometimes too," he said, giving you a knowing smile.

Kol chuckled, looking back at you with a shit-eating grin.

Your jaw dropped open, but he had already walked away.

"Kol, you're a fucking ass,"

[followerofmercy]

Idk if I already screamed about this but I'll do it again. The way Childe realizes there was a disconnect between his opinion (or what he'd been told) about Arlecchino and the reality her kids live in, and then IMMEDIATELY jumps on the opportunity for more information.

He's a smart lad! He's sitting around getting juiced up by a child without adult supervision like "this isn't how kids act when their father is insane and evil. What gives?"

(also that these kids are alarmingly similar to his own siblings and that he can't keep his head in the sand about how much he cares. They're not faceless Hearth soldiers anymore. He's invested)

So he goes up to Alrecchino later and the Traveler is conveniently there to give him extra leverage, so he just starts asking Arlecchino questions! And he threatens her!! Because while he is willing to change his mind, he's just gotta let her know that he cares about those kids and Will fight her about them.

Which in turn, massively improves Arlecchino's opinion of him! I feel very strongly that she wants people to see her as an antagonistic force against her own children so they're more likely to support the kids. The whole "omg your dad sucks. I'm here for you whatever you need." So, when Childe threatens her, she's like "Ah. You're doing exactly what I had hoped you would."

I forget if he threatens her before or after she actually starts answering questions. I think the theory stands either way, but there's more evidence if she gets much more forthcoming AFTER he threatens her

Idk. It's a huge mark for a character's intelligence that they can piece together THEMSELVES that their ideas are wrong and then go out and correct them.

[intersectionalpraxis]

I need more people to understand the gravity of this.

⚠️Content warning: mentions of Nazism and the Holocaust⚠️

Zionism and Fascism -sometimes the lines blur.

We have yet another haunting display of (neo)Nazis marching out in the open -something we have seen an increase of across the globe (but especially in Western and European countries) over the past decade, and has especially heightened during the pandemic with recruitment being done online very quickly, alarmingly so [The Southern Poverty Law Center is a great resource to continue your research on this as well].

We have seen an increase in young white men being radicalized and joining (neo)Nazi groups and many extremist white supremacist affiliations because they see everyone who does not look like them as a threat, and they have been historically and are currently violent and murderous.

For those of you who still think Israel is in the right, despite being an occupational force breaking COUNTLESS international laws and has been ethnically cleansing Palestinian people for decades and has been mass accelerating a genocide against Palestinian people since October 7th of this year... please take a look at these (neo)Nazis, -with whom operate under the belief that they are a superior race, and invoke ultranationalism, racism, and xenophobia to normalize their dangerous and oppressive rhetoric -and with whom vilify, threaten, and perhaps actually harm ANYONE who tells their their ideologies are violent and depraved... think about these parallels to the 'goals' of Zionism, please.

You have Nazis out at the same time as Zionists are... each, respectively so, filled with genocidal apologists... it's terrifying.

To the Israeli Jewish people who support Israel; to those who see Palestinian people as a direct threat to their safety and security -I'd check your own neighborhoods first. Because THIS is what anti-Zionist Israeli Jewish people and pro-Palestinian liberation Jewish people and activists all around the world have been saying all along -and so many of you are still SO ignorant to the real dangers -real Nazis and white supremacist terrorist groups that do active harm... and it's just so disturbing.

I was also going to post this earlier today (I wrote this the other day then THIS happened):

Auschwitz Memorial... just supported the genocide of millions of Palestinian people. They regurgitated Israeli propaganda and lies, called Israel the sole and perpetual victims despite being a violent settler colonial force, with whom has used weapons of mass destruction against defenseless civilians. Israel has committed and is committing war crimes, and is NOT self-defending -they are executing a Zionist plan which involves ethnically cleansing Palestinian people... and the audacity to say Hamas is exploiting the 'people of Gaza,' when Israel uses Hamas as an excuse to BOMB the hell out of everything in sight, and kill over 12,000 Palestinian people... it's just... how out of touch of reality are these privileged and bigoted people?

In the span of a few days, seeing Nazis take to the streets, and the Auschwitz Memorial is more preoccupied with this... I'm baffled.

End the occupation, ceasefire now, and free Palestine!

[sqquidzz]

"Hydro Dragon, Hydro Dragon, Don't Cry"

Neuillette x M!Reader

Summary: Neuvillette still hasn't overcome Focalor's death. You find him disraught after another nightmare, and you decide Neuvillette has spent enough time blaming himself for her death.

Tags: SPOILERS for Masquerade of the Guilty, slight angst, Fluff, Angst with a Happy Ending, trauma metions, Comfort, Major Character Death, etc.

A/N: I haven't posted in forever!!! I kind of just lost motivation and had a lot of issues going on here, and I forgot to post! I was literally just listening to My Blood by Ellie Goulding and thought of this idea. It just popped into my head, especially since I was also so sad about Focalor's death. I hope you guys enjoy, and thank you to those who have stuck to my posts, it really means a lot to me!

"Farewell, Neuvillette. I hope you've enjoyed the part you've played these 500 years."

No. Neuvillette couldn't let her go. She was everything to him. His eyes only stared in shock as he watched on as Focalors twirled and spun elegantly, her execution only minutes away.

'Don't leave,' he wanted to say, but he could only watch as the Sword of Damocles spun dangerously above Focalor's dancing form, alarmingly close to falling.

His body was frozen, he was unable to move freely, stuck in place as time ticked on. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. His eyes filled with panick as Focalors gracefully ended her dance, the Sword of Damocles plunging down towards the ground.

Time moved in slow motion. Neuvillette's eyes widened even further as the Sword of Damocles fell toward Focalors, desperately wanting to move his body to save the Hydro Archon.

'Dosomethingdosomethingdosomething' is all that ran through Neuvillette's mind, eyes flitting back and forth between the Hydro Archon and the Sword of Damocles as it fell painfully slowly toward the ground. Nothing but silence as it approached Focalors at an alarmingly slow rate.

It all happened at once. The sword crashed to the ground. Neuvillette's eyes filled with shock, horror. Grief.

It was only then that Neuvillette could move, staggering toward the sword that pierced the stage of the Opera Episcles. He reached out, towards what he did not know. To Furina? To the light that emitted from the dead body of the Hydro Archon? To the call of death?

Neuvillette shuddered, a sudden coldness overcoming him. The lights seemed to dim, or was it his vision? His breath became unsteady, coming out in shorter gasps, as if he was being choked. Choked by his sorrow, grief, anger, sadness, hatred-

'It's all your fault,' his mind chided, 'you should have saved her. What kind of dragon are you? What kind of ludex are you? You are a faliure. Afaliureafaliureafaliureafaliureafaliureafaliureafaliure-'

Gasp!

Neuvillette's eyes shot open, wide and unsteady as his breath came out in sharp inhales and strangled exhales.

Now he remembered where he was. He just finished another court case, and had come over to your house to spend the evening, which turned into him falling asleep at your house.

Neuvillette blinked away the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes, but his efforts were in vain, as the tears streamed down his face anyway. Neuvillette tried to wipe his tears away as best as possible and slowly rose from the blanket that encased him.

As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could make out the figure of you buried under the blankets next to him, snoring softly, shifting ever so slightly as your shoulders rose and fell with every breath.

The sight of you made Neuvillette smile. You always loved sleeping next to Neuvillette, you always claimed he was the best thing to cuddle with.

He flipped the blanket off himself gently as to not wake you, and he walked over to the bathroom as quietly as he could, try to avoid the wooden planks that would always creak when stepped on.

Creak!

Neuvillette flinched at the sound, turning quickly as he heard the rustling of the bedsheets, signaling that you had been woken up by the sound.

"Neuvi..?" you mumble out as you rub your eyes, trying to wipe the tiredness out of your eyes.

"Go back to sleep, Y/N" Neuvillette whispers as he silently walks over to your side of the bed.

"Come back to bed Neuvi, I still need my cuddle buddy," you whine as you made a grabby gesture with your hands.

But just as Neuvillette was going to walk away, you noticed the red rims around his eyes and the barely noticable tear tracks on his cheeks.

"Neuvi, what's wrong?" you ask, grabbing his sleeve to prevent him from walking away from you.

Neuvillette simply sighed, running a hand through your short but soft hair, moving from your face to press a chaste kiss on your forehead.

You could tell by his attitude that he dreamt about Focalors again. He only got this worked up when he couldn't stop thinking about her death.

"Come in bed Neuvi, you can talk about it if you like," you smile softly and move the blanket out of the way for him to snuggle his way into your chest, burying his face in it to breathe in your scent.

"You wanna talk about it?" you ask quietly, and Neuvillette simply shakes his head, burying his face into your chest even more.

You smile down at him, stroking his hair as you hum a simple lullaby that you learnt from your mother.

You knew that Neuvillette never truly got over Focalor's death, and that it haunted him every night and day. It broke your heart to see how distraught it made Neuvillette feel, but all you could do was hug Neuvillette as he quietly sobbed in your chest or stroke his hair to calm his uneasy breathing.

You hold Neuvillette closer to you as he dozes off, drifting away from consciousness as you whisper the words of the lullaby.

By the time you're done, Neuvillette is already fast asleep, shoulders rising and falling gently as he quietly snores away.

Your eyes slowly start to droop out of exhaustion, and before you drift off to lala land, you whisper a sentence into Neuvillette's ear.

"Hydro dragon, hydro dragon, don't cry."

[cultofdixon]

The archer’s apprentice

Daryl Dixon [PLATONIC] • They/Them Pronouns • “Ain’t gonna hurt yea kid” “…how can I trust you?” “Take the risk” • SFW/ANGST • TW: Abandonment Issues / Separation Anxiety / Injuries / Scars

Requested by: Anon

Stupid fucking rain Daryl thought as he quickly ran into the cabin after pushing what was blocking the door on the other side far enough to slip in.

But right as he did, a bolt whipped past his head hitting the wall next to him. Daryl turned where the shot was fired and saw the kid still aiming their crossbow at him before dropping it and cowering.

“Ain’t gonna hurt yea kid”

“…how can I trust you?”

“Take the risk” Daryl shrugs watching the kid scramble, ditching their weapon and climbing on top of the bookshelf in an alarmingly fast pace that was impressive and concerning. The only concerning part about it is they must’ve done that before for whatever other reason. “‘M just gonna hold up for a bit…”

No response to his words concerned him but the kid was still keeping to themselves afraid of the stranger.

The archer could only assume why the kid was alone and every thought didn’t make him feel any better. He carefully takes the bolt out of the wall making his way over to where they left their crossbow and placed it beside it. Then he went to make sure the rest of the cabin was secure while also exploring it himself.

He noticed the opened cans on the floor but also the few still in the cupboards of the kitchen. He took only one of them, because he was looking for food before the storm hit.

“How long have yea been here?” Daryl asks returning into the room in hopes that the short time of not talking that they would open up slightly. But all they did was readjust to be more comfortable on top of the bookshelf. “You can trust me yknow”

“H-How many walkers have you killed?”

Rick’s questions? “Too many to keep track of”

“P-People?”

“Also…too many to keep track of” Daryl frowns sitting down on the couch that kept the door closed. “But not in ill intent. There was always a reason”

“Good reasons? How c-can there be good reasons for killing people…”

“They threaten the lives of those yea care about”

“Okay…but if that’s it, and not everyone threatens those you care about, then what is the reason”

Self defense? They’ve been bit? I can’t think of anything else? Daryl tried to think hard about it as the kid slouches.

“Killing is so stupid…n-not that the government was better in the old world…but still. Why does it have to only end with that…”

“Things have changed” Daryl frowns opening the can up noticing the kid’s glued stare on the item. Which lead to the archer handing it to them as they devoured its contents in seconds. “There’s so many open cans, but you eat like you haven’t in days”

“I can’t…get the cans open”

“You don’t have a knife?”

“No…”

“Your bolt can help open it”

“I broke the others, that’s my last one”

“How did yea end up alone?” It was coming, even the kid knew that. But they didn’t want to say anything. It was fresh, and some part of Daryl knew that.

“Look, I just opened that one for yea. I’m gonna open another for you to eat and then one for myself. Alright?”

“You’re not—“

“I’m not gonna poison it, kid. You ate that one and haven’t died” Daryl states watching them inspect the can but decided not to think that he did something to it when they were given the next one. “How’d yea find this place?” He asks on his way back to the couch watching the kid climb down the bookcase then deciding to sit on the floor.

“It’s my uncle’s cabin…”

“Is your uncle around?”

They shook their head bringing their sadden gaze back toward the can as they started to eat more slowly this time. Daryl frowns feeling awful for what the kid must’ve gone through before he found them.

When the weather cleared, Daryl stepped out of the cabin as he was a bit surprised that the kid let him stay. But they didn’t seem to want to be alone during the storm because during the night they freaked out from the thunder and Daryl woke to them asleep on the floor next to the couch he slept on. Before he stepped out, he had placed them on the couch.

But a part of him didn’t leave.

Daryl heard quick shuffling inside the cabin seeing the kid run out in a bit of a panic. But once they saw him they straightened up and pretended they didn’t just do that.

“Never got your name”

“Y/N”

“‘M Daryl, are you alright?”

“Uh. Yeah uh. You leaving I guess” Y/N stepped back pressing their back against the wall, fidgeting with the ends of their sleeves.

Deep down, Daryl didn’t want to leave the kid alone and he wasn’t going to. But he wanted to make it seem like their idea to go with him back to their community.

“I can teach yea how to shoot”

The light in their eyes sparked when he said such as they straightened up looking at the archer with a pleasing look.

“Really?”

“Mhm. I’ll give yea a bolt or two. Go get your crossbow, and I’ll set up” Daryl went back inside with the kid as they ran to get their things while he grabbed a few empty cans.

After Daryl had set up a little shooting range, he set his own crossbow against a nearby tree along with his pack before taking a few of his own bolts for Y/N who approached him unnoticed. He flinched which resulted in the kid doing the same.

“Holy fuck”

“Sorry” Y/N frowns gripping the strap to their crossbow. “Didn’t mean to spook you…”

“Yknow going unnoticed like that can save yea and others”

“If I can land a shot…”

“Which we’ll be workin’ on”

The basics, Y/N already knew and Daryl kept an eye on them along with their surroundings for any walkers while they loaded the bolt in and held their crossbow in the right position.

“Gotta widen your stance a bit, not too much but enough to plant yourself”

“How does that help with my aim?”

“Well. Best not to fall over when firin’”

“Mm. Okay” Y/N couldn’t argue with that but before they even could fire the bolt, the two heard a walker. But before Daryl could even get his own crossbow and tell Y/N to get behind him.

They discarded the crossbow and quickly grabbed a rock from the rock pile they had standing outside the cabin. Daryl looks at them confused as he ignored it to grab their crossbow that was already loaded and before he knew it, he watches Y/N climb a near by tree high enough and jump on the walker using the rock to crush its skull enough for them to swiftly take their knife out stabbing the gooey inside.

The sight was a bit horrific that Daryl wishes he could unsee it. But before he could try, he couldn’t help but notice the obvious.

“If yea had a knife, why didn’t yea use that to open the cans?”

“Cuz I had someone to do it for me! Then he died and I was alone for three days before you came” Y/N snaps as they took the rock they used to kill the walker returning it to the pile that clicked to Daryl.

It was a grave in a sense. Without the body.

“I’m sorry”

“Whatever…” They frown readjusting the rock formation a bit as Daryl handed their crossbow back once it was fixed to their liking. “So back to it?”

“Mhm”

A few hours of this and Daryl knew he should be heading back to his community before someone will come looking for him. Not that he needs rescuing. Y/N is harmless for the most part.

One last time, they loaded the bolt into their crossbow and aimed it for one of the cans as Daryl gently pushes the end down a bit to help. That’s when Y/N took the shot and finally got the center of the can.

“Fuck yes!”

“Nice shot”

The unfamiliar voice startled Y/N to hug their crossbow as Daryl quickly assured it was someone he knew that also knew how to sneak up on people unnoticed.

“You didn’t come back so Rick sent me” Carol smiles crossing her arms at the two archers seeing Y/N bring themselves to hide behind Daryl. “I’m not gonna bite. I’m a friend”

“Yeah this is my friend Carol, she’s nice”

“Only nice?” She scoffs.

“Fine, and she’s got an ego” Daryl smirks only to get smacked in the chest by Carol once she approached as Y/N tried to fight back the laugh that escaped them. “But yeah you can trust her, she ain’t scary”

“Nice, not scary. Total package” Carol smiles watching the kid relax faster with her than they did with Daryl as he really had to take into consideration that he did barge in in their home. “You know they can come with us”

“I can?” Y/N quickly looks up at Daryl watching him nod. “Can…uh”

“I can still help yea with working on your bow skills”

Now that lead Y/N to quickly collect their things which wasn’t much but gave the adults enough time to talk about the time Daryl has been gone.

“You know why right?”

“Why what?”

“Why you didn’t leave them” Carol continues to smile at the archer as she watches Y/N step out of the cabin approaching the rock pile once more and taking one into their grasp before they went to retrieve the bolt. “You saw yourself in them…all alone in the woods with no one…couldn’t bear to leave them alone like how you were”

“You gettin’ sappy on me is gonna make it rain again”

“You could just say you are gonna cry” She nudges him followed by a grunt from him and a short lived laugh from her. “They’ll be in good hands. I know for a fact”

Soon the three were on their way back to Alexandria, Y/N kept close to Daryl as this was all new to them that when they stopped a few feet away from the gate…Daryl went to their side and taking it at their speed. Carol wishes she could document it for the books…

Alexandria’s crossbow duo

[disturbedbeautywrites]

Off limits - Jake “Hangman” Seresin Imagine

A/N: so this is my first try at writing for top gun, so let me know what you guys think! Here’s some protective best friend hangman 😅

The bar was rather quiet for a Friday night as Rooster and Hangman walked in, the familiar scent of cigarettes and sweat hitting both of their noses. “Well, this is it. Let me introduce you to everyone.” Hangman nodded toward a table where 3 men sat, his eyes looking around for someone else. He was looking for you in particular, his absolute best friend, and love of his life, but he hadnt told you that yet.

Hangman and Rooster were both on leave, having just finished the uranium mission. So, Jake had recommended that Bradley come home to Texas with him for a bit to get away from the chaos on base. He had agreed, and stop number 1 was the old bar you and all of Jake’s friends would frequent in your days before he left for the navy. One of those friends included your older brother, which is originally how you met Jake. However, as you grew up, you and him grew even closer than you could have imagined.

As hangman introduced Rooster, he couldn’t help but let his eyes wander until they landed on you leaning against the bar. You looked very annoyed, the man next to you clearly being the cause. Hangman smirked to himself, eyes roaming over you before he knocked his knuckles on the table. “Excuse me, boys. I have a lady to go rescue.” He took a swig of one of the beers on the table before he steeled himself up for what he was about to do.

Roosters eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked at the 3 boys sat at the same table as he was. “Oh, rooster, man. You are in for a treat. This is about to get ugly fast.” They snickered, watching as Hangman made his way over to the bar. “That man doesn’t know it yet, but no one messes with (Y/N). She is off limits to everyone but Jake. He is so in love with her, but doesn’t want the navy to screw anything up.” Rooster heard the voices behind him, nodding as he let out a sigh. He knew that struggle all too well. Their job was extremely dangerous and you never knew if you were going to come home from a mission or not. It made relationships and love in general hard.

You rolled your eyes again, telling the man you weren’t interested as you waited for your drink. He wouldn’t take the hint, making his way closer to you. You felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist as you prepared to kick back and knew the guy in the groin. However, the all too familiar smell of beer and Jake’s cologne surrounded you as you relaxed against his touch. “Well, hi, pretty girl.” His lips were against the shell of your ear, his southern drawl making goosebumps form on your arms. “Is this man bothering you?”

You nodded as best as you could, your breath catching in your throat as you felt Jake shift behind you. “Alright, man. Look, I’m gonna give you 5 seconds to leave my girl here alone or you’re gonna sorely regret it.” You looked at the other man out of the corner of his eye as if he was doubting that Jake would do anything. “Okay, so you really want me and my four buddies to meet you in the parking lot and settle this? Man, it’s my first night home on leave. I’d really prefer to not spend it kicking your ass.”

At that, the man put his hands up in surrender and walked away. That left you and Jake at the bar, your hips shifting around so you could face him. His eyes were already waiting to be focused on yours, feeling like they were bearing into your soul. “And hangman gets another ground kill.” You joked, knowing you messed up the technical terms but it still made him chuckle. You were alarmingly aware of his arms still being around you, trapping your back against the bar. You could feel his breath on your face, your lip pulling between your teeth.

There had always been tension between you and Jake, always. But, you guys tried to never act on it. However, now with the fact that you hadn’t seen each other in months and he had just threatened to kick a guys ass for you; it was a little harder. You swallowed thickly, deciding to be a little brave. “Well, if you’re gonna make a move, go for it.” That’s all he needed to hear, his lips finding yours in a passionate kiss full of unspoken words and longing. Your fingers knotted into his hair as his hand moved up to cup your cheek, the kiss slowly getting more and more deep.

You pulled back after a few minutes, your breath coming out in pants as you looked up at your best friend in front of you. “By the way, I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.” Jake’s voice was cocky as he smirked at you, his hands finding your waist easily.

“Well, damn. It sure did take you long enough.”

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Round Two: Heracles vs Heliothraupis

Heracles inexpectatus

Artwork by @otussketching, written by @zygodactylus

Name Meaning: Unexpected Herculean Parrot 

Time: 16 to 19 million years ago (Burdigalian stage of the Miocene epoch, Neogene period) 

Location: St. Bathans Fauna, Bannockburn Formation, Aotearoa  

Heracles was a truly alarmingly large parrot, related to modern day Kea, Kaka, and Kakapo, known from the fantastic avifauna of St Bathans. Standing more than two feet tall and weighing about fifteen pounds, this animal was much larger than any expected from the St Bathans fauna, which represented the initial colonization of Aotearoa (Zealandia) after it returned above sea level. Heracles is also the largest known species of parrot, ever. It was presumably flightless, though it is uncertain if it was nocturnal like its living relative the Kakapo. Its exact ecology is still uncertain, given the material known from Heracles is limited and its living relatives have very disparate ecologies, though it is possible it was omnivorous similar to the Kea and Kaka today. The St Bathans fauna lived in a freshwater lake system, in a subtropical emergent rainforest. Separated from land bridges, the fauna was dominated by birds, with early relatives of the Kiwi, New Zealand Wrens, Adzebills, and Wedge-Tailed eagles found in the fauna, as well as somewhat modern looking Moas. Smaller flamingos, large fruit pigeons, and a huge variety of geese and other waterfowl are known. In addition, frogs, tuataras, other lizards, crocodilians, turtles, and many different types of fish are known from this fascinating ecosystem. 

Heliothraupis oneilli

Photograph by John C. Mittermeier, written by @zygodactylus

Name Meaning: O’Neill’s Tanager of the Sun God Inti 

Time: Unknown to the present, Holocene, Quaternary 

Location: Western Bolivia and Southern Peru, South America 

Rarely do we get to talk about a newly discovered living species of bird, but this is one of those excellent times! This bird, a bright yellow tanager with a distinctive black stripe across its eye, was found in the Neotropics - specifically in the Yungas region. Given that Latin America has the largest number of bird species in the world, it makes a certain amount of sense that we may have missed some! First spotted in the nineties, it was properly identified and described over the course of the 2010s. The distinctive appearance of this tanager lead to it being nicknamed the “Kill Bill Tanager”, in reference to its similarity to Uma Thurman’s yellow jumpsuit outfit. Distinct in appearance and population from other tanagers, it was deemed not only a separate species, but an entirely separate genus. It is migratory, breeding in the northern Machariapo Valley and going down to the eastern Andes for the nonbreeding season. It lives in deciduous forests, and breeds in bamboo grasses. It is a loud and vocal bird, making distinctive songs and choruses that happen long after the dawn chorus of most other birds. As it lives in a fairly isolated region of these countries, its habitat is not particularly threatened at this time.

[bonobonoyaatheart]

Video Call - Yang Jeongin

Summary : You're out on tour, and you both miss each other like crazy. You overwork yourself as distraction, which worries Jeongin. His video calls become the solution to all this.

Genre: Angst, Fluff.

Pairing: Non idol Jeongin x fem idol reader

It had been a whole week since you had embarked on your tour, and you found yourself missing him desperately. This was your first tour since the two of you had started dating, and he occupied your thoughts constantly. In an attempt to distract yourself, you poured all your energy into your work, which slowly morphed into an alarmingly unhealthy obsession.

His state of mind mirrored yours. He was going crazy in your absence, and your only contact had been through calls and simple texts. He had attempted a few video calls, but your schedule had been too demanding to spare even a moment.

The fans' ecstatic cheers reverberated in your ears as the magnificent performance concluded. Your head was spinning, and the stage lights dimmed. Exhaustion enveloped you entirely, and you observed everything fading into darkness, aware of your fellow members rushing to your side.

"Y/Nie, can you hear us?" "Get some water!" "Quick, take her backstage!" "Y/N needs rest!" "Hey, wake up!" "Should we call for external oxygen?" "Help me support her!"

Panicked voices of your fellow members filled the air as they relocated you to a makeshift medical room backstage. After some time, you slowly opened your eyes to find your fellow members gazing at you with deep concern. "She's awake, Unnie! Y/N is awake!" Mia called out to Jieun, and one by one, everyone gathered around.

Suddenly, your phone rang, and it was Jeongin on a video call. Aecha answered the call. "Unnie, please, don't mention today to Jeongin. Don't say anything, please," you implored. "Speak sparingly, kid. Just rest. We'll handle everything else," Mia instructed Aecha, who then accepted the call.

"Hey, guys! What's everyone up to? Where's Y/N?" Jeongin asked cheerfully. Aecha turned the camera towards you. "Your stubborn girlfriend overexerted herself and fainted after the performance," Seojun stated, glaring at you. "She doesn't listen to us, Jeongin, so please talk some sense into her," Mia said with genuine concern.

You were incredibly tired, not awake enough to engage with him at that moment. "How is she now? I know she can be stubborn sometimes, but all of this worries me even more," Jeongin expressed. "Three more days in Brazil," Jieun mentioned. "Don't worry; we'll take care of her."

"I trust you guys, but it's hard for me here. I already miss her so much, and situations like these keep me up at night," Jeongin admitted, his voice softening.

"We understand, Jeongin, but don't stress. We've got her back," Mia assured him with a gentle smile. "Yes, I'm sure you'll do great. Anyways, bye! Good night!" Jeongin bid your bandmates farewell, and the call ended.

The next day, you refrained from participating in the choreography, and your members texted Jeongin after the concert. Within a few minutes, you received a video call from him.

"Hey, babe, how are you feeling now? Did you get some rest?" Jeongin inquired, genuinely concerned. "Yeah, my members practically forced me to rest and sleep. I had nothing to do for half the day, which was the worst part," you replied. Jeongin's expression grew somber. "It's okay, baby. You need proper rest after everything you've put yourself through."

"But, Innie, I can't stop thinking about you and us and all those things. Working extra hard at least keeps those thoughts at bay. I miss you so much here; it feels like I can't function without you," you admitted, tears threatening to spill over. Your breathing grew heavier as you fought back the urge to break down.

"Hey, look at me. Baby, I miss you too. It's alright. Breathe. Take deep breaths; I'm right here," Jeongin reassured you, his heart aching as he watched your tears flow. "Y/Nie, it's only a few more days, okay? Baby, look at me." Jeongin couldn't help but feel guilty for not being there with you.

"Am I making you sad too? I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," you hurriedly wiped away your tears. "I shouldn't make it harder for both of us."

Jeongin quickly dismissed your apology. "Don't apologize, baby; it's alright." "I guess I should hang up, or I'll cry even more." Before Jeongin could respond, you ended the call. He sighed, unable to bear watching you suffer alone any longer.

The following day, he video called you once again, but this time, he had changed the background. You had just finished your fifth performance, and your mood was genuinely uplifted. "Hey, what are you up to? You know the performance was incredible. We didn't expect such an overwhelming response from the fans. They were screaming the entire time. But what's with the flowery background?"

"Just for you, baby; you're my flower," Jeongin said, flashing you an ear-to-ear smile. "Don't be too cheesy, boy," you teased, marveling at how easily he could make you blush. "Why, do you like it?" Jeongin burst into hearty laughter. "So what are you going to do now that you're done rocking the stage?"

"Nothing much, I'll probably just rest and chill. We don't have much scheduled for tomorrow," you replied, smiling. "That's great!" Jeongin exclaimed.

"Jeongin, are you walking somewhere? Where are you?" you asked with a hint of suspicion. "Oh, that... I'm just heading to the grocery store, nothing special," he replied with a small smile. "Are you doing alright?" He inquired, "Well, I still miss you terribly, Innie," you confessed.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. "Wait, I'll open it," you said. "Just a second, baby, someone's here." Jeongin gave you a thumbs up. You opened the door to find Jeongin standing there, a broad smile on his face, still on video call. "Surprise!" he cheered.

"You... Jeongin... for real?" You were stunned, overwhelmed by the sight of your boyfriend, arms wide open for a hug. You rushed into his embrace. "You stupid idiot, jerk! Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Do you know how hard it is to get last-minute plane tickets? Why didn't you tell me? Is this your idea of grocery shopping?" You lightly playfully hit his chest, and he could barely hold back his laughter. "I came here because I couldn't wait to see you, baby. Anything for you."

You held him tightly, not realizing you were crying until Jeongin spoke up. "Let's go inside first, baby. I don't want you crying out here like this," he said, leading you to the bedroom. You clung to him like a koala. "Innie, I missed you so, so much." "That's why I'm here, baby. Come on, show me that pretty smile."

You smiled at him. "That's my girl!" he exclaimed, his voice trembling with emotion. "Hey, Innie, please don't tell me you're going to cry too. That's my thing to do," he laughed softly, pulling you closer.

"Now that you're here, and I have a relaxed schedule, let's go out and explore the streets tomorrow," you suggested, hoping for a positive response. "Sure, just make sure no one recognizes you," he ran his slender fingers through your hair, caressing your soft locks. You relaxed into his touch.

He was there with you, in his arms, after all. You couldn't be happier, and neither could he. Moments like these were what your heart would cherish for a lifetime—tiny, joyful memories, precious and special.

[painsandconfusion]

Show Yourself

Showstopper - Part Three

For the record, there's going to be five or six parts (still deciding if I want the last two scenes combined or separate).

(tw: implied character death, stalking, trespassing, yandere, serial killer)

[Previous | Masterpost | Next]

The letter didn’t have a return address. Didn’t have postage. Didn’t have much bulk to it at all. 

Confused, Darian slid it from his mailbox, peeking inside to ensure he didn’t miss another bool - or heaven forbid another fucking round of advertisers - before stopping to flip the envelope over.

It was blank.

Tied up in rusty red string. 

No….is that…was that..fabric? Strips of fabr-

His hands, body, and mind locked in place all at once.

Linen.

Linen - he was right - it was linen. The blood-soaked linen from Showoff’s videos-

Fuck. 

Darian took a desperate glance up the street, then jogged to the end of his sidewalk, head tossing back and forth. He frantically searching the road and memorizing the cars. Looking for anyone suspicious. Anyone with a hood up or…or who didn’t seem to belong there.

Nothing.

Fucking nothing - how long had this been there??

FUCK.

His breath and hands were both moving again now - both shaky as he turned the envelope over in his hand.

He ran back inside, slamming the door behind him. The letter slid onto the table as his hands quickly found gloves and shimmies them on with frantically flexing fingers as he reapproached, butter knife expertly sliding under the paper to pry away the glue with as little damage as possible.

Should he be bringing this into the office? Yes. Could it be stuffed with anthrax or who fucking knows what? Also yes.

But. Darian could just tell them he didn’t realize the letter was from Show until it was opened - that he didn’t recognize the fabric when it was cut so thin.

He could do that.

That was reasonable - people who didn’t spend allnighters staring at the videos woudln’t have noticed. 

He…

..he spent all night watching the video.

He spent all night watching the fucking video and this was right fuckin there in the morning.

Show had been there. Show had been there while HE was there. While he was there watching the fucking video- Fuck-

..he would need to triple check the blackoutability of the basement curtains after this. 

He’s so fucking screwed if Show saw him-

ANYWAY-

Shaking fingers pulled out the small paper, turning it over.

Aaaaand this dude (gn) was a classic. 

Cutout letters from magazines. Nice touch.

Darian’s eyes skimmed the single sentence.

Darian..

…froze.

Staring.

Breath locked up and frozen in his lungs.

..whatever he expected, that wasn’t it.

Fuck.

[image id for the note: 'A fox rarely expects its hound to be as pretty as you <3' in irregular, magazine cutout letters]

[Previous | Masterpost | Next]

(tags: @prisonerwhump @whumpawink @mabledonut @happy-little-sadist @paleassprince @distinctlywhumpthing @wibbly-wobbly-whump @batfacedliar-yetagain @suspicious-whumping-egg @wormwriting @villainsvictim @throwawaywhumper @wild-selenite-caffine @whumpasaurus101 @thecitythatdoesntsleep @whumpworld @whumpberry-cookie @a-galactic-fox @shywhumpauthor @hold-back-on-the-comfort @veyroswin @suffering-and-misery @whump-queen @a-whumped-tea @scribbelle @sunshiline-writes @scp-1296 @salomeslashes)

[pareidoliaonthemove]

A Little Revenge

It had been intended as an escape from whatever doom was poised over his head.

Snorkelling or diving, even doing an inspection of Tracy Island’s underwater environs in Thunderbird Four was Gordon’s favourite way to avoid irate brothers, or, god forbid, grandmother or sister. Once Scott and Dad had gotten over their reflexive panic of ‘Gordon’s in the ocean; sharks are in the ocean. Oh-mi-god, Gordon’s gonna be eaten by a shark’, Gordon had more or less been left to roam their marine backyard at will, provided he took a variety of safety equipment and checked in at regular intervals with John on Thunderbird Five.

So when Gordon had announced he was going to spend the morning snorkelling on the northern reef, he hadn’t expected anyone to join him.

That his companion was Virgil was of particular concern.

His immediate older brother was a competent diver (Gordon had made sure everyone was safe in the water), and he did take an interest in the marine environment – although it usually took the form of raiding whatever footage Gordon had taken on his explorations and inspections for inspiration for new paintings or music. So it wasn’t totally unprecedented.

What worried Gordon was the fact that a week earlier, he had … miscalculated a prank designed to loosen up Virgil’s nerves (which the man could have used as musical instrument – probably a cello, given his size). Instead of a cute little brightly coloured foam volcano fizzing cheerfully from a tiny paint tin, it had somehow fermented into a seemingly never-ending explosive geyser hurling massive globs of foam throughout the lounge. And given Virgil’s preferred perch on the mezzanine, the fountain had an extra height advantage. It managed to coat liberal portions of the photovoltaic glass ceiling, only to then rain down onto everything below.

Of course, Alan had quickly dobbed Gordon in, playing Judas to save his own scrawny neck, and Eos had happily provided the film evidence. John evidently busy reviewing footage to ensure his own possessions were prank free.

An alarmingly magenta hued Scott had informed Gordon that Gordon would personally clean up all traces of the mess, with his toothbrush and tongue if he made one – just one, Gordon! – sound of protest.

Virgil had contented himself with collecting up his ruined canvas and disappearing to parts unknown, leaving his ruined boots at the edge of the contamination. His clothes had appeared in the laundry with everyone else’s, but the man himself didn’t put in an appearance until breakfast the next morning.

And Gordon had been walking on eggshells ever since. It had taken three days, working around rescues, to restore the lounge to its original colour scheme, and hoping Scott’s inspection wouldn't include free climbing the rock walls to ensure that the portions of the rough-hewn mountain not visible from the ground levels were cleaned.

And Virgil hadn’t said a word.

Well, not about the incident.

Scott raged, Grandma lectured, John threatened, Alan ‘duded’, Kayo’s mere presence threatened Gordon to even think about putting a foot out of line and Brains was, inevitably, oblivious to the whole affair. While Virgil … carried on as if nothing had happened.

Gordon wasn’t fooled, as calm and easy-going as Virgil was, there was no way he was going to let what had happened go without extracting revenge.

And Virgil was of the school of thought that held that revenge should be swift and proportional to the crime. So for it to have been a week since the ‘incident’ with no payback … it was uncharacteristic. And worrying.

So to say Gordon was nervous was an understatement.

So if Gordon spent rather longer than usual checking over Virgil’s gear before they got in the small boat to head around to the north of the Island, it was understandable. After all, he was going to be on the exact opposite side of the island from the rest of his family, with the one person who was currently out for his blood.

Other than the Hood.

And the Mechanic – man, did he have a thing about wrecking Gordon’s pride and joy!

And not to forget Parker.

And Sherbet.

But Virgil didn’t have anything sinister – like, for instance a length of chain, a large anchor and gallons of fish guts and blood for tying up aquanauts and enticing sharks to eat them. Just his regulation snorkelling gear, and his large semi-robotic underwater camera.

Gordon relaxed slightly. Virgil had been fiddling with upgrades to the camera rig recently, and obviously wanted to test out his current pet project.

So it was a somewhat more relaxed Gordon that steered the little electric motorboat out of the boat-house cavern and around the island, mooring the aptly named ‘Squids Getaway’ to the buoy fifty metres out from the edge of the reef.

One last check over of their gear, a quick reminder of the plan for the dive, and a mandatory status report to John, and they were over the side and into the water.

Gordon immediately headed shorewards to the reef, while Virgil spent a minute fussing over his camera, but he soon overtook Gordon, hitching a ride on the rig as it zizzed along to commence the path Virgil had programmed into it.

Gordon quickly caught up, pride refusing to let a brother beat him in the water, especially when said brother cheated, but quickly lost himself in his inspection of the reef, and the census he had planned on conducting.

It all quickly settled comfortably, Virgil cruised idly among the corals, popping up to the surface to breathe more frequently that Gordon needed to. All that muscle mass his brother sported might be a godsend on a rescue, but it was a liability underwater. But he quickly descended again and resumed his consideration of the reef, carefully not touching anything.

Gordon kept an eye out for Virgil, as he knew Virgil was keeping an eye out for him. The only problem that seemed to be occurring was Virgil’s dratted camera seemed to be following him, bursting into his peripheral vision from behind him with an annoying frequency. As Virgil meandered closer to him, Gordon reached out to tap his shoulder and flourished his divers slate at him. “Keep camera clear. Nearly bumps into me,” scrawled on it.

Virgil peered at the slate, flushed and signed ‘Sorry’, before pulling up his control unit and tapping at buttons. The camera immediately altered course, heading out into deeper water, before circling back around to Virgil’s side.

Gordon signed back ‘Thanks’, and ‘Carry on’, before returning to his census of the reef’s inhabitants. At first, it seemed to be going well, but gradually Gordon noticed that the various reef fishes seemed less shy than normal. Gordon thought it was curious, but decided that the inhabitants of this section of reef had become accustomed to his presence – after all, he had been focusing on this particular sector lately.

But then the fishes seemed to be crowding him, swarming around his head, darting in at him and then back again. In and out, in and out, the waters around his face and head seemed to have become a marine merry-go-round, fish darted in at his head, backed off away, and then joined a cue to come back to what appeared to be designated points to dart back at his head.

Gordon frowned. This was feeding behaviour. But what were they eating?

Gordon twisted in the water, looking for something behind him, but there was nothing there, just the ever increasing school of various fish.

He didn’t see the hāpuku coming.

The meter-long fish lunged into the school, mouth agape, and engulfed a largish fish in the crowd. As the hāpuku continued on its way, it slid past Gordon’s nose, as he turned his head to identify the large block of movement in his peripheral vision. It’s powerful tail slapped the snorkel out of his mouth, sending it spiralling down towards the seafloor.

Gordon grabbed at it, missed, and kicked immediately up for the surface.

Virgil surfaced a couple of dozen feet from him, his camera rig bobbing up beside him. Gordon immediately struck out towards him, quickly covering the distance.

“Did you get that?! Tell me you got that!” Gordon’s excitement was palpable.

“The groper slapping you upside the head? Yeah, I got that.”

Gordon frowned. “New Zealand waters, Virg. It’s hāpuku, not groper. Or wreckfish.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Cultural sensitivity.”

Virgil blinked. “Oh. Right.” He frowned. “Has that happened before?”

“Lost my snorkel? Hundreds of times. You know I buy them by the crate.”

“No, all the fish …” Virgil gestured a circle around his head.

Gordon frowned. “No,” he admitted. “That was weird. That was feeding behaviour, but what were they eating?” He ran a hand through his hair in confusion.

And brought his hand back in front of his face, staring at the greasy yellow goo that liberally coated his fingers. “What?”

He brought his hand to his face and sniffed, then incredulously stuck his tongue out and licked at the substance.

“Is this … spray cheese?” Gordon stared at Virgil in perplexity. His other hand reached back, and encountered more of the same.

Virgil grinned, his camera rose higher in the water, and tilted upwards. A second later a jet of spray cheese shot at Gordon’s face, hitting him square between the eyes.

Gordon’s jaw dropped, and he was in danger of taking on a lungful of seawater.

Virgil smirked. “Yup.”

“You …”

“Yup.”

“The camera …”

“Yup.”

Gordon stared, treading water as gobs of spray cheese dripped off his face.

Virgil edged closer to him, and put extra energy into his treading water, lifting him higher out of the water to loom over Gordon, his eyebrows creased into an ominous frown.

“A little taste of what will happen to you if you ever – repeat ever – mess with my paints again, Gordon. Understand me?”

Gordon gulped. “Yes, Virgil. I understand perfectly.”

“Good.” Virgil smirked. “I think it’s time we went home, don’t you?”

Gordon nodded, his eyes wide as he stared at his immediate older brother. Damn, Virgil could be scary when he wanted to.

Gordon more than agreed he had to get home.

He had some booby traps to defuse.

Before Virgil went back into his studio.

Notes:

I saw a throwaway line somewhere about feeding reef fish with ‘cheez whiz’. A couple of days later I thought, I bet Gordon would stick that on someone’s hair. And then I thought again ...

The standard disclaimers, I do not own Thunderbirds, either the TOS or CGI Series. (Although I do own copies on DVD.)

I do not do this for money, but for my own (in)sanity and entertainment.

[camels-pen]

Stand name: [ Death ] (wait no that's taken-)

Summary: Polnareff finds a boy bleeding in alleyway. And he is definitely not a local.

For @dp-crossover-angst-week-event Day 3: bleeding out in an alleyway - Jojo's Bizarre Adventures: Stardust Crusaders crossover

Ao3 Link

“Iggy don’t chew on my boots!” Polnareff shook his foot, dislodging the stupid mutt. Iggy growled and turned, kicking up a wave of sand all over him. “Seriously?! You’re using your stand for that?”

Iggy laughed and trotted away as Polnareff scrambled up to wring his dumbass little neck.

As he passed an alleyway, he paused a moment, something bright catching his eye.

There was a kid, sitting in a pool of green and red juice. Seemed he got some spilled on his side, the way he—

Something blue and wispy slipped from his lips. 

“Silver Chariot.” Polnareff's stand appeared, rapier pointed at the kid. 

The kid’s breathing stuttered. His eyes were glued to Chariot’s rapier. Polnareff frowned. “So you are a stand user.”

The boy squinted at him. “A what?”

“A Stand user.” He pointed to Chariot. “This is a stand.”

“It’s… not a ghost?”

“No.” Polnareff walked closer, covering the mouth of the alley. Chariot moved with him, the tip of the rapier practically touching the boy’s nose. “Sorry kid, but I’m not taking chances. Bring out your stand and tell me what it does.”

“Uh, I don’t—”

A bead of blood welled up where Chariot’s rapier was pressed against the skin. “I’m not asking.”

“Seriously, I don’t have one of those,” the boy said. “I’m good at standing, but I don’t have a stand or whatever.” Nervous, but not about the sword. He didn’t look for an exit, didn’t shake or yell or cry. The closer Polnareff looked, the more he noticed he was tense from whatever injury he was putting pressure on, rather than covering up a juice stain. 

He moved as if he didn’t care about the threat of injury to his person. The only sign he was even bothered was how he kept shifting his eyes to anything other than Chariot’s body.

No, he wasn’t nervous of Chariot. He was nervous of Polnareff.

Polnareff bit the inside of his cheek. He looked like he was Sherry’s age, before she…

The boy hissed, pressing his side harder. Chariot moved with hardly a thought, aiming to slash his cheek for a little scare.

The boy lost all colour for a moment, the sword passing through him without any resistance. Then his body started to get fuzzy around the edges and he cursed, bending over. “What the hell? It shouldn’t hurt—” he choked on his words as the fuzz was pulled off his body and solidified into a gray ball. The ball shifted and stretched until it took on a humanoid shape. 

The boy’s stand.

“Name?” The boy kept staring at his stand. Was this the first time he’d manifested it? “Kid, what’s its name.”

His eyes flicked to Polnareff then back to his stand. With his free hand, he tentatively poked it. “...Death?”

“Nice try, but we already met Death Thirteen.”

“Death Fourt—”

Chariot raised his rapier.

“Alright alright.” The boy held up his hand. His stand mimicked him. “But uh, shouldn’t you introduce yours first? It’s only polite.”

“Fine, this is Silver Chariot.” Polnareff shifted the rapier to the boy’s stand. “Now, name.”

“What is that a band?” he mumbled. “Uhh, shit, I don’t know. Fall Out Boy?”

“And what does it do?”

“Normal stuff, like playing video games or—” the boy coughed harshly, fresh blood running down his side. “Not that this isn’t fun, but are you done yet? I’m kind of in the middle of something.” His stand gestured at his wound, which the boy was now pressing both hands against.

The pool of blood-and-something under him was getting alarmingly big.

Ah, fuck it. Polnareff might regret this later, but if he did, well, there was nothing he couldn’t solve with Chariot. 

“How about we start over?” He crouched down, holding out a hand. “I’m Jean Pierre Polnareff. You?”

The boy’s stand pulled closer to him. He tensed far more than when Chariot was threatening him. 

“Come on, I promise I won’t bite. Though Iggy might when you meet him.” The boy’s brows furrowed. “He’s the dog I’m stuck babysitting right now.”

“You have a dog? Is he another ‘stand’?”

“He’s not a stand, just a pain in my ass.” And probably stealing some poor sap’s dinner, wherever he’d run off too. “Er, but he’s kind of cute when you give him a treat. Especially coffee gum.”

The boy watched him, tense and wary.

“I can get you something for that injury too. I’ve got cash and know the local language.” 

“How do you know I’m not—?”

“You’re speaking fluent American English and pale as a sheet.” The boy glared, as if wanting to throw the words back at Polnareff. “I’m not a local either, but I understand them. Can you?”

The boy pressed his lips to a thin line. “And don’t try to be tough, just accept my help before I change my mind.”

The boy turned away, grumbling that he could figure it out if he tried. Barely a moment later he sighed, slumping further against the wall. Fall Out Boy shook Polnareff’s hand.  “Danny.” He started to sway. “If you turn out to be a kidnapper I’ll… scream….”

Polnareff caught him as he passed out. He got a good look at Danny’s wound too. 

“Tough kid, keeping quiet with pieces gouged out of him.” He hoisted Danny into his arms and started walking back to the others. Iggy would sniff his way back when he got hungry. “And it’s rather bizarre…” He looked over his shoulder.

“Why is his stand still here when he’s unconscious?”

[mamawasatesttube]

YES ACCIDENTALLY POPULAR KON!! Such a good contrast from Clark who was nerdy and so not a social butterfly. Conner Kent has everyone in school in love with him, and he’s so oblivious to it, and it makes Tim both relieved and wanting to cry. He’s paints backgrounds for the theatre kids, and is the head of the Wendy the Werewolf Stalker club at the school. He’s the sweetest guy you’ll ever meet, and sometimes he has to leave early because his grandma got arrested for disrespecting an officer (<- This is canon btw. In Supergirl Volume Four, Martha and Fred Danvers do go at it), and his grandpa threatened to shoot said officer. It’s a regular occurrence.

Tim tries so hard to be impressive, and fails. He almost drowned in swimming, nearly had an asthma attack in rope and rock climbing, etc. When he tries to flirt, it comes out as threatening. Somehow, this is what endears Kon to him, and it makes everyone confused.

now TO BE FAIR a tim who is robin is quite fit and athletic. so i think it's more like "he skitters to the top of the rock climbing wall alarmingly fast and unsettlingly, like some kind of spider or creature" and so on. def can keep the near-drowning incident though and it's bc he's not watching where he's walking bc conner just took his shirt off, and oops tim just stepped into thin air and toppled into the deep end and banged his knee and scraped his shin open on the side of the pool real good on the way down. he's had worse he's robin he's fine but conner, who doesn't know that, still leaps in to save him and cradles him gently in his arms while asking if he's okay and if he swallowed water or anything. tim is mortified.

thinking on it more i kinda wanna make this a college au. they both have more free time and can more readily disappear when it's convenient, etc, plus they're a little older and more mature which i always enjoy, etc. they can still have some classes together too like gen eds and all. tim is an insane engineering kid and kon is maybe going into education (future high school biology teacher kon <3)...

that's not all really that relevant i was just thinking about it. anyway. kon telling hero tim (red robin? something else?) about his weird lil friend and tim is like wow this guy sounds pathetic. wow i mean im glad you like him and are having fun but he for real sounds like a weirdo. what a loser. lol

[itsbansheebitch]

The Next Olympics: Salt Lake 2034

-> Climate change and rapid population growth are shrinking the lake, creating a bowl of toxic dust that could poison the air around Salt Lake City.

So Salt Lake City is hosting the Olympics next time in 2034. But there's a problem. Salt Lake probably won't exist in 5 years without an "emergency rescue."

“We have this potential environmental nuclear bomb that’s going to go off if we don’t take some pretty dramatic action,” said Joel Ferry, a Republican state lawmaker and rancher who lives on the north side of the lake.

"The lake’s flies and brine shrimp would die off — scientists warn it could start as soon as this summer — threatening the 10 million migratory birds that stop at the lake annually to feed on the tiny creatures. Ski conditions at the resorts above Salt Lake City, a vital source of revenue, would deteriorate. The lucrative extraction of magnesium and other minerals from the lake could stop."

The Great Salt Lake is an important stopover for scores of migratory shorebirds. As the lake dries, predators like coyotes are appearing in areas that used to be underwater.

"Scientists say the West is believed to be as dry as it's been in 1200 years."

"Utah Faces an ‘Environmental Nuclear Bomb’ "

"Most alarming, the air surrounding Salt Lake City would occasionally turn poisonous. The lake bed contains high levels of arsenic and as more of it becomes exposed, wind storms carry that arsenic into the lungs of nearby residents, who make up three-quarters of Utah’s population."

The stakes are alarmingly high, according to Timothy D. Hawkes, a Republican lawmaker who wants more aggressive action. Otherwise, he said, the Great Salt Lake risks the same fate as California's Owens Lake, which went dry decades ago, which produced the worst levels of dust pollution in the US and helping to turn the nearby community into a ghost town.

I would bet money that if the lake isn't saved, the Olympics won't be hosted by Salt Lake. It's too dangerous.

The lake bed is literally made of arsenic.