#How to move from india to Australia

[migration-agents-australia]

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[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

south africa but i've never been there also i'm drinking

HELLO MAGGOTS this is the good omens mascot here hello hello. my psychiatrist just spent today telling me how I won't be able to be out in college when it starts in May and I'll be misgendered etc etc it's all a good time. So my solution:

My darling cousin @imchronicallyonlinesowhat (the one who thought Sir Terry Pratchett looked like Sudha Murthy, was a kindly old woman and was married to Neil Gaiman because their book cover fonts were similar, OG maggots know the PAIN) who lives in South Africa asked me to make a South Africa post. FYI, she's moving to Australia for college, so you can be assured I shared my Australia posts with her she is SO prepared she won't say marmite instead of vegemite and she knows the Wibbles are inherently sexual. SOUTH AFRICA (I've only had a teeny weeny bit of cheap ass wine so far):

There a lot of white people there it's ineffable. There are enough of them there that my cousin regularly talks about not ever marrying someone who doesn't have some masala.

Afrikaans is a gorgeous language. I thought my cousin was showing me her Afrikaans notes once. She wasn't. It was her English notes, she just has the most illegible yet neat handwriting in the world.

They don't say yo but they say YOH and it sounds very much like a bass drum.

People at my cousin's school pump their hands in the air while saying jesus-jesus.

There's a trio of white boys that rule the school kind of like a genderswapped mean girls. They all look the same haircut-wise, they're Catholic and they're called the Triumvirate.

I'm realising here that my knowledge of South Africa is limited to cuzzy's school. But the wine is shit and I promised my blood-relative so I am continuing.

The books are fucking expensive and so everyone has to pirate shit. This sounds like the US.

Everyone is TALL. Like VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY TALL. The standard of height is insanely different from India. TALL.

If you don't have a last name you're going to get into legal trouble.

The no hat no play rule applies here as well as Australia apparently.

The wine cost like 2.5 dollars in USD if my conversion rates are correct, it smells like battery acid and tastes of rotted grapes. Nothing to do with South Africa, it's just that I cannot remember a single other thing about South Africa other than it's a country in Africa that's presumably in the South.

My braincells are already frying. For my cousin's sake, I'm going to compile all my Australia posts here so that she knows what to expect! Australian maggots your continent is about to be graced with the Good Omens Mascot bloodline. Notably the one with the Sudha Murthy fuck up so that's doubly fun. @howmanyholesinswisscheese, @im-a-sentient-magic-carpet, @madfangirlontheloose @obsessed-sketches @drconstellation and any other Aussie maggots be prepared and welcome her.

Toot Toot Chugga Chugga by the Wiggles is an Ineffable Husbands Song

Deaths in Australia in 2015, an ask

VEGEMITE IS NOT MARMITE, another passionate ask

Pt I Australia but I've never been there

Pt II Australia but I've never been there

Oh I hate cheap wine. @imchronicallyonlinesowhat I hope you appreciate this, blood of mine. I'm such a great cousin.

[sea-owl]

Oh no sorry not the isekai AU. The AU where due to circumstances each of the Bridgerton’s lost their loves. An example I think Daphne lost Simon because she was too late to the dual and Anthony shot him in the shoulder. Simon left the country after that. All the Bridgerton’s lost their partners in similar ways (Anthony married Edwina and Kate left to go back to India, Penelope vanished after Colin found out she was Lady Whistledown etc.). Then somehow the siblings traveled back in time to Daphne’s entrance to society. I was thinking what if instead of keeping a cool head about everything and thinking about how they are going to approach their true loves slowly instead the siblings just snap.

I'm so sorry anon but I really don't know which au this is. It sounds like a good au, but if I wrote it out I can't find it. I have the vaguest guess but im unsure if it was one of mine or someone else's, but I have the vaguest memory of an ask that included a part that said Simon gifting Daphne a piece of jewelry that was actually an heirloom passed down to all Duchesses of Hastings before he left England but she was getting married to the prince instead. Again I don't know if that one was mine or someone else's, I feel like it might be @thekatebridgerton but I'm not 100% sure.

But we can start a new one!

So let's start with the bad endings.

Saphne: For this one I'm thinking the duel happened just a bit earlier. Anthony and Benedict knew that Daphne would go to Colin to get any information so they purposely gave him the wrong time for the duel. This led to Daphne arriving after Simon losing the duel and getting shot in the shoulder. Daphne tried to chase after him but her brothers dragged her home instead. Per their agreement Simon left the country after that. Daphne did end up getting married to the prince but she was never truly happy in that marriage, she was content at best with a few moment of happiness with her children here and there. She never did fall in love with the prince, and moving so far from her family did make things harder at times but like most things in her life Daphne learned to adapt to the cards that were handed to her.

Kathony: Anthony and Kate could never let themselves stop putting duty first. Anthony could also never get over his fear of dying young. In the end Anthony had married Edwina and Kate had left back to India. During their marriage Edwina and Anthony were cordial at best but when Edwina heard of her sister leaving a part of her blamed herself and another part blamed Anthony. They both did their duty and had one son, but after that they both came to an agreement where they would find pleasure and possibly happiness outside the marriage. So long as they were discreet. Edwina had met her true love in one scholarly Mr. Bagwell who she would later remarry once she was widowed. Anthony threw himself even further into the role as the viscount, though there were times he would look while ridding to see if a familiar rider would appear out of the mist just like she did all those years ago. Kate on her side did return to India and cut contact from her family. She bounced around from governess job to governess job, keeping herself busy so she does not dwell on thoughts of the past, and people she loves but would prefer not to remember for her own emotional sake.

Benophie: The news of Sophie's arrest had been brought to Benedict's attention later that day. Had he been a little bit faster, or had the news got to him just a little bit sooner, he would have been there when Posy took the blame for the item Sophie was said to have stolen. Araminta, who was losing control over both Sophie and Posy did not like that and both ended up getting sent to Australia where they stayed after their sentence was done. While they could have gone back to England if they raised the money for it neither wanted to risk facing Araminta again. They ended up changing their names when starting over. Benedict always kept a close eye on any news of former convicts returning to England. Praying any of them will lead him back to Sophie.

Polin: Things were getting heated on both sides of Penelope's life. The hunt for Lady Whistledown continued, becoming even more intense. More guards were haunting the print shop where she used to go, and she has heard more than one whisper of spies keeping eyes out in ballrooms. Meanwhile as Penelope someone had found out about her Irish Catholic heritage from Portia's side. Prudence and Philippa were spared due to them being married already and Felicity was still young enough they could hide her away until it blew over but Penelope and Portia took the hardest blow. Despite the fact that Portia converted years ago for her survival and Penelope was never raised catholic. To be honest she should not have been that surprised when Colin finally caught her in that church, dressed as a maid. They argued, screamed at one another, which turned into a very intense kiss. After Colin said he needed to think. Penelope had thought he hated her now and surely he would turn her in? Colin legit just needed a moment to think, he was given a lot of information in one day, and he was already protective over Penelope when news other family broke out, now it was just intensified. He was going to propose marriage the next day. What Colin did not know that the column Penelope was going to send out would be her last one. She later disappeared into the night, and he spent years looking all over the world for her, chasing down any lead, not knowing that she had hidden herself away in America.

Philoise: After her conversation with Anthony, Eloise lets her fear of commitment win and decides to return to London without marrying. Phillip takes the rejection gracefully, quoting that he did invite her to see if they suit. They did not, and he was not going to push her. Eloise's heart broke, though, when the twins asked why she was leaving tears in their eyes. In London, life continued on, Eloise found things to occupy her time, movements that she wanted to help move forward, and while she enjoyed pushing for change, she still felt her life was rafher lonely. She was never truly happy in London, never was, and often found herself itching to run just like when she was younger. Then, one day, many years later, during a society event, she would rather not be at a Sir Crane was announced. Eloise was taken aback because her Sir Crane wouldn't be caught dead in London. And it wasn't her Sir Crane, rather it the son of her Sir Crane. Oliver didn't say much to Eloise but did stop by to call on her the next day. He gave her a bouquet of medow cranesbill. "A final gift from my father," Oliver told her.

Franchael: After the death of John, both Francesca and Michael had mental breakdowns. All Michael could think to do was run while Francesca dug her heels in at Kilmartin estate and kept it running. When they reunited years later, both refused to talk about John and what happened to their friendship, despite the fact that's what they needed to do. Being reunited, Francesca became aware of this sexual tension that has been simmering between her and Michael. Still upset that her husband and unborn child were taken from her, she found herself wanting to walk down a wicked path. Well widows are more ignored by society so why doesn't she have some fun? She falls into bed with Michael. They still don't talk. Not only is Francesca discovering her physical intrest in Michael but some feelings she rather ignore are emerging too. They still don't talk. Francesca discovers that Michael has malaria and has attacks from it every so often. They still won't talk. One of these attacks ends up taking Michael's life and Francesca ends up right back where she was all those years ago. The man she loves is dead and she's pregnant. Only this time Francesca has to hide away, but her baby makes it. Thanks to Janet and Helen they organize papers so the boy is considered legitimate and the new earl of Kilmartin. Francesca loves her son sometimes she wishes his father were there so she could tell him she loved him too.

All the siblings have regrets in their lives by the time they pass on. None of them ever really found that love match Violet used to describe what she had with Edmund. Oh, they had their great loves, despite how fleeting they were. Some did marry, some chose to remain unwed. But none of them expected to wake up on their past selves bodies. After poking around they discovered the year is 1813, Daphne is in her on third year in the marriage mart and the Duke of Hastings has just passed, leaving his title to his only son.

Several thoughts hit at once.

Simon was due to return to England soon. Kate would follow a year later. Sophie was currently trapped with Araminta. Penelope was debuting this year. Phillip was currently at Cambridge. Michael was in the army.

Their loves were so close. They lost them once but never again.

[sanaxo-o]

Brought The Heat Back (Kim Sunwoo)

Too @from-izzy : happiest birthday to my flower, my honey bee, the Sunwoo to my Chanhee <3 it’s been like almost a year since we knew each other??? Can you believe it 😭. We got so close so quickly that it’s crazy. Me calling you while walking back home and giving you a tour as I yap and you just sitting there and listening to me might be one of the best things we do 😼. Thank you for always being there for me when I needed to talk with someone the most 💗. You might be the only mutual who knows the most about me and it’s kind of crazy how our first conversation started with me flirting with you but I guess that’s my charm lol. Will always listen to you deny your feelings for Sunwoo but it’s okay since it’s you. Honestly I’d do anything to never lose our friendship which we built over the year and it’s just so pretty. Anyways, I’d never come to Australia since it’s pretty scary there but you’re always welcome to come to India 🥰. With that being said, I hope we always continue bickering, nagging each other over things and what not. And no, I will never stop sending you hot pics of Sunwoo 🧍‍♀️. With that being said, happy birthday to you my flower and I hope you like this little something I prepared. I swear I will try my best to publish watch it in October if it doesn’t come out in September (I really don’t think it will ever come out tho…) 🥰. I do hope you understand the small references I added in here bitch 👹. Was honestly so hard keeping this a secret :( Love you and have a great day (and years ahead) (plz stop overworking and stressing yourself out too much and start sleeping on time…)

Warnings/Genre: from friends to strangers to lovers to sum it up, jealous Sunwoo in a good way, fluff, angst ig, kissing scenes, mildly suggestive (wow finally my debut??), Sunwoo gets drunk, Eric being the bestie everyone deserves, cursing ig? I don’t remember honestly, Sunwoo and the reader are both stupid honestly. Idk what else comes here so yeah…tell me if I have to add more

Sana: so I wrote this like last month but had to wait a whole month because I wanted to publish it on Izzy’s birthday. A huge thanks to @deobienthusiast @winterchimez @mosviqu and @itsbeeble for beta reading it and giving me countless compliments 🫶🏻. I honestly loved writing this so I hope you guys enjoy reading it just as much!

Word Count: 4,943

Taglist: @deoboyznet @kimsohn @a-dream-bookmark @cloverdaisies @quaissants @loserlvrss @bella-feed

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Clenching his fist tightly Sunwoo couldn’t help but let out a scoff unknowingly when he saw you flirting with that same guy again. 

It might have been a few weeks since summer break ended but Sunwoo didn’t expect for you to already move on from whatever the two of you had. 

It wasn’t like you both were dating per se. You weren’t but it wasn’t even like you both were just friends. 

I mean from what he knows friends don’t kiss each other, nor do they make out in the summer heat with their fingers intertwined with one another. 

It was like it was yesterday when the two of you were ‘dating’ and while it lasted it was nothing but a safe space of heaven for Sunwoo. 

He was never someone to take a person seriously but with you, it felt different. It was as if you were the one for him the moment the two of you decided to hang out together in summer. 

The way you ditched your friends at the party because he was sitting outside alone. No one had ever done that for him, even though it was just to keep him company Sunwoo still felt his heart swell with content as he listened to you ramble on and on about some plushies you had at your old house in Australia. 

At that very moment Sunwoo had that sudden urge to show you around the town, I mean you were new in the area. You probably didn’t know the most shortcuts so it was kind of his responsibility (it wasn’t) to show you around, no? 

“Do you wanna go for a walk?” He whispers softly as he extends his hand towards you waiting for you to take it. 

Sunwoo could feel his heart racing at an abnormal rate as he waited for your response. The longer you took to answer the more he felt like it was a stupid idea. 

I mean who in the sane mind would walk around a town at night with someone they barely know? 

“Uh sure I guess?” Sunwoo hears your small mumble as you flash him a nervous smile. 

Maybe you were insane enough to do just what he had in mind. 

Heaving out a low chuckle Sunwoo slowly wraps his fingers around yours as he pulls you up from the floor. 

“So why did you come to this town? I mean it’s summer break..” Sunwoo asks as he walks beside you on the empty road. 

“Oh I came here on a scholarship. I wanted to explore more in the summer break and maybe if I like it here I can study here for this semester. That’s what I had in mind so far.” Unknowingly Sunwoo’s eyes light up when he hears your consideration on staying here for the whole semester. 

Maybe it was just because he never had met someone like you but your vibes were just so different from the girls he normally hung out with. 

With others he never felt like he could truly be himself but with you it just felt like he was free. 

Call him crazy for feeling this was about a girl he just met but that was just how he felt and somehow this new feeling was making him feel alive more than anything. 

“Dude why the hell are you staring at Y/N like a creep?” Snapping back to reality Sunwoo throws a glare at Eric as he diverts his attention back to the now you who was just flirting with Hyunjae. 

Seeing you getting all touchy with someone other than him made him feel like punching someone.  

Now that’s something he never felt before because why would he ever feel like punching the guy just because you were flirting with him? It’s not like you guys were dating before for him to feel that way. 

Then why? The more he stared at you smiling at someone who was not him just made him lose his patience. 

If someone said that punching someone without getting in trouble was allowed then he’d waste no time in doing just that because his patience was running too thin for him to control it longer. 

Looking away Sunwoo sighed as he closed his locker with a thud. He knew that if he looked at you for any longer than he might just lose his patience and he did not want to create a scene. 

It’s not his fault he’s feeling that way. It’s just that you have the ability to make anyone want to talk with you more and more. He’s only admitting that because he felt it when you decided to strike a conversation with him for the first time. 

If it was anyone else he would have just rolled his eyes and walked away but when he saw it was you he felt that feeling of getting to know you more. 

The curiosity of knowing you better and spending time with you was bigger than anything else and now seeing you standing there with Hyunjae just made him go crazy. I mean, why were you even flirting with other guys when he was right there? 

“If you’re wondering why you got ditched like that then it’s totally your fault.” Sunwoo hears Eric’s voice say from beside him as he does nothing to deny it. 

He himself knows that you’re ignoring his whole existence and presence because he was the first one to do so. 

He didn’t want to ignore you but he was just scared of hurting you by doing something which wasn’t supposed to be done. He was scared that if he let the relationship you had escalate further, something wrong would happen along the way and he would lose you. 

He did feel like he was gonna commit to it for real this time but then maybe overthinking about making a mistake in the future led him to distance himself with you and now he is the one who has to see you with some other guys who’s not him. 

It’s a weird feeling he’s having but somehow he’s envious of Hyunjae because he gets to be close with you and hear your laugh everyday unlike him who was even scared to approach you now. 

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“Can I ask one thing?” Eric asks Sunwoo who had just entered the classroom and was placing his stuff down. 

“What now?” Sunwoo asks in an annoyed voice as he flashes a glare at Eric and diverts his attention back at you, who was busy talking with that guy again. 

He couldn’t believe you would just ignore his whole existence as if that night didn’t almost take place. 

“No need to get annoyed at me..” Eric mumbles as he heaves out a sigh when he notices Sunwoo’s longing stare at your figure again. 

Eric admits that he has never seen his best friend be this jealous over a certain girl. Now if Eric decided to confront Sunwoo about his jealousy over you then he’d deny it for sure and he didn’t want to argue with his stubborn ass again. 

“You both were talking when the semester started. Why did you cut ties suddenly?” Hearing Eric’s question Sunwoo stiffens in his seat as he remembers the events that took place the night before you both stopped interacting with each other completely. 

Covering his eyes with his hands Sunwoo takes in a deep breath as he tries to get his thoughts straight before answering Eric’s question. 

-x- 

Sunwoo POV 

My ears perk up when I suddenly hear the doorbell ringing. Looking up at the clock I tilt my head in confusion as I see the hands indicating that it was 11 o’clock. 

Why would anyone come over at this hour? I stand up with shaky legs as I grab the pan from the kitchen and take slow and steady steps towards the door. 

Opening the peephole I furrow my eyebrows when I see you standing outside with just a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. 

I let out a yelp when you throw yourself at me the moment I open the door. 

“Hey hey, what’s wro-” I widen my eyes when you kiss me without letting me even complete my sentence fully. 

It’s as if someone had turned the gears in my mind as I immediately sink my lips with yours. The way your tongue was battling with mine to prove dominance was something I had never experienced with you before. 

I snake my hands at the small of your back as I lead you towards my bedroom. Opening the door I push you against the wall as I caress your cheek with my free hand while the other plays with the loose strands of your hair. 

I pull away from the kiss slowly when I feel your hands tapping against my chest. 

I feel a small smile creep up my face when I realise that for once I wasn’t scared of what was going to happen next and I was fully on board with whatever thought you had at the moment. 

“I…were we about to..?” I feel my heart sink when I hear you ask that question. Wait…did you not want it? Was I going too fast? Was I pushing you into doing something you didn’t want? 

“Uh…I don't know. Did you not have the same thing in mind?” I questioned back, as my voice came out shakier than I intended it to be. 

“No..no it’s not that..” I take a step back when you say that, too afraid to hurt you by any chance, “Fuck..I just had a lot in my mind and I didn’t know what I was thinking..” 

My eyes widen when you say that. Worry and concern immediately coming across my face as I reach out to comfort you but retract my hand back when you back away from me. 

“You know what…forget..forget this ever happened. I should go..” I take a step forward to stop you. To tell you that I am there for you to listen to your problems but I didn’t have the guts in me to do so. 

Not after what just happened. What if you were uncomfortable by being around me? That can’t happen though…we always had our own way with our conversations. 

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear my front door close with a thud. It was as if the moment I closed my eyes, your smiling face would flash in my mind. 

From that moment on, I decided that I would distance myself from you. I cannot imagine losing someone like you over something so small…

What if you guys go on a date and get in a relationship? You’re bound to break up and then that break up would lead to you cutting off ties with him. 

And if he does that first then he doesn’t have to worry about you getting hurt more, right? It doesn’t make sense he knows but the way the events turned out at the moment isn’t really letting him think clearly. 

-x- 

“Did Y/N try to approach you the next day?” I look up at Eric when I hear his question. 

I let my pencil slip from my hands as I stopped scribbling around on the book. 

“She did but I may have ignored her…” I mumbled quietly as I shared a look with Eric. I could see his eyes flash a tiny bit of disappointment but he shakes his head and looks ahead at the professor again. 

“Why can’t you just talk it out with her? I am sure she has an explanation for whatever happened and why she stormed out that night.” I look up thoughtfully at his suggestion but quickly shake my head as I ponder on that thought more. 

“Why not?” Eric asks in confusion as he continues staring at me, waiting for my reply but all he got in return was my silence as I slowly diverted my attention back at you. 

I mess my hair up as I feel that weird feeling back at the pit of my stomach. I felt like I was going crazy the more I stared at you smiling so sweetly at hyunjae. It should be me instead of him. 

“WHAT THE HELL!” I yelled loudly when Eric suddenly pushed me off my chair. I glared at him as I looked around the classroom and noticed the countless eyes staring at me but you were still not looking at me. 

It’s as if you just wiped out the fact that I just screamed loudly and possibly hurt myself because of Eric. 

Standing up from the floor I bow as I feel my cheeks starting to burn from embarrassment. Getting back in my seat I shove Eric away from me as I bury my face in between my hands as I try to forget about what just happened. 

“At least tell me now why you won’t confront her.” Eric asks more calmly now as he tries to make me sit straight. 

I sigh as I look at him from the corner of my eyes, “I am scared of what she will reply. It’s better if we both act like it didn’t happen, right?” I reply as I steal one last glance at you and Hyunjae only to look away in less than a second when I feel my head spinning. 

“Do you know what you’re feeling right now?”  I groan when he opens his mouth. Why does he never shut up? 

“What?” I ask in annoyance as I place my head on the table, not taking any interest in whatever he was about to say. 

“Jealousy.” I whip my head at him when he says that. Me? And being jealous? For what? Yeah sure whenever I see you smiling at him I feel that burning sensation, or when you laugh at whatever stupid joke he made. 

I scoff as I shake my head, “Yeah sure. I don’t get jealous over such a trivial matter. I bet I know Y/N better than he does.” I mumble before sliding down on the chair to try and possibly hide myself from the whole world. 

“Tell that to yourself but I sure do see you being jealous.” I flick Eric’s head when he says that again. 

I am definitely not jealous. 

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Y/N POV 

I sighed as I heard Sunwoo’s voice arguing with Eric. It wasn’t a new occurrence for me anymore and honestly I was quite used to it ever since I started hanging out with Sunwoo in summer. 

I’d hate to admit it but Sunwoo was the only guy who honestly made me alive enough in summer (to be frank I never truly enjoyed holidays because I am someone who felt like I needed to be busy and working all the time). 

I diverted my attention back at Hyunjae as I smiled softly at him. He was a good guy but he was not Sunwoo. 

He didn’t have the same aura or personality like Sunwoo and I begged myself to try and find at least some of that charm in Hyunjae which I was dying to see. 

I admit that I was kind of in the wrong to storm out of Sunwoo’s house when we both knew what it was leading to. I didn’t want to make him overthink about my reaction too much but to be frank I was just too damn nervous to think straight that when I snapped back into reality I didn’t know what to do. 

It was as if I didn’t have control over my own body and I just stormed out of there after blabbering some shit which probably made Sunwoo misunderstand the whole situation. 

BUT I did try to explain myself the next day but Sunwoo acted as if nothing had happened the day before and it just made me feel worse about my actions. Did I hurt him that much? Was I too nervous to realise that maybe what it was leading to could have been nice? 

I don’t know but I wish I could just turn back the time and relive the moment so that I don’t make the same mistake as before. 

“Are we set on tonight?” I blink my eyes a few times as I look at hyunjae for a moment only to look away quickly while clearing my throat. 

“Uh for what? I was just spaced out for a moment there.” I mumble as I scribble down the notes in my book in shabby handwriting (I could still read what I wrote so that’s all that matters, no?) 

“Yeah I noticed later on. I was talking about our date. I will pick you up at 8:00. Fine by you?” I nod my head as I chew on my nails as I drift back to the unconditional memories I had made with Sunwoo. 

-x- 

“Sssp!” I flinch when Sunwoo shoves my hand away from my mouth with a hiss escaping his throat. I threw a glare in his direction as I hit the back of his head before slowly bringing my nails back to my mouth only for it to be pulled away by Sunwoo as he intertwined our fingers together to stop me from biting on the nails. 

I could feel my cheeks burning from embarrassment and shyness as I cleared my throat and looked anywhere but at Sunwoo. 

“Look I know you have grown a habit of biting your nails but instead of biting on those nasty nails why don’t you try and talk with me instead? I am here to listen to you, you know?” When I hear those words of Sunwoo it strangely enough comforts me in ways which I never knew were possible. 

I didn’t even know that I wanted to be comforted. Maybe all those thoughts getting jumbled in my brain really messes up with what I really need. 

I give Sunwoo a small nod as I look ahead again, “Well now you have me to stop you from biting your nails.” Sunwoo whispers as he pokes my cheeks with his other finger. 

I just chuckle at that and bring my other hand up to squeeze his cheeks. The way I loved it when he pouted I thought as I smiled at him fondly. 

-x-

I look back at Sunwoo in thought, my face contorted with slight pain as I try my best not to have a breakdown over not only Sunwoo but also just about life in general.  

I feel my heart racing rapidly when I make eye contact with Sunwoo. It was as if it was just the two of us in the room and everyone else had either just disappeared or they were in slow motion. 

It didn’t seem to last long since before I could even offer a smile at Sunwoo he had already looked away. 

Oh how I wish I could change this awkward phase in whatever relationship we had and just go back to how it used to be. 

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I kick the rocks on the ground as I try to drown out the voices in the background. Well the date did not go well per se (it’s not Hyunjae’s fault. It’s just…I couldn’t help but only think about Sunwoo while Hyunjae was busy talking. It’s as if no matter how hard I try Sunwoo would always be at the back of my mind and it’s driving me insane.) 

I roll my eyes when I feel my phone vibrating in my bag, I let it ring as I was in no mood to talk with anyone. 

Looking up from the ground, my eyes sparkle when I see an ice cream shop. I start walking towards it when my phone starts vibrating again. 

I sigh as I open my bag to take a look at the caller ID but what  I did not expect was the caller ID flashing on the screen. 

‘Why the hell is Sunwoo calling me?’ I think as I slowly accept the call while walking towards the shop. 

“Is this Y/N?” I stop walking when I hear an unknown voice on the other side. I couldn’t help but think the worst. 

Did Sunwoo get himself in trouble? Did he hurt himself? Is he okay? 

“Yes, that's her..” I replied. I could hear Sunwoo’s voice at a distance but it seemed to be coming out slurred. I couldn’t help but furrow my eyebrows together in confusion. 

“I am sorry but I think your boyfriend is drunk…” I slap my hand against my forehead when I hear that but immediately feel my cheeks heat up when I hear the word boyfriend. 

“Where is he right now?” I ask shyly as I immediately call a taxi to go over at the location the person told me. 

-x- 

Why the hell is this guy drinking alone at night and that too in a PARK? Did he for real lose it or is he close to losing it? 

I quicken my pace when I see Sunwoo sitting on a bench with a guy trying to keep him straight and awake so that he doesn’t fall asleep in the park. 

I approach them as I take over Sunwoo and apologise to the man and grab Sunwoo cheeks which were a slight shade of pink. 

I sit beside him on the bench and slap his cheeks a few times to help him gain some consciousness. 

I giggle when he blinks his eyes a few times and stares at me for a second before he brings his hands up as he drags his fingers over my lower lips. 

I push his hand away slightly as I mumble softly, “You’re not sober. So, you’re not allowed to touch me.” 

A small stupid smile creeps up on Sunwoo’s face as he brings his hand back to himself as he rubs his eyes while speaking, “So am I allowed to touch you when I am sober?” He mumbles before staring back at you. 

“If I say yes will you shut up?” I mumble as my eyes trail down to his swollen lips for a second before I glance back at his eyes again. 

I smile when he gives a gentle nod, standing up I extend my hand out towards him to help him stand up, “I am only saying yes because I know you will forget all about this in the morning.” I mumble as I drag him towards the cab which was waiting for us. 

“Do you really think so?” He slurs out the words while getting in the car, “Ack!” He yelps in pain when his head bangs against the roof of the car. 

I immediately lean forward and take a look at his forehead. My eyebrows furrow in worry when it starts to swell but all Sunwoo does is laugh at the drunken guy he saw outside (who was busy puking by the way.) 

-x- 

I enter the house with Sunwoo as I drag him towards his bed. Okay, all I had to do was throw him on his bed, put a warm blanket over him and wash his face with a wet towel. 

I can do that without thinking about the past, right? Of course I can! 

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Sunwoo POV 

I groan in pain when I feel my head throbbing. Maybe drinking till late at night was a bad idea but how did I even get home? I don’t think I went to drink with any of my friends. 

Grabbing the glass of water from the bedside table, I drink some of it when my attention drifts to my arm. I see some messy writing on it. 

Getting curious, I place the glass down and take a closer look at my arm after blinking a few times to get rid of the blurriness. 

‘She says I could touch her when I am sober.’ She? Who’s she…

I close my eyes as I try to think back to the moments which took place yesterday. 

“No fucking way…” I gasp as I recall the conversations me and Y/N had. Nooo this is so embarrassing. She saw me being a drunk idiot. 

I place my head in my pillow and scream in it as I try my best to hide my whole existence. Why can’t the world just swallow me right now? 

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Entering the auditorium I see Y/N with that Hyunjae guy again. Gosh…he looks so boring. What did she even see in him? 

I scowl as I take a seat right behind them because someone decided it would be a great idea to sit behind my ex who was not really my ex because we never officially dated BUT we did kiss and make out a couple of times but let’s not talk about that. 

I kick Eric’s leg when he strikes up a conversation with Hyunjae. He was my sworn enemy! How could he just talk with that boring ass? Gosh this kid really needs to level his taste up when it comes to talking with just anyone. 

The whole time the lecture was going on not once did I stop burning holes in the back of Y/N’s head. 

I could tell she wanted to look back at me by turning around but maybe I was just looking too handsome that she didn’t even want to take a look at me.  

Heaving out a sigh I stood up once the lecture was over. 

“I think we should talk…” I stop dead in my tracks when I hear her voice. No fucking way is she talking with me? 

I gulp as I look at her for a moment before I immediately look down at the books in my hands. 

I hand the books to Eric without any second thoughts as I follow you to the back of the auditorium. 

I sit down on the floor as you follow behind and do the same. I couldn’t believe that after so long we’re finally talking again but I could feel my heartbeat rising more as you stretched the already tense moment.  

“What’s up?” I mumble out as I try not to make it sound awkward even though the way I spoke already gave away the fact that it was more than just awkward silence. 

I cover my face with my eyes as I wait for you to start speaking again, “So…about that night.” I hear your voice speak from beside me. 

I slowly bring my hands down as I take a small peek at you, “You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to. I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” 

“No no you didn’t make me uncomfortable. I was just nervous…I was scared I would do something wrong and embarrass myself.” I just stare at you as you explain yourself. 

“I am sorry…I am sorry that I didn’t even give you the chance to explain yourself. I hate to admit it but I was scared to listen to your explanation.” I say softly as I take your hand in mine. 

I smile when I hear your small giggle. Oh how I missed making you laugh…

“So what do you think about Hyunaje?” I furrow my eyebrows when you ask me that question. Were you really pulling my leg? 

“Hyunjae? I hate that guy. Who does he think he is?” I mumble as I scoff in irritation.

I stare at you again when you laugh at my answer. You were really enjoying this, no? “What if I go on another date with him?” 

It feels as if my eyes almost bulge out when you ask that question. “Date? I dare you. I will come and burn everything that is there and take you away from there.” I mumble as I kiss the back of your hand while our fingers are still intertwined. 

“Aww you’re such a jealous baby.” I scoff and roll my eyes and mumble out a small ‘I am not jealous’ when even I know it’s not the truth. 

“I am kidding. I hope we can give our relationship another chance?” My eyes light up when you finally say the words I wanted to hear. 

“I swear I won’t mess up this time.” I say quietly as I kiss the crown of your forehead and give a peck on your cheeks.  

“So what did you feel like when you used to see Hyunjae and me together?” I just stare at you silently when you ask that question. 

You really were having fun teasing me. I get up and walk out of the room with you following behind while laughing at my jealous ass. 

I stop on my tracks when I see hyunjae being buddies with Eric. I couldn’t help the disgusted face taking over my facial features as I stared at that guy doing some stupid handshake with Eric. 

“I cannot believe you’re jealous over Eric and Hyunjae now.” I side eye you when you say that and flick your forehead once before walking away with you yelling my name out. 

“Geez I am sorry!” I yell loudly when you suddenly come in front of me and kiss me on the lips. 

I smiled in between the kiss when I noticed you going on your tiptoes just to kiss me. I slowly lean down so that it’s easier for you to kiss me. 

Giggling I look at you when you pull away, your cheeks slowly turning hues of red as mine does the same.  “Maybe I am a jealous guy after all.” I mumble as I hug you tightly.

[suncaptor]

I've been collecting different countries sources for emailing representatives about Palestine. I think this is integral and something people should really be doing especially if their government representatives are supporting Israel which in many western countries is the case.

Connection in Europe via European voices for peace:

(Has options for separate countries)

Jewish Voices for Peace has a good mechanism for the United States:

Legal resources for US activism

move on petition

Australia:

https://apan.org.au/israel_stop/

Canada:

Countries that the Israeli PM has named for support on his twitter: Austria, Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Cyprus, United States, Germany, Italy, Britain, Romania, Russia*, United Arab Emirates*

*publically condemns escalation, that I could find

(He mentions the United States the most, and thanks the congressman of the United States)

Urge you to look into your personal government and/or representatives policies and contact and/or protest (or support if you support them) their decisions regarding Palestine.

Boycott: HP, Siemens, AXA, Puma, Israeli Fruit and Vegetables, SodaStream, Ahava, Sabra (company)

Israel is using the support of world leaders and repeatedly using the language of civilisation vs barbarians etc. If you're from a place that's representing you and supporting Israel, making it clear you don't support it is important. I can't talk about the intricacies of the many government systems, but I know the left within the United States is gaining more and more fear around the lack of support of young voters and voters of colour they rely on. So contact them and make them aware of how the support of funding Israel's violence against Palestine is in fact making them lose political capital.

If I've made any errors in this post, I do apologise, let me know, and if you have additional resources, also would love to update with some.

Voted against UN ceasefire: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Fiji, Guatamala, Hungary, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, United States

Abstained from voting: Albania, Australia, Bulgaria, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Iceland, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kiribati, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Korea, Moldova, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, South Sudan, Sweden, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Zambia

[gossipgirlgasoline]

gossip girl here, your one and only source into the ultra-rich, scandalous lives of race car drivers of formula 1.

hi loves! our first post!!!! ahhh!!!!! foremost, happy race week in australia! oscar piastri, daniel riccardo, and notably valtteri bottas’ home race, of course. its been such a hard week without racing hasn’t it?? i know it has been for me. thankfully, racing is back in melbourne for the weekend<3

before i start, if ur not into truly gossipy stuff— THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!! this will go into territory of wag gossip, silly rumours, and other cheesy stuff like that. you have been warned.

onto this weeks gossip !!!

everybody knows 18-year-old prodigy ollie bearman, who made his f1 debut with scuderia ferrari just two weeks ago in the scrupulous circuit that is the jeddah corniche circuit filling in for carlos sainz jr, sick from appendicitis. (hopefully this doesnt cause another chain of events like a certain driver whos number is 23, knock on wood) the academy driver started 11th on the grid and finished in the points, all the way to 7th, despite being such a hard circuit and also having very little experience with real formula 1 cars.

what not everybody knows about is his girlfriend, estelle— formerly silly_lettuce on all social media. truly, she is gorgeous. a picturesque couple, no?

estelle ogilvy langinier manning, (allegedly) is 21 years old law student out of london. the couple ‘hard launched’ from ollie’s instagram story a couple months ago. (picture is from his instagram) from the crumbs ive picked up from my dear friends on insta and tiktok, ollie is not the only racing driver she’s ever dated. ive been hearing through the grapevine that she dated f2 drivers zak o’sullivan since they were neighbours in the past and has also been with franco colapinto, confirmed(? texts could be fake) by herself through a message thread on instagram.

aside from racing drivers, there has been more rumors of her being with a guy from boy band, as well as a finance man.

with a simple instagram search of ‘sillylettuce,’ you will get a video credited to her old account with her alleged ‘finance boyfriend.’ this search will also get you this picture on the left, uploaded by downtown.chix in december of 2020.

left picture heaves largely compared to the right, taken from an archived picture from her now deactivated instagram account. 🫡

if we bring out search back around tiktok and do another search of silly lettuce, you’ll be met with a video from user sunnymonday on tiktok, going by the name india rawsthorn. the video is a trend from 2021 ‘rating my friends dance moves’

estelle earned herself a spot in the video, sporting a very different look than. 🤨🤨🤨🤨

this is estelle— India has many videos of estelle on her account

some people think its plastic surgery, maybe a drastic weight loss journey. whatever it might be, this isn’t the only thing that raises a couple eyebrows since thanks to the very intrigued people of the internet, we have since found out she started studying at durham uni in 2018. unless she is a young sheldon type prodigy who started college at 11, this would mean she is 24/25 now.

shortly after people started finding out, she ‘coincidentally’ got hacked. yikes!

*i can confirm this one is real— i saw it in real time😭

if you try to look her account on tiktok and instagram up now, nothing will pop up. mm.. following the discovery of her age, she immediately (allegedly) changed her information on linkedin. 🤔🤔🤔 how do you guys feel about this? i have a theory right here from one of my mutuals from twitter.

“Wooooww Estelle is really going down the road of saying that "we're obsessed"

her obsession is finding someone famous, and potentially rich to climb the social ladder of fame

I'm not trying to shame her about her plastic surgery, but it's obvious that some type of touchup was done and there's nothing wrong with that but I get the sense that she's trying to hide that she isn't all natural when in reality there has been something drastically done”

what’s your guy’s opinions? leave them below😘 my inbox is always open as well as my dms, so if u ever need to talk or want to chat about my posts, hmu! (tips are always accepted too)

until next time race-watchers, xoxo, gossipgirlgasoline

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Do you know why Indians in particular (and I suppose, new age spiritualists) believe in things like homeopathy or ayurveda(like ashwagandha)? I've always found it so odd, even growing up in india. It's clear that some of these beliefs are marketing schemes, like saying A2 (Indian cows) milk > A1(foreign cows) to the point that they sell A2 cow milk and butter at 10x-20x the price of A1 cow milk. All because of "Vedic" practices (prayers and conducting rituals) of cow rearing. We know that ayurveda especially has no clinical or empirical evidence. It's all anecdotal. But even I was taught to believe that turmeric is a good antioxidant and is great for colds. In reality, only about 2% of turmeric is absorbed by your body. Are indians just more gullible because of Hinduism or is it just willful ignorance because they want to feel some sort of superiority in their spirituality?

Lots of love, thank you for continuing to post!! 💛💛 Hope you're doing well.

A big chunk of it may well be the lack of penetration of criticism and mockery of these superstitions, both for cultural and language reasons.

There's a saying that "sunlight is the best disinfectant." This isn't literally true, it's a metaphor for the notion that exposing ideas to the light of scrutiny, examination and refutation helps to break down and destroy false or bad ideas.

To some extent, the persistence of these superstitions may be that they've not been well exposed to public view to the extent many others have been.

Islam has in its doctrine, the curative and medicinal properties of camel urine. To the extent it's packaged and sold as medicine in the present day solely because in multiple hadiths, Muhammad prescribed camel urine for ailments. People don't know about this, don't believe it or start making excuses about "natural remedies" and the limitations of "western medicine." Even while the World Health Organization calls for people to stop drinking it.

Outside India, there's a certain anti-western chauvinism, coupled with a fetishization of "exotic" cultures. Which is really just the Appeal to Nature and Appeal to Tradition fallacies. But are ripe to be exploited by con artists (e.g. Deepak Chopra) for sale to the credulous who mistake their trendy credulity for "open mindedness." Even though the same people would never be so gullible about superstitions based on Xian mythology.

What this means is that a protective bubble forms around these superstitions because attacking primitive, superstitious nonsense hogwash becomes a "racist" attack on a "culture." You're allowed to - and encouraged to - criticize and attack Xian faith-healing, but not Hindu faith-healing because that's just intolerant of a "culture." Note that this means they want Indian culture to be mired in primitive superstitions.

Internal to India, I think a big part is just that it's so dominant and there isn't the tradition of secularism - separation of church/religion and state - which means religious faith holds more sway. Coupled with more explicit moves in recent years to mirror Islam in offence and fragility regarding "blasphemy" - see the whole "Sexy Kali" thing, for example.

In contrast, in the US, there's been legal challenges mounted against homeopathy as fraud and false advertising under consumer protection laws. If there's no evidence of efficacy, government safety organizations in countries like the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand either don't allow a product to be sold as "medicinal," or don't allow it to be sold at all.

I don't know enough about Indian law to know how robust Indian safety or consumer laws are in terms of leveraging them to call out the same kinds of fraud, but what you're saying about the milk suggests they might not be. It's essentially a claim of "magic milk," given there could be no scientific test that such a claim could survive.

So, there's this absence of pressure from both internal and external. And as we know from evolution, it's pressure which drives change.

People need to be willing to treat Indian and Hindu superstitions the same as they treat Xian superstitions and other unscientific bunk, rejecting attacks on the basis of "racism" or "blasphemy" or "intolerance" or all the usual shit. But I think there also needs to be avenues culturally and legally within India to start challenging the assertions being made. I don't know enough about Indian society or culture to know how much of a superiority complex may be at play, but there is likely an element of ignorance, not necessarily wilful, just regular old ignorance, because of the pervasiveness and persistence of these ideas.

Of course, people are still free to believe stupid shit. But that doesn't mean it should get special, elevated status or be allowed to commit acts of rampant fraud.

[onepagelovestories]

I made a discovery/theory that I thought I might share in case it's of use or interest to anyone else!

How big is Valisthea?

TL;DR - It's just Scotland, Cymru (Wales), Ireland, and England but flipped upside-down and photo bashed a bit.

These are just purely my observations, so I'm throwing them into the void!

So, for fan fiction purposes (and just general peace of mind), I really wanted to figure out exactly how big the twins were, considering how insanely quick everyone moves around. This is obviously true for video games in general but I felt it a lot more in FFXVI than other comparable games imo.

There's not a ton to go off of, just some throwaway dialogue lines here and there that give you the general sense that you can move from one location to the next in a day or two primarily by foot (chocobos are a whole other side tangent, as is the Enterprise or whatever the hell Dominants are capable of).

Some of those specific references include;

The trip from Rosalith to Pheonix Gate and back taking an expected 5 days total (with Clive, Tyler, and Wade arriving that night despite the detour through the marshes),

The boat ride from Port Isolde to Drake's Breath taking 3 days,

Someone from the hideaway referencing that they leave for Lostwing each day for work. (Couldn't find the exact example don't quote me on that one.)

Twinsides/Origin being "Hundreds of Leagues" away from The Hideaway

There's probably a few others, but most of the other examples I could find were open to interpretation, merely implying that travel took place in the same day but could be interpreted to have been spread out over longer were it not for 'video game logic and scale'.

That being said, I like things being a little more grounded for head canon purposes and wanted to know how much down time was reasonable in and between trips back and forth.

In general, I feel like the game should have been spread out over the full 5 years. But understanding game development limits, I get why that'd have been a nightmare! So the time skip makes sense practically, and I just choose to headcanon that events are a little more spread out. (Like them taking the full year in 873, from Clive and Jills rescue to destroying Drakes Head, rather than a couple of weeks like it seems in game.)

Shout out to this reddit post for doing an awesome estimate based on an average measure of the aforementioned "hundreds of leagues" quote. This was my starting point.

They concluded that Valisthea was likely closer in size to India or Australia, which I like a lot in terms of Valisthea being a full-scale continent. However, it does mess with the timeline a lot.

Also, I'm from a large country so my sense of what is a "reasonable" distance is pretty thrown off compared to a lot of other places. A 2-5 hour (200-400km) car ride to another city is nothing in my head until you realize that distance would take 1-4 weeks to walk or even ride (Horse metrics. Again chocobos are weird and probably a bit faster due to being all terrain and more robust than horses but are also birds so I don't know what endurance levels carrying heavy loads would be like).

Soooo, I began looking for European contemporaries since the game is very eurocentric (and all the criticisms that come with that).

Which led me to the realization that Valisthea is literally just the UK and Ireland, but flipped.

Now. Am I 100% certain this is what the devs did? Of course not. Is it so damn close that I'm 99.9% certain? Yes. Storm is Britain, and Cymru. The Northern Kingdom and the Iron Kingdom are Scotland but broken up. And Ash is Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Major cities or points of interest all have approximate real-world contemporaries and even follow geographical features on the map in that there are matching rivers, topography and even highways.

The biggest giveaway to me was Pheonix Gate just literally being London, as well as Norvant Valley matching exactly in shape with an upside down Bristol Channel (which would put Caer Norvent in Swansea). Even The Greatwood lines up relative to a major national park (forgive me UK peeps, it's hard to tell from a map alone if that's all one giant forest or several parks smooshed together).

So, if we're working off that assessment, with the quote from Tomes where he mentions that Valisthea is a small continent, then the time/distance ratio makes a lot more sense!

Of course, by our world standards – the UK alone does not a continent make.

But I'm honestly ok with that? I'd rather the land mass be small to match the timeline rather than warp the timeline to match the land mass.

So, here's a list of some of my estimated real-world contemporaries for all major landmarks on the Valisthean Map. Of course, they don't line up 1-1, and are not at all reflective of the locations themselves. It's all just for a relative sense of scale.

Rosaria;

Martha's Rest - Oxford

Eastpool - Reading

Pheonix Gate - London

Rosalith - Cambridge

Port Isolde - Peterborough (ignoring that it's not on the coast)

Deadlands

Cid's Hideaway - Stratford-Upon-Avon

Clive's Hideaway - Birmingham

Sanbreque;

Lostwing - Tauton

Caer Norvent - Swansea

Northreach - Exeter

Oriflamme - Kingsbridge

Kingsfall - Salisbury

Dhalmekian Republic;

Kostnice - Leicester

Drake's Fang - Sheffield

Dhalamil - Derby

Dravozd - Wolverhampton

Tabor - Shrewsbury

Boklad - Lampeter

Ran'Dallah- Tregaron

Waloed;

Shadow Coast - Belfast

Eistla - Kinnegad

Edge of Infinity - Westport

Ravenwit Walls - Wenagh

Stonhyrr - Cork

Other;

Twinsides - Fishguard

Kanvar - Chester

Drake's Breath - Ipswich

Dzemekys - Aberystwyth

Going off of those locations, I was able to get the rough time/distance of certain trips (using google maps metrics in pure walking hours not how long it took them because of *variables*)

Routes;

Rosalith to Pheonix Gate: 86km, 20hrs

Hideaway to Pheonix Gate: 172km, 39hrs (to Martha's Rest: 67km, 15hrs; +Eastpool: 41km, 9hrs; then to Pheonix Gate: 64km, 15hrs)

Hideaway to Oriflamme: 295km, 68hrs (Hideaway to Lostwing: 184km, 43hrs. What shortcut Cid?? +Northreach: 48km, 11hrs; +Oriflamme: 63km, 14hrs)

Lostwing to Caer Norvent: 199km, 46hrs (Benedika and Co were at that fort for days, not hours. Also, how hard did Cid knock Clive out if it took more than a week to get back to the Hideaway after the Garuda Fight?)

Shadow Coast to Stonhyrr: 755km, 171hrs. (Shadow Coast to Eistla: 169km, 38hrs; +Edge of Infinity and back: 181km, 41hrs x2; +Stonhyrr: 224km, 51hrs) meaning crew were gone in Waleod for WEEKS.)

So, all in all a bit longer than in seems in game but still well within range given that they probably shaved off arbitrary travel days for narrative flow.

That being said, I love the potential of more "down time" moments. And it really shows just how often/long everyone would be gone from the Hideaway at any given moment.

It puts into perspective Gav's side quest, "You keep sending me wherever you need to, I'll keep going. Safe in the knowledge that I'll have a home to come back to." And how they all remark that they never seen each other, or how much their trips away together were really meaningful.

(Also kinda excuses the fact it took Clive and Jill 5 freaking years to get together. They were too busy walking everywhere!)

Is it possible to just pop down to Martha's for a quick supply run? Yes. But unless you're on a chocobo, you're camping out at Three Reeds then staying the night at the Inn before heading back. It's more of a 4-7 day trip rather than an afternoon and back.

Anyhow, I hope this all makes sense!

Now, time to go write about Clive/Cid camping overnight in the Greatwood together on Clive's first real night of freedom. 😭😭😭

[moody-alcoholic]

Unwavering Promises Chapter 5

I'm still working my way through posting full chapters of my finished fic. I should be posting my OC's POV but Simon's POV is just so much better for this chapter.

No content warnings, 5.7k words.

Previous - masterlist - next Rosaly POV

Enjoy <3

Price’s alarm woke me from my sleep. I opened my eyes the room was still dark I could hear Price getting out of bed but he still had not stopped the alarm. 

“For the love of God Price please.” I hear Rosaly say her voice still sounds sleepy. I smile. Price turns it off then turns the room light on. I hear her groan and shuffle around in her bed.

“It’s like basic all over again.” I hear her muffled voice say.

“Well aren't you a joy to be around?” Price says stretching. I get up looking for my trousers on there is a knock at the door instinctively grab my mask pulling it on. I hear Price open it and say morning to whoever is on the other side. I hear a voice tell Price the mess hall closes at 8 for breakfast. I hear Rosaly grumble again as I pull on a shirt. I hate how close she is and we can’t even touch. Knowing she is on the other side of the wardrobe to me is somewhat of a comfort. I pull my shirt on just as Price comes round the corner. He nods at me, I guess just checking to see if I’m awake.  

“You should come get some breakfast with us Williams then come watch the shooting.” Price says. I throw my jacket on. 

“Yeah maybe you will be able to pick up some tips.” I say walking round the wardrobe to see her head shoved under her pillow. I sat on the end off my bed pulling my boots on. 

“Meet you down there LT.” Price said.

“‘Course.” I said hearing the door close.

“The light Price!” Rosaly called. I chuckled I tied my boots up and went to see here taking the pillow off her head. I squinted was she wearing my shirt, I thought I was missing one I assumed I had just left it at the house. I smile as she looks at me with her eyes half open. 

“Could have told me you were pinching one of my shirts.” 

“It smells like you,” She says smiling. I want to kiss her for that. I look at the door, anyone could come in, I’ll find time for her later. 

“You going to come for some breakfast?” She seemed pretty wake now. She nods. 

“I’ll see you down there then.” I say leaving.  I found Price in the canteen it was pretty empty considering it was 5:30. I grabbed some food and coffee and went to sit with him. 

“What’s the word then? They still got the go ahead?” He nods, spreading butter on his toast. 

“Hopefully we should be out here before the end of the week. There is one team in India they can maybe pull back if not we would have to wait for the team doing training in Australia to come home.” I push my mask past my nose and take a sip of coffee. 

“Have the Americans been sniffing around this?” I ask.

“Laswell’s keeping an eye on things. So far it seems like everything’s going well. The only thing that could stop us is MI5 cancelling the mission.” Marines were starting to come in for their breakfast now lining up. 

“Whats the plan for today?” I ask. 

“Marksmanship, accuracy under pressure these guys have one week left of training they should be fine.” 

“Easy day then,” I smile, Price rolls his eyes. 

“Hopefully.” I smile spooning more eggs into my mouth.

“Is Williams going to be joining us?” Price asked sipping his tea. I nod. I finished eating as the canteen started to fill.

“Ready?” Price asks finishing his tea. I nod pulling my mask back down. We make our way to the outdoor shooting range at the bottom the the hill. It’s cold and the fog is staring to roll in if it gets any worse we might have to move inside. It reminds me of Scotland. I see a group of marines being led over by another officer. The officer introduces us then Price takes over. I’m barely listening to what he is saying. I wonder when Rosaly would show up. Nope I can’t be thinking about her now work time. 

“So who want’s to go first?” Price asked. No one moved he sighs and picks a random person.

“You, what’s your name?”  

“Taylor, sir.” He says getting up. 

“I want you to pick one of your teammates, someone who you could trust to have your back and cover you.” I smiled the amount of times I have seen Price do this and it always riled people up. Accuracy under pressure though, that was the plan. Taylor looks around at the people behind him. Price looks at me raising an eyebrow. More pressure? I raise an eyebrow back. He looks back at the troop. 

“Wright, I would pick him.” He says as he sits back down. The other guy gets up. 

“Okay, lets see what you’ve got.” He follows him down to the pit. 

“5 rounds, 100 meter target, no pressure but if you miss that’s Taylor dead.” Price pats him on the shoulder and moves so he is not in the way. Wright stands for a few seconds then fires of the rounds pretty quick one after the other. Price looks over as Wright clears his barrel. Then he turns back to the troop. 

“Taylor’s dead who want’s to cover for Wright?” Price says. Wright does not look too impressed, I can’t see his shots well enough from over here but Price does not sound happy. I fold my arms watching the next guy get up. This continues for a while each one trying and failing, I hear Rosaly walk up beside me. 

“How’s it going?” She asks. I look over she has her hands round a coffee mug. Price came over shaking his head and took it out her hands. 

“I’ve seen better shooting from you.” I replied loud enough so the marines could hear. Rosaly took her cup back from Price. The latest marine had just finished shooting. It was bad Price had been pacing ever since the third person tried. 

“Okay stop!” He said. “LT get up here.” I sighed going over to him and taking one of the training rifles. They’re so light and not what I’m used to at all. Now I was under pressure, and there was no way I was going to show Price up. I see Rosaly move down out the corner of my eye. I stand in position, Price explains what I’m doing as I fire when he tells me too. Okay these shots were easier then I thought they were going to be. I fire off 3 more then hang the weapon back up. I go back to stand with Rosaly, she’s smiling. 

“Nice shooting,” She says leaning in. I smile crossing my arms again. 

“Not really fair to put us up against a world class marksman.” The next marine says getting into position. Price stops him from stepping in the pit. 

“Williams!” He shouts, she passes her cup to me and heads over picking up a weapon and checking the mag. 

“What cos she’s a woman?” He says, I hear her chuckle.

“Worse, I’m navy.” He scoffs and I watch her fire the rounds off. All on target, not as compact as mine but better then we’ve been saying today. She clears the weapon hanging it back on the rack. She smiles at Price walking back over to me taking her cup.

“Nice shooting,” I say to her. 

“Shut up,” I can hear her smile as she nudges me.  

 “It does not matter if you’re an expert marksman or a Navy medic, your shots should be hitting on point. This is your final week of training and you’re shooting like this is the first time you have a weapon in your hands. Shooting straight could be the difference between life or death, or the life and death of your brothers.” Price says. I feel Rosaly pat me on the shoulder and I hear her leaving. I watch as the next marine steps up and fires, again it’s all over the place. Price walks up to me squeezing his temples.

“What do you think?” He asks leaning into me. I look at him. 

“Want to run them around inside for a bit?” I suggest shrugging. 

“If they can’t hit standing targets how do you think they’re going to do with moving targets?” He says.

“Hopefully better.” I respond. He smiles. 

We walk them to the classroom Rosaly has set up in for the medical lecture, she smiles at us as we arrive but we don’t stick around Price insists I join him in this meeting. We make our way to another room with Major Bryan and two other people I was introduced to as Major Russ and Colonel Morris. Price shook the Colonel’s hand.

“Good to see you again, you’ve got old.” He says, Price really does know everyone. 

“You too captain.” The colonel replies smiling. He looks past Price to me. “And who is this?” 

“This is my lieutenant, Simon Riley.” I put my hand out to shake his. 

“Ah yes, I’ve heard about you.” He says looking at me like he’s expecting something. 

“Only good things I hope.” Price says sitting in a chair. I sit down next to him while Bryan turns on a projector. The wall lights up with pictures of satellite images, looks like some kind of compound. 

“We’ll get started then,” Russ walks over to the laptop. 

“These are images from a compound in Urzikstan we believe to be the main base Noah and his team are working from.” He switches to another image. “This was two days ago..” Price leans forward looking a figures highlighted in white. “This was yesterday..” Another image of what looks like the same too people standing armed outside the compound. 

“We believe that is Noah and Makarov. These images were sent to us by the ULF today..” Photos of people moving in and out of the compound with boxes flash up on the screen. One of them is Makarov, I sigh, so we know where he is. 

“The ULF sent you these. Have you been in contact with them?” Price asks. 

“We were hoping you could help with that the ULF are… sceptical to work with us, you know Farah maybe you can convince them.” Colonel Morris asked. Price nodded. 

“So we know where Makarov is and wherever he is Noah is?” Price asked.

“Actually we don’t know where they are anymore.” Major Russ said. “They were emptying the compound we were able to track them west then we lost them.” 

“So he’s managed to slip the net within 24 hours?” Price asked. 

“You think you’re mad I have to decide whether or not to pull a commando unit back here for this or not.” Morris said. Price sighed.

“MI5 has still given the go ahead?” Bryan asked.

“They’re still under the impression that we know where he is.” Morris replied. This was not looking good. 

“Who else know’s they’ve left the compound?” Price asked. Everyone looks at each other, no one is saying anything. 

“We have to assume the Americans know, we don’t know if there are moles within the ULF, it’s best to assume we have another 12 hours before it’s fair game.” Morris said. Price looked back at me, I could tell he was annoyed. We’ve lost him again and when we were so close. 

“Even if we could get a commando unit back it would be at least another 24 hours before we could move.” Morris explained standing up Price sighed. 

“It would be fruitless anyway, if they Americans know about this they could already be trying to shut it down. They’ve been trying to weasel their way into this mission for months. If the CIA get one sniff of this they’re going to be here.” 

“Have we heard anything from them yet?” Price asked. The colonel shook his head. 

“Which commando unit is the closest?” Morris asked looking at Bryan. 

“45 are in India, 42 and 43 are in Australia.” Bryan says. 

“So if we want them back we need to call them now.” Morris said. Price stood up. 

“Let me see what I can do, I would assume Farah is keeping tabs on them, she might be able to point us in the right direction. What are the chances we can find them in the next 24 hours?” Price asks. They all look at each other sombrely. 

“Let’s just hope we find them before MI5 cancels the order.” Price said heading for the door. I get up following him. As soon as we’re out the door I hear him curse under his breath. He stops at the end of the corridor. 

“Go get some rest, I’ve got calls to make.” He says sounding defeated. 

“Sure you don’t need help?” He sighs.

“I’m good LT I’ll come find you when I’m done.” I walked back down to the dorms I guess I could use a nap. I felt annoyed we’ve lost him again. Now we have to scramble to try and find him. Price would know what to do, he always did. I walked past the classroom Rosaly was teaching in, she was leaned up against the desk with her hands folded. Maybe I should go in and join her. I pushed the thought away. A nice nap would be good before Price comes back with more bad news.

I went to the dorms as soon as I got in the room a wave of exhaustion washed over me. I kicked my boots off pulling my mask and jacket off and laid on the top of the bed. I looked up at the ceiling wondering what was going to happen next. If MI5 found out we had lost Noah and Makarov the mission would be cancelled. I closed my eyes hoping Price would be able to come up with a solution. He always does. I must of fallen asleep cos I woke the the room door being opened. Price stepped round the corner. He looked tired as I stood up pulling my boots on. 

“Any news?” I asked. 

“Farah is tracking him west, said if anything we will know if he crosses the border at any point.” He sighed. I reached over and pulled my mask on standing up. 

“What about Laswell.” I asked.

“If she know’s anything she’s not saying.” He shakes his head. 

“Come on I’ll catch you up.” Price said heading out the room. He told me about his conversation with Farah. She’s been busy sounds like she’s got her hands full. The Americans have been nice enough but she’s still sceptical about them, understandably. Now she’s trying to keep track of Makarov and Noah. We ended up in the canteen but I wasn’t hungry, Price was still talking and ended up filling my try up too. I let him complain about how we should have been out sooner, then he turns to the training this morning and how bad it was. I nod as he leads us to a table I sit down as he picks at his food. I don’t even see Rosaly come up to us until she puts her tray down. 

“I don’t think I can do 3 more days of this Price.” She says shaking a salt packet. I look at her she looks tired her cheeks red from being in a hot classroom all day. 

“It’s all downhill from today.” He replies sipping his tea. That was true if these marines are passing out next week God knows what the lower ranks were going to be like. 

“Where is Gaz anyway why foes he get to not be here?” She asks shoveling food in her mouth. 

“He’s doing training he’ll be here tomorrow.” Price said. She looked at me. 

“LT?” She says I can hear the frustration in her voice. I smile. 

“Could be worse could be training the navy.” She pulls a face at me throwing the packet of salt at me letting out a fake laugh. 

“Can I help you?” Price said. I turned to see a recruit stood behind me.

“Captain Price sir. Major Bryan asks to see you in the ops room, Captain I will take you there.” He gives an awkward salute, he’s shitting himself. I look back at Rosaly smiling at him as she eats her salad. 

“It’s okay I know the way.” Price says as he gets up. I sit back in my chair folding my arms. I watch him leave with the recruit following behind him.

“10 says we get to leave early.” Rosaly says with that cheeky grin on her face. 

“15 says we get a radio in the next 20 minutes.” I respond.

“It’s a good job I don’t have my radio then.” She smiles continuing to eat.       

“Excuse me?” A voice at the end of the table says. I watch her roll her eyes as she turns to look. 

“Yes?” She says sounding slightly annoyed to be interrupted. 

“Is it true you can hold your breath longer then the admiral of the fleet?” I chuckled, this is how all the rumours get started about her. 

“I don’t know I’ll ask him next time I see him.” She was smiling. I saw another group come over.

“Can we sit?” they ask. 

“Sure,” she said shrugging. I look at her as they sit down. I would much rather be able to spend a little time with her alone even if it was in the mess hall. 

“20 says they ask about the mask.” She says quiet enough so only I can hear it.

“25 they make fun of you for being a navy brat.” That wipes the smile off her face. I turn to look at them looking back at us. 

“What’s with the mask?” One asks. I sigh reaching into my pocket. 

“He was actually born with it, his first words were boo.” I roll my eyes handing her the money. 

“Double or nothing we leave tonight.” She says raising an eyebrow and I take it back. 

“Whats marine training like then?” She asks, they chuckle.

“You’ve seen the obstacle course down there.” They laugh.

“That thing I could do that in my sleep.” She replies. I love that determination she has in her eyes. She has such a fire in her belly when it comes to things like this. I can’t help but smile. Gaz was right she would have made a great marine. 

“That first pull up is at least 6 foot.” Someone scoffed. 

“So? I’ve dragged bodies over walls higher then that.” I frowned at her. I don’t think that’s entirely true. 

“100 says you can’t complete it.” Some one from the end said. I looked at her, this was a bad idea. I looked at her, her eyes were serious now. This was a challenge to her. 

“What’s the record?” She asked. She looked at me for a second, I looked down at her hoping she would get the idea without me having to stop her. Instead she just smiled.

“200 and I can do it in 15:12.” She says. Some of them scoff some laugh. Now this really was a challenge for her. There was that spark in her eyes the determination in her voice she stood up.

“You’re still recovering from a gunshot Williams.” I say getting up too. 

“I know.” She replied throwing her tray in the trash. “That’s why I said 15:12.” I rushed out after her hearing people follow after us. She was quick practically skipping down the hill. She stops and I catch up with her.

“This is bad idea.” I say taking her sidearm. 

“You going to stop me?” She asks. I see the fire in her eyes, hell I can hear it in her voice she want’s to do this for herself. She never imagined she would be here now she is. I smile I know she can do this, but she needs to prove it to herself.

“Be careful.” I say I watch as she goes to the starting line. I look at the group of marines who have come to watch. All of a sudden there was this pit in my stomach. 

“You better be timing, I want that money!” She calls over. I watch her take a breath in setting herself up for a run, she presses the button on her watch and runs to the first wall. She pulls herself over landing on her feet, good start at least. She throws her body on the floor crawling through the tunnel portion. I hold my breath until she is completely out of the tunnel. Next is the rope climb, a fall from that height could land her in serious trouble. She pauses wiping her hands on her legs before she jumps on the rope. I hold my breath again watching her pull herself up.

I move a step closer as she is almost at the top. I see her smile when she has realised she’s made it. She slides back down the rope and runs over to the next part. She climbs the steps to the rope pull over water. I see he look over at me. She’s beaming, she’s enjoying this. It makes me relax a little as she grabs onto the rope pulling herself across. This is the slowest part maybe she’s tired or maybe she just really does not want to fall into the water. She made it to the end swinging her body down. She definitely was not trying to be graceful now. She kept going to the last wall pull. She ran up to it pulling herself up and throwing her body over. This time it was not a good landing.

I rushed over to her as she was bracing her hands on her legs sucking in air. I could see her hair stuck to her forehead. I wanted to brush it away, instead I handed her her gun back. 

“15:12” She panted still smiling. When she took a step forward I could see how unsteady she was. Her hand instantly went to her side where the wound is. I look at her with concern in my eyes as she looks at my face, her smile fades a little and I grip her arm trying to support her. She moves out my grip though. I can see her trying to hide the pain as she winces with each step. I need to get her inside. 

“You guys owe me 400!” She calls over to the marines still watching. I guide her back inside she walks straight up to the dorms without complaining, or saying anything. As soon as I push the door open and she sees the bed she flops down sighing. 

“Let me see.” I say untucking her shirt and pulling it up. I hear Price come in.

“15:30. Nice job gave those marines a real kick up the ass.”

“15:12!” She protests, I move her on her side so I can see the back.

“Yeah, and I’m father Christmas.” Price says. I hear him flop on his bed. His meeting must have been worse.

“She good?” He asks.

“She’s good.” I say pulling her shirt back down and standing to look at Price, his arm over his eyes.

“What was the meeting about?” I ask.

“Paperwork, admin bullshit.” He says. He sits up. “I’m going to start sending you as my proxy soon LT.” I hear Rosaly giggle and I shake my head.

“Hum I’m sure Gaz would love the experience instead.” I crossed my arms looking at him he seemed tired.

“Gaz will be here tomorrow.” Price said. I took my jacket off throwing it on the end of my bed. I looked at Rosaly typing on her phone smiling. I go round to my bed to change my shirt it was wet from the rain outside and I didn’t feel like taking a shower yet. I looked out the window the sun was starting to set but I could see a group of marines hanging around the rope climb. I guess she really had given them a kick up the ass. I watched as they raced each other up the ropes. I hear Price come behind me.

“Let’s go have a chat.” He whispers. I nod following him looking over at Rosaly curled up in the bed eyes closes. I shook my head I have no idea how she can fall asleep so quickly. It must be a navy thing, ships are loud right? 

“I bet it’s a medic thing.” Price says from ahead of me.

“What?” 

“The way she can fall asleep so quickly, have you heard how loud hospitals are.” Price says. I get shivers, I was lost in my own thoughts. I meet with him at the end of the hall he turns into an empty room. I follow turning the light on closing the door behind me. 

“Farah found them.” He says looking at me. I fold my arms.

“Let me guess you’re the only one who knows.” I sigh.

“It’s worse then that.” He says.

“What do you mean?” I say confused. 

“There is a deal going to go down. I don’t know when or where but Noah and Makarov will be in the same place. The US wants to let it happen and catch them in the act. MI5 want to stop it before it gets that far…” Price trailed off.

“You want to get them now?” I say raising an eyebrow. 

“We know where they are, we could do it…” He trails off again. 

“What? Price spit it out.” I felt like I knew what he wanted to say I could see it on him.

“It would be a suicide mission.” I sighed. 

“The other options?” I say.

“We wait see what the CIA or MI5 decide to do, keep tabs on them basically what we’ve been doing for the past 6 months.” I can tell he’s tired. I am too we’ve been chasing them for so long. It always feels like we’re so close and so far at the same time. If we missed them again it could be months before we find them. They were right under our nose in Syria, now we have credible intel and we can’t move on it. At least not without putting our lives and jobs in jeopardy. 

“When is this deal?” I ask. Price shakes his head. 

“Has to be in a few months, Noah will be in Ibiza soon for the summer season. We hope.” He relies.

“Just Noah?” 

“Maybe, I don’t have much intel if any on his operations. Laswell is looking into it but its slow processes.” 

“You think MI5 will retract the order?” I ask. He nods. Fuck, so we’re going to be waiting for the next few months. 

“He’s getting away again.” I say. Price reaches into his coat pocket and passes me a cigarette.

“He’s not going to get far. If he crosses the border we will know, if he moves anywhere in Urzikstan we’ll know. Jesus if he fucking sneezes Farah will tell us.” I take the cigarette. 

“So what's the plan?” I say. 

“We’re going to play dumb see what happens, who moves first then I’ll decide. Best case CIA and MI5 will be too busy fighting we can just slip by and deal with this ourselves.” 

“And worst case?” 

“We lose them again.” I close my eyes taking it all in. 

“Fucking bureaucracy.” I say taking the lighter from Price. 

“Let’s just ride this out for now, give it a day at least before we start doing anything we might regret.” I nod and he pats my shoulder.

“We will get them, I promise.” I look in his eyes I know he means it. I sigh as he walks out the room. I look at the cigarette in my hand. I could really use this now, ‘son of a bitch Price you know me too well.’ I laughed at the thought making my way outside to smoke it. It was cold now especially since I left my jacket inside. I tried not to think about the fact that we were basically going to be doing nothing but twiddling our thumbs for another month maybe. I finished the cigarette, I really did feel better, calmer at least.

I went back up to the room. Price was not there but Rosaly was, she had changed back into my shirt and her hair was wet she must have gone for a shower. I wanted to go over and kiss her but I was scared I would wake her. Instead I went round to my bed pulling my clothes off and getting under the covers. I close my eyes and try to relax. 

Price wakes me in the morning and we head to breakfast. I try to ask him if there have been any updates but he seems distracted. The morning runs pretty much like yesterday the shots are horrid with added attitude. Price screams at them a bit then has them trying again. I don’t know why I was so distracted today. I hadn’t seen Rosaly yet she went to the gym before we woke up and when Price took the recruits up to her when I went to get lunch. She was going to be meeting Gaz at the station when she was done. Price came and found me in the mess hall. I could tell something had changed with the way he sat down. He put a piece of paper down I picked it up reading it. 

“So they cancelled the mission.” I say reading the order from MI5. He sighs. 

“Look at the reason.” He said. I read the line. ‘Operation to be continued by United Kingdom’s allies.’ I scoffed.

“CIA? Did Laswell know?” I ask.

“No idea you can ask her she’ll be here in a few hours.” He sounded mad. I looked up at him handing the paper back.

“Where we going?” I asked.

“Urzikstan, the compound they were moving supplies from.” I nodded.

“We’re going to raid it for intel.” He said.

“Farah helping us?” I ask raising my eyebrow. He shakes his head. 

“She’s busy out west, besides we need someone we can trust to keep an eye on Noah and Makarov.” He explained I nodded. 

“Who’s the general we’re answering to this time?” Price scoffed.

“Anderson. Before you ask I have no idea I just saw his name on the new order we got.”

“What time does she get here?” I asked leaning back in the chair as Price folded the letter up. 

“3 hours.” He said checking his watch. Turns out we didn’t need to wait that long only about 40 minutes had past when Price got a message she had picked up a chopper from Heathrow. Price seemed to have calmed down a bit by this point and we headed back up to the dorms. 

“Full kit now!” He barked as he pushed the door in going over to his bed. Okay maybe not quiet so calm anymore. I nodded at Gaz as I went over throwing my vest on and packing the rest of the stuff in my bad. 

“What’s going on?” I heard Rosaly ask, I looked over at her. 

“Laswell is coming to pick us up we’re leaving.” Price explained throwing his bag over his back. 

“Price want to explain?” She asked still sounding shocked as she fastened her vest. 

“Noah is in Urzikstan we think Macrov is there too if we move fast we might be able to catch them.” He said with a sigh. That was the half truth I guess. She looked at me and I stepped to follow Price out the room. She grabbed my arm. 

“What happened to waiting?” She whispered. I didn’t have time to explain everything that had been happening over the past 48 hours.

“Price know’s what he’s doing.” It true he does. She nodded and I left the room. We waited by the helicopter landing pad. It was not long before a chopper showed up and Laswell stepped out shaking Price’s hand. 

“Nice to see you again captain, there is a plane waiting for us at Heathrow!” She shouted over the blades as we all climbed in. I was in last and closed the door. 

“Sergeant Williams this is Laswell.” Price said I saw Rosaly shake her hand.

“Nice to meet you.” She replied adjusting her headset. 

“I read your file, impressive work.” Laswell said. 

“Thank you.” Rosaly replied smiling. 

“What’s the plan in Urzikstan?” Gaz asked, he was sat opposite me. 

“We found what we believe to be their former main base.” She handed a tablet to Price, we looked over to see the same pictures the ULF had sent to MI5. Price acted supprised. “Farah sent them, we think they’re moving more west but this place isn’t empty yet, they’ve been moving munitions but not computers or files. Right now its running on a skeleton crew, it would be easy to infiltrate and secure information.” She finished.

“What about the theory they’re using the Balearic Islands as cover?” Rosaly asked.        

“We’re almost certain they are, we know Noah will be there within the next few weeks due to the summer season starting, this raid will give us invaluable information and proof of their operations down there.” Laswell explained. So the Americans want proof, catching them in the act is not enough. 

“What about Makarov?” I asked before I could stop myself. There was a moment of Silence as she looked at Price.  

“If information on his whereabouts is going to be anywhere it will be in that compound, we know he has been involved with Joshua in the past it is most likely Joshua is hiding him until things die down.” Laswell said. Does she not know about the satellite images? I look at Price as he hands the tablet back to her. I watch as he sits back in the seat. We make it to the airport in no time and get on a cargo plane going to Sakhra.

I turn my brain off and try and get some rest. I listen to Gaz and Rosaly talk as Gaz tells her all about spending time with his family in London. She listens as he explains Farah and the ULF to her. She says it’s her first time to Urzikstan, at least she will get to see a new place. Eventually they both fall asleep. I let the plane rock me to sleep too.

[fortressofserenity]

If Mortal Kombat is a British game

As I said before about what would happen if Mortal Kombat was made in Britain instead, while it would have some of the same problems that plague regular American Mortal Kombat it would also have peculiarities of its own due to the new cultural context. Somebody like Jax would easily be African-Caribbean, then again if Ed Boon’s own mum had moved to Britain instead with the Latin American community being smaller there than in America and possibly smaller still before that a British Ed Boon would’ve inevitably assimilated to the larger African-Caribbean community. He may not but this is a logical plausibility, due to Jamaica’s and Barbados’s ties to Britain.

Instead of the Immortals composing the Mortal Kombat theme, it would be Massive Attack and this is one such band with a good number of African-Caribbean musicians in it. If I’m not mistaken and I could be misremembering things, but Maxim Reality of the Prodigy is said to be the son of Jamaican immigrants. This proves my point that given the way multiculturalism turned out in Britain and even if there was a black presence in Britain before, most of it either stems from the Caribbean or from Africa itself so Jax Briggs would easily come from the former.

Tanya is technically Edenian but given Britain had colonies in Africa and the Caribbean, that she could’ve been more readily coded as either West African or African-Caribbean. The logical conclusion would have both Mileena and Kitana be coded as coming from Hong Kong, well the Edenian analogue to it and Edenia itself would’ve taken on a rather different character if Mortal Kombat was made in Britain instead. Inevitably, many Earthrealm characters would come from Britain proper. Also Mortal Kombat would’ve ended up more like Warhammer 40K, even if it still has some of the same trappings as regular American Mortal Kombat does.

Warhammer 40K is a science fiction game born and bred in Britain, but as what somebody else wrote that it has undertones of imperial decay. Given Britain stopped being a superpower in the mid-20th century that makes the descent into grim darkness all the more telling, especially when it comes to that nation gradually losing its colonies one by one. Some of the earliest to leave are Ghana, India, Pakistan and Nigeria, some of the last to leave are the Gambia, Barbados (now that it’s a proper republic) and Hong Kong, which returned to China. So British Mortal Kombat would be a cross between regular MK and WH40K by then.

Maybe not exactly but to give you an idea of how culture changes the context and sensibility of the story, since Warhammer 40K is the byproduct of a post-imperial Britain where all the grim darkness stems from a decaying empire. Okay, I’m not too well-versed in WH40K but because Warhammer is a British (by)product and one that hinges on imperial decay that a British Mortal Kombat would also have similar themes concerning the six realms, so it would be more like what would happen if Games Workshop created a Warhammer fighting game. It wouldn’t be a proper Warhammer fighting game but tonally and thematically closer to it in some regards, particularly the six realms that it would play out more like a fantasy version of what the British Empire was like.

Nightwolf is Native American but if Mortal Kombat is a British game, should he appear largely as he is in regular Mortal Kombat, he’d probably come from Canada and be First Nations. But this would inevitably lean on British Mortal Kombat’s undertones of imperial decay, given many of its colonies became independent and a handful of them are semi-independent as it is with Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica, though the last one wants to be a republic real badly. Johnny Cage wouldn’t have been a showy Hollywood star, but more like a brash public figure of some sort.

As for the guest characters, these would most likely involve quintessentially British figures like Judge Dredd, Judge Anderson and Strontium Dog. All three of them are 2000AD characters by the way, not that Britons are entirely ignorant of American pop culture. If Mortal Kombat was born and bred in Britain, it would inevitably include these three in some capacity. Regular Mortal Kombat features a number of guest characters that are clearly from American media franchises and brands, that Mortal Kombat is born and bred in America so it’s inevitably going to have an American perspective and take on things.

So regular Mortal Kombat wouldn’t have the same undertones of imperial decay as British Mortal Kombat would tend to, since America is the current reigning superpower in this day and age. Comes to think of this way, Warhammer 40K could be seen as a British Star Wars in that both of them take inspiration from Dune when it comes to things like supernatural powers, decaying empires and the like. But as Star Wars is the byproduct of an America, it’s going to have an American sensibility and play into American history in some unconscious way, despite George Lucas’s best intentions.

The Rebels are parallel to the Americans that revolted against Britain during the American Revolution, with Britain as the Evil Empire itself. America itself actually has a desert, that Luke Skywalker could’ve easily been raised in Arizona instead. Would his sister Leia been a Boston Brahmin or a member of the Southern Gentry by then? But it does make you wonder how much American culture figures into Star Wars, perhaps in ways Lucas himself wouldn’t have readily recognised for what it is.

While Dune’s Caladan and Arrakis are amenable to British sensibilities regarding British history (you could swap Caladan for Britain and Arrakis for Australia), the fact that Star Wars has rebels fighting against an empire is evocative of American history. Warhammer 40K is thus a British Star Wars without even trying, because it also takes inspiration from Dune but due to the cultural context it developed in a different direction. Albeit one involving imperial decay, which would inform a British Mortal Kombat. It’s not hard to see how cultural context changes the way games are developed, right down to themes and sensibility.

If Mortal Kombat had been developed in Britain instead and remained a British game, while it could have some of the same trappings as regular Mortal Kombat does it would end up as the closest to what would happen if Games Workshop put out a fighting game. Especially when it comes to themes of imperial decay, except that it would be played straight compared to Warhammer itself. Especially with Jax being Jamaican, Nightwolf being Canadian First Nations and Kitana coming from a Hong Kong analogue that British MK would be a kind of commentary on the fallen British Empire.

[ofxbutcher]

JACOB BUTCHER ( CORTEON MOORE ) is a TWENTY-EIGHT year-old TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER in NEW DELHI, INDIA. They were brought under Richard’s care when they were only TWENTY-EIGHT years old. They are known as THE CHARMER because they are EASY-GOING but also AVOIDANT.

BASIC INFORMATION

Full Name: Jacob Anthony Butcher

Nickname(s): Mostly just goes by 'Butcher' but JB and J are not uncommon

Date of Birth: May 15th 1976

Age: 28

Occupation: Travel Photographer (Travel enthusiast in general and extreme sports participator/admirer)

Current Residence: He was in Australia before deciding to make a stop at New Delhi on his way back to Woodrow, however he staid in India longer than he originally planned due to fun and work colliding a little too well.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Hair: Curly, frizzy, untrimmed atm

Eyes: Light brown

Height: 5'9

Notable Features: Vitiligo over his hands, and barely noticeable by his right eye and bottom right of his chin. Scars all over his body acquired through sports and travel, a dashing smile of course...

PERSONALITY & BEHAVIOR:

Strengths: Determined when intrigued, loyal to a fault, charismatic

Weaknesses: Lonely, avoidant and lets his own stubbornness get in the way of things

Quirks: Rubs the back of his neck when nervous, left eyebrow raises and does a little twitch whenever he's lying (only a few of the wards are actually aware of this -- he, himself, is not)

Vices: Will try anything that seems 'exciting' to him, no matter how dangerous. Smokes cigarettes and occasionally does drugs. Rarely drinks.

INTEREST & HOBBIES:

Interests: Jacob has had a plethora of interests since childhood. From reading and acting out fantasy novels, to creating his own stories. From riding a bike, to quickly becoming interested in driving a helicopter. Driving, diving, surfing, parachuting, climbing, name a sport or an activity and he has likely tried it. His interests are heavy on the 'outdoors' and learning new things or polishing old skills.

Hobbies: Although he's a very physically active person, and those would certainly include most of his hobbies. Jacob finds that his 'relaxing' time is where his genuine hobbies truly flourish. He writes fantasy a lot, often inspired by his real experiences, and he is a photographer professionally, always pushing himself further to capture beautiful things on camera. He is hoping to collaborate with National Geographic in the future, but he has never told Richard about it out of fear that the old man would try and pull more strings for him. Besides those two hobbies, he also enjoys cooking and pottery a considerable amount.

Special Skills/Talents: He's actually got a lot of these due to his constant participation in weird and extreme sports. Perhaps the biggest skill/talent is staying alive.

BECOMING A WARD

Jacob has a very difficult time remembering much of his childhood. There are only few, very few vivid memories he held of his mother. Of a yellow closet with drawings stuck on it. And fire, smell of fire late at night as the screams echoed in the distance. Whenever he would ask Richard about his past, about his parents, about circumstances which led him to Woodrow -- he was met with a dismissive response. "They couldn't take care of you boy, you're better off here." and that was as far as he'd ever get. Over the years, he had tried to pry more information out of the old man, but he was never successful. Even when he tried to take matters into his own hands, and seek answers outside of Richards little safety bubble -- he came up with nothing. There was no records of a 'Jacob Anthony Butcher' to be found. So he assumed his name had been changed. His family was either incapable or unwilling to take care of him, and he was to take life for what it was and live on. Move on. And let the questions of his childhood vanish.

LIFE AS A WARD

Jacob has always had a knack for people, a longing for life, for opportunities, for adventure. As a child, he would spend hours lost in fantasy worlds, imagining himself riding dragons - or slaying them. Roping other wards into playing soldiers or vampires or whatever his latest obsession would have been. He would go as far as to make his own stories, makeshift his own toys, skate and run and swim around the Woodrow grounds without a care in the world. It is his genuine nature to be easy-going about things in life, and that always made people drawn to him. Everybody likes good company, and Jacob just so happens to like everybody. There was never much others could do to put him off, because above all, Jacob truly believed, as he continues to believe, that people had their reasons. For the good things, the bad things, and everything in-between. And nothing, not a damn thing was ever personal. So he took no offence, and he adapted, he forgave, he did his best to be there for others. His loyalty was always easily acquired, but not quite as easily lost. All that said, Jacob still struggled growing up. Mostly with poor focus and hyperactivity, and he often felt 'dumb' when participating in lectures with other wards, or having to take extra classes even after school to catch up with them. It did take a toll on his confidence at a certain point in life, but he learnt to hide it behind a nice smile and a pretence of 'not caring' which worked out for him in the end. As a young ward he found most joy in simply hanging out with his peers, and even more in getting Mrs. Tristans forehead vein to pump rather visibly. As Jacob grew older, he didn't grow more serious. But he developed a dose of charm inspired by the confidence he gained through surrounding himself with others. He knew that people gravitated towards him, and he found comfort in always having company, in meeting new people, trying out new things. So when the time came to pursue further education, he instead devised a plan to travel. To see the world. To truly live. It may have taken Richard some (a lot of) convincing, but eventually he agreed to let the boy go. Ever since, he has hardly stopped. Always one foot out the door. Always looking for the next rush of adrenaline, next adventure. Although his charm gets him through a lot in life, and allows him to form deeper attachments, he is not the one to settle down. To dream of a house with a picket fence, a family, a single partner for the rest of his life. His spirit runs wild, and he's always in his happiest when he's on the go. Perhaps, a part of him wonders at times if he's truly in a state of constant movement due his deep love for it, or because he is perhaps running. One thing is certain, he is incapable of staying alone, of standing still, only what would he be trying to outrun? At the end of the day, the only thing he actually had, was himself.

AESTHETIC

Butcher is mostly dressed casual and somehow always covered in dirt. This is why he rarely invests in any expensive or formal clothes, they are certain to get ruined. Comfort is the key, whereas aesthetics are more of an after-thought. Still, he is often seen wearing a silver necklace, whose story of acquirement always changes when asked about. And he also tends to wear a braided bracelet one of his fellow wards had gifted him shortly after his arrival at Woodrow. It's the sentiment, of course, more than genuine liking for the bracelet itself. He owns two black suits, one for weddings and the other for funerals. And a few neat black shirts and tops to match a pair of his 'clean' jeans whenever he needs to dress up. Butcher's also particularly fond of his leather jacket which went through hell and back with him and somehow still holds up pretty well.

EDUCATION

Jacob chose to attend a public school after his primary education, but Richard wouldn't allow him to go private as he needed more effort and guidance with education then other kids due to his hyperactivity and lack of focus. This was also the first and the only time Jacob and Richard had a real argument. Following this, Butcher spent the next couple of weeks moping around the house and giving an unusual dose of attitude to anyone he came to contact with, but then got over it when Mrs. Tristan properly explained why it was all for the best in the end and how he will soon be done with school and off to pursue his dreams. Of course, she was right, and his focus was soon somewhere else. But once that the school truly ended, and it was time to head off to University, he used his lack of choice on the matter to further convince Richard to let him travel instead of continuing further education. Ever the academic, it was tough to convince Richard that this was the right path for him, so they agreed on somewhat of a 'gap year' at first, which eventually became full-time travelling and working on the go.

EXTRACURRICULARS 

Jacob participated in any extracurricular he could get his hands on. Even the ones he wasn't particularly interested in. He just enjoyed spending time with other wards, so if they had an interest of their own and wanted someone to tag along -- he would happily do it.

THEIR LIFE NOW

He has been travelling, mostly. The longest he ever staid in one place was a year before moving on to his next adventure. Most recently, he had climbed Mt Everest, his lifelong dream, and after that he moved on to a semi-professional surfing competitions in Australia where he did quite well. He considered staying in Australia for a while, but decided to head back to Woodrow instead as it has been months since he last visited. On the way though, he stopped in India where the Krishna Janmashtami festival was just around the corner and decided to stay for a while as well. He was still in New Delhi when he heard of Richard's passing.

[dropsofsciencenews]

A Record-Breaking Old Bean

ESP version ITA version

Can a seed be among the largest ever recorded in the fossil record, represent the first evidence of migration between tectonic plates towards the Australian region, and also be the only known ancestor of the Moreton Bay chestnut (Castanospermum australe)?

The answer is a resounding yes.

Who are we talking about? Its name is Jantungspermum gunnellii, a leguminous plant dating back to the Eocene period, approximately 34-40 million years ago. The discovery of this plant was the result of extreme determination and, perhaps, a bit of luck. Collecting fossils in southern Borneo is a considerable challenge: most of the surface rocks are constantly eroded by heavy tropical rains, covered by dense vegetation, and in many cases, overshadowed by buildings or agricultural land. Despite these difficulties, in 2014, a team of researchers collected three large fossil seeds from the seams of a coal mine in South Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, the largest of which measured 7.2 cm in length, along with 43 leaves and two pollen samples. All the material was brought to the laboratory for detailed analysis.

To the great surprise of the researchers, the seeds found appear to be ancient relatives of the Castanospermum genus, of which today only one species exists worldwide. However, this lineage hides further surprises linked to tectonic movements. The collision between the tectonic plates of Southeast Asia and Australia, which began about 20 million years ago and is still ongoing, has led to a significant exchange of plant and animal species between these land masses. During the Cenozoic era, the area was affected by two major geological events: the Asia-India and Sahul-Sunda collisions. Sahul is part of the continental platform of the Australian continent and lies off the coasts of Australia, while Sunda is part of the Eurasian plate. The contact and collision between these regions allowed numerous plant lineages from Australia to migrate to Asia. This is evident from the fact that species found in the Asian fossil records are also present in the older Australian fossil records, suggesting that these plants initially evolved in Australia and later colonized Asia, providing a clear temporal signal of the migration.

But could the plants have made the reverse journey, from Asia to Australia? The rarity of plant macrofossils from Sunda has so far limited the understanding of pre-collision vegetation and the plants that migrated from Sunda to Sahul. Evidence in this regard was scarce and mainly based on palynological and molecular data. Until now. The discovery of this seed has provided the first macrofossil evidence of a plant evolutionary line that moved from Asia to Australia. Since Jantungspermum belongs to the same subfamily as Castanospermum, we can also hypothesize how the seeds may have dispersed. Today, Castanospermum disperses its seeds using floating, salt-tolerant pods that can travel for kilometers in rivers and oceans, especially after storm events. The fossil seeds of Jantungspermum were recovered from the upper Tambak Member (a member is a part of a geological formation distinguishable from the rest of the formation by its lithological characteristics) in a coastal depositional paleoenvironments, probably brackish, suggesting that their pods traveled a significant distance, similarly to its descendants, from the riparian parent plant before disintegrating and releasing their seeds.

The incredibility of this seed does not end here. These fossils also represent the oldest legume fossils in the Malay Archipelago. Moreover, the seeds are among the largest ever recorded in the fossil record, excluding coconuts and some other palms. They likely grew in a pod that reached the length of a baseball bat and could contain up to five seeds. The name Jantungspermum gunnellii derives from the Indonesian word "Jantung," which means heart, in reference to the shape of the fossil seed. "Spermum" means seed in Latin, while the specific term "gunnellii" is a tribute to the late Gregg Gunnell, a vertebrate paleontologist formerly at the Duke University Lemur Center, who led the expedition.

There are still many stories buried beneath the rock, and sometimes, a small yet big seed can reveal one of them.

source

[oh2e]

I just watched Suffragette (2015) which was a alright film about an ordinary woman’s deepening involvement with the suffragettes in 1912.

At the end of the film there was a little list of when some countries gave women the vote. Women acquired the right to vote in 1918 in the UK and Ireland, provided they were over 30 and owned land. 1928 for all women. New Zealand, 1893. Australia, 1902. Norway, 1913. Russia, 1917. Austria, Germany and Poland, 1918. USA, 1920. Brazil, 1932. Turkey, 1934. France, 1944. Italy, 1945. China and India, 1949. Mexico, 1953. Switzerland, 1971. Jordan, 1974. Nigeria, 1976. Qatar, 2003. Saudi Arabia, 2015.

It got me thinking. When did Irish women get the right to vote? 1918 obviously, same as the UK. But all Irish women got to vote from 1922 - six years before the UK. The Saorstát Éireann was remarkably progressive for its time. The Easter Rising was full of women fighting for their country - Cumann na mBan were an integral part of the plans. Ireland was one of the first countries to directly address women in the constitution. Things took a major dip after that thanks to the increased hold the Catholic Church had on the country, and Éamon de Valera’s anti-feminism stance but we’re moving forward now. Women can hold jobs after marriage and get divorced and use birth control and marry other women and get abortions. Religion is good and kind, but corrupt religious institutions with too much power are not. How many other countries are currently going through their oppressive power structure phase? Why is equality for women still something people are fighting about, over a century later? We’ve come so far but yet still have so far to go.

[frank-olivier]

„In India we have conceived of God as a dancer, Nataraj. The dancer has something unique: the dancer remains one with the dance. Even when he starts dancing, the unity is not broken, there is no duality: utter oneness. In fact, when the dancer is thinking about the dance there is a duality – the idea of the dance and the dancer – there is a subtle duality. The moment he starts dancing even that duality disappears. Then the dancer is the dance. There is no dancer separate from the dance, no dance separate from the dancer. This is unio mystica. God is a dancer. That means the world is his dance. He is in it, he is it, right this very moment: these green trees, and the sun pouring its gold through them, and the call of the bird, and you here sitting in silence, just being with me for no particular reason, just enjoying this moment, this silence. This is it. Truth is this mystery that surrounds you, in the form of people, in the form of trees, animals, birds, stars. This whole mystery is the truth. There is nothing problematic about it. It is already here. You are in it, how can you solve it? You are it, who is there to solve it? There is nobody except the mystery. How can a small ripple in the ocean solve the mystery of the ocean? It itself is part of the mystery. So are you.“

Jane Stork, also known as Ma Shanti B, is a former follower of the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Born in 1945 in Western Australia, she was raised in a strict Catholic household. Stork became involved in the Rajneesh movement in the late 1970s after being introduced to Rajneesh's teachings by a psychotherapist. She moved with her family to the Rajneesh ashram in Poona, India, and later to the Rajneesh commune in Rajneeshpuram, Oregon. While in Oregon, Stork became involved in criminal activities, including an attempted murder and an assassination plot. She served time in jail and lived in exile in Germany for 16 years before returning to the U.S. to face charges.

Jane Stork: Exposing the Rajneesh Cult (Spencer Lodge, October 2022)

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

[thebisexualwreckoning]

heyyy how are you!

first of all im sooooo sorry this took so long!!! I had to write a paper that's 50% of my econ grade but I'm finally done with it and I'm free!!! but honestly speaking I hadn't had this much fun writing a paper since I was in middle school so that was great

Anyway to answer your question we just moved from India to Australia so we've been swamped with work getting the new place set up and making it feel like home. I also introduced my mother to target and she's now obsessed with them for some reason.

also started retaking my meds which has been really good for the ADHD and my productivity. I've also been experimenting with my gender a bit more recently, figuring out what feels right and not so that's been that. all I've discovered is i wanna be femboy instead of my current state being, a.k.a tired

but still, life is good surprisingly enough and *redacted* has the best public transport system I've ever seen meaning I can go wherever I want without worrying but it is slightly annoying everything closed by 6

[allisian]

K/DA Lore pt.3

It took me a while to decide on how teen Evelynn would look like. So I held off my last post until I could finalise her design. Yes I heavily based her off Maddison Beers look at the 2018 worlds. Its a shame I wasn't able to showcase her fashion I had in mind. Perhaps I'll try drawing a full body reference in the future.

Time for Kai'sa! KDA's most shallow member! (I love Kai'sa guys I swear. It's riot that ruined her potential.)

As a child Kaisa would travel a lot because of her father's work (military) She would grow up as a model student fluent in many languages and educated in geography and history. Kai'sa is socially underdeveloped due to her "really moves around" upbringing. She also is the "Broken Ace" type (nomadic life), always striving for perfection in her grades and career but in turn suffers socially. This makes Kai'sa very awkward and oblivious to social cues when interacting with people outside of a professional manner. Because of this, she was typically outcasted throughout the many schools she attended. Others feared her like she was some sort of monster. A creature too mysterious and focused on achieving to be understood. School became a hunt to survive mentality to kaisa and nothing else mattered in her world. Yet the longing to belong was still there in her heart. After discovering dance in her teens Kai'sa would start to evolve. She never had hobbies or any indulgences in her life. All she knew was how to survive an ever-changing environment as she constantly moved with her father's tours and deployments around the world. With dance, she finally opened herself up to the idea of living over surviving. From ballet in Russia to hip hop in the Americas Kaisa would find the universal language to feel herself and to connect to those around her no matter where in the world she was. Kaisa grew to have a passion for the arts, she discovered she was diversly gifted in creativity. Her hardworking attitude and serious studying nature helped her achieve many degrees. As an adult, she would make her own studio the Firefly Collective (located in America) where she would share her passion and teach others the wonderful world of dance and would go on to create a popular youtube channel for her studio (think 1MILLION Dance Studio). She was happy being a teacher and was astonished to have been visited by Ahri and Evelynn. Kaisa wasn't too aware of K-pop artists so she didn't recognize them as celebrities but her students did. They freaked out when popstars Ahri and Evelynn entered their dance studio. Seeking out someone to be their choreographer. Kaisa's students urged her to take this opportunity and so Kaisa became the third member of kda.

*Yes Kai'sas lore was mostly ripped off the comics. But I was able to add more context

*in 2018, one year before KDA debuted she won Hong Kong's "Can you dance?" competition. This success was what put her on Ahri and Evelynn's radar. (Kai'sa was 21 at the time)

*Kai'sa had a complete personality overhaul when she discovered dance. She went from the recluse, studyholic to the hippie, free spirited type.

*In her life Kai'sa has lived in 10 countries: China, South Africa, South Korea, France, America, Australia, United Kingdom, Russia, India and Argentina.

*She was born in south africa (as a omage to her default voice actor)

Art by me

Here's a link to my playlist of the music I think suits this pre KDA Kai'sa

(Edit links to the other KDA girls)

Ahri

Evelynn

Akali