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ollyou · 2 years ago

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Sorry another non-art post but I wanted to point out to some very disrespectful people that this is NOT an art only account > <“

This account was actually made to be mostly rambles, and just because I like pmtok and center most of my stuff around olly doesnt mean thats all i do either! I never wanted to be a pmtok-only artist; i just draw what i want to rather than what other people like to see

I’m a rambler at heart and if you dont like that then you shouldnt follow me, or just mute #rambling !! Alternatively if you don’t want to see any negative posts, mute #negative ^_^

Tbh as someone who has never had an anonymous ask box before joining the pmtok fandom, stuff like this just comes off as really mean and dehumanizing?? Please unfollow me if you have a mindset like this. I constantly tell people to just send me fun asks and stop trying to order me around like a slave and then people who claim to follow me pull this…. 😓 I hope you know that if you think you’re entitled to my artwork and can tell me to “shut the fuck up” for simply speaking how I feel about the constant harassment the toxic side of the fandom has given me and my friends/mutuals, I do not like you and you’re not allowed to enjoy my art tbh….

There is no “we”, just this rude person who likes to pretend they are a fan. But no fan acts like this. I want my fanbase to be a nice and welcoming place full of gentle and friendly people, not entitled bullies who treat me like their slave. Keep it to yourself if you don’t enjoy my rambling, please, or just unfollow/mute the tags I appropriately place for these sorts of posts <3

I blocked this anon immediately after screenshotting this but tbh I’m not sure if that blocks their actual account too… cause I wanna make sure they can’t view my account if all they want to do is dehumanize me. Idk it’s really weird how this fandom acts sometimes which is why I’m so strict with my dni and byf stuff but people don’t listen most of the time…. Agh!!

I make one post telling the people harassing and stalking me for several months if not years to leave me and my friends alone, and these people suddenly get the idea I’m just an art-making machine…. It’s frustrating but in the end I just want to receive nice anon asks. I appreciate all the friendly anons!! Thank you so much. You make my days so much better. I feel bad that sometimes I can’t respond to them, but I read them all. I save them all. I love them all <:)

But yeah… please unfollow me if you’re unwilling to just mute my #rambling and #negative tags when all you do is complain I don’t post art enough…. Also idk, if you want me to post more art then…? Why not you compliment my art? What’s the point of not ever supporting my art when I post it, then complaining and belittling me when I don’t post it? That’s why I block these people. Very very disrespectful.

I know it’s best to just ignore this stuff! And I do. I ignore a lot of it. It is quite annoying, but I ignore it so I can give the nice people room to speak. It’s really rare that I actually speak up about this stuff tbh. I’m almost positive these are all just the same few people block evading me via VPN anyway hahahah. Especially since I’ve seen them do that, too.

Also, I do recognize it’s very likely no one will read this all the way. But I usually don’t write things expecting people to read them! I mostly write stuff for myself, like a journal of some sorts. :D It’s probably a bit weird when I advertise my art and whatnot too, but y’know. I don’t want my tumblr blog to be just… some soulless art dump. I’m not looking for attention, just respect, I guess.

Ah, in the end I’m sure those bullies will use this to fuel their constant harassment of me anonymously (because they too cowardly to hate me normally, I guess), but tbh they just kind of… complain about a singular post I’ll make for the first time in forever for days straight and act like that type of post is all I make, so I guess there’s no appeasing them. Not that I even want to make happy the people who treat me as subhuman.

Idk why people are so entertained by being assholes, but maybe that’s just the naive part of me thinking! I’m no grown adult or anything. In my head I am just a little baby still learning about the online world as I was raised very sheltered from all that stuff and avoided toxicity wherever I went… 💦 I am a tumblr baby! Sorry..!

Ah!!!! Rambling too much. Hahah. Thank you for reading. Hey, if you got this far, why not you send me a friendly anon message? Gotta clean out all the garbage from within my inbox, though I think I’ve done a pretty good job at it as is.

I will post again when I have something to say or more art to share!!!!

#rambling #negative #< bc of the ask’s content!#idk im just being silly here. dont mind me #btw if youre here from sound or someone similar sending you a link then i know you guys have been here— go away

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deckosbades · 7 months ago

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Preparation: I have a bag of lays potato chips, a (which I will eat later, potentially after both films), I am also brewing tea and I have my water filter in my fridge. I have seen Babe Pig in the City, or maybe the original Babe(1995) at least partially on television, and am familiar with the oft referenced phrase "that'll do pig that'll do".

I am currently recovering from a bout of pneumonia, and am taking a break from gaming because my controller doesn't quite work right. If this film makes fun of neurotic gamers of sickly Victorian chimney sweeps I will be upset.

The first streaming website I tried had the worst bitrate I've ever experienced so I had to swap only two minutes into the film.

4:01 Did the farmer just fucking die??? 4:18 Okay he didn't die, he's just terribly injured 4:46 That's a gnarly hand injury 5:02 I am the singing rodents 5:58 I hate these white dudes. For now I'm gonna just stop writing my thoughts and experience Babe Pig in the City (I definitely lied when I said this and started writing notes again) 9:36 Word spread fast to all the sheep. They must be big gossips 11:55 Decent amount of flight safety for a pre-9/11 film 13:00 Can't trust cops, even when they're dogs 16:30 Love the pig man and the singing rodents 18:55 This woman is lovely 20:47 California has lovely architecture 23:44 Racist orangutan? 25:59 Video player begins buffering indefinitely, have to swap again 26:10 I was worried for the little rats. I'm glad they're okay. 26:40 Those cops just got cooked. 27:10 Cooked twice 28:04 This is just like Ranma 1/2 36:19 Average American gun club 39:01 Open Sesabob 42:20 The amount of action in this movie is thrilling. I didn't realize how hardcore Babe was 43:26 The dog actor is so happy. Just look at his tail 44:31 For some reason I didn't think pigs could swim 45:07 Holy shit That's brutal 45:27 Babe knows right from wrong 🥲 50:07 streaming sites just aren't what they used to be 😔 I'm feeling almost biblical imagery from this scene. Pig is the saviour figure 51:33 What a polite fish. He still feels the beauty of kindness as well 56:14 Goth pig is some drip The other pigs are here 😒 1:01:08 Was the first Babe movie this sad by the two thirds mark? I am deeply saddened right now. 1:01:54 He's got a fucking gun holy shit 1:02:40 Ableist pound 1:05:27 Name drop 1:05:52 Babe really is a saint-like figure Or perhaps a moses figure 1:08:14 These pig men are consistently wonderful people 1:09:44 Thelonius has experience the original sin. 1:11:45 What a sad day it is when internet streaming sites aren't reliable. My anime streams are much more consistent. If I had my VPN or I wasn't on college internet I would have just torrented it :( 1:12:00 I hate nimbies 1:16:07 I have finished my potato chips 1:20:51 Just give her the damn pig 1:21:55 He is dedicated to protecting the champagne 1:23:00 I love this film. Thank the pig 1:24:08 The struggle is never ending 1:27:00 He said it :)

Preparation: I have finished my lays. I am going to start Poor Things (2023). I know nothing about this movie. I also have a bottle of water prepared.

Not sure what connection there is between these films. I will have to watch and see

1:13 Quilted introduction images 3:48 Is that Willem Dafoe? 4:19 Many weird things happening. Piano playing with feet on the keys, odd vocalizations and bubble creation. No English spoken so far. Chimera animals, and fisheye lenses. I do not believe that is Willem Dafoe It is Willem Dafoe I checked 10:18 So far a deeply uncomfortable film in comparison to Babe Pig in the City 11:30 I would describe the cameras and imagery as almost myopic. 15:58 This feels like a Greek tragedy 16:33 Willem Dafoe was definitely the right casting choice 18:42 Again a deeply upsetting film. A challenging work of art for certain. 22:21 The film is interested in theatre imagery. I think Babe is similar in a way 23:21 God that looks disturbing 27:30 This is definitely one of the films 29:15 I would not describe what is happening as a positive romantic relationship 32:47 The combination of 20th century value adherence and 21st century value avoidance is what adds to how uncomfortable the film is. 35:21 I fear she might kill him 35:34 This film also seems interested in heights. 36:59 Oh goodie, cutting up brains 38:49 She seems to have a powerful understanding of herself and her surroundings but not of other people or societal norms. 41:08 Oh gosh, the first color shot in the entire film. Did they teach her what contraceptives are? 41:55 Oysters always struck me as an erotic food for some reason. 45:05 I did not realize how much scifi was present 46:01 As the film and her understanding of reality expands it feels like the framing and the cinematography does too? Like the audience is experiencing the film from her POV right now. 47:40 Reality is both beautiful and upsetting 50:30 Bella's so real But also Again, this film can be described as myopic. Everyone is so focused on one detail or themselves. 53:47 First character to recognize Bella, her real name is Victoria Blessington 54:42 The music is once more deeply unsettling She is again dancing childishly but it's so macabre 56:48 Films like this make me very anxious, I must keep watching. 58:17 Very surprised he has not yet brought her bag to Godwin 58:56 He told her not to fall in love with him, and she was really good at that I think. 1:00:26 This film is deeply interested with fucked up family relations. 1:01:27 You could not have paid me to get into that chest 1:04:05 Feels like a theater set again, but that seems completely intentional. 1:05:15 Just remembered that she is developmentally a child and she is currently drinking a lot of alcohol 1:08:05 "Polite society will destroy you" you said that first Duncan 1:09:20 You broke the man's heart Bella 1:10:04 They found another????? 1:10:19 She has found transcendentalism it's over 1:10:50 "It is indicative in me and it is definitely indicative in all" she is so real 1:11:25 I love the way she creates similes 1:13:57 No shot what the fuck 1:15:55 A slow exploration of so many human ideas. Birth and death, love and sex, and kindness and cruelty. 1:17:35 Showing a child impoverished dying children. 👍 1:23:00 Interesting seeing her handwriting is still childish, but her art is beautiful. It was shown in a previous shot. 1:26:26 I don't know how to put my feelings about this film into words consistently anymore 1:27:55 No music, just ambient creeking. Incredibly uncomfortable once more. 1:36:56 A very catholic idea 1:38:15 Good joke. I am happy with how much French I remember from middle school. 1:41:15 Freud would be having a field day 1:41:58 "c'est vrai" -> that's true 1:42:20 He's still here? 1:43:18 She has the craziest insults 1:43:45 I was starting to believe they would not come back to these two. 1:47:15 This movie utilizes its soundtrack so well 1:48:26 Big decision to provide no subtitles. Middle school French once more paying off. 1:51:58 Crazy visuals. Lowkey reminds me of filmcow 1:54:15 I am compelled to be intrigued 1:58:33 Once more, Freud would be incredibly proud 2:01:13 I am enraptured 2:04:17 Holy shit 2:15:40 They put a goat in him holy shit

Final thoughts overall: Reviewing my notes I see some similarities. First I'd like to say that IMDB was wrong when it rated Babe Pig in the City a 5.8/10. It was good, and I liked watching it. First thing I think is interesting about Babe is how biblical all the imagery felt. I described Babe as a Christ like figure, but that's not accurate I think. Definitely feels biblical though. Like Babe demands religious iconography. Babe is purity and innocence and kindness. I also liked Babe's voice a lot. All the animal actors did great jobs also.

In comparison Poor Things felt biblical and also didn't. It couldn't have been an accident that Bella refers to Godwin only as God. He is definitely playing god, but it didn't feel like a religious genesis story in the same way. It felt more like religious transgression. I wrote down around the 16 minute mark that Poor Things felt like a Greek tragedy, and I still feel that way after completing it. Maybe not a Greek tragedy, but if you transplanted some of the ideas in Poor Things into Greek mythology I wouldn't bat an eye. For both I don't actually know how much of that is vibes, and even how much of it was intentional.

In terms of characters, I think both Babe and Bella are interesting characters because of how innocent they are. And how they cause a lot of trouble in a lot of situations with good intentions. Bella definitely scared me a little bit more (I thought she would kill someone, and I was surprised that more characters didn't die in Poor Things honestly speaking). Babe also plays a little bit with that sense of discomfort. When Thelonius talks about how Babe is a pig meant for human consumption, and then Uncle Fugly kidnaps him, I was more than a little bit worried about Babe! Poor pig! I was also surprised that they outright killed uncle Fugly. In a way Babe was a little bit more brutal than Poor Things. I think you were right to say that Babe had one of the most brutal animal drowning scenes.

In terms of plot structure, a lot happens in both films. Babe goes form farm animal, to entertainer, to heist distraction, to Christ figure, and that's only a little bit past the halfway mark. Bella similarly accomplishes a lot even by the halfway mark. I do see parallels for the events, where they are on some level both fish out of water stories, and I am constantly left worrying about Babe and about Bella because they don't always understand the consequences of their actions or their circumstances. Thelonius is similar to Willem Dafoe. Both are good films that on different levels left me compelled and a little bit confused.

okay i know i got some followers out there who have nothing better to do. Can you watch babe pig in the city and then follow it up immediately after with poor things and get back to me on your findings

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hournites · 3 years ago

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Do that thing I need (put your touch on me)

Hournite fic

So...Rick's good at back rubs, right?

(also on ao3)

~.~

Rick walks into the Pit Stop, passing Pat talking to a customer outside. He sets his school bag on the ground by the large garage doors. Beth sits alone at the table a few feet away. She’s stressed out. The pounding from her keyboard sounds like she’s working out a tune on a piano, not her precious laptop.

“Beth.” His voice carries through the Pit Stop with an echo as he walks over. “What’s wrong?”

“I keep running into firewalls when trying to access the JSA database and Chuck isn’t answering my calls.” She blows out a breath of hot air. “I think we’re getting hacked.”

Rick drops his hands on top of Beth’s chair with a frown, peering down to watch her code. “Are we in danger?”

“I hope not. I’ve transferred over everything I do still have access to onto my backup cloud and mass-deleted files just in case.” She types some more, pulling up their personal folders and doesn’t see any breach there. “It’s mostly an attack on our JSA library archives. Wait. Let me try something.” Rick watches her work with quiet fascination. The fact that he’s never grown up with advanced computers or phones the way she had definitely makes what he’s looking at seem like a different language. He’s no Pat Dugan–Rick can work a laptop fine–but he’s never had the desire to learn the science behind the programming.

She tries pulling up another site by changing her VPN settings…only to be met by the same aggressive pop-up. She closes the laptop hard, pushing it away from her with a tired groan.

“Hey, it’s alright. You said so yourself: It isn’t an emergency, only a virus or something, right?”

“I had other things I wanted to do today,” Beth grumbles. “It’s just very frustrating.”

Rick doesn’t want to point out that temporarily losing library archives, while important, isn’t the biggest deal in the world. But he’s attuned enough to Beth to know it’s not really about who is behind it, and more about the fact they’re besting her. And now that she’s been challenged, she’s not going to be able to stop obsessing over it until she pulls a triumph. Beth builds self-confidence by coasting through these problems, as she should. She’s brilliant, and Rick knows just how maddening it can be to fail at figuring out the one thing you’re supposed to excel in. It’s like the hourglass or the AI Chuck malfunction all over again. They share that same sore spot.

He gives both of her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “I can see that.” Rick can feel it, too, trailing his fingers along the back of her boat neck where her muscles are tight. “You’ll figure it out.”

Beth buries her head into her hands. “I don’t know.”

“You always do.” His hands start moving on their own, curled and draped over the smooth curves of her shoulders just above her collarbone. He tries to massage the stress away with gentle, consistent pressure. Beth grows very silent at the sudden continuous contact, but he keeps it going until a tiny whimper escapes.

“Rick?” she squeaks. “What?”

Rick presses harder with his thumbs in slow circles against her blades and neck. “Just tell me if you hate this or something.”

“...I certainly don’t hate it.” She arches into his touch as he settles into a rhythm. “Oh…”

She relaxes with a dreamy sigh, melting in his hands like a wax candle. His lips curve at her blissful tone. “Feel better?”

He gets lost in it. Rick works on relieving her tension, spreading out to use the entire length of her shoulders. His chest feels warm and tight and swells with pride when she rests on the table, closing her eyes with her head buried in her arms. “Mmmhmm.”

It might be a bit weird, but this feels natural at the same time. And she needed it. Beth worries so much. For the JSA. For him. She puts everything on her shoulders when she doesn’t have to.

It’s nice to see her zone out and unwind. It’s even nicer to see that Rick can help her reach calm. Something about making Beth feel good drives Rick crazy. He can get her brain to slow down before it goes into overdrive. And the result—Beth all loose and pliable—is so rewarding it almost seems selfish. He kneads through her knots until he can’t really say they’re knots anymore, and then keeps going because he doesn’t want to stop. He moves lower, palms sliding along her inner spine.

“You are really good at this.” She’s so peaceful and sleepy that Beth almost sounds drunk.

Rick chuckles and leans forward, giving up on his technique to draw lazy patterns on her back. “I’ve never actually done this before.”

“Then how’d you know it would work?”

“I dunno.” He shrugs. “I had a feeling.”

Rick freezes when a longer moan slips out. He’s never heard her make a sound like that before, but now that he has he won’t ever stop thinking about it, and if he isn’t careful all of the blood in his head is going to rush somewhere else.

“Um.” He clears his throat and his voice is rough. “Beth?”

“Sorry!” She jerks, tensing up. Embarrassment flashes across her wide-eyed face. “Sorry, oh my gosh.”

“It’s okay,” Rick says quickly, feeling bad at all the work he’s done going down the drain. His hands return to her shoulders again for a small encore, but nowhere near as intensely. “I mean. It’s my fault. Maybe I got a little carried away.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” She finally tilts her head to gaze up at him. And her eyes are soft and sparkling. Happy. Lips pulled into the slightest of coy smiles. Rick quirks a brow at her, about to ask what that means when Pat walks in with his customer. Rick takes his hands off Beth like she’s a hot iron as she scoots her chair away very loudly. Both sets of eyes snap to Pat, who is staring at them with a clipboard in hand and his patented head-tilted smile that screams absolute confusion.

“What’s going on here?”

Beth flips her laptop open. “Nothing! Nothing!” she yelps, voice three octaves higher than normal. Rick crosses his arms, trying very, very hard not to smirk at the obvious effect he still has on her as she scrambles to make it seem like she’d been hard at work and not purring for him like a cat. “We’re doing nothing!”

“N-nothing,” Rick echoes, not at all sounding smooth when Pat swivels for his explanation.

“Er…Right.” Pat shoots them another weird look. “Well. Mr. Harold, if you’d step into my office I can walk you through that paperwork I’ve been talking about…”

Pat’s customer chuckles, following behind.

Rick looks at Beth. “You wanna get out of here and tell the others about the breach?”

She bundles the laptop into her school bag. “Yes, please.”

And if Beth lifts his arm to wrap around her as they walk to his car, Rick doesn’t say anything.

#hn fic #stargirl #hournite #rick x beth #tkv fic #fluff

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the-bjd-community-confess · 2 years ago

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I'm openly a recast owner so I get lots of vaguely theatening messages about owning recasts and also a lot of explicitely threatening messages about my IP address (which they get wrong because I use a VPN lol). I mean, I do get the sentiment. Though I wish they didn't come into my space just to insult me and suicide bait me, that's kind of expected when I don't hide the fact that some of my dolls are recast. (Still shitty though, guys)

Anyway, the weird part about this is that people often get angrier at me when I say that I do own affordable legits. I have like, 4 dolls (2 recasts 2 legits, I like balance) and the legits were the product of saving up for years. And people hate it when I tell them that. If I may psychoanalyze strangers for a second, I think they have built up a black and white narrative of legit vs recast where legit owners are crusaders of justice and recast owners are all smug villains who hate doll artists.

So when I tell them I own both, I shortcircuit their brain because I blur the line. More importantly, they conceptualize my financial decision as a betrayal. Since I own legits, I must understand the moral importance of paying for legits, and the fact that I own recast means I knowingly spit in the face of moral goodness. I should be on their side, but I'm not entirely. In a way, it's a worse crime than simply not caring

Another confession on this blog actually summarize my feelings on this pretty well. I am committing an act that I recognize as negative, but I don't think it warrants me wringing my hands with guilt. Little luxuries that I allow myself on the daily (chocolate, buying a bottle of soda, shopping for trinkets at the dollar store) has way bigger negative impact than buying a recast, yet I don't beat myself up over them. I recognize the importance of supporting artists so I try my best to save up for legits, but if I'm in love with the limited release of a Sw1+ch doll, then I'm not going to be above buying a recast. It may be frustrating for some dedicated hobbyists, but that's the way I feel about this.

I'm saying this in the most neutral way possible, I have other things to do than immerse myself in doll culture and ponder the morality of certain acts. Such as inmersing myself in fandom and pondering the morality of fanfiction. (And surviving the best I can, but I'm assuming that's the case for everyone). I hope I don't come off as dismissive or condensceding, but I just pick my battles and my issues. This one is yours, mine is elsewhere. No hard feelings

Anyway, I just think that it's funny that people fume and seethe harder when they discover that I own both legits and recasts, when they should be happy that the My5t1c K1ds Francis they saw in my pics was legit

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #Community Counterfeits

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alittlebitmaybe · 3 years ago

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do you have any recs for good skates to watch from this season so far?

elsa i am so sorry you asked. here we go

(bolded skaters are going to the gpf)

(all links require a vpn bc isu youtube hates usa; rec using opera browser's built in free vpn)

i mainly follow singles, so i'll mostly stick with those, but for pairs stellato-dudek/deschamps are absolute breakouts featuring queen deanna who is the oldest gp medalist and oldest gp gold medalist !!! stan deanna. i rec watching their skate america skates, particularly their short. i wept

ALSO for dance by far my favorite thing i've seen is demougeot/le mercier's weird ass sad mime ex which hits EVERY time.

ANYWAY. to the shit i actually care about deeply

WOMEN

rika kihira's titanic free from sci: the nhk one was probably better technically but i saw this one in person in the front row and wept the entire time. outstanding vibes. beautiful skating.

kaori sakamoto's sia free from skam: speaking of things i saw live from the second row and wept through. that's MY world champion

mai mihara's espoo short and also her sheffield free: 30 point grand prix queen enough said

yelim kim's short and free from nhk: won nhk against an absolutely stacked lineup of women. has one of the most beautiful ina bauers in existence

honorable mentions that i'm not going to find the links for: every single thing gracie gold did at skam. listen to the audience reactions for her!!! absolutely not a dry eye in the house. also amber glenn did incredible at skam, if you're into her. also faves rinka watanabe at sci and loena hendrickx at angers to round out the gpf lineup. (uhhhh. minus isabeau who is talented but i don't care for as a skater atm)

MEN

oh god

shoma uno's nhk free and exhibition: this tiny man owns my entire ass. i also saw both of these skates live and my brain turned to mush and i made noises no human should ever make but i think the nhk ones are better. his short also fucks but he keeps screwing it up lmao. these are some of my favorite programs of all time tbh

roman sadovsky's nebelhorn trophy short: romsky is my goated flop worstie parasocial boyfriend and this program fucks. what if he could ever pull off a free skate.

adam siao him fa's short program from angers: i mean. my god. he did that

kao miura's short program from skam: had no expectations from this kid and then he comes out and drops a 94 point sp in front of us. TWO WEEKS IN A ROW. IN FRONT OF MY EYES. this program is fucking incredible except for the slowest cannonball spin of all time. his beauty and the beast free is also sooo fun but it WILL get stuck in your head and he keeps having bad falls on the first jump

kazuki tomono's miyavi ex: king of gala skates strikes again. pleaaaase learn how to jump for the actual competitions

deniss vasiljevs's sheffield free and sci ex: does the free hit as well without knowing how hard he flopped it during sci? idk and idc. his englishman in new york sp is also worth a watch. we love u deniss. anyway the sci ex happened in front of me and stopped my brain function for like half an hour

junhwan cha's nhk free and skam short: the second we saw jun skate in person we dedicated our lives to seeing him skate again. please know that a good portion of that intensely high pitched screaming from skam is me and kim and lee anne. it was his BIRTHDAY

keegan messing's free at sci: now, this one is simply for the vibes. it was his last ever skate canada and the vibes during this event were terrible. everyone was flopping. energy was low. then keegs saved us and we all stomped and yelled and cried

kevin aymoz's short in espoo: he is sooooooo good and soooooo fun. his free is also good and hilarious bc it's a song of achilles program set to gladiator. i'm not kidding

ilia malinin's free at skam: so, listen. i am not an ilia girlie but he DID land a 4a 15 feet from us and it WAS impressive and i did scream about it, and since he is shoma's main competition at the gpf this year i feel that i should link this

unfortunately i only really care about 2 of the men in the gpf this year and the rest of my faves flopped bad enough at least once to keep them out of the running.

anyway yeah if anyone else wants to watch some figure skating. watch these ones

#ask #nbjadziadax #sorry for being crazy it WILL continue

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violenceviolence-rp · 2 years ago

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Human Wally headcanons?

You're really indulging me here, it's appreciated haha. Since ya didn't specify which flavor of Fleshy Wallace, have both:

Wood-Cursed-with-Humanhood ("Meaty Wally")

- the beginning of the end of his years-long cat-and-rat game with Jimmy, who was able to level up his Trashy Magician skills by temporarily becoming a wooden puppet again with Slappy's assistance (Slaps was in on the "prank" part but mostly just finds mannequin Jimbo hot)

- closer to an alchemical homunculus rather than a true human, either way he's mortal and experiencing magical impotence for the first time ever because he's now made of meat, not Kanduu's coffin

- honestly between Mahar reincarnating his timber & remains as a living dummy and O'James metaphysically neutering him with an even more unnatural mortality, he's feeling targeted as fuck and spitting anti-Irish epithets that haven't been used for decades

- FURIOUS about being only 4' tall and convinced that Jimmy made him short to mock him, but the Trashy Magician isn't that skilled, Wally is just in the habit of blaming him for everything and can't stand the shoe being on the other foot for once

- easily restrained now that he lacks the supernatural strength of all his victims, or however I decide his necromantic power works--still bites and has a low centre of gravity working to his advantage, much to Jimmy's annoyance, but is also susceptible to being kicked in the crotch despite not having balls, and petty vengeance is sweeter than cake if you ask Jimmy

- off-puttingly cool for a human (think room-temp steak) in the same way his normal body is off-puttingly warm for a doll

- gets food poisoning a lot because he still eats raw meat & cat food; disappointed to learn vomiting just hurts as opposed to the quasi-climax that usually accompanies a geyser of horrible fluid

- he was always handsy with Slappy, but now he's downright cuddly--embarrassing as hell but Slaps ain't complainin ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

- HATES that he wants to ride Jimmy like a unicycle & takes all of this frustration out on Slappy wherever his slave is most likely to walk in on them--again, Slaps ain't complainin

- Jimmy eventually follows through with a long-standing threat after too many instances of waking up to Wally humping his face (old habits die hard) and transfigures him into a cat, and wouldn't you know, one of those free spay/neuter traveling clinics happens to be in the neighborhood...C'mon, be honest, what would you do? Turning him back to a human-adjacent thing results in mild body-horror-comedy (supernumerary nipples) that thoroughly revolts everyone, and once he's back to normal, Horrors Below, he's no longer got the tentacle. Do ya know how many tongues and dicks have gone into that beastly thing? Seriously, he lost count sometime in the 1950s--it's gonna take decades of hunting to get back half of what he had, and that bastard magician is starting to look pretty damn tasty.

Wallace Punch (Totally Mundane Human AU)

- "For the last time Woofles, I'm not an 'egg' I'm a trap! Quit tryna convert me!"

- /b/tard since 2005 (big sis showed him how to use a VPN to pirate shit when he was 12, she kind of regrets it)

- actually his older sister is the one family member he respects & he's only half-joking when he says it's because she "isn't tainted by our loser parents' genes"; as kids they all enjoyed playing "guess which kid is adopted" with strangers (Wallace is the odd redhead among 4 brunettes, genetics are weird)

- doesn't mind being 5' (little spoon privileges) but always bitching about the "discrimination" he faces as a switchy manlet

- ...is a rubbish top anyway, total two-pump chump without meth & honestly a pillow princess at heart

- stereotypical "film bro" whose main takeaways from flicks like Fight Club & A Clockwork Orange are "I need to step up my wardrobe and learn how to hotwire a car"

- does weird shit with food, not always sexual, just seems to enjoy making a nauseating mess; occasionally his show involves bathing in a clear acrylic clawfoot tub filled with spaghetti & meat sauce, which is an Ordeal to set up but the man has some dedicated groupies

- "What’s better than getting a pretty girl to laugh? Getting a pretty girl to peg you ♡"

- hates cooking after having to work in his dad's chippy for all of 3 years as a teenager, pretty much lives off of convenience store sausages & frozen pizza with friggin beans on it, if not for copious amounts of canned pineapple he'd definitely have scurvy

- negates the intended purpose of all that pineapple (if ykyk) by smoking cigars like a chimney--started stealing mom's Dunhills at the tender age of 10, which stunted his height and kickstarted his ambiguous behavioral/emotional disorders...Wally nerfing himself sure is a recurring theme huh

- pretty decent at using a swazzle and keeping a straight face while saying the most obscene nonsense through it

- mutually disowned his father and considers himself "the superior Mr. Punch"--any version of Wally is just like "fuck you, dad"

- admits that it's probably for the best he's allergic to alcohol

- remarkably, the worst thing he's ever gotten/passed on was the clap

- the first time he visited the United States and had iced tea he accused the server of trying to poison him

- also got punched in the mouth in a NYC pizzeria after making a 9/11 joke because someone called him a freak for requesting friggin beans as a topping, but wasn't too concerned because in his experience, teeth grow back (artistic license hyperdontia, okay?)

- dislikes most animals but adores horses, even the homeliest pony turns this man to pudding; actually capable of turning on the charm when it suits him, Wallace adopts a totally different persona (& fake name) around the handful of posh equestrian chums he's manipulated over the years for the express reason of riding their horses, in truth considering these "friends" to be annoying idiots; almost gets banned from one club for wearing fringed holstein cowhide chaps he got in Texas

- can't decide how he dies. On the one hand it could be satisfying to play his "redemption arc" straightish by letting him grow old and mellow a bit and maybe even mature enough to have some shame when he reflects on his youthful foibles, on the other hand it's much funnier & more fitting if his last words are "Oh sod off" as a double-decker bus takes him out because he didn't look both ways before crossing the street

#ask #doodle #meaty wally #wallace the entertainer #character notes #out of character #yeah that's a 90s betsey johnson skirt

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organic-guacamole · 4 years ago

Text

episode 209 spoilers below

I'm so late today but here it is

I love EJ, he's finally learning to be happy. I'm so proud.

Ms Jenn = every boomer during zoom calls, like jeez yes we can hear you stop shouting at me.

LOVE THE SUBTLE JOKE ABOUT QUARANTINE "these dark times" "you mean spring break?"

ah yes, remember when we thought covid was just gonna give us a longer spring break? good times

SEBLOS

damn the passive aggressiveness from Carlos and the absolutely over it tone from seb✋

CASWELL COUSINS!!!!! THEY'RE THE BEST!!!!

we needed more if this kind of goofiness for the first part of season 2 that only such an iconic duo can provide.

old old movies-

is it even that old, or is Nini being a gen alpha rn-

i choose to imagine EJ being scared of the movie and hiding in Ashlyn's shoulder while she keeps a straight face and then EJ pretending to be tough afterwards

aww redlyn are soulmates.... yknow, if gingers had souls

(please ignore me)

y'all saw how EJ's face *lit up* when Gina logged on? how dare you tell me he doesn't like her

ofc she's no damsel in distress, she's Gina porter, she's amazing.

so do we think she'd be the type to just glare at suspicious people? or bark at them

do they not know that Rini broke up? or is Ms Jenn just wanting Nini to suffer through her heartbreak to make her a better actress....

speaking of, why is Nini in the call? she's not in the show anymore. Unless she is, even after the rose and the song got cut, which would be so unfair to all those that auditioned properly before she even came back but whatever, she's the main character I get it 🙄

big red is a hero honestly, Nini better thank him for changing the subject like that

I can't-

i won't work you over the break-

this woman would 100% work her kids 24/7 if it was legal and idk how to feel about it.

YES GINA USE THAT CHARM

QUEEN

FRENCH QUEEN

SHE LEARNT FROM THE BEST (antoine obvi)

smh the airport lady, eavesdropping on Gina's call.

The way she was so happy to answer EJ's call, "eej"

I love them your honour.

EJ WITH PAINTED NAILS YES PLEASE

great now we need to see Gina, Ashlyn and EJ having a complete spa day and EJ getting really into it and Gina and Ashlyn take pictures of him when he's laying down in a robe with a mask and cucumbers on his eyes.

finally we get to see Gina's side of portwell

the way she considered it as flirting, this is the sign she asked for in episode 6 come onnnnn

no is Asher/jack really doing tiktok dances in an airport-

Ricky is me. I am burrito.

oh Lynne, sweetie, I'm sorry but the blonde hair is not it

is that even the same lady or-

THE BEAN

THE CHICAGO BEAN

THE BIG OLD METAL BEAN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY 😭

jetlag is my go to excuse for anything... I haven't travelled in 2 years.

"welcome to the Lynne and Mike gossip show. where we talk about our depressed son that we both neglect in certain ways! And now a word from our sponsor, Nord VPN..."

SO MANY CANDLES

WHAT DEMON IS LYNNE TRYING TO SUMMON IN HIS ROOM-

is Nina becoming social media obsessed EJ from season 1? AND SHE LIED ABOUT HAVING SONGS TOO PLEASE WHY ARW THEY RECYCLING THE SAME PLOT-

Gina smiling at the picture of her family on Instagram makes me so happy, idek why.

EJ's nails are so pretty, we needed to see it more (unless he had it on for the rest of the episode and I just.... didn't notice🧍🏽‍♀️)

oh not the tiktok kid✋

yes ma'am end this strange mans whole tiktok career

sir take a hint and leave

GINA NO DONT SAY YOUR LAST NAME HE COULD BE A HUMAN TRAFFICKER

Ricky, walking in style✨

weird kid, ok then Lynne, can't you see he's this close to the edge?

not all your fault baby Ricky, Nini sucks a bit more

RICKY YOU DIDN'T COME DOWN HARD ON THE SONG-

YOU ASKED WHAT IT WAS ABOUT AND SHE SHUT YOU DOWN-

PLEASE DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF

ok but the deleting comment thing was very bad

still don't know if I like Jack honestly

hmmm so Nini's calling herself Nini instead of Nina in her little egg seat, while trying to write a song without inspiration.... Nini, honey, Ricky was your muse, he inspired you to write all those songs, even if it wasn't good for the relationship.

that doesn't mean you gotta get back with him, or that you can't write a song that not about him butttt it'll take some time

the rainbow sticker in her box and her rainbow shirt-

anyways wbk she's not totally straight

Jack are you a criminal?

quick, Gina, check his ankle for a tracker

THE YES AND PRACTICE STRIKES AGAIN

the way Gina wasn't into it in episode 6 but she's used the technique twice now

stole her grandma's Pomeranian-

Jack where the hell did you pull that out from-

the fake crying killed me, that looks like so much fun though

anyone wanna raid a first class lounge with me?

wait so is jack not gonna go in with her?

wouldn't he go in too? help look for the credit card? SO CONFUSED

the first class lounge guy was so into the drama though, watch his face when they start arguing 😭

sorry to break this to you Kourtney, but you haven't even blocked the second act yet soooo...

take that as you will

I love how all of them are totally dissing the dance off

that's the most realistic part of this show tbh

shouldn't Nini have asked how she knew....since the start? why is the fact that her best friend has knowledge of a North high secret now dawning on her...

Howie is sweet honestly, at least he's trying to help. but I stand with Kourtney, don't take him back just because he sang an amazing song, and is giving you a heads up on what's gonna happen...

KOURTNEY IS ME TRYING TO LEAVE AN ONLINE CLASS

I hate school

ooo Nini's writing a song about bad internet connection 🤩🤩🤩

I never lie, except when I do-

son that is the creepiest thing you could say to a stranger that you've been "helping"

2 truths and a lie👀

he's an Ariana fan 100%

called it.

OLDER BROTHER-

WHAT-

free spirit? damn so brother porter was in that horse movie

so has she been kissed or not?????????

I feel like she's moved more than 15 times though so possibly

but then if she's moved so much, and before east high she never opened up to anyone, she's never been kissed then?? damn

same though Gina so let's be besties please

heartbreak president is a great song title idea, give Nini a call rn

but wait

is the no strings attached feeling thing about her telling Ricky she liked him? she thought she was moving away so she thought it'd be no strings attached???

guys I think I figured it out insert the "I've connected two dots" meme

THE DUKE SWEATSHIRT

IS THAT YOUR BOYFRIEND'S

OMG I LOVE I LOVE

NOT THAT I KNOW OF???

ma'am did you just kill me

yes you did

Lynne and Ricky have such a weird relationship

YES IT DID SUCK

TODD SUCKS

LYNNE SUCKS

yeah I get that you wanted Ricky to like Todd BUT THAT WASN'T THE TIME

right so we already know that Ricky was so desperate to keep Nini cuz he didn't want to be like his parents, and now Lynne's talking about this-

Richard needs a long hug

yes Lynne, it is your fault. thank you for finally admitting it.

YES DYE YOUR HAIR

BLOND HIGHLIGHTS RICKY WILL RISE AGAIN

"sometimes the best, last thing you can do for someone you love, is let them go."

gotta admit I teared up at that point

not me thinking big red was calling ms Jenn cupcake for a hot second-

Carlos please omg, you're at the "beach" and they're leaving for the pool?

also, why not just do the call from the hotel room please omg

"don't ask me"

"Carlos"

OMG WHAT HAPPENED

big red wants the tea

O M G

SEB IS JEALOUS

JEALOUS SEBBY IS MY FAVOURITE THING IDC

I'm surprised ms Jenn knew how to give Nini permission to screenshare tbh

So lily's been stalking the East high kids and spending time editing this video while she's supposedly in an immersion trip.... right

EJ and Ashlyn's picture is so chaotic, what even is happening there

"slacking off" bestie its spring break, obviously they're confident enough that they'll get it done in time so why not focus on your own musical.

jealous seb = sassy seb

please what if those guys Carlos is posing with are his cousins or something and that's why he's so confused about Seb

6 YEAR OLD EJ I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM

Nini saying she's obsessed with her ex, that's not weird at all 👍

I can just tell Matt had a blast harassing Julia with those puppets.

Jack please dont be like that, "yet"

chances are you'll never see eachother again 🥰

(honestly sometimes I really miss those friends I made on trips and stuff when we'd spend the day or week together, only to never see them again....those were the good days though)

Ashlyn and Nini should write more songs..... something better than this one at least

Nini: "im good"

cue the Tia Mowry (please I can't spell) crying gif

oh I forgot Ricky was in the show for a hot second

1. where did Gina get to film this without people being around

2. did she just... randomly change her clothes???

ok but the transition between Carlos and EJ

*chefs kiss*

now everyone shut up, EJ's singing

oh i think I'm pregnant

HIS MUSCLES

YES KOURTNEY

I love how big red and Kourtney went from being "the best friends™" to the couple in season 1, to kinda close themselves and having their own plots

sebby makes me so happy

props to biggies editing skills honestly

PORTWELL BEING SIDE TO SIDE I CANT

AND SEBLOS OMG

big red lives for the drama

"wow" so true Ricky

no he is not cute, stop it

"holding" ok that's kinda cute

yeah EJ's a lucky guy😌

jokes aside, it's not that hard to exchange numbers-

keep in touch if you want

ok I really like Jack now

if he comes back in season 3, maybe have him be LGBTQ+ ?

like the only out characters they have rn are Seb and Carlos and they're like the sterotypes, yk?

I'd love to see jack kinda break the mold

Ricky's breaking my heart

that song just hurts

the only thing

now I don't hate Lynne????????

HOW DARE THEY WRITE IN A PROPER REDEMPTION ARC FOR HER

UGH IM SUPPOSED TO HATE HER FOREVER

I mean I don't live her now but she's good

but honestly

"mom can I show you something"

IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL

THE PICTURE AND EVERYTHING OMG

I'm sobbing please help

Gina saying she's just waiting for the right guy and then EJ coming to the airport to pick her up late at night without her asking, offering to bring her back in the morning so she won't have to Uber, bringing her a granola bar (WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT SHE FORGOT TO PACK) and without expecting anything in return???

ms ma'am you've got a keeper right there

her smile at the end was so heartwarming I really can't.

this episode was great.

it felt really short but I liked it, great character development for Ricky, Lynne and Gina.

Cant wait for next episode to see more of EJ being the ideal boyfriend /hj

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts s2 #hsmtmts season 2 #hsmtmts spoilers #ej caswell #ricky bowen #gina porter #seblos #nini salazar roberts #jack hsmtmts #carlos rodriguez #seb mathew smith #kourtney greene #big red #ashlyn caswell #caswell cousins #portwell will be the death of me #guac's episode text blocks :)

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actuallybarb · 5 years ago

Text

The Aftermath ~ Part 2

Summary: y/n gets knocked around by a water monster, has secret-sharing time with peter, and decides mj is more important than her pride. sleep deprivation and caffeine consumption are definitely involved.

Pairing: peter parker x reader

Warnings: swearing, angst, fluff, mysterio being a dick, trauma, it’s marvel what did you expect

Word Count: 3978 give or take

A/N: endgame is canon, *vomits*, but we’ve all got a thing for broken peter parker, even if all i want is his never ending happiness

///////////

“I can’t believe you punched Flash.” Brad, of course, decided to sit next to me on the gondola ride to the hotel. Figures.

“You better believe it, ‘cuz it actually happened.” I tried to pay as little attention to him as possible and just take pictures on my phone, but he kept talking.

“Why don’t you like me?”

I groaned. “Because, Brad, you ask stupid questions like that.”

We pulled up to the hotel and were all sufficiently underwhelmed.

“It’s flooded!”

“The hotel is sinking?”

I considered helping the hotel out, at least while we stayed at it, but there wasn’t much hope left for it. I took my room key and thanked my lucky stars I didn’t have a room on the ground level. In fact, I was sharing with MJ. I waited patiently behind her as she jiggled the door open.

“Is it safe to assume the building will crumble any second now?”

MJ burst out laughing. “I think that’s an understatement.”

“If I get TB, I’m suing.”

“The hotel?”

“Harrington.”

She smiled. “C’mon, let’s get outside before we drown.”

We walked along the water and let the sun happily reflect on our exhausted faces. Everyone was enjoying themselves, but I was starting to feel queasy. It was almost imperceptible, but I could feel the city moving with the water, and it was making me sick. I started lagging back and tried to find my “sea legs,” but Peter noticed and stuck back too. “You alright?”

I plastered on a weak smile. “That long flight is catching up with me. I’m just going to grab an espresso, I’ll meet up with you guys soon.” He looked at me one more time before nodding and meeting the rest of the group.

I didn’t completely lie — I was getting an espresso. But I wasn’t going to catch up with them, at least, not for a while. I needed to get away from the water, even just for a little bit.

I can’t fly, per se. I can control the air currents around me and change them how I want them too, like I did on the airplane with the turbulence. I can do that with most elements, (except wood, I hate wood) and that gives me a heightened awareness of them. I’m basically the Avatar and the characters from Percy Jackson. All I have to do is shave my head and tattoo blue arrows on my body. (And, yes, I did watch all seven seasons of the two series and read all ten Percy Jackson books to actually figure out what the hell it was that I could do. It helped. Clearly.)

I just lifted myself to the top of the coffee shop. I’m a sucker for espresso, I like to be close to it. The distance helped. I felt grounded enough to walk on the normal streets of Venice again, but when I touched down, I suddenly lurched to the right.

“What the hell,” I muttered. I got my answer soon enough. A huge river monster was crashing its giant water arms on anything it could see. And I was directly in its path. “Oh, shit.”

I shouldn’t have been as terrified as I was. I mean, come on, I can control water. Dissipate the water man, Y/N, I can almost hear you yelling at me. Shut up, I was scared. This thing was twice as tall as any of the buildings, and it had a direct path to anywhere in the city. Me, a seventeen year old girl, against that? Not a good idea.

So, like any logical human being, I ran. And I still got clobbered with water and ended up actually falling into the water. Let me just tell you, Italy needs to get a Brita, ‘cause their river is nasty.

But, once I was actually in the water, the river monster looked a lot less intimidating. Sure, the water was churning around and sucking everything into its path, but I was in my element — literally. I got close to it, like, really close. I pushed against the flow of the water and tried to stop the monster from forming, and it worked, for a little bit. It slowed down, and I got some newfound momentum, when all of the sudden, it all stopped, and tons of water crashed to the surface. That was my cue to leave, but then something caught my eye. A flash of metal was in the water. Luck would have it, though, that I could bend water and metal (shout out to Toph Beifong). I latched onto the metal and pulled it close to me, but I couldn’t make out what it was. Didn’t mean I would trash it though, this water was disgusting enough. I tucked it in my pocket and started swimming to the surface.

I got out of the water actually pretty close to the rest of the class, but I was the only one completely drenched.

“Oh, Y/N, good! We’re all here,” Mr. Harrington celebrated. “Let’s get back to the hotel, your families will want to know you’re all fine.”

“You’re soaked.”

I shivered, even though it wasn’t cold. The temperature difference between the water and the air was enough to make me shake. “Astute observation, Brad.”

“Here, you can have my jacket.”

“Thanks, but I don’t want it.” I kept walking and managed to bump into Peter. “You got wet too?”

“Just splashed. Did you get thrown in?”

“Yeah, the bastard caught me by surprise. I’m okay, just cold.”

“Here.” Peter slung his backpack around and took out a mostly dry sweatshirt. He gestured it my way, but I didn’t take it. “It’s just a jacket, Y/N. You’ll get a cold with your hair dripping all around you.”

I knew that wasn’t how colds worked, but I took it anyway and let it soak in the water from my hair. It helped, surprisingly, at least making me not shiver. We made it back to the hotel with no other complications, aside from Flash tripping over his own shoelace because he was too busy recording for his Instagram followers to pay attention to where he was going. I quickly went upstairs and changed out of my clothes, putting on a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt that used to belong to Jessica. The room had a tiny balcony, and I took advantage of it and laid out all of my clothes and Peter’s sweatshirt. The last thing MJ or I needed was a puddle of water to slip in.

I went back downstairs and sat close to the top of the stairs, not wanting to get anywhere near the water at the bottom. MJ was a few steps below me, and Peter was leaning against the stairs, talking to someone on the phone. He hung up, and I slipped past MJ and wrapped around to the phone. I was about to dial, when I remembered something. “Hey, Peter.”

“What’s up?”

I pulled him away from the stairs and whispered, “Is the plan still working?”

“The—oh, that plan. Uh, yeah, I think so. I got her this necklace of a black dahlia from a glass shop, and I want to give it to her at the top of the Eiffel Tower.”

I smiled. “That’s adorable. I’m going to use the phone, do you mind?”

“Oh, sorry, I’ll get out of your way.” We smiled at each other, then I grabbed the receiver and dialed.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mom, it’s Y/N.”

“Oh my—John, it’s her. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Harrington wanted all of us to call our parents, so this is me, doing my due diligence. We’re still set for Paris tomorrow, so I’ll call you then, okay? Love you.” I didn’t even really wait for them to respond before I hung up. Truth was, I didn’t want to talk to them. I didn’t really want to talk to anyone, but I had to make one more phone call.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Jess, it’s Y/N. You watch the news nonstop, so I figured I’d call, let you know I’m okay.”

“Thank god, I was so worried about you. What happened?”

“This water monster literally came out of nowhere and knocked me straight into the murky junk, it was disgusting.”

“Were you able to help at all?” Jess was one of two other people in the world who knew about what I could do. She was the one who bought me the tv shows and books, of course she knew.

“I slowed it down at some point, but then all of a sudden it just dissipated, it was weird. I did find this weird metal thing in the water, I picked it up. I’ll send you a picture of it when I get the chance.”

“Okay. Call me soon, got it?”

“Count on it. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

I wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore, so I walked up the stairs, ready to succumb to the moldy mattress in my room. Unfortunately, I had to collect my clothes.

Everything was nearly dry, and Peter’s sweatshirt was definitely dry, so I brought them inside. I almost didn’t want to give Peter his sweatshirt back, just because it was so soft, but knowing him, it was probably the only one he brought, so I walked the ten feet to his front door and knocked. I wasn’t told not to enter, so I turned the knob and walked in. “Hey, Pete, I—“ I stopped with my hand by my face, terrified. A small dart was less than an inch away from my palm. I turned to the man in the corner who was holding the gun. “Did you just try to shoot me?”

“You’re the one who came barging in.” The scary looking guy with the eyepatch leaned forward. “What’s your name?”

I laughed heartlessly. “Ha, yeah, like I’m going to tell the man who just pulled a gun on me.” I looked at Peter and threw his jacket at him. “I brought this back.” Then I turned to the man in the chair. I crunched the dart, letting it fold on top of itself before his eyes, then I let it fall to the floor. “You can keep that.” I looked at Peter one more time, then slammed the door on my way out.

MJ was laying on her bed when I walked back in, but she could tell something was up. She had impeccable observational skills. “You good?”

I was pacing, a bad habit I picked up after The Snap first happened. “I just need to look something up.”

“Well, the hotel might be sinking, but they’ve at least got good wifi.”

I finally sat and opened my laptop, then turned on my VPN and put the whole device on ‘incognito mode.’ I had some serious investigations to conduct, I didn’t need the government to see what I was doing. Okay, I only had one serious investigation, but that could possibly have lead to more, so I kept my guard up.

First search: scary-looking black man with an eyepatch. The guy’s face was the first image that popped up. Nick Fury. Ex-director of SHIELD before all of that went to shit. Now he’s running some ‘underground’ SHIELD, I guess. Now I know the guy’s name.

But why was he talking to Peter? And why did he shoot me?

I was up all night doing research. Not just on Nick Fury, but on the metal piece I had found in the water, the Avengers, and as much as I could find on Peter Parker himself. Sooner than I thought, the sun peeked between the curtains at the window and MJ’s alarm came blaring through the speakers on her phone.

“Morning,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and finally taking a break from my computer screen.

“Did you sleep at all?”

“Are you going to yell at me if I say no?” MJ just pursed her lips. I knew she wouldn’t.

It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve pulled an all nighter. At least this one was productive.

“What’s on your bed?” She picked up a small spring and looked it over before putting it back beside the rest of the pieces of the metal thing. “Did you take apart your toothbrush?”

I chuckled. “No, I found this thing in the river when I got knocked in. I didn’t know what it was, so I took it apart.”

“Have you figured it out?”

“Not yet.” I rubbed my eyes again and groaned. “We’re going to Paris today, right?”

“Yeah.” MJ stood and stretched and I caught the smallest smile on her face when she replied. I smiled too and packed up my project. Something for another late night.

We were escorted outside with our luggage in tow, but Mr. Harrington happily informed us we would be taking a bus to Prague instead of a train to Paris. You’ve got to be kidding.

Peter was walking to the bus in front of me, but I grabbed his arm and dragged him away. “What the hell, Peter?”

“You can control metal?” He was in awe. His admiration would’ve been flattering if I wasn’t so pissed.

“You had Nick Fury in your room last night. I almost got shot last night. What the hell is going on?”

“It was only a tranquilizer, you would’ve been fine—“

“That’s not the point, Parker!” I basically hissed at him. He looked a little surprised that I was so upset. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down enough to not start shouting. “We were attacked by a water monster, I almost got shot, I didn’t sleep, and now four people in the world know what I can do, so give me some damn answers, because I sure as hell deserve them.”

Peter looked around, like he was looking for an escape, but I was ready. I might not have slept in almost 48 hours, but I wasn’t going to let him get away so easily.

Then Harrington was calling us over to the bus. Perfect timing.

“Can we talk on the bus?”

I nodded and let him lead the way to the back. Surprisingly we were the only ones that occupied those seats and the ones surrounding, but that’s what happens when you get a bunch of nerds in the same vehicle—they all sit in the front. He sat low in his seat, and I did the same, and I let him start the conversation. Prying it out of him wouldn’t be too successful, I figured, not with something like this.

We got fifteen minutes out of the city before he started talking. “Fury wanted me to go with him to meet this guy who defeated the Elemental yesterday.”

“Why you? And what’s an Elemental?”

“The water monster, it’s called an Elemental. And he asked me because I’m—I’m,” his voice dropped to an even lower whisper, “I’m Spider-Man.”

I almost didn’t believe him.

I almost burst out laughing at the hilarity of it all. Peter Parker, Spider-Man? Ridiculous.

But, remember, I learned from Toph Beifong. I can tell when people are lying.

And Peter?

Peter wasn’t lying.

Well, shit.

How do I even respond to something like that?

“Okay.” Good one. “Who was the other guy you met with?”

“You—you’re not surprised?”

Oh, young Parker, I was dumbfounded. But I had learned two years earlier how to control my heart rate, so he would never know how freaked out I actually was.

“You saw me stop a dart mid-air, Peter, you being Spider-Man is hardly out of the ordinary.”

He looked relieved, but he still hadn’t answered my question.

“Who was the other guy?”

“Oh. His name is Quentin Beck. He’s—“ another low whisper, “he’s from an alternate universe. He fought the Elementals before, and he and them got sucked into our universe when Tha—Hulk brought everyone back.” He didn’t look me in the eye when he talked about the snaps. I wouldn’t either, but I felt the little blip his heart made at the mention of Thanos’s name, so I didn’t push. Even though Quentin Beck and his story sounded like bullshit.

“Do you have a picture of him?” Peter looked at me skeptically, but hooked up his mask to his phone. A somewhat blurry picture of Quentin Beck popped up, and he sent it to me, but he didn’t seem happy about it. “I just want to know who to look out for. If I start chucking rocks at people, I don’t want to hit the wrong one.” The lie seemed to relax him a little bit. It wasn’t a complete lie, I did want to know who to look out for, but I also wanted to find this guy in our universe. “What’s the plan now?”

“They think another one will pop up in Prague—“

“Peter, we’re driving toward Prague. Shouldn’t we be going away from it?”

“I have to help fight this thing—“

“Let the Beck guy do it!” My voice had risen above a whisper and Peter quickly shushed me. “He’s done it before, he can do it again.”

“They need my help, I can—“

“Peter.” He kept muttering, convincing himself he needed to help, but I wasn’t having it. “You don’t have to save the world, Peter.”

That got him to shut up.

“Yes, I do.”

“No, you don’t. You don’t owe the world a goddamn thing.”

“Help me.” That got me to shut up. “Help me fight the Elemental.”

“Why the hell would I do that?”

“Because you’re one of the only people who can! The next one that’s coming, they’re pretty sure it’s the fire elemental, and any time it absorbs metal it can get stronger. You can help us beat it by keeping the metal away from it!”

Oh. He didn’t know I could do more than that.

“Peter, I — ”

“Please.” Peter Parker had the best puppy-dog eyes I had ever seen in my life. But I wasn’t convinced.

“I’m here for a school trip, Pete, not to save the world.”

It’s like I sucker punched him. He deflated immediately and looked away, and I got up and moved a few rows ahead.

I wasn’t opposed to helping, but I didn’t want to get near Quentin Beck until I had a full story on him. And that would take a lot of research and caffeine.

“Hey, Eugene.” We had stopped for a bathroom break and he was still using his phone to update his Instagram followers on all of the happenings on our way to Prague.

“Are you here to break my jaw again, Y/L/N?”

I looked at his face and didn’t see any swelling, barely any discoloration. “Nope, you’re healing nicely, I’m impressed. Do you have a hotspot?”

“Why do you think I have a hotspot?”

“Because you’ve been on your phone the entire trip.”

“What will you do for me if I let you on it?”

I rolled my eyes and groaned. Of course he would ask for a favor. “Anything. Within reason.”

“Can I cash in on the favor later?”

Goddamnit. “Sure, whatever.”

He laughed maniacally. “Okay, Flash Hotspot is the user, and spidermanrocks is the password, no spaces, no caps.”

“Really, Eugene, you went with that password?” I almost had to laugh. He would have an aneurysm if he knew who was really Spider-Man.

“What?”

“It’s a bit obvious, don’t you think?”

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. What were you doing with Parker?”

“Plotting the downfall of the European Union.” I let out a laugh. “We were talking about the water monster, and how there’s a light festival in Prague that’d be cool to go to.”

“Gonna go on a date with Penis Parker?”

“I was actually thinking about asking Brad.” That made Flash laugh, and I smiled myself. “But seriously, stop calling him that.”

“Whatever.”

Peter looked flustered as he got back on the bus, but I didn’t pry. But Brad looked awfully smug as he sat beside MJ. Focus, Y/N, you have to find Quentin Beck. I hunkered down in my seat and slipped my headphones over my ears, then logged onto Flash’s hotspot and got to work.

The number of illegal websites I went on was not something I’m willing to admit out loud, but I couldn’t find anything. Not a single facial-recognition scan showed any results for Quentin Beck, and I tried as many as I could get my hands on. But the more I looked at his face, the more I felt like I’d seen him before. And honestly, it was pissing me off.

I stared at the image on my phone, and I had a gut feeling it had to do with Tony Stark. This Beck guy was somehow connected to Stark. It’s like the answer was on the tip of my tongue. I rubbed my temples in frustration, wishing I could just reach into my memory and pull out the information when it hit me. “Memory, you’re so stupid, Y/N.”

Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, affectionately called B.A.R.F. was presented by Tony Stark at a lecture he did at MIT almost seven years ago. But this guy had released a paper about it six months before—a guy named Quentin Beck. I remembered reading about it for a school project, and the picture of the guy was the same person Peter met.

“There’s no way.”

I looked up the article, and sure enough, I was right. Quentin Beck was the scientist behind the technology, and he was an employee for Stark Industries when the article was published.

Great, now I had to break into Stark Industries and access their archives while on a hotspot provided by Eugene Thompson. Lucky for me, we pulled into the parking lot for our much improved hotel, which meant free wifi. Unlucky for me, Mr. Harrington now felt he needed to start bossing us around, considering he was the teacher. Which meant I had to put my investigations to the side. For now.

“Okay, kids, grab your room keys, same roommates as before. Meet back in the lobby at five o’clock for the light festival!”

MJ and I dragged our cases up to the third floor. We each chose a bed, but she was moody, more than her usual angst. But I didn’t have time to play therapist. “Did we get a wifi password?”

“Uh, yeah.” She passed over the card after logging in herself and sat on her bed, glancing back at me every ten seconds.

I was typing away madly, but her stares were making me uncomfortable. “Why are you staring?”

She looked away quickly. “I’m not staring.”

“You were totally staring.” I kept clicking and typing. “What?”

“What are you looking for? I know you stayed up all last night on your computer.”

To tell or not to tell, that is the question. Not a very hard one, but it’s still the question. This secret isn’t mine to make public, though. “I’m trying to prove someone wrong.”

“Who?”

I hesitated. “Peter.”

“Why do you need to prove him wrong?”

“Because he’s gotten his idyllic little hopes up and I want to squash them like a bug.” I glanced at her and smirked. “I’m kidding. I just don’t think he’s right about something, and I’m proving it.”

She nodded, not entirely convinced. “You’re coming to the light festival, right?”

I looked at her. Really looked at her. She was pulling her long sleeves over her wrists and switching her weight from foot to foot—uncomfortable as hell. I gave her a genuine smile and closed my computer. “Wouldn’t miss it. Wanna help me figure out what to wear?”

Friends come before saving the world any day.

tags: @eridanuswave @vampirestrawberries

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker series #peter parker oneshot #marvel #marvel comics #reader insert #peter parker x mj #ned leeds #michelle jones #flash thompson #spiderman far from home #mcu #spiderman #avengers

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monsterfucker-lisa-swallows · 4 years ago

Text

i was very internet savvy at a very young age (i guess you'd call it my only savant skill) but as much as i hate to admit it, some of my internet savvy came from having a stepdad who was a webhoster on the side so he was always very concerned that i would fuck up our one (1) family computer so he drilled internet safety into me. some of it i could disregard to a degree (any web safety thing aimed at kids that assumes that every person on the internet is a murderer is going to make the kids disregard everything you say, you need to teach kids how to differentiate the good from the bad and how to verify things and how to maintain your privacy), but a lot of it was actually really useful. the thing is that i was so web savvy that after taking my typing test in 5th grade, i tested so well on it that they waived my need for the computer class at all. which is good, because i know it would've been redundant for me, a person who learned to tell on sight which limewire downloads would give me viruses in early elementary school, but my worry is that a lot of kids are growing up right now with no parents who think to teach them web safety and schools that won't instill the proper methods. because it's not just "everyone is secretly a 40 year old man on the internet" because as a person with a long-term girlfriend who i met online 11 years ago, i can tell you that's not true. so i'm gonna try to outline basic web safety. feel free to add:

first of all, don't list absolutely everything about you in your bio on ANY website. i've always used a pseudonym, but if you don't want to do that use a nickname or your first name only. you don't need to list your age or any identifying information. this includes: birthdays, upcoming events, and current photographs. i know you're rolling your eyes, but if you insist on facebook or instagram, keep your accounts private. i'll make exceptions for cosplay because that's a removal of identifying features. you should know that any photograph you post online is used by facial recognition software and saved to a database (this includes facial recognition on your phone). and the reason i say not to list upcoming events on websites is because the more information you post about yourself to strangers, the more likely weird stalkers are to track you. they can find you off of the smallest details, and the more you give them the easier you make it

i'd discourage the use of google chrome. it was a great browser back when i was a teenager, but it tracks every movement you make and is partnering with real shady people who are using your data in shifty ways (this is also why i discourage facebook, as a person who left the site almost 10 years ago, but i digress). a lot of us are shifting back to firefox now because it's much more secure for our privacy.

invest in an adblocker. seriously, adblockers are free in a lot of cases. get one. become ungovernable. you probably also want a vpn while you're at it. if privacy reasons aren't good enough, you should know that they stop you from having to watch annoying ads AND unblock content on youtube/netflix that's restricted in your country

when an app requires permissions to use your location or show notifications, opt out. just don't do it. don't. be. trackable.

there are ways to get around paywalls and websites that refuse to let you use with an adblock. i can send you tutorials if you wanna know. you shouldn't have to pay for knowledge on the internet

if you're posting youtube videos, don't enable it to show your filming location under the video. it baffles me that this is a feature now. i keep seeing videos that say the location under them

don't tell strangers on the internet everything about yourself all at once. build trust with people you like on shared communities then after you're sure, you can start verifying people through zoom or whatever. never meet someone until you've verified them over webcam. always meet in a public place that's a good distance from where you actually live so they don't have a good stalking jumping off place if it doesn't go well. and don't send pics to anyone you haven't verified

i mean this for any reason, not just for nudes. no sending pics to anyone you haven't verified. you don't know what they're doing with them or where they might distribute them. if anyone tries to pressure you into pics, they're shady af

get a good antivirus if you're going to be downloading or torrenting. always download or torrent from reputable sources. if it looks shifty, don't do it. you do NOT want a virus on your computer. and i know "reputable sources" is a weird phrase for illegal torrenting but like...people who've been in the game for a while generally know the best websites that won't completely eat your computer

youtube to mp3 converters exist and can also rip full video files from youtube

back up all your files to external discs. don't trust things like google or a03 or even your computer to store your files indefinitely. one little glitch and they're all gone forever

if anyone you don't recognize sends you a link to ANYTHING don't click on it. we call that phishing and it's also a way of spreading viruses. you click and suddenly your computer is fucked and your passwords are stolen and in extreme cases your bank can be hacked. they switch up their tactics frequently, so just don't click on anything that looks weird

that's all i can think of, but there's definitely more

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marshmallowprotection · 5 years ago

Note

how would seven react if he had to find this other hacker, someone who's a legend and feared by everyone, even the government, only to find that they're a heavily introverted 13 year old with social anxiety who never leaves their apartment/basement/bunker? like, they get everything delivered outside their door and just... don't really interact with people? like.... how would he react?

Seven

He’s known to be one the best of the best.

It’s a title that comes after a lot of hard work and non-stop grinding to become better than anyone else in the room. It took him a few years to get to where he is and there’s hardly anyone that stands a league ahead of him. That is, until recent months, a new hacker came out of thin air and started to dominate web-spaces like it was candy.

Seven cannot believe it. This hacker is as good as him, or damn near better then he is. Whoever they are, they’re fast, concise, and they can rig a virus-like nobody else.

They tend to be using their power for the sake of pranks, or for others. Most of the time there are pages overrun by cat photos or petty memes that make the rest of the world laugh. They’ll ruin a website in minutes, for say a particularly popular company by revealing shady practices that were hidden in emails or out of plain sight.

They seem to have the power to call out anyone who isn’t being true to their word. It starts to get dangerous as the months go by and they get even more brazen. The government is on careful watch, and even Seven’s agency has to keep an eye out for this hacker because whoever they are, they have no alignment to anyone but themselves.

Seven doesn’t have anything against them, per se. He saw them singlehandedly help a group of foster kids by revealing the person overseeing them as a con. This hacker is always helping kids that don’t have anyone or those that don’t have a voice to defend themselves. It’s sweet in a sense.

They aren’t causing harm.

But, something that is so righteously good scares those in power in a bad way because they know someone has power on them that they shouldn’t have, and since he’s one of the recognized members in his agency, he’s the one sent to track them down and either take them down or get them to join the agency.

Seven has no choice but to obey those orders. Vanderwood won’t be long behind if he hesitates to get the job down. He really doesn’t want a taser on his ass. So, he makes a point of trying to locate where this hacker is staying in the world, and he’s surprised to find that they weren’t all that far from him.

It took a lot of grinding behind firewalls and VPNs, and other countless layers to get an address. There was a small window of time when they had their back turned, and that’s how Seven was able to find it. He set out not long after he found it because if they noticed Seven worming around their things, they would likely run.

Seven went straight to the address but he scoped it out from afar for a few days, nobody went in, and nobody came out. Things were often brought to the house but that was it. They would get pulled inside in the dead of night under the cover of the darkness so he couldn’t make out the figure of the hacker or whoever was staying with them.

Strange?

Well, not really.

Hackers are a strange bunch of people that really have a lot of quirks that nobody else has.

It takes some work, but he finds an opening to head inside the hacker's house once he’s certain that he’s learned their routine, he’s armed just in case but this is supposed to be a civil mission first and foremost, so it’s tucked out of sight.

He crawls in through a side window without making any noise, wandering around the apartment and trying to locate them, or learn more about them, much to his surprise, it’s a quiet apartment. It’s got all the telltale signs that someone lives there but there’s dust covering some of the furniture here and there.

There’s not a lot of life to be seen but there are photos of a family here. He can’t be certain when it was taken but there’s a young kid, and two parents in it.

“Must be one of the parents,” he mutters to himself.

Imagine his surprise when he enters the last room at the end of the hall and finds a teenager, no, literally a preteen, eyes deadset on their monitor and fingers clacking away against the keys with fever. He can’t help but gasp and that gives him away to the kid.

The kid jumps to their feet and stares at him with fearful eyes. It seems that they didn’t consider putting up cameras or anything to watch over their apartment, and hadn’t realized that someone had managed to find their way inside.

They seem to know that this isn’t just a home invasion by someone who wanted to take stuff.

“Am I in trouble? Who sent you? Where are you from?!” they asked, voice shaking alongside their knees, “I’d like to know if you’re just a burglar or somebody from one of the agencies that I pissed off? I knew it, I knew that I shouldn’t have gone into those databases--”

“Wow, wow, relax. I’m not going to do anything,” he quickly raises his hands above his head and steps back so that there’s plenty of space between the both of them. “I’m just here to find out who this notorious hacker is... are you... are you the hacker that’s been making so much trouble?”

They slowly, but surely, nod their head.

Well, that makes things a hell of a lot different and fast. He can’t believe that he’s been fighting a kid of all people and this kid is someone that lives all on their own. Their parents died a ways back and they’ve been fending for themselves here in this apartment. They don’t know how to handle the outside world so great anymore.

So, they started living their lives online. That allowed him to keep tinkering and playing around with programs and books until they were basically on par with him. They were bored and lonely. They had nothing better to do until one day they stumbled on a crack in a website, allowing them to backdoor into their information.

Once they saw something, they knew that they had to help others or else nobody else would.

It snowballed from that point.

Seven... felt really conflicted. They told him that he had no choice but to get rid of or recruit this hacker to the agency, but nope, no way in hell was he going to get a kid involved in this lifestyle. He had been there and as much relief as he felt to save his brother, he hated living this way and he wouldn’t wish it on anyone who had a choice.

He ignores those thoughts and starts thinking of a way to let his agency know that he had simply gotten rid of the hacker without actually doing it. Because hey, he’s not going to hurt a kid. He’s also not going to let them jump into this.

Nope.

No way.

This kid is scared, nervous, and afraid. They just wanted to help others that needed it. There was nothing wrong with that. He sees their pain and he seems himself in their eyes. He spends the rest of the night talking to the kid about his own experiences and how he discovered his love of technology and slowly but surely, they open up to him about their own circumstances.

It takes a bit of time, but they start to trust him.

Seven lies to his agency and to Vanderwood about what he did after he lives the kid in their apartment. They know how to fend for themselves so he does let them handle themselves for a period of time but he’s constantly checking up on them and making sure that they’re safe and sound from threats.

He does help them learn how to protect themselves and their apartment from outside threats. They’re a cautious kid, and they know that they need to be more careful and wary. Seven helps them become much better at what they’re doing but he does ask that they never lose that belief in their heart to be a good person with this power.

Although, the cat memes stay.

They got Jumin Han really good with those cat memes since Seven asked them if they could do it. Now, that was hilarious. Seven becomes a big brother figure to this kid, and he really cares for them a lot. He often does joke to the rest of the RFA that he's got a little stray that he takes care of often that’s to blame.

Nobody believes him.

He wants to protect them and he wants to make sure that they’re alright. He checks up on them every day and if anything feels weird, then he spends time talking to them and reassuring them of any of their fears that they may be having.

It’s actually six months after he meets the kid that the incident with Unknown happens and he starts speaking to the kid a little less often, and the kid reaches out to him in midst of the drama. They offer to help him track down the other hacker so he can focus on maintaining his systems, and while he hates to involve them, they really make things a lot easier for Seven.

It’s obvious that Seven is really struggling with his MC at the time too, and the kid is the one to tell him off for being a dumbass. It’s the first time that shy little kid is brazen enough to tell somebody off. They’re partially the reason that Seven gets off his high-horse and starts to open up to his MC in the apartment.

The kid is the reason that it doesn’t take Seven as long as to realize that he can care about others and make a difference. It’s okay for him to lean on others. Be it his MC, or the kid.

You know what, the kid probably reached out to the MC more than once during the experience but Seven doesn’t know about that because the kid asked MC not to say anything about it. Seven only figures that out when he gets a call from the kid after he and MC have made up and they blurt out if Seven has finally admitted that he likes MC.

“...I didn’t tell you about that, kid.”

“Oopsy daisy.”

“I told them, Seven. Don’t get angry at them because I don’t know when to stop talking!”

After Seven works everything out with his brother and he’s free from the agency, able to live with his brother in peace without worrying about fear or harm, the kid has no choice but to move in with Seven, Saeran, and MC. Neither MC nor Seven wanted them to live alone anymore because they didn’t have to do that anymore.

That kid had a family.

And it was apart of what Seven was building with MC.

So, MC and Seven basically adopt the kid and they move in with them all, and they get to have a family again. MC dotes on them, and Seven teases them. Even Saeran is really fond of the kid but he won’t outright admit it to anyone.

The RFA takes to the kid rather quickly too!

Yoosung is happy that he isn’t the youngest person anymore and he makes fast friends with the kid, becoming a mentor of sorts.

Zen promises to be a person they can turn to when they need advice but they should know that he’ll defend their honor.

Jaehee is a great role model for them who tries to remind them to take care of themselves.

Jumin finally knows who was sending him all those cat memes, honestly, he liked them and he and the kid have a hilarious banter about them now.

This once very young and nervous hacker now has a family all of their own thanks to Seven’s warm heart.

#anon #ask #kid hacker au #mod kait #mystic messenger #mysticmessenger #mysme #saeyoung choi #choi saeyoung #seven mm #mm seven #mysme seven #seven mysme #seven mystic messenger #mystic messenger seven #707

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darksunrising · 5 years ago

Text

Sola Gratia (10/?)

Masterlist

Rating / Warnings : Graphic descriptions of violence, Viewer discretion is advised (short paragraph)

Fandom : Bram Stoker’s Dracula, BBC’s Dracula, various Dracula and vampire lore.

Part 10/? (2730 words)

Author’s notes : Beware ! A Dracula-less chapter (-ish) ! I promise, he’ll be back soon, he really wants to go to that Renaissance fair... (Also yay, part 10 !)

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Mary Van Helsing.

I asked Leah if she hadn't made a mistake. She almost took offense. I sat back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. What ? How ? Van Helsing ? I mean, that could just be a freaky, freaky coincidence. I laughed nervously to myself.

“Hah, you gotta admit that's funny the Van Helsing kid wants to study the Balkanic middle ages”, Leah laughed. Ditto.

Seeing as I didn't reply, she asked if I felt alright. I took a deep breath.

“Leah, there's something I need to tell you.”

“Yeah, of course, what's- Oh, fuck.”

She turned back to her laptop, and started frantically typing, cursing under her breath as she did.

“Someone got my position. Jeez, whoever those guys are, they really don't want anyone finding out they exist !”

“What do you mean ?”

“I mean there's a very good chance we will have an unpleasant visit pretty soon.”

She sounded nervous, which was a strange color on her. She activated an emergency shutdown, and closed her computer, taking a moment sitting still, eyes staring into the void. She then stood up decidedly.

“We don't know who it was, could be nothing”, I tried to reassure her.

“Yeah well, not to boast or anything, but if they got through my defenses, I really don't wanna know. Listen, let's just crash at my place, there's a chance they pinged on the VPN and actually here.”

She was so determined, I didn't even think to contradict her. She left her laptop there, only taking her bike helmet. I grabbed my bag, and followed her out of my office. Even though she was tiny, I had trouble keeping up with her fast paces. As we sped through the corridors, I caught a glimpse of dirty hazelnut hair, and grabbed Leah's arm to take a hard right into another hallway. Felt like running into Helder right now wouldn't be the best turn of events. Plus, I was supposed to give a class he was attending, so, that.

“Thinking back exit ?”

“What else ?”

We kept half-jogging to the end of the corridor, turning a few curious heads on the way, pushed on a service door, and slipped outside. The sun blinded me a second, as we made our way to the parking lot. Leah dug her keys out of her pockets, and unlocked the pad on her motorcycle, cursing a few more times every time she ripped around the keyhole. She turned to give me her helmet, and stopped halfway, wincing. Ah.

“Eris Cetero and Leah Fox. I'm going to need you to come with us.”

A very sharply dressed woman was standing a few paces away, icy stare and tightly pulled dark hair. She looked composed, unyielding, and was flanked on both sides by two men built like wardrobes, poorly dissimulating a handgun under their suit jackets. Not the kind of person to try to run away from, then.

“Listen, we didn't mean any harm. We could all just forget it.”

Sometimes, her bluntness had some perks. She had moved over in front of me, her hand grasping mine.

“You are not in trouble. At least not with us”, the woman continued. “We thought we would wait more, but you forced our hand.”

“We have no idea what you're talking about”, Leah kept going, still on the defensive.

I said nothing, trying to keep a straight face.

“My name is Mary Van Helsing. I work in the Murray Institute for the Neutralization of Abnormalities. We have a lot to discuss, especially with you, Miss Cetero.”

Ah shit. Let's think about this rationally. There was no way I could escape that situation. I also didn't want Leah to get in trouble, and I started to see she was about to keep on going if I didn't do anything. I took a deep breath, which had her stop.

“Alright. We have crossed a line digging into things we shouldn't have. You are entitled to some explanations, and if you feel like this can't be done in a parking lot, so be it. Lead the way”, I declared, trying to be as calm and composed as I could.

I was met by a look of disbelief on Leah's face, and an emotionless nod from Mary, who turned on her heels without a word. Can't believe my incredible charm hadn't worked on her yet. Leah's hand softened, and I took a hold of it as we walked to the intimidating sedan waiting for us.

~ ~ ~

The ride took a bit longer than I thought. From the moment Leah started going deeper in her search, and the moment they arrived, it couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes, and yet, it took well over half an hour to get to our destination. Maybe they were already close, and we just got unlucky. Seemed about right.

We remained silent the whole car ride. You couldn't have hacked through the tension using a damn chainsaw, at this point. Leah and I held hands, so tight I saw her knuckles going white. She was shaking a little, and I hated myself for putting her through this. If only I weren't a nosy fucking idiot.

We arrived to a decrepit-looking building, most likely turn of the 19th century architecture. Above the entrance, the stone looked like it had been engraved, a while ago, but the script was almost completely worn out. Inside, the emptiness gave an echo to every step, the ground overrun with cables coming from other parts of the house. We kept on going straight forward, went down a slope, and arrived to a huge freight elevator. It made a shrieking noise as it went down for a while, so deep we might as well have gone straight down to hell. If you believe in that sort of thing.

The elevator shook as it stopped, opening on a surprisingly high-tech complex.

“Ladies, welcome to M.I.N.A.”, Mary told us as we stepped off.

The first room was a large hall, open on two more stories, visible through balconies, on which were plastered neon lights. In neatly aligned cubicles, employees worked on god knows what, piles of paper cluttering all desks, the intermittent sound of phones and the indistinct chatter of radio making the noise almost unbearable. Mary kept on walking, some people greeting her as she passed them, and giving Leah and I the strangest looks. Ooh, boy. That was about to be fun.

She opened large fire-breaking doors, and we went on a corridor, making a few turns. As I had learned by now, I memorized the turns. Right, left at the weird plant, another left at the water fountain. She opened a door for us, leaving us to enter before her. That looked awfully like an interrogation room, with one table at the center, and two uncomfortable chairs. The double sided-mirror occupying one of the walls was also a dead giveaway.

One of the guards stopped Leah as she went after me. As she protested, they told us they would explain the situation separately. If they actually knew anything, that might be the smarter option. I reassured her, smiling, and went into the interrogation room. One of the guards came with me, and closed the door, only to stand in a corner, silent. I dragged out a chair to sit, waiting for anything to happen.

“Not really talkative around here, huh ?”, I asked, knowing I wouldn't get an answer.

Moments later, Mary came back into the room, holding a few files, one distinctly bearing my name. It does something to your ego, to have your name on a secret society's secret case file, in their secret underground bunker. The woman sat on the other side of the table, leaning forward on her elbows.

“Miss Cetero, do you really have no idea why you're here ?”, she asked.

Of course I know why I'm here. You know I know. You saw me try to fly into the wind with my partner in crime as soon as we knew you found us. I just had to put my best performance on. Tremble, Hollywood.

“Well, we did hack into some pretty secure servers to get information that we weren't supposed to get”, I told her, and shrugged. “That seems pretty clear to me.”

“There's that, but I want to talk about something else.”

Her face was completely unfeeling, yet her voice was soft, a bit too maternal for my tastes. I had a little smile, encouraging her to talk. There was no risk if I wasn't talking.

“Do you believe at all in the, quote-unquote, supernatural ?”

If she kept talking to me like I was a particularly simple child, I'd show her something supernatural pretty damn soon. I worked to keep down the wave of righteous anger crashing against the insides of my chest.

“Do you mean... ghosts ?”, I ventured.

“Among others. I'm talking more specifically about vampires.”

Her eyes were gleaming behind the rectangles of her glasses. I didn't react, other than a little laugh. Alright, keep it up, play dumb.

“Vampires ? Come on, is this a joke ? Did Leah put you up to this ?”, I giggled.

Not that dumb, fuck's sake. Nobody was this stupid. I actually wanted to kill myself. I was so in character my voice went up an octave all on its own. Repressing a shiver, I kept on smiling like a brainless fish.

“I'm afraid I'm dead serious. As... Phantasmagorical as it may seem, such creatures exist, and we believe you, and your friend, may be in grave danger.”

Well, that seemed to actually work pretty well. Not really trying to think of the reasons why I had so little trouble passing as brain-dead, I had a nervous laughter, and kept going.

“Do I have to look around for a man in a black cape next time I leave my building, Mrs. Van Helsing ?”

“Doctor Van Helsing, actually. And rather, you should look around for the man you know as professor Vlad Balaur.”

Ah, direct, I see.

“I'm not sure I get your meaning.”

“We have good reasons to think Vlad Balaur is a vampire, trying to pass himself up as Vlad Dracula Tepes, a character you of all people know well.”

I didn't say anything, but my heart sank to my stomach.

“In what I will tell you, I want you to assume everything I say is true”, she started, leaning back. “In 1896, a team made up from Jonathan Harker, Quincey Morris, Mina Murray-Harker, and Abraham Van Helsing, put an end to the reign of terror of the vampire known as Dracula. It seemed he was no other than Vlad Tepes, the Impaler, who supposedly had, quote-unquote, “died” during the 15th century. At his return to London, he decided to create this institution, to be certain that should such a horrific event happen again, people would have the knowledge and resources to deal with it.”

She took a pause, gauging my reaction. I tried to keep my innocent façade, but has strictly no idea wether she could tell I was faking. The feeling of dread creeping its way into my mind didn't help either.

“Bram Stoker was an accomplice to the whole ordeal, and published his book, which was explicitly branded as fiction. You know the rest, concerning the sometimes questionable turn of the theme into popular culture. However, vampires, among other numerous creatures, are still a threat on humanity today. And a lot of them take inspiration from ancient figures, like Count Dracula. This would not be the first time one of them fashioned himself the Dark Prince Returned.”

“I'm sorry”, I interrupted, “But how can you expect me to believe any of that ? Do you even have any proof ?”

I tried to keep my panic out of my tone. I didn't want to believe it, but what if she was right ? She couldn't be, right ? He knew so much about everything, and... I tried to calm myself down. Just need to get through this, I'll talk this out with the man himself. All would be well.

“Even if you were right, even if professor Balaur was a vampire”, I began as she only kept staring at me. “He never tried to hurt me, or had any reprehensible behavior toward me or Leah. Why would I need to be worried ?”

She looked at me for what seemed like hours, and finally pulled a file from her pile, and slid it towards me. She then sat back, and lit a cigarette. She offered one, and I declined politely, asking what was in the file.

“All around the city, for the last month, we had a count of twenty-four murders”, she declared. “Look at the pictures, and you tell me what kind of person could have done this.”

Shaking a bit, I opened the file, and instantly had to put a hand over my mouth. You can watch hours and hours of horror movies, and never get used to anything like that. Everything was red. Seeping into the fabrics, clothing, mattresses, drapes. Splattered on the walls, dripping from the ceilings. Body parts, bent in impossible angles, flesh frayed, shredded in long clawing marks, leaving the internal organs and their contents spilling out of the deformed corpses. Throats. Open. So torn apart it just looked like a bundle of rubber tubes. On one of the victim's descriptive notes, I glimpsed the word “pregnant”. I closed my eyes, looking away. There were hundreds. Mary offered again, and I took the cigarette. I closed the case file, taking a long drag.

“What happened in Romania, Miss Cetero ?”, she asked, a bit more softly.

I raised my head to meet her gaze. “I... Nothing happened. I- I visited some museums, hiked a little, why do you ask ?”

My eyes welled up with tears, and keeping on a neutral smile was a physical effort at this point. I kept seeing flashes of teeth, the horse, inside out, bled dry.

“We believe he might come from there, which is why he would identify with Dracula. He could have taken a liking to you there, and followed you here.”

“I think I would remember an encounter with something that does... that does this on a daily basis”, I snapped, fighting through tears. That couldn't be right. It couldn't.

“Your memory could have been wiped. It's not uncommon, once again.”

I started to feel dizzy. Maybe it was the cigarette. I didn't smoke very often, so that was probably that, right ? I must have remained silent a while, because Mary leaned forward, putting back the file on the pile.

“Listen, I will make this as clear as possible”, she snapped. “If we are to stop this creature, we need your full support. For some reason, he trusts you more than most. You cannot tell him about your knowledge of this place.”

She slid a card across the table.

“If you are ever in danger, or need any information, call us. We will call you if necessary.”

She put out her cigarette on a portable ashtray, and I did the same, mechanically.

“What did you tell Leah ?”, I asked.

“Nothing more than she needs to know, which does not include anything about Vlad Balaur. We think the less people know, the safer it is.”

I nodded, and slipped the card into my pocket. Nothing about this felt safe, or right, or anything but confusing, and nauseating. They escorted me out, and I still felt engulfed in cotton, everything muted, even when Leah nearly jumped into my arms as I got out. I barely realized I walked, or the time spent in the car, until they dropped me off at home.

I dragged myself to my apartment, and went straight to bed, half expecting to see him there, on the balcony. Instead, I found a note. I opened the window, and took the folded sheet of paper. The same he used back in Romania, and the same fine, elegant handwriting. It was weighed down with a polished rock, which I noticed, upon further inspection, contained a multitude of little fossils.

I have heard historians like old things, here is one.

For another, I will be back soon.

All my love,

Vlad.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Taglist : @carydorse @angelicdestieldemon @bloodhon3yx @thewondernanazombie @battocar @moony691 @mjlock @thebeautyofdisorder @festering-queen @paracosmfantasy @my-fanfic-library

#sola gratia #sola gratia part 10 #dracula #bram stoker's dracula #dracula netflix #dracula bbc #dracula castlevania #dracula x human #dracula x reader #dracula x oc #vampire x human #slow burn #enemies to friends to lovers #enemies to lovers #romance #fanfiction #fanfic #dracula fanfic

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dandelliongirl · 5 years ago

Text

What a start

to 2020

I have been working from home since the afternoon of the 16th of March and it feels like forever. I am so glad this week is Easter weekend and a 4 day vacation.

My family has been healthy and life for me hasn't changed that much other than working from home. My friend who lives across the street got a Nintendo Switch and Animal Crossing New Horizons for herself but she doesn't have Nintendo Online membership yet so we have been spending a lot of time together. Besides her and my family I have no other contacts. My friend works at the central hospital though, so it's obviously risky and probably stupid... She came to our cottage a couple of weeks ago and we had the best time going on a forest walk to collect sticks for macrame tapestries and finding photoshoot locations and spending the evening going to sauna, playing ACNH and visiting each others islands to see a meteor shower. We are planning a photoshoot for easter weekend but I think I’m going to move it to a later date. I really need time with my family and by myself after almost 3 weeks of being shut in.

I am so glad we have our cottage and I feel awful for people in one room apartments right now. Spending all my working hours and freetime within a few steps definitely affects my mental state even though I am definitely a homebody. Working from home has been going really well though since I have my own PC with two monitors and my work laptop with VPN separately. I am definitely super glad to have a stable job and the possibility to work from home through this whole covid-19 business. I really struggle coming up with local entrepreneurs to support when there are so many but I definitely feel like I have to because I am lucky enough to have a stable income.

So buying ACNH was an ordeal. My local electronics store didn't list the special edition Switch console bundle until launch day (March 20th) and the place I preordered from didn't get the shipment until 5pm. We drove about 2 hours and started off before 8 am to get the console and game from a different store only to see that it was stocked locally right after opening. Anyway I got the game and it has been an emotional journey. I hate that I got oranges and an orange airport. I'm also not very happy with my town name or my character name but despite spending months making lists and thinking about it I didn't really have better options. I also didn't want to place down the museum before I could access the other side of the river but turns out I needed to place it in order to proceed and lost one day of progress because of it. I was so upset. The map is pretty good and I eventually grew to like my island but then I got Pietro as my first camper and was forced to move him in.. I also ate 10 turnips this Sunday and was absolutely fuming because of it. The first week of listening to the same background music was also an infuriating design choice as well as the recent barrage of bunny day eggs everywhere. Anyway overall I like the game and have spent awesome times with friends playing hide and seek, doing treasure hunts and designing and decorating the place. I'm taking it easy and going my own pace even if it means avoiding spoilers (even from my boyfriend who constantly spoils something because he’s too excited to keep his mouth shut!) like the plague.

Mum and dad had the rest of their house renovated during March since the bedrooms were renovated a few years ago. Me and mum spent so much time choosing the materials and planning the new layout of the kitchen and living room but it's so beautiful now! So open and light and airy and clean!

This whole covid isolation thing has really put all of my personal goals on hold. I feel like even though externally I haven't been affected too much the whole mental side of it has taken a toll. With no hobbies me and my guy are both constantly at home and even though I love it and we have a lot of fun together I also hadn't realised how much I relied on my couple of hours of weekly alone time to work on my crafts and baking and organising the house. I feel like the first 2 weeks were spent on survival mode and then ACNH took up all remaining free time and brain capacity as a form of escapism so I'm not getting anything done and that's eating me up. Also the lack of physical activity is taking a mental toll on both me and my boyfriend since we don't have a whole lot of room and I definitely don't feel like working out when he's just haning out on the couch in front of me.. I have also had a lot of restless nights and nightmares which tells me that I'm not as unaffected as I think I am. I have definitely been avoiding the news and trying to get into some new normal routines as fast as possible. I drafted this message while in a Teams meeting where our coordinators can do their own year and resource planning and ask me tech questions when they need help. Now I’m finishing and posting this before I start the next one. I don’t want to accidentally screenshare Tumblr..

My last post was from January 19th and since then we've had a fun birthday party for my high school friend on the 22nd, a brunch at and a visit to the future wedding venue for another friend on the 23rd, an adorable photoshoot with a big teddy bear on the 29th of January, sushi with my family on the 6th of March and this whole covid situation. My colleague with whom I had a lot of issues moved away and no longer works with us. Work without her has been great and I have been thriving. I love feeling important and needed, and it gives me hope for my future since my current contract ends at the end of this year. There are 5 of us in our team looking to get a permanent contract for one of the 2 open positions so we'll have to see what happens, but I'm definitely applying anyway.

Mum is on vacation this week and went to take food to granny and grandpa's door on Monday. Today (Wednesday) I plan on leaving work early and going to the cottage, and to work remotely from there on Thursday if I have no meetings that require a more stable Internet connection. Since the kitchen renovation and a relatively warm and snowless winter we got to start our cottage season early this year. My guy is also spending Easter with his family at their cottage. It's his 27th birthday next week! We are really bad at socially distancing ourselves from our families but apart from my friend those are the only connections we have.. My spring allergies started and it's definitely hard to know if I have flu symptoms or allergies but so far I've just felt sniffly and it helps after I take my allergy meds so I think I'm safe. If either of us or any of our loved ones got flu symptoms we would definitely stay home and we are well prepared for that.

In a few months once this whole thing calms down this will feel like such a weird alternative timeline or fever dream and it will seem very unreal that a disease drove us into global and local isolation of this scale where even schools were closed. Our capital is quarantined and the police are making sure people who cross the border have a valid reason to do so.. People are placing teddy bears and other stuffed animals to their windows for children to spot on their walks outside.. Wild.

Meanwhile I'll go back to playing ACNH, dreaming of summer and finding my new norms. I hope everyone stays safe and healthy! I’m trying to get the most out of my time working from home because it means I can do embroidery and other crafts during meetings.:)

#personal #diary #April2020

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