#why are jobs cutting back the fucking hours that WE THE PEOPLE NEED TO LIVE OFF OF??

[mrsoharaa]

Now, I have to find a new job with a more stable/consistent full-time hours. Because this 2-day-work-a-week thing isn't going to do much for my bills and rent. Just received a group text of my boss alerting us this "update", until the "peak" season (holidays) comes in. (they hired like 30 other people so...yay)

[berylcups]

Could I maybe request SDC +Dio with a s/o that gets their work hours cut in half, and maybe they go scare the manager or smthn? Idk I'm not creative with prompts lmao. Thought it would be funny, thank youuu!!

SDC + DIO x Reader with their hours cut

CW: Death mention, horny old people,

Notes: hey! Sorry it took so long! I really tried with this one. 😭 I hope you like it! I’m still fleshing out their personalities. I’m still getting used to writing new characters. Even if this sux I hope you and everyone else can find some sort of enjoyment from this! 💜 Beryl

*also for my non-murican’ readers Target is a like a smaller scale Walmart but pretends to be bougie 🥴

Joseph

-Platonic-

“Why ask for xtra hours when you can get an allowance from your greatest grandad ever???”

-Romantic-

“Who needs a job when you got a sugar daddy ??? 😘”

SEND THAT HORNY OLD BASTARD TO THE NURSING HOME 🏠

——————————————————

Richie McRichardson doesn’t realize that you need to build a good resume. 🙄 or the fact we live in the real world where we have to make our own money.

Well no friend of his is going to get their hours cut! He’s going to use hermit purple to fuck around with electronics section and manipulate the tvs to make them glitch out and act possessed.

“GiVe Y/n FuLl TiMe HoUrS aNd BeNeFiTs…. Or ElSe. GiVe ThEm A pAy RaIsE ToO…”

“AlSo… ClEaN uP oN IsLe 6…”

Jotaro

“Good grief. Do I really need to get involved in this? Fine. Let’s go.” He sighed as he cracked his knuckles.

Your boss might die today. 😬 tell him to hold back a bit kay? I don’t think the Speedwagon Foundation wants to bail him out for getting into a onesided fist fight with a Target supervisor.

Thankfully he doesn’t have to do much. All he has to do is stare your boss down menacingly.

“I heard you were cutting Y/Ns hours. How about you fix that?”

Your supervisor is literally pissing their pants. 😰 He doesn’t leave until you get all your hours. Then he’s gonna smoke INSIDE the damn store because he’s disrespectful. If anyone tells him there’s no smoking allowed in the store he’s going to tell them to go fuck themselves 😭

Kakyoin

He’s going to use his charm to get his way. He’s gonna get you your hours back. If his charisma SOMEHOW doesn’t work he’s going to use Hierophant Green to string himself out so the boss and other employees keep tripping over what looks like nothing. 😂

The boss is freaking out getting slapped in the face and his ass whipped and has no idea what’s going on.

“Was this store built on a fucking graveyard?!” Your boss panics.

“You should really watch where you’re going sir.” He says smugly.

The boss finally gives in to your demands after they get clotheslined by HGs tentacle limb 🥴

Avdol

“Hmm? You're not getting any hours? That’s not according to YOUR fortune habibi/habibti! 😉”

He got some tricks up his sleeve. He’s going to get you your fortune…as told by his fortune! 🔮😅

“I have seen your fortune! You’re in grave danger. According to the ___ card it means you are going to lose all your wealth, health, and happiness!”

Your boss somehow believes this. Who wouldn’t believe a charismatic self assured middle eastern man in ornate robes and jewelry??? That’s a person you won’t forget!

To add some extra razzle dazzle he catches your bosses hair on fire. 🔥

Now he really thinks he’s cursed.

“Tell me mysterious customer! How do I fix this?! 😭😭😭”

Return the slab— “Give Y/N their hours back! And give them all the benefits and pay raises they need to live comfortably!”

Your boss gives in and does everything Avdol says. You’re officially getting paid as much as your boss now in fear of getting “cursed” again. …and to prevent 3rd degree burns 🥵

Polnareff

Your boss is about ready to taste some metal and I’m not talking about guns.

“Hey—! What gives?! First you don’t give my amour their hours and now your toilets are filthy and broken as hell! They won’t flush! 😤”

He’s already a menace for clogging the toilet. 😬 he’s going to go Karen mode on your boss.

“What the hell kind of economy do you think we live in pal?! I demand you give my baby all their hours! What do you expect them to live off of? Ramen noodles?! Not on my watch buddy!” He’s loud af and poking him in the chest.

If he back sasses the mighty Polnareff he’s going to have to sword fight Silver Chariot with a pool noodle from the outdoors section. 😅

He uses his craftsman’s swordship to slice the bosses belt and pubically pantses him 😂

He has no idea how he was able to air sword fight and cut his belt but he did and that’s why you have all your hours and why Polnareff is banned from every single Target ever in existence. Like that’s gonna stop him 🥴

Dio

“Why work such a meager job when you can work for me and kill the joestars instead ~?”

Because we don’t want to get our asses hospitalized and we live in the real world asshole. 🙄

Very well~. Dio is a generous partner, he will gladly solve your employment problem. 😈

But first—shopping spree~ 💅 he’s gonna fill up on some hair gel, green lipstick, sunscreen, and other unnecessary Knick Knacks. Yes he has a Live Laugh Love poster decoration in the basket. 🤢

“So I heard from my lovely Y/N that you aren’t giving them enough hours. How about a compromise? I’m in a good mood today so I’ll let you live if you give them all their hours back plus a raise.”

Your boss can’t believe you had the audacity to bring in a metrosexual bi vampire to scare him into getting what you want! He’s not gonna take you crazies seriously and tell you to take a hike!

“Oh ho~…” he has a mischievous glint in his eyes. Well you can’t stop him now!

“The World!!!” He summons his stand and takes his shopping cart.

“Road roller at target!!!” He laughs like a mad man as he runs over your boss.

…I think he’s dead ☠️

Dio somehow uses his charm to make you the new boss of Target. You still do the same job you usually do— you just get the pay and title now while everyone else does the hard work…. Honestly I don’t think you even need to go to work anymore. You’re just getting paid just to be paid!

[red-winter-is-coming]

The reasoning behind the Masterminds.

(or, a post I was suppose to make hours earlier but got distracted, explaining Why The Fuck Eight People are second-round Masterminds in an AU)

This will be very.... fic like? Because I feel like it flows better that way!

@smol-creecher anything to add? I'm LOVING your imputs :D

-------------

It wasn't like this was their first choice, being told to run a killing game. Really, they didn't know what they were signing up for until it was far too late.

XF-Ture Tech approached them, one at a time. They were vulnerable, grieving the death of their classmate, the one who held them together.

They were offered something they wanted so desperately in their heart, that they signed a contract, signing their soul away for any one favor of XF-Ture's choosing.

They looked at Min, their prize student, the one who they could easily convince with one conversation: 'If you do this for us, you can be free. We'll find you a well paying job, one you can pick out, doesn't that sound nice?'

They found Rose, lost in her rotten world. 'We can get you out of here, give you your freedom back, get you home, if only you sign this paper.'

Eden and Whit, perhaps two of the kindest in their class left, were offered a very simple deal: 'Do you want a distraction from Mai?'

They tracked David down, giving an offer he wouldn't refuse. 'Come with us, and you will never need to keep up this front again.'

Charles, ever the loner, was offered a deal more simple then the others. 'Give us one favor, and we'll net you a high paying and comfortable job, and all the answers you're seeking.'

Ace and J, stuck in their own lives, wishing to get free, were offered just that. 'Come with us, and we'll get you out of there. Come with us, and you won't need to bother with your mother, or your job ever again.'

Stupid deals to make? In hindsight, yes. But they were nineteen years old, and mourning one of the few good people they ever knew.

They really should've said no.

The first few weeks were fine, amazing, even. They got warm food, a place to sleep, and they had each other for company. They spent their days exploring the huge building XF-Ture kept them in, as they found new hobbies to pass the time.

Then, they were called in to redeem the favor.

Run a death game until only you are left, XF-Ture told them, Run these games perfectly for freedom.

Really, had they all been together, instead of leading separate games, maybe they would've succeeded. Certainly, things like Charles almost getting brained after the second trial, or J's most hidden secret getting out to the worst person, wouldn't have happened.

They excuse their failure to kill their remaining classmate as weakness. They say it was too soon after Mai.

They couldn't let XF-Ture know how much most of them cared for the classmate in their group.

In the end, all of them defied their one final order: Kill everyone else in the game.

Failure meant death, and they were walking closer towards it at every moment.

So, when the higher executives came to them, and told them to fix their mistake of leaving people alive, they asked for one more chance. A chance where they'll be killed at the end, if they even make it there. Maybe, just maybe, with a little more time, and the ability to plan together, they'll find a way out.

Sure, things aren't going... as smoothly as planned. Nico's memory wipe didn't work, so now they're onto Ace. Rose is struggling to do anything, David has started arguments with everybody & has a HUGE target on his back, Min lost a hand, and Charles is worried about what the survivors might do.

But they bounced back before, and they'll bounce back again. (provided that Charles doesn't die, then they'll be fine. Whit's one of the glues holding them together and if his one lifeline gets cut, it'll spiral from there.)

[americas1suiteheart]

Hi, how are you? A fruit told me you are asking for requests??? Tangerine x Reader (female or gn neutral) having a fight and he reeeeeallly exaggerates, and must apologize, even if he hates admitting he is wrong (but he hates the thought of having hurt is partner even more)?

Ooh of course! I love writing angst, I love Angst/Comfort fics because you can go from being completely distraught one moment and then nice and happy the next.

I'm Sorry, Love

[Tangerine x GN! Reader]

[Notes; I based Tangerine more off of his character in the Novel, but it works perfectly well with his character in the movie as well.]

[Warnings; Some yelling, mentions of drinking, just overall some angst.]

Word Count: 1677

You and Tangerine were currently in your shared flat, having an argument because you complained he was never home enough; which was in fact true, but it was obviously something Tangerine didn't feel too swell about.

"I work 12 hours a day from Monday through Friday, and get payed 26£ an hour! I don't understand how you need to be away all the time for these missions, because it most certainly isn't money," You shout frustratedly, throwing your hands up into the air.

"First of all, its none of your fuckin' business, is it? But if you have to really know, I would much rather be employed with a good job, getting paid no less than at least 100,000 fuckin' pounds per mission, than work a stupid fuckin' job at a hotel!" Tangerine angrily shouts back, turning away from you as to not blow up even more.

"What the fuck do you mean by 'stupid job'? I'm just asking the reason why you're going on these dangerous fuckin' missions, when we live in a decent pay flat and I make just enough money for us to live more than just comfortably in here!" You cross your arms, now walking towards Tangerine to try and get him to look at you.

This argument had been going on for a heated 20 minutes now, and one neighbor has already knocked on your door to ask if you were alright and to quiet down.

You hadn't liked arguing at all, but it was starting to take a toll on you when Tangerine would show up from a mission bruised and cut up. You wouldn't sleep some nights or eat enough some days, worrying if him and Lemon were fine and if they would come back in one whole piece alive or delivered to you in a body bag, it scared the shit out of you.

"You know exactly what I mean by 'stupid job'! Getting fuckin' hit on almost everyday by fuckin' pricks. You complain about that shit so much, why not just fuckin' leave then? Who knows if your staying because you like all that fuckin' attention on you, maybe if you want attention all the time constantly you should try for one of those creeps instead!"

You were taken aback by what he'd just said. Yes he had some bad anger issues and he would say stuff he never meant sometimes, but it was never EVER anything like that. He had taken it way too far.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" You look up at Tangerine, who is still turned away from you.

"You know exactly what I fuckin' said, want me to repeat that for you though, love?" He says in a sarcastic nice tone, peering over his shoulder to glance at you.

"You think I like working for 12 hours? You think I like being told all of that stuff by these people? You think I like being here without you, DAYS IN A FUCKING ROW, MAY I MIND YOU!" You shout even louder, flinching slightly at your own volume.

No response. He just stood with his arms crossed, still turned away from you.

"I can't handle you right now, I want you out of my fucking flat right now. If you're not going to say anything then leave," You say, sternly.

Tangerine doesn't say anything, he just takes the key to the flat off of his key ring and places it on the table before walking out, shutting the door gently.

You were frustrated. You'd been with Tangerine for 4 years now, and no fight you two have had has ever been this bad, not to the point where he's actually left, though you can only blame yourself for that one.

After blankly staring at the door for a few seconds, you walk to the kitchen and grab the bag of takeaway leftovers from 2 nights ago from the fridge, taking it to the living room and placing it on the coffee table before sitting on the corduroy navy couch you and Tangerine bought together.

You two had moved in with each other just last year. Before that, arguments like this were never a problem, and it wasn't until your 3rd month of living together that the fights started to get worse, usually resorting to either of you sleeping on the couch for a night or two. But again, it was never this bad.

Maybe you caused it, you're the one that told him to leave, you're the one that brought up the topic right as soon as he came home from a mission, still bloody and bruised. You didn't think to wait until he was cleaned off and a little more content to approach the question more calmly to him.

He had every right to leave, and every right to be upset with you.

You sat there for about two hours, finishing the remaining leftovers, your figure slumped on the couch with the lamp lit dimly.

Suddenly you hear keys jingling into your doorknob, assuming it may be Lemon as he's the only other person except for you and Tan to have a key, though now it would just be you and Lemon at that point.

You hear a plethora of curses as the keys jingle some more before the door finally unlocks and opens.

Inside walk Lemon and Tangerine. Tangerine was slightly red in the face, presumably from drinking, whilst Lemon looked fine.

"Hey Y/n.. I hope you didn't mind me taking him here. I know you two had that fight but when I offered to take him to my place for the night when I was driving him from the bar he practically begged me to take him here or he would, 'jump out and walk on his own,' " Lemon says, closing the door and looking at Tangerine who was now standing next to him.

Tangerine had a look of sadness on his face you'd never seen before, and you suddenly felt a rush of guilt pass by, making your stomach turn in displeasure and disgust from yourself and your own behaviour.

"No I don't mind at all, I was hoping he'd come back actually.." You say, looking at the two. As soon as you say that, Tangerine's face lights up slightly, eyes slightly widened, eyebrows raised, and a small upwards curve on his lips.

"Cool, cool. Well, I'm gonna leave you two to figure it out, if Tangerine needs or wants to leave, call me so I can grab him and take him to my place alright, Y/n." Lemon says, placing a hand on Tangerine's shoulder before Tan swats it off.

Lemon then leaves, leaving you and Tangerine alone once more.

"Tan I'm so-" You say, getting up before quickly getting interjected by Tangerine.

"No, I'm sorry, love. Instead of blowing up and getting all pissy about something important you asked, I should've tried to be more patient about it." Tangerine says, a sympathetic look on his face.

"I saw that you'd just had a bad day and I proceeded to ask, and on top of that I'm the one that told you to leave. I fucked up too and I'm sorry," You say, walking towards him.

Tangerine pulls you into a tight hug. He smelled strongly of alcohol and his faded cologne, the smell of blood ever so slightly evident as he was still wearing his blood stained clothes.

You two stayed like that with each other for a while longer, just holding each other in silence, only the lamp illuminating the dark living area.

Tangerine lifts your chin up so he could look at you, placing a chaste kiss on your lips.

"Lets get to bed now, darling. I'm absolutely exhausted." He says, still holding onto you.

"You've got to take a shower first though and let me tend to those wounds you've got, I don't need you staining our sheets with your gross blood. Or maybe that was someone else's. Regardless, it's still gross." You jokingly say, playing with the lapels of his suit jacket.

"Mm, only if you join me," Tangerine says, a cheeky grin on his face.

"You're terrible, Tan.. How about some other time, you've got to get all that dry blood off, and I need to clean those stains out of your suit so it can be ready to be taken to the dry cleaners tomorrow," You sigh and walk to your shared room, Tangerine following behind.

Tangerine walks into the restroom and strips of his clothes, hopping into the shower.

You grab his bloodied garments and gently take off most of the dried blood stains out with the proper cleaning agents. After getting most of the stains out, you place Tangerine's clothes on a hanger and hang them on the laundry closet door knob, then walk back into the room.

You see Tangerine laying on the bed reading his book with the bedside lamp on, when he sees you walk in he gives a warm smile before putting his book into the nightstand drawer and turning the light off.

"Were you able to get those stains out, love?" Tangerine asks, turning on his side to face you.

"Of course I was able to, was there ever a time where I couldn't?"

"No, I suppose not. Let's get to bed now though, I'm exhausted," Tangerine says, letting a yawn out in between.

"You said that already, but I agree. One hell of a night for you, I apologise by the way," You say, snuggling yourself into his chest.

Tangerine pulls you closer, if that was even possible, and places a soft kiss to the top of your head.

"Lets not worry any longer about that, love," Tangerine says, looking at you lovingly.

You could make out the colour of his damp curls and his gorgeous blue eyes, the moonlight illuminating his face as it peaked through the sheer blue curtains on the widows.

"Alright, goodnight then, my love," You say, as Tangerine closes his eyes, with you doing the same.

---------------------------------------

This would've been out completed if tumblr didn't bug out yesterday and delete half of my work, but it's alright I guess. I'm terribly sorry it took forever, anon, but hopefully you enjoyed it.

[maybeitsalivescribbles]

I wondered what would happen if heroes were stuck in a town without villains, and this is the result:

The Fakers

At the Hero Agency, the open space was silent. The clock alone was ticking the seconds away, although they seemed more like minutes for the three heroes inside. Only their suits added a touch of color in the gray room. It was a sunny day, but their expressions were as stern as their office. Settled behind their laptops, they frowned, scrolling furiously and refreshing the live news stream. Sometimes, they asked each other:

“Do you have something? Anything?”

Since they all checked the same sites, the answer was always negative. They couldn’t help, though. They kept asking. Suddenly, Hero 1 yelled:

“Hey, come and see this!”

The others jumped out of their seats, rushing to them:

“Something new?”

“A robbery?”

“A kidnapping?”

“A storm coming?”

“No! A cat video!”

Well, it was better than nothing. Everyone pressed around the screen to see the kittens. One minute and a half of glorious amazement later, they all turned back to their places, sharing embarrassed smiles.

During the next hour, a phone rang in Hero 2's pocket. They weren’t allowed to answer them in the office, but it was a long time that didn’t matter anymore. Without showing it, the others listened rapturously to every laconic answer Hero 2 made. After she hanged up, another asked innocuously:

“Everything’s all right?”

She raised her head as if it weighted too much for her neck:

“Hmm? Yes, yes. That was my sister Superhero, from the capital. She just fought Villain in hand-to-hand combat. She’s fine.”

“Oh. That’s good, then.”

“Sure.”

There was a tense silence. Everyone went back to their computers, and jumped when she hit the table with her fist:

“Damn it, why am I stuck in this office? I’m a goddamn loser!”

The other heroes glanced at each other nervously and didn’t answer, but she wasn’t finished:

“I can fight Villains just as well as her! I went to the same academy! I trained just as hard!”

Hero 3 tried to defuse the situation:

“We know, Hero 2. You fought so well during Supervillain’s attack-”

“That was two years ago!”

“Because...err..because we made such a good job Villains are scared to come here now?”

“No, damn it! It’s because that city is so bloody little no one is interested in taking it over! No building to explode, no rich people to kidnap, and I bet the bank only has pocket change! Nobody cares about us!”

No one replied. She was right and they all knew it.

“That’s not that bad,” tried to plead Hero 1. “I mean, if we were in the capital, we would see catastrophes and dead people every day. Isn’t this a reasonable price for peace? I-”

Hero 2 turned to face them, roaring:

“What about the money, Hero 1? What about the fucking money? We don’t find a villain to fight, the agency will cut our salary completely, and the health insurance. Do you have another safe job in mind, in this economy? I think not!”

Hero 1's gaze snapped to the floor.

“She’s right,” said Hero 3 in his soft, low, sad voice. “My daughter will get to college next year. I don’t know how to tell her that I might not have the money.”

“We’re screwed, aren’t we?” asked Hero 1 mournfully.

“If we keep wallowing, yes,” riposted Hero 2, knotting her fingers together. “But the academy has taught us not to give into despair. There must be something we can do.”

“No, not we, that’s the problem,” interjected Hero 3. “We just – we need a villain.”

“You have a list, Hero 1, don’t you?”

“Yes. I know who are the closest to us, and what crimes they have done. But you don’t suggest-”

Hero 2 stood up and paced the room, stopping just to look at them:

“I’m just saying! We’re out of options. Not all Villains do a lot of damage. If we set a trap for one to come here, it’ll be a good action, right? We’d be stopping them. That’s our job. We catch one, we make them promise to stay in town and not to hurt citizens, we let them go, rinse and repeat.”

The two others exchanged a glance. Hero 1 bit their lip, but as they were about to talk, Hero 3 shook his head:

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We don’t know the harm we can bring into the city.”

“Think about your daughter!”

“Lots of people here have a daughter. I couldn’t sleep at night if I hurt one of them. I’ve not become a hero to do this.”

He crossed his arms, on the defensive. Hero 2 stepped towards him, with a pleading smile:

“At least let’s take a look at them. Just a little peek at the list. We have to inform ourselves anyway.”

Hero 3 grimaced, but he went along when the two others came to see the list on Hero 1's computer.

“Oh, look at this gal! Only specialized in robberies, lives only 50 km from here.”

“Nah, read ahead,” protested Hero 3. She killed one hostage once.”

“Okay, fine,” sighed Hero 2. “What about this guy? He didn’t do much. Just kidnapped the mayor of his town once. I mean, who can blame him ? The man is nasty.”

“Yeah, but after that he kidnapped his eight-year-old boy to make a point. Pass.”

“If you nitpick like that, we’ll never find anyone!”

“You call this nitpicking? Anyway, what would you do to make them come here? Write a letter? “Dear Villain, come to wreck shit in our town so we can be paid, please don’t denounce us, signed Very amoral heroes?” That doesn’t make sense!”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Hero 3 hesitated.

“Maybe we should write a letter to the agency,” he proposed. If our job is done, maybe they’ll relocate us to a bigger town.”

“Do you know the rent there?”

“Maybe we can replace heroes who were wounded or something to begin with.”

Hero 1, who played with their pen during their conversation, suddenly threw it in the air with an exclamation of triumph. The pen hit Hero’s 2 shoulder, who yelped indignantly and encased it in ice with a snap of her fingers.

“I’ve got it!” yelled Hero 1, turning towards their colleagues with a huge grin. “Replace, that’s it!”

Opening a file which contained their schedules, they pointed at the others, adding:

“Heroes, meet our villains!”

Hero 2 and 3 looked at their finger designating them and exchanged a glance.

“You mean... we turn evil?”

“Listen to me. We can’t trust Villains to do the right evil thing. But we do, right? We know this town. We never patrol at the same time. While one of us do the heroing, another pretends to be a new villain in town. We train between each other, so we’ll have no problem fighting for show.”

The room fell into a brief, stunned silence.

“Can we do it?” wondered Hero 2, griping her elbows. “I mean, we’re heroes. Do we have what it takes?”

“I’m sure we can be whatever we want to be, replied Hero 1 reassuringly. Look at your willingness to throw away citizens' safety for yourself! That was very evil.”

Hero 2 blushed:

“Aw, you only say that.”

“I mean it! You’d be perfectly vicious!”

“My, that- that means a lot. You too, you’d be a really good evil mastermind.”

“Aw, thanks. And Hero 3 here was ready to destroy our plans at every turn! Just like a villain. Plus, at the last break, he ate the next doughnut.”

“I didn’t mean it!” he gasped, turning red.

They all looked expectantly at him.

“Nobody is coming to rescue us,” slowly said Hero 2, smirking. “Sometimes you have to be your own Villain.”

Hero 3 sighed and crossed his arms:

“I can sew,” he mumbled. “I’ll make us new costumes.”

*

Back to the Hero x Villain Masterlist.

[kfedup]

Some truths on a Tuesday

My amaryllis are finally about to pop off. They remind me of Maj and I miss him with my whole heart.

Therapy’s gonna be something on Thursday. I need a double session.

Working at the little table on the front porch for the second day in a row in March is surreal.

Heard on the We Can Do Hard Things pod about people who say “I am who I am” and refuse to work on themselves…something along the lines of “you’d never say that in response to a request for you to take more training in your job, so why can’t you rise to the occasion in your partner relationship?” Why the fuck indeed.

He’s not single, so that’s good to finally know for sure after six months of assuming/wondering. Peace, friend.

I think I found a solution for my sugar addiction. I bought a little bag of date and coconut rolls at the co-op and one bite makes me gag from how sweet they are and I don’t crave any more sweet at all.

Part of the Ayurveda treatment is to give myself a full-body massage before the shower or bath and not wash the oil off, just let the hot water steam the oil into my skin. It’s a sesame oil with a bunch of herbs in it and I am addicted and my towels are getting destroyed.

I just heard a sneeze and I think it came from under the porch where I’m pretty sure a groundhog lives. Hi little buddy. Stay the fuck out of my vegetable garden, will ya?

Gonna put my big girl pants on and ask my next doors to please stop burning wood that was only cut from the tree four weeks ago. That fire smoked for 5 hours and filled my house even with the windows closed. The hideous cough that had finally abated for two blessed days is back with a vengeance.

I had to put my bed linens from the line in the dryer with a bunch of essential oils on the wool balls to get rid of the smoke stank before I put them back on my bed.

Y’all it’s so crazy beautiful today but so crazy wrong. I heard the vernal pools full of tree frog song and the hawks are mating. Saw an Eastern Bluebird and people jogging in tiny shorts and tanks on March 5th very far from the equator.

[sukunastoy]

I literally don’t think I can handle my job much longer…they work us to death and expect more and more and more. They said our store made enough profits to support 7 other failing locations this year. HOWEVER!

We still need to do more. Sell more. Work more. Work harder. We have hardly any staff, our warehouse sends us damaged goods half the time. They want to start micromanaging everything we order and we have to explain to people who have never worked a day in their lives in the store WHY we have to order what we order.

Cause we fucking need it???

I work in a bakery…I order cupcake trays and cake containers cause…holy fuck…I make those items that need to go in those things???

I’m so over this shit..then they have the audacity to say we surpassed our projected profit goal for the year. BUT. They’re gonna set the goal even higher next year and said it will probably be hard for us to reach those sales and if we don’t hit it or surpass it, they’ll cut our hours. It’s like…

What in the actual fuck.

And I’ve been looking for another job so fucking long now and everything says “urgently hiring” yet no one fucking calls me back.

[shade-pup-cub]

Febuwhump 2024, Day 14: Mask(FD) & Link - Blood-Stained Tiles

Fandom: LOZ/Linked Universe

Summary: Mask seems to be the only one that can see what is going on with his big brother and he refuses to stand to the side when he could try to change it. Unlike his own Zelda, this era's doesn't show the same care. Their hero is only a tool.

CW: blood, injury, mild language

Link’s limp wasn’t hard to miss if you looked. His slight hitch in breath when he gave a slight laugh, drew in breath or spoke too much could be seen, if someone would look for it. His posture was guarded, arms stiff and hardly moved away from his sides. His smile was fake, pained and his eyes wanted to shut from the lack of sleep. All of this could be seen if someone just looked.

Mask watched from afar after the battle was over and had slipped the Fierce Deity mask back onto his belt. He saw Link get hit a few too many times and knew he would be kicking for not doing better.

A meeting had been called for in the castle to discuss the next move against Cia and Ganondorf the second the battle ended and Link was off the field. Mask cursed aloud when he lost sight of Link, crowds of people pushing and shoving. Being hip height had its disadvantages, but Mask was not above hitting kneecaps to get through.

It was the rare occasion that the eleven year old hero wished he had his sixteen year old body back. He could easily get through if he was taller, but he wasn’t. He scaled the nearest wall somehow undetected. He balanced his way across beams, careful not to fall into the swarm of bodies below. Living as a Kokiri was like living in one big playground, making this easy.

It still took much longer than he wanted it to to get across the castle, run down the halls to where Link’s personal chambers were. Mask jiggled the locked handle to the door. Link never locked it…

“Link! Open this fucking door!”

There was no answer outside of the shuffling of feet, something being tossed around and something breaking.

“Don’t make me blow this door off its hinges!”

When Link still did nothing outside of continuing on, Mask grew more worried. Link knew that Mask wouldn’t give idle threats, especially ones that included blowing things up.

“Cap, you’re worrying me… Please open the door.”

A few moments later, the door creaked open. “Worried? Now that’s a word I haven’t heard come from you before.”

Mask looked up at him, eyeing him curiously and cautiously. Something wasn’t right. Link had less dust and dirt on his tunic, meaning he had taken it off. He wouldn’t do that for any other meeting, especially with how urgent the Queen made it sound.

“Did you take a potion?” Mask went right to the point.

“No, I didn’t need one.”

“Did you wrap your wounds?”

Link furrowed his brow, “I didn’t have any.”

“Bullshit, I saw you take some hits today. There is no way you went unharmed.” Mask went to push on the Captain’s ribs, but his wrist was caught by Link. “If you don’t have any, why stop me from checking?”

To Mask’s surprise, Link’s expression cracked for a split second before he straightened up. “Because I do not have time right now. There is a meeting being held to strategize our next move. Even if I were injured, our supplies took a great hit today. We are short of most things. Small cuts are not worth my time worrying.” He let go of the younger’s wrist. “Stay here if you want, but I have somewhere to be.”

Mask flinched slightly back at his big brother’s became uncharacteristically angry with him.

Link deflated. “I’m sorry. I have no right to take my frustration out on you.” He took off his scarf, wrapping it around Mask snuggly. “Get some rest.”

Watching Link walk away hurt, but Mask had a job to do. He needed to figure out a way to get the good Captain to rest some. It had been three days since he slept anything more than two hours, a week since he slept five hours at one time.

He sighed with a groan as he walked into the somewhat large room. He went and sat on the bed, kicking his feet while his brain raced. He couldn’t think of a way to help his big brother and even if he did, no one would take him seriously due to his age. Well… he was just going to have to make them listen.

Looking around the room again, something caught his eye. Something white and red. ‘That bastard.’ He knew what it was before he reached it. It was old bandages that someone had tried to hide. That meant that Link had been hurt some time before and hid it from everyone.

Mask pushed open the bathroom door, wanting to take all the bandages out of there and hide them so Link would be forced to seek out proper help. What he wasn’t prepared to see was blood smeared across the marbled tiled floor. Several towels had been used hopelessly to clean up the mess and there were still small pools of blood that hadn’t been touched.

Mask’s breathing picked up as he took a few steps back. Horror gripped him like an icy hand around his middle. That was too much blood. How much was Link hiding? How much worse was he than Mask had originally assumed?

His anger roared back like a grease poured on an open flame. He folded Link’s scarf in a hurry, tossing it on the bed. He was on a warpath to where this so-called meeting was being held. He ran through people, not caring who it was. Many times he collided with the wrong people, all agitated warriors or nobles. A few pushed him away hard enough that he landed on the ground and nearly trampled. The others only spoke harshly towards him.

None of this stopped him from reaching the guarded doors that held the highest ranking officials in this Hyrule. He thought about blowing the door off the hinges, but that would cause too much destruction and bring too much attention from outside people. Direct approach it was…

Mask kicked and screamed as the guards tried to pick him up and throw him out of the castle for intruding. ‘This shit again, really?’ He managed to get a few good kicks to the door, calling for Link. With no one responding from behind the doors, Mask bit one of the guards and pulled the Fierce Deity mask from his belt threatening to put it on, backing up slowly, then literally kicked the door open.

“What is the meaning of this interruption?!” one of the nobles asked as everyone jumped to their feet.

Mask eyed Link as he tried to stand up fully without wincing. Link tried to keep eye contact, but sat down first with a hand holding his ribs.

Two more men went to snatch Mask, but he raced over to the way too oversized round table and climbed onto it. The Queen waved her hand for them to stop.

“Mask, what brings you here?” Zelda asked, calmly.

“Him!” Mask pointed at Link as he tried to catch his breath.

Link huffed, “Mask, go back to the room and get some rest, please. There is no concern here for you to be worrying over.”

“You don’t get to speak, Cap! Not after what I saw!”

Losing patience, Zelda also sat back down, prompting the others to do the same. “If something was wrong with our Captain, he would say something.”

“Are you blind? Are all of you blind to what is in front of you? He is injured, still injured from the battle before today, hasn’t slept in gods know how long, eating is a rare thing and he is refusing any medical treatment because he thinks it would be wasted on him when he should be the first person to receive it!”

“We are at war, child. There has to be sacrifices even if it comes to oneself.” A random nobleman said.

Swiftly turning, Mask gritted his teeth as he spat out. “No one was talking to you.” Looking at the Queen again, he asked, “How well do you sleep in your ivory tower, knowing that this war is all on Link? He has saved you, Impa, Lana, everyone in this room, this whole kingdom, but who is saving him as he drowns in his own thoughts of doubt and self worth? Who does he get to lean on when it becomes too much to carry alone on his shoulders? He isn’t some plaything from the goddess, he is a real person who deserves better than this. Heroes deserve better than this!”

The same nobleman decided to speak up again. “What would you know of a Hero’s job? You call yourself a hero, but how could an eleven year old understand the complexity of war and what Link is to uphold his part as the hero?”

Rage boiled in Mask’s veins, slowly turning back to the old man. “I took up the role of the hero at age nine, where I was sent to the future by sleeping until I was sixteen. I fought Ganondorf and his bloodthirsty monsters and I defeated him. When I was sent back to my original time as a nine year old, I did it all over again. I earned the title Hero of Time, though it came with many steep costs. I went to an unknown land called Termina, ridding it of one of the most powerful demons ever known to the world, Majora. I did both adventures alone outside of my fairy and the few that I could trust to point me in the right direction, but I walked alone.

“The work of a hero is damning and lonely, even if we aren’t alone. No one truly understands what we need or what we go through. I refuse to let another hero go through the hell I went through for the sake of his country. I don’t care if I have to do it from my grave, heroes from now on will never have to walk alone.”

The silence was interrupted by a puzzled Queen. “This still has nothing to do with you. Leave, Mask, we have work to do and every second that you waste by badgering us with things that are irrelevant, Ganondorf gets stronger. If Link has a problem or an issue, he knows how to deal with it. He is an adult, capable of taking care of himself.”

“Clearly not by the state of his bathroom! The tiled floor is stained in blood, fresh blood has pooled on top of it from where he tried to take care of himself and I’m surprised he’s even standing by how much was there! Do you not care for your Hero?”

“He is not my responsibility!” The Queen stood, matching Mask’s height where he stood.

“Mask, that is enough. This only makes matters worse. It doesn’t matter what happens as long as we win the war.” Link rubbed his face, elbows on the edge of the table. The lack of self preservation was overwhelming. Mask knew what it was like, but his big brother was being thrown to the wolves with no hope.

“See, boy, if our good Captain Link says he is fine, then why should we be listening to you? Now, run along and let the adults handle things.”

If Mask could have gotten away with it, he would have skewered that old bastard. Instead, he took the Fierce Deity mask, sighing, “Since you won’t listen to me, maybe you will listen to him.” He pressed the mask to his face with a scream. The scream wasn’t because of the pain like others thought, but because of the amount of emotion trapped inside with no way to release it except when Mask used them. Fierce Deity's hurt the worst.

“Mask no!!” Link hollered and scrambled to get to the youngest in the room.

The wooden table groaned under the weight of the god that now stood where the young Link was. The Deity knew why he had been called on, afterall he could go through the mask’s wielder's thoughts. His glowing eyes took in the room, landing on Link who was now doubled over and clutching his side, blood coming through the green tunic.

The Deity growled in disgust, “It takes a child to make you see what you already know, yet you call yourselves the responsible adults. I would have never treated my own men with such disregard.”

Much like Mask, his eyes locked on Zelda’s, lips pulled back to show all his teeth. “You, Queen Zelda, I would expect so much more from my sister’s blood than what you have become. You disgrace the goddess’s bloodline and all she believed in.”

Link took in a wheezing breath. “D-Deity…” He collapsed to the ground, head nearly slamming into the stone floor if it weren’t for the Deity’s quickness.

Large gloved fingers inspected the head in his hands, feeling for damage. He sighed when he felt the bump below the crown of the young man’s head. If he remembered correctly, Link got his with a shield there. Placing the man’s head on the ground softly, the Deity pulled the tunics and chainmail up, showing bandages soaked and hardly wrapped around him properly.

Almost like she cared, Zelda was at their side. “I had no idea… truly. We need to get him to the infirmary right away.”

“You will do nothing. You do not get the right to suddenly step up for him and care about his well being. I will take him to his quarters and watch over him. He needs rest, not people hovering over him. Besides, friends and foe are wearing the same colors nowadays.”

With Link in his arms, he made his way to the door, but stopped short to say one last thing. “If his body gives way and we lose him, my host will not fight in this war, I will make sure of it. You will do this on your own and you will lose.”

[cicaklah]

fandom: star trek snw

pairing: kirk/spock

rating: vivid reliving of all the hot sex you had during meetings

summary:

“And yet, here we are,” Jim says, running his fingers down Spock’s spine. “You run a department, and I barely have to think when I explain the paradox of backward induction.” “Are you attempting to dirty talk me with strategy, Mister Kirk,” Spock says, raising an eyebrow. “Why? Is it working?” Jim says, his eyes bright with delight. “Yes,” Spock says simply. “I am, after all, a rational agent.”

tagged: the fanfic equivalent of a clip show of all the sex scenes I cut from the other stories, plus also bones is there, against his will mostly, new job hustle, James T. Kirk & Leonard "Bones" McCoy Friendship, Bromance, canon typical disregard for medical privacy, Romance, Flashbacks, The Garden, the author brings economic theory into romance once again, but hear me out

---

BONES IS HERE. Jim is back on the Farragut. But the story isn't over. Oh no, its only just begun.

Anyway this was originally going to just be a 'missing scenes' type fic, but then I asked @skylightpirate and she recommended it be Jim telling Bones all these stuff against his will, and while that didn't end up being the plot, it did mean that I could start reconciling Bones with SNW, something I had been dreading and also excited about.

Being one of the most english people to ever live, I needed help, and thankfully @stickthisbig was kind enough to endure my 'how do I say this...but southern??' messages at all hours. I also learned about the hierarchy of yankees, which I enjoy deeply and will hopefully find a way to use.

I refuse to not put my personal interests into my fics so yeah, blorbo fucks and also game theories now. sadly I'm shit at game theory, but it is one of the sexier branches of economics and as you can imagine...there isn't a lot of competition :(

anyway Im going to bed, pls reblog, comment, carrier pigeon, love you all <3

[amazingmsme]

i’ve become a little obsessed with your curtwen stuff do you have any more to share 🙏🙏🙏

Aww thank you, that’s so sweet! I honestly need to rewatch saf, it’s been too long since I’ve seen it! All this talk about them has made me really miss them I just wish they could’ve had a happy ending, but I guess that’s what fics are for

I can’t remember what all I’ve said, so I might repeat myself or contradict a previous headcanon, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles 🤷‍♀️

But I love the idea of Curt & Owen flirting via mock interrogations & they progressively get less realistic & more playful (& homoerotic) as time goes on & what we see at the beginning of the show definitely isn’t the first time tickling has found its way into this little game of theirs

They do the will they won’t they thing for probably way too long, but they wanted to be 100% positive they were picking up the vibes they thought they were

Ok but their first kiss was completely accidental. They were running away from someone together & they had to hide in a cramped space like a tight alley or a closet & they’re fumbling & shoving at each other & they turn their heads at the same time & next thing you know they’re fuckin’ smooching! They’re both so shy about it & can barely meet each other’s eyes & Owen just mumbles “not a bad kisser Mega” & Curt’s like “neither are you” & then they’re staring at each other blushing & all of a sudden they’re making out

Pretty sure they both found out each other was ticklish while on a job together since that’s when they spend the most time together. I think most people think Owen found out Curt was ticklish first, but just imagine with me, if you will:

Curt arrives to a job that Owen got to first, but shit hit the fan & he got caught & is being interrogated. It’s pretty early on, so he’s not too roughed up yet, & he can see Curt in the rafters & he’s both relieved & annoyed because he knows he’s gonna rub it in his face that he had to save him. Curt ends up sniping the baddies & hops down like his knight in shining armor & he goes to untie him, but Owen’s hands are tied behind the chair & his chest is tied to the back of the chair, the rope under his arms & around his ribs. So while he’s untying him, he’s squirming around & breathing a little weird & Curt’s like “quit moving so much or I’ll leave you here” & Owen snaps back “quit tickling then!” & he freezes up & Curt has the most gleeful, sinister look he’s ever seen

“What was that?” “Nothing” “no no, you said you’re ticklish?” “Really Curt, that’s what you’re taking away from all this? We need to leave!” “Why? I already killed everyone here, it’s just you & me” “Curt…” “why not have some fun?” “Mega I swear to God-“ & then Owen didn’t get another coherent sentence out for about half an hour

After that, Curt was a fucking menace & never let him live it down. He’d sneak up on him & launch a surprise tickle attack, he’ll constantly bring up how he “can’t believe” how ticklish he is, he’ll even mock his laugh & say how even his laugh sounds posh. Really, Owen had the patience of a saint & Curt really took it for granted

He bides his time, giving him a chance to back tf off with all the teasing, but one night when they’re sharing a hotel room (with only 1 bed mind you) Curt keeps tickling him & it’s really not funny because he just wants to sleep damnit! Cut it out, I mean it! & Curt goes to squeeze his hip again & all of a sudden he’s laying flat on his back with an angry, very smug Owen hovering over him & his life flashes before his eyes. He gives a nervous lil grin & tilts his head like “y-you got me, I’ll leave you alone now” & Owen’s like “oh no no no, you’ve been tormenting me for months, you’re not weaseling out of this that easy” & Curt really should learn to shut up because he doesn’t even think twice before saying “well what took you so long to snap?”

& now it’s Owen’s turn to give him an evil smile & cups his ear like “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” & Curt’s really struggling now, but Owen has him pinned pretty good & he’s sputtering out apology after apology saying how he’ll never tease him again lies & he’ll drop the whole thing. But Owen is smirking so much as he leans down & asks “Curt… now be honest… have you been doing all this hoping I’d get my revenge?” & Curt’s heart has never beat so fast in his entire life & he answers so quick he literally cuts him off by yelling “NO!” & then much cooler “no, why would I want that?” & Owen just hums “oh I don’t know, maybe because it would mean my hands would be all over you” & he waits for Curt to try to argue before striking. He miiiight have gone a bit overboard, but he had a lot of revenge to catch up on. & it’s not like he didn’t give Curt an out, he just refused to “break” to something as “stupid” as tickling, so it was really his fault. He swears his throat didn’t hurt after that brutal attack, but when they wake up the next morning his voice is shot & he can barely speak above a whisper. Of course now it’s Owen’s turn to never let him live it down. “I can’t believe you were giving me so much shit when you’re 10 times as bad as I am!”

I didn’t know this was just gonna turn into one one headcanon but I speak the truth, the whole truth, & nothing but the truth no matter how long it is so help me God

[stars-n-spice]

Thoughts on s3 ep14!

Woke up at like 12:10 something,, didn't get my usual "waste 2-3 hours to mentally prepare myself" so I jumped right into it once I made my coffee (bad idea)

Once again recorded my reaction so actual screaming will be under the cut!

SERIOUSLY HOW THE FUCK DO WE HAVE ONE FUCKING EPISODE LEFT?! HELLO?!?!

Anyways-

Incoherent screaming and spoilers under the cut!

Why the fuck are they going into this with like no backup and like,, they're just fucking jumping into it. Like I understand because Omega but like CMON guys. This happened before!!

Click here to hear my actual live reaction to the episode

Fuck, this armor is kinda growing on me

seriously what the fuck are they going to do with rampart?? he's literally dead weight

He makes for really good comedic relief though and he had me fucking dying this entire episode

WHO THE FUCK REPORTED THEM?!? DID I MISS SOMETHING?? LIKE I GET THAT THEY KNOCKED PEOPLE OUT AND SHIT BUT YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT PEOPLE RECOGNIZED THEM AND DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING UNTIL LATER OR WHAT?!!

Also the fact that they KNOW they're coming. fucking HELL the odds are stacked up against them

THE KIDS :(( Omega having to tell them what "cover me" means and them doing their absolute best to do so

ECHO MY BELOVED <33

Echo in the stormtrooper armor I'm

He has a hand now - "Thanks for the hand" - my comedic genius

IS THAT THE FUCKING ZILLO BEAST!??!?! FUCKING FINALLY!!! NOW WHEN THE FUCK IS IT GOING TO EAT HEMLOCK?!?!?

I miss Batcher :( Where is she? Is she safe? Is she alive?

Crosshair shoving Rampart around <3

"I've changed" - "Sure you have" WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT RAMPART SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH

Rampart acting like he knows Crosshair, fucking no you don't, just because you disrupted his meals like twice a day to call him to the principal's office doesn't mean SHIT

I love Echo so much, he's so cool

ECHO AND EMERIE TEAM UP

THE WAY THAT I SCREAMED BECAUSE AAAAAAAAA

OMEGA TALKED ABOUT THEM :( AND EMERIE LISTENED :( AND EMERIE REMEMBERED ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT WAS ECHO :( RAGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I need to kick Rampart so badly, please, please let me kick him

"we can't use blasters i'll give away our position!" - AND MAKING ALL THAT NOISE WONT?!?!

WRECKER OH MY GOD GOT FUCKING SLASHED HE BETTER BE OKAY WHAT THE FUCK

HELLO?? Rampart getting his fucking ass found. What are they going to do with him now? What can he tell them that they don't already know??? I guess Echo but like-

To anyone who is starting to like Rampart STOP. Because watch him be the Saw Gerrera of this season

Cannot wait to see the kids break out and release the zillo beast <3

Emerie :( "I was doing my job" EMERIE MY LOVE THERE'S MORE THAN THAT

I'm so scared for her now SHE'S REALIZING THERE'S MORE TO LIFE AND I SWEAR TO GOD IF SHE FUCKING DIES-

WHERE THE FUCK IS C-2X OR WHATEVER THE FUCK???? I'M LOSING HOPE FOR A TECH REVEAL. FUCKING HELL I MISS HIM SO MUCH. THIS WHOLE FUCKING SEASON WITHOUT HIM??? RAUUGHHHHHHHH.

This episode was just fucking,,, stakes stakes stakes

Did not get a rest

holy shit

Emerie and Echo are fucking MOTHERS love them

ECHO HAS FUCKING EARS?!?!?!?!?!?!? OK NOW GIVE HIM HIS HAIR AND COLOR BACK!!!!!!

Craziest fucking thing to come out of this season - Echo having ears

LOOK

a lot happened

i'm so scared for next week

this whole episode was fucking action, action, action

WHY DID IT FEEL SO SHORT

SO MUCH HAPPENED BUT AT THE SAME TIME NOTHING HAPPENED????

Ugh

More thoughts are in the audio because I go on like a 13 minute rant but

FUCK <- my final thoughts

[thewitchunderyourbed]

YOU RUN

Johnny Silverhand x Female V

Warning for violence, torture and language

.

.

.

You have always been accustomed to your intrusive thoughts.

Being a mercenary is stressful, you have to live second by second, because who knows if some cyber psychopath is ready to kill you behind a corner or if a gang member is waiting for you on your way home.

You said once that you would never reach your thirties and with the last developments, that was now the truth.

"Shit" you cursed as the image of Jakie in a pool of his blood on the backseat of Delamain's taxi infested your head.

Your brain was a haunted house, full of ghosts, full of dead people.

"I prefer roller coasters, more vomit but the rush of adrenaline is way better" Jhonny materialized on the sofa of your apartment, legs on the table and arms crossed.

"Speaking of the devil" you pondered.

"What are we going to do, eh? Looking for solving troubles or causing them? I won't say no to a JoyToy either..." he smiled from his spot, casually flipping through the pages of a magazine.

"I'm tired Jhonny, I'm going to bed" you responded, messaging your temples, feeling the beginning of a headache.

"Agh, you're no fun, girl! Stop acting like you never lose someone before, you kill people for a living!" he huffed.

Anger boiled in your veins making your blood rush to your head.

"Maybe because I'm not a terrorist like you! Did you ever think FOR REAL about what you've done? That tower was filled with people who were just making their jobs. Clerks, secretaries, technicians, the pizza guy there for a fucking delivery? A kid at work with his dad? Huh? Do you ever think about it?" you shouted out.

"That's what you think of me? That I'm just a mindless bloodthirsty killer?" he asked too calmly for your tastes.

"I can't tell you what I think about you, Silverhand " you said storming to your room where you let your body fall on the bed.

The sleep came quickly, you were exhausted, but you were equally restless.

Your dreams were filled with blood, the blood of people you once loved and of the people you killed.

There was Jhonny too at some point, just images flashing in your mind, a different dream, and you didn't know why but it happens frequently.

You woke up to the big eyes of Nibbles calling for food, that little creature was always hungry.

You padded barefoot to the kitchenette when Jhonny glitched in front of you, sitting by the sink.

"You still look like shit" he commented.

"Yeah, at least I'm not dead" you answered, earning a middle finger from the rocker.

Nibbles got his food and you made a nice cup of coffee, perfect for you but too sweet and hot for Jhonny, who complained about your tastes.

Your phone rang, and a message from Dakota about a new gig popped on the screen.

"What's this time?" Johnny asked, but you ignored him so he had to peek from behind your shoulder.

"Shit, this is sick" the man commented.

Johnny watched you calling Dakota back for confirming you accepted the job, still barefoot and walking around the room until you ended the call and entered the bathroom.

"I'm going to take a shower, try to not be a fucking creep" you screamed from under the water spray.

There was no need anymore to cover yourself in front of Jhonny, you've been in his head and he was literally in yours, it was the closest type of relationship ever existed.

Not even two hours later you were on the track of Maelstrom, the trail of blood they left behind was hard to ignore.

You left the bike at the corner of a large building filled with rusty containers and trash, you disabled the two large turrets that were about to point in your direction and sneaked inside by an open window.

"This fucker won't stay still! How am I supposed to cut his fucking arm? " the voice of a screaming gang member reached your ears.

"Agh just kill this bastard already" another answered.

A moment after the sound of a shot resounded off the concrete walls.

"V you have to hurry," Jhonny told you from inside your head.

You used ping to scan the area, highlighting their tech and bodies to your eyes.

"Just 6 of them, sound easy enough," you thought.

When you were right at the back of a Maelstrom, ready to snap his neck, your vision started to blur, glitch and blood ran down your nose"

You dropped to the ground senseless.

You slowly came back to your senses and for a moment you believed you could no longer see.

The room in which you were was pitch black and cold as ice, you tried to move your arms and legs but you were been tied to something, a stretcher probably.

Your breath came quick and ragged, hyperventilating from the fear, your head felt foggy, your nude body icy cold.

"Did they... Did they drug me?" you asked yourself.

When the metal sound of doors being opened filled your head, echoing like in a bad trip, you saw that they kept you in a container, waiting for the moment to slaughter you.

"Well well well, what do we have here? Some nice Corpo implants, pricy aren't they?" a light-skinned guy entered your visual field.

He pushed the stretcher into an area that reminded a surgery room, but dirtier and with various body parts hanging by hooks.

"Hehehe, just wait here, little slut. The doctor will receive you soon" he chucked darkly.

You started to panic, even more, you knew they would cut you to pieces and sell your parts to the black market, your head tried to react but the drugs made you feel like the body wasn't your own, like when Johnny...

You cried, trying to trash from side to side, screaming at the top of your lungs.

"JHONNY!" you cried.

The man gave no response.

"JHONNY PLEASE!" you tried again.

"Don't leave me alone, please don't leave me" hot tears run down your cheeks as you sobbed.

You knew that if you died he would have died too.

Another Maelstrom entered the room, followed by five more fellows.

"LET ME GO, YOU SON OF A FUCKING WHORE" you shouted.

He ignored you, continuing his task of choosing the right tool to cut your body.

Closing your eyes as you felt something touching your face, gasping in fear you opened them again, finding Jhonny looking down at you.

"V," he said "it's going to be fine"

"Johnny I don't want to die here" you whispered.

He cupped her cheeks with his hands, stroking the cold flesh with his thumbs and you swear you could have felt it.

"You will not die here, Samurai" he reassured you " I won't let that happen"

His eyes softened when you shivered and sobbed furthermore.

"Fry their chrome, V" he told you.

"What?" you asked back.

"I know you can do it. If you can reboot their optics you can overload their implants too!"

"What if I damage the Relic too?"

At that moment the big Maelstrom approached you with a saw in his hands.

"FRY THEM, NOW!" Johnny shouted.

You let out a loud and inhuman cry as you forced all your systems and hacking implants to their limits.

Maelstrom convulsed like they were electrocuted and dropped on the ground their head smoking like lit cigarettes.

"Well well well I don't remember having ordered fried shit" Jhonny commented, crouched down near a dead body.

You took the saw the man let fall on your body while dying and used it to cut the ropes.

"Thank you." you said softly" Sorry for what I said yesterday, I didn't mean it... "

"I know. I know everything that passes through your mind, you little dickhead" he chuckled.

You searched for your clothes but opted to steal them from the bodies, at least you were not nude anymore.

"I know what you think about me, for real" Jhonny said as you tuck your feet in some old booths.

"You know it?" you asked still unstable, feeling your legs like jelly.

"Yeah... That's why I fight all your nightmares away" he said lighting a cigarette.

"Johnny I-" you begin but the man interrupted your words.

"You don't need to voice your thoughts, V" a puff of smoke escaped his lips.

"Are you just telling me this to get in my panties, right? " you joked.

"Girl, right now, you are not even wearing them" he grinned.

[treasurehuntbait]

Musings: Murdoch & Photography - Analog Horror Edition™

I was just thinking about Murdoch and how his exposure (haha, photography pun!) to the nature of the town is potentially even more horrifying with the added layer of his main occupation, aka being a photographer.

------ SPOILERS BELOW CUT ------

His interest in photography probably came first. But at the point where we meet him in the story, regardless of routes, his passion is an integral part of his character, and I think it's safe to say that it is inseparable to his investigations and larger quest to ''fight back'' against the influence of Echo. These two things feed each other, and probably have for the longest time.

And seeing his mental state, in his own route, and how is he basically ''shut in'' the red room to develop photographs for hours on end sometimes? That can't be good for him. Now, think about the fact that outside of his own route where he has Sam to talk to, or Cliff's route where he is away from Echo, we don't see him that often and he's left to his own devices? Especially in Nik's route, where we basically don't interact past the prologue and Powder Room encounter (as of Build 28). I'm getting very worried for him.

How just a mere second of him seeing something in a photo, or thinking he's seen something, could affect him. Regardless of routes, I can see him spiralling into paranoia, or despair, or manic fits in that fucking room. Now add the lack of clear communication about Echo and its nature, and the fact that he can get into ''work addict mode'' to sastify his family's whims? Yeeeeah. You could make the case that's it been years, and he is used to it, expecting it even. But that's an habit he had to develop to live in Echo. I don't think I need to point out exactly why that's bad. No wonder the dude gets high with Ralph on a regular basis? My lord.

That must be hard but like, I can see him thinking, on particularly bad days, that the photos being clear signs to tell the town's fucking with him to be the cherry on top of everything bad the town has to send him this way. Like, what a fucking irony, that his hobby, his job, his passion, can potentially be used ''against him'' by the supernatural forces of Echo. Of course it's useful, and it gives him insight onto what might be happening, important information, even. But it's a double edged sword. The town can cut him just as deep with just one (unsettling) change in a photo, if not more, than what he personally can dish out.

It's alarming to think about. He really is one of the people the more at risk of Echo's malignant forces.

For more precision about all of this, and as a final note as of now: there's reasonable doubt, for me, about whether or not photos are ''active'' or ''passive'' things in Echo.

We don't have a definite answer on this, and we probably won't have any imo (and it's not a bad thing too, I'd argue it's best our minds are left in speculation to some degree for a story like TSR.) So far it seems photographs are ''passive'' and ''impartial'', in the sense that they're just objects. Objects that capture light (what really happened VS what we think happened), basically finger prints of the town's influence, and tools to use for our characters.

But I can also see the town using the photos in nefarious ways, especially if they have ''auras'' of dead people on them. Think of Murdoch's younger brother, Seamus, and how his photo changes. Now think of how we know (from both visual novels Echo and TSR) that Echo can basically ''reproduce'' basic strokes of what a person used to be when they were alive. I'm not saying that's what happening in the scene where we are introduced to this very specific photo. But with that in mind, I do think it's odd, at best, that we witnessed the displayed portraits on the wall change earlier in the route, without some kind of emotional investment for those specific people with characters present in the room with our narrator and POV character, Samuel. Also note that those specific portraits changing before our eyes - well it's happening in the wider context of Samuel's mental state and inner monologue. Aka, he's in a bad place - survival mode, thinking of tempering with evidence (photos of Jack's corpse and the site where Jack was found). It could just denote the influence of the town on Samuel, which would work. But it could also be something else on top of that. Sam has had ''the veil lifted from his eyes'' because he's killed a man (in the mines, important detail), and perhaps because he ''contributed to the pile of offerings which feed the cursed soil'', so to speak. (I don't think it's stated in Murdoch's route, but it is observed, numerous times, that the earth beneath the town is bad, in a literal and metaphysical sense. And it is implied that there is a ritualistic element to killing people in the mines. See Mary Applegate and as a whole, the complete, still cryptic, exchanges we hear when we are with Melissa's POV). Perhaps, then, he is able to see what the town usually conceals or reveals in small portions to the rest of the masses. Doesn't negate that the town is using that to get to him (''hello there'' quote during that passage).

Either way, YEAH something's up! Seems like those could be a gateway for Echo to potentially fuck with people too... A little portal, of limited influence, but still something that can be twisted to fit the Entity / the Supernatural forces' designs.

[monsterfucker-lisa-swallows]

general rules for customers in a retail store that actually make our lives so much easier:

i've been in retail most of my working career and people do some fucked up things that i'm just like...okay i was basically raised by wolves and i would never do some of the shit you guys do (talking to you, lady who left bloody tampon underwear in the tj maxx fitting room). so here are rules to behave in public just in case you didn't know.

(1) if you don't want to put something back where you found it, give it to one of us. flag us down or give it to us at checkout. it saves us time and doesn't make the store look trashed. throwing it in a random place means we have to spend more than an hour after we close the store hunting for out of place items and putting them back. i've heard people claim they're doing this to help us have jobs. putting aside that it doesn't even make sense, no the fuck you're not. you're not thinking of job creation when you put something in the wrong spot, you're not thinking of anything. you're being lazy. we're literally not even mad at you if you give it to us. some us us work 3 jobs or have kids to pick up or have chronic disabilities and want to go home. please don't make us have to spend time cleaning up after you. (also why do some of you put something almost in the right spot when the correct peg is right next to it? it's not so hard to just put it in the correct spot.)

(2) don't just throw shit on the ground. i work in a halloween store and people throw masks and hats on the ground. that's gross. would you want to buy a mask people might've been stepping on? why are you throwing it on the ground when you can put it back?

(3) things that go on pegs have holes at the top of the packaging. those holes are used to slide onto the pegs. don't put a mask on the peg by hanging it from the elastic band or by putting the mask itself on it. the cardboard packaging is what goes on the peg. it's not that hard.

(4) if you pulled something out of the costume, we're not asking you to refold everything and make it nice (nobody has time for that) but please put it back in the package and don't throw it on the floor. i know the packaging can be a bit confusing but slide the cardboard piece in first, then put the clothes in the side that doesn't have the picture so other customers can still see what kind of costume it is and so it doesn't look like trash.

(5) don't touch animatronics you haven't paid for. they're fragile and we have 5 broken ones. no you can't pull the face off an animatronic to use as a halloween costume

(6) this one isn't exclusive to halloween stores but go a month early to get stuff for holidays. if you wait til the week before or god forbid the day of any holiday, the good stuff will be sold out and it will be your own fault. by the time halloween rolls around, most major retailers have backrooms full of thanksgiving and christmas. there's no sense in getting mad at us for not having anything good left the day of.

(7) please don't walk in wearing nothing but a banana hammock. can't believe i need to say this

(8) if a store has what looks like low shelving in front of the register that's in a maze shape, they want you to walk through the maze to get to the register. yes it's partially to tempt you with useless items but the maze shape helps lines not get super out of control. if you just have an uncontained clump of a line, the store can get confusing and crowded very quickly. making the line wind through the maze gets more people into a smaller space. please don't just cut to the front even if it looks like no one is in line. go through the maze. and if you have to wait in line, wait at the end of the maze, do not just stand directly behind someone. give them space while they make a transaction. can't believe this has to be said. i miss when we had rules to stand 6 feet apart sometimes.

(9) retail employees are not responsible for an item being out of stock or your card not being accepted

(10) check your coupons to make sure they're not out of date and don't expect employees to have extras at the register

(11) put down your phone during the checkout process that's super rude oh my god

(12) pay attention in line. don't stand in a clump talking. don't mosey over super slowly either, move in a timely fashion because people are waiting behind you

(13) don't hit on employees unless you know them

(14) make sure you had money cashapped to you before you get to the register. don't hold up the line by calling someone to get money

(15) don't be gross. the fitting room is no place to clip toenails or masturbate

(16) store policy isn't the fault of the employees. return policies don't always mean you have a few days from time of purchase to bring it back. particularly with seasonal stores or holiday items, the receipt will specify that there is no money back on those items after a certain point because the odds of selling that stuff after the holiday is very slim.

these are such simple rules. wish people would follow them.

[c-o-r-r-u-p-t]

Dear younger self,

Every time I write something like this, I imagine the version of myself on the day I gave myself caffeine poisoning. I had stayed home all day looking at rent prices and trying to figure out what I might be able to afford when I’m all grown up, dreaming of one day having my own nyc apartment

I loved to plan. I loved to dream of the future and think of the trips I wanted to take and the things I wanted to experience. It’s why it’s so ironic that I was so insanely suicidal back then. I had also given myself food poisoning because I drank about 7 cups of coffee that day trying to convince myself I like it so I could live off of it, because it had no calories and that’s what all the other girls with eating disorders did. It still feels weird to put myself in that category tho but I definitely had problems with eating for a long time.

Anyway, that’s who I’m writing to. I’m writing to the kid that lost most their friends because they couldn’t bare to leave their bed and spent all their free time at school crying in the library or desperately looking for an escape through books. The kid that let themselves have a whole 700 calories that day, in total, as a birthday present to themselves. To the kid that dissociated for hours a day in the bathtub to daughter while the cuts on their hips slowly bled into the water, making them lose so much blood that they collapsed and had to crawl naked to their room before anyone found them. To the kid that wanted so badly to be happy but just couldn’t, but could still dream

Dear younger me,

We fucking did it. We did it all. Everything that you planned, everything you held on to when there was nothing around, everything you wanted to be. When all you could do to stay alive was dream about the possibilities of your future being brighter. We fucking did it. We moved to nyc. We even have a park out the window. We hiked the fucking Appalachian trail. The whole fucking thing, just like you said. Started and finished by yourself, too. Taken a few other solo trips too, like to Yellowstone last year. We even spent a semester abroad, and got to find out what falling in love in Greece is like. We not only got the psych degree that you’ve wanted since 9th grade, but one of the professors saw your potential and gave you a shot to prove it as a volunteer at the Bronx zoo. You worked so hard that you’re a zookeeper now. Can you actually believe it? A fucking zookeeper!!! Thats actually your adult career..... We didn’t even think that was a real possibility back then!!! And we fucking got it. And it’s hard but it’s so good and so rewarding. Telling people what you do for a living and watching them react to zookeeper never gets old. We thrive off of people telling us how cool of a job we have. And guess what I brought home today… a fucking LION WHISKER. This is the closest to our life goal we’ve ever been, and we’re really getting there. We have made such a beautiful live for ourself. We some how found a way to be surrounded by nature in the middle of the city. And the friends you make… they’re such a gift. Some of the kindest, most wholesome and caring yet fucking sick people out there, and they love us. We became the type of person that earned love and respect from some truly beautiful people. People who continuously go out of their way to show us love when we need it. They are what keep you going when you need something to lean on. Them and yourself.

I wanted to write this to show myself how far we’ve come from that little kid dreaming of having a life they actually want to live through

We grew up, but all our decisions are for you. For the kid that some how managed to hold on through that fucking hell. You held on for me, so I’m making this life everything you’ve ever dreamed of. Everything I can remember, I’m making happen. I bought my own car for the first time last week, and as soon as I got in it I put on mr rager by kid cudi, like I’ve been planning since 10th grade. I am making my dreams come true. I built a beautiful goddamn life and I’m so proud of how far I’ve come. And I deserve all of it.

[terribles-world]

The clash: 02

Main protagonist: jjk x reader! best friends au.

Genre: angst, slow burn

Warnings: self doubting, self realisation.

Summary: All the events in your life now make you feel you aren't good enough for someone to be with you. Taehyung being an angel here. ♡

Word count: 1.5k

an: I couldn't wait for you PPL to read it's second part. I'm too happy guys. Hope you like it. Enjoy!

It's been a week since you broke your friendship with kook. Sorry my bad. Jungkook! Calling him by 'kook' felt so warm like a feeling being in a real home. Now it feels nothing but a guilt of how vulnerable you became to someone. So fragile that just a person can shatter you like broken pieces of glass. So weak that you couldn't even handle your emotions that led you to the moment having a mental breakdown in the bathroom tub just after coming back from your formal best friends house.

Why me? It's been a week since you've been ignoring your part-time job at a coffee shop. Hiding in your apartment to get an escape from this cruel world that keeps hurting you. Maybe you're the problem that keeps getting hurt. Is it too hard for someone to like you just the way you are. Aren't you good enough for someone?

Passing a week having existential crisis makes you fall apart from the woman you used to be. Being in your twenties you need to have a stable job, be responsible, brave to do the right thing. But you? Is that what you're or the opposite. You hate the feeling how helpless you feel rn. Someone who took you for granted not even bothers about your feelings broke you almost 7 years of friendship with him. Miserable isn't?

Finally the day has come when your leaving holidays come to an end. You need to be in the coffee shop in like 6 hours later. But what are you doing in the middle of the night at 3 a.m? Didn't get sleep or sleep is nowhere to be found in your mind full flooded with thoughts.

Looking at your face while doing skincare makes you wanna puke now. What have you become ___? Getting ready for your shift you walk out of your small and cozy apartment. Not so small but enough for a living. Locking up your apartment someone bumped into your shoulder. "I'm really sorry" she replied. "It's fine."you said looking straight but to your surprise she was Hyuna, your highschool friend. "Hyuna! What you doing here"you feel lightened. "___? Is that you? Fuck you grown up so much. Like a role model." She exclaimed. You laughed followed by her. "But what you doing at 8 in the morning?"you asked. "I just shifted here."she smiled. "We are in the same floor now? Fuck I'm so excited" you can't control your happiness and hugged her. " Are you free now" she asked looking at you. "Just going for work. Will come back sharp 6 in the evening. Would you like to grab something after that if yo-?" she cut me in the middle. "Yes! I would love to." You smiled. " Okay then see you later." Then you are off. A little socialing with people makes you feel lighter than the feeling you have been feeling a lot in the whole week.

Park Hyuna, your high school friend who was a bit closer to you after jungkook. She would always sit with you in the class for the whole 2 freaking years. Until you got to know she has a crush on jungkook. Like who doesn't have? He is indeed handsome and charming for anyone to drool over him. But you became a bit protective for your best friend. She would always try to make a convo when you and jungkook would be alone. Initially you felt a bit awkward but eventually you got comfortable for you 3 to hang out all together. It felt surreal. But until one day you saw her and jungkook kissing under a tree while the weather was cloudy and almost about to rain. You don't know but that felt so heartbroken. Tears started rolling from your cheeks. Why she can't be fucking you? Why can't he love you? Aren't you enough for someone?

You left the place in a hurry just not to get caught by someone for looking at your two friends kissing. Hurriedly going to your house not even caring an ounce when your mother started ranting about how irresponsible you are for getting wet in the rain. But you couldn't care less how frustrated you feel. It meant to happen someday you knew it. It fucking hurts. Since then you started hanging out with them less than you used to. Ignoring jungkook when he would ask you to Hangout or sit with Hyuna. It changed so fast. Until one day she broke up with her the day after graduation so suddenly and then she disappeared. You felt bad as well as relieved. Bad cause she has been a good friend. Relieved because now you got your best friend I guess. But that didn't last long when he started hooking up randomly, started drinking all of a sudden and then after the terrible incident happened. 'You don't need to remember that', you remind yourself.

Reaching your destination: Kim's Cafe. You let a relieved sigh. Opening the door just to face the mocking by the shop owner Kim Seokjin. "Woah! Look who decided to show up today. Finally what have I done to get this honour of your presence in my tiny little shop, Miss ___." rolling your eyes. "You are annoying ". Deciding to ignore it and went to your changing room to wear your apron. Coming back to your place you were greeted by taehyung. "Are you okay?" he asked the first when he looked at you. Couldn't be able to make eye contact with him just nodding at his words. Too afraid he would see your dark circles under your eyes for not being able to sleep peacefully at night or see how empty you are from inside. "Okay. But if you need anything that includes you like to talk to someone I'm all ears." You still nodded your head. Just realising you got other friends too other than jungkook being in your life. More like an actual friend. A real friend.

Kim taehyung, two years older than you that'd something he is always proud of. The younger brother of the shop owner Kim Seokjin but everybody calls him Jin. Not only Jin but WWH or world wide handsome. I would definitely call him that cause he is beautiful, exceptionally magnificent features. That's why this shop is crowded almost everyday. On the other hand his brother has never been too self obsessed but a little shy around everyone. Sometimes it makes you think that he is actually hitting on you or maybe it's your assumptions. Once you saved him from a terrible woman who was touching him badly calling out for him to serve her coffee. When you noticed this immediately replaced him going to her actually teaching some manners in her head not to ogle at younger men double her age. Eventually Jin got to know about it and banned her from the shop. Taehyung didn't say anything just hugged you. Patting his back and he put his head in the crook of your neck making you feel tickled that was less concerns you than the person lying on your shoulder cause he indeed needed one. Since then you two became good friends. He knows you are being friends with jungkook. He even hung out with two of you.

Going through your social media account during your break slightly sitting at the edge of the table you let out a sigh thinking what he must be doing, zoning out scrolling your Instagram not knowing what your phone is showing up to you. Taehyung never saw you like this. Weak by health, lost the shine of your eyes, pale face, not even cared to eat healthy. He walked to you. Sitting beside you he looked at your phone. "Eww! You naughty little tiger". Coming out to reality realising what he just said then noticing your phone which is actually a couples page where a man showing up his hickey. Gasping you immediately lock your phone. "It's rude to look at someone's phone you know." you stand straight turning your face starting to walk out off there when he held your hand pulling you to him, making you land off his chest. "Hey! It's okay. I'm here. Everything's gonna be okay." That's it. That's what you needed at the very moment. You held him by his shoulder pulled closer hugging him right tightly. He didn't ask anything letting you hug him. Patting your back he let you rest your head in his shoulder for a few good minutes. Until you heard Jin murmuring some weird lyrics and shouting "Bro! The hell. You and ____. What you two doing in the kitchen. And what's with all the lovely dovey. Ohh my eyes where is my eye drop. I can't see this." Hearing his over acting you two separate each other and tae defended you both. "It's nothing okay." Of course it's nothing. But is it?

Hope you guys enjoyed reading it. Do let me know your perspective on reading it and what you PPL think of this ongoing storyline. Hope you liked it. :)

Happy reading!