#you’re at war gents

[webgottism]

PERSONAL FEELINGS SIR‼️‼️THATS VERY ASTUTE SIR‼️‼️‼️‼️I TRUST YOUR JUDGEMENT SIR‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[vintagerpg]

Most if not all the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks have hype copy on the cover that says, “A thrilling fantasy adventure in which YOU are the hero!” Creature of Havoc (1986) has that copy too, but it is the one time (that I can recall, at least) where it is fibbing. You are not a hero. You are a horrible creature, mutated, without identity and driven only by instinct (though, honestly, I am not 100% sure you’re the titular creature). This makes Havoc pretty unique in the series (only the time loop of Black Vein Prophecy exhibits a similar mechanical boldness) and makes for a complex and difficult playthrough.

So, monster that is constantly changing and evolving. Initially, you are driven by instinct, which means you make rolls to determine where you go. Once reason takes hold, you need to figure out language, which involved breaking a code (and kind of reminds me of The 13th Warrior in the way speech slowly becomes comprehensible). Then you need to escape. That involves secret passages, which can be discovered by adding 20 to the paragraph number when you’re in the right spot. You kill some adventurers along the way (combat in this book, with your claws and bulk and spines and, uh, appetite for flesh, is both bracing and gruesome). Eventually, you confront the sorcerer who made you this way — Zharradan Marr, the handsome gent on Ian Miller’s fantastic cover — find out the truth about your identity and, presumably, kick his ass into the netherworld (where he continues to make trouble for the world, as detailed in The Trolltooth Wars novel). Alan Langford delivers art and it is fine, but this is maybe the only time I will ever say this: the art is secondary to the experience of playing through this book.

All in all, conceptually and mechanically, a performance that is difficult to impossible to top. Clearly, since it is the last FF book that Steve Jackson wrote.

[tqlepatia]

Ambessa x a Hispanic reader who will literally cuss her tf out in Spanish? Like I wonder how she’ll react to that 👀

─ cursing her in Spanish.

- ❝ mi gente latino 🧍🏽‍♀️🧍🏽‍♀️❞

The kitchen was an absolute disaster. You’d given Ambessa the benefit of the doubt, tried to teach her, but it was clear—she had no idea what she was doing. The onions were a mess, the garlic was destroyed, and the sauce? It looked like something from a war zone.

“Ambessa!” you shouted, throwing your hands in the air in disbelief. “What the hell are you doing? You’re supposed to chop it, not turn it into paste!”

She looked up at you, eyes wide, clearly taken aback by your outburst. “It’s just cooking, right? How hard can it be?”

“¡¿No puedes hacer nada bien?! ¡Mira este desastre!” you yelled, pointing at the mess she made. “Everything you touch, you ruin!” You were so angry now, your voice shaking with frustration. “This isn’t some barbaric way of cooking, Ambessa! This is real food!”

Ambessa froze, her hands lifted in a defensive gesture. She hadn’t expected this from you, and for a moment, she just stared at you in disbelief. “Alright, alright,” she muttered, stepping back a little, like she wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or apologize.

“No, no you don’t!” you snarled, slamming the spoon down onto the counter. “¡Te juro, si sigues tocando algo más, te saco de esta cocina con patadas en el culo, carajo!”

Ambessa blinked, taken aback, her expression a mix of shock and amusement. “Didn’t know you had that in you.”

You glared at her, fuming, your hands gripping the edge of the counter. “Of course I do. But you’re testing every single limit I’ve got right now, Ambessa.” You say sighing, you accent more stronger than never rn

There was a moment of silence before she finally cracked a small grin, though she kept a safe distance. “Noted,” she said, backing off with her hands raised, clearly respecting the heat in your words now. “You got some dirty mouth hm? I give you that.”

[iwriteasfotini]

Here's the thing. I like the Severus Marauders dynamic to go both ways. The scales are far from level (four against one - though Severus himself is a formidable opponent when he isn't caught unaware) but I also like to think Severus wasn't the ONLY one who liked to give it back to the Gryffindor boys.

Enter Barty Crouch Jr and a bottle of laxative potion.

Severus POV 483 words Rating: Teen

Severus proceeded to watch the second year Gryffindors dig into their meal, and he was satisfied to see Lily sitting on the far end of the group. She didn’t laugh when Potter made some kind of joke either. Severus’ heart swelled. 

“How long is it supposed to take?” Regulus asked. 

“Not long, should be any second now for anyone who had some.”

And sure enough, a minute later, Lupin looked up with a pinched expression on his face. 

“Yes!” Barty said. 

Lupin hurriedly got up and ran toward the entrance hall. Black was next, he bolted for the doors. Potter looked very confused when Pettirgrew also took off. Then Flumette, then Macdonald, then Spinnet, then—and Severus felt a pang of regret—Lily dashed out. Potter was completely befuddled, and then Severus saw him drink some of the juice. 

Severus, Barty, and Regulus got up to leave not long after Potter vanished to find a toilet. They wanted to see if they could innocently witness the byproducts of their efforts. 

“I’ve got to wee,” Severus said loudly. “I’ll catch you up.”

Regulus and Barty made like they were going to the library which would take them past the next closest set of toilets, if anyone had made it so far. 

Severus pushed open the door to the gents, and heard Lupin and Black swearing between ghastly excretion sounds. It did not smell good. 

“Bloody hell! I feel like my stomach is going to explode.” A sound like the air being let out of a balloon rang through the stone chamber. 

“Ugh, I’m going to be sick.” 

“We’re already sick you dimwit.”

“Yoo-hoo” Severus called. 

The voices cut off, but plenty of other sounds continued. 

“That better not be who I think it is,” one of the boys hissed; Severus bet it was Black.

“Not a lot you can do about it with your pants around your ankles, Black.”

Black let off a string of swear words. 

“Language,” he admonished, then clucked his tongue.

Someone let loose again and Severus had to jam his fist into his mouth to keep from laughing. 

“You did this, Snivellus,” said Black in a strained voice. “I know it was you.”

“I don’t know what you’re referring to. I happened in here for a wee and got lucky to find you in a compromised position.”

“Merlin’s saggy balls on toast!” That was Lupin. He grunted and a long string of puuut’s sounded. 

“Get out, Snivellus!” Black yelled.

“Look, do you want me to send for someone?” Severus said nonchalantly.

“Just GET. OUT.”

Severus had heard and more importantly smelled enough. He retreated, letting the door bang loudly behind him before he broke down into fits of laughter. Tears streamed from his eyes, and he clutched his stomach. Until he remembered Lily had also had some of the laxative. 

“Oh no, Lily.” He hurried off to try and find the others.

>>><<<

This is the big prank from The Prince's Pact. There is simply too much other stuff going on to have the characters locked in a pranking war. But I do like to see the Slytherins get their revenge in non-violent ways (while they're young).

Watch out for Barty everyone! Kid's a lose canon.

[creative-frequency]

WIPs from 2024

It feels like nothing has been normal since covid times, by which I mean its one thing after the other and there is never time to write anymore like I used to :(

The other day I was reading through all the stuff I've never posted anywhere. And boy there is a lot. So I'm doing a bit of inventory and thought I'd at least share some snippets.

Inquisitor!Cal Kestis (Star Wars) x Reader: Party Time

The 4th part of the Inquisitor Cal series. It's missing like two scenes and it haunts me every day.

“Just being with you is soothing… I guess that’s ‘cause you’re not trying to murder me.”

“What if I am?” you ask slyly but your voice wavers in rhythm with Cal’s advances.

He pauses briefly, but quickly continues dragging his lips across your neck.

“Then I’m already dead,” he murmurs right next to your ear and shivers course through you.

→ Part 1 here

Thanatos (Supergiant Games Hades) x Reader: Hades Modern AU

There was a wild period of "let's play Hades for 6hrs a day" last summer, so this modern AU started to form.

“Thank you…” you huff and look up.

Ice slithers down your back. (Probably actually rain water but the freezing effect is the same.)

It’s Thanatos. His eyes widen in evident surprise.

You don’t know which one of you is more shocked to see the other. You should have realised sooner he would also be living in the same building. That would have given you at least the edge of mental preparation for this particular instance.

Though, no amount of mental preparation could have prepared you for the sight of him in casual clothes. The god of death is wearing a short leather jacket on top of a grey turtleneck and jeans. Your mouth hangs open.

“Oh, hello, uh, Lord Th-Thanatos,” you fumble to form coherent words and struggle to keep the shopping bags from falling.

“Do you need a hand?” he forgoes the platitudes, though you see his brows furrow at the title.

“Please. My arms are killing me,” you say and grimace. May the god of death take you, indeed. If you could be less obvious, that would be great. “Figure of speech… sorry.”

Thanatos gives you a look of silent judgement and holds out a hand to help with your burdens. Grateful and biting your tongue to keep more frogs from hopping out, you offer him the bag filled with cleaning products and home textiles.

Poe Dameron (Star Wars) x Reader: Hotline Combo

I swear this has been sitting in the drafts for like 5 years. One day. Set around the Resistance animated series.

“Well, you won’t like it,” you say and let out a short laugh. Kaz shoots a dubious look at you. “I’m here to take you home.”

It’s almost cozy arguing with your younger brother again. It’s not a yelling competition you’re having but an endless circle of animated, pointless arguments and a lot of waving hands. It’s a family trait.

Just before the fourth round starts, the door to Yeager’s office suddenly opens. You don’t know the man who steps inside but your initial thought is damn you’d like to.

Kaz’s face lights up. “Poe?! What’re you doing here?” It’s difficult to say if he or the ball droid is happier to see the guy.

Diluc Ragnvindr (Genshin Impact) x Reader: Wine, Grapes and Fire

I'm ashamed to say that this is like 8.5k long and almost done with a clear plot etc. I just never had the inspiration to actually finish it. Maybe when Mihoyo gives Diluc some love..... Basically you take on a part-time job at Diluc's bar and accidents happen that lead you to discover his secret identity. Diluc is not happy.

Just when you’re ready to start pleading for help, Diluc walks in as if nothing happened and joins you behind the counter.

“How are we doing today?” he asks suspiciously casually. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was behaving apologetic.

“Three Laughter and Cheers to the lady in blue dress and Barbato’s Boon to the gent in green hat,” you say curtly and move past Diluc to gather empty glasses from tables.

You’re almost impressed how quickly Diluc mixes the drinks for the waiting customers and the line by the counter disappears.

“Can we talk now?” he asks half-aloud as you get back.

“Sorry, that’s not on the menu,” you reply with your best customer-service-oriented tone.

He frowns and folds his arms over his chest. The usual black coat lies discarded at the back of the bar again and his biceps are super distracting.

Alhaitham (Genshin Impact) x Reader: How to Distinguish Dreams from Reality: A Study by the Acting Grand Sage

Sumeru lore is so interesting but such a pain. You're Tighnari's cousin and studied together with Alhaitham. When he takes on the job of the acting grand sage, he needs someone to assist him. He totally has no ulterior motives.

“According to this, all extra tasks and their conditions will be agreed to by word of mouth?” you ask. Talk about being lazy in drafting the paper. This sort of thing would not pass in Liyue.

“It’ll keep our options open.” Alhaitham shrugs. “It’s as much for your benefit as it is for mine.”

He is correct, of course, but you don't feel great about agreeing to something without knowing what the “extra” in the job actually entails. You chew your lip, thinking of adding clauses to curb some of the most… colourful work scenarios that could come to pass.

“And this is valid until you return to your work as the Scribe?” you ask slowly. A fixed-term employment and afterwards you will be able to return to your own research.

“In the minimum, yes. There is a high possibility I'll still require an assistant for a time before all matters are settled.”

“I see.” You take refuge from Alhaitham’s stare by reading the contract again.

“Look, with Lesser Lord Kusanali back and several missing Sages, it’s impossible to know what the situation will be even next week in the Akademiya. I trust that we’ll be able to settle any issues that arise within the work matrix,” Alhaitham says confidently.

He sees you still hesitating and you notice an almost imperceptible half-smile on his face. “You won’t have to agree to anything I ask of you outside the regular Scribes tasks,” he says in an overly neutral tone.

“I know,” you reply quickly, biting your lip and still skimming through the short text on the contract. Your free hand automatically moves to pacify your tail from lashing back and forth. Alhaitham’s gaze follows the motion and he clears his throat.

“Ready to sign?” he asks.

Connor | RK800 (Detroit: Become Human) x Reader: Pillow Forts and Chicken Noodle Soup

Human Connor AU, from childhood friends to lovers. Circumstances force you to move in with him and that's good cause there is a lot of flu going around.

“I won,” you declare breathlessly.

Connor snorts. “You literally fell to the floor.”

“Well, I don’t wanna sleep in your bed. God knows what… you’ve…” No, don’t think about him like that. It’s just Connor.

He arches a brow in question, but you stop talking and clear your throat.

“I’m on the couch,” you repeat.

Connor draws in a sigh that doesn’t quite reach the intended exasperation.

“Fine, then. But we could always make a fort and sleep there,” he says in a tone that’s filled with amusement, but there is something else too. Maybe a hint of hopefulness?

As kids, you often used to build pillow forts. Damn, you used to stay nights at each other’s place every week. No wonder everyone asked you if you will marry him when you grow up. The memories warm your cheeks and you smile at Connor.

“Maybe not tonight, but I’ll hold you onto that.”

“You better,” he says and paces off to find sheets for you.

[kikker-oma]

Hello, this possessed me at 4:30 this morning when I saw your comic and should have been sleeping

“There they are!” Wind cried, his grip on the winds leaving completely in his excitement and causing Wild and Hyrule to scramble for the sails to control them.

“Great! Get us to shore then.” Wild called over the rain as the gales tried to tear his rope out of his wet hands. Wind saw the scramble of the two older heroes and at least had the presence of mind to look mildly sheepish as he called up Wind’s Requiem once more. It blew their raft onto shore and once they were beached, the three scrambled off in the direction Wind indicated he’d seen the missing heroes. A sandy shore, two figures crumpled on the beach.

“Time! Twilight!” Wind’s initial call was lost to the storm. There was an alarming streak of scarlet on Time’s head, staining blonde a coppery red. Twilight had blood on his collar. They were both hurt. Twilight startled when Hyrule and Wind both dropped to Time’s side. His ears were bleeding. Recognizing the other heroes aborted his scramble for weapons, as the Rancher seemed to crumple in on himself. Wild carefully slid arms under Twilight’s armpits, lifting his mentor up a little and stepping him away from Time enough that Hyrule could work. Twilight was shaking violently.

Hypothermia, shock, he’s hurt too…

“It’s ok, Twi.” He tried to soothe. There was no reaction to the words. His ears are bleeding, likely damage to his eardrums. He probably can’t hear much right now. He was not going to be able to get a potion into Twilight right now, so a fairy would have to do. The little creature zipped around Twilight’s head before vanishing into the ether but Twilight was still shaking…think! Wars taught us how to deal with shock… warmth, assurance…He carefully set the ruby circlet on Twilight’s head. It wasn’t much given Twilight was completely soaked but it could only help. Twilight protested when Wild tried to move them farther from Time.

“No. Cub. Please. Time…” Wild turned so they both could see as Wind shook out a fairy from a bottle. They all watched her circle around the unconscious eldest several times before vanishing. Time groaned weakly, and grimaced at the rain on his face. The four of them breathed a collective sigh of relief as Time’s eye finally opened.

“Welcome back, Old Man.” Wind teased.

Time groaned again. “Sailor? What…”

And the tension that had been keeping Twilight together snapped like a bow string as Twilight sobbed in relief, crumbling into Wild’s arms.

“He’s ok, Twi…” Twilight’s distress drew Time’s attention.

“Pup, what’s wrong?” He asked as he carefully pulled Twilight from Wild’s arms. “Hey… it’s ok, Pup. You’re ok…”

THIS IS CANNON NOW🥹🥹❤️❤️❤️

This is what happens ladies and gents

THIS❤️

AJ you lovely soul, thank you for writing thiiiissss aaahh

I love that wind is directing the winds to get them safely to the boys, and the way Twilight just crumples into Wild once Time opens his eye is just— snajaosnauagahsjs

And Time immediately starts comforting him!!!! And he only just woke up!! AJ I LOVE THIS AND YOU

[resident-gay-bitch]

🫶 Multiship Mondays 🫶

Lily x Barty Jr (Bartylily) angst :)

“Do you ever wonder sometimes what the world would feel like if we never…” Lily asked, her thoughts drifting away from her as she lifted the blunt to her lips.

One deep inhale, feeling the smoke seep down into her lungs, her mind clear for the first time in over a week.

“If we never what?” Barty asked, looking up at her from his spot on her lap, her lovely plush thighs the perfect pillow for cloudspotting.

“If we never met. Or… met like this?” She shrugged, delicate fingers placing the blunt back between Barty’s lips for him, watching with sweet, emerald eyes as he inhaled, “If we never did what we did.”

Barty shrugged. He did think about it, often, actually. He likes to torture himself with it, imagining up all the scenarios he never got to have. Thinking about how lost he’d still be, if he never found his compass. He also liked to think about how maybe they shouldn’t have ended up like this, because if anyone ever finds out, bad things could happen. Who knows what they’d do to her, if Barty stepped out of line.

Who knows what they’d do to him, making her watch, like sick bastards.

“I think it would feel sickly.”

“Sickly?” Lily asked, running her lovely fingers through Bartys hair.

“Mhm.” He nodded, “You make everything so lovely. The world feels gross when you’re not there.”

Lily nodded her head, thinking about that for a moment. She stubbed out the joint in the grass beside them, looking out at the sky above, squinting at the blazing sun, high in the sky. It’s warm here, in this meadow, all the way out in Cornwall. They meet somewhere new every time, and never for very long. It’s so hard these days, in the midst of a war. Barty knows Lily is conflicted, puts off meeting him until she can’t take it anymore.

Sleeping with a Death Eater, it’s madness, and Barty knows all about that. But he feels so lucky, because she does meet him, eventually. She craves him too.

“Lily.” Barty muttered, looking up at her with gentle eyes.

He could look at her forever, he thinks, and wouldn't mind at all if time decided to freeze at this very moment, so she could be his view for all eternity. She’s got to be the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. She smiled down at him, nodding for him to continue, lovely fingers still working through his hair.

“I wish I could have had you, before this war began. Wish I could have you. Wish you were mine.”

She bit her lip, soft eyes turning sad as she looked out at the treeline, “James and I…”

Shit. Barty should have seen this coming. He knew it was bound to happen eventually, but he didn’t think it would be so soon.

James has loved her for years, been patient, and waited. He’s right for her, good for her, Barty knows this. Much better than himself. At least James can love her without fear of that very thing getting her killed. But it hurts too much.

“You’ve been seeing him?” He asked, trying not to show how much he hurt.

“Casually.” She swallowed, “Just sex.”

“Is he…”

“He wants more.” Lily swallowed, “He’s asked for more.”

“What’d you tell him?”

“That I’d think about it.” She whispered, “I couldn’t… I’m confused. You confuse me, Barty. This is so hard.. I don’t want to stop, but you’re not good for me. And I’m-“

“I love you.” Barty said, every nerve in his body alight. He’s never said that before, not to Lily, not to anyone. “I’m in love with you. Does that change things? Do you love me too?”

Lily stiffened, “I’m pregnant.”

Barty froze.

“I’m going to have a baby.”

“I-“ Barty started, finding himself silenced.

Fatherhood was never something he thought he’d find himself wanting, but with Lily he seemed to enjoy a lot of new things. He could learn how to be good. He could learn, for her. He’d do anything for her. He’d kill for her, he’d live for her, and he’d be a father, if that’s what she wanted. He’d be the best father in the world.

“Okay.” He nodded, sitting up in the grass to face her, leaning forward into her space. With a gentle caress of her cheek, he kissed her. Lily has taught him so many things, and how to be gentle was one of the first. “I love you, I’ll keep you safe. I’ll find us somewhere safe where no one can hurt you, or our baby-“

“It’s not yours, Barty. James…”

Barty felt his heart split in two, “James?”

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, tears forming in her gorgeous eyes, and Barty longs to gaze into them again. He longs for five minutes ago, when none of this was real. When it was just the two of them, basking in one another’s company. Where did that go? Why did it go? Where is his Lily?

“I don’t under…” Barty started, “Do you love me?”

“I don’t know.” She sobbed, “I’m sorry, I don’t know.”

Barty nodded looking out at the skyline. Pretty trees glowing with the blazing sun. Weather like this doesn’t feel appropriate for a moment so heartbreaking.

“I’m sorry.” She said, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

For the first time in a very long time, Barty began to cry.

“Please don’t say it’s over.” He sobbed, crying into his hands, brittle and empty, “Please just stay with me, stay for a while-“ as he turned his head to beg, he noticed she was gone. Apparated away without him even noticing.

For the first time in a long time, Barty cried until his body shook. His sobs could probably be heard for miles, if people were around, but they picked somewhere quiet and lonely, as they always did. He felt the loneliness now more than ever. No one could feel lonely in the presence of Lily Evans, she shone too brightly, radiated so much warmth.

That afternoon, in the blazing sun, Barty lost a little piece of his sanity. He drove himself to madness, clawing to find anything that somewhat resembled the comfort she provided. He thought nothing would feel lovely ever again, the world permanently etched a sickly green.

The day that Lily died, he lost any drop of sanity he had left.

Lily: "you were a wonderful experience"

And Barty; "you were everything"

YAYYY it's my 21st birthday so have some angst and CRY so i don't have to cry alone. thanks guys, you're doing me a solid on that one.

idk what they put in this ship but i'm nutzo about them, honestly, they're like crack to me (i've never had crack before but i'm 99.9999% sure this is what crack feels like. this and what happens to me when i have caffeine... please don't let me have caffeine)

Also, I found this lovely piece of art like, a week after writing this (months ago now, jeez louise!), and thought it kinda really captured the vibes going on in the begging of this, you can find it here by @corwnvus, and as they mentioned in their post, @foursaints did too get me into this ship so thank you very much and you can blame them for this monstrosity.

[she-wolf09231982]

Chapter 1-Dynamite

Summary: Growing up in Chicago, Kate hasn’t seen much outside the city limits, except maybe Wisconsin or Indiana. After the Pearl Harbor attacks, WWII was announced across the country. Not long after she found herself with her brothers resisting temptations after they stumble upon two military recruiters encouraging them to join the Army or Marines to make a difference. 

A/N: Character Intro, Mature audience, BillHoosierSmithx!FemMedic, WW2, OCIntroduction/Kate Danaher, Female Pronouns, Cursing/Swearing, Derogatory Slurs, Womanizing Comments, Military and Medical Terminology, Inappropriate Nicknames, HBO The Pacific References, Mentions of Weaponry, Smoking.

Story takes begins Episode 1/Chapters 1-4 Guadalcanal/Leckie

*These stories may not fall entirely in accordance with the TV series timeline. I do not know the real Marines the actors portray in this series, so please understand I show no disrespect. Some or most of historical events and character interactions in my fanfics are fabricated purely for the sake of the enjoyment of fiction*

~~~~~~~ 

December 7th, 1941 

Chicago, IL 

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I am speaking to you tonight at a very serious moment in our history. The Cabinet is convening and the leaders in Congress are meeting with the President-”  

Kate listens intensely to the radio one evening with her family in the parlor. 

“-In fact, the Japanese ambassador was talking to the president at the very time that Japan's airships were bombing our citizens in Hawaii and the Philippines and sinking one of our transports loaded with lumber on its way to Hawaii.” 

Kate's mother obviously in shock sitting next to her father on the loveseat, reached for his hand as her other hand slowly rests over her mouth. 

“In the meantime, we the people are already prepared for action....Preparation to meet an enemy no matter where he struck. That is all over now and there is no more uncertainty. We know what we have to face and we know that we are ready to face it.” 

When the announcement ended and the regular scheduled program continued, her father walked over to the radio and turned the volume dial down. Kate, her two brothers and mother waited for him to speak. 

“Well, all we can do is wait.” he said with finality.  

The following day, newspapers all over the U.S. had “WAR DECLARED!!” across every headline. 

So, this was it. World War II has begun. 

~~~~~~~ 

Kate and her two older brothers, Peter and Tommy, walk through Sears, Roebuck & Co retail store trying to find Christmas gift ideas for their mother. 

“I heard they’re sending guys all over! Britian, Australia, Philippine's, Italy, Germany-” Tommy said excitedly. 

“Yeah, that’s what I heard, too.” Peter confirmed. 

Her brothers walking ahead gossiped about war details between them, not bothering to even look around for a gift.  

Kate huffed irritably, “Why did you guys even come with me if you’re not going to help me find something for mom?”  

They looked back and chuckled, “Ah come on, Ace, ma will love anything we get her.” Pete dissolved with a wave of his hand. 

Kate rolled her eyes then continued to search for something worthwhile. 

As her eyes scan the decorated windows of each shop, two uniformed men were standing in a storefront entrance each next to a military recruiting poster. One bearing “I WANT YOU FOR THE US ARMY” and another “WANT ACTION? JOIN THE U.S. MARINE CORPS!” 

“Hey, get a load of this!” Pete nudged Tommy when he saw the two posters. 

The uniformed men saw that her brothers’ interests were peaked. 

“What do you think, gents, wanna do your part for your country?” The Marine asked. 

Pete and Tommy shot eager glances at each other while walking closer to the two men. 

“Your country needs you, boys, we’re always looking for good, strong men.” The soldier added. 

“See the world and get paid for it!”  

“-an extra $50 if you join the 101st Airborne!”  

Kate's brothers’ eyes lit up, so she decided to intervene. 

“Excuse me, gentlemen, I think these two-” she began. 

Each recruiter redirected their attention to her as she approached. 

“Ma’am, we’re looking for abled women as well.” the soldier interrupted. 

All of Kate's thoughts dissipated at this statement, stopping her dead in her tracks. 

“Ever thought about becoming a nurse?” the Marine asked. 

“That’s actually what she’s always wanted to do!” Tommy verified for you.  

“Shut up, Tommy!” she snapped. 

“Well then-” the soldier began, “-sounds to me we have three new U.S. Army recruits!” 

“More like three Marine Corps recruits.” the Marine countered with a sly grin. 

~~~~~~~ 

Kate convinced her brothers to revisit the idea later when more was known about where the war was heading. It’s only been a week since the start of the war was announced, and they were already jumping into the snake pit feet first without looking.  

But she had internally thought about it herself. Was it really such a hasty idea? The military would pay for all her training to become a nurse. And it’s not like she’d be on the front lines, right? So, she’d be safe. 

Kate wasn’t sure who she would be trying to sell the idea to more: herself or her parents. They’d be more against the idea of her joining than Pete and Tommy. The more she considered it, the more she was inclined to join. But which branch?  

Tommy and Pete were already dead set on becoming paratroopers for the Army. The idea of $50 more per check was more than enough to motivate them. 

Kate discussed the idea with her best friend, Blanche. 

“I mean, financially it makes sense.” Blanche agreed. 

“They’d pay for me to become a nurse AND pay me while I go. Other than being away from my family, I can’t see why I shouldn’t do it.” Kate reasoned. 

“Well, you would be without your best friend.” Blanche eluded. 

Kate laughed, “That’s right.” she agreed with a slight look of disappointment. 

“You know what, I’ll do it with you!”  

A look of surprise appeared across Kate's face. 

“Do what?” she queried. 

“I’ll join with you and we’ll both become nurses in the military.”  

She studied her best friend, “Really? You'd join because I’m going to?”  

“Of course! We made a pact, remember?” Blanche reminded. 

They each had promised eachother as children they’d always stick together and be best friends forever. 

Kate smiled, “Ok! But let’s wait til after the holidays to go see a recruiter. I don’t want to ruin my parents’ Christmas and New Years.” 

“Good call.” Blanche concurred.  

~~~~~~~ 

The holidays came and went, and before Kate knew it, her, her brothers, and Blanche had enlisted as service members of the U.S. military. Tommy and Pete signed up as paratroopers for the Army, while Kate and Blanche decided on the U.S. Marine Corps. Needless to say, this news didn’t go over well with any of the parents. Especially for Kate and Blanche being women. 

Kate and her brothers sat at the kitchen table across from their mother, Elaine, who was weeping, while their father, Mortimer, paced behind her. 

“So,” Mortimer began, “-all three of you signed your lives away.”  

They all remained silent with only the muffled bawls of their mother filling the room. 

“You see what you’re doing to your mother!?” their father scolded, gesturing towards his wife. 

“Pops, we just-” Pete began. 

“Do you understand what you just did? The government owns you now. You’re just a number to them. They don’t care if you live or die over there. Who know what will happen to you!” their dad continued as he ran his hand through his disheveled hair. 

Tommy, Pete, and Kate looked towards the floor with the weight of guilt weighing upon their backs. 

Their mother finally straightened up and composed herself. 

“Mortimer, what’s done is done. Shaming the children won’t do any good. Only thing we can do is support them now.” she defended. 

Their children exchanged confused glances. Their father turned to her with a look of shock painted across his face. 

“Elaine?” he questioned. 

“Mortimer, they’re grown enough to make their own decisions. The least we can do is be there for them every step of the way.” she responded. 

Their mother looked each of them over with a weak yet genuine smile.  

“You will all be outstanding. I am proud of you all.” she added. 

~~~~~~~ 

August 7th, 1942 

After Kate and Blanche completed basic training, they surprisingly found themselves aboard a battle cruiser heading for Guadalcanal with well over 1,000 some male Marines. The Corps decided to assign two medics to each platoon, regardless of gender. When they ran out of men to assign, they resorted to placing females.

Kate was just thankful to be paired with Blanche, so she wasn't alone with all these unfamiliar faces. She wasn't one to enjoy too much attention in big crowds. Blanche, however, relished the spotlight. Especially when most of the attention were from men. 

“Just look at them! So many handsome ones.” Blanche whispered as she nudged Kate. 

“Mmhm.” Kate hummed unamused, looking around the mess hall below the main deck of the ship. 

The kitchen prepared a special meal for the Marines today, so the men were buzzing, quite eager to eat something tasty for once. Kate and Blanche (being the only women within hundreds of miles) were usually allowed to get their meals beforehand to avoid unnecessary interactions with the males. Usually, they were able to finish their meals and leave before the guys would get there, but today seats filled up rather quickly upon hearing about the exclusive meal that was prepared. 

The only encounters they usually had with the men were when they visited the aid station in one's and two's within the ship to receive medical attention as needed. So, to see them all at once in the chow hall was very overwhelming...specifically for Kate since most of them watched her and Blanche’s every move. 

They were pushing through the crowd, trying to get back to their sleeping quarters when a Marine accidentally bumped into Kate with his arms cradling a bunch of oranges, causing him to drop a few. 

“Oh! I’m sorry ma’am!” the boyish blonde Marine offered. 

Kate crouched down and picked up the two oranges that fell to the ground. 

“It’s ok, Private, no harm done.” she assured trying to place the two oranges strategically back on the pile in his arms. 

“Oh no, please take them. A gift for two pretty ladies.” he added winking at Blanche. 

“Why thank you, Private..?” Blanche began waiting for him to introduce himself. 

“-Phillips. But call me Sid.” he insisted. 

Blanche and Sid shared a brief moment of staring until it became too painful for Kate. 

“Thank you again, Private Phillips. Try not to drop anymore, it would be a shame to waste those.” Kate said as she pulled Blanche in the opposite direction. 

“See you around, Sid!” Blanche called out as she waved at him. 

Sid made it to his table with the rest of the fruit unscathed. 

“Dessert!” he announced to the guys seated as he distributed the oranges onto the table in front of them, “Make sure you save one of those for me!” he added. 

“I just wanna get off this goddam rust bucket, I can’t hear myself think!” PFC Wilbur Runner complained. 

“Yeah, at least they give you a good meal before your send-off" PFC Lew Chuckler justified. 

“Yeah, like the electric chair.” PFC Bill ‘Hoosier’ Smith interjected sarcastically before continuing, “But you, Runner,” placing a hand on the seated man’s shoulder, “-you have won a trip to a tropical paradise called Guadal-Kenel...Guada...ken...I still can’t pronounce it.” He dismissed with a laugh. 

The table laughed collectively. 

“Hey Sid, who was that doll you were chattin’ up?” Chuckler asked. 

“Her name is Blanche.” Sid replied. 

“Weren’t there two of ‘em?” Runner questioned. 

“Yeah, but I didn’t get the other one’s name. She was a looker, too. She didn’t seem interested, though.” Sid proclaimed. 

“Maybe you ain’t her type, Phillips.” Hoosier teased. 

“Oh yeah, and you think you are?” Sid shot back with a snicker. 

“Guess we’ll see, won’t we?” Hoosier returned with a confident smile. 

“Not if I get to her first!” Chuckler chimed in. 

“Ok, you’re on.” Hoosier said shaking Chuckler’s hand officiating the bet. 

~~~~~~~ 

Kate sat on her bunk trying to concentrate on reading her anatomy and physiology research journal while Blanche drummed on and on about Sid Phillips. 

“Blanche, please. That was an hour ago.” Kate resounded. 

Blanche rolled her eyes at her, “You’re such a book bug!”  

“Excuse me?” Kate chuckled back at her. 

“We’re surrounded by strapping handsome Marines and you got your nose stuck in that book.” Blanche teased as she snatched Kate's book from her hands. 

“Blanche! Be careful with that! It’s old-”  

“Please, quit being sucha crumb. You’re always reading or studying.” 

“Well, my brothers don’t call me ‘Ace’ for nothin’.” Kate explained. 

“Just live a little, ok!? Look beyond the hard covers and enjoy the boys.” Blanche insisted. 

“I’d say you’re a little slack happy, Blanche. I’m here to make sure these boys make it through the war alive. Not to find a boyfriend.” Kate clarified. 

Blanche laughed, “Well, some things are out of your control. Because let me tell you something, you may not have been noticing all the hot bodies on this ship, but they absolutely been noticing you.”  

Kate flashed her a bored and surly glance then snapped the book back from Blanche's hands. 

“I’m not the least bit interested.” Kate finalized, flipping back to the page she was previously on. 

“Not yet,” Blanche purred, “but you will.”  

Kate ignored her comment and continue reading. 

~~~~~~~ 

“Wrap it up now! Get your gear! Everybody topside for the pre-landing briefing! Let’s move!”  

Kate heard the officers calling out in the slim hallways of the ship. 

Kate and Blanche began collecting their medical supplies and duffels. 

“Don’t forget your brassard.” Kate reminded her best friend as she pinned her own white armband donning the red cross to her left arm of her own uniform. 

Soon, they stood on the deck with the rest of the Marines as an officer projected his voice as far as he can to brief everyone. 

“Forget all the horseshit you’ve heard about the Japs. They had their turn, now it’s our turn!”  

Kate and Blanche side eye each other with wide eyes. 

He proceeded, “They may have started this war, but I promise you, we will finish it!” 

“YES SIR.” The men responded outloud in unison. 

“Hit the beach. Keep moving to your rendevous and primary objectives. When you see the enemy, kill ‘em all!” he ended. 

“YEAH!” the men collectively roared together. 

“Go! Let’s go get ‘em!” 

All the men started to stir, each either tightening their helmet straps or adjusting their web belts. 

Kate looked to Blanche to ask her if she has everything but discovered she had wandered off somewhere leaving her alone. Kate tried to look over the swarm of Marines then saw her talking to Sid. Kate shook her head and started to push through the crowd to get to her. 

It was like swimming against a current walking through the sea of men. 

“Excuse me.” Kate called out to no avail.  

She suddenly felt a shoulder deliberately check her, knocking the strap of her duffel off her own shoulder. 

“Hey, asshole, watch it!” Kate snapped. 

A rather tall and broad Marine turned around staring her down. 

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” he dared. 

“I said watch it.” She repeated emphasizing the last two words without flinching. 

He started to approach her as a devilish grin started to stretch across his face. 

“I like ‘em feisty.” he whispered inches from Kate's face. 

She stood her ground, not giving him the satisfaction he can intimidate her. 

“You’re not getting anyone with that breath.” she replied with a grimace. 

The large man fisted the front of her uniform practically lifting her off the ground. 

“Hey, Bennetti! That’s enough!” a voice barked out from the crowd. 

He doesn’t let Kate go but does allow her feet to touch the ground again. She looked to the side and saw another Marine pushing past the others with a few members of his squad close behind him. 

“What’s it to you, Hoosier?” Bennetti retaliated. 

“Well, that there is our medic, so get your meat hooks off her. Do you not know how to treat a lady?” Hoosier asked smoothly.

“I can think of a few ways to treat her.” Bennetti stated winking at Kate. She strained to get out of his grip as anger started to boil over from within her. 

“Let her go. Now.” Hoosier warned as Chuckler, Runner, Sid, and Private Bob Leckie line up ready to square off in case Bennetti decided not to comply. 

Bennetti sized up his competition, then let her blouse top go with a bit of a shove, slightly projecting her into opposite direction. With her chest heaving, Kate spat at Bennetti’s boots, then turned on her heel to walk away. 

Hoosier and the rest of the boys “oooo-ed” then laughed impressed by her gumption.

“She is feisty, isn’t she?” Leckie acknowledged. 

“Yeah, like a firecracker.” Chuckler added. 

“More like a stick of dynamite...I think I’m in love.” Hoosier confessed while his eyes were glued on Kate disappearing into the mass of men. 

~~~~~~~ 

Kate and Blanche boarded a Higgins boat with H Company. Almost forty people were packed like sardines in the floating metal box, not allowing for much personal space. Blanche conveniently sat herself next to Sid for the ride to the island, once again leaving you to fend for yourself. Fortunately, Kate found herself in better company next to the Marine that defended her earlier from the brute, Bennetti. 

She side-eyed him awkwardly, knowing she hadn’t properly thanked him for helping her yet. Hoosier sensed her apprehension to speak first so he took initiative. 

“You alright?” Hoosier asked. 

Kate's breath caught in her throat before she spoke, “Oh, uh, yes. I’m fine.”  

He smiled, “That’s good.”  

She looked down at her boots, swallowing hard before she spoke again, “Thank you. You know, for before.” she muttered. 

Hoosier’s smile increased, “Don’t mention it.” he replied admiring her shyness. 

Another moment of silence passed. 

“I’m Bill Smith. But my friends call me Hoosier.” he said extending his right hand. 

Kate coyly smiled at him then grab his hand to shake, “Mary Kate Danaher. Call me Kate.”  

Hoosier raised his eyebrows, “Irish?”  

“How did you know?” she asked mockingly. 

He chuckled, “Just a hunch, I guess.”  

They remained quiet for the rest of the journey to shore while explosions tore through the air, as hundreds of C47’s soared over them in flocks. The water was choppy and rough, causing a lot of the men seasickness and lose the meals they had just eaten. Kate wished she could help them, but they could only just push through until they all reached land. 

She began to hear indistinct shouting. 

“Standby!” The driver shouted. 

“Hoof it up to the beach! Spread out! GO! GO! GO!”  

The hatch of the boat drops and Marines hit the beach running forward each yelling profanities as they find themselves knee deep in water trudging to get through the sandbar. Many suddenly slow down to take in the scene before them.  

“What took you so long?” a random Marine called from the beach, leaning against a palm tree relaxing in front of what can only be described as a campfire. 

“Welcome to Guadalcanal.” another added sarcastically seeing the confused looks on the new arrival’s faces. 

Leckie, Chuckler, Hoosier, Sid, and Runner collectively laugh, amused by the laid-back atmosphere that they weren’t expecting to experience. 

~~~~~~~ 

Kate sat close to where H Company settled on the beach. Blanche checked in with her before rejoining Sid on a makeshift bench made from beached driftwood. Kate decided to make use of this time by reorganizing her medical supplies. 

Kate was startled when she heard Chuckler repeatedly beating a coconut against a stone. She laughed to herself imagining him as a caveman. As he successfully breaks through the shell of the coconut, he becomes disgruntled to find there’s another solid layer.  

He shows Leckie, “Hey, now what do I do?” he asked. 

“I think the islanders us a machete or a rock.” Leckie responded with a smile. 

“Try using your head, Chuckler, it’s big and rocklike.” Runner added. 

Chuckler grabbed his machete.  

“If you do get that open, you might not want to drink too much of the juice right away.” Kate advised Chuckler. 

He looked over at her and smirked, “Oh yeah? Why's that?” he asked flirtatiously. 

“Coconut water has mild laxative effects if you consume too much at once.” she clarified. 

Chuckler tilted his head eyebrows drawn together confused. 

“You’ll get the shits if you drink too much of the stuff inside.” Leckie simplified. 

“Ah ok...” Chuckler comprehended while looking disappointedly at the fruit on his lap.

“But the coconut meat is very good for you, so you can eat that.” Kate expanded to cheer him up. 

Chuckler smiled at her, “When I get in this son of a bitch, I’ll bring you some.” he offered with a wink. 

She only smiled and return to packing her supplies. 

Leckie walked over to Kate, “Yeah, you kinda have to dumb it down for him. He’s a great guy. Great Marine, just not that bright when it comes to big words.” 

She looked at Leckie and snickered. 

“Bob Leckie.” he offered his right hand. 

“Kate Danaher.” she took his hand firmly. 

“Strong Irish name! Good to meet you. So, you’re assigned to H Company?”  

“I am. And I already have a good feeling about it.” she stated. 

“Yeah? How’s that?”  

“Well, you all came to my rescue when that bum had me dangling a foot from the ground. You guys didn’t even know me, and you stood up for me anyway. Speaks volumes about you guys.” she illustrated. 

“Oh, we knew you long before that happened.” Leckie confessed. 

Kate looked at him befuddled. 

“Yeah! You and your friend, um, Blanche, is it? Yeah, you two have had these guys’ heads spinning since you boarded that carrier to get here. Of course, we all had to asked around about you.” he explained with a dismissive shrug. 

Kate's eyes widened, “Weren’t there more important things to worry about?” she questioned. 

“Uh, like?” Leckie returned. 

“Oh, I don’t know. Battle plans perhaps? Maps of the beach and the rest of the areas we’re about to trek through?” she listed. 

“I don’t know about the rest of these guys, but I write more than I read. Would’ve brought my typewriter if I could.” 

“Leckie, you’re going to bore her to death.” Hoosier teased sitting on a fallen palm tree right next to Kate. 

She beamed at Bill. 

“Well, Bob Leckie, since I love to read, and you love to write, perhaps we can exchange some literature sometime. I’m always looking for new material to read.”  

Leckie looked at Hoosier with a cocky, triumphant smile. 

“Absolutely, Kate Danaher.” Leckie replied with a slight bow. 

She nodded and occupied herself with the project at hand. 

Leckie raised his eyebrows at Hoosier. 

Bill presented Leckie his middle finger then waved him away mouthing, “Get lost.”  

Leckie trotted off laughing to himself. 

“So, what do you like to read?” Hoosier started. 

“Mostly medical journals. Medicinal studies, anatomy and physiology, physician dissertations-” Kate glanced at Hoosier noticing his furrowed eyebrows, “-um, sorry, I’m what Blanche refers to as a ‘book bug.’”

She winced looking down at her medic satchel embarrassed. 

Hoosier chuckled as he scooted closer to her, “No need to be sorry. Only thing I read is the newspaper or Dick Tracy comics. Not exactly a disser-uh-dissrat-” 

“Dissertations.” Kate corrected him with a nervous giggle. 

He laughed, “Yeah, that.” He started to rub the back of his neck. 

Chuckler abruptly walked over to Kate handing her a half-gutted coconut filled with sliced coconut meat. 

“As promised, doll.”  

“Oh my, thanks Chuckler.” she praised as she accepted the coconut. 

“Anything for you. And call me Lew.” he implored with a proud grin. 

Hoosier rolled his eyes at Chuckler’s intrusion and sickening attempt to seduce her. The moment was short lived as the meek voice of Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Lewis chimed in. 

“Hey, for what it’s worth, Col Dobson said the Japs might’ve poisoned the coconuts.” he announced nervously. 

The group looked at him perplexed. 

“They poisoned…a billion coconuts?” Runner asked him. 

Lewis shrugged his shoulders, taking a second to think about how silly that sounded until he heard a man cry out in pain behind him. 

“Excuse me!” Lewis pardoned himself from the conversation to run towards the injured man. 

The group exchanged amused glances, enjoying a good laugh together. 

Lieutenant Corrigan appeared, stomping through the camp. 

“Intelligence has it the Japs moved back into the jungle. Clean the sand out of your weapons. We move in three minutes. Let’s go find some Japs.” he bellowed. 

Hoosier stood up and walked past Kate to where his gear was.

“See you around, Bill.” she called after him. 

Hoosier met Kate's gaze with a gleam of excitement behind his own. 

“You bet you will.” he called back. 

She smiled then redirect her attention to packing up. 

Blanche came skipping over. 

“See?? I told you!” 

“Ugh! Told me what, Blanche?”  

“You got yourself a beau!” she tittered poking Kate's ribs. 

“Unlikely. I was just gettin’ to know the guys we’ll be taking care of, that’s it.” 

“I saw how you looked at him. You can’t fool me.” 

“Can we focus on getting our gear and supplies together before the LT snaps his cap?” Kate warned. 

“Sure thing, Ace.” Blanche squeaked as she walked off. 

Kate shook her head, “She’s going to kill me.” she huffed to herself. 

~~~~~~~ 

[benwvatt]

links to all my heartstopper fics!

hello! I am a fanfiction author! please enjoy links to all my 7 heartstopper (nelspring) fics so far. they’re all hyperlinked up at the fic title.

all of my heartstopper fics can be found here

memories painted in much brighter ink (4.1K, rated G, set in canon + light angst and healing)

“Nelson!”

Nick groans.

“I heard you got a boyfriend.”

“So?” Nick responds, and then he wishes he’d had the heart to make up a better comeback.

“I -” Harry fumbles. “I’m… happy for you. I think it’s, er, good.”

Harry Greene realizes how awful he's been to Charlie and Nick, and he apologizes to them after some deep thought and realization about what an cruel person he's been.

i like you inconveniently, you’re bringing out my dopamine (1.5K, rated G, set in canon)

“I think that’s because you have inner beauty,” Nick murmurs softly. “It’s not just your looks.”

Charlie really tries not to, but he blushes madly. “Dammit, Nick. That was so - ugh, so ridiculously smooth. Are you sure you don’t have this spell, too? ‘Cause I think I’m getting attached to you.”

“Well, maybe your magic’s rubbing off on me.”

Nellie yawns, clearly bored by the boys. They’re too busy flirting to pay any attention to her. The sheer nerve! She is the most important thing in any 一 no, in every 一 room!

can’t keep this beating heart at bay (2.0K, rated G, canon divergence)

Charlie laughs. “Sorry - you were telling me about teaching?”

“Yeah, I really like it so far! I’m a third-year, so I started getting some actual fieldwork to do recently.” Nick kicks a stone by the side of the road. “Your brother’s cute.”

“...Just my brother?” Charlie catches Nick’s gaze.

“You-” this is a disaster. “Listen-” This is a bisexual disaster, specifically. “I think you’re cute too.”

In which Nick is Olly's French tutor, Charlie has a crush on Nick, and Olly is so tired of watching these disaster gays try to flirt.

retriever? I hardly know her! (2.2K, rated G, dog walker AU)

'Oh god, oh god, he’s wearing rainbow shoes. Is he gay, or just extremely unaware that gay people exist?'

So there’s this boy. Man?

Boy? Fellow? Gent?

Cute Park Guy™ is either a professional dog-walker or someone with a large, bumbling group of pets. This is probably his day job; he plays tug-of-war with leashes and chew toys and, from time to time, Nick’s heartstrings.

In which Charlie is always at the dog park with a group of dogs, Nick is there with Nellie, and they both pine after each other softly from across the field.

it’s all an epiphany (0.7K, rated G, canon + light angst)

“Hey, weirdo,” Charlie whispers. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Oh! Hi. Sorry.” Nick rolls over between the comforters, hair on his legs grainy against them. “Dozed off for maybe two hours.” He smooths the longest curls back from Charlie’s temples and kisses there.

“Nghhh, Niiiick, go back to bed. That’s not enough time.” And, after a pause: “Are you feeling okay about David’s birthday coming up?” Charlie asks.

In which Nick despises his brother, even if they're only arguing in his head, and he falls even more in love with his boyfriend.

you make my dreams crumb true (1.8K, rated T, canon + wedding planning fluff)

“Hey, do I get to smash cake in your face at the wedding?” Charlie asks. He tries a slice of raspberry, closest to him. “Wow.”

“Depends, do I get to do it to you?”

Charlie gazes over Nick slowly. “Uh - yeah!” He’d misheard that at first. ‘You can do stuff to me after, too,’ he considers, except this is a public place.

In which Nick and Charlie try to pick a wedding cake flavour and flirt madly the whole time. Late-twenties Nick, unfortunately, still thinks bubblegum is tasty.

it’s an extremely rushed love story (baby, just say yes) (1K, rated G, fake engagement)

Dear god, this plan with Tao had spun wildly out of control. “You’re-” Tara sat down very slowly. “Engaged.”

Nick pulled her into a bear hug across the sofa. “And all because of you two!”

Darcy settled into the couch cushions as if they would fall apart if they hit the cotton too quickly. “Right.”

To get revenge on Tara, Darcy, and Tao for setting them up on a blind date they didn't agree to, Nick and Charlie pretend they're sickeningly in love and engaged.

[anerdquemoraaolado]

So, here we have the continuation of my Quaritch x Varang drabbles. Definitively there are more to come, so enjoy it for now.

Back to the present moment, Miles tried to reconcile the few minutes he probably had, until Varang woke up, which would be his life from now on. He had protection and shelter among the ash clan, that was for sure, and living with their leader could have its advantages beyond being under her protection.

Starting with the fact that he had someone to share his bed with, which he found strange at first. Throughout his life, his relationships were extremely fleeting, except for Paz Socorro. He noted that it was the second time in a row that he'd remembered her within two days, and thus Spider. There was a small part of him, deep in his soul, if he had one given the condition of his current body, that he wished he had done better for Paz.

They couldn't help but get involved with each other even in the middle of a war, and when duty called, like the good soldiers they were, they answered it, suffering the consequences of their loss. Another part of him kicked in right away, warning him that it was a waste of time to dwell on the past and what had happened. What was done was done and there was no bringing her back. Now, he at least had the opportunity to get revenge on the one who had caused all of this. But to get to Jake Sully effectively, there were steps to cross to his final objective, and one of them was called Varang. Pleasing her meant securing his native allies, and with one last decision to make before his wife awoke, he decided he would surrender to her will.

After so many abstract thoughts, the old military man ended up paying more attention to his physique. When he looked down at the blue skin and the elongated muscles, he was more used to what he was now than ever, at least physically. Those muscles ached and when he turned to look at Varang again, he felt the pain in his neck increase.

Hearing murmurs of complaint, Varang twisted in her position, opened her eyes slowly, remembering last night in her own time. Her decision to make the recombinant her consort had been thought over for a long time and now, as she had made clear to him, she would not go back on her word. She wanted his military tactics as well as his loyalty, which she would go to great lengths to obtain.

Miles noticed her waking up and then was distracted by the elegant way in which her muscles stretched and returned to place when she finished stretching.

-Miles... - she said in greeting, lowering her head solemnly, which he quickly repeated as a sign of respect - is there something wrong?

-There's nothing wrong, Varang - he insisted on dismissing any discomfort - by the way, thank you for having me here with you.

-I chose you and you chose me, they are consequences of our actions - she reminded him - I will have you here with me from now on.

-I just hope it's not in this cave - he grumbled in a bad mood, which made her redouble her attention on him.

-So that's what's wrong - she soon realized - you didn't like this ceremonial bed, but it's customs of my people, you're part of it now, being my consort.

"I understand," he replied absently, not looking directly at her.

-But if it makes you happy - Varang approached, kneeling in front of him and holding his face with both hands, the simple touch did not fail to make Miles shudder again - this will not be our daily bed, we will leave this place today... and you will know your permanent quarters.

"I like the sound of that." He smiled in satisfaction.

-It's good to see you smiling, Miles, I want you to feel good here, really - she nodded, laughing a little - but you didn't answer my question completely.

-What do you mean, Varang? - he was genuinely confused, feeling her hand slide to the side of his neck, the gesture made him swallow hard.

-I can feel you tense, you're sore to say the least, for sleeping here, that's why you complained, isn't it? - she deduced correctly, taking his hands gently.

-You read my thoughts - he said with a certain charm, holding one of her hands, taking advantage of the proximity and diligently kissing her hand - I've had uncomfortable beds, but this one doesn't come close to it, however, I had the reward of being here with you.

The compliment took her by surprise, which made her raise her ears quickly and then relax them right after, Miles noticed this and considered it a victory.

-Since I provided you with a reward without knowing it, I want to provide you with another one now, this time, being aware of it - she squeezed his shoulders and walked away.

"So, I'll owe you a lot of favors," he commented, in good humor, but a little worried.

-You already owe me a favor within our agreement, soon you will pay me by putting your skills into practice, but for now, if you want to repay me in some way, follow my command, again - she proposed, smirking when she finished speaking.

-As you wish, Olo'eyktan - Curiosity made Quaritch accept whatever was to come.

Without warning, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the cave. Even sore and a little sleepy, he had to admit that the day breaking outside, although shrouded in smoke from the volcanoes that surrounded the island, looked inviting.They took a few steps without letting go of each other's hands, which Miles found oddly comforting. He had to admit, there was a side of him that had missed female company, and having Varang there was really great, it did him some good.

-Where are you taking me? - he questioned, suspicious.

-Don't be impatient, husband - she countered, without stopping the walk, forcing him to just keep up.

They arrived then where she wanted. The land stretched as far as the eye could see, with the dark color characteristic of the ground of the Ash Clan land. It was covered in bubbling pools of water, and closer to it, a boiling waterfall. 

Surprisingly, there were blooming red plants growing nearby. Varang then finally let go of his hand, approaching the plants. She plucked the glistening sap from within them, showing her palms to Quaritch.

-They are ash roots, they serve to clean us - she explained, while the pleasant smell caught his attention and he sniffed the gooey substance in her hands - we couldn't start the day without bathing.

-So that's what all this means, it's a good call - Miles laughed satisfied - there's just one problem, Olo'eyktan, just looking at the water makes me feel burning, there's no way I can get into it.

-Yes, your skin may be beautiful, but it's still from the forest - she praised with reservations - of course I forgot to mention that the sap also protects your delicate skin, come on, surrender to my touch, I promise it will be good bathe.

"If you say so," he shrugged, trying to relax a little.

Varang approached him this time, delicately and carefully, smearing sap on his arms and legs. With a light push down on his shoulders, she silently asked him to crouch down a little so that she could better reach his neck and head. Feeling the tension in his back, Varang lingered there with a massage, squeezing his shoulders and spreading the sap until her work was done.

-Do the same for me, Miles - she asked close to his ear.

He wet his hands with the sap and rubbed it over Varang's arms and legs. On her belly, he let his hands squeeze her waist lightly, which made her smile at the touch. The leader of the ash clan found that she liked it when her husband held her by the waist. As soon as they were ready to enter the water, Varang took Miles's hand and together they put their feet there, feeling the temperature and movement of the water against their skin. The two factors collaborating for the couple to finally relax. They sat next to each other, Miles even closed his eyes and leaned his head back, feeling relaxed, but missing Varang closer to him.

Realizing he was in neutral territory where he could initiate a gesture without waiting for her command, he approached without warning, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and cradling her hips with the other. Varang didn't object, just looked at him and let herself go. Quaritch deposited his wife in his lap gently, while she rested her hands on his chest, still looking at him, even smiling, satisfied with his actions.

"You can have me in your arms like this whenever you want, I appreciate the gesture." Varang made her opinion clear aloud.

-Thank you, Olo'eyktan - he got closer to her face, their foreheads almost touching - and thank you for bringing me here, that's all I needed.

"I'm glad we're getting along." She smiled again, running a finger over his right ear.

For Miles, there was only one kiss left in the scenario, and this time, he didn't hesitate to kiss his wife firmly, and admitting to himself, at least a little passionate on doing that.

[zombieekittens]

Hello! I’ve decided to compile an opinion based thread on the characters of Home. I tried to simplify it as much as I could so you’re not reading this for 80 hours. But, be warned.. It is kinda long lol. I may have also missed stuff, but feel free to leave a comment on how you feel about these guys!

First, I am going to start with Jahla.

Honestly, in the beginning Jahla wasn’t a bad character. She came across the island full of her kind and met up with her siblings. Even telling Rohgir off when she found out how full of BS he was. She is then joined by Thakir and they both get tossed off the island for questioning lord all mighty. As her story goes, she is seen killing an antelope that belonged to a Tribe and of course, this causes trouble for the pair. Flamegarde came and confronted them, not over the antelope.. But because they’re wolves. None of them even mentioned the animal they killed which got me thinking if that was even Flamegarde’s herd. Anyway, Jahla rightfully kills members in self defense and wouldn’t you know it, bounty hunters came and snatched them up. The funny part is it didn’t take long AT ALL for Jahla to get caught by them. They knew her crime and her special murderous nickname, Red Wolf. How the hell did the bounty hunters find her so fast and how did her nickname spread so fast in the span of what.. 2 days? Flamegarde must have a loud speaker or something. Of course the pair are taken to the capital where in no dramatic scene, it is revealed to Jahla that the matriarch is her grandmother. We are then blessed with a potential war plot between Origin Orion and all of Aedra that 400+ pages later after announcing this, never happens. Then suddenly, not only does Jahla get a slap on the wrist, but she gets a territory and her own Tribe! Of course Flamegarde ends the alliance with Solar Stag, rightfully so. But the part that bugs me is Lahmina is also a ground kisser for Jahla, because instead of questioning the matriarchs motives to give a murderer a Tribe, she practically tells Flamegarde to get lost and cry about it lmao. This would have been great potential for Kique to use for an evil matriarch, since as of now he is trying for an evil matriarchy plot. Jesus. Skipping the boring bits and getting into the juicy details, this is the part of Jahla that I hate. When she comes across Rome. It is obvious to any reader that Rome is a full on Gary Sue for Jahla. The dynamics and interactions between these two are honestly cringey as hell, but uh Jahla… YOU GOT A MAN??? The fact that she leads Rome on / flirts with him damn near the entire time she’s known him and fails to mention Rhov at all, is entirely ridiculous of her. Well great, now we’re encouraging cheaters in this comic. ( Rhov is no better. ) Finally at some point, she mentions her relationship to Rome and this is like months down the line. Literally the season changed by the time she finally mentioned, “Oh yeah btw I have a bf, lol.” And then the next time the pair are seen, conveniently Rhov pops up outta nowhere and they have a break up. WHAT TIMING. In conclusion, Jahla was okay until Rome was added in. Now it’s painful to watch her and Rome flirt every damn two seconds, but this is a huge pattern in this comic.

The next one is Roamer and Rogio.

Honestly, all I can really say is that Roamer and Rogio’s relationship absolutely disgusts me. Mainly because they can’t go two seconds without trying to screw each other, or touch tongues. They even crawled all over each other in front of a whole ass child, Akleja. I mean seriously, if you just quickly skim through the pages damn near every interaction they have is sexual. For the record ladies and gents, that is not how actual relationships go. This is more a high school lust relationship than anything. And with Roamer, why is it that he was so uncomfortable with Kargo’s touch, but just willingly threw himself at Rogio? He barely knew Rogio! I mean at least Kargo and Roamers relationship felt more real with no pressure. But I am glad that Kique moved Roamer along because Kargo deserves better lol. I honestly don’t need to say much about these two, cause everyone knows how much Rogio likes to play victim about Ranach even though he’s overpowered and had a consensual relationship with Ranach. There is also no scenes of Ranach abusing Rogio. But poor Rogioooo. There was even a scene where Rogio seemed quite content to be Ranach’s Baron and getting salty that he served under Ranach instead of serving beside him. Even stating “You made it seem like it was gonna be you and me.” That’s right everyone, Rogio had a choice with Ranach. So don’t buy that bound by mental chains crap lmfao. He is also useless when it comes to being in the Tribe later on. He’s switched ranks like three times and is just a horrible Baron under Ronja. Using the excuse of Ranach to not help the tribe in tough times. Get over it man, you literally threw Ranach around SEVERAL TIMES. You’re fine. Not to mention, he is a shitty partner to Roamer. Oh yeah let’s not communicate about things and give him the cold shoulder when he asks questions. But hey, we can interact when sex is involved. ( Rogio is literally perfect for Ranach. ) Roamer is also a serious emotional man child as the comic progresses. Especially recently, killing a dog in cold blood and being an extreme edge lord. These two are a complete joke to this comic. Roamer also mentions in the beginning of the comic that he knows how to fight, but I haven’t seen one scene where he fights correctly or is useful at all. Honestly, Since Roamer paired up with Rogio, I feel like he no longer contributes anything to the story, except for banging Rogio. That’s about it. My conclusion is… These two suck terribly and are just NSFW content for the comic at this point.

My next one is Kargo and Ferah.

Tbh nothing bad can be said about this good boy, Kargo. He freed sex slaves and is just a regional badass. Tho I’m quite pissed Kique brought him back to life to drag him thru the mud again. Or maybe he realized killing him was a fat mistake. But seriously, Kargo is the best. As for Ferah, I felt like she was Roamers boot licker because in the beginning she always talks about him in a good light, even tho she barely knows him. I mean hell, before she fell down that waterfall she tells him that she loves him. Man doesn’t even say it back, just watches her fall down the damn cliff lmfao. Of course for a while, Ferah was an okay character as well. Besides her licking Roamers feet every two seconds, tho I feel like she should have been more suspicious of him considering that they were fugitives at the time. And then came the part when she met Fjordor. Considering her living in a high strung environment all the time, where she needed to watch her back from the Meteors, she sure liked when Fjordor put that knife to her throat! Even saying she felt safe. Of course Kique is trying to push another unwanted ship onto us all. Then we get to see her cringey short crush with Fjordor, then along comes Kargo who supposedly ruined it for her. Dang Kargo, she was so close to getting laid, DAMN YOU. Fjordor then kicks Kargo out for killing the merchants. And of course she shadows Kargo and gets pissed about it, tho Kargo didn’t even ask her to come. Eventually they end up at the Meteors and this is where Kargo dies. At the funeral Ferah is asked if she wants to say something and she’s like NAH IM GOOD and runs away like a coward. Not even giving her lifelong friend a true goodbye. Eventually she ends up with Whispervale and it’s almost like she doesn’t know how to survive on her own without Kargo, total damsel in distress situation. But remember she was so pissed that she had to come with him after the merchant incident. Nah, she is just extremely dependent on Kargo. So she ends up staying with them and to nobodies surprise she dominates their trial even tho she has no damn clue how reindeer work. In conclusion, it’s great to see her branch off from Kargo, despite knowing that he’s alive and trying to find her individuality. But man, her development can suck sometimes.

Then we have Rhov.

Tbh, Rhov was just like Jahla, but to a more extreme case. It’s obvious Rhov and Jahla were done with each other when Feaf and Rome came along. But Rhov is kinda… An asshole? When he joined up with the guild, he lied about.. Everything. I mean sure, it could be excused for him trying to find his family and it has worked. But man, he sure does treat Feaf like shit lol. I feel like she has the look of disappointment every time they interact. She truly is Rhov’s door mat. I mean honestly, it surprised me when Feaf found out about Rhov’s lies. Because when Rhov first joined the guild, before interacting with Lahmina, Feaf was suss as hell about him. Then suddenly she became a yes man to Rhov, even after finding out about him lying. Again no consequences in this comic for Kiques favorites. It’s funny how everyone else has consequences to the main characters, but the main characters just sit on their throne, unscathed. She should have left his ass high and dry the moment she found out he was lying - because this confirms all of their suspicions!!! I mean she is losing EVERYTHING for Rhov! Her career, her friends, and a shit ton more. Meanwhile Rhov is just a happy parasite while Feaf basically carries him thru the story, scott free and no consequences, giving him everything he needs to survive. My conclusion is that Rhov is just a very subtle, manipulative ass lol.

Then we have the Yas Queen Ranach.

Ah, good ol Oreo dog. Kiques top favorite character, despite him being an absolute disgusting dog and in no way shape or form should be glorified. I mean Kique even shows the scene with Ulfr how low Ranach goes and yet, he is still favored by the community. To start I think it’s absolutely hilarious that Ranach never smelled Rogio inside the Meteor walls. Apparently his nose only works when it’s convenient for Kique, cause he smelled Kargo no problem! In the beginning of the comic, Ranach is obviously obsessed with Rogio, so much so he tries to kill him. I assume this is where Kique decided Ranach is abusing Rogio, cause really that’s all Rogio has against him. Of course Ranach is your average antagonist, but when he makes his way to South Spear is when I start to gripe about him. Of course, because Kique is so obsessed with drawing dogs yoinking each other, thats all Ranach basically does in South Spear. To apparently “fight off” his growing passion for Iberon who is Rogio’s brother. Which first off, how did Ranach even get a lick of suspicion that this dog could be Rogio’s brother. I don’t ever remember Rogio mentioning he had siblings. I mean sure, they look alike. But just.. how??? Anyway, like I have said previously, I thought Ranachs idea was to gain entry into South Spear so he could come back to Meteor with an army. NOPE IM WRONG. Suddenly Kique decides to kick the ball to the left and Ranach completely forgets about the Meteors. In recent pages, it is shown that Ranach grows hatred for the matriarch instead, basically abandoning his mission and wants to be a good guy to gather an army to take Solar Stag down…. Wha??? In no way did Ranach ever give a shit about what Solar Stag / matriarch does. It’s not like he sat on this idea his whole life and waited for an opportunity to present itself. And sorry bud, Ranach is not redeemable in my book. It’s funny that Kique tries to make Iberon sympathize with Ranach, tho he hated his guts not even a week ago. It was even more shocking when Iberon decided to sleep with Ranach. Though of course, Kique did that intentionally to give his fans some kind of sexual tension, building those two up. Smdh. Everyone in South Spears seems to know the history of the Meteor Tribe, they should be treating this guy like dog shit lol. I also don’t care if Ranach saves all of Aedra, that guy can go to hell. In conclusion, Ranch Oreo dog sucks big time.

Then we have Ronja.

Ronja is the definition of a clueless female. In the beginning, she decides to follow Ranach back to his Tribe, they only met a handful of times. But I believe it was to get back at Roamer, who she obviously had a crush on. Anyway, I figured she would have known stranger danger by now, but Kique needs an interesting story about her. The best part about her is when she takes over Meteor Tribe as her own. Sure, it’s great to see her use her powers in the Tribe to her advantage and give the females equal rights. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear she’s an unfit leader. She hardly ever comes up with an idea on her own, she never makes her own decisions, she practically relies on Roamer to do all the decision making when he joins the Tribe. She basically just waits for the next best thing one of her members suggests and goes with it lol. Even letting Fuss do all the work to kick Ulfr out. And the best part, in recent pages! Roamer completely went against Ronja’s wishes and kills that dog in cold blood. What does Ronja do? Nothing. That’s right, Roamer can break the rules all day long and gets no consequences. Talk about unfair favoritism. Ronja is literally a doormat, even Fraujar subtly thinks the same. Telling her that being nice all day long in Aedra is not going to work out. But I’m still appalled Roamer broke her rules and she’s like, “Ah, it’s alright he can do whatever he wants. But everyone else cannot.” Lol. Anyway, my conclusion with Ronja is that she is far to submissive and clueless to be a leader of a Tribe like Meteor Tribe lmao.

And lastly we have Keirr.

His story arch is the one that didn’t make the most sense to me. Cause early in the comic when he came across Aira, he was friendly and helpful towards her. Aira of course reciprocates this and tries to help him find his family. With this, they set off in search of them. Then suddenly, the first Tribe they stumbled upon Keirr was like, “You know what, fuck my family let’s live here.” What??? How do you go from I need to find my family to actually never mind, all in the same breath? That didn’t make sense to me at all, cause obviously at first Keirr was urgent on finding them. Then suddenly he isn’t? It’s been a while since I even saw him actually TRY and find his family. Then he gets a shiny new rank in Whispervale and decides to become an ass to Aira. Firstly she didn’t want to join Whispervale, she was under the impression they were gonna search for his family - so of course she’s like wtf? And Keirr is basically like “Ah, get over it.” Then came the Raun situation. It was obvious that Raun had a crush on Keirr, Keirr practically fed off of it. Then when he gets wind of where his family is, we get a dramatic scene of Keirr and Raun kissing. Later on, Raun is obviously asking Keirr what they are and Keirr is like that kiss meant nothing. AWAY WITH YOU! Wow, dickhead move. Also what even happened to Aira? Oh yeah, Keirr ditched her for better friends. In conclusion, Keirr was a big family guy and was alright in the beginning, now he’s just an airhead that you want to kick in the nuts.

So basically what I got from all this is that everything literally revolves around the main characters / Kiques favorites. They can lie, kill, cheat, manipulate and walk all over anyone they choose because there is no consequences for them. It would be nice to see someone take some responsibility for their actions, but we will never see that.

[plutxlittleplanet]

e aí gente, tudo tranquilo? eu sou a bonnie e venho em busca de alguns partners pra plots que tenho interesse, eles estão em uma pegada mais dark e crime, então vou largar no readmore e quem sentir interesse é só dar aquele like maroto que eu chego no chat rapidin.

i'm dating one of your gang members but you're the boss and you think i deserve better.

we’re both part of a different crime family and to settle the decade old war we are forced to marry each other. but we spent our entire life hating each other because people that we cared got killed because of this war and for years i was under protection so i could never do what i wanted because of you.

i almost overdosed and now i’m forced into rehab. this is really fucking stupid and everyone sucks - except for you, you’re kinda cool.

bônus: muse a e muse b tinham um relacionamento de anos até muse a ser surpreendide com a prisão de muse b em um caso de roubo. agora, após alguns anos, muse b saiu da cadeia e foi a sua procura, mas muse a já havia construído uma vida estável, com uma nova pessoa.

plots by cocained

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Gabriel Nadales

Published: Apr 17, 2024

One night I was driving down I-5 in California, when I decided to stop off the side of the road for some tacos. But as soon as I pulled up into a restaurant I saw two kittens in the parking lot. At first, I got really excited because I absolutely love animals. In fact, I have three cats and two dogs. And while they are a lot of work, especially now that I am a father, I can’t imagine my home without them.

Before I got my food I decided I needed to pet these kittens, so I called one over. As I was petting her I realized she was a stray. I then noticed that she had a little bit of a belly. She was pregnant.

I sighed to myself and thought, “Well tonight’s going to be a long night.”

And it was, because I spent well over an hour trying to catch these gray tabbies so I could find them homes, well knowing that I had at least 5 more hours left in my trip that night.

You see, I'm an activist. For as long as I can remember I’ve been passionate about helping others to make the world a better place.

My dad’s passion for helping

To understand my passion for helping others I need to talk about my dad.

“A manos llenas” is a phrase in Spanish that means to give with all your heart. That saying also sums up my dad.

I remember my mom told me that my dad worked for 5 years to save up money to buy his first car, only to sell it shortly after to help my cousin when he got into legal trouble.

My dad used to be a manager at a chemical factory. He was willing to go to work 6 to 7 days a week, putting in 15 hours a day, just so his workers didn’t have to come in on the weekend.

“Mi papa se quita el pan de la boca para darle a la gente.” -- “My dad takes bread out of his mouth to give to others.”

My dad taught me to care about others and he is the reason I became an activist. And my passion for helping people is the reason I joined Antifa.

Antifa is a movement composed of countless far-left activists which use physical violence and intimidation. They typically wear all black and cover their faces with a bandana at demonstrations to avoid getting arrested. Nowadays, if you hear on the news that someone threw a molotov cocktail at police during a demonstration, you can probably bet it was someone marching under the banner of Antifa.

But, wait a second—how in the world does joining a radical movement like Antifa help others?

Why I joined Antifa

To understand my reasons for joining the Antifa movement, it is important that I speak from the heart of a young activist. 

I’ve been an activist since 2006 when I was only 12 years old. Ever since then I have been passionate about making a difference in my community. 

My first protest was in the 6th grade. I remember my friends and I marching all over the school chanting “Sí se puede!” to show our support for undocumented Mexican immigrants. It was an exciting feeling. I felt like I was part of something big and that we were finally going to make a difference.

And then nothing happened.

A short time later, I passed out hundreds of anti-war flyers throughout my community and my school, and one of my teachers said to me she was happy to see me, a young boy, getting involved because I was the future of this country. 

That felt really good because I realized people could see that I was a part of something bigger than myself. 

And then, the wars continued.

This went on for a while. When you’re an activist there is such a thing as activist fatigue. You get tired of marching. You get tired of passing flyers. You get tired of yelling chants because no one seems to listen and nothing seems to change.

So after years of fighting against injustice, I started getting tired because nothing I did seemed to work. So when I turned 17 I adopted a new mentality: I want change. And I want it now.

And it was with this mentality that in 2011, when neo-nazis came to my community, I attended the protest that changed my life.

At this counter-protest, I dressed in all black and I covered my face with a bandana just like Antifa does. I was ready to do more than just hold a sign. But as I arrived at the park, I didn’t know where to start, so I just stood under a tree.

I have to admit it was a little awkward, I thought I was the only one dressed in all black, but it didn’t take long for another anarchist to notice me and ask me if I wanted to roll with him and his friends to oppose the Nazis head-on. 

That’s how I joined Antifa.

And for well over a year and a half, I was ready at a moment's notice to put on a black mask to engage in what we called “direct action” which is when you don’t ask for change, you take it.

To give you an example, there was this company in California that my friends told me was transporting monkeys to America to conduct vivisections. As someone who loves animals, I could not stand for it.

Normally, an activist would write letters, maybe hold some signs outside the corporate building, or try to get the government to take action. But no. That's not direct action. 

Instead, my friends and I went to the home of that CEO to harass him and yell obscenities. And we threatened that if he did not stop his company’s policies we would come back.

Beginning to have doubts

The more I got involved with this radical faction the more I began to realize that virtually no one took the time to ask, “Is what I am doing the right thing?” People didn’t want to consider other viewpoints, instead, people just wanted to critique “the other side.” 

That’s not ever been my style. I’ve always been a curious person, a curious activist, it’s the same reason I stopped for those kittens. I ask a lot of questions.

Well, around this time I began learning about free-market ideals and I was particularly interested in intellectuals like Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell. To be clear, I didn’t like them, but I found them interesting. So interesting that I wanted to talk about their ideas with my friends.

So I went with my fellow anarchist friends and I started talking about the free-market, the tragedy of the commons, and all that. I’m questioning our ideals—I'm super excited, and one of them turns to me and says, “You capitalist pig.”

There’s that passion I’m talking about. My friend was so passionate about anarchism that he was unwilling to hear anything that challenged his beliefs, and suddenly, I was his enemy, just for asking questions.

It was my passion that told me that if I wanted to make the world a better place then I needed to get radical, so I joined Antifa. 

But I was discovering that passion without reason is dangerous.

My mom’s reason and patience.

“Estas bien loco.” These are the words I’ve heard my mom tell me time after time whenever I act solely on passion, and they mean, “You’re freaking crazy.”

But let me tell you about her.

I remember when we were in Mexico saving up to come to America. My mom would give us only a cup of milk and exactly eight “Galletas Marias” for supper—which is a little cheap Mexican cookie. And then when I was little I fell off a bunk bed and hit my head. My cranium sunk as if you hit a deflated ball. You can still feel it.

The doctors told my parents that I would grow up with mental disabilities.

Thankfully the doctors were wrong. But my mom decided to better herself to help me. She went back to school to study child psychology to learn how to help me.

My mom is such a wonderful person and she is incredibly kindhearted, but she has a different outlook on life than my dad. She believes that to make the world a better place you first have to take care of yourself. But more importantly, you have to think about your actions before you act on them.

My mom is a rational person who thinks things through, and that has helped her develop a great patience. Which is lucky, because she always has to deal with my dad and I.

My mom is the reason I left Antifa.

Three lessons for change

There is a common joke that if you are young and conservative you have no heart, but if you are old and liberal you have no brains. Well, I’m here to ask: Why can’t you be both? Why does society think it is so difficult to be both compassionate and rational?

My mom didn’t make me leave Antifa, just like my dad didn’t make me join it. But their individual approaches to life taught me a critical lesson: there is a balance between being passionate and having the patience to see things through. And if you want real change, you need this balance.

In order to get this balance, you need to do three things.

If you are passionate about a particular cause and want to achieve lasting change you need to ask a lot of questions. One of the worst things that can happen to you as an activist is that you work for years to achieve your goal only to realize you were working for something that was negative. Asking questions will slow down your passion and help you find your true purpose.

Just imagine if I had not asked questions while I was in Antifa. I have no doubt in my mind that if I would have continued my involvement in the Antifascist movement. I would have ended up in jail.

But now, say you’re a very rational person who asks a lot of questions. That’s not enough. Remember why you’re doing this in the first place. Find your passion. Get out there and make some noise.

Put yourself out there and talk with the “other side.” Because when you have conversations with all parties you begin to make your case to the world. And in politics, nothing moves unless it is pushed.

And third, remember that small steps lead to change, so be patient. It may not feel like it. But every flier you pass and every person you talk to does create a change. And when you work for something long and hard enough, eventually you will see that change.

Bringing it together

I’ve been an activist for 18 years. First as a left-wing radical, but now as a free speech advocate. And as a free speech activist, I’ve had the opportunity to mentor many activists. One person I used to mentor was a guy named Hayden.

Now Hayden is a great guy and a valued friend of mine. But when I met him I knew that he was an “act first, think later” kind of guy, like my dad.

And unfortunately, a hazard of being an activist is sometimes being confronted by violent people. In fact, both Hayden and I have been attacked numerous times while pushing back against censorship on college campuses.

And predictably, after getting punched in the face, Hayden would fight back. But that only made things worse. So after the third time it happened, I talked to him and I told him, “I know you’re passionate, and I know it sucks to get punched in the face, but be patient and don’t get dragged into a fight. That will only make everything worse.”

And then I sent him to UC Berkeley. It happened again. And this time, it was caught on film. But this time, Hayden listened to me and remained calm.

That punch was dubbed “The Punch Seen Around the World.” And it was seen everywhere. Even the White House saw it—and it made everyone realize that free speech is in danger.

And as a result, President Trump invited hundreds of students who have been silenced on college campuses, as well as Hayden and myself, to the White House to witness him sign an executive order to defend free speech on college campuses.

And the best part is that nearly 3 out of 4 voters—73% of Americans—supported the executive order. We had finally found some common ground.

My lesson for young activists

Hayden and I cannot take all the credit for this historic executive order. Thousands of free-speech activists had been working for years to get something like this on the books. But, Hayden and I were the catalysts for it to happen because we had that balance of passion and patience.

Finding that balance can be hard, especially when you get punched in the face. But let’s look at the flipside. 

There are countless activists who are driven solely by passion. And if you want to see what unrestrained passion looks like, just take a look at the "passionate activists" who destroyed innocent communities in the name of police reform during the 2020 riots.

Everyone in the Antifa community has one thing in common: everyone is passionate about helping. I’m still an activist. I am still passionate about helping people and animals, but passion without reason can be truly dangerous and can end up hurting more than it helps.

The reason we were able to get an executive order signed was because our passion helped us by putting ourselves out there, but because we also had the patience not to act solely on that passion.

If all you have is passion, then you may act out in a manner that ends up hurting others. But if all you have is rational and patient thinking, then you may miss out on the joys of helping others.

If you want real change, then you need passion, reason, and patience. 

You need passion to drive you forward. But you need reason to be able to steer in the right direction. But overall, you need the patience to remind yourself that the changes you want to see will one day come.

[market-spy]

The Bearded Revolution: Navigating the Global Beard Grooming Craze

Welcome, dear reader, to the hairy world of beard grooming, where facial hair is more than just fuzz — it’s a lifestyle. In this blog, we’ll take a laid-back stroll through the Global Beard Grooming Market, exploring its ins and outs without getting tangled in the beard net. So, grab your beard oil, put on your comfiest flannel, and let’s dive into the beardtastic journey.

The Rise of Beard Culture: 

In a world that once favored the clean-shaven look, beards are making a comeback, and they’re not just sprouting on faces — they’re growing into a multi-billion-dollar industry. The Global Beard Grooming Market, valued at a cool USD 20.40 billion in 2021, is predicted to reach a whopping USD 38.14 billion by 2030, thanks to a 7.20% CAGR.

Beard Grooming: More Than a Trend: 

Men around the globe are embracing beards not just as facial accessories but as statements of masculinity. The report highlights a shift towards organic grooming, with folks ditching synthetic products for natural alternatives. Because who needs chemicals when you can have a beard that’s more organic than your local farmer’s market?

Market Snapshot:

Largest Segment: Hypermarkets and supermarkets (because why not buy beard oil while grabbing groceries?)

Fastest Growth: Specialty stores (because your beard deserves a store of its own)

Growth Rate: 7.20% CAGR (Clearly, the beard is not slowing down)

Geographical Beard Trends: 

Europe, with its dapper gents, is leading the charge, boasting a men’s personal care market valued at $29.6 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific region is brushing up its beard game, set to be the fastest-growing market segment. Looks like global beards are having a moment, and everyone wants a piece of the beard action.

Beard Products: 

Not Just for Bearding Around: The market is teeming with beard products, from beard oil to shampoo, shaving cream to trimmers. It’s like a grooming buffet where you can pick and choose to curate the perfect beard experience. Shaving cream enthusiasts, fear not — you still have a place in this hairy paradise.

Distribution Channels: 

Where the Beards Hang Out: Hypermarkets and supermarkets dominate, offering accessibility and affordability. Specialty stores, on the other hand, cater to the beard aficionados, providing a curated and specialized shopping experience. Because a beard deserves more than just shelf space — it deserves a spotlight.

For More Information: https://www.skyquestt.com/report/beard-grooming-market

Beardonomics: 

The Whisker-Driven Economy: Men are becoming more conscious of their grooming habits, allocating an impressive 16 minutes to their beard rituals. The beard care segment is riding high on this trend, fueled by social media, digital marketing, and celebrity endorsements. Because, let’s face it, a well-groomed beard is a celebrity in its own right.

Beard Wars: 

The Players and the Playgrounds: In this grooming battleground, the key players include The Famous Beard Oil Company, The Man Company, Beardbrand, and others. It’s a playground where innovation is the swing, and smaller niche players are making their mark. The beard game is strong, my friends.

Conclusion: 

Bearding Forward As we wrap up our beardful journey through the Global Beard Grooming Market, one thing is clear — beards are not just facial hair; they’re a statement, a lifestyle, and now, a booming market. So, whether you’re a beard enthusiast, a grooming guru, or just someone who appreciates a well-kempt face, here’s to the beard revolution, one whisker at a time. Cheers to the beardscape!

About Us-

SkyQuest Technology Group is a Global Market Intelligence, Innovation Management & Commercialization organization that connects innovation to new markets, networks & collaborators for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Contact Us-

SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

1 Apache Way,

Westford,

Massachusetts 01886

USA (+1) 617–230–0741

Email- info@skyquestt.com

Website: https://www.skyquestt.com

[sqinsights]

The Bearded Revolution: Navigating the Global Beard Grooming Craze

Welcome, dear reader, to the hairy world of beard grooming, where facial hair is more than just fuzz — it’s a lifestyle. In this blog, we’ll take a laid-back stroll through the Global Beard Grooming Market, exploring its ins and outs without getting tangled in the beard net. So, grab your beard oil, put on your comfiest flannel, and let’s dive into the beardtastic journey.

The Rise of Beard Culture: 

In a world that once favored the clean-shaven look, beards are making a comeback, and they’re not just sprouting on faces — they’re growing into a multi-billion-dollar industry. The Global Beard Grooming Market, valued at a cool USD 20.40 billion in 2021, is predicted to reach a whopping USD 38.14 billion by 2030, thanks to a 7.20% CAGR.

Beard Grooming: More Than a Trend: 

Men around the globe are embracing beards not just as facial accessories but as statements of masculinity. The report highlights a shift towards organic grooming, with folks ditching synthetic products for natural alternatives. Because who needs chemicals when you can have a beard that’s more organic than your local farmer’s market?

Market Snapshot:

Largest Segment: Hypermarkets and supermarkets (because why not buy beard oil while grabbing groceries?)

Fastest Growth: Specialty stores (because your beard deserves a store of its own)

Growth Rate: 7.20% CAGR (Clearly, the beard is not slowing down)

Geographical Beard Trends: 

Europe, with its dapper gents, is leading the charge, boasting a men’s personal care market valued at $29.6 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific region is brushing up its beard game, set to be the fastest-growing market segment. Looks like global beards are having a moment, and everyone wants a piece of the beard action.

Beard Products: 

Not Just for Bearding Around: The market is teeming with beard products, from beard oil to shampoo, shaving cream to trimmers. It’s like a grooming buffet where you can pick and choose to curate the perfect beard experience. Shaving cream enthusiasts, fear not — you still have a place in this hairy paradise.

Distribution Channels: 

Where the Beards Hang Out: Hypermarkets and supermarkets dominate, offering accessibility and affordability. Specialty stores, on the other hand, cater to the beard aficionados, providing a curated and specialized shopping experience. Because a beard deserves more than just shelf space — it deserves a spotlight.

For More Information: https://www.skyquestt.com/report/beard-grooming-market

Beardonomics: 

The Whisker-Driven Economy: Men are becoming more conscious of their grooming habits, allocating an impressive 16 minutes to their beard rituals. The beard care segment is riding high on this trend, fueled by social media, digital marketing, and celebrity endorsements. Because, let’s face it, a well-groomed beard is a celebrity in its own right.

Beard Wars: 

The Players and the Playgrounds: In this grooming battleground, the key players include The Famous Beard Oil Company, The Man Company, Beardbrand, and others. It’s a playground where innovation is the swing, and smaller niche players are making their mark. The beard game is strong, my friends.

Conclusion: 

Bearding Forward As we wrap up our beardful journey through the Global Beard Grooming Market, one thing is clear — beards are not just facial hair; they’re a statement, a lifestyle, and now, a booming market. So, whether you’re a beard enthusiast, a grooming guru, or just someone who appreciates a well-kempt face, here’s to the beard revolution, one whisker at a time. Cheers to the beardscape!

About Us-

SkyQuest Technology Group is a Global Market Intelligence, Innovation Management & Commercialization organization that connects innovation to new markets, networks & collaborators for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Contact Us-

SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

1 Apache Way,

Westford,

Massachusetts 01886

USA (+1) 617–230–0741

Email- info@skyquestt.com

Website: https://www.skyquestt.com

[autisticlancemcclain]

They all sort of… paired off, after the war. Not, like, exact pairs — maybe more like groups. Shiro reunited with Adam. The two of them bought a house far the fuck away from the Garrison and everything associated with it. Hunk and Pidge paired off, both pursuing their doctorates like the smartypants they were and are. Allura, Coran, and Romelle stayed on Earth for a bit, but all three of them ached for the comfort of home, and returned to New Altea eventually.

That left Lance and Keith.

Well, not really. Originally Lance assumed it meant he was left alone to try and reconnect with the family he’d grown away from — a family he loved and still loves with every fibre of his being, but the family that he couldn’t quite… click with, anymore. He’s changed, they’d changed, and he wasn’t sure where he fit. He’d been scared, although he wouldn’t admit it.

Keith had been the one to approach him, actually. Asked Lance if he’d want to move in with him.

“You’re not moving in with Shiro and Adam?”

Keith snorted. “Absolutely not. They have retired into a little home on the prairies, or whatever. I have some respect for my ears and so I will not be moving in to the constant background noise of my brother having regular honeymoon sex, or whatever.”

It was a joke. He’d meant for Lance to laugh. But the shock was still ringing through his head; laughter was the furthest thing from his mind.

“With the Alteans, then, to New Altea?”

“Nope.”

“The Blades, with your mother?”

“I’ve had enough of the Blade of Marmora, I think. I liked it there, but I don’t really want to do it for the rest of my life. Besides, I actually missed Earth. I didn’t realise how pretty it was here ‘til I left.”

“…Oh.”

And it has been fine, for the first few days. Awkward, but fine. It had been like having a roommate, really — not that Lance knew what that was like, but he could wager a guess. They made schedules, divvied up chores, occasionally hung out on the couch.

It came out of nowhere, Lance’s hurt. Well, not really nowhere. It had to come out sometime. But it had seemed so random, then. Lance had pushed the hurt down so far for so long it was almost unrecognisable, but then there it was: for the first time in as long as he could remember, Lance wanted everyone else to ache as badly as he did. To writhe, to suffer. He wanted Pidge to feel stupid. He wanted Hunk to feel abandoned. He wanted Shiro to feel small, for Allura to feel dismissed and second-rate. He wanted them to hurt for every pain they’d made him feel. He’d wanted Keith, especially, to feel hated. He’d wanted Keith to feel like he was lesser and a burden and unloved and forgotten.

Lance wanted to be cruel. But he couldn’t bring himself to say the words, so he went silent.

Keith noticed, because of course he did. They didn’t talk to many other people, the two of them. He’d left it, at first. Lance didn’t know what Keith assumed was going on, but he’d smiled at Lance more and left it at that. After a week of Lance’s silence, though, he’d started to get a little pushy.

“Hey, you okay? We haven’t talked in a while.”

Lance kept his eyes on the task in front of him, scrubbing the plate a little harder.

“Which is weird,” Keith continued, “because we literally live together. Super weird, actually. Unlikely, even.”

The plate cracked in Lance’s hand, porcelain shatters embedding themselves into his palm. The water turned pink.

“Jesus, Lance, what happened?” Keith rushed forward, grabbing a clean dishtowel and reaching for Lance’s arm.

Lance flinched.

Keith froze.

“…Lance?”

Lance swallowed. He drained the soiled water, carefully scooping out the broken pieces to discard, but a pale hand reached over again, slowly this time. Hesitantly. Lance forced himself to stay still, even as he felt bile rising up his throat. Forced himself to keep his fists from clenching, so the shards didn’t get any deeper. Forced himself to breath.

“Let me get it,” Keith said softly.

He didn’t want to. He didn’t want Keith’s help, Keith’s gentleness. He didn’t need it anymore. He had needed it, then, needed Keith’s gentleness and care and love and smile and embrace but he didn’t fucking get it, then, not when he needed it, not when he was gasping and drowning for it, so why the fuck would he take it now? Why would he take Keith’s offered hand, now, when his heart had moved on?

His jaw ached, strained with the need to yell the words. To spit them in Keith’s face.

Where were you? He wanted to yell. Where were you when I was suffering? When I was dying? When I was begging the sun to shine and it rained on me as I lay drowning? Where was your hand, then? Your saving grace?

But he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. So he dried his hands, swallowed the lump in his throat, and walked away.

———

It would have been one thing if he was declining calls. But it really ached that his phone was drier than the desert. Now that he wasn’t calling, wasn’t reaching out to the people that were supposed to be one with him, they’d dropped him. Were they even thinking of him? Was he even on their radar? Did they talk to each other, and was Lance the odd one out?

He hoped they still thought about him, even occasionally. It was too painful to think otherwise. It was stupid to feel the pain, anyway, to wish they called even though Lance knows damn well he wouldn’t answer. He’s still furious with each and every one of them, although the hurt is starting to overcome to anger.

Part of the ache is that he doesn’t really… do much. They’re not allowed to accept jobs, not for another four months. They had psych evals, after that final battle, all of ‘em. Apparently they each had PTSD, and until they were ‘appropriately settled into a civilian life’, it was ‘unfair to both them and their employer to expect regular labour’. Why they weren’t allowed to do some freelance stuff or whatever, Lance didn’t know, but it meant a lot of time wasting away in his room. He’d tried helping the relief effort, and he’d done that for a while, but he’d had a couple… episodes. Maybe he was a little affected by the war, the Omega Shield in particular. Whatever. What he does know is that he’d become very well-acquainted with the insides of his eyelids. He can’t remember the last time he was awake for longer than six consecutive hours.

There’s a knock at the door. Lance doesn’t even bother taking the pillow off his head.

“Lance?” Keith calls.

Lance doesn’t acknowledge him. Even if he had the energy, he hasn’t talked to Keith in five months. He hasn’t talked to anyone in five months, not even his mamá. He doubts his voice even works, anymore.

Keith sighs heavily. “I’m going to see your mother,” he says. “She invited us both for dinner again. She’s worried about you. So am I. You coming? She’s making garlic knots.” The last sentence is coaxing, singsong. Lance wonders when Keith’s patience is going to give out. He’s surprised he’s even lasted this long. He wonders what he’s gonna do when Keith finally quits. Breaks the lease, packs his bags. Leaves Lance again.

Maybe it’s not fair for Lance to be angry at Keith for something he’s not even done, yet. But Lance is tired. Too tired for nuance.

Keith leaves without him.

———

The most action Lance gets, any day of the week, is timing when Keith is out of the house, because then he can go eat. (Does he eat every day? Probably. Maybe. Honestly, he’s not sure. Time kind of blurs. He eats when he’s so hungry he can’t sleep, and showers when he convinces himself he should.) He’s gotten pretty good at it, actually. He’s so tuned in to Keith’s footsteps that they actually wake him up, because his body knows that it’s the only time it’s moving.

(Lance does know, objectively, that he’s killing himself. He knows it. He feels it in the frailty of his bones, the bags under his eyes even though he does nothing but sleep. In the way his mouth always feels gross because he rarely makes himself brush his teeth. In the way he’s running out of things he cares about, reasons to stay alive.)

That’s probably why he perks up now, hearing the footsteps approach his door. He’s a little angry at himself for the perking up in question, but whatever. Who cares. Keith is going to talk to him vaguely through the door and give up, and then Lance can go back to sleep, and then Lance can stop thinking about it.

Keith’s not talking to him through the door. He’s also not leaving. In fact, the only sound Lance hears is the jiggling of the handle.

Lance blinks. He sits up. Every joint cracks, because he hasn’t moved in a very long time.

Oh no.

The door swings open, revealing Keith in all his glory, holding a pillow and a blanket and looking very, very determined. He walks over to Lance’s bed and shoves him a little, albeit gently. Lance bites back an incredulous ‘what the fuck do you think you’re doing’. Keith either does not notice or care, throwing his pillow beside Lance’s and crawling on the bed. He fluffs the blanket over both of them, and Lance tells himself that he does not care.

“We’re watching a movie,” Keith says firmly, “like we did when we first moved in. And we are perhaps going to even chat, but no pressure. Mostly you’re going to do something that isn’t being unconscious, and we’re going to do it together.”

Lance takes a moment to process that. Mostly he feels nothing. Whatever. Keith can do what he wants. Lance will just wait until Keith gets bored and then go back to sleep.

But another part of him reminds him of the pain Keith caused. The hurt he felt.

Not now, Lance.

I just don’t want to spend eternity with Lance.

The rage lights the fire back into his heart. The molten lava of his pain spreads throughout his veins, and he tenses. The words crawl up his throat. He shoves them down.

“We’re watching Barbie Pegasus, because you love that movie.”

Lance shoves the words down.

“And then you’re going to call your mother.”

He shoves them down.

“And then we’re going to do a face mask.”

Down.

“I was gonna bring snacks, but we don’t have any of that pink-coated popcorn you like and I haven’t gone grocery shopping in a while, actually, so the fridge is kind of barren.”

Down.

“Uh, that’s it for plans. I’ll be honest, I kind of stormed in here with very little forethought.”

“Why do you care now?”

The words burst out of him. He can do nothing to stop them, nor can he stop the tears.

Keith startles. “You talked,” he breathes. He sounds awed. “Like, really. With your mouth and vocal chords.”

Lance ignores him. “You said you didn’t want me,” he says. He tastes salt and acid. “You said you wanted to be away from me eternity. You think I am annoying. You only want to live with me because you have no other options. You don’t love me. The rest of the team stopped loving me months ago. My family mourned me, they don’t need me anymore. I don’t — I don’t know why you’re here. Why are you still here? Why — I don’t know. I don’t understand! I want to hate you! You hurt me, you hurt every part of me! You broke my fucking heart, Keith, and you don’t seem sorry and I don’t know what to do with the pieces, now.”

Lance doesn’t look at Keith. He can’t. He clenches the blanket Keith brought in his fists, watching the grey of the fabric get blurrier and blurrier as the tears build and drop from his eyes.

“Lance.”

Lance swallows.

“Lance, look at me.”

Keith sounds like he’s begging. Lance sobs.

“I’m so lost, Keith. I’m so — lost.”

“Oh, Lance.” Keith reaches out for him. Lance doesn’t move. He doesn’t flinch, he doesn’t reach back. He sits there. Keith doesn’t seem to mind. He wraps a solid arm around Lance’s waist, dragging him closer. He turns Lance around once he’s close enough, pressing his face into his neck. This time, Lance goes willingly.

He’s still mad. He’s still hurt. His heart still aches and he doesn’t know how to feel.

But it’s been so long since he’s been held. Weeks. Months. (Years, really. It stopped in space, the affection. Everyone got busy, and then got tired. He doesn’t even remember if he hugged his sisters, when they got back, or if there was too much to worry about.)

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Keith whispers. His hands run gently through Lance’s probably gross hair. “I didn’t realize. I didn’t think about how much I was hurting you, how much you were already hurt. I was scared. Everything was changing for me, I was stressed, I was supposed to lead people I didn’t know had to lead.” He sighs. He presses a kiss to Lance’s head. “I failed you, Lance. I’m sorry.”

Lance sobs again. It’s been… so long, since someone apologized. Since someone cared about his pain. It’s — soothing. Cold water running over his skin, cooling the burns. He clutches Keith tighter.

Maybe things will be okay.